Startup Life Show with Ande Lyons
289 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 months ago - ★★★★★ - 81 ratingsAre you curious about how a business is born – why someone was compelled to leave a paycheck and benefits behind to head off into the wild blue yonder, without a safety net, navigating high levels of uncertainty, and risking financial ruin?
Entrepreneurship is an adventure, and you will love hearing these phenomenal founders share their nail-biting moments and their uplifting wins – often occurring within hours of each other in any given day!
As a 4x Founder I easily resonate with each guest's uniqe startup story and am able to bring to light the vulnerable moments from their founder journey.
On the Startup Life Show you’ll find inspiration for navigating your best life through the fascinating stories of Diverse Founders who fought through obstacles and bias to change the world with their beautiful social impact businesses.
Tap the link to your favorite podcast platform and get ready to hear an awe*mazing adventure that will leave you feeling exhilarated and empowered.
Waving from Boston - cheers!
Ande Lyons
Producer + Host of the Startup Life Show
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Episodes
Helping Founders Successfully Scale Their Startup
June 26, 2023 15:41 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBWhether you're a tech founder or a non-tech founder, you need help to successfully scale a startup. Our guest, Software Engineer turned “The Mary Poppins of Startups”, Naily Makangu, is passionate about bringing her multi-faceted toolkit to lead complex software projects and launch products. With over ten years of experience, she has a proven track record of turning around struggling technical projects and organizations, from seed startups to large corporations such as Siemens Industry Softwa...
EP 288 Building the Best All-in-One SaaS Solution for Mentoring, Connectivity & Skills Development
June 13, 2023 20:29 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBFostering connection among employees and company leaders is hard enough to do within brick and mortar walls. Building company culture and forging employee relationships without the four walls is a challenge many companies are failing at today. Our guest, Dave Wilkin, is an award-winning serial LGBTQ+ entrepreneur who grew up in a small, rural town, and experienced firsthand that mentors and meaningful connections were critical to accessing career-progressing and skills development opportuni...
EP 287 A Digital Health Platform Expanding Access to Peer Support and Group Therapy
June 09, 2023 19:09 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBYou are not built to do life alone. But how do you get the real support you need to navigate the real life events you’re sailing through? This delicious conversation on the Startup Life Show is with Tamar Blue - the fab female co-founder of MentalHappy – an online health platform that provides access to peer support and group therapy, especially for people of low-income, underrepresented populations, and people living in rural areas. What I especially loved about this conversation was how ...
EP 286 Understanding and Solving Funding Inequities in the VC Industry
May 30, 2023 18:29 - 55 minutes - 50.7 MBLess than 2% of Venture Capital funds go to Women and Minority Owned Businesses. Our guest, Professor Banu Ozkazanc-Pan, is the Founder and Director of the Venture Capital Inclusion Lab at the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship at Brown University. With $260,000 in funding from the Kauffman Foundation, Banu launched the lab to investigate WHY this abysmal under 2% number exists and find ways to solve it. During our delicious conversation we dove deep into the data pool to learn what Banu a...
EP 285 How She Built a Direct Sales Wellness Drink Empire, One Sip at a Time
May 26, 2023 18:14 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBOur guest, Tonia Jahshan, was recovering from a difficult time in her life when she had her first cup of tea… and it was love at first sip. You will be inspired by her startup story and will love hearing how she built her direct sales wellness drink empire to extraordinary heights, by building a thriving, committed community, one sip at a time. Tonia is the founder of Sipology, a multi-million dollar direct sales company selling wellness drinks and accessories. Tonya founded Sipology after...
EP 284 Addressing Food Insecurity by Growing Healthy Food, People & Communities
May 23, 2023 18:08 - 55 minutes - 51.2 MBVeleké Brown is dedicated to addressing food insecurity through a program focused on ensuring access to fresh produce for those in underrepresented communities and creating systems of sustainable agriculture. It's called Operation No Food Gap, and it's changing lives through learning how to grow and harvest and eat fresh produce, while ending food insecurity in marginalized neighborhoods. Veleké dives deep into her decades experience as the non-profit founder of E-Roadmap, a 501c3 nonprofit...
