Shows
Paparelli PodcastThe rewards of determination, dedication, support, and wisdomTwelve years after Greg Thompson started his company, it took off. Fifteen years after that, his insurance brokerage grew fivefold in premiums. His profits exploded. “Did you ever think of shutting down your business and doing something else during those twelve years?” I asked Greg. “Yes.” But Greg persevered.It is so important to learn from Greg about being a successful entrepreneur. The perseverance, loyalty, support of his wife, and continuous learning that he exhibited led to a precious enterprise. And when the time came, he knew it was time to sell.
2022-08-261h 59Paparelli PodcastHow am I screwing up this company I started?Greg Thompson is an entrepreneur who built a specialty commercial insurance brokerage. In this interview, Greg shares his experiences moving from an insurance agent to entrepreneur to general manager to CEO.For topics:How to set yourself up for board positions while building your company.How to develop your company even faster through acquisitions.How to become a better business owner by joining a CEO small group, like Vistage.How to be a leader who practices people are your greatest asset.Greg shares what worked and what didn’t as he built his company. How on...
2022-07-291h 08Paparelli PodcastOne Ingredient to Change LivesWhen I asked Authur Washington, the Principal of KIPP collegiate, how many students in his school, he said, “Eight hundred and forty scholars. Eight hundred and forty beautiful souls!”His answer set the tone for our conversation. This conversation describes the building of a great leader—a man who is sacrificing to accomplish the mission God gave him. His objectives:- To change the lives of the next generation. - Educate, encourage and show them discipline and responsibility. - Instill a spirit of hope. - Mold them into next-generation leaders. I...
2022-07-151h 42Paparelli PodcastIncreasing your company’s value in an impending economic contractionAlan Taetle is one of the most respected VCs in the Southeast and Noro-Moseley Partners’ co-managing partner. They are the oldest VC firm in Atlanta., now investing in their eighth fund.I asked Alan to join me for a short conversation about this contraction in values. Both in the public markets and in the private markets. During his twenty-three-year career as a VC, Alan has been through at least three boom and bust cycles.I know you’ll find his insights spot on. And, as an entrepreneur, you’ll be rewarded with some good ideas for in...
2022-06-2458 minPaparelli PodcastThe Habits of SquirrelsBrian Livingston was the state wrestling champion. He hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. Then took the well-marked path of law school and a career as a litigator. And then he realized, “This is not me.” He knew from fourth grade he was destined to be a writer. It took twenty-two years to face this truth, but he did. On the evening of January 20, 2018, he began to write his first novel. He committed to 1,500 words per day, seven days per week. Three years later, The Habits of Squirrels was completed. In this intervi...
2022-05-271h 42Paparelli Podcast3 Ingredients of Effective Leadership: Dare. Serve. Measure.At age 21, Cheryl Bachelder’s father took her on business appointments in China, Japan, and Korea after threatening to quit college. Her college education no longer served her interests, and she saw no purpose. Her father’s investment changed her life.As CEO, Bachelder led a historic turnaround of AFC Enterprises, the parent of Popeye’s Louisiana Restaurants. In ten years, Bachelder increased the stock price sixfold by changing the brand, the culture, and franchisee profits. Then she wrote a book on how she did it, “Dare to Serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving O...
2022-05-201h 59Paparelli PodcastEntrepreneur's Guide to Getting Sales Reps on PlanHe achieved the sales club at New Relic in his first year as an Account Executive. That’s my son I’m talking about, Nick.My questions are:How did he do it?What did he learn after being a Business Development Rep for three years?Did his sales manager help him, and if so, how?As an entrepreneur trying to get your salespeople motivated and on plan, this interview will help. New Relic is a public company selling application performance management to F1000...
2022-05-1355 minPaparelli PodcastMajor Success From Major AccountsHe sold $60mm in software in one year. Russ is clearly the most successful major account seller I know.Russ West is a Senior Account Executive with a red-hot Silicon Valley startup named Yugabyte. In their last funding round, they were valued at $1.2b. I am sure Russ contributed to their valuation by helping grow their SaaS sales in the F50 right here in Atlanta. In this conversation, Russ tells us about his networking approach to prospecting, his service approach to relationship retention, and his methods for managing major a...
2022-04-291h 27Paparelli PodcastMem: Eliminate note taking frictionDennis Xu is a Stanford graduate, entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, and the co-founder of Mem. They recently raised a $5.6mm seed round on zero revenue. Since Mem’s founding in 2019, they went from writing the first line of code to attracting over 100k users. Mem.ai is a new entry in notetaking software's hectic market space. Dennis is competing with a host of well-financed competitors, but he is confident of his positioning. Mem mines and organizes your black box of ideas on all of your interests. I am an early user of Mem and a rabi...
2022-04-221h 10Paparelli PodcastIf you win the morning, you win the dayThis is the promise of a morning routine.In this conversation with social entrepreneur Karim Abouelnaga, we talk about the importance of a morning routine. He is thoughtful, diligent, and disciplined about his morning routine. He believes these early morning activities are the foundation for his success. He told me it is the reason for his health, peace of mind, and productivity. I asked Karim to share his morning routine because I had never met anyone so dedicated to it. His morning routine, which is always preceded by eight hours of sleep, is non-negotiable. Nothing i...
2022-04-0848 minPaparelli PodcastThe Judge on Finding True FulfillmentHe is a former federal judge who insisted I call him Bill and not Judge. In that first meeting, he made a powerful impression on me. Here is a man who is humble, intelligent, and a servant-leader. Digging just a little deeper revealed the values he lives by.Bill Duffey remembers what it was like to practice law before the legal profession changed. The change was from a values-centric profession to a financial-centric profession. He knows the most recent two generations of lawyers practicing today never experience pride in their work. In many cases, they adopt values...
