Ambition Today, Startup Stories with Kevin Siskar

In keeping with last weeks' real estate theme, Episode 25 of Ambition Today finds us across the table from Joe Fairless, Real Estate Investor and Host of the Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever Show. Joe set his roots in advertising after a bit of soul-searching during his undergrad years at Texas Tech. Fighting complacency, he left Madison Ave. for the allure of real estate investing and entrepreneurship, and was met with incredible success, with due credit to his persistence and work ethic.

Owing his early sense of drive to his start in landscaping, Joe Fairless has always had an entrepreneurial mindset. After leaving his teenage lawn-mowing business, J&J Landscaping, Joe tried to cling to his high school football career by attending a junior college near his home town of Dallas. After transferring, he went on to graduate with a degree in advertising and quickly rose through the ranks of executive marketing, while investing in real estate as a side project and finding passion in that venture. Joe applied his trademark tenacity to his newfound love of investing and now controls approximately $85 million worth of rental property. Kevin digs into the factors behind Joe's success, and much more:

+The seemingly hidden on-ramp of landscaping as a teenage job to eventually invest in real estate. +Exploring passions during college to find what interests you. +Applying lessons from the corporate world to an entrepreneurial startup. +Leaving a comfortable job to pursue your real dreams. +How to break into the shark-infested waters of commercial real estate. +The 75/25 rule of listening/asking when approaching mentors. +Acknowledging your strengths. +Acknowledging your weaknesses and surrounding yourself with people who help make up for them. +The grit of making your ambition come to life. Ambition Today Question of the DayTM: "As a thought leader, how does ambition play a role in your life?"

========== This episode of Ambition Today is supported by: + Founder Institute New York: goo.gl/RGezjW + Toptal: goo.gl/OObfM9 + Audible: goo.gl/Urjq6k

========== Visit Ambition Today on the Web: www.siskar.co/ambitiontoday Follow Kevin Siskar on Twitter: twitter.com/TheSiskar Follow Kevin Siskar on Instagram: instagram.com/thesiskar Follow Kevin Siskar on Facebook: facebook.com/kevin.siskar Add Kevin Siskar on Snapchat: snapchat.com/add/krsiskar Kevin Siskar brings you ambitious entrepreneurs inspired by Tim Ferriss, How I Built This, Residual Income, Entrepreneur on Fire, NPR, HBR, TED Radio Hour, the StartUp podcast, Pat Flynn, Tony Robbins, The Uncertain Hour, Bigger Pockets, Art of Charm, Dave Ramsey, Planet Money, Jocko Podcast, EntreLeadership, Zigler, APM Marketplace, Mixergy, Seth Godin, GaryVee, James Altucher, Monocle 24, How to Start a Startup, and The $100 MBA Show with Omar Zenhom, and Casey Neistat.

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS (apple.co/1NRRPzL), on Google Play Music (goo.gl/LmmciJ), or on Stitcher for Android (bit.ly/1Rn01dy).

On episode eight Jeff Wald, Co-founder and President of Work Market joins Ambition Today. "The only thing I know with 100% certainty is that it ain't going down like this." - Jeff Wald Jeff's background is nothing short if impressive. He started at Cornell University and then went to J.P. Morgan. He then went back to school at Harvard for an MBA. After Harvard Jeff spent time at Glen Rock Group before going on to Co-found Spin Back. The wild ride of Spinback, his first startup, took Jeff to almost moving back home after coming close to running out of money. The answer was to rebuild the business which later ended up getting acquired. After acquisition Jeff went to Barington Capital Group, and finally to his current company where he is the Co-founder and President of Work Market. Did I mention he was also an auxiliary member of the NYPD as well? This is an episode packed full of insights: + Is getting a Master's of Business Administration worth the return on investment? + Should you start a company or get an MBA? + The value of spending time with Entrepreneurs. + How to break into Venture Capital. + Leaving a job in Venture Capital to start a new company. + How to attract high quality investors in your startups such as Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, and Softbank. + The one question you should start every meeting with. + The four different types of conversations. + Differences between Advisors and Mentors. + The importance of giving back to others The Ambition Today Question of the Day: Who would win in a fight, Batman vs Superman? Follow Kevin Siskar on Twitter: twitter.com/TheSiskar Visit Ambition Today on the Web: www.siskar.co/ambitiontoday Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS (apple.co/1NRRPzL) and on Stitcher for Android (bit.ly/1Rn01dy). Kevin Siskar brings you ambitious entrepreneurs inspired by Tim Ferriss, Entrepreneur on Fire, NPR, HBR, TED Radio Hour, the StartUp podcast, Pat Flynn, Tony Robbins, The Uncertain Hour, Bigger Pockets, Art of Charm, Dave Ramsey, Planet Money, Jocko Podcast, EntreLeadership, Zigler, APM Marketplace, Mixergy, Seth Godin, #AskGaryVee.

