Shows
2025-02-0925 minIdeas to InvoicesMark Josephson, entrepreneur, executive coach and host of the Critical Moments podcastMark Josephson is a seasoned CEO, entrepreneur, executive coach, and host of the podcast Critical Moments. With over 30 years of experience leading venture-backed and private equity-backed companies, he has guided organizations from startups to large-scale success, culminating in multiple acquisitions, including Castiron, Bitly, and Outside.in. Known for his real-world insights and practical strategies, Mark helps CEOs and senior leaders achieve growth while maintaining balance. A passionate leader and storyteller, he brings a unique blend of experience and authenticity to every conversation, drawing on his journey as a leader, coach, and lifelong Bruce Springsteen fan.
2025-01-1728 minIdeas to InvoicesJeff Eversmann, Author of Fooled by Early AdoptersJeff Eversmann has built a dynamic career that spans Silicon Valley startups, commercial real estate, and private equity. With expertise in both technical and financial realms, Jeff has guided companies through transformative growth and strategic challenges. His MSEE, MBA, and CPA certifications, along with his experience in engineering technologies and securing early-stage investments, position him as a leader in navigating product/market fit. Jeff co-founded Long View Technology Ventures, which has invested in 12 tech startups since 2018 and has supported innovation in Central Texas. Jeff also serves as an Adjunct Instructor at Concordia University Texas, teaching Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
2024-10-0330 minIdeas to InvoicesBeth White, Founder of MeBeBotBeth White is a trailblazing entrepreneur and the visionary Founder and Chief Bot of MeBeBot, a groundbreaking company revolutionizing the employee experience through AI-powered solutions. Beth's career began in the multifaceted world of Human Resources, where she honed her skills across various roles in startups and Fortune 100 companies. Recognizing the transformative potential of technology, she made a strategic shift to enterprise software sales within the retail tech industry, specializing in omni-channel mobile solutions. In 2018, Beth founded MeBeBot to infuse innovative Business-to-consumer (B2C) customer experiences into the workplace, digitally transforming how employees interact with their companies. Under her leadership, MeBeBot...
2024-06-1736 minIdeas to InvoicesCarla McDonald, the Austin Women Entrepreneurs Task ForceCarla McDonald is the founder and managing director of Dynabrand Ventures, a boutique investment firm that provides capital and marketing expertise to early-stage consumer goods companies. She also serves as Chair of the Mayor’s Task Force for Austin Women Entrepreneurs, is a mentor at SKU, the nation’s leading CPG accelerator, and was a founding investor in Capital Factory, the nationally known startup accelerator and entrepreneurial hub. Before founding Dynabrand Ventures, Carla ran her own marketing firm for 15 years, advising companies ranging from startups to multi-billion-dollar corporations and the portfolio companies of L Catterton, a leading private equity firm...
2024-05-3133 minIdeas to InvoicesManu Rehani, founder of IssaManu Rehani is an innovator in applied behavioral and cognitive linguistics. He is an inventor, mentor, and board advisor for a number of startups. After successfully exiting two tech ventures, he’s currently focused on developing a new class of emotion-aware AI for general application in custom GPTs and LLMs and specific use in mental health and wellness applications to foster a healthy relationship with self and others through AI. His significant prior achievements include authoring patents fundamental to cloud storage and AI language models, and he plays an active role in mentoring at various incubators at the University of...
2024-04-2331 minIdeas to InvoicesAaron Thweatt, Founder of Respark CoachingAaron Thweatt is a dynamic executive coach and seasoned HR professional who strongly believes in the power of an individual’s potential. His mission is to create meaningful connections between talent, ambition, and purpose by empowering executives and entrepreneurs to bridge the gaps in their personal and business lives, allowing them to thrive in their zone of genius. Before establishing his practice, Respark Coaching, Aaron forged an impressive career across diverse industries, including financial services, oil and gas, sales and marketing, human resources, and program management. During his tenure, he was pivotal in shaping executive and broad-based com...
2024-03-2421 minIdeas to InvoicesAruni S. Gunasegaram, serial entrepreneur and Austin startup veteranAruni S. Gunasegaram is a serial entrepreneur and start-up veteran. She consults and speaks on entrepreneurship, customer success, operations, building trust, and managing expectations with strategic stakeholders via Customer Concentric. She most recently worked with SecureAuth in the cybersecurity authentication industry. Aruni also served as Director of Operations at the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), where she supported dozens of entrepreneurial CEOs and managed the incubator's internal operations. She was a cofounding parent of the Magellan International School (a nonprofit language immersion, International Baccalaureate school) and an adjunct lecturer on entrepreneurship at Th...
2024-03-0433 minIdeas to InvoicesGary Stephens, CEO and Co-Founder of Vendidit Gary Stephens, CEO and Co-Founder of Vendidit, is a visionary technology executive and is an industry thought leader in reverse logisitics. He is the Imagineer of both Vendidit, launched in 2024, and Renew Logic, which started from a single pallet of recyclables in 2016. His previous career includes working on the Windows 95 launch team, being head of Windows NT updates under Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, and building a third electronics recycling company to $400 million from scratch. His positive contributions to ethical business practices and industry improvements led to testifying before Congress in 2018 about smart, diverse employment policies. Beyond tech, Gary's...
2024-02-2741 minIdeas to InvoicesNilima Achwal, Founder of The Female Founders LabNilma Achwal is the founder of The Female Founders Lab, a virtual accelerator and coaching service in Austin. Achwal moved to Austin about a year and half ago from Los Angeles. Before launching The Female Founders Lab, Achwal founded Iesha Learning, a technology education platform to teach sexual education to junior high school students in India. She also launched and ran SEED, a social enterprise incubation program at Villgro Innovations Foundation in Chennai. In addition, she was a Kiva Fellow in Bolivia and wrote business case studies at the University of Michigan.
2024-01-2331 minIdeas to InvoicesKelsey August, Super Angel and managing director of DealFlowNow Kelsey August is the founding managing director of Austin-based DealFlowNow, a new VC firm that plans to invest $60 million into early-stage companies. August is also a super angel investor with forty active portfolio companies and a serial entrepreneur who founded Lone Star Direct, a marketing firm when she was 24.
2023-10-0122 minIdeas to InvoicesPetr Marek, Co-Founder of Invoice HomeIn 2011, Petr Marek co-founded Invoice Home, formerly known as Wikilane, with Jiri Hradil. Invoice Home provides invoice generating software designed for the invoicing needs of small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs worldwide. They’ve grown the company to more than 8 million accounts worldwide and last January, Invoice Home relocated its headquarters to WeWork on Congress in Austin. The company was attracted by Austin’s tech scene, quality of life, music scene, and access to talent, Marek said. The company is bootstrapped and caters to small businesses with most of its customers outside the...
