upside

Subscribe to Chicago Capital Podcast
Follow Matt Castellini on Twitter
Learn more about Starting Line
Follow Ezra Galston on Twitter
Follow upside on Twitter
Join the upside network

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by En Blazes.

En Blazes is an Operations Strategy Agency that prepares your org for scale.

They’re offering a free guide to growing your team from experts in hiring, off-shoring, and diversity. You'll also receive a mini-course on valuing your business for sale.

Visit scale.enblazes.com to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by GoingVC.

The good folks over at GoingVC, which was cofounded by our friend and past guest, John Gannon, have published a BUNCH of papers, guides, models, and all this amazing content to help people learn about VC trends and prepare for interviews - there's even stuff on how to get started as an Angel or early-stage investor.

Subscribing is a steal at less-than $200 PER YEAR. So sign up TODAY if you want to start your venture capital career TOMORROW - and be sure to use the discount code UPSIDEFM for 20% off your first year.

Visit goingvc.com/research to learn more.

[Chicago Capital] Ezra Galston of Starting Line on Resiliency, Starting Line Fund II, & the State of Chicago Tech

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 03:00:00 -0400

This week on the feed we're featuring the Chicago Capital Podcast.

Chicago Capital is hosted by Matt Castellini and explores the Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial ecosystem in Chicago.

Matt is currently getting his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business while working in early stage VC.

He grew up in the Chicagoland area and attended Notre Dame for undergrad. He became obessesed with podcasts and podcasting after college. He finally decided to start one when I saw an opportunity to spotlight a city that I felt was not receiving the national recognition it deserved.

Matt is also the author of Venture Scenes, where I blog about Startups, Venture Capital, and Movies.

Ezra Galston is the Founding Partner at Starting Line, a Chicago-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in leading consumer products and brands.

In this episode, they cover:

Fundraising Resiliency
Starting Line Fund II
Building to Conviction
Post-Investment Value-Add
The Challenges of the VC Feedback Loop
State of Chicago Tech

[Middle Tech] Symba: Evan Knowles on Building the Only Mobile-First CRM for the Real Estate Industry

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 03:00:00 -0400

This week on the feed we're featuring the Middle Tech Podcast.

Middle Tech was created to advance the business ecosystem in this region by providing news, entertainment, and educational content related to startups, entrepreneurship, and technology.

Evan Knowles is the co-founder and CEO of Symba, the real estate industry's only mobile-first CRM. Evan and his experienced co-founders are bringing a fresh perspective and modern software to the real estate industry which is notorious for being slow to adopt new technology. We discussed Evan's journey to becoming a startup founder, how he got his early start in real estate, his approach to building a rockstar team, and Symba's unique marketing approach.

Subscribe to Middle Tech
Learn more about Symba
Follow upside on Twitter
Join the upside network

[Fast Frontiers] Scott Dorsey, co-founder and managing partner at High Alpha and former CEO of ExactTarget

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 03:00:00 -0400

This week on the feed we're featuring the Fast Frontiers Podcast by Refinery Ventures.

Refinery Ventures is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They bridge the gap and mentor teams between post-seed and Series A funding where they invest $1M to $2M.

Tim Schigal is the Managing Partner at Refinery Ventures, and the host of Fast Frontiers. Tim created ShareThis, a social media pioneer that nearly a billion people use to share online content every month. ShareThis, based in Palo Alto, CA, was one of the fastest growing companies in the country, growing to $50 million in less than four years which earned him the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in his region. Tim also launched and managed Cintrifuse, one of the best performing fund of funds in the country, investing in 15 top-tier early stage funds across the U.S. Tim has been in venture capital since 1998.

In this episode from December 8, 2020, Tim interviews Scott Dorsey, co-founder and managing partner at High Alpha, a venture studio in Indianapolis. Scott is the former CEO and co-founder of ExactTarget, which was acquired by Salesforce in 2013 for more than $2.5 billion dollars.

A couple of powerhouses in this episode! You can learn more about Refinery Ventures at refinery.com. OK, enjoy this episode of Fast Frontiers, right after this.

Subscribe to Fast Frontiers
Learn more about Refinery Ventures
Learn more about High Alpha
Follow upside on Twitter
Join the upside network

[614 Startups] Sam Baddoo of Fleri

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 03:00:00 -0400

On this episode, Elio interviews Sam Baddoo, Founder of Fleri. Fleri helps immigrants protect the people who matter most back home with health insurance. Every year immigrants in the Diaspora send billions of dollars to Africa oftentimes to pay for healthcare. Without direct insight into how the funds are being spent and whether adequate treatment is being provided, immigrants are left to worry about whether the money they are sending will contribute to their loved ones wellbeing.

Fleri is changing that by allowing immigrants to purchase health insurance for the loved ones creating a win-win-win-win situation for the policyholder, patient, doctors and insurance companies. First, the policyholder knows that they are providing access to high-quality healthcare for their loved one and they can see what treatments have been received. Next, the patient has access to vetted physicians and receives care in clinically sound facilities. The doctors are able to treat patients with the ability to pay thereby providing capital for infrastructure investment and finally, insurance companies have the premiums to build robust networks and offer more affordable plan options.

Fleri is building a commercial solution to what has been an intractable problem in the developing world by creating a robust healthcare insurance ecosystem with incentives for all stakeholders.

Subscribe to 614 Startups
Follow upside on Twitter
Join the upside network

[Think Like An Owner] Badge Stone – Earning His Badge and Making His Mark in Search Fund Investments

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 03:00:00 -0400

This week's feed drop features Alex Bridgeman and his podcast, Think Like An Owner.

Alex's guest is Badge Stone. Badge started his search journey with Stone Pump & Trench that was on the verge of bankruptcy when he acquired it. After turning it around, he acquired another company called Perimeter Security. He sold both and made investing in searchers his full-time role through his firm, WSC & Company, alongside two other partners. Badge has invested in over a hundred searchers and has extensive experience as both an investor and operator.

WSC’s seven-person team is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and is investing and of its second fund, a $100 million fund closed earlier this year focused on the traditional search fund model.

During our discussion, we talk about turning Stone Pump & Trench around, lessons learned from over a hundred search fund investments, a few notable companies, he’s been a part of, what’s typically missing in a new company, and a wide range of discussion on board construction and usage for entrepreneurs and investors alike. This episode is fantastic and I learned a ton and I think you will too.

You can subscribe to Think Like An Owner on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn.

Follow Alex Bridgeman on Twitter
Follow upside on Twitter
Join the upside network

What’s coming next for the team at upside [JE021]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 03:00:00 -0400

This week, we’re sharing a quick update about what’s coming up for the feed for the rest of the year.

Due to some competing life priorities, we need to take a short break from recording new interviews. But our feed isn’t going dark – each week, if we don’t share one of our own interviews, we’ll be hosting a feed drop of other great shows in the startup and investment space.

And along the way, we’ll be jumping in to share how we’re continuing to build the upside network behind the scenes.

Learn more about the upside network

Learn more about Foodnerd

Foodnerd // making nutrient-dense superfoods more accessible through the process of sprouting [UP093]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins 8:35
Debrief Begins 42:37

Sharon Cryan is the founder and CEO of Foodnerd.

Foodnerd specializes in 100% plant-based superfood products that are designed to increase the world's understanding or accessibility of truly nutrient-dense foods.

They use raw, sprouted, organic ingredients that are GMO-free and never pressurized or treated with chemicals or preservatives, allowing them to maintain up to 98% of nutrients.

We discuss:

UBE Attorney 9:31
Japan Healthcare 14:07
Law School to Foodnerd 18:05
Sprouted Foods 23:11
Foodnerd 28:18
Lab Experience 30:33
Foodnerd Funding 38:56

Foodnerd was founded in 2017 and based in Buffalo, New York.

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This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

Managing wealth with an eye toward the future demands vigilance and skill in today’s global economy. Over the years, Ethos Wealth Management has worked with clients and their other professional advisors – including attorneys and accountants – to create comprehensive wealth management plans designed to make the best use of their wealth today and help ensure its endurance for future generations.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

This episode is sponsored by SnapShooter.

Over 40 percent of businesses will suffer a data loss at some point in their history. That’s the type of event that could destroy your business.

SnapShooter is a software as a service that’s built for backups.

SnapShooter has processed over 145 petabytes That’s a staggering amount of data.

New users can setup 1 free backup job with no credit card required. Go and check out their integrations with AWS, DigitalOcean, WordPress, Laravel, CraftCMS and many more.

Use code upside for 10 percent off your first year of SnapShooter. Learn more at upside.fm/snapshooter.

Sam German of SPMB // recruiting upper management and board members to startups across the country [CC082]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins 5:05
Debrief Begins 25:39

Samantha (Sam) German is a Client Partner in SPMB’s Emerging Markets Practice.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They work with companies specializing in:

Technology
Consumer
Media
Finance
Health
Sustainability
...and more

They bring the knowledge of a large, global firm and combine it with the personalized service and attention of a boutique.

SPMB has been doing this for a long time. And they are bringing their Silicon Valley success and heritage all across the country.

They have a dedicated team focused on serving clients in the Mountain West and Midwest emerging tech markets. They have successfully relocated dozens of top-tier candidates from the East and West Coasts to the Central US and Canada – including Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Bozeman, Phoenix, Edmonton, Toronto, Denver, Boulder, Austin, Salt Lake City, and beyond.

