Marina McCoy (Founder & CEO @ Waste Free Earth)

Marina McCoy (Founder & CEO @ Waste Free Earth)

Marina has been living zero-waste for the past six years and loves sharing her enthusiasm for waste reduction with anyone willing to learn. * She was named a pioneer and expert in her field by the Burlington Free Press * In March 2020, she was awarded Vermont's Young Entrepreneur of the Year * Nominated for 1% For The Planet's Pinnacle Award: Unleash Passion Every Day. Her company, Waste Free Earth, uses an interdisciplinary yet balanced approach to creating a fully sustainable model for their clients through the implementation of three essential frameworks: * environmental stewardship * economic prosperity * social responsibility She also creates sustainability-focused content for brands through writing blog posts, creating social media posts, cultivating mindful engagements on websites and being a spokesperson for certain brands that align with her values. In her free time, you can find her in the mountains, volunteering, or making waste-free dinners with friends. You can follow Marina at: IG: @sustainabilitybosslady Podcast points: ✔️ How did her sustainable movement company start? ✔️ When did Marina go from a volunteer to realizing that this is a valid business that she wants to grow? ✔️ The importance of client relationships in growing your business. ✔️ Building a business, and the importance of scaling and pricing your services. ✔️ Pivoting your business during the pandemic and managing client expectations. Check out more episodes at theyoungfounders.com

Maia Bittner (Co-Founder @ RocksBox, Pinch)

Maia Bittner is a  serial entrepreneur, investor, and social media influencer. She's been a cofounder at RocksBox [https://www.rocksbox.com/], a subscription Jewelry company, and Pinch, a financial services app (which was later acquired by Chime [https://www.chime.com/]). She's also an advisor to Parcel B [https://www.parcelb.vc/], an investment fund supporting startups founded by students and alumni at her alma mater, Olin College. She’s been featured in the Wall St Journal, Huffington Post, Forbes, TechCrunch, CheddarTV, Crunchbase, Lifehacker, and more. She’s also been featured on a bunch of great podcasts, including Chicks Who Give a Hoot, Crazy Wisdom, and Bank On It. At RocksBox, Maia and her co-founder Meaghan Rose were able to raise ~$15m, despite the challenges of raising capital in San Francisco as a pair of female co-founders targeting women customers. Later, at Pinch, she raised a pre-seed round of close to $1m with her cofounder, Michael Ducker. You can follow Maia on Twitter at @maiab [https://twitter.com/maiab]. Some of the things we talk about on the podcast are: * What does it mean to find Product Market Fit (PMF) and how can you work towards that? * How to use Net Promoter Score (NPS) to improve customer experience. * How to decide which investors to pitch your idea to. * Why you shouldn't always listen to industry standard advice and how A/B testing helped RocksBox grow. * Why sometimes founders need to throw in the towel and move on to something else. Check out more episodes of the Young Founders Podcast [https://rileyfarabaugh.com/young-founders].

Jason Levinthal (Founder @ J-Skis, LINE)

Jason Levinthal, or JLev as you may know him, is a professional skier turned serial entrepreneur. He’s the guy who founded LINE Skis [https://lineskis.com/], Full Tilt Boots [https://fulltiltboots.com/], and now J Skis [https://jskis.com/]. He’s been featured in FreeSkier Magazine, Powder Magazine, BombSnow, New Schoolers, and more. He was named a top 40 under 40 professional in the sporting goods industry by Sporting Goods Business Magazine in 2010. Jason was a bronze medalist in the 1998 X Games, gave a TED talk [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr5KHJa-BCs] in 2015, and has sold over half a million pairs of skis. You can find him on social media @jasonlevinthal [https://www.instagram.com/jasonlevinthal/], follow J skis @j_skis [https://www.instagram.com/j_skis/], and grab a pair of limited edition sticks at jskis.com [https://jskis.com/]. Check out more episodes of theYoung Founders Podcast [https://rileyfarabaugh.com/young-founders] and be sure to subscribe on the podcasting platform of your choice.

Zeke Tierkel (Co-Founder & CEO, Pure Investments)

Zeke is the co-founder and CEO of Pure Investments, a cryptocurrency investment community and content publishing company based in Burlington, VT. Zeke was a sophomore at Champlain College when he founded Pure Investments, which attracted 10,000 users within their first year in business. He and his co-founder Miles placed third in the 2018 LaunchVT Collegiate pitch competition and have built a team of analysts and content creators in the crypto niche and have been able to monetize their audience through paid memberships for premium content. Some of the things Nate, Zeke and I talked about on this episode of the Young Founders Podcast: * How he built Pure Investments from $0 to $60,000/m in recurring revenue in less than 18 months. * How online networking sparked a relationship with his co-founder > If you have an idea, don't just let it be an idea. Turn it into something that's tangible. Make it a reality. All you have to do [as an entrepreneur] is take that first step. Once you take that first step all the other steps are a lot easier because you've already got the ball rolling. The worst that can happen is you fail– and that's a really great thing to happen. * Kickstarting their business with content marketing * How he juggles running a company with college classes and social activities * Building and selling long-boards in high school > It's crazy. We didn't see it as ever becoming a company. [We were just] doing it for fun on the side. * Building a Discord community and the pros and cons of Discord as a platform * Why you shouldn't take money from VCs * His biggest mistake: outsourcing product development overseas > We did a lot of marketing in the right places. * How the Pure Investment team stays connected with a remote workforce using Slack as a communication tool * Customer segmenting * Generating subscriptions and revenue through referrals and word of mouth We wrapped up the podcast with a testimonial for Pure Investments: > Pure Investments is the best investment community I've ever joined. The calls the staff give are top-notch backed with solid and accurate technical analysis. Furthermore, the community is very friendly and helpful. I would strongly recommend anyone who's looking to join an investment group to join Pure Investments. - Andy You can learn more about Zeke's business at pureinvestments.com [https://pureinvestments.com/] or click here for more episodes of the Young Founders Podcast [https://www.rileyfarabaugh.com/cat/young-founders/].

Chas Smith (Co-Founder & CEO, Sap! Beverages)

Chas is a cofounder and the CEO of Sap! Beverages. He founded the company alongside his cousin Nikita. Sap! has been featured in USA Today,  Country Living, Food & Wine Magazine, and many more. Their products were featured in Whole Foods' Top Trends for 2018 and the pair made an appearance on NBC's Shark Tank with famed investors Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavek, Barbara Corcoran, Rohan Ohza, and Lori Griener. They ultimately turned down an offer from Herjavek for 30% of their company, valuing the business at close to $2m. Some of the things we discuss with Chas on this episode of the podcast: * How running his business has set him up to succeed in his future endeavors regardless of the industry. * How to find a product-market fit and better understand the opportunity for your business * Launching the product at a single location- City Market in downtown Burlington, VT. * His experience developing new, innovative products that the market had never seen * Why it's so important to understand your customer and what they care about * Why he turned down a deal on NBC's Shark Tark * Chas' feelings about sacrificing a career in law in order to build his own company. * How social media has helped distinguish Sap! and build their fanbase > It takes constant hard work and hard truths about your products. I'm really a strong believer that you have to go through the experience yourself to learn. You can find Sap! products online at SapVT.com [https://sapvt.com/] and follow along on their journey on social media @DrinkSap. Check out more episodes of the Young Founders Podcast [https://rileyfarabaugh.com/young-founders].