2023-09-2323 minIdeas to InvoicesAlex Theuma, Founder and CEO of SaastockAlex Theuma is the Founder & CEO of SaaStock, an events and media company focused on supporting B2B SaaS founders to gain traction, grow and scale their businesses. In 2015, Alex began SaaScribe, a blog focused on all things SaaS, which quickly developed into a podcast, The SaaS Revolution Show, and eventually launched SaaStock, the world's only SaaS festival. Today SaaStock comprises two world-famous SaaS festivals, Dublin & Austin, local meetups across the globe, an exclusive founders-only membership program, educational content, and more.
2023-05-2532 minIdeas to InvoicesMadhu Basu, CEO and Founder of UnnanuMadhu Basu is the founder of Unnanu, a tech startup from Austin that helps businesses by using a patented contextual weighted keyword search. The company currently provides a simple solution for businesses to have resumes mapped to jobs contextually. Previously, Basu founded and served as CEO of PMCS Services, which provided IT consulting, staffing, and solution services for more than 16 years. He also co-founded IntegrateUS, Prachas Technologies, and The Fresh Vegetable Package company.
2023-02-1922 minIdeas to InvoicesJosh Wilson, CEO of SciPlayJosh Wilson is SciPlay's Chief Executive Officer. The company makes social casino games like Jackpot Party Casino and Goldfish Casino and others. Wilson recently moved to Austin where SciPlay has a large office. In this episode, he talks about the company’s current outlook and plans for the future.
2023-01-2821 minIdeas to InvoicesNick Soman, Founder and CEO of DecentNick Soman is the founder and CEO of Austin-based Decent, a startup that offers affordable healthcare plans, low-cost payroll and HR to businesses. Nick is a serial entrepreneur. He sold his first company to Napster, and has worked to build the Kindle at Amazon and the growth team at Gusto. In this episode, Nick talks about why he founded Decent and its mission to bring affordable healthcare to everyone.
2022-11-0922 minIdeas to InvoicesMichael Ramirez, Founder and CEO of Austin-based evisioMichael Ramirez is the Founder and CEO of Austin-based evisio, which focuses on search engine optimization. Evisio helps agencies, marketers, SEO consultants, and businesses of all sizes get results, no matter your level of SEO knowledge. It takes the guesswork out of SEO by telling you exactly what to do to improve your rankings and makes SEO simple by bringing all the parts of your SEO process together in one place.
2022-08-2926 minIdeas to InvoicesLarry Warnock, managing partner of Ring Ventures, Alumni VenturesLarry Warnock is the Managing Partner of Ring Ventures, part of the family of funds run by Alumni Ventures. He is a seasoned venture-backed tech executive with multiple exits via acquisition or IPO. He was most recently the President & CEO of Olono, an AI platform for sales effectiveness. Previously he was the CEO of Gazzang, a provider of big data security software (acquired by Cloudera), and Phurnace, a provider of DevOps software (acquired by BMC Software). After moving to Austin from Silicon Valley, Larry was a Venture Partner at AVLabs,
2022-04-1638 minIdeas to InvoicesTyler Norwood, Founding Managing Partner of Antler in AustinTyler Norwood is Managing Partner for venture capital firm Antler in the United States, where he oversees the firm’s US growth and geographic expansion. Tyler joined Antler in 2017 as its fifth full-time employee and has been instrumental in launching and scaling the firm. Antler recently launched in Austin and is accepting applications for its first cohort, which will begin in March.
2022-02-1235 minIdeas to InvoicesErin Reilly, Founder Texas Immersive InstituteErin Reilly is a creator, educator, and strategist with 20 years of experience inventing new approaches, products, services, and experiences about storytelling, engagement, and learning through immersive technology. As an educator, Erin currently is Professor of Practice and founding Director of Texas Immersive Institute, the interactive and immersive media hub at the University of Texas at Austin focused on research, projects, and learning the future of media.
2022-02-1032 minIdeas to InvoicesJoel Trammell and Alicia Thrasher, authors of The Manager's PlaybookJoel Trammell is a successful tech entrepreneur, CEO, and investor, and Alicia Thrasher is a successful executive who has led programs for eBay/PayPal, Google, and Anheuser-Busch. Together, they are the co-founders of Manager360, a certification program for managers. They have also co-authored a book, The Manager’s Playbook. The book and certification program are largely based on their 30 years of management experience. During their lifetime, people spend about 90,000 hours working and 70 percent of the workforce reports being disengaged at work. The Manager360 program teaches managers how to coach their employees, so they are content and productive....
2022-02-0130 minIdeas to InvoicesCarolyn Lowe, Founder and CEO of ROI SwiftIn 2015, Carolyn Lowe founded Austin-based ROI Swift, which helps market emerging consumer brands. Her team grew an apparel and footwear company from $0 to $12 million in sales in 18 months. Carolyn’s goal is to help 1000 brands grow profitably. So far, ROI Swift has helped nearly 200 including Tiff's Treats, Tecovas, Austin Eastciders, and Esker Beauty. In September, Carolyn wrote a book “Business Growth Dos and Absolute Don’ts Applied Wisdom from My Work with Dell, Costco, Amazon, and Multiple startups.” In 2015, Carolyn Lowe founded Austin-based ROI Swift, which helps market emerging consumer brands.
2021-12-0926 minIdeas to InvoicesShubhi Bhonsle-Rao, Founder of UplevylShubhi Bhonsle-Rao is the founder and CEO of uplevyl, an Austin-based tech company that makes an app and digital platform geared to professional women. Shubhi is a former senior executive with Alphabet, Tesco, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Ford Motor Company, among others. She also sits on the board of directors of Open Lending, Center for Global Development, International Center for Research on Women and is an honorary advisory council member of the Federal Reserve San Francisco.
2021-11-2021 minIdeas to InvoicesLisa Hendrickson, Co-Author of Boom! Deciphering InnovationLisa Hendrickson is the co-author of Boom! Deciphering Innovation: How Disruption Drives Companies to Transform or Die. She is an adjunct professor teaching in the Sustainable Design Program at FIT in NYC and is a pioneer in sustainable product manufacturing. Hendrickson is also a serial entrepreneur, innovative strategist, an Inc. 500 and TEDx speaker. She is also a member of the leadership committee that organized 50/50 Women on Boards, the Austin chapter.
2021-11-0536 minIdeas to InvoicesDaniel Barel, Co-Founder and CEO of REE AutomotiveDaniel Barel is the Co-Founder and CEO of REE Automotive, leading all product strategy, technology innovation, and business operations. A disruptive thinker who builds and leads game-changing companies, Daniel is shaping the way the world moves people and cargo with never-before-seen advances in EV technology. REE Automotive is establishing a manufacturing site in Austin.