We discuss:

Executive Recruiting During Pandemic 6:19
Proximity Matters 8:49
DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) 13:28
Compensation Factor 16:50
National Companies on Remote Hiring 21:38

Learn more about SPMB

Get in touch with Sam

Learn more about Firebrand

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

[REWIND] Firebrand Ventures // Closing a new $40M for the merged fund [RE007]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 03:00:00 -0400

John Fein and Chris Marks are the managing partners of Firebrand Ventures.

John started Firebrand Ventures in 2016, and we interviewed him in 2018.

Prior to founding Firebrand, John served as Managing Director for Techstars, a leading startup accelerator with over 40 programs around the world. While at Techstars he ran three accelerator programs in Kansas City and invested in 30 startups. Companies that have gone through Techstars programs have raised a total of over $9 billion in funding and have a collective market cap of over $25 billion.

Prior to Firebrand, Chris was the Founder and Managing Partner of Blue Note Ventures, an early-stage venture fund investing in great technology companies and serving entrepreneurs committed to authentic leadership.

After co-investing in several companies together out of their respective funds, it became obvious that Chris and John not only shared a similar investment strategy, but also an underlying set of values around how they partnered with entrepreneurs. In late 2019 they decided to join forces and merged Firebrand and Blue Note.

Learn more about Republic

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

Republic // helping anyone invest in private companies [CC081]

Jay Clouse & Erin Hornung — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins 8:02

Debrief 50:00

Kendrick (Ken) Nguyen is the co-founder and CEO of Republic.

Republic empowers everyone to invest in the future they believe in by providing access to startups, real estate, crypto, and video game investments. Focused on creating a diverse, sustainable, connected world, Republic has facilitated over $600 million in investments from over one million global community members.

Previously, Ken was the General Counsel for Angel List from 2014-2016.

We discuss:

Ken on AngelList as Non-Engineer Role 8:52
AngelList Syndicates 10:00
JOBS Act 12:57
Republic's Launch Timing 18:01
Republic's Mission 22:04
Republic's Business Model 24:51
Equity Crowdfunding 29:10
Focusing on the Product Experience 32:31
ROI in Crowdfunding 35:35
Upside from Retail Deals 42:47
Arbitrary Cap 43:58

Republic was founded in 2016 in New York City, New York.

Follow Ken on Twitter

Learn more about Savvycal

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

SavvyCal // taking the awkwardness out of scheduling and making it easy [UP092]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins 8:16

Debrief 54:58

Derrick Reimer is the founder and CEO of SavvyCal.

SavvyCal wants to take the friction and awkwardness out of scheduling time with people. They’re an indie SaaS company with a little bit of financial backing from TinySeed and a few angel investors.

Previously, Derrick co-founded Drip, which was acquired by LeadPages. He hosts The Art of Product Podcast, where he shares what he is learning building the company.

We discuss:

Starting at the software industry 11:15
Drip Before SavvyCal 14:35
Business Takeaways 17:21
Sexy Software Business 19:43
Idea on SavvyCal 21:01
SavvyCal Reaching it's Market 24:06
What's Weird About Scheduling Links 28:42
SavvyCal's Feedback 30:47
SavvyCal and it's Competitors 34:25
SavvyCal's Indefinite Free Trial 39:51
Hybrid Bootstrapper 42:59
SavvyCal Wanting To Be A Multi-million Business 46:08
Minneapolis Startup 50:38

SavvyCal was founded in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Follow Derrick on Twitter

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

[REWIND] Rootine // Personalized daily health using DNA, blood levels, and lifestyle data [UP076]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 6:52

Debrief: 44:32

Rachel Sanders is the co-founder and CEO of Rootine.

Rootine was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2018 and creates custom daily vitamins based on your DNA, lifestyle, and blood level data.

Follow Rachel Sanders: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-soper-sanders/

Website: https://rootine.co/

Key Points:

The genius behind Rootine 8:53
Fads and the underlying truth 9:55
What makes Rootine? 11:52
Rootine personalizing your vitamins 16:53
Results with Rootine 20:20
Rootine earning as a business 21:14
Commercializing Rootine 26:51
Raising capital for Rootine 27:44
Data privacy and security 29:55
Rootine's Demographics 35:30
Distribution 37:40

–
This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.
–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

–

This episode of upside is also sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management. Managing wealth with an eye toward the future demands vigilance and skill in today’s global economy. Over the years, Ethos Wealth Management has worked with clients and their other professional advisors – including attorneys and accountants – to create comprehensive wealth management plans designed to make the best use of their wealth today and help ensure its endurance for future generations.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

Vint // invest in equity shares of wine collections [UP091]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins: 7:25
Debrief Begins: 46:24

Nick King is the co-founder and CEO of Vint.

Vint is the first fully transparent platform for anyone to invest in fine wine and spirits. They democratize this high-returning asset class with SEC-qualified collections.

Fine wine has returned over 9% annually and has low volatility over the long term. Wine has offered diversification benefits in both good times and bad times. In 2008, the S&P 500 dropped 38%, while wine remained stable.

Vint takes a small sourcing fee for each offering. Vint also purchases between 0.5% and 10% of each offering.

We discuss:

Value vs. Growth Investing 8:49
Vint's Concept 13:53
Wine Industry 17:51
Wine Investment 21:42
Future of Wine Trading 24:35
Catalysts 29:47
Whiskey Market 33:55
Approach on Getting Experts 38:52

Vint was founded in 2019 in Richmond, Virginia.

Learn more about Vint

Click here to visit our Product Hunt campaign

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

BIG NEWS: We're on Product Hunt!

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 08:00:00 -0400

Today we are launching the upside network on Product Hunt! We've put a ton of work in preparing for this campaign, and we'd love for you to check out our campaign.

Just visit https://upside.fm/hunt to leave us feedback, questions, or a little love! Your support goes a long way.

Victor Gutwein of M25 // A conversation 200 episodes in the making [CC080]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins: 9:01
Debrief: 59:30

Victor Gutwein is the Founder and Managing Partner of M25

M25 is an early-stage venture firm based in Chicago, investing solely in tech startups headquartered in the Midwest. Since they launched in 2015, they've become the most active investor in the region.

They are led by two of the youngest fund managers in the industry, and they enjoy challenging traditions. They invest broadly, and our unique, analytical approach to venture investing aims to reduce the risk, while maintaining the high returns typically associated with this stage of investing. They emphasize our expansive networks, and thrive on collaboration - helping to syndicate deals, encouraging fair terms as a best practice, and prioritizing relationships.

A Kauffman Fellow (Class 22) and former leader in Hyde Park Angels, Victor founded M25 in 2015 and quickly grew it to become the most active venture firm in the Midwest.

We discuss:

Generational Entrepreneurship 12:27
Starting small with VC 19:04
Value Negative Capital Before 21:36
Angel Groups Before and Now 23:51
Knowing the Best Deals in the Region 26:18
M25's Model 29:46
Maintaining Reputation 33:50
Trending Opportunities in the Midwest 37:58
Concerns in the Midwest 41:11
Expanding beyond the Midwest 44:52
Midwest on Early Stage VCs 52:28
M25 Summit 55:07

M25 was founded in 2015 in Chicago, Ilinois.

Learn more about m25
Follow Victor on Twitter

Learn more about AireXpert

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

AireXpert // Keeping planes in the air with real-time synchronization for maintenance, tech ops, and flight crews [UP090]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins 8:09

Debrief 48:37

Andy Hakes is the founder and CEO of AirExpert.

AireXpert offers maintenance control, quality assurance, base, line, and vendor maintenance, enabling users to experience reduced repair times, decreased delays, and lowered time costs, while mitigating the risk of FAA compliance.

Andy has been an aircraft maintenance guy & aviation geek since 1989. A founding member of the AireXpert crew, he’s worked in Tech Ops and on the heavy iron for several decades.

We discuss:

Airplane Maintenance 10:49
Idea Behind AireXpert 13:20
Aviation Business Model 17:34
Outsource Maintenance 20:03
Airline Maintenance Process 22:53
AireXpert 27:39
Evolution of AireXpert 28:42
Target Airlines 30:22
Operational Validation 33:22
Pricing Model 35:44
AireXpert and 3rd Party Vendors 39:55
AireXpert Funding 45:36

AireXpert was founded in 2018 in Buffalo, New York.

Subscribe to Buffalo Bridge

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

Jack Greco of Buffalo Bridge // the co-founder of Buffalo’s first unicorn on giving back to build the ecosystem [CC079]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins : 7:37

Debrief: 45:43

Jack Greco is the co-founder of ACV auctions.

ACV auctions is an online marketplace for used cars. As of November 2019, the company was valued at more than $1.5 billion.

Jack has built a reputation for supporting other founders in the Buffalo area as one of the most active angels and advisors in the region. He created Buffalo Bridge, a weekly curation of resources, opinions and insights from Western New York startup founders. Long Live Buffalo.

We discuss:

ACV Auctions 12:15
43North 15:11
Relationship with the Community? 20:06
Bad Attention 23:06
Buffalo's Ecosystem 26:33
Views on Angel Investing 30:48
Representing Buffalo Politically 34:47
Launching Buffalo Bridge 36:24
Building a Forest 41:45

ACV auctions was founded in 2014 in Buffalo, New York.

