The IBJ Podcast

Avoiding the icebergs that can sink your startup

Husband-and-wife team Kim and Todd Saxton, both professors at the IU Kelley School of Business at IUPUI, have spent a lot of time inside and outside the classroom serving as mentors to startup founders trying to make their way through the choppy waters of entrepreneurship.

So they recently teamed up with Michael Cloran, a local entrepreneur and partner at DeveloperTown, to write a book of advice about what NOT to do when you're starting a company. The book—“The Titanic Effect: Successfully Navigating the Uncertainties that Sink Most Startups”—uses the tragedy of the Titanic as its outline, detailing some of the icebergs (which the authors call "debtbergs") that founders face in their journeys to success or sometimes failure.

Host Mason King talked to the Saxtons about the biggest problems that entrepreneurs face and how to tackle them—and they explain how they faced some of those same problems as they crafted their book.

You can learn more about one of the key problems startups face—finding a match between a product and customers—in this week's IBJ.

This episode of the IBJ Podcast is sponsored by Krieg DeVault.

 

Pete the Planner on the magic of a 15-year mortgage

In residential real estate, the 30-year-mortgage is king. But why?

A 15-year mortgage saves you money, reduces your expenses later and helps you be more realistic about how much house you really need, says Peter Dunn, better known as Pete the Planner.

Pete talks with guest host Lesley Weidenbener about all things mortgages—determining how much house you can afford, why you shouldn't put down less than 10% and why the idea of starter homes and family homes is silly.

And Pete explains why those mortgage calculators you can get online are one of the worst things to happen to family finances.

You can also read Pete's column about the 15-year mortgage at IBJ.com.

This episode of the IBJ Podcast is sponsored by Krieg DeVault.

 

 

Morales Group wants to get you a job—then a better one, then a career

Morales Group launched in 2003 with a focus on placing Hispanic workers into jobs, but the company has grown and expanded—both in geography and in the people it serves.

Today, about half of the people Morales Group places are migrants, immigrants or refugees. In fact, 37 countries are represented by Morales Group’s internal employees and the associates the company has placed.

That means the $100 million firm spends more money upfront to solve language barriers and provide training. But Seth Morales—the company's president and the son of the founder—says that investment pays off later for the workers, Morales Group and the manufacturers, distributors and other companies that are its clients.

Morales talks to podcast host Mason King about the company's culture and mission, the challenges and opportunities presented by the tight labor market, and how his standout college football career at Purdue University impacted his career.

To read more about Morales Group, check out this story by IBJ's Sorell Grow. 

IBJ photo/Eric Learned

This episode of the IBJ Podcast is sponsored by Krieg DeVault.

 

 

This IU pediatrician is a health care myth buster

Should you avoid red meat? No. Will gum last in your stomach seven years? No way. Should you strive for 10,000 steps a day? Not unless you just want to.

So says Dr. Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician and researcher at the Indiana University School of Medicine who sees it as his life’s calling to debunk what he considers health myths and weak medical research. He writes books and a column for The New York Times, hosts "Healthcare Triage" on YouTube and tweets at @aaronecarroll, all with the goal of educating the public about health issues. 

Dr. Carroll answers questions from podcast host Mason King about probiotics, sodium, sunscreen, marijuana and more, and he explains why we all—doctors included—misinterpret health care research.

To learn more about Dr. Carroll, read IBJ reporter John Russell's profile at IBJ.com.

IBJ photo by Daniel Axler

This episode of the IBJ Podcast is sponsored by Krieg DeVault.

 

 

Scott Wise talks Scotty's, starting over and his new restaurant Roots

Two-and-a-half years after selling his namesake restaurant chain Scotty's, entrepreneur Scott Wise is launching another eatery. Roots Burger Bar will be located in the same Muncie location as his original restaurant but will have a more casual feel and tighter menu.

Wise tells IBJ Podcast host Mason King that he's both emotional and excited about the new start, which he says has been like hitting control-alt-delete on his career.

But it hasn't been an easy path. Wise explains why he believed selling Scotty's was a good move, why he planned to stay with the company that bought it for five years and what happened to make him leave so quickly. He also talks about the impact his parents and a near-death experience had on his life.

Scotty’s Holdings LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December and has closed several restaurants, did not return a request for comment about Wise's comments in the podcast. 

IBJ reporter Susan Orr has more about Wise's new Roots restaurant. 