Reminiscing on my first podcast is my guest, Ramphis Castro. We sat down for my very first podcast in August of 2015 and he has watched it grow over the years. It was great to have him here with me again. Ramphis is a serial entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist that has impacted several companies across 40 countries. His quote sums him up very well, “I am a Computer Engineer and Lawyer by training, serial entrepreneur by experience, and grass-root ecosystem builder by conviction.”

A Puerto Rican Native, Ramphis grew up by the beach with his dad, mom and three siblings. He is close to his family and had his mom instilling entrepreneurship in his mind from the beginning. The family always had little ways to make some extra spending money outside of their jobs, which taught Ramphis investing and ways to make money from a young age. He was fortunate enough to go to a school that taught English and went to an Engineering school for college. From there he was hired as a Microsoft, which was the hot company to work for at the time. He then started a consulting service company, had to learn from a few mistakes, and get back up. He has now owned several companies and has helped multiple companies by investing. Listen in to hear more about Ramphis and his path to success:

• World happenings from Episode 1
• Life in Puerto Rico
• Early Entrepreneurial experiences
• Working for Microsoft
• Starting his own company
• Learning from bad experiences in owning a company
• Joining Kauffman Fellows
• Seeing different Ecosystems around the world
• NYCIC
• Venture Capital

Ambition Today Question of the DayTM : Where is the future of Venture Capital is going?

The Single Greatest Piece of Advice: Members of the "A-list" can listen to exclusive A-list bonus clips here! If you are not a member yet be sure to join the Ambition Today A-list!

Quote Of The Episode: “You don’t know what you don’t know”

Links from this episode:

• Biography
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Founder Institute
• Audible

Visit Ambition Today on the Web: www.siskar.co/ambitiontoday Follow Kevin Siskar on Twitter: twitter.com/TheSiskar Follow Kevin Siskar on Instagram: instagram.com/thesiskar Follow Kevin Siskar on Facebook: facebook.com/kevin.siskar Add Kevin Siskar on Snapchat: snapchat.com/add/krsiskar Follow Colors of Colleen: www.colorsofcolleen.com

Kevin Siskar brings you ambitious entrepreneurs inspired by Tim Ferriss Show, How I Built This with Guy Raz, Residual Income, Entrepreneur on Fire, NPR, HBR, TED Radio Hour, the StartUp podcast with Alex Blumberg by Gimlet Media, Pat Flynn, Tony Robbins, The Uncertain Hour, Bigger Pockets, Art of Charm, Dave Ramsey, Planet Money, Jocko Podcast, EntreLeadership, Zigler, APM Marketplace, This Week In Startups with Jason Calacanis, Mixergy, Seth Godin, Joe Rogan Experience, GaryVee, James Altucher, Monocle 24, How to Start a Startup, Crooked Media, and The $100 MBA Show with Omar Zenhom, and Casey Neistat.

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS (apple.co/1NRRPzL), on Google Play Music (goo.gl/LmmciJ), or on Stitcher for Android (bit.ly/1Rn01dy).

Bryan Janeczko was recently named one of the Top 23 LGBTQ people in Tech, along side other notable figures such as Tim Cook, Peter Thiel, and more. He has built a strong track record for building great businesses including: NuKitchen, a food preparation service that helped people eat healthier. NuKitchen was later sold to Nutrisystem and pioneered the market long before Blue Apron or Plated even existed.

Now Bryan is the Founder of Gro, an on-demand startup academy. As part of the Loeb.NYC family, a venture studio in the heart of New York City, Bryan is helping founders at all stages. In a new partnership between Tony Robbins and Loeb, they have also launched Nunbelievable Foods, a baked goods company that turns their profits into feeding the homeless.

Bryan grew up in Milwaukee, started a candy selling business in High School where he would at times bribe the teachers with a candy bar in order to sell more candy bars at the beginning of each class to his fellow classmates. It was such a popular business, that he started having distributors, which eventually had the principal pulling the plug on his first entrepreneurial experience. However, that didn’t stop his entrepreneurial spirit! After school, and a summer abroad in England, Bryan decided to make the big move to NY! He had a place to stay for one week and a credit card, and the rest is history! Tune in to hear more of Bryan’s story:

• Learning resourcefulness early on.

• His life changing trip to England

• Starting and selling his company, NuKitchen

• Co-founding Startout

• His time as the Director of Founder Institute New York

• Working with Loeb NYC

• Founding Gro Academy

• Working with Tony Robbins and Nunbelievable Foods

Quote of the Episode: “Every founder brings their unique set of traits and many of us become entrepreneurs because we may not make it in more traditional jobs...”

