How Success Happens

Ryan Steelberg is the Co-Founder and President of Veritone, Inc., a NASDAQ publicly traded company leading in enterprise AI software, services, and solutions. Ryan founded multiple companies with his brother, Chad; Their first company, Adforce, was founded in 1995 and acquired by CMGi in 1999 quickly after its IPO. He then served as President and CEO of Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc. and Head of Broadcast at Google Inc. He also was Co-Founder and President of dMarc Broadcasting, an advertising company that was acquired by Google and integrated into their Google Ads platform.

Dan Doctoroff is the Chairman and Founder of Target ALS, a nonprofit medical research foundation focused on finding treatment for ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Dan was previously New York City’s longest-serving Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding and the former CEO and President of Bloomberg LP. He led NYC2012, New York City’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and most recently founded Sidewalk Labs in 2015, a Google subsidiary that uses and innovates technologies to improve urban infrastructure.

Dave Finocchio is the Co-Founder and former CEO of Bleacher Report, a digital media company centered around all sports culture and content. Dave connected millions of sports fans with curated content on Bleacher Report’s social media platforms using innovative digital media consumption strategies. In 2012,  Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting for $215 million. After stepping away from Bleacher Report in 2019,  Dave, with digital media veteran Anna Robertson, co-founded The Cool Down in 2021. The company focuses on engaging in further conversations on climate change and climate tech to create actionable change.

Meredith Berkman and Dorian Furhman are founders of Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes (PAVe). The company was founded by three concerned moms as a grassroots response to the youth vaping epidemic. Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes has become an influential advocacy and education nonprofit run and powered by passionate volunteers across the country, the national parent voice fighting the predatory behavior of Big Tobacco.

Nell Diamond is the Founder and CEO of Hill House Home, a digital-first lifestyle brand offering bedding, bath, baby, accessories and apparel, including their widely beloved Nap DressⓇ. Hill House Home is a digital-first lifestyle brand that brings beauty and joy to everyday rituals. With its design-centric approach, Hill House Home offers impeccable quality, and timeless, feminine styles through quality products designed to enhance and celebrate life.

Benny Buller is founder of Velo3D. Velo3D is a metal 3D printing technology company. The company unlocks true design freedom and enables customers in space exploration, aviation, power generation, energy, and semiconductor to innovate the future in their respective industries. Using Velo3D, these customers can now build mission-critical metal parts that were previously impossible to manufacture. Previous to Velo3D Buller was at Khosla Ventures,, Solyndra, Inc., and First Solar.

Christopher Plowman is the CEO of Insight Timer. Insight Timer is one of the world’s top meditation apps with the largest collection of free guided meditations (they have over 130,000 titles!) Insight Timer is the home to millions of meditators pushing a movement to calm your mind, reduce anxiety, manage stress, sleep deeply and improve happiness.

Steve Gottlieb is founder and CEO of Shindig, a platform for online video chat events. Prior to Shindig, Gottlieb founded the independent record label TVT Records and its publishing arm TVT Music.

JuE Wong is the CEO of Olaplex. Olaplex is one of the top independent haircare brands. Ms. Wong has extensive experience in scaling business and financial performance for all classes of business from emerging businesses, middle market growth organizations and established/ legacy companies. She has strategic and operating expertise in digital and technology-driven platforms of growth. Prior to joining Olaplex, Ms. Wong served as the Global Chief Executive Officer of Moroccanoil Inc.

David Siegel is the CEO of Meetup, the largest platform for finding and building local community. Prior to joining Meetup, David was CEO of Investopedia and before that, President of Seeking Alpha. He hosts the podcast Keep Connected, which is dedicated to the power of community. David’s book, Decide & Conquer, lays out the framework for decision-making that leaders can use to ensure organizational and personal success.

Michael E. Kassan is the founder and CEO of MediaLink, a leading strategic advisory firm. Described as the “ultimate power broker,” he is a trusted advisor on speed dial with every major executive in the media, marketing, entertainment and technology C-Suite. They seek his insights and instruction for solving their most complex business challenges. MediaLink is a part of UTA, which acquired the firm from Ascential pLc in 2021.

Wendy Lund is the chief communications officer of Organon. Organon is a global health care company dedicated to making a world of difference for women, their families and the communities they care for. Wendy is responsible for establishing and overseeing global communications and related advocacy. Throughout her career, Wendy has maintained a focus on women’s health, helping bring information and advocacy around the world.

Sallie Krawcheck, is the co-founder of Ellevest. Ellevest is the #1 investment company for women. Sallie’s professional mission is to get more money into the hands of women. Ellevest was named on CNBC’s top 50 "Disruptor" list in 2019, on LinkedIn’s 50 “Most Sought-After Startups” list two years in a row, and as one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 100 Brilliant Ideas. Krawcheck is also the best-selling author of “Own It: The Power of Women at Work.”

Julie Rice is co-founder of the fitness phenomenon, SoulCycle. Rice's life's work has been about building community and she served as Co-CEO at SoulCycle from 2006 to 2015 before serving as a Partner at WeWork from 2017 to 2019. She is currently the Co-Founder of Peoplehood. Peoplehood makes the world a more connected and empathetic place, one conversation at a time. In addition, she is a board member of the Public Theatre and WeightWatchers.

Steve Fredette is president and co-founder of Toast, Inc (NYSE: TOST.) ​​​​ Toast, Inc. is a cloud-based restaurant software company, providing restaurant management and a point of sale system. Steve spearheads the company’s product and innovation initiatives. Prior to founding Toast, Steve started and co-led the mobile commerce business at Endeca (now known as Oracle), where he built out the product team.

