Courtney Werner is the CMO and founder of KOYA Innovations, which allows users to send gifts and messages to friends and family from anywhere. Growing up, Courtney’s dad owned his own business, so when he said he wanted to start a family business, Courtney, and the rest of the family, could not say no. Courtney has an extensive background in marketing and spent many years working abroad in the nonprofit sector. She has been involved in the startup sphere for quite some time and is an advocate for creating a more meaningfully connected world.Follow Startup Savant on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Episode Notes The origin of KOYA [1:11]KOYA hopes to help others connect via “a personal message with a gift” [3:18]Organizing a family and friends funding round then bootstrapping to remain self sustained [6:30]Transitioning from a B2C (business to consumer) model to a B2B (business to business) model in order to build steady revenue [9:10]Funding is a partnership, and money is only once piece of the equation [11:20]How Courtney leveraged an online community to grow the company’s base and garner support for KOYA [13:20]Pivoting KOYA’s product during COVID has led to long-term changes [19:22]Advice from Courtney — focus your time on things that customers demand [22:31]Using customer interviews to generate high-level engagement and collect feedback from customers [24:14]Growing KOYA by focusing efforts on the business’s ideal customer profiles [26:05]The advantages and challenges that come with owning a family business [27:50]Growing up with a family of entrepreneurs [30:02]Overcoming imposter syndrome to enter the entrepreneurship space [36:02]What is ASO? How to optimize your keywords to be found organically in the app store [40:12]Why extensively marketing on social media may not be the best use of your time [41:38]Courtney’s morning routine and learning to balance work life and personal life [47:50]Scaling a business and what’s next for KOYA? [55:13]Courtney’s biggest surprise about being an entrepreneur — learning how to work with a team [55:34]Courtney’s advice: if you have an idea, throw up a webpage to see if you can build interest, and consider reading “The Mom Test”  [1:00:00]

Frida Leibowitz and Rachel Lauren are the founders of Debbie, a platform working to help users create a path towards debt freedom. Frida previously worked in credit risk and product development at Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Rachel formerly worked as a VC at BDMI. Both thought there needed to be better systems in place to help educate consumers about their debt and how to pay off debt. Together, along with their third cofounder Maxime, they have created an entirely remote team striving to fix the debt cycle that plagues far too many people.Follow Startup Savant on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and check out our founder series on YouTube!Episode Notes The American debt cycle affects 40% of families [1:35]Frida’s experience navigating debt and finding a path towards debt freedom [3:20]Analyzing the debt payoff market and creating new ways to combat a recurring problem [6:10]Prioritizing consumers rather than spreadsheet models — we do not always make rational financial choices [9:15]Observe first then combine observations with your personal experience to get going [13:04]Focusing on carrots not sticks — how Debbie leverages research in psychology and behavior change to make informed business decisions and product designs backed by data [19:15]The booming tech scene in Miami [22:45]Working with a team across the world and creating an identity as an all-remote company [27:10]Focus on the problem not the solution. If you are enthusiastic about the problem, you can be open to see various ways to tackle it [32:03]“Find the message that works,” Rachel’s advice for growing from 0 users to 11,000+  [36:20]Who is Debbie? [41:05]Building a founding team with a balanced skillset [43:38]A methodical approach to building an initial concept for Debbie and making the jump from a standard job to working full time at Debbie [50:50]Raising a $1.2 million pre-seed round of funding and using your own network to win additional support [56:05]Building a better product to scale Debbie and continue to grow the customer base [1:00:55]Rachel’s advice for entrepreneurs is to find a great cofounder [1:03:05] Frida’s advice — “Would you still be doing what you are doing if you were anonymous and got no credit?” Nobody really knows what you are doing, so you need to love it. [1:04:38]