2022-03-312h 43Paparelli PodcastYou gotta solve this problem!Mike Gomez told me, “I solve the ‘I didn’t know” problem.“What’s that?” I asked.We think companies buy from us because of the product we sell. We later find out, our product or service was simply a qualifier to get us in the deal. The real buying criteria have to be discovered in the sales process. We are not selling to companies. We are selling to people.Mike Gomez and I discuss this problem that needs to be solved in your salesforce. You don’t want to continue to hear, “I didn’t know” aft...
2022-03-3109 minPaparelli PodcastEntrepreneur: Who Can Help You Succeed Faster and How Can They Help?I am sharing this conversation with one of our community’s best angel investors. There is a lot to be learned here by first-time entrepreneurs seeking angel funding. Specifically, who can help you succeed faster, and how can they help?Bill Midgette is an active angel. He is the former CEO of a public company. He leads the selection committee for the Atlanta Technology Angels. And he aims to add value to his early-stage company investments.I’ve been an angel investor for thirty years. I always believed angel investing is a contact sport. You must...
2022-03-1839 minPaparelli PodcastAn Entrepreneur Who Broke All the Rules, Yet Achieved Great SuccessSid Mookerji built Software Paradigms International Group, LLC, a worldwide information technology company. He started it in 1994 and sold it in 2018. He grew it organically through cash flow. His biggest competitor was IBM Global Services, but they also just happened to be his partner.And it is this last bit that speaks to why Sid is such a wild success in business and life. Sid started SPI, having no idea what market it should focus on or what problem he would solve. He started his company because he recognized he was surrounded by knowledgeable, underutilized p...
2022-03-111h 53Paparelli PodcastHow the First Truly Successful Cyber Security Company Began in a Dorm RoomChris Klaus is the founder of Internet Security Systems. Sitting in his dorm room, he put down the sci-fi book that gave him a big idea and started coding. This was the genesis of becoming the first genuinely successful cyber security company of the 1990s. I loved Chris’ surprise when government labs contacted him looking for his product. They heard about this kid at Georgia Tech who figured out a way to find the security-weak point in any government or business’ computer network.The most challenging question he had to answer at 19-years old was, “How muc...
2022-03-042h 11Paparelli PodcastOne-on-one with a Legend: Horst Schulze, Ritz-Carlton HotelHorst Schulze created the Ritz-Carlton Hotel brand single-handedly. After twenty years as an international hotelier, this was his chance to put his mark on his industry by injecting his core values and beliefs. He took one failing and decrepit hotel in Boston called the Ritz-Carlton and grew it into fifty hotels rated #1 or #2 in their respective markets worldwide.He dedicated his life to excellence in all he did. Horst is a respected leader by all leaders in all industries. But in the hotel business, Horst is a legend.But where did his principles and beliefs...
2022-02-251h 46Paparelli PodcastWhat Does It (Really) Mean to be a Friend?This is the question I pursued in a conversation with Jacob Southerland.Jacob is my son’s best friend. Over dinner with the two of them, Jacob talked about his friendship with my son and his other friends. His views on friendship were so unique I recounted some of them in a blog. This blog hit a nerve with you, my readers, and my followers. This gave me the idea to invite Jacob to join me in a conversation on friendship. I am forty years his senior, and Jacob helped me understand what makes for tru...
2022-02-181h 01Paparelli PodcastDevelop an Eye for Your Entrepreneurial NicheWendy Salle built the single highest-grossing optical store in the United States of America.I am a client of Salle Opticians. I found it over twenty years ago in Phipps Plaza shopping mall in Atlanta. Salle sells high-end optical to a well-heeled clientele. They have the best eyeglass frames that money can buy. And they fit them with the most carefully crafted lenses. In the end, they provide a personalized customer experience and a high-quality product.Wendy Salle is the founder. Wendy is a certified optician, gifted merchandiser, and small business operator. She knows and...
2022-02-102h 06Paparelli Podcast5 (Proven) Ways to Get in front of Angel InvestorsEntrepreneurs often ask me, “Where can I meet angel investors?”This video answers that question.In this interview, we talk about how angel investors source deals. One of the overlooked success factors for Venture Capitalists and angel investors is early looks at new deals. Getting the first look at a deal that just hits the market gives the angel a huge advantage in achieving extraordinary financial returns.Paul Gianneschi is the founder and CEO of Hatch Medical. Hatch is an incubator for medical device startups. He has been in medical devices for his whol...
2022-02-0456 minPaparelli PodcastFrom Successful B2B Entrepreneur to Crypto SuccessGreg Smith is one of those secret successful entrepreneurs. This under-the-radar success usually occurs in vertical market B2B businesses. Unless you were in the vertical served by the entrepreneur, you would never know they existed. But Greg built Advectis to speed mortgage approvals through the efficient collection, storage, and transmission of the documents required for loans. His business was growing so fast he was approached by Xerox as a potential acquisition. Between the signed term sheet and the final purchase agreement, Greg lost his biggest customer. This customer contributed $1mm of annual recurring revenue. In...
2022-01-272h 11Paparelli PodcastFrom Professional Golfer to Serial EntrepreneurChristian Ries pivoted Zeto eight times before he achieved product-market fit. He said, “The key to finally getting there is to avoid falling in love with your business model or solution.”Christian is the co-founder and CEO of Zeto, a home management service. It shifts the burden of home maintenance from the owner to Zeto and their team of vetted suppliers. This is a high-value solution in our busy, two-income households of major metro markets.This is not Christian’s first time as an entrepreneur. The lessons he learned in his first and second company are a...
2022-01-211h 49Paparelli PodcastYou (Really) Can Get Past the VC GatekeeperScott Lopano is the first contact at Tech Square Ventures. TSV is a Southeast-focused venture fund investing in early-stage technology companies. They are looking for opportunities to achieve the returns their limited partners expect. Finding those right investment opportunities takes an experienced VC, and that’s Scott.Scott sees over one thousand business plans a year for TSV. He told me in this interview that close to sixty percent of the applicants are not VC fundable deals. They are easily eliminated, as they don’t meet the first-cut of criteria for the fund. And if they get thro...
