One of the best untold stories in Silicon Valley has been how Mark Zuckerberg and his talented team of associates, built Facebook from the successful started up depicted in the book – Accidental Billionaire – and its movie version – The Social Network, into the globally dominant corporation that Facebook is today, with more than 2 billion users.

That coming of age story, following Facebook from its IPO to becoming a $300 billion-plus powerhouse, is chronicled in Becoming Facebook, a riveting new book by this week’s guest, Mike Hoefflinger.

From 2008 to 2015, Mike worked in the upper-most echelons of Facebook, not only with Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, but with other legendary Facebook visionaries including: Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer, and People Vice President Lori Goler.

Becoming Facebook, Mike’s first book, does much more than give readers a seat at the table inside of Facebook.

Subtitled, The 10 Challenges That Defined the Company That’s Disrupting the World, the book takes a big step back to ask – and answer – the question: What it is that has made Facebook such a huge success – and what lessons can everyone in business draw from the Facebook formula.

Mike Hoefflinger now services as entrepreneur-in-residence at XSeed Capital, a Silicon Valley seed stage venture capital fund. His job now, in part, is to try and spot the next Facebook, and the ones after that.

Beyond sharing with host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart his Facebook experience, Mike reveals where he’s looking for the next big breakout company and technology. 

Photo: Mike Hoefflinger, Becoming Facebook
Posted: May 29, 2017
Monday Morning Run Time: 37 minutes 32 seconds 

This week's episode of Monday Morning Radio is ripped from this month's business headlines. It will be of special interest to listeners who own or operate online businesses.

Our guest is Tom Kemp, CEO and co-founder of Centrify, one of the fastest growing security vendors in the industry, serving more than 5,000 customers, including a majority of the Fortune 50.

Initially, our plan was to speak Tom about data breaches - such as those that hit Yahoo and Target. These much-publicized cyber attacks are becoming more frequent, more costly, and more widespread among all online businesses - big and small.

Then the WannaCry ransomware attack hit, impacting hundreds of thousands of the world’s computers in more than 150 countries. The malware forced some businesses to close while their IT people scrambled to find solutions.

So we expanded the scope of our interview with Tom Kemp to include data breaches and ransomware. - They are, after all, cyber attack first cousins.

Centrify recently commissioned an independent study, conducted by the Ponemon Institute, to gauge the impact of data breaches on companies and their customers. The study is unique in that it incorporates the view of three diverse groups: IT experts; senior level marketing and corporate communication professionals; and consumers.

What Centrify discovered are insights that every CEO and business owner should be aware of: Cyber attacks are never confined to your IT staff. They impact every aspect of your company, including sales, marketing, finances - and for publicly held companies - shareholder value.

Whether you work at  an Inc. 5000 company, a Fortune 50 company, or simply a business that does business with these companies, you need to know how to protect yourself from data breaches and other cyber attacks sure to make you - and your customers - wanna cry.

Lem Lewis, aka The Ranch Broker, steps to the mellifluous Monday Morning Radio microphone this week as guest host.

Lem, who in addition to his duties as a trusted advisor to ranch buyers and sellers, is a certified whiskey sommelier, having earned his credentials from The Whisk(e)y Marketing School – part of Wizard Academy.

For Lem's popular podcast, RANCHCAST with LEM LEWIS, he recently interviewed Dan Garrison proprietor of the award-winning Garrison Brothers Distillery. When Monday Morning Radio host Dean Rotbart heard Lem’s RANCHCAST interview with Dan, Dean told Lem, “I have to share Dan’s story with my Monday Morning Radio listeners.” Lem graciously consented.

Dan’s is a great business and whiskey story.

Headquartered on a ranch in tiny Hye, Texas, Garrison Brothers defied all the naysayers who warned Dan and his loyal crew that quality bourbon was strictly the province of distillers in Kentucky and Tennessee.

First distributed in 2011, Garrison Brothers bourbons have become so popular that like the best Texas barbecue, they regularly are sold out.

In fact, Dan’s bourbons have such a cult-like fan base that his wait list for volunteers to help him inspect, seal and box his spirits has grown to 9,000 names and counting. Dan’s secret: those volunteers who agree to spend two days helping out are rewarded with a shot of “courage” every half hour during the workday.

As you’ll hear, Dan Garrison is overflowing with big-as-Texas swagger and valuable entrepreneurial insights that you’ll want to drink in slowly.

But be forewarned: Dan’s language, like his prize-winning unfiltered and uncut Cowboy Bourbon, is occasionally 137 proof. If four-letter words offend you, you may wish to skip this week’s episode.

Photo: Dan Garrison, Garrison Brothers Distillery
Posted: May 15, 2017
Monday Morning Run Time: 33 minutes 39 seconds 

This week is exactly ten years since Mark Moore, a 46-year-old multi-millionaire tech entrepreneur, had back-to-back strokes that nearly killed him.

His recovery was arduous and life-changing. When he could walk again, Mark walked away from the business world and now dedicates all his talents and energies to helping other people rebound from some of life’s most debilitating challenges.

Mark is the author of a just-off-the-presses book titled, A Stroke of Faith: A Stroke Survivor’s Story of a Second Chance at Living a Life of Significance.

The book retells the uplifting story of Mark’s recovery and rebirth, and is an inspiration for anyone – not just stroke survivors – who are faced with what may seem like insurmountable obstacles.

Mark is interviewed on this week's program by host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart.

Photo: Mark Moore, A Stroke of Faith
Posted: May 8, 2017
Monday Morning Run Time: 33 minutes 55 seconds 

How do you take your coffee: cream, sugar, politics?

Like so many other retailers today, the coffee industry - led by giant Starbucks - has made buying a cup of java not just about taste, but also about where you stand on the hot-button issues of our day.

In late 2014, Evan Hafer, a former Green Beret who did tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, saw an opportunity to appeal to fellow military veterans and 2nd Amendment advocates by launching a coffee brand aimed at them: Black Rifle Coffee Company. 

Sure enough, the firearms specialist hit a bullseye. Salt Lake City-based Black Rifle Coffee has seen explosive sales growth and he has pledged to hire 10,000 veterans over the next six years to staff his rapidly expanding mail-order and franchise business. 

This week pistol-toting Hafer joins host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart to talk about coffee beans, veterans, guns, and earning profits in an increasingly politicized marketplace.

Photo: Evan Hafer, Black Rifle Coffee Company
Posted: May 1, 2017
Monday Morning Run Time: 38 minutes 50 seconds