The Grow Wire Podcast

Guy Nicolucci is a longtime comedy writer, producer and, most currently, professor. He joins this episode of the “Grow Wire Podcast” to dive into his history of comedy writing for the likes of Craig Kilborn, Jon Stewart and Conan O’Brien (to name a few). Nicolucci starts off by recalling his first moments with comedy, which often got him into trouble as a high school student (2:50). He then begins his comedy-writing journey, starting with his time writing for Craig Kilborn on “The Daily Show” (8:59). He describes his knack for finding the punchline (12:02) before diving into his years working alongside Jon Stewart (14:36) and Conan O’Brien (16:09). Nicolucci walks us through a day in the life of writing for O’Brien (17:15) and what made him different from other comedians (23:43). He reminisces on hilarious moments from Comedy Central roasts (29:06), laughing through memories of President Barack Obama , Jewel and Mike Tyson (36:24). He reveals one of the biggest lessons learned in his career (39:42) as well as his favorite comedians of all time (40:49) and concludes by giving all of us a lesson in joke-writing (44:19). Tune in for all of this and more! For More, Follow Us Here: Guy NicolucciLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guy-nicolucci-793915123/ IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0630497/ Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/fnelson Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/

Founders of Comments by Celebs, Emma Diamond and Julie Kramer, take us on their three-year journey running the media company, providing lots of great business takeaways. After defining Comments by Celebs at its core (4:11), Emma recalls how she came up with the idea for the original Instagram handle (7:01), and why this was a career neither she or Julie could have ever imagined (13:15). They explain how they keep up with pop culture in such a fast-paced world (17:42), how they split up duties (19:42), and how they ultimately turned Comments by Celebs into a full-blown business (24:36). They break down what a “normal” day looks like for them (31:45), how much time they spend on content curation vs. business management (33:59), and how content has changed as the CBC network gains more popularity (35:46). Emma and Julie reveal the reasoning behind all of their business decisions (38:18), and why the ever-changing nature of social media doesn’t scare them (44:38). Finally, they conclude with a little insight into their personal lives (48:15) and answer our founders’ rapid-fire questions (53:08). Tune in for all of this and more! For More, Follow Us Here: Comments by CelebsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/commentsbycelebs/Website: https://www.commentsbycelebs.com/ Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/fnelson Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/

Robbie Page takes us on his journey from playing professional volleyball to founding Tenzo Tea, a matcha green tea company, specializing in organic and ceremonial matcha from Japan. Page takes us back to the beginning, explaining how he and co-founder Steve O’Dell came up with the idea for a matcha green tea company (3:25), which all started when they were playing collegiate volleyball together at the University of California, Los Angeles--an experience that assisted them in entrepreneurialism (10:26). Page then dives into everything there is to know about matcha green tea (13:02), including its lack of popularity when they first started the company in 2016 (14:35). He recalls bootstrapping their way through the first year of starting the company (20:38) and how they ultimately got the product into coffee shops in southern California (27:02). He talks about Tenzo’s go-to-market strategies, including e-commerce (32:07), and its current mix of revenue between direct-to-consumer and wholesale distribution (40:37). Page concludes with his vision for the future and whether he sees Tenzo taking a step outside of matcha (44:30). Stay tuned for all of that and more! For More, Follow Us Here: Tenzo TeaWebsite: https://www.morningbrew.com/ Robbie PageLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbie-page-35a519110/ Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/fnelson Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/

Morning Brew founders Alex Lieberman and Austin Rief join us to discuss the newsletter’s growth, from business school cheat sheet to two million subscribers. They start off by discussing their start at the University of Michigan (3:12) and why they eventually decided to bring it to the world at large (9:56). They reveal their strategies for growing readership in the early days (12:46) and how they turned that audience into two million subscribers with a 42% click-through rate, more than two times the industry average (17:06). Lieberman and Rief unveil their business model (20:03) and the inspiration to grow Morning Brew into a wider business, covering retail and tech and expanding into podcasting (25:29). They discuss hiring (32:35), creating the right content (35:18) and the future of the business (38:45) before ending with some rapid-fire questions (45:15). For More, Follow Us Here: Morning BrewWebsite: https://www.morningbrew.com/ Alex LiebermanLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Austin RiefLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-rief/ Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/fnelson Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/

Kathryn Rose is the CEO and founder of wiseHer, a social enterprise and technology platform providing on-demand expert advice and resources for professionals, which has become a great tool to remain connected, continue growing professional networks, and seek guidance from experts as we all navigate our careers and businesses amid this crisis and moving forward. Rose begins by diving into her career path before founding wiseHer (4:35) and how the idea for the platform emerged after the 2008 mortgage market meltdown, during which she lost her job all the while caring for a newborn baby and a sick mother (7:42). She discusses her time working as an SEO and social media consultant (10:30), what she learned about female entrepreneurs during that time (11:34) and the decision that ultimately led to the launch of wiseHer (13:22). She explains how she got the platform off the ground (20:09), how the advisory service works (24:02), how it's grown over time (26:14) and where she hopes to take it in the future (34:54). For More, Follow Us Here: wiseHerWebsite: https://www.wiseher.com/ Kathryn RoseLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katkrose/ Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/fnelson Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/

