Grownlearn

Business Model Transformation

Grownlearn is a dynamic and insightful podcast that delves deep into the world of business model transformation. Hosted by seasoned professionals with a passion for innovation, the podcast features engaging interviews with the foremost experts in the field. Each episode invites listeners to explore the strategies, challenges, and successes of businesses that have undergone significant transformations. From disruptive startups to established enterprises, Grownlearn provides a platform for the best minds in the industry to share their experiences, insights, and lessons learned. Whether you're an entrepreneur, business leader, or simply intrigued by the ever-evolving landscape of business, Grownlearn delivers thought-provoking conversations that inspire and inform. Tune in to stay ahead of the curve and discover the keys to unlocking growth and success through transformative business models.

  1. The Hidden System Turning Everyday Spending Into Homeownership. MegPrime Pay with Zach Ipour

    1d ago

    The Hidden System Turning Everyday Spending Into Homeownership. MegPrime Pay with Zach Ipour

    Can crypto payments, rent rewards, and real estate technology create a new path toward homeownership? In this episode of Grownlearn, host Zorina Dimitrova speaks with Zach Ipour, Co-founder of MegPrime Pay and owner of Megatel Group, about Meg PrimePay, a blockchain-based payment platform designed to let users pay rent and mortgage payments while earning rewards. Zach explains how Meg PrimePay works, how users can pay through the platform, how landlords and payment recipients can receive funds through ACH, and how Make Prime tokens may be used for rewards, cash conversion, crypto conversion, or future home purchases. The conversation explores the housing affordability challenge in the United States, the role of fintech in real estate, and how Megatel Group’s background as a home builder and developer shaped the idea behind Meg PrimePay. Zach also discusses the company’s SEC non-action relief, the official launch of the platform, U.S. availability, reward mechanics, apartment search support, landlord partnerships, and how renters may accumulate rewards that could later support a home purchase. This episode is for listeners interested in fintech, Web3 payments, crypto adoption, real estate innovation, blockchain payments, housing affordability, rent rewards, mortgage payments, and the future of homeownership. Topics include Meg PrimePay, Zach Ipour, Make Prime token, crypto rent payments, mortgage payments with crypto, real estate fintech, Web3 payments, blockchain technology, homeownership rewards, rent rewards, housing affordability, digital currency, USDC, ACH payments, and fintech innovation.

    36 min
  2. He Lost His Baseball Career — Then Built an $800M Wealth Business

    Jun 9

    He Lost His Baseball Career — Then Built an $800M Wealth Business

    What happens when the career you built your identity around suddenly ends? In this episode of Grownlearn, host Zorina Dimitrova speaks with Jack Oujo, former professional baseball umpire, author of Too Smart To Be An Umpire, and founder of a wealth management business that grew organically to approximately $800 million before being sold. Jack shares how he went from pursuing a career in professional baseball to being released at age 30, facing a major personal and professional setback, and rebuilding his life through education, discipline, mentorship, and entrepreneurship. The conversation explores how Jack transitioned into financial services, built trust with clients, created “raving fans” through exceptional service, and developed a long-term investment philosophy focused on risk management, downside protection, dividends, and tax-smart planning. Zorina and Jack also discuss what sports can teach business leaders, why processes matter more than short-term goals, how to handle market downturns, and why reinvention often begins when the original dream no longer works. This episode is for entrepreneurs, financial advisors, founders, former athletes, business builders, and anyone navigating career change, professional failure, or the challenge of starting over. Topics include career reinvention, baseball, entrepreneurship, wealth management, financial advisory growth, client trust, long-term investing, risk management, mentorship, resilience, and building a meaningful life after a major setback.

    36 min
  3. AI Is Rewriting Brand Strategy - Former Twinings & Danone Executive Explains

