Shows
Powderkeg - Unvalley#3 Sam Parr: From The Heartland to The Hustle | The Art of Business & Building a NetworkSam Parr retired with over $20 Million by age 31, just a few years after losing his job offer at AirBNB. In this interview, Sam goes deep into his journey to share his biggest lessons learned while creating an impressive career and company.
Parr is the founder of The Hustle, a daily newsletter providing an entertaining delivery of the latest news in business and tech. He was born in Missouri, grew up in Tennessee, and moved to San Francisco after graduating from college. His media company The Hustle was acquired by Hubspot in 2021 for a reported $25-30 million dollars.
In today’s ep...
2023-01-1052 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#0 UNVALLEY: New Podcast Launch | How and Why We’re Relaunching the PodcastSix years ago we launched the Powderkeg Podcast Igniting Startups. We were featured in top publications like Entrepreneur and Forbes. Since 2017 we have interviewed over 100 execs at dynamic tech companies beyond Silicon Valley.
We are excited to bring this Podcast back in a way that honors both the Powderkeg community and the amazing growth that we have seen in the Unvalley community over the last several years.
In Episode 0 we are going to catch you up on what we’ve been up to for the last two years.
2022-12-1454 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#150: Innovation and Creativity in Minneapolis StartupsThe Minneapolis-St. Paul area may not be as known for tech as San Francisco, but the city has seen huge potential in building a rising tech scene. And when it comes to the Midwest, you couldn't ask for a more tech-friendly city. Minneapolis-St. Paul is home to some of the top accounting firms in the country and overall has a healthy and satisfying tech environment. And with so much untapped potential left for opportunists to unlock...it's hard not to consider becoming a part of the incredible tech ecosystem that's brewing in the Twin Cities.
In today’s episode, I sp...
2020-09-0142 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#149: Why 90% of Startup Companies FailHow much more impactful could your company's marketing strategy be if you could understand exactly what content to create and the best places to publish it in order to keep up with the present trends?
Well in today’s episode, you’ll hear from Shawn Schwegman, Co-founder and CSO of Demandjump. DemandJump focuses on taking the uncertainty out of digital marketing by allowing you to see what your customers and competitors are doing, and what you should be doing next to get out ahead.
Shawn had only 5 minutes on the Powderkeg stage to pitch his company DemandJump to a live pane...
2020-08-2515 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#148: Building a Product Focused CultureLeaders that are able to build and create a culture of openness and collaboration are able to encourage their team to better self-develop, communicate, and share what they are learning so they can capitalize on the actions they are or could be doing better, and promoting and pushing one another to do the same. But where do we begin in order to create and maintain this idea that we call product culture?
In today’s episode, I speak with Marcus Cobb, a technologist, product designer, public speaker, and successful entrepreneur. Marcus is a highly sought-after investor, mentor, and strategist for nu...
2020-08-1849 min
Powderkeg - UnvalleyPITCH: Lessonly | Indianapolis, INMost companies understand the importance of employee training, with the highest priority being the need for creating the right training resources for increasing effectiveness talent training programs. But for most companies, it always seems to come with a struggle of creating the right training tools and applications for company talent. That's why on today's episode of Powderkeg Pitch, we're featuring a company focused on helping teams learn and practice, and do better work.
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Kyle Lacy, Chief Marketing Officer of Lessonly. Lessonly is a simple learning management software that helps teams learn, practice, and...
2020-08-1414 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#147: Why Tennessee Volunteered To Be The Next Home for StartupsIn the last decade, the cities of Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville have grown Tennesse tech tremendously, attracting skilled talent, founders, and investors from across the country. Today, we talk with a CEO of a public-private partnership with Entrepreneur Centers in seven regions across the state focused on connecting and nurturing innovative startups, and tight-knit communities—mixed with a healthy dose of Southern hospitality—that has become a secret weapon on their journey toward startup success.
On today's episode of the Powderkeg Podcast, we're talking with Van Tucker, CEO at Venture Capital Firm, Launch Tennessee.
As CEO, Van Tucker supports the...
2020-08-1139 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#146: Growth and Opportunity in Indianapolis StartupsIndianapolis Tech is growing at full throttle, but there is still so much untapped potential.
From startups to tech giants, high-growth companies have found Indianapolis (Indy) to be an ideal home. The city is outpacing the competition by providing experienced talent, lower cost of living, and a productive environment of innovative founders, investors, and leaders. That’s why Powderkeg teamed up with several Indiana organizations to gain insight into growth and innovation happening in the unique tech community in Indianapolis, IN.
Our research results were compiled in the first-ever Indianapolis Tech Census Report and released to the public back in Fe...
2020-07-2853 min
Powderkeg - UnvalleyPITCH: BOS Framework | Nashville, TNBeing able to launch a tech product can always be a difficult step for startups. The technical issues in the first product are common, and user feedback during the early days of rollout often more focused on the problems than the product's actual features. This can make it difficult for teams to focus on what's working and what isn't. Luckily, in today's episode of Powderkeg Pitch, we brought on someone focused on eliminating this massive headache for startups.
In today’s pitch episode of the Powderkeg Podcast, you’ll hear from Sashank Purighalla, Founder and CEO of BOS Framework. BOS Fram...
2020-07-2415 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#145: Anti-Racism, VC, and Startup Careers in the MidwestThere’s no doubt that companies, big or small, can have a tremendous influence on the community. And in being a founder, CEO, and a leader, it can come with great responsibility. I'll avoid using any more famous superhero references but wanted to share the most important facts I gained from this conversation.
Almost 81% of all VC firms don't have a single Black investor. In a sample of 160 firms with more than 2 people, only 5 have at least 2 Black investors. Another study found that Blacks are underrepresented in the executive ranks of startups by almost 82%.
This is a major social issue th...
2020-07-2148 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#144: Best Ways to Overcome an Entrepreneur's Challenge With Eric Tobias of High AlphaWhen entering the world of entrepreneurship, it can come with a long list of challenges. Rewarding challenges, but many unpleasant challenges nonetheless. The biggest battle for most would-be entrepreneurs is taking the first step. It may be quitting a job, putting up a website, entering a startup accelerator program, approaching somebody with your first elevator pitch, or simply announcing your new venture to the world and family and committing the dollars and credit you have.
That’s why on today’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast we bring in experienced entrepreneur and venture investor, Eric Tobias. Eric has started several comp...
2020-07-1427 min
Powderkeg - UnvalleyPITCH: Roger Deetz of SpringbukOur national fight against COVID still continues in round 1. And it has been a roller coaster ride for most digital health startups here in 2020 so far. After jumping out of the gates fast, U.S. digital health companies have raised an extraordinary $5.4 billion in venture capital support across the first six months of 2020. The first half of 2020 saw more support than any previous first half from years 2011 to 2019. And there is one Indianapolis company that is capitalizing on this growth and doesn’t plan on stopping.
In today’s pitch episode of the Powderkeg Podcast, you’ll hear from Roger Deetz...
2020-07-1014 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#143: The Importance of Employer Branding and How to Scale It with Tiffany Sauder of Element ThreeBranding. It’s one of the essential elements of any company, but it’s also something startup owners might not know how to create. Fortunately, our guest on this episode of the Powderkeg Podcast is a leading expert on all things related to the brand (including employer branding). She breaks branding down to its simplest components for time-strapped founders.
Tiffany Sauder is the founder and CEO of Element Three, a full-service marketing agency in Indianapolis. In just 13 years, Tiffany has grown the company into the largest marketing agency in all of Indiana and an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company for five years runn...