Connect with Jack Greco on LinkedIn

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

Karla Gallardo of Viwala // providing revenue-based loans for women entrepreneurs in Mexico [CC078]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins : 6:57

Debrief: 37:08

Karla Gallardo is the CEO of Viwala.

Viwala provides loans for women entrepreneurs who have high-impact businesses as well as a network of mentors and entrepreneurs who aim to reduce the gender gap in Mexican businesses.

We discuss:

Idea for Viwala 8:52
Banking Culture in Mexico 11:23
Revenue Based Lending 13:23
Sustainable Business Ecosystem 15:38
Gender Lens Investing 18:14
Viwala's Growth 21:33
Women doing Business 26:05
Liquidity for Investors 33:56

Viwala was founded in 2019 and based in Mexico City, Mexico.

Learn more about Viwala

Learn more or try Reclaim for free

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

Reclaim // a smart calendar assistant helping find time for your real priorities [UP089]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins 6:53

Debrief 52:25

Patrick Lightbody is the co-founder of Reclaim. Reclaim is a smart calendar assistant that can save you up to 40% of your workweek.

Reclaim aligns your priorities to the time you spend every week, empowering you to rapidly rebalance your schedule and defend your time to work on what matters.

Like a power tool for your time, Reclaim enables you to focus on the stuff you’re uniquely positioned to work on, not the painful process of managing your calendar.

We discuss:

Open Source 11:31
Moving to Portland 14:15
Starting Reclaim 17:07
Reclaim's Progess 23:29
How Reclaim Works 31:30
Difference from Calendar Apps 36:57
Privacy on Reclaim 41:28
Reclaim Fees 46:39
Vision for Reclaim 47:39

Reclaim was founded in 2019 and based in Portland, Oregon.

Apply for GoingVC Cohort 9

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

John Gannon of GoingVC // helping people break into venture capital [CC077]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 6:28

Debrief: 41:25

John Gannon is the co-founder and general partner of GoingVC.

John has mentored thousands of current and aspiring VCs through his VC Careers blog and email list, which counts VCs from top firms like Sequoia, KPCB, and Bessemer as subscribers.

GoingVC was founded in 2016 with the goal of providing individuals with a more concrete pathway into venture capital. It has continued to grow into a vibrant, collaborative, and inclusive community of like-minded individuals who have the common goal of advancing their careers in the field.

GoingVC was founded in 2016 and based in New York City.

Learn more about GoingVC

Subscribe to John Gannon’s Blog

Learn more about HG Ventures

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by SPMB.

SPMB is one of the fastest-growing retained executive search firms in the country, closing hundreds of C-level searches every year.

For over 40 years, SPMB has specialized in recruiting upper management and board members to VC-funded startups everywhere from early-stage to growth stage.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/spmb to learn more.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

Revisiting "Test City, USA" // now streaming online for free! [JE022]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 03:00:00 -0400

When we filmed Test City, USA in the summer of 2019 about the startup ecosystem in Columbus, Ohio, we knew the timing was special. Little did we know how good that timing was!

Columbus has continued to gain momentum over the last two years. Here's a sample of the changes for companies and individuals featured in this film:

Beam Dental - Raised $55M (2019) + $80M (March 2021)
Mobikit - Acquired by Azuga (March 2021)
Root - IPO raising $724.4M at $27/share (Oct. 2020) - valued at $6B
Rapchat - Raised $2.3M (May 2020)
PopCom - $1.3M from crowdfunding (June 2020)
ScriptDrop - $15M Series A (Oct. 2020)
CoverMyMeds - McKesson combined five business units under the CoverMyMeds brand
Drive Capital - Announced $350M and $300M (Overdrive) Funds... $1.2B total Assets Under Management
Rev1 Ventures - Launched $10M Pre-Seed Fund (March 2021)
Rev1 Ventures - Launched $20M Fund (June 2021)

Test City, USA is now available to stream for free online. Visit testcityusa.com.

Director: Kyle Skinner
Producer: Jay Clouse
Exec. Producer: Eric Hornung

WINNER:
2019 Best Ohio Feature by the Film Festival of Columbus

OFFICIAL SELECTION:
2019 Film Festival of Columbus
2020 Columbus International Film Festival
2020 Culver City Film Festival

A film by The Up Company

Ginger Rothrock of HG Ventures // corporate venture capital investing in heavy construction and materials, environmental services, and specialty chemicals [CC076]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 07:22:07 -0400

Interview begins: 7:16

Debrief: 43:38

Ginger Rothrock is a Senior Director at HG Ventures.

HG Ventures supports innovation and growth across The Heritage Group by investing and partnering with private companies developing new technologies and approaches in both our core and adjacent markets. We leverage the world class expertise of The Heritage Group operating companies and research center to offer a unique value proposition to our portfolio company partners.

Founded in 1930, The Heritage Group is a fourth-generation family-owned business managing a diverse portfolio of more than 30 companies specializing in heavy construction and materials, environmental services, and specialty chemicals.

We discuss:

Doing Science and Business together 12:04
The Heritage Group and HG Ventures 15:48
HG Ventures and TechStars Timeline 19:32
Measuring ROI 22:21
HG Ventures Funding Model 24:22
Hard Tech startup cost 30:39
Founder Vs Product Market Fit 33:53
What it takes to partner with TechStars 37:2

HG Ventures was founded in 2018 and based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Learn more about the Heritage Group

Learn more about the HG Accelerator powered by Techstars

Learn more about Flyover Future

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

This episode is sponsored by Fundboard.

FundBoard makes free tools and content for founders. FundBoard's beta helps you quickly uncover investors that write checks for startups like yours.

Building a FundBoard is really easy… but getting one built for you is even easier! And for a limited time, they're offering to make a FundBoard FOR YOU, pre-built with five investors that are a good fit for your startup so you can hit the ground running.

This is an incredible offer for listeners of this show, so make sure you take them up on it! You have absolutely nothing to lose.

Just visit upside.fm/fundboard.

Tom Cottingham of Flyover Future // building a news organization covering innovation in 20+ cities across the midwest. [CC075]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 7:00

Debrief: 38:33

Tom Cottingham is the founder and CEO of Flyover Future.

Flyover Future is a digital newsletter covering innovation and start-ups in the heartland. They cover the investors, the innovators and the ecosystems that help innovation thrive. We help our readers discover the amazing companies and initiatives throughout the midwest that make Flyover Country a vibrant center of 21st century innovation.

We discuss:

Print Media 10:58
Launching a Media Company 12:16
Louisville's Business Model 13:59
Curating Readers 17:07
City Based vs Topic Based 22:21
Generational Opportunity 29:39
Who's Important? 32:41

Mucker Capital was founded in 2019 and based in Louisville, Kentucky.

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

This episode is sponsored by Fundboard.

FundBoard makes free tools and content for founders. FundBoard's beta helps you quickly uncover investors that write checks for startups like yours.

This is an incredible offer for listeners of this show, so make sure you take them up on it! You have absolutely nothing to lose.

Just visit upside.fm/fundboard.

William Hsu of Mucker Capital // an accelerator committed to getting to you to your next round of funding [CC073]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 26 May 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 7:07

Debrief: 38:45

William Hsu is a founding partner at Mucker Capital. He started his career as a founder, creating BuildPoint, a provider of workflow management solutions for the commercial construction industry not long after graduating from Stanford.

Based in Los Angeles, Mucker invests in Seed and Series A rounds in Southern California and other underfunded ecosystems outside Silicon Valley.

MuckerLab works with only 10-20 companies per year in annual cohorts. No three month bootcamps. No demo days. Just heads-down business building for one year -- or however long it takes to reach the next set of critical business milestones.

We discuss:

Relying on one's experience 13:13
Working on a Comeback 15:08
Who's the Customer on VC? 18:38
MuckerLab 21:33
Scaling Vertically 25:49
Mucker Environment 30:31
Mucker being expensive 32:36
Vision for Mucker 34:34

Mucker Capital was founded in 2011 and based in Santa Monica, California.

Learn more about Mucker

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

This episode is sponsored by Fundboard.

FundBoard makes free tools and content for founders. FundBoard's beta helps you quickly uncover investors that write checks for startups like yours.

This is an incredible offer for listeners of this show, so make sure you take them up on it! You have absolutely nothing to lose.

Just visit upside.fm/fundboard.

Rally // buying & selling equity shares in ultra-rare, collectible assets [UP088]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 19 May 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 5:59

Debrief: 50:11

Rob Petrozzo is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer for Rally.

Rally is a liquid financial marketplace for buying & selling equity shares in ultra-rare assets the same way you buy & sell stocks. Together, we Rally to make investing behind ideas, emotions, and communities safe, easy, and accessible.

They were the first to turn tangible assets into fractionalized public securities offerings. They were the first to establish a liquid secondary market for those securities. And they were they first to do this with SEC qualification.

200+ IPOs later, hundreds of thousands of shares of trading cards, classic cars, watches, memorabilia, the world's rarest literature, and modern collectibles are all actively trading on Rally.

