Venture In The South

E143: David updates listeners on Venture for the week, then interviews Josh Miller of Gradient Health about his take on AI from the perspective of data.

We discuss his data experience in the context of AI model training and validation, and address some timely questions relevant to the current Era of AI:

1) Is Data where the money is (in addition to GPUs) and is there really future profit in AI models?
2) Data quality, structure and annotations for metadata,
3) Are LLMs being commoditized and what is the future of SLMs?
4) What is the future of AI Assistants and Agents?
5) What is the future of Synthetic Data?
6) How will AI affect the Arts?
7) What is the future for AI investment? (recorded 11/1/24)

BIP 2024 State of Startups in the Southeast report

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E142: In this three-part episode:

- David updates listeners on venture for the week. (Angel investing is not what it used to be!)

- David & Paul have a detailed review about Convertible Notes: what they are, why they are used, the benefits and risks for founders and investors, and when they work the best.

- then to wrap up Paul outlines and rebuts some recent complaints about early stage investors in the southeast, revealing his addiction to LinkedIn complaining (recorded 10/24/24)

For anyone interested in the data underlying some of the more controverial discussion, source material is here:

- ACA's 2023 Angel Funders Report - https://publuu.com/flip-book/37288/751879/

- ARI's 2022 Halo report - https://angelresourceinstitute.org/research/report.php?report=121&name=2022%20ARI%20HALO%20Report.php

- The Center for Venture Research - including the 2023 report - https://paulcollege.unh.edu/sites/default/files/media/2024-07/2023-full-year-analysis-report-final.pdf

- The VentureSouth blog, especially the series examining SSRN papers - https://www.venturesouth.vc/resources?type=all&term=ssrn

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We invite your feedback and suggestions at www.ventureinthesouth.com or email [email protected].

E141: David updates listeners on the Southern Ecosystem and follows with an interview with Gina Sloan, Founder and CEO of AGRITX. ConvergeSouth attendees voted AGRITX the top startup at the event. AGRITX is all about the Chicken and Egg problem in terms of industrial hatcheries. Newly laid eggs are typically contaminated with microbial pathogens such as Salmonella and E. Coli that are transmitted to the chick, resulting in a cycle of pathogenesis in the production cycle from birth. The current standard to limit transmission is probiotic feed additives for laying hens but is only modestly effective. AGRITX has developed a proprietary patented egg coating that targets the 18 day embryonic development period to introduce probiotics through the egg shell during gestation and prior to hatch to yield a healthier chick. After multiple successful customer trials they are going to market in 2025, their first revenue year. (recorded 10/18/24)

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We invite your feedback and suggestions at www.ventureinthesouth.com or email [email protected].

E140: David provides the Southern Venture Update and Paul follows with an interview with Alexander Olesen, Co-founder of Babylon Micro-Farms. 

Babylon® began with the idea of growing food where it was never thought possible. Founders Alexander Olesen and Graham Smith met at the University of Virginia where they first designed a low-cost Micro-Farm™ to provide nutritious produce for food-insecure refugees in the Middle East. Their goal was to bring the benefits of sustainable hydroponic farming to anyone who needed it. 

As a result, they developed technology that would automate the complex aspects of indoor farming by simplifying crop production and making it accessible to anyone. The perfect blend of simplicity, beauty, and sustainability, Babylon makes indoor farming easy and accessible for everyone. Serving the corporate dining, education, hospitality, healthcare and senior living markets, the Galleri model is the easiest-to-use commercial indoor farm in the world. For the K-12 education market, Stem Garden is a hands-on learning model that helps students grow by discovering the exciting world of hydroponics. 

Babylon’s trusted partners in select cities offer enhanced services to help install and maintain your Babylon Micro-Farm and their trusted educational partners offer customized curriculum services to help you inspire and empower students with your Babylon Micro-Farm. (recorded 10/8/24)

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We invite your feedback and suggestions at www.ventureinthesouth.com or email [email protected].

E139: David leads with an update on the Southern Venture Ecosystem and introduces co-host Paul who briefly profiles three companies on The Upstate Upstarts List. Paul explains what the Upstate Upstarts are and why we're interested in these very early stage companies.

First is Boyd Cycling with Nicole and Boyd Johnson, a Craft Wheel manufacturing business who have recently pivoted to manufacturing tech they acquired from Germany and are now seeking growth from vertical integration.

