Give First

In this final ESG takeover episode, Dr. Mairi-Jane Fox, who helps lead ESG at Techstars, talks with B Lab Senior Manager of Community Engagement and Network Strategy Becca Quirk and Project Canary Co-founder & COO Will Foiles about what it really means when a business gets its B Corp certification and how it creates impactful changes.“Inherently, becoming a B corporation forces a founder to look not just at what we are accomplishing today, but what we are working to accomplish,” says Becca Quirk.Listen as Becca and Will describe the benefits of this certification for startup founders, such as thought leadership opportunities among the B Corp community, rigorous steps that showcase dedication to stakeholders, employees, and future investors, and a framework for solidifying the company’s mission.Will and Becca also answer commonly raised questions from startup founders about how much time it takes to certify, and if it really is beneficial for early stage and small startup businesses. Lastly, don’t miss Will, a Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator founder, telling us whether getting a B Corp certification is actually worth it. Listen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second ESG takeover episode, Dr. Mairi-Jane Fox, who helps lead ESG at Techstars, talks with Soona CEO and Co-Founder Liz Giorgi and UN-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment Head of Private Equity Peter Dunbar about different aspects of engaging with investors, including investor diligence, transparent conversations, and discussing ESG practices.First, Liz Giorgi explains the development of the candor clause, and how it benefits startup founders regardless of their identity. The candor clause helps facilitate open, honest conversations about investors' practices, and ultimately allows founders to make informed decisions about who they are taking money from.“That kinda conversation is unparalleled in terms of building a better relationship with that investor and just really understanding who you're going into business with in the long run,” Liz Giorgi said.Then, listen as Peter describes what it means for venture capital firms and investors when they become signatories of the UN PRI. Among other requirements, signatories generally work toward implementing six principles for ESG and responsible investing which founders can consider when pitching to them“Given the requirements of being a signatory and the principles themselves, VC signatories should really be looking to engage with startups and founders on ESG topics and be actively considering them in their investment decision-making processes,” Peter said.Follow Liz Giorgi on Twitter @lizgiorgiListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all have a set of principles for how we live our lives. How well are those principles aligned across every facet, though? You might be environmentally conscious but it’s important to ask yourself: Where do you do your banking? Who holds your mortgage? This is the driving point for author Sharon Schneider’s book, Handbook for an Integrated Life: A Practical Guide to Aligning Your Everyday Choices with Your Internal Compass.“If you're just floating along on mainstream American culture, my friend, … you're getting a very me-first, maximize-benefit-for-yourself all-the-time approach. This idea of taking your value and being conscious about how you integrate it into every area of your life for everyday people really became the genesis of the book,” said the Integrated Capital Strategies founder.Listen as Sharon highlights a few of the 7 principles for an integrated life in the book, and how #givefirst and living integrated isn’t always about spending money but intentionally looking at all the places you can live into that value.Also, don’t miss Sharon talking about her experience in Techstars’ Excelerate Labs program in 2012 and how it was a valuable contributor to her career that blends entrepreneurship, business ownership, philanthropic and social change strategy, and impact investing.Follow Sharon Schneider on Twitter @sharonschneiderFollow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this first ESG takeover episode, Dr. Mairi-Jane Fox, who helps lead ESG at Techstars, talks with Sustaio founder and CEO Olivia Pedersen and SVT Group CEO Sara Olsen about the benefits and the how-to of measuring ESG impact for early-stage start-ups. “It's a responsible business practice to manage your carbon effectively and make sure that you're taking responsibility for the impact and the externalized cost that your company is creating,” said Olivia Pedersen.Listen as Olivia and Sara give tangible, actionable advice to startup founders on how they can measure their company's impact. Also, don’t miss the six questions for implementing impact measurement and management.Listen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Martin Schilling said he would never work in finance. However, after two years of scaling N26 Group, a large European fintech company, he left with a wealth of knowledge that he needed to share. So he wrote “The Builder’s Guide to the Tech Galaxy” with several leading tech builders.“It is, in essence, a give-first book because together with my co-founders, we are deep advocates of scaling up the European tech ecosystem. Why? Because as startup builders, we are the pioneers of our times. We are the inventors of the 21st century to a certain degree, and we will need to build millions of future jobs.”Listen as Martin describes the global tech ecosystem, its current needs, and the future development of startups and scale-ups through mentoring and knowledge. “The book, as well, is meant as an encouragement for those to really go out and dare to build startups,” Martin shares.Also, don’t miss David and Martin chatting about the tactical resources in Martin’s book, such as developing a clear startup North Star and building a great team, and how Star Trek is related to startups and Techstars!Follow Martin Schilling on Twitter @MSchilling__Follow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At 15 years old, Marcus Bullock’s life changed forever. He was locked in an adult maximum-security prison for 8 years after carjacking a man. Marcus began to feel hopeless, so his mother began to send photos and letters each day.A few years after his release, his friends in prison asked Marcus for photos and letters of his travels and life. Marcus knew there had to be a better way to share his experiences outside the prison walls, and when he didn’t find an app to do it, he created it himself.