We discuss:

Reg A+ 7:03
Rally's Platform 8:09
Fractionalization of Assets 15:11
Rally Rd is more than about cars 16:52
Rally's User Base Proportion 19:35
Passion Lead Investing 21:40
60-40 Portfolio 25:59
Bull Market 28:55
Rob's view on NFTs 31:19
What's New With Rally 34:06
Rally's Showroom 36:44
Investing in Securing the Assets 40:45

Rally was founded in 2016 and based in New York City.

Learn more about Rally

Follow Rob on Twitter

–

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

–

This episode is sponsored by Fundboard.

FundBoard makes free tools and content for founders. FundBoard's beta helps you quickly uncover investors that write checks for startups like yours.

This is an incredible offer for listeners of this show, so make sure you take them up on it! You have absolutely nothing to lose.

Just visit upside.fm/fundboard.

[REWIND] Peter Livingston of Unpopular Ventures // early stage investing through a syndicate [CC058]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 12 May 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 5:16

Debrief: 43:55

This week we’re revisiting CC058, a coffee chat with Peter Livingston of Unpopular Ventures. In this episode, we explored syndicate investing.

Unpopular Ventures is led by Peter Livingston, whose experience is almost entirely in startups – as both an operator and investor. He was the first engineer at iRhythm (IPO 2016) and was the founder/CEO at Lifesquare (backed by Kleiner Perkins).

He has been angel investing since 2013, made >150 investments to date, and has produced investment returns well within the top decile of VC industry performance.

Peter founded Unpopular Ventures to keep investing in startups – but with a bigger family, bigger checks, and bigger impact.

We discuss:

Disagreeing about corporate VCs (9:11)
Syndicate Model (13:37)
Investors and the syndicate (16:13)
Not following the traditional fund (26:35)
Building trust (31:25)
Edification (39:23)

Learn more about Unpopular Ventures: http://unpopular.vc/

Follow Peter on Twitter: https://twitter.com/unpopularvc

Follow Peter’s Syndicate: https://angel.co/unpopularvc/syndicate

Venture Capital 101 with Scott Shane of Comeback Capital [When Pigs Fly #10]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 05 May 2021 09:56:11 -0400

Interview begins: 6:23

Debrief: 50:32

This week we’re hosting an upside feed takeover from When Pigs Fly! When Pigs Fly is a podcast covering the Cincinnati business ecosystem on the upside podcast network.

And in this episode, they talk to Scott Shane, the Managing Director of Comeback Capital, to learn precisely what venture capital is, what investment looks like for the investor and the entrepreneur, and why the midwest is underserved in the investment world.

They discuss:

Who does Venture Capital? 7:14
Exit Event 9:50
Industry and Trends in VC 12:36
Venture Capital for Startups 19:33
Comeback Capital 24:35
Effective Storytelling in Entrepreneurship 29:41
Demographic for Venture Capital 32:20
Pain points 38:19
Cincinnati's Market 40:28
Rolling Fund 46:44
Tips for Startup Entrepreneurs 49:09

Learn more about Comeback Capital: https://www.comeback.vc/

Subscribe to When Pigs Fly: https://pod.link/1549482801
--
This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

Learn more about Overline

--
This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management. Managing wealth with an eye toward the future demands vigilance and skill in today’s global economy. Over the years, Ethos Wealth Management has worked with clients and their other professional advisors – including attorneys and accountants – to create comprehensive wealth management plans designed to make the best use of their wealth today and help ensure its endurance for future generations.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

Michael Cohn and Sean O'Brien of Overline // leading seed stage deals in Atlanta and the southeast [CC072]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins: 6:16
Debrief: 37:03

Michael Cohn and Sean O’Brien are the Managing Directors of Overline.

Overline is an Atlanta-based, founder-operator led venture capital firm focused on investing in seed-stage businesses, primarily in Atlanta and the Southeast region of the United States. We partner with founders throughout their seed stage and lead investments ranging from $250K to $1.5 million.

Prior to Overline, Michael served as both a managing director for Techstars Atlanta and the co-founder of Cloud Sherpas, which was acquired by Accenture. And Sean served as Chief Strategy Officer at PGi.

We discuss:

Focus on Overline 9:34
Growth in Atlanta 13:38
What makes a good seed lead? 15:22
Sell Discipline 17:46
Launching and angel investing 22:12
Founder Operator 25:56
Hands on, Lean in Strategy 28:20
Geographical Investment 33:35

Overline was founded in 2019 and based in Atlanta, Georgia.

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

Learn more about Best Shot

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

Best Shot // a digital companion for fertility patients [UP087]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 09:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 5:49

Debrief: 51:25

Abby Mercado is the co-founder and CEO of Best Shot.

Best Shot is a patient’s companion in fertility treatments, providing medication management & education, streamlining the pharmaceutical ordering experience and enabling safe, supportive micro-communities led by experts.

Abby is a former venture capital investor, and current mom of IVF twins, who experienced a miscarriage resulting from an error made in administering one of her IVF medications.

We discuss:

Analyzing Macro Trends 11:43
The idea of fertility 17:18
Fertility decreases over time. 18:57
IVF 19:59
Best Shot 22:12
Alleviate the black market 30:27
Targeting problems 34:32
Simplfying treatment 36:21
Target market 39:20
Earning Revenue 43:31
Fertility Stigma 46:23

Best Shot was founded in 2019 and based in Denver, Colorado.

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

Learn more about Chicago Ventures

Jackie DiMonte of Chicago Ventures // ascending the venture career ladder and opening an office in Austin [CC071]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 7:15

Debrief: 55:14

Jackie DiMonte is a partner at Chicago Ventures.

Prior to joining Chicago Ventures, Jackie was a principal at Hyde Park Venture Partners, working with portfolio companies such as RoadSync, Podchaser, Fixer, FactoryFix, and PartySlate. Before that, she worked at Silver Spring Networks (now Itron), an IoT company for critical infrastructure, driving development and pilot projects for emerging smart city technology.

She is also a member of the Board of Directors for Starting Block Madison and Chicago:Blend and a Venture Partner at Republic.

We discuss:

Feedback Loop 13:54
Evolution in a Venture Firm 17:14
What Level is a Deal Flow Done? 21:46
Get a Deal Through 24:17
Programmatic Venture 26:35
Working Virtually from Austin 31:13
Partner at Chicago Ventures 35:27
Inbound Pitches 42:43
Fragmenting Markets 48:53
Personal Goals for the role 50:26

Chicago Ventures was founded in 2012.

Follow Jackie on Twitter

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

Learn more about Hannah Grey

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more

Jessica Peltz-Zatulove of Hannah Grey // a first check venture fund investing in founders reimagining everyday experiences [CC070]

Jay Clouse & Erin — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins: 7:12

Debrief Begins: 55:03

Jessica Peltz-Zatulove is a Founding Partner at Hannah Grey, a first check venture capital firm investing in customer-centric founders reimagining everyday experiences to improve work and life.

She is also the co-founder of Global Women in VC, the world's largest and most active community for women investors, empowering women VCs around the world to better find each other to connect, collaborate, and create a sense of community.

We discuss:

Disconnect in large and a small companies 11:29
Find the right stakeholder 13:23
Working with Startup Founders 18:33
Coming out of Corporate VC 23:19
Women in VC 30:04
Hannah Grey 36:33
What does Hannah Grey Support? 35:51
Economic Trends 44:13
Pre Seed Fund 48:39

Haannah Grey was founded in 2020 and based in New York City and Denver.

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

Learn more about Protoball

This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management. Managing wealth with an eye toward the future demands vigilance and skill in today’s global economy. Over the years, Ethos Wealth Management has worked with clients and their other professional advisors – including attorneys and accountants – to create comprehensive wealth management plans designed to make the best use of their wealth today and help ensure its endurance for future generations.

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

–

This episode is sponsored by SavvyCal.

SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests!

You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours.

You really gotta see how this works, and you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this easy.

Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.

Protoball // building a first-person sports shooter indie game [UP086]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview Begins: 8:19

Debrief 46:25

Zachary Spradlin is a co-creator of Protoball, a futuristic first-person sports game merging basketball, soccer, and high tech style. Players athletically jump, slide, run, and dash around the arena trying to pass the Protoball through the opponents goal.

We discuss:

Failed Kickstarter Campaign 10:22
Protoball and the concept behind it. 12:42
Unreal Engine 16:26
Needing a Hit Game 19:15
Creating Protoball 20:49
Game Jam 22:25
What makes a good game 23:52
Scenes from Protoball 26:02
Scoring 30:37
Protoball as eSports 32:15
Unserved Audience 33:31
Free to Play 35:12
Funding the game 38:05
Game Development vs. Business Development 41:16
Protoball open to public 43:50

Protoball was started in 2018 and based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

This episode is sponsored by Fundboard. You can build a tailor-fit list of startup investors in minutes with FundBoard. Learn more at https://upside.fm/fundboard

Chris Bergman // building Gylee Games and The Fund Midwest [CC069]

Jay Clouse & Erin Hornung — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 7:58

Debrief: 47:33

Chris Bergman is the founder and CEO of Gylee Games and a General Partner at The Fund Midwest.

Gylee Games believes in building big worlds. They believe in games that can be enjoyed in smaller chunks, not requiring hundreds of hours, but a delightful experience in short bursts. Gylee Games creates games for PC, Console and VR.

