Powderkeg - Unvalley

No matter how you approach it, networking is always inevitable, particularly for entrepreneurs. And the number one issue when it comes to a lot of networking events is that they don’t deliver the results they always promise. But attendees aren’t the only ones who suffer from poorly coordinated and awkward networking events. Event hosts and sponsors lose out on the opportunities to collect valuable data about their attendees that can be used to determine audience demographics and adjust marketing and planning for all future events. So who is tackling this opportunity to help event hosts collect valuable data to host a successful event?

In today’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast, you’ll hear from Ashlee Ammons, President and Co-founder of Mixtroz, a mobile application that allows event attendees to mix, meet and collaborate together through an online platform.

Ashlee had just 5 minutes on the Powderkeg stage to pitch her company Mixtroz to a live panel of investors and industry experts recently at our first-ever all virtual pitch event featuring some of the most innovative companies scaling in the United States. The three experts you’ll hear from in this episode include:

- Mandy Hasket, Leadership Consultant at ADVISA

- Phil Powell, Associate Dean of Academic Programs at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

- J. Kelly Hoey, Angel Investor, Author, Speaker, and Podcast Host of BUILD YOUR DREAM NETWORK

Ashlee Ammons is the President and Co-Founder of Mixtroz. She is the 38th Black Female to raise over $1M in pre-seed funding. Ashlee also serves on the boards of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and Tech Birmingham. She was a 2019 Birmingham Business Journal 40 Under 40 recipient as well as Birmingham 40 Under 40 of the decade and Business Journals National Rising Star. Tune in to hear more!

Figuring out your next career move doesn't have to be so stressful. So why not try Powderkeg Matches?

By joining Matches, you’re joining a community of thousands of top professionals in the Powderkeg community to get connected with outstanding people at the hottest tech companies between the coasts. Get matched with great employers, land your next major opportunity, and get started today!

Please enjoy this pitch with Ashlee Ammons of Mixtroz!

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.

There is not a successful company in the world that hasn’t faced its share of hard times. Whether it be a mass withdrawal of leadership, a shift in the company’s goals and objectives, or even a lack of resources and funding, there will be times when employees will find themselves extremely overwhelmed, confused, and on edge, especially right now.

According to a recent study completed by Gallup, most disengaged employees can cost companies up to astonishing $550 billion a year in loss of productivity, not to mention the hiring and onboarding costs to replace them. This can become troublesome for some companies, especially those who might be facing the repercussions of a possible economic recession looming just around the corner.

For those reasons, our guests on today’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast believes that there is no higher calling than instilling value and supporting talent in times of difficulty. Our first guest is Dave Hickman, Managing Principal of Professional Search for CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA). After 20 years as an entrepreneur with fast-growing domestic and international companies, Dave joined CLA. He believes that a “we before me” mindset is foundational for teams to serve clients best, solve their problems, and improve outcomes that help them achieve their dreams.

Joining Dave is Sarah Conroy, HRCO Consultant CLA Washington, DC (Greenbelt). Sarah has more than 30 years of HR experience in human resources, both directly and consulting companies across the country. She’s got a ton of experience working with tech companies and scaled the team at a geospatial tech company in Maine. She’s in the trenches right now with HR leaders across the country, doing the work as well as consulting.

In this episode, Dave and Sarah will share strategies on being transparent with your team, advice on instilling value in talent, and to continue building engagement and confidence. Along with the best ways to make a pipeline of talent, rethink, and prepare retention strategies during an economic downturn. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Dave Hickman and Sarah Conroy, you’ll learn:

-- The best ways companies can think about building a pipeline of talent

-- How to rethink and prepare retention strategies during an economic downturn

-- Trends that companies can capitalize on during isolation and remote work

-- Ways the current environment can be advantageous for business

-- Thoughts on a future surge of job seekers looking for remote work

Figuring out your next career move doesn’t have to be so stressful. So why not try Powderkeg Matches?

By joining Matches, you’re joining a community of thousands of top professionals in the Powderkeg community to get connected with outstanding people at the hottest tech companies between the coasts. Get matched with great employers, land your next major opportunity, and get started today!

Please enjoy this conversation with Dave Hickman and Sarah Conroy!

