Dingman Bootstrapped artwork

Dingman Bootstrapped

63 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 50 ratings

The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business produces Bootstrapped, a podcast featuring founders, investors and serial entrepreneurs. While the podcast covers many aspects of startup life, the heart of the show focuses on funding from both the founder and investor perspectives, thus the name Bootstrapped. The podcast is hosted by Elana Fine, Managing Director of the Dingman Center, and Joe Bailey, Associate Research Professor at the Smith School. Each episode starts with trend stories from the hosts, moves onto an interview with a special guest then closes with a segment titled, "Kickstarter or Not?" Tune in to hear insights into startup life and venture creation.

Education Business innovation management startups stories technology business capital investing learning local
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Episodes

Lauren Foundos: FORTË Fights COVID by Bringing the Gym to You

June 09, 2020 04:00 - 27 minutes - 37.6 MB

This episode of Bootstrapped features UMD alumna Lauren Foundos ’06, a former Maryland varsity field hockey player, and Founder and CEO of FORTË. After years of working in the finance industry, Foundos left the stability of her well-paying job to start FORTË, a technology company that helps gyms and studios livestream their classes. An entrepreneur ahead of her time, Foundos came up with the idea for FORTË after inviting her clients to her daily gym workouts. As global lifestyles shifted a...

Oliver Schlake: Coping with COVID: How to Sustain a Business During Quarantine

May 14, 2020 04:00 - 27 minutes - 38 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped we discuss running a business in a post-COVID world with Oliver Schlake, Clinical Professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. With years of academic and professional research under his belt, Schlake is a dictionary for all things entrepreneurship. We dive deep into the pressing questions of our time, including adapting a venture to our changing economy and planning ahead for life after quarantine. In our conversation, we learn how entrepreneurs can p...

Harry Geller: How to be a Startup Millionaire: Lessons from a Serially Successful Entrepreneur

May 05, 2020 04:00 - 22 minutes - 31.3 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we sat down with our Entrepreneur-in-residence Harry Geller ’81, who has over forty years of experience as a serial entrepreneur, investor, and mentor. Geller shares invaluable insights and real-world advice from his experience turning his startup Global Mail into a 60 million dollar success. He also takes us through the startups and investments that followed, including running fine-dining establishments that turned into 10 million dollar businesses. Through ...

Aaron Epstein: The Y Combinator Effect: From Dorm Room Hustle to Thriving Business

April 21, 2020 04:00 - 31 minutes - 43 MB

This episode of Bootstrapped features the story of University of Maryland alumni entrepreneur Aaron Epstein ’03, founder of Creative Market. From small beginnings in his college dorm room, Epstein started Creative Market by creating a color-matching web-based service during the dot com boom. After graduating from UMD, he became a self-taught developer and designer to turn his website into an app. Through eventual partnerships with his Co-Founder and collaborations with Y Combinator in Silico...

Mary Schulman: PYT Beauty: Building a Beauty Brand Without the BS

March 24, 2020 04:00 - 25 minutes - 34.9 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we talk PYT -- not the Michael Jackson song, but rather the clean beauty brand. Maryland Smith alumna Mary Schulman ’97 discusses her entrepreneur journey as the founder and CEO of PYT Beauty, a makeup brand that offers beauty without the BS, that is, without the harsh chemicals contained in beauty products that can be toxic to the skin. Prior to PYT, Schulman founded a Natural snack company called Snikiddy Snacks in 2006. The company gained the attention of ...

Amanda Nachman: Growing College Magazine from a Student Project to Nationwide Publication

February 25, 2020 05:00 - 27 minutes - 38.1 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we dive into the story of Amanda Nachman ’07, founder and CEO of College Magazine. A QUEST Honors Program alumna and English major, Nachman began her venture with an idea that she submitted for a business project. Nachman envisioned a trusted guide on how to navigate college, an idea that ultimately became College Magazine. In 2007, Nachman launched the print publication at the University of Maryland and structured her company through an ad-revenue model. She...

Sahil Rahman: From Finance to Fast-Casual: Building a Restaurant Chain

January 28, 2020 05:00 - 30 minutes - 42.2 MB

This episode of Bootstrapped follows the story of QUEST alumnus Sahil Rahman ’12, co-Founder of RASA, an Indian Fast Casual restaurant located in Washington, D.C. Equipped with a bachelor’s degree in Operations and Supply Chain Management, Rahman launched his career as a Business Analyst for Deloitte. Then, in 2014, he and his childhood best friend, fellow UMD Alum, Rahul Vinod ’11, followed the footsteps of their restaurateur fathers and started RASA. The duos vision for delivering traditio...