2020-07-0752 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#142: How Personal Brand Can Help You Make a Bigger Impact with Chris Ducker of YoupreneurWhether you’re an employee or entrepreneur, creating your personal brand has grown and become more critical. If you want to start trusting and valuing your instincts more and maybe even advance your career, it’s time to start setting yourself apart with personal branding.
In a tech industry, that’s all about people; the importance of personal branding never goes away.
There are 21 million salespeople in this country, and that number is set to keep growing. What are you doing to stand out in the crowd? Whether you’re looking to strengthen your sales, improve the relationships you have with cli...
2020-06-3045 min
Powderkeg - UnvalleyPITCH: Yaw Aning of MalomoMost consumers are excited after they buy, so they check their tracking number according to UPS, 2.42 times after they have ordered an item. And if you're shipping 1,000 packages, that's 2,420 brand impressions. Some, if not most of the well-known brands, will always send that type of traffic to a shipping company like FedEx or UPS or any third-party company. Which entirely disrupts the customer's entire branded experience. It has never been more challenging to get and retain customer attention, so every touchpoint with the customer must be hit. But what if there was a company that was offering this kind of...
2020-06-2614 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#141: How to Build a LinkedIn Sales Strategy that Gets Results w/Morgan J. Ingram and Jake DunlapNo one wants to hear a sales pitch on LinkedIn. But sales teams that use LinkedIn wish to create valuable connections, which can eventually lead to sales opportunities. By making a few minor tweaks, you can turn your LinkedIn profile into a remarkable lead generator and sales tool, but first, you have to focus on creating a positive impression. What are some key ways to accomplishing this?
In today’s episode, you’ll hear an interview, and LIVE Q&A, we recently hosted with some of the leading influencers who are using LinkedIn that are using the platform to build incr...
2020-06-2325 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#140: How to Make the Most of LinkedIn and Jumpstart Your Career w/Ashley Watkins and Ana LokotkovaWhether you’re planning a full-scale job hunt in 2020 or simply thinking about your future steps, career-wise, you may have to do some prep work to reach your full potential on your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is one of the first places prospective employers scope you out. So what are some of the ways you can make the most out of your profile?
For these reasons, our two special on today’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast are experts when it comes to helping job seekers use the power of LinkedIn. Our first guest is Ashley Watkins, a Job Search Coach, and...
2020-06-1636 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#139: How To Break Into Tech With Ruben Harris Of Career KarmaThe tech industry is growing rapidly. But there’s a shortage of skilled talent to match all the new positions being created. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has estimated that by 2026, careers in software development will increase by 24%. Which translates to a lot of open career opportunities in tech.
Fortunately, there are many ways for people to learn these skills such as following the traditional path of a college. But for some, going to college isn’t an option – it’s expensive, it takes years and it can be difficult to get a career after graduation. Being self-taught is great, but can...
2020-06-0955 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#138: Better Finance and Forecasting for When Plans Change with CLA & Peerview DataAs Advisors and VCs urge funded tech companies to cut costs and freeze spending. New forecasts and models are urgently needed to be created for the new world we live in (which is still changing day to day). CFOs will have to ultimately take charge of more significant strategic planning, budget distribution, and forecasting across their organization to help ensure essential changes are implemented successfully. But how do you go about prioritizing what may come next?
In today’s episode, we’ll be sharing a recent interview and LIVE Q&A we hosted with special guests Patrick Smith, Managing Principal of P...
2020-05-2643 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#136: How to Sleep Better and Live with Less Stress: John Hunckler, Meditation Coach and HypnotistLife in lockdown has not been easy, with a large majority of the country still facing an increase of financial pressures and many families are under severe stress of canceled trips, separation from friends, and the large abundance of time being cooped up at home has been putting stress and restful sleep on everyone. Luckily, there are some positive practices to help us relieve this large amount of stress and restore our restful sleep cycles.
On today’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast, we’ll be sharing a recent interview and LIVE Q&A we hosted with a special guest, my d...
2020-05-121h 00
Powderkeg - UnvalleyPitch: Ashlee Ammons of MixtrozNo matter how you approach it, networking is always inevitable, particularly for entrepreneurs. And the number one issue when it comes to a lot of networking events is that they don’t deliver the results they always promise. But attendees aren’t the only ones who suffer from poorly coordinated and awkward networking events. Event hosts and sponsors lose out on the opportunities to collect valuable data about their attendees that can be used to determine audience demographics and adjust marketing and planning for all future events. So who is tackling this opportunity to help event hosts collect valuable data to h...
2020-05-0716 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#135: Managing and Building Teams in Difficult Situations with Dave Hickman and Sarah Conroy of CLAThere is not a successful company in the world that hasn’t faced its share of hard times. Whether it be a mass withdrawal of leadership, a shift in the company’s goals and objectives, or even a lack of resources and funding, there will be times when employees will find themselves extremely overwhelmed, confused, and on edge, especially right now.
According to a recent study completed by Gallup, most disengaged employees can cost companies up to astonishing $550 billion a year in loss of productivity, not to mention the hiring and onboarding costs to replace them. This can become troublesome for...
2020-05-0550 min
Powderkeg - UnvalleyPITCH: Incident Response Technologies | Denver, COThe emergence of the novel coronavirus has led many tech leaders into a massive struggle on the ways to solve and respond to the pandemic crisis. Tech companies are now having to step up to the plate and help play a part in the coronavirus pandemic response, tapping into their wide-ranging resources to help experts get a handle on the spread of the virus and to fill in gaps in the government’s response. But it’s not clear yet how — or to what extent — those efforts could help bring the crisis under control.
In today’s episode of the Powderkeg...
2020-04-3016 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#134:How to Execute Through an Economic Downturn with Scott Kraege of TechstarsAll signs are pointing to the same thing: there is an economic downturn on the horizon. If you’ve just recently started or have been running your company for a while, you probably know that there are always ups and downs when it comes to owning or starting a business. Market conditions can change, outside events like the global pandemic can affect demand, and sometimes, growth can stall simply due to cyclical reasons. As a leader, you have to prepare for such inevitable downturns. Even as you gather the right resources towards growth, it’s also essential to create a cont...
2020-04-2850 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#133: Leading Through a Crisis with Heather Haas of ADVISAWhen confronted with a crisis like COVID-19, that has brought global uncertainty and record-high market volatility. Tech leaders are now forced to change the way their companies operate almost entirely overnight. This has had enormous ramifications for how companies are working. Leaders are now expected to be able to support and communicate with their teams with full transparency. But there is a silver lining, and that silver lining is that uncertainty can create opportunity–especially for companies that could be born or survive this uncertain period. This isn’t the first time our world has felt the burden of an econ...
2020-04-2137 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#132: Communicating During Crisis: PR Expert Advice with Kim JeffersonWhile most people don’t ever want to experience a crisis situation like we are all involved in now, it’s always important to be prepared. Being able to effectively communicate during a crisis has now become a necessary and essential skill that every person needs to understand, especially when sharing empathy—for each other, for the community, and for customers. As you consider the best way to communicate with customers and as we collectively navigate the coronavirus crisis, consider the best ways you can share empathy in your communication during this moment and how to effectively share your message with o...
