As a rule, I don’t have many guests back on the Podcast. (I like to keep it fresh.) But in this case, I made a rare exception. Because

You don’t meet many people like Tony Huang. After graduating from Harvard, he pursued education as a fourth grade teacher outside of Boston. He then transitioned to a

Akshay Krishnaiah is CEO & Founder of Line, the fast-growing fintech company. After a successful career at Paypal & eBay, he stepped out on his own. And he

How does a startup with a dozen people change a monolithic industry? It’s simple (but not easy)… Hire for DNA Fit And Brian King does it consistently. He’s

The only thing better than talking culture & leadership with a progressive talent leader? Talking with two of them. Aparavi helps organizations that desperately need a solution to

There’s a SaaS platform for everything… And everyone. Including SimpleLegal, the fast-growing SaaS platform for in-house counsels. It’s part of Onit, the leading provider of enterprise legal management &

Jeff Grass knows how to get your hesitant employees back to the office. This serial entrepreneur is Co-Founder & CEO of Hungry Marketplace. Based in Arlington VA, Hungry

Whether your team is hybrid or distributed or global, you’ve got nothing on Chad Mattix. He’s CEO & Founder of Kinettix, the leading IT field service support company.

(Hint: She didn’t click “Apply” on some job board) Morgan Smith is Work Reporter with CNBC and its industry-leading careers website “Make It” Previously, you’ve read her pieces

Growth-stage companies don’t get much hotter than Salesloft, the leading platform for sales reps to execute their day to day selling tasks. Put simply, they enable sales teams

Few early-stage companies combine as many distinct components as Tovala. Based in Chicago, the company pairs a smart oven with a meal subscription service. It truly makes foolproof

Few things wag my tail like meeting with a CEO who puts talent at the top of their agenda. Here’s one. Matt Hulett is CEO of publicly-held PetMeds,

In business, few missions are more vital than protecting & improving the health of Americans. Sadly, 89M of us are pre-diabetic. Dan Zavorotny & his team are out

So few entrepreneurs “go the distance” from startup to IPO. Most are “promoted to Chairman” at some point by their board of directors, because they fail to scale

The bigger a company becomes, the bigger its organizational challenges become. Liz Steblay saw it over & over at the large companies she joined. Now, she’s Founder &

Healthcare fashion used to be horrid. But Chat Razdan is rapidly changing that. He’s Founder & CEO of Care+Wear. Based in New York, they combine fashion & function

Whew! I finally finished paying off all my Amazon holiday gifts. Guess I’m hooked on eCommerce. Turns out I’m not alone. And I have proof… I just interviewed

Sir Wellington? An amazing mustard, mushroom and shallot blend Smashing Salmon? The mystical miso, soy and Shiitake blend Vampire Killer? Garlic parmesan blend, of course. Yum. Chip Overstreet

Isaiah Bollinger is Co-Founder & CEO of Trellis, the fast-growing full service eCommerce digital agency. Based in Boston, Trellis creates eCommerce businesses on Magento, BigCommerce, and Shopify. And

Seth Kniep has a remarkable entrepreneurship origin story. He found himself working at Apple, leading a 20-person team of tech support advisors. But he was miserable, working as

There are a gazillion ways to write your résumé (or LinkedIn profile). Because everyone has advice: “Do it this way.” “No, do it that way.” But what if

“I now pronounce you successful entrepreneurs.” Nothing brings out the romantic in me like a New Year. The fresh possibilities, the clean start. And a super-cool online business.

The smartest Venture Capital firms invest heavily in talent for their portfolio companies. After they cut the check, the hard work just begins. Here’s an example. Jason Felger

If you’re like most business leaders, you spend plenty of time designing your company’s business model. Mike Maples warns that you need to spend as much time designing

Like you, I’m just too busy to listen to cruddy podcasts. So, very few survive on my Podcasts app for more than an episode or two. Mixergy is

Charleston, South Carolina might seem like an unlikely place to find one of the nation’s fastest-growing tech companies. But it’s home to Digital Ignite. Mike Samet leads this

They say that “the riches are in the niches.” Well, Jason Hennessey proved them right. He’s built a highly-successful SEO firm within the legal vertical (a niche of

Based in Golden, Colorado, Scott Lewis is CEO of Spartan Investment Group. Spartan syndicates investor capital to develop & operate real estate assets. Under Scott’s leadership, the business

Few VC investors have seen more than David Hornik. He’s Founding Partner at Lobby Capital, which he co-founded after 20 years as General Partner of the legendary VC

Before Disrupt & TechCrunch, there was Technori, the original startup showcase. Its Co-Founder is Scott Kitun. Based in Chicago, Technori helps promising upstart companies secure visibility & funding.

Digital publishers in every field are trying to figure out how to best monetize their website. Kurt Donnell, CEO of Freestar, shows them the way. Combining industry-leading tech,

He’s not just some tech CEO. Jason Schubert is CEO of inBrain.ai, ranked as one of the fastest-growing companies in the US according to the Inc5000. inBrain.ai is

Brian Nickerson’s story captivated me. He began his career playing on the Los Angeles Dodgers. 6 knee surgeries and 1 Harvard Business School degree later, he found himself

This episode rocks, because it combines 3 of the hottest themes in the venture world: Fintech + Outdoor power sports + Talent Adam Redlich is VP Talent Acquisition

Josh Watts is Co-Founder of one of the nation’s fastest growing companies. Recently ranked as an Inc5000 company, MedTrust Medical Transport is a private EMS company providing emergent

Supply Chain is the topic of the day. Covid has turned it upside down & inside out. Fortunately, a wave of novel companies have come to the rescue

Andrew Amann wasn’t always CEO & Founder of one of the nation’s fasting-growing companies. He started as a Nuclear Sub Engineer. And taught himself business. …And hiring. …And

If you lead a SaaS company, you likely know Dan Martell, as the Founder & CEO of SaaS Academy. But even if you’re in a different industry, Dan

Joseph Ansanelli makes leadership look deceptively easy. Perhaps it’s because he’s done it more times than most. Or because he brings the humility to know that it’s a

These days, if you’re not sending swag to your candidates & new hires, you’re missing out. I’ve been doing it for years… Books. Wine glasses. Electronics. Shirts. Anything

If you’re like most leaders who hire, you’ve experimented with using online assessments to see if your candidates have the right stuff. You’ve probably also wondered how accurate

Tracy Tobin is Chief People Officer of Denver-based Adswerve, the leading Google Marketing Analytics & Cloud Partner. Following a 13-year career leading HR at The Integer Group, she

Ten years ago, Jilliene Helman was working in Union Bank’s wealth management group. She couldn’t help but notice that the bank’s wealthiest clients earned their fortunes in real

Brad Feld is one of the nation’s most prolific Venture Capital investors & business authors. He’s been investing in early-stage companies since 1995, with dozens of successes to

Nothing lights me up more than a meaty conversation with a successful entrepreneur. I just bagged the elephant (You can thank me later.) Godard Abel is one of

Private Equity is so mysterious to so many people. But it doesn’t have to be. With billions of capital sitting on the sidelines, P.E. funds are making investments

Few people make the transition from being a Venture Capitalist to running an operating company. Even fewer do it successfully. I just met one of them. His name

If you’ve never served on a Board of Directors, you may envision it as a country club day filled with palm fronds & chardonnay. The reality is that

Venture Capital is booming. Everywhere. …Yes, even in Iowa. With $80M assets under management, Des Moines-based Next Level Ventures originally invested in early-stage Midwestern agriculture & B2B data

There’s nothing like a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic to instill stress, uncertainty, and fear into people’s lives. And that includes your employees. Jan Bruce is out to change that.

Car insurance isn’t exciting. Unless you’re the Silicon Valley company turning this enormous industry on its head. That’s Jerry. Thanks to machine learning, Jerry finds its customers the

After a successful career with Wayfair building its B2B division, Joel Stevenson had a random chance meeting with the team at another Boston-based company, Yesware. (He points out

M&A is on fire. Which means not just combining companies, but merging cultures. And there’s where so many deals fall apart or fail to live up to expectations.