Lauren Filocco: Setting the Barre High: Building an Exercise Studio

December 17, 2019 05:00 - 29 minutes - 41.4 MB

This episode of Bootstrapped features University of Maryland alumna Lauren Filocco '12, Founder of OpenBarre in College Park. Filocco’s background in supply chain and operations management from the University of Maryland landed her positions at McCormick & Company and Amazon. A few years into her corporate career, Filocco became obsessed with taking Barre classes. After spending 10 hours a week in the studio, she had the wild idea of opening up a studio of her own in College Park, Maryland. ...

Sergio Malarin: Building a Kombucha Brand with Mobtown Fermentation

November 19, 2019 05:00 - 36 minutes - 50.5 MB

Kombucha may be sour, but to our guest entrepreneur it's a sweet business opportunity. On this episode we interviewed Sergio Malarin ’13, Co-Founder of Mobtown Fermentation, the brewery behind Wild Kombucha. A University of Maryland alumnus with a major in history, Malarin worked for a time as a manager at Thompson Creek Window Company but found his calling as an entrepreneur after his brother perfected a home recipe for kombucha. Malarin reveals how he used supply chain and community engage...

Ori Zohar: Serial Entrepreneur Turns Struggle to Scalable Spices

October 08, 2019 03:30 - 47 minutes - 43.7 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed serial entrepreneur Ori Zohar ’07, co-founder of spice company Burlap & Barrel. A University of Maryland alumnus who majored in Marketing and participated in the QUEST Honors Program, Zohar speaks on the struggles and triumphs of his entrepreneurial experiences, beginning with his very first venture: selling cap and gowns while he was a student at UMD. Zohar defines two entrepreneur archetypes and outlines his career journey as “The Operator” ...

Andy Shallal: Turning Passion for Politics Into a Thriving Business

September 10, 2019 04:00 - 33 minutes - 46.7 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed Andy Shallal, MBA ’19, founder and CEO of Busboys and Poets. Shallal founded the iconic restaurant chain in 2005, where it started from a restaurant/events venue/coffee shop/bar/bookstore in D.C. and expanded to eight locations today across the DMV. After years of operating his business, Shallal returned to school through Maryland Smith’s Executive MBA program, where he acquired newfound tools to help his empire soar. Shallal sits down with the...

Pramod Raheja: An Airline Pilot Turned Entrepreneur

April 24, 2019 04:00 - 20 minutes - 23.1 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed University of Maryland alumnus Pramod Raheja '91, co-founder and CEO of Airgility and mystaffNOW. Since graduating from Maryland, Pramod navigated a split career as an Airline Captain for United Airlines and also as a serial entrepreneur. Now as the CEO of Airgility, Pramod has been able to leverage his experience as an entrepreneur and as an alumnus at UMD to bring his passion for aerospace engineering to life. On this episode, Pramod shares h...

Zeki Mokhtarzada: From Brothers to Co-Founders: Building Businesses with Family

April 02, 2019 04:00 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed University of Maryland alumnus Zeki Mokhtarzada '00, co-founder of TrueBill and formerly of Webs. After graduating from Maryland, Zeki was ready for a life of entrepreneurship and he knew exactly where to find co-founders.  Alongside his brothers, Zeki co-founded Webs, one of the earliest free web hosts. Together, Zeki and his brothers led Webs to an acquisition to Vistaprint in 2011, and they’ve since gone on to found TrueBill, a company dedic...

Bill Boyle: From Founder to Funder: An Entrepreneur’s Transition to Investing

March 12, 2019 04:00 - 22 minutes - 21.2 MB

On the season 6 premiere of Bootstrapped, host Joe Bailey and new co-host Holly DeArmond, MBA '17, managing director of the Dingman Center, interviewed University of Maryland alumnus Bill Boyle ’81. Bill is the founder of FiberGate, Inc, chairman of the Dingman Center’s Board of Advisors and an active member of the Dingman Center Angels. From Fiber Optics to the funding table, Bill Boyle has leveraged his experience building and running his own venture into a successful career as an angel in...

Aurora Tights: Building Diversity, Inclusion and Empowerment into your Brand Identity

January 15, 2019 04:59 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed current University of Maryland student Jasmine Snead ’19 and alumna Imani Rickerby ’17, co-founders of 2019 Pitch Dingman Competition finalist startup Aurora Tights. As both women of color and figure skaters, Jasmine and Imani struggled to find tights that matched their skin tone, and saw their performance and confidence suffer as a result. To solve this problem, in college they started Aurora Tights, an athletic brand that designs performance ...

