Ventures

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Joni Kindwall-Moore (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joni-kindwall-moore-rn-57a81014/) and I discuss the science behind grains, soils, and microbiomes. We also talk about the story of her startup (https://snacktivistfoods.com/) and how her team is helping to regenerate healthy soils and grains to improve human health.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-49 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.In this episode we cover the following:1:33 - Will’s general tee-up for the conversation and introduction of Joni.2:15 - Joni self-introduction, background, career story in the hard sciences, nursing, and founding a startup.3:59 - What was Joni working on and researching early in her career?7:24 - What was the origin story of starting Snacktivist? 10:03 - What is it about processed grains that causes bad reactions in people? 11:30 - What is celiac disease? What is gluten? 13:30 - How did Joni start building her business practically?16:20 - What was the journey of dealing with initial customers? What did early traction look like?18:21 - A discussion on sugars. What is the difference between all these different types of common sugars out there?19:50 - What are the “things” that are around honey and such that make them absorb at different rates than sugar?21:33 - Where has Snacktivist gone from the early days to today?26:37 - Why can some people not eat pasta, for example, in the USA but can in Europe?29:52 - What is the microbiome for humans and in soil science?34:05 - What are hydroponics? Is this a good thing?37:30 - Is there hope for Americans to have our soil regenerated?43:44 - What is monocropping? 46:05 - Wisdom is often where there is uncertainty and nuances (and a willingness to embrace this).48:45 - More explanation about Joni’s work with Washington State University. How is the team creating economic incentives for farmers to rejuvenate their soil?52:11 - What is the vision with Snacktivist? What can we buy right now?54:54 - What are sourdough starters? How does this relate to our conversation? What is the underlying science? How is this different from traditional breads?58:50 - Where can people find Joni and Snacktivist online? https://snacktivistfoods.com/ 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Andrew Cronk (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcronk/, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at https://figment.io/) and I discuss Web 3 and blockchains beyond price hysteria, energy-usage debates, and influencer shenanigans. While everyone has been distracted by current events, the Web 3 builders continue to push the technology forward in a way that is genuinely compelling for our future. We talk about Proof-of-Stake, building a Web 3 developer community, technologies that exist today for decentralized apps, NFTs, Helium Network, what the rest of this year looks like for Figment, and much, much more. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-48 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.In this episode we cover the following:1:55 - Will’s tee-up for the conversation and why he enjoys having Andy on the show, why coin price and market dynamics aren’t as interesting as what blockchains are going to enable for humanity.2:33 - Andy intro, background of https://figment.io, their bet on Proof-of-Stake, and the products/services they’ve developed for the community (Hubble, DataHub, Figment Learn, etc…)5:44 - Why proof-of-stake? Why did Figment double-down there? (seems like 99% of new blockchains are launching with proof-of-stake, so not a bad bet)8:51 - Defining Web 3. Semantic Web. Looping in AI/XR. How does Andy think about and define Web 3?10:40 - What can we - the collective developer community - do right now? What tech is available? Is it possible to build a fully functional Web 3 decentralized app? 15:42 - What can a group of 300-400 people use on Web 3 right now to organize and communicate? 19:58 - Logging in with identity in a Web 3 way, high interest in building Web 3 dApps, https://ceramic.network/ 20:50 - Possible to store chat data on-chain? Or in a Layer 2-3? 23:30 - Are there chains right now to put data on publicly? FileCoin/IPFS, Arweave, Sia.Tech’s SkyNet.24:25 - dApp developers are going to need to query a database (e.g. a relational database, SQL  databases), what’s available around this in Web 3? 26:06 - The nuance: where your application logic runs. Much more like a serverless paradigm. 27:10 - Figment’s new fund: https://figment.io/resources/figment-capital-16m-fund-to-grow-web-3/ 29:28 - Supporting companies in different ways as part of the investment thesis (similar to https://www.protaventures.com) 30:25 - Similar to Bezos asking about what can be done with the Internet to scale selling books, what are ways that blockchains are enabling new tech? 33:00 - A lot more happening around mutualization (insurance). Nexus Mutual. Unslashed Finance. 34:20 - A discussion about the Helium Network. The future of 5G penetration into cities/towns with Helium, the raw source of their bandwidth, StarLink, etc... 37:50 - What’s next for Figment? They are hiring! → https://figment.io/jobs/ 40:37 - Anything else that listeners should know about or questions that Andy has in this space?

