Dr. Robert N. Eberhart – Associate Professor at University of San Diego

Entrepreneurship is stinking hard work, particularly successful entrepreneurship.

Robert N. Eberhart is an Associate Professor of Management and the Faculty Director of the Ahlers Center for International Business at the University of San Diego. He is also a visiting professor at Oxford University and a research associate at Columbia University. His research interests focus on theories of institutional change and the role of institutions on new venture performance. Professor Eberhart’s academic publications that have appeared in journals such as Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Strategy Science, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, and the Journal of Asian Business Studies include topics such as new theoretical constructs on how institutional change has complex effects on new firms and entrepreneurs and how the entrepreneurial ideologies are altering social relationships. He won awards for the BPS Outstanding Dissertation Award in 2014 from the Academy of Management, Best Paper Proceeding of the 2012 Academy of Management, and from the Fondation France-Japon de l’EHESS. He has been quoted in the New York Times, NPS’s “All Things Considered”, the Financial Times, Forbes, the Nikkei Weekly, and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and interviewed on ABC News. Dr. Eberhart was the vice-chair of the U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of Economics, Trade, and Industry’s joint commission on bilateral entrepreneurship. Dr. Eberhart was a member of the board of directors of DynEd, Inc.. the Japan Society of Northern California, the Japan Innovation Network, and iPive, Inc. He is also an academic advisor to Japan’s Board of Director’s Training Institute and the academic advisor to the NFL’s Green Bay Packers Football Team. Dr. Eberhart was also an academic advisor to the American Chamber of Commerce’s Task Force on New Growth Strategies. He is a member of the Academy of Management, the Institute of New Economic Theory, the International Society for New Institutional Economics. Professor Eberhart earned his Ph.D. in Management Science from Stanford University after graduating from the University of Michigan (MA Economics) and Michigan State University (BA Finance). Before resuming his academic career, he was the founder and CEO of a successful Japanese company that distributed wine throughout Asia. He also held senior management positions in the semiconductor industry. He is a private pilot, restores British sports cars, has three children, and is married to Dr. Delores Eberhart, a dentist in Palo Alto. Mirav Ozeri – Podcast Host of How Much Can I Make? – Real Job. Real Stories. Career Insights

I saw how much deeper is Claude, and I hate to admit it grok, because I’m no fan of Elon Musk, and his was really the deepest questions, the deepest answers.

Mirav Ozeri is a career insights journalist and the creator and host of the podcast How Much Can I Make? – Real Jobs. Real Stories. Career Insights. Through the show, she explores what careers are truly like by interviewing professionals from a wide range of industries, examining how they got started, the skills required to succeed, the challenges they face, and what they earn. Her work focuses on delivering practical, real world guidance for listeners who are pursuing their first job, considering a career change, launching a side hustle, or exploring entrepreneurship. Ozeri’s podcast aims to provide an inside look at the job market by going beyond titles to reveal the realities of different professions and the pathways into them. Each episode features candid conversations with individuals who share their career journeys and offer actionable advice to help others move forward with confidence. The program has been recognized with a nomination for the 2025 Women in Podcasting Award, reflecting its growing impact among career focused audiences. In addition to hosting, Ozeri is associated with Oz Films Inc. and is based in New York, further underscoring her professional involvement in media and content creation.

Eddie Speed – Founder of NoteSchool

An entrepreneur’s whole thing in life is to go find an industry problem and solve a problem.