Santana Moss: From Touchdowns to Startups: Lessons on Success, Failure, and Investing from an NFL Star

December 19, 2018 04:59 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed Radio & Television host Santana Moss. Moss played in the NFL for fourteen seasons. As the first-round pick in the 2001 NFL draft, Santana knew that he was going to need to take proactive measures to maintain his newly acquired wealth. Santana adopted a live and learn approach to entrepreneurship and began investing in real estate and other small businesses. All with varying degrees of success. From his early missteps, he gradually learned what...

Jay Sunny Bajaj: Flipping the Mental Switch from Entrepreneur to CEO

November 14, 2018 04:59 - 31 minutes - 42.9 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed alumnus Jay Sunny Bajaj ’99, the Founder and CEO of DMI and a Robert H. Smith School of Business advisory board member. Growing up with two entrepreneurs as parents, Sunny knew he was going to have his own business one day. Now, Sunny operates a $350 million company that offers comprehensive digital solutions to federal and commercial markets. On this episode, Sunny discusses how he stayed close to innovation to win contracts in the federal mar...

Charlene Brown: From Doctor to Entrepreneur: Launching a Recruiting Service for Caregivers

November 13, 2018 20:44 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MB

Listen to Dr. Charlene Brown’s story of starting CareGiver Jobs Now (formerly Reciprocare Jobs), a recruiting platform to help caregivers find jobs in the healthcare industry. She shares the challenges of balancing a two-sided market and navigating product market fit.

Stephen Steinberg: Bootstrapping a Green Cleaning Solution for Smelly Sports Gear

September 25, 2018 04:01 - 28 minutes - 26 MB

As a student hockey player at University of Maryland, startup founder Stephen Steinberg developed a powerful yet safe-on-skin cleaning solution for his smelly sports gear. Learn how he bootstrapped his company, Raw Athletics, which sells green cleaning products to gyms, athletic teams and consumers all over the country.

Daniel Sugarman: Lessons on Ecommerce and Pivoting from a Y Combinator Alumnus

May 15, 2018 13:34 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed UMD alumnus and co-founder and CEO of Zentail Daniel Sugarman ’10. Daniel and his co-founder, Daniel Sperling-Horowitz, first launched a business called HD Trade Services that used technology to decrease fraud in international trading. After entering Y Combinator, they ultimately realized their business model was not sustainable, pivoted, and renamed themselves Zentail to offer their strong automation and data analytics software to retailers. ...

Scott Nash: Going Green: Bolstering Your Brand With Social Activism

May 01, 2018 04:00 - 27 minutes - 37.6 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed founder and owner of MOM’s Organic Market Scott Nash. Scott started MOM’s Organic Market in 1987, selling produce out of his mother’s garage and using his sister’s Chevy Malibu to deliver grocery orders at night. Today, Scott has grown MOM’s Organic Market to a point where it has stores in four states and Washington D.C., employs more than 1,000 people and has a dedicated following of customers committed to its purpose of protecting and r...

Oscar Zeballos: From Broadcasting to Podcasting: How to Leverage Unfair Advantages

April 17, 2018 14:04 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, our executive producer switched to the special guest chair as we interviewed UMD alumnus Oscar Zeballos EMBA ’16, co-founder of Podcast Village and executive producer of Bootstrapped. Often, podcasters have a difficult time nailing every aspect of their show as they don’t always have the resources or know-how. To resolve this pain point, Oscar created Podcast Village to provide a turnkey solution for podcasters to collaborate and create their video or audio ...

Jon Chapman: From Bootstrapped to Series D in Seven Years with EverFi

April 03, 2018 04:00 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed alumnus Jon Chapman MBA '07, Co-Founder and President of EverFi, a leading EdTech company. Jon and his co-founders launched EverFi during the recession of 2008, when they identified an opportunity to teach young adults critical skills such as financial literacy through a gamified educational platform. EverFi’s strategy allows private sector entities ranging from banks like BB&T to professional sports leagues like the NHL and NFL to private labe...

Melissa Bradley: Applying a Business First Approach to Social Venture

March 16, 2018 14:54 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MB

Entrepreneurship can be overwhelming. Social entrepreneurship, more so! In this episode, Melissa Bradley explains the nuances of social entrepreneurship and how social entrepreneurs can make the impact they set out to make.

