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PODCAST · business

Moving Up

by Alex Grodnik

Hear directly from marketing and business leaders. Secrets to success, struggles along the way, optimal career paths and life in general.

Publisher-supplied feed metadata · PodParley refreshed Apr 13, 2026 · Source feed

Episodes

  1. E179: Adam Dell (Clarity Money acquired by Goldman Sachs) – Run towards what you’re good at

    Adam discovered his interest in venture capital while in law school then hustled his way into the industry by offering to work for free. Not being afraid to do the work, going deep and the importance of focus. Starting Clarity Money and selling it to Goldman Sachs 18 months later for $$$

  2. E178: Joseph Woodbury (CEO/Co-founder of Neighbor) – The startup journey

    Joseph is the co-founder of Neighbor, the Airbnb of storage. Turning down a job at Bain, how to raise capital from business competitions and create FOMO with investors at the same time. Also, building a company guided by values and why it’s all about the people.

  3. E177: Frank Rotman (QED Investors) - Getting to yes

    Getting a job at Capital One before it was called fintech. The importance of exploration in a career, what to look for in your job and the future of consumer finance.

  4. E176: Khaled Hussein (Red Door) - Trust the network

    Founding Tilt and the learnings from the incredible journey. Now building a real estate tech company to simplify the mortgage process. Working on difficult problems that will can change the world and being stubborn on where you want to be but flexible on how you get there.

  5. E175: Colin Walsh (Varo Money) – Building a delightful bank

    Colin had a huge career in finance (GE Capital, Amex and Wells Fargo). He got the experience, identified the problem, and started Varo to re-invent the model. Also, banking in the US vs UK.

  6. E174: Immad Akhund (Mercury) – The biggest risk in not capturing the upside

    Immad has gone from startup to startup. Joining a company already in YC, starting a video game company and now a bank for startups. Also, his advice for how to network successfully.

  7. E173: Anu Schultes (CEO LendUp) - Always an optimist

    Growing up in India and coming to the US for grad school, Anu had no idea of the challenges that lay ahead for her. Letting go of your fear of failure and striving to make a difference every day. A story of crazy obstacles ( financial, health and family) and overcoming them all to achieve her…

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  8. E172: Nima Ghamsari (Blend) - Focusing on impact

    Walking away from a very lucrative career playing professional poker during college in the pursuit of adding value to society. Starting Blend after seeing the opportunity to digitize and simplify the mortgage process.

  9. E171: Ken Kaufman - Financial Secrets to Grow Dental Organizations

    Financial Secrets to Grow Dental Organizations, The 9 Required Clarity Tools.

  10. E170: Chris Dreyer - Niching Up - Achieving Specialized Market Focus

    Founder and now author Chris Dreyer explains the importance of focusing on the one thing you can be best at and how a search for "how to make money online" set him on his journey.

  11. E169: Mike Glauser - 6 Universal Truths for Being Happy Together

    Entrepreneur and professor Mike Glauser lays out a clear path to help us all increase our happiness and live peacefully on this planet

  12. E168: Larry Yatch - How Leadership Actually Works

    Retired Navy Seal Larry Yatch reveals leadership principles for life and business.

  13. E167: Gabe Nelson - The Solopreneur’s Money Manifesto

    Gabe talks us through his journey providing financial advice to entrepreneurs and his new book which lays out a foundation to maximize your financial future and build your ideal life.

  14. E166: Sunny Bonnel (Motto) - A Guide to Success for the Defiant, Dangerous, and Different

    Sunny walks us through starting a branding agency that works with innovative, high-growth companies to now developing a Rare Breed framework to reveal why success doesn’t come from fitting in, but by being who you truly are, even while the world tries to stop you.

  15. E165: Melisa Tokmak (Scale AI) - Growing a company and career

    Melisa (Chief of Staff at Scale) walks us through her journey and what motivated her to leave her small village in Turkey, learn English and get accepted to Stanford. Also, her precise advice on what you should be doing early in your career.

  16. E164: Barry Magliarditi - Sex, Drugs, and Radical Self-Expression

    Barry walks us through his journey to finding his authentic self and learning to listen to his intuition. Also, how to find the right path for you and live a happy and meaningful life.