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Alex Giannikoulis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/giannikoulis/) and I discuss his journey from startup land, to angel investing, to venture capital, to founding a new company again. His current startup (https://goivee.com/) builds enhanced in-vehicle experiences. We dive into not only the story of IVEE, but how Alex’s experience as an angel investor and VC has informed his leadership style and practical advice for founders, especially regarding fundraising. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-47 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.In this episode we cover the following:1:46 - Brief introduction and tee-up for Alex, when Will and Alex met, and why Will is excited for this conversation.2:20 - Alex self-introduction, story, journey into startup land, angel investing, VC, and now Founder/CEO of https://goivee.com/ 5:41 - Learning from Alex’s past in investing, how did he approach being a CEO of his new venture differently based on his experience as an angel and VC? 8:08 - Advice for targeting investors; commentary on the numbers game when raising capital. Can your company be a billion dollar company? If not, classic VC may not be the right path for you.12:47 - What did early validation experiences and endeavours look like for Alex? How did he know to keep investing his own time and money into IVEE?15:52 - What does the current status of IVEE look like in terms of product? What does this summer and fall look like for the company?18:16 - Coming close to 100k rides for IVEE, where/how did those rides happen? Does IVEE own the vehicles?20:19 - Comparison to the taxis with TVs in them. Why Alex isn’t a fan of that product/experience.21:50 - What is the experience of people riding in an IVEE now? Does a user just randomly get selected into an IVEE experience when ride hailing? Is there a way to reserve an IVEE specifically? 25:07 - Are there partnerships that IVEE has in place now that help inform / guide the content and experience for passengers?26:12 - How has Alex evolved his own leadership practice and style?28:27 - What’s the frank advice for founders to help them navigate raising money from institutional VC? What are the pitfalls to watch out for?31:46 - More advice for those perhaps newer to the fundraising process (on both sides of the table), especially re: setting terms for things like dilution.34:23 - Advice for founders: When do you leave the day job? What advice does Alex have for people considering diving into startup land?36:57 - Advice for potential venture capitalists. What insight does Alex have for people considering raising a VC fund? 38:48 - Final words for investors and entrepreneurs listening in and watching.39:52 - Where can people find Alex/IVEE online?  https://goivee.com/ // https://twitter.com/rideivee // alex@goivee.com 

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Kiel Sanders (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kielsanders), Patrick Lowndes (https://patricklowndes.com/), and I discuss many details surrounding growing product management teams and operating efficiently at scale. We discuss the various roles that newer founders may not be aware of that exist at larger companies, the skill sets needed to recruit and manage effectively, setting up a product advisory board, what to do when customers are unhappy, and lessons learned when scaling products both at a new startup and within a larger organization.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-46 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.In this episode we cover the following:2:11 - Will’s tee-up and high-level introduction 2:46 - Patrick introduction, background, and tee-up for Kiel5:02 - Kiel’s background, role in (and information about) Service Now (https://www.servicenow.com/), employee experience, and growing products internally.6:06 - The dance of product and growth. 13:10 - Customers, sales, and implementations. Making sure that sales understands the messaging.14:10 - Founders may not understand, at scale, how to effectively manage a product team. What roles are in place at a larger organization to run an efficient product team?16:16 - As CEO, “Your goal is slowly but surely fire yourself”20:01 - The need for the customer success side. Working with the early adopters is key. 21:19 - For the very early stage startup (e.g. a two-person startup), how do you handle the people? How do you think about your people management? 26:00 - At what point does the multi-skillsets-needed role change to hiring people who are more niche experienced? 30:04 - How can product management effectively help and empower the marketing team to do their job better?35:22 - If you set up a product advisory board, how/who do you select? How do you communicate with them? 40:11 - A common problem at a growing startup - and especially a larger organization - is “people motivation.” How do you keep hungry and driven people? How do you keep a fire in the bellies of your co-workers?46:33 - As a product manager, what do you do when the product is unhappy? What do you do when churn is high and the numbers are tending bad directions?51:37 - What would Patrick have done differently at VendorHawk from a people/product/company perspective? What has he learned in a large organization that has informed this? (He would have had someone working more closely with customers earlier). 53:52 - For Kiel, for leading teams as an intrapreneur, how has his management style evolved? 55:46 - What resources would Kiel and Patrick recommend based on the topics we’ve covered in this episode? (https://www.juliezhuo.com/book/manager.html // https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898 // https://svpg.com/inspired-how-to-create-products-customers-love/ ) 57:54 - Where can people find Patrick and Kiel online? https://www.linkedin.com/in/kielsanders/ // https://patricklowndes.com/ 