2020-04-1443 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#131: How Entrepreneurs Can Turn Mistakes Into Opportunities with PJ Taei of UscreenAs an entrepreneur, creating new paths and making mistakes are part of the expected journey and adventure that we can face. Taking risks, especially those that don't pay off when launching when trying to launch a tech product, can become a very rocky adventure for a startup. These rocky experiences can lead to problems, business mistakes, or even the common technical issues that surround the product you're trying to produce. And this all ends up as a waste of the entrepreneur's most valuable resources: time and money. So how can entrepreneurs turn those rocky entrepreneurial mistakes into a more significant...
2020-04-0742 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#130: Personal Finance for the Tech Community with Pete The PlannerHave you been watching the economic roller coaster and wondering how it’ll affect your wallet? The fallout from coronavirus has been substantial, and economic cracks are beginning to emerge. Small business owners are beginning to share supply chain problems and a loss of sales. The travel industry is falling apart, and consumer spending has drastically decreased as consumers pull back from their usual daily purchases and routines. This has cause for alarm as many start to question their financial stability and outlook for the future, but being able to make the right adjustments and decisions in an ever-changing economic en...
2020-03-3157 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#128: Remote Work: Liam Martin of Time Doctor & Staff.com on Benefits, Obstacles, and Best PracticesHere at Powderkeg, we believe the rising remote work movement goes hand-in-hand with our mission to connect the amazing tech communities growing and thriving across the country. In a previous episode of the Igniting Startups podcast, the CEO and COO of Indianapolis-based Formstack shared how they built an exceptional remote culture spanning seven countries. Today, serial entrepreneur Liam Martin joins us to share some remote work secrets of his own.
Liam is no stranger to managing a remote team. As co-founder of employee time-tracking software Time Doctor and Staff.com, Liam oversees a team of over 80 people living in 27 countries...
2020-03-171h 03
Powderkeg - Unvalley#127: Helping Podcasters and Marketers Be Successful with Lindsay Tjepkema of CastedPodcasts are becoming more popular than ever. Just last year, Edison Research completed a study showing that 51% of Americans over the age of 12 have listened to some sort of podcast just in the year 2019. As a fan, it appears that while the demand for podcasts is increasing, the supply of shows available is growing at an extreme pace. To turn into competition in this deeply saturated market, current podcasts have had to be able to market themselves well but are struggling to find efficient tools in order to promote themselves than most other products. So what can they do to...
2020-03-1013 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#126: Minding The Gap Between Great Teams and Data with Mark Clerkin of High AlphaThere is no doubt about it: the tasks that happen in data science can be complicated and unpredictable. The way we do business, sell, promote, strategize, and grow in today’s world ultimately has become data-driven. That’s why you need to have a good team that can keep up with the data. Now most organizations, from small start-ups to large-scale companies, are using the help of data scientists and data-minded folks to tap into the many opportunities that data possesses. And some companies are only just getting started.
Today’s episode is part of a recording of a live firesi...
2020-03-0321 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#125: The Power of Data Science and Visualization with Brian Lehman of HoneyThe world data science, analytics, and machine learning are rising up at an incredible pace, and companies are now searching for experienced data scientists and those who have a great fascination with data to sift through this growing goldmine of data and information to help them make and drive swift business decisions. Just recently, in a study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they estimated that an incredible 11.5 million jobs will be available in the field of data science by the year 2026. So what’s sparking this incredible growth and demand of data science? And what is the area of...
2020-02-2525 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#124: MBA In Corporate Innovation and Startup Disruption with LISNR Founder Rodney WilliamsHey there, Powderkeg fans! Nick here from the Powderkeg team. This is episode #124 of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, the show for entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators building remarkable tech companies in areas outside of Silicon Valley.
Today we’re revisiting an interview where Matt spoke with entrepreneur Rodney Williams, Co-Founder, and CCO of LISNR, one of the most disruptive companies in the IoT space and the world of mobile connectivity.
Rodney is a passionate entrepreneur with years of experience and tech expertise under his belt and is currently responsible for leading all of the LISNR’S commercial activities and strategy execution as their...
2020-02-1846 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#105: The Innovator’s Guide To Pitching, Startup Funding, And Hiring A PlayersFor today’s episode, we’re going back to where Matt spoke with Chris Heivly who is currently the VP of Innovation at Techstars. Chris is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, investor, and startup founder. And was one of the original Co-founders of MapQuest, a free Web and mobile mapping service that empowers consumers to engage with and navigate the world around them.
This interview is from all the way back in November 2016, and we’re bringing it out of the archives because later this month on October 16th, we’re hosting a VIP event at the Industrious location in Raleigh, North Ca...
2019-10-0131 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#104: How to Develop Your Inner Visionary Superpower with Scott Hill of PERQHey there Powderkeg fans! Nick here from the Powderkeg team. This is episode 104 of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, the show for entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators building remarkable tech companies in areas outside of Silicon Valley.
Today we’re revisiting an old episode where Matt spoke with Scott Hill. Scott is an entrepreneur and the Co-founder of PERQ. PERQ is an Indianapolis based high-growth marketing technology company that empowers businesses with more visibility into their digital marketing efforts and sales. Scott shows what it takes to be a visionary leader, having succeeded at it himself at PERQ where he guided the company as...
2019-09-2440 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#101: Why Working Moms Make Great Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Employees with Sarah Lacy of PandoThis is episode 101 of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, the show for entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators building remarkable tech companies in areas outside of Silicon Valley.
Today we’re revisiting an old episode where Matt spoke with Sarah Lacy. Sarah is a serial entrepreneur and a longtime journalist, founder of tech news site Pando Media, and founder of Chairman Mom, which launched in 2018.
The interview is from March 2018, and we’re bringing it out of the archives because it’s one of our favorites. Let’s get to it!
Let’s face it: In the tech world, motherhood is often viewed as something...
2019-09-0339 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#98: How To Attract The Most Extraordinary TalentHaving the right talent acquisition process can give tech companies the upper hand to attract the most highly skilled and best culture-fit talent on the market. Creating an employer brand that aligns with your talent strategy can help attract top talent, and in exchange, lead to better performance and outcomes.
But have you ever had a hard time trying to find the right person for a key position in your company? You’re not alone. A recent study done by Korn Ferry found that almost 60% of employers are struggling to fill open positions within 12 weeks. Giving companies a limited amount of...
2019-08-1312 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#97: How to Network and Build Relationships Like a Superconnector with Scott GerberHey there Powderkeg fans! Nick here from the Powderkeg team. This is episode 97 of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, the show for entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators building remarkable tech companies in areas outside of Silicon Valley.
Today we’re revisiting an old episode where Matt spoke with Scott Gerber. He’s the co-founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) and The Community Company, and he’s spent nearly a decade helping entrepreneurs and global brands alike intelligently grow their networks.
Scott has based his entire career on business relationships and helping other people build them. The interview is from March 2018, and we’re takin...
2019-08-0649 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#92: How to Build an Unstoppable Company CultureIf you’ve seen any of the buzz that’s been circulating the internet the last few years, you might think that tech company culture is all about catered lunches, ping pong tables and allowing dogs in the office. (Which totally misses the mark, but more on that later.) So does this mean that every company that has these perks has a great culture, or that more traditionally structured companies will never have a positive culture? Not at all!
Having a great company culture has a lot more to do with things like leadership behaviors than beer-on-tap. And company culture isn’...
2019-07-0218 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley# 81: How to Build a Strong Company Culture with Jason Price of CovideoStartups consider countless opportunities before getting a strong foothold in their market. They look for what products their audience wants, and why they don’t have it already. A lot of time can be spent researching, building and figuring the best course for product development. In the end the people making all these new ideas possible deserve a little recognition as well. This is where company culture comes into play.
