🎧 From Broadway to AI Strategy — Yuri Cataldo

Yuri Cataldo’s journey is proof that innovation favors the adaptable.

Trained at Juilliard and Yale Drama School, Yuri began his career designing for Broadway and film. When the 2008 financial crisis disrupted the arts, he pivoted — teaching, waiting tables, and launching a bottled water startup from rural Indiana.

Through storytelling-driven marketing and early digital testing, the brand landed in Whole Foods, earned international recognition, and gained national exposure before regulatory barriers forced its closure.

Rather than retreat, Yuri leaned into entrepreneurship education, ran a nearly $1M crowdfunding campaign, and ultimately joined Autodesk. Today, he operates inside Autodesk Research, analyzing AI competitors and helping teams distinguish real innovation from marketing noise.

This episode explores resilience, creativity, marketing ownership, and the legal realities founders often overlook.

🎧 Listen now — and discover more at lawwithmiller.com.