Speaking of Startups

QC Fintech Class 9 is getting ready for its demo day which coincides with the Southeast Fintech Venture Conference on November 14.  In preparation, we had the opportunity to talk with three different founders companies who are part of Class 9: iTrust – (www.itrustinc.com) -  Trevor Horwitz Mimble (www.mimble.co) – Chad Huber AMUS (www.askmyunclesam.com) – Busayo Ogunsanya After getting to know each of the companies and their founders on the podcast, we dive into the topic of what allows them to come back to Charlotte in 5 years and celebrate their success as entrepreneurs.  After all, every startup city is littered with great ideas which never gained traction, found investors or made it through the difficult path of success. We also dive into the discussion of investors.  What’s it like to talk with investors as young companies and how soon is too soon to start the discussion. One interesting topic we discuss is what success means for each founder. Is an IPO the only way to go for these founders or is there something before? Local notes and thoughts: Thank you to Dan Roselli and his team at Packard Place for our first sponsorship. They have hosted more than 2 dozen of our interviews over the last couple of months and have offered one of their used Yeti’s for us to use with guests when we go offsite. They are a great community supporter for all things startup in Charlotte. NC IDEA recently issued two $100,000 grants to Charlotte entities – StartCharlotte (led by Juan Garzon) and Innovate Charlotte (with Keith Luedeman currently serving as interim leader of the organization). It should be very exciting for the Charlotte Startup community that both of these local organizations have some fresh capital to continue serving the ecosystem? Go support high school area entrepreneurs at the Techstars Startup Weekend Charlotte Youth. It starts on Friday November 2 with the demo day on Sunday afternoon at Johnson C. Smith University (Stem Hall).  Buy Demo tickets here - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/techstars-startup-weekend-charlotte-youth-november-2018-tickets-50613935644 Don’t forget to register for the Southeast Fintech Venture Conference on November 14 (click here). If you don’t have the time, or the money, to come to the full day event please come support the QC Fintech Class 9 companies at the end of the day.  It’s FREE and starts at 5pm (click here). Collective Hustle is an investor and startup coalition looking to improve the Queen City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. They meet monthly and their next event is coming up on November 7 – you can register by clicking here.  It’s a great panel discussion with the topic of “How to land a meeting with an investor.”     William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser.  Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.  Secrest Blakey & Associates 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 the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act 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.

SignUp Genius was born out of the frustrations of a couple, Dan and Angel Rutledge, who were struggling with the same tasks we labor through every week as parents and volunteers – coordinating who does what and when.  It was born in 2008 – the worst economic period we’ve had in at least 30 years – in a growing southern city not known for its entrepreneurial grit, Charlotte. Dan had been recruited to Charlotte to work with an entrepreneur (Michael Vadini) to build an entertainment company and a website design/implementation company.  Angel is a former middle school English teacher and a mother of four who stepped in to help Dan in 2011. At that time, Dan just needed help with hiring and extra help on marketing.  A little more than a year later, SignUp Genius was growing by over 40% per week during October 2012. Coming out of that period of strong growth, they realized they had something important to the world and valuable as a company.  It wasn’t until 2016, however, when Dan and Angel, and Michael Vadini (Dan’s co-founder) realized it was important for them to raise capital.  Given their rapid growth over the previous 8 years, they had plenty of firms lining up to make the investment.  They had choices about what they were going to do and how they were going to do it.  Great choices at the right time. Over the years, through all the challenges (and we discuss a few of them) and successes (we talk about those too), they have never deviated from their core mission – to empower people to change the world by making it simple to organize groups. Listen to this local success story with Angel.  They had no accelerator program, no outside capital until nearly 10 years old, they were NOT in San Francisco and yet they’ve carved out a very nice niche for themselves. Learn when Angel finally told Dan, “you have to fire me from doing something.”  Find out her favorite role, their view of the responsibilities of having investors? Listen to what she tells her daughters about their own lives and much more in this interview with Angel. Then come find Angel in the growing entrepreneur and investor scene here in Charlotte.  You’ll come away impressed and thankful we have more and more people like Angel coming out to grow and share on a regular basis.   Local notes and thoughts: Congratulations to SignUp Genius for celebrating their 10-Year Anniversary this week (October 2008 - October 2018). Thank you to Dan Roselli and his team at Packard Place for our first sponsorship. They have hosted more than 2 dozen of our interviews over the last couple of months and have offered one of their used Yeti’s for us to use with guests when we go offsite. They are a great community supporter for all things startup in Charlotte. Please register to attend and/or support the Charlotte High School Startup Weekend - http://communities.techstars.com/usa/charlotte/startup-weekend/12714 - November 2 - 4, 2018 at Johnson C. Smith University. Seth Twery and I host a quarterly event to help educate people on the ins and outs of being an early stage investor. Our next event is Tuesday October 23 at the new Junior Achievement facility at Camp North End.  Please email me if you’d like to attend.  We are going to have Greg Brown of the Charlotte Angel Fund and Mac Lackey of VentureSouth there to discuss common terms and phrases you’ll hear when talking to startups and investors. Register now for the Southeast Fintech Venture Conference on Wednesday November 14, 2018.  This is also the Demo Day for the QC Fintech Class 9 Cohort.  You can find out more details and register here (https://www.sefintechvc.com/).   William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser.  Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any l...

