The Global Startup Movement - Startup Ecosystem Leaders, Global Entrepreneurship, and Emerging Market Innovation

Meet José Cayasso (commonly known as Caya). A Costa Rican graphics designer and entrepreneur. Jose was a Trainer and Senior Support Agent for Intel, covering Desktop Boards and Processors for the North America Region; he obtained extensive experience with hardware and software support over the course of 6 years. In 2011, Jose founded Saborstudio, a creative content company. Their first startup, Pota-Toss, was an iOS game crowdfunded on Kickstarter and released to the App Store on October 2012. It was deemed by Techcrunch and CNN as "The Next Angry Birds" and having its graphics compared to a Pixar movie by Business Insider. Pota-Toss was installed in over 300,000 devices that year. Saborstudio was also the first Costa Rican startup to be selected for a major US Accelerator. In November 2012 jose was selected as a one of the 40 Under 40 Costa Rican innovators by El Financiero Newspaper; and was also named an Innovation Champion by the Costa Rican Ministry of Science and Technology. Jose was also invited to speak at the 2013 TEDx Joven PuraVida Conference in Costa Rica, along with speakers like Luis Von Ahn and Michael Lindenmayer. In mid-2013, Jose founded Slidebean, a simplified, cloud-based presentation tool. Slidebean was part of Startup Chile, one of the most important accelerators in Latin America and then selected for Batch 11 of 500 Startups, one of the top US Based Accelerators according to Forbes and Techcrunch. Slidebean has been featured in Techcrunch, TheNextWeb and The Economist, as the third most valuable internet startup in Costa Rica.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

Who are the players involved in early-stage funding in Latin America?

What were the biggest value adds going through Startup Chile and 500 Startups?

How conducive is Costa Rican culture with startup culture?

How effective are Latin American government in fostering their startup scenes?

On this episode we interview Lahiru Pathmalal, CEO and co-founder of Sri Lankan Ecommerce startup Takas. Takas started in 2012, with an initial goal to empower the consumer in Sri Lanka to easily access anything they desire. Their market approach has always been based on trust and great customer service, as result of this; they were the first to introduce the cash on delivery payment method. Thanks to their strong customer base, they have grown to one of the most trusted e-commerce sites in Sri Lanka. Lahiru Pathmalal has a BA in Political Science, and a Masters in International Relations from the University of Queensland. He has worked in United States, Afghanistan and Australia in child care. And has also worked as the Program Coordinator at the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Sri Lanka.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

What’s other countries would Lahiru consider to be similar markets for him to replicate his business model that’s working in Sri Lanka?

What is the current landscape of e-commerce vs. brick and mortar in Sri Lanka?

What logistical challenges does Sri Lanka present for Takas?

How active are the Lakan Angels and what verticals do they typically focus on?

