The Two Arenas

Episode 07: The Jersey Never Comes Off: Mitch Walker on Leading Jefferson Bank and Raising His Daughter

Mitch Walker is the CEO of Jefferson Bank, an 80-year-old family-owned community bank in San Antonio. After joining Jefferson as a credit analyst 18 years ago, Mitch worked his way through the organization to become just the fifth CEO in the bank’s history. In this episode of The Two Arenas, host Mat Kaliski sits down with Mitch for a conversation about what it takes to lead an organization while remaining present as a husband and father. Mitch shares how growing up in a tight-knit community near the Grand Canyon shaped his understanding of family, support, and belonging, and how he and his wife Stacy are trying to give their daughter Eleanor that same certainty that she is loved. They also get into the realities of stepping into the CEO seat: carrying the weight of final decisions, learning when to get out of the weeds, creating clarity for a team, building a culture where people are willing to challenge the CEO, and deliberately making time for long-term thinking. Mitch also reflects on the sacrifices Stacy has made to support their family and his career. He explains why successful entrepreneurs get comfortable making decisions with incomplete information, and how fatherhood has changed the way he leads.

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Episode 06: The Hardest Role Isn’t Founder or Father: Rishi Nigam of Franklin Junction

What does it take to build a successful company while being the father and husband your family needs? In this episode of The Two Arenas, host Mat Kaliski sits down with Rishi, founder and CEO of Franklin Junction, to explore the challenges of entrepreneurship, fatherhood, marriage, and building a business designed to last. After spending 20 years in corporate leadership, Rishi took the leap into entrepreneurship to help transform the restaurant industry. His company, Franklin Junction, enables restaurants to generate additional revenue by using their existing kitchens to fulfill delivery orders for other brands. But building a company while raising a young daughter has forced Rishi to rethink more than just his approach to business. Rishi shares how his father's immigrant journey shaped his entrepreneurial mindset, why becoming a parent exposed his struggles with patience, and how his wife's encouragement helped him navigate some of the darkest moments of building Franklin Junction. The conversation also explores why raising venture capital isn't necessarily a measure of success, how financial constraints can make companies stronger, and why successful founders must learn to embrace uncertainty and risk. In this episode, you'll discover: 00:00 – Introduction: Building Franklin Junction While Raising a Family 03:00 – How Fatherhood Exposed Rishi's Struggles With Patience 05:00 – Finding Balance, Patience, and Perspective Through Golf 06:30 – The Immigrant Family Story That Shaped His Entrepreneurial Mindset 09:00 – Learning to Bet on Yourself When Nobody Else Will 13:00 – The Meaningful Conversations That Connected Him With His Father 22:00 – Balancing Two Careers, a Toddler, and the Chaos of Family Life 24:30 – Why a Supportive Spouse Can Be More Valuable Than an Investor 37:00 – Finding Product-Market Fit Without Changing the Core Business 41:30 – Why Entrepreneurs Must Become Comfortable Taking Bigger Risks 43:00 – Why Raising Millions Doesn't Mean You've Built a Successful Company 45:00 – Finding the Right Investors and Questioning the Venture Capital Model 56:30 – Learning Humility and Letting Go of Immediate Results 63:00 – The Importance of Unconditional Love and Support From managing business setbacks to finding meaningful time with family, this conversation offers practical lessons for founders and executives trying to succeed in both arenas.

Episode 05: Chris Carpenter, Co-founder and CEO of Chart Squad

My guest today is Chris Carpenter, Co-founder and CEO of ChartSquad. ChartSquad is the industry leader in medical record retrieval, management, and portability. In this episode Chris and Mat talk about raising kids who won’t know the poverty he grew up in without raising them entitled, running a company with the wife who is also his chief legal officer, and what he’s most afraid his kids will say about their childhood when they’re grown. He’s honest about what it costs, at home and inside the marriage, to try to be excellent at both. Five things we get into: Why he walked away from a successful career and bet the family’s savings on disrupting the industry he helped build How he and Melanie survive being married, raising three kids, and bootstrapping the company together, and why he says it compounded the founder loneliness rather than easing it How he thinks about AI in the medical records industry Raising kids who won’t know the poverty he grew up in, without raising them entitled The self-reflection he says never stops, the running internal dialogue he uses to work out how to be a better father and husband Speaker: Chris Carpenter Company: ChartSquad

Episode 04: Dylan Robbins, Founder and CEO of Lucra

My guest today is Dylan Robbins, Founder and CEO of Lucra, a competitive loyalty platform. Lucra gives brands a white-label way to turn everyday competition into loyalty, so instead of collecting points nobody redeems, customers play for something and keep coming back. He's building Lucra while raising a one-year-old son in New York, and he closed a twenty million dollar Series B with a newborn at home. He's here for a conversation about what it takes to build and scale a company, staying present as a father when founder mode never fully turns off, and the way each arena keeps pulling on the other. Speaker: Dylan Robbins Company: Lucra

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Episode 03: Matthew Player, Founder and CEO of Zoneomics

My guest today is Matthew Player, Founder and CEO of Zoneomics, which is building the foundational layer of land use intelligence. Zoneomics makes complex zoning data usable, actionable, and accessible — helping real estate players make faster, smarter decisions. He's building Zoneomics while raising three young kids in South Florida, and he's here for a conversation about what it takes to build and scale a company from the ground up, the discipline of staying present as a father while chasing a big vision, and how he thinks about winning in both arenas at once. Speaker: Matthew Player Company: Zoneomics

Episode 02: Ari Evans, Founder and CEO of Maestro

My guest today is Ari Evans, CEO of Maestro, the white-label interactive video platform powering live experiences for the likes of ESPN, Fox Sports, and Epic Games. He's building Maestro while raising two young kids in LA, and he's here for a conversation about building one cap table and operating in both arenas.

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Episode 01: Daniel Meth, Co-founder and CEO of Ingest AI

My guest today is Daniel Meth, Co-founder and CEO of Ingest AI, a data management and analytics company powering the operations behind the likes of Union Square Hospitality Group, Wolfgang Puck, and Salt and Straw. He's building Ingest while raising three daughters in New Orleans, and he's here for a conversation about the real trade-offs and costs of operating in both arenas.

The Two Arenas Trailer

The Two Arenas is a podcast about founders and executives building great companies and being present dads. In every episode we explore fatherhood first and the business they've built second: the tensions, the decisions, and the unexpected ways each arena shapes the other. Hosted by Mat Kaliski, Partner at Acronym Venture Capital and a new dad to Jack. Episode 1 is with Daniel Meth, Co-founder and CEO of Ingest. Follow now so it finds you the moment it drops.