"Start with Why". Something Michelle Buelow clearly had done helped propel Bella Tunno to the next stage several years ago. But reading the book and using it to define the following year of the business (she chooses a book every year to help frame the next 12 months) was just another step in Michelle's evolution from passion, to entrepreneur, to CEO. Michelle has a clear vision of who she is and what Bella Tunno has become and is still becoming.  She's learned to manage and measure the business.  She speaks of margins and expenses in a product based world with extreme confidence.  She delegates out things she's willing to accept aren't her strengths. In what other ways has Michelle grown to become who she is today and what resources have allowed her to do that?  We discuss it in today's podcast? Does it need capital to grow? Of course she is aware of that. But what is the cost and the opportunity? I thought the exit would be the hardest part for her - knowing capital would all but guarantee she'd eventually need to sell a business she founded with passion and purpose after the loss of her brother. An exit would actually allow her to accelerate her work in those areas. So does she want to raise capital? It's a question we explore in pretty good detail. Michelle has won awards and built a successful business.  She's watching her two daughters grow up in a world where they understand what she's doing and they've embraced all that comes with it. How does she view the impact of her entrepreneurship on her daughters and girls everywhere?  Listen in to hear Michelle's own view. Listen to Michelle in her own words tell her story of growth and what she thinks of the 26 year old version of herself.       William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser.  Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.  Secrest Blakey & Associates 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 the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act 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 Michelle Buelow, Founder and CEO of Bella Tunno. Over the last decade, Michelle's success and the success of Bella Tunno has helped deliver nearly 1.6 million meals to the hungry as part of their buy one product, give one meal program. She's also raked in numerous personal accolades including EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women in 2009.  The path she carved wasn't one she chose yet she's embraced it and created a legacy in the process. Today, we learn Michelle: Moved to Charlotte (with her boyfriend, Todd Buelow - way out of his league but that's another podcast). Found a job she loved and traveled the world. Got married (yes, to Todd) and got pregnant. Lost her brother to addiction. Quit her job and started sewing cute baby gear to raise money to finish her brother’s doctorate research project. Started her business - Bella Tunno - making children's accessories with a core focus on philanthropy. Pitched her products to 11 Charlotte area stores in a day with her baby in tow and had 10 say yes (do you think the other one comes around?). Got called to Minneapolis to see the red bullseye (by now you can guess the outcome). But that's far from the complete picture - it's actually just the first 10 minutes of the podcast. She continues to surpass every goal she develops. That's Michelle Buelow. Listen to today's episode to hear her full story. It's one you will find yourself cheering for as soon as we get started.     William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser.  Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.  Secrest Blakey & Associates 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 the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act 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.

Eric Kirsch started out running basketball camps as a 17-year old which mostly paid his way through college and ultimately became a physician's assistant.  In 2003, he moved down to Charlotte to start his life in the medical community. After several years as an employee, he started his own specialty/niche practice, grew it to four locations (Charlotte, Mooresville, Asheville, and Cary) and ultimately sold those practices. In the process, he learned how to code in order to build solutions for his own practice.  As he has re-started his entrepreneurial journey after taking several years off  his knowledge of technology has served as a springboard. He's created a holding company where he tests ideas for the medical community and if it starts to gain traction he raises money to help launch those companies.  So he has done this with three of the four companies/ideas and hopes to travel down that path with the fourth soon. He is currently excited about his roles with the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs which he started in Charlotte and Beacon Healthcare Benefits .  With the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs starting here, he is launching an event here in Charlotte - the NC Healthcare Innovation Conference - September 21 from 8:00am to 5:00pm.  If you are interested in attending, you can purchase tickets on Eventbrite by clicking here. Listening to Eric you learn he's constantly tinkering with different ideas and concepts.  You also get the sense that Scott Pope's podcast from a few weeks ago talking about Charlotte becoming health care startup city has legs. Listen in next week as we spend more time focusing on Eric's startup which just launched - Beacon Healthcare Benefits.  It's a bold concept in a market that is rapidly changing.  It's crazy enough that it just may work and I think you'll enjoy hearing more.   William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser.  Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.  Secrest Blakey & Associates 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 the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act 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.

Last week, we spent time with Seth Twery - who led a successful corporate career prior to leaving in 2011 to seek “growth opportunities.” Can you execute?  That’s the thing Seth sees being the reason behind success of a startup team.  He cites the fact that IDEA Fund looks at over 1,000 ideas per year, more than a few with overlap.  If there are that many ideas in the NC region (and further) then how many ideas are being incubated across the US and the world?  If you can’t execute against that type of volume and competition it is highly unlikely the founding group is going to create success. We also continue discussing the opportunity ahead of Seth as he is about to start his new role with Tookitaki – the Singapore based company looking to use Artificial Intelligence to solve.  Fortunately for Charlotte, we learn they are looking to hire a development/technical team here. From there, we transition into a discussion on early stage investing and Charlotte.  Here Seth thinks out loud about the investing and entrepreneurship scene here in Charlotte.  We touch base on the recent exit by DealCloud and the impact it may have versus the impact of a bigger exit along the lines of AvidXchange. Along the way, we veer off course and discuss all things startup and investing.  Hopefully, you’ll find a few nuggets by listening in.