Evan Buist is the founder and CEO of Melodie Music, a copyright-safe music licensing platform and publisher. Evan initially began his career working as an audio engineer. However, he found the music licensing industry to be difficult and confusing and created a platform to help bridge the gap between music artists and the entities that purchase the rights to their music. After some pivots as well as trial and error Melodie was created. The music licensing platform and publisher continues to grow and has worked with industry titans such as National Geographic, Fox Sports, and Nickelodeon.Check out our Dundas Life founder stories video on Startup Savant's YouTube Channel and follow Startup Savant on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Episode Notes Evan’s background in music and how his previous company sparked his desire to create Melodie Music [0:20]Music licensing is an archaic industry and Melodie works to create something intuitive and beneficial to musicians and content creators alike [5:35]How to fundraise — Evan’s journey from Bootstrapping to leading a $400,000+ seed round of funding [6:30]How to find talent and maintain content quality, Melodie’s approach to partnering with their platform’s artists [9:55]Analyzing sunk costs, observing the changing market, and chasing new opportunities to pivot from one company to another [16:25]Matching customer needs with pricing structure to provide a better product-market fit [18:00]Meoldie’s use of an AI search tool that helps users search the Melodie catalog to find Melodie tracks to fit their need  [21:00]Hiring the best and creating a network without a tremendous amount of resources [24:22]The value accelerator programs offer for finding feedback and scaling [26:45]Know your customers — an important tip for beginners [30:12]Simplifying copyright law, navigating international laws, and various regulations [33:48]Building relationships in order to market and grow a client base [41:00]Be everywhere and talk to everyone — Evan’s advice for building relationships [46:01]Melodie’s future and their goals to scale the business [50:20]Evan’s advice to entrepreneurs: do your research and get advice from industry insiders [57:01]Interested in high quality, authentic music for your content? Check out Melodie [58:35]

Greg Rozdeba is the founder and CEO of Dundas Life, an insurance company that is bringing empathy and tech to an industry that has remained relatively stagnant. Greg walks us through the process of going all in and finding ways to scale and fund a growing business. Additionally Greg provides his insights on how to market for a new company, how to build your first batch of clients, and how he used his skills from working in the service industry to revolutionize the insurance industry.Check out our Dundas Life founder stories video on Startup Savant's YouTube Channel and follow Startup Savant on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Episode Notes Life insurance online — How Greg is using tech to disrupt the insurance industry [2:20]Putting empathy into work to improve service and build relationships [4:45]A ubiquitous process that has not seen much change in the last few years [8:28]COVID-19 sparked Greg’s transition to working full time for Dundas Life [15:20]Getting to the point where Dundas Life creates enough revenue to support itself and pay employees — Greg’s decision to bootstrap and future plans to scale with venture capital funding [19:52]Determining how much money to allocate to advertisements [22:17]Expanding and scaling to follow the company’s organic growth [25:11]How do you market and sell something that isn’t a flashy product? [28:40]Finding your target demographics and exploring your audience [34:00]Using your personal network to build your first clients and creating relationships to grow from there [37:15]Tip for listeners: get a second and third opinion on your insurance to comparare rates  [40:43]Building partnerships within your industry and finding ways to embed your product into other industries [42:38]Get a proof of concept then start your business [50:15]Listen to your consumers to guide your actions. Following feedback is important for scaling and creating sustainable change [53:30]One big surprise about entrepreneurship — Not having a guaranteed paycheck every week is both terrifying and motivating [55:13]From Tim Hortons worker to CEO, how Greg used his skills developed while working in the service industry to win over customers and lead his own business  [59:30]