2022-01-141h 42Paparelli PodcastThe Power of an Integrated LifeYvonne Bryant Johnson, the founder of Bryant and Associates, is a close friend and a leader. A leader in her home, her community, and in business. She is also a self-proclaimed militant. She is a seeker of justice. If it is right, it needs to be right for everyone. I was always impressed with Yvonne. She seeks social change by trusting God and getting involved in organizations with community impact. She volunteers. She works hard. She builds relationships. She tells it like it is and, more importantly, how it should be.Her intelligence, pu...
2021-12-1022 minPaparelli PodcastAuthentic Leadership Breeds Superb ExecutionThis is an interview with Mike Dickerson, CEO of ClickDimensions.Mike Dickerson is an entrepreneur turned corporate executive. In every company he led, he demonstrated the heart of a general manager—a talented operator with the gift of superb execution and people skills. These leadership skills were developed by interacting with the most outstanding leaders in the world. He grew up in Washington, DC, to a mom who was the first female Whitehouse correspondent. A dad who was a serial entrepreneur. A stepdad was a partner at Goldman Sachs and later Assistant Secretary of S...
2021-12-022h 02Paparelli Podcast41. Always listening. Always applying. Always creating.This is Frank Bell’s formula for success as an entrepreneur.In this interview, it became clear that people consistently brought Frank the idea for his next company. They saw the problem in the marketplace. Frank’s gift was that he was standing in front of them when they told him about it, and he listened.Then Frank would take the time to research the idea. And he would do it by talking to the people who would benefit from the concept and see what they thought about it. Then he would look for a comp...
2021-11-112h 09Paparelli Podcast40. “My Comfort Zone Is My Enemy.”Joel Neeb told me he was coasting on his success and reputation. Then Stage IV cancer hit. He was told he had eighteen months to live. He was thirty-three, a fighter pilot, husband, and father of two boys, three and one. And that’s when he began to move his life from success to significance.Joel is an Air Force Academy graduate where he was one of thirty people in his class of seven hundred who became fighter pilots. He enjoyed a fourteen-year career only to one day realize he was coasting. And after facing death, he kn...
2021-11-042h 28Paparelli Podcast39. Coach to the Most Famous Entrepreneurs in the SoutheastThe two big questions that must be answered by an entrepreneur1. What is the purpose of your business?2. What is God’s purpose for your business?These are the questions a prayer partner asked Bob Lewis the day he founded LewisLeadership. Bob is a coach and consultant to the most famous current generation of entrepreneurs in the Southeast. These are people who have built technology companies from scratch with current valuations from $1-3 billion. Mind you, he has no website. He does no marketing. He does no selling. Bob star...
2021-10-292h 12Paparelli Podcast38. Live Your Dream by Seeing ProblemsBird Blitch built a healthcare and payments company from scratch. Thirteen years later he sold PatientCo for over $450mm to Waystar Health. His first company sold too, but for the equivalent of one year’s living expenses, and that’s what he used to create PatientCo.In this conversation, Bird shares his secret of building big companies. And it isn’t about the idea, it is all about the problem. He gives entrepreneurs tips like, “Carry a notebook with your wherever you go. Write down the problems you see and experience. It could be something simple, like your bra...
2021-10-222h 01Paparelli Podcast37. Consumer Nightmare is an Entrepreneur's DreamJim was an entrepreneur from birth. He just didn’t know it. But when he joined our startup as a twenty-two-year-old and saw it modeled. Bang!He was a co-founder of his first company. Then he founded four others. His life is the entrepreneur's life. Jim has been in search of the big problem in the market that deserved a big company to solve it. He found it while at the Flashpoint accelerator under the direction of Merrick Furst and Georgia Tech.HelloPackage is solving the last one hundred yards of the last mil...
2021-10-011h 28Paparelli Podcast36. An Entrepreneur's Supernatural MomentIt took twenty years for Rob Kischuk to reconcile his interests and talents with a business model that works. At forty-three he arrived. Rob is the founder and CEO of Dellwood Labs. His mission is to build the code that captures your vision. His talent is to attract, assemble and motivate the technical teams to build and deliver the desired product. And he is doing it every day with bigger and bigger projects coming his way. I met Rob fifteen years ago. He was just stepping into the role of entrepreneur. And this is a to...
2021-09-231h 58Paparelli Podcast35. From Corporate to Entrepreneur and Business Owner"Selling. No Problem. If you dropped in the middle of downtown with nothing but my phone, I would sell my way to prosperity," said Clint Emerson.Early in Clint's career, he was a sales executive for Lanier/Harris Corp. He used his success as a springboard into the executive ranks. He became the turnaround country manager for the Caribbean, then Australia, and finally South America. But the time came to come home and find a business he could call his own. He bought CableQuest in Ball Ground, Georgia. It had $2mm in sales and was l...
2021-09-162h 20Paparelli Podcast34. Three Stages of Startup Growth"It is all about the people," said Charlie Paparelli. That's right. In this 20 minute video, I'm being interviewed. Brendan Tolleson asks me the questions. Brendan is the CEO and co-founder of RevPartners. I've watched Brendan over the years building his career. (https://revpartners.io/)He started as a leader on the soccer field and, over time, became a successful sales leader. As part of his quest to build successful revenue processes for his clients, he wanted my thoughts. In this interview, I share my experience on the three stages of startup gro...
2021-09-0921 minPaparelli Podcast33. Volunteering to Build a Meaningful NetworkAshish Mistry and BLM Ventures started with a $500k investment in a startup and never looked back.He and his co-investor met at Emory’s MBA program. Neither one of them was in a tech career, but both decided that’s where the action will be.Ashish Mistry may not have a technology industry background, but he does have one amazing skill. He understands the value of volunteering to build a meaningful network. He also learned earlier in his career how to drive leads through digital marketing.Using his network and lead-gen skills, he b...
