Going Deep With Aaron Watson

In 2019, Joe Cardosi founded Free Market Health to tackle the complicated specialty pharmacy marketplace. In less than four years, the firm has raised over $13 million, grown to 50+ team members, and scaled revenue into the millions. Free Market Health is a healthcare technology platform focused on fixing the company dedicated to improving the specialty pharmacy ecosystem with a care-driven marketplace platform. They support forward-thinking payers and specialty pharmacies of all sizes who need to operate in a complex and opaque market. Previously, Joe worked in specialty pharmacy for 15 years and saw the market opportunity firsthand. In this episode, Aaron and Joe talk about what drives the enormous costs in specialty pharmacies, why Joe was perfectly positioned to found the company, and why patients win when pharmacies compete. Joe Cardosi’s Challenge: If you have an opportunity or a great idea, where you can create a job around it, take a chance, say yes, and just do it. Connect with Joe Cardosi Linkedin

Austin Rief is the CEO and cofounder of the Morning Brew. In 2020, the Morning Brew was majority acquired for a $75 million dollar valuation, just five years after being founded by two University of Michigan students. Morning Brew is a media company with an email list of over 3 million people. Their content informs, educates and empowers readers on the business world, money and their career. They bring informative and digestible daily news and information about businesses from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. In this episode, Aaron and Austin talk about the metrics that matter to the Brew, what Austin learned about hiring and scaling, and how they implemented the EOS model to get outstanding results. Austin Rief’s Challenge: Harness the power on the internet and learn from it. Leverage technology to make money. Connect with Austin Rief Linkedin Twitter Website If you liked this interview, check out our episode on How Sam Parr Builds Businesses. Underwritten by Piper Creative Piper Creative makes creating podcas

Dr. Shiv Rao is the CEO and cofounder of Abridge. He was previously a senior executive at UPMC Enterprises and serves as a cardiologist at the Heart and Vascular Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Abridge is an Artificial Intelligence app that listens to the doctor-patient conversations, provides a transcription, and categorizes specific details such as medications, symptoms, diagnoses, procedures, and the care plan. Dr. Rao and his team have cataloged more than five million medical next steps for users. Abridge is focused on the rich data in the conversation beyond the required information and providing it to medical professionals and patients. In this episode, Aaron and Dr Shiv talk about artificial intelligence, how little we remember from our medical visits, and the rise of doctor burnout. Dr. Shiv Rao’s Challenge: Make it a habit of going to sleep grateful. Connect with Dr. Shiv Rao Linkedin Twitter Website If you liked this interview, check out our episode with Dr. Timothy Wong

Bill Hauser is the CEO of SMB Team, the Fastest Growing law firm growth company in the US. The firm currently has more than $20 million in annual revenue and a team of 60 full-time employees.   SMB team uses digital marketing, staffing, and coaching, to help law firms grow. Their mission is to help 10,000 law firms double their revenue and grow to $256 million in revenue within 10 years.   Bill also shares how (and why) he spends over $600,000 annually on personal development. From personal coaches to high-level masterminds, he is committed to becoming the executive capable of leading his company to their lofty goals.   In this episode, Aaron and Bill talk about why it is important to have resolve when setting a goal for yourself, his difficult upbringing, and how he overcame his addiction to anxious thinking.  Bill Hauser’s Challenge: Take the most direct path to your goal. Keep writing that goal down so you don’t stop believing in yourself until you achieve that goal.   Connect with Bill Hauser Linkedin T

Hitting a small reset button.   Check out YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/AaronWatsonPiper Check out Elite Video Marketing https://www.elitevideo.marketing/  

  Po-Shen Loh is the Founder and CEO of Expii, a free personalized learning website with thousands of math and science lessons.    Po-Shen Loh  is a social entrepreneur and inventor, working across the spectrum of mathematics, education, and healthcare, all around the world. He is a math professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and the national coach of the USA International Mathematical Olympiad team. He has also pioneered a scalable way to learn challenging math live online and a new way to control pandemics by leveraging self-interest.   Expii supports crowdsourced lessons to encourage peer to peer learning. It is an online learning platform that lets students choose how to learn high school level math and science by providing multiple learning styles, and encourages students to learn in their own way.    In this episode, Aaron and Po-Shen Loh talk about why conventional remote classes fail, how he creates win-win for everyone, and the business model of education. Po-Shen Loh’s Challenge: Take the uncom

