What is leadership and how do you develop the skills and abilities necessary to become a leader? “The first thing a person does to become a leader is recognize that there needs to be something done,” says Richard King, past President of Rotary International. “There needs to be a change organized or a growth perceived and achieved in a business or occupation or in the family or in an institution or a club or an organization.”

Noah Alper of Noah’s Bagels explains how he created his successful nationwide chain, how he overcame failure and the secret to building a successful company.

What legal factors cause a small business to fail? “The biggest factor I would say that causes a company to have problems is just not documenting,” say Roger Royse, founder of the Royse Law firm. Learn more of What Roger has to say and how you can protect your business.

What is the difference between economic development and economic growth? Listen as former California Commissioner for Economic Development, Henry Yin addresses the answers to these questions and the pros and cons of letting the private sector develop the economy by themselves.

What is corporate governance and what should startups be doing to use it to their advantage? “Actively manage the relationship with the board” says Dr. Douglas Park or Rimon Law Group. “Prepare for board meetings, not only in terms of what's going to go on in the board meeting but even before and after” Learn more from Dr. Park as he reviews how corporate governance can help or harm your company.

How do you protect your intellectual property and when should you file for a patent? Listen as Arlen Olsen reviews the importance of patent protection for inventors and entrepreneurs alike.

Doug Keyston maintains the family tradition of excellence in business. His Great grandfather founded one of the longest continuously operating businesses in San Francisco, his grandfather was the president of the Pacific Stock Exchange three times and now Doug helps the ultra high net worth as a private wealth client advisor at US Trust.

How Do You Build a Billion Dollar Company? Rob Ryan knows the answer. Ryan runs Entrepreneur America, a business boot camp where new and experienced entrepreneurs learn how to build and scale companies through a process known as the Sun Flower Matrix. The Sun Flower Matrix helps entrepreneurs focus on three areas: Core competencies (the flower), Product Markets (the petals), and Driving Force (stem). Through Entrepreneur America, Rob is involved in coaching Entrepreneurs as they build and scale their companies. Rob’s expertise has not only benefited several entrepreneurs, but also has allowed him to build his own company, Ascend Communications, which sold for $24.5 billion.

What do Venture Capitalists and Angels look for in companies? “The first is scale because it needs to get size or it won’t make any difference,” says Wally Hawley, cofounder of InterWest Partners. “The second is to make sure there's a sizable market that will permit that scale… but the next one is where I think people tend to fall down” Learn What Wally has to say on American Dreams.

Early on in their career, Steve and his wife decided to venture out into the realm of entrepreneurship. Listen as Steve shares his startup experience and how he defines success in life.

After being a full time mom for 25 years, Janet Perry jumped back into work and quickly was able to rise to the level of CEO. Learn as she shares how she rose to the top, gives leadership advice to seasoned professionals, and what she has to say to individuals starting out in their careers, on American Dreams.

How do you find the job of your dreams or make a career transition? Listen as Leni Miller recruiting expert and author of “Finding Right work”, speaks about key strategies for finding the job of your dreams.

What is the Sequester and who’s idea was it in the first place? Listen as Congressman Mike Conaway addresses questions regarding the 2013 spending cuts and as he spills the beans on a few things not caught by the mainstream media.

How do you attract talented employees to your startup and what are the most recent trends in Silicon Valley? Listen to Serial entrepreneur Monty Kersten as he share from his professional experience how entrepreneurs can strengthen their businesses on American Dreams.

Steve Collins, discusses how to successfully applying high tech structures and innovation to traditional and low tech industries. He bought a 34-year old company and applied modern strategies that helped rebrand the company to target higher profit margin clients. Innovation and keeping an eye on what’s working can propel a company to new heights and profits.

Listen to Steve Buster, recent President and CEO of Mechanics Bank share his experience of heading one of the largest regional banks in California, how he got there and why he preferred working in a regional vs. an international bank.

What is strategy and how does a company execute on it? “Strategy is really nothing more than leveraging exploiting or capitalizing on key resources to create competitive advantage,” says Justin Hyde, of the Hyde-Norton Group. Listen to Justin discuss performance management and how to build accountability into an organization on American Dreams.

Staring up a company has changed dramatically in the last five years. “Now you can rent your computers by the hour, you can do all the payroll, all the HR, everything, you can buy that by the hour. So the things that used to take a lot of money to get started, are available practically free,” say Venk Shukla, Chairman of Tie Angels. Listen to Venk as he shares his first startup experience, how the entrepreneur’s environment has changed today, and current trends in Silicon Valley’s financing of new ventures.

Third generation candy maker, Herman G Rowland, Sr made the Jelly Belly Candy Company what it is today. Listen as he shares his insights about the history of the company, how it became associated with President Ronald Reagan and their philosophy behind the creation of their flavors on American Dreams.

Listen to Author, Financial Planner and Money Coach, Megan Lathrop, discuss the psychology of money. Return on our investments is only half of the story. Did you know that most financial beliefs and habits form before we’re 6 years-old? Know your emotional and objective beliefs about money before you invest. Typically, it’s the informed and savvy investor that finds peace of mind.

“Why do we need to sell different types of cars? Why don’t we sell just one car” says Dennis Wolfe, an Insurance broker with nearly 40 years in the industry. Dennis explains that all insurance carriers are at risk of being eliminated through nationalized healthcare and how the future costs will affect you. Learn more on how the healthcare insurance industry is changing and what impacts to expect in the future on American Dreams.

What is a succession plan and how does it benefit business owners? “A good succession plan is going to help people preserve the value of the lifestyle that that they’ve spent a lifetime creating in their business,” says Cam Carlson, President of Carlson Hammond. Cam’s firm specializes in consulting for succession plans and exit strategies. Learn about key the components of a good succession plan and more, on American Dreams.

When Dick was 16 years old, his father had an accident that blinded and paralyzed him. Rather than allow the children to to be split up and raised by relatives, Dick’s father asked his son to take on the responsibility of providing for the family and coached him through the process of starting his own company. Within two years he was employing 18 individuals as well as 5 salesmen. Listen to key experiences that helped shape Dick’s life on American Dreams.

“When you come from nothing or not too much, you want to get somewhere,” says Joe Lacob, CEO and Governor of the Golden State Warriors. Prior to joining the Warriors ownership group, Joe had his hand in helping establish over 70 companies in a period of 25 years. Listen as he shares key components to his success such as his decision making process, management style and how his experience in Venture Capital influences his management of the NBA Warriors, and how he is currently turning the team around.

As we continue to dive deeper into a changing world, young entrepreneurs are bringing ideas to the table to solve tomorrow’s problems. Listen as Alan discusses Billy Evan’s business plan and how this young man is staying ahead of the trend.

What’s the most important step in the process of transitioning between industries as an entrepreneur? “I don’t think a restaurant business is different from a technology business in the aspect of what you want to be” says Ramesh Manian. Entrepreneurs have an idea, they have to believe in their idea and you have to want to change something.

Gautam Dutta practices business and election law and is able to add a unique value to his clients. Prior to opening his own practice he worked as an attorney for the SEC as well as other government agencies. Learn more of what Gautam has to say on American Dreams.

“As with most things in life, one bad thing can wipe out an awful lot of good things” says David Waitrovich, an International private Wealth Advisor with Merrill Lynch. Waitrovich explains how wealth can be preserved through steps such as having a financial plan, risk management, and keeping the a long term view in site. Learn more of what David has to say on American Dreams.