If Not Now Wen Podcast

Aaron Hines is the co-founder of Darbe, a social network for philanthropy. He is also an alumni of the Founder's Institute, the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator. After graduating from Texas State University with a degree in Economics he joined gener8tor to help grow their gBETA startup accelerator in Houston, TX. Gener8tor is a top tier gold-ranked accelerator and VC firm based in the Midwestern US. 

You can reach out Aaron @[email protected];  Volunteer. Donate. Fundraise. www.darbe.co 

Prior to founding AngelouEconomics, AE’s Principal Executive Officer, Angelos Angelou, spent nearly 12 years with the Austin Chamber of Commerce as Vice President of Economic Development and Chief Economist and brings a practitioner’s approach to AE’s Economic Development Consulting Practice. During his time at the chamber, Angelos handled the recruitment of 800 technology companies and some 70,000 employees, including IBM, Apple, Samsung, Motorola, AMD, Cypress Semiconductor, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Sematech.

He is a founding member of the Site Selector’s Guild, an association of the world's foremost professional site selection consultants. Angelos has sited over $18 billion in capital investment projects, from high tech to health care to governmental clients around the world. His record of achievements includes the attraction of $26 billion in capital investments and the creation of over 285,000 direct and indirect jobs.

A highly visible leader in the field of economic development, Angelos is widely regarded as an expert on technology-based economic development, public policy, investment attraction, marketing and entrepreneurship. The national and international media regularly seek his comments and insights in the technology sector and on economic development issues. He is also widely regarded as the chief architect in the establishment of Austin as a nationally recognized high-tech center. Angelos is also the Founder and Chairman of the Board of the International Accelerator in Austin, Texas, which is focused exclusively on foreign born entrepreneurs and launching their technology startup businesses in the US. Angelos is an angel investor in half a dozen startups in Texas.

Angelos recently received a Proclamation from the Texas Governor and the Mayor of Austin in recognition for his 30-year leadership and contribution to economic development in the State of Texas and Austin. Mr. Angelou is the Governor’s appointee to The CPRIT Oversight Committee (Texas Governor Appointee), a $3 billion Texas Grant Program specializing in Cancer Prevention, Research and Commercialization. He is a Fellow at the IC2, an international think tank on venture capital and entrepreneurship. Current Board appointments include Advisory Board of The College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin (largest college at UT). Angelos is also President of Schoox.com, and President of Gridmates, member companies of the International Accelerator. Past appointments include board and advisory posts at the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the Social Sciences Department at St. Edwards University and the World Information Technology Conference. Angelos was awarded the US Economic Development of the Year award by Site Selection Magazine.

As CEO of Casoro Group, Yuen is responsible for the overall management of operations including business development and investor relations. A true savant in his field, Yuen brings a wealth of experience across a broad range of disciplines, among them: finance, investment management, capital raising, wealth planning, venture capital, portfolio management, alternative investments, commodities, strategic planning, leadership and training, sales and organizational structuring.

Prior to joining Casoro Group, Yuen was the founder and CEO of the franchisor How Do You Roll? a fast-casual sushi restaurant. In 2013, he appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank and received the highest investment offer in the history of the show from investor Kevin O’Leary. Yuen previously spent 13 years in the investment management and advisory industry a Managing Partner of Kenty, Yung, Ozias & Associates, where he oversaw advisors and was responsible for the capital raise and management of more than $300 million in funds raised from high-net-worth individuals, families, corporations, and charitable organizations. In his earlier years, he developed 27 commercial retail sites as an entrepreneur.

He currently sits on the board of Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce, and previously the Board President of Austin-based non-profit The Thinkery and he has served on the Board of Directors for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He also volunteers as a mentor for Ignite Accelerator, an Austin-based business incubator as well as Founders Firm. Yuen was named as a finalist for an Austin Under 40 award in 2013 and was honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award from The University of Texas Professional Development Center in 2006.

Yuen holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also a graduate of MIT’s Entrepreneurship Masters Program and has professional certifications as a Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor (CMFC®) and Board Certified Financial Planner (CFP®).

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

http://theblindgrind.com/ 

https://casorogroup.com/ 

How Courtney Started: 

Great Uncle Ray's Peanut Brittle is a symbol of that sweet kind of love that's shared between one friend to the next. In light of her and her uncle's mutual love for the candy, as well as the country charm, She has perfected the 35+-year-old recipe and is now manufacturing it for retail so that everyone can get a taste of that same, sweet kind of love!

Uncle Ray always used his peanut brittle as a way to make new friends, and she took a call out of his playbook and shared it with anyone she met during her travels. There was something to this sugary treat that melted people of all cultures and allowed them to accept an outsider like her without question. We could all agree that there was something to love about showing up sweet.

An Austin-made peanut brittle recently won one of the top prizes at H-E-B's Quest for Texas Best contest. Uncle Ray's Peanut Brittle is a product from Austinite Courtney Ray Goodson, who took the first place prize of $20,000 at the San Antonio-based grocery store's annual product competition

Buy peanut brittle @ HEB @Central Market 

Grace Gong started her entrepreneurial journey when she created an English newspaper in high school in Beijing, China. Recently, she worked in VC and PE firms focusing on consumer tech and real estate investment. Passionate about entrepreneurship, she is eager to learn from the world’s top talents.

Grace shared how American entrepreneurs created their companies in her first book, The Last Key To Success, with 21 founders featured on Forbes 30 under 30 in 2016. In 2017, she interviewed 22 investors who were featured on the Forbes Midas List for her second book How To Be A VC on how they invested in companies like Facebook, Apple, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. She is passionate about learning and sharing the knowledge she learned from top founders and investors in Silicon Valley.

Apple:http://apple.co/3d6bGea

Spotify: http://spoti.fi/37ENiz9

Website: http://smartventurepod.com

YouTube: https://bit.ly/gracegongyoutube

Co-founder of KOYA Innovations, samba admirer, marketing fanatic, and adventure enthusiast with a background in Psychology and Global Communications. You can find Courtney and her company at:   

https://getkoya.com/

https://www.carynnoel.com/   

http://courtneyruth.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/hello.courtneyruth/