Paparelli Podcast

A Conversation with One of My Favorite Startup Authors

Brian Livingston just published his second book, now available on Amazon! You start one company and you're an entrepreneur. You start a second, and you're a serial entrepreneur. With this second book, Livingston is officially an author of novels. He is the real deal!

Join me and learn about becoming a writer, the business of writing, and also Brian Livingston's newest novel, Folkston.

In this conversation, we talk about:

- What it means to be true to your calling
- How to keep going even after all your expectations are dashed
- The importance of staying fiscally responsible while still chasing your dream
- Brian is a two-time published author. He's a former attorney, having graduated from Washington and Lee Law, and practiced as a prosecutor in a small town in the South Carolina mountains. He currently works full-time in a land conservatory non-profit and is a full-time writer of fiction novels.

- I am sure you will find Brian memorable. He is a unique cat as he graduated with high honors from Clemson University, successfully hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, and now has written two great novels:

The Habits of Squirrels (published in May 2022)

Folkston (published in April 2025)

Sig has been angel investing for thirty-two years. He is called the Godfather of Atlanta angel investing. In this interview, he shares the X Factor he looks for in entrepreneurs and outlines his 10 criteria for a fundable entrepreneur.

If you are an entrepreneur, listen to this interview to see if you are an X Factor entrepreneur.

If you are an angel investor, you'll want to listen to reduce risk and increase your returns.

Ten simple criteria. Some are deal breakers. Others are ranked as important. And the rest must at least rate.

The hard criteria are easy. The easy criteria are hard to evaluate. After all, entrepreneurs are complex. Angel investing is still a combination of art and experience.

This interview has it all. Sig even shares how to get started as an angel investor.

Over the past 32 years, Sig has learned plenty and made a boatload of money. Take some time to listen to the most experienced early-stage investor in Atlanta. You'll only get it here!

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In the closeness is the bonding for baby, mom, and dad. 

Simple philosophy. 

Simple products. 

Successful outcome. 

Brian Fosse founded Lalabu with his wife, Kerrie. At the time, she was his only encouragement in starting this specialty clothing business. And as they neared bankruptcy a few years later, even Kerrie began having doubts. 

But Brian pressed on. While sitting on a plane headed to an investor meeting, he knew he needed to continue to trust God and keep going. He read Isiah 40:28-31. It was his all-in moment.

Brian escaped $1mm in debt with a $20k per week debt-service payment. Three years later, the business turned wildly profitable and sold for eight figures. A real success story. A real relationship story. A real family story. A real God story. 

This is entrepreneurship at its best—a gifted young man with loads of ideas, a supportive wife, and the perseverance to succeed. 

There is something here for everyone.

Here is Brian’s Bible verse: 

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:28-29, 31‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

I’ve met hundreds of entrepreneurs during my forty-year career in startups. Many of them were wildly successful. The successful knew their industry, solved a real problem, and timed the market just right. And they also knew how to make money. 

But after cashing out, they didn’t move on to the next stage in life…philanthropy. 

I was connected to Greg Thompson, the founder of ThomCo. ThomCo was a specialty commercial insurance brokerage. Greg grew this company over thirty years into a valuable company. But he discovered someone embezzled ten years into the company’s growth. This should have put him out of business and declared personal bankruptcy. 

But that’s when the miracles began. 

When he cashed out, he knew God’s hand was all over him and his company. At the exit, two things happened. He got more money than he would ever need in multiple lifetimes. And he realized he needed to give it away on a mission of changing lives. 

Greg told me, “Philanthropy is the most fulfilling occupation he has ever experienced.” 

Come and listen to his story and be inspired to become a philanthropist. And he tells you how to do it!

Twelve years after Greg Thompson started his company, it took off. Fifteen years after that, his insurance brokerage grew fivefold in premiums. His profits exploded. 

“Did you ever think of shutting down your business and doing something else during those twelve years?” I asked Greg. 

“Yes.” 

But Greg persevered.

It is so important to learn from Greg about being a successful entrepreneur. The perseverance, loyalty, support of his wife, and continuous learning that he exhibited led to a precious enterprise. And when the time came, he knew it was time to sell.

If you are thinking about or currently operating a service business.

If you are had a big dream for your life, and you are coming up short.

If you are staying loyal to your commitment to your cofounders and investors but are not sure where it is all leading.

This interview is filled with answers, insights, and encouragement. There is so much wisdom shared in this conversation. 

Listen and be rewarded for the time you invest

Greg Thompson is an entrepreneur who built a specialty commercial insurance brokerage. In this interview, Greg shares his experiences moving from an insurance agent to entrepreneur to general manager to CEO.

For topics:

1. How to set yourself up for board positions while building your company.
2. How to develop your company even faster through acquisitions.
3. How to become a better business owner by joining a CEO small group, like Vistage.
4. How to be a leader who practices people are your greatest asset.

Greg shares what worked and what didn’t as he built his company. How one day, he looked in the mirror and asked, “How am I screwing up this company I started?”

Join us.

When I asked Authur Washington, the Principal of KIPP collegiate, how many students in his school, he said, “Eight hundred and forty scholars. Eight hundred and forty beautiful souls!”

His answer set the tone for our conversation. This conversation describes the building of a great leader—a man who is sacrificing to accomplish the mission God gave him. 

His objectives:

- To change the lives of the next generation. 
- Educate, encourage and show them discipline and responsibility. 
- Instill a spirit of hope. 
- Mold them into next-generation leaders. 

I learned about leadership. More importantly, I am reminded to change lives, the leader must love the people he leads.

Alan Taetle is one of the most respected VCs in the Southeast and Noro-Moseley Partners’ co-managing partner. They are the oldest VC firm in Atlanta., now investing in their eighth fund.

I asked Alan to join me for a short conversation about this contraction in values. Both in the public markets and in the private markets. During his twenty-three-year career as a VC, Alan has been through at least three boom and bust cycles.

I know you’ll find his insights spot on. And, as an entrepreneur, you’ll be rewarded with some good ideas for increasing your company’s value amid an impending economic contraction. Lastly, Alan shares the advice he gave to his portfolio companies.

Brian Livingston was the state wrestling champion. He hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. Then took the well-marked path of law school and a career as a litigator. And then he realized, “This is not me.” 

He knew from fourth grade he was destined to be a writer. It took twenty-two years to face this truth, but he did. 

On the evening of January 20, 2018, he began to write his first novel. He committed to 1,500 words per day, seven days per week. Three years later, The Habits of Squirrels was completed. 

In this interview, you’ll learn how to discover who God made you to be, your purpose, and your fulfillment. 

Brian shows us the way. 

His superpower is working on time-intensive, long-term projects that take all of him. It kind of sounds like an entrepreneur starting a new company to me. 

Lots of life lessons, and you have a great book to read when it’s over!

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