Based in Chicago, Akuna Capital is an innovative derivatives-based trading firm. With a team of over 400, the firm continues to scale rapidly. Akuna’s core competency is providing

During his years leading the residential lending division of a major bank, Patrick Boyaggi closed over $11B in residential mortgages. Yet, he knew there had to be a

If you’re like most people, you think that printing things on paper has gone the way of the Dodo Bird. You’re be wrong. Combined, we still print over

I just interviewed one of the top Growth Capital investors around. Todd Cozzens is Managing Partner of Transformation Capital, with 30+ years of experience in the digital health

Being on an Olympic team is a life-changing event. From what I’ve heard (You don’t wanna see me on those Rings) But there’s one thing even better. More

Just had a chance to interview Jon Stross. He’s President & Co-Founder of Greenhouse Software, the smart recruiting SaaS platform used by over 4,000 companies including Cisco, Airbnb,

Scaling a company from $5M revenues to $50M to $250M isn’t just about a great product. In fact, that’s the easy part. Scaling a great team, which enables

Obesity is America’s #1 underlying health issue. Because it causes or increases the likelihood of over 100 other health conditions. Now, Isabelle Kenyon is out to change the

Food. Activity. Sleep. If you’re not doing all 3 properly, you’re far less likely to scale your business successfully. In fact, we’re getting less sleep than ever. And,

8 years ago, Casey Berman worked in real estate when he had an “A-Ha” moment. He began searching for tech companies to help automate the real estate workflow.

Shawn Boom, CEO of Vanco, is crystal clear about the companies’s “Why” – Serve those who enrich communities Based near Minneapolis, Vanco delivers online payment processing solutions &

Based in Silicon Valley, Rashmi Gopinath is General Partner at B Capital Group, the global VC firm that specializes in equity investing in growth-stage companies that have achieved

How can you beat Silicon Valley in the war for talent? (…or if you’re in Silicon Valley, how can you compete for talent with Apple, Tesla, Google, and

You only turn 400 once. So for this special 400th episode of Recruit Rockstars Podcast, I knew you were counting on me to land a very special guest.

Treating 300,000 patients per month, NURX has rapidly become the leading Telehealth platform with a female focus. CEO Varsha Rao has led NURX to deliver remote treatment of

You may not know Mark Suster, Managing Partner at LA-based Upfront venture capital firm. But you know the companies in which he’s invested (…early!) They include Bevy, thredUP,

I rarely meet a tech entrepreneur whose background is firmly grounded in science. Jacob Sattelmair is a public health scientist turned technologist. He’s CEO & Co-Founder of Wellframe,

Spring is here…. …Which means lawn care. (Blech!) Ken Davis set out to change that. He’s CEO of TaskEasy, based in Salt Lake City. TaskEasy simplifies life by

I’ve long been fascinated by unique business models. And here’s one. NYC-based Public Goods is a one stop shop for healthy, sustainable, everyday essentials you can trust. They

New consumer investment platforms are all the rage. As are women leaders in Fintech. This episode puts it all together. Maria Selvaggio is VP People at M1 Finance,

As businesses reopen, you should be thinking about your employees’ commutes. For their benefit, and yours. Not to mention your city’s. TransitScreen makes software that makes cities smarter

The up & comers in Generation Z (Gen Z) are now aged 5 to 25. And you’ll soon be hiring them. But they’re unlike any people who came

Frank Furman was destined to lead. First, as an Infantry Officer in the US Marine Corps. Then as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company And now, he’s

Nothing inspires me more than a brilliant young company founder with a huge vision. Such as Sam Walder. He’s CEO & Co-Founder of Chicago-based Trala. And he intends

In this overheated market, it’s become relatively easy to land a Venture Capital investor. But finding one who adds real value post-investment remains tricky. I found one. Constance

After spending time at Facebook and Dropbox, Russ Heddleston saw the need for a secure document sharing platform. So he created the SaaS platform DocSend, where he’s now

If you’re like me, you’re always out to pick up a new skill. So, you’ve likely heard of MasterClass, one of the fastest-growing VC-backed companies around. With over

In case you missed it, Venture Capital is booming everywhere… not just in Silicon Valley. New York is one of those places. And Primary Venture Partners is one

Think your company has embraced being remote or virtual? Meet John Jahnke, CEO of Tackle.io Based in Buffalo NY, John leads a team of 50 employees located in

How do you make your hiring decisions? If you’re like most people, you probably make a pro & con list, spend a ton of time obsessing about hires

Love the movie Ironman? Or your childhood tv show The Six Million Dollar Man? Well, I recently met an entrepreneur who’s building a futuristic technology by recruiting a

You don’t become a leader just because of your job title or your location on the org chart. (And even if you do have the Chief title, you

Start a company. Raise funding. Purchase an add-on company. Go public or sell it. These are no small feat. But fruitless, unless you also build a Rockstar team.

Small experiments often lead to ginormous breakthroughs for your business. Including revenue increases. So, why do most of us get stuck in a rut? I wanted to find

CEO’s often ask my favorite book. Right near the top of the list is “Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t” by Verne

Great tech startup ideas can come from anywhere. This one came from the waiting room of a high-end car wash. Following a successful career in sales with med

You don’t find many attorneys running VC-backed tech startups. But here’s one. Jacob Babcock is Founder & CEO of NuCurrent, which recently raised another $11M. With over 100

Even if you don’t live in his hometown of Chicago, you should know Chris Gladwin. Because he’s a 6-time Founder… including at least one Unicorn. Chris is CEO

Your luck is about to change. And after 2020, we could all use some of that. But it doesn’t just happen… You need to make it happen. Even

Humble. Soft-spoken. Not your typical tech CEO. That’s Mike Gamson, CEO of Relativity and one of Chicago’s most seasoned tech executives & investors. Relativity’s software helps users organize

Talk about a rocketship… Fishtown Analytics, named for Philly’s hip namesake neighborhood, started this year with 16 employees. Next year, it’ll have over 100. I wanted to find

Here’s the perfectly-named & ideally-timed company of 2020: Remote. Its CEO & Co-Founder, Job van der Voort, is based in Portugal. And he just raised $35M in Venture

Hopefully you haven’t had to deal with it. I’m talking about employee ethics breaches. Not fun. But unfortunately, one day you will. So I tracked down J Rollins,

During 2020, the majority of companies began working remotely or virtually. But Evan Walden, CEO of Getro, was one step ahead. Because he’s been doing it since before

Startup Grind is the legendary community of 600 Chapters in 125 countries that educates, inspires, and connects entrepreneurs. Since 2012, it has hosted 10,000 events for over 250,000

When Joshua Motta’s dentist was attacked by ransomware, demanding $200K to open the files, he found it was cheaper to just shut his practice & retire. Sad. So

Few things are as painful as the home buying process. And in particular, the closing day. Max Simkoff started States Title in 2016 after personally experiencing the friction

Few industries are more competitive & commoditized than real estate. If you can succeed in Sales there, you’ve got something. Larry Kendall’s got something. He is one of

When creating new drugs, it’s often difficult to find enough patients for clinical trials. And that limits the number of trials you can run. Which slows down drug

Your company can’t operate at peak performance until you do. But how? Steven Kotler is one of the world’s leading experts on human performance. He’s a New York

Industries don’t come much larger than self-storage. It’s $40 billion a year. And disruptors don’t come much more determined than Rahul Gandhi, CEO & Co-Founder of MakeSpace. Based

Sad but true. Bain & Company rejected my application to join the firm… twice. But I’m still a fan. They hire one Rockstar after another. And I just

It’s been a rough year. As the pandemic grows, so have all sorts of unhealthy behaviors… including alcohol abuse. Fortunately, there’s Mike Russell. Mike is Co-Founder & CEO

Jim McKelvey had trouble selling a $2,000 art piece from his glassblowing studio. So (what else?) he co-founded the now-legendary payments firm Square with Jack Dorsey. Jim remains

Sizing people up is hard. It takes getting under their skin to see what makes them tick. And deciding whether they’d be a good match with your company’s

When a leading Private Equity firm has 50 portfolio companies & 100 consolidating acquisitions, continuing to attract the best talent is crucial. Period. So, Boston-based Great Hill Partners

Do you have a To-Do List a mile long of all the things you need to accomplish for your business? Some days, I look at mine & feel

Long before he became legendary business speaker & bestselling author, Pat Lencioni was my executive coach. It was late 90’s in Silicon Valley. I was building my first

Amongst other things, 2020 has been the year of Telemedicine. And Heal is proof … With a twist. The LA-based company provides house call doctors for grownups &