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 emergence of the novel coronavirus has led many tech leaders into a massive struggle on the ways to solve and respond to the pandemic crisis. Tech companies are now having to step up to the plate and help play a part in the coronavirus pandemic response, tapping into their wide-ranging resources to help experts get a handle on the spread of the virus and to fill in gaps in the government’s response. But it’s not clear yet how — or to what extent — those efforts could help bring the crisis under control.

In today’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast, you'll be hearing someone with years of experience when it comes to public safety and has a passion for helping organizations. Jarret Winkelman is the President & CEO and Cofounder of Incident Response Technologies, Inc. IRT is a fast-growing software company focused on developing affordable, user-friendly, incident management solutions for public safety, educational, and private sector organizations.

Before creating IRT, Jarret served as an Assistant EMS Chief, a HAZMAT Technician for the Department of Homeland Security, and a police and air medical dispatcher. Jarret has extensive experience in the areas of Wilderness Search and Rescue, Technical Rescue, EMS, HAZMAT, NIMS/ICS, and Critical Incident Management and Dispatching. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Jarret Winkelman, you’ll learn:

--- Jarret’s experience in public safety and entrepreneurship

--- How companies can better use their resources to prevent a crisis

--- Gain an inside view on the impacts of the Colorado Tech Scene

--- The exciting things happening at IRT and its vision for the future

Figuring out your next career move doesn't have to be so stressful. So why not try Powderkeg Matches?

By joining Matches, you’re joining a community of thousands of top professionals in the Powderkeg community to get connected with outstanding people at the hottest tech companies between the coasts. Get matched with great employers, land your next major opportunity, and get started today!

Please enjoy this pitch with Jarret Winkelman of IRT!

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.

All signs are pointing to the same thing: there is an economic downturn on the horizon. If you’ve just recently started or have been running your company for a while, you probably know that there are always ups and downs when it comes to owning or starting a business. Market conditions can change, outside events like the global pandemic can affect demand, and sometimes, growth can stall simply due to cyclical reasons. As a leader, you have to prepare for such inevitable downturns. Even as you gather the right resources towards growth, it’s also essential to create a contingency plan when things go south. At the same time, you must structure your company to be more resilient. A few changes in how you operate can make you more recession-proof. But how can you do this?

Our guest on today’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast believes there is no higher calling than helping entrepreneurs grow and improve. Scott Kraege is a serial entrepreneur who is no stranger to growing tech companies during a recession. He founded MOBI back in 2010, scaling the company from $0 to $40M+ ARR and leading to a successful exit (that was acquired by Tangoe in 2018). Before that, he founded and bootstrapped and drove Bluefish Wireless (2001-2009) to Inc 500 three years in a row. Today he is a co-owner of The Vogue in Broad Ripple, Indiana and is now managing director at Techstars Heritage Group Accelerator.

Throughout this episode, Scott will share key ways of being transparent with your team, advice on managing and measuring the performance of remote teams. Scott will also share the ideas on how best to support local businesses that are struggling during the economic pandemic.Tune in for more!

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

--- Bottlenecks and challenges you’ll face when executing goals

--- Advice on being transparent as a leader and sharing with your team

--- Ideas on how to manage in performance in a remote team

--- Ways to execute goals, and profitably serve customers and potential stakeholders

--- How can companies can stay ahead, during an...economic and pandemic crisis

Figuring out your next career move doesn’t have to be so stressful. So why not try Powderkeg Matches?

By joining Matches, you’re joining a community of thousands of top professionals in the Powderkeg community to get connected with outstanding people at the hottest tech companies between the coasts. Get matched with great employers, land your next major opportunity, and get started today!

Please enjoy this conversation with Scott Kraege!

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.

When confronted with a crisis like COVID-19, that has brought global uncertainty and record-high market volatility. Tech leaders are now forced to change the way their companies operate almost entirely overnight. This has had enormous ramifications for how companies are working. Leaders are now expected to be able to support and communicate with their teams with full transparency. But there is a silver lining, and that silver lining is that uncertainty can create opportunity–especially for companies that could be born or survive this uncertain period. This isn’t the first time our world has felt the burden of an economic downturn, and it definitely won’t be the last. So how can leaders better prepare and adapt themselves and their companies for times like these?