Andrew Herr is the founder and CEO of Fount, a health and performance advising platform trusted by the world’s top performers. He started Fount to make cutting edge performance insights more widely available and change the quality of health outcomes for all.    Fount is backed by Founders Fund, Elysian Park, and Allen & Co to apply, and scale, their expertise from optimizing the minds and bodies of US Military, professional sports teams, and leading business executives.   Andrew is a graduate of Health Physics, Microbiology & Immunology, and Security Studies from Georgetown University. He was honored as a Mad Scientist by the U.S. Army (twice) and as a Fellow by the Synthetic Biology Leadership Excellence Accelerator Program, the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative, and others.   In this episode, Aaron and Andrew talk about how he can change human health and performance at scale, how he helped the Department of Defense allocate millions of Dollars towards the optimization of the military, and h

Jacob Hanchar is the CEO of Digital Dream Labs. He is a neuroscientist by training who loves entrepreneurship,video games, and learning.   Jacob started out as an angel investor for Digital Dream Labs,an ed-tech company founded in 2012. They are the makers of AI robotic companions such as Cozmo, Vector, Puzzlets, InfiniDrive, and Butter Robot. They lead the field of assistive technology that improves the lives of all ages and backgrounds.   In this episode, Aaron and Jacob talk about selling robots as companions, they also break down how he bought IP associated with his robots for pennies on the dollar, and why robots of all shapes and sizes need to be designed to be a little more cute. Jacob Hanchar’s Challenge: Volunteer a couple hours in your local library or museum to get young people more interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Connect with H. Jacob Hanchar, Ph.D. Linkedin Twitter Website   If you liked this interview, check out the episodes GPT-3 & Robot

David Brumley is the founder and CEO of ForAllSecure, a startup spun out of Carnegie Mellon University, that has raised over $36 million.   The company provides cutting edge cybersecurity solutions to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, including the Department of Defense.   Straight out of college, David Brumley worked in IT at Stanford University fixing and securing issues with the university’s open network. His challenges motivated him to pursue towards a decade-long research quest to solve the problem of real-time, automated testing and security compliance.   This research led to the founding of ForAllSecure and their first product “MAYHEM”, which scans software for bugs, generates exploits, and fixes vulnerabilities.   In this episode, Aaron and David talk about selling security to the Department of Defense, how he raised millions of dollars from Tier 1 VCs, and how his startup is the culmination of more than a decade of academic research. David Brumley’s Challenge: Look at what you’re good

JT Garwood is the CEO and cofounder of bttn – a healthcare product distribution platform.    Bttn has modernized the healthcare distribution  system, to provide doctors easy, reliable access to high-quality, brand-name medical supplies.   JT has scaled the company quickly due to their ability to save medical offices lots of money. In this episode, Aaron and JT talk about how bttn raised $20million from Tiger Global, their edge as a distributor, and the benefits of hiring his dad to be his company’s COO.   They also talk about the essential role that sales has played in scaling their two-sided marketplace. JT Garwood’s Challenge: Choose positivity today.   Connect with JT Garwood Linkedin Twitter Website   If you liked this interview, check out episode $35 to Visit a Doctor When You Have No Insurance w/ Dr. Timothy Wong (iHealth Clinic) Underwritten by Piper Creative Piper Creative makes creating podcasts, vlogs, and videos easy.    How? Click here and Learn more.   We work with Fortune 500s, medium-sized