The Midwest Fund was born from The Fund, an NYC-based venture capital group. Founded in 2018 by an all-star cast of Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Katie Hunt, Adam Carver and Matthew Brimer, The Fund has since expanded with micro-funds in Los Angeles, London and the Boulder/Denver region. And with each expansion, local founders and investors are tapped to lead each region.

We discuss:

ChoreMonster 9:26
Gylee Games and The Fund Midwest 10:19
Chris Bergman as a game developer and creator 11:56
Surrounding yourself with people that are really good 13:35
Funding a gaming studio 16:59
Game Studio Aspects 18:41
Gaming and Venture Capital 19:51
Pre-release marketing 23:27
Pressure on the first game 29:03
Strategy on acquisition model 30:46
Twitch to become stakeholders 32:04
Entering The Fund Midwest 32:56
Investment Thesis 38:31
Funded by founders, run by founders 39:50
Raising as an operator vs as a VC 44:50

Learn more about The Fund Midwest: https://thefund.vc/community/midwest/

Learn more about Gylee Games: https://gyleegames.com/

Follow Chris Bergman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisbergman

This episode is sponsored by Fundboard. You can build a tailor-fit list of startup investors in minutes with FundBoard. Learn more at https://upside.fm/fundboard

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Advertise with an upside classified: https://upside.fm/classifieds

The Launch Company // building the world’s first multi-user, mobile launch site for this planet and beyond [UP085]

Jay Clouse — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 6:51
Debrief: 53:55

Ben Kellie is the Founder and CEO of The Launch Company

The Launch Company is building the world’s first multi-user, mobile launch site for this planet and beyond. They develop standardized hardware, ground support equipment, and processes.

Ben has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from University of Alaska Fairbanks, as well as an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the Ohio State University. Before returning to Alaska, Ben worked in rocketry at SpaceX, designing and operating launch sites, and ran the first missions to return a first stage from orbit.

We discuss:

Launch Pad? 13:26
Privatized Spaceflight Project 15:08
Doing the Math on Launch Pads 17:38
Measuring Precision 20:40
Rocket Launching 22:31
Space program through the years 23:48
Demand for Space Exploration 27:12
Putting stuff into space 28:40
Kessler Effect 30:14
The Launch Company 31:39
Being in an off planet project 35:40
Red Tape in transactions 37:39
SpaceX Mafia 39:23
Capital in Space 40:44
Bootstrapping The Launch Company 41:36
Horizontal Rebundling 43:45
Building a company in Alaska 46:05

The Launch Company was founded in 2015 and based in Anchorage, Alaska.

Learn more about The Launch Company: https://www.launch-company.com/

Follow Ben Kellie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/northroadben

This episode is sponsored by Fundboard. You can build a tailor-fit list of startup investors in minutes with FundBoard. Learn more at https://upside.fm/fundboard

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This episode of upside is sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management. Managing wealth with an eye toward the future demands vigilance and skill in today’s global economy. Over the years, Ethos Wealth Management has worked with clients and their other professional advisors – including attorneys and accountants – to create comprehensive wealth management plans designed to make the best use of their wealth today and help ensure its endurance for future generations.

They can do the same for you.

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[REWIND] SuperRare // creating a tokenized digital art marketplace [RE006]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 03:00:00 -0500

Interview begins: 11:40

Debrief: 58:48

John Crain is the Founder and CEO of SuperRare.

SuperRare is a marketplace to collect and trade unique, single-edition digital artworks. Each artwork is authentically created by an artist in the network, and tokenized as a crypto-collectible digital item that you can own and trade.

Each artwork on SuperRare is a digital collectible– a digital object secured by cryptography and tracked on the blockchain. That’s just a fancy way of saying they’re probably scarce items that can be collected, and that hold value just like cryptocurrencies like ether and bitcoin.

You can think of SuperRare like Instagram meets Robinhood. A new way to interact with art, culture, and collecting on the internet!

Key points:

Getting to the world of crypto 10:45
Difference of Bitcoin and Etherium 13:31
What’s does SuperRare offer 14:58
SuperRare 16:28
Crypto Kitties 20:02
Art world and Technology 23:00
What is Digital art? 25:49
Collecting digital art 26:45
Value of digital art 30:57
Audience of SuperRare 34:00
Certificate of Authenticity 35:37
SuperRare as a marketplace business 40:36
Transaction fees and costs 45:52
The future of art/museums 51:17

Learn more about SuperRare: https://superrare.co/

Follow John Crain: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnacrain/

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This episode is also sponsored by Fundboard.

FundBoard is a free tool to help you find startup investors and manage your fundraising process.

You can build a tailor-fit list of startup investors in minutes with FundBoard. Learn more at https://upside.fm/fundboard

Splash Financial // helping people refinance their student loans [Lay of The Land #9]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 03:00:00 -0500

Interview begins: 4:27

This week we’re hosting an upside feed takeover from Lay of The Land! Lay of The Land is a podcast covering the Cleveland business ecosystem on the upside podcast network. And in this episode, Jeff talks with Steve Muszynski, the founder and CEO of Splash Financial.

Jeff and Steve discuss the student loan crisis and how Splash, one of Ohio’s fastest growing companies, is helping people save on their student loan debt.

We discuss:

Status Quo for Student Loans 6:34
Coming up with Splash Financial 8:12
Progress amidst the current situation 13:12
Loan Forgiveness 15:53
Think about growth 18:32
Starting in Cleveland 21:38
Hiring employees 25:12
Challenges for Splash 29:26

Splash Financial was founded in 2015 and based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Learn more about Splash Financial: https://splashfinancial.com/

Subscribe to Lay of The Land: https://pod.link/1539921799

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Tribevest // making it easy for individuals to pool their capital and invest together [UP084]

Jay Clouse — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 03:00:00 -0500

Interview begins: 5:22

Debrief: 41:15

Travis Smith is the founder and CEO of Tribevest.

Tribevest makes it easy to launch an investor entity, pool capital, and experience wealth-building with friends, family, and people you trust.

Tribevest’s all-in-one-platform helps you assemble your tribe, align on your expectations, file your LLC, author your bylaws, open a business bank account, and easily pool capital from your members.

We discuss:

Early interest in finance 6:51
Investing as brothers 11:44
Investing in real estate 12:54
What is Tribevest 14:54
Onboarding 20:16
Difference if Tribevest vs. SPV 22:53
Growth Strategy 26:32
Tribevest Vision 29:24
Subscription model 36:45

Tribevest was founded in 2016 and based in Columbus, Ohio.

Learn more about Tribevest: https://www.tribevest.com/

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Huckabuy // improving your search results with a technology-based approach to SEO [UP083]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 03:00:00 -0500

Interview begins: 6:33

Debrief: 46:48

Geoff Atkinson is the founder and CEO of Huckabuy.

Huckabuy’s Software improves your search results, drives more organic traffic, and makes your website faster.

Their software creates Google’s Perfect World on your website to queue up the perfect conversation with Search Bots and grow your organic traffic.

Prior to Huckabuy, Geoff was the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Analytics at Overstock. At Overstock, he developed expertise in SEO and managed everything from pricing algorithms to content generation, to buying rain jackets in New York City’s garment district. In 2007, he was named on Advertising Age’s “Top 40 Under 40” list.

We discuss:

Time at Overstock 8:35
From Ski to SEO 10:55
Learning SEO 12:36
SEO past to present changes 15:29
SEO in the Ecommerce world 18:14
Huckabuy 26:26
Huckabuy subscriptions 32:39
Demographics 34:44
Measuring success 37:46
Pricing 40:06
Bootstrapped 42:48

Huckabuy was founded in 2015 and based in Park City, Utah.

Learn more about Huckabuy: https://passiv.com/

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Passiv // transforming your brokerage account into a portfolio management tool [UP082]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 03:00:00 -0500

Interview begins: 5:52

Debrief: 34:02

Nick McCullum is the Director of Growth for Passiv.

Passiv turns your brokerage account into a modern portfolio management tool. Passiv allows you to set a target portfolio and get email notifications when your portfolio drifts from that target. Passiv then lets you rebalance with one click!

We discuss:

What makes finance interesting? 8:29
What is Passiv? 10:34
Setting Target Portfolios 13:11
Brokerage account 16:51
Balancing Portfolios 19:41
How does Passiv earn 22:46
Growth Strategy for a B2C company 26:53
Pro and Cons in Building the Business in New Brunswick 31:57
Global Expansion 32:56

Passiv was founded in 2017 and based in New Brunswick, Canada.

Learn more about Passiv: https://passiv.com/

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Introducing When Pigs Fly [JE021]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 03:00:00 -0500

This week we’re excited to introduce you to the first new show on the upside podcast network: When Pigs Fly.

Hosted by Allie Martin and Patrick Bailey, When Pigs Fly is a podcast that uncovers Cincinnati's rich business history from the 1800s to today.

We talk to companies to learn the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, what it takes to grow a successful business and to simply prost to future innovation.

When Pigs Fly will air every Tuesday beginning February 2 on the upside podcast network.