“I was promising them: I want you to live vicariously through me now. I want you to see these moments and share with me because I want you to know when you get out of prison, bro, you will have the same success,” he said.Listen as Marcus shares his success after being released, starting with the company that gave him a chance, his entrepreneurial spirit, and the opportunity to hire those with felony convictions to give them a sustainable start.Also, don’t miss David and Marcus discussing how Flikshop went from sharing photos with prison friends to a venture-backed company that helps reduce recidivism.Follow Marcus Bullock on Twitter @_marcus_bullockFollow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Supply chains are a big nut to crack, and Elias Stahl ran straight for them. He was empowered to start a whole new supply chain and have his company HILOS be at the forefront of creating a different way to manufacture shoes, where it is ground zero for inefficiency and waste.“We saw that opportunity to leverage new technologies like 3D printing and gender design tools to rethink how we make things so that we're no longer building based on volume and cost, but on efficiency and a far more sustainable way for creators to take their ideas and turn them into products and then deliver them into hands of customers,” the CEO and founder of HILOS said.Listen to Elias describe fundraising as a comparison to dating with “meeting your match” and not changing yourself to find “love” or, in this case, your investors.Also, don’t miss David and Elias talk about the Stanley+Techstars Accelerator and the growth of HILOS because of the Give First mentality, including winning Best in Show at the SXSW Pitch competition and releasing a case study in partnership with Yale University.Follow Elias Stahl on Twitter @stahl_eliasFollow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Innovation is just innovation if no one uses it. This is a lesson Jae Lee, co-founder and CEO of Twelve Labs, learned while building multimodal neural networks and video search AI. Through the Techstars Seattle Accelerator, mentors, and community, the company began to grow its customer base, transforming from a video search prototype to raising $5 million in a seed funding round.Listen as Jae Lee describes how video search is a very intuitive concept but we haven’t seen much of this technology out in the wild, as well as credibility and experience in AI.“What we've realized was, hey, video is going to be everywhere. It's already everywhere. It's going to explode. Is there a new neural network architecture that we can use or create to have machines fully understand videos? And what this means to customers is better content moderation, better content recommendation, better summary generation, and better content discovery," said Jae Lee.Don’t miss Jae Lee describe his time in the South Korean cyber operations, where he met the co-founders who joined him to build Twelve Labs, as well as the startup scene in South Korea.Follow Jae Lee on Twitter @_jae_leeFollow Twelve Labs on Twitter @twelve_labsFollow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are many business books out there for current and future entrepreneurs: How to start, how to raise money, how to market, and more. However, after selling his business SwipeSense to SC Johnson, Mert Iseri, with his mentor Mark Achler, realized there aren’t as many books imparting wisdom about selling your business from all aspects of the process.“The exit hopefully is a joyous moment in time, but your relationships and your legacy lasts hopefully through the rest of your career,” said entrepreneur Mark Achler, who is the managing director at MATH Venture Partners.Listen as Mert and Mark describe the different approaches they took to this book by interviewing not only CEOs but also M&A attorneys and corporate development departments at acquiring companies. The two also discuss the prevailing thought of not worrying about the exit as it will take care of itself, and how the exit actually should be a planned, thoughtful activity. “There's this myth that one day you're sitting in your corner office looking outside the glass window and Jeff Bezos gives you a call and wants to buy her a company. That's not reality,” Mert Iseri said.Don’t miss the trio discussing picking the right buyer, transparency and when to tell the team, earnouts, and other tough areas during an exit process. Follow Mert Iseri on Twitter @mhiFollow MATH Venture Partners on Twitter @MATH_V_PFollow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stream might be a small startup company, but by listening to its customers and their needs, the company decided to launch a second product that helped it scale. “Focusing only on a single product, it was hard to go for larger channels that are not well-targeted, so we needed to have a broader product offering to really scale up,” said founder and CEO Thierry Schellenbach. “I think that’s the one thing in terms of advice for founders, I think you need to look at those metrics and we could have probably raised like an A and B rounds, like earlier on the activity feed business, but it would've been really hard to scale given the unit economics and where they were. So we ended up launching chat, doing well in that space, and then doubling down on like the A and to B. And I think that's been very successful for us.”Listen as Thierry describes the company’s coming-to-America moment through Techstars New York and moving its headquarters to Colorado, and all the support he received from business leaders throughout the process.Also, don’t miss Thierry and David discussing the difference between Europe and the U.S. when it comes to startup investing, how the pandemic changed how startups launch investment rounds, and how the role of CEO changes as a company scales.Follow Thierry Schellenbach on Twitter @tschellenbachFollow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohenListen & subscribe to the Give First podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.