The head of Sterling Sales discusses his life of entrepreneurship and the building of an IPO-bound company.

We are experienced founders backing the next generation of founders. Learn more at founderville.vc

The Founders of BDV Solutions discuss their journey from the brink of catastrophe to a private equity exit

We are experienced founders backing the next generation of founders. Learn more at founderville.vc

John Sterling, multi-time founder and entrepreneur, discusses his theories on building sales and marketing teams while using analysis and testing to judge the right people in the right jobs.

We are experienced founders backing the next generation of founders. Learn more at founderville.vc

Hunter Hodnett, co-founder and CTO of Chipp.ai, discusses his journey with a co-founder to build a leading AI company, Chipp.ai.  He gets deep into the importance of founder partnerships and finding truth when making decisions.

We are experienced founders backing the next generation of founders. Learn more at founderville.vc

Charles Houser, CEO of Strata Platforms, reviews the Herculean efforts of spinning out a SaaS platform from a parent company and then raising capital in this difficult environment.

We are experienced founders backing the next generation of founders. Learn more at founderville.vc

In this episode of the Founderville.vc podcast, hosts Shay Houser and Scott Millwood sit down with Ryan Heafy and Ryan Johnston, co-founders of 6AM City, to unpack the fascinating story behind one of the fastest-growing newsletter-based media companies in the U.S.

They take us back to the early days, meeting through Leadership Greenville and bonding over a shared passion for local community development. Fueled by bourbon and bold ideas, they envisioned a new kind of media: one that focused on positive, community-focused content delivered daily via email. Their model rejected divisive, negative news and embraced a brand-safe, advertiser-friendly format that allowed both readers and businesses to thrive.

What started as a Greenville-based experiment grew into a powerful content engine serving 31 cities, delivering eight-figures in revenue. They’ve since expanded into “newsletters as a service,” working with major brands and professional sports organizations to help them package, deliver, and monetize content—often using their full-stack newsletter production model.

We dive into how AI is accelerating their operational efficiency and enabling the company to scale content creation, development workflows, and client engagements faster and cheaper. Their smart adoption of automation and AI has become a key competitive advantage.

We end with valuable advice on raising capital, including their strategy of tranche-based funding, protecting equity, and focusing on traction to build investor confidence. And they reflect on the importance of equal equity in co-founder dynamics and the strength it adds to decision-making and company culture.

We are experienced founders backing the next generation of founders. Learn more at founderville.vc