Powderkeg - Unvalley

As we discussed in our opening episode of Season 2, raising money for your startup works differently between the coasts than it does in Silicon Valley, New York, or Boston. Non-coastal founders need to build strong relationships and prove their business model if they hope to secure funding, and they also need to understand what makes their particular community tick. Because as it turns out, not all heartland tech ecosystems are created equal.

This is a fact that our two guests for today’s show know all too well. David Hall is a partner at the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, a role that has taken him around the country to meet some of the most innovative startups in America’s burgeoning tech hubs. And Mike Preuss (who has previously joined us on the podcast) is the founder of stakeholder-reporting software Visible, which helps more than 2,000 companies on six continents track and share key business metrics with investors and other business partners. Together, the two possess an intimate understanding of the ways that unique regional factors influence how entrepreneurs and investors operate.

In this episode, David and Mike help us go beyond one-size-fits-all fundraising advice to explain how the characteristics of your tech community should influence the way you interact with investors and raise capital. They point out some of the most pertinent similarities and differences between regional tech hubs, break down what a healthy founder-investor relationship looks like, and ultimately illustrate how founders can use their community’s unique identity to their advantage when raising money.

In this episode with David Hall and Mike Preuss, you’ll learn:

-- Key similarities and differences between non-coastal tech hubs (15:46).

-- An experienced investor’s high-level work and life advice for entrepreneurs (22:51).

-- The benefits that thorough stakeholder reporting can provide for every startup (22:51).

-- How to build a talented team and loyal customer base between the coasts (33:38).

-- Proven strategies for nurturing healthy founder-investor relationships (37:33).

-- How founders and investors should approach fundraising in non-coastal cities (49:16).

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.

The data has shown that fundraising is a different kind of beast for Midwest-based startups. Unlike the investing scene in Silicon Valley, which is characterized by fierce competition and bullish investors, fundraising in the Midwest is grounded in a foundation of collaboration and strong relationships. There is funding out there for innovative, fast-growing tech companies in America’s heartland, but founders will struggle to secure it if they try to follow a coastal playbook.

In this first episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups’ second season, we dive deep into the intricacies of fundraising in the Midwest with a new and improved episode format. Our first guest, Don Aquilano, is an Indianapolis-based venture capitalist who started his career at major firms in New York. With his decades of experience between the East Coast and Midwest tech ecosystems, he has an intimate understanding of the national investment landscape. He’s joined by Shwetha Pai and Brian Powers, two experienced startup founders who bring knowledge of what it’s like “in the trenches” for Midwest tech entrepreneurs today.

Together, our three guests paint an in-depth picture of the non-Valley fundraising landscape and offer invaluable tips and strategies for finding funding the Midwestern way. Don, Shwetha, and Brian discuss such pressing topics as why you should or shouldn’t seek funding for your startup, which investors you should talk to and how to build relationships with them, and what the current state of Midwest tech investing says about the future.

In this episode with Don Aquilano, Shwetha Pai and Brian Powers, you’ll learn:

*Statistics that show why Midwest tech investing is on the rise (5:37).

*How to start building relationships with investors before you fundraise (14:02).

*Reasons why your startup should or should not seek funding (20:47).

*Who you should raise from and how to approach dealings with coastal VCs (31:47).

*What makes Cincinnati a great place to grow a tech startup today (37:19).

Please enjoy this conversation with Don Aquilano, Shwetha Pai and Brian Powers!

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.

If your startup has secured funding or you’re currently seeking it, then you may have heard about the importance of investors updates. Keeping your investors informed about what’s going on within the company helps them better advise you and can directly benefit your business in the long run. However, exactly when and how to do this can be a bit confusing for first-timers, so we’ve brought on two experienced guests for today’s show to clear up the particulars.

Our first guest, Ari Newman, is a Partner at the venture arm of startup accelerator Techstars, where he has advised and invested in dozens of startups over the last six years. He’s joined by Mike Preuss, co-founder and CEO of Visible, which sells robust stakeholder reporting software in use by more than 2,000 businesses around the world. Together, Ari and Mike have an intimate understanding of the investor-entrepreneur relationship and how they can most effectively communicate with each other.

