The VentureFizz Podcast

The shift of founders building startups in other regions outside of Silicon Valley is an interesting trend that has been taking shape especially since the pandemic hit and working with remote employees really hit its stride. So, what does it take to build a thriving tech ecosystem in a city or region? Well, it takes a lot of different components plus you need the people who can execute on a vision. Lakshmi is a builder of these ecosystems from her time in Chicago to what she is doing now in terms of building up a robust startup scene in Tampa Bay, Florida. As CEO of Embarc Collective, she has helped to build out the vision of Jeff Vinik, who is the owner of the Tampa Bay Lighting. Today, Embarc Collective is thriving with a 32,000 sq ft facility and over 100 startups. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Detailed advice on how to build out a successful tech ecosystem. * Lakshmi’s background story and the foundational years of her career. * Her experience at 1871 which is Chicago’s technology hub for over 450 startups. * How she landed her current position at Embarc Collective and what they have accomplished over the past 4+ years. * A deep dive into the tech scene in Tampa Bay. * Three tips on how founders should leverage their own local startup community. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Episode 257 features a discussion from a recent webinar we hosted with OpenView Venture Partners around hiring and competing for talent in this competitive market. Since most companies are hiring, we thought this topic would be incredibly beneficial. For this discussion, I was joined by Steve Melia, Talent Partner, and Maggie Crean, Talent Manager from OpenView and we cover a lot of ground. We discuss great topics like: * Lots of data from OpenView’s State of the SaaS Talent Market Report. * Advice on how to demonstrate a company’s culture during a remote interview process. * Why consistency and transparency during an interview process are so important. * Unique ideas on how to build up your top-of-the-funnel talent pipeline. * How to get more employee referrals and buy-in from employees on helping out with employment branding. * And more! If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

I was excited to interview Rahul for our podcast since his background before starting Clora is very deep in the life sciences industry as the head of clinical development at several biopharma companies. It was an opportunity to explore this industry, as I haven’t interviewed anyone who has the same depth of experience, so we talk about the drug discovery and clinical trials process. It was this industry knowledge that led Rahul down the path of starting Clora to address a critical pain point in the life sciences industry and that is the lack of resources. And, when I say resources… I’m referring to talent and having the right expertise at the right time during the drug discovery process. As you’ll hear, it takes over 300 unique skillsets to bring a drug to market. Well, Clora is helping to solve this talent crisis with its intelligent platform that efficiently matches life science companies with flexible, on-demand expertise. The company is venture backed by Spark Capital, Social Capital, Notation Capital, and others. Rahul is also a fellow podcaster, as he is one of the hosts of the Biotech 2050 Podcast, which I would recommend checking out if you are interested in learning more about the biotech and life sciences industry. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * What’s the biggest difference between building a tech startup versus a life sciences company. * Rahul’s background story and why he pursued a career in the life sciences industry. * His experience leading clinical development across multiple companies. * All the details about Clora in terms of their mission, the details on their platform, and growth plans ahead. * Advice for founders on building a company in the healthtech industry. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

I feel like this interview was long overdue, as I’ve know Rob for a long time. I probably first met him at one of the tech events in Boston… maybe Web Innovators Group or something like that. It was during a resurgence of the tech industry in that region where a new crop of entrepreneurs were building companies and Rob’s company, Backupify, was one of the hot companies in the Boston tech scene. Backupify raised funding from top investors like First Round Capital, Avalon Ventures, General Catalyst, Lowercase Capital and top angel investors like Dharmesh Shah, Chris Sacca, and Jason Calacanis. It was a big deal because he chose to build his company in Boston instead of Silicon Valley or NYC, which helped him make a splash coming from Kentucky. Since having a successful exit with Backupify, Rob has gone on to make a major impact to not only the Boston tech scene, but to the tech industry at large as both an entrepreneur and investor. His latest company is called Dianthus, the world's only AI-first eCommerce company which is acquiring small to medium sized brands and helping them grow faster with a common AI platform that includes not just new technologies, but new AI-centric workflows, processes, and ways of working. The company just announced $11.5M in seed funding led by PJC, Underscore, and Jason Calacanis. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * The use of AI and the areas that Rob finds the most interesting in terms of use cases. * Rob’s early professional career out of school and a look at how he got into blogging in the early days, including how it has helped him as an entrepreneur. * The story of Backupify, a backup cloud company that was started in 2008 for Salesforce and Google Apps and was acquired by Datto. * His experience as an investor - first as an angel, which includes some amazing advice on how to get started as an angel investor and then his experience as a Venture Partner at PJC. * A deep dive into the creation of his latest company, Dianthus and how they are leveraging AI as a competitive advantage. * Advice for hiring when building out your company. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Entrepreneurship… is it something that is taught or is it just engrained into some people? Personally, I think the answer is both but in the case of Ritik, it is deeply rooted in his DNA. His journey into entrepreneurship started in middle school when he built a successful web development & hosting business. He’s now a successful serial entrepreneur, as his last two companies were acquired by Box and Brex. Ritik’s next company, Savvy, could be his biggest success yet. Savvy is a next-generation wealth management firm that supercharges its wealth managers with enhanced software, sales and marketing automation, and back office servicing. The company recently, announced a $7.3M seed round of funding co-led by Index Ventures and Thrive Capital. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * The benefits of having a waitlist before you launch your product. * How Ritik got involved in entrepreneurship and stories from his earlier companies. * His experience as a Thiel Fellow. * A look at his prior two companies, Stream & Elph, plus advice on the acquisition process. * All the details on Savvy and how they are disrupting the financial services industry. * Advice on applying to Y Combinator. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