2021-09-0354 minPaparelli Podcast32. Food Can Be a Platform to Transform Lives“If I should be given credit for one thing, it is this. I remained true to my calling for over forty years," said Bill Bolling. I've never had anyone who accomplished so much in their life tell me this. Forty-two years ago, Bill founded the Atlanta Community Food Bank. But even more impressive, he is the creator of the community food bank concept. The idea is simple: eliminate hunger in the community they serve. Communities throughout the United States and the world adopted his way. Incredible! Bill has received dozens of accola...
2021-08-272h 17Paparelli Podcast31. An (Insider) Angel Investor DiscussionAs an entrepreneur, you will be well served to listen to David Friedman of Tech Coast Angels. David is the chapter director of TCA of Orange County. In this discussion, David shares:The angel groups process for investingDeals they’ve done and are interested in doingTerms and Exits Partnerships with other angels and angel groupsThe heart of a true angelLots to be learned from this west coast angel investor. He is the real deal.
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Pit Stops to Podium: B2B RevOps Podcast3 Milestones of Team Building // with Charlie PaparelliCharlie Paparelli in Episode 16 remarks how “people are the secret to success in all that we do” and coaches the audience on the 3 Milestones of Team Building during the early stages of company growth. Building teams strategically is one of the greatest contributors to growth and something that Charlie has much experience in, with his 40+ years of building and investing in companies. He now gives back to the community by advising entrepreneurs. Following over 25 years in angel investing helping entrepreneurs achieve their dreams, Charlie accesses the knowledge and experience of fellow entrepreneurs by sharing stories through paparelli.com Listen to the...
2021-08-1821 minPaparelli Podcast30. How Did You Become a VC?Blake started life in Jamestown, North Carolina. He is the son of a career army non-com and the first in his family to go to college.From there it was all upside.D1 Swimming ScholarshipPresident’s Advisory Council at Georgia TechWallstreetStartup entrepreneurSuccessful exitLed international expansion for a public company at 28And this story ends with Blake becoming a successful VC. He is just about to close Tech Square Venture’s Fund II.What blew me away was how his life-long relationships carr...
2021-08-132h 09Paparelli Podcast30. Who Is the Right Angel Investor for Your Startup?This is an interview with the renowned Jason Dorsey, acclaimed generational speaker to F500 on hiring, managing, and selling to Gen Z by my good friend, Nelson Chu. This interview captures an insider discussion of how influential angel investors position themselves to get into the hot startup deals. Entrepreneurs should take note. Jason outlines very clearly the value he brings to an early and later-stage company. As an entrepreneur, you will learn what to look for in an angel who can add real value to your company beyond just money.As an...
2021-08-061h 04Paparelli Podcast29. How Did You Do That!?David is my son. He is also the 2021 London School of Economics Entrepreneur of the year.I wanted to know, “How did you do that?”In this interview, I learned: Why as a newly married man, he chose to quit his job, sell everything and move to London to pursue his Executive MBA.Why he felt called to be a social entrepreneur right out of undergrad.Why it took ten years to start his first business.How he came to the business idea that won the LSE startup competition.How he wa...
2021-07-301h 51Paparelli Podcast28. The Way to Success and SustainabilityMerrick Furst is a distinguished professor of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. Impressive, but wait. He started nine companies. But wait. He started an accelerator that launched dozens of startups with values exceeding $1b. But wait. He shares the secret to making your startup a long-term success. This is my friend, Merrick. He is a friend of mine, but more importantly, a friend to entrepreneurs. His amazing reputation and network were developed at Carnegie Mellon University, UC Berkely, and now Georgia Tech.
2021-07-231h 38Paparelli Podcast27. It’s time. I am an entrepreneur!Karen Houghton set the culture at Atlanta Tech Village. She was there right after David Cummings bought the building and had the vision for a startup community. Karen, working with David Lightburn, set a culture of innovation and community service. Karen is a great leader!She supported hundreds of entrepreneurs who started and built big businesses at the Village. She recruited them, found them just the right space, promoted them, and connected them. Now it is her turn.Karen is now an entrepreneur. She is the founder of Infinite Giving. They h...
2021-07-152h 10Paparelli Podcast26. God’s Man for God’s PlanI never heard such a clear calling to serve Jesus as I did in this interview. Doug Ammar is the Director of the Georgia Justice Project in downtown Atlanta. He has served in this capacity for over twenty-five years. Doug is a recognized expert in criminal justice. He not only changes the lives of the poor accused of crimes, but also changes the laws. Doug became the director after the founder of GJP unexpectedly quit. No money. No donor prospects. No network. Doug leaned into God and said, “If you want...
2021-07-092h 27Paparelli Podcast25. The Next Warren Buffett?“People support what they help create,” said Michael Arrietta, Founder, and CEO of Garden City. Michael lives this every day. He started a holding company with the goal to be the next Berkshire Hathaway. His model is focused on acquiring service companies with between $2-4mm in free cash flow. These businesses are all over America and most of them are owned by baby boomers. Every 57 seconds a baby boomer owner reaches retirement age. To achieve his goal, Michael has a war chest of $50mm in committed capital from a who’s who in techn...
2021-06-252h 15Paparelli Podcast24. Millionaire at 26 (Just the Start)Bobby John believes he and his Band of Coders can take your dreams, desires, and vision and convert them into reality using software. He is a coder at heart with the soul of a serial entrepreneur. In this interview, Bobby shares how he started a company while in college and became a millionaire at twenty six years old. He saw the first version of Netscape, the window to the internet, and said, “This is the future.” He started a company with three friends that grew so quickly they had to hire the past President of Apple...
