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Hey there Powderkeg fans! Nick here from the Powderkeg team. This is episode 97 of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, the show for entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators building remarkable tech companies in areas outside of Silicon Valley.

Today we’re revisiting an old episode where Matt spoke with Scott Gerber. He’s the co-founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) and The Community Company, and he’s spent nearly a decade helping entrepreneurs and global brands alike intelligently grow their networks.

Scott has based his entire career on business relationships and helping other people build them. The interview is from March 2018, and we’re taking this episode out of the archives because it’s one of our most popular interviews from last year. In this interview, Scott shares some of the strategies from his 2018 book called “Superconnector” and explains why taking the long view on relationship-building and being a connector instead of a networker will ultimately lead to greater business - and personal - success.

Delivering an impressive customer experience requires influencing the customers’ perception of your company. These perceptions affect their behaviors and build memories and feelings to drive their loyalty. If they walk out from the interaction with your team feeling like their wants and needs weren’t met, then they’ll associate those negative perceptions with your company forever... and likely never return. In other words: if customers like you and continue to like you, they are going to continue to do business with you and recommend you to others.

On today’s episode of the Igniting Startups podcast, you’ll hear from two experts who are passionate about Customer Experience. Our first guest started his career as a software developer & systems engineer. Haresh Gangwani is the CEO & Co-Founder of Bolstra. Bolstra is a customer success work management solution that organizes and optimizes workflows through an agile framework enabling companies to prescriptively deliver a superior experience to their customers. Joining him is Yaw Aning, who got his start with the Orr Fellowship program and quickly became passionate about entrepreneurship. Yaw is currently the Co-Founder & CEO of Malomo. Malomo helps eCommerce brands generate more revenue and loyalty by turning their shipment tracking experience into brand marketing channels.

In this episode, Haresh and Yaw will discuss the importance of building a positive customer perception through the use of successful customer experiences. Along with company perception, they will discuss the importance of how companies are using the customer experience to grow their brand and build positive growth. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Haresh Gangwani and Yaw Aning, you’ll learn:

--- How companies are personalizing the customer experience

--- Building a positive perception with your customers

--- How companies help customers succeed through great experience and product

--- Haresh and Yaw’s hopes for the future of CX

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.

The race to having the ultimate customer experience is on! Companies are recognizing the importance of delivering an experience that makes them stand out from the competition. According to a study done by Gartner, 89% of companies today are now competing on the basis of positive customer experience. But in order to create this positive experience, you have to ask the questions your customers would ask themselves: Are you blown away by the performance of the product? Are you happy with the attention the customer service rep gives you to help solve your problem? These are some common examples of what elements are in play when building an amazing customer experience.

On today’s episode of the Igniting Startups podcast you’ll hear from a product leader with diverse leadership experience across product development and business operations. Mimi Nguyen started her tech career at Interactive Intelligence and has advanced to her current role as the VP of Product Management at Genesys, a global leader in providing users seamless and consistent contact management solutions that enable them to engage customers across their journeys via multiple channels.

Throughout this episode, Mimi will discuss her background with Interactive Intelligence and Genesys and how she stepped into a leadership role in product management. Mimi will also discuss the importance of customer experience and how its becoming an ongoing trend for companies to focus on. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Mimi Nguyen, you’ll learn:

--- How to build a positive Customer Experience

--- Stepping into a product management position and supporting your team

--- How companies are focusing more on customer experience

--- How Genesys is assisting its customers through CX

Mimi’s thoughts on the future of CX

Please enjoy this conversation with Mimi Nguyen!

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.

Today we’re revisiting an old episode where Matt spoke with Haresh Gangwani, co-founder and CEO of Bolstra, a customer experience company based here in Indianapolis as well as Don Aquilano, co-founder and managing partner at Allos Ventures, a Venture Capital firm that invests in high-potential, early-stage tech companies in the heart of the Midwest.

The interview is from all the way back in July 2017, almost 2 years to the day. We’re bringing this one back around because it’s a great insight into customer experience from 2 experts in the space. Haresh and Don walk you through why it’s important to be proactive on CX and how to do it, so you can reduce churn and increase revenue- all while making your customers happy.

