In this episode we reveal the Tweener Madness "Exceptional Eight" - our eight triangle high-tech startups that 'made the cut' to move forward. Each company's founder was able to make it and comes on the show to tell us a bit about themselves and their customer. ------ Triangle Tweener Talks is sponsored by: Atomic Object: https://atomicobject.com/
Welcome to Tweener Madness, the high stakes startup showdown where 8 promising companies go head to head for a $25,000 investment prize from the Triangle Tweener Fund. Each round, 3 members of the selection committee will vote on which startups advance leading up to the finals in early April where one company will take home the top prize. Before the competition kicks off, let's meet the people making the tough calls. Where to Find Robbie Hardy: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbiehardy/ ...
Welcome to Tweener Madness, the high stakes startup showdown where 8 promising companies go head to head for a $25,000 investment prize from the Triangle Tweener Fund. Each round, 3 members of the selection committee will vote on which startups advance leading up to the finals in early April where one company will take home the top prize. Before the competition kicks off, let's meet the people making the tough calls. Where to Find David Jones: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsjones/ B...
Welcome to Tweener Madness, the high stakes startup showdown where 8 promising companies go head to head for a $25,000 investment prize from the Triangle Tweener Fund. Each round, 3 members of the selection committee will vote on which startups advance leading up to the finals in early April where one company will take home the top prize. Before the competition kicks off, let's meet the people making the tough calls. Where to Find Mahati Sridhar: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahatisridh...
Welcome to Tweener Madness, the high stakes startup showdown where 8 promising companies go head to head for a $25,000 investment prize from the Triangle Tweener Fund. Each round, 3 members of the selection committee will vote on which startups advance leading up to the finals in early April where one company will take home the top prize. Before the competition kicks off, let's meet the people making the tough calls. Where to Find Evan Shear: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/opcejs/ Oval Pa...
Welcome to Tweener Madness, the high stakes startup showdown where 8 promising companies go head to head for a $25,000 investment prize from the Triangle Tweener Fund. Each round, 3 members of the selection committee will vote on which startups advance leading up to the finals in early April where one company will take home the top prize. Before the competition kicks off, let's meet the people making the tough calls. Where to Find Nikin Shah: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikin-shah-9801...
Welcome to Tweener Madness, the high stakes startup showdown where 8 promising companies go head to head for a $25,000 investment prize from the Triangle Tweener Fund. Each round, 3 members of the selection committee will vote on which startups advance leading up to the finals in early April where one company will take home the top prize. Before the competition kicks off, let's meet the people making the tough calls. Where to Find Zakiya Alta Lee: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zakiyaalta...
Welcome to Tweener Madness, the high stakes startup showdown where 8 promising companies go head to head for a $25,000 investment prize from the Triangle Tweener Fund. Each round, 3 members of the selection committee will vote on which startups advance leading up to the finals in early April where one company will take home the top prize. Before the competition kicks off, let's meet the people making the tough calls. Where to Find David Gardner: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgardner...
Welcome to Tweener Madness, the high stakes startup showdown where 8 promising companies go head to head for a $25,000 investment prize from the Triangle Tweener Fund. Each round, 3 members of the selection committee will vote on which startups advance leading up to the finals in early April where one company will take home the top prize. Before the competition kicks off, let's meet the people making the tough calls. Where to Find Mitch Mumma: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchmumma/ In...
Welcome to Tweener Madness, the high stakes startup showdown where 8 promising companies go head to head for a $25,000 investment prize from the Triangle Tweener Fund. Each round, three judges will vote on which startups advance leading up to the finals in early April where one company will take home the top prize from the judges. Before the competition kicks off, let's meet the people making the tough calls, the judges. First up, Jan Davis. Where to Find Jan Davis: Linkedin: https://www.linkedi...
If you ask Alexa who invented Alexa, she'll tell you it was Amazon.com. While that's kinda true, the Alexa foundation was developed by Igor Jablokov and his team at Yap, which was acquired by Amazon in 2011. Today, we talk to Igor and get the entire story - from a childhood in a Greek cave to pioneering AI advancements that shape the way we interact with technology today. As the founder of Pryon and an early force behind Amazon Alexa, Igor has been at the forefront of AI for over two decades. Th...
Few Triangle founders have experienced as many highs and lows as Jud Bowman. From launching his first startup as a high school student to navigating the dot-com bust, leading Motricity through a billion-dollar market cap, and pivoting multiple times to stay ahead of industry shifts, Jud's entrepreneurial journey is nothing short of legendary. In this episode, Jud discusses the evolution of his companies—Pinpoint, Motricity, Appia, and now Sift Media. Everything from cold-emailing VCs in the '90s...
Four teenage friends decide to build the world’s first Windows-based email program—and then go on to launch a second venture that scores a legendary dot-com outcome. In this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks, host Scot Wingo sits down with Chris Evans, co-founder of DaVinci Systems (founded in 1985!) and Accipiter, to uncover the wild backstory behind pioneering email software, negotiating with Microsoft, and navigating the frenzied dot-com bubble. Chris shares personal lessons from youth, succe...