On this episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups we have Jason Price, Co-Founder and President of Covideo right here in Indianapolis. Price started his ventures during college at Purdue University with on...
2019-04-1642 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#78: Professional Networking Tips from Evan Burfield from Union and Stephen Ozoigbo of LIONS@fricaNetworking is similar to a contact sport like football, soccer or basketball. If you don’t really put in the work, then you might as well stay on the sideline. Building a network can be a little intimidating -- whether you are just starting out, navigating a career change or are even mid-career and just need a boost. On today’s episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, you’ll learn from two serial entrepreneurs that built entire networks full of career-changing relationships, all by using some really practical professional networking tips that you can start using today.
First, you’ll hear from Eva...
2019-03-2654 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#73: Why Employer Branding Matters, and How to Scale It with Tiffany Sauder of Element ThreeBranding. It’s one of the most important elements of any company, but it’s also something startup owners might not know how to go about creating. Fortunately, our guest on this episode of the Igniting Startups podcast is a leading expert on all things related to brand (including employer branding). She breaks branding down to its simplest components for time-strapped founders.
Tiffany Sauder is the founder and president of Element Three, a full-service marketing agency in Indianapolis. In just 13 years, Tiffany has grown the company into the largest marketing agency in all of Indiana and an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company for...
2019-02-1251 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#69: How to Pour a Beer Investors Will Love: Josh Springer and Bottoms Up Beer DispenserWe’re back with another special Pitch Night episode! This time, we’re exploring what successful tech disruption looks like in an industry not typically known for innovation or adoption of new technology: food and beverage, or F&B. Specifically, can technology show us how to pour a beer better?
There’s far more at stake than maximizing the taste of your favorite brew. The average draft beer system delivers a surprisingly inefficient pour. About 30 percent of every keg is wasted on average, adding up to nearly $2 billion in wasted beer each year. Josh Springer, founder and CEO of Bottoms Up Bee...
2019-01-0817 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#68:How Disrupting Computer Science Education Makes Better Software Engineers: Prah Veluvolu & MimirWith the year coming to a close and the holiday season in full swing, we at Powderkeg wanted to give you something special in this episode of the Igniting Startups podcast. For any listeners who’ve never had the pleasure of attending one of our pitch nights, we thought it would be fun to give you a sense of what it’s like to be there in person. And we picked a very timely pitch to share: how disrupting computer science education can help fill the tech talent shortage, especially the demand for software engineers.
You’re probably familiar with the ma...
2018-12-1813 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#66: How Learning to Code Ignites Your Career in Tech: LIVE with Ruben Harris and Chok OoiThe U.S. tech industry is booming, but there’s a shortage of skilled talent to match all the new positions being created. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics have estimated there will be 1.4 million open computer science jobs in 2020 and only 400,000 computer science graduates to fill them. That means anyone with tech skills such as coding will be in great demand for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, there are many ways to learn these skills besides the traditional path of a college degree. Our two guests today are huge advocates of one popular alternative: coding sc...
2018-12-0453 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#63: The Tennessee Tech Census: How a Culture of Grit Fuels Four Rising Tech CommunitiesBuilding and scaling a company takes determination. It takes a team with an indomitable spirit who won’t take “no” for an answer. The same is true for tech communities. To grow and thrive, a community and all its members must display perseverance and confidence in the face of obstacles and hardship. In a word, rising tech communities need grit.
The tech communities of Tennessee have grit in spades. In just the last decade, the cities of Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville have grown their tech sectors tremendously, attracting skilled entrepreneurs and talent from across the country with low business and li...
2018-11-141h 16
Powderkeg - Unvalley#61: The Denver and Boulder Tech Censuses: How Investing in Culture Powers Thriving Tech CommunitiesSituated at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Denver and Boulder have long been popular destinations for people in search of beautiful scenery, fresh air, good food and healthy living. And over the past decade, they’ve also become choice cities for entrepreneurs looking to build the next generation of innovative tech companies outside Silicon Valley.
Bolstered by the influence of the global seed accelerator Techstars and the local presence of large corporations like Comcast, Amazon and Google, Denver and Boulder have attracted a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem that thrives on their tight-knit communities and high standards of living. To...
2018-10-301h 14
Powderkeg - Unvalley# 60: Building a Diverse and Inclusive Future for Tech: A Conversation with Four Local LeadersDiversity and inclusion are arguably the most important issues in tech culture right now. Companies on and between the coasts, from startups to global corporations, recognize more and more the positive impacts of improving diversity and inclusion. In fact, our tech censuses in Indianapolis and Cincinnati this year revealed that it’s the top-ranked social issue by members of both communities. Entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders are making efforts to honestly assess the state of diversity and inclusion in tech and, more importantly, determine how to create a brighter and more inclusive future.
With this national trend in mind, we he...
2018-10-2431 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#59: Unveiling the Cincinnati Tech Census: Building a World-Class Tech Community Between the CoastsBuilding a mature, flourishing tech ecosystem is far from an easy task. It takes the unwavering dedication of many talented people over many years, and success is never a guarantee. But it can be done, and those working “in the trenches” of tech entrepreneurship can look to other communities that are a few steps ahead on this journey for guidance and inspiration.
Cincinnati is one such community. Nestled along the Ohio River and close to the borders of Indiana and Kentucky, Cincinnati harbors a fast-growing tech ecosystem that’s fueled by four nearby universities, large national companies such as P&G and...
2018-10-161h 13
Powderkeg - Unvalley#56: How to Fundraise in the Midwest w/ Venture Capitalist Don Aquilano, Shwetha Pai & Brian PowersThe data has shown that fundraising is a different kind of beast for Midwest-based startups. Unlike the investing scene in Silicon Valley, which is characterized by fierce competition and bullish investors, fundraising in the Midwest is grounded in a foundation of collaboration and strong relationships. There is funding out there for innovative, fast-growing tech companies in America’s heartland, but founders will struggle to secure it if they try to follow a coastal playbook.
In this first episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups’ second season, we dive deep into the intricacies of fundraising in the Midwest with a new and improved epis...
2018-08-2149 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#55: Investor Updates: The What, Why, and How w/ Ari Newman of Techstars and Mike Preuss of VisibleIf your startup has secured funding or you’re currently seeking it, then you may have heard about the importance of investors updates. Keeping your investors informed about what’s going on within the company helps them better advise you and can directly benefit your business in the long run. However, exactly when and how to do this can be a bit confusing for first-timers, so we’ve brought on two experienced guests for today’s show to clear up the particulars.
Our first guest, Ari Newman, is a Partner at the venture arm of startup accelerator Techstars, where he has advi...
2018-08-1439 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#54: Superconnector Secrets: How to Stop Networking and Start Connecting with Scott GerberNo one likes the person at the conference or cocktail hour who’s only interested in promoting their company and handing out business cards. This shameless “networker” mentality will not only annoy everyone else in the room, but also hurt your business by burning bridges with potential collaborators. Fortunately, serial entrepreneur Scott Gerber is an expert on the other way to build business relationships—the way of the “connector.”
Scott has based his whole career on business relationships and helping other people build them. As the co-founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) and The Community Company, he’s spent nearly a decad...