EP 283 How to Successfully Bootstrap your Startup Business
May 16, 2023 18:56 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBBootstrapping is how many newly minted founders launch their startup. Using their own savings and borrowing capability to get their business off the ground. However, lack of funding can cause a founder to freeze, to get caught in a mindset chokehold that prevents them from moving forward... from seeing solutions. How do you get unstuck? Our guest, Tiana Sanchez, is the queen of dissolving mindset blocks that keep folks from achieving their dreams. AND… she shares outstanding advice and ...
EP 282 How Startups Can Leverage ChatGPT to Drive Growth and Innovation
May 12, 2023 17:51 - 48 minutes - 44.1 MBEveryone’s chatting about ChatGPT, but how does one successfully leverage this AI to grow a startup? Without increasing the work load, distracting your engineers, disrupting the work flow and causing headaches for founders? Our guest, Shanif Dhanani, is here to help! He’s the founder of Locusive, where he and his team help businesses understand and build systems that connect their internal and proprietary systems to ChatGPT, enabling internal employees, customers, and other stakeholders to...
EP 281 An Eco-Conscious Micro-Mobility Company Focused on Safety and Equity
May 09, 2023 17:47 - 56 minutes - 52 MBIt takes a considerable amount of courage, purpose, resilence and tenacity to bring a Micro Mobility (scooter-bike!) startup to life! With an entrepreneurial spirit that was evident from a young age, our guest – Emil Nnani - took the business world by storm when he launched his first venture at just 17 years old. His tenacity and vision led him to achieve his first million in sales by the age of 22. A serial and seasoned entrepreneur, Emil takes us on a wonderful journey through his earlier...
EP 280 Attract Business Partners, Investors, and Talent with Your LinkedIn Profile
April 28, 2023 17:56 - 1 hour - 55.1 MBLeveraging LinkedIn as a Startup Founder is a different strategy than when you were an employee. You need to build your authority as the leader of your new business, while appealing to potential investors, business partners and talent. Our guest, Donna Serdula, is a leading authority on LinkedIn profile optimization. As the founder and president of Vision Board Media, a professional branding company, Donna helps individuals and companies tell their unique stories on LinkedIn and beyond. Vi...
EP 279 What Founders Need to Know About Building Effective Startup Boards
April 25, 2023 21:02 - 1 hour - 62.9 MBKnowing when to form and build a Board of Directors is a challenge for many startup founders. Once the Board is formed, how to manage and communicate with the Board presents an additional burden on founders. Our guest, Mahendra Ramsinghani, co-authored Startup Boards: Getting the Most of Your Board of Directors with Brad Feld, and has all the insights and advice you need to skillfully navigate this important segment of your startup’s structure. Currently, Mahendra is the Founder of Secure ...
EP 278 A Shipping Partner for Fulfillment Services, Education, and Guidance
April 21, 2023 17:45 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBWith 20+ years working for the post office, our guest had a dream to one day own her own postal store with the ability to individualize customer service and provide guidance. In the spring of 2019 that dream came true when Tiffany Townsend founded Ship Black, a logistics super center focused on serving black owned e-commerce businesses. Ship Black is a one-stop-shop for startup businesses. It provides fulfillment services, education, and guidance in the customer service realm to elevate its...
EP 277 An AI Solution that Makes Social Media Work for Your Business
April 18, 2023 17:30 - 57 minutes - 52.7 MBSocial media strategies often leave you feeling like you're working for the social media platforms. Our guest and his team built an AI solution that helps make social media actually work for you and your business. Rhys Ryan, is the Co-Founder, CEO and Chief Engineer of Ekkobar, an AI solution giving you control over social media and the narrative you want to tell. Ekkobar uses social listening to keep an eye on the conversation and lets you know if anything needs immediate attention. There’...
