Speaking of Startups

Today we welcome David Jones, General Partner of Bull City Venture Partners to the podcast.  BCVP has a great reputation across NC and the southeast and they just finished raising their 3rd fund. Over the pandemic, David reached out to me twice to check in and see how I was doing – and I’m not an investor in the fund or a company they’ve invested in. In a recent conversation with David, it hit me how founder friendly he had to be based on my interactions with him.   I had also recently been having conversations with founders who seemed timid to ask their venture partners/investors questions about what they can/can’t do with company stock or how they should treat certain business situations that greatly impacted them.  As such, I reached back out to David to see if he would be willing to do a podcast discussing what it means to him when someone says a venture firm is founder friendly. Naturally, we start off the podcast learning more about David and how Bull City Venture Partners has developed over the years.  David was kind enough to discuss some aspects of their due diligence process and how it may differ from others.  And I think David’s background getting into VC and the path of Bull City over the years is such a great story and so beneficial for them. From there, our discussion turned into what meant to David when I said ‘founder friendly VC’.  I thought it was great that one of the first things he said was it didn’t mean they were easy on terms.  That’s such an important point to make when talking about being founder friendly but then he opened up about working with founders AFTER funding them and how that dictates what founder friendly can really be.  David was naturally honest and open about where they have been helpful but also in some places where they be more engaged with their founders. Hopefully listening to this podcast will help all the founders out there know that they investors want them to be successful and have seen other founders be successful in the past.  As such, they are oftentimes more than happy to engage in discussions about ways to maximize the growth of the business to the founder(s). If you have any questions, we are going to do a founder only ‘office hours’ in the coming weeks with David where only founders can join in a 60-minute discussion with David about aspects of their business they would like to get feedback on.  Please email me directly if you’d like to be included (william@portusadvisors.com).  If you’ve been on the podcast before, don’t worry.  You will automatically receive the invite.     William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.

Today we welcome Matt Hudson, founder and CEO of Bildit (pronounced Build It), to the podcast.  Bildit has created a “rapid mobile app development platform for ecommerce brands”.  It’s a concept Matt has had for quite some time and it’s really excited to see him bring it to life. After spending years helping Belk build their mobile app and experience for their shoppers, Matt became acutely aware of the issues companies face when they are trying to deliver content and a shopping experience.  So as any good entrepreneur would do, he left Belk to create the business that could solve the problem for so many other ecommerce companies.  And he’s built a team around him that is ready to pounce on the opportunity ahead of them.  They’ve got a team of 12 at the moment and with their current capital raise they are going to staff up as they start their growth phase. We had a fun time with our interview as we discussed a number of topics.  One area where I thought there was tremendous value for listeners is where we dove into how they created service revenue last year as they continued to build out there technology and how they are pivoting away from that now that the technology is ready to release.  Matt has a business degree from the University of Arkansas and he saw the team was capable of creating revenue last year rather than having to burn through cash and he jumped right into it.  Some investors will question the service revenue but creating cash early on is a great concept for entrepreneurs – especially in today’s environment. It's a great podcast with Matt and I think you’ll enjoy listening to how they are building the company.  Matt has been a huge benefit to the startup community as a mentor and friend.  He will have plenty of people in his corner pulling for Bildit as they grow and scale.     William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.

Today we welcome Rich Camacho, CEO and Co-Founder of BlueRecruit.  BlueRecruit is a startup based in Raleigh NC.  They match blue collar skilled workers to hiring companies based on experience and certifications desired by the hiring company. Rich is a graduate of West Point. Cattle ranching and military service runs in the blood of Rich’s family. Thus, he followed in the family footprints and served in the Army as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot. Following his military service, Rich helped fellow veterans make the transition into corporate America.  While helping many of America’s top companies, he recognized that the recruiting industry largely ignores the need of blue-collar workers and employers desperate for their talent. This inspired him to lead the team at BlueRecruit. In our podcast today, Rich shared his story of how and why he started BlueRecruit.  He talks about the database/platform they built for trades people and the importance of creating the marketplace.  We spoke about their growth pattern and what they have learned in their hiring process.  Their future focus along with partners is the importance of educating young people that the trades industry is an incredible opportunity. It's a fun podcast! William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.