Eddie Speed is the founder of NoteSchool and a recognized pioneer in the seller financing and real estate note industry. Since beginning his career in 1980, he has dedicated his professional life to developing innovative strategies that have influenced how note investing operates today. Starting with limited resources and relying on determination and practical judgment, Speed built a successful career that includes completing more than 50,000 note deals and helping shape modern note investing practices. In 1999, he founded NoteSchool to empower aspiring investors with practical education and real world opportunities in buying performing and nonperforming mortgage notes. His teaching approach is grounded in firsthand experience, and he has served over 2,000 mentoring students while fostering access to institutional level deal flow through relationships with hedge funds and private investors. Speed is also the owner and president of Colonial Funding Group LLC and a principal in a family of private equity funds focused on acquiring bulk note portfolios. Over more than three decades, Speed has remained a leader and innovator in the note business, earning industry recognition such as the Collective Genius Award for Thought Leadership in Real Estate. Known for his commitment to education and knowledge sharing, he continues to help investors pursue financial freedom while advancing the broader landscape of note investing. Emily LaRusch – Founder of Back Office Betties

I learned the riches are in the niches.

Emily LaRusch is the founder and CEO of Back Office Betties, a company she established in 2014 to help law firms overcome administrative challenges through legally trained virtual receptionists and assistants. Guided by a strong belief in exceptional customer service, she built the business to give attorneys back valuable time while improving client experiences. LaRusch’s entrepreneurial drive began early, showing initiative as a child with neighborhood ventures and later developing a service-focused work ethic through her first jobs. The idea for Back Office Betties was sparked by frustration after repeatedly reaching voicemail while calling local businesses, inspiring her to create a solution that supports small law firms with reliable, high-quality administrative staffing. A passionate advocate for entrepreneurship and leadership, LaRusch has volunteered with Inmates to Entrepreneurs, served on the board of the Entrepreneurs Organization, coached accelerator groups, and guest lectured at Texas A&M. Her mission extends beyond business growth, focusing on empowering entrepreneurs, fostering strong company culture, and helping professionals achieve greater balance and freedom in their work and personal lives.

Vlada Galan – Founder and Principal of Oracle Advisory Group and Author of Success Mentality: Lessons From a Geopolitical Strategist

One of the most important things you can invest in, even if you’re a small business just starting, is talent. Is not hiring the cheapest labor, but hiring even if you have one employee, it’s hiring somebody who really is talented and very intelligent and very experienced.

Vlada Galan is a globally recognized geopolitical strategist and crisis management expert. She advises Heads of State and high-level candidates on political and multilateral agency election campaigns across five continents. She is renowned for her expertise in crisis response, Track 2 diplomacy, international lobbying, and sanctions strategy. With a proven track record in some of the world’s most complex political environments, Vlada has led electoral and strategic advisory efforts in over a dozen countries, including Austria, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Indonesia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mexico, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Vlada is the President and Chairman of the Board of the International Ukrainian Crisis Fund and serves on the Advisory Board of Directors of Captis Intelligence. She is also the Founder and Principal of Oracle Advisory Group, a global consulting firm headquartered in the United Arab Emirates with offices in the United States. Prior to founding Oracle, she held senior roles at top-tier public affairs firms in Washington, D.C., including Mercury Public Affairs and Actum. Originally from Odesa, Ukraine, Vlada holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Georgia State University and a Master of Liberal Arts in International Relations from Harvard University. Her insights have been featured on major networks including CNN, Fox News, and Newsmax. October 2025 Vlada released her book Success Mentality a blueprint for achieving more in life. In 2023 Vlada was awarded a medal by the Ukrainian Government in recognition of her leadership and unwavering support for her native country, Ukraine. Nathan Strum – CEO of Abby Connect

We realized very, very quickly that that was culture was going to be most important in our company, and that was how we were going to provide the great customer service over the phone. It’s not magic. It’s not a very hard formula to provide that great customer service. You just have to have a happy place to work.

Nathan Strum, CEO of Abby Connect. Nathan is a leader in integrating AI-powered tools with live human services to help businesses scale while maintaining a personal touch. He offers a unique perspective on how technology, human empathy, and business growth intersect to elevate customer service. Nathan is a strong advocate for inclusive workforce development, focusing on creating career pathways for entry-level employees to advance into AI and tech roles. This is a crucial and often overlooked aspect in today’s automation-focused environment. With his hands-on approach, Nathan is deeply involved in product innovation, client success, and process optimization, aiming to bridge the gap between customer service and artificial intelligence.

