Powderkeg - Unvalley

Denver and Fort Collins for a longtime have been popular destinations for people across the country who are in search of beautiful scenery, fresh air, great food and healthy living. And over the past decade, the area has also become an amazing spot for entrepreneurs looking to build and launch their next great idea or even to find their next big investment. All I can say is… the Colorado tech scene is growing rapidly and it’s not looking to slow down anytime soon!

On today’s episode, we’ll be speaking with Ashley Colpaart. Ashley is a Registered Dietitian and earned her Doctorate in Food Systems from Colorado State University. She has a unique systems understanding of food and human health in social, economic, and environmental spheres. And is currently the founder and CEO of The Food Corridor, a platform that connects food entrepreneurs to commercial kitchen spaces.

In this episode Ashley shares her experiences of her journey into the world of entrepreneurship and how her experiences have influenced her as founder and CEO of The Food Corridor. Along with Ashley’s thoughts on the evolving influences of food entrepreneurship and how her company is becoming a leader in moving the shared kitchen industry forward. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Ashley Colpaart, you’ll learn:

--- Ashley’s journey and experiences through entrepreneurship

--- About the tech ecosystem in Fort Collins and Denver, Colorado

--- How the The Food Corridor was founded and its goals for the future

--- Ashley’s advice on raising capital as a beginning entrepreneur

Please enjoy this conversation with Ashley Colpaart!

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.

In a market that’s more crowded than ever, today’s brands want to be louder and achieve more if they’re wanting to capture the attention of their target market. The phrase “Disruptive Branding” has started to make an insurgence and has started to lead the way as many companies are searching for new innovations and for new ways of reaching out to their specific audiences. But how can we build a disruptive brand? And what is innovation’s role in building disruption?

On today’s episode, we’ll be speaking with Raz Razgaitis. Raz is the Co-Founder and CEO at Denver-Based FloWater, a company that is revolutionizing the way people get safe drinking water. Raz started his career in Fortune 500 companies, including Johnson and Johnson and Eli Lilly. Since then he’s been the CEO at several high-growth companies, and Raz is combining his 20+ years of leadership & tech experience to deliver FloWater ---- a water refill station product that keeps 2.38 plastic water bottles from reaching our landfills and oceans every second (130 million to date).

In this episode, you’ll get to hear Raz’s thoughts and ideas on how companies can successfully build successful brands with new innovations. You’ll also get to hear him share his views and thoughts on the water bottle crisis and how his company FloWater is innovating the way we drink safe drinking water. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Raz Razgaitis, you’ll learn:

--- How to build a disruptive brand through innovation

--- The difficulties of choosing startup life over corporate life

--- Best advice for people who work at startups providing the most value

--- What inspired Raz to found and launch FloWater

--- How you can help with the mission for FloWater

Please enjoy this conversation with Raz Razgaitis!

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.

Today we’re revisiting an interview where Matt spoke with two entrepreneurs from Nashville, Tennessee. Sashank Purighalla is the CEO of BOS Framework, a product framework that helps developers get an MVP to market quickly. Andrew Goldner is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and founder of GrowthX, an investment firm that helps organizations commercialize innovation through capital, talent and know-how. Both Sashank and Andrew have a lot to say about building an awesome minimum viable product (MVP).

Launching a tech product can be a very rocky road for a startup. Technical issues are common, and user feedback during the early days of rollout is often focused around bugs and glitches rather than the product’s core features. This makes it difficult for teams to hone in on what’s working and what isn’t, which can delay the process of reaching product-market fit. And this all wastes a startup’s most valuable resource: time.

For these reasons, our guests on today’s episode of the Igniting Statups podcast believe the traditional process for developing a minimum viable product (MVP) is broken. The first is Andrew Goldner, an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and founder of GrowthX, an investment firm that helps organizations commercialize innovation through capital, talent and know-how. Joining him is Sashank Purighalla, CEO of BOS Framework, which provides a pre-built suite of APIs, plugins and UI components for startups that are building software applications.

According to Andrew and Sashank, the MVP process shouldn’t just be about building software—it should be about evaluating the market and creating a product that solves a real need. By leveraging in-depth research and tools that jump-start technical development, startup teams can discover what their market needs and spend their valuable resources building that solution. That means reaching product-market fit, revenue and profitability sooner, which could make the difference between startup growth and startup death.

In this episode with Andrew Goldner and Sashank Purighalla, you’ll learn:

Why a successful product has to do more than sound interesting.

