Grit Daily Startup Show

Brian Fielkow, author of Make Safety Happen, explains why safety is much bigger than compliance and why strong defenses often create stronger growth. Drawing from leadership roles in trucking, logistics, and risk-intensive industries, he shares how culture, trust, and operational discipline can become competitive advantages. The conversation explores everything from acquisitions and employee retention to AI's changing role in coach...

In this episode of the Grit Daily Startup Show, host Phillip Lanos sits down with Canadian-born aviation technology pioneer and global business executive, Louis Bélanger-Martin. As a seasoned entrepreneur who spends nearly six months of the year in the air, Louis shares his three-decade journey of transforming the commercial passenger experience. From co-founding DTI Software to eventually leading ac...

In this episode, Luke McEndarfer, president and CEO of The National Children’s Chorus, shares how a childhood love of singing grew into leading one of the country’s major youth choral organizations. The conversation explores music education, access, leadership, classical music’s need for renewed public connection, and programs like Project Unison at Compton High School. McEndarfer also reflects on building a natio...

MC Leo explains why the future of AI depends on the infrastructure most people never see. He shares how AurCore is helping data centers and enterprises modernize their networking systems for speed, control, and scalability. This episode looks at the real bottlenecks in AI growth and why open infrastructure may be the key to solving them.

Host: Phillip Lanos | philliplanos.com | Strategic Media & AI Operations Lead

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Munawar Karim has spent decades working at the edge of physics, aviation design, and global infrastructure, tackling problems most have long set aside. In this episode, his work spans from a breakthrough approach to electron stability to aircraft innovation and energy proposals shaped as much by politics as by engineering. It’s a conversation about persistence, big ideas, and what it takes to keep moving forward when the worl...

In this episode, Phillip Lanos speaks with PSQ Productions founder Mark Entner about building a large-scale events business that operates at the intersection of public partnership, private execution, and community experience. Entner shares how PSQ Productions grew from entrepreneurial ambition into a major live-events operation, managing venues, festival...

In this episode, Phillip Lanos speaks with Freehold Group CEO Brendan McDermott about how retail design, fabrication, and installation shape the way consumers experience major brands in the real world. McDermott explains how experiential marketing extends far beyond pop-ups, touching everything from flagship stores and cultural activations to in-store be...

In this episode, Phillip Lanos speaks with five-time Emmy Award-winning producer and Digital Rights Network founder Neil Mandt about the emerging fight over who controls the digital layer of the physical world. Mandt explains why augmented reality is no longer a futuristic concept, but a present-day business, legal, and property rights issue that could resha...

Tony Pinedo shares how leading inside a youth correctional facility reshaped his understanding of leadership, trust, and human potential. Drawing from decades of experience, he explains why empathy, non-judgmental curiosity, and intentional presence are the true foundations of influence. This conversation explores how integrating values across work and l...

Phillip Lanos and Sharon Wood explore the intersection of gaming, family connections, and memory enhancement. Sharon shares her journey from marketing in the gaming industry to creating products that foster joy and dignity for individuals with fading memories. They discuss the importance of relationships, the science behind gaming, and the innovative approaches being taken to enhance quality of life through interactive experiences....

Greg Whalen, CTO of Prove AI, explains why many enterprises are stalling with generative AI by treating it like traditional software and postponing the hard parts like observability, debugging, and governance. He breaks down what “observability” actually means in AI systems, why outcome-based metrics matter more than chasing black-box explanations, and how Prove AI helps teams collect the right telemetry to reach produc...

Will Cady, founder of HEAL MVMNT and former Reddit creative strategist, joins the show to explore why technology is advancing faster than the moral frameworks needed to guide it. He explains how his organization helps leaders align community, culture, and purpose so companies can scale without losing their humanity. Cady also shares why keeping a “human in the loop” is essential in the AI era and how defining a clear no...

Van Camp and Carlson join Phillip Lanos to unpack the moment when fast-growing businesses outgrow basic tax prep and start needing real cash flow visibility, risk strategy, and proactive advisory support. They break down why many CPAs default to familiar year-end moves, how liquidity becomes a hidden failure point, and what owners should look for in an advisory team as complexity rises. The conversation also introduces 831B structu...

This episode spotlights Himanshu Rathore, the operations leader behind Teleperformance Thailand’s remarkable rise as a global talent hub. Listeners will hear how people-first leadership, multicultural collaboration, and crisis-tested resilience shaped one of the company’s strongest success stories. It is a compelling look at what modern operational excellence truly requires.

Host: Phillip Lanos | philliplanos.com | Stra...

Startups want enterprise clients. Sanjay Chadha explains why most aren’t ready. In this episode, the SAV Associates managing partner breaks down how cybersecurity, internal controls, and compliance frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001 unlock trust, credibility, and million-dollar deals. If you're building, scaling, or selling to large organizations, this conversation might be the most important one you hear all year.

Host: Phi...

Based Trading Cards founder Alladan Flinn joins the show to reveal why physical collectibles still matter in a world drowning in digital noise. He breaks down how true scarcity, intentional design, and cultural storytelling can revive a hobby and teach people more about value than any textbook. This episode dives into collectibles, economics, craftsmanship, and the movement Flinn is building one card at a time.

Host: Phillip Lanos ...

Robert Brooks has lived through nearly nine decades of history, from the segregated streets of 1940s Pittsburgh to the battlefields of Vietnam and beyond. A decorated Army officer, minister, and author of The Journey, he reveals how one guiding principle, staying calm and dispassionate, helped him overcome prejudice, loss, and chaos with grace. Tune in to discover the timeless wisdom behind a life built on resilience, composure, an...