Dare to Disrupt
Dare to Disrupt Episode 52: Following Your Curiosity with Bobby Morgan
In this episode, host Ryan Newman talks with Bobby Morgan, founder and CEO of Prosperitas Enterprises. Its flagship system, Live Prosperous, trains and inspires individuals, teams, and organizations to build the resilience and emotional strength to thrive through life’s inevitable storms. He is also the founder and CEO of Talaria Media, a premium film, television, and digital media company operating out of Los Angeles and Nashville.
Morgan shares his journey from growing up on his family’s dairy farm to building companies focused on resilience, leadership, and storytelling.
The conversation explores his early fascination with electronics and how he worked alongside his father and grandfather to integrate technology into the dairy farming process. Morgan also reflects on battling cancer while a student at Penn State, an experience that shaped his perspective on perseverance and purpose.
Morgan discusses how his career led him to work with Navy SEALs and launch a startup whose first client was the White House, along with the lessons he learned operating in high-pressure environments. He also shares insights into founding and growing Talaria Media, his perspective on the current film industry landscape, and his work with the Invent Penn State Brand Academy to bring the Live Prosperous resilience training program to Penn State student-athletes.
Later in the episode, current Penn State student Aryan Vir joins the conversation. Aryan is studying cybersecurity analytics and operations in the College of IST. He is the founder of Crypton, a startup focused on building identity infrastructure for a password-less internet using device-based cryptographic authentication. This past spring, Aryan participated in the Bardusch Family IdeaMakers Challenge during Penn State Startup Week. Aryan and Bobby discuss what startups should spend less time doing, how AI will impact the film and TV industry, and advice for students looking to grow their startup and know when to pivot.
Episode Chapters
0:00 – 9:06 Growing up on a dairy farm, interest sparks in electronics and music
9:06 – 13:30 Battling cancer while at Penn State
13:30 – 17:48 Modernizing communications systems for Navy SEALs and Army Special Forces
17:48 – 21:42 Launching Morgan Franklin, a national security and business consulting startup
21:42 – 25:12 Inspiration behind leaving Morgan Franklin and pivoting businesses
25:12 – 32:04 A peek at some of Talaria Media’s upcoming film and TV projects
32:04 – 34:57 Live Prosperous’ work with The Penn State Brand Academy and Invent Penn State
34:57 – 36:13 Rapid Fire Round
36:13 – 51:38 Student Questions
36:13 – 38:08 Deciding which opportunities are worth pursuing
38:08 – 40:32 What startups should stop focusing their energy on
40:32 – 44:12 Encountering and overcoming challenges and failures
44:12 – 46:30 What would Bobby do if he had to start over from scratch
46:30 – 49:36 How AI will impact the film/media industry
49:36 – 50:45 How much curiosity is too much
The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.