Christine de Wendel is the founder and CEO of Sunday, which uses QR-code technology to improve the payment process at restaurants while helping generate more revenue and tips. Within Sunday's first year as a company, they’ve raised $124 Million and currently operate across five different countries. Christine previously had experience scaling various startups and has leveraged that experience to help lead the Sunday team to astronomical growth. Episode Notes How restaurant norm changes during COVID-19 led to Sunday’s conception [1:54]Obtaining $124 million across two rounds of funding [6:08]Acquiring competitors to combine forces and grow quickly [10:10]Why Atlanta? Christine de Wendel’s decision to return home and join Atlanta’s thriving tech scene [11:55]Running a global startup — the benefits and the difficulties that come from working across borders and using four different languages [14:18]Adapting Sunday to fit each market’s tipping culture [17:38]Over-investing in your brand and creating a memorable image [19:53]Industry disruption and building a tangible impact [22:00]Overcoming initial hurdles to assemble a network of early adopters [28:20]How Christine’s background scaling previous startups helped her develop the guts and boldness needed to grow a company [35:02]Finding talent without a pre-existing network and focusing on hiring people who can spot challenges early on [38:07]Christine’s advice for entrepreneurs — You must be passionate, and you need to build a great team in order to succeed [41:47] Get more exciting entrepreneur content and podcast exclusives on StartupSavant.com.Watch Startup Savant founder interviews on YouTube and follow us on social media: Instagram TwitterLinkedIn

Kaylin Marcotte is the founder and CEO of JIGGY, a company at the intersection of jigsaw puzzles and artwork. While working as the first employee at theSkimm, a digital media company focused on bringing information to audiences in bite-size pieces, Kaylin discovered a passion for Jigsaw puzzles. She later combined her startup experience with her love of jigsaw puzzles to create JIGGY. JIGGY’s designs highlight the work of female artists, and their puzzles can be found in various retailers across the country.Visit JIGGY at https://jiggypuzzles.com/Episode Notes “What would it look like if I made my dream puzzle?” How Kaylin began turning artwork into puzzle designs [0:20]Initial hurdles and learning how to navigate the supply chain, manufacturing, and customer service [4:30]Using the product’s packaging to make puzzles a premium lifestyle product [8:42]Leading with community — how JIGGY tapped into the art community and began to build partnerships that support artists [12:17]Using your network to learn industry norms and scrap together a plan that works [17:04]Media training 101: Crafting JIGGY’s narrative and preparing to pitch on Shark Tank [19:40]Not all money is created equal. The partnerships you form can greatly impact your business’s future [25:48]Finding a personal connection with your business’s mission and product [28:32]Kaylin’s approach to work-life balance — focus on doing one thing well at a time rather than trying to stay balanced at all times [33:44]Time audits can be a great tool for finding ways to intentionally use your time and work with your own strengths [39:02]Sharing your business’s story and resonating with audiences is an important step for growing your brand [48:44]Using both retail and direct-to-consumer models in order to best position JIGGY for consumers [51:26]The process of going from no retail partners to landing a partnership with Anthropologie [54:45]Leveraging social media to build community, receive feedback, evolve your brand, and generate buzz prior to launch [58:36]One of the hardest things about being a founder is dealing with issues that are out of your control [1:05:43]Pivoting a business model during COVID, how JIGGY created a product when supply chain problems left them without an inventory [1:10:21]Everyone is winging it — if you are not afraid are you learning new things? [1:15:15] Get more exciting entrepreneur content and podcast exclusives on StartupSavant.com. Watch Startup Savant founder interviews on YouTube and follow us on social media: Instagram TwitterLinkedIn