Jodi Guber Brufsky is the Founder of Beyond Yoga, a luxury athleisure brand that empowers women of all shapes and sizes, setting a tone of body positivity and inclusivity. Beyond Yoga was most recently sold to Levi’s. Prior to Beyond Yoga, Jodi co-founded Beyond PR, a full-service event and public relations company. Today, Jodi continues to spread the mission and vision for Beyond Yoga through podcasts, articles, and social media.

Chip Wilson is the founder of lululemon. (NASDAQ:LULU) is a healthy lifestyle inspired athletic apparel company for yoga, running, training, and most other sweaty pursuits. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional designs, lululemon works with yogis and athletes in local communities for continuous research and product feedback. Chip’s mantra is to create possibilities for people to live longer, healthier, more fun lives in his pursuit to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness.

Marc Gorlin is the founder and CEO of crowdsourced delivery platform Roadie, which he launched in 2014. Roadie puts unused capacity in passenger vehicles to work by connecting people with items to send with drivers heading in the right direction. The company works with consumers and businesses across almost every industry to enable a faster, cheaper and more scalable solution for same-day and urgent delivery. Roadie became a wholly owned subsidiary of UPS in 2021.

Sheila Lirio Marcelo was founder and former CEO and Chairwoman of Care.com, the world’s largest marketplace for care, serving more than 35 million people across 20 countries and growing more than 100% year-over-year from its founding in 2006 until the company went public. Marelo has now become one of only 22 women to ever found and lead a company to IPO.

Steven Galanis is the co-founder and CEO of Cameo, the leading marketplace building personal relationships among talent, fans and brands through custom video messages, live video calls and direct messages. The Cameo platform has connected fans with tens of thousands of their favorite athletes, entertainers and other influencers, facilitated more than 2.5 million Cameo videos, and raised more than $1.5 million for a wide range of charities through its Cameo Cares program.

Michael Browning is the CEO and Founder of Unleashed Brands, a platform company that houses the world’s best franchise brands to help kids learn, play and grow. Browning launched Unleashed in 2021 after noticing a void in the market for parents looking for a trusted resource for kid’s activities. The growing portfolio currently includes Urban Air Adventure Park, Snapology and The Little Gym.

This week, Ansarada CEO Sam Riley spoke with Robert Tuchman on How Success Happens about getting his start in business, the lessons he learned along the way, and what Ansarada’s early days were like. The duo discuss the skill of converting the risk-averse, as well as how growing your business sometimes means taking obstacles head-on. Hear about the mission to make life easier for dealmakers, as well as the commitment to give back, that makes Ansarada so successful. Press play and enjoy this fantastic bonus episode!

Stuart Landesberg is the co-founder and CEO of Grove Collaborative, a leading sustainable consumer products company transforming the industry into a force for human and environmental good. Stu has long been passionate about sustainability. Grove creates and curates high-performing, planet-first products across household cleaning, personal care, laundry, clean beauty, and pets. It was recently announced that Grove will be going public via a SPAC backed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.

Daniel Lamarre has spent more than two decades with Cirque du Soleil. At its peak, Cirque had annual sales of $1 billion and 15 million attendees per year. As CEO, he guided the organization through a period of astounding growth and then brought it back to life during the massive upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is currently Executive Vice Chairman of the Board. In this episode Daniel is a natural storyteller, drawing from his successes and failures, always choosing laughter and humility.

Marco Zappacosta is the co-founder and CEO of Thumbtack, a technology leader building the all-in-one home care platform helping customers find and hire skilled professionals. Thumbtack empowers homeowners to instantly book the right skilled professionals and supports hundreds of thousands of small businesses to grow sustainably. The company has raised more than $500 million and Marco has been recognized on Forbes’ 30 Under 30.

Nicole Miller is a globally recognized fashion designer. Nicole’s continued innovation has often led to her being the first to popularize a new technique or fabric. Nicole’s vision is to create sustainable, accessible luxury and premium fashion and lifestyle products for eco-conscious, empowered women and their families who want to look their best, feel good about their consumer choices, and participate in making the world a better place.

Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning documentarian, journalist, speaker, author and philanthropist. Known as a provocative, credible and smart interviewer throughout her career, Soledad has been dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories on a range of social issues and is a thought leader whose public engagement garners wide attention. Soledad is also the CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions, a multiplatform media production company.

Jonathan Adler’s mission is to bring modern American glamour to your life by creating a foundation of timelessly chic furniture and accessorizing with abandon. It all started with pottery, as he’s been obsessed with clay since he was a kid. In 1993, Barneys bought his collection of pots, and in 1998, he opened his first store. Today his offerings span furniture, lighting, and décor; rooted in his commitment to outstanding design, impeccable materials, and unparalleled craftsmanship.

John Doerr is the chair of Kleiner Perkins and the author of the number-one best-seller Measure What Matters and Speed and Scale, an action plan to solve the global climate crisis. John has served entrepreneurs with ingenuity and optimism, helping them build bold teams and disruptive companies. A pioneer of Silicon Valley’s cleantech movement, he has invested in zero-emissions technologies since 2006. In this very important episode John discusses the climate crisis in detail.

Sophia Amoruso is the founder of Nasty Gal, a women’s fashion company. Her New York Times best-selling autobiography, #GIRLBOSS, was adapted into a television series on Netflix in 2017. Sophia is also the founder and CEO of Business Class, a digital course for entrepreneurs looking to build successful businesses, and founder and General Partner of Trust Fund, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage consumer businesses.