In this special episode of Ventures, Kathryn Little (my amazing mother) and I discuss finding oneself, discovering purpose, transitioning out of idealism, saying yes and no to the right things, processing grief, marriage, parenting, and being who you are as an entrepreneur and human being. Indeed, when thinking about the best possible guest for this episode, I asked my mother and she graciously agreed to share her story and insights.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-45 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.In this episode we cover the following:3:12 - Tee-up and introduction of Kathryn4:21 - Kathryn’s story, growing up in New Jersey, schooling, endeavors, family, helping build community, caring for people, and lessons along the way.19:53 - Memories of Kathryn having all the energy, creating a vibrant and joyful home, caring for the neighborhood and schools, how did she do it?23;20 - Tips for marriage and parenting27:18 - How did Kathryn keep discovering who she was, live out of that, and not do too many things? 32:12 - Commonality of people’s journeys around transition from community, cultural norms, and idealism.38:05 - The parenting journey, guiding children even when you know they are heading down unhealthy paths.43:12 - Idealism and safety, parallels in technology, and transitioning out of it.45:12 - For those who did have parents pouring into them and supporting them, what is Kathryn’s advice for them? 50:31 - The meta-theme of a season of fundamentalism, learning a lot of practical things, safety, practical life skills, taking the good from it and moving on.53:18 - Big question: how does someone discover who they are? (Thoughts on discernment. Parker Palmer’s work: http://www.couragerenewal.org/parker/) 57:10 - What questions, problems, and/or projects is Kathryn focusing on in the next stage of her own journey. 1:01:17 - Where can people find Kathryn online or contact her? Email: kathylynnelittle@gmail.com 

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Weston Woodward (https://www.linkedin.com/in/westonwoodward/), Sol Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/solcates/), and I discuss community building from a personal, startup, and local city perspective. We talk about how to listen and ask questions, effectively connect people to help raise the tide for everyone, advice for startup founders, and thoughts about social media and the future of communication in the Web 3.0 era. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-44 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.In this episode we cover the following: 1:15 - Sol introduction of Weston2:37 - Weston’s background and story - personal mission: “connect people to make the world a better place”4:28 - Was Weston a super connect / outgoing person as a kid?5:34 - Sol background and story, was he always a super connector?9:51 - Because Weston moved around so much growing up, he “became a chameleon”. 10:12 - What changed during the pandemic for Weston for his work?12:51 - Sol’s thoughts on the above question for him. 13:45 - Weston’s thoughts on “What makes a good founder?” (Thoughts on being Abundant minded)15:07 - Sol’s thoughts on what makes a good founder.15:51 - Temptations to pack the zoom meeting calendar during the pandemic, which is problematic. What life lessons have been learned during this season? 18:56 - What is Weston “producing”? (Super connector as producer)19:42 - Connecting as a game. Putting players together who have win/win scenarios to solve a problem. 22:53 - Looking for ideas for SaaS companies where people are creating spreadsheets, thinking about building SaaS in a Web 3.0 fashion.23:55 - What are Weston’s and Sol’s thoughts on the Web 3.0 world?25:30 - The story of Austin, TX.28:18 - What are the elements of a healthy and unhealthy startup community?32:24 - Thoughts on upwards of 50% of people in the US who don’t have friends they can call.33:52 - The good, bad, and the ugly about Web 2.0 social media.35:05 - What’s Weston’s general take on social media? 36:08 - Sol’s comments on how the counterterrorism community looks for people who may be high-risk.37:04 - Listening and connecting people on Social Media. How does Weston use it? (“I’ll scroll through...and see if people need anything”) 38:39 - The impossible job of a founder. Some thoughts and advice for founders.40:55 - How does Weston make a living?42:47 - What are Sol’s thoughts and advice for founders to stay focused.44:52 - Advice for founders (and anyone) to be better connectors?48:08 - What projects/questions are Weston and Sol working on?51:13 - An uptick in the “good guys” starting to win...i.e. those who are abundant minded. 51:48 - Prota Ventures’ *true north* of Human Flourishing53:04 - Advice for founders building community around their product/service?57:41 - Advice for government officials and people working in local areas to build a startup ecosystem. 59:50 - Where can people find Weston and Sol online? https://www.linkedin.com/in/westonwoodward/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/solcates/ 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Dave Parker (https://www.dkparker.com/) and I discuss his new book, Trajectory: Startup - Ideation to Product-Market Fit. We talk about Dave’s background, his journey into startups, how he approaches common questions from founders, why he is fascinated with teaching founders about revenue models, information asymmetry in the venture capital industry, and where Dave is heading next. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-43 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.In this episode we cover the following: 1:56 - Dave’s background & entrepreneurial story thus far3:13 - When did Dave’s entrepreneurial bug start in his life?4:43 - Dave’s journey with Startup Weekend6:53 - For Dave personally, why startups? Why did he get into them?11:20 - Diving into the book, background around revenue models, etc.. why write this book?17:22 - “What is a good idea?” 21:12 - Optimizing for local maxima or not. How do you think about the dance of product vision and pivoting based on data? 26:12 - Pick the side of the island that you are going to surf in (analogy of picking a market). When on a wave, how do founders use data to know whether to turn right or left? 29:39 - Example of a founder with a small team, has a product, has a go-to-market strategy, etc.. how should they approach the venture capital industry? (Stage-appropriate capital) 35:05 - No-code movement. How does Dave think about the no-code/low-code movement and the startup validation game? 47:46 - Writing a product spec38:20 - Three types of debt in a startup. Operations debt, technical debt, growth debt. How does Dave advise founders around paying off this type of “debt”? 41:42 - What was it about the business/revenue models that attracted Dave to dive in deep into researching them and writing about them?45:10 - Pricing strategies49:25 - Exit price based on top-line revenue numbers and revenue models52:53 - Asymmetry in data and information when talking with investors.56:50 - Bigger VCs have the budgets to crank out the marketing to get meetings with founders, but founders who don’t understand the language will likely have an unsuccessful meeting.57:48 - Where is the best place to buy and learn more about Dave’s book? https://www.dkparker.com/ // https://www.amazon.com/dp/195329507X  58:21 - What are the next things on Dave’s horizon? (Supporting founders who don’t look like him…. Dave’s filter question when taking meetings: “Tell me who you are mentoring right now that doesn’t look like you?” // So, as a final exhortation, mentor someone who doesn’t look like you) 

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Jim Reavis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimreavis/), Kurt Seifried (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtseifried/), and I discuss the philosophies and principles behind the Web 1, Web 2, and Web 3 transitions from a cybersecurity perspective. We talk about the implications of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), user experiences in a Web 3 world, and an exciting new project that Kurt and Jim are working on in the blockchain and education space. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-42 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following: 1:30 - Jim background and story, early days of the Internet & cybersecurity5:07 - Kurt background and story, also early days of the Internet & writing cybersecurity documentation.9:07 - In previous episodes we’ve talked about data security tips for founders and individuals, but in this episode we’ll get more philosophical. What was the original utopian vision for the Internet (Web 1.0)? (starting with Jim’s thoughts)12:43 - Kurt’s thoughts on the above question. 16:37 - Regarding the Web 1 to Web 2 transition, why did the downsides of what we see in Web 2 happen? (thoughts on economic incentives and ability for many people to have access to the tools) 19:08 - Back in the 2000s, the big tech players gave us (web developers) all the data. Will remembers thinking “if I had nefarious intentions, I could be getting away with a lot”. How do we think about government regulation and keeping people safe?26:37 - Jim’s thoughts on opportunities for sharing cybersecurity best practices and making security more relevant to the things we care about.28:21 - Is the transition from Web 2 to Web 3 already happening? Where do we think we’re at with this transition? “The future is already here, it just isn’t evenly distributed yet” (William Gibson)  (Kurt’s thoughts initially) 31:26 - Jim’s thoughts on the above question. (Overabundance of options) 34:10 - Question about Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI). Is SSI going to be real? Is a good thing from a cybersecurity perspective? Is this still way far off?  (Jim’s thoughts first) 36:54 - Kurt’s thoughts on the above question. (esp. re: ease of proving things)39:05 - Authentication as a significant challenge. 40:13 - The future that we’re heading toward is one where we can prove authenticity quickly and efficiently. This is going to speed up the future (crush latency in many daily operations).41:47 - What is the next Social Network in a Web 3 era with SSI? (Jim’s thoughts first)45:20 - Kurt’s thoughts on the above question (e.g. on mashups...a new type of IT that we won’t recognize as such). 47:20 - What are the questions/projects that Jim/Kurt are thinking about right now? Where can people find Jim/Kurt online? (Using blockchain to issue a pseudo-cryptocurrency to prove education/knowledge) https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimreavis/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtseifried/ 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest David Pierce (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddpierce/) and I dive deep into the technical side of product management through his personal story. In a growing startup, not only is “product” relatively misunderstood, but embracing the nuances between the growth and technical sides of product management is often completely missed. In our conversation, we talk at length about how founders and enterprise managers alike can best elevate their technical product operations to achieve business success.