2021-10-2925 minIdeas to InvoicesMatt Wursta, CEO and Founder of WurstaMatt Wursta is CEO and Founder of Wursta, a Cloud advisory business that helps organizations of all sizes compete. He is a former Googler. His experience in the Google ecosystem has allowed Wursta to identify opportunities to help organizations large and small take advantage of the operational efficiencies of Google’s Cloud. Wursta was listed as No. 440 on this year’s Inc5000 list, ranking in the top 500 for the second year in a row.
2021-10-2236 minIdeas to InvoicesHenry Yoshida, CEO and CO-Founder of Rocket DollarHenry Yoshida is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rocket Dollar, the fastest-growing self-directed IRA platform. Henry Yoshida is a Certified Financial Planner™ and second-time founder. In the past, Henry was the founder of venture capital-backed Robo-advisor Honest Dollar, acquired by Goldman Sachs, was the founder of MY Group LLC, a $2.6 billion assets under management retirement plan advisory firm, and spent 10 years at Merrill Lynch.
2021-10-1424 minIdeas to InvoicesGillan Taddune, CEO of Banyan WaterGillan Taddune is the Chief Executive Officer of Banyan Water, the makers of data-driven water conservation software. Previously, she served in leadership positions at Recyclebank, EnerNoc and Green Mountain Energy. She also served as chief economist for the Public Utility Commission of Texas. She currently sits on the Austin Technology Incubator’s water Advisory Board where she advises startups in the water conservation field. Gillan has served as a member of the board of directors of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, and the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association. She holds a MA from The John Hopkins University and a BA...
2021-10-0731 minIdeas to InvoicesBenish Shah, Startup Operator and Co-Founder COVID Tech ConnectBenish Shah is a go-to-market strategist who specializes in growing companies via brand, revenue, and product. She’s worked across tech, media, and consumer packaged goods. A licensed lawyer, she’s been published in Forbes, Refinery29, and more. She is also the author of two children’s books. Shah co-founded and served as CEO of a fashion tech startup. She also served as director of marketing strategy at SAY Media, VP of Marketing at Raised Real, which was acquired by Once Upon a Farm, and head of product marketing at Refinery29.
2021-09-2835 minIdeas to InvoicesAndrew Eye, Co-Founder and CEO of ClosedLoop.aiAndrew Eye is a serial entrepreneur based in Austin, Texas. His most recent startup is ClosedLoop.ai, which he co-founded a couple of years ago and he serves as its CEO. ClosedLoop.ai recently closed on $34 million in Series B funding to expand the reach of its data science platform for the healthcare industry. Earlier this year, the company won the healthcare AI contest: $1.6M CMS AI Health Outcomes Challenge. In this podcast, Eye discusses how ClosedLoop.ai is building better machines to create algorithms tailored to a healthcare client's specific da...
2021-08-2730 minIdeas to InvoicesIngrid Vanderveldt, CEO and Founder of Empowering a Billion WomenIngrid Vanderveldt is an American businesswoman, media personality, and investor. She was the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Dell and is the founder and current CEO of the Empowering a Billion Women. Vanderveldt was the creator and manager of the Dell $100 million credit fund, and a member of the 2013 United Nation's Global Entrepreneurship Council
2021-04-3031 minIdeas to InvoicesJoe Lonsdale, Founder 8VC, Co-Founder Palantir, Addepar, OpenGovJoe Lonsdale wants to build an experimental tech Beta City on the outskirts of Austin with transportation tunnels, autonomous vehicles, robots, flying drones, smart buildings, and all the latest technology applications. Lonsdale is an entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, who recently moved 8VC, his investment firm, and The Cicero Institute, a public policy think tank, to Austin from San Francisco. The project would rival Neom, the revolutionary $500 billion new city that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is building in the desert bordering the Red Sea. That project is slated to be complete by 2025 and...
2021-01-0731 minIdeas to InvoicesPat Matthews, Founder and CEO of Active CapitalPat Matthews is the Founder and CEO of Active Capital, based in San Antonio. The firm recently announced it has closed on its second fund worth $25 million. Matthews knows what it’s like to build a company from idea to exit. While a college student at Virginia Tech, he co-founded Webmail.us. He helped build Webmail.us into a $10 million business which sold to Rackspace in 2007. Then he spent six-year in executive positions at Rackspace as a Racker. He has invested in dozens of startups as an angel investor before founding Active Capital.
2020-12-2030 minIdeas to InvoicesLanham Napier, Co-Founder and CEO of BuildGroupLanham Napier is the Co-founder and CEO of BuildGroup, an Austin-based venture capital firm, founded in 2015. Previously, he served as CEO of San Antonio-based Rackspace where he led the company from $1.5 million in revenue to more than $1.5 billion in revenue during his 13-years there. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Rice University. He is also the author of Billion or Bust! Growing a Tech Company in Texas, which was published last year.
2020-11-2534 minIdeas to InvoicesLeigh Christie, Austin Chamber's SVP of Global Technology and InnovationA native of Austin, Leigh Christie has seen the city change from a sleepy college town to a high tech boomtown. Today, she serves as senior vice president of global technology and innovation at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. She's also a lawyer who previously served as executive director of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas and served as director of Lemonade Day Austin, which is geared to getting youth involved in entrepreneurship. In this episode, Christie talks about the 2020 A-List Austin Awards, which has broadened its scope this year to include m...
2020-08-2832 minIdeas to InvoicesJess Gaffney, CEO and Executive Director of Women@AustinJess Gaffney, CEO and Executive Director of Women@Austin, discusses the new angel network the organization just launched called Beam Angel Network. Its focus is on funding female-founded startups in a variety of industries. Applications open up on Sept. 1. Notley Ventures has pledged $250,000 in initial funding for the network.
2020-08-2531 minIdeas to InvoicesBrian White, CEO and Co-Founder of PicklesmashBrian White is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Mashup Foods, maker of Picklesmash, salsa made from pickles. He founded the company a few years ago with his wife, Liz, in Waco, Texas. Last year, Picklesmash participated in the consumer packaged goods accelerator SKU in Austin. During SKU, the company went through a rebranding and grew its distribution channels. Soon the product will be available in Central Market.
2020-08-2423 minIdeas to InvoicesBen Lamm, CEO and Founder of HypergiantBen Lamm is a serial technology entrepreneur and the founder/CEO of Hypergiant. Previously, he was the founder/CEO of Conversable acquired by LivePerson, founder/CEO of Chaotic Moon Studios acquired by Accenture and Team Chaos, acquired by Zynga.
2020-07-1152 minIdeas to InvoicesCarla Piñeyro Sublett, Chief Marketing Officer at NICarla Piñeyro Sublett is the Chief Marketing Officer at NI, an Austin-based tech company that is publicly traded with revenues of more than $1 billion annually and more than 7,700 employees. She is the former Chief Marketing Officer at Rackspace where she helped define the corporate strategy, pioneered a new visual identity, and doubled the company’s brand awareness. Prior to her role at Rackspace, she spent 15 years at Dell in a variety of executive leadership roles across sales, marketing, and operations. In this episode, she talks about NI's recent rebranding and its focus on "Engineering Ambitiously."