We thought we’d bring this episode out of the archives to revisit a huge problem every company needs to address, but many don’t know how.

By the way, if you’re in the Indy area, Haresh will be pitching Bolstra at our Pitch Night on August 13th at VisionLoft. If you’d like to come and connect with Haresh and other leaders in CX go to https://powderkeg.com/events/ to get your ticket.

Today we’re revisiting an old episode where Matt spoke with Alicia Syrett, founder and CEO of Pantegrion Capital, a seed and early-stage angel investment firm based in New York. However, you might know her better from her appearances on CNBC’s Power Pitch or MSNBC’s Your Business.

The interview is from all the way back in April 2017. We’re bringing this one back around because her advice for when, why, and how to raise capital is as useful and relevant today as it was then. In fact, with capital leaving the coasts and looking to the middle of the country, it’s even more important to stand out among the other entrepreneurs raising capital.

In this episode, you’ll learn how Syrett began her career in private equity after working for years in financial analysis, recruiting, and early-stage startup investing. Plus, she’ll talk about how she advises her portfolio companies and helps them connect with the right people. So, whether you’re looking to raise capital or invest, this conversation paints the full picture of the Angel Investment space.

We thought we’d bring this episode out of the archives to revisit a key need to continue the growth of tech between the coasts.

If you’ve seen any of the buzz that’s been circulating the internet the last few years, you might think that tech company culture is all about catered lunches, ping pong tables and allowing dogs in the office. (Which totally misses the mark, but more on that later.) So does this mean that every company that has these perks has a great culture, or that more traditionally structured companies will never have a positive culture? Not at all!

Having a great company culture has a lot more to do with things like leadership behaviors than beer-on-tap. And company culture isn’t just important for employees, it’s important for the bottom line too. Research from Gallup shows that companies that prioritize culture have 60% lower turnover, 10% happier customers, and 20% more sales than those that don’t. So what’s the best way to align company culture with your values and goals? And what can you do to ensure that everyone in the organization feels valued and respected?

For this week’s episode of the Igniting Startups podcast, we wanted to try something a little different.We asked 10 different CEOs, executives, and other leaders around the Powderkeg community “What is company culture?” to hear their perspective company culture: what it’s made of, how to build it, and what to look for when you’re interviewing for a new role. Tune in for more!

In this special Powderkeg episode, you’ll learn:

--- Strategies to build company culture

--- What to look for in a company’s culture during a job interview

--- The bottom-line value of company culture

--- How core values relate to company culture

--- Methods to keep your culture authentic and organic

--- What is culture fit, and how to find it

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.

The tech industry is growing rapidly. But there’s a shortage of skilled talent to match all the new positions being created. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has estimated that by 2026, careers in software development will increase by 24%. Which translates to a lot of open career opportunities in tech.

Fortunately, there are many ways for people to learn these skills such as following the traditional path of a college. But for some, going to college isn’t an option – it’s expensive, it takes years and it can be difficult to get a career after graduation. Being self-taught is great, but can sometimes result in a learning plateau and lacks relevant networking and coding portfolios.

On today’s episode of Igniting Startups, our guest is a major advocate of one popular alternative: coding schools and boot camps. Ruben Harris is the co-host of the Breaking Into Startups podcast, he is also the CEO of Career Karma, an organization that matches people who want to learn to code with the right support circle and coding boot camp for their needs.

Throughout this episode, Ruben will explain how learning certain skills in tech can ignite your career. He will also discuss the importance of making and building connections through networking, and choosing the right boot camp for your needs. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Ruben Harris, you’ll learn:

--- What people should know about work in startups and how it’s different from a large company

--- Ruben’s thoughts on who the best companies are to work for

--- Ruben’s advice for people who want to break into tech

--- How to approach your tech job search after graduating from a bootcamp

--- Why networking is important for your career

--- How Career Karma finds the best boot camps

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.

Product teams solve problems — problems that have never been solved. Therefore, product management teams must be extremely skilled in order to come up with great solutions to solve greater problems. Unfortunately, there is no tried and proven formula that can ensure higher performing teams. Different companies use different approaches, but knowing what has worked in the past can help business leaders build a successful team with a positive culture.