The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest hit industries amid COVID-19, and yet, we’ve seen businesses and leaders across the industry do some incredible things to rise above the ashes. To portray this, we chatted virtually with three restaurant owners, a CMO of a successful chain and an industry expert—all of whom share the same appreciation for the support and unity we’ve seen between restaurants across the nation, in their various communities and right within the walls of their own businesses. Restaurant expert Chris Keating starts off with some statistics around the past and current state of the industry (1:36). Then, we hear from Los Angeles restaurant owner Karim Megji and esteemed New York chef Tony Mangieri about their initial reactions to mandated closures (3:57) and their decision to move into to-go options, despite fears over quality (7:03). Boston pizzeria owner, Brian Schofield, expresses his gratitude for the way his community stepped up to support his business (10:51) as does Karim, who also reveals some of the ways he was able to give back to medical professionals on the frontlines (12:49). Sarah then dives into the inspiration behind the Great American Takeout initiative (15:29), while Chris makes some predictions over the innovation we’ll see from restaurants as the economy begins to reopen (19:15) as well as new sanitization processes (22:15) and the effects on labor (25:21). We end on an uplifting message around togetherness (26:50). For More, Follow Us Here: Chris KeatingLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-keating-9381b84/ Karim MegjiWebsite: https://www.woodandwaterla.com/ Tony Mangieri Website: http://www.unapizza.com/ Sarah GroverLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-grover-a9148b/ Brian Schofield Website: http://www.wickedcheesy.com/ Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/fnelson   Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/

Business Insider’s Chief Revenue Officer and Publisher, Pete Spande, joins us on this episode of “The Grow Wire Podcast'' to discuss the company’s growth and success as well as the current state of media and publishing. Spande starts off by explaining Business Insider (4:00) before diving into the company’s business model (8:00) and how it (successfully) diversifies across advertising, subscriptions and areas like licensing, production and affiliate and ecommerce partnerships (14:18). He then explains the importance of testing new ideas before fully understanding their outcome, as Business Insider recently experienced with its trucking beat (24:26), and how those experiments can transform any industry (39:39). Finally, he hits on the importance of technology in media, but not so much as to interfere with the media’s purpose (43:51), and why the future of media is as vibrant and important as ever (48:45). For More, Follow Us Here: Business InsiderWebsite: http://businessinsider.com/ Pete SpandeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-spande-6930021/ Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/fnelson Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/

Chair for Singularity University and a co-founder of eParachute, Gary Bolles, breaks down the future of work. He starts off by defining the future of work in his own words (5:20) before diving into the shift to a working digital economy and what that means for all of us (8:52). He stresses the importance of being a lifelong learner (20:40) and how that coincides with the unbundling of education (24:58) and the breakdown of traditional business strategies and leadership (37:31). Finally, through his abundance of experience working with children, he reveals how our future generations view the future of work and what we can ALL learn from them (46:49). Tune in for all of that and more, and don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe! For More, Follow Us Here: Gary BollesLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbolles/ Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/fnelson Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/

Tony Mangieri, founder of Una Pizza Napoletana, takes us on his journey from a Jersey kid with a passion for cooking to one of New York City’s most esteemed chefs. He starts with a unique introduction to himself (4:35) before recalling his start opening a bakery in New Jersey (10:32), which he’ll explain why he pegs it a failure (16:55). Tony then reveals the secret to his dough (22:32) and the many experiments he’s tried with it (29:15). He explains his decision to open pizzerias in New Jersey, New York and San Francisco (35:47) before ultimately returning home to NYC’s lower east side (45:40). He recalls the heartbreaking reviews the restaurant received after its opening in 2018 (52:08), and how he dug deep to turn things around. Finally, he ends with some rapid-fire answers about his favorite foodie cities, pizza trends and whether he still makes every pie at the restaurant (58:37). You won’t want to miss this incredibly inspiring episode! For More, Follow Us Here: Una Pizza NapoletanaWebsite: http://www.unapizza.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unapizzanapoletana/ Tony MangieriInstagram: http://instagram.com/anthony_w_mangieri Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/fnelson Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/

Ad Age’s Associate Publisher and General Manager of Marketing and Brand, Heidi Waldusky, joins this episode of “The Grow Wire Podcast” to discuss the current state of advertising, media and publishing. Waldusky begins by diving into her opinions on the industry (4:17) before discussing major media trends like paywalls (12:51) and newsletters (16:30). She also hits on the ideas of engagement as a metric (21:16), click-bait headlines (23:41) and building revenue streams from affiliate links (32:58). Waldusky then discusses Ad Age’s transformation over its 90-year legacy (39:42) with insight into lessons learned along the way (44:42). Finally, she provides her advice for anyone seeking a career in publishing or media (48:49). Tune in for all of that and more! For More, Follow Us Here: Ad AgeWebsite: https://adage.com/ Heidi WalduskyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwaldusky/ Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/fnelson Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/