This edition of the IBJ Podcast is sponsored by the Office of Minority and Women Business Development.

 

 

How offering PTO for volunteering can boost retention, improve recruitment

One of the hottest trends in employee retention and recruitment isn't ping pong table and kegs of beer in the break room; it's giving workers paid time so they can volunteer their time with local charities.

Josh Driver, founder of Selfless.ly, which sells cloud-based software for managing corporate social responsibility programs, says volunteer PTO is an increasingly important part of benefits packages. In fact, nearly one quarter of companies now pay employees to spend their time and energy with a not-for-profit.

Host Mason King talks with Driver about why workers—especially millennials—are so interested in volunteer PTO and why it's good for companies, too. Plus, he offers tips for setting up a volunteer PTO program and says no company is too small to do it.

You can learn more about corporate volunteerism in IBJ's latest Impact Indiana section.

The photo for this week's podcast is courtesy of Pepper Construction.

This edition of the IBJ Podcast is sponsored by the Office of Minority and Women Business Development.

 

 

It's not your grandfather's library system anymore

The Indianapolis Public Library system is in a growth tear—in terms of both its buildings and its programming.

Three library branches have recently opened or are under construction and three more are in various planning stages. That's in addition to five branches that have or will soon undergo significant renovations.

Host Mason King talks with the library system's CEO, Jackie Nytes, about the construction binge and how it will actually help the library better balance its budget. And Nytes also describes the how the new buildings and renovations better support the needs of neighborhoods and the people who live there.

The books are still there of course. But Indy libraries are about much more: Think job training, video streaming, live animals and a seed library. King and Nytes get into all the details in this week's episode.

If you need even more, check out IBJ reporter Hayleigh Colombo's story about the library changes.

 

 

 

Exploring artificial intelligence, learning from failure and more in our Innovation Issue

Science fiction has made many of us cautious about artificial intelligence and what it could mean for our future. But AI is already in use in many industries and could soon be prominent in most. That's why IBJ has made AI the focus of its 2019 Innovation Issue, an annual exploration of disrupters across the business world.

In this week's podcast, IBJ Managing Editor Lesley Weidenbener and technology reporter Anthony Schoettle discuss what they learned while researching artificial intelligence, how it could change industries such as transportation and health care and why the technology raises so many ethical questions.

The podcast also explores other stories in the issue—which cover Indiana's role in developing hypersonic weapons, what entrepreneurs learn from failure and how The Heritage Group has developed a culture of innovation by focusing on people. Plus, Weidenbener explains why IBJ publishes an Innovation Issue at all.

Check out the full issue at www.IBJ.com/innovation-2019.

Music in this episode—"Also Sprach Zarathustra," composed by Richard Strauss—is from Kevin MacLeod and licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. A different version of the song was the theme of AI-inspired film "2001: A Space Odyssey."

 

 

Pete the Planner talks about paying for college

IBJ personal finance columnist Peter Dunn talks with podcast host Mason King about three key components of paying for college: saving in advance, paying some expenses in the moment and preparing your kids to make good choices.

All three take planning, Dunn says. And that last one takes some tough and ongoing conversations about choosing an affordable college, the amount you'll be contributing as parents and making good decisions about debt.

But his most important piece of advice for parents? Prioritize saving for retirement over saving for your kids' college costs—no matter what your heart is telling you.

Read more from Pete the Planner at IBJ.com.

Oliver Winery makes big business of sweet wines (but that's not all)

Bloomington's Oliver Winery started as a hobby but has grown into the 44th largest winery in the country. And it's done it by playing into an unexpected niche—sweet wines.

That's not all Oliver makes, of course. It offers a full range of traditional dry and semi-dry red and white wines as well as specialty products from its Creekbend Collection, which is made from grapes grown at Oliver's vineyard in Ellettsville. 

The winery expects to produce more than 450,000 cases (1.1 million gallons of wine) this year and expects to ship as many as 1 million cases in five years. This summer, it will put the finishing touches on an $8 million, 28,000-square-foot building that will help make room for that expansion.

CEO Bill Oliver, the son of the founder, talks with host Mason King about the winery's beginnings and its future and explains how its distribution has grown to 27 states.

For more information, see reporter Samm Stall's story.

 

This episode of the IBJ Podcast is sponsored by nimboIP, your solutions in the cloud.