Eddie Inlow: Managing Public-Private Partnerships as an Entrepreneur

March 06, 2018 14:24 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed UMD alumnus Eddie Inlow MBA ’09, founder and CEO of Shift Transit. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Eddie had extensive experience in strategy and operations, having worked on the leadership team at Under Armour and consulting for Best Buy and Ross Stores. Eddie’s first exposure to the bike share industry was when he worked for Atla Bicycle Share as the General Manager of the Chicago program in 2013, and he later transitioned into the role of...

Pam Rothenberg/Chris Finlay: Developing a Sustainable Social Venture

February 22, 2018 05:00 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed Pam Rothenberg, partner at Womble Bond Dickinson and member of the Dingman Center Board of Advisors, and Chris Finlay, Founder and Chairman of Shelters to Shutters and the founder and principal of Middleburg Real Estate Partners, a multifamily real estate development company. Pam became an intrapreneur within her law firm by founding the firm’s Impact Business whose mission is to “Power Commerce in the Impact Economy.” Through the Impact Busine...

Legends of Learning: Gaming For Grades: Finding Success as Founders and Funders

February 06, 2018 05:00 - 31 minutes - 29.4 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed former Dingman Center Angels and co-founders of Legends of Learning, Josh Goldberg ’03 and Vadim Polikov. In 2008, Josh and Vadim launched their first business, Astrum Solar, and together successfully anticipated trends in the market and grew the company until its acquisition by Direct Energy in 2014. Utilizing their background as founders, they then launched the Panther Angels with the aim to invest in and mentor Baltimore and D.C. area entrep...

Hillary Berman: Maximizing Your Marketing on a Startup Budget

December 18, 2017 15:50 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed Hillary Berman, a Smith School MBA alumna and the founder of Popcorn & Ice Cream, a marketing and consulting firm designed to cater to the needs and budgets of small businesses and startups. Hillary encourages her clients to see their business in the eyes of their customer, then builds them a customized marketing strategy that both attracts customers and meets measured goals and objectives. After six years in business, in 2016 she published Cus...

Jason Gates: Waste Not Want Not: The Importance of Adaptability

December 12, 2017 05:00 - 32 minutes - 29.3 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed UMD alumnus and co-Founder and CEO of Compology, Jason Gates. Compology provides the only image-based container monitoring hardware and software that allows for increased revenue generation, efficiency, transparency and sustainability across the waste and recycling industries. Compology streamlines the waste and recycling collection process for waste haulers, generators and regulators. The idea for Compology started in 2012 when Jason thought t...

Paul Capriolo: Monetizing the Social Gaming Industry

November 30, 2017 05:00 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MB

On this episode of Dingman Bootstrapped, we interviewed UMD alumnus and serial entrepreneur, Paul Capriolo. Throughout his career, Paul founded and led a multitude of technology startups to successful acquisitions. In 2009, Paul noticed the explosive growth in the social gaming industry and the lack of a monetization method to capitalize on its user base. Paul started Social Growth Technologies to serve as a flexible platform that allows companies to monetize the social gaming market through...

Jignesh Shah: Guts, Grit and Gifts - Finding a Niche in Digital Marketing

November 14, 2017 05:00 - 31 minutes - 29.3 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed University of Maryland alumnus and co-founder & CEO of Rybbon, Jignesh Shah. At his previous position as CMO at Metalogix, Jignesh experienced frustration with the outdated physical gift-giving model; marketing was shifting to digital platforms such as email and social media, and sending a physical gift card in the mail was too slow and cumbersome. So, Jignesh founded Rybbon to streamline the digital gifting process and to serve as the digital...

Jennifer Lee-Harrison: Building Your Own Luck as an Entrepreneur

October 31, 2017 13:07 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed Jennifer Lee-Harrison, a Smith School MBA alumna and the founder of Perfect Hair International. Jennifer spent 16 years working in corporate America before she was struck with entrepreneurial inspiration. As Senior Director of Marketing and Advertising at Choice Hotels, she was encouraged to complete an MBA to pursue a position as Vice President of Marketing at the company. During her entrepreneurship class, Jennifer got the idea to disrupt the...

John Czupak: A Serial Entrepreneur’s Adventures in Cybersecurity

October 17, 2017 04:00 - 38 minutes - 35.2 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed UMD alumnus, serial entrepreneur and President and CEO of ThreatQuotient, John Czupak. Before ThreatQuotient, John worked at Sourcefire in a variety of roles from 2002 to 2013, until he ultimately engineered a $2.7 billion acquisition with Cisco, the 3rd largest pure play cybersecurity acquisition ever. In this episode, John discusses the approach, mindset and key factors that cybersecurity startups must implement to be successful in a compet...

