Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I’m your host, Ruffin, and today I’m thrilled to be joined by Alex Taylor, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Perelel, the first OB-GYN-founded vitamin brand for women offering tailored nutrition for each stage of the hormonal journey. Since its inception, Perelel has made an impressive mark, selling over 48 million capsules in the last year and raising $12 million from investors like Willow Growth. Alex, named a Forbes 30 under 30, has a career built with companies like Vogue, L’Oreal, and Google, and is passionate about creating brands that make a meaningful difference.

In this episode, Alex dives into her journey from working with major brands to co-founding Perelel and why they focused on prenatal vitamins. She discusses the complexities of the vitamin industry, including regulation, the importance of transparency, and how Perelel sets itself apart with doctor-led formulations. Alex also shares insights into Perelel's early marketing strategy, their growth despite minimal resources, and key lessons learned in fundraising. 

I hope you enjoy!

More on Alex Taylor:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-taylor-18b19b12/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/its_alextaylor/?hl=en

Website: https://perelelhealth.com/

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Brydge Club:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I’m thrilled to sit down with Sharon Gillenwater, author of Scaling with Soul and a resilient entrepreneur. Sharon’s journey has been nothing short of extraordinary—she raised $3 million in venture capital for her first business before pivoting to bootstrap her second business, Boardroom Insiders, to a $25 million exit. Now a viral voice on TikTok, she demystifies entrepreneurship for a wide audience.

In this episode, we dive into Sharon’s story of navigating venture capital, including her decision to raise funding and the challenges that followed. She shares insights on the venture capital versus bootstrapping paths and offers advice for founders considering both. We also discuss her experience in consulting, building strategic relationships, and selling to large institutions. Finally, Sharon shares key lessons from her M&A journey and tips on managing personal finances while scaling a business.

More on Sharon Gillenwater:

Buy her book: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-Soul-Million-Company-Without/dp/1964377013

Website: https://www.sharonkgillenwater.com/

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Brydge Club:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I'm thrilled to be joined by Allison Hogan, Co-Founder and CPO of DeskSides. DeskSides is a platform connecting brands with journalists at a fraction of traditional PR costs, helping smaller brands get their stories told while journalists are compensated fairly. Before co-founding DeskSides, Allison worked in both PR agencies and in-house for brands, where she gained extensive PR experience. Fun fact: on her first day as an intern, she landed Reese Witherspoon as a contact!

In this episode, we dive into Allison’s PR journey, discussing her experiences on both the brand and agency side. She shares tips for early-stage founders on securing PR and building strong media strategies, whether for luxury brands or emerging startups. We also explore the challenges Allison saw in traditional PR models and how they led her to launch DeskSides, along with a few success stories from the platform. 

I hope you enjoy!

More on Allison Hogan & DeskSides:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonchogan/

https://www.instagram.com/desksides/

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Brydge Club:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world. 

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I’m your host, Ruffin, and today I’m joined by Erin Levine, Co-Founder and CEO of Hello Divorce, a platform that revolutionizes the divorce process. Hello Divorce combines self-service software and expert services to make divorce less stressful and more affordable. Erin’s 15 years of legal experience have led her to create a service that costs a tenth of the typical divorce and resolves cases in a third of the time.

In this episode, Erin shares her journey to Hello Divorce, insights into the common challenges of divorce, and how the platform supports users through different phases. We also discuss topics like prenuptial agreements, expanding into new states, her experiences raising $6.5 million in venture capital, and her advice on navigating funding and entrepreneurship.

I hope you enjoy it!

More on Erin Levine:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinlevine/

https://hellodivorce.com/

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Brydge Club:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I’m thrilled to be joined by Valentina Rodriguez, investor at Wonder Ventures, an early-stage venture fund based in Los Angeles. Valentina has been involved in investments such as Clutter, Tala, Honey, Whatnot, Coinbase, and Bird. Before entering venture, she began her career at Morgan Stanley and founded Cannaves Oliva, a functional foods company that introduced organic hemp-infused olive oil.

In this episode, Valentina dives into her entrepreneurial journey, starting with the creation of Cannaves Oliva and how it shaped her transition into venture capital. She shares insights into Wonder Ventures’ investment thesis, her approach to navigating different industries as a generalist investor, and the lessons she’s drawn from her banking and founder experiences. Valentina also discusses trends she’s excited about in consumer tech and enterprise, the importance of relationships in fundraising, and tips for founders on achieving product-market fit. Plus, she offers advice for those looking to break into VC and a behind-the-scenes look at raising Wonder Ventures' latest $57 million fund.

