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The Startup Junkies Podcast

The Startup Junkies podcast is hosted by Jeff Amerine and the team at Startup Junkie. We’ll cover topics ranging from getting started, planning, growing your business, proving your concept, leadership, marketing, exit strategies and so much more. We’ll interview business owners, entrepreneurs, experts and people we think will bring value to our audience. Subscribe, and together we'll take your business to the next level.
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Now displaying: February, 2023

This is the Startup Junkies Podcast. These are the stories of the people that are afflicted with creating the next great products and services that are going to change lives - not just in America, but worldwide. We're going to tell the stories of the next great beer producer, products and apparel makers, and the stories of people that don't accept the status quo and that want to make things better. 

Welcome to the Startup Junkies Podcast.

Feb 27, 2023

Summary:

Welcome to another great episode of Startup Junkies!

On this episode, hosts Victoria Dickerson, Jeff Amerine, and Grace Gill sit down with Stamatis Astra, co-founder and head of product at Intelligent Relations, a PR firm that leverages artificial intelligence to build broader and smarter relationships. Additionally, Stamatis is a venture partner who invests in strategic startups with applications that enrich people’s lives. He also co-hosts Grecian Echoes, a talk show in Boston, that offers an in-depth analysis of current news and events laced with provocative commentary to its one hundred fifty thousand Greek-American audience members. Throughout this episode, Stamatis discusses his experience as a lifetime entrepreneur, finding excitement in the beginnings of new ventures, and making public relations accessible for businesses of every size.

 

Show Notes:

(0:49) Introduction to Stamatis

(1:20) Stamatis’s Background

(3:57) About Intelligent Relations

(10:59) How Artificial Intelligence Benefits Companies

(13:52) Different Startup Models

(18:18) Chasing New Ventures

(21:47) Raising Venture Capital

(25:34) Overcoming Challenges

(29:34) Advice to Younger Self

(30:39) Closing Question

 

Links:

Victoria Dickerson

Jeff Amerine

Grace Gill

Startup Junkie

Stamatis Astra

Intelligent Relations

 

Quotes:

“Our technology is a combination of media monitoring databases and artificial intelligence. It allows us to, depending on the company, find the relevant stories, find the relevant journalists that cover the stories, and create relationships with them…bottom line is, we allow any business to connect with journalists and get press.” - Stamatis Astra, (5:34)

“There’s very different levels of startups. There’s a startup that is simply a Powerpoint or a deck and there’s two or three people and that’s it. And there’s a startup with a seed round and twenty-five to fifty people that pay salaries.” - Stamatis Astra, (14:14)

“That’s what we do. We train the model, we get the data. The more data we get, and the more speeches and ideas the customer puts in, the more robust the model gets in order to do all the matching and creating the content.” - Stamatis Astra, (27:38)

Feb 20, 2023

Summary:

Welcome to another great episode of Startup Junkies!

On this episode, hosts Matthew Ward, Caleb Talley, and Jeff Amerine sit down with Dr. Adam Stoverink, the director of the Sam M. Walton College of Business MBA program at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Stoverink is the author of the book Unbreakable, a resource for leaders on how to build resilient teams, and has also been featured in twelve other notable publications. Additionally, Dr. Stoverink is an associate professor of management, teaching leadership and teamwork to graduate, undergraduate, and executive audiences. Throughout this episode, Dr. Stovering discusses the four essential pillars of resilient teams, how to create adaptability, and what character traits define a satisfactory team member. 

 

Show Notes:

(1:12) Introduction to Dr. Stoverink

(2:16) About Unbreakable

(6:19) The Process of Writing a Book

(8:23) Advice on Building Psychological Safety

(13:16) The Walton MBA Do Good Project

(19:24) Learning from Failure

(22:21) The Four Pillars of Resilient Teams

(28:13) Hard Work vs. Lucky Timing

(30:14) Attributes of Good Team Members

(32:49) Advice to Younger Self

(35:56) Closing Thoughts 

 

Links:

Matthew Ward

Caleb Talley

Jeff Amerine

Startup Junkie

Dr. Adam Stoverink 

 

Quotes:

“We have to feel safe in that environment to speak up. Innovation is a big part of what you all do, and if you want to be innovative, you simply have to have all the perspectives on the table. And if people don't feel safe to go against the grain, your innovation is cut.” - Dr. Adam Stoverink, (7:31)

“We don’t really have one another’s back. We do what we have to do to accomplish our goals, but we don’t go beyond that. I think that is what really separates the outstanding teams from the mediocre teams.” - Dr. Adam Stoverink, (12:50)

“You have to have a moderately high, above average confidence, but it can’t be too high. Otherwise, you’re going to run into the situation where hubris takes over and you’re not on the lookout for possible adversities because you think you’re untouchable.” - Dr. Adam Stoverink, (23:12)

“Part of building a resilient team is being very clear about what components are needed to be successful. Part of that is personality. You want a mix of personalities, but most important is diversity of thought that often comes from diversity of backgrounds, which correlates with diversity of demographics.” - Dr. Adam Stoverink, (31:25)

 

Feb 13, 2023

Summary:

Welcome to another great episode of Startup Junkies!

