The Startup Catalyst

What’s everybody! This is the Startup catalyst podcast brought to you by Sultan Ventures, the show where we interview entrepreneurs and investors on the stories and catalysts of their startup successes and failures. I’m your host, Luke Tucker.

Today’s episode we welcome Emilia Chagas from Contentools.

In the show you’ll learn a little of Emilia’s background being a content expert, launching her business, going through 500 startups, and what it’s like working in Brazil.

Emilia is a maven of content, and we get into some super specific content tips including the 5 elements of a content strategy.

So whip out that note pad, take some notes and enjoy my conversation with Emilia Chagas.

Hello there! This is The Startup Catalyst Podcast brought to you by Sultan Ventures, the show where we interview entrepreneurs and investors on the stories and catalysts of their startup successes and failures hosted by Luke Tucker.

Today’s episode we welcome Pedro Sorrentino from FundersClub.

You are in for a treat as you get to hear Pedro’s story. Growing up in Sao Paolo, Pedro has been a hustler since his youth. His passion to pursue greatness, and his heart to apply himself and give back is just awesome.

In the show you’ll learn about Pedro’s crazy journey including making the leap from a high flying ed tech startup to connections in NYC, to Boulder, and jumping on board the rocket ship startup that is Sendgrid and finally where he’s at now as a VC with FundersClub.

So much you can learn from Pedro’s story - pay close attention to his genuine heart to serve others, and the attitude he has to roll up his sleeves and work harder, doing things no-one maybe even thought of. I’v

We talk with several XLR8UH cohort companies, including catching up with MorphOptic' CEO and Founder Jeff Kuhn from Cohort 1 and 2 and we also chat with Cohort 4 company founders John Bay from Algorithmhub and Mylen Yamamoto from Cropsticks. Enjoy!

Today’s episode we welcome co-founder of the Proto HUB honolulu, George Yarbrough. He is also the co-creator and facilitator of the Raising Entrepreneurial Ventures Program that just completed.

He’s a world-traveller, and a world-class dude!

In my short convo with George we talk about balancing a heart for travel and adventure to investing in your local community and giving back, we chat startup education and even the future of the Proto HUB here in Honolulu.

So please enjoy my conversation with George Yarbrough.

Today’s episode is a special one as we welcome Jared from Village Capital and Tarik Sultan to chat about startup ecosystems

VilCap is unique in that they have a peer driven investment model... Sultan ventures is excited to spearhead the Hawaii community as a member of their inaugural communities program.

In today’s show, you’ll learn about Vilcap's investment model, what the VilCap communities look like and how they were selected, what government's role should be in ecosystem conversations, how important universities are, and Jared's take on the Hawaii startup ecosystem: how we compare to other cities, how we can improve, and what his experience has been like here.

We have a blast chatting, lots of good stuff so please enjoy my conversation with Jared Marquette and Tarik Sultan on startup ecosystems.

Today’s guest is Lanai Tabura, Entertainer, Entrepreneur and Producer / TV Show Host

In the interview, we cover a wide range of topics and Lanai tells LOTS of stories. We dig deep into the various entrepreneurial activities he’s enjoyed over the years and really chat through the highs and the lows.

My top lessons: love the hustle, embrace bartering. When you meet someone, seek to build a relationship. Be giving and embrace aloha.

A few favorite parts: getting started in radio at 17, how he went from the top of the radio industry in hawaii to filing for bankruptcy, the story of the great food truck race, and the fantastic story of Rudy, his Filipino driver which is near the end of the show when we talk about traveling tips. This episode we really take you on a journey, so stick around for the whole thing. I personally have listened to the recording multiple times.

This is one day gang, where if you're stuck in rush hour traffic, you’ll be thankful because you’ll get to finish t

This is the Startup catalyst podcast brought to you by Sultan Ventures, the show where we interview entrepreneurs and investors on the stories and catalysts of their startup successes and failures.

Today’s guest: is Lauren Primiano, Managing Member at Reef.VC

Lauren has had a diverse career to date, working with various companies and agencies. She’s been an early startup employee in several medical and early stage companies, helped on the investor and community side with roles at HSDC and now mbloom / Reef vc.

In the interview, we talk about how her wrestling focus has impacted her career (yes she wrestled in high school and yes she’s pretty competitive), We get into some of the exciting companies and projects she’s worked on, her tips on how to approach economic stimulus (so if you're in a small tech community looking to replicate some of the models, she’s got your playbook) and we also get into the story of mbloom and where that story is at today from her perspective.

Lauren i

This is the Startup catalyst podcast brought to you by Sultan Ventures, the show where we interview entrepreneurs and investors on the stories and catalysts of their startup successes and failures. I’m your host, Luke Tucker.

Today’s episode is part tres of our special trifecta of episodes that are the sport focused olympic series, where this week we welcome Brett McDonald, CEO and Founder at Vantage Sports

Vantage Sports is a premiere sports analytics platform that provides key insights to players, teams, and media. Recently shifting its focus into the eSports industry, Vantage League provides aspiring gamers with data-driven coaching services and unique access to professional teams.

Investors in his company include Carmelo Anthony, Vernon Davis, and they’re a portfolio company of Blue Startups, 500 Startups and MBloom.

In today’s show, you’ll learn about his mistakes with his first company, how he’s fought through the tough times, how he decided to pivot his current company to a

This is the Startup catalyst podcast brought to you by Sultan Ventures, the show where we interview entrepreneurs and investors on the stories and catalysts of their startup successes and failures. I’m your host, Luke Tucker.

Today’s episode is part 2 of our special 3-part sport focused olympic series, where this week we welcome Troy Ruediger, Founder at Starters.Co.

Starters is a collaborative community of #sportstech innovators and influencers who are shaping the future of sports. Check out #wearestarters on the twitter (their twitter handle is @startersHQ).

So a little bit about Troy: Shaping the future of sports w/ @StartersHQ and he leads Product/Growth @vibby

Now Troy has been an early startup employee, repeat founder, straight up hustler, and he’s one awesome dude.

Just to get an idea of some of his hustle status: in his first company he worked at Rukkus, he did everything from Flying drones, selling tickets, doing customer service - Troy did it all

In this episode, you’

This is the Startup catalyst podcast brought to you by Sultan Ventures, the show where we interview entrepreneurs and investors on the stories and catalysts of their startup successes and failures. I’m your host, Luke Tucker.

Today’s episode kicks off our special 3-part sport focused olympic series, leading off with Hunter Swensson, Founder and COO at paranoid fan

Paranoid Fan is a social mapping app that helps fans navigate through their game-day experience, and Hunter has a super interesting journey, being a professional sports athlete where his corporate sponsors included Toyota, and he also worked for ESPN in Texas.

In the interview, we get into a lot, from the ups and downs of founding a company, getting customers at Paranoid Fan, building their company in Dallas... and you’ll find out about “old man makowski”.

One Key lesson I'd like to highlight: take what you learn from your successes and apply it to your future endeavors (in hunter’s case, his halo esports dominance help