Episode 337 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Gloria Hwang, Founder & CEO of Thousand. Gloria’s career has centered around mission oriented initiatives and companies. Starting at Habitat for Humanity… then to TOMS, which is the gold standard in terms of businesses with a social mission based on their One for One model. She joined the company in its early years and played several key roles while there. As the Founder of Thousand, a Public Benefit Corporation, Gloria named the company after an initial goal of saving 1,000 lives (which they have passed) by making a bike helmet that consumers will actually enjoy wearing. The inspiration for the company came from a tragic story of a coworker who passed away from a bike accident in NYC. When you think of it, it is a category that hasn’t really evolved in terms of style and functionality. What started out as a Kickstarter project… then fast forward to today, Thousand has brought a new level of style and innovation to a category that has been stagnant forever. And, it is working. The company continues to grow aggressively and has been expanding into other categories like the launch of its Thousand Jr. collection. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A deep discussion around building a company that is mission and community focused. * Gloria’s background story and her mentality as a builder that started as a child which was influenced by her father who started the robotics program for NASA. * Her experience at TOMS including playing a key role in building out their non-profit and giving programs and what it was like working closely with Blake Mycoskie. * The full lifecycle story of Thousand, including how she got started from designing the product to manufacturing to building a brand. * How they decided to expand their product line based on feedback from existing customers versus trying to build out new markets. * Starting the company with a bootstrapped mentality and how that helped the company over the long run. * And so much more.

Episode 336 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Julia Rodgers, Esq., CEO & Co-Founder of HelloPrenup, a platform that takes the awkwardness out of discussing and creating prenuptial agreements. This is the 3rd and final podcast interview from my live sessions at Suffolk University with 3 alums that being Don Bulens, Ernesto DiGiambattista, and Julia Rodgers. Some of the best entrepreneurs that I have interviewed for this podcast have either bootstrapped or raised a very, very minimal amount of capital to build their company in the early years. If you are successful with this approach, there are many benefits including the fact that you will have likely built a solid foundation for your business and if you do decide to raise capital to help fuel the growth, you’ll have a lot more control over the terms. As you’ll hear from this interview, Julia has raised only $150,000 total. She started working on HelloPrenup while working a fulltime job. This would involve working with the developer on the initial build of the product while also writing 1,200 word blog posts daily about prenups. This is a true foundational story of entrepreneurship and why I love doing this podcast. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Julia’s background story and her experience as an attorney in family law. * The industry trend that prompted her to start a business around prenups, a topic that has a history of being a taboo between couples. * All the details about HelloPrenup including how she met her co-founder, Sarabeth Jaffe. * A deep dive into their appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank and their successful investment from Kevin O’Leary and Nirav Tolia, the Founder of Nextdoor. * Why she hasn’t raised institutional venture capital funding to date. * How she has approached hiring for the team and found people who are passionate about their business. * Advice for female founders and the power of networking. * And so much more.

Episode 335 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ernesto DiGiambattista, entrepreneur and investor. This episode is the 2nd of three interviews that were recorded live at Suffolk University with Suffolk alums. Ernesto has a unique background that hits the trifecta of experience. He spent time in senior roles with larger enterprise corporations, then he founded a venture backed company called ZeroNorth which was acquired by Harness, and he’s now an investor in early stage startups as Managing Director of Genesis Accel. Thus, he was able to provide a very unique perspective, not only around building companies but we also talk about some of the inner-workings of the venture capital industry. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * The details behind EIEIO, which is the acronym that Ernesto uses for hiring, that being Energy, IQ/EQ, Experience, Integrity, and Organizational Fit. * Ernesto’s background story and how he got his career started in the tech industry and how he landed his role at Bank of America and then as an executive at Sentinel Benefits. * What led him down the path of entrepreneurship and how he recognized the market opportunity that turned into ZeroNorth and the full lifecycle story behind the company. * What Ernesto and his partner, Tom Meredith, are targeting for investments. * The importance of understanding the fund dynamics of a VC firm like their deployment requirements and other key factors. * Common pitch mistakes that he sees from founders and why you should show customer retention and revenue growth. * His view on customer success at a startup in the early stage and why it might be more important than sales. And so much more.

