upside

Interview begins: 08:30
Insight begins: 54:18
VC debrief begins: 1:04:14
Host debrief begins: 1:13:06

Ben Mizes is the founder and CEO of Clever Real Estate.

Clever Real Estate is a nationwide referral service that helps you sell your home and save on commission.

Clever's network of partner agents includes over 1,000 top local agents, who provide Clever home-sellers (and buyers) with full service to list and market their home -- and help with all of the paperwork and negotiations to get you through to closing -- but at a fraction of the usual cost: just a flat fee of $3,000 if your home sells for less than $350K, or 1% commission if your home sells for more than $350K.

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Erik Berg is an Investment Fund Analyst for Rev1 Ventures. Erik helps to source and evaluate high-growth technology companies for potential investment. He regularly conducts due diligence on startups as part of Rev1’s investment process including financial analysis, reference checks, legal document review, and return modeling. Additionally, he helps coordinate the investment closing process by ensuring all key deliverables are executed on and properly documented.

Follow Erik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aBergsEyeView
Check out Erik's blog: https://abergseyeview.com/

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Learn more about Clever: https://listwithclever.com/
Follow Ben's blog on Medium: https://medium.com/@benmizes
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Interview begins: 06:46
Debrief begins: 47:02

Vince Pecoraro is the Capability Lead of Agile Contracting for AFWERX.
Luis Cordova is the Liaison of Public Affairs and Marketing for AFWERX.

Established in 2017 by the Secretary of the Air Force and reporting to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, AFWERX is a catalyst for agile Air Force engagement across industry, academia and non-traditional contributors to create transformative opportunities and foster an Air Force culture of innovation. The ultimate aim is to solve problems and enhance the effectiveness of the Air Force.

AFWERX combines startup urgency with the largest pool of motivated talent in the world to uncover opportunities to improve Air Force capabilities, connect and engage the right stakeholders, and facilitate outcomes.

AFWERX has hubs in Austin, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas. 

Learn more about AFWERX: https://www.afwerx.af.mil/
AFWERX Challenge: https://www.afwerxchallenge.com/
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Interview begins: 06:44
Debrief begins: 1:06:15

Ken Sills is the co-founder and CEO of Preteckt. 

Since developing the initial prototype of this hardware/software solution in 2015, Ken has been focused on building Preteckt's team of engineers, scientists, business developers, and sales professionals so that the automotive industry can benefit from Vehicle Prognostics as a Service. Ken has over two decades of R&D experience creating solutions that couple hardware, software, and data science.

Preteckt uses machine learning to predict vehicle service needs before they get serious. Trucks on their network learn from each other so that our customers can predict breakdowns weeks or months before they cause downtime. Their connected hardware gives real-time, unparalleled insight into vehicle maintenance needs. It's like driving with a master mechanic in your engine compartment.

Preteckt was founded in 2015 and based in Memphis, Tennessee.

Learn more about Preteckt: https://preteckt.com/
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Interview begins: 06:32
Debrief begins: 51:53

Terri Glueck is the Director of Communications at Innovation Works. Leah Simoncelli is the Coordinator of the AlphaLab Gear Hardware Cup.

As Director of Community Development & Communications, Terri Glueck leads Innovation Works’ communications efforts. Having joined Innovation Works in its own startup phase, Terri has helped build Innovation Works’ brand as one of the nation’s most active seed-stage investors and a global model for technology-based economic development.

Leah runs the AlphaLab Gear Hardware Cup, an international pitch competition for early-stage hardware startups.  She leads the outreach, marketing, and event management efforts for the US regional competitions, connecting entrepreneurs, angels, VCs, and the startup community across the nation. She also provides support to partners holding Hardware Cup events around the world, including partners in Israel, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and India.  

Additionally, she manages marketing for the AlphaLab Gear program, which includes everything from traveling to meet startups around the US to creating and implementing a social media strategy to planning collaborative events in the AlphaLab Gear space.

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Innovation Works is the Ben Franklin Technology Partner of Southwestern PA and is supported by the Department of Community and Economic Development.

The Innovation Works mission is to introduce, connect, support and expand the startup & entrepreneurial ecosystem within Southwestern Pennsylvania, making the region a center for innovative startups and tech investors from around the country.

They are the largest seed stage investor in Southwestern PA, having invested $78M over nearly 400 companies.

Founded in 1999, Innovation Works is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Learn more about Innovation Works: https://www.innovationworks.org/
Learn more about the Alpha Lab Hardware Cup: https://alphalabgear.org/hardwarecup/
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm 

Interview begins: 05:52
Debrief begins: 56:32

Wayne Schwind is the founder and CEO of Periodic Edibles. Periodic Edibles creates cannabis-infused caramels with consistent and repeatable effects.

Wayne graduated from Michigan Technological University in 2010 with a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering. Upon graduation he moved to Portland, Oregon for a job in technical sales in the industrial water treatment industry. 

In July of 2015 he left the sales position and started Periodic Edibles. After a year and a half in the medical market, they received our State recreational license on February 1, 2017. Since then our team has gotten Periodic Edibles into more than 150 retail locations. 