2020-06-1919 minIdeas to InvoicesChristy Cardenas, managing partner of Ecliptic Capital Christy Cardenas is the managing partner of Austin-based Ecliptic Capital, LLC, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups. Cardenas joined the firm a year and a half ago after working in private equity and investment banking focused on the energy industry. Cardenas recently published a new report on "The Silver Linings" of the COVID-19 Pandemic. "The Silver Lining is a deep dive into the macroeconomic conditions in the United States in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the opportunity that lies in entrepreneurship and innovation," according to the report. I...
2020-05-2929 minIdeas to InvoicesSteve Cody, Co-Founder of RuckifySteve Cody is the co-founder of Ruckify, which it bills as the world’s largest peer to peer rental platform. He is a serial entrepreneur who has built and sold six different rental companies and a software company. And in March, at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Ruckify moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas.
2020-05-2438 minIdeas to InvoicesBrian Cruver, CEO and Founder of AlertMediaBrian is an entrepreneur, investor, author, and is currently the CEO of AlertMedia, a company he founded in 2013. AlertMedia is now the world’s leading provider of emergency communication software, used by over 2000 enterprise companies in 100 countries to keep employees safe from threats to their health and safety. Before AlertMedia, Brian co-founded Xenex in 2008, where he and his team developed a germ-killing robot, now used in over 500 hospitals around the world, preventing infections and saving thousands of lives each year. He is also an investor and adviser to dozens of early-stage startups through his investment firm, Marketdriver Ventures. Brian’s fo...
2020-04-0827 minIdeas to InvoicesMorris Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of XenexMorris Miller is the Chief Executive Officer at Xenex Disinfection Services, based in San Antonio. Morris co-founded and provided the initial funding for Xenex, which produces a robot used to disinfect healthcare facilities, nursing homes, schools and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities and other environments. Previously he co-founded Rackspace Managed Hosting. Morris also founded Curtis Hill Publishing, the first company to publish Texas case law on CD-ROM, which sold to Thomson Legal Publishing. On this episode of Ideas to Invoices, Miller discusses how Xenex robots are being used to clean environments that have come into contact with the Coronavirus. I...
2020-03-0537 minIdeas to InvoicesDavid Perez, Founder of Lumen Insurance TechnologiesDavid Perez launched Lumen Insurance Technologies in 2016. He saw a need in the marketplace for someone to provide insurance policies to funded technology startups. Lumen’s clients have included Opcity, Strangeworks, Vault, previously known Student Loan Genius, Rocket Dollar, Valkyrie Intelligence, Kronologic, Living Security and others. Lumen provides policies for startups with products like directors and officers’ liability insurance, general liability, and commercial property insurance. Lumen is based at Galvanize in downtown Austin. In this episode of Ideas to Invoices, Perez talks about the maturation of Austin's technology industry, greater access to funding, the InsureTech boom in Austin and oppor...
2020-02-1029 minIdeas to InvoicesSean Foley, Co-Founder Nine Banded WhiskeySean Foley co-founded Nine Banded Whiskey in 2014 in Austin and launched the product two years later. In 2018, he became CEO of the company and is leading the company's growth phase. It is available in 12 states and recently inked a deal with the Los Angeles Rams to be the featured whiskey in the Rams' football stadium. Foley has a background in sports and entertainment. He previously served as venture capital and media executive for Raptor Group. He is also a partner in Austin Sports & Entertainment. And he is a three-time national swimming champion for the University of Texas at Austin.
2020-01-3048 minIdeas to InvoicesLLoyd Armbrust, Co-Founder and CEO of Own LocalLloyd Armbrust, the co-founder and CEO of Own Local, an automated digital ad platform for local media, talks about the changes in the newspaper industry and journalism in the latest edition of Ideas to Invoices. Own Local, founded in 2010, has gone through the Y-Combinator Accelerator and has raised $3.4 million in venture capital and another $3 million in debt financing. The Austin-based company works with more than 4,000 publications worldwide on creating digital ads.
2019-12-1631 minIdeas to InvoicesWill Young, Co-Founder and CEO of SANA BenefitsWill Young is the Co-Founder and CEO of Austin-based SANA Benefits, a healthcare insurance technology startup. Young founded the company with Nathan Hackley in 2017. The two formerly worked together at Justworks, a benefit and payroll company in New York. They moved SANA Benefits to Austin a year ago and since then they have grown dramatically from less than 10 employees to almost 40. The company also recently closed on $ 3.6 million in seed-stage venture funding. And it moved into larger headquarters at Manchaca and Slaughter Lane in South Austin.
2019-12-1220 minIdeas to InvoicesJoyce Durst, CEO and Co-Founder of Growth Acceleration PartnersJoyce Durst is co-founder and CEO of Growth Acceleration Partners, a software company in Austin, Texas. GAP offers analytics, cloud, mobile and QA services. Before co-founding GAP, Durst served as CEO of venture-backed startup Pinion Software, a security software company. She also served as a senior executive at BMC Software where she oversaw a $200 million division. And she began her career at IBM. In this podcast, she talks about bootstrapping GAP to more than $20 million in revenue and 300 employees.
2019-10-2618 minIdeas to InvoicesJay Hallberg, Founder and Chairman of SpiceworksJay Hallberg, founder, and chairman of Spiceworks founded the Austin-based company with three friends in 2006. They built Spiceworks into a giant social network for information technology system administrators and tech professionals. Recently, Ziff Davis bought the company for an undisclosed price. At SpiceWorld, an annual convention held at the Austin Convention Center, Hallberg talked about the company's evolution and plans for future growth.
2019-09-3032 minIdeas to InvoicesJay Hallberg, Founder and Chairman of SpiceworksJay Hallberg, founder, and chairman of Spiceworks founded the Austin-based company with three friends in 2006. They built Spiceworks in a giant social network for information technology system administrators and tech professionals. Recently, Ziff Davis bought the company for an undisclosed price. At SpiceWorld, an annual convention held at the Austin Convention Center, Hallberg talked about the company's evolution and plans for future growth.
2019-09-3032 minIdeas to InvoicesBrandon Austin, flounder and Adam Kahn, Sheephead of Operations at GoFishCamBrandon Austin, flounder of Go Fish Cam, and Adam Kahn, Sheephead of Operations of Go Fish Cam, talk about the Austin-based startup's growing market for its underwater cameras. Unorthodox Ventures, a venture capital firm and business incubator started by Carey Smith, founder of Big Ass Fans, acquired Go Fish Cam in March of 2019. It's one of the first investments Unorthodox Ventures has done. Go Fish Cam is now working out of the same offices as Unorthodox Ventures and working to expand its market. Meanwhile, the cameras are not only being used by anglers worldwide to h...
