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BTU #177 - USMC to VP in Crypto (Stephanie Vaughan)

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BTU #177 - USMC to VP in Crypto (Stephanie Vaughan)

Stephanie Vaughanis the Vice President, Head of Capital Markets at Block X Ventures, a premier boutique crypto-agency advisory firm. Block X Venturessupports leading Blockchain companies worldwide, serving as a strategic and financial advisory for token generating events. She started out at the Naval Academy, after which she served as a Marine Corps officer for over 5.5 years. After her military service, she earned her MBA at Columbia Business School, worked as an Investment Banking Associate at Houlihan Lokey, a Venture Capitalist at LunaCap Ventures, and as Director of Capital Markets at StreetShares. She is a contributing writer at theBlockchain Times.


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BTU #171 - Navy to Financial Services at Silicon Valley Bank (Charlie Kelly)

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BTU #171 - Navy to Financial Services at Silicon Valley Bank (Charlie Kelly)

Charlie Kelly is the Managing Director of the Colorado Technology group at Silicon Valley Bank, where he leads a team focused on providing innovative financial services to high tech companies in the seed / series A through cash flow positive stages of development headquartered in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. He started out at Duke University, after which he served as an officer in the Navy onboard Submarines for almost five years. After his military service, he earned his MBA at the University of Colorado Boulder. He then joined SVB, initially as an associate with the Private Equity Banking team, eventually leading SVB’s team in the Central U.S. He has worked at SVB for over 11 years now.


BTU #174 - 1,000 True Fans

BTU #174 - 1,000 True Fans

This is a quick episode about a new goal where I need your help: to get to 1,000 listeners per episode, which is just about double our current audience. Part of the reason I am aiming for 1,000 listeners is based on an incredible essay I read four years ago and think of often: 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly. I also read an excerpt from this essay, as it directly relates to anyone who seeks to create something new or be an entrepreneur. 

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BTU #170 - 20 year Navy SEAL to Published Author (Jack Carr)

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BTU #170 - 20 year Navy SEAL to Published Author (Jack Carr)

Jack spent 20 years in the Navy SEALs and went on to write a book published by Simon and Schuster. This is not just a great episode for aspiring authors, but for all Veterans. Jack has a great  perspective about tenacity and not taking no for an answer, as well as for setting out clear guidelines for the type of career and lifestyle he wanted after his military service.

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BTU #169 - Marine Corps to Residential Real Estate (Drew Morris)

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BTU #169 - Marine Corps to Residential Real Estate (Drew Morris)

Drew went directly from the Marine Corps into Residential Real Estate. However, beyond this just being an episode pertinent to other Veterans interested in Real Estate, there are two reasons to listen to this episode. The first is our conversation about commission-based jobs. Drew does the best job I've ever heard about why Veterans should consider a commission-based job. I know most members of the military have a negative association with this sort of job, but Drew has some compelling points. Second, Drew has great advice about sales. Sales is the most cited challenge in my interview with Veterans - selling oneself, networking, and sales in general. Drew's advice will hit home for many listeners.

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BTU #168 - Army to Quantitative Analyst & Data Scientist (Ryan Whitt)

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BTU #168 - Army to Quantitative Analyst & Data Scientist (Ryan Whitt)

In addition to talking about the Quantitative Analyst position and Data Science in general, Ryan and I also talk about two advantages to being in a position where you work market hours. One advantage is that the work week is fairly predictable - for Ryan, he generally works 6:00 am - 2:00 pm MST, rarely having to work on the weekends. Second, every single day Ryan and his team get a "report card" on how they performed - they get immediate feedback from the financial markets on how they are doing. If you love numbers, this is definitely an episode worth listening to.

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BTU #167 - Army Pilot to seed stage Venture Capitalist (Aaron Stachel)

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BTU #167 - Army Pilot to seed stage Venture Capitalist (Aaron Stachel)

Thank you to all of you who completed my survey in March about what type of guests you would like to have on the show. The #1 requested career path was Venture Capitalist... and it took me a long, long time to finally connect with a Veteran in this career path. We talk not just about Venture Capital and entrepreneurship, but we talk about topics relevant for veterans in every career path: networking, risk taking, and more.

