Venture Pill

Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedInAnd now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, we have Larsen Jensen, former Olympic swimmer, Navy Seal, and current founder and General Partner at Harpoon Ventures. Larsen has always surrounded himself with some of the highest performers and most successful people, whether in the water next to the likes of Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, or out in the battlefield serving our country.It was only after a friend mentioned vc as a potentially exciting career path that Larsen realized he could leverage his experiences, especially regarding the government’s growing partnership with the private sector in investing in new technology. In the interview, you will hear more about how he started Harpoon Ventures, some notable portfolio companies, as well as his outlook on the next few years in venture capital.We close out this week’s dose with a short discussion on the future of AI, some awesome advice to the Pillgrims, and some great perspective from Larsen reflecting on his experience getting an MBA at Stanford. It was a pleasure hosting Larsen on this week’s dose, and we’re excited to share our conversation with you all. Sources:https://harpoon.vc/https://www.linkedin.com/in/larsen-jensen/Music Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions,  expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedInAnd now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, we have Anouck Gotlib, CEO and Chief Belgian Girl of Belgian Boys, the company on a mission to turn up the happy, one sweet moment at a time.Anouck had an awesome journey to becoming CEO of Belgian Boys. Her background is actually in fashion and design, and her entrepreneurial journey all started when she flew to NYC for a fashion internship. On the flight, she struck up a conversation with a guy named Greg. Fast forward to now, and Anouck and Greg are co founders and husband and wife. In the interview, you will hear more about Belgian Boys’ mission to spread joy, as well as Anouck’s favorite product, which also happens to be their best seller.From there, we dive more into the business and what it’s been like bootstrapping in the CPG space and navigating the unforgiving world of retail. We also hear about their efforts to create a new category in the refrigerated aisle for breakfast foods.We wrap up this week’s dose with a short discussion on the company’s investors, and specifically Daniel Lubetsky, the founder of KIND, as well as what she looks for in an investor, and then a little bit of advice for the pilgrims looking to start a business someday.It was a pleasure hosting Anouck on this week’s dose, and we hope this conversation sweetens up everyone’s day as much as it did for us. Sources:https://www.belgianboys.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/anouck-gotlib/Music Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions,  expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedIn And now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, (1:47) we start with Roofer, a startup that uses AI and drone technology to scan and repair roofs, and their recent $7.5M seed round. Then (8:09), we cover Campus, a startup that’s transforming higher education by making community college accessible across the country, hot off their $29M Series A. Lastly (17:44), we close out this week’s dose with Podcastle, a web-based platform that enables creators to record, edit, enhance, transcribe and publish podcasts with unmatched simplicity, and their $13.5M Series A. Sources:https://www.roofer.com/abouthttps://www.roofingcontractor.com/articles/99128-roofercom-raises-75m-in-seed-round https://campus.edu/blog/education-startup-campus-opens-enrollment-with-29-million-in-fundinghttps://www.forbes.com/sites/jaredcouncil/2023/05/01/exclusive-sam-altmans-backing-helps-community-college-startup-raise-29-million/?sh=95ec5542d18ahttps://techcrunch.com/2024/02/02/as-podcastle-raises-13-5m-its-founder-credits-ai-driven-growth-in-armenias-mini-silicon-valley/https://podcastle.ai/about Music Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions, expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedIn And now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, (1:37) we start with a breakdown on the Enhanced Games, the modern reinvention of the Olympic Games that allows athletes to use performance enhancing drugs, and their multi-million dollar seed round that included funding from Peter Thiel, Balaji Srinivasan, and Christian Angermayer. Then (12:02), we cover Owner, the top rated, all-in-one platform that’s empowering restaurant owners to succeed online, and their recent $33M Series B. Lastly (18:18), we wrap up this week’s dose with StatusPro, a sports technology and gaming company that uses real-time player data to create authentic extended reality experiences, and their $20 million Series A.Sources:https://enhanced.org/2024/01/29/seedfundingannouncement/https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/01/31/billionaire-peter-thiel-backs-doping-friendly-olympics-rival---what-to-know-about-the-enhanced-games/?sh=537ea62b501fhttps://www.owner.com/bhttps://www.owner.com/https://www.status.pro/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/statuspro-announces-20m-series-a-round-led-by-gv-google-ventures-to-continue-to-disrupt-and-revolutionize-sports-through-xr-302052952.htmlMusic Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions, expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedInAnd now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, we have Ron Levin, author of Higher Purpose Venture Capital, and Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures.Ron had an unconventional path into the world of venture capital, having worked in the travel and aviation industry which eventually led him to start a business in that area as well. He later got connected with Alumni Ventures, specifically Yard Ventures, a fund for the Harvard community, and he has been with the AV team for nearly 5 years since then.In the interview, you will hear more about Ron’s winding journey, as well as his passion around impact investing. From there, he tells us more about his blog (The Higher Purpose SmörgåsBlog), which ultimately led to his book that highlights how both profit and impact can be achieved in venture capital.Listen through to hear Ron’s take on the current state of the venture capital landscape, as well as his valuable advice to our listeners looking to get into investing and entrepreneurship. It was a pleasure hosting Ron on this week’s dose and we’re thrilled to share the conversation with you all. Without further ado, here's our discussion with Ron.Sources:https://higherpurposevc.com/https://ronlevin.