Hear from industry leaders, founders, and investors.
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Optimizing Digital Advertising
Henry Kittle is the COO and Co-Founder of Tiger Tracks, a digital advertising agency focused on helping companies build effective and tailored marketing strategies centered around the top ad platforms. Prior to founding Tiger Tracks, Henry spent over 8 years at Google as a shopping lead, helping companies strategize and deploy their digital marketing budgets. In this episode, we discuss Henry’s career path and some of the lessons he has learned along the way, specifically focusing on how to make the most of opportunities that present themselves to you. Next, we dive into the digital advertising industry and Henry’s motivation for starting his own agency. Finally, Henry offers insights into the role of an entrepreneur and designing the proper organizational structure for a firm.
From Idea to Exit: Breaking Down the Business Life Cycle
Konrad Billetz has built and led several startup companies over the past decade, including his current company Outliant, and has received many distinctions for his entrepreneurial work, including an appearance on Shark Tank, being listed on Forbes 30 under 30 list, and being featured in numerous media outlets including Forbes and Entrepreneur. First, we talk about Konrad’s unique career journey and what a typical day in the life of a busy startup founder like Konrad looks like. Next, we break down the different stages of a typical business life cycle: from formulating an idea, to creating a business model, to looking for funding and scaling, to finally finding an exit opportunity. Finally, Konrad shares his unique perspective on failure and how it is necessary to succeed when starting a company, and he also provides fun insight into what it is like to pitch on the reality TV show Shark Tank.
Developing a Marketable AI Solution
Ryan Welsh is the co-founder and CEO of Kyndi, a natural language technology platform that utilizes artificial intelligence to assist enterprises. First, we discuss how the processing, storing, and transfer of information has advanced via technology while the ability of humans to read and consume information has not. This pivots into a discussion of how AI, specifically Kyndi, will allow us to bridge this gap. Next, we discuss some nuances within the AI industry, including barriers to widespread adoption and some possible solutions. We conclude by looking into some of the realities of running a business and the direction Ryan hopes to take Kyndi.
Stories from a Serial Pharmaceutical Entrepreneur
Steve Tullman has founded and led 12 pharmaceutical startup companies during his impressive career and currently serves as the Executive Chairman of Nexstone Immunology, a clinical stage drug development company. First, we discuss Steve’s experiences at pharmaceutical giant GSK, where he spent 15 years gaining exposure to several different business sectors and spending time abroad, until he eventually worked his way into senior leadership roles. Next, we hear some assorted stories from Steve’s experiences while investing in, founding, and leading pharmaceutical startups. Finally, Alex Tullman, former co-host and founder of Silicon Street, comes back on the podcast to highlight some of the most memorable stories from his dad’s career that were most impactful on Alex growing up.
Revolutionizing the Telecom Space
Dennis Thankachan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lightyear, a telecom company that allows businesses to buy and manage all telecom services through a single platform. Additionally, Dennis is an angel investor in numerous tech start-ups. First, we take a look at the lessons Dennis learned through his career in banking and at a hedge fund. Next, we dive into the telecom space, where Dennis elaborates on some of the issues he is working to solve. We also look into how he came up with the idea for Lightyear and how he has successfully taken his product to market. Finally, we wrap up with a discussion about being a founder, including some of the perks and challenges involved.
Helping Athletes Monetize their Name, Image, and Likeness
On this episode Alex and Conor chat with Ayden Syal and Brandon Wimbush, the co-founders of MOGL. MOGL is a two-sided marketplace connecting college athletes and businesses to help the athletes monetize their name, image, and likeness. Ayden and Brandon both graduated from the University of Notre Dame and Brandon was the starting quarterback at Notre Dame as well. These two amazing entrepreneurs discuss the strategy behind the creation of the business, and how they have gone about building out the marketplace.
Building a Unicorn Tech Startup
Jason Boehmig, CEO of Ironclad, joins the podcast to discuss his journey launching a revolutionary software company disrupting the legal industry. Jason and his team have raised capital from some of the best VCs in the world, including Accel and Sequoia, and we dive into the process of successfully fundraising in Silicon Valley. Jason also talks about the insights he learned from his time on Wall Street, how he went about early product development, and the importance of avoiding feature creep as a software company scales. Other topics include the evolving role of the CEO, goal setting and change management, strategies for hiring, and relationship building.
Pursuing Your Passion at Home and at Work
Alex and Conor chat with Mike Sayles, Founder and CEO of Fresh Street. Fresh Street is seeking to create a revolutionary and innovative grocery experience by creating grocery stores that exclusively offer pick-up groceries. In our discussion about his business, Mike discusses his career path and strategies for career discernment, the importance of operating experience for CEOs and how to best build and maintain a professional network. We also discuss the importance of hiring high quality employees in the early days of a startup. Mike concludes by offering his insights into work-life balance, specifically his experience being a founder and a father.
Making the Leap
Conor and Alex chat with Cristina Riojas, co-founder of Sila, a tea brand focused on mindfulness and connection. We discuss starting a company as a college student, Cristina’s passion for tea, and the importance of making the most of a few key decisions in one’s life. Cristina also describes how she has learned to deal with failure during her entrepreneurial journy and her goals for Sila over the coming years.
