JULES WEINSTEIN - TASTY TRADE & BOOTSTRAPPING PRODUCER PAR EXCELLENCE - RETIRES
Jules Weinstein:
As many of you know, or quite possibly don't. Bootstrapping in America has ended.
I actually retired at the end of November in 2024, and I needed some time to adjust to this retirement thing before I wanted in put this into words.
I created and produced Bootstrapping in America in November of 2011. I always believed in the uniqueness of individuals which was the driving force that led me to create Bootstrapping in America, later to be called Bootstrapping with Dylan Ratigan. So we started an interview series mostly about entrepreneurs from true startups to established companies, and restauranteurs/chefs, and other people from the arts. Restaurants and chefs were the best because I always had them bring food. This was a nice perk - everybody knows we were and are some of the biggest foodies in the world.
We had 3 hosts and 2 co-hosts. Tom Sosnoff was the original host, then Kristi Ross, and of course Dylan Ratigan. I want to thank all of them for a job well done. Tony Battista was the co-host for a very long time. I want to thank him for always being there and doing whatever needed to be done. The other co-host, was myself, who was probably the worst co-host in the history of streaming services.
The best thing about producing the show was meeting all of the interesting and successful entrepreneurs, and all of the entrepreneurs who were just getting their feet wet. Watching people take an idea and seeing it grow was one of the most exciting things about my job.
We had over 2500 entrepreneurs on the show from all walks of life and backgrounds, and from all over the world. Some of the people that put us on the map early on were Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (before he held office), Tom Gonser, founder of Docusign (the first Unicorn we had on), and our pal, Howard Tullman, serial entrepreneur, who was our go to friend of the show (he was a guest more than 30 times, and always interesting). There is not enough room here to mention all of the guests who came on, but you all had a part in our success.
I also want to thank all of the PR Reps, and the co-working managers across the country who gave us referrals. You were all instrumental in helping us grow,
Many people don' t know this, but when Tom and I started Bootstrapping, I was living in LA, and I gave him the idea after I met actress, Mary Lynn Rajskub, who starred in 24 with Kiefer Sutherland. I thought it would be cool to break up all the finance/trading shows with an interview series that had nothing to do with trading. He wasn't thrilled about it, but they needed shows to fill time, so he said ok - the show ran for 14 years.
It was a great experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Thanks Tom.