Raw intelligence is one of the most highly-overrated qualities in hiring. I’m not going to tell you that high IQ doesn’t help in business. But without EQ, or

Want to empower your team to make better decisions & take greater ownership? Tired of micromanaging & babysitting them? Former US Navy Captain David Marquet is the author

Companies have more data than they know what to do with. Kendall Clark, Founder & CEO of Stardog, helps them do something with it. Based in DC, his

It took me a long time to finally book this guest. And it was worth the wait. Dr Roy Schoenberg is Co-Founder and CEO of Amwell, the transformative

In case you missed it, breakthrough discoveries about plant & environmental interactions have led to cutting-edge tools that tackle some of today’s biggest agriculture challenges. Which means opportunity

You may not know the name Russell Brunson. But you know his brainchild, the company ClickFunnels. Anyone who says you can’t build a $100M SaaS business in Boise

You can’t master your business until you first master your mindset. My first mentor taught me that. And I was reminded of it again during my interview with

You’ve probably seen Sarah Frier, since she’s been an award-winning tech reporter with Bloomberg News for 9 years. But have you read her thrilling new book “No Filter”

This episode is guaranteed to help you sleep more soundly. Because ettitude (with offices in LA & Melbourne) is selling so much of its bamboo-based bedding, it’s landed

If ever there was a role that’s a nightmare to hire, it’s the Rockstar salesperson. Most companies try. But fail. And for good reason. Salespeople are good talkers.

At Amazon, “Day One” is code for inventing like a startup, with little regard for legacy. Day Two is, in Jeff Bezos’s own words, “stasis, followed by irrelevance,

Last year, the SaaS company Curemint was just 1 person in Los Angeles. Now, it’s 15 people in Durham North Carolina. Brandon McCarty is its CEO & Co-Founder.

Clearly, there’s a movement afoot. The more companies announce they’re going virtual/remote, the more it doesn’t matter where you live. So, companies can now hire the best talent

There’s a whole new way to increase your customers’ loyalty, and it’s called product protection. You know what this is. When you check out at Apple, they offer

Geoff McFarlane is turning the $72B wine industry upside-down. He’s CEO of Winc Wines, which he co-founded 8 years ago. Now, annual revenues exceed $40M Geoff spent years

Founded in 2013, Raise changed the way the gift card marketplace worked, with a goal to help others give themselves a raise. Based in Chicago, Raise has partnerships

You’ve likely met some Venture Capitalists. But you haven’t met the Anti-VC. He’s Sammy Abdullah, who heads Dallas-based Blossom Street Ventures. He considers himself the ‘Anti-VC’ because he

Hiten Shah has built a reputation as one of the nicest guys in tech. But don’t be mistaken. He’s competitive, successful, and insightful. You may not know Hiten,

In just 5 years, Mike Schneider co-founded, funded, and sold First to the mega-real estate player ReMax. In this 20 minute conversation, he reveals how. Plus, how he

Ralph Dangelmaier has seen this movie before. He’s CEO of fast-growing BlueSnap, the Inc5000 ranked company based in Waltham MA. And he’s done it before. So he’s successfully

It’s hard to imagine anyone more qualified to find & land top talent for a Venture Capital fund than Amanda Mulay. She leads Talent Management for Lerer Hippeau,

Just last week, Zach Coelius successfully announced his first Venture Capital fund, Coelius Capital with $45 million in new assets. Based in San Francisco, Zach has been an

If you’re not outsourcing your company’s IT, you soon may be. Ryan Denehy, CEO & Founder of Electric AI, is on a mission to make that possible. He’s

Half of us have a cat and/or dog (including my Winnie, the adorable Morkiepoo.) And even if you’re not a pet parent, you know that we spend a

Emma Stubbs is a Rockstar. After graduating from Harvard in Neurobiology, she decided to take a hike. Literally. Covering 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada. Then, she joined

You may not be familiar with the venture capital firm M13. But you sure know their success stories… M13’s portfolio includes Pinterest, SpaceX, Lyft, and FanDuel. In fact,

When it comes to talent at Venture Capital firms, they don’t come more seasoned than Tylee Holden. She leads the people part of the business at BOND. Spun

Dennis Mortensen is Founder & CEO of x.ai, the company that does just one thing. They help you schedule meetings (without the phone tag & without the email

Brad’s Deals is a huge tech success story in Chicago. The site helps millions of shoppers save money by curating the best deals from 4,000 retailers & expert

Elizabeth Yin is General Partner of Hustle Fund. It’s a pre-seed VC fund that invests at the earliest stage – typically in a founding team with a beta

Steven Galanis is CEO & Co-Founder of Chicago-based Cameo. (It’s red-hot.) He’s convinced that a winning startup founding team consists of a Hacker, a Hustler, and a Hipster.

In the war for talent, you need to turn over every stone. And here’s one you’re likely missing? Veterans. There are 22 million veterans in the US, and

There’s perhaps never been a better time for a fast-growing startup focused on unlocking human health & performance. It’s called Whoop. And I just had a chance to

You might not think that St. Louis is a hotbed for Private Equity. You’d be wrong. I tracked down Stacy Schlenk. She heads up talent acquisition & onboarding

When it comes to P.E., there’s likely no better than Thoma Bravo. The firm has a 40-year history, $35 billion in investor commitments, and invests in software &

Josh Salyer is VP People Operations of Wasson Enterprise, one of the nation’s highest-profile family offices. Wasson is the brainchild of Kim & Greg Wasson (in 35 years,

I rarely see Glassdoor ratings this high. And it’s vital, because Glassdoor is now the very first place that your prospective candidates look. Katy Shields is VP People

I just met a VC. During our conversation, he said “The lifeblood of any great company is great people. Being able to recruit & retain them is the

How does a legendary Silicon Valley VC fund land the best talent? I wanted to find out. So I just met with Atli Thorkelsson. He’s Director of Executive

Roy Bahat has seen the future. The future of work. Because he’s head of Bloomberg Beta, the $200M Venture Capital fund based in SF and NYC. Backed by

You may not realize it. But you’re competing for the best talent with the best companies in the world. Yet, it IS possible. Because you can offer things

I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. Just interviewed Shannon Anderson. She is Director of Talent with the legendary VC firm Madrona Venture Group. Based

David Waxman didn’t start a company. He started three. And not just any companies. After graduating with a masters degree from MIT’s Media Lab in 1995, David Co-Founded

Kelsey Lawrie is VP Talent Operations at ’87 ’87 was born out of Chicago-based Sterling Partners, the multi-billion Private Equity fund founded in 1987. It invests in &

Sunny Vanderbeck knows a thing or two about selling companies. Sunny is Managing Partner of Satori Capital, a very different kind of Private Equity firm, based in Dallas.

You probably know about Silicon Valley startups. And Manhattan’s tech chops. But have you seen the new companies that are cooking up in the Midwest? Or, as Ira

Few talent experts are as impressive than Andy Caine of Frazier Healthcare Partners, the $4.2 billion growth & venture capital investor in over 170 companies. Andy works closely

The smartest Private Equity investors have added whip-smart heads of Talent to their in-house teams. Because investing is one thing… But attracting Rockstar teams to do something with

…And you think that your business is complex? Meet Luke Saunders, CEO & Founder of Farmer’s Fridge. His ambitious venture combines custom hardware, software, food prep, distribution, and

Here’s the CEO of one of the fastest-growing food companies I’ve ever seen! Mike Pytlinski is CEO of Nutridried, makers of Moon Cheese. I love this snack! (And

Time is everything in recruiting. (You can’t fill the seat fast enough.) Yet, most recruiters don’t charge on a time-based basis. They’re either contingency or retained. Why is

I’m confident enough to admit that I’m a fanboy of Jason Fried. He’s CEO & Co-Founder of Chicago-based Basecamp. They make the original & leading project management tool.