In this episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, Ari and Mike offer their most valuable insider info on how to gather vital company metrics and share them with your investors, your team members and other important stakeholders. We also get into some of the “big picture” topics surrounding metrics reporting, such as why you always need to be honest and how a thorough reporting process will help your business succeed.

In this episode with Ari Newman and Mike Preuss, you’ll learn: 

*The biggest mistakes to avoid when pitching your company to investors 

*How to craft timely investor updates that will benefit your business

*Why you shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes as an entrepreneur

*The importance of transparency even when you only have bad news

*How Visible helps companies track and report key metrics

Please enjoy this conversation with Ari Newman and Mike Preuss!

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.

No one likes the person at the conference or cocktail hour who’s only interested in promoting their company and handing out business cards. This shameless “networker” mentality will not only annoy everyone else in the room, but also hurt your business by burning bridges with potential collaborators. Fortunately, serial entrepreneur Scott Gerber is an expert on the other way to build business relationships—the way of the “connector.”

Scott has based his whole career on business relationships and helping other people build them. As the co-founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) and The Community Company, he’s spent nearly a decade helping entrepreneurs and global brands alike intelligently grow their networks. And in his recently released book “Superconnector: Stop Networking and Start Building Business Relationships that Matter,” he explains why taking the long view on relationship-building and being a connector instead of a networker will ultimately lead to greater success.

In this episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, Scott shares how to use the “superconnector” mindset and strategies to create meaningful relationships that fuel business growth. You’ll learn the importance of generosity in being an effective connector, how to more easily spot “takers” in business and life, and how to be the “Sherlock Holmes of discourse” to get the most out of every conversation you have.

In this episode with Scott Gerber, you’ll learn:

*How self-audits can help you move past your biggest failures (4:55)

*Why it’s better to be a connector than a networker (17:04)

*How to spot a “taker” who’s only interested in what they can get from you (26:25)

*Proven superconnector strategies for building business relationships that matter (29:43)

*The role generosity plays in a successful career and a fulfilling life (41:20)

*What your family can teach you about giving to others (44:48)

Please enjoy this conversation with Scott Gerber!

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.

If you want a tech community to grow, develop and thrive, it helps to know where it stands right now—how far it’s come, what advantages it has and what’s still holding it back. That’s exactly why Powderkeg teamed up with Raidious, an enterprise-grade digital marketing agency, and a slew of other organizations earlier this year to take the temperature of the tech community in our hometown of Indianapolis, IN.

The results of our research were compiled in the first-ever Indianapolis Tech Census Report and released to the public back in February. Drawing on responses from 359 tech professionals, entrepreneurs and investors representing 138 companies in the Greater Indianapolis area, the census uses a combination of hard data and interviews with industry insiders to paint an accurate picture of the Indy tech ecosystem as it stands today.

For this episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, I gathered a few of Indy’s most innovative tech entrepreneurs and business leaders to break down the report and get at the root of what’s good and what’s not so good about the state of Indianapolis tech. We shed light on the secrets behind Indy’s rapid tech growth, explore possibilities for bringing more investment capital into the city and share our best strategies for building more diverse and inclusive teams—in Indianapolis or in any tech community across the country.

If you’d like access to all the growth and development insights the 2018 Indianapolis Tech Census Report has to offer, click here to download a copy free of charge. And if you want to help us compile a report on the tech ecosystem in your city, get in touch with us here!

In this episode with four visionary Indianapolis tech leaders, you’ll learn:

*Secrets behind the rapid growth of the Indianapolis tech community (8:30)

*What tech communities can do to overcome a shortage of investment capital (20:12)

*Why building relationships in your community is the best way to grow your business (26:41)

*Strategies for finding and developing young professional to close the tech talent gap (31:21)

*How to drive diversity and inclusivity in your company and the whole tech industry (40:28)

Please enjoy this conversation about the Indy Tech Census Report with Danielle McDowell, John Qualls, Haley Altman and Yaw Aning!