2021-06-171h 41Paparelli Podcast23. The 5 Criteria for a Successful Startup (Plus a Secret Sauce)I developed these five criteria based on my 25+ years of angel investing. During that time, I spoke with hundreds of entrepreneurs and synthesized these success criteria. Every startup has to have these criteria present. Every new corporate idea must have these criteria present. Then there is the secret sauce that makes it all work.Give it a listen. It will make a difference in your startup and your current venture.Presentation slides (PDF): https://bit.ly/3whBWMS
2021-06-1053 minPaparelli Podcast22. From Immigrant at 14 to Internationally Renowned Author, Speaker, and F100 AdvisorDavid Nour is an expert in relationship economics. In fact, that’s the name of his first book. He just released his eleventh book, Curve Benders. It is an even deeper dive into the fulfillment and personal advancement that comes from curve benders in your life.David is an immigrant from Iran. His parents sent him to America to live with his aunt and uncle. All opportunity was evaporating with the fall of the Shah of Iran in the early 1980’s. David was fourteen years old and spoke no English. Today David is the f...
2021-06-042h 11Paparelli Podcast21. Die with Zero by Bill PerkinsIn this show, Chris Dardaman and I discuss the book, Die with Zero by Bill Perkins.This book caught me while I am in a transition phase of my life. I asked Chris Dardaman, a friend and private investor, to give it a read and then discuss it with me. I chose Chris because he was the founder of Brightworth, a wealth management firm with $4.5B under management. Five years ago, he decided to leave the firm after his wife, Laura, told him, “Your creativity and energy is no longer in the company you...
2021-05-271h 35Paparelli Podcast20. The Purpose-Driven Social EntrepreneurKarim Abouelnaga, founder and CEO of Practice Makes Perfect in NYC. He is a successful social entrepreneur, author, and speaker. He grew up poor in the inner city of New York to immigrant parents with little education. After his dad died when he was fifteen years old, a mentor came into his life that raised his expectations. Then he attended Cornell on a full scholarship and decided to pay it forward. Practice Makes Perfect's mission is to narrow the achievement gap in education for the inner city poor. Karim went right back to hi...
2021-05-192h 05Paparelli Podcast19. Entrepreneur for JesusTerry Brown is the Country Director of Leader Impact for Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ). He is born and raised in Arkansas, and has been serving in the Czech Republic for the last 25 years.He is a true missionary. He is a true entrepreneur. The parallels between these two vocations are striking. Committing your life to serve othersMotivated by the positive impact on people’s livesCreating new products and servicesCracking a new market in the US and overseasNetworking and fundraisingG...
2021-05-131h 53Paparelli Podcast18. Taking Over From the Founder and Then Going BigRobin Gregg was an experienced FinTech executive when she was asked to be CEO of MyLumper. Today she is an experienced FinTec entrepreneur and CEO of RoadSync. She told me, “This was the hardest challenge I ever had in my life.” This is a great story of a woman with no family business background becoming a business person. She was her high school’s valedictorian, who received a full scholarship to Washington and Lee University. Her search for the right career led her into an economic consultancy, Harvard Business School, a huge cred...
2021-05-062h 00Paparelli Podcast17. Entrepreneur vs. VC: The Relationship from Both Sides of the InvestmentBlake Patton is the VC, and Dan Ciprari is the entrepreneur and CEO. Two different jobs, two different responsibilities, and yet they have one mission. That mission is to build a valuable company for themselves, their employees, and their investors.There are good times and challenging times on the way to building a startup. Most discussions focus on the exit. These two men are looking to exit one day. But that day hasn’t come yet. In the meantime, they must find ways to contribute their shared experiences and personalities to make this business go bi...
2021-04-291h 01Paparelli Podcast16. I’m an entrepreneur…who is my market?Bryan Wish is the Founder and CEO of BW Missions. He turns experts into thought leaders. He developed a proven process that creates content which builds communities that creates content. BW Missions has launched many successful first act entrepreneurs and CEO’s into thought leaders by creating a firm brand foundation they can build on.But getting to BW Missions was a ten-year life journey. Bryan experienced family challenges at a very young age that shaped his life vision. He entered college ready to build his career from the first day of classes. His journey is...
2021-04-221h 46Paparelli Podcast15. Building Your Management TeamThe last VC round was $100 million at a $1 Billion dollar valuation. All based on continued hockey stick growth in a vibrant, new, and ever-increasing market.How do you build the management to hit these goals?This is the question Rob and I aim to answer. Rob Forman is the Co-Founder, President & Chief Strategy Officer at SalesLoft.Our discussion is wide-ranging and informative. Our topics include:- Building your first management team- What should be included in a leadership training program (and who should lead it)- Top hiring...
2021-04-151h 50Paparelli Podcast14. The 40-Year StartupHe started a business at 19 while still at the University of Alabama. He quit school and went all in. Simple idea. Instant traction. Multiple pivots. Lots of learning. And forty years later the business was sold. Marty Tighe is an authentic entrepreneur who shares his greatest secret of success. He loves people and respects people. Listen to how Marty created a great business, built a great life, touched thousands, and left a legacy few match in their lifetime.
2021-04-081h 42Paparelli Podcast13. An Entrepreneur's Secret to the American DreamChip Patterson built AmeriPark starting with one parking lot at one restaurant in Buckhead, Atlanta. He was going to Georgia State and took a job parking cars because it paid better than pumping gas. Thirty-years later he sold his nation-wide car parking business to a private equity firm. Chip’s story is the American dream. He shares his secret of success which, like all secrets, is amazingly simple. Do this one thing and you will succeed and succeed bigger and better than you ever thought possible. But it was his servant’s heart and love for the homel...
2021-04-011h 34Paparelli Podcast12. The 2 “Must Haves” to Sell Your Startup to a Big CorpJim Porter has a 50-year tech executive management career. His focus is people. In particular, great performers who are also great leaders who are capable of building great companies. In this episode, we drill down into what corporate execs look for in their acquisition strategy focused on small to mid-sized companies. You’ll learn the two “must haves” your company must have to be interesting to a corporate buyer. If you're missing either one, they’ll walk.Jim acquired my company back in 1981. He identified back then as an up-and-coming leader. I always wondered h...
