Episodes

Daniel Asbury and Ben Goehner are co-founders of Western Dominion Land Company, a vertically integrated housing platform combining land acquisition, large-scale community development, and structural panel manufacturing all under one roof. In our conversation, we explore why the collapse of smaller and midsize homebuilders after 2008 left entire communities without meaningful new housing supply, and why Daniel and Ben believe the next generation of housing companies will need to manufacture, ...

The timing of this conversation feels especially meaningful. Cleveland is moving to recognize October 13 as Bernie Kosar Day — honoring one of the most beloved figures in the city’s history and marking 41 years since his first regular-season start for the Browns. Bernie Kosar has spent his life figuring out a way — from a kid in Youngstown with an improbable dream, to becoming the quarterback of the team he grew up loving, to navigating extraordinary adversity far beyond the football field. ...

Today is a special episode with Jeff—or, as you’ll come to learn, Jeffrey—Charney. Jeff grew up in rural South Carolina and went on to become a two-time Chief Marketing Officer of the year across firms like Progressive Insurance, Aflac, and QVC, helping shape some of the most enduring characters and concepts in modern marketing, including the Aflac Duck, Flo, Dr. Rick, and *many more.* But this conversation is less about his résumé than the patterns and philosophies underneath it: seeing a...

Paul Benner is the founder of Platform Beer Company. What began in 2014 as a tiny neighborhood brewery grew remarkably quickly through constant experimentation before ultimately being acquired by Anheuser-Busch in 2019. Platform was also personally meaningful to me…. with many formative conversations in my own entrepreneurial journey and life having occurred within its walls. In our conversation, Paul and I unpack the full Platform story—from his early interest in entrepreneurship and homebre...

Gerald Hetrick was one of the very first guests ever on Lay of The Land, back on episode 6, where we talked about his path through Vox Mobile, building Able, and what it took to grow a venture-backed software company from Cleveland. We then picked the story back up on episode 142 after Able’s acquisition by Bullhorn, exploring what an exit actually feels like, what Gerald had learned about company-building, and his work with Bezlio, Docket, and EOS. Today, we continue that arc with Gerald’s n...

Joshua Friedlander — also known as The Jam Man — is the founder of Jam by Josh, a Cleveland-based small-batch jam company he started at just 10 years old. What began as a childhood love of cooking, gardening, and canning has grown from a backyard hobby into a formidable and rapidly expanding food brand, now sold in more than 75 stores across Northeast Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and beyond. At 16, Josh has taken Jam by Josh from his home kitchen to grocery shelves national wide. In our c...

Bowen and Finn Alexy are brothers, entrepreneurs, and investors based in Willoughby, Ohio. They serve as Co-Chief Operating Officers of Alexy Metals, a second-generation brazing alloy manufacturing and precious metals refining company, where they have helped lead the business through a period of significant growth while becoming the two youngest executives in their industry. Beyond manufacturing, they are the Co-Founders and Managing Partners of BowFin Capital, an early-stage venture investment ...

Kumar Arora — entrepreneur, investor, brand-builder, and the founder of Arora Ventures, a venture studio and portfolio of businesses spanning hospitality, apparel, events, creative agency work, and consumer brands. Born and raised in Cleveland’s Little Italy, Kumar grew up between science and art, a duality that continues to shape how he builds today. In our conversation, Kumar and I explore the cohort of ambitious Clevelanders he came up alongside, his early path through nightlife, events, and ...

Alec Shankman is the founder of HeartRock Partners. Alec has spent more than two decades at the forefront of entertainment, talent representation, reality television, digital media, podcasting, brand-building, and the creator economy. Before launching HeartRock, he was a Senior Partner at The Gersh Agency, following its acquisition of his division from A3 Artists Agency, where he built the Alternative Programming and Digital Media Division into a nine-figure 60-person bi-coastal team. In o...

David Gilbert is the President and CEO of Destination Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. For more than three decades, David has worked to help Cleveland compete, attract visitors, host major events, and change the way the city is perceived — both by the outside world and by Clevelanders ourselves. Under his leadership, Cleveland has hosted events like the NFL Draft, NBA All-Star Game, MLB All-Star Game, NCAA Women’s Final Four, and the Republican National Convention, while...

Duane Mancini, Founder and CEO of Project Medtech, a Cleveland-based platform helping medical technology companies move from promising invention to real patient impact. What began as a podcast has evolved into a broader ecosystem of consulting, events, education, investor connectivity, and community-building for Medtech founders navigating the difficult path from idea to market. In our conversation, Duane and I explore his path from science and research into entrepreneurship, how Project M...

What does it take for AI to matter inside a real operating business? Not as a demo, not as a dashboard, and not as a generic productivity tool — but as something that answers calls, reduces clicks, quotes freight, improves service, and helps people spend more time doing the work that actually moves the business forward. Today we're republishing an episode from The O.H.I.O. Fund Report with Mark Kvamme — co-founder, CEO, and CIO of The O.H.I.O. Fund — Peter Coratola, founder and CEO of EASE L...