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.

Here at Powderkeg, we believe the rising remote work movement goes hand-in-hand with our mission to connect the amazing tech communities growing and thriving across the country. In a previous episode of the podcast, the CEO and COO of Indianapolis-based Formstack shared how they built an exceptional remote culture spanning seven countries. Today, serial entrepreneur Liam Martin joins us to share some remote work secrets of his own.

Liam is no stranger to managing a remote team. As co-founder of employee time-tracking software Time Doctor and Staff.com, Liam oversees a team of over 80 people living in 27 countries around the world. He and his team were also behind Running Remote 2018, the first global conference on building and scaling remote teams, back in June.

In this second episode on remote work, Liam shares tactical tips and strategies that will change how you think about going remote. We discuss the huge benefits and noteworthy obstacles of managing a distributed team, dive into the critical importance of clear processes and documentation, and even touch on the pros and cons of synchronous vs. asynchronous communication.

In this episode with Liam Martin, you’ll learn:

*His remote work experience that inspired the creation of Time Doctor and Staff.com.

*Why data analysis plays a key role in developing remote work best practices.

*Strategies for leveraging remote work to drive employee satisfaction at your company.

*The importance of clear processes and documentation within a remote business.

*Why asynchronous communication tools may be the right choice for your remote team.

*How Running Remote aims to educate and empower remote-first companies.

Please enjoy this conversation with Liam Martin!

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.

Here at Powderkeg, we believe the rising remote work movement goes hand-in-hand with our mission to connect the amazing tech communities growing and thriving across the country. In a previous episode of the podcast, the CEO and COO of Indianapolis-based Formstack shared how they built an exceptional remote culture spanning seven countries. Today, serial entrepreneur Liam Martin joins us to share some remote work secrets of his own.

Liam is no stranger to managing a remote team. As co-founder of employee time-tracking software Time Doctor and Staff.com, Liam oversees a team of over 80 people living in 27 countries around the world. He and his team were also behind Running Remote 2018, the first global conference on building and scaling remote teams, back in June.

In this second episode on remote work, Liam shares tactical tips and strategies that will change how you think about going remote. We discuss the huge benefits and noteworthy obstacles of managing a distributed team, dive into the critical importance of clear processes and documentation, and even touch on the pros and cons of synchronous vs. asynchronous communication.

In this episode with Liam Martin, you’ll learn:

*His remote work experience that inspired the creation of Time Doctor and Staff.com

*Why data analysis plays a key role in developing remote work best practices

*Strategies for leveraging remote work to drive employee satisfaction at your company

*The importance of clear processes and documentation within a remote business

*Why asynchronous communication tools may be the right choice for your remote team

*How Running Remote aims to educate and empower remote-first companies

Please enjoy this conversation with Liam Martin!

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.

Let’s face it: In the tech world, motherhood is often viewed as something undesirable. Many employers and professional women think that having children will distract them from work, decrease their productivity, and make them less effective leaders. But what if the opposite is true? What if working moms actually make some of the very best entrepreneurs, investors, and employees?

This is the opinion of Sarah Lacy, a Silicon Valley tech journalist turned entrepreneur. After writing and editorial stints at TechCrunch and Businessweek, Lacy launched PandoDaily, a web publication offering analysis and commentary on the Bay Area tech community, in 2012. She’s also the author of three books focusing on tech and entrepreneurship. Her most recent title, "A Uterus Is a Feature, Not a Bug," focuses on empowering professional women and proving through cold, hard data that working moms are often better at their jobs than their childless peers.

Lacy flew out to the Powderkeg headquarters in Indianapolis, IN for this candid and inspiring interview. During our conversation, she shares her thoughts on the importance of good role models, evidence that working moms are some of the best people you can hire or invest in, and strategies for getting and keeping them on your team. She also shares some exciting behind-the-scenes info on her latest company, Chairman Mom, a guilt-free, judgment-free, and troll-free community for professional women and moms.

