Founders' Forum
Great business stories and great people come together on Marc Bernstein’s Founders’ Forum! Marc Bernstein sits down with business founders across the country to discuss their lives, successes, lessons, and their vision for the future. It’s all about the success they’ve earned and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. These are American success stories and they’re not done yet!
Your Host, Marc Bernstein
Marc Bernstein is an entrepreneur, author, and consultant. He helps high performing entrepreneurs and business owners create a vision for the future, accomplish their business and personal goals, financial and otherwise, and on helping them to see through on their intentions. Marc recently co-founded March, a forward-looking company with a unique approach to wealth management. He captured his philosophy in his #1 Amazon Bestseller, The Fiscal Therapy Solution 1.0. Marc is also the founder of the Forward Focus Forum, a suite of resources tailored specifically to educate and connect high performing entrepreneurs, and helping them realize their vision of true financial independence. Find out more about Marc and connect with him at marcjbernstein.com.
Are you a visionary founder with a compelling success story that deserves to be shared with our audience? We're on the lookout for accomplished business leaders like you to be featured on the Founders' Forum Radio Show and Podcast. If you've surmounted challenges, reached significant milestones, or have an exciting vision for the future, we'd be honored to have you as a guest on our show. Your experiences and insights can inspire and enlighten others in the business world. If you're eager to share your journey and the invaluable lessons you've learned along the way, we invite you to apply here. Connect with us, and let's discuss the possibility of featuring you in an upcoming episode. Join us in celebrating your success and contributing to the legacy of the Founders' Forum!
Securities offered through DFPG Investments, LLC (“DFPG”) Investment Advisory Services offered through Diversify Advisory Services, LLC (“Diversify”). DAS and DFPG are affiliated entities. March is unaffiliated with DAS and DFPG. Member FINRA/SIPC
The information provided in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Diversify or DFPG.
Episodes
191 episodes
Building a Business on Human Connection with Gabriel Luber
Moving across the country for a few weeks sounds temporary. For Gabriel Luber, it became a new home, a new marriage-and-business partnership, and a company built on giving.Gabriel Luber, co-founder and Chief Generosity Officer of Lancast...
Hilary Jay on Downsizing Without Losing Your Legacy
What do you do with a lifetime of treasured things when your kids don’t want them? Hilary Jay has built a career helping people answer that question with heart.Marc Bernstein sits down with Hilary Jay, founder of Department of Better LLC...
7 Lessons on Mentorship and Legacy from Jay & Preeti Gohel
What if your greatest success isn’t what you build, but who you help along the way?Jay Gohel (CEO) and Preeti Gohel (CFO) of Aesthetic Dental Associates return to Founders’ Forum to share the story behind Thrive 360, their new venture to...
Joseph Trave's Hardest Deal: Letting Go of His Own Business
What does it take to turn a 400-square-foot backyard wood shop into a 125-employee, nationally recognized cabinetry powerhouse, and then walk away from it? Joe Trave has an answer, and it's not what you'd expect.In this episode of Founde...
The Magic of Focus in Business with Tyler Jensen
Ever wondered why a magic trick can hold your attention more than your own to-do list? Business strategist and keynote speaker Tyler Jensen joins Founders' Forum to explain what magic, focus, and top performance have in common, and why distract...
Gary Pudles Lost His Job and Built a 1,200-Person Company
A signed term sheet, a fax machine mix-up, and a lost job. That was the day Gary Pudles' entrepreneurial journey really began.Gary Pudles, president and CEO of AnswerNet, joins Marc Bernstein on Founders' Forum to share how he went from ...
Phillip Gonzales on Systems, Faith & Staying the Course
Phillip Gonzales didn't set out to become a growth strategist. He started out running a mall cart selling personalized kids' music CDs. That first job taught him a lesson that would shape his entire career: the power of systems.In this e...
Turning a Golf Passion Into a $300M Career with Larry Hirsh
What happens when a love of golf turns into a niche nobody else was serving? For Larry Hirsh, it built a business that's touched over 3,500 golf properties across the globe.In this episode of Founders' Forum, Marc Bernstein sits down wit...
How Dr. Kryn McClain Turned a Layoff Into a Bold Exit
Dr. Kryn McClain never planned to become an entrepreneur. She was working in mental health when she returned from maternity leave to find her position had been eliminated. That setback pushed her to launch Paragon Behavioral Health Services, a ...