Wesley Gray is the founder and CEO of Alpha Architect, an investment platform for building custom, low-fee ETFs.    Wes is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Economics at The Wharton School, served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps, has an MBA and PhD in Finance from the University of Chicago.    His interest in bridging the research gap between academia and industry led him to found Alpha Architect, an asset management firm dedicated to empowering investors through education.   In this episode, Aaron and Wes talk about strategies to “beat the market”, how being a professor is the best gig as an entrepreneur, and his biggest advice to entrepreneurs.   Wes’ Challenge: Register at https://alphaarchitect.com/mftf/ to join the March for the Fallen 28-mile ruck march   Connect with Wesley Gray (Alpha Architect)   Wesley Gray's Linkedin Alpha Architect's Linkedin Twitter Website If you liked this interview, check out episode Index Funds, Bitcoins, and Telling the Truth with Mike Green.   Underwritten by

Ali Moiz previously founded and sold Streamlabs and Peanut Labs, for a combined enterprise value over $180 million.    Currently, Ali is the founder, CEO, and meme Dealer at Stonks, which aims to help founders save time in fundraising so they can focus on the business.   Stonks is a platform for virtual Startup Demo Days. It has quickly become popular in helping startups find their angel investors with the help of event organizer.   Join Aaron and Ali on this episode as they discuss how he got it up and running so quickly  with over $15 million monthly investments, while avoiding lessons from past startups, and what he is doing with the wealth he had acquired from his past companies.   Ali Moiz’s Challenge; Clean up your calendar, remove things that don’t need to be there and use that time for personal development.   Connect with Ali Moiz Linkedin Twitter: Ali Moiz Twitter: Stonks Website   If you liked this interview, check out Naval Ravikant’s Wisdom w/ Eric Jorgenson and Billionaire Henry Schuck just IPO

Jim Shorkey built his family’s auto business into more than 9 dealerships, over 800 employees and 15,000 new & used car sales per year. This podcast explores how he did it.   In 1996 Jim Shorkey Jr.’s father died and left him the Jim Shorkey Auto dealership. With his experience as a sales manager, Jim Shorkey was arrogantly sure he was going to be successful in growing his business. Instead, he brought it to the brink of bankruptcy.   Jim had to grow his skillset and discipline quickly to save the family business. He credits mentors and the book Think And Grow Rich for how he was able to turn things around.   Join Aaron in this episode as he finds out how having a mentor and reading a book multiple times helped to pivot Jim’s perspective and why he plans to live to 122 years old. Jim Shorkey’s Challenge; Buy Think And Grow Rich, read it at least three times, and disagree with him.   Connect with Jim Shorkey Linkedin Facebook Twitter Website   If you liked this interview, you’re gonna love our episode

Scott Heeter is the CEO of Heeter, a third-generation commercial print firm that has been running for 75 years.   Heeter is one of the largest commercial marketing firms in the country, with over 140 full-time employees in Pittsburgh and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Duke Print and Graphics, in Cleveland.   Heeter has evolved from the commercial print company that it was to a more customized provider that include mailing fulfillment, digital marketing and other innovative services.   In this episode, Aaron and Scott discuss the challenges that Heeter overcome to attain regional dominance in the printing industry, how he has built their corporate culture, and how they’ve retained valuable employees for the long term.   Scott Heeter’s Challenge; Don’t rush through difficult decisions.   Connect with Scott Heeter Linkedin Facebook Website   If you liked this interview, check out the episode Blow Up Your Business Plan w/ JD Ewing    Underwritten by Piper Creative Piper Creative makes creating podcasts, vlogs, and

Sara Makin has built Makin Wellness into one of Pennsylvania's top online therapy platforms in just five years. She started Makin Wellness in 2017 on a mission to help millions of people heal and become happy again by providing excellent mental health care.   Today, Makin Wellness has over 50 employees and a goal of becoming a national provider of a results-based, individualized approach to online mental health care. Sara entered Psychology Grad School with a clear vision of having a multi-state Mental Health Company.   In this episode, Aaron and Sara discuss how to scale a remote mental health startup, managing millions of dollars in medical billing, and articulating a clear vision for your company.   Sara Makin’s Challenge; Take ten minutes in the morning to do something nice for yourself.   Connect with Sara Makin (Makin Wellness) Linkedin Twitter Website Instagram Facebook Tiktok Pinterest   If you liked this interview, check out the episode Ketamine for Mental Health w/ Mindbloom founder Dylan Beynon

