In today’s episode, I speak with Zach Smith, who is the founder of the FinTech company, Align Tech, and also on a professional mission to improve financial literacy for young people. Zach's journey is underscored by his persistent commitment to create value respect and lead people from all backgrounds and walks of life.

Here’s a closer look at the episode:

• Zach’s story and how it all began.
• Men of Tomorrow
• Growing up in Florida and having mentorship. 
• How Zach’s life changed after he left the University of Florida and went to Nantucket.
• How did Zach end up in the Rockies
• The endless beach vs. the humbling mountains of entrepreneurship.
• Working with Uber - creating Mobile Auto and Diesel
• Relationship with Lincoln Tech
• What was the inspiration for Best Mobile?
• Why you have to be humble enough to recognize your own expertise.
• Developing AlignTech
• Zack’s background in crypto trading and crypto mining.
• Zach’s thoughts on entrepreneurship as a solo quest versus a family quest.
• Finding your purpose. 
• What is next for Zach and his growth.

Resources:

Website: aligntech.io

Zach LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharey-smith-itilv4-0aa014123/

In today’s episode, we have an incredible team, building data driven solutions to power Diversity, Equity and Inclusion change. It's practical, real and focused. This is going to be a great episode, I'm pleased to welcome Jason Thompson, and Justus Thompson co-founders of CAPE inclusion.

Here’s a closer look at the episode:

• Introducing Jason Thompson and Justus Thompson.
• Jason’s career in diversity and inclusion.
• The Olympic and Paralympic teams.
• Justus’s start building diversity programs.
• Working at TechStars. 
• Jason’s book: Diversity and Inclusion Matters
• CAPE Inclusion: Collect, Analyze, Plan, and Execute
• The disconnect between the data and the people who use it.
• Why companies don’t focus on diversity inclusion and/or cut the programs
• The first MVP.
• What TechStars taught Justus about being a founder
• The partnership with Javier as an angel investor
• What is exciting Justus about the business right now
• Diversity is constrained by who leaves and who stays. 
• Don’t try to “boil the ocean”
• What’s the right data? What are the metrics?
• Understanding blind spots
• Diversity training is tailored to the actual problem.
• Why you need to be serious about diversity in your investments.

Resources:

Website: https://www.capeinclusion.com/ 

Justus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justus-thompson-he-him-his-02ab64101/

Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thompso4/ 

CAPE Inclusion LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/capeinclusion/ 

CAPE Inclusion Twitter: https://twitter.com/capeinclusion 

CAPE Inclusion Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capeinclusion 

CAPE Inclusion Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/capeinclusion/ 

In today’s episode, we have NFC’s very own. Kirsten Suddath. Kirsten is a General Partner at Next Frontier Capital. For the first episode of Season 3 are doing a crash course in Venture Capital - a “VC 101”. We are breaking down all the Alphabet soup of VC terms, the different positions in a Venture Capital firm, where the money comes from, and what kind of companies/founders are right for Venture Capital investment. 

Here’s a closer look at the episode:

• Kirsten’s background and what got her into VC
• What is Venture Capital?
• Venture Capital Firms
• Venture Capital Funds - where does the money come from
• Types of Limited Partners
• Positions in a VC Firm - General Partner, Managing Director, Analyst, Associate, Principal, Head of Platform, Operations, CFO
• Role of LPs in investment decisions - LPAC
• How VC funds are raised - when do they get the money
• Investment period of a fund
• Management Fee of a fund
• How does the VC firm make money off of investments?
• Company exits
• Fund Carry
• Venture Capital vs. Private Equity
• What control do VCs have in the companies they invest in
• Venture Deals - Jason Mendelson and Brad Feld
• The role of a Board of Directors
• When should founders raise capital?
• Which entrepreneurs shouldn’t raise capital
• What makes a good founder investable?
• Super Founders by Ali Tamaseb

Resources:

NFC Website: www.nextfrontiercapital.com 

NFC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/next-frontier-caiptal/ 

Kirsten Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suddath/ 

Kirsten Twitter: https://twitter.com/KirstenSuddath 

Join us for Season 3 of Found In The Rockies. Join Les Craig, from Next Frontier Capital, as he speaks with the dynamic and fascinating members of the Rocky Mountain startup community.  We dive into it all from all sides, with founders, funders, and contributors.  These are people in the Rockies, these are people in the arena. 

In today’s episode, Abby Schlatter joins us, who is the CEO and co-founder of Bozeman based commonFont. CommonFont is a tech company that partners with the world's top companies to establish, evolve and optimize experience management solutions.

Here’s a closer look at the episode:

• Abby’s start in Central Illinois, Harvard, Stanford Business School, Google, UNICEF
• The decision to come to Bozeman
• Life in Bozeman in 2013
• Starting to hire and grow the team
• The name commonFont and how it relates to the company mission
• Experience Management Technology
• Having too many tools that don’t work well together
• Opening an office in Rhode Island
• Who we choose to hire - commitment, heart, and grit
• How commonFont culture has been built
• Community Involvement - support of HRDC
• Challenges and overcoming them
• Thoughts on achieving success
• Pushing through tough times
• The “winning mindset” - rigor, discipline, and accountability
• commonFont Confluence event

Resources:

Website: https://www.commonfont.com/ 

Abby Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbyschlatter/ 

commonFont LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/commonfont/ 

commonFont Twitter: https://twitter.com/commonFont 

commonFont Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commonFont/