On today’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast, you’ll hear from a leader with an uncommon passion and authenticity in helping leaders build high-performance teams based on trust and shared purpose. Heather Haas is the President of ADVISA. ADVISA, provides talent optimization software and assessments, well as leadership development programs and strategic consulting to organizations across the country.

Heather’s passion for fueling others’ success drove her from her beginnings as a classroom teacher and principal to her current role as President of ADVISA. Since making the leap into the business world, Heather has coached and trained thousands of leaders to understand and leverage their strengths, as well as build skills for engaging others effectively.

Throughout this episode, Heather will share the importance of being transparent with your customers and how important transparency can be in order to reassure your members of your team in such a time of uncertainty. Heather will also share the important key values of what a leader needs to have and why those values can play a significant role in a time of crisis. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Heather Haas, you’ll learn:

--- Important values leaders should focus on in order to lead

--- When’s the best time to be transparent with the team and with clients

--- The biggest opportunities that exist for you during the COVID-19 situation

--- What steps to take to better position a company and profitably serve

Figuring out your next career move doesn’t have to be so stressful. So why not try Powderkeg Matches?

By joining Matches, you’re joining a community of thousands of top professionals in the Powderkeg community to get connected with outstanding people at the hottest tech companies between the coasts. Get matched with great employers, land your next major opportunity, and get started today!

Please enjoy this conversation with Heather Haas!

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.

While most people don’t ever want to experience a crisis situation like we are all involved in now, it’s always important to be prepared. Being able to effectively communicate during a crisis has now become a necessary and essential skill that every person needs to understand, especially when sharing empathy—for each other, for the community, and for customers. As you consider the best way to communicate with customers and as we collectively navigate the coronavirus crisis, consider the best ways you can share empathy in your communication during this moment and how to effectively share your message with others.

On today’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast, you’ll hear from a PR leader with diverse leadership experience across PR and business communication who believes in using the power of empathy in communication. Kim Jefferson is the Senior Vice President at BLASTmedia and oversees all PR account teams. BLASTmedia is the nation’s only PR agency dedicated to SaaS, and Kim’s decade of media relations experience guides strategic direction for account teams and clients. The intersection of her genuine passion for news media and tech allows her to find the hook in clients’ stories.

Throughout this episode, Kim will discuss the importance of having empathy involved with communication, how providing useful communication and advice can better serve your customers in a time of crisis. Kim also shares helpful information on communicating transparency with your team and the importance of reassuring them at a time of uncertainty. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Kim Jefferson, you’ll learn:

--- How to use the power of empathy and communication

--- Ways to better serve you audience in a time of crisis

--- Key ways to being honest with your team

--- The importance of positive PR during difficult situations

Figuring out your next career move doesn’t have to be so stressful. So why not try Powderkeg Matches?

By joining Matches, you’re joining a community of thousands of top professionals in the Powderkeg community to get connected with outstanding people at the hottest tech companies between the coasts. Get matched with great employers, land your next major opportunity, and get started today!

Please enjoy this conversation with Kim Jefferson!

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.

As an entrepreneur, creating new paths and making mistakes are part of the expected journey and adventure that we can face. Taking risks, especially those that don't pay off when launching when trying to launch a tech product, can become a very rocky adventure for a startup. These rocky experiences can lead to problems, business mistakes, or even the common technical issues that surround the product you're trying to produce. And this all ends up as a waste of the entrepreneur's most valuable resources: time and money. So how can entrepreneurs turn those rocky entrepreneurial mistakes into a more significant learning opportunity?

Our guest on today’s episode of the Powderkeg podcast is one who has faced all the challenges when it comes to the common and rocky entrepreneur’s journey. PJ Taei, is the Founder and President of Washington DC-based Uscreen, a video-on-demand company that helps people launch their own apps and online video streaming service.

PJ is a serial entrepreneur and an expert in video streaming and monetization. PJ started his career as a network technician and founded a company called WebNet Hosting, that he built for 14 years until it was acquired back in 2016. PJ then shifted his focus over to Uscreen. Uscreen’s platform is home to over 5,000 video creators, enabling them to monetize their passions - from education to fitness, to yoga, and much more.