Episode #334 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Don Bulens, 5 time Startup CEO and Executive Chair at CloudZero. This episode was recorded live at Suffolk University which was so much fun! We recorded 3 interviews with Suffolk alums on April 2nd, so this is the first conversation and we’ll have two more coming in the following weeks. And just a side note about Suffolk, the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well at the school. I was blown away by how many students attended the sessions and how many came up to me afterward with great questions. Back to this episode... Don has had lots of success throughout his career including being the CEO at EqualLogic which exited to Dell for $1.4B in cash, which was the largest cash transaction of its time for a venture backed company… but what I admire about Don is his transparency about his failures. His first two CEO positions didn’t quite work out and he shares the details of this experience of getting knocked down and losing confidence, but how he got back at it and ultimately persevered. Today, Don is the Executive Chair at CloudZero, a venture backed cloud cost intelligence platform, which raised $41M last year in one of the most difficult markets to raise capital. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Why the success of a company is all about the people. * Don’s background story and how he got into sales, plus the importance of learning how to sell. * A journey down the tech industry across the companies he led as a CEO - that being Radnet, Trellix, EqualLogic, Unidesk, and CloudZero. * Don’s 3 secrets to success. * The story of the EqualLogic exit. * All the details about CloudZero and how they found product market fit. * Meeting his wife, Lynne Capozzi at Suffolk, who was the Chief Marketing Officer at Acquia. * And so much more.

Episode 333 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Geri Kirilova, Managing Partner at Laconia. From what I’ve seen, it is very rare for someone to start their career in venture and continue to progress up the ranks. Usually, an Associate or Senior Associate will do a rotation for 2-3 years and then move on to a portfolio company, maybe start a company, or do something else. For Geri, outside of a stop at Techstars, the path to venture capital started when she was at NYU as an intern for VC firms including Laconia. Fast forward to today, she is a Managing Partner at the firm and has been recognized by Forbes as a 30 Under 30 recipient. Laconia leads investments in pre-seed and seed stage B2B software companies with a focus around supporting founders in the early days in terms of sales acceleration, operational execution, and capital strategy. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Advice on building a career in venture capital. * Why she chose NYU and the details of her experience while in college as an operator. * A masterclass on how to build your network and lots of really useful tips on how to avoid the uneasy feeling that some people might have with networking at events. * How Laconia got started by David Arcara & Jeffrey Silverman, plus all the details on the firm. * Seed round funding benchmarks in the current market. * The unique due diligence process that Laconia runs which helps founders make potential customer introductions. * Details on Laconia’s internship and fellowship programs. * And so much more.

Episode 332 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ben Lerer, Managing Partner of Lerer Hippeau. The tech scene in New York City has come a very, very long way over the past 14 or 15 years. A lot of that transformation and growth was due to access to early-stage capital which wasn’t prevalent back then, but Lerer Hippeau was a key element to the foundation of its success as a seed stage investor. The firm was an early investor in many consumer brands that you recognize as they have all been very successful like Allbirds, Casper, Warby Parker, BuzzFeed, Mirror, Venmo, and many more. Its reputation was built on these consumer breakouts, but ultimately the firm is category agnostic investing equally across the enterprise and consumer landscapes. For example, take a look at two of their most recent investments, which are Boston companies, 10Beauty (consumer robotics for manicures) and Tollbit (content monetization in the era of AI), which we talk about in details for this podcast. Ben is now a fulltime VC after founding and running Thrillist that scaled and then added other digital media brands under its umbrella as Group Nine Media, which was acquired by Vox Media. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Ben’s thoughts on the market and if now is the ideal time to start a company. * The inspiration behind Thrillist, plus lots of stories and lessons learned around the full lifecycle and evolution of the company to Group Nine Media and acquisition by Vox. * Advice for entrepreneurs on building a startup media company in today’s world. * How Lerer Hippeau came to fruition and what they are targeting for investments, plus why he considers himself a talent driven investor versus a thesis driven investor. * And so much more.