For the milestone 300th episode of Recruit Rockstars Podcast, I wanted to bring you a milestone guest. I mean … Milestone With months of persistence, I finally persuaded

Imagine running a company. With employees who handle dangerous chemicals. And being required to keep track of 15 million (!) different files to describe how to handle each

Based in Menlo Park, Unusual Ventures invests in Seed & Series A startups. Their focus in enterprise & consumer tech. Unusual has an ‘unusual’ secret weapon. His name

Did you know that $300 of supplies are wasted & thrown away during a typical surgery? Not to mention the occasional instrument that’s accidentally left inside the body

Think you’re open, honest, and direct with your team? If you’re like most leaders, you could do better. Far better. So I sought out an expert on the

David Patterson is known as ‘The SAP Recruiter.’ That’s The with a capital T. That’s what he does. That’s all he does. And he’s exceptional at it. As

Steve Lowisz is an authority on talent, personal development, and business leadership. And the author of the fascinating new book, Recruiting Sucks (But It Doesn’t Have To) Best

I’ve been looking forward to this interview for ages. It’s with a business icon & one of my personal heroes. Horst Schultze may not be a household name.

I just had the privilege of interviewing Chris Yeh. Along with Reid Hoffman, he’s the co-author of Blitzscaling, the book that explains how to build world-changing companies like

I have bad news. If you’re trying to hire top-performers, your company’s written job descriptions probably aren’t getting the job done. They may be keeping away the best

Did you know that most kitchens are unprofitable? Nick Anastasiades is out to change that. He’s Co-Founder & CEO of 2ndKitchen. Based in Chicago, the company links any

Every wonder how you see ads online that are so targeted to your desires, it’s like they read your mind? Well, Target Data makes it possible. This 40-person

  Jett McCandless is Founder/CEO of Project 44, the most comprehensive global supply chain visibility platform. If you buy anything, you’re touched by P44. Because it’s used by

How do PE-backed firms successfully execute a rollup strategy? Here’s one that’s doing it. Marquee Dental Partners, based in Nashville, has done 14 acquisitions so far. And somehow,

Think it’s challenging to build a remarkable company culture? Try doing it across 12 offices. And 300 people. That’s what David Rodnitzky has done. Headquartered in Silicon Valley

Jessica Carrol has some very progressive ideas on performance management. Based in LA, she’s VP People at Signal Sciences which protects websites & apps by blocking malicious traffic.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that CBD is the hottest thing in health & wellness. One of the pioneering companies is Sera Labs, based

If your team develops software, you know that building API’s are the key to pretty much everything. But they get cluttered & messy. So Adam Leventhal decided to

  Four years ago, Karson Humiston had a vision. And now she’s Founder & CEO of Denver-based Vangst. It’s the recruiting platform created exclusively for the cannabis industry.

Can an old dog learn new tricks? Erick Eidus is betting they can. He’s CEO of PupPod, which he founded 4 years ago. Based in Kirkland Washington, they’ve

Your next professional transition could make or break your career. Are you prepared? My guest is Michael Watkins, author of Master Your Next Move. He also wrote the

Scaling a hypergrowth Silicon Valley is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Or in Evan Kaplan’s case, 3 times in a lifetime. And I was curious to learn how he does

Change is constant these days. But when you change your business model, how does your recruiting strategy need to change? Russell Jones found out. He’s CEO & Co-Founder

Thinking about building a remote or virtual team? Thejo Kote can help. He’s Founder & CEO of Airbase. Based in San Francisco, Airbase is on a mission to

You think you have your hands full with hiring? Sales Reps? Financial Analyst? Try hiring actual rocket scientists & data experts. That’s what David Godwin and his leadership

25 years in executive search will teach you a thing or two about hiring. And in today’s podcast episode, Bernie Layton teaches us about how to do it

If you work in tech in San Francisco…and even if you don’t…you know Auren Hoffman. He’s been starting – and growing – and selling companies since his junior

Do you remember the Blue Shirts? This army of well-trained, huge-smiling, sales staff at Best Buy built the company to what it is today. Yes, they’ve been Amazon-ed

If you don’t know the name Abakar Saidov, you soon will. Because he may have cracked the code on how to build a relationship with the candidates you

There’s potentially no harder hiring task these days than landing Rockstar software developers. So, I wanted to find an expert at it. Someone who has a dramatically different

Let’s get real. For your business to succeed, you need a team of happy & productive employees. Which means you need to keep your best people. Otherwise, you’ll

In 1991, Mark Kaufman started as a physical therapist. 28 years later, he’s built Athletico into the dominant force in physical therapy. Based in Chicago, Athletico now has

Rachel Ohlsson is a Rockstar who recruits Rockstars. Easier said than done. As Manager of Talent for Chicago-based Oak Street Health, the fast-growing group of primary care centers

Happy Valentine’s Day! Can you build a durable company & a successful relationship at the same time? Some days, it seems like an unlikely balancing act. One of

One of the most unique roles you may think about adding to your company is the COO Chief Operating Officer. Often known as the “right hand” or “number

James Ellis has become one of the gurus of recruiting properly. Between the two of us, we’ve seen 40 years of recruiting mistakes. And pulled out most of

Jason Lauritsen is one of my all-time favorite experts on employee engagement. He’s incredibly insightful. Which we need, because employees are more disengaged than ever. I’ve featured him

In case you missed it, Google For Jobs launched in 2018 and is quickly shaking up the way your candidates look for jobs. In fact, 73% of all

You have one key job. And that’s to ensure that you’re creating a wonderful place to work. Because that’s the only thing that’s going to attract top-performers. Unfortunately,

Shally Steckerl is often credited with being one of the founders of the Talent Sourcing specialization within Recruitment and HR. A globally recognized recruiting thought leader, over the

Admins, Executive Assistants, Chiefs of Staff, EA’s … call them what you want. The assistant is the bedrock of any company. And they can make your life far

Jason VandeBoom is CEO of ActiveCampaign, a privately-held leader in email marketing automation. (I’m a raving fan because I use it to stay in touch with my customers.)

In a 3.7% unemployment market, you’re lucky to find an amazing candidate. But once you find them, do you extend the offer? Or do you keep looking? Jason

Autumn Manning is co-founder and CEO of YouEarnedIt, a leading HR SaaS company that improves bottom-line performance metrics by enhancing the employee experience. Based in Austin, she has

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you know that LinkedIn is where you’re most likely to find your next job. But it’s also where you’re likely to find

Did you know that 80% of job opportunities at $100,000+ filled every month aren’t advertised? Despite the internet, it’s still a highly inefficient & hidden market. Joe Meyer,

Following a successful career at Google Japan, Renee Wong left to start Castbox 3 years ago. It’s an award-winning global podcast platform that enables anyone to easily find,

Every day, people move into new roles but things don’t work quite right. In fact, 40% of them bomb. That’s why George Bradt started PrimeGenesis in 2002. Following

When I created Strong Suit Podcast to help people learn how to hire smarter, I didn’t know if I’d make it to episode 25. And here we are

Let’s be frank. There are so many places where people botch up the recruiting process. They’re non-compelling. Misleading. And sloppy. And then they wonder why Half of their

Brianna Rooney has been a technical recruiter for most of her career. 10 years ago, she founded Techees, which recruits software engineers, data scientists, and similar folks in

Jamie Schneiderman is CEO of Toronto-based Career Spark. After earning his MBA at Harvard, Jamie found himself obsessed with how to find a better match between employers &

It takes a lot to convince a successful entrepreneur to trade in their “Founder/CEO” title for employee status. You know that must be one pretty special organization. Following

Alex Salkever is a confessed former tech addict who had a near-death experience texting while driving. That event got him fascinated by the topic of how tech affects

Precision targeting… Imagine if you had a map that showed you where your target customers actually made their decisions to buy. Christopher “Toph” Day is Co-Founder & CEO

It’s not every day you met an entrepreneur who bootstrapped a company to $13 million revenues and 130 employees. I just met one. Tyson Quick started Instapage.  And

As Denver suffered in its third year of drought, Chris Klein saw an opportunity. So he co-founded Rachio, where today he’s CEO, leading 60 employees. Rachio is the

Malvika Jethmalani has never backed down from a challenge. So when she joined a turnaround CPG company 2 years ago, she was ready. As VP of Human Resources

His grandmother in Barbados was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Which inspired Gil Addo to start a company. So, in 2013, RubiconMD was born. It’s goal is to

Jett McCandless is CEO & Co-Founder of project44, one of Chicago’s fastest-growing companies. Launched in 2014, project44’s technology provides companies with increased visibility into their supply chain. In

Sahil Sahni is doing the impossible. After leaving McKinsey & Company and Techstars, he’s co-founded a fast-growing AI company. And against the odds, he’s recruiting top-talent in Silicon