Teddy Baldassarre has built one of the most influential watch platforms in the world — and just as compelling as the watches themselves is the entrepreneurial story behind it. I first met Teddy almost ten years ago at StartMart in Terminal Tower, before any of this existed: before millions of followers, before the global audience, before the authorized retail partnerships, and before the beautiful physical boutique we recorded this conversation in at Crocker Park. In this episode, Teddy an...

Hochan (CJ) Jang is the co-founder of Balance Pan-Asian Grille. What began for CJ as an effort to build a healthier, more creative, and more everyday kind of Asian fast casual concept more than 16 years ago has grown into a beloved regional brand with locations across Toledo and Cleveland — one defined by scratch-made food, bold flavors, affordability, and a real commitment to hospitality. In our conversation, CJ and I explore his journey from growing up in his mother’s restaurant after im...

Aidan Meany, Founder and CEO of Found Surface. Aidan is building a programmable knitwear factory in Cleveland that is reimagining what American apparel manufacturing can look like What began for him with learning to sew from his grandmother and making clothes as a teenager has evolved into a much larger ambition — rebuilding the whole infrastructure to make apparel at scale here in the United States. Today, Found Surface develops its own yarn relationships from American farms and spinni...

This is the 250th episode of Lay of The Land, and to mark it, I wanted to do something a little different. Most episodes of this podcast are centered on founder stories — what drives someone to take the very difficult leap of trying to build a company, what problem they feel compelled enough to devote their life to solving, and what they learn along the way. But for this milestone episode, I wanted to step back and talk about the thing that ties these stories together… the community itself. A...

Ken Sobel — Co-founder and CEO of Hyperframe. Ken is an engineer and repeat founder whose entrepreneurial path started early — out of college he launched a fingerprint payments company that predated Apple Pay, which he took through Y Combinator and ultimately was acquired by Visa in 2016. Ken grew up in construction though… recalling memories being in his father’s workshop as a kid — and his longstanding passion for construction coupled with his love of engineering and problem-solving has ...

Dave Stack. Dave is an internet entrepreneur and the founder of MusicStack, one of the early online marketplaces for rare and out-of-print music, which he began building out of his dorm room at Ohio State 30 years ago in the early days of the commercial internet. Over the years, he has gone on to build a portfolio of niche vertical marketplaces under the banner of Vertical Commerce, including MusicStack, Bear Pile, Reborns, and BJD Collectors — which has grown to facilitate tens of million in gr...

Carson Morell and Daniel Scott Mitchell, Co-Founders of Takton — a manufacturing technology company building fast, affordable tools for small and mid-sized manufacturers. Carson and Daniel came into manufacturing from different paths — Carson as a founder and operator, Daniel as an engineer at companies like Tesla and Rivian — but arrived at the same realization: there is a massive gap between the most advanced manufacturing technology and what is actually accessible to the majority of shops ...

Anna Dey is a multi-unit and multi-brand franchise entrepreneur who has spent the past decade building businesses across Northeast Ohio. Since getting her start in franchising with an Anytime Fitness location in 2012, she has gone on to own and operate franchises across several systems including Clean Eatz, Smoothie King, The Vitamin Shoppe, Barrio Tacos + Tequila, and goGLOW, earning national recognition along the way as both Franchisee of the Year and Multi-Unit Owner of the Year. Today, An...

Anne Hartnett is a neighborhood developer and entrepreneur focused on creating spaces where community, well-being, and small business can thrive. She is the founder of Harness Cycle and CEO of HCO Partners, a Cleveland-based real estate and placemaking company that develops and operates neighborhood-focused commercial properties. Anne began her career as a software consultant. After years of traveling and being inspired by vibrant neighborhood cultures in cities like New York and Minneapolis,...

Will Zell — Founder and Managing Partner of Vessel, founding CEO and now Executive Chair of AssetWatch, and a leading voice in rethinking how venture capital works across Ohio. Will’s path into technology and venture isn’t conventional. He grew up — and still lives — in Bellefontaine, Ohio. At 17, he ran for city council under the slogan “A Voice for the Future.” He spent time in ministry, built a real estate portfolio during the financial crisis, and ultimately found his way into technology...

Noah Jackson and AJ Wadian — the Co-Founders of Premier Home Pros Launched in December 2022 with just $65,000 of their own capital and a decision made around a dinner table, Premier Home Pros has scaled from zero to more than $150 million in annual gross sales in just three years — surpassing $100 million in under 24 months — all without raising a single dollar of outside capital. Headquartered in Canton, Ohio, Premier now operates across 14 states and continues to expand at a pace that few c...

Scot Lowry — Managing Partner and Co-Founder of PromiseONE Companies Scot is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of PromiseONE Companies, a Cleveland-based investment firm that helps purpose-driven entrepreneurs acquire and grow established businesses through Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, or ETA. Prior to launching PromiseONE, Scot acquired and led Fathom, a digital marketing firm he grew more than 450% over a decade — an experience that became both the financial engine and talent inc...