Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Pejman Nozad ( @pejmannozad ), the Co-Founder and Founding Managing Partner of Pear VC, a firm specializing in seed stage investments that partners with founders at the earliest stages to turn great ideas into category-defining companies. Over the past two decades, he has been a seed investor in some of the most iconic tech companies including Doordash, Dropbox, Applovin, Gusto, Guardant Health, Branch, Aurora Solar, Soundhound, CourseHero, and other...
Jan 05, 2023•36 min•Ep. 82
The VITALIZE Podcast presents: Off Topic, a special series where we dig into a variety of topics, trends, and current events in the startup ecosystem. In this inaugural episode of Off Topic, Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Gale Wilkinson ( @galeforceVC ) and Andrew Gazdecki ( @agazdecki ). Gale is the Founder and Managing Partner at VITALIZE, a seed-stage venture fund and angel community investing in The Work Revolution. Previously, Gale founded IrishAngels, one of the largest ange...
Dec 29, 2022•47 min•Ep. 81
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Lisa Blau and Amanda Eilian, Founding Partners of Able Partners ( @ablepartnersnyc ), a health & wellness investment fund focused on supporting visionary, early stage brands in positive living. They aim to support entrepreneurs that are helping to make the daily lives of consumers healthier, happier and more meaningful. They seek to partner with companies that are narrowing the Wellness Gap, and are most focused on overlooked or stigmatized commu...
Dec 22, 2022•29 min•Ep. 80
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Jenny Fielding ( @jefielding ), General Partner at The Fund, a first-of-its-kind venture fund fueled by a community of brilliant founders & operators. The Fund invests in mission-driven, technology-enabled companies at the earliest stages. They are a generalist fund with a focus on the basic stuff we need to live: money, health and work, and have invested in the pre-seed rounds of 200+ companies in 4.5 years. They’ve pooled capital, networks, and...
Dec 15, 2022•43 min•Ep. 79
In this episode, Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks again with Gale Wilkinson ( @galeforceVC ), Founder and Managing Partner at VITALIZE, a seed-stage venture fund and angel community investing in The Work Revolution. In this round with Gale, we dig into how she conducts initial founder calls for VITALIZE. Previously, Gale founded IrishAngels, one of the largest angel groups in the world. She has led $65M+ in early-stage deals across 80+ startups. Her experience prior to VC includes foundi...
Dec 08, 2022•34 min•Ep. 78
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Richard Kerby ( @kerby ), Co-Founder and General Partner at Equal Ventures, a seed stage focused fund backing the founders and businesses transforming society and industry. Prior to Equal Ventures, Richard was an investor at Venrock, where he led seed stage and Series A stage investments in 6Sense, Amino Apps, Beckon, Burner, Luxe Valet, and Salsify. Prior to joining Venrock, Richard was an investor at Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), where he f...
Dec 01, 2022•28 min•Ep. 77
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Ray Kallmeyer, CEO and Founder of Enklu ( @ExperienceEnklu ). After a decades-long career in the AAA video games industry, Ray founded Enklu in 2016 and built and deployed the first wave of spatial apps in augmented reality for the Microsoft HoloLens globally. He now helps enterprises accelerate their spatial transformation with an end-to-end solution which empowers today’s workforce with tomorrow’s technology. Enklu’s mission is to empower creators ...
Nov 17, 2022•26 min•Ep. 76
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Andrew Berman ( @berman66 ), Co-Founder and CEO of Vowel, the world's first complete meeting solution designed to make every meeting more inclusive and worthwhile – before, during, and after. Vowel is a collaboration platform that makes meetings searchable, shareable centers of knowledge for your business. By redefining what data capture is capable of, they are optimizing the potential of every team. They are a remote-first company whose 20+ employee...
Nov 11, 2022•43 min•Ep. 75
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Matt Cohen ( @mattybcohen ), Founder and Managing Partner at Ripple Ventures, an early-stage venture fund seeking investments in B2B SaaS Startups in various industries ripe for disruption with a focus on workflow automation and data & analytics platforms. As serial entrepreneurs, they are actively involved with all their investments and aren't scared to roll up their sleeves and get dirty. They support entrepreneurs who seek to revolutionize the...
Nov 03, 2022•29 min•Ep. 74
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Brandon Brooks ( @OfficialBBrooks ), tech entrepreneur, founder & founding partner at Overlooked Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on transparently supporting and investing in early-stage tech and tech-enabled startups with one or more historically ignored founder that are building for humanity, wellness, and in industries lacking innovation. Brandon has partnered with organizations such as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Players Coalition on ...