Gary Swart: Seasoned CEO Turned Silicon Valley Investor

October 03, 2017 04:00 - 36 minutes - 50.4 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed venture capitalist and UMD alumnus Gary Swart. Gary operates out of Silicon Valley as a general partner at Polaris Partners, a Boston VC firm that invests in technology and healthcare companies. Prior to his role at Polaris Partners, Gary was CEO of oDesk, a job-search platform that aimed to be the number one destination for job-seekers looking to work remotely. During his eight-year stint as CEO, Gary gained keen insights on customer acquisit...

Kathryn Stewart: A Personalized Approach to Investing

September 19, 2017 04:00 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed Kathryn Stewart, an investor in private and public equity and a member of the Dingman Center Angels and Board of Advisors. After spending 10 years working as a partner at Alex.Brown covering healthcare and technology, Kathryn wanted to give back and help others by creating jobs, so she started to invest in companies that utilized technology in order to make an impact. In this episode, Kathryn discusses her personalized approach to how she inve...

Mark Olcott: Streamlining Customer Experiences and Saving Pet Lives

September 05, 2017 04:00 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed veterinarian Dr. Mark Olcott, co-founder and CEO of VitusVet. After losing a pet patient because he couldn’t access their medical records on a weekend, Mark started VitusVet to electronically connect pet parents and their care providers to improve the health and safety of all pets. VitusVet capitalizes on the two-sided market of the vet industry by creating a platform that streamlines the customer service experience, keeping pet parents happy a...

Dale Pfeifer: Getting Social Media Users to Give Back

May 11, 2017 21:56 - 35 minutes - 33 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed academic turned founder, Dale Nirvani Pfeifer. Less than 4 years ago, when Dale recognized there was a need to bring philanthropic giving to the next generation, she started Goodworld. The company allows non-profits to receive donations through hashtags and shares on social media sites. Dale's first VC pitch was brutal but it taught her to think bigger about her potential market reach. After raising nearly $3 million in VC funding, Goodworld ha...

Jason Cohen: The Ins & Outs of Food Startups

April 26, 2017 19:58 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MB

In this episode of Bootstrapped, we spoke with serial entrepreneur and CEO of Halen Brands, Jason Cohen. Cohen walks through his journey from being unable to pay his phone bill to selling 5 companies worth over $500 million, including brands like Sensible Portion Veggie Straws and SkinnyPop, the two fastest growing “better for you” snacks known today. Dubbed as the 'club king' of packaged foods, Jason highlights the importance of targeting high quantity distribution channels such as Costco t...

Brian Taff: How to Navigate Disruptions in Retail

April 13, 2017 16:40 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we spoke with Brian Taff, serial entrepreneur and President of Streetsense, an experience-focused strategy and design collective. Brian talks about the changing face of retail and the need to create a personalized experience for customers. The goal of brand marketers is no longer about authenticity as people see right through that, Brian claims; it's about making the brand approachable and meeting customers' expectations. Brian discusses how to get customers ...

Domonique Foxworth: Investment Criteria from an NFL Cornerback Turned Angel Investor

March 31, 2017 13:49 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we spoke with former NFL Cornerback and former NFL Players Association President Domonique Foxworth. After seven years in the NFL, two of which he served as NFLPA President, Foxworth pursued his MBA at Harvard Business School. While enrolled at Havard Business School, Foxworth discusses how he went from investing in bonds to investing in startups. When evaluating whether to invest in an entrepreneur, he cites soft skills as key to the decision-making process....

Matt Furstenburg & Chanda Arya: Finding Funding and the Unlikely Customers

March 13, 2017 23:58 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we talk football with Grip Boost founders Matt Furstenburg and Chanda Arya. As a former NFL player, Matt was familiar with the shortcomings of football gloves. After receiving half a million dollars in seed funding through organizations such as TEDCO and VOLT, the founders iterated for almost 2 years. With NFL's enormous budget, they appeared the segment to target. Instead, Matt focused on the less famous segment of sports teams—high school athletics, which m...

Ursula Mead: Finding a Niche in a Crowded Market

March 01, 2017 14:47 - 31 minutes - 29 MB

In this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed Ursula Mead, founder of InHerSight.com. The website easily appealed to users eager to rate their experience as a female employee. Unlike other job sites, InHerSight.com gathers data on the female perspective and became a prime location for companies looking to recruit women. Ursula monetized her company by selling data insights back to the companies rated on her site. Now three years old, InHerSight.com has over 170,000 users and 30,000 compani...