Subscribe to When Pigs Fly: https://pod.link/1549482801

Learn more: https://whenpigsfly.fm

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Craftom // making it easy for companies to ship customized gifts, office equipment, and more [UP081]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 03:00:00 -0500

Interview begins: 5:01

Debrief: 40:42

Caleb Musser is the founder and CEO of Craftom.

Craftom is a B2B gifting and shipping platform that makes it easy to send hyper-designed corporate gifts, products and office equipment to anyone, whether they’re working from home, in the office, or somewhere else entirely.

It started with a cigar box and a tough sales job. In 2013, Craftom founder Caleb Musser was searching for a unique way to stand out with business owners while selling printers and copiers door-to-door. So he scrounged up vintage cigar boxes and sent them with personalized notes and gifts to unresponsive business owners.

The reaction was eye-opening. Executives who wouldn’t take his calls before started connecting with Musser and giving him time on their busy calendars.

The success of this home-spun hack revealed two key insights that are still engrained in Craftom.io’s DNA today: Customization and personalization are everything, and nothing beats quality materials and products.

By combining cutting-edge design technology with quality products, Craftom has designed and created gifts that sit on the desks of Fortune 500 CEOs, NFL owners and Presidents of the United States.

Craftom was founded in 2019 and based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

We discuss:

Caleb Musser as a Salesman 7:54
Musser & Co. 12:31
Craftom 17:48
The difference of the two companies 19:50
Craftom being the main venture 20:46
Advantage of adding technical components to your business 22:19
How pandemic change business relationships 26:06
Growth during the pandemic 27:26
The key to cold outbound calls 29:07
Why do customers choose Craftom 31:02
Craftom being completely Bootstrapped 37:49

Learn more about Craftom: https://craftom.com/

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Landon Ainge of Assure Syndicates // matchmaking founders with the right venture investors [CC068]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 03:00:00 -0500

Interview begins: 6:02

Debrief: 42.:02

Landon Ainge is the Managing Director of Assure Syndicates.

Assure Syndicates is a division of Assure. Assure is the pioneering leader in providing comprehensive structuring and administrative management services (specifically Special Purpose Vehicles) to the private investment ecosystem.

Assure Syndicates’ mission is to connect the right investors with the right businesses.

Assure Syndicates is a one-of-a-kind hybrid that aligns with fellow investors while advocating for the founder. We provide fundraising guidance to founders, then commit our own capital to the deal.

We discuss:

Investing vs. Operating 6:48
Being a great venture capitalist. 7:31
Special Purpose Vehicles as Investment 9:18
Assure as a SPV expert 12:03
Assure Syndicate's Purpose in the Marketplace 15:44
3 Skill sets in venture 18:23
Assure Syndicate and VCs 21:23
New trend of founder syndicating deals 26:59
Landon Ainge getting on Assure 30:44
Guide to build your own Syndicate 39:25

Learn more about Assure Syndicates: https://syndicates.assure.co/

Follow Landon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LandonAinge

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Between Two Hedges // building companies with one foot in and one foot outside Silicon Valley [CC067]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 03:00:00 -0500

Trent and Travis Hedge are brothers from Columbus, OH, who left for Silicon Valley. But since that time, both have continued to visit and advocate for Ohio and other parts of the country.

Travis Hedge is the co-founder of Vouch Insurance (YC S19). Vouch Insurance is an insurance company designed for startups. It was developed by founders for founders and redesigned everything about business insurance from scratch. The company offers a platform that works with clients to manage, mitigate, and avoid risks. Vouch Insurance was founded in 2016 and has its offices in San Francisco and Chicago.

Trent Hedge is the co-founder of Atmos (YC S20). Atmos offers the entire homebuilding process all in one place—from design to move in. Atmos was founded in 2019 with a presence in SF, Raleigh, Durham, and Charlotte.

Learn more about Vouch: https://vouch.us

Follow Travis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_HedgeFund

Learn more about Atmos: https://buildatmos.com

Follow Trent on Twitter: https://twitter.com/trenthedge

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[REWIND] Intrinio // affordable, real-time financial data [RE005]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 03:00:00 -0500

Today is the final episode in our “Rewind” Series.

Rachel Carpenter is the co-founder and CEO of Intrinio.

Intrinio is a financial data company on a mission to power fintech innovation by providing affordable, high-quality data to developers and engineers from fintech companies, large institutions, hedge funds, startups, and universities.

Their mission is to power the innovators defining the future of finance through modern data technologies. That means automating the data supply chain with advanced infrastructure and machine learning, delivering high-quality data through cutting-edge tools designed for developers and engineers, and getting it all in the hands of people who are challenging the system.

Learn more about Intrinio: https://intrinio.com

Follow Rachel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rachel_Ann_C

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[REWIND] Fiveable // social learning for AP students [RE004]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 03:00:00 -0500

Today is the fourth episode in our December series called “Rewind.”

Amanda DoAmaral is the founder and CEO of Fiveable, which is based in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

Fiveable is an online streaming and content platform helping high school students study and master their AP exams. Started just two years ago, Fiveable offers live and pre-recorded videos, study guides, as well as community building resources.

After teaching in Oakland for several years with Teach for America, Amanda DoAmaral began Fiveable as a way to help her old students who needed guidance in studying for their AP exams. In only a couple years, Fiveable has grown to include teachers from various types of backgrounds and boasts a 92% pass rate from their students.

Since we chatted in November 2019, Fiveable has raised more than $3.8M in funding.

We discuss:

TFA training and lack of teaching preparation
Teaching in Oakland and decision to leave
Start of Fiveable
Business growth
Live streaming vs. pre-recorded videos
Teachers/streamers on Fiveable
SAT/ACT prep
Measuring success
Dealing with seasonality of APs
Fiveable’s tiny team

Learn more about Fiveable: https://fiveable.me/

Follow Fiveable on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkfiveable

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[REWIND] FreshFry // extending the life of frying oil [RE003]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 03:00:00 -0500

Today is the third episode in our December series called “Rewind.”

Jeremiah Chapman is the founder and CEO of FreshFry.

We first talked with Jeremiah back in July 2018 in episode 12 of this show. FreshFry, located in Louisville, Kentucky, creates plant-based product that helps food service businesses extend the life of frying oil.

FreshFry’s “pods” strip water, acids, metals, and other impurities out of cooking oil, slowing breakdown by several days and helping businesses save on costs while improving food taste.

Since we chatted, FreshFry has raised $3.3M in July 2020 from Lightship Capital and the USDA.

Learn more about FreshFry: https://www.freshfry.me/

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[REWIND] Opendorse // pioneering athlete-driven marketing [RE002]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 03:00:00 -0500

Today is the second episode in our December series called “Rewind.”

Blake Lawrence is the founder and CEO of Opendorse.

We first talked with Blake back in April 2019, and our episode aired on July 17, 2019.

Since that time, Opendorse has grown a lot. They’ve not only raised a Series A, but just this week they announced a partnership with Team USA.

Opendorse is the athlete-marketing platform that helps the biggest brands in sports share content on social. Founded by two former major college athletes, Opendorse was built seeking to make it easy for athletes and their partners to work together to engage their fans. Today, more than 7,000 athletes use Opendorse to share content with their 1.4b social media followers.

Top sports properties including the PGA TOUR, LPGA, NFLPA, WTA, and New Jersey Devils, and college properties including Michigan, Clemson, and Nebraska Athletics partner with Opendorse to send content to athletes to share through their social media channels. More than 1,500 brands also use opendorse to engage professional athletes and their audience.

Learn more about Opendorse: https://opendorse.com/

Follow Blake on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Blake_Lawrence

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[REWIND] Balto // AI for contact centers [RE001]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 03:00:00 -0500

Today we are introducing our December series called “Rewind.”

In this series, we will introduce one of the companies we’ve had on the show, give a quick update, and replay that episode in its entirety.

We think this will be a really fascinating look back on these companies to see how far they’ve come over the last 6-18 months.

And we’re kicking this series of with Balto.

We talked to Balto CEO Marc Bernstein in June of 2018. At the time, Balto described itself this way:

"Balto helps sales, service, and accounts receivable reps win as much revenue as possible from every phone call. Teams use Balto’s artificial intelligence software to analyze phone calls in real-time – live while the call is still happening – and instantly provide reps recommendations on how to communicate as effectively as possible before it’s too late. For more information visit Baltosoftware.com”

Since our conversation with Marc in June 2018, Balto raised $1.3M in October 2018. Then, they raised another $3M in September 2019. Both of those rounds featured Stage Venture Partners, another former guest on this show.

And then, just over a month ago in October 2020, Balto raised a $10M Series A led by Sierra Ventures bringing their total funding to date up to around $14.3M since we spoke with them.

Today, Balto describes themselves this way:

"Balto is the leader in real-time guidance for contact centers. Powered by AI, Balto's software solution evaluates both sides of a phone call and instantly delivers critical information that enables agents to perform at the highest level humanly possible. With Balto, contact centers deliver world-class customer experiences, increase conversions, and decrease agent ramp time. Current customers include contact centers in sectors such as insurance, telecommunications, retail, financial services, and healthcare. For more information, visit balto.ai."

Super similar, but a little different.

We are big fans of Marc here on the show, so we love seeing his team continue to grow and succeed.