EP 276 A Fashionable Safety Jewelry and Accessories Technology Keeping Women Safe
April 14, 2023 19:49 - 1 hour - 68.6 MBApril is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Our guest, Rajia Abdelaziz, is the Co-Founder and CEO of invisaWear, the best safety jewelry and fashion accessories technology on the market. From her own personal experience, Rajia understands how important it is to feel safe. She was walking to her car after an event at college, when a car full of guys pulled up next to her, yelling frightening comments at her, and when one of the guys started to get out to take action, Rajia was a...
EP 275 Connecting Professional Women to Personalized Experts and Resources
April 04, 2023 17:34 - 1 hour - 60.7 MBTo be their best selves, both professionally and personally, women need time in a welcoming space and place. Our guest, Shubhi Rao, spent years as a senior executive at Fortune 100 companies and understands how important women-centric spaces are for professional and personal growth. That’s why she launched Uplevyl, a global digital platform designed to transform the lives of all professional women through shared experiences, peer connections, and highly curated, personalized content. A sof...
EP 274 A Tech Mentorship and Recruiting Platform for the Under-Networked
March 31, 2023 19:39 - 59 minutes - 54 MBHaving a Mentor is an essential part of career growth, especially for the under-networked tech worker. Our guest, Kirk Fernandes, is the Co-Founder of Merit, a tech mentorship and recruiting platform for the under-networked. Merits mission is to democratize the professional network by giving every knowledge worker in the world a world class network. With 6,000 members, the majority of which are women and people of color, Merit is is self funded by its community and team. Kirk has a deca...
EP 273 How to Best Bootstrap Your Startup Before Raising Capital
March 28, 2023 18:04 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBBootstrapping your startup without relying on raising capital and loans is an ideal strategy, especially given the current investor and banking landscape. Our guest, Melissa Widner, has the best advice to help you launch and build your startup, without raising capital. She’s the CEO of Lighter Capital, the pioneer and leader in revenue-based financing for tech startups, founders, and companies. Previously, Melissa was the Managing Director of NAB Ventures, the VC arm of the National Austr...
EP 272 Curbside EV Charging Specifically Built for Cities
March 21, 2023 18:48 - 1 hour - 56.6 MB40 million drivers can't transition to electric vehicles without an affordable and convenient EV charging infrastructure. Increasing access to affordable public charging not only encourages the adoption of EVs, but leads to cleaner air and healthier communities. Our guest, Tiya Gordon, is Co-Founder and COO of itselectric, a cleantech startup bringing EV charging to the millions of drivers who cannot charge at home as they park their cars on city streets. itselectric does this by overcomin...
EP 271 A Unique Blend of Virtual Reality and DEI Training to Address Implicit Bias
March 17, 2023 17:45 - 59 minutes - 54.3 MBWhen people are given the opportunity to take someone else’s point of view - walk a mile in someone else’s shoes - bias against stigmatized groups is reduced. Our guest, Aubrey Grant, MD, is the Co-Founder and Chief Equity Officer of Equity Commons, where he and the team are integrating a unique blend of cross-disciplinary research, cutting edge technology, and established discussion-based learning to bring organizations highly effective and engaging approaches to address the complexities of...
EP 270 A Black Owned Handcrafted Artisanal Liqueur Brand
March 14, 2023 19:40 - 1 hour - 58.2 MBHe had zero experience in the liquor industry. He didn’t have a background as a food scientist. He knew no one, had no connections, and had never worked in a bar, restaurant, or distillery. What our guest, Jackie Summers, did have was an abundance of audacity, passion, and the ideal Mentor, who helped him quickly build the social capital and liquor industry knowledge he needed to launch a liqueur brand from Brooklyn, NY! After 623 failed attempts, Jackie was able to create the first-ever sh...
EP 269 First Self-Cleaning Commercial Air Purifier
March 10, 2023 19:01 - 53 minutes - 48.9 MBInnovation is often inspired by biomimicry - the design and production of materials modeled on biological entities. Our guest, Sissi Liu, is passionate about solving complex societal problems with cutting-edge technology, and she was inspired by the metalmark butterfly for her innovative new product. After nearly 20 years in clean tech/sustainability, entrepreneurship, and venture investing, Sissi co-founded Metalmark Innovations to tackle air quality and climate change challenges. Metalma...