Throughout this episode, you’ll get to hear PJ discuss his role as an entrepreneur, his personal experiences with overcoming challenges of making mistakes and how he turned them into learning opportunities, and his current role as Founder and President of Uscreen. Find out more about how PJ and his team are disrupting the video-streaming service industry with their platform, Uscreen. Tune in for more!

In this episode with PJ Taei, you’ll learn:

--- How to turn failures and mistakes into learning opportunities

--- The challenges of creating successful video content

--- How to grow your personal brand and become a thought leader in your niche

--- The best ways to succeed in building useful and engaging software

--- Get an inside look at Washington DC tech ecosystem

Please enjoy this conversation with PJ Taei!

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.

Have you been watching the economic roller coaster and wondering how it’ll affect your wallet? The fallout from coronavirus has been substantial, and economic cracks are beginning to emerge. Small business owners are beginning to share supply chain problems and a loss of sales. The travel industry is falling apart, and consumer spending has drastically decreased as consumers pull back from their usual daily purchases and routines. This has cause for alarm as many start to question their financial stability and outlook for the future, but being able to make the right adjustments and decisions in an ever-changing economic environment has now become more critical than ever before. Now might just be the time to tighten up your personal finances. Are you ready for it?

For these reasons, our guest on today’s episode of the Powderkeg podcast believes in being ahead of the economic curve. Peter Dunn, aka Pete The Planner is an award-winning comedian and an award-winning financial mind. He’s a USA TODAY columnist, author of ten books, and host of the popular radio show and podcast The Pete the Planner Show. Pete appears regularly on CNN Headline News, Fox News, Fox Business, and many nationally syndicated radio programs. He’s also the CEO and Founder of Your Money Line and Hey Money.

In this episode, you’ll get to hear Pete answer critical financial questions from our very own Powderkeg community. Along with his thoughts on the best moves for freelancers and realtor’s in this shaping economic climate. You’ll also get to hear his view and predictions on the future of the economy. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Pete The Planner, you’ll learn:

--- What’s the near-term and long-term economic impacts

--- How people be thinking about their job right now

--- What freelancers should do in a time of economic uncertainty

--- Whether you should continue to invest or save

--- How are real-estate markets being affected

Please enjoy this conversation with Peter Dunn A.K.A Pete The Planner!

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.

“Pivoting” might seem like a dirty word in business, but Jenny Blake has learned to embrace it. Not only that, but she’s built her career around it, becoming a business strategist, keynote speaker, and author who teaches others the positive value of pivoting.

Blake is the author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, and the creator of the Pivot Method, which distills all the wisdom she’s gained throughout her career to teach you how to change your business direction without falling on your face.

Blake learned the virtues of pivoting by doing it many times throughout her career. After spending two years at a technology startup in Palo Alto, she landed a job at Google as a product trainer for AdWords. She stayed there for five years, training more than 1,000 employees and building her public speaking and career coaching skills, before she pivoted once more and set out to become a solopreneur.

She now speaks and holds workshops on the Pivot Method around the world, at companies like Intuit and Pimco, universities like Yale and MIT, and conferences like TEDxCMU and the World Domination Summit. She also runs the Pivot Podcast, which started as a passion project while she was writing Pivot and has grown into a forum for world-renowned authors and businesspeople to share their advice on how to seize opportunities and pivot like pros.

Jenny has so many great stories and insights to share in our interview, from the health benefits of practicing yoga to why reading will make you a better person. She also talks about how to get over your fears of public speaking, how meditation will make you a better entrepreneur, and how you can use the Pivot Method to succeed in business and improve your personal life.

To learn more or connect with Jenny, visit the Pivot Method website or her personal website. You can also check out Momentum, her private community for solopreneurs and side-hustlers, or consider signing up for Pivot Coaching if you’re looking for some help to make your own pivot a success.

In this episode with Jenny Blake, you’ll learn:

--- How to use your job as training for entrepreneurship (12:45)

--- How to conquer a fear of public speaking (15:34)

--- Why meditation will make you a better entrepreneur  (23:30)

--- How to use the Pivot Method to improve your personal life (36:18)

--- How to make successful pivots in business and life (39:56)

--- How to succeed in your career by embracing pivots (44:06)

Please enjoy this interview with Jenny Blake.

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 Igniting Startups 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, 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 of Igniting Startups 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.