Startup 2.0

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz.

Brian is an active angel investor and board advisor to several seed stage companies in LA. He is Vice President of Tech Coast Angels LA Chapter and is currently in charge of both their VC outreach program and their new sidecar investment fund. During his time with TCA he has screened over 300 companies and met with several hundreds more. Last year, TCA invested $15 million across 57 companies, matching similar amounts in 2017 and years prior, making it the largest angel investment group in the US. In addition to angel investing, Brian also trades energy futures for a commodities hedge fund. Prior to joining TCA, Brian spent 10 years in the investment banking industry in New York. Brian received an MBA from UCLA Anderson.

Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show.

As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr.

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time.

Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Prior to HelloAdvisr, Ed was a Director of Simon-Kucher & Partners, a global management consulting firm with more than 30 offices worldwide and widely recognized as the global leader in pricing. He advised clients on pricing, sales effectiveness and marketing strategy while working in a range of sectors including retail/ecommerce, B2B services, consumer goods, marketplace/platform and private equity.

Previous to this, Ed was the Go-To-Market (GTM) manager for LG Electronics Europe where he worked with senior leadership across 14 subsidiaries and 20 markets to develop and implement initiatives to increase revenue and profitability growth. Ed received an MBA from Oxford University, double Masters of Science (MSc) from the London School of Economics and a BA from the University of California, San Diego.

We also want to send a heartfelt thank you to our newest sponsor Brex for joining us on this journey and giving us the ability to create content to help move the needle on founder failure.

Check out their offering for Sparkxyz users at: https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Miki Reynolds is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Grid110, an early stage startup accelerator and community development organization. She has 15 years of experience working in tech, ranging from digital marketing and creative services to software development and e-commerce.

Grid110:

https://www.grid110.org/

We also want to send a heartfelt thank you to our newest sponsor Brex for joining us on this journey and giving us the ability to create content to help move the needle on founder failure.

Check out their offering for Sparkxyz users at: https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Shawn currently heads Pivot CMO as Managing Partner - a "win at all costs" digital marketing firm focusing on paid acquisition. He also advises a number of Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach startups focusing on customer acquisition and growth.   Previous to Pivot CMO Shawn spent time as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Guthy Renker, one of the largest Direct Marketing firms in the US. Along with this, Shawn was the Co-founder of Solve – an airport concierge and luxury travel company which was acquired by Blacklane in October 2017. He helped grow Solve to service over 500 airports worldwide while participating in Y Combinator. Prior to Solve, Shawn Co-founded and was the CEO of Dus, Inc. Shawn lead Dus through Berkeley's Delta Prize Accelerator – winning top prize, a funding round from top Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach investors and advisors, a merger and a small acquisition to Woo – a dating app in India.

We also want to send a heartfelt thank you to our newest sponsor Brex for joining us on this journey and giving us the ability to create content to help move the needle on founder failure.

Check out their offering for Sparkxyz users at: https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

We are fortunate to Welcome Elaine Russell from PLG Ventures to the studio this week. PLG is a highly active early stage fund in LA averaging 12-14 deals a year. Elaine dives deep into topics such as whether or not you should take venture capital, how to go about getting your founding team, and much much more!

We also want to send a heartfelt thank you to our newest sponsor Brex for joining us on this journey and giving us the ability to create content to help move the needle on founder failure.

Check out their offering for Sparkxyz users at: https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Laurent is an Entrepreneur turned Venture Capitalist who works with start-up founders to successfully build scalable teams, strong company cultures and disruptive products. Laurent believes that there is a fundamental need for additional support in the early stage ecosystem in Los Angeles and other budding technology hubs around the US and globally. This desire to support these growing tech communities led him to his current role as the Lead Investor at Luma Launch, a pre-seed to seed corporate venture and accelerator. Luma Launch is focused on early-stage startups at the convergence of evolving technology and content markets, capitalizing on internal and external resources to create successful products.

Luma Launch: https://www.lumalaunch.com/

Sparkxyz: https://www.sparkxyz.io/

Startup 2.0 Guests: https://www.amplite.xyz/startup-2-0

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz.   Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.    

Drew Leahy is the Managing Partner and Co-founder of Hawke Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund that focuses on consumer and technology that powers consumer. Three-time entrepreneur and inventor, Drew was previously the Chief Marketing Officer and Co-founder of SnapSuits.com, a tech-forward men's fashion e-retailer. He leveraged his seasoned product team, based in Colombia, South America, to achieve an 8x ROI with powerful technology and marketing. Drew was also previously Entrepreneur in Residence at memBrain in Los Angeles, working with tech and entertainment angel investors Ken Hertz and Liz Heller. He hails from Brighton, MI, graduated from the University of Michigan, and was awarded 2010 Ross School of Business Entrepreneur of the Year.

Hawke Ventures: https://hawkeventures.com/

Sparkxyz: https://www.sparkxyz.io/

Startup 2.0 Guests: https://www.amplite.xyz/startup-2-0