2021-03-241h 48Paparelli Podcast11. Finding the Money, Angel and the Right Term SheetDave Moeller is a successful serial entrepreneur. An inventor at heart, Dave assigns a high value to the intellectual property he creates. His last deal was sold to a multi-billion dollar company. The sale provided a 10x return to his investors. During his earn-out, he created a new company by working nights and weekends on an integrated hardware-software idea for consumers.Dave raised money from angels on both of these deals. We talk about how to raise money as a first-time entrepreneur. This includes getting the right angel, and the terms to expect. But the second go-around...
2021-03-1759 minPaparelli Podcast10. Insights From a Renowned Angel InvestorSig Mosley is a great friend to the Atlanta technology community. Working with John Imlay, the former CEO of MSA, he led a movement that resulted in an economically vibrant Atlanta technology community. There was little in Atlanta when he started his angel investing career in 1992. And now Sig is the Godfather of Angel Investing.In this conversation, you’ll learn what it takes to be a successful angel investor. And, as an entrepreneur, what you should look for in an angel investor.Rarely do you get to experience a candid conversation with some great in...
2021-03-111h 49Paparelli Podcast9. A Case-Study of a High-Impact Social EntrepreneurBill Nussey is CEO and Co-Founder of Solar Inventions. You know you want your life to count for helping millions, if not billions of people. This is Bill. He had a brilliant executive career, including as COO of a billion-dollar public company. But even that was not enough. It was a building block to ever-increasing higher impact companies. And now he has given it all up for clean and renewable energy. He knew nothing about it three years ago. But he knew if he could build something big in this market, it would impact the world.
2021-03-041h 52Paparelli Podcast8. From Dead to 400% Growth in One (Pandemic) Year!Adam Wexler's PrizePicks was growing revenue at 100% quarter on quarter, and generating lots of cash. Then, in April of 2020, sports world-wide went dark. His revenue hit zero. Thirty days later, corn hole championships started PrizePicks back to revenue, then the NBA, and MLB started back, and he was back in business.Revenue began to skyrocket. It was time to pour money into marketing. That meant going negative and that meant raising money. Wexler was faced with a big decision. Who would be the highest value-added investors for his vertical mark...
2021-02-261h 12Paparelli Podcast7. What’s the Best Market For Your Technology?What’s the best market for your technology?This is a tough question to answer. Dan Ciprari partnered with a brilliant Georgia Tech PhD researcher and formed Pointivo. They secured the tech IP from the university, raised venture capital, and were off and running. But wait. Since everyone could use the technology they had a dilemma. You can’t sell to everyone. You have to pick one or two and specialize. This is how you create a valuable company.Dan shares his approach to addressing this market selection dilemma. And he...
2021-02-171h 43Paparelli Podcast6. Entrepreneur's Dilemma: How Do You Find Your Technical Co-Founder?This new generation of entrepreneurs is steeped in industry experience. They are identifying real industry and social problems. They envision the solution but lack the skill to create the product. I interview two founders at opposite ends of the process. David is currently looking for a tech co-founder. Michael found his tech co-founder. Listen to these two founders tell you what they learned in solving this problem.The SmartPM StoryMichael Pink is the founder, and CEO of SmartPM. Michael was a Deloitte consultant to the construction industry. He provided property...
2021-02-111h 24Paparelli Podcast5. Inside the Mind and Heart of an AngelLearn what a real angel investor looks like and what a real angel wants in this conversation with Bill Midgette. Today, Bill leads Fairburn Equity Partners, and is an active angel investor focused primarily in the southeastern United States. He is also an active mentor of early-stage technology companies through Georgia Research Alliance and Georgia Tech, with the Advanced Technology Development Center and Venture Lab. Bill serves on the Boards of Directors of Carbice Corporation, Quest Renewables, Inc., Oncolens, Atlanta Technology Angels and the GRA Venture Fund. Further, he sits on advisory boards of seven co...
2021-02-0449 minPaparelli Podcast4. It's Never Too Late to be an EntrepreneurI found out I was wrong, again. I believed people knew early in life that they were going to create something from scratch and do their own thing. All of the entrepreneurs I talked to over the years confirmed this. Then I met Frank and he proved me wrong. After 25 years of working for others, he became an entrepreneur. Frank became an entrepreneur at the encouragement of his clients and suppliers. This is a great story, filled with lessons, and insights that just might change your life.Frank's BioFrank J. Tighe, Cha...
2021-01-281h 43Paparelli Podcast3. Starting the Right Company - An Entrepreneur's JourneyWells Burke is a serial technology entrepreneur. His recent venture, Rocket Partners, is a cloud-focused enterprise software development services company. Over the last 3 years, Rocket has grown to nearly 50 developers in 3 countries focusing on retail and healthcare Azure and AWS custom critical projects. In 2010, Wells founded LIFT Retail, a point of sale (POS) connected digital shopper marketing platform. Lift became the fastest growing digital ad network in the US scaling from 0 to 10,000 outlets in 3 years. After selling to Verifone in 2012, Wells spent three years building out Verifone's digital marketing properties and product managing Verifone’s $100MM...
2021-01-201h 45Paparelli Podcast2. Building the First Stage of the Sales ProcessI’m very pleased to bring you this conversation with my son, Nick Paparelli. Nick is on the path to becoming a software sales rep. I've watched him learn how to target a prospect, cold-call, qualify, and move the prospect along. He is not yet an entrepreneur like my other guests. Instead, I thought it would be beneficial for entrepreneurs to hear lessons learned from the trenches. No theory here, just practice. I hope you enjoy it half as much as we enjoyed recording it.Nick is a business development rep, BDR, with New Relic (Symbol: NEWR) Nic...
2021-01-1456 minPaparelli Podcast1. Social Media Requires Loving your Audience with Gregg HinthornGregg Hinthorn is the President of Hinthorn Media. He helps people of influence, with a desire to write, tell their story. Gregg is also a TikTok star with over 400,000 followers. In this episode we talk about social media, building a channel, and loving your audience as your primary motivation.If you are a person of influence interested in telling your story through writing you can reach Gregg on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hinthorn/).
