Kevin Siskar

Regional Director of the Founder Institute in New York City. Also at www.Siskar.co talking startups and hosting the Ambition Today Podcast.

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Ambition Today is a podcast show hosted by Kevin Siskar discussing with other entrepreneurial and ambitious people what it means to achieve success, grow your startup, try to change the world, and go after your dreams, today. While working with new startups in New York Kevin Siskar comes across many ambitious people who are battling impossible odds to try and manifest something they truly believe needs to exist in the world.

Listen to the Ambition Today Podcast! Visit http://www.siskar.co/ambitiontoday for more information and links to subscribe!  

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Ambition Today: Rob Principe, Founder & CEO of Scratch On Partnering With Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., The Future Of Music, And The Rise Of The DJ

Episode nine of Ambition Today finds us with the King of the DJ's, Rob Principe, the Founder & CEO of Scratch Music Group.

Growing up on Long Island as a child Rob loved music, especially Run D.M.C.  One day the popular music group happened to sit down next to him on a plane as he was traveling to a tennis tournament. Afterword he took a picture with the group. Fast forward years later Rob had founded Scratch Music Group and after some hustle, Rob would show this very picture to Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. in a greenroom at the Letterman Show in New York City while pitching him his vision. Jam Master Jay was in and together they co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy. I found Rob's story to be pretty incredible. During this episode we go over the history of Scratch as well as: 

What is it like meeting your childhood hero's. 

How Rob and Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy. 

The importance of building credibility when building your initial startup's team. 

Recognizing that defining inspirational moment in your life that changes the path your on. 

How Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. came to collaborate on "Walk This Way".

The moment when your startup becomes and feels real to you as the founder.

Converting your initial traction into a paid business model. 

The importance of moving the chains over and over during the early years of your startup.

The future of DJ'ing and Music

How Music Festivals became so popular.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

Do you think childhood plays a role in defining who people become?

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android. 

Links from this episode: 

Scratch Music Group

@Rob_Principe on Twitter

@princee09 on Instagram

Herbie Hancock - Rockit

Run-D.M.C. & Aerosmith - Walk This Way

Kid Capri

Run-D.M.C.

Forbes DJ List

A-Trak

Who should I interview next?  Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below.  It keeps me going…

Listen to this episode now: 

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

[thesiskar-blog]

Ambition Today: John Federico, Co-Founder Of Event Hero On The Future Of Podcasting, Marketing, and Superman

What an event episode ten of Ambition Today is as Jon Federico, co-founder of Event Hero and @GadgetBoy himself comes on the show all the way from warm and sunny Austin, Texas. 

Ever wonder why most podcasts are sponsored by Audible.com? Today we a speaking with John Federico who years ago worked at Audible and invented the podcast affiliate program. Through the years he also worked at Advance Internet, Blog Talk Radio, and more. He is now the co-founder of Event Hero which is the first integration Platform-as-a-Service for event technologies. He also hosts the EventTech Podcast is all about event technologies where John interviews EventTech company CEO’s and product managers, industry thought leaders and event organizers. If you are a new startup founder and want to better understand the world of podcasting, audio, and marketing this episode is for you. 

How an economic crash can influence you years later.

Why the medium of audio matters. 

Recognizing when life deals you an opportunity and capitalizing on it. 

Understand the world of podcasts. 

How John created the Audible Podcast Affiliate program at Audible.com.

Making the leap from employee to entrepreneur.

How to re-brand your company.

Who would win in a fight: Batman or Superman? 

The future of podcasting.

Using content marketing such as blogging or writing a book to grow your brand. 

Winning the battle for people's time and attention.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

What is the optimal work life balance that let's you enjoy success and make all the time and energy worthwhile?

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android. 

Links from this episode: 

John Federico @GadgetBoy on Twitter

Event Hero Powercore

Event Tech Podcast

Audible.com

Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

Traction by Gabriel Weinberg

The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday

Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff

Eventbrite Superpowers Revealed! book by John Federico

Who should I interview next?  Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below.  It keeps me going…

Listen to this episode now: 

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

[thesiskar-blog]

Ambition Today: Jeff Wald, Co-founder of Work Market, talks Harvard, NYPD, Venture Capital, Startups, and Mentoring

On episode eight Jeff Wald, Co-founder and President of Work Market join's 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 of 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?

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android. 

Links from this episode: 

Work Market

@JeffreyWald on Twitter

Spin Back

Why I Mentor by Jeff Wald in the Huffington Post

NYPD Blue -- What I Learned About Startups Patrolling the Streets of New York City by Jeff Wald in the Huffington Post

NYPD Auxiliary Officer program

Ambition Today on Youtube

Ambrose Madison

Who should I interview next?  Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below.  It keeps me going…

Listen to this episode now: 

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

[thesiskar-blog]

Just setting up my tumblr

Just setting up my tumblr