Next is DuckLinks with Allison (Humen) Rogers, who has developed a unique app for parents of young children to find, save, and share activities that match your family's needs & interests.

Third is FearlessGrad with Dr. Natalie Morse Ph.D., who has developed a platform to help students get into top fully funded PhD programs. 

All have customers and revenue, and give a flavor of the early-stage company entrepreneurialism of the Upstate. (recorded 9/25/24)

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We invite your feedback and suggestions at www.ventureinthesouth.com or email [email protected].

E138: David leads with an update on the Southern Venture Ecosystem and introduces Matt Dunbar to interview Richard Spero, co-founder and CEO of Redbud Labs (RBL). RBL is using breakthrough microfluidics technology to power the next generation of sample preparation products. Founded by experienced scientists and inventors, they are solving and bringing to market, solutions for complex microfluidic problems. With a deep stack of IP and an deep tech team, they are automating microfluidic sample preparations for a full range of both commercial and research testing with umatched reliability. RBL brings consistency, simplicity, proven chemistry and flexibililty to fully automated sample preparation. (recorded 8/2724 and 9/29/24)

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We invite your feedback and suggestions at www.ventureinthesouth.com or email [email protected].

E137: David starts off with notable weekly trends in the Southern Startup Ecosystem and then Paul interviews Peter Marsh, Founding partner at Flywheel Coworking and and Lead Orgainzer of ConvergeSouth, an event focused on Startup Education, Networking and Fundraising on October 3-4, 2024.

Peter previews the offering of two full days of entrepreneurial programming, expert-led breakout sessions, a startup expo with 75 exhibiting companies and investment firms from across the Southeast. Listen up for a promo code that will allow you to register and attend for free. (recorded 9/20 and 9/22/24)

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We invite your feedback and suggestions at www.ventureinthesouth.com or email [email protected].

E136: David kicks off with a few updates trending in the Southern Venture Ecosystem and Paul interviews Daniel Summers, Co-founder and CEO of Electronic Lab Logs. The Electronic Lab Logs solution was birthed out of the need to replace the Paper Logs and Binders used to track Maintenance and QC across the lab and even in Point of Care settings. Co-founders Jeremy Sikorski and Daniel Summers teamed up to build a company around one simple idea: ditch the paper logs and track everything electronically. Too often, even the best lab technicians were getting deficiencies due to simple mistakes or sloppy documentation on paper logs. The standardization was LONG overdue. After running and refining the software in Jeremy’s own labs, Electronic Lab Logs went to market and has been solving the same simple problem for customers across the country. (interview recorded 8/13/24 and update on 9/15/24)

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Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth

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We invite your feedback and suggestions at www.ventureinthesouth.com or email [email protected].

E135: To start the show, David reviews new legislation before the US Senate that would expand the capital market for startups, HB 2799, The Expanding Access to Capital Act. Then he launches into Revenue Operations (RevOps), the core business function of any successful business and critically important for startups. As a new startup transitions from the CEO salesman/marketing lead to a growing team, a successful RevOps team becomes the key ingredient for growth. By combining Sales Operations and Marketing into a single team for RevOps, management can gain new insights into operations that are traditionally independent and siloed. This can be the lynchpin for successful growth. David interviews Amy Cook, Co-Founder and CMO of FullCast, who is an expert on RevOps. She has 3 successful exits under her belt and just completed a $32M Seed Round for her new startup, FullCast. Text Amy at 949.813.0182 or email at [email protected]. (recorded 8/30/24)

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Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth

Connect On LinkedIn with David at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgrisell/

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Connect On LinkedIn with Paul at

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We invite your feedback and suggestions at www.ventureinthesouth.com or email [email protected].

E134: Record vacancies in commercial real estate has become an opportunity for flexible space, but managing a flexible space is a challenge.

DeShawn Brown, Co-Founder and CEO of COWORKS, explains how COWORKS software is designed to make life easier for the day-to-day management of flexible space. From traditional hot desk spaces to university entrepreneur programs, from maker-spaces to hybrid offices, from childcare and coworking to women-only coworking spaces, COWORKS enables a flexible space to run smoothly, connect members, and help real estate businesses grow.

Questions about COWORKS? Contact DeShawn at [email protected]. (recorded 8/26/24)

Support the show

Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth

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We invite your feedback and suggestions at www.ventureinthesouth.com or email [email protected].