School of Hard Knocks Podcast

Mike Sherbakov is a Russian-born immigrant, Marine Corps veteran, entrepreneur, angel investor, and co-founder of The Veteran Fund. After building and selling companies, Mike moved into venture capital and now helps back veteran-led startups across defense, AI, space, energy, robotics, and critical technology.
In this episode, Mike breaks down his journey from poverty and military service to entrepreneurship, early-stage investing, 100X returns, and building a 130-company portfolio. He also shares what he looks for in founders, why resilience matters, and how veteran leadership is shaping the future of American innovation.

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John Imah is the founder of SpreeAI, a fashion technology company valued at $1.5 billion, and the youngest millionaire in School of Hard Knocks history after selling two tech companies before age 16.
In this episode, John shares his journey from growing up poor in an immigrant family to working at Samsung, Twitch, Meta, and Snapchat before returning to entrepreneurship.
He breaks down building AI for fashion, attracting elite talent, selling into major brands, overcoming bullying, losing his mother, and using faith, discipline, and execution to build a lasting company.
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Ronnen Harary is the co-founder of Spin Master, the global toy and entertainment company behind Paw Patrol, Bakugan, Air Hogs, Rubik’s Cube, and more. Starting with a handmade product called Earth Buddies, he helped build the company into a multi-billion-dollar business across toys, entertainment, and digital games.
In this episode, Ronnen breaks down the early Kmart deal, passing on Beyblade, building Bakugan, creating Paw Patrol, scaling globally, learning from failure, and why your 20s are the best decade to bet on yourself.

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Lynnwood Bibbens is the founder of ReachTV and an entrepreneur who has built billions of dollars in business across tech, media, retail, film finance, and distribution. In this episode, he breaks down how he went from selling knives in college to building major companies, creating new rights windows, and acquiring CNN Airport during the pandemic. Lynnwood shares his philosophy on serving customers, building real relationships, finding hidden value in ecosystems, and why distribution is more powerful than content alone.

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Peter Tuchman, known globally as the “Einstein of Wall Street,” is the longest-standing trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and one of the most recognizable figures in finance. After starting as a $47-a-week runner in 1985, he built a decades-long career through Black Monday, the internet bubble, the 2008 financial crisis, Covid, and today’s AI-driven market boom. In this episode, Peter shares lessons on market crashes, greed, disciplined investing, retail traders, wealth building, and what it really takes to survive on Wall Street.

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