Big Easy Ideas

Gil Hildebrand, CEO and founder of Gilded Finance, gives you an introduction to the world of Web3. Gilded has an extensive background in Web3, specifically cryptocurrency. You'll also hear about how his company, Gilded Finance, allows businesses to accept crypto payments, pay members in crypto, and deliver on financial reporting requirements with ease. 

Learn about how online market research was spearheaded with the help of Lucid and Cint, a global software leader in technology and digital insights. The companies combined in December 2021 and have since contributed largely to the birth of “ResTech,” a new industry centered around the potential of tapping into consumer insights at scale. The conversations on this episode are focused around two surfacing #ResTech companies, both of whom present opportunities to improve the quality of market research going forward and provide insights to this emerging industry in New Orleans.

On this episode of #BigEasyIdeas, Bobby Savoie, founder of Geocent, one of nine New Orleans startup companies that were acquired and achieved the critical "exit" milestone in 2021, shares his advice about how to build a scalable company. Bobby draws on his experience and journey building Geocent, a dynamic company whose technology powers key systems for NASA and other similar organizations, from the ground up. He also discusses what the company's acquisition means for the next phase of local ecosystem development and more!

Presented at NOEW 2022 by Ochsner Ventures, the team at Ochsner Ventures hosted a panel of local entrepreneurs and funders on how to create successful enterprise and startup partnerships, lessons learned, and how investing locally is a win-win for all. Enterprise funders that invest capital on behalf of large community institutions and companies have a unique offering for entrepreneurs as they can go beyond funding to offer additional value and a true commitment to impact the local community. From both the perspective of founders and the enterprise leaders that support them, the panel will explore what works well, how to put together successful partnerships, and how fostering these types of relationships creates meaningful value for companies and communities.

Local founders who have recently completed $1 million or more financing rounds discuss what it means to build a company for exponential growth in Louisiana. What changes as you grow, how do you surround yourself with the right resources and community, and what are the pitfalls on the road ahead? Collectively, how do we design the system to make $1M+ funding events the rule rather than the exception? Moderated by Corey Tisdale, founder of highly successful Baton Rouge-based ecommerce startup BBQGuys, this panel uses the startup successes of the last year as a base to explore everyone's favorite question: "who's next?"

The United States’ large and persistent racial wealth gap flows from centuries of government policies that have systematically disadvantaged BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Americans’ ability to build, maintain, and pass on wealth to the next generation. Anchor institutions can be important levers of change and drivers of equitable and inclusive economic growth through their spending, investment, employment, and contracting by creating opportunities for local BIPOC business owners and residents. Local government and economic development organizations are engaging anchors as critical partners in advancing more inclusive economies by creating opportunities for all residents, and particularly communities of color, to fully participate and be the business owners, workers, innovators, and leaders who will propel the economy forward. We bring together this panel of institutional leaders who have successfully shifted internal institutional and small business procurement policies and practices to even the playing field for BIPOC business owners in New Orleans.

On this episode of Big Easy Ideas, investors share about their early investment(s) in the NOLA tech companies that realized significant liquidity events in 2021, and tell the story from the "other side of the table" -- giving the investor point of view on what they saw early on in these companies, their vision, the founders behind them, and their teams.

In sharing the journey from their perspective on the investor side, speakers offer insight as to what lessons should be learned by the next generation of energetic NOLA entrepreneurs. And discuss what are the things that make NOLA a fertile ground to continue growing companies with the potential to realize similar success of Lucid/Cint, Levelset/Procore, Turbosquid/Shutterstock, and other homegrown superstars.

This episode was originally presented at NOEW 2022 by Jones Walker as "The Holy Trinity - How Home Cookin' Produced Successful Exits for Three Organically Grown New Orleans Tech Companies in 2021."

New Orleans startups continue to innovate with an increasing number of high growth potential companies being started every year. The Idea Village's later staged accelerator programs have supported over 298 early stage companies to date that have cumulatively raised over $500M in outside capital and are currently generating over $530M in recurring revenue in the last fiscal year. Meet members of the 2022 VILLAGEx accelerator class who share their journey of building the next big thing. Moderated by Peter Liu of Revelry Ventures, this panel will dive into what makes a vibrant startup community in New Orleans and how we can continue to drive and create ever more successful companies.

Finance New Orleans presents the Resilient New Orleans Finance Plan and Resilient New Orleans Innovation Fund that will spur entrepreneurial growth by providing pre-development capital to startups and developers for sustainable and eco-friendly projects.

Louisiana has struggled to keep pace with the modern economy. While the state is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and creative people, its adherence to tradition has held it back from growth in new sectors of the economy, especially cutting edge technology. But due to the nature of new innovation in technology, Louisiana now has an opportunity to seize the opportunity and become a tech leader in key sectors. Eric Peterson, Director of the Pelican Center for Technology and Innovation, will highlight some areas where Louisiana is well positioned to excel.