Elise Whang: Making Customer Acquisition an Easy Sell

February 10, 2017 04:15 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MB

In this episode of Bootstrapped, we interview Elise Whang, CEO and Co-Founder of SNOBSWAP. As an avid consignment shopper, Elise got the idea for SNOBSWAP while working late hours as an attorney unable to access second-hand finds online. With brick & mortar only consignment stores losing approximately 30% of their potential revenue, Elise found an 'in' to this traditionally winner-take-all market. Supply-side customer acquisition was as straightforward as googling "best consignment stores in...

Bob London: Not Getting Customers? Try Asking Why.

January 30, 2017 19:00 - 32 minutes - 30 MB

In this episode of Bootstrapped, the Dingman Center's Entrepreneur-in-Residence and 1776 Startup Mentor Bob London discusses marketing. During a time when there is a constant 'war for customer’s attention,' London advocates for listening. If your start-up is not getting customers, try asking someone, "what would make you a customer for life?" Starting with a customer’s 'elevator rants' or complaints about a product or service makes for a solid foundation for a new enterprise. 

Glen Hellman: Nervous About Your Elevator Pitch? Don't Sweat It.

December 13, 2016 03:49 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MB

Imagine you are in front of a venture capitalist, what are you going to say that will convince them to invest in your start-up? In this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed Terp alum and executive coach Glen Hellman. Serving as founder, mentor and venture partner for multiple organizations, Glen knows a lot about getting funding. Glen explains that using story-telling to engage the reptilian brain in your audience helps move people toward action and increases your chances of wooing invest...

Aviva Goldfarb: How to Monetize When Everything is Free

December 05, 2016 15:00 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MB

On this week's episode of Bootstrapped, we talked with Aviva Goldfarb, founder of the Six O'Clock Scramble. This online meal planner offers busy parents health-conscious solutions for the daily scramble of cooking a family dinner. Aviva admits "my biggest competitor is free." Aviva monetized her idea through a membership model, offering dietitian-approved recipes that can be made quickly, along with a mobile grocery list. By requiring customers to submit a credit card to activate their free ...

Brad Sayler: Computer Science Background Not Required

November 17, 2016 12:41 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MB

In this episode of Bootstrapped, we spoke with Brad Sayler, co-founder & CFO/COO of Spotluck. The app is an asset for both restaurateurs and foodies alike offering up discounts to customers while driving foot traffic to restaurants. One might ask-- how did a lawyer get into app development? Brad says, "you don't need to have a computer science degree" to get your product going. He stresses the importance of separating form from function when developing prototypes. He turned to knowledgeable ...

Ann Yang & Phil Wong: Social Venture MISFIT Juicery on Leveraging Your Social Capital

November 04, 2016 19:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MB

Ann Yang and Phil Wong, the co-founders of MISFIT Juicery, started their cold-pressed juice company in their dorm room at Georgetown University with a hundred pounds of peaches and a borrowed blender. A social venture, MISFIT transforms "ugly" fruits and vegetables into visually appealing, delicious juice that disguises its "misfit" origins while combating food waste. Through bootstrapping and a scrappy willingness to ask for help when they needed it, they managed to grow MISFIT into one of ...

Micha Weinblatt: From T-shirts to Crowdsourcing: Launching Two Very Different Ventures

November 01, 2016 16:00 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MB

Micha Weinblatt founded his first company, Crooked Monkey, in college at a bar. While sitting at legendary bar Cornerstone, just off campus from the University of Maryland, Micha considered how the traditional college t-shirt could be re-fashioned. Like any true entrepreneur, he started a company that produced cool, graphic t-shirts and called it Crooked Monkey. The shirts are now sold at Bloomingdale's, Urban Outfitters and other chic retailers. Seven years into the venture, Micha got what ...

Andrew Sherman: Understanding Equity: What Entrepreneurs Should Know

October 24, 2016 17:44 - 30 minutes - 28 MB

Whether you are the sole founder or co-founder of a start-up, equity can play a major role in the growth and direction of your company. Andrew Sherman, Partner at the Seyfarth Shaw law firm, began his career with a successful start-up in aerobic tennis. Today, he advises entrepreneurs on the brass tacks of drafting stock options, exit strategies and aligning managerial responsibilities with equity. Accustom to asking hardball questions like, how to value sweat equity, what are the income nee...