Sara Daw – CEO of Liberti & CEO of The CFO Centre Group

The beauty about fractional leadership is that you can make that change.

Sara Daw Entrepreneur, Researcher, Writer, & Speaker Sara Daw is Group CEO of The Liberti Group and The CFO Centre Group. Operating in 18 countries, it is the global number one provider of fractional and part-time C-suite portfolio professionals to entrepreneurial, owner-managed, mid-tier businesses, and larger organisations. Listed in the 2024 and 2025 E2E Female 100, Sara is passionate about designing the future of work for C-level talent and organisations. As well as publishing the first research on the Access Economy for C-suite professionals in her second book, Strategy and Leadership as Service, she has helped thousands worldwide build successful team-based portfolio careers in the access economy. Sara is a graduate in Chemistry from Oxford University, a Chartered Accountant, holds an MBA from The London Business School, and a Mastère Spécialisé® in Consulting and Coaching for Change, run jointly by Oxford University (Saïd Business School) and HEC Business School in Paris. She is currently pursuing a part-time Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) at Warwick Business School. Rob Calvert – Founder of Second Son Consulting

Otherwise you don’t get freedom. You get inconsistency, and when you have inconsistency, that becomes very costly for leadership.

Rob Calvert is the Founder of Second Son Consulting, an IT consultancy he built from his den that’s designing tech ecosystems that co-evolve with a business’ people, workflows, and culture. For 25+ years, Rob has helped leaders turn IT from a cost center into a growth strategy, rooted in one core belief: most tech problems are really culture problems. With his deep field expertise that goes far beyond troubleshooting or quick fixes, he works with businesses – from startups to hybrid teams, and mature companies – to create systems that scale with purpose and impact. He started his firm in the early 2000s after being laid off, and today, has grown it into the largest member of the Apple Consultants Network in LA and among the top 10 nationwide, which works across 15+ industries supporting Apple-first and mixed-device workplaces.

Melissa Nash – Real Estate Investor, Entrepreneur, Mentor, and Host of the Passive Real Estate Investing for Her podcast

I can finally sleep through the night, because I know that I’m not relying on anybody else. My properties are doing their thing. They’re creating cash flow.

Melissa Nash is a seasoned real estate investor, entrepreneur, mentor, and host of the Passive Real Estate Investing for Her podcast. She has built a successful career helping women achieve financial freedom through strategic passive real estate investing. With over a decade of experience at one of the largest real estate investment companies in the United States, Melissa has guided thousands of clients toward financial independence and helped investors purchase hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate assets. Her own journey includes building a real estate portfolio that secured her family’s future in under six years, and she uses her firsthand experience to empower others through coaching programs, educational resources, and turnkey investment solutions. Driven by a mission to increase representation of women in real estate, Melissa believes that when women earn and invest, positive change ripples outward. Her Passive Real Estate Investing for Her podcast offers actionable strategies, expert interviews, and practical advice designed to inspire and equip listeners to take control of their financial futures. Tim Elmore – Founder of Growing Leaders

Inside of every Gen Z’er, and probably every young adult in any generation, there is two tugs at their heart. On the one side, I want to be me. On the other side, I want to belong.