2018-08-0851 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#53: Why Tech Census Data Is Critical to Startup Growth Between the Coasts - A Roundtable TalkIf you want a tech community to grow, develop and thrive, it helps to know where it stands right now—how far it’s come, what advantages it has and what’s still holding it back. That’s exactly why Powderkeg teamed up with Raidious, an enterprise-grade digital marketing agency, and a slew of other organizations earlier this year to take the temperature of the tech community in our hometown of Indianapolis, IN.
The results of our research were compiled in the first-ever Indianapolis Tech Census Report and released to the public back in February. Drawing on responses from 359 tech professi...
2018-07-3158 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#52: Remote Work 2 - Liam Martin of Time Doctor & Staff.com on Benefits, Obstacles, & Best PracticesHere at Powderkeg, we believe the rising remote work movement goes hand-in-hand with our mission to connect the amazing tech communities growing and thriving across the country. In a previous episode of the podcast, the CEO and COO of Indianapolis-based Formstack shared how they built an exceptional remote culture spanning seven countries. Today, serial entrepreneur Liam Martin joins us to share some remote work secrets of his own.
Liam is no stranger to managing a remote team. As co-founder of employee time-tracking software Time Doctor and Staff.com, Liam oversees a team of over 80 people living in 27 countries around the...
2018-07-231h 03
Powderkeg - Unvalley#51: Why Working Moms Make Great Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Employees with Sarah Lacy of PandoLet’s face it: In the tech world, motherhood is often viewed as something undesirable. Many employers and professional women think that having children will distract them from work, decrease their productivity, and make them less effective leaders. But what if the opposite is true? What if working moms actually make some of the very best entrepreneurs, investors, and employees?
This is the opinion of Sarah Lacy, a Silicon Valley tech journalist turned entrepreneur. After writing and editorial stints at TechCrunch and Businessweek, Lacy launched PandoDaily, a web publication offering analysis and commentary on the Bay Area tech community, in 2012. Sh...
2018-06-2640 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#50: Secrets to Industry Disruption w/ Voicemail Inventor Scott Jones, w/Summer Crenshaw & Ry WalkerAnd…we’re back! Powderkeg: Igniting Startups returns after a brief hiatus with something of an experiment ahead of season two of the podcast. (We’re calling it an “in-between-isode.”) This show features a Q&A-meets-pitch event featuring one veteran entrepreneur and two founders who are earlier in their journey and have exciting startups of their own.
Our first guest is Scott Jones, a serial tech entrepreneur and investor who’s perhaps best known as the inventor of voicemail (yes, you read that right), co-founder of Gracenote and ChaCha, and Chairman of the Indianapolis-based coding bootcamp Eleven Fifty Academy. Joining him are two...
2018-05-1547 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#48: Rise of the Rest Roundtable Part 2: Innovation, Inclusivity and the Indiana AdvantageLast Thursday was a huge day for the Indianapolis tech community. AOL co-founder Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest tour bus stopped by, and ten high-growth startups competed for a chance to win a cool $100,000. In the end, the grand prize went to the water-testing company 120WaterAudit. The company’s CEO, Megan Glover, was among our panel of guests on last week’s episode of the Powderkeg Podcast, which you can check out here if you missed it.
Even though Rise of the Rest Indy is over, the founders who pitched at the event can still provide invaluable lessons and ex...
2017-10-1754 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#47: LIVE! Rise of the Rest Part 1: Stories & Strategies from 5 Breakthrough Tech EntrepreneursThis Thursday, AOL co-founder Steve Case’s sixth Rise of the Rest tour is making a stop in Indianapolis, IN, where Powderkeg’s headquarters are proudly located. Ten local tech companies will participate in a pitch competition that showcases the best in Indy entrepreneurship and promises a $100,000 investment for the startup that comes out on top.
In anticipation of the event, I gathered all ten finalists for candid roundtable discussions about their companies, their struggles and successes, and the state of Indianapolis as an ecosystem for tech innovation. In this first half of our two-part episode, I speak with the head...
2017-10-1058 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#43: The Visionary and The Integrator: How Co-Founders of PERQ Work Together to Supercharge GrowthA talented co-founder can be an incredible asset to an entrepreneur, providing a second set of shoulders to bear the responsibilities of business and a second opinion to test ideas against. The right co-founder can compliment your strengths, compensate for your weaknesses and make every aspect of the company better than you could make it by yourself.
But don’t just take my word from it. Instead, listen to business partners, Scott Hill and Andy Medley, co-founders of the marketing tech company, PERQ. In the last episode of the Powderkeg Podcast (that’s episode 42 for those keeping count), I talked with...
2017-09-1258 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#42: How to Develop Your Inner Visionary Superpower with Scott Hill of PERQAt Powderkeg, we believe every entrepreneur has their own personal superpower that makes them great at what they do. Scott Hill’s superpower is being a visionary—that is, being exceptionally capable of seeing opportunities that others can’t and understanding exactly how to prepare so he can seize them when the time is right.
I met Hill at a pivotal time in my life, when I was still a college student in Bloomington, IN, and thinking about becoming an entrepreneur. Hill’s company, PERQ, was in print marketing at the time, and I was so inspired by what he was doin...
2017-08-2946 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#41: Startup Fundraising 101 with Serial Entrepreneur, Investor and Innovation Expert Rachael QuallsA brief glimpse at Rachael Qualls’ resumé will convince you that she’s a true innovator in the world of venture capital and angel investing. A brief meeting with her at a Powderkeg pitch night in Kansas City, MO, convinced me that I had to invite her on the podcast to share her deep knowledge of fundraising and investing with our community of entrepreneurs.
Qualls has a decade of experience building and investing in companies, first among the flourishing tech ecosystem in Nashville, TN, and now in her hometown of Kansas City. She’s seen firsthand how difficult it is for fou...
2017-08-2250 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#40: Top Finance Secrets for Overcoming Healthcare Obstacles with Susan Bratton and Stryker WarrenThe U.S. healthcare industry is in the midst of a rapid evolution to accommodate changing government legislation, market pressures and technological opportunities. The environment is ripe for disruption by innovative startups, but health tech founders face a number of unique obstacles on the road to success.
In this episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, I sit down with health tech entrepreneurs Susan Bratton and Stryker Warren to learn more about these obstacles and how to surmount them. Bratton is a former Wall Street investment banker of 20 years and founder of Savor Health, a personalized nutrition solution for cancer patients. Warren...
2017-08-1539 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#39: How Customer Success Can Be Your Company’s Secret Weapon with Don Aquilano and Haresh GangwaniFollowing last month’s announcement that Powderkeg has officially become a product company, my team and I have been doing some intensive planning on how to build a world-class customer experience (CX). With this in mind, I sought out Haresh Gangwani of Bolstra and Don Aquilano of Allos Ventures for this episode to get the perspective and advice of two experts in the SaaS Customer Success space.
Gangwani and Aquilano have a combined 30 years of customer success experience, Gangwani as a business operator and Aquilano as an advisor and investor. Gangwani previously served in various VP roles at the enterprise so...
2017-08-0848 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#38: How to Announce and Build a Tech Product on a Bootstrap Budget with DeveloperTown PartnerLast Thursday evening, in front of an audience of more than 600 tech entrepreneurs, professionals and investors, I had the privilege of making a monumental announcement.
My company, Verge—a community of over 10,000 members in 8 cities across the country—is merging with Powderkeg and reinventing itself as a product company that will continue to serve this incredible community in new and exciting ways. Over the coming months, my team and I will be building a software product that will connect our members to Events, Exposure and Education in ways that have never before been possible for us.
In this episode of our...