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BTU #166 - Marines to Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs (Steve Colley)

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BTU #166 - Marines to Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs (Steve Colley)

After his military service, Steve sought out a career in Public Service, and has worked as a Staff Member on the Senate Committee On Veterans’ Affairs. For those of you who are interested in a career in politics or public service, this is a great episode. Also, if you’re curious about what is going on in Capital Hill as it relates to Veterans Affairs, this is also a great interview to check out.

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BTU #165 - Marines to Real Estate Development (Chris Antonov)

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BTU #165 - Marines to Real Estate Development (Chris Antonov)

This episode is all about Real Estate Development. Most people on Active Duty are likely familiar with Real Estate and Real Estate Brokers, but Real Estate Development is different. Chris does an exceptional job of talking about Real Estate Development: the multi-year process of finding land, purchasing land, designing a building, constructing that building, and then leasing the office space or building. He also provides a great look at how this work is highly relevant to many of the skills we develop on Active Duty. He also talks about how his work in the Marines was largely project management, and how that is one of the key skills in his current job.

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BTU #164 - Buying 20+ houses, with cash, while on Active Duty (Rich Carey)

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BTU #164 - Buying 20+ houses, with cash, while on Active Duty (Rich Carey)

Rich Carey is a Commander in the Air Force, currently stationed in Korea. While on active duty he paid off his $280k mortgage in six years and $32k in student loans in 1 year. He flips houses and purchases rental property with cash while living overseas in the military. He currently owns 20 rental properties mortgage free. He also operates - despite a demanding schedule and frequent travel - the website RichOnMoney.com

Why Listen: 

Financial security is something that comes up frequently in my interviews. Veterans talks about how important it is to have enough time after Active Duty to be able to find your ideal job... and this may take 6-9 months. Rich is an exceptional example of someone on Active Duty who has lived below his means, and invested wisely to provide financial freedom when he leaves the military. His lessons are applicable to every career path, and whether you are on Active Duty or already transitioned to a civilian career.

Networking 101 - Intro & Identification

This is the first in a series of videos talking about how members of the Armed Forces can use networking to identify their next career, as well as learn how to succeed in their first role. In the 160+ interviews I've done, networking is one of the most commonly cited keys to success by my guest. In this series of videos we'll cover everything you need to know to do this successfully.

Selected Resources:

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BTU #163 - Army to Season 2 Apprentice Winner (Kelly Perdew)

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BTU #163 - Army to Season 2 Apprentice Winner (Kelly Perdew)

Kelly Perdew is the Co-Founder and Managing General Partner of Moonshots Capital, which he founded with a fellow West Point grad, and exists to invest in exceptional entrepreneurs with world-changing ideas. He started out at West Point, after which he served in the U.S. Army as an Intelligence Officer. Since then he has worked as a Founder, Board Member, CEO, COO, CFO, as well as in Business Development, and Sales. He has raised institutional financing, grown businesses, down-sized businesses, and sold businesses for 8-figure exits. Perhaps most uniquely, he is the Season 2 Winner of The Apprentice, after which he apprentice to Donald Trump and was involved in multiple real estate projects with Donald Trump. He holds both an MBA and JD from UCLA.

Why Listen: 

Kelly has such a unique background and has had so many different aspects to his civilian career. In this interview we talk about what it is like to be an investor, and advice for Veterans wanting to pursue this path. We also talk about entrepreneurship, and advice to Veterans who want to start their own company. We talk about work life balance, recovering from failure, what those final moments were like on The Apprentice, and so much more.

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BTU #162 - Navy to Data Scientist & Product Manager (Amanda Cesari)

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BTU #162 - Navy to Data Scientist & Product Manager (Amanda Cesari)

Amanda puts me to shame in this interview, as she is so incredibly gifted at succinctly and vividly describing a variety of topics in this interview, including: her work as a Data Scientist and Product Manager, how to approach work life balance, remote working, and evaluating a company's culture. I really enjoyed talking with Amanda, and hope you enjoy this great interview.