One of the most time-consuming and frustrating challenges faced by businesses are meetings, and especially board meetings. From chasing down reports to dealing with last-minute changes and version control issues, the process can quickly become a logistical nightmare. And what a headache (and waste of time) it is reading a slide show on your phone and then seeing the same presentation in the meeting! But what if there was a way to streamline this process, eliminate chaos, and save hours of valuable time?

In this episode of The Business Behind Your Business, host Paul Sweeney speaks with Robert Wolfe, serial entrepreneur and founder of Zeck, a company revolutionizing the way board meetings are conducted. Robert shares insights from his experience founding and growing companies like Moosejaw and CrowdRise, both of which were successfully acquired. He discusses the challenges of traditional board meetings—often time-consuming, stressful, and inefficient—and how Zeck reimagines the process to be more engaging and productive.

Robert highlights the importance of strategic decision-making, effective communication between leadership teams and boards, and why investing in better systems early on is crucial for business success. He also shares how Hollywood actor and business partner Edward Norton became deeply involved with Zeck, contributing to its mission.

Whether you run a small business, a non-profit, or a start-up, this episode offers valuable takeaways on improving decision-making, streamlining meetings, and embracing modern solutions for long-term success.

Robert Wolfe is the founder and former CEO of Moosejaw and CrowdRise. More recently, Robert started Zeck. Zeck is entirely reimagining the miserable board meeting process.  

Robert started Moosejaw in a tiny shop when he had really big hair. Moosejaw’s aim was to make retail and e-commerce fun and engaging and they also pressed their own Moosejaw brand, which became pretty cultish, in a good way. Despite being incredibly foolish, Moosejaw was acquired by Walmart. No one can believe it but it’s true.

Robert wanted to make sure he had some sort of decent impact, so along with his smarter brother, Jeffrey, and actor and philanthropist, Edward Norton, he launched CrowdRise. CrowdRise focused on making giving back notable, cool and social. CrowdRise eventually became the largest fundraising platform four non-profits in the US and was acquired by GoFundMe.

After spending time as an operator running board meetings and, on the other side of the table, as a board member, Robert launched Zeck to change the process entirely. Zeck transforms the dynamic between the leadership team and the board, making board meetings strategic and forward thinking. Never again will you get into a board meeting to have a deck that you already read, read back to you. Such a waste of time. 

Robert has no interests or hobbies and is a terrible sleeper. He has been an advisor to several companies and is faster than Usain Bolt at replying to any message. But, publicly Robert only boasts about his Honorable Mention for ‘Best Breakdancer Using an Old School Cardboard Mat’. Also, ‘for’ is spelled incorrectly above on purpose. 

Website: www.zeck.app