2019-09-1228 minIdeas to InvoicesCarey Smith, Founder of Big Ass Fans and Unorthodox VenturesCarey Smith sold Big Ass Fans, the company he founded in Lexington, Kentucky, for $500 million in December of 2017 and then moved to Austin. He bought Lance Armstrong’s 8,800 square foot home near downtown in 2018 and launched Unorthodox Ventures, an Austin-based business incubator and VC firm that invests in innovative companies with great products. Smith runs Unorthodox Ventures with a small group of former employees, known as the Kitchen. They are headquartered in an office park off Friedrich Lane in South Austin. To date, Unorthodox Ventures has invested in Tushy Bide...
2019-09-1251 minIdeas to InvoicesSheela Marshall and Natalie Merrick, founder of Tequila SheelaSheela Marshall and Natalie Merrick founded Tequila Sheela, a tequila company, in 2014. And in 2016, Tequila Sheela won a double gold medal for its Sheela Reposado Tequila, and Silver Medals for its Sheela Blanco Tequila and Sheela Anejo Tequila in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. That is quite an accomplishment and something Tequila Sheela is proud of, Marshall said. The organic tequila products are made on an organic blue agave small family farm in Jalisco, Mexico.
2019-09-0322 minIdeas to InvoicesAmos Schwartzfarb, Managing Director of Techstars AustinAmos Schwartzfarb is the managing director of Techstars Austin. He took over the job from Jason Seats in 2015 and has graduated three classes of startups under his direction. Before joining Techstars, Schwartzfarb served as head of customer development at Joust. Previously, he was vice president of customer development at BlackLocus, which was acquired by The Home Depot in 2012. And he was co-founder and served as Chief Operating Officer of mySpoonful, which was acquired in 2011. He also served as an executive with Business.com, which was acquired by RH Donnelly in 2007. And he spent five years...
2019-08-2425 minIdeas to InvoicesBob Metcalfe, Ethernet Inventor on the 46th Anniversary of EthernetEthernet’s 46th anniversary is Wednesday, May 22nd and on this occasion, Silicon Hills News has done a special edition Ideas to Invoices podcast with Bob Metcalfe, founder of Ethernet.
2019-05-2249 minIdeas to InvoicesBarry Mione, Co-Founder of SaveDayBarry Mione is a Co-Founder and President of SaveDay.com, a startup that provides 401K plans to small businesses. SaveDay, with four employees, is relocating from California to Austin. Mione is currently participating in the latest SputnikATX cohort. During the podcast, Mione discusses how the company got started, the growing need to provide 401K retirement plans to individuals who work for small companies and plans for its future growth. SaveDay has about 2,000 participants currently and manages more than $20 million. Before launching SaveDay, Mione served as vice president at BNY Mellon and he previously served as senior director o...
2019-04-2629 minIdeas to InvoicesSridhar Vembu, CEO and FounderSridhar Vembu, CEO and Founder of Zoho, just announced plans to move Zoho's corporate headquarters from Pleasanton, Calif. to Austin, Texas. Vembu discusses plans for the Austin campus and mentions he would like to create an Indian village there where employees work, play and live. Founded in 1996, Zoho is financially bootstrapped and plans to remain that way. The company does not participate in merger and acquisition activities largely because of the negative impact on customers associated with these transactions. Its extensive software repertoire, which includes 48 applications, is created exclusively and meticulously in house.
2019-04-1334 minIdeas to InvoicesDavid Sikora, CEO of ALTRDavid Sikora, a software industry veteran and former executive chairman at Stratfor, a global research, and intelligence platform, is the CEO of ALTR. Sikora is noted for executing the first internet software IPO in Texas with The ForeFront Group, and previously served in key leadership roles at Digby, Motive and Pervasive Software. ALTR launched its cybersecurity platform built with blockchain technology last June with $15 million in venture capital and after being in stealth mode for almost four years.
2019-03-2937 minIdeas to InvoicesAdeo Ressi, CEO of Founder InstituteAdeo Ressi is the CEO of the Founder Institute, a startup launch program that operates in over 200 cities worldwide. He is also a repeat entrepreneur who has sold two $1 billion companies, and he is a recognized mentor for fast-growing technology businesses. He spoke at SXSW in Austin on entrepreneurship. In this episode of Ideas to Invoices, Ressi talks about finding and pursuing your passion, traits for entrepreneurs, emerging global tech hubs and more.
2019-03-1741 minIdeas to InvoicesJeremy Rossmann, Co-Founder of Make SchoolJeremy Rossmann is the co-founder of Make School, a computer science and software engineering school, based in San Francisco. He founded Make School in 2012 with his high school friend, Ashu Desai. Rossmann dropped out of MIT and Desai dropped out of UCLA to create Make School which now offers an accredited two-year Bachelor's Degree to its students. Make School is disrupting higher education. Make School only gets paid when its students land a job after graduation making $60,000 a year or more. Many of its students make far more than that. They have landed jobs at Facebook, Google, Tesla, Amazon...
2019-03-0833 minIdeas to InvoicesAmber Gunst, CEO of the Austin Technology CouncilAmber Gunst is the CEO of the Austin Technology Council. She took over the job in January after serving as interim CEO since last May/ She is determined to help ten Austin software companies reach $1 billion in revenue and another 100 reach $100 million in revenue in the next ten years. Austin is one of the leading technology centers in the country and it’s going to continue to expand, Gunst said. And the Austin Technology Council, founded in 1992, is one of the most instrumental organizations for established companies that are earning at least $1 million per year in...
2019-03-0752 minIdeas to InvoicesChris Shonk, managing partner of ATX Seed VenturesChris Shonk is managing partner of ATX Seed Ventures, a venture capital firm launched in Austin, Texas in 2014. The firm has already raised two funds, which are committed. It will announce shortly its third fund. In this podcast, Shonk talks frankly about what it takes to land a VC investment. If you're raising capital, it's well worth the investment of your time. In addition to being a VC, Shonk is an entrepreneur. He has co-founded an investment bank, and has operated, advised, and invested in consumer service and tech companies for fifteen years
2019-02-2554 minIdeas to InvoicesMark Rolston, founder of argodesignMark Rolston is the founder and chief creative at argodesign in Austin, Texas. He is a renowned designer with a 25-year career of creating for the world’s largest and most innovative companies. Before argodesign, he was the chief creative officer of frogdesign. He joined frog in 1994 and co-founded the software design group, quickly establishing it as the largest part of frog’s business and a major force in its growth. Since then, he has continued to produce groundbreaking work for Fortune 500 clients for some of the world’s top brands including Disney, Ford, GE, Microsoft, and AT&T.