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/levinron/Music Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions,  expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedIn And now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, (1:54) we start with a breakdown on Aniai, hot off a $12m funding round, led by InterVest, as the startup looks to continue scaling their burger cooking robot, Alpha Grill. Then (10:09), we cover UpSmith, a startup aiming to address the massive skilled labor shortage by addressing employee productivity through a unique incentive platform, and their recent $5M funding round led by Hannah Grey VC. Lastly (18:08), we close out this week’s dose with a Pillfolio update! Bilt Rewards, a startup that lets users earn points and build credit by paying for rent with their credit card, secured a $200M funding round led by General Catalyst. Sources:https://www.aniai.ai/https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/23/aniai-bringing-burger-cooking-robot-to-restaurants-with-12m/https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-technology-is-helping-restaurants-overcome-labor-shortage-challengeshttps://aaronallen.com/blog/restaurant-roboticshttps://www.bccresearch.com/market-research/instrumentation-and-sensors/kitchen-robotics-and-automation-market.htmlhttps://finance.yahoo.com/news/kitchen-robotics-automation-market-grow-112700668.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90ZWNoY3J1bmNoLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGf0KB6EB6Ek-1VNoWXuCpFNXkOJP2mfuO_TGsTcOKkle5PqeYBgp1Z-jWIOYB4nhsy0IkUnQdP1QIrB5IAOlIgCv5RW_9vnrqLencF-soaHnxBirbjwKrs25e_Wq-3F6x6xe3uqK2zGsI4-KA_0_IlTzsmBu9ev-0KIQkNXzV7yhttps://upsmith.com/https://dallasinnovates.com/upsmith-powers-its-new-skilled-workforce-tool-boost-with-5m-raise/ https://www.biltrewards.com/https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/24/bilt-rewards-brings-in-200m-led-by-general-catalyst-doubles-valuation-to-3-1b/https://newsroom.biltrewards.com/bilt-rewards-announces-200-million-raise-valuing-company-at-3-1-billionMusic Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions, expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedIn And now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, (2:00) we start with a breakdown on Agorus, a startup that’s looking to automate the homebuilding process to significantly reduce the time it takes to build high quality homes, hot off a $20M Series A. Then (9:57), we cover Perplexity, an AI search platform that is poised to disrupt the search engine space, hot off a $73.6M funding round. Lastly (16:16), we wrap up this week’s dose with a discussion on Shield AI, a startup that makes hardware and software to transform aircraft and drones into autonomous systems capable of executing complex missions in contested environments, and their massive $500M Series F. Sources:https://agorus.com/our-story/ https://www.perplexity.ai/ https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/04/ai-powered-search-engine-perplexity-ai-now-valued-at-520m-raises-70m/ https://shield.ai/https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/29/shield-ai-expands-massive-series-f-with-another-300m-in-equity-debt-scaling-valuation-to-2-8b/Music Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions, expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedInAnd now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, (1:52) we start things off with a breakdown on Medallion, a dedicated digital hub that allows artists to promote album releases, tour dates and merch drops, as well as sell digital collectibles and share exclusive content to foster deeper connections with their fans, and their $13.7M Series A. Then (5:44), we cover Electra, a startup that’s building a network of high-speed EV charging stations throughout France and other European countries, charged up from their massive $330M Series B. Lastly (12:08), we wrap up this week’s dose with a discussion on Onera Health, a startup that’s providing sleep diagnostic and monitoring technology to help clinicians conduct studies at home, fresh off their $32M Series C.Sources:https://www.medallion.fm/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/21/medallion-a-platform-for-artists-to-connect-directly-with-fans-raises-13-7m/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALhF6BSj0lyZwC64cw-YB1qSaFwsl5fQBx9Q15snKLTn2J02SNzvontN6PVuSKRJiBNRZTx61UXxAzv1BC5UVLOBujaKES08ovmk859Z28za0j9HZNYL4GwEwzB-7hXaKMgjPJG1-M8ms6wXR2XcVdi1v32hX_3OaFoJBQ5VQlv0 https://www.go-electra.com/en/https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/16/ev-charging-startup-electra-secures-330-million/https://www.onerahealth.com/https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/16/polysomnography-onera-sleep-studies/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5627640/Music Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions, expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedInAnd now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, (1:55) we start things off with a breakdown on Sharpen, an early childhood education company with a mission to help parents affordably get their children on the right reading path early in development, fresh off an $11M funding round. Then (7:00), we cover Simply Homes, a company that’s leveraging AI to address the affordable housing crisis, hot off a $22M funding round. Lastly (14:04), we close out this week’s dose with a discussion on Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which just raised an additional $43m in funding as they continue to push new limits in the brain-computer interface space.Sources:https://www.sharpen.com/about https://www.finsmes.com/2023/12/sharpen-raises-11m-in-funding.html https://www.simplyhomes.com/en/about-ushttps://techcrunch.com/2023/12/07/simply-homes-nabs-22m-leverages-ai-to-tackle-affordable-housing-crisis/https://neuralink.com/https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/25/neuralink-elon-musks-brain-implant-startup-quietly-raises-an-additional-43m/Music Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions, expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!Join our Entre CommunityInstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedInAnd now for this week’s prescription:On this week’s dose, we celebrated Venture Pill’s 100th episode (!) with an awards show. Tune into this special episode to hear us reflect on our first 100 episodes and hand out well-deserved awards, starting with (4:56) the biggest round covered on the Pill. From there (8:20), we crown our favorite investor in Pill history. Then we transition into categorical best startup awards, kicking off with the food and drink category (11:53), then the best AI startup (16:53), followed by best sports startup (19:58), best space startup (24:39), best environmental startup (28:25), and lastly the best international startup (32:27). After the categorical awards (36:24), we picked a winner for the coolest startup in Pill history, which was a highly contested award. Next, we get into a pack of fun awards including best dose of the show (42:21), best phrase in show history (44:29), our favorite buzzword award (49:59), and last but not least, our favorite pun in show history (53:00). We had a blast recording our first ever Venture Pill awards show, and loved reflecting on all we’ve learned and laughed about over the past 100 weeks. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!Music Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions, expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.