It’s not every day that you get to interview someone who launched four product lines with Steve Jobs and the rest of the Apple exec team, so as a fan of all things Apple, lets just say I was a little excited for this interview. Calin’s career has always been at the forefront of emerging technologies and trends. From his first stint at Apple working on software for the iMac and iBook (yes, the shell shaped laptop), to his time at Handspring where he helped bring the Treo - a first generation smartphone - to market, to his return to Apple to work on early iPhone software, iTunes Mobile, pre-HealthKit, Apple TV, and AirPlay, plus the other startups that he’s been involved in. The next frontier ahead for Calin is sound and as a Co-Founder & CEO of Spatial, their goal is to redefine the human experience by creating virtual soundscapes where you work, where you play and where you stay. The company recently announced its Series B funding highlighted by Mike Gordon, President of Fenway Sports Group, The Kraft Group, Marquee Sports Holdings, WS Development and National Geographic Society. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Predictions for the future of immersive experiences at sporting events and concerts. * All the great stories throughout his career at Apple, Handspring, and the various startups… including the question I had to ask him about. * What it was like working with Steve Jobs. * A deep dive into his latest company, Spatial and how their technology works, plus a glimpse into the plans ahead for the company. * Advice on keeping a culture of innovation as a company scales. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Real estate is the largest asset class in the world, so it’s surprising that this industry has been slow to change, but this is not the case anymore. The proptech industry is on fire. According to the Wall Street Journal, last year over $9.5B was invested into the proptech industry from VC firms and other investors. It’s proof that there is a tremendous amount of disruption happening in this sector through the use of technology to solve an incredible amount of business challenges and improving operational efficiencies. After building a very successful career in the real estate and tech industry, Gary saw an opportunity to build on his knowledge to launch Roofstock, the leading end-to-end online platform for single family rental investing. Its marketplace makes the process of investing in single-family properties accessible, cost-effective, and just simple. The company just announced a $240M Series E funding at a $1.94B valuation. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A discussion about the proptech market and what’s going on within this industry. * A walk through Gary’s background and all the great companies that he’s been involved throughout his career. * All the details on Roofstock in terms of how the marketplace works and growth plans ahead. * Three real estate markets that Gary is the most bullish on. * Gary’s point of view on the current state of real estate market and how economic factors play into the overall puzzle. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

I’m always amazed when I talk to an entrepreneur who starts a company while in college. There’s a lot going on during those college years in terms of the academic and social experience, so it’s impressive when they have the vision and maturity to embark on the adventure of building a business. I find it even more impressive when the entrepreneur's company is working on hard tech and has legs beyond college, as in the case with Indico Data. Since it was founded while Slater was at Olin College of Engineering, the company has gone on to raise multiple rounds of venture funding and their tech has evolved to being an enterprise solution for helping empower organizations’ use of unstructured data. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * How training in MMA (mixed martial arts) helped him with his career in entrepreneurship. * Slater’s decision to attend Olin and how it influenced his career to become an entrepreneur. * A deep dive into Indico Data, including how the idea came to fruition and the process of building the tech and getting the company started. * The current stage of the company and growth plans ahead. * Slater’s role as an EIR at .406 Ventures and his experience as an angel investor. * When it makes sense to hire an outside CEO for your startup. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

This is an extra special episode of The VentureFizz Podcast as it is a milestone episode - welcome to Episode 250! This means we have over 10 days worth of entrepreneurial and investor interviews! For Episode 250, I couldn’t think of a better guest than Jonathan Bush, Founder & CEO of Zus Health. Yes, his last name is Bush, as in the same Bush family where his uncle and cousin were both president of the United States. Jonathan has been following his own journey as a very successful healthcare entrepreneur. He co-founded and led athenahealth to a public offering with this early cloud based healthcare software provider. His latest company, Zus Health, is an even larger swing, as the company is looking to build out the platform to disrupt the healthcare industry the same way Stripe disrupted payments by building the industry’s first shared development platform backed by a shared data record. The company is venture backed with financing led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). F-Prime Capital, Maverick Ventures, Rock Health, Martin Ventures and Oxeon Investments also participated in the round. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Trends across the healthcare and tech industry. * His background growing up and how his time spent as an EMT and a combat medic gave him the inside look at the inefficiencies across the healthcare industry. * The full lifecycle story of athenahealth in terms of the original business model and how the company evolved to being the leading provider of cloud based services for electronic medical records, revenue cycle management, medical billing, and more. * All the details on Zus Health and how they are disrupting the healthcare industry, plus the details on their growth plans ahead. * An overview of Firefly Health where Jonathan is the company’s Executive Chairman. * Advice for first time founders on building startups in the healthcare industry. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

One of the common mistakes that entrepreneurs make is failing to discovery the true market need for an idea by talking to potential customers. Entrepreneurs sometimes fall in love with their idea and go off to build it but to only find out that it’s not a pain point for customer who are willing to pay money to solve. This was definitely not the case for Shensi and Gil Feig, the Co-Founders of Merge. While they were still employed, they spent 6-9 months talking to at least 100 different companies to validate the problem, their potential solution, and of course the long term opportunity in terms of the addressable market. At that point, the due diligence was done and it was time to leave their jobs and go all in on building the company. Merge is revolutionizing the way B2B companies integrate with their Unified API for payroll, HR, recruiting and accounting. The company announced a $15M Series A round of funding towards the end of last year led by Addition, with participation from existing investor NEA. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Advice on raising funding for first-time founders. * Shensi’s initial experience in investment banking & technology investing, plus her role as the Chief of Staff at a startup and what this experience taught her about running a company. * The aha moment that led Shensi and Gil to work on Merge and how they got started. * All the details on Merge today, the platform, use cases, funding, and growth plans ahead. * What positions were the most challenging to hire for in the early days of the company. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.