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-41 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:   2:00 - David intro, background, extended professional journey, jumping into engineering, program management, and ultimately technical product management at Moz to help solve business problems and drive desired outcomes.26:44 - Questions about team responsibilities and composing the players of a growing startup. "Discoverers, stabilizers, and scalers" as general values among engineers you'd find at a growing organization. He early formation of these ideas he writes about here: https://www.thedahv.com/blog/thinking-about-your-next-job/  27:57 - What David did as a kid, his international journey, his education (https://raikes.unl.edu), and his preparation for getting into the tech world. 39:06 - The need for “product” professionals in a growing startup. Why are “technical” product managers necessary? outcomes vs capabilities. See more at: https://www.thedahv.com/blog/product-compositional-atoms/ 48:55 - Is it overly simplistic to say that the more “technical” a product is...then the more the need for a technical product manager is? 54:17 - The story of helping to build out https://vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/ with Walter Thorn and collaborations with WA Dept. of Health, Microsoft, Starbucks, and other enterprise partners. 1:01:47 - Shout out to Walter Thorn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/walterthorn/), and a question for David: What are helpful and not-helpful things that David sees with people he reports to? (the value of RACI into stakeholder management, David has also written about a tool he developed to use in conversations with his manager here: https://www.thedahv.com/blog/maintaining-product-manager-project-portfolio/ ) 1:06:14 - How is David thinking about the future? What questions is he pursuing these days? Note from David: “Aforementioned post about career planning with "values triangle" https://www.thedahv.com/blog/thinking-about-your-next-job/ 1:10:03 - What roles/responsibilities does a CTO have that are less exciting to David personally (and why does he prefer the technical product manager role)? 1:13:04 - Where can people find David online? https://www.thedahv.com/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddpierce/ (also @thedahv on most of the socials)

In this week’s episode of Ventures, my guests Malcolm Harkins (https://www.linkedin.com/in/malcolmharkins/), Sol Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/), and I discuss all-things cybersecurity. After hearing about Malcolm’s background and career path, we examine the history and principles of cybersecurity for startup founders, individuals, and anyone helping to usher in the Web 3.0 era. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-40 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:  1:58 - Sol tee-up, background, and welcome of Malcolm4:06 - Malcolm introduction / background / career journey.5:30 - Stumbling into the security industry. 6:11 - Cybersecurity pros make their wages by fixing symptoms, are they not actually working to make their jobs go away? Conflict of interest? (Threat, Vulnerability, Impact)9:00 - What happened that made the cybersecurity industry so messed up? (History lesson)15:16 - There is a reinforcement mechanism into the system that keeps cybersecurity pros in their jobs. Some organizations are underfunded, but that’s not the primary problem. We don’t need a bigger factory. We need to prove we are getting value out of our investments. 16:48 - Three things to talk about the rest of this episode: (1) What are cybersecurity best practices for a new growing startup? (2) How should the general public be thinking about cybersecurity? (3) How does/should cybersecurity play a role in the utopian Web 3 vision? (Starting here with question #1) 21:43 - Sol’s thoughts on question #1 / cybersecurity best practices for startups24:13 - One other thing to realize, you can’t eliminate risk, but if you are focused right you can reduce it substantially. 24:47 - Example of a few founders spinning up a database, SaaS platforms, etc… What are the principles of cybersecurity for them? 28:17 - Risk to myself. Risk to my customer. Risk to society. Need to get blog/article up. 29:16 - The need for a new way to collaborate across industries and community stakeholders29:58 - Thoughts on Question #2 - how should the general public be thinking about cybersecurity?38:29 - What are the principles of cybersecurity for individuals? (Discussion on password managers, for example…..and not answering your security questions honestly...and spoofing tactics)44:50 - Final thoughts on the principles for startups and individuals regarding hacking strategies the bad guys use. 46:40 - Malcolm’s thoughts on the system and things inherent into the system, the macro/micro and systems engineering. 47:55 - Final question (#3) on Web 3, what can go wrong re: cybersecurity as we attempt to build the utopian vision?  51:02 - Wrapping all three questions into one narrative. Looking at data like it’s a toxic element. Combinations of data creating the equivalent of dirty bomb or enriched 52:50 - Where can people find Sol and Malcolm online? https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/malcolmharkins/