2017-08-0158 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#37: Time-Tested Tips for Building Winning Products from Powderkeg’s Kevin Bailey and Robert HarrisMy ongoing search for the best and brightest tech entrepreneurs outside Silicon Valley leads me to a lot of remarkable founders building incredible companies all around the world. But for this episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, I decided I’d look closer to home and consult with a few gifted minds inside my very own office.
Robert Harris and Kevin Bailey are my colleagues at Powderkeg and its parent company, Verge, and they’re also two of the smartest and most talented people I know. They both have years of experience scaling tech companies and launching multi-million dollar products, and I’m...
2017-07-2553 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#36: C-Level Brand Marketing and Innovation Secrets from ExactTarget CMO Turned VC, Tim KoppWe talk a lot about the power of great mentors here on Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, and today I’m thrilled to introduce one of the most influential mentors I’ve had in my life. Tim Kopp is an experienced brand and digital marketer who’s taught me much of what I know as well as coached me throughout my evolving entrepreneurial journey.
When I first met Kopp, he was CMO at ExactTarget, the Indianapolis SaaS startup that sold to Salesforce in 2013 for $2.5 billion. Prior to his time there, Kopp spent a decade with the world-renowned marketing teams at Procter & Gamble and Co...
2017-07-1844 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#35: Expert Finance Tips to Power Your Company’s Growth from the Founders of mAccounting and Emplify“Cash is king,” the old saying goes, and every entrepreneur will realize at some point along their journey that their business can’t run smoothly without a good financial model. But the intricacies of bookkeeping and accounting can be a bit daunting without a knowledgeable guide, which is why I found two to help me navigate this thorny issue.
My first guest, Tom Gabbert, has 25 years of experience in financial management under his belt. He’s also the founder of mAccounting, an Indianapolis-based firm that provides controllership and CFO services to startups and small businesses that need some help with their fi...
2017-07-1159 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#34: Blazing Your Own Trail and Strategic Risk Taking with Vidyard Co-Founder and CEOMichael Litt (@michaellitt) is the CEO and co-founder of Vidyard, a leading provider of video hosting software for businesses and the kind of high-growth company you might expect to find in Silicon Valley. Although the company completed the prestigious Bay Area accelerator Y Combinator, it began and continues to operate in Kitchener, Ontario.
CEO Michael Litt co-founded Vidyard in 2011, and the company has since raised over $60 million and gained world-class brands like LinkedIn, Lenovo, Sharp, Rockwell Automation, Honeywell and Cengage as customers. Litt credits much of Vidyard’s success to the thriving entrepreneurial communities of Kitchener and nearby Waterloo, as we...
2017-06-2033 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#33: How to Level Up Your Marketing Game with Sales Funnels and StorytellingIf your business doesn’t have a clear, step-by-step process for turning curious consumers into paying customers, you could be losing revenue in missed opportunities. Fortunately, marketing whiz Russell Brunson provides expert advice in this week’s episode on capturing leads through the use of sales funnels and storytelling.
Taking an early interest to marketing, Brunson has become an evangelist for sales funnels and the ability to fuel rapid business growth. His company, ClickFunnels, has helped 43,000 entrepreneurs build effective sales funnels and landing pages that attract more customers for their web-based business. ClickFunnels is on track to earn $70 million this year...
2017-06-1342 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#32: How Shane Mac of Assist Raised Funding for His Startup Without Ever Asking for MoneyShane Mac, a Silicon Valley transplant from his hometown of Pekin, Illinois, is a master of building authentic relationships based on trust and personal connection. In fact, he’s so good at winning people over with his honest Midwestern brand image, that he’s learned how to raise capital without ever asking for money.
I met Mac a few years ago at the Big Omaha conference in Omaha, Nebraska, and he’s consistently blown me away with his ability to grow funded companies ever since. He’s worked on the Gist and Zaarly teams, and he now runs Assist, a free-to...
2017-06-061h 05
Powderkeg - Unvalley#31: Unlocking Your Company’s Potential Through Commitments to Diversity and Personal WellnessHeather Hartnett took a nontraditional path to the world of venture capital, and it’s ignited a great passion for enabling social change through technology and business. She now leverages her experience to help founders build better companies through commitments to diversity, personal wellness and positive impact.
Hartnett began her career in venture capital but was quickly compelled to move into the philanthropy space, where she spent five years on the board of directors for the David Lynch Foundation. When she returned to venture capital, Hartnett decided to merge philanthropy and business through the lens of impact investing. She co-founded Hu...
2017-05-3049 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#30: Cooperating and Competing with Large Companies to Grow Your StartupBrand marketer and venture capitalist Dave Knox is an expert in relationships between large companies and startups, as he has extensive experience working in both worlds.
Knox began his career at Procter & Gamble, where he consistently pushed the envelope in terms of marketing and digital innovation, eventually spearheading the company’s development of digital business strategies. He left the company in 2010 to co-found The Brandery, a startup accelerator in Cincinnati, OH, leveraging his seven years of corporate experience to advise local founders on their entrepreneurial journeys. In addition to his work with The Brandery, Knox also serves as Managing Director of...
2017-05-2351 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#29: Startup CEO’s Guide to Bootstrapping to Profitability and Hosting Industry-Leading ConferencesClint Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Emma, a SaaS company out of Nashville, TN, that has created a new standard of success for bootstrapping businesses and hosting innovative, engaging conferences.
Smith and his co-founder conceived Emma’s email marketing platform in 2002 and took out a bank loan to fund their initial growth. By developing a healthy revenue model and focusing on customer acquisition from the start, they were able to break even on their cash flow only a year and a half later.
Fast forward a decade of continued growth, and the Emma team started hosting its annual Ma...
2017-05-1649 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#28: FOWNDERS Guide to Millennial Motivation and Audience Building with Gerard AdamsThe “Millennial Mentor” Gerard Adams is a thought leader for his generation and is rapidly becoming a role model for young entrepreneurs around the world.
You probably know Adams as the co-founder of Elite Daily, an online news platform and the “Voice of Generation Y,” which sold to DMG Media for $50 million in January 2015. After leaving the company, Adams did some soul searching and started Fownders, a coworking accelerator in Newark, New Jersey. The Fownders program focuses not only on scaling businesses from idea to profitability, but also on developing each entrepreneur’s emotional intelligence, social skills, and leadership abilities.
Adams aspi...
2017-05-0948 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#27: Insider’s Guide to Raising Capital and Getting Funded with CNBC’s Alicia SyrettAlicia Syrett is the founder and CEO of Pantegrion Capital, a seed and early-stage angel investment firm based in New York. You might know her better as a recurring panelist on CNBC’s Power Pitch or MSNBC’s Your Business, where you’ll see her fielding high-stakes pitches and coaching small business owners. Syrett began her career in private equity and has years of experience in financial analysis, recruiting, and early-stage startup investing.
She brings her wealth of knowledge to our interview, giving me expert insights into all things fundraising. Syrett explains how to research investors for good fit with your b...
2017-05-0256 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#26: What I Learned About Business Strategy From Interviewing 25 Tech Entrepreneurs and InvestorsOn the first 25 episodes of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, we’ve been able to share dozens of best practices and actionable insights through interviews with leading tech entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders. We’ve also learned the personal stories of each guest and have witnessed some powerful moments of vulnerability and authenticity.
Some of our favorite segments on the show have come from these great spur-of-the-moment stories told by our guests. In this week’s special episode, we revisit six of the most engaging stories that provide crucial advice for founders and entrepreneurs. You’ll learn how to effectively tell your company’...
