How Success Happens

Forrest Galante has eaten rat, hippo, and squid so old it should've filed a complaint. None of it gave him any trouble. Crocodile-infested water did. On this episode, the wildlife filmmaker takes Dan Bova through what it actually takes to get a film crew to the middle of nowhere, trailers, canoes, borrowed boats, and an itinerary that's fiction by hour two. Despite the chaos and the long days, Forrest explains why his core crew has stuck with him since he was 27.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin McCarthy is the CEO of Unreal Candy, which makes him the most popular house on the block every Halloween (and, according to his neighbors, the other 364 days too). Kevin joined Unreal fresh out of college, when the company had just three employees and had relaunched in a humble 38 stores. Today it’s the largest better-for-you chocolate brand in America, sold in 35,000 stores.Dan, meanwhile, eats roughly 20 pieces of candy in the name of journalism.

Chapters:

0:00 Intro 0:42 Meet Unreal Candy CEO Kevin McCarthy 1:39 What’s “unreal” about Unreal Candy 3:02 The origin story: confiscated Halloween candy 4:37 Scaling...

Guy Fieri crashes Bert Kreischer's interview and immediately starts asking the questions that would get any normal person fired. But that’s okay, anything for the fans! Turns out even a man like Bert who fills arenas still says the wrong thing, and occasionally embarrasses himself in front of his heroes. In fact, he'll tell you that sometimes the wildest, most awkward celebrity encounter makes for the best story you'll ever tell.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our  Dan Bova spent last summer at Mattel’s design lab, and all he got was a gorgeous art book he wrote: Hot Wheels: The Creative Drive. (And maybe a few cars in his pockets.) Ted Wu, Mattel’s vehicles boss, joins Dan to explain why Hot Wheels all face right, which toy is worth a million bucks, and how he got his own Porsche made into a Hot Wheels. Buy Dan’s book. Buy two, actually. Ted’s orders

Chapters

0:00 Ted admits to an abuse of power

0:44 Dan’s Hot Wheels...

Tom Hardin didn’t wake up planning to commit a crime. In this story, the ex–insider trader and future FBI informant walks through the day he was handed insider information, expected to make money fast, and trapped inside what investigators call the ‘fraud triangle.’ He reveals how pressure, opportunity, and rationalization all collided—and why it felt normal in the moment. This is the part of white-collar crime most people never see.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bruce Campbell’s advice for aspiring indie filmmakers is refreshingly simple. Writing is the cheap part, so quit complaining and get to it. Tired of watching the same five guys land the roles he wanted, the Evil Dead legend wrote one for himself. The result is Ernie & Emma, a sweet, funny film with zero chainsaws that might just make you cry five times. 

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:38 Ernie & Emma is the real Bruce Campbell

2:51 What it’s like when your wife is your boss

3:16 What going fully independent unlocks

5:36 Why C...

How did Lucy Guo become the world's youngest self-made female billionaire? The tech founder breaks down her 5:45 AM routine, double Barry's workouts, and the investor pitch strategy that raised a massive Series A.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Max Amini is a very funny guy. He's sold out Madison Square Garden and is one of the most-viewed comedians on social media. But when he started out in stand-up, no agent or manager wanted to sign him, so he built his own touring machine from scratch. In this episode, he tells Dan how he thinks about comedy, and how he built the team that takes him around the world and sells out theaters.

Chapters

0:00 Intro

1:03 Max's childhood and his dad's funny bone

2:45 Choosing UCLA over auditioning in New York

Got a pressing business problem you'd love to hash out with your peers? Looking to meet and network with other founders? Does spending the afternoon with Gary Vaynerchuk, Megan Thee Stallion, and Robert Irvine sound like a good time? Then sign up for Entrepreneur's latest event, Overcoming Impossible! Live in New York on October 23, this event will help you solve your impossible problem and make new connections along the way. Sign up at https://entm.ag/levelup2026 and use code SUCCESS at checkout to get 30% off.

(00:00) An emergency snack: introducing Overcoming Impossible

(00:55) Jason Feifer joins...

Today's guest needs no introduction, but we're going to give him one anyway. Maury Povich, the legendary host of Maury and now host of the podcast On Par with Maury Povich, sits down with Dan to talk about how he got that unmistakable voice (spoiler: it's not vocal lessons), what Jerry Springer really thought of his show, and why he never wanted to know who the father was until you did. 

Chapters:

0:00 Jerry Springer's greatest compliment

0:27 Welcome to the one-name club

1:36 Are Poviches built to never stop?

2:29 Starting at 16 a...