Following a successful career in investment banking, and an MBA at Chicago Booth GSB, Ryan Crane developed a thirst for entrepreneurship. Now, he’s CEO of Tempo Tea, the

Legendary business author Tom Peters once said that “you are your projects.” Natalie Steck is on a mission to help you manage those projects far more easily. She

Michael Winnick & his team at dscout have a passion for understanding what makes people tick. So, they created a research tool that captures thoughts, reactions, and behaviors in

Imagine if printing a wallet (or a lamp, or a birthday card, or a sushi wrap) was just as easy as printing a résumé. That’s the vision of

Nolan Mondrow is CEO of LockState. 12 years in the making, his persistence is paying off. Based in Denver, LockState is at the heart of the Internet of

Matt McCambridge is a VC turned CEO. He founded Eden Health 3 years ago to elevate the health & wellbeing of employees everywhere Based in NYC, it’s a

If you don’t think Ohio’s a place for startups… Or if you don’t know what a startup nursery is… Then this episode is for you. Flavio Lobato &

How does a company that started as a simple New Jersey mom & pop storefront in 1956 build a national cult following, willing to travel miles for a

After working in the medical transportation field for 10 years, Mark Switaj saw a glaring need & decided to do something about it. So he started RoundTrip. Based

Sandra Gault is CEO & Founder at True Gault, the high-tech fashion company. Using super-cool technologies, True Gault delivers custom-made women’s designer dress shoes in 4 weeks. Based

Stephen George is CEO of Surkus, based in West Hollywood. And he took an unusual path. Starting as an investor in Surkus, he then joined full-time as Chief

Guy Friedman was fed up with waiting to see his physician. So, he set out to reimagine the process. He started the company SteadyMD, based in St. Louis,

If you’re tired of your opened wine bottles going bad – and you’re tired of hiring B-Players – this interview is for you. David Koretz is the Founder

We have Brendan Carroll to thank, for safeguarding our nation’s crops of grapes that become wine. He’s President & CEO of Skycision, which offers a solution to the

If you’re not worried about your top-performing employees leaving you, I’ve got bad news: 42 million employees will leave their jobs in 2018. While we’re at a record-low

If you’re not using Smartsheet, you likely soon will. They have 75,000 customers. It’s probably the simplest way to let your team collaborate online. Based in Seattle (where

If you’re tired of the hassle with scheduling meetings, this episode is for you. My guest is Maran Nelson. She’s Co-Founder & CEO of Clara Labs, based in

It’s one thing to come up with a super-cool new product idea. It’s entirely another to raise millions in venture capital funding, handpick a bunch of top-performers, build

Unless this is your first time listening to the show, you know that today’s topic is my obsession. Building an “A” team isn’t a thing. It’s the Only

After spending 10 years working in paid search, Jordan Meyer decided it was time to strike out on his own.  He had no idea that Granular would become

If your business has 10 to 100 employees, and you’re on a growth trajectory, some days it feels like you’re jumping one hurdle after another. But the most

If you hope to have even a prayer of recruiting Rockstars, you’d better be one yourself. Because they won’t consider for working for someone they can’t learn from,

It may seem like a silly question: What does a CEO do? More specifically, what do the Best CEO’s do? How do they spend their days? It’s so

You know that early-stage companies pivot, in search of that elusive product/market fit. Looking for a business model that works. But do you know that – equally important

Legendary CEO Jack Welch of General Electric said Yes. He simply meant that – to get the most out of your team – sometimes you need to praise

The MeToo movement is barely 12 months old, yet companies finally(!) seem to serious about recruiting more Rockstar women. It’s time to improve the gender balance at your

After you bust your hump to recruit Rockstars to your company, how do you get the most out of them? Start by building a relationship with them.  I

Not many people are successful at starting & building companies, and also building new initiatives within a larger company (…or in this case, one of the largest). But

I’ll be honest.  I was shaking in my boots for this podcast interview.  How often do we get to interview our business idol? Tom Peters’ first book “In

The war for talent has gone global. As if it wasn’t already hard enough to recruit Rockstars, now you’re competing for talent with companies across the world, not

How can Co-Founders start & grow a business without killing each other? You may know that 66% of early-stage companies fail due to people problems. And the #1

You should be so lucky to have David Cancel’s problems. He’s founded 5 companies. His current one, Boston-based Drift, continues to double year after year. Drift gives you

If I had one quarter, and I had to place it on the betting table when it comes to recruiting… I’d place it on Referrals every single time.

I’ve read every word written by Josh Steimle.  He’s an author, speaker, and entrepreneur who has figured out how (and why) to make your company’s CEO an “Influencer”

What is a talent strategy & when do you need to create one? If you’re like most business leaders, your firm has a product strategy, a sales strategy,

What can firefighters teach us about teamwork & its impact on the bottom line? A ton, according to today’s guest Erica Keswin. Erica & I went to school

David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done” changed my life. I read it when it debuted in 2001 & multiple times since. Now published in 28 languages, “GTD” is

I’m always on the hunt for untapped sources of great talent. With record-low unemployment, you’ve gotta dig deep. And I found one. Allison O’Kelly created Mom Corps out

Once you’ve worked your tail off to recruit a team of Rockstars, how do you manage them around projects? Yes, even Rockstars need to be led & held

After you work so hard to win the war for talent & hire Rockstars, how do you keep them engaged & happy? Let’s be honest. Your employees are

In this over-heated market, finding an investor isn’t hard. But finding an investor who adds Real value to your business is another matter. The difference between dumb money

If you’re like most business leaders – woman or man – you’re trying to figure out how to recruit more women. At all levels. In all roles. From

If your company recruits creative types, you need to know how to pursue them the right way. You know, designers – artists – writers – software developers. Because

Can I be honest with you? If your company is like most, your job descriptions stink. Boring. Lifeless. Uninspiring. And about as likely to attract Rockstar candidates, as

Let’s be honest. In today’s hyper-transparent & controversial world, something is gonna blow up at your company. The question isn’t if… it’s when. Then, the next question is

Let’s be honest… The US government sure doesn’t make it easy to recruit & land a rockstar employee from outside the US. Yet, it’s a remarkable source of

If you haven’t heard of the field of Neuroleadership, you soon will. This is the brain-based approach to business, performance, and organization change. Dr. David Rock coined the

Want to peek around the corner, and find out how artificial intelligence will be applied to recruiting? It’s coming sooner than you think. Phil Alexander is CEO &

Happy Valentine’s Day! Can you build a durable company & a successful relationship at the same time? Some days, it seems like an unlikely balancing act. One of

So many hiring managers give up so easily… Before you invest a fortune on headhunters or job postings, there are a ton of low-cost ways to find Rockstar

Work/Life Balance? Bah. Not so much. I’ve long had an instinct that Work/Life Integration is the true key to a fruitful personal & career life. But I wanted

Each of your customers is unique, with different needs. You likely personalize your products, services, and approach accordingly. So too with your employees. Yet, most companies treat their

How do your Rockstar employees derail? As their manager, can you prevent it or get them back on track? What are the early warning signs? Carter Cast knows.

It’s not often that I get to unveil hot-new research on our Podcast. Bersin by Deloitte is THE go-to firm when it comes to talent acquisition. They just

I. Was. Nervous. When you finally meet one of your business idols, you find yourself tongue-tied. And it shows in this episode. His book changed my life 25

When a PE firm invests in a new portfolio company, one of the primary areas of focus is the people part of the business. Often, the company hasn’t

Let’s get real. If you’re going to be a great leader, you can’t do it on your own. You need to develop a team of great leaders, who

How do you ensure that your firm’s culture thrives & doesn’t get diluted as it grows? You know what I mean… 10 people, then 100, then 1,000. The

Business is tough. And particularly tough on our bodies. The hours. The stress. The 6-packs…of soda. Is it even possible to build a healthy business, while building a

The war for talent is on! 2018 will bring 3.5% unemployment for the first time in 50 years. Are you ready? If you’re posting your job descriptions on

I’ve got some bad news. We’re in a war for talent. With 4.1% unemployment, candidates have the leverage. And Rockstar candidates have a ton of choices. Which means

In today’s war for talent, candidates are becoming far more sophisticated and need to be persuaded to give you the “Yes!” San Diego-based Anna Runyan has a fascinating

Jay Goltz is the legendary Chicago Entrepreneur. He even has a city block named after him… street sign & all. He’s the successful – and often blunt –

There’s a holy grail of recruiting? No way. Yep, no joke. This is both faster and less expensive. And the candidates stay longer, and perform better. What is

Let’s face it. You’re not the perfect leader. You know it. I know it. And your team knows it. And they’re telling other people. Yikes. Anonymous employee review

I’ve known Lynn Perkins for 20 years & she’s the real thing. 7 years ago, out of personal need (yet another babysitter canceled for her baby twins), she

There are tens of thousands of recruiting and HR technology platforms & applications. Whew! But, are any of them actually worth the investment? Will they help you recruit

I have a confession to make. And it may come as a shock. I’ll just come right out and say it. I’m a white male. That’s right. White.