Artem Semjanow is the founder and CEO of Neatsy, a B2B company that helps customers find their ideal shoe size using their smartphone’s camera. Artem previously led a machine learning team at Prisma Labs. This experience along with his background in economics empowered him to create Neatsy and change the future of online footwear retail.Episode Notes How flat feet lead Artem and his brother to develop Neatsy [0:30]The process of trying various business models before ultimately choosing a B2B (business to business) model [5:28]Neatsy’s first major hurdle — finding tech precise enough to actually measure foot size [9:50]Entrepreneurship can involve lots of trial and error, and Neatsy had numerous iterations while attempting to measure a shoe when its shape changes once its slipped onto a foot [14:32]Using the Mom Test to take something that is difficult and complex and turn it into an easy-to-use product for everyone [17:02]Using Neatsy’s tech to help people identify potential health concerns and track body changes with 3D body measurements [25:08]Finding ways to stand out from competitors is important. Neatsy keeps your personal data in your phone allowing them to improve data security and get a leg up on competitors [30:55]Determining pricing for your product or service based on analytics and the value you generate for clients [32:30]Establishing initial partnerships can be difficult if you don’t find the right people willing to give it a try [37:33]Finding initial funding can be challenging, and Artem leveraged his personal network to get the initial funds [41:25]Artem’s biggest surprise — how difficult it can be to get others to buy and invest in your product [44:00]“Start it and figure it out on the fly,” Artem’s advice to his younger self [48:34]From an economist to a machine learning engineer and founder, our experiences allow us to further build our skill sets overtime [51:08]The need to compartmentalize: Work hours are for work, and family hours are for family [57:52]Do not sacrifice your own freetime. Starting a business is a marathon commitment not a sprint. [1:00:00]Artem’s advice to entrepreneurs — if your business is growing, you will be inspired. Find something that scales, find product-market fit, and be a hype beast [1:01:36]Download the Neatsy app to try it yourself [1:03:51] Neatsy Links: https://neatsy.ai/https://www.linkedin.com/company/neatsyai Get more exciting entrepreneur content and podcast exclusives on StartupSavant.com. Watch Startup Savant founder interviews on YouTube and follow us on social media: InstagramTwitterLinkedIn

Joe Roets is the founder and CEO of Dragonchain, a blockchain-as-a-service provider that works with companies to tackle problems using blockchain technology. A self-proclaimed software guy, Joe has been in the tech space for quite some time and has led multiple ventures. His company Dragonchain originated within The Walt Disney Company and now operates as an independent entity that plans to help the world take advantage of the benefits blockchain has to offer.  Episode Notes Jumping through hoops to get approval for an open-source project [7:00]Quantifying behavior and building an objective historical record using blockchain [8:30]The applications of using blockchain to create a living historical record [13:55]Engineer speech and lawyer lingo: the importance of communicating technical concepts across  various teams [24:10]What are the roadblocks to adopting blockchain? [29:50]Bitcoin’s creation and the creation of scarcity and value from software [35:20]How will blockchain break into other industries? [39:30]Everything is a market — blockchain may be a better alternative to an AI algorithm [46:05]The future of NFTs and their untapped utility [47:41]Remote work may create more opportunities for startups outside of California [52:40]Creating a community around your brand serves as a great tool and gives you valuable feedback [57:36]Joe’s note to other entrepreneurs: VC funding and Angel investors may not always be the best way to get money [59:45]One of the biggest challenges for growing Dragonchain — how do you build trust? [1:05:10]Creating a HIPAA compliance tool using blockchain [1:08:42]Joe’s next big project — Using blockchain to help create governance and create value [1:10:30]Joe’s advice: Don’t be dogmatic, and make something that works. [01:16:42]Get more exciting entrepreneur content and podcast exclusives on StartupSavant.com. Watch Startup Savant founder interviews on YouTube and follow us on social media: Instagram TwitterLinkedIn

Sonja Ebron is the founder and CEO of Courtroom5, a SaaS startup that assists users trying to navigate the legal system. Having started two other companies prior to Courtroom5, Sonja is not new to the startup sphere. Sonja’s own personal experience in court propelled her to create a product that strives to increase access to justice. Although she is not a lawyer herself, Sonja has a PhD in electrical engineering and draws on her academic and engineering background to develop the tools needed to help others tackle the complexities of the legal system. Connect with Courtroom5 on social media:TwitterInstagramWho is Sonja Ebron, and why did she start Courtroom5? [0:30]The difficulty of navigating the legal system —  how Sonja’s personal experience dealing with the courts prompted her to create a legal-tech startup [2:30]What does access to justice mean to Sonja Ebron? [5:30]Sonja’s prediction for the future — if people cannot afford to pay for legal services, they will need resources to learn how to litigate for themselves and only pay the necessary legal fees [7:55]One way to improve access to the legal system, enable people to pay for legal services à la carte. Both lawyers and everyday citizens could benefit from this business model [13:02]Using AI and machine learning to improve processes and create solutions [15:30]Robot lawyers? It’s going to take some time before we see any of these [19:21]Creating a product designed for your users [20:36]From a blog to a full-fledged product, the process of iterating and building various prototypes  [24:54]Consider starting with a blog to generate buzz around your business and your niche [28:00]Sharing your own experience and transparency are key to establishing trust with users [29:50]Sonja’s advice: share your story. The best business ideas often come from personal experience [31:34]SEO (search engine optimization) can be an effective tool for connecting you to your target market [32:28]Tips for developing a pricing model [34:00]Sonja’s experience with entrepreneurship accelerators and incubators [37:43]How to manage freelancers and create a steady stream of content [41:41]What's it like running a business with your spouse? [49:54]The difference between managing and leading a team [52:35]Questions that are always lingering in a founder’s mind [55:20]Check your ego and be sure to find other perspectives [58:26]Sonja’s advice for entrepreneurs: don’t wait. Find a problem, and go get started! [1:01:50]You will fail — learn how to get back up [1:03:05] Get more exciting entrepreneur content and podcast exclusives on StartupSavant.com. Watch Startup Savant founder interviews on YouTube and follow us on social media: Instagram TwitterLinkedIn

