Start Here

After selling his company, Neil Shah took a break and found his next startup while sitting by his woodstove. That moment led to Oru, a woodstove-monitoring system that embodies a beautiful lamp. The catch? Neil knew nothing about woodstoves. He turned to Reddit, learning from the community that would eventually become his first customers, with more than 1,700 people now on the waitlist. A software engineer turned hardware founder, Neil's story is a reminder that some of the best startups begin by solving a problem you experience yourself.

“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. Aside from building ADU’s for families around the country, RJ talks about his experience coming from a large family of entrepreneurs, his early ventures as a student at Middlebury College, and why WheelPad is choosing to grow in Vermont.

Michele Asch is the kind of leader who builds things… and then helps others do the same. As Chief People Officer at Twincraft Skincare, she's part of the team making Vermont a legitimate hub for skincare innovation, manufacturing premium products for over 150 brands across North America. Outside of Twincraft, Michele invests in startups by putting real capital behind Vermont founders who are building something that matters. This one's for anyone who believes Vermont is a place where innovation actually happens.

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. He’s taken a different path to get here, choosing to learn inside other businesses before building his own. From marketing and corporate sales to business development and a family business foundation, Kevin brings a wide-angle view to what it takes to grow something that lasts. No matter your industry or stage, this episode is a reminder to stay close to the work, trust the data, and keep building with an expert team.

Jason “J” Levinthal started making skis in his parents' garage at the age of 24. 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. With a background in brand marketing, J’s goal is to turn heads on the mountain and beyond, from brand partnerships to collaborations with musicians. He’s been through nearly every lesson that shapes a founder. Tune in, clip in, strap in. No matter how you ride, lock in.

Jason Wilbur is the founder of Wilbur, a luxury watch company. He joins the show to talk about what it really takes to break from the expected and build something entirely your own. After leading advanced design at Honda, Jason walked away to create what he calls “mechanized art”— a bold reimagining of luxury rooted in craftsmanship, rebellion, and individuality. Inspired by the counterculture of snowboarding and skateboarding, he shares a candid look at building a brand with edge, navigating the realities of high-cost hardware innovation, and embracing the “creative survival” mindset required to keep going. Don’t skip this one.