Wanna ruin your day? Hire a B-Player. You invest all the time and effort and capital landing the candidate you thought was a Rockstar. And instead? … he

2? 5? 13? I’ve long thought about what is the optimal number of candidates to interview for a position. Before choosing, how do I know I’ve seen enough?

If you’ve ever started a company, one of the most confusing questions is when to start building a new function … Marketing, Sales, Business Development, and the like.

Leaders matter. But leadership matters ever more. Even if it means sub-optimizing the individual, in order to maximize the output of the whole team. When it comes to

It’s always refreshing to find someone passionate, who will actually express a strong point of view. But when that person really knows their stuff, it’s even better. Matt

Whether your a CEO, Founder, or Investor, adding the perfect independent board member is one of those rare opportunities to create immense value for your company. Yet, most

I’m on Millennial overload. 12.9 million Google results for “Millennial employees” … its inescapable. YES, this vital group is the future of our workforce. Yet there’s likely still

It’s brutal out there. Trying to hire Rockstars? The unemployment rate hasn’t been this low in decades. So, it’s a seller’s market … and talented professionals are the

You’ve hired a killer VP of Marketing. Your VP of Sales is ahead of plan. So, now it’s time to bring in your first VP of Talent …

Why can’t companies seem to give the best talent what they’re seeking? And why do so many great candidates fail to impress employers? Most importantly, why is there

There’s nothing I love better than a good juicy entrepreneur story. Creating a new business, born out of personal need & frustration. And if it helps us recruit

I’m in search of ways to make recruiting more accurate. And I’ve tracked down one of the most intriguing thought-leaders, Dr. Frida Polli. (She’s certainly one of the

I just don’t get it. Every week, I meet with growth company executives. And I ask to see their Talent Strategy. All I get is blank stares. How

If you’re like most managers, you have a 1:1 meeting with each of your staff members each week. You probably have one with your boss, too — or

Unless you live under a rock, you know that Amazon has gone from selling its 1st book in 1995 to $150B in annual revenues. It’s simply breathtaking. It’s

Regular listeners know that I’m on a mission to find ways to better predict how a candidate will actually do on the job. Today’s guest has built a

I’ve got something really special for you today. Regular listeners know that Strong Suit Podcast focuses on the “people part” of your business. Hiring, Firing, the whole enchilada.

By now, you know that seeking diversity – of all types – in your organization isn’t just the right thing. It’s also the smart thing. Your organization should

If you’re like most executives, you spend a good portion of your time figuring out which of your company’s manual processes can be automated & digitized. It’s the

How do you assess candidates in most predictive way before you hire them full time? My guest today has an innovative solution. Jeffrey Moss is the Founder &

Matt Moore is Chief Talent Officer at Alpine Investors, the SF-based private equity firm with $900M under management. He joined following a storied career at Silicon Valley’s executive

Let’s be honest… It’s become a candidate’s market. Record low unemployment. Good luck finding a Rockstar, let alone getting them to say Yes. But it can be done.

If you’re like me, you’ve wondered if it’s okay to text candidates? Or is that too much? It’s a great intimate fast way to communicate, but does it

Loyal listeners know that we talk a lot about how to recruit Rockstars. But how do you then get the most out of them? My guest today, Stephen

If so, Christina Harbridge is the expert to show us how. She’s CEO of Allegory, the behavior change company. She partners with executives to show them how to

James Ellis heads employment branding at Groupon, the massive global company. His mission is to keep Groupon in front of potential candidates, across all digital channels. Not an

Can you believe there are tens of thousands of HR Technology products? Software, SaaS, apps, all kinds of stuff – designed to help you in recruiting, retention, onboarding,

Vitaly Golomb is the Global Startup Evangelist of HP Tech Ventures, venture arm of the legendary silicon valley company. He’s also authored a wonderful book Accelerated Startup that’ll

Jacob Morgan has studied, dissected, and written Amazon’s #1 book on leading the workforce of the future “The Employee Experience Advantage” His clients include SAP, Cisco, Microsoft, and

Drama is that annoying overhead of your staff bickering, not getting along, gossiping. Even Rockstars do it once in a while. Cy Wakeman is a drama researcher. She’s

Tired of talent searches that take entirely too long? How can you possibly recruit a Rockstar if you haven’t first defined what you’re seeking? If you’re like most

Can you believe that there are now 21,000 recruiting & HR technologies … from tiny apps to SAP & Peoplesoft. How to make sense of it all? What

What’s it really like to work at your company? Kristy Nittskoff is one of the nation’s foremost experts on creating a compelling Employer Value Proposition. This is the

Once you’ve worked super-hard to hire a team of rockstars, how do ensure they stay? And keep out the B & C Players? Adam Ochstein founded StratEx Partners

Imagine having a line outside your door of talented Rockstars who want to come work for your company. You can make it possible, but you’ll have to treat

How’d you like to recruit more women to your firm? If this isn’t one of your talent imperatives, you’re missing the boat. Fortunately, this episode will help. Romy

The importance of getting the ‘people part’ right can’t be overstated. Fail to put the right people in the right seats on the bus, and your company won’t

When unemployment is near a record-low 4.5% … and when candidates report their interview experiences in real-time on Glassdoor … you can’t afford not to treat them like

I finally bagged the elephant… and I had to go to Australia to do it. I just interviewed Axel Koster, based in Melbourne. He’s built an audience of

Before you can recruit great people, you first have to find them. This means building a consistent pipeline of candidates, an artform known as Sourcing. There’s nobody better-qualified

In this episode, I share 20 minutes with Jonny Imerman, Founder of Imerman Angels. After beating cancer at age 26, he was inspired to create the ground-breaking &

You know that your company is unlike any other. And now – for the first time – we know exactly why. My guest today is Maddie Grant, founding

Groupon is one of the biggest names in technology. Yet, finding great talent isn’t easy for any company. Stacey Kraft is Groupon’s Global Head of Talent Acquisition &

You’ve recruited a bunch of rockstars to your company. Now what? Put the right people processes in place early. Because the longer you wait, the harder it becomes.

Strong Suit Podcast is the playbook for recruiting Rockstars. My goal is to teach people how to hire twice as fast… With half the mistakes… Before paying a headhunter. In this

What must you do after the interview to ensure that you hire a rockstar every time? My guest today is Mary Beth Wynn, SVP of People at Jellyvision,

Want to know how to build a rockstar culture at your company? And the pitfalls to avoid? PowerReviews, one of Chicago’s fastest-growing companies, is known for its healthy

Ever wonder what venture capitalists actually look for in the CEO’s they fund? Sach Chitnis, Managing Partner of Jump Capital, tells us in this episode. Chicago-based Jump Capital

Your candidate did great in the interview. But how do you know if the story was fact or fiction? Reference checks. They’re not fun, but they’re vital. So

At roughly half my age, Neal Sales-Griffin makes me feel woefully inadequate  🙁 He’s a two-time CEO (both of leading coding schools), a Professor at Northwestern University, a

Katy Lynch is a Chicago legend. She’s Co-Founder of Codeverse, the just-launched world’s first fully interactive coding school for kids. Her mission is to teach 1 Billion kids

Recruiting rockstars software developers may seem like an impossible task. There’s infinite demand. But you can do it, if you follow Allison’s advice. Allison DiDominick heads talent acquisition

Derek Nelson is founder and head of Clique Studios, one of the fastest-growing website creation firms in Chicago. With 400 new websites under his belt, Derek has mastered

If job postings aren’t working like they used to, and headhunters are too expensive, you can use your existing employees to attract more rockstars. Erin Wilson is Co-Founder

Reverb.com is the super-cool eCommerce platform for buying & selling musical instruments, with a swelling community of musicians & content. Gina Contella, Director of Talent, has built most

No doubt… Millennials are a very different breed. Aged 18 to 34, they have some unique characteristics & preferences My guest today is Aaron Levy is CEO of

What’s it like to start a business from scratch & build it to acquisition by Salesforce.com? Until recently, John Roa was CEO & Founder of AKTA, a leading

The French call it Raison D’être. Every company – raw startup or Fortune 100 – must figure out its ‘reason for being’ This isn’t just mission, vision, values.

