Dean Lyulkin & William Stern: From Childhood Friends to a $10B Company

What does it look like when a business partnership starts in childhood and survives real pressure? In this episode of The Proven Entrepreneur Show , host Don Williams sits down with Dean Lyulkin and William Stern , co-founders of Cardiff, a privately held small business lender that has deployed more than $10 billion to Main Street businesses across the United States. Their story begins long before boardrooms and balance sheets. Dean arrived in America as a child refugee from Ukraine. William grew up alongside him in San Diego. They opened a joint bank account as teenagers, stayed friends through school and college, and eventually reunited to build a company that would weather the 2008 financial crisis, the collapse of traditional small business lending, and the economic shock of COVID. This conversation goes beyond numbers. Dean and William talk candidly about how partnerships actually work when opinions collide, why “strategic laziness” is really about delegation, and how leadership roles must evolve over time. They share lessons from scaling Cardiff with technology, navigating existential business crises, and keeping enough cash on hand when everything else feels uncertain. The episode also explores how their definition of success has changed over two decades. What started as ambition and growth has matured into something quieter and harder to protect: peace, freedom, and the ability to choose how and with whom they work. If you’re an entrepreneur, founder, or business owner thinking about partnerships, leadership, or building something that lasts, this episode offers lived experience rather than theory.

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Dean Lyulkin & William Stern: From Childhood Friends to a $10B Company is an episode from The Proven Entrepreneur by Don Williams.

This episode is 20:24 long.

This episode was published on Jan 1, 2026.

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