21st Century Entrepreneurship

Hosted by Martin Piskoric

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519

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Jun 2026

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The 21st Century Entrepreneurship Podcast is a 4 x Gold-Award weekly show that features interviews with cutting-edge leaders and successful entrepreneurs. We talk about the fundamentals of starting and growing a business, achieving and maintaining success, as well as the difficulties of entrepreneurship and its future. Subscribe to the 21st Century Entrepreneurship Podcast and never miss an episode, so you can stay on top of the curve and gain the knowledge you need to succeed in today's competitive landscape.

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June 10, 2026Episode 3413 min

#520 Miriam Schulman: How Can Artists Price to Sell?

Miriam Schulman is the author of Artpreneur, founder of the Artist Incubator program, and a longtime artist and business coach, and we spoke about how creatives can build profitable businesses without underpricing, chasing social media, or waiting to feel ready. After starting on Wall Street and changing direction after 9/11, Miriam realized she was not living her purpose and began applying “time tested strategies for selling” to her own portraits.Her approach centers on pricing, belief, emotional selling, and implementation. She challenges the idea that “cheaper is easier to sell” and explains why buyers often need products to feel “reassuringly expensive.” Miriam also breaks down the belief triad: believing in yourself, believing in what you sell, and, most importantly, “belief in your buyer.” Instead of selling only benefits, she argues that people buy how something makes them feel and what it says about them.We also spoke about the five foundations she sees behind a successful creative business: production, pricing, prospecting, promotion, and productivity. Miriam shares examples of artists who grew from $13,400 in gallery sales to over $90,000 in a year, or made $19,000 in one month without relying on Instagram. Her point is clear: “You don’t need more information. You need implementation.”For listeners, this episode offers a practical reset on selling creative work with stronger pricing, better buyer psychology, less dependence on social media, and a clear next step to continue learning from Miriam through The Inspiration Place Podcast.Key takeawaysStop assuming cheaper prices make selling easier.Build belief in yourself, your offer, and your buyer.Sell the feeling, not only the product benefit.Focus on implementation, not more information.Do not build your business around social engagement.Use pricing to create trust, not insecurity.

May 27, 2026Episode 3326 min

#519 Ferdinand Mehlinger: What replaced old SEO?

Ferdinand Mehlinger is a search technologist and founder @ G-Stacker who says his background goes back to Backrub, the early project that became Google, and we spoke about why small business owners struggle to be found online without spending heavily on ads. He explains that most plumbers, landscapers, doctors, architects, and local operators do not have time to study SEO after work, and that many owners simply admit, “I don’t know any of this.”The turning point came when a friend told him to stop holding his knowledge back, and his wife reminded him that “nobody knows what you know.” That pushed him to turn years of search experience into a simpler system for regular business owners: enter a brand name, generate structured content, images, Google Docs, Sheets, Calendar events, internal links, and location-aware signals that help Google understand the business more clearly.A major theme is the shift from old SEO toward what he calls “information gain.” Ferdinand argues that generic AI content is losing value because it gives users nothing new, while specific, useful, culturally and locally relevant information helps prove authority. For small business owners, the stakes are practical, not theoretical: “business isn’t a joke,” especially when visibility affects income, family pressure, and survival.For listeners, this episode is a practical look at how search visibility is changing and what small businesses can do to be understood, indexed, and found without becoming SEO experts. Ferdinand’s central promise is simple: owners should be able to “click a couple of buttons” and let the system handle the technical search work behind the scenes.Key takeaways Generic AI content may no longer create search value. Google needs clear, specific business signals. Local context can improve relevance and authority. Small businesses need simple tools, not SEO complexity. Public Google assets can support indexing. Visibility problems create real pressure for families.

May 19, 2026Episode 3223 min

#518 Saahil Mehta: Can Less Work Create More Success?