On this episode, hosts Caleb Talley, Jeff Amerine, and Victoria Dickerson sit down with Kelton Hays, executive director of Cobblestone Farms. Cobblestone Farms is a local nonprofit committed to cultivating a community free from hunger by ensuring all people have access to fresh, nutritionally dense foods that are produced through sustainable agriculture practices. Throughout this episode, Kelton discusses the deeper mission of Cobblestone Farms and how important addressing food insecurity is to uplifting the community.

 

Show Notes:

(0:53) Introduction to Kelton

(1:34) Kelton’s Background

(5:20) Why Cobblestone Farms Needs to Exist

(11:03) Food Insecurity in Northwest Arkansas

(15:41) Being Unburdened by Shame

(17:35) Growing Food for Hunger Relief vs. Donating Food

(21:45) Raising Money

(30:54) Engaging Bigger Players

(37:51) Getting People Involved

(41:34) Advice to Younger Self

 

Links:

Caleb Talley

Jeff Amerine

Victoria Dickerson

Kelton Hays

Cobblestone Farms

 

Quotes:

“If somebody were to ask us what we do at Cobblestone Farms and I wanted to be a little ethereal, a little heady, I would say we give people dignity. Food is a lot more than calories. We want people to have dignified access to great food in the same way any of us sitting in this room would have.” - Kelton Hays, (6:34)

“That’s the big picture. We want to give people dignity. We want people to feel dignity because your quality of life, your health outcomes, and your ability to thrive as a human being, if you do not possess dignity and live in shame, is going to be a negative outcome .” - Kelton Hays, (14:46)

“My heart is to mobilize individual community members. We all have such potential…We often get so intimidated by the magnitude of an issue or by our perceived inability to meet the issue that we think, ‘Well, I can’t do anything.’ Yeah, you can.” - Kelton Hays, (20:02)

Feb 6, 2023

Summary:

Welcome to another great episode of Startup Junkies!

On this episode, hosts Caleb Talley, Jeff Amerine, and previous Startup Junkie Michael Iseman sit down with Philip Mudd, a former CNN correspondent and counterterrorism analyst. During Philip’s extensive and accomplished career, he was a valuable asset to the FBI, CIA, and the American nation as a whole and received numerous CIA awards for his expertise and diligence. Philip is also the author of three distinguished publications and is a member of multiple prestigious associations. Throughout this episode, Philip shares insight on how to present information to your boss (in his case, President George W. Bush), how to successfully navigate chaos, and why you need to have a “call mom” sentence for any project. 

 

Show Notes:

(1:03) Introduction to Philip

(1:58) From English Major to Senior Executive

(4:29) Leadership Basics

(8:34) Decision Advantage

(16:08) Addressing Vulnerabilities

(19:00) Navigating Crises

(28:00) Taking Responsibility When Things Go Wrong

(31:12) Hiring People More Experienced than You

(39:24) Voicing your Opinion to a Worldwide Audience

(44:44) Protecting Data

(48:51) Cyberattacks during Times of War

(55:14) Geopolitical Business Consequences

(1:06:50) Advice to Younger Self

 

Links:

Caleb Talley

Jeff Amerine

Michael Iseman

Philip Mudd

Startup Junkie 

 

Quotes:

“There’s a couple basics you have to think about. One's how to get people better. Mediocre mission, great people, you can win. Great mission, mediocre people, you can’t win.” - Philip Mudd, (4:51)

“I’ll never forget it, the difference between presenting what you know and presenting what the decision maker needs to know based on determining what the decision is.” - Philip Mudd, (13:53)

“We have a responsibility not only to customers, but to families. Let’s talk about how we ensure that today we work through this as opposed to man this is a rough day. Don’t do that. The workforce will tense up and tense means worse decision making.” - Philip Mudd, (24:27) 

“I think you have to take a step back and say, ‘I am not the keeper of knowledge. I am the keeper of the questions.’ Questions result from judgment, experience, exposure, and perspective. So some people around the table might have knowledge that I don’t have.” - Philip Mudd, (31:31)

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