Founder of Simp Now , Gera Baano-Stewart II shares his entrepreneurial journey on the Atlanta Startup Podcast hosted by Nwanyinma Dike . From learning to code at a young age to launching Simp Now, Gera discusses the inspiration behind the dating app and its viral success on TikTok. He emphasizes the importance of a can-do attitude and effective time management, especially while juggling entrepreneurship with being a student. Gera also highlights the benefits of showcasing startups at events like...
Feb 13, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 196
The Outlook for Tech Growth in the Southeast is more optimistic than ever. Tune into our latest episode of the Atlanta Startup Podcast which outlines insights from boots-on-the-ground insiders: Bryan Bean from Pinnacle Bank, Atlanta's own Donnie Beamer, Jr., Jamal Lewis of PIN Georgia, Tech Executive David Evans, and William Leonard of Valor. We're not just talking high-level tech trends; we're getting into the nitty-gritty of how collaboration across regional, state, and city partnerships spark...
Jan 30, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 195
In this episode of the Atlanta Startup Podcast, host Lisa Calhoun interviews Jennifer Silverberg, CEO of SmartCommerce. They discuss Jennifer's journey of scaling SmartCommerce from a startup to a global player, focusing on the lessons learned during rapid growth. Highlights include SmartCommerce's innovative approach in the CPG sector, its evolution in response to market changes, and Jennifer's personal growth as a leader. Jennifer shares insights on hiring effectively, adapting strategies, and...
Jan 23, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 194
Join us for an engaging podcast where leading corporate innovators take the spotlight. Discover the strategies behind technology investments, particularly in AI, from top decision-makers Angie Brown of Home Depot, Leigh Gaffney at Assurant Ventures, Mike Mahan from Stanley Black & Decker, and Michelle Mason of Exxon Mobil. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event .
Jan 19, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 193
Join William Leonard on the Atlanta Startup podcast for an intriguing conversation with Blaine Davis, a Partner at Outlander VC. Blaine reveals Outlander's unique early-stage investment approach, centered on their exclusive founder framework evaluating 38 character attributes. Discover Outlander's emphasis on backing teams over ideas, and their interest in transforming traditional industries through vertical SaaS, AI, workspace tech, and low-cost robotics with strong software components. Blaine ...
Jan 09, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 192
Today we're joined by Valor’s newest portfolio CEO Jake Soffer who is the Founder of Miami-based FirmPilot. FirmPilot is reshaping the $30B legal marketing vertical with powerful AI that challenges the traditional agency model. Jake shares his insights on scaling from $0-$500K in ARR in less than 12 months, winning customer conviction as a seed-stage company, perspectives from building his second AI company, thoughts on exceptional hiring talent, and why AI will forever change marketing. Let's t...
Jan 03, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 191
Join Nwanyinma Dike on the Atlanta Startup Podcast as she engages in a captivating conversation with Shayna Stewart, the trailblazing Founder of Shown Live and recent winner of the Judge’s prize at Startup Runway Edition 23. Discover how Shown Live, a sponsorship marketplace, is transforming the landscape for audio and video creators by connecting them with marketers, reducing ad waste, and enabling early monetization. Dive into Shayna's entrepreneurial journey, the alpha phase of Shown Live, an...
Dec 27, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 190
Dive into an illuminating conversation on the Atlanta Startup Podcast with Nwanyinma Dike, the new Managing Director of Startup Runway features Yolanda Barton founder of Revere XR and recent winner of the Women’s Empowerment prize at Startup Runway Edition 23. She shares her vision for transforming our experience of city history and culture through virtual and augmented reality. Yolanda passionately shares her vision for revolutionizing history preservation through immersive technology, blending...
Dec 19, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 189
In this episode, we turn our focus to a spirited keynote from last year's VC Day, presented by David Cummings, the Founder of Atlanta Ventures and Atlanta Tech Village. David, renowned for building, scaling, and successfully exiting Pardot – an Atlanta-based startup that emerged as one of the top 10 B2B marketing platforms globally – shares his journey of building company culture, including the 2012 exit to ExactTarget. In this episode, David will explore the critical aspects of developing and e...
Dec 12, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 188
Following her recent promotion from Principal to Partner, Claire Hansen joins the Atlanta Startup Podcast. Claire unpacks the Firebrand thesis, how the firm thinks about diligence as a lead investor & as a follow-on co-investor, continual learning as a VC, leveraging network to land a job in VC, characteristics of today's dynamic seed market, and more. Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event ....