    May 27

    AI Is Rewriting Brand Strategy - Former Twinings & Danone Executive Explains

    How is AI changing the way brands innovate, launch products, understand consumers, and build stronger relationships with their markets? In this episode of Grownlearn, host Zorina Dimitrova speaks with Shantanu Srivastava, a global marketing and innovation leader with more than two decades of experience across major consumer brands including Twinings, Danone, Sanofi, and Reckitt. Shantanu explains how AI is transforming marketing efficiency, product development, consumer research, compliance screening, and brand strategy inside large organizations. He also shares why human judgment remains essential, even as AI tools make innovation faster, cheaper, and more continuous. The conversation also explores the shift from traditional brand storytelling to story doing and story living, with examples from challenger and purpose-led brands such as Oatly, Tony’s Chocolonely, Dove, and others. Shantanu also shares his personal transition from corporate brand leadership to entrepreneurship, including his work in health and wellness, lifestyle-related health management, and advisory work with startups and purpose-driven brands. In this episode, we discuss: • How AI is changing marketing and innovation • Why FMCG companies are rethinking consumer-led product development • How AI can reduce time and cost in research, marketing planning, and product launches • Why brand storytelling is evolving into story doing and story living • What startups can learn from global brands — and what big brands can learn from startups • How purpose-led brands create deeper consumer engagement • Why AI-driven innovation still needs human oversight • Shantanu’s journey from global brand leadership to health and wellness entrepreneurship This conversation is especially relevant for founders, marketers, brand leaders, innovation teams, FMCG professionals, startup advisors, and anyone interested in the future of AI-driven brand growth. 🎬 Episode Chapters 00:00 - 01:15: Why AI Is Forcing Brands to Rethink Marketing 01:15 - 09:29: How AI Cuts Marketing Work from Weeks to Hours 09:29 - 19:28: Inside AI-Powered Innovation: From Consumer Insights to Product Launches 19:28 - 27:33: Why Shantanu Left Big Brands to Build a Health Startup 27:33 - 35:20: From Storytelling to Story-Living: How Brands Create Real Loyalty 35:20 - End: Agentic Commerce and the Future of Brand Growth 📺 Watch more from Grownlearn Business Model Transformation playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTJlaeHk03J0lwEsQYIZ1wpaqJrxJYa28 🚀 Explore Strategic Growth & Investment-Ready Opportunities with Grownlearn Grownlearn, led by Zorina Dimitrova, connects select VCs, Family Offices, and Strategic Investors with precisely matched high-growth ventures across Europe and the U.S. We also support founders with strategic growth advisory — helping you transform your business model, increase valuation, and prepare for investment or exit. 📌 Want curated investment opportunities? Book your private briefing: https://grownlearn.org/ 🎧 Listen to the Grownlearn Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/grownlearn/id1515759956 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1bUIDGbSQl4BlHeNeeJfva SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/grownlearn All platforms: https://grownlearn.onpodium.com/ 📲 Follow Grownlearn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grownlearn X: https://x.com/grownlearn1729 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@healnlearn_grownlearn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healnlearn_grownlearn/ 📈 Tools for Investors & Founders Tax Optimization for Real Estate Investors: https://mavencostseg.referralrock.com/l/ZORINA/ FREE LinkedIn Profile Audit: https://ps.linkedvanow.com/r5wgf AI-Powered Lead Generation for Dealmakers: https://ps.linkedvanow.com/tjnia9mrkt85

    42 min
  4. Ad Fraud Is Draining $160B From Marketing — Rich Kahn on Bots, AI Fraud & Clean Traffic

    May 15

    Ad Fraud Is Draining $160B From Marketing — Rich Kahn on Bots, AI Fraud & Clean Traffic

    Digital ad fraud is one of the biggest hidden costs in modern marketing — and many companies do not realize how much of their advertising budget is being wasted on fake clicks, bot traffic, fraudulent accounts, and misleading campaign data. In this episode of Grownlearn, host Zorina Dimitrova speaks with Rich Kahn, CEO of Anura, a digital ad fraud prevention platform protecting more than 2 million websites. Rich has over 31 years of experience in digital marketing and has built five self-funded multimillion-dollar internet companies. Rich explains how digital advertising fraud works across platforms such as Facebook, Google, partner networks, affiliate traffic, and programmatic advertising. He also shares why certain channels carry higher fraud risk, how AI-driven bots are changing the fraud landscape, and why clean traffic matters for marketing ROI, ROAS, and long-term business growth. We discuss how Anura detects fraudulent traffic in real time by collecting more than 800 data points, why companies often discover fraud only after performance starts to break down, and what founders, marketers, agencies, SaaS companies, eCommerce brands, and investors should understand before scaling paid advertising. Beyond ad fraud prevention, Rich also shares his entrepreneurial journey: building multiple companies without outside funding, scaling through product-driven growth, developing enterprise relationships, and why face-to-face business development through trade shows still works. This episode is especially relevant for founders, marketers, agencies, eCommerce businesses, SaaS companies, investors, and anyone spending money on digital advertising. Guest: Rich Kahn, CEO of Anura Host: Zorina Dimitrova, Strategic Growth & Capital Advisor and host of Grownlearn Listen to more episodes: Grownlearn Podcast: https://grownlearn.onpodium.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1bUIDGbSQl4BlHeNeeJfva Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/grownlearn/id1515759956 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/grownlearn Learn more about Grownlearn: https://grownlearn.org/ Episode Chapters 00:00 – Podcast Intro & Why Digital Ad Fraud Matters 01:15 – Rich Kahn’s Entrepreneurial Journey 03:50 – How Digital Ad Fraud Works Across Facebook, Google & Partner Networks 08:17 – What Advertisers Should Ask Agencies About Fraud Detection 10:39 – Inside Anura’s Fraud Detection Platform 16:10 – AI Bots, Fake Traffic & the New Era of Ad Fraud 19:49 – Product-Driven Growth & Building Through Relationships 22:49 – Scaling a Self-Funded Company 25:21 – Trade Shows vs Digital Marketing 27:00 – The $160B Fraud Problem & the Future of Clean Traffic

