Entrepreneurship Archives - COMMUNITY BUILDER

Gig Economy

Derreck Stratton is a military veteran and startup founder who connects doers to odd jobs. Instead of asking “who do you know” for a task around the house, the HUDU team built an easier way to find handy folks looking for side hustles nearby.

Like ride sharing, this episode highlights more examples of how the gig economy is evolving. We chat about trust within a two-sided marketplaces, building as a non-technical founder, content creation, and paving a path to go far with activities that look like work to others, but feels like play to you.

LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS
LISTEN on SPOTIFY

BONUS MATERIALS

https://heyhudu.com

https://info.heyhudu.com/gig-economy-2-0

http://Gig-Economy.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections Break: Uncertainty

EP34 – Measured Twice 🎙️ Ryan Glick

EP44 – Do What You Love 🎙️ Scotty Russell

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

https://tesla.com/we-robot

http://BENBOT.ai

By Ben McDougal, 2 daysMay 7, 2025 ago

You Don't Need This Podcast

Push Through

Alongside a career in finance, Steve Walsh is an investor and wrote Make the 10X Leap to help founders scale. We talk about choosing to push through the storm, raising strategic financial capital, collaborating with investors, signals for when it might be time to scale, and all that goes into writing your first book.

LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS
LISTEN on SPOTIFY

BONUS MATERIALS

https://BisonEquityGroup.com

http://Push-Through.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections Break: Winds of Outrage

https://BenMcDougal.com/How-I-Wrote-YDNTB

EP59 – Agents of Change 🎙️ Amner Martinez

EP73 – Care Directly 🎙️ Jon Van De Veer

EP84 – Base Camp 🎙️ Jon Kallen

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

By Ben McDougal, 2 weeksApril 23, 2025 ago

You Don't Need This Podcast

Red Jalapeño

Taufeek Shah brings the heat! We pour on the sauce and dip into salsa as we hear how Lola’s Fine Sauces delivers spicy goodness in 22,000+ locations worldwide. Taufeek and Ben discuss the science of edible product development, freshness in a distributed supply chain, and physical experiences with digital depth.

LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS
LISTEN on SPOTIFY

BONUS MATERIALS

Capsaicin 🌶️ TRPV1

https://LolasFineHotSauce.com

http://Red-Jalapeno.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections Break: Isochronal

EP28 – Let’s Get Phygital 🎙️ Sachin Sehgal

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

https://DMACC.edu/foundation

http://BENBOT.ai

By Ben McDougal, 4 weeksApril 14, 2025 ago

You Don't Need This Podcast

Corporate Battleships

Jacob Kruse invests corporate innovation funds. Corporate venture capital is a growing trend, so let’s chat through how founders can interact with corporate partners and how internal innovation teams can leverage their position within an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As an intrapreneur within the insurance industry, listen how to co-create with founders and stay in-tune with a startup community. Large companies must stay thirsty to stay ahead of the innovation curve and EP85 is brewed to help indispensable employees execute by staying curious as we lead from within.

LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS
LISTEN on SPOTIFY

BONUS MATERIALS

https://DeltaDentalIA.com

https://GlobalInsuranceAccelerator.com

http://Corporate-Battleships.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections Break: Mentor Madness

https://BenMcDougal.com/champions-of-change

https://BenMcDougal.com/significance

EP30 – Exit Ramps 🎙️ Brian Crotty

EP40 – Big Business 🎙️ Joe Murphy

EP72 – Win Win Win 🎙️ Nicole Crain

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections on Discord

http://BENBOT.ai

By Ben McDougal, 4 weeksApril 9, 2025 ago

You Don't Need This Podcast

Base Camp

Join us at base camp as Jon Kallen builds a mountain for us to climb. We lean into the pain and carry our own gear with stories from Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, and more high altitudes worldwide. When he’s not craving gummy worms on snow capped peaks above the clouds, this impactful leader mentors founders commercializing business strategies. We reflect on this leadership alongside our closing message to the mountains.

LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS
LISTEN on SPOTIFY

https://JenningsKallen.com

https://AlgaeBiomass.org

http://Base-Camp.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections Break: Landing

EP18 – Fourteeners 🎙️ Jeff Reed

EP58 – Always Growing 🎙️ Clayton Mooney

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

https://BenMcDougal.com/anticipation

44 Harsh Truths About Human Nature

https://films.NationalGeographic.com/free-solo

https://Alpinist.com/podcast

Snowboarding Utah

By Ben McDougal, 1 monthApril 1, 2025 ago

Ben McDougal is an author, founder, technologist, and entrepreneurial ecosystem builder in the connected era.

Ben has been called a polymath. He evolves ideas into reality and accelerates others through the art of connection. Check out the innovations this leader has activated over time!

You’ve likely met Ben or heard him speak.

You Don’t Need This Podcast has been the place to enjoy a podcast every Wednesday morning for a while now! McDougal’s latest creation unites 80+ timeless episodes, each with featured guests in-studio! Listen and watch as leaders brew through the fabrics of an entrepreneurial lifestyle. The content creation never stops either. 160+ writings are now minted into Roasted Reflections. This library is a literary journey for the mind and could present a compelling path toward an all-new format coming soon.

Shifting gears, the quest that is FliteBrite remains compelling and an active part of Ben’s journey as a founder. Since 2012, their electronic serving system and beer festival app have created tech-infused paths for craft breweries and event organizers. This tasty story continues to be written, with fun, friendships, successes, learnings, and more fun, every step of the build.

Alongside his ventures, Ben caffeinates a nationwide movement called 1 Million Cups. After leading 1MC Des Moines for 5 years, Ben now collaborates with the Kauffman Foundation as the @1MCMidwest Regional Rep. He’s been making a ruckus in this position for over 5 years. What glorious collision, with endless generous 1MC organizers, in countless entrepreneurial ecosystems. Ben loves this leadership role brewed to connect and support 1MC organizers from 100+ communities throughout the Midwest and nationwide!

When it comes to nationwide efforts, Ben also had the privilege of teaming up with Techstars as an Entrepreneur in Residence and Ecosystem Builder. Investing 2021-2023 to build through the Iowa Techstars Accelerator was fantastic. That marketing-flavored, community building, culture, and founder-support role allowed Ben to continue accelerating inspired entrepreneurs… while connecting mentors and investors from around the globe.

Such experiential wisdom is translated into BENergy as McDougal speaks with a variety of different audiences. For example, You Don’t Need This Keynote activates students, while other talks accelerate young professionals, founders, side hustlers, and intrapreneurs. Watch fantastic examples here, then let’s chat about your next event, keynote speaker ideas, workshop collaborations, and/or entrepreneurial initiatives.

There’s so much more too. The full story is linked below and a spacious museum will keep you appreciating work that feels like play. As you’ll see through stories, Ben also enjoys travel, golf, EDM expeditions, reading, Seth Godin, philosophy, wine, craft beer, pinball, and spending treasured time with his wife and daughter. May the best of your todays, be the worst of your tomorrows. Cheers!

FULL STORY