Dr. Tim Elmore is first and foremost a family man. He has been married to Pam for 44 years, and they have two adult children, both married and in their careers. His other loves include their dog Sadie (CEO of their home), reading, sports and popcorn, not necessarily in that order. He not only leads Tim Elmore, Inc. as he speaks to businesses, sports teams & non-profits, but he is the Founder of Growing Leaders, a non-profit organization, created to develop emerging leaders. His passion for leader development and for the emerging generation grew out of his work alongside best-selling author Dr. John C. Maxwell since 1983. Growing Leaders and Maxwell Leadership Foundation merged in 2023. Over the last decade, Tim has spoken to 500,000 leaders in corporations, such as The Home Depot, Chick-fil-A, Ford Motor Company, Cox Communications, Cici’s Pizza, Coca Cola Bottlers Association, and Delta Global. His curriculum has been used by sports teams like the Kansas City Royals, New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Rockets, San Francisco Giants, as well as athletic departments at the University of Alabama, Ohio State, Stanford and Duke University. He is committed to building the next generation of leaders all over the globe. Tim Elmore’s expertise on the emerging generation and generational diversity at work has led to national media coverage on CNN’s Headline News, Fox Business, Newsmax and Fox & Friends. A TEDx speaker, his blog is read by 100,000 people weekly. Tim writes a column for Inc. and Psychology Today and was listed as one of the top 100 leadership speakers by Inc. magazine. Tim has written 40 books, including the best-selling Generation iY: Our Last Chance to Save Their Future, Habitudes®: Images that Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes, Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership and A New Kind of Diversity. His latest book, releases November 2025, is The Future Begins with Z: Nine Strategies for Leading Generation Z as They Disrupt the Workplace.

Charles Steel – Author of The Curious Mind of Elon Musk: 9 Ways He Thinks Differently

Confront the fear, accept that there is an outcome in which you completely fail, and then channel that feeling and try and make sure to do your dullness, to make sure it never happens.

Charles Steel is a British investor, author, and thinker with more than twenty years of experience working with management teams to grow and build businesses. He began his career at Goldman Sachs in London in 1997, later moved into private investing with The Carlyle Group, and went on to launch the European private equity business for Ares Management. His professional journey broadened beyond finance when he served as an adviser to former British prime minister Tony Blair during Blair’s role as Middle East envoy to the Quartet in Jerusalem. After returning to London, Steel became deeply involved in the nonprofit sector, including serving as chair of Save the Children in the United Kingdom. These varied experiences sparked a fascination with purpose and human motivation that ultimately led him to writing. Educated at Cambridge University in history and philosophy, Steel’s approach to understanding people and their ideas is informed by a belief in examining subjects in their own terms and within their broader context. He is the author of The Curious Mind of Elon Musk, an ideas-driven exploration of Elon Musk’s defining qualities that is set for publication in early 2026, and he has plans to write future works on figures such as Albert Camus. Ines Garcia – Founder and CEO of Get Agile & Author of Nature’s Blueprint for Business: Harnessing the Hidden Power of Edges

We’re moving from that competitive advantage to collaborative advantage. We want to go far. We better go together.

Ines Garcia is an organisational coach, author, and sustainability thinker who helps individuals, teams and organisations deliver better value while reducing waste and focusing on meaningful impact. She is the founder and CEO of Get Agile, where she works with clients around the world on Agile practice, circular economy principles, carbon accounting, biomimicry, regenerative design and sustainable value creation. Through her work she encourages businesses to evolve their practices in ways that support communities and the planet as well as financial performance. Ines is the author of Nature’s Blueprint for Business: Harnessing the Hidden Power of Edges, a book that applies lessons from nature’s long history of innovation to organisational resilience and growth. She also offers talks, workshops and coaching programmes that integrate Agile, sustainability and whole-systems thinking to help professionals and organisations thrive in an increasingly complex world. Ines’s approach reflects her belief in designing with purpose and creating positive impact across product, people and planet.

Laura Ries – Leading Positioning Strategist at Ries Positioning Pioneers and Author of The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For

What you say you’re against, what you say no to, is actually instantly believable.

Laura Ries is a leading positioning strategist and bestselling author who has shaped how brands define themselves in competitive markets. As chairwoman of Ries Positioning Pioneers, the global consulting firm her late father Al Ries founded, she has spent over three decades advising companies around the world on positioning strategy and helping them create memorable, category-defining brands. Laura is the author of The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For, a book that expands on her long practice of sharp differentiation and outlines how identifying a clear strategic enemy can drive brand focus and consumer loyalty, and she has co-authored several influential marketing titles with her father, including The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR. Based in Atlanta, she is also a respected keynote speaker and frequent commentator on modern branding and marketing strategy. John Dwyer – Marketing & Advertising Expert at The Institute of Wow

It’s a low cost at a high perceived value. So therefore, if you’re getting something for less than $50 but you’re giving it away to someone and their perceived value is $1,000 you’re cooking with gas.

