In this episode of Ventures, my guest Moshe Engelberg (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosheengelberg/) and I discuss his book The Amare Wave: Uplifting Business by Putting Love to Work. From an entrepreneurial lens, we cover topics including loving customers, helping customers love your business, example case studies from a new founder perspective, and the existential purpose of every for-profit and nonprofit organization on the planet.

You can watch this episode below or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts (search for “Ventures”).

In this episode we cover the following:

1:59 - Background and tee-up. New type of cultural revolution and unconscious bias.

3:01 - Moshe’s background and story, his career, and leading into the story of writing his book (The Aware Wave).

8:29 - Dichotomies and holding things in tension. Some information about Prota Ventures.

9:49 - What did Moshe choose the structure of the book the way he did?

16:42 - For founders building new businesses, how should they read this book? What are principles worth highlighting for new startups?

21:26 - The importance of talking about the heart, mental health, and the “why” behind starting a business. The existential purpose of every business is something “social”.

23:22 - Business as foremost a social enterprise, then an economic enterprise.

24:09 - What do you do if you are in a business that hates their customers and uses war-like imagery everywhere?

25:45 - Love defined as “energy that uplifts and connects”. Do you love your customers? Do they love you back?

28:31 - What kinds of ways can companies track and encourage customers to love them?  (Trader Joe's example)

32:06 - Paradoxical example: Amazon. They want to be customer-centric, but have trouble loving their employees.

33:47 - Why did Moshe decide on the definition of love as “energy that uplifts and connects”?

36:41 - Is there a time for war? How does Moshe address those times when taking up arms, literally or figuratively, is needed.

42:20 - Hypothetical case study. Example business that sells child education software to parents. (MVP vs. “maximum value product”)

46:05 - Authenticity, Belonging, and Collaboration - the ABC of the Amare Wave

48:28 - Community Management. Part of the Amare Wave. If you are hired as a community manager in a neutral company, how do you create an Amare Wave there?

53:00 - The difficult nature of doing “all the things” in startups, and praise for Moshe’s advice in this podcast.

54:13 - What ideas/projects is Moshe working on next?

59:01 - Where can people find and buy the book? How can people continue the conversations with moshe? https://www.amazon.com/Amare-Wave-Uplifting-Business-Putting-ebook/dp/B0873ZFK2P // moshe@mosheengelberg.com