The Launching Point with Mike O'Toole
The Launching Point is a three-day a week interview-based podcast designed to uncover the transformative nature of launching into entrepreneurship through the telling of successful entrepreneurs' before and after stories of what it’s really like launching into the world of entrepreneurship. Each episode features a different entrepreneur weaving a narrative of who they were as a person before making the life-changing decision to launch into entrepreneurship, what obstacles they had to overcome to reach their launching point, and ends by hearing about who they are today and them providing actionable advice.
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 33 minutes
- Episodes
- 52
- Years Active
- 2015
48 - Right idea at the right time with Kim Kaupe
Kim Kaupe, the co-founder of ZinePak, was a naturally curious, outgoing, and gregarious child that had no intentions of becoming an entrepreneur. She met her co-founder right as she was becoming dis…
47 - Life is why we do this with Brian Clark
Brian Clark, the founder of Copyblogger and Rainmaker Digital, was in law school when he already started thinking of an exit strategy. After spending a few years as a lawyer, the emergence of the In…
46 - You can make a living doing what you love with Lindsay White
Lindsay White, the owner and designer of Lot801, got a 9-to-5 job right out of college and worked her way up in the company. After her boss told her that he was going to retire soon and would like t…
45 - Find the things that bring you gusto and joy with Swami Tirtha
Swami Tirtha, owner of The Hip Guru's Guide, started as a regular guy from the suburbs, but when he was a freshman in college, both of his parents were killed in a car accident. He discovered medita…
44 - It's about living the life you love with Jason Treu
Jason Treu, an author and business and executive coach, was in law school when he observed that most lawyers were not happy with their career choice. He decided to pivot and pursue the life that he …
43 - There's no problem too big with Peter Mehit
Peter Merit, the owner of Custom Business Planning and Solutions, worked in the corporate world for decades, traveling all over the world and constantly on the road. After an unreasonable travel req…
42 - Get closer to your authentic self with Lea Pica
Lea Pica, an analytics, data visualizations, and presentations consultant, always found herself as an unconventional round peg trying to fit herself in a square corporate hole. After having her firs…
41 - Don't let a lifestyle business steal your lifestyle with Joshua Dorkin
Joshua Dorkin, creator of BiggerPockets.com, started his entrepreneurial journey in college when he built an online directory for colleges and universities around the world. Later, he became a real …
40 - Live within your means to prepare yourself for bigger things with Agie Sundaram
Agie Sundaram, the co-founder of Span Enterprises, spent 11 years as a cruise ship photographer before starting his own photography business. After having an epiphany at a photography conference and…
39 - Action is the most important step with Yoram Baltinester
Yoram Baltinester is the founder of Decisive Action Workshops. Born and raised in Israel, he chose to go down the corporate IT path before he was laid off in 2001. Seizing an opportunity to start a…
38 - Let go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth with Eric Tivers
In honor of ADHD awareness month, Eric Tivers, the owner of Tivers Clinical Specialties, shares his journey of launching into entrepreneurship despite being diagnosed with ADD in college. He was abl…
37 - Bonus: Start a global organization in your living room with Jacob Cramer
Jacob Cramer, the founder of Love for the Elderly, was only 13 years old when he came up with an idea to send letters to the residents of nursing homes after volunteering in a nursing home. Today, h…
36 - Stop riding the fence with Shahara Wright
Sahara Wright, CEO of The CEO Effect, graduated from law school and went to work in family law. After she discovered she hated it, she tried to look for a job in business law. But after not being a…
35 - Use your past as motivation to keep going with Rueben Wood
Rueben Wood is a celebrity journalist, media icon, and chef. He graduated from high school and got a taste of the music industry, but through a series of events brought on by bad management, he foun…
34 - Feel the fear and do it anyway with Jan Spence
Jan Spence, a professional speaker, sales trainer, one-on-one coach for small businesses, and business consultant, got her first taste of entrepreneurship when she was just 15, but it was after her h…
33 - Work on your game or someone will pass you with Dre Baldwin
Dre Baldwin, an athlete, entrepreneur, author, publisher, speaker, and marketing and branding expert, played basketball for a division III school, but had a goal of playing professionally. He became…
32 - It's never too late to be who you really are with Maura Sweeney
Maura Sweeny, an author, podcaster, international speaker, and Huffington Post contributor, was brought up to be an attorney in New Jersey, but realized that she was on a trajectory for a career path…
BONUS 03 - Report card, New & Noteworthy, and monetization
In this bonus episode, I talk about how well the podcast is doing in terms of listens, how things will change now that New & Noteworthy has ended, how I am and how I plan to monetize, and my reasons …
31 - Boldness of action is a key to change and growth with Dean Roberts
Dean Roberts, author of I'll Fix My Head Before I'm Dead and a serial entrepreneur, was kicked out of school at 16 and went into the Navy. After a short corporate career, he went into the family bus…
30 - Let go of the nonsense and excuses with Kelly McCausey
Kelly Mccauley, the owner of Solo Smarts, was a broke, single mother doing desktop publishing for her church office. Her need to make extra money and pay her bills was the beginning of what turned i…