Ambition Today Question of the DayTM : What advice can you give an entrepreneur at the beginning stages of building their first business?

The Single Greatest Piece of Advice: Members of the "A-list" can listen to exclusive A-list bonus clips here! If you are not a member yet be sure to join the Ambition Today A-list!

Links from this episode:

• Gro Academy
• Bryan’s LinkedIn
• Startout
• Loeb NY
• Nunbelievable
• Founder Institute
• We Work
• Audible

==========Ambition Today Is Proudly Independent & Supported By:

Finta - A secure, deal room platform for early-stage companies. Quickly set up your company and you’ve got a blazing fast tool for organizing your fundraise and securing your sensitive company information. House your pitch deck, secure your legal documents, organize your cap table, notify target investors, and close deals faster! Finta allows you to raise more, save time, and increase your efficiency.

The A-List - Join the podcast’s backchannel for exclusive access to learn the single greatest piece of advice each guest has ever learned! Plus additional Ambition Today content, deeper guest insights, a community of fellow fans, and much more.

==========

Visit Ambition Today on the Web:

• www.siskar.co/ambitiontoday

Follow Kevin Siskar on:

• Twitter: twitter.com/TheSiskar
• Instagram: instagram.com/thesiskar
• Facebook: facebook.com/kevin.siskar
• Snapchat: snapchat.com/add/krsiskar

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Ambition Today is a podcast about entrepreneurs, creators, investors, and builders who ambitiously changed the world. Each episode explores the hardships and heroism of everyday life to reveal the key moments which leave behind a lasting legacy. Creating value in the world is hard, but you are not alone.

No matter where you are in the world Ambition Today, hosted by Kevin Siskar, is here to keep you company you as you create your own incredible story.

Kevin Siskar brings you ambitious entrepreneurs inspired by Tim Ferriss Show, How I Built This with Guy Raz, Residual Income, Entrepreneur on Fire, NPR, HBR, TED Radio Hour, the...

Joining us today is Founder and CEO of Loeb Enterprises, Michael Loeb. Loeb Enterprises is an early stage venture investing company and an incubator for startups. Prior to Loeb Enterprises, Michael co-founded Synapse in 1992 with Jay Walker. Synapse then became the largest seller of consumer magazine subscriptions worldwide and now is a subsidiary of Time Warner. Along with Jay Walker, Michael assisted with the creation and early stage funding of Priceline.

Although Michael was born in St. Louis, MO, he has been in New York since the age of one years old. He was your typical entrepreneur from early on, mowing lawns, having a lemonade stand, etc. However, it was not until he was fired from Time, Inc until he realized his entrepreneurial potential. Tune in to learn more of his story:

• Michael growing up
• Working at Time, Inc
• Why being fired can sometimes be important
• Creating Synapse
• Co-founded Priceline
• Selling his company for $800 million
• Creating Loeb Enterprises
• Helping founders
• Pros and Cons of being in NY as a founder

Ambition Today Question of the DayTM : I have heard you say that you wish you had bet on yourself earlier in your life. How old were you when you quit Time Inc and how can people bet on themselves earlier in life?

The Single Greatest Piece of Advice: Members of the "A-list" can listen to exclusive A-list bonus clips here! If you are not a member yet be sure to join the Ambition Today A-list!

Quote Of The Episode: “It is hard to be an entrepreneur in your 30’s, if you didn’t have a big win in your 20’s.”

Links from this episode:

• Loeb Enterprises
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Founder Institute
• Audible

Visit Ambition Today on the Web: www.siskar.co/ambitiontoday Follow Kevin Siskar on Twitter: twitter.com/TheSiskar Follow Kevin Siskar on Instagram: instagram.com/thesiskar Follow Kevin Siskar on Facebook: facebook.com/kevin.siskar Add Kevin Siskar on Snapchat: snapchat.com/add/krsiskar

Kevin Siskar brings you ambitious entrepreneurs inspired by Tim Ferriss Show, How I Built This with Guy Raz, Residual Income, Entrepreneur on Fire, NPR, HBR, TED Radio Hour, the StartUp podcast with Alex Blumberg by Gimlet Media, Pat Flynn, Tony Robbins, The Uncertain Hour, Bigger Pockets, Art of Charm, Dave Ramsey, Planet Money, Jocko Podcast, EntreLeadership, Zigler, APM Marketplace, This Week In Startups with Jason Calacanis, Mixergy, Seth Godin, Joe Rogan Experience, GaryVee, James Altucher, Monocle 24, How to Start a Startup, Crooked Media, and The $100 MBA Show with Omar Zenhom, and Casey Neistat.

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS (apple.co/1NRRPzL), on Google Play Music (goo.gl/LmmciJ), or on Stitcher for Android (bit.ly/1Rn01dy).