Meet Nerses Aposhian and Patrick Tanahan of The Founder Hour

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nerses Aposhian and Patrick Tanahan.

Nerses Aposhian (“Posh”) and Patrick Tanahan (“Pat”) met at USC in 2012 and have been best of friends ever since.

During and after college, both Pat and Posh often found themselves having incredibly meaningful conversations with founders and leaders of startups, companies, nonprofits and movements in Los Angeles and were inspired by their upbringing and stories. Being born and raised in L.A., they knew they had to share these stories with the world because of their belief that there’s truly something awesome brewing in the City of Angels, something special that you just can’t find anywhere else.

Pat and Posh started listening to podcasts during their long commutes to work as a therapeutic escape from hours of driving 5 mph (L.A. traffic SUCKS!). This led them to want to be a part of the podcast movement and make others’ drives (and days) a little more bearable. So it began. Pat and Posh bought a couple of mics, emailed friends of theirs who were founders, and embarked on the journey.

So far, they have sat down with about 30 founders across several sectors, including “Milkshake” singer, Kelis, social media influencer Teni Panosian, the founders of Tender Greens, Mendocino Farms, Barnana, Porto’s, Hautelook, Young & Reckless and many more.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Like any project or business, there are always challenges. Some small, some bigger. For the most part, we were able to gain significant interest from guests and listeners from the very beginning because we believe that the vision and mission of sharing stories of the humans who are behind the most recognized businesses and movements in the community are very clear and something that resonates with everyone who is looking to build something great.

The real challenge for us has been growing the podcast to reach the most listeners as possible and keeping every episode interesting and engaging while also thinking about the future of the show and where things go from here.

Both Pat and Posh don’t have a journalism background. Pat’s background has been in business and Posh’s background is law and consulting. We have personally seen our growth as podcasters and storytellers and make sure we learn each and every day by watching interviews, reading books, staying up-to-date with current events, topics, pop culture and news around the world. Being in tune with the world we live in has helped ask us better and more intuitive questions to really delve deep into the mind of the founders we sit down with.

The Founder Hour – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Founder Hour is a podcast show hosted by Pat & Posh, which dives into the minds of LA-based founders to share their stories and discuss relevant topics and current events. It’s also bigger than just that. It’s a platform aimed at fostering a community of folks in Los Angeles who want to spark ideas and movements, and make a difference in this city and beyond.

To date, we are most proud of our growth and how many people around LA, California, the United States and around the world are tuning in. We have listeners in almost 70 countries! We also love the willingness of these founders to take the time out of their day to sit down with us, share their journies and inspire people of all ages and backgrounds.

Although there are plenty of podcast shows, The Founder Hour is unique because of our niche — founders in Los Angeles.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Our definition of success is equal to the number of people we inspire by the stories that we share. At the end of the day, we are storytellers. In a world saturated by news and content, we believe the human story is the most powerful and that learning through the story is the best form of education.

Stories have been a part of our lives since we were born. Whether it was your parents reading you a bedtime story, learning the history of ancient civilizations in middle school, gossiping and telling stories with your friends or watching Snapchat and Instagram stories, “story” is a part of our everyday lives.

For our podcast specifically, the number of listeners, the engagement on social media and people texting and emailing us about a specific episode are our markers for success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thefounderhour.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thefounderhour
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thefounderhour
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/thefounderhour
• Other: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founder-hour/id1308141699?mt=2

Image Credit:
Mike Mora

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