2017-04-2531 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#25: Startup Marketing Master Class with Growth Hacking Gurus Sean Ellis and Morgan BrownSean Ellis and Morgan Brown are the world’s leading experts on growth hacking. The two first worked together at Qualaroo, a marketing SaaS solution they grew to millions in recurring revenue before Ellis sold the company in 2016.
At the same time they were working on Qualaroo, they were also building a community of innovative marketers on Ellis’ GrowthHackers website. With Brown serving as the interim Head of Growth, the duo built GrowthHackers into a definitive learning platform, software solution, and talent pool for companies that want to supercharge their growth.
Ellis and Brown sat down with me to chat all...
2017-04-1850 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#24: Content Marketing Magic for Business Growth with Brian Clark of Copyblogger & Rainmaker DigitalBrian Clark is a serial entrepreneur of several seven-figure online businesses, including Rainmaker Digital (which is actually now an eight-figure software company), where he currently serves as CEO. And guess what? He did it all without moving to Silicon Valley OR raising any venture funding. He did it with content marketing!
Brian and I recorded this interview at an interesting time, just before he launched his Unemployable podcast, which now reaches more than tens of thousands of subscribers. And you’ll see why after this interview...
Brian Clark is a pioneer in the $44 billion content marketing industry. He’s been buil...
2017-04-1147 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#23: Startup Strategies from a 5-Exit Founder and NYC Venture PartnerKnowledge comes with experience, and Jeff Leventhal has 25 years of experience in the tech startup world, including leading five companies from idea to exit and investing in many others. It’s an understatement to say he’s learned a few things on his entrepreneurial journey.
Leventhal’s great professional passion has been using technology to facilitate the delivery of professional services. His current iteration on solving this problem is WorkRails, a SaaS solution that helps other software companies sell and deliver their products. He’s also a Partner at BOLDstart Ventures, a “first check” investor for enterprise software founders.
Leventhal is great at...
2017-04-0440 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#22: Powerful CEO Habits for Getting the Most Out of Networking EventsMeeting the right people at the right time can catapult your business to the next level. But it’s difficult to make connections that go deeper than a LinkedIn invite, and it's far too easy to play it safe at networking events, which makes forging authentic relationships that much harder.
David Olk is the cofounder and CEO of Voray, a company that facilitates small-group networking dinners. A Voray event is hosted by a key influencer in an industry who invites a select group of their close friends and colleagues to help create new connections between them. The intimate, curated nature of...
2017-03-281h 03
Powderkeg - Unvalley#21: Proven Business Leadership Habits from the CEO of SendGridIt takes guts, grit, and an uncommon dose of wisdom to lead a business team. Sameer Dholakia has all three qualities, plus two decades of leadership experience in enterprise software.
Dholakia is the CEO of SendGrid, one of the world’s premier email delivery services. SendGrid serves 50,000 customers and delivers 1.3 billion emails each day—more than double Twitter’s daily Tweet volume. In addition to its classic transactional email API, SendGrid more recently rolled out an email marketing product that has already been adopted by 5,000 users.
Dholakia is an experienced tech executive with a love of history and a passion for bu...
2017-03-211h 03
Powderkeg - Unvalley#20: Startup Accelerator Secrets Every Entrepreneur Should Know with NYC Angel InvestorErica Duignan Minnihan knows what investors like to see in startups, and she knows the difficulties founders face meeting those expectations. She has more than 10 years of experience in early-stage startup investing, and now she’s out to help both investors and entrepreneurs be better at their jobs.
Minnihan is currently the Managing Partner at 1000 Angels, a digital venture investment platform launched by OneVest that helps independent investors around the world assess potential deals and build their personal portfolios. She also runs the CoFoundersLab Virtual Accelerator, a six-week online program that teaches founders all the basics of starting up with fe...
2017-03-1448 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#19: How to Unleash Your Team’s True Power with Team Building, Team Learning, and Company CultureMax Yoder is a lifelong learner and trailblazer who knows that clearly-defined processes empower employees to level-up their quality of work from average to exceptional.
Yoder is the cofounder and CEO of Lessonly, a team learning software platform that lets companies capture internal knowledge, best practices, and team policies as searchable and assignable step-by-step lessons. Lessonly currently helps half a million users from hundreds of companies learn the processes they need to excel in their work (Lessonly.com).
Yoder shares some of his most valuable insights on team building, team learning, and building a great company culture. Our conversation exposes...
2017-03-0736 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#18: Inside Innovation, Negotiation, and Virality with Emerson Spartz of DoseEmerson Spartz has hunted down and capitalized on patterns in business since he was 12 years old.
Fast-forward 18 years, and Spartz is the CEO of Dose, a digital media company that reaches 200 million Millennials every month with content designed to provide fresh ideas, knowledge and perspectives. Spartz is also one of the world’s leading experts on virality, having extensively studied its patterns and used what he learned to build his media company that was onced composed of more than 30 unique websites.
In our interview, Spartz lets me in on his secrets for effectively learning new information, his best strategies for ne...
2017-02-2844 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#17: How to Clear Your Mind, Calm Your Nerves, and Pivot Like a Pro with Jenny Blake“Pivoting” might seem like a dirty word in business, but Jenny Blake has learned to embrace it. Not only that, but she’s built her career around it, becoming a business strategist, keynote speaker, and author who teaches others the positive value of pivoting.
Blake is the author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, and the creator of the Pivot Method, which distills all the wisdom she’s gained throughout her career to teach you how to change your business direction without falling on your face.
Blake learned the virtues of pivoting by doing it many tim...
2017-02-2152 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#16: Leading Remote Teams and Podcasting for Business GrowthMichael Sacca is a modern renaissance businessman who inspires tens of thousands of entrepreneurs each week with his podcast Rocketship.fm and has climbed the ranks to become the President of a multi-million dollar business that supports companies and creators across 30 countries.
He’s leveraged his experience in a wide array of roles—like coder, podcaster, web design consultant, product developer and sales lead—to grow his skillset as an entrepreneur, leading to several successful business ventures and, eventually, a leadership role at someone else’s company.
He recently became the President of Crew, a business that matches freelance web designer...
2017-02-1444 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#15: How Startup Grind Bootstrapped from Zero to One Million with Derek AndersenDerek Andersen was a bit of a world traveller growing up, as his family split their time between several countries in Europe and their home in Tampa, Florida. He kept traveling as an adult, jetting all around the globe to build startup communities and connect with entrepreneurs, wherever they were.
These communities are part of Startup Grind, an organization that nurtures startup ecosystems through events, media and partnerships with organizations like Google for Entrepreneurs. Andersen founded Startup Grind in 2010 with one location in Silicon Valley. Today, it’s active in nearly 100 countries around the world, including over 200 cities.
Over the ye...
2017-02-0750 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#14: Paul Singh on Growing Startups and Investing Outside of Silicon ValleyPaul Singh is embracing the changing nature of the venture capital—or VC—game.
Formerly a partner at 500 Startups, an international VC seed fund and startup accelerator, Singh noticed that high-growth tech companies were starting to pop up all across the U.S. If he wanted to invest in the very best startups in the country, then waiting for founders to fly out to Silicon Valley and come to him wasn’t the best method anymore.
Singh decided he had to go to them.
He founded Results Junkies with his wife and started road-tripping across the country in a pickup truck...
