Growth Capital Podcast

🛠️ Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 76 🛠️

What if the best way to evaluate a founder isn’t a pitch deck, but working side by side with them?

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Mike Ma, Founder & Managing Partner of Sidecut Ventures, to unpack a radically different approach to early-stage investing—one built on execution, coachability, and real-world performance.

Instead of traditional diligence, Mike runs a 30-day “do diligence” process: rolling up his sleeves and working directly with founders before writing a check. The result? Deeper conviction, stronger partnerships, and better outcomes.

This episode is a must-watch for founders, operators, and investors looking to rethink how great companies and great partnerships are built.

🔍 What you’ll learn:

🚀 Whether you're raising capital, deploying it, or scaling a business, this conversation will challenge how you think about early-stage investing.

📩 Connect with Mike Ma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelwma/

👉 Like, subscribe, and comment: Would you go through a 30-day diligence process before taking capital?

🩺 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 75 🩺

What if one of the biggest opportunities in healthcare isn’t innovation—but fixing what’s already broken?

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Dean Margolis, Co-Founder & CEO of Red Sky Health, to unpack a massive inefficiency hiding in plain sight: healthcare claim denials.

With billions of dollars lost each year due to manual processes and outdated workflows, Dean shares how AI is transforming the way healthcare providers recover revenue—while also diving into his broader lessons from building and scaling multiple startups.

🔍 What you’ll learn:

🚀 Whether you’re a founder, operator, or investor, this episode offers practical insights on building companies, solving real problems, and aligning incentives for growth.

📩 Connect with Dean: [email protected]

👉 If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and drop a comment: What’s the biggest operational inefficiency you’ve seen in your industry?

🎬 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 74 🎬

What happens after a successful exit?

For many founders, it’s not retirement—it’s reinvention.

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Jason Kiesel, Co-founder & CEO of Packed House Pictures, to explore what comes after building, scaling, and exiting a company—twice.

Jason shares how he went from GovTech entrepreneur to media founder, why he’s betting on vertical storytelling, and how new content formats are reshaping the economics of entertainment.

This is a conversation about second acts, emerging markets, and what it really means to build again from scratch.

🔍 In this episode, you’ll learn:

🌐 Connect with Jason:

🚀 Whether you're a founder post-exit, an investor tracking new markets, or an operator thinking about your next move—this episode delivers real insight.

👉 Watch now, subscribe, and drop a comment:

🏠 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 73 🏠

What if the future of property management isn’t better software, but software that actually runs your business?

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Shahar Goldboim, Co-Founder & CEO of Boom, to unpack how short-term rental businesses are evolving from fragmented, manual operations into fully integrated, AI-driven systems.

Drawing from his experience building and scaling a $150M+ short-term rental platform, Shahar shares why the traditional tech stack is broken and what replaces it.

🔍 What you’ll learn:

🚀 Whether you’re a private equity investor, operator, or founder scaling a portfolio, this episode offers a clear look at where the market is heading and how to stay ahead of it.

📩 Connect with Shahar Goldboim on LinkedIn

👉 Subscribe for more conversations with top operators and investors

🤝 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 72 🤝

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Joseph Dalton, Founder & Managing Partner of Arsenal Enterprise Capital, to unpack one of the most misunderstood dynamics in private equity: investing in relationship-driven businesses.

From navigating founder transitions to sourcing proprietary deal flow, Joseph shares how his operator-first mindset shapes better investment decisions—especially in industries where relationships drive revenue.

🔍 What you’ll learn:

🚀 Whether you’re a PE investor, founder preparing for exit, or operator scaling a company, this episode offers practical insights you won’t hear in a pitch deck.

📩 Connect with Joseph Dalton on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-w-dalton/

🏢 Learn more about Arsenal Enterprise Capital - https://www.arsenalenterprisecapital.com/

👉 Watch now, subscribe, and drop a comment: What’s the biggest risk you’ve seen in founder-led businesses?

🧠 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 71 🧠

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Erica Olsen, Co-founder & CEO of Madison AI, to unpack what it really takes to reinvent a business from consulting to SaaS at exactly the right moment.

Erica shares how a simple shift, listening to what customers actually wanted, led to a completely new company, a $1M ARR milestone, and a fast-growing GovTech platform serving cities and counties across the U.S.