What happens when you grow up on a tobacco farm in rural North Carolina, turn down a million-dollar offer from Microsoft, and then build multiple groundbreaking software companies? In this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks , host Scot Wingo sits down with Richard Holcomb—serial founder, mentor, investor, and a driving force in the Triangle’s tech scene. Richard recounts his early days in Whiteville, NC, shares the backstory of his game-changing Microsoft Excel royalty deal (yes, it’s taught at M...
What drives someone to leave a cushy corporate role, start (and sometimes stumble at) multiple tech ventures, and finally build one of the Triangle’s most iconic unicorns? On this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks , we sit down with Todd Olson, Founder and CEO of Pendo—a leading product analytics platform now powering hundreds of the world’s top software experiences. Todd pulls back the curtain on his early days coding in a bank at age 14, his near-miss exits that fueled an enduring chip on his ...
How do you grow a 350-person, globally distributed tech company—without outside venture funding? In this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks , we chat with Peter Zaitsev, Co-Founder of Percona, who bootstrapped his open-source database services and software company from a scrappy two-person startup in the U.K. to a $50M+ revenue business headquartered right here in the Triangle. Peter’s story is anything but linear. He talks about growing up in the Soviet Union, teaching himself assembly code on p...
How do you turn a simple “what if?” into a thriving venture—especially when you’re blending creativity, technology, and a dash of entrepreneurial courage? In this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks , we sit down with Tina Tang, Co-Founder and CEO of Bristles, an AI-driven platform that helps furniture refinishers and DIYers reimagine their projects before picking up a single paintbrush. Tina shares her journey from civil engineering and data analytics into the world of startups, navigating the me...
How do you transition from corporate life to building a successful startup? What does it take to create a company culture where people genuinely enjoy working while navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship? In this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks , Scot Wingo sits down with Robbie Allen, a serial entrepreneur and founder of companies like StatSheet, Automated Insights, and Bionic Health. Robbie shares his journey from working at tech giants like IBM and Cisco to launching startups that me...
How can technology close the healthcare gaps that leave so many underserved? What does it take to build a startup that challenges the status quo while navigating the ups and downs of entrepreneurship? In this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks , we sit down with Dr. Joy Bhosai, founder and CEO of Pluto Health, to explore the inspiring journey that led her from global healthcare work to founding a tech startup aimed at improving patient outcomes. Joy’s background spans experiences at the Clinton F...
What does it take to embrace your unique strengths, navigate the dynamics of power and status, and achieve the success you deserve? In this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks , we sit down with Dr. Alison Fragale, author of Likable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve . Alison is a distinguished professor at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a former McKinsey consultant with deep expertise in organizational psychology. Her mission? To empower female founders—and leaders of all gen...
What does it take to bootstrap a company, achieve a private equity exit, and then score a second windfall with a double exit? In this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks , Dusan Babich shares his incredible entrepreneurial journey, starting with his move from South Africa to the Triangle in 2015 to grow Device Magic. Dusan reflects on the lessons learned from an earlier startup failure, how those experiences shaped his approach with Device Magic, and the insights he gained during his private equit...
Throughout her corporate consulting career in the 1980's, Robbie Hardy continued to rise in the ranks. However, according to Robbie, "I kept thinking there had to be something more. I was the always the only woman in the room, but I kind of didn't know that was weird because I didn't know anything else." So in 1993, Robbie founded her first company - and then sold it two years later. She's an entrepreneur through and through, and she's passionate about helping women invest in women. Today, we he...
In 2005, Jesse Lipson founded ShareFile, which he bootstrapped until it was sold to Citrix Systems in 2011 - for $93M. So how did he do it? And what inspired him to start Raleigh Founded coworking and his latest venture Levitate? Let's find out on today's Triangle Tweener Talks! Where to Find Jesse Lipson: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-lipson-625195 X: https://x.com/jesselipson Levitate: https://www.levitate.ai/ Where to Find Scot Wingo: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesco...
According to her LinkedIn headline, Jan Davis has "doubled the size of three different businesses in different industries in three years or less as an operator." Amazing, but what's even more impressive is that she started her entrepreneurial journey in the 1980's, when female founders were few and far between. Today we hear her story of founding companies in the 80's and 90's, and what she's doing now as a Board member, angel investor, and recent co-founder of the RTP Angel Fund. Where to Find ...
As a Morehead Scholar UNC grad, and with a successful start to his career at Bain Capital, Alex Lassiter could have done anything next. He chose entrepreneurship, which led to him living in Atlanta over a Chinese restaurant, so poor that he was calculating the cost of beans with his other cofounders and eating blue chicken. He had dozens of ideas that failed. And then one hit big. Today, Alex shares his entrepreneurial journey with host Scot Wingo. Where to Find Alex Lassiter: Linkedin: https://...
Welcome to Triangle Tweener Talks, where we share stories from founders about how they got to where they are today. The first founder we’re hearing from is the man who will be hosting this podcast - serial entrepreneur and general partner of the Triangle Tweener fund, Scot Wingo. Where to Find Scot Wingo: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thescotwingo/ Tweener Times: https://www.tweenertimes.com/ X: https://x.com/scotwingo In this episode: (00:01:30) Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg? That's no...