Episode 331 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Rob Go, Co-Founder & Partner at NextView Ventures. I’ve been fortunate to have many people support my journey with building VentureFizz through the years and Rob was one of the earliest. Shortly after I launched the site, he reached out looking to meet up and needless to say, I jumped at the chance. Through the years, Rob has always been incredibly helpful with his feedback on VentureFizz when I needed an outside perspective. I thank him at the beginning of our show, but I did want to note a sincere “thank you” here as well. Rob’s also has a podcast that you should check out called The Idea Maze where he asks the question: where do great entrepreneurial ideas really come from? You can find it on all major podcast platforms, plus I have included a link to it in the show notes. NextView Ventures is a pre-seed and seed stage VC firm that invests in founders who want to redesign the Everyday Economy. The firm’s portfolio includes Bobbie, The Browser Company, Devoted Health, WHOOP, Attentive, and more. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * The five flavors of AI. * Rob’s background story including what he learned from his Dad’s entrepreneurial endeavors, getting his career started in management consulting, and then learning product at eBay. * How he landed a VC position at Spark Capital, plus a fun story about his almost investment into Groupon. * What led Rob and his Co-Founders, David Beisel and Lee Hower, down the path of starting a seed stage firm and what the seed investing landscape looked like back then. * What Rob is targeting for investments and the importance of founder-opportunity fit. * What he’s learned while running a venture firm. * And so much more. This Week's Sponsor This is exciting… for the “Hey Mom, I made it” category… we are in a book… not any old book… but a book from MIT! Be on the lookout for the new book for entrepreneurs called Startup Tactics. It is available globally starting on April 2nd and it features 15 tactics entrepreneurs need for success. You’ll find VentureFizz listed as a “tool of the trade” in the chapter on Hiring for Startups! Amazing!!! Get your copy now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org.

Episode 330 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Harman Singh Narula, Co-Founder & CEO of Canary Technologies. “Are these entrepreneurs uniquely qualified to build an industry leading company?” - this is one of the many questions that most (if not all) VCs ask themselves when deciding to make an investment into a company. When you look at Harman’s background, it is obvious that his “Founder Fit” is at a very high scale. As a graduate from Cornell’s esteemed hotel school, he built a foundation in an industry that was ripe for disruption, that being the hospitality industry. The guest experience is so mission critical, yet for years and years, hotels relied on old systems and the same old check-in process. Not anymore. Canary Technologies is modernizing the hotel tech stack with its end-to-end Guest Management Platform that digitizes everything from post-booking through checkout. The company works with more than 20,000 hoteliers in 80 countries and is venture-backed by Insight Partners, F-Prime Capital, Y Combinator, Thayer Ventures, Commerce Ventures, and others. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A conversation about the market for vertical SaaS solutions. * Harman’s background story and how he landed at Cornell to study Hotel Administration, plus how he got his career started including spending time in the strategy group at Starwood Hotels. * His long standing friendship with his Co-Founder, SJ Sawhney, and what led them down the path of starting Canary Technologies. * All the details about Canary, from their experience at Y Combinator to surviving the pandemic to the latest with the company & its platform, including their use of AI. * Outside of their domain experience, the key factors that influenced future rounds of capital. * And so much more.