This isn’t theory. It’s a real-time case study in adapting to AI, finding product-market fit, and building with focus in a market most founders avoid.

🔍 What you’ll learn:

🚀 Whether you're a PE-backed operator, startup founder, or investor, this episode offers a practical look at building and scaling in the age of AI.

⚠️ Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 70 ⚠️

What does it really take to scale a service business—without outside capital, without a “breakout moment,” and without shortcuts?

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Cameron Magee, Founder & Owner of avad3 Event Production, to unpack the realities of building a national business from a college dorm room.

From surviving COVID when revenue dropped to zero overnight, to scaling through word-of-mouth and operational discipline, Cameron shares a refreshingly honest look at what actually drives long-term growth.

🔍 What you’ll learn:

🚀 Whether you’re a founder, operator, or investor, this episode is a masterclass in building a resilient, high-performing service business.

📩 Connect with Cameron Magee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/c-magee/

👉 If you found value in this episode, make sure to like, subscribe, and drop a comment—what’s been the hardest part of scaling your business?

🍽️ Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 69 🍽️

What happens when a personal health challenge exposes a massive market opportunity?

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Dylan McDonnell, Founder & CEO of Foodini, a dietary intelligence platform helping restaurants communicate clearly with customers who have food allergies or dietary restrictions.

After living with celiac disease for most of his life, Dylan experienced firsthand how difficult it was to navigate restaurant menus safely. What began as a personal frustration evolved into a startup tackling one of the restaurant industry's most overlooked infrastructure problems: accurate dietary and allergen data.

Today, Foodini works with restaurants to ingest menu, recipe, and supplier data to create personalized menus that tell customers exactly what they can — and cannot — eat.

With new allergen disclosure regulations emerging across the U.S., Dylan explains why this problem is becoming not just a customer experience issue, but a compliance and operational necessity.

🔍 In this episode, they cover:

🚀 Whether you're a founder, investor, or operator, this conversation reveals how regulation, data infrastructure, and consumer demand are converging to create a new category in restaurant technology.

Connect with Dylan:

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch here on YouTube.

👉 Subscribe, like, and comment:

🚗 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 68 🚗

What happens when cars no longer sit idle in driveways, but instead operate like a software platform?

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Ezra Goldman, Co-Founder & CEO of Upshift, to explore how autonomous vehicles, AI-powered dispatch systems, and subscription-based access could reshape the entire mobility economy.

Instead of owning a car that sits unused most of the time, Ezra believes the future will look more like “Netflix for cars”—where a vehicle shows up when you need it and disappears when you don’t.

From fleet logistics and utilization economics to the role AI will play in orchestrating thousands of vehicles in real time, this conversation dives into what the next mobility stack actually looks like and why the biggest opportunity may not be the car itself, but the software layer managing it.

In this episode, they discuss:

Whether you’re a founder building mobility tech, an investor tracking autonomous vehicles, or an operator thinking about logistics and fleet optimization, this episode offers a fascinating look at how transportation may evolve over the next decade.

Connect with Ezra & Upshift:

👍 If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to like, subscribe, and comment with your thoughts on the future of mobility.

🤖 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 67 🤖

AI is moving fast. Most companies are moving faster — without governance.

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Allen Martinez, Founder & Chief AI Architect of Noble Digital, to unpack what most operators are getting wrong about AI implementation.

While everyone is racing to add new AI tools, Allen makes a compelling case that the real competitive advantage isn’t more AI — it’s better control.

Drawing from his background in film production and enterprise marketing strategy, Allen explains why AI systems need a “director,” how tool sprawl creates exponential risk, and why companies must move from soft policy documents to hard, machine-executable governance.

🔍 In this episode, they cover:

Allen Martinez is the creator of BXAIOS, the governance system that stops AI from freelancing in your brand's name and creates a competitive advantage as you scale.

📍 Connect with Allen

He is also the author of The Brand Experience AI Operating System. Get the first chapter for FREE — https://preview.mailerlite.io/forms/1780848/170432170750379532/share

If you’re a founder, operator, or investor thinking about AI beyond the hype — this episode is essential.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations with private equity leaders and high-growth executives.