I hope you enjoy!

More on Valentina Rodriguez:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/valentinaro/

https://wondervc.com/

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Brydge Club:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I’m excited to be joined by Jess Catorc, co-founder of Carry, the all-in-one platform for tax-advantaged accounts, investments, and strategy designed for business owners and high-earning professionals. Jess is an award-winning brand strategist who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs and startups scale their reach and revenue online. Prior to founding Carry, Jess led creator partnerships at Teachable, which sold for $250 million. In just two years, Jess and her team have grown Carry to $1 million in ARR, with backing from notable investors like Sophia Amoruso and Codie Sanchez.

In this episode, Jess shares her journey from leading creator partnerships at Teachable to co-founding Carry. We dive into her experiences working at a high-growth startup and the lessons she’s brought into building her own company. Jess also discusses the challenges of understanding the tax code as a business owner, the inspiration behind starting Carry, and how they are empowering entrepreneurs to save money and grow their businesses. We also talk about the different tax strategies available, how Carry has grown its customer base, and the exciting future ahead for the company. 

I hope you enjoy!

More on Jess Catorc and Carry:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-catorc-0635ba4b/

https://carry.com/

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Brydge Club:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world. 

Welcome to The Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I’m excited to be joined by Miri Buckland, COO and co-founder of Landing, soon to be rebranded as Zeen. Miri co-founded Landing alongside her Stanford Business School classmate, Ellie, and together they’ve scaled the product to nearly 1 million downloads and raised over $9 million in venture capital from investors like Cowboy Ventures and Defy Ventures.

In this episode, Miri dives into the journey of building a high-growth tech startup, shares key lessons on knowing when to pivot, and offers practical advice for those applying to business school. She also reveals insider strategies for running a successful fundraising round.

I hope you enjoy!

More on Miri Buckland: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-biernacki-71b1b24a/

https://www.bbgventures.com/about-us

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Play Brydge:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I’m excited to be joined by Claire Biernacki, Principal Investor at BBG Ventures. BBG Ventures is known for being one of the most active investors in women and underrepresented founders across the U.S. Claire has been involved in investments such as Zola, Spring Health, and Blueland. Before joining BBG, she earned her MBA from Columbia Business School and began her career in investment banking and private equity. 

Claire shares her inspiration for pursuing a career in finance before transitioning into venture capital. She discusses the decision to pursue an MBA and how it shaped her path in VC, as well as her strategies for breaking into the industry and landing key opportunities. Claire also provides valuable insights into how she supports founders after investing, the key metrics companies should focus on at the Series A level, and advice for founders on asking the right questions during investor meetings.

I hope you enjoy!

More on Claire Biernacki: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-biernacki-71b1b24a/

https://www.bbgventures.com/about-us

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Play Brydge:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome back to the Brydge Club Podcast! Today we welcome Emily Persky, Co-Founder of ‘I Have This Friend’, A curated directory of lifestyle services that allows you to book private chefs, interior designers, photographers, and more. They collaborate with top emerging talent to make these curated services accessible. Before co-founding 'I Have This Friend' with her childhood best friend Ingrid, Emily pursued a career in big tech, working at Instagram.

Emily discusses her decision to pursue a career at Instagram in 'big tech' before launching her entrepreneurial journey. She shares her transition from Instagram to founding 'I Have This Friend,' how the platform was brought to life, the most popular services and talents booked, their strategies for expanding the marketplace, and much more!

More on Emily Persky and I Have This Friend:

https://www.ihavethisfriend.co/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-persky-961793105/

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Play Brydge:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

In this episode of Brydge Club, we sit down with Cheryl Kellond, the founder and CEO of Play Money, a groundbreaking investment platform designed to help everyday investors build a diversified startup portfolio without committing to full-time angel investing.

Cheryl shares her entrepreneurial journey and insights into the startups she has founded, including Bia Sport, Apostrophe, and Play Money. We dive deep into angel investing with a masterclass on the significant impact Play Money is making in this space. Cheryl also offers invaluable advice for first-time fundraisers, shares tips for avoiding common pitfalls in angel investing, and reflects on her experiences with the acquisition process and more!

More on Cheryl Kellond & Play Money:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/c2kprofile/

https://letsplaymoney.com/

More on Host Ruffin Mitchener: 

https://beacons.ai/ruffin

About Play Brydge:

Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.