Episode 329 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Pano Anthos, Founder & Managing Director of XRC Ventures. I always love it when things come full circle. I first met Pano back in, what I believe was 2008 when he was building Hangout Industries. I was running a recruiting firm at the time and I stopped into their offices to discuss some of their hiring plans. Hangout was early to market as the company’s technology in the metaverse lane was very impressive but not ready for adoption by consumers yet which apparently is still the case. It was great to come full circle years later to interview Pano for The VentureFizz Podcast and get up to speed on what he’s been up to in the startup circles. Inspired by a discussion with his wife about the retail industry, Pano went off to start XRC Ventures, a venture firm & startup accelerator investing in retail tech, consumer goods and the consumer healthtech sectors. The firm’s portfolio includes companies like Billie, ShopShops, Fillogic, and many more. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A conversation about anti-dilution protection and why that is an important term for entrepreneurs to understand. * How Pano got into entrepreneurship by starting a company in the global trade industry and how the early days of the internet impacted this sector. * Other companies that Pano has been involved in like Pantero, Hangout, and others. * Launching XRC Ventures and how the accelerator works, plus what makes it unique like not having a traditional cohort program. * The details on the firm’s Opportunity and Brand funds. * Thoughts on the Apple Vision Pro and spatial computing. * And so much more.

Episode #328 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ellen Chisa, Partner at boldstart ventures. Back in 2016, we wrote a profile about Ellen on VentureFizz when she was leading product management at Lola.com. The profile was part of a series that we called Driven, which I think is a very fitting word to describe Ellen… and ironically, the discussion around considering a role in venture capital actually came up. So, in my opinion, it was only a matter of time. From being part of the winning team in high school for the FIRST Robotics competition, to starting a company in college, to a career path in product management, to leading a company that was developing a new programming language… Ellen has built the perfect core foundation for a successful career as an investor. boldstart is a venture capital firm that is your partner from inception for developer first, infrastructure, & SaaS founders that looking to turn your idea into a category-creating iconic company. The firm’s portfolio includes companies like Snyk, Kustomer, BigID, Superhuman and many more. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A conversation about what makes a great product manager. * Ellen’s background including the story off taking some time of to build an EdTech startup with other classmates while in college at the Olin School of Engineering, * Working on early mobile initiatives at Microsoft, then joining Kickstarter as a Product Manager, and what led her to pursue her MBA at Harvard Business School. * Meeting serial entrepreneur, Paul English, and leading product at Lola.com, a travel app. * Developing a new programming language for her startup called Dark with Paul Biggar which allows companies to build software faster, plus what this experience taught her in terms of leading a company and getting adoption with the developer community. * The future of AI developed code. * How she landed in venture capital at boldstart including what she is targeting for investments and what has been her biggest surprise as a VC. * Startup pitch advice. * And so much more.

Episode #327 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Reed Sturtevant, General Partner at Engine Ventures. This is exciting! Why? Because this episode is longer than my normal interviews, as Reed and I cover his career that spans multiple decades across major technological platform shifts. This means that based on his career, he has so many great stories to share. It is like a historical walkthrough of the Boston tech scene. We even had to do two sessions, so if you are watching this video from our YouTube channel then you’ll notice the different sweaters that Reed is wearing. Today, Reed is a General Partner at Engine Ventures, a “tough tech” venture capital firm launched by MIT and trust me on this one, as you’ll want to stay tuned throughout the whole episode! Here is an outline of what we cover: * Reed’s background story, including graduating from high school at 15 years old, his experience as a factory worker and his studies at MIT. * Developing a program called Freelance Graphics at a startup that was acquired by Lotus and his experience there, which was twice the size of Microsoft at the time. * Co-Founding Radnet, which raised the largest venture round of its time in Boston. * Running company development in Boston for IdeaLab, Bill Gross’ internet incubator which spun out companies like Compete, Picasa and others. * Meeting Katie Rae at EONS, a startup founded by Jeff Taylor, and then running Microsoft Startup Labs. * Launching Project 11 Ventures with Katie and then running Techstar Boston together which included many successful companies like GrabCAD, PillPack, and others. * Founder conflict and how it can destroy a startup. * The details of Engine Ventures and what Reed is targeting for investments, plus portfolio company examples. * What it was like leading a course at MIT with Sir Tim Berners-Lee. * And so much more.