  17. E163: Robert Towle - Don't Be Dumb

    Robert lays out his playbook for how to think critically and navigate obstacles in both life and business.

  18. E162: Frederik Mijnhardt (Secfi) - Understanding Equity

    Frederik walks us through his journey from consultant to startup CEO and we learn about how his company helps startup employees learn and manage what to do with their equity.

  19. E161: Darshan Mehta - Getting to Aha

    Darshan tells us about his career exploring the nature of insights - what they are, how to uncover them, and how to use them to drive innovation and audience engagement.

  20. E160: Fabrice Testa - Becoming a Super-Entrepreneur

    Fabrice lays out a framework for how to turn a crazy idea into a world changing business.

  21. E159: Travis Holoway (Solo Funds) - Social Loans

    Creating a marketplace like Airbnb for small dollar loans (under $1,000).

  22. E158: Arad Levertov (Sunbit) - the future of consumer credit

    Finance struggles for an Israeli immigrant and how that led to the founding of Sunbit, a fintech company that allows you to split any purchase into payments.

  23. E157: JC de Swaan - Seeking virtue for a career in finance

    Beginning his career in consulting for Mckinsey and now in the investing business as well as being a professor at Princeton. JC lays out a framework for how to balance having a successful career in finance while also helping to improve society.

  24. E156: Ian Bentley (Parker Clay) - Made in Ethiopia

    Leaving a comfortable life in Santa Barbara, moving to Ethiopia, adopting 2 kids and trying to make the world a better place. Then, seeing his opportunity, Ian started Parker Clay – a leather good’s company that’s re-imagining what it means to make luxury consumer goods today.

  25. E155: Search funds with Orlan and John

    Everything you ever wanted to know about starting a search fund with 2 guys that just did it.

  26. E154: Joel Schwartz (Double Check) - The journey of an entrepreneur

    Joel describes his journey from a branch manager at a bank to the founder of an incredible fintech startup. Also, his wisdom for if you should become an entrepreneur or not.

  27. E153: Eric Rachmel (Brace) - IB to VC to startup founder

    Exciting conversation about the future of the mortgage servicing market! Seriously, Eric has an impressive background and is building something very cool.

  28. E152: Amira Valliani (Glow) - From the white house to podcasting

    The Journey from working in politics to founding a disruptive podcasting business after b-school.

  29. E151: David Chan (Farmtogether) - Investing in farmland

    With a journey through banking, an agriculture startup and private equity, David describes the importance of farmland and how this massive asset class, which has been inaccessible to most, is being democratized by Farmtogether.

  30. E150: Nick Velasquez – Learn, Improve, Master

    Student of learning and mastery – Nick walks us through the mind-set required to master a subject and debunks the myth that it’s spending 10,000 hours on it.

  31. E149: Mandy Cavanaugh - F*ck the Glass Ceiling

    Learn how to discover what light's you up and how to build a career around it. Also, harnessing the power of femininity.

  32. E148: Mandy Gilbert - Just go with it - How to navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship

    Mandy shares how entrepreneurship is an adventure worth taking, even if the path is rarely a straight line.

  33. E147: Adii Pienaar – How to live Life Profitability

    3x founder and now author – Adii lays out a new measure of entrepreneurial success. We discuss how to become aware of what your underlying goals and how to incorporate them into your life and career.

  34. E146: Ross Richmond (Arrive Outdoors) - The future of the sharing economy

    Ross, Co-founder of Arrive Outdoors, a company that rents outdoor equipment tells us all about how the world is moving towards a rental model and why that’s so important. Also, a great entrepreneurial story, from politics to a venture backed passion project.

  35. E145: Kate Miller (Miss Grass) - Building a cannabis brand

    Kate’s mission it to help the world get good at weed. Her story working in entertainment for Lorne Michaels, and incubating her now startup from that world. Why network = net worth and the future of the cannabis industry.

  36. E144: Joel Milne (RepairSmith) - Reinventing car repair

    Joel walks us thorough the ups and downs of his startup journey. The learnings he takes away and how he’s now trying to disrupt the car repair market.