Balance is everything when building a company. My guest today is Divey Gulati, Co-Founder of one of Chicago’s fastest-growing companies, ShipBob. ShipBob provides a direct-to-consumer fulfillment service for

Make no mistake. The war for talent is on. You’re competing for talent with Uber, Facebook, and Google. And their pockets are deeper than yours. So how to

My guest today is a legend. Christie Hefner is Chairman of Hatch Beauty, a brand & product innovation company. Previously, she served as Executive Chairman of Canyon Ranch

Did you know that Google has a series of programs called “Moonshots” ? These are some of its biggest bets … self-driving cars, personalized medicine, and stuff I can’t

My guest today is Josh Inglis, who runs Propllr Public Relations in Chicago.  He’s one of the P.R. pioneers for Startups. In this 20-minute interview, Josh reveals: – Why

He’s back! Brad Feld was my first guest, and he returns today for an intimate Valentine’s Day episode #100. Brad is Managing Director of Foundry Group, a leading

I had the amazing opportunity to interview Tom Blaisdell. Tom is one of Silicon Valley’s top Venture Capitalists focused on consumer/small business-facing startups. It’s hard to believe that I

Did you know there are over 300,000 recruiters in the US? When it’s time to get outside help hiring a candidate, how can you possibly select the right

Jim O’Malley recruited much of the amazing leadership team to Fifth Third Bank. Now he’s Partner at TalentRise, a fast-growing talent firm based in Chicago. He’s got over 20

In nearly 100 podcast episodes, Parker Krex is my youngest guest ever. Parker is CEO of BrickLoot, the Lego subscription service for brick-lovers. Believe it or not, a

Few people are more qualified to teach growth companies the secrets of recruiting than Betsy Tilkemeier. Following successful careers at the 3 top headhunting firms … Korn/Ferry, Russell Reynolds,

How do you build a healthy, vibrant culture from the very start? My guest today, Steven Collens, has done it. He’s CEO of Matter, a Chicago-based community of

Legendary VC Brad Feld of Foundry Group was one of the first guests on my podcast. Now, he’s returning for an intimate & personal Episode #100 In celebration of

Not many PE’s hang up their investment hat & switch sides to start a business from scratch. But Cameron Smith did it. And here’s how. With a decade

There’s perhaps no greater mystery than the world of Private Equity investors, and how they decide to write the check or walk away. Much of it comes down

How’d you like to go inside the Boardroom of a venture capital-funded company? To see how the Board of Directors really works? Today’s guest is Jason Heltzer, Partner at

My guest Adam Robinson is Chief Hireologist & CEO of Hireology, one of Chicago’s fastest-growing companies. They’ve raised millions in venture capital to crack the recruiting code. Adam

What must you do after the interview to ensure that you hire a rockstar every time? My guest today is Mary Beth Wynn, SVP of People at Jellyvision.

Building a winning culture is hard… But combining two cultures into one is nearly impossible. My guest today, Matt Moog, has done it. As CEO of PowerReviews, Matt

The war for talent is ON. So, how do you compete with the likes of Google, Facebook, and Uber to attract Rockstars to your fledgling company? Especially when

Nicole Dessain is Founder & Chief Strategist of Talent Imperative. She’s also President of Disrupt HR Chicago. In this 20-minute interview, Nicole reveals why you should create a

You’ve got a great new idea. A prospective customer. Perhaps even some software written. And now it’s time to start adding people to your team. When you’re first

If you’re like most leaders, giving feedback to your staff isn’t your idea of a good time. Who likes running the risk of hurt feelings? So, in this

Today’s guest is Jeff Maters, Managing Director of Network Ventures, the fast-growing Chicago-based VC fund. Jeff has been investing in early-stage companies since joining Pritzker Group Venture Capital

Why is recruiting rockstar salespeople so difficult? Many are such good talkers, so it’s hard to separate the A-Players from the wannabes. Today’s guest shows you how. Carolyn

Imagine going behind the scenes at a leading VC firm & being a fly on the wall at the Partner Meeting. My guest today is Guy Turner, Managing

With the pace of business accelerating, its more important than ever for your team to test, innovate, iterate, and share their findings with each other. Brittani Shaw is

As your growth company scales, you’ve got to take an honest look at your talent pool & decide whether your current folks are the right ones to get

It’s a high-class problem…your business is booming. So, how do you lead your team to keep up with the growth? My guest today is Chris Campbell, CEO of

It took months, but I finally bagged the elephant! My guest is Robert Hatta, Partner at Drive Capital, one of today’s hottest VC firms. They just closed a

The times are changing. We’re officially in the Gig Economy. Keith Ryu is Founder of OnboardIQ, the hiring automation solution for temporary hourly workers. His clients include Grubhub,

In this super-tight labor market, you can’t take the candidate experience for granted. It doesn’t take much to mess it up & turn them off. And on Glassdoor

Maria Palma is a Rockstar VC. At RRE Ventures, she’s Director of Platform & works with their portfolio companies to accelerate growth. Maria recently took it upon herself to

Katie Hughes is uniquely-qualified to talk about building your company’s organization because she is Talent Partner at DFJ, the global V.C. firm with $4 billion under management. Katie

Rebecca Foreman Janjic has been conducting retained executive searches for 20 years and now she gives us the inside scoop on how its done. She’s a Partner at

If you hire – or you’re going to hire – sales reps, you can’t afford to miss this interview. Dr. Christopher Croner is author of the best-selling book

20 years ago, Ted Martin founded Martin Partners in Chicago. Since then, he’s become one of the nation’s leading executive recruiters. Ted specializes in searches for CEO candidates

Dayton Ogden is Head of Talent for Summit Partners, the legendary $16B VC & PE investment fund. He’s responsible for scouring the world in search of rockstars, who

I named this episode after my guest, Clem Johnson. And we discuss the highs, lows, risks, and rewards of Passion in your company. (More isn’t always better.) Clem

How to know for sure? Karen Bloom started Bloom Gross 25 years ago, one of the nation’s largest recruiting firms for P.R. folks. Whether you’re hiring your first

My guest today is Joe Flanagan is CEO of Acquirent, the Inc 5000 company, that helps companies build their sales pipeline. His team of works with companies large

How’d you like to cut thru all the interview BS? John Younger is CEO of HireMojo, the first recruitment automation platform designed for the non-recruiter. He’s started 5

If your industry is changing rapidly, you can’t afford to miss this episode. Tuck Rickards is Managing Director of Russell Reynolds, one of the world’s top executive search

Jason Weingarten is the CEO & Co-Founder of Yello, the leading talent acquisition software suite. He’s raised millions in venture capital funding & hired over 100 people. In

Lou Adler is one of the biggest influences in my Talent work. I had to wait months to land him as a guest, but here he is! Lou

Kristi Ryan runs her own recruiting firm, Ryan Recruiting Resources. She’s been recruiting for more than 15 years, working with top firms like World Kitchen, Echo Global, and

How’d you like to learn the secrets on how to assess & predict whether a candidate will succeed at your company? Sara Coffou founded Coffou Partners, a leading

Amy Frink created Victory Search Group more than dozen years ago and has recruited more CFO’s than anyone I’ve ever met. In this 20-minute interview, Amy reveals: the

Barry Asin is President of Staffing Industry Analysts, the leading consulting & publishing firm that tracks the talent industry. In this 20-minute interview, Barry reveals the major trends

Stacie Blair is a pioneer in the recruiting field. 20 years ago, she created The Pacific Firm based in San Francisco. They recruit for companies of all types

She knows the secrets! Because Cynthia Karr was one of Silicon Valley’s top headhunters before coming a leading career coach. She recruited a ton of top Finance executives

Trisha Degg is Director of Talent Programs for Illinois Technology Association (ITA), the organization that helps great tech companies scale. Trisha helps ITA’s 500 member companies navigate the

I’m beyond thrilled to spend a few minutes with Jim Jonassen, Founder of JJA Venture Search. Jim has executed over 700 Chief & VP search assignments, having built

Recruiting rockstar IT & Software Developers to your company can seem impossible these days… But it’s not. While we’re essentially at zero unemployment for this profession, you can

Kristy Nittskoff is the guru of candidate communications. She runs the firm Talent Savvy. How do you engage Rockstars? They’re currently employed & happy. But you want them

Gautam Gupta is Co-Founder & CEO of NatureBox, which he’s built from scratch to 100 employees. It’s now one of fastest-growing food brands in the US. Gautam lost

The war for talent is underway. With 1% unemployment amongst college-educated white-collar workers, how can you possibly compete? Don’t let Facebook, Google, and Uber hire all the Rockstars.