2021-01-0759 minPaparelli PodcastHelping Others While Becoming SustainableMy guest is Jack Griffin, the founder, and CEO of Foodfinder.us. When he was 16 years old he watched a 60 Minutes segment that changed his life. He gained a purpose and conviction to help people in need. Now at 22, his impact on this community is incredible. In this interview, Jack takes us on his journey from start to sustainability.
2021-01-031h 02Paparelli PodcastBreaking ThroughMy guest is Louise Wasilewski, the founder and CEO of Acivilate. Louise is an accomplished entrepreneur. She has taken on the challenge of introducing a new product into a mature market, state governments. But she knows her purpose is to serve the forgotten people in our society, seeking a second chance. She can't give up. Come and see what she learned in achieving product-market fit.
2021-01-031h 00Paparelli PodcastThe education system is now a business planning constraintMy guest is Karim Abouelnaga, the founder, and CEO of Practice Makes Perfect. PMP is eliminating the achievement gap for low-income students in NYC. His organization has 180 employees who serve 67 schools, and 7,500 students. After 10 years, he is ready to begin rolling out nationally. A great entrepreneur who understands the poor and education.
2021-01-0359 minPaparelli PodcastHave you outgrown your investors?Jason Moore, co-founder and CEO of Stratasan in Nashville, is my guest. He grew his healthcare analytics company to $4.8mm and profitable on an initial investment of $1.5mm. But he decided he needed new investors with operating experience to get him to the promised land. Watch how he raised $24mm to do it.
2021-01-0347 minPaparelli PodcastDo you have too much perseverance?Rusty Gordon, co-founder, and Chairman of Speedtacs is my special guest. When Anne, his wife, heard Rusty was scheduled to be on this chat, she said, "Why is Charlie talking to you about quitting? You never quit anything in your life." This interview on perseverance will open your eyes to a topic rarely discussed.
2021-01-0348 minPaparelli PodcastAre you missing the secret to enterprise selling?My guest is Patrick Taylor, VP for TechOperators Venture Capital. In his career, Patrick was a software sales rep with Oracle and Symantec. He was employee number 12 at Internet Security Systems which went public and was later sold to IBM for $1.3b. He founded Oversight Systems and raised $35mm from VC's. He shares what he learned in selling to enterprise clients as an early-stage company. Priceless!
2021-01-0356 minPaparelli PodcastFrom Cofounder to LeaderRob Forman made the same transition I did. He went from the tech co-founder to leader. He is now the President and Chief Strategy Officer of SalesLoft. Rob shares how he and Kyle Porter joined forces and built careers and life together. SalesLoft is one of the fastest-growing companies in sales automation in the USA.
2021-01-031h 00Paparelli PodcastLeading in a revenue crisisChris Carneal is the founder and CEO of Booster Enterprises. Booster is a bootstrapped startup. It was growing at 25% year on year until Covid-19. Booster is the market leader helping elementary schools, raise money more effectively using fun runs. On March 13, 2020, the revenue forecast went from $100mm to $0. Chris is an example for all entrepreneurs on how to lead in a revenue crisis.
2021-01-0359 minPaparelli PodcastGetting to the quick exit (after 9 years)My guest is John Hanger, co-founder and CEO of Contact at Once. Started from an idea, nine years and eleven months later, they sold for $66mm! It is a great story on how it takes time and perseverance to build value.
2021-01-031h 00Paparelli PodcastCounter-Culture Selling. It's hard.My guest is Dr. Brian Hill. He is the co-founder, and CEO of HIPnation. Over sixteen years ago, as Brian was leaving his residency program in Urology and surgery, he recognized the way we buy healthcare is broken. From that moment on, he has dedicated his life to solving this problem.
2021-01-031h 00Paparelli PodcastEnterprise sales in a social distanced worldMy guest is Kevin Colon. He is the EVP of Enterprise Sales for SalesLoft. He has landed some big accounts for this fast-growth startup. Names like Google, IBM, and LinkedIn. He shares what he learned about selling these big accounts in this new socially distanced world.
2021-01-0352 minPaparelli PodcastVirtual Communications in a real worldMy guests are Dave Katz, President and COO of Coca Cola Consolidated and Ally Treatto, Director of Talent Development. CCC has 16,000 employees representing a very diverse workforce. They share the challenges they face in communicating in today's socially distant, and racially charged environment. They present a communication framework which they use as their guide for tool selection.
2020-11-2647 minPaparelli PodcastWFH: You're in it togetherMy special guest is David Clapp, the Managing Partner of CarterBaldwin Search. Dave shares the issues he and his employees are faced with in this work from home environment. WFH had an impact on him, personally. And it was this experience that made him a better, more empathetic leader. Dave shares some of his innovative solutions aimed at helping his employees like online school for their children.
2020-11-2647 minPaparelli PodcastBuild it big - Do you have what it takes?Tyler Scriven, CO-founder, and CEO of SaltBox joins me. He will share with us the founder characteristics necessary to build a hyper-growth startup.
2020-11-2648 minPaparelli PodcastWhat to do when your market takes offMy guest is Faraz Zubairi, the founder and CEO of ExamMed. ExamMed is a robust backbone for connecting patients to their doctors. When the world went into lockdown, Faraz made a decision that catapulted his business to stratospheric levels. Faraz shares what he saw before anyone else saw it.
2020-11-2446 minPaparelli PodcastI did a 180 on working from homeMy guest is Dave Payne who is the Managing Director of Techstars Atlanta. He is an accomplished entrepreneur and a startup guru. He told me he refused to work at home. But now that he is forced to do because of Covid-19, he loves it. Come listen to what he learned about managing a complex startup accelerator from home.
2020-11-1346 minPaparelli PodcastHow to achieve the successful pivot?My guest is Ed Buckley, the founder, and CEO of PeerFit. When Covid hit, his customers stopped going to workout facilities. They stayed home. Ed realized this quickly and pivoted quickly, not missing a beat. Listen to learn how he did this pivot.