  37. E143: Eoghan McCabe (Intercom) - Insecurities and ego in business

    Eoghan - Co-founder of Intercom discusses leadership lessons from founding and scaling one of Silicon Valley’s fastest growing startups. Eoghan is incredibly wise and self-reflective about this journey and he shares his insights on the only thing that matters for any business, where character…

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  38. E142: Everett Cook (Rho Business Banking)

    Building the first digital commercial bank after a career in IB and macro investing. Why he loved banking so much, why he left to work at SAC and then the questions he made himself answer when he wanted to start a business.

  39. E141: Chris Hutchins (Wealthfront) - Automating your financial life

    Chris is the Head of Autonomous Financial Planning at Wealthfront. He sold his startup to them after selling a company to Google. We talk about accepting a job in banking and consulting at the same time, doing whatever it takes to get the job, and why everything is about forging real relationships.

  40. E140: Doug Foley The Breakout Blueprint

    Doug describes the exact steps you need to take to build your ideal business. Literally – he makes it so straightforward and simple!

  41. E139: Rob Petrozzo (Rally) - Investing in your passions

    Building the first liquid stock market for buying/selling collectibles. Rob describes how he turned his passion for art into a job and then how he built a platform that lets people invest in the things they care about. Also, a very elegant description of what fintech is.

  42. E138: Jessica Jackley - Dream big but start small

    Jessica answered her calling to be of service to people less fortunate than her. That calling led her to taking an unpaid internship in East Africa and then co-founding the microfinance company Kiva. A truly amazing journey centered around how big can you dream?

  43. E137: Justin Nguyen (Declassified college podcast) – Differentiating yourself

    LinkedIn guru Justin tells us how to stand out in college and why he turned down a consulting job to pursue his side hustle.

  44. E136: Scott Painter (Fair) – Disrupting the car business

    Scott – Founder of TrueCar, CarsDirect.com and Fair has spent his entire career focused on the single problem of buying and owning a car. Joining the army, dropping out of college after selling his first business and focusing on what’s within your control. Also, the future of cars.

  45. E135: Marcus Whitney - Create and orchestrate

    Going from college dropout waiting tables, to teaching himself to code, breaking into entrepreneurship and now writing an amazing book for first time entrepreneurs. Awesome journey covering the fundamentals of business, philosophies of leadership, and the principles of running a business.

  46. E134: Paul Faust (Ringboost) - Cool guy Paul

    Salesman extraordinaire, Paul tells us about his path to building a company and becoming his own boss. Turning yourself into a force multiplier, how to trust in what you’re doing and getting a brief part on the Office TV show!

  47. E132: Taylor Nieman (Toucan) - Micro-moments of learning

    Taylor is a distribution specialist. Having learned from some of the best startups in consumer tech, she’s now building a browser extension to help people learn new things as they go about their day. What it’s ok to fail and the importance of relationships!

  48. E131: Max Hellerstein (Extra) - Do you like steak?

    Max started his first business in high school with the goal of making money with his best friend. The growth from there and the transition to creating a viral video for his push for pizza app that created his next business which was acquired by Eaze. Next up was the idea to create a modern-day…

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  49. E130: George McGehrin - The mindset of an entrepreneur

    Starting an executive placement firm and helping people craft their brands. George's learnings coming out of the last financial crisis and how to best position yourself to get a job after this one.

  50. E129: Jack Shannon (Recess) - Building an ad network for live events

    After studying finance at IU, Jack followed his passion to LA and became an assistant in the entertainment biz. Working his way up in a talent agency, Jack saw the opportunity to start a concert/festival touring company. From there, a cold email to Mark Cuban secured his first investor and how…

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

Hear directly from marketing and business leaders. Secrets to success, struggles along the way, optimal career paths and life in general.

HOSTED BY

Alex Grodnik

CATEGORIES

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Moving Up have?

Moving Up currently has 172 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Moving Up about?

Hear directly from marketing and business leaders. Secrets to success, struggles along the way, optimal career paths and life in general.

How often does Moving Up release new episodes?

Moving Up publishes regularly with 172 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.

Where can I listen to Moving Up?

You can listen to Moving Up on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Moving Up?

Moving Up is created and hosted by Alex Grodnik.
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