A 20-year entrepreneur, speaker, & globally recognized growth strategist, Marissa’s lifetime legacy mission is to educate, equip, & empower 100 million entrepreneurs & leaders with the skillsets and mindsets they need to reach their greatest potential. As CEO of Successful Culture, Marissa helps CEOs master the 3 most critical aspects of business growth: leadership development, strategy formulation & execution, and organizational culture assessment & improvement. She also helps CEOs select and implement highly effective advisory boards using her patented SCALE™ Model, which is an essential strategy for any business looking to grow exponentially. She is a Chapter Chair for Women’s Presidents Organization (WPO), and is responsible for the facilitation and growth of groups of up to 20 women business owners with revenues ranging from $2 million to more than $150 million. Marissa is a Leadership Mindset columnist for Inc. Magazine, and is an instructor & strategy coach for Inc’s online entrepreneurship education program, Inc.Edu which leads start-up entrepreneurs through an intensive business growth curriculum. She is the author of “My Company ROCKS!” Eight Secrets to a Growth-Driven Culture That Keeps Employees Happy & Engaged,” which provides specific strategies on how to build a culture that fosters employee loyalty, engagement, and excitement. She is also the author of the #1 best-selling book on advisory boards, “Built to SCALE: How Top Companies Create Breakthrough Growth Through Exceptional Advisory Boards”. The book leads businesses owners through her SCALE™ Model to strategically select, compensate, associate, & leverage advisory boards for breakthrough growth. Marissa is also SmartCEO Magazine’s syndicated columnist, penning a column entitled “Get on Board” which advises business owners how to strategically build advisory boards to fuel organizational growth. Marissa’s 20-year entrepreneurial journey started in 1995 when she founded Information Experts, a strategic communications and education firm, in 1995, that served more than 15 federal agencies. She launched her firm as a solopreneur with a $35,000 contract, and led/grew the organization to approximately $15 million in revenue until she resigned in 2012. Under her leadership, Information Experts won more than 80 awards for creativity & leadership, was named to the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies for 2009, 2010, and 2011, won the 2010 SmartCEO GovStar Industry Star Award, and was known as a trailblazer in establishing an extraordinary employee-centric culture that fully supported work-life integration and a core value of “responsible flexibility.” Marissa’s passion of mentoring other leaders motivated her to launch Successful Culture in June 2012. Through Successful Culture she applies her 20 years of experience to help leaders achieve their highest potential, build exceptional organizations to engage & inspire employees, and keep top-level talent. She was named as a 2009, 2010, and 2011 SmartCEO Smart 100 participant by SmartCEO Magazine, which recognizes the top 100 CEOs in the region, and was named as a 2008 BRAVO Award winner, which honors the region’s 25 most influential women CEOs. In 2011, she was one of the first honorees to be inducted into the SmartCEO Hall of Fame for outstanding and exemplary women’s leadership. She was named as one of Washington’s Top 100 Technology Titans for 2009 by Washingtonian Magazine and was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Marissa was also named as one of greater Washington’s “Women Who Mean Business” by the Washington Business Journal, which honors the region’s “most influential and powerful” women executives. Marissa holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Development & Organizational Development, is a credentialed coach certified by International Coach Federation (ICF), is certified in Instructional Systems Design, and is a Certified Mastermind Facilitator.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

What value should entrepreneurs expect from their boards?

How important is culture to a small startup?

What’s appropriate advisory board compensation?

What are the challenges of scaling culture?

Meet John Gavigan, Executive Director at 43North in Buffalo. John is a Business owner, executive and management professional with 20+ years’ experience providing strategic, operational and sales leadership to start-up, turnarounds, expansions and established businesses. His skills include executive level relationship management, human resource management, business planning and implementation, sales management, sales, and marketing. 43North is the world’s largest business idea competition with $5 million in cash awards presented annually to attract entrepreneurs and startups to Buffalo, NY. Winning teams also receive free space in 43North’s incubator, mentorship and access to the START-UP NY program, which allows new companies to operate free of New York State taxes for 10 years. 43North is part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion plan and it operates through grants from the New York Power Authority and Empire State Development.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

What developments in Buffalo’s startup scene have happened in the past 5 years?

What were some of the challenges the 43North team faced in scaling the competition?

What startup verticals is Buffalo strongest in?

How are leaders in the Buffalo startup ecosystem collaborating with other ecosystems in the US?

Meet John O'Nolan, Product designer turned startup founder. John spent the majority of his career building publications for large companies including Microsoft, Virgin Atlantic, Nokia, EasyJet, Ubisoft, and various others. After a two year stint as the Deputy Head of Design for WordPress and watching it turn into a website builder, he set out to create a new publishing platform focused on modern journalism: called Ghost. Ghost was founded in April 2013, after a very successful Kickstarter campaign to create a new platform focused solely on professional publishing. Their mission is to create the best open source tools for independent journalists and writers across the world, and have a real impact on the future of online media.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

What did you learn as Head of Design for Wordpress that you were able to use when founding Ghost? J

ohn has spoken publicly about his interest in open source business models, where does Ghost’s approach fit in?

What are the differences between being venture backed and being crowd-funded?

What does John think is the future of written content online and how do content publishing platforms such as Ghost and Wordpress fit into that model?

Meet Chris Wade, Venture Partner at Octopus Investments. Chris is a seasoned entrepreneur, advisor and investor in early stage technology companies, most notably co-founding Cambridge Positioning Systems, which pioneered location solutions for the global mobile phone industry. He has acted as an advisor to various Venture Capital Groups as well as the UK Government. Chris has successfully invested in, built and exited numerous early stage companies, creating value through strong strategic alliances with blue-chip corporates in Europe, Asia and North America, making him a unique and valuable sounding board to both General Partners and portfolio Companies.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

How did Chris get into Venture Capital?