Now, we’ll share with you the original interview with Marc from June 2018. Knowing where the team has gone now, it’s an awesome listen to hear where they started.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode as you listen, you can tweet at us @upsidefm or email us hello@upside.fm. And check out our new branding! We’ve refreshed our show artwork here, as well as our entire website. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Follow Balto: https://balto.ai/

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Things we’re actually thankful for in 2020 [JE020]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 03:00:00 -0500

This year has been unlike any other. And this Thanksgiving is likely to be unlikely any other, too. With the difficulties that 2020 has brought everyone – founders, investors, and communities – there are still some bright spots to celebrate.

In today’s short episode, we talk about some of the positives 2020 has brought us and startup communities that we can still be thankful for.

From the upside family, we hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

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Introducing Lay of the Land [JE019]

Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 03:00:00 -0500

This week we're excited to introduce you to the first new show on the upside podcast network: Lay of The Land.

Jeffrey Stern is a New York City transplant building companies in Cleveland. And TheTagan is an Atlanta-born strategist with a passion for creating content to amplify voices.

We love learning about the Cleveland ecosystem and, if you're listening to this podcast, we bet you do to. We both moved here to work at startups, and we've had our fair share of ups and downs. We use those experiences to have REAL conversations about both opportunities and challenges in Cleveland.

We found from our experience and talking with local friends it was HARD to learn about ALL the Cleveland business ecosystem has to offer - Cleveland native or not. There is a dynamic network of resource hubs & initiatives that make it difficult for anyone to get a holistic view of Northeast Ohio.

And so, we're building this podcast to give you what we would have wanted when we arrived in Cleveland: a Lay of the Land.

Lay of The Land will air every Thursday beginning December 3 on the upside podcast network.

Subscribe to Lay of The Land: http://layoftheland.fm/subscribe

Learn more: https://layoftheland.fm
Follow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLand
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Coming soon: the upside podcast network [JE018]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 03:00:00 -0500

We’re excited to share with you a major project that we’ve been working on behind the scenes! Starting in 2021, the upside podcast network will be launching a growing number of localized business podcasts.

The upside podcast network helps local teams to produce high-quality shows covering their local business ecosystems. Hosts on the ground will interview business leaders in their local communities, produced and supported by upside.

The journey begins this month with our first show: Lay of the Land. Hosted by Jeffrey Stern and TheTagan, Lay of the Land covers the Cleveland business community.

In this week’s episode, we’ll talk about why we’re building a network, what it means for the future of business podcasts, and how you can get involved.

Want to get in touch about your own show? Email us: hello@upside.fm

Learn more about Upside: https://upside.fm

Healium // self-management of stress using biofeedback and virtual reality [UP081]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 03:00:00 -0500

Interview begins: 7:01
Debrief: 45:09

Sarah Hill is the CEO and Chief Storyteller of Healium.

Healium is a virtual and augmented reality tool for the self-management of stress powered by the user's own brainwaves and heart rate.

Healium is the world’s first biometrically-powered VR/AR immersive media channel controlled by the user's brainwaves and heart rate via consumer wearables. Hill's XR experiences are clinically validated in 3 peer-reviewed journals and have been viewed more than 7 million times.

After 20 years as a TV reporter covering trauma, Sarah’s media diet of reporting the day's headlines ultimately made her sick. Sarah developed Healium for herself as well as the 41 million others who struggle with anxiety.

Healium was founded in 2015 in Columbia, Missouri.

Learn more about Healium: https://www.tryhealium.com/

Follow Sarah Hill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahhill1/

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Key points:

From a TV reporter to being a CEO of Healium 7:51
Neurofeedback 12:36
Neuro meditation 18:50
How is Healium different from other apps 20:48
New upcoming technology 28:15
Media diet 29:34
Team at Healium 32:46
Digiceutical 35:36
Healium making money 41:15

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SuperRare // creating a tokenized digital art marketplace [UP080]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 6:56
Debrief: 54:04

John Crain is the Founder and CEO of SuperRare.

Each artwork on SuperRare is a digital collectible– a digital object secured by cryptography and tracked on the blockchain. That’s just a fancy way of saying they’re provably scarce items that can be collected, and that hold value just like cryptocurrencies like ether and bitcoin.

You can think of SuperRare like Instagram meets Robinhood. A new way to interact with art, culture, and collecting on the internet!

Key points:

Getting to the world of crypto 10:45
Difference of Bitcoin and Etherium 13:31
What's does SuperRare offer 14:58
SuperRare 16:28
Crypto Kitties 20:02
Art world and Technology 23:00
What is Digital art? 25:49
Collecting digital art 26:45
Value of digital art 30:57
Audience of SuperRare 34:00
Certificate of Authenticity 35:37
SuperRare as a marketplace business 40:36
Transaction fees and costs 45:52
The future of art/museums 51:17

Learn more about SuperRare: https://superrare.co/

Follow John Crain: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnacrain/

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Nexme // an on demand real estate platform [UP079]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 6:34
Debrief: 51:42

Vanessa is the Co-Founder and COO of Nexme.

Nexme is an on demand real estate platform that delivers instant access to homes and full-service, professional real estate agents. All at the click of a button.

Nexme charges buyers and sellers a 1.5% commission fee — roughly half of the traditional rate. It connects the site’s users with licensed real estate agents who have at least two years experience and done 10 transactions. Through the agents, it provides home sellers with services including staging, photography and open houses. Buyers and real estate agents have the opportunity to rate each other and properties being listed.

The company does not take a commission from sales, but rather charges agents, inspectors, builders and others involved in the process a monthly subscription fee.

Nexme was founded in 2019 in Seattle, Washington.

Key points:

Analyst transition to product marketing 13:58
Picking a Startup 16:32
Moving to Seattle to starting Nexme 19:22
The becoming of Nexme 28:20
What is Nexme 29:42
Balancing the sellers and buyers 36:14
Nexme in the market 38:36
Brokerages 40:35
Starting with Nexme in Seattle 43:55
Disruption in the real estate world 49:47

Learn more about Nexme: https://nexme.com/

Follow Vanessa Alvarez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valvarez1010/

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Rob Eloff of Lateral Capital // the history and future of venture capital in Africa [CC066]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 7:18
Debrief: 59:34

Rob Eloff has spent his career investing, living, and working in developing markets. Prior to co-founding Lateral Capital he was a Venture Partner with Conversion Capital and established Frontier Dawn Partners, an evergreen vehicle for capital deployment to early-stage, technology-enabled founding teams in sub-Saharan Africa.

Rob started his career in capital markets at JP Morgan, Johannesburg, became an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs and Investment Director at ACI. He spent ten years based in Johannesburg, Moscow, and London transitioning across hedge fund coverage and private equity buyout advisory in markets including sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Rob holds a masters degree in finance from Cambridge University and a bachelor's degree with dual majors in philosophy and economics from the University of Cape Town.

Key points:

South Africa over the years 9:22
BRICS 12:35
Philosophy and Finance 15:51
Is 10 years time horizon long enough? 17:17
Lateral Capital 19:51
Investing across countries 23:51
Difference and Similarities in investing in Africa to other countries 27:46
Scorecard in determining the next country 32:39
Lateral Capital looking for investments 36:59
Impact of financialization in Africa 50:23

Learn more about Lateral Capital: https://latcap.co

Follow Rob Eloff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-eloff-54991b72/

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

This episode is sponsored by Enterprise Rising Conference.

This year, Enterprise Rising is October 20-21 and totally online. If you're an enterprise SaaS startup then this will be the best online event you could attend all year.

Get your tickets here and use promo code upside to save an additional 20%.

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

- https://www.firebrandvc.com/team-members/john-fein

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John Fein and Chris Marks of Firebrand Ventures // why two venture firms merged to become one [CC065]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 8:54
Debrief: 45:54

John Fein and Chris Marks are the managing partners of Firebrand Ventures.

John started Firebrand Ventures in 2016, and we interviewed him in 2018.

Key points:

Disenchanted in the venture space 10:16
Firebrand and Blue Note starting together 14:19
Similar Values and investment approach 16:08
Merging ventures 17:34
Is there such a thing as good and bad timing? 21:22
Fund economics change 34:22
Preset framework for conflict 42:16

Follow John Fein and Chris Marks:

- https://www.firebrandvc.com/team-members/chris-marks

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm
–

This episode is sponsored by Enterprise Rising Conference.

This year, Enterprise Rising is October 20-21 and totally online. If you're an enterprise SaaS startup then this will be the best online event you could attend all year.

Get your tickets here and use promo code upside to save an additional 20%.

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

–

They can do the same for you.

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Nathan McDonald of Keiretsu Forum // a global community of angel investors with 53 chapters across four continents [CC064]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 8:37
Debrief: 58:58

Nathan McDonald is the CEO and Managing Partner of Keiretsu Capital as well as the Chairman of the Keiretsu Forum Northwest.

Keiretsu Forum is a global investment community of accredited private equity angel investors, venture capitalists, and corporate/institutional investors. Keiretsu Forum is a worldwide network of capital, resources, and deal flow with 53 chapters on 4 continents. Keiretsu Forum members invest in high-quality, diverse investment opportunities. Keiretsu Forum and Keiretsu Capital (the exclusive worldwide fund partner of Keiretsu Forum) are ranked as the most active venture investors in the USA. The Keiretsu community is also strengthened through its involvement in social and charitable activities.

