176 - Flawless Acceleration: Black Veteran Entrepreneur “Iron” Mike Steadman is Empowering the Next Generation of Business Leaders
Release Date: 05/05/2023
197 - Paul Habenicht - Marine Veteran Applying Military Principles to Entrepreneurial Success
Mission Oriented
Paul Habenicht - Marine Veteran Applying Military Principles to Entrepreneurial Success Paul Habenicht, a U.S. Naval Academy and Darden MBA graduate successfully built and exited a veterinary services business called VetEvolve. Paul shared his journey from the Marine Corps to entrepreneurship, highlighting how his military experience shaped the culture and operations of VetEvolve. As Paul and his co-founder Nick acquired and integrated veterinary clinics across the country, they intentionally applied principles from the Marine Corps playbook - things like mission-type orders, empowering...
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196 - Erik DeGiorgi -Marine Veteran Launches AI-Powered Network Management Tool
Mission Oriented
Erik DeGiorgi is a Marine veteran that is the founder and CEO of NetSpeek. Erik shared how his background as a Marine infantryman during the early days of the Afghanistan war helped prepare him for the rigors of entrepreneurship. "Endurance is probably the single most necessary trait for a founder," he said, noting that the ability to push through challenges is critical. After leaving the Marines, Erik co-founded a family business in the digital signage industry, gaining valuable experience in building and scaling a tech company. This led him to identify a major pain point in the pro-AV...
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195 - Doug Moran: Author & Executive Coach
Mission Oriented
Leadership Lessons from Doug Moran: A Journey of Resilience and Empowerment Doug Moran is a seasoned executive coach, author, and former Capital One CIO. Doug shared his inspiring leadership journey, which has been shaped by his experiences in business, politics, and personal reflection. His book, If You Will Lead, distills these experiences into valuable leadership insights, with a focus on empowering others to reach their potential. He covers sixteen historical figures as he highlights leader characteristics. Doug’s journey to leadership started early, shaped by his upbringing as a...
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194 - Dave Esra - Veteran Entrepreneur Tackles Maternal Health Crisis
Mission Oriented
Dave Esra - Veteran Entrepreneur Tackles Maternal Health Crisis Dave Esra is the founder and CEO of Bobi Health. Dave is a veteran who served in both the Navy and Army, and he is now using his entrepreneurial skills to tackle a critical issue - the high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. Dave shared his personal connection to this problem - his wife had a high-risk pregnancy that was ultimately successful, but he saw firsthand the challenges and risks that many women face. This experience inspired him to found BobiHealth, a startup that is using technology to improve maternal health...
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193 - Nick Smith - Navy Veteran & Partner, 37th & Moss
Mission Oriented
Nick Smith - Navy Veteran & Partner, 37th & Moss From a young age, Nick had a desire to take to the skies, inspired by his Great Uncle's job of flying F-86s during the Korean War and his Grandfather's service in the Air Force. Opting for the Navy, he fulfilled his passion for flying as an F-18 test pilot during his active duty service. Post-military life, Nick set his sights on entrepreneurship, gaining valuable experience in small businesses at a bank. This journey led him to join forces with a business school colleague, giving birth to 37th and Moss – a dynamic search fund...
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192 - Sherman Williams - Academy Investor Network, Helping Service Academy Graduates Invest
Mission Oriented
Sherman Williams & Emily McMahan - Academy Investor Network, Helping Service Academy Graduates Invest in Venture-backed Startups Sherman Williams is a Naval Academy graduate. After serving as a Naval Intelligence Officer, he headed to Chicago’s Booth School to study finance and landed himself in investment banking. While in banking he started investing and advising startups. This was a perfect segue to co-founding Academy Investor Network. Emily McMahan is a WestPoint Academy graduate. After her time in the Army as a Military Police Officer, she has always been focused around community...
