Where are things growing? The Southeast. Jeff Uphues of DC Blox helps governments, counties, universities and other key organizations get the security and speed they need online. He explains how the market has evolved and what he's doing to make sure no American is left behind. He's bringing "Atlanta infrastructure" to places like Huntsville, Greenville, Birmingham and more. He's bullish on the Southeast's growth and is betting on it with his business plan--listen in! Let's take this conversatio...
Feb 01, 2022•27 min
Interviewed by host Mecca Tartt, hear Inc. 5000 honoree and Global Licensing Top 20 entrepreneur Julie Newman of Artonomo, a recent Startup Runway Finalist. Julie struggled to find a content management platform for her brand Jewel Branding, and couldn't find it--so she built it. Hear her exciting story and learn how she went from professional services to software to support all creators. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event ....
Jan 24, 2022•22 min
Atlanta is the fastest-growing venture capital ecosystem in the country--and the most diverse. Could the VC climate get any hotter? Listen up as insiders Renee Montgomery, Robin Bienfait, Gary Peat, William Leonard and Lisa Calhoun of Valor Ventures help founders and investors get a compass on a new normal. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Jan 15, 2022•26 min
Atlanta psychologist and entrepreneur Dr. Yared Alemu of TQIntelligence is passionate about improving access to quality mental health care for youth from low-income communities. This visionary founder shares his perspective on the gradual adoption of AI in mental health applications, improved outcomes for underserved youth, and the overall state of innovation within the mental health world. With direct support from the NSF and Google For Startups, the company's core product Clarity AI is moving ...
Jan 11, 2022•30 min
Anne Bailey is an MBA student at Emory studying private equity in the popular class hosted by David Panton and Klaas Baks. She fell in love with the topic. In this unscripted and open-hearted episode, hear her ask co-host Lisa Calhoun, founder of leading seed-stage venture capital firm Valor Ventures, everything she wants to know about how to break into private equity in Atlanta. It's a fun, challenging conversation, and if you're curious about a career in private equity or venture capital, this...
Jan 03, 2022•36 min
Using Florence Healthcare, doctors and nurses save time in clinical trials. Founder and CEO Ryan Jones joins William to talk through key lessons learned as a healthcare founder, finding early product-market fit, and innovation in clinical trials in today's pandemic healthcare environment. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Dec 28, 2021•33 min
How do you improve the employee experience? With today's record unemployment, leaders are learning they better move fast. Atlanta Founder Prem Bhatia has been working the problem of better employee experiences for years. At Cooleaf, he is empowering mid to large enterprises to make data-driven decisions to continuously improve how their teams interact with the company culture. Cooleaf was just recognized on the Inc. 5000 as one of America's fastest-growing firms. Hear Prem's powerful founder sto...
Dec 17, 2021•26 min
CEO and Founder Anisa Telwar Kaicker and her 500 team members operate global beauty powerhouse Anisa International, the "Apple" of beauty. This visionary shares her perspective on the beauty industry, including her unique definition of what beauty is. Can't miss moments in this heartfelt conversation with host Lisa Calhoun of Valor Ventures include -- her leadership secrets, how she recharges as a founder, how she changes herself to free her company to scale, founder health, and so much more. Li...
Dec 13, 2021•48 min
Enjoy a spirited conversation with Alana Mann about how she broke into VC, her blog series outlining conversations with early stage female founders, and her thoughts on navigating the frothy venture markets. Alana joins host William Leonard, investor at Valor, for Startup Runway this month and the two took the opportunity to dive into what's cooking now in early-stage investing. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event ....
Dec 07, 2021•39 min
Retail tech veteran and Black female tech founder Barbara Jones is building Lilli RnB, returns-management software that helps retailers solve billion-dollar fraud problems. Barbara shares her story of productizing her consulting business, building resiliency while fundraising, and leveraging the SalesForce to scale Lilli. This is a must-listen for experts who dream of building their expertise into a lucrative software platform. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcomin...
Nov 23, 2021•37 min
UGA Alum and Inbrain.ai Founder Jason Schubert built and exited his survey platform startup to the world's largest first-party data platform for insights, Dynata. Join us for a conversation every founder should hear, as Jason talks through his thought process of the acquisition and offers his insights for founders considering acquisition offers. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Nov 16, 2021•24 min
Meet Derrick Barker, CEO of Nectar, an Atlanta startup providing upfront cash for short-term rental operators and unlocking real estate cashflows for investors. Hear Derrick's story of exiting his first venture during undergrad, building a 4500+ unit real estate portfolio with his payout, and his strategic advice for early-stage founders thinking of participating in an accelerator. Derrick just graduated from Techstars in Atlanta. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upco...
Nov 09, 2021•33 min
Honored among the Top 40 Tech Companies in Georgia, Vouch.io unlocks digital keys for carmakers. Tune in to hear Vouch.io Cofounder Anthony Maley share leading edge innovation in the automotive industry. Learn if blockchain really is the future of your car! Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Nov 01, 2021•26 min
As one of Atlanta's newest unicorns, Flock Safety equips neighborhoods and police departments in over 1200 cities with machine learning tools to mitigate crime. Founder and CEO of Flock Safety Garrett Langley openly shares how he navigates growth roadblocks and his mindset for building excellence. You don't want to miss his practical fundraising advice for founders in Atlanta. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event ....