Bill Gurley doesn’t just invest in unicorns—he helps create them. In this clip, legendary Silicon Valley VC Bill Gurley shares candid advice with college students on how to think about careers, risk, and opportunity long before you launch your own startup.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeneva Rose is back on the show, and this time she brought horror. Her new collection, Sometimes I Scare Myself, trades the believability rules of thrillers for haunted houses, curses and the scariest question of all: who do you become when things go wrong? Jeneva talks about writing it just nine weeks postpartum, running her author career like a 9-to-5, and how social media helped authors break a publishing rule. Dan, meanwhile, promises her parenting gets easier (it doesn't) and discovers in real time that his research on her movie deal is a few years out of date.

Dan hits the road and takes listeners on a trip to NYC's premier recording space, Embassy Studios, to sit down with the CEO and owner,
Frank Babar, an absolute legend in the music recording business. Frank shares the big swings and microscopic details that have powered his success. From trusting your instincts and adapting when the path takes a sharp turn, to treating people well and protecting the value of every asset. He and Dan dig into how to spot opportunity before everyone else does and why artists (and entrepreneurs) need to build real income-producing work instead of...

As AI reshapes industries and accelerates innovation, how can companies grow responsibly at scale? In this episode of How Success Happens, Amazon’s Kara Hurst shares lessons from the front lines of building for a future where technological advancement and sustainability go hand in hand. She breaks down the strategies, investments, and innovations helping Amazon scale solutions while continuing to grow - and offers practical advice for entrepreneurs to turn sustainability into a competitive advantage.

To learn more about Amazon's sustainability progress, visit sustainability.aboutamazon.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me...

Cole Brauer spent 130 days completely alone at sea to become the first American woman to sail solo, nonstop, and unassisted around the globe, setting a new speed record in the process. It was not always smooth sailing. Cole joins Dan to talk about the wave that sent her flying across the deck, the two weeks of "solitary confinement”, why her mom told her to suck it up, and what it's like being the only woman in a fleet of 16. Her new memoir, First Light, is out September 15th.

130 DAYS. ALONE.

Timestamps

...

Jeff Byers went from pro-footballer to the co-founder & CEO of Momentous, one of the fastest-rising names in performance supplements. Jeff sat down with Dan to talk about building a brand rooted in elite sports and military trust, the multi-year courtship it took to land Arnold Schwarzenegger as a partner, and the company’s newest launch, Fiber+, a three-in-one fiber formula built to close a surprisingly common gut-health gap. Expect hard-won lessons on leadership, patience, and building a business built to help people thrive.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An independent motel never really closes. From booking systems and guest Wi-Fi, to front-desk transactions and security, it all has to run every hour the doors are open, and for owner John Hildebrand, that means creating a great guest experience means getting countless details right behind the scenes. In this episode, John shares what it takes to run an always-on business and the lessons he’s learned from being involved in every part of the operation.

This episode of How Success Happens is presented by AT&T Business. To learn how they can help support your business as...

Dan sits down with Veronica del Rosario — co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Smalls, the fresh cat food company disrupting an industry that's long treated cats as an afterthought. Veronica dives into launching the brand with her best friend, Matt Michaelson, scaling a fully remote, four-day-workweek culture, why "high self-awareness, low ego" is the top hiring trait at Smalls, and how the brand's fierce "cat-first, cat-only" philosophy sets it apart from competitors. Plus, listen in for a truly shocking reveal about Dan's past! (Okay, it's not that shocking, but it is fun.)

Learn more about your...

In this episode of How Success Happens, Dan Bova chats with Christine Ha, the MasterChef-winning chef and owner of The Blind Goat and Stuffed Belly in Houston. Christine shares how she built a scalable, tech-enabled restaurant network, the systems that let her run multiple concepts, and how accessibility as a blind chef shapes every business decision she makes.

This episode of How Success Happens is presented by AT&T Business. To learn how they can help support your business as it grows, visit att.com/smallbusiness.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Real estate rock star Aaron Kirman has sold just north of $24 billion over his career, including The One in Bel Air. With a $295 million price tag, it is America's largest and most extravagant mega-mansion. Host Dan Bova sits down with the Founder and CEO of Christie's International Real Estate Southern California for a wildly candid conversation about building an empire in the world's most cutthroat luxury market. Aaron opens up about starting in the business at 17 with no Rolodex and no money, the "chronic unhappiness" that keeps driving him, and the deeply personal insecurities — learning disabilities, a speech impediment, hi...

Jeff Arcuri built a career by turning high-wire crowd work into an art form — and on this episode of How Success Happens, host Dan Bova gets him to reveal how it's done. Jeff, whose Netflix special "Nice To Meet You" showcases his uncanny ability to riff with strangers, breaks down the prep behind the spontaneity and his "$@#! sandwich" joke structure. He opens up about years of grinding, living in basement apartments and taking cruise ship gigs before landing his Netflix deal, plus how his wife Katie's health journey shaped his most personal special yet.

Learn mo...