Saahil Mehta is a business owner, mountaineer, and coach, and we spoke about redefining success after realizing that the version he had been chasing was not truly his. By 36, he had grown his net worth fivefold, built businesses across two continents, owned the Porsche, the villa, and the lifestyle—yet still felt hollow. The turning point came after a near-fatal car crash and his wife telling him she “doesn’t recognize me anymore.”Saahil explains how he created his “seven summits” framework: choosing the seven areas that define success personally, describing what the summit looks like in each, identifying where you are now, and then making decisions based on the full impact across your life. As he puts it, “every yes I make, I’m saying no to something else.” He also separates priorities into “crystal balls” and “rubber balls,” making it clear which parts of life cannot simply bounce back if neglected.The practical shift was not just philosophical. After his father passed away and more business responsibility fell on him, Saahil delegated decisions, empowered his team, protected coaching as part of his purpose, and still got home by 6:30 for dinner with his kids. In 2025, he says he worked one day a week in the group’s biggest revenue business—and it became their best year.This conversation gives business owners a concrete way to question inherited success, protect what matters, and build achievement without burning down health, family, and purpose.Key takeaways Define your own seven areas of success. Measure the gap between now and each summit. Treat health and family as crystal balls. Every yes creates a hidden no. Use your calendar to reveal real priorities. Delegate decisions only others can make.

May 15, 2026Episode 3115 min

#517 Evan Marks: How Do You Decide Under Pressure?

Evan Marks, Founder @ M1 Performance Group, is a former Wall Street hedge fund professional and mental performance coach, and we spoke about how high performers make better decisions under pressure instead of simply reacting. After 25 years on Wall Street, Evan now coaches traders, portfolio managers, CEOs, entrepreneurs and athletes, including NASCAR drivers, on what separates the best from the mediocre: “High performers know how to consciously respond,” while “the rest just react.”His turning point came at 46, when he thought he had suffered a heart attack. Leaving Wall Street and starting his own company brought up fear, judgment, embarrassment and the classic entrepreneurial spiral of “what if I fail?” Evan’s method is to create enough mental space to see the moment clearly, downregulate the body, and make the next best decision. As he puts it, “nothing is linear,” so the real skill is learning how to metabolize both defeat and success without losing your footing.We also spoke about practical tools: emotional recognition, breath work, exercise, sleep, verbalizing internal dialogue, reframing false narratives, and training recovery time after rejection, pressure or success. Evan’s point is not positive thinking, but what he calls realistic, opportunistic thinking: understanding pressure as data, taking responsibility for the situation you chose, and learning to become visible “when it counts.”For listeners, the concrete value is simple: if you operate under stress, this conversation gives you a practical way to stop reacting, recover faster, and make better decisions in the moment.Key takeaways Reaction keeps you behind; conscious response creates better decisions. Nothing is linear: prepare for both struggle and success. Use emotions as data, not as automatic commands. Downregulate before making important decisions under pressure. Train recovery time after rejection, failure or chaos. Verbalize internal dialogue to expose false narratives.

May 11, 2026Episode 3014 min

#516 Dr. Irena O'Brien: Why Does Change Feel So Hard?

Dr. Irena O'Brien is a cognitive neuroscientist and founder of the neuroscience school, and we spoke about how the brain shapes change, leadership, energy, and performance before we are even consciously aware of it. Her work helps coaches and helping professionals understand why “the brain's first job is survival” and why change often fails when we treat it only as mindset, motivation, or willpower.Irena explains the brain as a prediction engine: it uses past experience to estimate whether something is safe, costly, or worth the energy. For entrepreneurs and leaders, that means hesitation, overthinking, procrastination, people pleasing, defensiveness, or perfectionism may not be character flaws—they may be what she calls “a prediction problem.” The practical shift is to notice the body first: tight chest, shallow breathing, jaw tension, heaviness, withdrawal, speeding up, or the urge to over-control.We also talked about uncertainty inside organizations, including senior leaders who thought they had a motivation problem after their company was bought out. Through Irena’s lens, the issue was not laziness; uncertainty was consuming internal resources. Her simple leadership question becomes: what is the brain predicting here—danger or possibility, depletion or capacity, punishment or support?This conversation gives listeners a practical way to understand resistance, energy, and decision-making through the body and the predictive brain.Key takeaways The brain prioritizes safety, survival, and energy. Resistance may be prediction, not poor motivation. Notice body signals before interpreting the story. Ask whether it is danger or demand. Uncertainty can quietly consume leadership capacity. Reduce predicted cost with clarity, support, or smaller steps.

April 29, 2026Episode 2917 min

#515 Zack Tomlin: Why most business advice fails you?