John Dwyer is a celebrated marketing and advertising expert and the driving force behind The Institute of Wow, a consultancy known for helping businesses attract customers and boost sales with creative, incentive-based strategies that make audiences take notice. Known to many as JD, he has built a reputation as a “direct response customer attraction expert” whose unconventional ideas have generated billions in additional sales for companies across industries and helped brands stand out in crowded markets by focusing on compelling offers that go beyond price competition. Dwyer has worked with a wide range of clients, from major global companies to small businesses, and is widely recognized for high-impact campaigns, including one that brought comedian Jerry Seinfeld out of retirement to promote a banking client’s home loan offer, resulting in record breaking results. With deep experience in traditional and digital marketing channels and a focus on practical, results-driven solutions, he also offers coaching, programs and speaking engagements that guide business owners in creating powerful marketing that delivers measurable growth.

Rafsan Bhuisan – Founder & CEO of OrionQ

When you have an idea, it’s so unique, and you know it’s unique, maybe that idea generated years and years of failed startups and those, all those lessons that you’ve learned from the failures. You’ll be surprised. If you keep going, they end up making you very, very successful.

Rafsan Bhuiyan is an American entrepreneur, decorated U.S. Army veteran, and the founder and chief executive officer of OrionQ, a unified AI revenue operations platform built to help enterprises and growth teams unlock previously missed revenue at scale. Based in Erie, Colorado, he combines deep technical expertise with leadership experience gained from both military service and high-impact roles in the private sector. Before founding OrionQ, he played a key role in architecting CarMax’s personalization engine that supported nearly 800,000 vehicle sales annually and led large-scale AI adoption initiatives at T-Mobile, where he helped expand GPT usage across thousands of executives. At OrionQ he focuses on creating practical, human-centric AI agents that automate repetitive tasks such as lead qualification, follow-up, and scheduling while ensuring seamless handoffs to human teams to preserve trust and drive results. An advocate for ethical AI and broader access to advanced tools, Rafsan also shares insights on AI adoption and growth strategy with business leaders and coaches teams on leveraging AI to augment rather than replace human skills. He holds a background in computer science from Colorado Technical University and leverages his varied experiences to shape how organizations apply AI to real business challenges. David Flores Wilson – Managing Partner of Sincerus Advisory & Editor of Planning to Wealth

Exit planning should be done and is effective throughout the life cycle of a business owner, from formation to growth until the actual transaction or transition towards the end of the business.

David Flores Wilson, CFP®, CFA, editor of Planning to Wealth, has a passion for being a helpful resource to friends, colleagues, and clients. In an effort to find new ways to better serve his clients and provide the best, easily-accessible information, Planning to Wealth was born. From financial planning tips to wealth management guidance, Planning to Wealth aims to be a valuable resource for top financial planning considerations. Named to the Investopedia Top 100 Financial Advisors in 2019 and 2020, and WealthManagement.com 2019 Thrive list of fastest-growing advisors, David is a Managing Partner and Financial Planner at Sincerus Advisory in New York City. He advises business owners and entrepreneurs as they make financial progress towards their goals and dreams. He has specialized expertise in qualified small business stock (QSBS) planning, business exit planning, strategic philanthropy planning, and equity compensation planning (ISOs, NSOs, and RSUs). Prior to joining Sincerus Advisory, David was a Vice President in the Fixed Income Division at Barclays Capital. He received a BS from the University of California, Berkeley and holds the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®), Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Certified College Financial Consultant (CCFC), Enrolled Agent (EA), and Accredited Estate Planner (AEP®) designations. David enjoys traveling, reading, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, yoga, and snowboarding and is on the board of the Lower East Side Girls Club.