School for Startups Minutes

The short vignettes are taken from School for Startups Radio. We release a quick thought to motivate or educate you about a different facet of entrepreneurship every day.

SFS Minute 798: Hypocrisy Hurts Us All 09/21/2025

SFS Minute 798: Hypocrisy Hurts Us All Hollow leadership erodes our trust and distracts us from the real solution. If we want environmental progress, we must celebrate the doers—the entrepreneurs solving problems—not the talkers and those who only pose as green with their checkbook. That is the call of the real environmentalist. Please go act, and call out those who are faking it. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38295920

SFS Minute 797: Capitalism Is the Tool 09/21/2025

SFS Minute 797: Capitalism Is the Tool Entrepreneurs are building products that are sustainable and profitable. At the same time, capitalism isn't the enemy of the environment; it's the tool. That's the surprising truth you'll find in The Real Environmentalists. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38295905

SFS Minute 796: The Shipwreck Problem 09/21/2025

SFS Minute 796: The Shipwreck Problem Recycling ships is an ugly, dirty business, but it's much better than the alternative. Entrepreneurs like Wayne Elliott are stepping forward and turning the nightmare into a business. They are using capitalism to tackle the dirtiest problems in the world and making a profit while they do it. That's what makes him one of the real environmentalists. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38295885

SFS Minute 795: The Entrepreneurs 09/21/2025

SFS Minute 795: The Entrepreneurs The real environmentalists are the capitalist entrepreneurs. They're not posing; they're building. They are solving global problems in ways that are profitable and practical. And that's the lesson we need to follow. Thank God for our entrepreneurs, especially the ones in the environmental space. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38295860

SFS Minute 794: Performances vs. Progress 09/21/2025

SFS Minute 794: Performances vs. Progress I love the environment. I love going for walks along a path with a lake and beautiful trees. There's nothing more enjoyable, but I'm also a hypocrite. I like my air conditioning in my airplanes too, and I drive a big car and have a swimming pool. Am I a hypocrite? Can I love the environment and still drive a big car? That's what I want to talk about this week: real environmentalism. It's an uncomfortable truth. Much of our environmentalism is performative. The real work isn't happening on the red carpets or the U.N. stages or in People magazine. It happens in laboratories and startups, places where people are getting their hands dirty and building solutions to clean up the mess. That's what real performance is about. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38295835

SFS Minute 792: Kevin Gast 09/14/2025

SFS Minute 792: Kevin Gast Kevin Gast, with his company VVater, took on the housing challenge with fresh eyes and figured out how to make the water part of the equation more sustainable. It’s now scalable and producing cleaner, better water for all of us. He’s one of the real environmentalists. Check them out. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38211915

SFS Minute 793: Gator Halpern 09/14/2025

SFS Minute 793: Gator Halpern I have been a lifelong scuba diver. It's one of my absolute favorite passions. One of the first things you are taught is not to touch the coral because you will kill it, and it will never come back—except now, maybe it will. Gator Halpern has invented a new technology that grows coral 50 times faster than nature does and can replace an entire reef. He's one of our real environmentalists. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38211920

SFS Minute 791: Dr. Stephen Mayfield 09/14/2025

SFS Minute 791: Dr. Stephen Mayfield Dr. Stephen Mayfield was one of the few academics to see that his research had practical, everyday uses. He was studying algae and discovered that he could grow plastics from algae-based products. This could be used to replace petroleum. Wouldn't that be a great godsend? Another one of our real environmentalists. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38211910

SFS Minute 790: Shawn Nelson 09/14/2025

SFS Minute 790: Shawn Nelson Lovesac has long been one of my favorite furniture brands. The founder, Shawn Nelson, has great ads. I love the ads, but he has dedicated the company to upcycling materials and designing products that are meant to last a long time instead of throwaway couches. He builds products that will adapt and endure. He is an environmental entrepreneur. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38211905

SFS Minute 789: Wayne Elliott 09/14/2025

SFS Minute 789: Wayne Elliott What happens when a 900-foot ship is at the end of its life? Many of them are sunk in the middle of the night, in the middle of the ocean, destined to leak toxins forever. How can we solve this problem? Surely, we need government help—or maybe something else is happening. I'll tell you who’s cleaning up this mess right after this. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38211895

SFS Minute 788 - Easy Management with Modern Tools 09/06/2025

SFS Minute 788 - Easy Management with Modern Tools One of the final big advantages to having a virtual assistant is how easy it is to operate with them. You don't have to deal with the personality conflicts in the office and you can use amazing tools and apps that let you communicate, share documents, and work together with employees overseas. It works automatically, and it's seamless. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38112085

SFS Minute 787 - Scalability & Flexibility 09/06/2025

SFS Minute 787 - Scalability & Flexibility Back to the advantages of VAs: scalability and flexibility for seasonal work like taxes or anything else where your needs go up and down. The best way to solve that problem is not to outsource, but to VA it. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38112070

SFS Minute 786 - Access to Specialized Global Talent 09/06/2025

SFS Minute 786 - Access to Specialized Global Talent Another big advantage to the virtual assistant is that you get specialized global talent, and it makes a difference. We all know, of course, about India and their IT advantage. Also, Latin America has a huge advantage in design, and the Philippines have a huge advantage in customer support. All of those stereotypes are true, I have found, and it's a great way to get your talent. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38112050

SFS Minute 785 - Productivity with Time Zone Advantage 09/06/2025

SFS Minute 785 - Productivity with Time Zone Advantage Almost all VAs work overseas, which means you get a time zone advantage. I go to bed and wake up with all sorts of new work already done. For me, it's like I was working all night long, time zone advantage. A huge reason to get a VA. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38112035

SFS Minute 784 - Lower Costs Without Losing Quality 09/06/2025

SFS Minute 784 - Lower Costs Without Losing Quality Whenever you meet an incredibly productive person and ask, How is that person so productive? there's almost always the same answer: they get help. They have a virtual assistant, and that is what makes them so productive. This week, we're going to talk about five reasons you, yes, you! should get a virtual assistant. So, the first reason to have a virtual assistant is that you can lower your labor cost without getting any decrease in quality, maybe even an increase and you can lower your salary cost by as much as 90 percent. Yes, that is possible. I have two virtual assistants. They are about a thousand dollars a month: one in the Philippines, one in Bulgaria. They are both amazing, a thousand bucks a month. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38111990

SFS Minute 783: Copy.ai (or Jasper) 08/31/2025

SFS Minute 783: Copy.ai (or Jasper) The other AI tool is Copy.ai, also known as Jasper. It is a marketing machine. It will help write sales copy, email sequences, product descriptions, and ad headlines in seconds. It is your pro-level marketing tool. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38034720

SFS Minute 782: Pictory 08/31/2025

SFS Minute 782: Pictory There's a new AI for video called Pictory, P-I-C-T-O-R-Y. It is a video content tool. It will turn your blog, a script, a note, or a webinar into a short, social-media-ready video in just seconds. You can even add captions. No editing is required, and it can make a short video for you that does whatever you want. Imagine a video of your family with everyone's hair on fire. It's a great tool. Check it out - Pictory /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38034705

SFS Minute 781: Zapier AI 08/31/2025

SFS Minute 781: Zapier AI Zapier, Z-A-P-I-E-R, connects all of your apps together, your email, your customer list, your social accounts, your payments, all connected so that they can talk to each other. It automates repetitive tasks so you can focus on growing your business. This is one of the must-haves for a busy person. It's called Zapier. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38034700

SFS Minute 780: Notion AI 08/31/2025

SFS Minute 780: Notion AI Most of us use some form of a to-do list to keep organized. A new AI called Notion will read your emails and keep all of your messy business ideas, meeting summaries, and to-do lists in one place. It automatically updates so that you know exactly what you need to do and when. It's called Notion. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38034685

SFS Minute 779: Durable 08/31/2025

SFS Minute 779: Durable Artificial intelligence, or AI, is everywhere in the news right now. ChatGPT is probably the most famous and talked about. It is awesome. It can help you brainstorm, write emails, and build marketing copy. It can even code and write computer programs, but it's not the only one. This week, I'm going to introduce you to five other tools that are very useful and maybe even better at certain projects. How much did you spend to have your last website built—five thousand dollars, ten? Now you can do it for free with a product called Durable. It will build a professional website in under a minute that looks just like a five-thousand- or ten-thousand-dollar website. It's easy to use. You've got to check it out - Durable. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/38034665

SFS Minute 778: Envision Tomorrow 08/25/2025

SFS Minute 778: Envision Tomorrow Artificial intelligence is great at making the now better. It makes processes faster, cheaper, and more efficient, but optimizing is only useful when it already exists, which requires visionary humans to go past incremental thinking and imagine a new and exciting future. Computers still don't do that. Thank goodness. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37941480

SFS Minute 777: Trust 08/25/2025

SFS Minute 777: Trust AI provides data, but humans develop trust based on personality and working with someone and shaking their hand. AI can present findings and give you information, but it doesn't inspire loyalty or share empathy, and you can't shake hands with it. Business depends on relationships that are forged over time, where credibility matters more than raw data. People want to work with leaders they like, not machines. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37941430

SFS Minute 776: Speed 08/25/2025

SFS Minute 776: Speed AI can brainstorm dozens of ideas in the same amount of time it takes a human to just sketch out one idea. It's a great tool for accelerating the creative process or overcoming the blank page syndrome, but originality comes from lived experience, curiosity, and intuition- things that AI does not have. Most of the disruptive ideas come from breaking the rules, and AI cannot do that. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37941410

SFS Minute 775: Patterns 08/25/2025

SFS Minute 775: Patterns Artificial intelligence is great at spotting trends or finding patterns in data. It can look through millions of transactions, detect anomalies, and highlight the relationships that no human could find. However, data without context is useless. Humans must step in to interpret the findings, connect them with real-world experience, ethics, and goals. A.I. gives a great "what," but you need a human to find out the "why." /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37941390

SFS Minute 774: Grunt Work 08/25/2025

SFS Minute 774: Grunt Work The original Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Terminator is one of my absolute favorites, but with A.I. here now, it makes you think - are we in danger? Will A.I. replace humans this week? We're going to talk about it, and I'll give you five reasons why I don't think that will happen. We are safe, us humans. Artificial intelligence is great at doing repetitive tasks - the grunt work, the processing of mountains of information that would take a human weeks. However, humans are still better at judgment, making decisions, and finding out what's really going on behind the scenes. At the end of the day, humans will still need to make the final call based on information processed by artificial intelligence. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37941370

SFS Minutes 773: Accelerators and Incubators 08/16/2025

SFS Minutes 773: Accelerators and Incubators Across the United States, there are organizations called accelerators or incubators. Their job is to accelerate your business or to incubate a new idea. Those programs have some sort of function at the end—a presentation where each group tells what they have accomplished during the program. In the audience are angels. Talk to those angels. Go to the events. See if you can get in an incubator, and you're on your way. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37846765

SFS Minutes 772: Startup Communities 08/16/2025

SFS Minutes 772: Startup Communities If you look around in your city, you will find that there is some sort of entrepreneurial event every week - some competitions, demo days, networking days. There's something going on every week. Go to those religiously, and whenever you meet someone, ask them if they're interested in investing in your new business. Have a pitch deck and a business plan ready to show them, but use the events that happen in your neighborhood. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37846750

SFS Minutes 771: Your Network 08/16/2025

SFS Minutes 771: Your Network Perhaps the best way to find an angel is to tap into your professional network and to ask all of the rich people that you know, or just start talking to people at the bar. I have literally sat down at dinner at P.F. Chang's at the bar and walked out with fifty thousand dollars in my pocket from the guy next to me. At the bar, it sounds crazy, but start a conversation and see what happens. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37846740

SFS Minutes 770: National Orgs 08/16/2025

SFS Minutes 770: National Orgs In addition to the city clubs, there are also national organizations of angels. Go to the websites like AngelList Seed. Invest or Crowdcube are great places to find angels and hopefully angels in your area. Expect to give up 20–30 percent, but at least you can get your business started. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37846720

SFS Minutes 769: Local Angel Networks 08/16/2025

SFS Minutes 769: Local Angel Networks SFS Minutes 769: Local Angel Networks When you start a business, one of the hardest parts is getting the money. I hope, of course, that you bootstrap your business, which means using your own internal funds and spending as little money as possible. However, some businesses do require a lot of money, and the typical way to get that money is to go into what's called the angel network and get money from an angel. They are exactly what they sound like - someone that drops from heaven and gives you a hundred thousand or a million dollars to start your business. Every city in America has an angel network. Go to Oakland Angel Club, and Google will give you a list of the Oakland angel investors. It's that simple, that easy. /episode/index/show/163694bd-abb8-4ee1-93da-cd2e799dc13a/id/37846705

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