EP 268 - Fortune 40 Under 40 FinTech Founder Makes Saving for Children_s Future Easy
March 07, 2023 19:44 - 59 minutes - 54.2 MBMany parents are seeking ways to give their children a better head start financially in life. Our guest, Ksenia Yudina, is a chartered financial analyst, a Mom, and the Founder and CEO of UNest, an app that empowers parents to easily invest and save for their kids’ future. After coming to the U.S. from Russia at 18, Ksenia took on $180,000 in debt to pay for college. She quickly realized that many other graduates were strapped with debt and saw a need for a more accessible savings vehicle t...
EP 267 Using Behavioral Science + Technology to Activate Purpose in the Workplace
March 03, 2023 20:07 - 1 hour - 63.2 MBResearch shows that aligning company and personal purpose improves productivity, retention, and overall wellness in the workplace. Greg Sloan, CFP®, CEPA, CPMTM, is the Chief Purpose Officer and Co-Founder of Go Beyond, a talent development company that leverages behavioral science and technology to help companies attract, engage, and grow their people. Go Beyond has humanized and gamified the purpose discovery process for both company and worker. Their SaaS platform includes on-demand vide...
EP 266 Helping Companies Be Happy and Have Fun
February 28, 2023 18:40 - 56 minutes - 52.1 MBHow does one take a brilliant expertise and turn it into a thriving, profitable B2B tech platform serving thousands of paying customers? Our guest, Lee Rubin, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Confetti, a young, well-funded startup helping companies create memorable, easy-to-plan experiences that inspire dynamic workplaces, encourage healthier offices, and motivate happier, more holistic teams. Today Confetti is loved by 2,500+ businesses such as Google, Facebook, Spotify, and many other start...
EP 265 Strengthening the Local and Regional Economy Through Entrepreneurship
February 21, 2023 21:04 - 59 minutes - 54.2 MBSupporting and funding entrepreneurs is a terrific way to accelerate economic development in a community. Our guest, Ian Cain, is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of QUBIC Labs, a startup incubator and innovation hub focused on helping entrepreneurs and innovators to develop world-class companies to serve businesses, governments, and people. QUBIC Labs is located in Quincy, MA – the birthplace of many famous founders and innovators: from John Adams and John Hancock to Howard Johnson’s ...
EP 264 Questions Founders Need to Ask Investors During the First Meeting
February 17, 2023 18:52 - 56 minutes - 51.9 MBFounders – you work so hard to be prepared for investors' questions during your pitch presentations. But are you qualifying those investors? Your time is valuable, and you need to minimize the chance of wasting your time with investors who will not invest in your startup. Our guest, Alex Iskold, is a 4x founder, a software engineer, an investor in over 150 startups, and the Founder and a Managing Partner at 2048 Ventures, where he leads pre-seed rounds, backs visionary founders who are cr...
EP 263 Leveraging AI to Make Resale of Beauty Products Faster + Cheaper + Safer
February 14, 2023 19:15 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBKaren Lee is on a mission to reimagine e-commerce for beauty lovers by providing a trusted market place for buying and rehoming new beauty products. Glou Beauty is empowering beauty lovers to become more conscious consumers, pushing against an industry that encourages over-consumption. As the first consumer-to-consumer re-commerce marketplace for beauty, Glou enables consumers to easily buy and sell makeup, skincare, and beauty products. The platform is an environmentally friendly option a...
EP 262 Closing the Racial and Gender Wealth Gap via Small Business Ownership
February 10, 2023 18:50 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MBYou don’t have to come up with a terrific idea to become an entrepreneur. You can buy and scale an already established business! Our guest, Allegra Stennett, is the Co-Founder of New Majority Capital, an impact investing firm that addresses the racial and gender wealth gaps in the United States by providing training and capital for BIPOC and women entrepreneurs to buy and scale existing small businesses. Prior to launching NMC, Allegra completed an MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management and ...
