Back to the Basics

Arlan Hamilton, Founder of Backstage Capital, shares her story on the type of mental fortitude it took to disrupt venture capital by bolding and unapologetically investing in underrepresented startup founders while giving tips on the the type of mentality founders need to succeed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/squareone-surthrive/support

It took Sevetri Wilson 5 years to make her first million with her service-based business. With the thought of productizing her services to make a greater impact, Sevetri transitioned into the startup world by creating Resilia, a software that simplifies the formation of new nonprofits. Sevetri led her new startup to hit its first million in revenue in just 8-months while helping the company raise over $10 million is venture capital to date. We sit down with Sevetri as she shares her story of transiting from bootstrapped to venture-backed, lessons learned as a first-time founder, and breaking the status quo as a Black, non-technical, female-founder based in the South. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/squareone-surthrive/support

In this episode, we sit down with Durantae Lucas, the Head of Finance at Atlanta Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Atlanta that has made investments in Calendly, SalesLoft, and Terminus. Durante will share tips on how to maintain cash flow, create a financial plan, and optimize spending. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/squareone-surthrive/support

In this episode, we sit down with Jermaine Brown, Founder of CCAW Automative Group, as he shares his journey of turning his love for luxury cars into a lucrative software company that generated $11M in revenue without raising any outside capital. Jermaine will share tips on how to find product market fit, setting key milestones, and how bootstrap your startup from scratch. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/squareone-surthrive/support

In this episode, we sit down with Carlos Gonzalez as he shares his journey of breaking into tech; from starting off as an audio engineer to software engineer to currently leading operations as a partner at Tyrannosaurus Tech, a custom development agency based in Atlanta, GA. Carlos share tips on transforming your idea into a clickable prototype, how to find your CTO, and best practices when outsourcing your development work to build your first product. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/squareone-surthrive/support

Back to the Basics highlights the fundamentals of building, launching and running your first startup company. Justin McLeod sits down with seasoned startup experts as they share their startup stories along with resourceful tips and tactics on how to validate your idea, avoid costly mistakes, and scale without giving up too much equity. This show is brought to you by Square One Startup School a program powered by Surthrive. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/squareone-surthrive/support