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Founding DC Podcast

Founding DC

Get inside the brains (and hearts) of local founders of some of the most successful business ventures in and around the nation’s capital.
 
What didn’t happen? What did? What would they like a do-over on? What failures and flops led to something better than imagined? What’s their next move?
 
These candid conversations — led by entrepreneur and restaurateur Dan Simons — reveal the highs, lows and in-betweens that come with nurturing an idea and building it into a thriving enterprise.
 
Our mission is to pay it forward to current and aspiring entrepreneurs by spotlighting the unique paths forged by founders who came before them.

Latest Episodes

#18, “The Way Out Is Through” — 17 Founders. One Lesson.
#18, “The Way Out Is Through” — 17 Founders. One Lesson.
What happens when you step back from nearly two years of conversations with some of the region's most accomplished founders and entrepreneurs?You discover that the lessons learned in their varied industries, backgrounds and ventures may be different, but they boil down ...
#17, Justin Baer: Building a $75M men’s lifestyle brand from 1 shirt
#17, Justin Baer: Building a $75M men’s lifestyle brand from 1 shirt
Shark Tank success doesn't happen by accident — it takes 50 failed ideas first. Justin Baer built a $75 million men's lifestyle brand after his 7-year-old daughter told him to post a TikTok video. What followed: a deal with Mark Cuban and ...
#16, Billion-dollar outcomes: Sarah Chen-Spellings on the value of investing in women founders
#16, Billion-dollar outcomes: Sarah Chen-Spellings on the value of investing in women founders
Sarah Chen-Spellings knows venture capital — and she’s helped redefine where it flows. As the driving force behind the former Beyond the Billion, the world’s first and largest consortium of VC funds committed to investing in women-founded companies, she played a pivotal ...
#15, Shizu Okusa on scaling wellness brand Apothékary to $40M, gaining TikTok halo effect and avoiding founder blind spots
#15, Shizu Okusa on scaling wellness brand Apothékary to $40M, gaining TikTok halo effect and avoiding founder blind spots
Apothékary sells one tincture every 90 seconds on TikTok. That's not luck — it's nine months of disciplined investment before a single dollar came back.Shizu Okusa is the founder of Apothékary, a nature-based wellness brand she built from zero to $40 ...
#14, Gov. Wes Moore on entrepreneurship, leadership and governing like a founder
#14, Gov. Wes Moore on entrepreneurship, leadership and governing like a founder
Think of Gov. Wes Moore as Maryland’s chief entrepreneurial officer. He didn't take a traditional path to the top. He served in a combat zone in Afghanistan, built an edtech company, wrote multiple bestselling books and became Maryland's first Black governor by running as ...
#13, Carla Hall on failure, joy and the mindset that builds entrepreneurs
#13, Carla Hall on failure, joy and the mindset that builds entrepreneurs
Reinvention isn’t a setback. It’s a strategy. Award-winning chef and beloved TV personality, Carla Hall, shares the mindset that helped her pivot careers, build an authentic brand and keep growing. For her, success isn’t linear. It’s built through intentional choices, learning from ...
#12, Manifest’s KJ Hughes on what it takes to turn a barbershop into a cultural movement
#12, Manifest’s KJ Hughes on what it takes to turn a barbershop into a cultural movement
Raised in Washington, D.C., amid hustle and ambition, KJ Hughes turned life lessons into what the world was missing: Manifest is a cultural connector that blends barbershop, speakeasy, restaurant and high-end fashion into a new model for belonging.As founder ...
#11, Total Wine & More’s David Trone: Strategies behind a $6B retail giant
#11, Total Wine & More’s David Trone: Strategies behind a $6B retail giant
Forget overnight success. David Trone built Total Wine & More into a $6 billion, category-defining retailer spanning 30 states — without outside investment. In this episode, he breaks down the deliberate strategies behind pricing innovation, regulatory navigation, operational rigor and people-first systems ...
#10, Get Well’s Michael O’Neil: When purpose defines your business plan
#10, Get Well’s Michael O’Neil: When purpose defines your business plan
Michael O’Neil, Founder, Get WellBusiness opportunities sometimes hide in plain sight. This founder had a vision, from his hospital bed, and capitalized on it — big time. This episode is about transforming fear into purpose and how one life-altering moment became the ...
#9, The Meltzer Group’s Alan Meltzer: From dishwasher to multimillion-dollar deal maker
#9, The Meltzer Group’s Alan Meltzer: From dishwasher to multimillion-dollar deal maker
From washing dishes at a Tenleytown D.C. restaurant to founding one of the region’s most successful insurance firms, Alan Meltzer’s entrepreneurial arc is anything but predictable. In this episode of Founding DC, host Dan Simons explores how a local restaurateur became ...