The First Customer

Updated: 19 Nov 2025 • 228 episodes
www.firstcustomerpodcast.com

Ever wondered how to use your experience to start or grow a business?  The First Customer intimately dissects successful entrepreneurs journeys to their first customer. Learn from practical real-life examples of regular people transforming into superheroes by starting their own business.  Buckle up … the rocket is taking off! 

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In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Andy Kochanowski, founder and CEO of Alerify, a data center based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Andy shares his journey from a 30-year career in corporate America, including service in the Navy, to taking the leap into entrepreneurship. He explains how Alerify serves a ni

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In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Sean Heberling, founder and CEO of Marion Street Capital. From buying up newspaper routes as a kid in Rochester, New York, to hiring friends and building a mini “paperboy empire,” Sean’s early ventures taught him how to scale, manage people, and spot opportunity. Those s

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In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Adam Holt, founder and CEO of Asset-Map. Adam talks about how his entrepreneurial drive took shape from his early years in New York to leading one of the most innovative platforms in financial visualization. Adam shares how his mother’s example as a self-made realtor inf

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In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Joshua Davidson, CEO and founder of Chop Dawg. Growing up just outside of Atlantic City during the Great Recession, Josh saw firsthand how fragile traditional industries could be. Watching friends’ families lose homes and his father work multiple jobs gave him a survival

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In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Rob Wenger, CEO and founder of Higher Logic. Rob shares how Higher Logic evolved from a LinkedIn-style networking idea into a powerful engagement platform serving over 3,000 clients worldwide. With a focus on professional communities—ranging from doctors and accountants

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In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Tim Haak, founder and Vice President of Innovation at Mile6.  Tim shares how growing up in a small-town family business shaped his entrepreneurial mindset, and how his curiosity for technology led him to build his first websites as a teenager—before he even had his drive

32 min
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