This special edition of Start Here features Jon McNeill — 6x entrepreneur, former President of Tesla, and author of The Algorithm.

After selling his company, Neil took a break and found his next startup while sitting by his woodstove. This is Oru.

“To be an entrepreneur, you have to be inherently lazy.” RJ Adler joins Start Here to give us the update on WheelPad, a manufacturer of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) based in Wilmington, Vermont.

As Chief People Officer, she’s making Vermont a hub for skincare innovation, manufacturing premium products for over 150 brands across North America.

If there’s an entrepreneur to watch right now, it’s Kevin Lesage. He’s the founder of SearchLight, an analytics platform bringing a clear, unbiased view to return on ad spend and showing contractors which leads actually turn into booked jobs.

After founding a company, seeing it acquired, and realizing he wasn’t built to sit still, he launched J Skis, a direct-to-skier brand creating hand-crafted, limited-edition skis.

After leading advanced design at Honda, Jason walked away to create what he calls “mechanized art”. He now makes supermachines.

Julie explains everything from working with the world’s biggest brands to strategies centered on youth culture, sports, and experiential marketing.

She’s steering VBSR into its next chapter by doubling down on in-person connection, pragmatic advocacy around housing, and more, building a stronger, more generous Vermont business ecosystem!

We sat down with our dear friend David Aronoff, managing partner at MCJ, one of the leading early-stage climate tech venture funds. David brings decades of venture experience, from building rocketship startups to investing at top firms like Greylock and Flybridge.

Sam is a hardware builder at his core, but has a rare talent for making it feel inviting to all. He’s built everything from brain scanners to burrito holders, and brings that same creativity to the meetups he hosts.

Managing partner at Impellent Ventures, Phil Beauregard focuses on uncovering the next unicorns in emerging regions, from overlooked cities to unexpected founders.