Learn more about Periodic Edibles: https://periodicedibles.com
Listen to the Periodic Effects podcast: https://www.periodiceffects.com
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Last Friday, March 1, we released issue one of the update. In this week's episode, we explain why and go behind the scenes of how it came together.

At upside, we focus on startups, startup communities, and startup investing outside of Silicon Valley. We have our ears to the ground, arms wide open, and platform ready to tell the stories of amazing founders, venture capitalists, and community builders from across the country who are tackling problems in their own unique way.

From the outside, it seems that our communities aren’t being understood.

So we launched the update, a publication featuring editorials, trends, and stories happening outside of Silicon Valley. Our contributors live in the world outside of Silicon Valley and we think you’re going to love their genuine perspective.

Articles:
ScriptDrop marches towards 1b patients served, turning down an acquisition offer in the process
why don’t you just meet me in the middle? by Eric Hornung
why we need platform in startup communities by Jay Clouse

building relationships with investors — before you need their money by Allie Felix
I grew up in flyover country by Erik Berg
founders: don’t force a friends & family round by Monique Villa
first quarter podcast recommendations by Jay Clouse and Eric Hornung

Read issue one of the update: https://upside.fm/update/issue-one/
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Interview begins: 06:52
Debrief begins: 53:28

John Galbraith (CEO) and Michael Joyce (COO) are the co-founders of Exaeris Water Innovations. 

Exaeris developed a patent-pending atmospheric water generator based on technology developed at the University of Tulsa that provides a consistent and reliable source of water. 

The AcquaTap™ from Exaeris captures and collects pure water from the atmosphere. A single unit is about the size of a shoebox and is capable of producing up to five gallons of clean water per day. 

Exaeris was founded in 2015 and based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Learn more about Exaeris: http://www.exaeris.com/
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm
Subscribe to the update: https://upside.fm/update

Interview begins: 06:26
Debrief begins: 51:58

Bernie Moreno is the President of the Bernie Moreno Companies. He has 20+ years in the retail automotive business. In 2005, he purchased what has become the largest volume Mercedes-Benz dealership in the Central US. At one point, he owned 21 dealerships. 

He is on the board of Dryver, a personal driver company and owns Hotcards, an online print broker. 

He also founded Ownum, which is an incubator for blockchain and other technology companies. One of those first companies is Champ, which digitizes car titles.  

His was the first Mercedes-Benz and Porsche dealership in the US to accept virtually all kinds of crypto currency. 

Bernie helped start the Blockland Cleveland Blockchain Solutions Conference, an effort to make Cleveland the epicenter of blockchain technology for business and government applications.  

The Blockland initiative exists to educate and promote real-world blockchain applications, while establishing and leading a blockchain ecosystem with support from private, public and philanthropic individuals and organizations.

The Solutions Conference took place in Cleveland December 1-4, 2018, with over 2000 attendees, 149 speakers, and more.

Learn more about Blockland Cleveland: https://www.blocklandcleveland.com
Join the Blockland Cleveland Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/932341216950947
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm
Subscribe to the update: https://upside.fm/update

Interview begins: 07:09
Debrief begins: 49:20

Luke Heron is the co-founder and CEO of Testcard.

TestCard is a medical diagnostic test contained within a traditional postcard. The unique, patent-pending ‘flat-pack’ product is embedded with three fold-out urine dipsticks. The accompanying easy-to-use mobile application turns a mobile phone’s camera into a clinical grade scanner, providing the user with an immediate and accurate result from the TestCard, communicated in easy-to-understand wording on the phone screen.

This episode was recorded at CES 2019, where Testcard was named a Top Emerging technology by Digital Trends.

Testcard was founded in 2017 and based in London, UK.

Learn more about Testcard: https://testcard.com/

Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm
Subscribe to the update: https://upside.fm/update

Interview begins: 07:03
Debrief begins: 48:43

Bryan serves as Capital Factory’s Vice President of Accelerator and Investment Fund.

Bryan is a business development and investment professional experienced in portfolio management and venture capital transactions. Prior to joining Capital Factory, Bryan established the Blackstone Launchpad and UT Dallas Seed Fund at the University of Texas at Dallas where he actively advises students, entrepreneurs, and early-stage ventures and serves as a member of the entrepreneurship faculty. Bryan is a founding team member and at Fixd Repair, an insurance technology and home services business where he led the business corporate development strategy. Bryan has spent his career working with and investing in venture-backed startups including ReachLocal, LevelUp, and Fran POS.

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Capital Factory’s mission is to be the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas. Last year more than 100,000 entrepreneurs, programmers, and designers gathered day and night, in-person and online for meetups, classes, and coworking.

They meet the best entrepreneurs in Texas and introduce them to their first investors, employees, mentors, and customers. According to Pitchbook, Capital Factory has been the most active investor in Texas since 2013.

Founded in 2009, Capital Factory is based in Austin, Texas.

Learn more about Capital Factory: https://www.capitalfactory.com
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm
Subscribe to the update: https://upside.fm/update