After having spent time as the UK government’s Head of Venture Capital investments What challenges did Chris encounter transitioning to a Limited Partner role?

How has AI talent accrued in London over the past few years?

Say hello to Nina Achadjian and Alicia Garabedian of HIVE Ventures. HIVE invests in and partners with early stage startups worldwide, from Silicon Valley to Armenia. Their mission is to help catalyze the global Armenian tech ecosystem by investing in Armenian founders or companies that hire talent in Armenia. They provide funding, operational guidance, and access to their network of world-class talent and advisors. HIVE also promotes innovation and entrepreneurship among the next generation of aspiring Armenian founders through events and workshops. HIVE offers seed and early-stage equity investment. In addition to capital, HIVE partner's with their entrepreneurs to build stronger and more impactful startups.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

What is Hive Ventures investment philosophy?

How can Armenia best engage with it’s diaspora?

How has deal flow evolved in Armenian tech over the past few years?

What technology verticals are Nina and Alicia most excited about?

Meet Pegor Papazian, CEO and cofounder of Bazillion Beings. Pegor was formerly the CEO of the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia. He was head of project development at the United States Agency for International Development. Prior to his position with USAID, he was Vice President of Strategy and Product Development at Prosum Inc., which was ranked among the United States' top 200 fastest growing private companies by Inc500. Before joining Prosum's founding team, Pegor was a founding partner at Design Technologies Consulting, a business simulation and geographic information systems company in Barcelona, Spain. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the American University of Beirut.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

How does Pegor think the future of bot discovery will play out?

Why does Armenia have such high quality of techical talent?

What industries are the future of the Armenian economy?

How did Armenia’s startup scene development in the 2000’s?

Meet Luis Cuende, co-founder and project lead of Aragon. Aragon is everything you need to run your company on Ethereum. Cap table, governance, fundraising, payroll, accounting, bylaws, etc. Aragon companies are extremely customizable, and you get everything in a unified, beautiful interface. Aragon was born to disintermediate the creation and maintenance of companies and other organizational structures. They are inspired by Nobel prize Ronald Coase and his paper "The Nature of the Firm" and Yochai Benkler's "Linux and the Nature of the Firm." Both explore the concept of company. They believe that the blockchain and the Internet are changing the incentives for companies to exist, and are building tools for the next generation of companies that will take advantage of these changes. Luis has been awarded as the best underage European programmer in 2011, is a Forbes 30 Under 30, a MIT TR35 and was an Advisor to the VP of the European Commission. He cofounded the blockchain startup Stampery. Prior to founding startups, he created the world's first Linux distribution with facelogin.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

How does Luis see the growing trend in the centralization of computing with the rise of the cloud clashing with the growing trend of blockchain?

Why did Luis feel he needed to leave Spain in order to raise capital for Stampery?

What has Luis’s experience been moving from Madrid to Barcelona?

What cryptocurrency is Luis excited about that most people have never heard of?

On this episode we meet with Jeff Amerine and Michael Iseman of Startup Junkie Consulting. Startup Junkie Consulting is a globally proven social venture. Along with working with startups, they also work in depth with existing ventures up to approximately $15MM in annual revenue, from all industry verticals. They help with all aspects, from starting up, to scaling up. Startup Junkie's goal is to provide services to entrepreneurs and venture leaders that are higher quality than if they were to pay for them. They’ve helped build venture communities from Canada to South America. They specialize in supporting ventures innovating around and within retail, consumer packaged goods, supply chain (transportation and logistics), food, and data analytics. However, they also provide in depth support, consulting, and assistance to new ventures and existing ventures from all industry verticals. Startup Junkie is led and operated by veteran and women entrepreneurs.

On This Episode You'll Learn:

What traditional industries is Northwest Arkansas known for that laid the foundation for this wave of growing tech companies?

What advice would Jeff give to startup leaders in other towns and cities throughout the midwest?

Jeff has given a TedX talk on the IDEA framework for a startup ecosystem, how has that framework played out in Fayetteville?

What sort of pipeline has the University of Arkansas created to funnel student entrepreneurs into the Fayetteville startup scene?