In this episode with Sarah Lacy, you’ll learn:

* How good role models inspire people to live up to their full potential (5:25)

* Why Millennial women will be instrumental in driving workplace gender reform (16:10)

* Research that proves working mothers actually outperform their peers (21:59)

* Strategies for attracting working moms to your team and making them feel valued (30:05)

* About Chairman Mom and its mission to support and empower women professionals (37:12**)

Please enjoy this conversation with Sarah Lacy!

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.

And…we’re back! Powderkeg: Igniting Startups returns after a brief hiatus with something of an experiment ahead of season two of the podcast. (We’re calling it an “in-between-isode.”) This show features a Q&A-meets-pitch event featuring one veteran entrepreneur and two founders who are earlier in their journey and have exciting startups of their own.

Our first guest is Scott Jones, a serial tech entrepreneur and investor who’s perhaps best known as the inventor of voicemail (yes, you read that right), co-founder of Gracenote and ChaCha, and Chairman of the Indianapolis-based coding bootcamp Eleven Fifty Academy. Joining him are two entrepreneurs from Cincinnati: Summer Crenshaw, co-founder and COO of the recruitment app Tilr, and Ry Walker, CEO of the data engineering platform Astronomer.

After diving into a few of the highlights and key lessons from Scott’s storied career, we give Summer and Ry a chance to pitch their companies and receive real-time feedback and actionable advice. In the process, Scott shares his expert strategies that should be of use to every entrepreneur, such as how to disrupt your space by “cross-pollinating” ideas from other industries and when to explore new business ideas versus when to go all-in on your best one.

(P.S. All three of our guests will also be featured at the upcoming Fuse50 conference in Cincinnati on May 17, which we’re hosting in collaboration with Cintrifuse. This is part of Powderkeg’s new event series designed to help “fuse” together all of the awesome tech hubs growing and thriving outside Silicon Valley.

In this episode with Scott Jones, Summer Crenshaw and Ry Walker, you’ll learn:

--- How Scott became a successful serial entrepreneurial by always thinking outside the box (5:26)

--- The secret to learning quickly and innovating in a space that’s brand new to you (10:25)

--- How tilr is using tech to disrupt an industry that’s stuck in its ways (17:13)

--- Tried-and-true tips for cross-pollinating ideas between industries (26:15)

--- Why Astronomer thinks it’s time for a revolutionize data collection and management (28:50)

--- Expert advice on when to explore new ideas and when to put your eggs in one basket (34:52)

--- The most important things to do when you start scaling your company (42:37)

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If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes

Modern technology has made telecommuting and working remotely easier than ever before, opening the door for businesses to find and hire the best talent no matter where in the world they live. However, Chris Byers and Dustin Sapp will tell you that hiring the right people is only the first step; building an exceptional culture to support your remote team is equally important.

Byers and Sapp are CEO and COO of Formstack, an Indianapolis tech company that provides easy-to-use, online form-building software for 15,000 customers around the world. Although Formstack maintains an office of about 30 employees at its Indianapolis headquarters, the other 70% of its workforce live in 75 cities and seven countries around the globe. The team at Formstack has worked hard to create a culture that accounts for the unique benefits and challenges of remote work, empowering every employee to do their best work in spite of physical distance.

In our interview, Chris and Dustin share many of Formstack’s secrets for building world-class remote cultures. They explain the importance of fostering genuine relationships between team members, how to do this through face-to-face and virtual interactions, and why the team must always be aligned around the company’s vision. As an added bonus, we also discuss Formstack’s just-announced acquisition of Visual Antidote and how the move will fuel Formstack’s continued growth in the future.

In this episode with Chris Byers and Dustin Sapp, you’ll learn:

--- Why your company needs a dedicated team aligned around a core vision (10:55)

--- How to build and maintain a highly effective remote work culture (19:11)

--- Key reasons why your company should or shouldn’t go remote (28:00)

--- Tips for overcoming the unique challenges faced by remote companies (29:43)

--- The Formstack method for executing a smooth, drama-free acquisition (36:49)

--- How high-growth companies can succeed and scale even without raising capital (48:13)

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If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes