Story In A Bottle Podcast

Dennis Mortensen is a serial entrepreneur, despite his best efforts to avoid it; seemingly ingrained in his blood, Dennis comes from a lineage of business owners and seeing their painstaking efforts while growing up, originally hoped to avoid that path. However, when his plan to pay off college debt went awry, his instincts lead him on an entrepreneurial course which has been his trajectory since. In those early days, after several successful sales and exits, his strategy was bold: doubling down on his successes with each new endeavor and angel investing the next. Ultimately he hit his first bust, a venture he’s since coined his “very expensive MBA,” which left him with 4 tickets to the caribbean and some soul searching. Over red bulls, a staple of his daily diet, Dennis tells us how he got up after his fall, still unable to shake his entrepreneurial drive, the successes he’s seen since by focusing on a single thru line; focusing heavily on analytics and inching closer to digital intelligence and automation. This is a system he’s closest to today as founder and CEO of x.ai, an artificial intelligence startup committed to solving the problem of calendar management once and for all, or as he puts it, “we schedule meetings.”

What You’ll Learn:

  • The pros and cons of building a business exclusively on cash flow.
  • Why your product focus should be being world class at one thing, versus half-assed at seven.
  • Why all no commercial websites should exist without analytics.
Direct download: SIAB_DMortensen_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:44am EDT

When Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna met, they were teachers. However, as time would have it, their relationship and careers have evolved to a place they could’ve never imagined. Over a decade later, as their relationship evolved, a shared dream has come to fruition as the purveyors of some of the country’s most delicious ice cream, Ample Hills Creamery in Brooklyn, New York (and they are not your typical entrepreneurs). Over Dark and Stormies (and delicious Bourbon Street ice cream), they share their true entrepreneur story: what inspired and continues to inspire them as ice creamers, how that path was in jeopardy after only 4 days of business, and how a special relationship with Disney has gotten them beyond the dark side (and continues to help them grow). While the journey has certainly not been an easy one, the result is undoubtedly sweet.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How not being prepared for the best case scenario may be a problem.
  • Why in entrepreneurship you should dare to be bold and never be afraid to throw a hail Mary pass
  • The importance of remembering to keep a balance in work and life - and noting where the two can intersect
Direct download: SIAB_AmpleHills_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:54am EDT

Jenny Boylan has spent her life and career in constant transition. She embodies this evolution not only as a personal motivator and measure for progress as a notable member of the transgender community, but professionally, as she encourages others to do the same, regardless of their pursuits. As writer and professor in the English Department at Colby College and now at Barnard College, she has helped budding writers find and refine their voices and love of the craft for over 20 years. As a writer, she’s authored thirteen books and dozens of short stories, more recently shifting from humor to share her personal transition through the likes of her memoir “She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders” - the first bestselling work by a transgender American. Most recently she has become one of the de facto spokespeople and advocate in the LGBT community and appeared as a consultant and cast member on “I Am Cait” (amongst other efforts). Throughout, she has used her experience to empower others, helping them find their way within an often divided community. Over a selection of ABC Beer Co.’s favorite beers, she explains the obvious and not so obvious challenges she’s encountered: why not all transgender people are not created equally and the value of being honest about yourself in order to connect with others in a meaningful way.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why making people laugh is great, but making people cry is better.
  • How division within a minority group can often be as detrimental as those who oppose them.
Direct download: SIAB_JBoylan_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:22pm EDT

It has been said that often the truth is stranger than fiction, and no one demonstrates that more than Stephen Elliot, founder of The Rumpus. He has spent his life using writing and filmmaking as an outlet for expression when he often had nothing else. Growing up in group homes for orphaned kids in Chicago, he found himself in precarious situations and circumstances, ultimately at the helm of his own destiny. Over ginger beers provided by Alphabet City Beer Company, he describes exactly what that meant: negotiating his right to attend public school, why majoring in history lead to a tailspin with drug use, how he overcame that to get a Masters from Northwestern, all the while suffering the severe ups and downs that culminated in his life’s work. The results are captured in his novels and films, particularly his memoir, the Adderall Diaries, (and then the film about making the film that James Franco wrote and starred in). Today, as a contributor to Epic, he continues taking on new perspectives to tell stories, immersing himself in situations for months at a time in order to give the behind the scenes take on things like LA’s Silicon Beach, amongst others, as well as his own experience having a “real” job for the first time in his whole life.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why sometimes having no money is better than not having enough money
  • What it’s like to go through your career without ever having a “real” job
  • What happens when you bring a dominatrix to a film premiere  
Direct download: SIAB_Elliot_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:09am EDT

Michele Serro’s career has been driven by finding and seizing opportunities as they are presented to her. As a kid, this meant that a natural singing talent turned into a pursuit of an Opera career and training at both Julliard and Indiana University. However, when subjectivity and politics trumped her passion, she shifted her artistic abilities and soft skills to the world of design, where she was able to gain experience in product and innovation at IDEO, amongst other places. It was when she was confronted with the practical and emotional challenges of first time homebuying that entrepreneurship struck and she was inspired to “revolutionize, not disrupt” the real estate world with her company Doorsteps. Over negronis with campari provided by ABC Wine Company, she explains how, while unconventional, the path of her career and consistently being a “beginner” ultimately lead to her success as an entrepreneur, why that success should not only be defined by the acquisition of her company, and the challenges of figuring out what comes next.

What You’ll Learn:

  • The value of knowing your strengths as a founder and knowing which part of the process they should impact
  • How empathy and prototyping should drive design
  • Why founders should “date” ideas before building them
Direct download: SIAB_MSerro_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:14am EDT

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