Nov 28, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 187
Today, we're joined by Nassir Criss from Sixty8 Capital , an Indianapolis-based pre-seed and seed generalist firm. Nassir, a Principal on the team, shares core insights on how 'digital nomad' has made him a better VC. He discusses his thoughts on pattern matching versus pattern breaking, explains the deal process behind one of the firm's top-performing investments, and talks about learnings from his transition from startup founder to investor, among other topics. Let's take this conversation to ...
Nov 22, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 186
S3 Ventures is the largest venture capital firm in Texas, specializing in Seed-Series B investments in B2B Software companies. Nicole Bentz , a VC at S3 joins host William Leonard to break down the firm's investment strategy and how its unique sole-LP structure augments the firm's ability to be hyper-focused on their founders. Nicole and William also discuss establishing diligence frameworks for evaluating early-stage companies, how junior VCs can be value-additive to founders, and S3 Ventures' ...
Nov 15, 2023•34 min
During this episode, William is joined by Kai Tan, Founder and CEO of RevMatch and recent Startup Runway Winner. As a former product design leader at companies like IBM & Meta, Kai shares insights on the importance of tactically enhancing the user experience for B2C Apps, understanding feedback loops, and more about building/scaling consumer apps. Kai also delves into his Startup Runway experience and some of the most meaningful parts of the program. The next Startup Runway Showcase is comin...
Nov 07, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 186
In this podcast episode, Triet Nguyen , a Senior Associate at Louisville-based Render Capital, sits down with William Leonard to discuss Render's strategic approach towards backing early-stage founders in the Southern and Midwestern US. The conversation also explores how venture capital firms, including Render, are leveraging their "platforms" to win allocations in highly competitive deals, especially in the current market with fewer deals being done. Triet and William break down effective netwo...
Oct 31, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 185
Jessica King, CEO of femtech startup FlowIntell, recently celebrated a win, securing the Women's Empowerment Grant at the 22nd Startup Runway Showcase. Joining host William Leonard in this episode, she delves into her dedicated mission to tackle a pervasive healthcare challenge: endometriosis screening, a dilemma confronting over 6 million women. FlowIntell is spearheading innovations in endometriosis screening, addressing a condition that afflicts 10% of women and is frequently diagnosed too la...
Oct 24, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 184
In this Atlanta Startup Podcast episode, host William Leonard speaks with Miya Moore, the founder of Benechek, a SaaS platform based in Birmingham. Benechek aids nonprofits and churches by providing software to efficiently manage assistance requests from people in need. Miya discusses how her past experiences, both working at and founding a nonprofit, illuminated the potential for software to address workflow inefficiencies in such organizations. She also shares insights from participating in th...
Oct 17, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 183
In this episode of the Atlanta Startup Podcast, host Mecca Tartt interviews Anthony Joiner, Founder of Blooksy , a platform fueled by AI and natural language processing to streamline the book-writing process for various audiences, including writers, academics, and students. Joiner's journey unfolds from his software development and publishing background to the inception of Blooksy during the pandemic. He reveals the pivotal role of customer-centricity, embracing failure, and cultivating relation...
Oct 10, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 182
In this episode of the Atlanta Startup Podcast, host Mecca Tartt interviews Joshua Afolabi, Founder of 2GGO, a SaaS platform in Atlanta. 2GGO lets customers shop online from their favorite fashion and beauty retailers and receive same-day delivery. Joshua shares his journey as a founder, emphasizing the importance of passion, determination, and building with customer needs in mind. The episode highlights the value of partnerships, the challenges of entrepreneurship, and the desire for investors ...
Oct 03, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 181
Join William Leonard as he sits down with Michael Muchnicki , the new CEO of Physician 360 - an early-stage catalyst in revolutionizing virtual care, especially in America's underserved rural regions. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual healthcare visits surged and secured a lasting place in the healthcare continuum. Venture into America's rural spaces with Muchnicki, as he unveils how insights from running United Health for 20+ years and feedback from intimate focus groups helped rein...
Sep 26, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 180
In the latest episode of the Atlanta Startup Podcast, William Leonard engages Andrew Morris , the Founder of the Fintech Agenda LLC , a consultancy advising fintech industry clients on the development and implementation of events and content strategies. Discover how Andrew navigated his career focus from traditional finance to the realm of fintech content creation and community involvement. Andrew illustrates the origin story of hallmark events like Money 2020 and delves into Fintech South, one ...