EP 261 Helping Schools Help More Students
February 07, 2023 19:13 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBHelping schools help students is a mission that began in Alyse Maslonik's childhood. From living in a domestic abuse shelter to creating a self-funded business that now raises millions of dollars for under-privileged children, Alyse has experienced it all. At age 21, with a measly $63 dollars to her name, she packed up everything she owned and set out on a journey to change her life. By the age of 23, she was managing a multi-million-dollar property asset in Charlotte, NC and went on to be...
EP 260 Accelerating Innovation in the Chemical Industry
February 03, 2023 21:02 - 59 minutes - 54.9 MBThe chemical industry has become the third largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, with more than half of its resources ending up in waste streams. Our guest, Daniela Blanco, Co-Founder & CEO of Sunthetics, is solving this global problem by making the chemical industry more sustainable by helping it fast-track innovation, which leads to better materials and more efficient processes. Daniela obtained her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from New York University (2020). At Sunthetics, s...
EP 259 Helping Tech Startups Stand Out From the Competition
January 31, 2023 18:43 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBIf you build it they will come is a popular myth in the startup ecosystem. Our guest, Cindy Fossouo, Founder & CEO of Information Systems Builder, loves solving the problem facing many tech founders: how to market their products and services to their ideal customers. Her San Francisco-based firm is a branding and marketing company providing services for tech startups seeking to differentiate their product and stand out in a crowded and noisy world. From competitor research to building a sa...
EP 258 Challenging Student Entrepreneurs to Solve the Planet’s Most Pressing Issues
January 27, 2023 19:58 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBInnovative products, services and behavior changes are key ingredients for solving the world’s most pressing issues. Our guest, Lori van Dam, is the CEO of Hult Prize, an organization that inspires student entrepreneurs to solve the world’s biggest challenges through innovative social enterprises with positive global impact. Hult Prize was launched in 2009 by a group of Hult International Business School students with the support of the Hult family, founders and owners of EF Education First...
EP 257 Scaling a Global Clean Beauty Brand for Multicultural Women
January 24, 2023 21:42 - 1 hour - 62.8 MBFounders - you will be INSPIRED by and UPLIFTED from this delicious conversation with global clean beauty brand founder Kim Roxie! Southern belle, seasoned makeup artist, licensed esthetician and member of the Cosmetic Executive Women, our guest – Kim Roxie – experienced firsthand how multicultural women have been overlooked in the clean beauty market. At the age of 21, with a $500 investment, she opened her own makeup shop that catered to multicultural women in her hometown of Houston, Tex...
EP 256 Amplifying Queer-Owned Brands and Inspiring LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs
January 20, 2023 21:10 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBWho’s ready for some tea from the leading source for LGBTQ+ business news, served with dignity and depth? Our guest, Travers Johnson (he/him), is the Founder & CEO of Queerency, an award-winning LGBTQ+ business media startup, and the Creator of LGBTQ+ Business Week, an annual 7-day celebration of queer-owned small businesses. The winner of the Google News Initiative Pitchfest and the Maynard Institute Media Entrepreneurship Award, Travers’ delicious delivery of the queer economy news throug...
EP 255 Supporting Worldwide Innovation for Living Longer and Aging Better
January 17, 2023 19:44 - 1 hour - 58.6 MBYou’re never too old to realize a new dream and build an innovative tech business. Our guest, Danielle D. Duplin, is the Founder and President of FreeWind Productions, an award-winning public speaking coach, and an executive producer of strategic innovation programs. She’s also a beloved Mentor and Pitch Coach to hundreds of startups and scaleups via MassChallenge, FinTech Sandbox, Leading Cities Accelerator (Smart CitiesTech), TechStars, JETRO (Japan’s BioTech), AGENCY (AgeTech), and AARP...