Oct 28, 2022•28 min•Ep. 73
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Rachel Cossar ( @rachelonpointe ), Co-Founder and CEO of Virtual Sapiens, a machine learning SaaS platform leveraging AI to help client-facing professionals measurably improve their comfort and confidence in order to master communication skills over video. Like a virtual coach, Virtual Sapiens leverages expert knowledge in body language and presence and provides convenient avenues for receiving personalized feedback and coaching. Users can benchmark ...
Oct 20, 2022•34 min•Ep. 72
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Anna Barber ( @annawbarber ), partner at M13, a venture firm accelerating businesses in the future of consumer behavior with four pillars: Health, Money, Work and Commerce. M13 is building a team of industry-leading operating executives to help founders make better decisions and win in their category. They believe founders deserve an investor who propels them on their mission of transforming an idea into a successful company, while staying out of the...
Oct 13, 2022•46 min•Ep. 71
This is a special episode pulled from the VITALIZE vault—back when The VITALIZE Podcast was Talking Venture! Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Allison Robinson ( @mrsrobinson_a ), CEO and Founder of The Mom Project, a VITALIZE portfolio company. The Mom Project is a digital talent marketplace and community that connects professionally accomplished women with world-class companies for rewarding employment opportunities. They are changing the way women work and redefining career struct...
Oct 06, 2022•51 min•Ep. 70
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Dan Kimerling ( @dkimerling ), Founder and Managing Partner of Deciens Capital, a venture capital firm that supports early-stage founders building the next generation of enduring companies in financial services. Deciens Capital exclusively focuses on financial technology investments with interests in payments, lending, insurance, regtech, risk management, capital markets, trade finance, personal finance, savings, marketplaces, and much more. They see...
Sep 29, 2022•41 min•Ep. 69
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Bobby Franklin, the President and CEO of the National Venture Capital Association ( @nvca ) and Board Chair of Venture Forward. Since 2013, Bobby Franklin has led the venture community’s preeminent trade association focused on empowering the next generation of transformative American companies. As president and CEO of NVCA, he champions public policy that supports the American entrepreneurial ecosystem, making NVCA the dominant voice of the U.S start...
Sep 22, 2022•36 min•Ep. 68
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Patrick Utz ( @PatrickUtz ), Co-Founder & CEO of Abstract, the premier platform and database for working with California state & local legislation that’s bringing lobbying and advocacy into a new era by increasing government transparency. Abstract streamlines how you research and track bills, organize notes, brief stakeholders, and collaborate over legislation in real-time. More than just a bill tracker, Abstract provides the tools necessary ...
Sep 15, 2022•35 min•Ep. 67
Justin Gordon (@justingordon212 ) talks with Zach Hudson ( @nosduhz ), co-founder of Deft, an ad-free, SEO-free search engine for e-commerce. A VITALIZE portfolio company, they are building the future of e-commerce search by enabling its users to find, research, and buy products all in one place. Zach has 7+ years of experience in e-commerce and gaming technologies, and is a second-time founder. He is a product manager by trade, and a self-taught developer. Website: Deft LinkedIn: linkedin.com/i...
Sep 08, 2022•30 min•Ep. 66
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Marlon Nichols ( @MarlonCNichols ), the founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionary founders building the future that the world wants to see, and helping entrepreneurs bring the future into focus to find their breakthrough moment. MaC Venture Capital is the result of the merger between successful Los Angeles and Bay Area based Seed funds, Cross Culture Ventures and M Ventures. They are...
Sep 01, 2022•20 min•Ep. 65
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Shruti Gandhi ( @atShruti ), founder and General Partner of Array Ventures, a venture capital firm that focuses on solving impactful problems in the world leveraging revolutionary technology. Often that means category-leading startups that take advantage of data, analytics, workflows, and new platforms to change the way an industry works. They invest in smart people with a bold mission who take big risks in large or new markets. Shruti brings a stron...
Aug 25, 2022•38 min•Ep. 64
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Peter Barba ( @pbarba_22 ) and Zygimantas (Zygi) Zabieta ( @zzabieta ), Co-Founders of Lectrium, a full-service platform for EV home charging on a mission to make every home EV-ready. They make the home charging installation process easy through their network of EVITP certified electricians. At Lectrium, they believe that true carbon neutrality can be achieved only if the transition to EVs is frictionless, and their ambition is to standardize and red...