2018-12-011h 01Ideas to InvoicesMatt Sanchez, Founder and CTO of CognitiveScaleFive years ago, Matt Sanchez founded CognitiveScale. He serves as the fast-growing AI company's Chief Technology Officer. CognitiveScale this week held Cognite2018 in downtown Austin. Sanchez sat down with Ideas to Invoices to talk about Responsible AI and the company's core products. "Sanchez serves as the principal architect and product visionary for the company’s cloud-based cognitive applications across various industries. Recently, he was the leader of IBM Watson Labs and was the first to apply IBM Watson to the financial services and healthcare industries. Before joining IBM, Matt was Chief Architect and employee number three at Webify, which was...
2018-10-2427 minIdeas to InvoicesJohn Zanni, president of AcronisJohn Zanni, President of Acronis, talks about the company's partnership with Williams Martini Racing Formula One team ahead of the Formula One race weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Acronis, a data protection and storage company, provides data protection software to the Williams Martini Racing team including backup, disaster recovery, software storage, and file sync and share. Formula One is one of the world’s most technologically advanced sports. Every Grand Prix weekend Formula One teams capture hundreds of gigabytes of telemetry data, and produce terabytes of engineering and test data at t...
2018-10-1909 minIdeas to InvoicesCristal Glangchai, founder of VentureLab and author of Venture GirlsCristal Glangchai, PhD, was the Founding Director of the Blackstone LaunchPad and the Director of the Texas Entrepreneurship Exchange at the University of Texas in Austin. She's also the Founder and CEO of VentureLab, a non-profit that runs experiential learning programs in youth tech entrepreneurship. And she is the author of the bestselling book: Venture Girls.
2018-10-1916 minIdeas to InvoicesEric Bear, founder of MONKEYMediaEric Bear is the founder and CEO of Austin’s MONKEYMedia, an award-winning, independent R&D lab. Its patent portfolio includes in-house inventions that date back to 1992 and are incorporated in more than 184 million movies distributed on DVD & Blu-ray. Bear has over 30 years experience crafting and establishing user experience strategies for major corporations and is the first-named inventor on over 100 software and hardware patents and patent applications. Products based on his inventions are used every day by millions of people and thousands of companies. Bear is also a partner at Capital Factory. He is a men...
2018-09-2633 minIdeas to InvoicesDoreen Lorenzo, founder of the Center for Integrated DesignDoreen Lorenzo is the founder of the Center for Integrated Design and the Assistant Dean of the School of Design and Creative Technology at the University of Texas at Austin. Lorenzo is a co-founder of mobile video insights firm Vidlet. She also previously served as president of Quirky and frog.
2018-09-1728 minIdeas to InvoicesCesare Fracassi, UT Austin's Director of Blockchain Initiative Cesare Fracassi is a Univerity of Texas McCombs School of Business associate professor of finance and he's the director of the newly formed Blockchain Initiative. On this podcast, Fracassi discusses blockchain technology and UT's new program. The Blockchain Initiative at Texas McCombs is focused on providing support to faculty to do research on blockchain technology, Fracassi said. It also provides students with opportunities to learn more about blockchain technology, he said. And it’s the nexus for blockchain technology to work with companies in Austin and San Antonio, he said. Ever since humanity beg...
2018-08-1528 minIdeas to InvoicesSalen Churi and Brian Tochman, general parnters of Trust VenturesTrust Ventures, an Austin-based venture capital firm has raised an initial $35 million fund, backed by Koch Disruptive Technologies, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, to invest in and support “innovative startups facing public policy barriers. Salen Churi and Brian Tochman lead Trust Ventures. Previously, Churi worked as a law professor and founded the Innovation Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. He also practiced law at Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin. Tochman was the co-founder, president and chief operating officer of Kasita, an Austin-based startup that builds modular homes and apartments. Previously, he worked as vice...
2018-06-2026 minIdeas to InvoicesMorgan Flager, general partner, Silverton PartnersMorgan Flager, general partner of Silverton Partners, one of Austin's oldest home-grown VC firms, is an active investor in early-stage technology startups in Austin. He currently serves on the boards of Aceable, Alert Media, Convey, Outbound Engine, Trendkite, The Zebra, Turnkey Vacation Rentals, SourceDay, and Rollick. Before joining Silverton, Flager worked with FTC Capital in San Francisco and in corporate development for Ingrian Networks and as a product manager at Kintana. He grew up in Santa Cruz, California and earned his B.S. from Stanford University. Last month, Silverton announced it had raised a $108 million fun...
2018-06-1832 minIdeas to InvoicesLorenzo Gomez III, Author of the Cilantro Diaries and Tech EntrepreneurLorenzo Gomez, III is the author of the Cilantro Diaries, business lessons from the most unlikely places. He also serves as a Director at Geekdom and the 80/20 Foundation, a philanthropic organization, and co-founder of Tech Bloc, and he serves as board member, advisory board member and mentor for a variety of local and national tech and entrepreneurial organizations. He has also worked at two startups, Rackspace and CityVoice.
2018-06-1533 minIdeas to InvoicesJean Belanger, Co-Founder and CEO of Cerebri AiJean Belanger is co-founder & CEO of Cerebri Ai which helps Fortune 500 companies find their customers’ voice. Jean has helped three software companies get started, the first being Metrowerks, went public on NASDAQ and was later sold to Motorola. Next came Reddwerks, a pioneer in the Internet of Things providing solutions to major retailers including Walmart, CVS, and Best Buy. And finally, Cerebri Ai in 2016. Jean holds an MSc in Finance from the London School of Economics.
2018-05-2248 minIdeas to InvoicesJose Ancer, partner at Egan NelsonJose Ancer is a tech and venture capital focused corporate partner in the Startup and Emerging Technology Group of Egan Nelson and the firm’s Chief Technology Officer. He received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and his Law Degree from Harvard. He represents early-stage companies across a variety of tech-focused industries and in multiple cities. Ancer is also the author of the hugely popular Silicon Hills Lawyer blog. He writes blog posts on core startup law and finance concepts and also aggregates useful resources for entrepreneurs.
2018-05-1923 minIdeas to InvoicesBob Fabbio, serial entrepreneur and founder of eRelevance Corp.In 1989, Bob Fabbio quit his job at IBM and launched Tivoli Systems in Austin with no money. The company created one of the largest software categories in the world – Enterprise Systems Management. The company went public in 1995. And IBM acquired it in 1996 for $743 million. Fabbio also founded electronic document delivery startup Dazel which Hewlett-Packard bought in 1999 for $180 million. Today, Fabbio is on his eighth startup and tenth CEO job. In 2013, Fabbio founded eRelevance Corp., a next generation customer engagement service for small businesses such as healthcare providers to better engage their patients. eRelevance has reported si...
2018-05-0526 minIdeas to InvoicesScott Willis, founder of Tequila 512Scott Willis is a pioneer in the Austin tequila industry. He is the president and founder of Tequila 512, Austin's first tequila brand. And in this podcast, Willis talks about his entrepreneurial journey, which wasn't an easy one from quitting his day job and going all in on his tequila venture. He created an award-winning tequila that costs less than $30 a bottle. But before that, he had to travel to Mexico and learn everything about the tequila industry. In Jalisco, Willis found Luis Trejo, master distiller at La Cofradia. That is still his distillery...
