Inside the Lion's Den: A Business and Leadership Podcast Aryeh Sheinbein

Will Nitze is the founder and CEO of IQBAR, a brain and body nutrition company. I reached out to Will because I actually like and use his product. We had a really insightful conversation where he shared in-depth about his journey to starting IQBAR and all of the big steps in between brainstorming his product to where he is now.
Will’s story is not only full of great tips for anyone else starting or running their own company, but it’s also really inspiring to see how hard he worked to even get this company off the ground. When he was in his mid 20s, he spent an entire year working evenings and weekends to research, plan, and design his product. As all of this was going on, he realized there wasn’t really a road map for this kind of thing. He had no idea how to manufacture a product or do any of the other important things that come with starting a company. Will shared really openly about this process and how he figured out his own roadmap and processes to creating and manufacturing his product. Will also shared how, after launching the IQBAR crowdfunding campaign, he used consumer feedback to really help his product evolve into what it is today.
In this episode, we'll cover:
-Will’s background story pre IQBAR
-Why Will decided to start a brain food company
-The roadmap to starting a company (does it exist?)
-Why a great product isn’t enough for a successful business
-The three things you need to focus on for a successful business
-How listening to your consumers can help your product evolve
-Marketing your product to your consumers
-How Will used reverse engineering to design IQBAR
-Using unit economics and consumer desires to create the best possible product
-How Will moved forward with creating prototypes and eventually finding a co-packer to take him on
-Using crowdfunding sites to fund your product
-The benefits of selling on Amazon
-Challenges and logistics of getting product into stores
-Where Will sees IQBAR going in the future
-The question you should be asking about your business every year
-The importance of optionality in your business
SHOW NOTES: https://insidethelionsdenpodcast.com/podcast/episode73
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Future Fund | The guilt-free flexible plan to build financial wealth + freedom

My guest today is Dan Macklin, cofounder of SoFi, a multi-billion dollar publicly traded company, and the CEO of Salary Finance Inc. We talk about what it takes to grow a multi-billion dollar company, what it takes to raise capital, and the pitfalls and challenges along the way. We discuss shifting roles from co-founder of one company, to CEO of another, moving from the corporate to the start-up world, and the links of financial stress on a person’s well-being. Dan has some great anecdotes and advice for anyone trying to grow their own company.
Daniel Macklin is the co-founder of Social Finance Inc. ($20+ billion IPO), and CEO of the United States arm of Salary Finance Inc. He holds a B.A. in Business Economics from University of Durham in England, and an M.S. in Management degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Dan has been featured on Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal. He is also an angel investor, guest lecturer at Stanford University, Tottenham Hotspur devotee, and future Amazing Race contestant.
In this episode, we'll cover:
- Dan’s work history and education before he co-founded SoFi
- Tips for raising money and pitching to investors
- Advice and things to avoid for your first three years of a new business
- Dan’s decision process in leaving a company he founded and deciding what to do next
-  How Dan got involved with Salary Finance Inc
- How Salary Finance Inc works and its challenges for the future
- Financial stress and its links to your overall wellness
- Making the move from the corporate to the start-up world
- Role differences and similarities between a founder and a CEO
SHOW NOTES: https://insidethelionsdenpodcast.com/podcast/episode72
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Future Fund | The guilt-free flexible plan to build financial wealth + freedom

In today’s episode I am interviewed by Jim Pfeifer from the Passive Investing from Left Field podcast. We talk about looking for sponsors who are making money for you, not ones who are making money off of you, and how to find and vet the right sponsor for you. We discuss how sometimes passive investment turns out to be active ones, and how asset managers can help with that. We also talk about different metrics and how to cater them to align with your investment strategy. This interview is full of tips and information to help you invest your money intelligently allowing your wealth to accumulate so you can focus on what matters, which is your business and your mission.
Passive Investing from Left Field is a community focused on networking and education to help people invest passively and think differently. They interview syndication sponsors, passive investors and others who will share their passive investing journey as they pursue financial freedom. They are building a community of investors who are interested in acquiring real assets that produce real cash flow.
SHOW NOTES: https://insidethelionsdenpodcast.com/podcast/episode71
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Future Fund | The guilt-free flexible plan to build financial wealth + freedom

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Carson Tate, the founder and managing partner of Working Simply and the author of Work Simply and Own It, Love It, Make It Work. Carson is a business coach and consultant and works with executives all over the country to help them and their employees be more productive while finding purpose and fulfillment in their work.
In this conversation, Carson shared the importance of the culture of a business and why employee fulfillment is essential for a business to prosper. As business owners and team leaders, there are a number of things you can do to ensure your team members have the tools they need to succeed in their roles while still working toward your business goals. Carson shared some great tips on how to achieve this simply by considering how you communicate with your team members and by giving employees autonomy to create their own workflow systems and processes. Listening to this episode should convince you that you can value personal employee autonomy and fulfillment without compromising on the professional needs and goals of your business.
SHOW NOTES: https://insidethelionsdenpodcast.com/podcast/episode70
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Future Fund | The guilt-free flexible plan to build financial wealth + freedom

Regardless of your industry, there’s something for you in this episode. Today I talk with Yadin Shemmer, CEO and cofounder of Intrinsic, about his business journey from starting out in finance, selling a business, taking a business public, and his experience with acquisitions. We discuss what he learned through three different exits, an IPO, and his advice for business owners who are looking to do the same. We also discuss how to think about customers, market segments, and physical products in the ecommerce market.
In this episode, we'll cover:
- Yadin’s background and journey through business
- Yadin’s process of selling his first business
- The difficulties of taking a company public
- Yadin’s work with Kleiner Perkins
- The importance of culture during acquisitions
- What is Intrinsic
- Analysis and fundraising when starting an ecommerce
- Market and evaluation gap in ecommerce
- Yadin’s predictions for the future of ecommerce
SHOW NOTES: https://insidethelionsdenpodcast.com/podcast/episode69
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Future Fund | The guilt-free flexible plan to build financial wealth + freedom

To be successful in business and in life it is important to have a strong mental fortitude, and that growth and mental toughness comes from consistently doing hard things. Today I share my own journey in building a greater mental strength. I talk about the importance of consistency, how there’s no disgrace in failure, and not giving up even when you make mistakes. I also share how I’ve grown through continued consistency. I hope it inspires you to do hard things and not give up in your own life.
SHOW NOTES: https://insidethelionsdenpodcast.com/podcast/episode68
Resources:
Apply to Work with Me
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Future Fund | The guilt-free flexible plan to build financial wealth + freedom