Dan Bova chats with David Wolfe, co-founder and CEO of Tiami, for a snack-sized episode that proves a great night’s sleep can be seriously good business. Wolfe is out to end the luxury-mattress “Which one should I buy?” spiral with Tiami’s one meticulously designed model, now available through Design Within Reach. But he’s no stranger to building sleep brands: alongside longtime partner Jamie Diamonstein, he co-founded Leesa Sleep, which hit $100 million in sales in just three years. He was also Whalar’s first investor before the creator and social agency’s major acquisition by Accenture Song. David shares h...

Comedian Des Bishop joins host Dan Bova on How Success Happens for a
wild ride across three continents and three distinct comedy careers.
Born in Queens, shipped off to boarding school in Ireland at 14, and
eventually immersed in Beijing's fledgling stand-up scene, Des shares
how he built massive followings in Ireland, China, and now the U.S. —
starting from zero, again and again. He opens up about his
groundbreaking Irish TV series working minimum-wage jobs, learning
Mandarin well enough to headline in China, and finally cracking the
U.S. comedy scene. Pl...

This week Dan sits down with Jeff Grass, co-founder and CEO of Hungry, the B2B platform reinventing corporate catering, office pantries, and workplace food culture. Jeff shares the "dumb luck" story of landing A-list investor Usher, and breaks down the nine core values that has guided his company to $100 million in revenue — helping the businesses of independent chefs in the process. If you have an appetite for success, it's time to dig in.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kai Moreto didn't set out to build a cookie business. He set out to build a fitness career. But when Elite Dough took off, he found himself running a nationwide brand from wherever he happened to be: processing online orders, managing social commerce, and keeping the operation moving without a fixed office or a traditional back-of-house. In this episode, Kai talks about what it really means to run a modern business on the go, and how tools and routines help keep everything moving.

This episode of How Success Happens is presented by AT&T Business. To learn...

This week Dan chats with Mike Kirban, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Vita Coco. Mike shares the brand’s original goals (to fund some really awesome parties) and how it grew to capture a massive share of the $1.2 billion coconut water category — not to mention Madonna’s attention. Mike is a big advocate for working hard, jumping on lucky opportunities and taking advantage of the mental and physical benefits of a daily power nap. You will not want to hit the snooze bar on this episode.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

This week Dan chats with Mike Kirban, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Vita Coco. Mike shares the brand’s original goals (to fund some really awesome parties) and how it grew to capture a massive share of the $1.2 billion coconut water category — not to mention Madonna’s attention. Mike is a big advocate for working hard, jumping on lucky opportunities and taking advantage of the mental and physical benefits of a daily power nap. You will not want to hit the snooze bar on this episode.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

When the dining room is packed and tickets are flying, there's no pausebutton. John Brandt Lee, chef-owner of Bar Avalon, knows that better than most. He's managing that pressure across not one but two locations simultaneously. In this episode, John breaks down what it really takes to engineer consistency at the highest-stakes moments in hospitality, and why getting it right isn't just good business, it's the whole point.

This episode of How Success Happens is presented by AT&T Business. To learn how they can help support your business as it grows, visit https://entm.ag/ATTSMB...

What happens when elite-athlete recovery meets startup hustle? At Entrepreneur and Athletes First’s Summit in Park City, host Dan Bova sits down with Rob Insinger, co-founder and chief revenue officer of Ammortal, to unpack the company’s futuristic wellness Chamber and the wild experience it delivers. Rob explains how Ammortal combines red/near-infrared light, pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF), molecular hydrogen, vibroacoustic sound, and breathwork into what he calls the “ultimate human recharging station.”

Dan and Rob dive into how the company bootstrapped its growth through grassroots demos, athlete adoption, and word-of-mouth, and how the wellness and longevit...

Dan sits down with Carissa Broadbent, the #1 New York Times and USA
Today bestselling author behind the wildly popular "Crowns of Nyaxia"
series, to talk about her new book, *The Lion and the Deathless Dark*.
Carissa shares how she went from marketing to indie publishing, why
romantasy is having such a huge moment, and the real-world habits that
helped her finally finish books instead of obsessing over chapter one
forever. She gets candid about productivity, burnout, and writing
while eight months pregnant. Expect smart tips and tons of inspo for
creators...

Dan Bova sits down with Shawn O’Brien, Chief Operating Officer of Go Rentals, at The Summit event in Park City, Utah, for a fast-paced masterclass in turning a miserable car rental into a jaw-dropping luxury experience. You’ll hear how Go Rentals guarantees the exact make, model and even license plate of your car, tracks private flights in real time, and greets guests with pre-cooled vehicles, favorite drinks in the cup holder, and five-star-hotel-level hospitality.

Shawn shares his career journey from Bain & Company partner to scaling Go Rentals nationwide, adding locations at a blistering pace while obse...