Sep 19, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 179
Data shows that diverse-owned firms manage only 1.4% of the U.S.'s $82 trillion in assets under management (AUM). Catalyze , a non-profit, strives to reshape this status quo by providing capital, networks, and resources to first-time fund managers. Michael Belles , the co-founder of Catalyze, discusses in this episode how they support these managers through initiatives like the Catalyze Fund Fellowship: a six-month program assisting 5-10 capital entrepreneurs with one-on-one advising, flexible f...
Sep 12, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 178
With a wealth of experience spanning over three decades, Peg Olson has been a guiding force for early-stage companies in developing effective talent acquisition/recruiting strategies. Today, she joins the Atlanta Startup Podcast to demystify the intricacies of early-stage startup recruiting by delving into the essentials that founders should seek in potential candidates, offering insights on interview questioning strategies, and establishing a general hiring framework for founders. She also shar...
Sep 05, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 177
Foregoing college to build a multi-million dollar hanger empire? That's precisely what Devon Rifkin, the CEO of Hangers.com did. In this episode of the Atlanta Startup Podcast, hear Devon's story of going from a Wall Street Stock Broker to a bootstrapping entrepreneur and the many lessons learned while building Hangers.com to be a multi-time Inc 5000 fastest-growing startup. Devon does a deep dive into the importance of proximity to customers, hiring talent at the growth stage, insights on achie...
Aug 29, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 176
Does Georgia need a hybrid public school? Michael Staton, CEO at CoLearn, thinks so--and just applied to be Georgia's next public school. He moved to Georgia after years on the investment committee of one of the most successful VCs in education, Learn Capital in San Mateo, California. He has helped lead investments into Coursera, Minerva, AltSchool, Andela, and many others. Fittingly, he began his decade-long entrepreneurial journey in the classroom, teaching social studies to high school studen...
Aug 22, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 175
Managing a substantial $500 million, the Flourish Ventures Team expresses bullish optimism for emerging startup hubs like Atlanta and Nashville, actively shaping the entrepreneurial landscape across the Southern United States. Fintech has emerged as one of the most well-funded sectors in the startup landscape over the past decade. Driven by an even stronger conviction, is committed to supporting visionary entrepreneurs whose innovations drive financial well-being and prosperity for individuals a...
Aug 08, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 174
With the rise of Airbnb over the last decade, there's been an everpresent demand for complementary solutions that ensure safe and enjoyable experiences for guests. Atlanta startup Safely steps in to address this need by offering a modern insurance solution for individual homeowners and professional property managers. By integrating with various property management systems, Safely has amassed a substantial amount of data, totaling more than two million nights' worth, establishing itself as a lead...
Jul 31, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 173
Courtney Schickel is no stranger to building and scaling successful sales and revenue operations, bringing over 20 years of experience leading teams at startups such as IngeniousMed and Assursign, which was later acquired by Nintex. As a former Chief Revenue Officer for two local Atlanta startups, Courtney brings her brilliance and expertise to the podcast offering valuable insights on: The evolving role of the CRO over the past decade Practical advice for CEOs seeking to build revenue operation...
Jul 25, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 172
Using its proprietary fintech AI that accesses behavior, not balance sheets, Funding U is the national leader in no-co-signer student lending, a $30B+ annual market. Now is a pivotal time for college and university students. The Supreme Court's decision ending race-based admissions policies at colleges and universities sets a tone that leaves a gap in confidence for the millions of students who do not have family wealth to draw on to fund rising education costs. In conversation with an early inv...
Jul 18, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 171
Investing out of their $170M Fund 3, Bonfire is a different type of investor. They are a lead-only seed VC with a high conviction approach which means each partner only does 2-3 deals a year and spends weekly time with each founder coaching them through the ups and downs of the startup journey. In this episode, Valor managing partner Lisa Calhoun leads a conversation with Brett Queener, managing director of Bonfire Ventures. Brett began his career at Seibel, back when enterprise software "came o...
Jul 11, 2023•55 min•Season 1Ep. 170
In this episode of the Atlanta Startup Podcast, host Mecca Tartt interviews Rachel Wilson, Head of Operations at Collab Capital. Rachel shares her unconventional journey into venture capital, driven by her exposure to entrepreneurship from her entrepreneurial family. She discusses Collab Capital's investment focus, which includes tech-enabled black-owned companies with a particular interest in network capital. Rachel highlights the importance of social and human capital for African American foun...
Jul 06, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 169
