Startup 2.0

Tim Tiemann is the Managing Director of the CSUN Innovation Incubator. He holds graduate degrees in science (Immunology) and business (Finance and Marketing). He has worked for over 15 years with Fortune 500 companies such as Bayer and Motorola, and over 10 years launching and managing start-up ventures. He has experience in technology licensing, IP, and raising equity investment.

Isabelle is passionate about empowering individuals of all backgrounds to create innovative and impactful enterprises. In her role of executive director of RevHubOC, Isabelle oversees the operations of the incubator program and manages RevHubOC’s partnerships and network. Her professional experience includes more than 20 years in healthcare and nonprofit sectors, working in leadership, business-planning, and marketing strategy for companies such as Abbott and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses where she led digital transformation initiatives, resulting in unprecedented growth in membership and revenue. Isabelle has been a strong supporter of entrepreneurs as an innovation advisor and expert-in-residence at UCI Beall Applied Innovation, a board member of the Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and an advisor for the OCTANE nonprofit accelerator. Isabelle has been an advocate and volunteer for many local nonprofit organizations, serving on the board of Child Creativity Lab and Cancer Kinship. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from ESSEC Business School in Paris, France.

Andy is a leader in the Southern Californian innovation ecosystem and has started, led or invested in more than two dozen tech start-ups. In addition to leading the Alliance as Executive Director, he serves on the City Council for the City of Pasadena and he is a founder of Innovate Pasadena, which is dedicated to advancing the Eastside of Los Angeles as a vibrant innovation center for deep tech. Previously, as founder of Momentum Ventures, an early stage tech accelerator and venture fund, he personally led more than a half dozen SoCal tech start-ups and invested in almost a dozen others. He previously held senior executive roles (President, SVP Product, CIO, COO) at Overture Services/Yahoo!, RiverOne, Bowne & Co and RR Donnelley & Sons. He has extensive board experience in not-for-profit and community organizations such as Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena Heritage and STEAMCODERS. He is a regular speaker at entrepreneurs’ events and business schools and was named one of the 50 Most Innovative Men in the San Gabriel Valley. Andy holds an engineering degree with honors from Dartmouth College and received his MBA with a concentration in operations and technology management from Harvard Business School.

This week's special episode of Startup 2.0 is brought to you by Moonshot House. Moonshot invited a few champions from Harvard University, Oxford university Innovation, USC, LMU, MIT and Stanford to have a casual, collaborative dialogue around the virtual table to cover some of the following areas: -What are the challenges that champions are dealing at schools to support entrepreneurs? -Capital structure/support (educational (non-profit) vs, venture capital (for-profit) approaches. -Schools can make billions of dollars by having shares at startups as CVCs and VCs heavily relying on talents at schools. Currently, licensing the patents is one of the only resources for schools and they don’t really take any equity from startups. What are your thoughts? - Regulations - Are business schools really effective to teach entrepreneurship?Qualified staff to understand the venture capital structure and investment. Theory Vs. practical/prior experiences -How do you think the role of schools will either change or shift the startup ecosystem in the future?

James is the Deputy Head and Start-up Coach for the F10 Incubator and Accelerator in Zurich. He also works as an investment analyst for the F10 Investment Ag Previously, James co-founded PBF Solutions, a fintech firm that helps financial services product providers to acquire and on-board new customers and raise savings and investments deposits. PBF helped raise over £4 billion for its clients and was acquired by Raisin GmbH in 2017. Prior to PBF James worked in the alternative investment space and financial consulting.

Petra Griffith launched Wedbush Ventures to foster the next generation of technology companies solving big market problems. Having built many firsts - the first online printing software, first fitness wearable, first native ads - and ushered a bank into the age of technology, Petra understands the strategic and creative mindset necessary to narrow in on a product’s core features for successful market fit. Her past leadership to product, strategy, marketing, and operations teams at established and startup organizations like Netflix, Yahoo!, and 24 Hour Fitness makes Petra a coveted product strategy ally to entrepreneurs ready to scale innovation.

I'm a serial entrepreneur and digital strategist with over 12 years experience building startups, running accelerators and consulting for fortune 500 companies and celebrities. As a trainer, I served as the co-director of a startup program that has helped over 100 startups go on to raise over 40M in funding and get into accelerators like Techstars, YCombinator and 500 Startups. I'm also a specialist in no-code and workflow automation. Lover of tacos, travel and the great outdoors.

Jim Cooper has had over 20 years of startups, market research, market intelligence and competitive analysis experience. He has assisted companies enter the United States market, and has helped many other companies entering markets further afield. He is CTO of Braid Theory, an early-stage startup advisory and consulting group located in Los Angeles. He also created a consultancy, Conscientia Research, and as a full-service Market Research business its goals are to make businesses successful and competitive by employing research to understand markets, so a business doesn't have to rely on assumptions about how a market works.  