EP 254 Changing the Social Conversation Around Menstrual Health
January 13, 2023 18:48 - 1 hour - 68.1 MBMenstruation is one of the many bodily issues women have been taught to suppress. Our guest, Rachael Kim, said “enough with the silence,” and is actively changing the social conversation around menstrual health. She’s the Co-Founder and CEO of My Comma—an organic period care subscription platform amplifying women/BIPOC led brands to menstruators, and powering new routines. My Comma represents the pause to take care of oneself, acknowledge the different facets of you, and the fact that it t...
EP 253 Revolutionizing the Way Households and Businesses Use Everyday Essentials
January 10, 2023 20:02 - 1 hour - 57.7 MBWhat do you get when you combine beautiful dispensers, a sanitizer people love to use, and a commitment to doing business in a better way? A hand sanitizer system that prevents more plastics from polluting our planet and helps to remove existing plastics too! Our guest, Ashley Wayman, is the Founder of Shimmy – a customizable and eco-friendly hand sanitizer system elevating the way businesses provide this necessary consumable to their employees and customers. Built to last, Shimmy’s impecca...
EP 252 Ending Healthcare Disparity with Wigs for Women of Color
January 06, 2023 19:14 - 1 hour - 62.3 MBEvery woman, regardless of hair texture, deserves a wig that resembles the hair that she lost. Our guest, Pamela Shaddock, is Co-Founder and COO of Coils to Locs, a social impact, for-profit enterprise that addresses a healthcare disparity: the lack of coily, curly, ethnically inspired wigs at cancer center hospitals and medical hair loss salons that can be purchased with health insurance reimbursement if applicable. Pamela and her Co-Founder (and sister!) Dianne Austin are intimately aware...
EP 251 Solstice and Holiday Celebration for Startups
December 22, 2022 15:37 - 2 hours - 125 MBAre you ready to say Hasta Luego to 2022 and Hello Gorgeous to 2023? Our guest, seasoned founder, mouthy activist, super opinionated blogger and Host of the popular $h!t We Don’t Talk About Podcast, Mia Voss, joined us again on the 3rd Annual Andelicious Startup Life LIVE Holiday and Solstice Celebration! Mia and I touch on so many topics, including: • Mia’s Year in Review – WOWZA • Glorification of entrepreneurship • White supremacy and capitalist hustle culture based on slavery per our f...
EP 250 Producing Million Dollar Events
December 13, 2022 19:22 - 1 hour - 58.4 MBEvents are a great way to bring people together, and share a moment, message or idea with a captive audience. They do, however, take considerable time, effort, and organization to execute successfully. Our guest, Dr. Shanna M. Scott, has fine-tuned the art of event planning with her business, Shanna Scott PR & Events, removing the stress and effort from her clients’ shoulders. For 18 years Dr. Shanna and her team have produced luxury lifestyle and transformational events and messaging that ...
EP 249 Investing in Startups Refashioning Global Supply Chains
December 09, 2022 20:07 - 1 hour - 63.1 MBDid you know the fashion industry is responsible for over 4% to the global greenhouse gas emissions? And it’s not just a carbon impact, but water, chemicals, deforestation, textile waste, microplastics and more. The U.S. market presents a huge opportunity to systemically refashion apparel supply chains to localized demand chains. Our guest – Lisa Morales-Hellebro – is catalyzing this paradigm shift as CEO and Founder of REFASHIOND OS (rOS), automating on-demand manufacturing for the $2.7 tr...
EP 248 Starting Your Business Off On the Right Foot
December 06, 2022 20:05 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBThe exciting anticipation of launching a new business can quickly fade if a newly minted founder isn’t properly prepared for startup life. Born into an entrepreneurial family, Alejandra Santos is deeply empathetic to the struggles and challenges entrepreneurship presents. That’s why she launched Startup Tandem – to help entrepreneurs start their businesses off on the right foot! Startup Tandem’s finance and business services are curated specifically for startups, they fit all business nee...
EP 247 B2B Platform Transforming Mentorship and Career Support Within Corporations
December 02, 2022 20:21 - 1 hour - 55.2 MBA recent study reported the #1 reason people were quitting their jobs was due to a lack of career development and advancement. Serial entrepreneur Sandra A. Babu-Boateng is solving that problem with her new tech startup LegacyShift: a B2B market network platform that matches members with internal experts for skills training, mentorship and career support. Sandra personally experienced some of these issues during her corporate career, when she found herself unprepared to navigate corporate c...