Reasons why venture funding might be the wrong choice for a startup.

How GrowthX is fueling venture capital growth outside Silicon Valley.

The big problem with the traditional MVP process.

The benefit of market acceleration programs for discovering market truth.

How a pre-built tech framework can help companies get to product-market fit.

Andrew’s and Sashank’s greatest hopes for entrepreneurship in middle America.

Please enjoy this conversation with Andrew Goldner and Sashank Purighalla!

Today we’re revisiting an old episode where Matt spoke with two amazing guests. The first being David Hall, 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. Joining David is Mike Preuss, 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 a great understanding of the ways that unique regional factors influence how entrepreneurs and investors successfully operate.

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.

Today’s episode is a recording of a live fireside chat we had this past week in Indianapolis where we discussed the topic of “Trends in Digital Health”. Joining me on this special podcast episode are two absolutely amazing guests who have been in the Indy tech scene for a number of years and have entrepreneurial experience with a focus in the healthcare tech space.

First up is David DeRam. David has been founding successful companies for almost 30 years across multiple sectors, including startups and finance, medical and nonprofit industries. Through his experience in digital health he has enabled countless hospitals, universities, research centers and pharmaceutical teams in 80 countries to manage complex genetic and clinical data and to bring key hereditary information to the electronic medical record record field. Today, he is the co-founder and CEO at Green Light guru, a healthcare company disrupting quality management in medical devices.

Joining him is Miles Sterrett. Miles is an entrepreneur with years of experience. He currently runs the Indianapolis Ruby Brigade and is now the Director of Engineering at Olio, where he leads an awesome group of software engineers to help physicians and post acute providers collaborate and improve patient outcomes. Tune in for more!

In this episode with David DeRam and Miles Sterrett, you’ll learn:

-- How David and Miles got started in the entrepreneurial space

-- What working at a health tech startup is all about

-- The challenges that most startups face and how to overcome them

-- How to scale and build a successful health tech startup

-- The opportunities and the future of health tech

Please enjoy this conversation with David DeRam and Miles Sterrett!

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.

Maintaining the best talent was simple when there were few companies hiring and employees felt stuck in their jobs. But today, it seems that holding the cream of the talent crop is a struggle for some companies. Especially with so many tech startups and big companies networking and recruiting the best available talent in the job market.

Just recently in 2017, (CBRE) ranked the Raleigh-Durham area as one of the top tech talent markets in the country along with Forbes stating that tech jobs in just the city Raleigh alone had grown a tremendous 38.5% from 2010 through 2015! So how are tech companies in the Raleigh area capitalizing on this extreme job growth and how are they filling those spots with extraordinary talent? 

On this episode of the Igniting Startups podcast, you’ll hear from  4 different tech, executives, and leaders from our recently held event in Raleigh discussing “Attracting The Greatest Talent in Raleigh, Durham, and Beyond” You’ll get to hear from local tech leaders with years of experience sharing their thoughts on the growing need for talent in the Raleigh tech arena, how they are able to find and attract the greatest talent, and why the Raleigh-Durham area is one of the best areas in the country to be in tech. Tune in for more!

Learn from experienced tech leaders:

Jessica Mitsch, Co-founder and CEO of Momentum Learning

Derrick Minor, Manager of Team Development & People Operations at K4 Connect 

Robert Ritchy, Senior Vice President of PureCloud Development at Genesys

Karl Rectanus, Co-Founder & CEO of LearnPlatform

In this episode, you’ll learn:

--- What is takes to find the best fit for your team and company

--- Cultivating talent in order to build a successful team

--- What makes the Raleigh-Durham area attractive for talent

--- How to retain the greatest talent in the Raleigh-Durham area

Please enjoy this conversation with our featured guests from our panel!

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.

Raising money from investors is never simple. Particularly for entrepreneurs who are new to the game and lack the relevant experience. A major reason why startups fail is that they lack the funds they need in order to function and develop. But lately, in Raleigh, North Carolina, there has been a drastic rise in the investments of startups. 

In a recent study completed by the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, there were ninety-four tech startups in the state have received more than $780 million in equity funding in just 2017, that’s a 232% increase from just 2016! So how have tech companies in the Raleigh area been consistently raising millions of dollars in capital over these last few years? And what are some ways to unlock that growing capital?