Aug 18, 2022•42 min•Ep. 63
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Jesse Randall ( @SweaterCEO ), CEO and Co-Founder of Sweater Ventures, a VC fund that pools money from millions of regular people and invests it into emerging technology and product companies poised for growth—companies you’ll see in your daily life or at work. At Sweater Ventures, they believe that every founder should be able to build their vision, and every person should be able to support the startups that create the next generation of influence ...
Aug 11, 2022•51 min•Ep. 62
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Shayna Harris ( @mamashayna ) and Noramay Cadena ( @noramayc ), co-founders and managing partners at Supply Change Capital, a VC firm that believes in a future of food that is sustainability-mindful, supply chain efficient, better for you, and culture rich. They invest at the intersection of food, culture, and technology to catalyze early stage sustainable businesses that modernize the food system. Noramay Cadena is an aerospace engineer turned inves...
Aug 04, 2022•43 min•Ep. 61
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Kelly Graziadei ( @kkgraz ) and Joanna Lee Shevelenko, the founders and General Partners of f7 Ventures ( @F7Ventures ), a seed investment fund comprised of seven senior female operators who met at Facebook. With expertise in product, engineering, sales, marketing, partnerships, HR, and operations, they invest in and help bold founders grow and scale at their earliest stages. During their tenures at Facebook, Google, Yahoo and beyond, they managed an...
Jul 28, 2022•42 min•Ep. 60
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Amy Eliza Wong ( @amyelizawong ), the founder of Always On Purpose®. She is an executive leadership coach, author, speaker, and facilitator working with organizations such as Airbnb, Salesforce, Roku, LinkedIn, Facebook, and more. Amy offers transformative leadership development and cutting-edge communication strategies to executives and corporate teams around the world, as well as institutions including Stanford University and the University of Cali...
Jul 21, 2022•39 min•Ep. 59
Justin Gordon ( justingordon212 ) talks with Samara Hernandez ( @SamaraMHernandz ), the Founding Partner at Chingona Ventures, an institutionally-backed pre-seed stage fund investing in the next generation of badass founders building technology and technology-enabled companies all over the U.S. In May 2022, Chingona Ventures announced the close of their $52M Fund II. Samara has over 15 years of experience in investing, selling, and advising on both public and private markets. She has a backgroun...
Jul 14, 2022•43 min•Ep. 58
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Drew Leahy, Managing Partner at Hawke Ventures ( @hawkeventures ), an early stage consumer and B2B marketing technology fund. He is also the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Hawke Media. Prior to Hawke, Leahy was Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder of SnapSuits.com, a tech-forward men’s fashion e-retailer with over $2M+ in revenue. Drew was also Entrepreneur-in-Residence at memBrain in Los Angeles, making investments with tech and entertainment angel ...
Jul 07, 2022•37 min•Ep. 57
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Mariam Hakobyan ( @mariam_hakobyan ), Co-Founder and CEO of Softr, the easiest no-code platform for building custom apps and portals, in minutes. With Softr, you can build client portals, internal tools, marketplaces, online communities, resource directories, websites and more. They believe the world is missing out on some of the most creative minds, ideas and innovation (99.7% to be exact), and have set out to change that with Softr by democratizing...
Jun 30, 2022•37 min•Ep. 56
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Tony Jamous ( @jamingo ), the CEO and founder of Oyster, a Global Employment Platform that empowers companies to hire, pay, and care for team members wherever they are in the world. Oyster allows growing companies to tap into the global talent pool and offer their remote workers around the world a great employment experience. They are on a mission to make the world a better place by making it possible for any talented person in the world to realize t...
Jun 23, 2022•25 min•Ep. 55
In this episode, Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks again with Gale Wilkinson ( @galeforceVC ), Founder and Managing Partner at VITALIZE, a seed-stage venture fund and angel community investing in The Work Revolution. In this round with Gale, we dig into the details of the Work Revolution and VITALIZE's investment focus. Previously, Gale founded IrishAngels, one of the largest angel groups in the world. She has led $65M+ in early-stage deals across 80+ startups. Her experience prior to VC ...
Jun 17, 2022•23 min•Ep. 54
Justin Gordon ( @justingordon212 ) talks with Maryanna Saenko ( @FutureSaenko ), Co-Founder and Partner at Future Ventures, which supports passionate founders who are forging the future. For the past 25 years, Future Ventures has backed the visionaries who push the boundaries of possibility and explore the frontier of the unknown. They focus on disruptive technology such as commercial space exploration, deep learning, quantum computing, robotics, AI, blockchain, sustainable transportation, synth...
Jun 09, 2022•30 min•Ep. 53