Today we welcome Landon Glenn, CEO and Founder of ASA.  I met Landon at the RevTech Labs fall Venture 135 Conference.  We ended up sitting at the same table together and quickly started talking about ASA and his background. Landon was a key component of scaling Banzai (an online financial literacy application for kids).  During that time (about 5 years) Landon was attending 10 - 12 fintech conferences a year and kept hearing about fintech startups struggling to integrate with banks and the financial institutions.  ASA came about when Landon realized the difficulties of Fintechs partnering with financial institutions.  ASA has developed a solution that allows them to integrate with the banking system's core. Landon and Ryan Ruff, who has been through RevTech Labs' accelerator in 2017 with Envudu (know known as Spendpal),  started working on this problem as soon as Landon left Banzai.  What they have come up with is a very unique solution. The regulators here in the US want to see the banking system open up more as well so you've seen them move towards requiring the financial institutions integrate more with systems like Plaid - which is similar to the open banking/open API platform commonly being used in Europe.  But the open banking system has its own set of problems. Landon and ASA call their solution, colloborative banking, as it allows the Fintech and the banks to work together - to the benefit of the end user. Fortunately, they've already been working with regulators on their solution and it has been well received. What they have is a solution that allows fintech companies to quickly access data directly from the banks core processor (which Landon describes in our podcast).  As such, startups don't have to worry about the issues that come from scraping data and banks get to protect aspects of their business they can't with open banking. Sounds like a homerun right?  Listen to the podcast for more about Landon and ASA is doing and how they are doing it.   William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.

Today we welcome Paul Clark, Managing Director at VentureSouth, to the podcast.  Prior to co-founding VentureSouth, Paul was Senior Vice President of M&A at a multi-billion-dollar bank in South Carolina. Paul has extensive private equity investment and fund experience in New York and London.  In 2013 Paul, along with Matt Dunbar and Charlie Banks formulated the Venture South Plan. We’ve had Paul on the podcast before with portfolio company, Threatswitch, but this time we wanted to purely focus on the VentureSouth story and what they are doing.  As such, we turned to how Paul ended up in Greenville, South Carolina as the Managing Director of VentureSouth – ultimately this meant the transition from investing in large companies to startup stage companies.  From there, we dive into the early days of just being in a single city and how they’ve expanded from there to multiple cities across the Carolinas to where they are today. We also discuss how the VentureSouth model is different from other cities and what the process is like for founders. Listening to their process should be very helpful for both founders interesting in pitching to VentureSouth and investors wanting to know more about their process.  This opens us up to dive into the opportunities and challenges dealing with a southeast investor verses a west coast investor. It’s a great podcast detailing how has become considered to be a top 10 early-stage venture firm developing and managing angel investment groups and funds throughout the Southeast. Their growth, which is highlighted by their 400 investors across three states and multiples funds and groups, has allowed them to deploy more than $80 million into 80+ companies. It’s a great podcast and it is good to hear how VentureSouth deploys capital, has fun and does good. William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.