How Shelly Castle Turned Land Development into Art
From potato fields in Wisconsin to nature art that shapes Florida's development plans, Shelly Castle's story proves that vision and grit can turn any beginning into a legacy.On this episode of Founders' Forum, Marc sits down with nature ...
Yoav Oren: Why His First Startup Idea Failed (And What Fixed It)
A phone call from a Netflix producer. A childhood spent training in the Israeli desert. A year living in an industrial Chinese village to master martial arts. These are just pieces of the unconventional path that led Yoav Oren to build Zoog, a ...
Victoria Abadir on Turning Volatility Into Opportunity
What happens when a former HR professional with zero art background decides to turn a vacant downtown bank space into a 15,000 square foot art gallery? Victoria Abadir did just that, and two years later, Lancaster Art Vault is profitable, thriv...
Paul Spiegel on Turning an Accidental Pivot Into an Exit
Paul Spiegel switched majors, took a job he knew nothing about, and turned it into Practical Energy Solutions, a company that worked with over 80 municipalities and eventually caught the eye of an acquirer. On this episode of Founders Forum, Pa...
Matt Bramson: Confidence Isn't the Secret, Vulnerability Is
After 25 years building and scaling technology companies, serial entrepreneur Matt Bramson made an unexpected pivot: walking away from data-driven growth to build a platform that gets people to put their phones down. His new venture, Interact, ...
Michele Sullivan on Building Accountability Into Giving
Michele Sullivan was born four feet tall in a world that didn't expect much from her, and she went on to lead one of the most respected corporate foundations on the planet.In this episode of Founders' Forum, Marc Bernstein sits down with...
Peter Barber on How to Professionalize a Commodity Business
What does it take to turn a college side hustle into a 90-person company with 38 years of staying power? Peter Barber, co-founder and CEO of Two Dudes Painting Company, joins Marc Bernstein to share exactly that.Peter started painting ho...
Lessons on Trust, Team, and Reinventing at Any Age with Susan Jacobson
From running a presidential campaign at 28 to building a Philadelphia PR powerhouse, Susan Jacobson has never stopped betting on herself.In this episode of Founders Forum, Marc Bernstein sits down with Susan Jacobson, CEO of Jacobson Str...
Redefining Success as a Team with Jay and Preeti Gohel
From an eight-year-old sweeping up scraps in his father's makeshift dental lab to co-leading a five-location practice with his wife and business partner, Jay Gohel's path into dentistry was anything but planned.In this episode, Marc sits...
Tim Austin on Building Community One Festival at a Time
From a potluck dinner for Italophiles to a 20,000-person street festival, Tim Austin has turned small-town Lancaster County into a launchpad for big ideas.In this episode of Founders' Forum, Marc Bernstein sits down with architect and en...
From Near-Death to Breakthrough: Helen Denise's Founder Story
Helen Denise left the Soviet Union with nothing but a suitcase and a knack for sales, and built a company that changed how women understand their own bodies. On this episode of Founders' Forum, Marc Bernstein sits down with the CEO and Founder ...
Why Listening Beats Conviction in Business with Dr. Patrick Roth
Most surgeons chase technical mastery. Dr. Patrick Roth built a career on something rarer: listening.In this episode of Founders' Forum, Marc Bernstein sits down with neurosurgeon Dr. Patrick Roth, co-founder of New Jersey Brain and Spin...
Bootstrapped to a $40M Exit with Justin Tennant
At 47, Justin Tennant is only two years removed from selling the medical supply company he bootstrapped from nothing, and he's already found something he didn't expect: it's harder to walk away from a business than it was to build one.
Building a Legacy of Inclusion with Judith Creed
When experts told Judith Creed that her son would never walk, talk, or live independently, she refused to accept that as his future. Instead, she turned one family's challenge into a movement that has transformed hundreds of lives.In thi...
What It Takes to Build a Lasting Business with Steve Berardi
Success isn't always about avoiding failure. Sometimes it's about what you build after everything falls apart. In this episode, Steve Berardi shares how resilience, leadership, and a willingness to adapt helped him rebuild both his business and...
Why Execution Beats Perfect Planning with Pete Meyer
Pete Meyer has spent nearly three decades building businesses, navigating industry shifts, and learning one of entrepreneurship's toughest lessons: success comes from execution, not perfect planning.In this episode of Founders Forum, Pet...