Yves Lermusi is CEO & co-founder of Checkster, a social rating tool for your employees. It’s supercool & streamlines the interview, referencing, and 360 feedback process. He started

I’m privileged today to a best-selling author who studies what sets apart great business leaders. It’s vital info to know, so that you can become an amazing boss, and also

George Deeb, Partner with Red Rocket Ventures, consults to hundreds of startup companies nationally. He’s learned so much & seen the patterns, that he’s even written a book:

How do you build a team of happy people? And why should you even care? Because they deliver much stronger ROI. Sunny Grosso is Culture Chief at Delivering

Whew! … It took me months to book today’s guest, and I finally did it. Pat Lencioni is the author of 10 books which have sold 5 million books

There’s possibly nobody more qualified to talk about how an Entrepreneur should lead their Startup… Carter Cast rocketed through the ranks at PepsiCo, before being named as CEO

Jean Bagileo of David Powell has been a leading executive search consultant in Silicon Valley for decades. In this wide-ranging interview, Jean reveals: how to properly conduct a

OMG! I’m so psyched because I’ve waited for months to feature today’s guest. She’s a Legend in recruiting, culture, and all things people. Libby Sartain is the real

John Sumser is a legend in the recruiting & talent field. Currently, he’s CEO of HRExaminer. For over two decades, he has studied, dissected, and analyzed the industry.

Doug Galen is a Silicon Valley Rockstar with a pattern of a success. He’s added hundreds of millions of revenue at eBay, eLoan, Shutterfly, and Shopkick. He’s built

Today, I interview Raj Sheth. Raj is CEO & Co-Founder of Recruiterbox.com, a profitable company that he started in 2011. Based in San Francisco, it’s one of the

20 years ago, Geoff Smart created ghSmart, a remarkable firm to advise Venture Capital & Private Equity firms on their hiring choices. Since then, his firm has interviewed &

I was privileged to meet Mats Lederhausen, whose gold-plated resume is surpassed only by his passion for building world-class cultures. For 20 years, he has preached “purpose bigger

Imagine your job was to recruit the best recruiters… Debra Jerome is Chief Human Resources Officer at Witt/Kieffer, one of the nation’s leading retained executive search firms (offices in

If you think that creating a healthy culture means buying a ping-pong table, you’ve got to catch this short interview. I interview Anne Nimke, who runs a fascinating company called

Wyzant is the leading online marketplace for tutors & students of all ages. They’€™re venture-funded & growing like a weed. As Director of Talent, Carrie McComb has led

There’s no harder candidate to recruit than a tech & software development leader. But today’€™s guest does it all day every day. Jason Kranz leads the Silicon Valley

I just had a chance to interview Stuart Frankel. Stuart is Co-Founder & CEO of Narrative Science, one of Chicago’s fastest-growing Startups. He’s hired 80 employees & raised $30 million

I know you’€™ll enjoy this candid conversation with Mark Achler, Managing Director of MATH Venture Partners, the $28M venture fund based in Chicago. Mark pulls back the curtain on: What VC’€™s really look for in an

Mark Jacobson is a Partner at True, the nation’€™s 12th largest executive search firm. In this role, he’s retained by companies to find only the top talent. In fact, Mark

Imagine banning all annual employee performance reviews from your company…forever. In the 20-minute interview, Jennifer Shoop CEO of Fizz shows us how to do it. No more scrambling

Entrepreneur & CEO Art Papas has built Bullhorn to 600 employees. Because many of his 10,000 customers are Recruiters, he’s seen hiring from so many angles. In this

Reid Carr is Founder & CEO of Red Door Interactive, the 90-person firm based in San Diego. He’s built a robust & vibrant culture that’s been recognized nationally.

She’€™s placed 100’s of rockstars at Google. In 1996, Martha Josephson founded the digital media practice at Egon Zehnder, one of the world’s top executive search firms. After

Susan Rosenstein has been recruiting marketing rockstars for her clients for 30 years. Big CPG companies, startups … she does it all. From CMO to Brand Manager, Susan

Legendary executive coach Marty Nemko reveals how to be a great entrepreneur. Today, I had the opportunity to interview Marty. He’€™s worked with nearly 5,000 executives, and the

Over 25 years, Cassie Marrone has interviewed tens of thousands of candidates. She’s Head of People at LOYAL3, the groundbreaking FinTech company that lets regular people invest in

Rich Lear is Managing Director of Vantage Partners, a leading S.F. headhunting firm. He’s completed over 300 searches & specializes in recruiting people to help scale early-stage companies.

I just had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Michalowicz, top business author of ‘€œThe Toilet Paper Entrepreneur’€ (BusinessWeek calls it a ‘cult classic’€™). Mike built 2 multi-million dollar startups, sold them,

He recruits the unrecruitable…Silicon Valley CTO’s. How do you recruit & keep a Chief Technology Officer, when they receive 5 headhunter calls a day? Mike Morell is one

Would you like to hire Rockstars just like an award-winning Startup? Based in Chicago, ContextMedia created the largest national network of ad/content-based video screens in physicians offices. Eric

The secrets from a Podcasting legend. It took me 4 months, but I finally landed him as a guest for our video blog… You probably know the name

I just had the privilege of meeting with Brian Ascher. Brian’s a tenured Partner at Venrock, the legendary venture capital firm. In this interview, you’ll find out: The

Dan Arkind is CEO & Co-Founder of JobScore, an awesome software platform that matches people & jobs. He’s also a former headhunter in the tech field. Through both

In this bonus episode, acclaimed entrepreneur Rand Fishkin opens up about his battle with depression. Rand founded Moz, the leading company that boosts online visibility for 35,000 businesses.

VC reveals how Startup CEO’s can hire 10x better. Accomplished VC Niko Bonatsos is Managing Director with General Catalyst Partners, the venture firm with 100 portfolio companies &

In this episode, we interview the co-leaders of LeadPages, the smoking-hot company that’s raised $38M in venture capital. Clay Collins (CEO) & Tracy Simmons (CSO) work together to

In this episode, legendary tech executive recruiter Charley Polachi reveals… how to identify Rockstar candidates; the most important interview questions to ask; how to avoid the most-common recruiting

Noam Wasserman literally wrote the book on what kills startups (hint: it’s not what you think!)  He’s the award-winning Professor at Harvard Business School & author of the best-seller “The Founder’s Dilemmas.”

Tom Gimbel is founder/CEO of LaSalle Network in Chicago, the 9-time winner of the Inc 5000 award. Tom’s built one of the fastest-growing & most-respected recruiting firms in

A very special episode… an intimate conversation with venture capitalist Brad Feld. Few people in our crowded startup world need no introduction. Brad is one of them. Most

In this quick interview, you’ll discover how to identify & build your Startup’s “Unfair Advantage.”  Troy Henikoff successfully convinced me that most Startups don’t stand a chance without

David Cohen created the Techstars Accelerator. Now he reveals who makes the best entrepreneurs & how to hire Rockstars. Techstars is the leading venture accelerator, with intensive 13-week

Following a successful career at Heidrick & Struggles, executive recruiter Matt Schwartz started his own firm & became one of the nation’s top headhunters of Chief Marketing Officers.

Strong Suit is the playbook for recruiting rockstars. You’ll learn how to hire twice as fast… With half the mistakes… Before paying a headhunter. Ready. Aim. Hire!