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191 - David Jones - Co-Founder & General Partner at Bull City Venture Partners
Mission Oriented
David Jones - Co-Founder & General Partner at Bull City Venture Partners After attending the United States Naval Academy and graduating with a BS in Electrical Engineering, David Jones served as a Naval Aviator and a Weapons and Operations Officer. It was his military background and experience in technology that laid the groundwork to co-found Bull City Venture Partners in 2012. Bull City Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in $250K to $2M in bold founders building software and tech-enabled companies. Serving mostly the East coast, they value the power of teamwork...
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190 - Brandon Shelton - TFX Capital Update, Removing the Barriers to Capital for Veterans
Mission Oriented
Brandon Shelton - Removing the Barriers to Capital for Veterans, TFX Capital Brandon grew up in rural Virginia. He was part of a long line of military service. This led him to utilize the ROTC program and attend the University of Richmond. After being commissioned as an Airborne Infantry Officer in the U.S Army. and serving for eight years he landed himself on Wall Street. This was the beginning of Brandon’s experience in the financial realm. He worked hard and received his MBA from Duke University. It was through these years that Brandon began the passion and desire to remove the...
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189 - Brendan Aronson - USMC Veteran, Co-Founder & CEO The Military Veteran
Mission Oriented
Brendan Aronson - USMC Veteran, Co-Founder & CEO The Military Veteran Brendan attended the United States Naval Academy for his undergraduate degree and commissioned as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. He served for six years before starting his entrepreneurial journey. He is the co-founder and CEO of The Military Veteran and has a passion to help transitioning veterans. He is a big proponent of in person events and the compound effect that networking can have on the business builder and the job seeker. The Military Veteran The Military Veteran works with...
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188 - Ryan Micheletti - The Veteran Fund & Founder Institute
Mission Oriented
Ryan Micheletti - The Veteran Fund & Founder Institute Ryan Micheletti served in the California State Military Reserve for six years. He would tell you that he learned leadership, resilience and the value of a team during his time in service. This laid the foundation for his journey as an entrepreneur. He began by starting a security company with his brother. This grew from just the two of them working overtime to now being the 2nd largest veteran owned business in the San Francisco bay area. They focus on hiring veterans. Ryan has also helped to found , which works with...
info_outlineFlawless Acceleration: Black Veteran Entrepreneur “Iron” Mike Steadman is Empowering the Next Generation of Business Leaders
As a black veteran entrepreneur, Steadman has made it his mission to empower others to achieve their highest potential in the business arena. Steadman's journey to entrepreneurship began at the Naval Academy, where he discovered his love for boxing and leadership. He went on to become a three-time National Collegiate Boxing Champion. He then commissioned as a Marine Corps Infantry officer and serving until 2015.
After leaving the military, Steadman turned his attention to serving inner-city youth through teaching boxing and leadership. He co-founded IRONBOUND Boxing, a non-profit that provides free boxing and fitness classes to underprivileged youth in Newark, New Jersey. Steadman's passion for mentoring and coaching others led him to co-found Flawless Acceleration, a coaching business that provides accountability and support to help individuals achieve their highest potential in the business world.
Steadman's entrepreneurial spirit doesn't stop there. He recently published a book titled, Black Veteran Entrepreneur, which explores the challenges and triumphs of being a black entrepreneur in today's society. Steadman hopes his book will inspire and encourage other aspiring entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams, no matter the obstacles they may face.
“YOU DON’T NEED MORE BULLSHIT BUSINESS ADVICE. YOU NEED AN ACCELERATION COACH.”
Flawless Acceleration
This statement encapsulates the philosophy behind Flawless Acceleration. The company recognizes that there is no shortage of generic business advice available today, but that what business owners and entrepreneurs really need is personalized guidance and support. The company's approach is centered around accountability, building a battle rhythm, and performing at the highest levels of business ownership.
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Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch.
by VeteranCrowd Network
Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?
It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.
Why?
Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.
Until now.
Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?
Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.
About Your Host
Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.