Kelly is the Managing General Partner of Moonshots Capital - an early stage VC fund that invests in early stage technology companies and leans in heavily in veteran founded companies. He is a co-founder & Managing Partner at DuMont Project - a consultative agency that helps accelerate the growth of direct to consumer brands. Prior to DuMont Project he was the CEO of Fastpoint Games, a venture-backed leading developer of live data-driven games for the fortune 500 brand set.

Leonard M. Lanzi has over 30 years of organization management and fund development experience. He has been serving as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Venture Association since 2007. In his capacity at LAVA, Len works with the LAVA board of directors to direct the strategic plan and organize educational and informational programs within the venture funded startup ecosystem in the greater Los Angeles region. Len brings a well-rounded knowledge from such diverse human service organizations as the Community Kitchen of Santa Barbara, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Junior Achievement of Southern California and the Boy Scouts of America.

Howard is primarily focused on sourcing new investments and working with Morpheus portfolio companies. He currently serves on the Board of Tagnos and DarkLight. Howard was previously with Mission Ventures, a leading Southern California venture capital firm focused on software and semiconductor investments. Prior to Mission, he was with Salomon Smith Barney in their Technology Investment Banking Group where he was involved with public and private financings and M&A. Howard has also served as co-chair of the San Diego Telecom Council Wireless Infrastructure Group. He was a member of the Board of Reviewers for the San Diego based Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology, an organization funded by the Department of Defense. Howard holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from UCLA and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Technology entrepreneur, executive, investor, and board member, Carey has started, grown and/or led nine B2B and consumer technology companies during startup and growth phases. He's held senior-level roles for companies that have collectively raised over $250M in venture capital and achieved $1B+ in enterprise value.

Patrick manages operations for 500 Startups’ multiple Venture Capital Unlocked programs in partnership with universities, governments, corporations, and other institutions. In this role he oversees program coordination; communication with partners; recruitment and vetting of participants; preparation; and best practice creation. He is experienced in investor/lender education, curriculum design, strategic planning, and program management. He has a MA in Global Finance, Trade, and Economic Integration and a BA in International Relations and Business Management and speaks Spanish and Senegalese Wolof.

Dean Kline is co-founder, fund manager and managing director for Penn Venture Partners, a venture capital firm. He is also a managing member of the fund’s general partner. In addition, Kline is a board director for several companies: Corporate University Xchange, the Harrisburg Senators, Journal Publications, Probity MT, and Thermacore.

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face. Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr. https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Christine Harada is President of i(x) investments. Ms. Harada has over 20 years of success in leading government and management consulting organizations. She previously served as the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer for the United States during the Obama administration. In this role, she provided oversight for all sustainability-related initiatives across the federal government in energy, fleet, and acquisitions-game-changing improvements that added to our nation’s clean energy future. Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face. Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr. https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Rick Smith is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of CrossCut Ventures. CrossCut is an early-stage venture capital with over $200 million under management. Prior to co-founding CrossCut, Rick was a managing director at an early-stage venture capital firm based in Santa Monica, California, with over $500 million under management. Prior to that, he was a managing director at SunAmerica, Inc., where co-founded SunAmerica Ventures, a $750 million fund focused on both direct investments and investments in other venture funds. Rick began his career as a corporate attorney, working five years at the Los Angeles office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy, a New York-based firm. He graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign, with a degree in finance. He also graduated from Harvard Law School. Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face. Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr. https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Chris holds a diverse range of investment and consulting experience in areas including SaaS, consumer marketplace, entertainment, and real estate technologies. His limitless view of the connected world comes from curiosity and deep-rooted industry connections in the Los Angeles startup ecosystem. Prior to joining Comcast Ventures, Chris served as Principal at Siemer & Associates where he focused on digital media and software startup transactions. He spent his early career as SVP at IMT Capital where he identified growth opportunities and implemented the M&A due diligence process for the firm. In 2013, he was appointed by California’s governor to join the State of California Workforce Investment Board. He received his B.A. in History from Yale. Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face. Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr. https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz. Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face. Kat Yalung is the Director of Bixel Exchange’s Startup Launch Program, a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in partnership with the Small Business Administration. Bixel Exchange is the Center of Innovation and Technology at the second largest Chamber of Commerce in the United States, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Bixel Exchange believes in an inclusive tech ecosystem reflected in Los Angeles’ workforce and entrepreneurs. She leads the development and implementation of Bixel Exchange’s core business advisory services, helping foster more than 250 tech startups each year as an impact driven incubator. Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr. https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz Meet Minnie Ingersoll. Minnie is a long-time Silicon Valley product leader and operations executive with experience building and scaling impact through elegant technical solutions and great teams. She recently moved back to LA after 20+ years in the Bay Area and is excited to be a part of the growing tech ecosystem of Southern California. Minnie started her career as an early product manager at Google where she co-founded the Access team; a cross-functional product, policy, and engineering team that spun off Google Fiber. After 11+ years, she left Google to begin her own entrepreneurial journey as the co-founder and COO of Shift, an online marketplace for used cars. Minnie learned a lot of lessons hiring hundreds of employees and scaling a $100M+ business. In her spare time, she hosts the LA Venture podcast, volunteers for local government, surfs baby waves, and raises baby people. Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face. Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr. https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz. Brian is an active angel investor and board advisor to several seed stage companies in LA. He is Vice President of Tech Coast Angels LA Chapter and is currently in charge of both their VC outreach program and their new sidecar investment fund. During his time with TCA he has screened over 300 companies and met with several hundreds more. Last year, TCA invested $15 million across 57 companies, matching similar amounts in 2017 and years prior, making it the largest angel investment group in the US. In addition to angel investing, Brian also trades energy futures for a commodities hedge fund. Prior to joining TCA, Brian spent 10 years in the investment banking industry in New York. Brian received an MBA from UCLA Anderson. Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face. Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr.

