In this episode of the Fortunes Path podcast, host Tom Noser interviews Kerry Cicero, author of 'It's Simple But Not Easy: A Leadership Guide for New Managers and Struggling Leaders.' Kerry shares her journey from personal adversity to becoming a seasoned leader in the business world. She discusses the challenges of being promoted without guidance, the importance of empathetic leadership, and how to build high-performing teams while maintaining human connections. Kerry also reflects on her background, experiences with bad bosses, and the differences in leading various business departments. The conversation delves into emotional management, the impact of leadership styles, and Kerry's ultimate goal of helping organizations improve through public speaking.

In this episode, host Tom Noser interviews Ashley Kent, founder and CEO of Clearstart, a boutique marketing growth agency specializing in venture-backed health tech companies. They discuss the challenges and joys of running a business with 15 employees while raising two young children, the evolution of marketing strategies in venture-backed businesses, and the impact of AI on marketing practices. Ashley shares insights on transitioning from founder-led sales to scalable systems, building repeatable marketing strategies, and the importance of maintaining strong client relationships amidst rapid growth. She also reflects on personal growth and resilience during tough times, providing inspiration for fellow entrepreneurs.

Tom Noser sits down with Anderson Williams, Principal for Talent Development at Shore Capital Partners, to explore the intersection of art, education, and business leadership. Anderson shares how Shore Capital helps small, family-run businesses scale by providing not just capital but strategic partnership and leadership development. He details the structure and philosophy behind their Leadership Academy, which focuses on building trust, improving communication, and developing leaders at all levels. Drawing from his unique background as both a fine arts master and business leader, Anderson explains how his artistic training fundamentally shaped his approach to problem-solving, feedback, and continuous improvement. The discussion reveals powerful parallels between artistic creation and business innovation, particularly in how both require being present, seeing differently, and iterating through failures. Anderson articulates a compelling vision of business as fundamentally human-centered: "We're humans working together with other humans and human-created systems to provide products and services to solve problems for other humans. And we call it a business." This episode offers valuable insights for leaders seeking to build trust, develop talent, and approach business challenges with creative vision.

How do you create and establish a new standard in software? How do you use tech to help people learn? And are the people who administer educational systems like universities and corporations in an irreconcilable conflict with students? In this podcast, David Ells, managing director of Open LMS, discusses his journey in online learning technology, touching on the creation of new standards like the Experience API (XAPI), which tracks comprehensive learning experiences beyond just course completions. David emphasizes the convergence of higher education and corporate training towards skill-based learning and more tailored educational paths to better serve the evolving demands of the job market. He also reflects on the challenges and opportunities in the adoption of new learning technologies, the importance of a flexible approach to education, and his vision for the future of Open LMS in spearheading innovative, modular, and adaptable learning solutions.

JJ Rosen is the founder of Atiba, an end to end technology services company with a thirty year history of serving clients of all shapes and sizes. A dying breed, JJ is a native Nashvillian. He talks about his childhood summers as a roadie with his Dad, how his obsession with computers began, and how being in the right market at the right time can mean you don't have to advertise your business.

In this episode of the Fortune's Path Podcast we chat with Eve Eden, founder of Eve UX Design Agency, about her expertise in design and thoughts on the slow shift from tangible to digital technologies, designing products for every degree of ability and the natural kindness, thoughtfulness and patience she finds in Nashville. She also shares invaluable wisdom regarding product-led growth and its reliance on proper UX design, with a must-hear hints for UX design best practices.

In this episode of the Fortune’s Path Podcast we chat with veteran computer scientist and product manager Jake Levirne about AI, utopian online communities, his time with Digital Ocean and Docker as well as his new venture Ducky.foo, which seeks to prevent the bounty of AI development from remaining in the hands of the wealthy. We touch on some classic Fortune’s Path subjects such as virtuous monopolies, love as a business value and the nature of knowledge. Enjoy!

Entirely by word of mouth, educator and college counseling professional Beth Antony has built a successful business based on a simple truth: there is a better way to navigate the college application process. Over the past decade, she’s helped high school seniors into their first choice college. Her better way applies not just to kids applying to colleges, but to anyone who's trying to find their place, including businesses that are trying to find their market. Beth’s dedication to both her pro bono and for-profit clients is inspiring and uplifting.

Sloane Scott has an amazing personal story. Along with being a 3x ovarian cancer survivor, she has led multiple health tech companies to successful exits as a strategic leader and communicator. She discusses navigating her cancer journey with no health insurance and, as a successful business leader, discusses how to create shareholder value. She lays out in a detailed and practical way how to navigate safe pay as a patient. She's seen healthcare from a business and patient perspective, and has lots of valuable insights to share on both.

Entrepreneur and successful tech founder Jason Moore joins Fortune's Path founder and president Tom Noser to discuss Jason's experience in selling SaaS into healthcare, and offers advice for those starting down that road. He emphasizes the importance of patience in SaaS sales, particularly in the healthcare industry — where decision-making can be slow. Moore also shares his journey from being a salesperson to starting his own companies and highlights the pros and cons of selling in the education and healthcare markets. He discusses the significance of early technical decisions and the impact they can have on a company's scalability. Moore's company, Stratasan, was acquired by Syntellis in 2022.