Zack Tomlin is a former founder who spent 12 years building and exiting a business, and we spoke about why most business advice doesn’t actually work for individual leaders. He’s also the author of Craft: The Expedition of Business, a book he repeatedly referenced throughout the conversation as a practical guide to mastering decision-making, leadership, and the craft of business. His core argument is simple: most advice is built for an “average business,” but “most businesses aren’t your average business” because they’re shaped by unique leaders, teams, and markets.The turning point in his journey came from realizing that copying others only gets you so far. He describes leadership growth as a climb—from mimicry, to heuristics, to frameworks, and finally to first principles. As he puts it, “the best business advice is one that is built on principles that are true for all business,” but it’s the leader’s job to translate those into decisions that actually fit their reality. He also reframes scaling: instead of treating a company like a machine that “erodes and rust[s] and breaks down,” he advocates designing it as an environment—an ecosystem where the right behaviors emerge naturally.Practically, Zack breaks business into four parts: destination (clarity and beliefs), crew (who you hire), leader (your mindset shift), and expedition (systems that run without you). He highlights that growth pain often hits between 10–200 employees, when communication breaks down and leaders must transition from doing the work to enabling others. Constraints—competition, time, money, and human limits—aren’t obstacles but tools, because they force better decisions in the real world.Ultimately, his “why” is grounded in life quality: “one’s quality of life is directly correlated to how well their work situation goes.” By building businesses on clear principles and designed environments, leaders gain time, clarity, and better outcomes—not just financially, but for their teams and families as well.Key takeaways Generic advice fits “average” businesses, not your unique reality Move from mimicry to first-principles decision making Design your company as an ecosystem, not a machine Align destination, crew, leader, and systems holistically Use constraints to make better, realistic decisions Scale requires shifting from doing work to enabling others

April 20, 2026Episode 2820 min

#514 Guffy Wright: How to remove friction in big decisions?

Guffy Wright is a risk advisor and sales leader at The Mahoney Group, working with entrepreneurs and large companies in scale mode. We spoke about how to make high-stakes decisions when millions are on the line. His work sits at the intersection of insurance, strategy, and human behavior—helping leaders think beyond price and into consequences, especially “on their worst day” and their best.A turning point in his career came from repeatedly seeing deals stall even when the value was obvious. He realized the real blocker wasn’t logic—it was what he calls “emotional friction.” As he explains, “people are not afraid to make decisions, they’re afraid to make the wrong ones.” His framework—V3 (value + vulnerability + validation)—is designed to remove that friction by creating psychological safety and clarity. In practice, this means radical transparency with clients (“there can be zero secrets between us”), detaching from personal incentives, and aligning fully with the client’s outcome.Guffy also brings a highly practical lens to value creation. In one example, a $30,000 insurance cost change translated into a $500,000 cash impact—then turned into a $1M gain with a simple structural shift. This reinforced his belief that “value is constantly in motion” and that business owners must understand both what they value and how decisions ripple through financing, risk, and growth. At the same time, he emphasizes discipline: before scaling, remove something. “You don’t know what you’re committed to by what you say yes to… you know by what you say no to.”At its core, this conversation is about making better decisions under pressure—by aligning incentives, reducing hidden friction, and focusing on long-term value over short-term wins.Key takeaways Decisions stall due to emotional friction, not lack of value Use V3: value, vulnerability, validation to unlock decisions Evaluate decisions for best and worst-case scenarios Small cost changes can create massive financial impact Remove tasks before adding to escape stagnation Align incentives to build long-term trust and outcomes

April 15, 2026Episode 2736 min

#513 Dave Munson: Why Are Vision, Numbers, and Growth Key?

Dave Munson is the founder of a global leather goods company Saddleback Leather Co., and we spoke about how he built it from nothing, nearly lost it multiple times, and ultimately learned how to run a healthy, profitable business. His journey includes sleeping on the floor in Mexico, being stolen from “millions of dollars several times,” and almost going out of business—experiences that forced him to rethink everything about leadership and operations.A major turning point came when a mentor who ran a $13 billion business simplified what “run your business by the numbers” actually means. Instead of complexity, Dave learned to focus on the essentials: group all expenses, attack the top three, and cut aggressively—starting with salaries, then materials, then logistics. He saw firsthand that “it’s way easier to save 10% than it is to make 10%,” and that many businesses fail simply because they carry too many people or ignore inefficient processes. Alongside this, he emphasizes clarity of direction: without vision, decisions drift, but with it, every step aligns—“every step I take… helps me to make all my decisions.”Equally important is his philosophy of growth: stop focusing on money and start focusing on people. Influenced by mentors like Zig Ziglar, Dave reframed success around serving others—“if you’re focused on how much money can I make, you’re going the wrong way.” Instead, he built his approach around encouraging people, helping others succeed, and creating genuine value. For him, this extends beyond business into family, leadership, and even daily interactions, shaping a culture where people want to stay, contribute, and refer others.This episode gives listeners a grounded, experience-tested blueprint: define a clear vision, run your numbers ruthlessly, and grow by serving others—because sustainable success comes from alignment, not just ambition.Key takeaways Write a 5-year vision by hand to guide decisions Cut top three expense categories first, not minor costs Reduce staff if roles don’t create clear value Negotiate material costs and improve production efficiency Batch operations (e.g., shipping) to lower recurring expenses Focus on serving others, not maximizing short-term profit