Keiretsu Forum was founded in the San Francisco East Bay in California in 2000 by Randy Williams.

Key points:

Keiretsu Forum's beginning 12:34
There are no shortcuts to investing 14:26
Angel investors on Keiretsu 15:37
Due Diligence teams 19:04
Timeline for entrepreneurs 21:35
Competition for deal flow 23:36
How chapters work? 29:03
Downsides of an unengaged network 34:47
Misconceptions of angel investing 38:28
Angel groups in the time of COVID 47:43

Learn more about Keiretsu Forum: https://www.keiretsuforum.com/

Follow Nathan McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanmcdonald1/

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm
–

This episode is sponsored by Enterprise Rising Conference.

This year, Enterprise Rising is October 20-21 and totally online. If you're an enterprise SaaS startup then this will be the best online event you could attend all year.

Get your tickets here and use promo code upside to save an additional 20%.

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

–

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

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Mary Grove of Bread & Butter Ventures // from Google and Rise of the Rest to Minneapolis [CC063]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 10:30
Debrief: 45:38

Mary Grove is Managing Partner of Bread and Butter Ventures. She brings nearly two decades of leadership experience in technology, early-stage investing, and startup ecosystem growth. She began her career working on the Google IPO, and went on to lead new business development partnerships, negotiating early-stage product and technology deals worldwide. Mary then served as the founding director of Google for Startups, leading the company’s global efforts to support entrepreneurs in over 100 countries.

After her 15 year career at Google, Mary worked as an investment partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund where she led dozens of investments in a range of sectors including healthcare, enterprise software, and fintech. She also built the fund’s portfolio support platform and built a network of over 150 mentors and partners to guide startup growth.

She is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Silicon North Stars, a nonprofit that she and her husband Steve founded in 2013 to help young Minnesotans from underserved communities pursue careers in tech. Mary serves on the boards of Vital Voices, the Minneapolis Foundation, and the Techstars Foundation. She earned her BA and MA from Stanford University. Mary and her family moved from Silicon Valley to Minneapolis in 2018 and she loves cooking, hiking, and getting to know Minnesota through the eyes of her three-year-old twins. Mary's bread and butter is helping organizations build teams and infrastructure to operate at scale, building partnerships, and home-cooked Thai recipes.

Key points:

Vantage point within Google supporting startup weekend. 14:21
Why prefer a dutch auction style IPO vs the traditional IPO. 18:43
Early days if Google for Entrepreneurs 22:59
Starting Bread and Butter Ventures 27:23
Why in Minneapolis? 29:55
Starting a venture firm in 2020 35:45
Choosing the right teammates 37:35
Dropping city names to look for 43:18

Learn more about Bread & Butter Ventures: https://www.breadandbutterventures.com/

Follow Mary Grove: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marygrove/

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

This episode is sponsored by Enterprise Rising Conference.

This year, Enterprise Rising is October 20-21 and totally online. If you're an enterprise SaaS startup then this will be the best online event you could attend all year.

Get your tickets here and use promo code upside to save an additional 20%.

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

–

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

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Documo // Fax and document management for highly-regulated industries [UP078]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 11:02
Debrief: 53:06

Matt Valeo is the founder and CEO of Documo.

Documo creates document workflow solutions that make working with documents easy, more secure, and better for the planet. Their product suite includes mSign, mFax, and mDrive.

Documo was founded in 2017 and based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Key points:

Poker as a profession 11:21
Moving to San Diego 17:41
What keeps faxing around 22:17
Rebranding 26:39
Documo and Bootstrapping 28:05
Documo's Niche 30;29
What does Documo offer 35:22
Documo culture 45:13

Learn more about Documo: https://www.documo.com/

Follow Matt Valeo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattvaleo/

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

---

This episode is sponsored by Enterprise Rising Conference.

This year, Enterprise Rising is October 20-21 and totally online. If you're an enterprise SaaS startup then this will be the best online event you could attend all year.

Get your tickets here and use promo code upside to save an additional 20%.

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

–

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

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Ashley Flucas of Flucas Ventures // turning 100 angel investments into an AngelList syndicate [CC062]

Jay Cloud & Eric Hornung — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 8:44
Debrief: 51:53

Ashley Flucas is an angel investor and syndicate lead with Flucas Ventures.

By day, Ashley is a general counsel/partner at a real estate finance fund (infrastructure, sports arenas and large-scale condo, apartment and commercial buildings) with approx $3B AUM (LPs are overseas HNWIs).

By night, she is an active angel investor who has participated in more than 100 deals through AngelList and direct investment.

Flucas Ventures is sector and geography agnostic primarily focused on pre-seed to series A-stage deals, but occasionally sharing compelling late-stage deals.

Learn more about Flucas Ventures: https://www.flucasvc.com/

Follow Ashley Flucas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asflucas/

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Key points:

Moments when there are good returns 15:18
Difference in the investment due diligence memo 18:13
Onboarding process to become an LP of Flucas Ventures? 21:02
Co Syndication 27:05
Deal Memos 28:59
Advice on starting out 33:25

This episode is sponsored by Enterprise Rising Conference.

This year, Enterprise Rising is October 20-21 and totally online. If you're an enterprise SaaS startup then this will be the best online event you could attend all year.

Get your tickets here and use promo code upside to save an additional 20%.

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

–

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

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Einar Vollset of TinySeed // lessons from the first cohort of the accelerator for bootstrappers [CC061]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 9:28
Debrief: 35:09

Einar Vollset is a General Partner at TinySeed.

TinySeed is a year-long, remote accelerator designed for early-stage SaaS founders.

He is also a YC-alum, former Cornell CS Professor, and the founder of Discretion Capital, a tech-focused M&A investment bank. He sold his first startup to Google in 2010 and exited his most recent in 2016.

Know more about Einar Vollset: https://tinyseed.com/people

TinySeed Website: https://tinyseed.com/

Listen to our interview with Rob Walling: https://upside.fm/rob-walling-tinyseed/

Key Points:

Hole in the funding market 13:31
Downside 19:08
Fundraising process 21:14
TinySeed and VC 26:50
TinySeed focusing ong b2b SaaS 31:09
Getting involved with TinySeed 33:11

This episode is sponsored by Enterprise Rising Conference.

This year, Enterprise Rising is October 20-21 and totally online. If you're an enterprise SaaS startup then this will be the best online event you could attend all year.

Get your tickets here and use promo code upside to save an additional 20%.

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

–

They can do the same for you.

Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

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Want to share information about your company, or an opportunity with the upside audience?

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SLP Toolkit // Helping Speech Language Pathologists manage their caseloads [UP077]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 8:54

Debrief: 1:02:09

SLP Toolkit™ is a web-based app with built in assessments and tools that give a school-based Speech Language Pathologist the confidence s/he needs to take charge of her busy caseload. The software is designed to help SLPs collect data to determine communication strengths and needs, as well as monitor progress over time.

Features include built-in present level assessments, progress monitoring tools, daily data, strategies for teachers/parents, a therapy scheduler, and a customizable goal bank.

Lisa Kathman and Sarah Bevier are former Speech Language Pathologists who have bootstrapped the company.

SLP Toolkit was founded in 2015 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Know more about Lisa Kathman and Sarah Bevier: https://www.slptoolkit.com/about/

Website: https://www.slptoolkit.com/

Key Points:

Speech-language pathologist 11:49
Who needs a SLP? 17:23
Coming up with the SLP toolkit 23:29
What is the SLP toolkit 35:37

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

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Rootine // Personalized daily health using DNA, blood levels, and lifestyle data [UP076]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 6:52

Debrief: 44:32

Rachel Sanders is the co-founder and CEO of Rootine.

Rootine was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2018 and creates custom daily vitamins based on your DNA, lifestyle, and blood level data.

Follow Rachel Sanders: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-soper-sanders/

Website: https://rootine.co/

Key Points:

The genius behind Rootine 8:53
Fads and the underlying truth 9:55
What makes Rootine? 11:52
Rootine personalizing your vitamins 16:53
Results with Rootine 20:20
Rootine earning as a business 21:14
Commercializing Rootine 26:51
Raising capital for Rootine 27:44
Data privacy and security 29:55
Rootine's Demographics 35:30
Distribution 37:40

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.

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Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more.

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.CLUB // exclusive rights to sell a generic top level domain name [UP075]

Jay Clouse & Eric Hornung — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 03:00:00 -0400

Interview begins: 7:12

Debrief: 48:41

Colin Campbell is the founder and chairman of.CLUB Domains, a domain registry that owns the generic top-level domain rights to .club domains.

Colin took two internet company's public in the heat of the 1990s and is a wealth of knowledge on all things internet.

Domains are released by ICANN irregularly with the last offering in 2012, and Colin was able to secure the rights to.CLUB.

.CLUB Domains was founded in 2011 and based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Follow Colin Campbell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinccampbell/

Website: https://names.club

Key Points:

Behind the scenes of internet infrastructure 15:19
What is ICANN 17:01
Buying Domains 20:20
Purchasing .CLUB 22:28
Investing in .CLUB 24:09
Distribution and Marketing 28:41
Registering new domain extension 38:07
Building relationships 40:34

–

This episode is sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, a full-service law firm known for assisting entrepreneurs across the Heartland.