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The Build #30: Cause
Cause. It’s what drives you. It’s the reason you make the choices you make. James Brobyn found a cause in his work as a helicopter crew chief and infantry officer for the United States Marine Corps. Then, something happened that would change his life — leading him to leave the military and enter the nonprofit world.…
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The Build #29: Esquire
Esquire is the term that American lawyers use to set themselves apart from other professionals. But it’s also emblematic of the challenges that many young attorneys face in today’s crowded job market. Julia Shapiro founded a talent platform that leverages those changes in the legal industry. By matching short-term law gigs with skilled experts, she’s…
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The Build #28: Explore
When Rob Frantz was growing up, he wanted to explore uncharted territory. His childhood dream of becoming an astronaut gave way to another daring career as a Navy fighter pilot. And after years of helping teams make fast, critical decisions, Rob made one of his own — he bought a company. Today, he’s helping to…
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The Build #27: Potential
Over the course of his career in the United States Navy, Chris Diaz grew fascinated with studying the differences between his fellow fighters. What made one person successful in their role, and what caused other folks to struggle? After wrapping up a tour in Afghanistan, Chris pursued the answers to questions like those at Drexel…
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The Build #26: Fix
Think of all the things you’ve got to repair around your home right now. All the little paint chips, the projects you’ve been putting off. Now think about all the things you need fixed on your block. How about your neighborhood. Or your whole city? How would you even keep track of all that? For…
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Episode #25: Cash
Cash. No matter what kind of job you have or business you build, everything comes down to the amount of cash you can hustle together. Benjamin Pitts thinks about that for a living. When this one-time West Point cadet discovered that a health issue would prevent him from taking on a role in the military,…
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Getting physical.
As we’ve been recruiting guests for season two of “The Build” I’ve found myself steering toward founders who share my bias for shipping physical products or creating real-world experiences. As much as I love writing and developing, something really amazing happens the first time you see something you wrote or designed show up as a…
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The Build #24: Roadmap
Roadmap. It’s the term developers use for the document that helps determine what new features will go into a piece of software. But it’s also the perfect metaphor for the kind of tool that Earl Knight wants to build to help his customers navigate social media. This former professional basketball player has worked all over…
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The Build #23: Bridge
Bridge. It’s a great metaphor when you’re talking about the journey between where you are now and where you want to be. While growing teams at a few different companies, entrepreneur and marketing executive Tracey Welson-Rossman noticed a big gap in hiring between men and women for technology jobs. As a result, she founded a…
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The Build #22: Small
Small. It’s the opposite of what most businesses strive to become. Usually, when you start a company, you try to figure out how to get as big as you can, as fast as you can. However, in an era where leaders like Paul Graham advise startups to do things that don’t scale — hockey stick growth…
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The Build #21: Development
Development refers to the process of writing the software you need to keep things moving. Like the code that manages a business, or the infrastructure that keeps a nation rolling. But it also refers to the process of growing, learning, and adapting with a changing market — both as a business and as a professional.…
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Business Blogging for Results
What’s the result you’re trying to get when you post something to your blog? Many of my clients ask me to help copy edit or ghost write their blog posts after they hit a wall of frustration. After all, so much traditional blogging advice suggests keeping up with a cadence of blog posting that feels…