April 8, 2026Episode 2620 min

#512 Alec Broadfoot: When does a CEO need a #2 leader?

Alec Broadfoot is founder and CEO of VisionSpark and author of Hiring Your Right #2 Leader. We spoke about why most entrepreneurs fail to hire the right number two—and how to fix it using data instead of gut instinct. His turning point came after building a profitable company with great service but disastrous hiring results, where “we were actually firing about 7 out of 10 people.” Everything changed when he adopted structured assessments and flipped those results, proving that hiring isn’t intuition—it’s a system.That realization led him to develop a method grounded in science, process, and pattern recognition. Instead of relying on interviews and resumes—which he warns against since “78% of resumes have lies on them and 100% have embellishments”—his approach evaluates candidates across mental aptitude, personality, and leadership capability. He emphasizes that the role of a number two is not a glorified assistant or project manager, but “a leader of leaders” who can run the business, make decisions, and create leverage for the founder.We also explored when entrepreneurs actually need this role and how to recognize both the right and wrong hire. A key signal is complexity—when working more no longer produces results and the founder feels stuck, exhausted, or even considers quitting. On the flip side, you’ve hired wrong if you feel the need to micromanage or constantly stay “on the watchtower” protecting the business. Broadfoot uses a simple but powerful metaphor: the right number two is like a doubles tennis partner—aligned, complementary, and in sync—because “you can go farther together when you have that right number two.”This episode gives founders a clear, practical framework to stop guessing in hiring, avoid costly leadership mistakes, and build a business that can scale without them being the bottleneck.Key takeaways Stop hiring on gut instinct; use structured assessments and data Don’t promote by default; internal candidates are often wrong fit Avoid “pool of one”; always evaluate multiple strong candidates A true number two must lead leaders, not just manage tasks Micromanagement is a clear signal you hired the wrong person Start considering a number two near $1M revenue

April 3, 2026Episode 2512 min

#511 Jon Ostenson: Build a Business Without an Idea?

Jon Ostenson is a franchise consultant and former corporate executive, and we spoke about how people can enter business ownership without a “million-dollar idea” by leveraging franchising—especially beyond fast food. After years in corporate, he “always had the desire to build my own empire instead of someone else’s,” but lacked a clear starting point. His turning point came when he discovered non-food franchising and later led a franchise system, where he saw how ordinary people could succeed by following proven systems instead of reinventing everything from scratch.His core approach is simple: franchising “shortcuts your path to success” by giving you a ready-made playbook—technology, marketing, training, and peer support—so you can focus on execution. He emphasizes that this path isn’t for everyone, but for those willing to follow a system, it offers a powerful structure: “you’re in business for yourself, but not by yourself.” He also breaks down the landscape beyond food—home services, B2B services, senior care, and other “understandable, cash-flowing businesses” that people often overlook but that perform consistently regardless of the economy.Practically, he outlines what it really takes to get started: investments can range from $150K–$200K for service-based models to $400K–$500K for brick-and-mortar, often funded through SBA loans, retirement rollovers, or credit. He explains two main paths—owner-operator or semi-passive with a manager—and is clear about the trade-offs: success depends heavily on execution and having the right operator in place. Ultimately, his “why” is deeply personal—building freedom, time with family, and autonomy—summed up in his reflection that he’s now “living life on my terms… coaching my kids’ teams… no turning back.”This conversation gives a concrete, realistic pathway into business ownership—what it costs, how it works, and who it’s actually for.Key takeaways Franchising offers a structured path without needing a business idea Non-food franchises dominate in home services and B2B sectors Entry cost ranges from $150K to $500K depending on model SBA loans and retirement rollovers commonly fund franchises Semi-passive models require a strong operator to succeed Focus on execution, not building systems from scratch