    31 min
  5. The AI Founder Who Saw This Coming Before Everyone Else - Kevin Surace

    May 6

    The AI Founder Who Saw This Coming Before Everyone Else - Kevin Surace

    In this episode of Grownlearn, host Zorina Dimitrova speaks with Kevin Surace — Silicon Valley innovator, serial entrepreneur, futurist, AI pioneer, keynote speaker, Broadway producer, and inventor with 94+ worldwide patents. Kevin has been recognized as INC Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year, a CNBC Top Innovator of the Decade, a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, and has been featured by Time, Businessweek, Fortune, Forbes, CNN, ABC, MSNBC, and FOX News. This conversation explores Kevin’s remarkable career across artificial intelligence, innovation, entrepreneurship, Broadway production, and his upcoming book, The Joy Success Cycle. Kevin shares why AI is not simply replacing people, but accelerating human productivity by shifting work from task execution to outcome ownership. He explains how AI is changing software development, why developers are not disappearing, and why professionals need to learn how to use AI as a tool rather than a crutch. The discussion also covers the economics of Broadway production, how theatre investing compares to venture capital, the risks behind today’s AI startup valuations, the challenge of compute costs and energy demand, and why nuclear energy may become increasingly relevant in the AI era. Beyond technology and business, Kevin shares his personal philosophy on success, joy, leadership, and resilience — including his “one complaint-a-day rule” and the ideas behind The Joy Success Cycle. This episode is especially relevant for founders, investors, executives, business leaders, AI builders, creators, and anyone trying to understand where artificial intelligence, innovation, entrepreneurship, and the future of work are heading next. Topics covered: • Kevin Surace’s early work in AI and virtual assistants • How AI is changing jobs, coding, productivity, and business operations • Why humans need to shift from task execution to outcome ownership • The future of work in an AI-driven economy • AI business models, compute costs, infrastructure, and energy demand • Broadway producing, venture-style risk, and creative entrepreneurship • QuietRock soundproof drywall and billion-dollar market creation • The Joy Success Cycle and Kevin’s approach to success, positivity, and leadership Guest: Kevin Surace Host: Zorina Dimitrova Podcast: Grownlearn Listen to Grownlearn: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/grownlearn/id1515759956 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1bUIDGbSQl4BlHeNeeJfva SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/grownlearn All platforms: https://grownlearn.onpodium.com/ Explore Strategic Growth & Investment-Ready Opportunities with Grownlearn: https://grownlearn.org/ Follow Grownlearn: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grownlearn X / Twitter: https://x.com/grownlearn1729 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healnlearn_grownlearn/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@healnlearn_grownlearn

    44 min
  6. Agentic AI Explained Automate 90% of Operations & Scale Smarter Nikola Totuhov (Invisio)

    Apr 27

    Agentic AI Explained Automate 90% of Operations & Scale Smarter Nikola Totuhov (Invisio)

    In this episode of Grownlearn, Zorina Dimitrova speaks with Nikola Totuhov, Founder & COO of Invisio, about how Agentic AI is transforming business operations, automation, and scalable growth. This is not a theoretical conversation. It’s a practical look at how AI is already being implemented inside companies to reduce manual work, unify fragmented data, and significantly improve operational efficiency. One key insight stands out: AI is not plug-and-play. Up to 70% of implementation is data preparation. Without structured data, even the most advanced systems fail to deliver real value. Nikola shares real-world examples, including how AI-driven workflows: • Reduced operational teams from 8 people to 2 • Increased social media performance by 85% • Automated large parts of customer support and internal processes The discussion also explores where AI is heading, from open-source, locally hosted models to the evolving role of human judgment in business-critical functions like sales, marketing, and strategy. This episode is especially relevant for founders, operators, product leaders, and investors looking to understand how AI can drive capital-efficient, scalable growth. 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1bUIDGbSQl4BlHeNeeJfva 🎧 All platforms: https://grownlearn.onpodium.com/ About Grownlearn Grownlearn, led by Zorina Dimitrova, supports growth-stage ventures in strategic positioning, investment readiness, and capital alignment. We connect VCs, family offices, and strategic investors with carefully selected high-growth opportunities across Europe and the U.S., while helping founders scale with clarity and structure. 👉 Explore opportunities or book a private briefing: https://grownlearn.org/ Connect with Grownlearn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grownlearn X: https://x.com/grownlearn1729 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healnlearn_grownlearn/ Episode Chapters 01:15 Agentic AI Explained & Why Data Is Critical 06:33 The Challenge of Unifying Business Data 08:56 Why 70% of AI Implementation Is Data Preparation 13:19 Real Case Study: 90% Automation & Team Reduction 19:21 AI in Marketing: 85% Performance Increase 24:57 Validation, Testing & Cost Optimization 30:27 Open-Source AI & Future Workflows 33:32 AI Risks, Opportunities & Final Thoughts