2020-11-1050 minPaparelli PodcastWhat do you do when your market disappears?My guest is Adam Wexler, the founder and CEO of PrizePicks. Prize picks is a leader in fantasy sports betting. But in March 2020, everything stopped. Tune in to find out what Adam did to ride it out.
2020-11-1048 minPaparelli PodcastProfessional Services How do I get new clients in today’s environment?My guest is John Yates, the managing partner of the technology practice of Morris, Manning, and Martin law firm. John is a great lawyer, community leader, and business developer. Over the last thirty years, he built one of the premier tech-focused law firms in the country. In this podcast, John shares some of his secrets on how to get new clients in a social distancing world.
2020-11-0749 minPaparelli PodcastVenture Capital Is the bar even higher?Blake Patton is the Managing Partner of Tech Square Ventures in Atlanta. They are an early-stage fund with a unique prospecting edge. Blake founded Engage with Georgia Tech and a dozen F100 CEO's looking for innovation. In this episode, Blake talks about the challenges of vetting entrepreneurs and the opportunities in a social distancing world.
2020-11-0750 minPaparelli PodcastKeeping your values in a remote workforceRob Forman is co-founder, and the COO and Chief Strategy Officer for SalesLoft. SaleLoft went from a fast-growth startup to the market leader in the sales engagement space. Much of the success of the company is in its values. But as the workforce grows and is more distributed, the challenge is to sustain those values.
2020-11-0649 minPaparelli PodcastManagement Challenges of a Work from Home workforceRobert Dumas is the founder and CEO of TaxConnex. TaxConnex is a market leader in sales tax compliance. It is a SaaS and services business located in Atlanta, Ga. Jackie Breiter is the COO and joins Robert in this discussion. TaxConnex's employee model was built from scratch as a work from home workforce. They share what they've learned in this episode.
2020-11-0646 minPaparelli PodcastHow to recognize when your market is disappearing My guest is Bob Lasher, founder and former CEO of Application Partners and iPartners. Bob is an accomplished sales executive turned entrepreneur and founder. He built two great companies. The first was all services and the second is a SaaS company. Bob talks about what he did when his services market started to disappear.
2020-11-0548 minPaparelli PodcastShould I spend my cash in anticipation of revenueMy guests are Richard Brock, founder and CEO of SalesTalk. Ralph Bowlin, former CFO of Buypass Systems, an early credit card processor. These entrepreneurs discuss when they believe you need to hold on to your cash and when to spend it to get revenue.
2020-11-0548 minPaparelli PodcastCovid - How to reconfigure office space for social distancingKaren Houghton is the VP of the Atlanta Tech Village in Atlanta, Ga. It is a shared workspace environment for early-stage technology companies. In this episode, Karen speaks to the changes they implemented in reconfiguring their 103,000 square feet for safety and continued customer usability.
2020-11-0547 minPaparelli PodcastStaying close to the customer in an uncertain economyMike Pink is the founder and CEO of SmartPM. Is a SaaS project analytic tool for contractors and developers of complex construction projects. His product keeps the money flowing and the project going. Mike shares part of his formula for success on staying close to his customers.
2020-11-0447 minPaparelli PodcastPPP Loans...Return, Keep, UseFounders and CEO's of small businesses discuss their differing views on the PPP loan program and how it affects their business.Robert Dumas, founder and CEO of TaxConnexChip Schuneman, COO of Integrated Computer SolutionsDarien Sutherland, CEO of BG Ad Group
2020-11-0449 minPaparelli PodcastEconomic Uncertainty? Preserve CashMatt McConnell is the founder and CEO of Intradiem. They are a 40+mm SaaS solution serving the F500 companies with their Call Center Automation and remote teams. Matt came to the conclusion that the Covid lock-down was a major threat to his business. He outlines the actions he took in this podcast.
2020-11-0438 minPaparelli PodcastEarly Covid Impact - What CEO's are deciding and whyJason Smith is the founder and CEO of iStaff, an information technology staffing firm. His customers are F500 IT departments. He joined the call to discuss the decisions he is wrestling with given the uncertainty of the early Covid economic impact.
2020-11-0449 min
Paparelli PodcastIn economic uncertainty - should you spend your cash or save it?Jim Grady is the founder and CEO of HelloPackage. He just raised a Series A and now is faced with the uncertainties created by Covid-19. What should he do? Spend the investors' money to grow the business or protect the cash waiting for more market certainty?
2020-11-0447 min
Decision VisionDecision Vision Episode 28: Should I Raise Angel Capital? An Interview with Charlie Paparelli, Paparelli VenturesShould I Raise Angel Capital? What are the steps involved in raising angel capital? What traits are angel investors looking for in the founder of a startup? Noted angel investor and startup mentor Charlie Paparelli answers these questions and more in a wide-ranging interview with host Mike Blake. Decision Vision is presented by Brady Ware [...]
2019-08-1549 min
Decision VisionDecision Vision Episode 28: Should I Raise Angel Capital? – An Interview with Charlie Paparelli, Paparelli VenturesShould I Raise Angel Capital? What are the steps involved in raising angel capital? What traits are angel investors looking for in the founder of a startup? Noted angel investor and startup mentor Charlie Paparelli answers these questions and more in a wide-ranging interview with host Mike Blake. “Decision Vision” is presented by Brady Ware […]
2019-08-1500 min
Decision VisionDecision Vision Episode 28: Should I Raise Angel Capital? An Interview with Charlie Paparelli, Paparelli VenturesShould I Raise Angel Capital? What are the steps involved in raising angel capital? What traits are angel investors looking for in the founder of a startup? Noted angel investor and startup mentor Charlie Paparelli answers these questions and more in a wide-ranging interview with host Mike Blake. Decision Vision is presented by Brady Ware [...]
2019-08-1549 min