On this episode of the Igniting Startups podcast, we speak with 4 different tech, executives, and leaders from our recently held event in Raleigh discussing “Raising Capital in Raleigh, Durham, and Beyond—from Startup to Scale-up to Exit.” You’ll get to hear local Raleigh-Durham experts share their take on the area is becoming a high growth area for tech investors, how they’re capitalizing on this consistent rise of funding, and the best ways to make a great impression on a potential investor. Tune in for more!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

--- Best ways for companies to reach great investors 

--- Why investors invest in people and not just an idea

--- Advice on how to grow your network to raise capital 

--- The future of tech in the Raleigh-Durham area

Please enjoy this conversation with our featured guests from our 2nd panel!

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, you’re searching for investors that are a good fit for your business, and investors are searching for essentially the same thing in reverse: Investors invest in people. Not just an idea, the magnitude of the industry, or the product. Investors gamble on your team's ability to perform on the idea presented. So how do you prove to potential investors that you’re able to lead and build the right team for the job? And how do you prove that your idea is going to pay off in the end?

On today’s episode, we talk with Minnie Ingersoll. Minnie is a partner at TenOneTen, a Los Angeles-based venture firm established in 2013, that invests in start-ups that apply data and technology to disrupt existing industries. Minnie is also the host of the LA Venture podcast, where her and fellow managing partner, David Waxman, provide opinion on the rapidly growing LA tech scene through conversations with fellow investors and other players in LA’s startup ecosystem.

In this episode, you’ll get to hear Minnie share her thoughts on how investors should bet on people and not just the idea they’re investing in, the challenges of balancing home life and startup life, and the difficulties of launching her first startup. You’ll also get to hear her take on the constantly growing tech scene in the Los Angeles area and how venture capitalists are jumping in on this rapid growth. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Minnie Ingersoll, you’ll learn:

--- Minnie’s personal experience and growth in entrepreneurship

--- Challenges of launching a startup

--- The importance of investing in people and not just an idea

--- What tech culture is like in the Los Angeles area

Please enjoy this conversation with Minnie Ingersoll!

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.

Recently there has been a brand wave of up-and-coming, mid-sized cities that have been building and developing tech economies of their own, as they compete to bring new jobs, more residents, and an innovative energy to the local area. One of those areas that are predominantly focused on this rise in tech is the Raleigh-Durham area.

Just recently, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina did a study that showed a 13% growth from 2013-2017, simply put, North Carolina’s technology industry is growing at twice the rate of the national average. So what is igniting this growth? And where is this excitement coming from? And what do tech leaders in the area have to say on this rising trend?

In this special episode of the Igniting Startups podcast, we talk with 4 different tech, executives, and leaders from our recently held event in Raleigh discussing “The Future of Tech In the Triangle and Beyond”. You’ll get to hear our experts share how the Raleigh area is capitalizing on tech growth, their thoughts on where the future of tech is going for area, the amazing opportunities available to those searching for their next tech career. Tune in for more!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Advice on how to break into the tech industry

Start-up opportunities in the Raleigh-Durham

Tapping into the right resources to ignite your startup

The future of tech in the Raleigh-Durham area

Please enjoy this conversation with our featured panelists!

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.

Company culture can be the lifeblood of your company, it can inspire and fuel the great talent that is your team. But you have to be able to maintain that level of inspiration to keep your team engaged. Just recently, a 142-country Gallup report showed that 63% of employees are not engaged in their work and another 24% are actively disengaged, leaving a mere 13% of workers who are engaged at work. Simply put, 900 million employees are not engaged and 340 million are actively disengaged across the world. So how do you inspire the disengaged people to become engaged? And how do you grow a company culture that is thriving, successful, and engaging for all employees?

On today’s episode, we talk with Scott Johnson, a tech entrepreneur, startup mentor, and angel investor who has years of experience as a leader and executive starting and leading numerous companies of his own. Scott is the Chairman and Founder of project management software company Workfront and is also the Founder of Motivosity, an employee recognition software platform that improves employee engagement and builds company culture.

In this episode, you’ll get to hear Scott share his thoughts and ideas on how companies can successfully build and develop thriving and engaging cultures. You’ll also get to hear his view and thoughts on the tech scene in the Salt Lake City area. Tune in for more!

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

--- Scott’s experience through entrepreneurship and leadership roles

--- What it takes to build a great culture

--- How to inspire employees to embrace your company culture

--- What the tech culture is like in Salt Lake City area

Please enjoy this conversation with Scott Johnson!

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.