Oct 25, 2021•22 min
After spending a decade to perfect their process, Atlanta-based Nexus Fuels created a profitable and environmentally sustainable way to recycle plastics. Led by industry veteran Jeff Gold, Nexus has truly hit a gold mine--diverting 2.7M lbs of plastic from landfills. Jeff joins William to share more about finding product-market fit during the early days of Nexus Fuels and his thoughts on the future of cleantech in the US. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming even...
Oct 19, 2021•37 min
Learn about the founder's journey to a multi-million dollar startup from Candace. She's a Georgia Tech grad, a computer scientist, and an entrepreneur transforming the hair care industry with engineering. Hear her journey to building a tech platform for hair. Myavana uses artificial intelligence to recommend the perfect products --and some of the largest brands in the world are on board. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event ....
Oct 12, 2021•29 min
The increasingly frequent occurrence of cyberattacks and ransomware has led to a more pressing need for proactive cyber awareness. Nick Santora and the Curricula team are bringing customization to cybersecurity training by allowing companies to generate modules that address firm-specific security concerns. Meet Nick and understand why Curricula's brings fun and fluidity to cybersecurity training. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event ....
Oct 04, 2021•24 min
Inovcares Founder and new Atlanta resident Mohamaed Kamara is modernizing healthcare for women of color. The tragic death of his sister in childbirth catalyzed him to take on changing the world. Hear Mohamed's insights around choosing the right business model, customer discovery tips, and why he feels Atlanta is the perfect city to build a healthcare startup. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Sep 27, 2021•28 min
In this interview hosted by William Leonard of Valor Ventures with De'Havia Stewart of Softbank, Vernon Lee of Marathon, and Maria Velissaris of SteelSky Ventures, you'll hear what seed-stage VCs are looking for right now. If you're a founder, this is a can't-miss episode. Over half a billion of capital ready to invest right now is sharing their perspective on how to raise from them--listen now. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event ....
Sep 20, 2021•43 min
Hear two of Valor Ventures' team, general partner Lisa Calhoun and investor William Leonard, dive into trend for startups in the Southeast. This fast-paced conversation will help you get your arms around the valuations, the terms and the trends founders can expect raising a round right now. Listen in as two investors detail their craft and the insights they get from dozens of weekly founder interviews. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event ....
Sep 14, 2021•37 min
Founder Kristina Williams joins the Atlanta Startup Podcast to share about her journey of building Unpacking, a data-driven, gamified platform powering the future of diversity training. She's been backed by Beyonce and others to change DEI for better. After recently moving her business to Atlanta from the West Coast, she breaks down why she chose Atlanta (where else!?!) and why Unpacking's gamified approach to diversity training will change culture in a positive direction. Let's take this conver...
Sep 08, 2021•31 min
First investor checks--that's the mission of the Startup Runway Foundation, backed by presenting sponsor Cox Enterprises and founding partners Truist, Georgia Power, Avanta Ventures, and Innovator's Legal. Meet the dynamic first executive director of the Startup Runway Foundation Mecca Tartt, interviewed by co-host Lisa Calhoun of Valor Ventures. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Aug 30, 2021•26 min
Founded in 2018, Atlanta startup Hermeus is seeking to shrink the world by connecting global cities through its hypersonic aircraft. Hermeus founder and CEO AJ Piplica sits down with Valor Investor William Leonard to expound on his vision for creating a hyper-connected world as hypersonic travel creeps toward commercialization. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Aug 23, 2021•30 min
After successfully building, scaling, and exiting her fintech startup LoanHero, Kristin Slink moved across the country and joined the Advanced Technology Development Center as Fintech Catalyst. Founded in 1980, ATDC has developed a global reputation for fostering technological entrepreneurship. Forbes named ATDC to its list of “Incubators Changing the World” in 2010 and 2013, alongside Y Combinator and the Palo Alto Research Center. Hear Kristin elaborate on the numerous ways the ATDC supports n...
Aug 16, 2021•26 min
Atlanta's booming film scene isn't just "LA does ATL." Jon Gosier shines light on rising film stars thanks to his startup FilmHedge, which helps connect emerging producers and investors with new projects for financing. Hear about this latest innovation in the film scene in this interview with Valor investor and host William Leonard. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Aug 09, 2021•34 min
These founders met at a pre-sunrise run, and the conversation revolved around the intersection of real estate development and technology. The result, Yieldi, is making real estate investing as simple as shopping on Amazon. Hear the Atlanta duo discuss more about Yieldi and their thoughts on the state of current real estate markets. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Aug 03, 2021•24 min
Founder Dustin Walsey of Buckle thinks gig work could be a lot safer. His rideshare insurance agency is designed around the gig worker starting with drivers. Find out how that changes everything in this interview of the edge of internet economy with host William Leonard. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Jul 27, 2021•26 min
SmartCommerce founder and CEO Jennifer Silverberg shares her do's and don'ts in startup fundraising in this candid episode with Valor general partner Lisa Calhoun. This is a can't-miss episode for founders packed with fundraising tips and strategies that work. You'll especially enjoy how she dives into the differences between raising in VC, New York, and the Valley as an Atlanta founder. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event ....
Jul 19, 2021•38 min
Atlanta Founder and Georgia Tech grad Ajesh Kapoor shares his story of prior exits, crucial lessons learned as a founder, and how his latest startup. SemiCab is digitizing the antiquated world of freight movement. Learn all about it in this conversation with Valor Investor William Leonard. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Jul 12, 2021•34 min
After relocating her startup to Atlanta from New York, Founder and CEO of Knac Ariel Lopez shares the driving forces behind her decision and breaks down Knac's approach to humanizing the hiring process. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Jul 06, 2021•35 min