EdTech & Micro-Internships
We chat with Jeff Moss, Founder and CEO of Parker Dewey, an education technology marketplace focused on connecting students to micro-internships with reputable companies. We discuss the value of micro-internships, how Jeff transitioned from being a director at Susquehanna Growth Equity, and how Parker Dewey overcame the challenges of building out a two-sided marketplace. Jeff has amazing wisdom on how to develop your career, don't miss this one!
Exploring the Blockchain
Conor and Alex chat with Joel Neidig, CEO and co-founder of Simba Chain, a blockchain-as-a-service platform that makes it easy to deploy this exciting new technology across multiple blockchains and data platforms. This conversation defines the blockchain, evaluates potential use cases, and breaks down where Simba Chain fits into the current ecosystem. We specifically dive into smart contracts and NFTs as well as how to selling a product and educate customers in a new industry.
Jumping into the Deep End
Jere Doyle is a Boston College professor and proven entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and angel investor across many different companies and funds over the course of his illustrious career. In our conversation, Jere gives his take on the role of innate ability and learning in becoming a successful entrepreneur and describes how entrepreneurship is “the pursuit of opportunity with total disregard for current resources.” Drawing from Jere’s company-building experience, we discuss when the best time is to take the leap into entrepreneurship and the challenging evolution of the CEO role as a company scales. We wrap up the episode with a dive into his top investment themes, including marketplaces, SaaS, Big Data, and AI.
Accelerating Solar Energy with Software
Johannes Burgard, MD and Founder at the solar energy software company Solytic, joins us for this episode discussing his path as a founder. Johannes explains Solytic’s product and go-to-market strategy that has allowed the company to raise millions in capital and operate in over 60 countries in just 4 years after its founding, and shares his advice from founding his company. As a trained engineer, Johannes is able to provide insight into what it’s like founding a company from a non-business background, and tells the hardships of starting his company.
Sink or Swim
Justin Schneider, CEO and founder of the LA-based men's fashion brand Wolf & Shepard, joins the show to discuss his journey from track star to shoe designer. Justin talks about the adaptability and willingness to face the unknown in stride that is necessary to become a founder. We also touch on Justin’s industrial design background, work with Reebok, Adidas, and New Balance, as well as some of his big successes, including seeing the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wear his shoes.
Driving Sales Through Competitive Advantages
Conor and Alex chat with Chris Stevens, the man behind Keurig's monumental rise in the at-home, instant coffee industry. Chris discusses the marketing and sales strategies he employed, the importance of competitive advantages, and management of rapid growth in the beginning of the company's history. Listen until the end to also hear Chris' advice on giving back in your communities, and making long-lasting impacts.
Reimagining Education Financing
Tess Michaels, founder of Stride Funding, talks with Conor and Alex about her journey to expand the opportunities available to students for financing their education. Tess discusses the basics of income share agreements (ISA’s) and Stride Funding’s efforts to provide a differentiated service to students. We also chat about the importance of hiring a strong team as well as Tess’ experience raising capital from both traditional venture capitalists and strategic investors.
Creating a B2B SaaS Platform
Ireland Carter, founder of innovative management platform Bricleir, joins the show to discuss the process of creating a B2B SaaS business. Specifically, Ireland highlights her experience with convincing different stakeholders to join her platform, facilitating corporate and startup partnerships, and pursuing a career in tech with a liberal arts background.
Lessons from Running a Tech Investment Bank
Conor and Alex chat with Ted Smith, co-founder of technology investment bank Union Square Advisors, on his 25-year career serving clients on strategic transaction execution, finance, and operations. Ted walks through his day to day and provides his perspective on the state of the technology markets. We also discuss the rise of technology-focused private equity firms and the intersection of the tech mega-trends cybersecurity, edge computing, and internet of things (IoT). Finally, Ted tells us about the opportunity he had to sit down for lunch with Steve Jobs as a young investment banker.
Experimentation & The Path to Product-Market Fit
Heather Eaton, co-founder of Frankly Apparel, joins the show to discuss her braless clothing company and her journey as an entrepreneur. We dig into the process of understanding the customer through ethnographic interviews, developing an initial product line, and utilizing experiments to test market hypotheses and product viability. Heather also talks about some of her favorite classes she took during her time at Stanford Business School and how she organizes her day to stay productive.
The Tech Transforming the Cannabis Industry
Ryan G. Smith is the co-founder and CEO of LeafLink, a wholesale cannabis marketplace and technology platform. Ryan talks about growing a technology business in a highly regulated space and his focus on creating diversified business solutions that tackle hair on fire problems for cannabis brands and retailers. We discuss his navigation of raising capital, including his plans for the $40 million his company just raised from Founders Fund, and examine the biggest challenges LeafLink has faced during its product-market fit and growth stages. Finally, Ryan tells us about his experiences maintaining company culture during rapid hiring as well as his expectations for the cannabis industry moving forward.