Today we welcome Dmitry Norenko, CEO and founder of upSWOT, to the podcast.  Dmitry and the team at upSWOT have been hard at work building a platform to help small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) make better decisions based on insight, personalized advice, and cashflow insights from within their banking portal. Dmitry and his team moved to Charlotte back in the summer of 2020.  Originally from Ukraine, they had moved out to California to take their business through an accelerator program on the west coast.  But upon completing those and being thrown full force into a pandemic, they relocated to Charlotte to continue what they started. Dmitry originally reached out to me in August 2020 - I remember asking him how he was holding up in the humidity!  Needless to say it was a little bit of a shock to his system.  But he and his team haven't let that stop them.  He immediately jumped into a demo of the software to show what they had been building and how impactful it can be for SMBs - and by extension the banks who service them. Over the last 2 years, the team has refined and expanded the offering and experience phenomenal growth.  They are now working with over 50 financial institutions - and this includes Mastercard. Sitting down with him in this podcast interview was great as we were able to talk about the business.  I love his comment that "he is his company and his company is him".  You'll listen to him in this podcast and realize that means it is high energy, focused, and impactful. I really enjoyed listening to him to talk about the cultural differences between building success in the US versus back home in Ukraine and in eastern Europe. He dives further into how he became different through a book he read at age 10.  The book, written by Theodore Dreiser, talked about a guy who kept trying and failing before he created success.  It obviously stuck with Dmitry because about 5 minutes before this story he said, "by making mistakes we become better."  They are definitely getting better. Listen to the rest of the podcast with Dmitry and learn about him and the company they've been building.  Learn how he wants the success of his company to change the cultural differences about success in the Ukraine.  And learn how they are going to continue to make mistakes on their way to building a successful company.   William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.

Today, we welcome BJ McAndrews, co-founder of Flyp, to the podcast. BJ was introduced to me by Todd Buelow from Dualboot Partners (who was on Episode 95).  I always enjoy meeting startup founders in our introductory calls.  BJ and I hit it off right out of the gate.  Like so many founders, he has an infectious happiness about him.  After all he spends every day building his company - a company he wants to see change the way banking is delivered to millions of people. BJ is the kind of entrepreneur I've often thought Charlotte was creating but didn't know about.  He was a successful banker working in a coveted role.  He could have put it on cruise control and used his knowledge, experience, and connections to drive value to the bank all the way until he was ready to 'retire'.  But in early 2020, BJ decided to step away from the bank to start his own - Flyp. "Flyp was founded with one primary goal in mind: to help you get where you want to go in life."  BJ had read about the lack of mobility in Charlotte in the infamous report listing Charlotte at the bottom of upward mobility among top cities.  Access to banking is such a key component of wealth creation but far too many people don't have access to banking - or banking that doesn't penalize people (with excessive fees). Flyp issues a debit card utilizing Sutton Bank - the same bank used by Robinhood, Monzo, Cashapp, and many others.  With the debit card, they offer awesome rewards and no hidden fees.  This space has been gaining traction for a few years and Flyp's approach should give it an opportunity to get some early wins. And I think their approach to 'gamifying' aspects of banking, spending and financial literacy is a fresh approach.  BJ and I talked a little about all the creative ways they can and will do this on the podcast and then we further discussed over lunch a few weeks later. BJ is part of a class of entrepreneurs Charlotte should celebrate - the banks have loads of talent waiting to unlock economic value for the city.  The success BJ, and others like him have, should grease the wheels for others to follow in their footsteps and help create the next stages of momentum needed for Charlotte's Fintech growth.   William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.

Today, we welcome Blake Wood, co-founder of APAY, to the podcast. Blake reached out to me back in 2018 to discuss the beginnings of what would become APAY and asking for advice.  At that point, Blake and his co-founder, Owen Brady, were still working in the bank and trying to figure out how to build their company.  They had a little bit of seed money but were trying to map their path forward to helping people better understand and manage their student loans. Fast forward to now and APAY was acquired this fall by Ramsey Solutions – Dave Ramsey’s company.  It’s a great match for them as Dave has long taught debt management as a solution to wealth creation.  It’s an exciting step for them as they move to Tennessee to help bring their APAY app to the entire Ramsey Solutions audience. In our podcast today we learn about the beginnings of APAY and how they tackled various aspects of getting the company off the ground.  APAY became a way for people to better understand their student loans and tackle paying them off in the best possible way.  But before they were able to build it, they talked many potential users and even turned ‘know it all skeptics’ into additional subscribers on their waiting list. Most importantly, we learn about their challenge during the pandemic.  The entire business model was turned upside down the minute student loan payments were suspended in March 2020.  And when the suspension of payments was extended to January 2022 it put further pressure on the business. Listen early in the podcast for his mention of his grandmother.  Then stick around till the end to hear as we wrap our discussion. I hope you enjoy this one.  Blake and Owen tackled an enormous problem, fought through a completely unforeseen pandemic that could have toppled their business, but they kept grinding through and ended up in a great place for their users, investors and the two of them.   William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.