    43 min
  7. The Future of Financial Data, API's & Fintech Partnerships | Andrew Lebbos, Benzinga

    Apr 21

    The Future of Financial Data, API's & Fintech Partnerships | Andrew Lebbos, Benzinga

    In this episode of Grownlearn, Zorina Dimitrova speaks with Andrew Lebbos, SVP at Benzinga, about how financial data, market intelligence, and API infrastructure are reshaping brokerages, fintech platforms, and investing tools. They discuss how Benzinga grew from a financial media brand into a major data and licensing provider, how financial APIs are used across trading platforms, why flexible licensing matters, how AI is changing financial content workflows, and why human-curated market intelligence still remains valuable. A relevant episode for fintech founders, product leaders, brokerages, financial media operators, and investors following the future of financial infrastructure. Listen here: https://grownlearn.onpodium.com/ https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/grownlearn/id1515759956 https://open.spotify.com/show/1bUIDGbSQl4BlHeNeeJfva https://soundcloud.com/grownlearn Grownlearn podcast on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@grownlearnpodcast

    27 min
  8. How to Become a Business Loan Broker | Alternative Lending, Business Credit & Funding with Oz Konar

    Apr 16

    How to Become a Business Loan Broker | Alternative Lending, Business Credit & Funding with Oz Konar

    What does it really take to build a business in lending, and why is alternative capital becoming so important for entrepreneurs today? In this episode of Grownlearn, Zorina Dimitrova speaks with Oz Konar, founder of Business Lending Blueprint, about the world of business lending, business credit, and how entrepreneurs can build a recession-resilient business by helping others access capital. Oz shares his journey into the lending space, from personal financial hardship in his family to building an INC. 5000-recognized education company that has helped thousands of people better understand how funding works. The conversation explores the reality behind business loan brokering, the opportunities in the U.S. alternative lending market, and the mindset shift required to think more strategically about capital. They also break down the main categories of funding available to businesses, including startup funding, small business funding, and real estate-based lending, along with what affects approvals, how underwriting works, and why financial literacy matters long before a company urgently needs money. This episode is especially relevant for founders, solo entrepreneurs, consultants, and professionals who want to understand how businesses get funded, how to approach capital more intelligently, and how to think about growth through a more strategic financial lens. In this episode, we cover: • Oz Konar’s path into business lending • How to become a business loan broker • Why alternative lending is growing • Startup funding vs. small business funding vs. real estate funding • Approval rates, underwriting, and funding timelines • Why financial literacy is essential for entrepreneurs • How to prepare for capital before it becomes urgent About the guest: Oz Konar is the founder of Business Lending Blueprint, an INC. 5000-recognized education company focused on alternative lending, business credit, and financial literacy. He is known for his education-first approach and for helping entrepreneurs and professionals understand funding in practical, accessible terms. Grownlearn is the podcast where strategy, capital, and long-term business growth come together through conversations with founders, operators, investors, and advisors.

    24 min
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5
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

Grownlearn is a dynamic and insightful podcast that delves deep into the world of business model transformation. Hosted by seasoned professionals with a passion for innovation, the podcast features engaging interviews with the foremost experts in the field. Each episode invites listeners to explore the strategies, challenges, and successes of businesses that have undergone significant transformations. From disruptive startups to established enterprises, Grownlearn provides a platform for the best minds in the industry to share their experiences, insights, and lessons learned. Whether you're an entrepreneur, business leader, or simply intrigued by the ever-evolving landscape of business, Grownlearn delivers thought-provoking conversations that inspire and inform. Tune in to stay ahead of the curve and discover the keys to unlocking growth and success through transformative business models.

Information

  • Creator
    Business Model Transformation
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    288
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Grownlearn