Jesse Draper is a mother of 2 boys, founding partner of Halogen Ventures as well as creator and host of Emmy nominated television series, The Valley Girl Show. Draper is a 4th generation venture capitalist focused on early stage investing in consumer technology companies led by female and co-ed teams. Among her 55 portfolio companies, are the Skimm, Glamsquad, Carbon38, HopSkipDrive, The Flex Company, Eloquii (recently sold to Walmart) and This is L (sold to P&G). She stars on SET's television series Meet the Draper's currently in it's second season. Draper was listed by Marie Claire magazine as one of the ‘50 Most Connected Women in America’. Draper has been a contributor to Marie Claire, Mashable, Forbes, and is a regular investor and tech personality on shows including TLC’s Girl Starter, The Katie Couric Show, Fox’s Good Day LA, CNBC’s Who Wants to Be the Next Millionaire Inventor? & Freeform’s Startup U.

Learn more about Halogen Ventures: https://halogenvc.com/

Follow Jesse Draper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessedraper

Follow Jesse Draper on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessecdraper/

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Jesse Draper - Founder of Halogen Ventures

My name is Casey Adams, and over the past six years I've been fortunate to have incredible conversations with some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, and on my podcast, I'm sharing those insightful conversations with you. Listen anywhere you get your podcast, and please rate and review the podcast if you enjoy it!

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

Entrepreneurship

Today on The Casey Adams Show I sat down with Sam Rattner. 


In this captivating episode, we sit down with Sam Rattner, the visionary founder of Victory and Showroom, who sold his first company for a staggering $40M at just 23. Sam takes us through his thrilling journey in the online gambling and fashion e-commerce industries, sharing the highs and lows of building a business in a regulated market. He emphasizes the importance of taking risks early in life, being fully informed before pitching investors, and the concept behind Showroom—a revolutionary vertical-specific search engine for fashion and e-commerce.


Takeaways


-Starting a business in a regulated market requires navigating complex regulatory processes and compliance requirements.
- Building an asset along the way is important, as it increases the value of the business and makes it more attractive to potential buyers.
- Taking risks early in life, when there are fewer responsibilities, can lead to greater opportunities and success.
- When pitching investors, it is important to be fully informed about the business and to have a clear understanding of the market and competition.
- The future of shopping may involve vertical-specific search engines that provide a more personalized and efficient shopping experience. Product discovery is a challenge in the e-commerce industry, and traditional keyword-based search engines are not effective in helping users find what they are looking for.
- Building relationships with partners is crucial for Showroom's success, and the company curates a list of high-quality brands to ensure a positive user experience.


Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
03:35 Starting Victory and Overcoming Regulatory Challenges
06:33 Building a Business with Acquisition in Mind
09:40 Early Entrepreneurial Endeavors
14:38 Gap Between Snow Plow Business and Victory
17:39 Raising Capital for Victory
21:36 Never Pitching Twice
30:38 Introduction to Showroom
33:14 Thoughts on Live Shopping
36:33 Personal Shopping Habits
38:59 Product Discovery and Keyword-Based Search Engines
39:52 Expansion of Showroom Categories
40:38 Building Relationships with Partners
41:01 Revenue Share Model
42:53 Curated List of Brands and Quality Products
44:12 Choosing Showroom as a Second Time Founder
45:11 Importance of Talent and Team Building
47:07 Product Discovery and Live Shopping
49:30 Acquiring a Former Riverboat Casino Vessel
57:06 Unique Ventures and Pursuing Opportunities
58:37 Embracing Pain and Learning from Challenges


Learn more: www.listener.com

Sam Rattner - From Startup to $40M Exit at 23

Today on The Casey Adams Show I sat down with Jonathan Neman.
Jonathan Neman is Co-Founder & CEO of Sweetgreen, the mission driven restaurant brand that serves healthy food at scale. Jonathan and his co-founders started Sweetgreen in 2007, opening their first location in Georgetown, DC, just three months out of college. Their vision is to be as ubiquitous as traditional fast-food, but far more transparent and honest.
Jonathan has been recognized as a key innovator in food and business, named to Fast Company's "50 Most Innovative Companies," Inc’s “30 Under 30,” Forbes’ “30 Under 30,” Food & Wine’s “40 Big Food Thinkers 40 and Under,” and the 2020 Nation's Restaurant News NRN Power List among other accolades. Sweetgreen was named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in 2019 and 2020, won the 2020 and 2021 Webby Award for Food & Drink in the category Apps, Mobile & Voice and recognized as a Top 100 Most Loved Workplace by Newsweek in collaboration with Best Practice Institute.


Follow Jonathan Neman on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-neman-9a28aa8/
X: https://twitter.com/JonnyNemo


Learn more about Sweetgreen: https://www.sweetgreen.com/

Follow Sweetgreen on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetgreen/
X: https://twitter.com/sweetgreen


Follow Casey Adams:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-adams-430b3114a/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/casey
X: https://twitter.com/caseyadams


Learn more about Listener.com: https://listener.com

Jonathan Neman - Co-Founder & CEO of Sweetgreen

Today on The Casey Adams Show, Michael Noicos, CEO of Banx Management, shares his entrepreneurial journey filled with ups and downs. From a successful Amazon business shut down by a negative review to starting Banx Management, Michael emphasizes the importance of self-presentation and personal growth in online connections. He also discusses the significance of mindset and continuous growth in personal development and success. Tune in to hear about Michael's resilience in overcoming challenges and his advice on setting goals and finding purpose across various aspects of life.


Learn more about Michael Noicos: https://www.instagram.com/michaelnoicos/


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Learn more about Listener: https://listener.com

Michael Noicos - Unleashing the Power of Consistent Effort

Sriram Krishnan is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz where he invests in crypto and currently heads up the UK offices of a16z crypto. He works closely with Farcaster, Story Protocol, Kindred. Prior to joining a16z, Sriram led product and engineering teams at X, Meta and Snap. Sriram started his career at Microsoft as a founding member of Windows Azure. He was also previously a personal investor in several prominent tech companies. Sriram writes actively at @sriramk on Twitter and at sriramk.com. He co-hosts “The Aarthi and Sriram Show”, a leading podcast on tech and business.


Stay connected with Sriram: https://sriramk.com/
Follow Sriram on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk
Follow Sriram on X: https://twitter.com/sriramk
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Learn more about a16z: https://a16z.com/author/sriram-krishnan/


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Sriram Krishnan - GP of A16Z On The Future of Tech, Creating Your Own Luck, and Seizing Opportunities

On this episode of The Casey Adams Show, we dive deep with Michael Brandt, the visionary CEO of HVMN, also known as Ketone IQ. Brandt shares his groundbreaking journey in human performance innovation, from biohacking to optimizing bodily functions. He reveals the strategic triumphs behind HVMN, including securing a $6 million military contract in the company's nascent stage, the athletic achievement of running a sub 2:40 marathon, and the savvy acquisition of the premium domain, ketone.com.




Jesse Draper - Founder of Halogen Ventures

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