Today we welcome Justin Adams and Pat Morrell, co-founders of Anduin.  Many of you know this is their second startup together as they sold Digitize.ai back in 2019 – which is now part of Waystar.  So, this is our first podcast dealing with co-founders in Charlotte who have built and sold and are now building again, together. For that reason, we get to dive into some great topics with them.  We didn’t ask them, “what would you do differently”, we asked, “what ARE you doing differently?”  This dynamic allows us to cover some great aspects of their entrepreneurial journey.  We dove into the concept of Digitize.ai and how they jumped into it as co-founders.  We learn how they built the product and sold it customers.  Along the way, we hear about their travels to Atlanta as well as the sacrifices – personally and professionally – they both made along the way. As we run through their trials and tribulations with Digitize.ai, we naturally break straight into the discussion of how Anduin has been developed differently.  What have they instantly put into practice with the second startup and where are they seeing the results along the way? For a little background, Justin serves as the CEO of Anduin and was also the CEO of Digitize.ai.  Prior to the startup route, Justin spent his career helping transform organizations through technology and innovation from Fortune 500 firms to the United States Intelligence Community. He also sat on a board that advised a venture capital firm on promising new technologies Pat Morrell is the Chief Revenue Officer at Anduin.  Pat grew up Raleigh and spent some time in DC, dealing with campaign politics. He moved back to Raleigh to work for a start-up, Three Ships. Pat and I first met when he was with Skookum where he was the Director of Strategic Partnerships. Anduin started in June 2020. They help accounting firms fix their billing process and speed up their cash flow. Their intelligence-based billing solution automates and improves time-consuming back-office finance processes. Anduin’s mission is to fix the work-to-cash cycle to help accounting firms save time, speed up cashflow, and deliver a superior client experience. It’s a great podcast to hear of their success from their beginnings to where they are now.   William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.

Today, we welcome Haley Sutton, Founder of Box Babe Gift Co., to the podcast.  I first met Haley when she was an intern for Packard Place a few years ago.  She was regularly at Packard Place as we recorded podcasts and showed up for startup/investing events.  So it was awesome to have her on the podcast to talk about her own startup and the path she has taken to get here. The one thing Haley continued to say in our podcast I loved was how it was worth swinging for the fences.  That’s the mentality that has allowed her to flourish and grow as a person and as an entrepreneur.  While she has been selling goods online through Etsy and other platforms since she was 14 years old, her journey as an entrepreneur wouldn’t prepare her for the twists and turns as she launched Box Babe Gift Co.  It took guts and grit to leave Element Brands, a position with health insurance benefits, in the spring of 2020 – right during the early days of the Covid19 pandemic. Yet, her bet on herself paid off.  She started working out of her apartment and quickly moved the business into her boyfriend’s new house for extra space.  She quickly outgrew the house and continues to outgrow each space she moves the company into and the existing one is no different as she is already thinking she’ll have to move again by the end of 2021. But growth hasn’t come easy.  She looks to support small female business owners as they pack their boxes of gifts.  But maintaining a steady supply of product creates challenges for Haley and the company.  As such, Haley had to learn how to make candles from her home as a way to make sure they had plenty of supply.  It was a messy learning process but just demonstrates the mindset of an entrepreneur willing to do what it takes. Listen for the part in the podcast where we talk about Haley’s “Jeff Bezos Moment”.  It’s a great Bezos story and awesome to hear Haley’s version of it too. I hope you enjoy this one.  Haley has an infectious mentality and attitude and she’s using it to build a great company – one that is still swinging for the fences.   William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.   Portus Wealth Advisors does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.  Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under applicable state and federal regulation or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.