2018-04-2329 minIdeas to InvoicesSarah Koch, VP of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation at SXSWAt SXSW Interactive 2018, Sarah Koch, vice president of social innovation at the Case Foundation, talks about the organization's participation in the conference, the focus on diversity and inclusion and its Faces of Founders and Be Fearless campaigns.
2018-04-0217 minIdeas to InvoicesFCC Commissioner Brendan CarrFCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is in Austin for South by Southwest and to talk about his plan to ensure that U.S. infrastructure policy is 5G ready. 5G is the next generation of broadband Internet and it promises to bring all kinds of advancements in technology including applications for the Internet of Things, autonomous cars, telemedicine and more. In this special edition of the Ideas to Invoices podcast, Carr discusses why it's important for the U.S. to be a leader in adopting and deploying 5G Internet. And later this month, the FCC will meet on...
2018-03-0818 minIdeas to InvoicesGabe Wilcox, co-founder of MineralSoftGabe Wilcox, CEO and Co-Founder of MineralSoft, based in Austin, a software platform that allows mineral rights holders to manage and analyze their portfolios in real time, talks about operating a startup in Austin, Texas. MineralSoft announced in February that the company raised $4 million in funding. The company has 20 employees and expects to double in size this year. MineralSoft recently entered into a joint venture with oil and gas data analytics company Drillinginfo, another Austin-based startup.
2018-03-0829 minIdeas to InvoicesRyan Wuerch, founder of DOSHRyan Wuerch is the founder and CEO of DOSH, an app that gives consumers cash back for purchases. Dosh is quickly growing from 10 people a year ago to more than 100 by the end of the year. And already, millions of consumers have downloaded the app, which has given back more than $19 million in cash to consumers since launching in beta mode last fall. Wuerch is a serial entrepreneur. Before Dosh, he launched Solavei, which was acquired in late 2015. He also founded Motricity and spent a decade building it into a global leading mobile data services pr...
2018-02-2338 minIdeas to InvoicesAlamo Reality's Michael McGar and Chipp WaltersMichael McGar and Chipp Walters are leading a team to create an Augmented Reality app for the Alamo. Imagine Virtua, an Austin-based company, formed to create the Alamo Reality project to bring the Alamo battle to life using Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality applications. McGar and Walters, both serial entrepreneurs, say it's not the technology, but the storytelling and content that is key to providing an authentic experience for viewers. The app is set to be released next month during San Antonio’s 300th birthday celebration and the 182nd anniversary of the Battle of th...
2018-02-2244 min
Ideas to InvoicesHugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer of SXSWHugh Forrest is the chief programming officer of South by Southwest that takes place every March in Austin. SXSW Conference & Festivals is a ten-day-long convergence of tech, movies and music now entering its 32nd year. SXSW Interactive has gained an international reputation as one of the world’s most influential tech events. It’s been called Spring Break for Geeks among other nicknames. An Austin native, Forrest graduated from Austin High School and majored in English at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Before SXSW, Forrest held several jobs in the newspaper indu...
2018-02-0144 min
Ideas to InvoicesRobyn Metcalfe, Food+City FounderRobyn Metcalfe is the founder and director of Food+City at the University of Texas at Austin. Food+City i a platform for telling stories that inspire innovation in the food system. Dr. Metcalfe is a food historian at the University of Texas at Austin, founder and visiting research scholar and lecturer in the College of Natural Sciences. Metcalfe has written for and produced Sunset Magazine, authored two non-fiction books, served as a visiting research scholar at Boston University and founded a non-profit educational farm in Maine. She has a Cordon Bleu certificate fo...
2017-12-0322 min
Ideas to InvoicesMike Millard, Managing Director MassChallenge TexasMike Millard is the managing director of MassChallenge Texas, a nonprofit startup-friendly accelerator. In this podcast, Millard talks about the inaugural MassChallenge Texas program. The first cohort of 100 companies launches early next year. The deadline to apply to MassChallenge Texas is Dec. 5th. In this podcast, Millard gives the code MCTXIronMike to save 100 percent on the application fee. The accelerator doesn't take any equity and at the end, it gives away $500,000 in cash awards. MassChallenge Texas is part of a global network of accelerators in Boston, London, Mexico City, Geneva and Jerusalem.
2017-11-2222 min
Ideas to InvoicesRob Hirschfeld, CEO and Founder of RackNRob Hirschfeld is the founder and CEO at RackN, an Austin-based startup which makes software to automate data centers and managing servers well. Hirschfeld has 15 years of experience in the cloud and infrastructure industry. He has served four terms on the OpenStack Foundation Board and previously worked as an executive at Dell. He’s also a serial entrepreneur. Hirschfeld founded RackN in October of 2014, the company has received some angel investment, earns money and is currently raising money. He founded ProTier in 1999, which Surgient founded in 2004. He also founded Zehicle and has worked fo...
2017-11-1828 min
Ideas to InvoicesJan Ryan, Serial Entrepreneur and Director of Creative Entrepreneurship at UT COFA Jan Ryan is a serial entrepreneur, software tech executive, and investor. She has spent 38 years building expansion stage companies, resulting in four acquisitions and one IPO. She is a mentor, advisor and angel investor in several Austin startups. She is also a partner at Capital Factory, an Austin-based accelerator, as well as Techstars. Recently, Ryan joined the University of Texas at Austin in the newly created position of Director of Creative Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the College of Fine Arts. Ryan also founded in 2013, Women@Austin, an organization that helps women founders succeed....
2017-11-0428 min
Ideas to InvoicesWill Mitchell, Co-founder of Contract SimplyIn this episode of Ideas to Invoices, Will Mitchell, co-founder of Contract Simply, discusses how his startup pivoted from a consumer marketplace called Renovate Simply to a business to business enterprise software company for the construction and banking industry. The co-founders of Contract Simply spent last summer in Mountain View, California in the Y-Combinator program. Mitchell and his co-founder, Andrew Latimer, moved to California, rented an apartment and furniture and spent three months in the accelerator program. The company initially got rejected when applying to the Y-Combinator program as Renovate Simply. So they re-examined their...
2017-10-2729 min
Ideas to InvoicesStephanie Breedlove, co-founder of Care.com HomepayStephanie Breedlove founded Breedlove & Associates in 1992. She built the nanny payroll company into a multi-million-dollar business with more than 10,000 active clients. In 2012, Care.com acquired her company for $55 million and it became Care.com Homepay, according to an article in Forbes. Today, Breedlove is an angel investor with the Central Texas Angel Network and an author of "All In: How Women Entrepreneurs Can Think Bigger, Build Sustainable Businesses, and Change the World," published in 2017.