Jamie walks us through the importance of sustainability for businesses, the process of creating brand authority, building a dynamic team based on shared values, and balancing the needs of various stakeholders.Jamie McCroskery is the founder and CEO of Bluebird Climate, a company striving to improve corporate sustainability efforts while quantifying a product’s environmental impact. Prior to launching Bluebird Climate, Jamie worked as a Product Manager at Glossier and Dropbox. Jamie credits his corporate experience with teaching him how to develop a product and assemble an all-star team.Who is Jamie McCroskery, and why did he start his startup Bluebird Climate? [0:30]Glass vs Plastic? The best way to be sustainable varies and often depends on a company’s specific needs as well as their own supply chain [3:08]What is Bluebird Climate, and how do you help businesses improve sustainability? [4:02]The two most important metrics for sustainability — carbon emissions and circularity (waste) [7:16]Can already-established brands find ways to improve sustainability with their traditional pipeline and business model?  [9:50]Sway, which aims to create a plastic replacement out of seaweed is an example of a company using Bluebird Climate to tell sustainable stories. [10:00]Focus on the easy wins — don’t reinvent the wheel [12:32]Why is storytelling focused on sustainability a successful tool for driving conversion? [14:30]Customers care about sustainability and want brands to focus on reducing carbon waste [17:59]What is a public benefit corporation (B corp), and why structure your company this way? [18:40]What is the Bluebird certification, and how do you cultivate brand authority? [22:55]How do you balance marketing to various stakeholders like customers, retailers, vendors, and brands? [27:01]Supply chains can be a convoluted mess [31:30]How to recruit a team of experts using personal networks [33:50]Entering a space with passion and motivation is essential for finding a great team [38:20]Funding decisions should take into account your time and trajectory — investors may take a cut, but this allow you to more quickly determine if you’ll make it [39:28]How a corporate background helped Jamie better lead his company [43:22]Creating a client base, simple marketing, and growing your brand [46:00]Day-to-day challenges are hard. Be sure to create a well-defined mission in order to hire the best team and tackle problems that will appear [51:05]What does future growth look like for Bluebird Climate [55:40]? Less can be more when starting out [1:00:05]Jamie’s advice: Put your idea out there to get feedback, have a vision for your company’s values and goals, and determine what resources you will need to be successful [1:01:07]If you are curious about improving your own business’s sustainability, reachout to Jamie at jamie@bluebirdclimate.com or check out Bluebird Climate’s website bluebirdclimate.com.Jamie’s Recommended Books“Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth” by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares“The Mom Test” by Rob Fitzpatrick and Robfitz Ltd“The Founder’s Dilemma”  by Noam Wasserman“The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben HorowitzGet more exciting entrepreneur content and podcast exclusives on StartupSavant.com. Watch Startup Savant founder interviews on YouTube and follow us on social media: Instagram TwitterLinkedIn