On today’s episode of Igniting Startups, you’ll hear from two product-minded leaders from one of the fastest-growing companies in Indianapolis. First up is Jeremy Leventhal, Chief Product Officer of Springbuk. Springbuk is a health analytics and intelligence platform for employers and benefits consultants.

Joining Jeremy is Roger Deetz, Springbuk’s VP of Engineering. Roger has been a longtime member of Powderkeg and the tech community and has led multiple dev teams at Angie’s List. Throughout his career he’s taken on several roles as a designer, developer, architect, and a leader.

During today’s episode, Jeremy and Roger will discuss how they approach team organization and establishing team goals as leaders. You’ll also hear their take on knowing when to build product, how you can make better investments in product, and ultimately invest and build product teams that will continue to succeed and grow.

In this episode with Jeremy Leventhal and Roger Deetz, you’ll learn:

--- How product leaders approach team organization

--- Guidelines for making great investments in your product

--- How to build a successful team and build a great product

--- Springbuk’s growth and impact in the Indianapolis tech scene

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 one problem that most entrepreneurs seem to face: a lack of funding to start their business. Regardless of whether you are working on an MVP in a garage, or writing code for an app in a local cafe, raising capital is never easy. But once you have raised the capital you need, how do you create and build a skilled team to reach your mission? And how do you build the right type of company culture, one that makes every team member inspired to collaborate and do their best work?

In this episode of the Igniting Startups podcast, you’ll hear from two leaders about the importance of raising capital and how it can contribute to company culture. The first is Nicole Wallace, Principal and Director at mAccounting, an Indianapolis based firm that provides outsourced accounting and CFO services to small and mid-sized companies. Joining Nicole is Yarkin Sakucoglu, Co-founder and CEO of Socio Labs, a venture-backed SaaS company that helps small businesses and large enterprises like Google, Microsoft and Electronic Arts optimize their events.

In this interview, Nicole and Yarkin discuss where an entrepreneur’s focus should be, how that can affect your raise, and how to use the capital you raise to create and develop a positive company culture that attracts and retains great talent. Tune in for more!

In this episode with Nicole Wallace and Yarkin Sakucoglu, you’ll learn:

--- Where an entrepreneurs focus should be when raising capital.

--- Why it’s important to have a strong company culture.

--- How Yarkin was able to raise capital and grow Socio’s culture.

--- What Nicole and Yarkin look for to see if someone fits the company mindset.

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.

What is a marketplace business, and how does that model impact each aspect of a company’s strategy? How do you choose the right business model to succeed in a market-place driven world?

In today’s episode, we talked with Robert Preville, an expert on marketplace businesses, serial entrepreneur, and investor that has founded and led several high-growth companies. Robert is the founder and CEO of Kwipped, a B2B marketplace platform headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina that matches businesses who need to rent equipment with a global network of rental suppliers.

In this interview, Robert discusses his personal experience and growth in the marketplace platform industry, and how his company Kwipped, is managing and sourcing from a global network of equipment suppliers, reducing risk, and building a trusting relationship between renters and suppliers. Along with Robert’s personal experience, you’ll hear his thoughts on how other companies are being successful using similar platforms, advice on choosing the right business model to succeed in the marketplace world, and the core challenges of starting out and succeeding with a marketplace platform.

Tune in for Robert’s discussion about his growth as a young entrepreneur during his formative years, his personal experience with marketplace models to his role as the founder and CEO of Kwipped. Find out more on how Robert and his fellow colleagues are disrupting the B2B equipment rental industry with their marketplace platform, Kwipped!

In this episode with Robert Preville, you’ll learn:

--- What a marketplace model is and how it’s evolving for the future

--- How companies can win with a marketplace model

--- The challenging pieces of a marketplace business

--- How to choose the right model to succeed in the marketplace world

---The lessons of choosing the right business model in the marketplace industry

--- Companies that are being successful using a marketplace platform

--- How the Kwipped platform is impacting the B2B equipment rental industry

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.