Justin Moore is a Sponsorship Coach & Founder of CreatorWizard, a training program that teaches creators how to find & negotiate brand deals. With his wife April, Justin has been a full-time creator for nearly a decade and has been running an influencer marketing agency for over 5 years.   Justin and April started creating content back in the days before brands reached out to collaborate with influencers. They started with a cooking channel and a family vlog channel and did daily videos for several years, eventually growing their total following to over 1,500,000.   With more than a decade of experience in content creation, it is easy to see why Justin Moore is able to help creators find & negotiate their dream brand sponsorships.   In this episode, dive deep with Aaron as he and Justin discuss how a side hustle led to quitting his 9 to 5 job, managing his influencer marketing agency, and the opportunity on Amazon Live.   Justin Moore’s Challenge; Reach out to that person. Reach out to that potent

Josh Caputo founded HumoTech in 2015 as a spin-off from his CMU research robotics department. His passion is focused on developing and commercializing cutting-edge robotics technology that addresses current societal needs like prostheses and exoskeletons.    Josh and his team have built a platform to enable the world’s top researchers to more rapidly iterate on their products and designs. This will eventually allow robotics to assist people in achieving higher levels of mobility and a greater quality of life across medicine, engineering, and business. In this episode, Aaron and Josh discuss Humotech’s goals, how they’ve bootstrapped a hardware company, and why exoskeletons will change the way we live.   Josh Caputo’s Challenge; Go on a hike, turn off the cellphone and ask yourself what you are doing with your life.   Connect with Josh Caputo Linkedin Twitter Facebook Instagram Website   If you liked this interview, check out our episode The Construction Robot Revolution with Jeremy Searock where we discuss h

After years as a chef in the fast-paced world of fine dining, Chad Townsend decided it was time for a change. He purchased an expensive Swiss-made food processor that would finely puree frozen foods such as ice cream or sorbet. His wife, Lauren, allowed him to make this purchase under one condition: he had to have it paid off by the end of the summer. What started as a fun summer hustle turned into a 10,000 sq. ft. Ice Cream Manufacturing and Franchising business. Growing his homemade Ice cream Business, he had to put processes in place and hire people he can trust. In this episode, Chad and Aaron discuss what it takes to scale-up food manufacturing, how to find good franchise partners, and their strategy for coming up with new flavors. Chad Townsend’s Challenge; Spend some dollars (buying products) from somebody who lives within 50 miles of your house. Connect with Chad Townsend Linkedin Instagram Website   If you liked this interview, check out our episode with Bill Sarris where we discuss how he turn

Dr. D. Lansing Taylor is the Director at the University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute and an expert on Computational Biology. He has translated that expertise into more than 29 patents and multiple successful startups   His companies include Biological Detection Systems (now owned by GE Life Sciences), Cellomics (acquired by ThermoFisher), and Cellumen (now part of Cyprotex).   Dr. Taylor’s current companies are Spintellx and BioSystics. Spintellx focuses on computational pathology, using machine learning to identify abnormalities in tissue samples. BioSystics is a database and analytics firm that creates digital twins from complex data for research institutions and Big Pharma clients.   In this episode, Dr. Taylor and Aaron discuss the potential of precision medicine, the application of digital twins, and how doctors will work with data in the future. Connect with Dr. D. Lansing Taylor Linkedin Facebook Website   If you liked this interview, check out Building a Billion Dollar Company Treating Ra

Brett Randall is the President and CEO of Aliner, a manufacturer of folding campers and travel trailers.   After selling a family business, Brett was brought in to consult on turning around the 30+ year old RV company. Eventually, his experience in manufacturing optimization, market channel development, and growth led to him being recruited to run the company.   A few years ago he bought out a majority of the shareholders and is building Aliner into a larger part of the growing RV market.   In this episode, Brett and Aaron discuss how he turned around the company, their distribution through select retailers, and how he evolves the product lineup. Brett Randall’s Challenge; Every month, pick one thing to get done.   Connect with Brett Randall Linkedin Facebook Instagram Twitter Aliner Website   If you liked this interview, check out our episode with JD Ewing where we discuss how he transformed one of the largest office furniture business, the values he instilled in the culture and his method of financial forec