A successful corporate career with travel and very good compensation with a well-respected Fortune 500 company comes to an end in 2012 – so an individual can pursue ‘growth.’ What does ‘growth’ even mean as a pursuit?  Can you find it in Charlotte?  What does it look like? How about ‘consciously stumbling’ into the very early days of a little parking app in Charlotte, offering a 5 page critique of their software and eventually becoming an early investor as part of the friends and family raise?  What happens when that company goes on to become Passport and raises in excess of $40 million from the likes of Bain Capital and chases the opportunity to become the next unicorn in Charlotte? What happens when pursuit of ‘growth’ leads you to mentoring early stage companies at QC Fintech and several years later you have the opportunity to work with a successful foreign based company looking to establish their US headquarters in Charlotte, not New York or San Francisco or Austin?  Tookitaki is a Singapore based company with a very well respected founder, who is the process of completing a funding round and is looking to expand rapidly now. Tell Seth Twery in 2011 that will be his path – along with some other twists and turns – through 2018 and he’d ask why does it have to be so hard. But he'll readily admit the path he took then looks to be much easier today for those looking to follow in his footsteps. Along the way, Seth has become an investor in IDEA Fund Partners, gotten very involved in the Charlotte startup scene and is working to increase the number of early stage investors through a series of quarterly events targeted at investors – who like him are craving the opportunity for growth. Listen to Seth talk about his story today and how it all came together.  Listen to what is now a seasoned investment professional who made the leap and talks openly about what from his corporate life was applicable and what he’s learned along the way.

Walt Frye has been a friend of the startup community for the last several years.  A little more than 18 months ago, Walt took on a new challenge as the Executive Director of a somewhat stagnant entity – the Charlotte Regional Fund for Entrepreneurship (CRFE). As you heard last week, Innovate Charlotte has sprung out of CRFE and has a clear vision Walt helped to establish. Listen to Walt continue his thoughts on the Charlotte startup ecosystem - past, present and future - and his time as Executive Director of Innovate Charlotte. In what I consider to be bad news for the Charlotte ecosystem, Walt has stepped down as the Executive Director – as the news was officially announced Thursday August 16.  Few people have the unselfish motivation the ecosystem currently needs, Walt did. The opportunities are great within the ecosystem if it’s allowed to grow naturally (look no further than the recent successful exit of DealCloud).  Politics and egos can ruin those opportunities and the young ecosystem if allowed. Fortunately, Keith Luedeman has agreed to take the reins as the interim director.  Keith is well-known in the startup ecosystem.  His eagerness to immediately give back after selling GoodMortgage has been a huge benefit already to the Charlotte startup scene. Keith can lead this to the next stage if given the support and opportunity. He has the credibility to put things in place to support current programs, improve existing infrastructure and create new opportunities. Hopefully everyone gives Keith the space to lead us there as it will mean great things for many aspects of Charlotte - the city and business community included. Let's support Keith and the next full-time Executive Director to give room for more DealClouds, Passports, Avid's and more. Walt will continue to do great things.  Great people always do.  I'm excited about what lies ahead for him!       William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser.  Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.  Secrest Blakey & Associates 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 the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act 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.

Last time we spoke to Walt Frye (summer 2017 here) he was working on reinventing the Charlotte Regional Fund for Entrepreneurship (CFRE). Fast forward a year and Walt has made tremendous strides as Innovate Charlotte has become the execution arm for CRFE. Walt has taken on a job few probably wanted or truly understood since CRFE was initially funded by the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and the city of Charlotte.  As such it's a political juggling job looking to balance the desires of the Chamber and the needs (political and other) of the city - along with other stakeholders.   Yet Walt has balanced that well and is in the process of growing a mentoring program through Innovate Charlotte which targets early stage companies in Charlotte (business process, validation stage, Charlotte based, and not too much investment/revenue). If successful the mentoring program has the opportunity to serve a great role in the city's entrepreneurial space. This mentoring program has been launched through an initiative with MIT - where Walt and several people visited Boston in February 2018 to get trained on the program.  Since coming back from Boston, they've a put together a great group of mentors - including two past guest on this podcast (T.J. Eberle and Keith Luedeman).  You can listen to T.J (Part I and Part II) and Keith (Part I and Part II). This is a community effort though.  Walt, nor anyone other individual, has the ability create this community by themselves.  It takes a concerted effort from current stakeholders who can't be selfish about their intent or with their time, money, and knowledge.  It has the potential to be so much bigger than any of them if allowed.  As such, a homegrown entrepreneurial ecosystem in Charlotte can support and create many of the things we need as a city - it just needs a chance to find its way without top down control. Walt has spend a year tackling some of these things and more.  I'm glad we have him doing it and look forward to sharing the podcast with you this week and next.   William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser.  Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.  Secrest Blakey & Associates 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 the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act 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.