2017-01-3146 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#13: Masterclass On Customer Service and Loving Your Haters with Jay Baer of Convince & ConvertJay Baer is a social media expert, consultant, thought leader, keynote speaker, podcaster, startup investor, and NY Times bestselling author of five books. He’s the most retweeted person in the world among digital marketers, which makes him practically a celebrity in that industry.
Baer is best known for founding Convince & Convert, a conversion rate optimization (or CRO) blog turned consulting firm focusing on social media marketing and customer service. He and his team work with some of the best brands in the world, including Adidas, Allstate, Cisco, Oracle, and even the United Nations.
Meanwhile, the C&C blog continues to...
2017-01-2450 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#12: MBA in Corporate Innovation and Startup Disruption with LISNR Founder Rodney WilliamsRodney Williams is the Founder and CEO of LISNR, one of the most disruptive companies in the IoT space and the world of mobile connectivity. You can find Rodney on Twitter (@rodneybwilliams) on twitter and his company at LISNR.com.
LISNR was launched in 2012 around the core premise that sound can do more. More specifically, using sound to connect more people and devices in ways that had never existed before.
LISNR has grown into the world’s most advanced ultrasonic technology. Their team has created an ultrasonic or inaudible technology; a communication protocol that sends data over audio. They use ul...
2017-01-1754 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#11: Mike Dillard on Reinventing Yourself, Thinking Big, and Food InnovationMike Dillard is a serial entrepreneur who is creating a new technology that you’ll be able to put in your house and will supply all of the organic produce that you would want on a monthly basis. In order to bring his idea to life, Dillard teamed up with some entrepreneurial heavy hitters including Peter Diamandis, who is the founder of X Prize and Singularity University. And Dillard’s entrepreneurial path prepared him to make a big impact with this audacious venture.
Mike started first business over a decade ago in an unexpected industry — network marketing. That company turned into a...
2017-01-1057 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#10: The Magic of Immersion for Startups and VCs w/ Upfront Ventures Partner Kara NortmanKara Nortman is the co-founder of Seedling and partner at Upfront Ventures. In this interview she recounts her evolution as a creative child from an adventurous family, to her role as a partner in the largest and most tenured venture capital fund in Los Angeles.
Armed with an AB in Politics and an MBA from Stanford, Kara Nortman found herself the only person from business school attending a C++ class when she interned at Microsoft more than a decade ago. Before that, she delved deep into esoteric stuff, sailing across uncharted waters (talk DSL and IP switches) just to make...
2017-01-0348 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#9: How to Build Traction, Gain Customers, and Grow with DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel WeinbergGabriel Weinberg is the founder and CEO of DuckDuckGo, an Internet search engine that doesn’t track you or your personal data (https://duckduckgo.com/).
And in an industry dominated by goliaths like Google and Yahoo, DuckDuckGo does more than 3 billion searches per year.
Weinberg is the author of Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers, and it has become the field manual for tech entrepreneurs, growth hackers, and marketers around the world.
This framework has been used by founders like Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia), Alexis Ohanian (Reddit), and Paul English (Kayak.com) to build some of the biggest companies and or...
2016-12-2734 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#8: Masterclass On Building Influence with Luis Garcia of Ambition Media and AgentStevenLuis Garcia is one of the most influential people on Instagram. As of the publication of this podcast, Garcia’s three Instagram accounts alone (@AgentSteven, @MotivationMafia, and @PositiveVibesQuotes) have more than 6 million followers and get more than 30 million impressions a week.
Garcia is the founder of Ambition Media (www.ambitionmedia.co), an influencer marketing agency that has built a network of Instagram brands with more than 100+ million followers. Ambition Media has landed clients like Vayner Media founder Gary Vaynerchuk and Shark Tank star Daymond John, and is on track to have its first seven-figure year in 2017.
You can follow Luis on...
2016-12-201h 07
Powderkeg - Unvalley#7: Build Wealth and Invest in Yourself with Jordan Wirsz at Savant InvestmentsJordan Wirsz manages $100 million in real estate investments as CEO of Savant Investment Partners.
Jordan is a nationally recognized real estate expert who has been recognized by members of the U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, Nevada state government, and has been featured on numerous national television networks including CNBC, NBC, and Fox News.
But today, we go a little off-script and go deep on business philosophy. You can find Jordan at JordanWirsz.com and @JordanWirz on twitter, so give him a shout and let him know what you liked about this interview.
In this episode you’ll learn:
1.) About Jo...
2016-12-131h 00
Powderkeg - Unvalley#6: The Power of Corporate VC and Startup Philanthropy w John Somorjai at Salesforce VenturesJohn Somorjai is Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and head of Salesforce Ventures.
Salesforce has over 3,000 partners and 150+ enterprise cloud and SaaS companies in their current investment portfolio. They’ve also had 30+ exits and five IPOs (on top of the 150!)
You can look up more about Salesforce, its acquisitions, and investments at Salesforce.com. They’re @Salesforce on twitter, but also have various other handles including @SalesforceVC, and @MarketingCloud. But you can find John at @jsomorjai on twitter. He’s extremely smart and definitely worth a follow, so give him a shout.
One of the things we didn’t get to d...
2016-12-0633 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#5: From Hollywood to Hackathons: Inside Startups w/ Cooper Harris, Founder at KlicklyOur guest today is Cooper Harris, who not only has an impressive background, but has an impressive background in two different fields!
She started her career in New York, where she landed a part in the soap opera, As The World Turns. But she eventually moved to Los Angeles and stepped into the Hollywood scene.
After appearing in several movies and other TV shows, Harris became interested in entrepreneurship and started attending hackathons.
Harris won the AT&T Hackathon in Los Angeles, and then went on the first Innovation and Tech Summit during the Sundance film festival, called Collective. UKTI...
2016-11-2847 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#4: How to Fund Your Startup and Hire A Players w/ MapQuest Co-Founder Chris HeivlyOur guest today is Chris Heivly, who just might be the world’s first actual map geek. I say that because he co-founded one of the first online navigation tools, MapQuest.
Some of you listeners may be too young to remember MapQuest and the wonderful experience of searching your route on your home computer so you could print your directions and take them with you.. But back in the day, MapQuest was like PURE MAGIC.
This company was Heivly’s first and it blazed the trail for other navigation-powered apps like Google Maps, Waze, and Uber. MapQuest went public in 1999 and...
2016-11-2241 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#3: The Key To Building Real Wealth and Confessions of a Master Connector w Cole HatterThis master connector has built a network that includes the likes of Robert Herjavec from Shark Tank, James Altucher creator of the James Altucher Show, Jack Canfield author of Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul and Lewis Howes from The School of Greatness. In fact, he recently connected with all of them in person at his global conference Thrive. He's an author, investor, speaker, and entrepreneur who has built a mission-driven business and life that has impacted millions.
Cole's power comes from his perspective. After 2 accidents 2 months apart, he was left me in a wheel chair. His body was physically...
2016-11-1555 min
Powderkeg - Unvalley#1: How to Invest In Your Talents, Build Your Team, and Tell Your Story w/ Kristian AndersenLearn from serial SaaS entrepreneur and investor Kristian Andersen (@KristianIndy). And while I had met a lot of people in school, I had never met anyone like him.
Andersen is positive but direct, which I believe is the key to why he is able to accomplish so much in his companies, investments, and community. You can trace the start of his streak of successes back to 2003, when he founded Studio Science, a design and innovation agency where he still serves as CEO. He and his team have helped many B2B SaaS and innovation-driven organizations (including Verge and Powderkeg) find...
2016-11-0752 min