Dan Bova sits down with wildlife biologist, TV host, and "Shark Week" star Forrest Galante for a wild, squid-slime-soaked conversation about turning extreme animal adventures into a mission-driven media empire. Forrest shares how he went from ant researcher to building Phantasticus Pictures, now one of the largest wildlife production companies in the world. He opens up about his globe-trotting work—from India’s massive Vantara wildlife rescue center to remote corners of Africa and the Sea of Cortez—and how he uses TV, YouTube, books, and, of course, Shark Week to get millions of people to fall in love with con...

Dan chats it up with Ronnen Harary, co-founder of global toy and entertainment company Spin Master and author of the new book, No Experience Necessary: Why Betting on Yourself in Your Twenties Is the Best Decision You’ll Ever Make. Harary shares how growing up with dysgraphia and financial instability pushed him toward entrepreneurship and ultimately led to building mega-hits like Air Hogs, Bakugan and Paw Patrol. And he also dives into conquering AI angst, embracing failure as “learning luck,” and trusting your internal compass.  Oh, and also why you should avoid bringing bananas to business meetings.

<...

Dan sits down with Lo Bosworth, former star of MTV’s "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills," who is now the founder and CEO of Love Wellness, a women’s health brand she launched in 2016 that sells millions of products across major retailers like Target, Walmart, Ulta, CVS and Amazon. Lo shares how a frustrating 18‑month search for answers about her own depression, anxiety, and women’s health issues led her to discover the “care gap” that inspired Love Wellness. Lo also opens up about life as a first-time mom, why she launched her brutally candid podcast “Tell Me I’m a Good Mom” ju...

This live episode of How Success Happens was recorded at The Summit, a three-day event created by Entrepreneur and Athletes First that brought together elite NFL athletes and top minds in business to connect and collaborate. Host Dan Bova sits down with Gregory A. Holifield, PhD, founder and CEO of Red Queen Logic, to talk about his mind-blowing vision for truly personal, private AI that runs on hardware that you own—not in some distant data center. In this high-energy conversation, Gregory explains how Red Queen lets entrepreneurs harness teams of AI agents to curate their news, run a vi...

This special episode of How Success Happens was recorded live at The Summit, a three-day event in Park City, Utah, created by Entrepreneur Media and premier NFL agency Athletes First. In this episode, you’ll hear perspectives on success from elite NFL athletes, including Drew Bledsoe, Kyle Rudolph, and Kyle Van Noy, alongside other top performers from the sports world. They are joined by founders and C-suite leaders from companies such as Red Queen Logic, Go Rentals, Ammortal, Function Health, a16z Cultural Leadership Fund, Yum! Brands, Kickstarter, Ticketmaster, and many more. Find out how they build and sustain hi...

As America marks its 250th birthday, we're revisiting highlights from conversations with America's storyteller, Ken Burns. Ken's legendary documentaries, including "The American Revolution," “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” and “Jazz,” have earned him piles of Emmys and Oscar nominations, and in this episode, we’re sharing powerful insights from an interview Dan did while Ken was promoting “The Vietnam War.” Ken discussed his creative process, the craft of storytelling, and his perspective on entrepreneurship in America. Happy Fourth, everyone!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan sits down with Jim Koch, the legendary founder of Samuel Adams and Boston Beer Company, for a conversation that’s equal parts business masterclass and barroom storytelling. Koch shares how he walked away from a cushy Boston Consulting Group career at 34 to bootstrap a scrappy brewery in a rough Boston neighborhood. They dive into his wild brewing experiments—from 60-proof Utopias to a Bloomingdale’s brown ale made with 40 pounds of beef heart. Koch also explains his Brewing the American Dream program, how he once saved fellow craft brewers during a hop shortage, and why he thinks AI will n...

This week, Dan sits down with "Competitive Success" author Arjan Singh for a fast, fun, snack-size masterclass on how to future‑proof your business with corporate war games. Arjan explains war gaming as a “dress rehearsal” for strategy, where teams role-play competitors, regulators, and customers to stress-test big moves before they go live. You’ll hear how his sessions predicted Apple TV, learn his nine-step Competitive Success framework, and dig into a pharma case where a preplanned FDA “disaster” scenario helped save a future $5 billion product.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bobby Moynihan, superstar SNL alum and the voice of Jedi Bob on LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, joins Dan to talk about his newest project. ⁠The Clean Plate Club⁠, a live improv show where in-person ticket holders can get a meal cooked on stage, and everyone else can join online starting August 12th.

Bobby also reads about Dan (the sheep, not the host) from his children’s book “⁠Not all Sheep are Boring⁠.” He reflects on what success really means, the highlights of his career, and how to command any stage, whether it’s a comedy club, a cartoon...