In this episode of the Fortune's Path Podcast, host Tom Noser interviews Eric Satz, founder of Alto, an investment platform that allows individuals to invest their retirement accounts in alternative assets like crypto, art, real estate - even fine wine. Satz discusses his journey of building Alto from scratch and the challenges he faced along the way. He also talks about the fun and not-so-fun aspects of starting a business. Satz emphasizes the importance of building a strong team and having the support of family and loved ones when embarking on an entrepreneurial venture. He also shares his thoughts on the financial industry, the value of alternative assets, and the role of luck in business success.

Sharon Chou discusses her background in physics and engineering, including her research in material design and quantum physics. She explains the basics of circuits and quantum computing, highlighting the differences between traditional computing and quantum computing. The conversation also delves into the ethics and risks of artificial intelligence, particularly in relation to bias and decision-making. Sharon emphasizes the importance of transparency and data curation in AI models. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the application of AI in mortgage and loan decisions, considering fairness and ethical considerations. The conversation explores various topics related to hiring and decision-making in business. It discusses the correlation between higher education and earnings, as well as the challenges of being blind to race and gender in the hiring process. The conversation also delves into the ethical dilemmas of ignoring correlations and the importance of simplifying the hiring process. It highlights the need to focus on skill-based factors in hiring and the tricky nature of job descriptions. The application of AI in the hiring process and the role of emotion in decision-making are also explored. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the importance of applying the scientific method to solve business problems and being skeptical of information sources.

Software makers can learn a lot from companies like Adidas. In this episode of the Fortune's Path podcast, Tom talks with quality and compliance expert Norbert Teston, formerly Director of Compliance Excellence at Adidas, the international athletic wear behemoth. He's now President of NT Creative and Consulting, where he helps COOs and Heads of Operations eliminate the fear and risk of product recalls. Learn: - How this French native started his career in Vietnam - What triggered his start in the footwear business - What it's like to be in a factory with 20,000 people - The nuances of creating a company culture of quality excellence But most important, how the quality processes in manufacturing might be applied to software development.

How can a dog get you through bad times? How does selling door to door to non-English speakers prepare you for a career in finance? What should you look for when investing in real estate? These are some of the questions we ask Rich Boucher, veteran real estate investor, dog lover, and sales expert. Rich is the Senior Director, Capital Markets for Alpha Investing, a private equity real estate firm providing investors with access to institutional-grad assets with compelling, risk-adjusted returns. Rich talks how Alpha investing chooses properties, why they only invest in properties that already exist, why high interest rates haven’t hurt his business, and why he still wants to sell face to face, on this episode of the Fortune’s Path podcast. The Fortune’s Path Podcast is a production of Fortune’s Path, where we help technology businesses create products that generate monopoly profits. Fractional product management. Product leadership coaching. Competitive Intelligence. Find your genius with Fortune’s Path.

What’s the best way to incentivize workers, especially in the construction industry? How do you bring technology to construction to improve outcomes for everybody? What’s it like building a technology product from scratch? Chris Boyd, former VP of product at Built Technologies, a Nashville unicorn, is now head of product for TrunkTools, an innovative construction fintech startup. Chris talks with Tom Noser of Fortune's Path about how TrunkTools has shown promise among early adopters who’ve generated measurable improvements in productivity and safety using the tool.

What should non-technical people know about AI? How do you overcome not having a college degree? What advice do you give young entrepreneurs? These are some of the questions we ask Ray Guzman, Army Veteran, advisor, board member, strategist, and CEO of Switchpoint Ventures, an innovation enabler making AI investments in organizations that seek transformation through machine learning. Ray talks about his time in the Army and as a high potential employee at Microsoft, the place mindfulness plays in his life, and how he became a believer from being a rational skeptic, on this episode of the Fortune’s Path podcast.

Tom talks with Andrew Kerr, CEO and Managing Partner at FortyAU, a technology consultancy in Nashville that builds innovative software for some of the world's largest companies. Andrew talks about balancing quality and speed in the software development process, why many software projects fail, and how a bad rollout can kill the best software, on this episode of the Fortune's Path podcast.

Luther Cale, Vice President of Clinical Programs at Healthstream, talks about the use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in healthcare training, what it's like to raise a daughter in South America, how he manages working remote, and when he needs to work in-person, and how to get customers to join in his innovation process.

Chris Bradle, Vice President of Product for Aiwyn, a start-up in Charlotte NC that helps accounting firms automate their particles and become more profitable, talks with Tom about long distance running, being yourself in business, and how differentiation comes from authenticity.

What’s it like to be in a company that goes from 13 people to 750 people in 5 years? Why would anyone run a business that loses money on purpose? How do you manage customers who were oversold and are now disappointed in your product? These are some of the question I ask customer success and SaaS veteran Nigel Hammond, co-founder of Foresight, a B2B SaaS application focused on helping SaaS companies deliver on the last mile of customer success. Nigel started in sales and moved to customer success at DealCloud, a financial services software provider. Nigel talks about how having a great product isn’t enough to drive adoption, how enterprise customers want to learn best practices, how he writes effective assessments that uncover customers who’re likely to cancel their subscriptions, and why it's appropriate for him run his business at a loss for now, on this episode of the Fortune’s Path podcast.