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Prior to HelloAdvisr, Ed was a Director of Simon-Kucher & Partners, a global management consulting firm with more than 30 offices worldwide and widely recognized as the global leader in pricing. He advised clients on pricing, sales effectiveness and marketing strategy while working in a range of sectors including retail/ecommerce, B2B services, consumer goods, marketplace/platform and private equity. Previous to this, Ed was the Go-To-Market (GTM) manager for LG Electronics Europe where he worked with senior leadership across 14 subsidiaries and 20 markets to develop and implement initiatives to increase revenue and profitability growth. Ed received an MBA from Oxford University, double Masters of Science (MSc) from the London School of Economics and a BA from the University of California, San Diego. We also want to send a heartfelt thank you to our newest sponsor Brex for joining us on this journey and giving us the ability to create content to help move the needle on founder failure. Check out their offering for Sparkxyz users at: https://brex.com/sparkxyz/ Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Miki Reynolds is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Grid110, an early stage startup accelerator and community development organization. She has 15 years of experience working in tech, ranging from digital marketing and creative services to software development and e-commerce. Grid110: https://www.grid110.org/ We also want to send a heartfelt thank you to our newest sponsor Brex for joining us on this journey and giving us the ability to create content to help move the needle on founder failure. Check out their offering for Sparkxyz users at: https://brex.com/sparkxyz/ Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Shawn currently heads Pivot CMO as Managing Partner - a "win at all costs" digital marketing firm focusing on paid acquisition. He also advises a number of Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach startups focusing on customer acquisition and growth.   Previous to Pivot CMO Shawn spent time as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Guthy Renker, one of the largest Direct Marketing firms in the US. Along with this, Shawn was the Co-founder of Solve – an airport concierge and luxury travel company which was acquired by Blacklane in October 2017. He helped grow Solve to service over 500 airports worldwide while participating in Y Combinator. Prior to Solve, Shawn Co-founded and was the CEO of Dus, Inc. Shawn lead Dus through Berkeley’s Delta Prize Accelerator – winning top prize, a funding round from top Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach investors and advisors, a merger and a small acquisition to Woo – a dating app in India. We also want to send a heartfelt thank you to our newest sponsor Brex for joining us on this journey and giving us the ability to create content to help move the needle on founder failure. Check out their offering for Sparkxyz users at: https://brex.com/sparkxyz/ Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

We are fortunate to Welcome Elaine Russell from PLG Ventures to the studio this week. PLG is a highly active early stage fund in LA averaging 12-14 deals a year. Elaine dives deep into topics such as whether or not you should take venture capital, how to go about getting your founding team, and much much more! We also want to send a heartfelt thank you to our newest sponsor Brex for joining us on this journey and giving us the ability to create content to help move the needle on founder failure. Check out their offering for Sparkxyz users at: https://brex.com/sparkxyz/ Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Laurent is an Entrepreneur turned Venture Capitalist who works with start-up founders to successfully build scalable teams, strong company cultures and disruptive products. Laurent believes that there is a fundamental need for additional support in the early stage ecosystem in Los Angeles and other budding technology hubs around the US and globally. This desire to support these growing tech communities led him to his current role as the Lead Investor at Luma Launch, a pre-seed to seed corporate venture and accelerator. Luma Launch is focused on early-stage startups at the convergence of evolving technology and content markets, capitalizing on internal and external resources to create successful products. Luma Launch: https://www.lumalaunch.com/ Sparkxyz: https://www.sparkxyz.io/ Startup 2.0 Guests: https://www.amplite.xyz/startup-2-0 Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz.   Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.    

Drew Leahy is the Managing Partner and Co-founder of Hawke Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund that focuses on consumer and technology that powers consumer. Three-time entrepreneur and inventor, Drew was previously the Chief Marketing Officer and Co-founder of SnapSuits.com, a tech-forward men’s fashion e-retailer. He leveraged his seasoned product team, based in Colombia, South America, to achieve an 8x ROI with powerful technology and marketing. Drew was also previously Entrepreneur in Residence at memBrain in Los Angeles, working with tech and entertainment angel investors Ken Hertz and Liz Heller. He hails from Brighton, MI, graduated from the University of Michigan, and was awarded 2010 Ross School of Business Entrepreneur of the Year. Hawke Ventures: https://hawkeventures.com/ Sparkxyz: https://www.sparkxyz.io/ Startup 2.0 Guests: https://www.amplite.xyz/startup-2-0