2017-10-0639 min
Ideas to InvoicesAdam Salamon, Entrepreneur in Residence at Next Coast VenturesAdam Salamon is the first Entrepreneur in Residence at Next Coast Ventures, an Austin-based venture capital firm. Salamon most recently served as co-founder and chief operating officer of Perk Inc., a rewards and engagement platform that went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. RhythmOne PLC acquired Perk earlier this year. RhythmOne PLC acquired Perk earlier this year for more than $40 million in a stock deal. In this episode of Ideas to Invoices, Salamon talks about how Perk initially built a web-based browser that rewarded users with Perk points. But they quickly learned that t...
2017-09-3038 min
Ideas to InvoicesAndrea Kalmans, principal, Lontra VenturesThis episode of Ideas to Invoices features Andrea Kalmans, a principal of Lontra Ventures. is an angel investor, She is an angel investor, mentor and technology advocate in Austin. She has worked as an executive with Dell and Salomon Smith Barney in its media investment bank in New York City. She earned her MBA from UT Austin and she has degrees in finance and economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. At Lontra Ventures, Kalmans focuses on the firm's technology portfolio with investments in artificial intelligence, analytics, audio and video, big data, d...
2017-09-1530 min
Ideas to InvoicesChris Saum and Teresa Evans, partners of RealCo Seed Fund ProgramChris Saum and Teresa Evans are partners in the RealCo Seed Fund Program, based at Geekdom in San Antonio. They oversee the admissions, mentoring, training and fundraising process for business to business technology startups in the portfolio. The program accepts startups on a rolling basis through applications on its website and other sites. Saum also regularly travels to recruit new startups. The 15-month long program focuses on providing networking, capital, mentors and other resources to early stage startups. The program is currently accepting applications. Startups in the program have the ability to receive u...
2017-09-0826 min
Ideas to InvoicesLiveOak Venture Partners Krishna Srinivasan and Telestax Co-Founder Ivelin IvanovIdeas to Invoices features a discussion with Krishna Srinivasan, general partner with LiveOak Venture Partners and Ivelin Ivanov, Co-founder and CEO of Telestax, one of the firm’s portfolio companies. Srinivasan is a co-founder of LiveOak Venture Partners and has been investing in early stage Texas-based companies and entrepreneurs since 2000. Prior to founding LiveOak, Krishna was a Partner at Austin Ventures. Before joining Austin Ventures, Krishna was with Motorola where he wrote large scale optimization software for supply chain planning and worked with a variety of business units on strategic and operational issues. He started hi...
2017-09-0129 min
Ideas to InvoicesChris Burney, Executive Director of the San Antonio Angel NetworkChris Burney is the executive director of the San Antonio Angel Network, founded in 2016. Previously, he was a manager and senior financial analyst for Rackspace, the San Antonio-based Web hosting company. He also worked as an analyst for Thomson Reuters, J.P. Morgan and as a summer associate for Sterling Stamos, a private equity group. Burney received his MBA from the University of North Carolina and his Bachelor's degree from Duke University. He also grew up in San Antonio and graduated from Alamo Heights High School. As the head of the San...
2017-08-3126 min
Ideas to InvoicesBen DyerBen Dyer is a well-known entrepreneur in Atlanta and Austin who founded Peachtree Software in 1978. He ran that company until 1981 when it sold to Altanta-based Management Science America, shortly before the debut of the IBM PC. Peachtree Software was one of the original software programs to run on the IBM PC. Dyer then launched Comsell, an interactive media company, which he sold to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Next, he founded Intellimedia, which created CD-ROMs focused on sports education. In 2015, he was a founder of a Georgia-based life sciences corporation. In addition to being a...
2017-08-2333 min
Ideas to InvoicesIdeas to Invoices, Episode 18, Season OneChris Treadaway founded Polygraph Media in 2011. The company, based at WeWork at the Domain in Austin, has 10 employees and it focuses on Facebook advertising for large customers like McDonalds and Cheddars. Previously, Chris worked as group product manager of Web strategy at Microsoft. And he was a founder of Startfor, a global intelligence firm, based in Austin. In this interview, Chris talks about how Polygraph Media has created Internet advertising technology that drives traffic and revenue via Facebook advertising for customers like McDonald's, Fox TV and Six Flags. The company, which started out at...
2017-08-0836 min
Ideas to InvoicesSara Brand and Kerry Rupp, general partners of True Wealth VenturesSara Brand and Kerry Rupp, are general partners of True Wealth Ventures, a $20 million venture capital fund based in Austin and focused on investing in women led companies in the sustainable consumer and consumer health industries.
2017-07-2826 min
Ideas to InvoicesJohn Price, CEO of VastJohn Price is the CEO of Vast.com, and before that he worked as a marketing executive at Between Markets, which sold to Inovis. He is also a Trilogoy alumni and spent 11 years as vice president of marketing and business development there. He was critical to the company’s growth from $0 to $250 million in revenue. Previously, John was a director of technical marketing at Neuron Data and an AI associate at Shell Oil. John holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
2017-07-2135 min
Ideas to InvoicesMIchael Girdley, entrepreneur and managing director of the Geekdom FundMichael Girdley is an entrepreneur and investor from San Antonio. He also worked as a programmer in Silicon Valley and he earned a computer science degree with honors from Lafayette College. He is also the author of several books on Java programming with a focus on web applications Michael served as the CEO of his family business Alamo Fireworks, he is also the Chairman of Codeup, a coding bootcamp company he cofounded. And Michael is a venture capitalist and the managing director of the $20 million Geekdom Fund and a partner at RealCo, a...
2017-07-0632 min
Ideas to InvoicesClinton Phillips, founder of Medici A Native of South Africa, Clinton Phillips, is a serial entrepreneur. He recently founded Medici, a HIPAA-complaint telemedicine app, in Austin and raised more than $24 million in venture capital funding. Previously, he founded and ran Aspen-based Aspen Back & Body, physical rehab clinic, that he sold to Laser Spine Institute. And Phillips founded another medical advice company called 2nd.MD in 2011 in Houston. Phillips is also a former chiropractor, sports therapist, and rugby player.
2017-06-2234 min
Ideas to InvoicesJohn Berkowitz, Co-Founder Yodle, Co-Founder OJO LabsJohn Berkowitz is CEO & Co-Founder of OJO Labs in Austin. Before launching OJO, John founded Yodle, a provider of local online advertising and marketing services, in 2005 with his childhood friends Ben Rubenstein and Nathaniel Stevens. They grew it to a large company with more than 1,500 employees and $200 million in revenue. In 2016, Web.com bought Yodle for $342 million. At Yodle, John served many roles including launching and managing the 50m enterprise division of Yodle and most recently managing all strategic relationships for Yodle as Vice President of Business Development. In...
2017-06-0833 min