EP 246 The Power of Entrepreneurship in Under-Resourced Communities
November 29, 2022 19:53 - 1 hour - 57.9 MBHow do you instill a sense of resilience in students that allows them to look at adversity as a challenge and failure as a learning opportunity? You teach them entrepreneurship! On Tuesday, November 29, 2022, we celebrated National Entrepreneurship Month and Giving Tuesday by amplifying one of my favorite nonprofit organizations: BUILD. BUILD utilizes entrepreneurship education to help students develop ownership and agency over their own academic and career success, while addressing racia...
EP 245 Are You and Your Startup Ready for PR_
November 22, 2022 19:44 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBHow does a founder know when it’s time to launch a PR campaign for their startup, and how do they get media prepared? Our guest, Sabrina Stocker, is a PR expert and founder of Two Comma PR, a unique public relations agency helping businesses get media exposure and quickly build their online brand presence. A former tennis coach and player, Sabrina studied for her MBA at Edinburgh Business School, where she became the youngest person ever to graduate. Combining her sports and business knowl...
EP 244 Helping Early-Stage Tech Startups Grow and Get Funded
November 18, 2022 20:17 - 58 minutes - 53.4 MBHow it started: co-hosting networking events and roundtables for founders. How it’s going: a Florida-based hybrid accelerator and seed VC fund helping early-stage startups scale! Our guest, Justis Mendez, was born in the Stockyard neighborhood of Cleveland. Raised by his grandparents and single mother, Justis went on to teach himself finance and build networks across the country. He founded startup Qu Parking, an "Airbnb for residential parking,” and led business development for Pinata, a ...
EP 243 A Powerful Program Helping Startups Grow and Launch
November 15, 2022 21:38 - 56 minutes - 51.5 MBFor a brand-new startup and its first-time founders, an accelerator program is an ideal opportunity to get valuable peer, mentor and financial support. Our guest, Caroline Winnett, is the Executive Director of one of the world's leading accelerator programs and a global hub for entrepreneurship: Berkeley SkyDeck. Founded by UC Berkeley students, alumni, and faculty who were seeking to bring their scientific and technical discoveries to market, the program is ranked second to Stanford in pro...
EP 242 Impact Investing in African Female Entrepreneurs and Innovators
November 11, 2022 19:39 - 1 hour - 58.1 MBImproving systemic social and environmental challenges isn’t just for nonprofit agencies. Our guest, Pauline Koelbl, is a gender-lens/impact investor and a leading innovation expert in developing and emerging economies, with over 20 years’ experience in international affairs and venture philanthropy. She’s the Founder and Managing Partner of ShEquity, a fund providing smart investment to impactful, innovative, and scalable African female-led and owned businesses; and she’s the Founder/CEO o...
EP 241 Investing in Community-Driven Startups in the US and Latin America
November 08, 2022 19:23 - 41 minutes - 37.6 MBGrowing up an underestimated, first-generation Mexican-American daughter to immigrants, our guest, Lolita Taub, had a dream to give her family a better shot at life. Today Lolita is a General Partner at Ganas Ventures, where she invests in pre-seed and seed community-driven companies in the US and Latin America, with a mission of creating generational wealth in community. With 15 years working within the Silicon Valley ecosystem, she has accomplished $70M+ in sales and made 90+ investments ...
EP 240 From Passion Project to Award-Winning Reality A Filmmaker_s Journey
November 04, 2022 19:24 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBWhile not all entrepreneurs are artists, all artists are entrepreneurs. They have a product or idea to sell, and they need to approach their business as any entrepreneur would. Our guest, Sky Bergman, is an accomplished, award-winning photographer who recently made her directorial debut with Lives Well Lived, a film celebrating the incredible wit, wisdom and experiences of adults aged 75 to 100 years old. Sky’s fine art work is included in permanent collections at the Los Angeles County M...