Turnpikers

Luke and Danny catch up after almost a year off the air. Please note: his episode was recorded in a makeshift studio in Luke's all concrete Airbnb at SXSW. The content is awesome, the sound quality, not so much.

In this episode, Danny and Luke sit down with Denver's Justin Anthony. Justin is the unique serial entrepreneur who has startups in the online and offline work. His most recent digital success was the sale of his company, BrightNest, to Angie's list.

In this episode of Turnpikers, Danny and Luke are joined by JP O’Brien and Justin Bannon, operating partners of Black Lab Sports. Justin and JP talk about the thesis of the venture, their first few investment and the log term goal of the very unique sports-related fund and laboratory.  Justin, a former NFL star, shared some unique stories about ex-athletes who look to get involved involved in entrepreneurship when their athletic careers are over.  

In this episode, Brad Feld sits down with Luke and Danny to discuss the health and wellness of venture capital in Colorado. Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. He is the co-founder of Foundry Group, a venture capital firm focused on making investments in early-stage information technology, Internet and software startups. Prior to Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture and Techstars.

Live from Denver Startup Week, Luke and Danny sit down with two finalists from the Pitch-Off Event. First, Kevin Krauth, CEO and co-founder of Orderly Health, joins Turnpikers to discuss his experience starting his company in Colorado. Orderly Health is a chatbot platform that answers medical insurance questions. Second, Anthony Franco joins to discuss mcSquares, a company he founded and currently serves as CEO of. McSquares are handheld whiteboards that easily snap together on a wall to create larger collaborative systems so that meetings are more productive and learning is more engaging.

In our second Denver Startup Week Special, Tripp Keber joins Turnpikers to discuss the rapidly expanding cannabis industry. Tripp is CEO of Dixie Brands, Inc -- a company he co-founded that serves as a premiere licensed marijuana infused product manufacturer. Widely hailed as one of this industry's leaders, when Tripp is not thinking about the future vision of Dixie and the industry, he is supporting efforts of the National Cannabis Industry Association, where he is a founding member and current Board Director.

In this Denver Startup Week Special, Luke and Danny sit down with Doug Llewellyn, President & COO of Purch Inc. Purch attracts 100 million monthly unique users to its portfolio of websites that focus on providing content and services to help consumers and small business owners alike make the right product purchase decisions.

In this episode, Luke and Danny chat with John Levisay, CEO and co-founder of local startup Craftsy. John has overseen Craftsy's growth from 4 employees to over 215 employees in just six years. In that time, Craftsy has raised over $100M in venture capital and gone from an idea on how to change education, to a fast-growing media, ecommerce and technology company.

Jeff Casimir sits down with Luke and Danny to talk about Denver's Turing School of Software and Design. Jeff is the Executive Director of Turing School where he designs the overarching instructional program. Prior to this, Jeff started his teaching career with Teach for America in 2003 and has taught both high school and middle school.

Jon Nordmark was the 10-year CEO of eBags.com, where he was also a co-founder. Today, Jon is CEO and co-founder of Iterate.ai which helps large corporations leverage the global startup ecosystem for digital innovation.

Sameer Dholakia, CEO of SendGrid, joins Turnpikers to discuss SendGrid's presence in the Denver and Boulder tech scene as well as his career path and how he got to where he is today. SendGrid is a cloud-based customer communication platform that delivers over 22 billion emails each month for Internet & mobile-based customers.

In this episode of Turnpikers, Luke and Danny sit down with Willy Ogorzaly and Denise Franklin at Boulder Startup Week 2016. Willy is the CEO and Co-Founder of Lawbooth, an online marketplace for lawyers. Lawbooth was named 2014 Venture of the Year by Boulder Chamber and listed in the Top 10 global startups by IBM. Denise Franklin is a local angel investor and startup executive. She serves on the board of KidsTek, providing technology and STEM focused education in public schools. Denise is also a mentor for Techstars, Boomtown, MergeLane, and Founder Institute.

Special Edition: Boulder Startup Week - Luke and Danny sit down with Shelley Janes and Hannah Davis at BSW in this episode of Turnpikers. Shelley is the Founder and CEO of SideDoor, a real estate marketplace that allows home buyers and sellers to complete their transaction online without any agents or their fees. Hannah is the Program Director at MergeLane and helps run the accelerator and investment fund for startups with at least one female in leadership.

Noah Pittard joins the show to discuss his experience in the startup world as a lawyer and an investor. Noah is the co-founder of Service Provider Capital and Special Counsel at Cooley LLP.

Chris Marks, Founder and Managing Director of Blue Note Ventures, joins Turnpikers to chat about the world of investing in start-ups. Blue Note Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund based in Boulder. Chris has been investing in early stage technology companies for over 15 years.

Jacqueline Ros sits down to discuss how she turned her idea for a company into a reality. Jacqueline is the CEO & founder of Revolar, a wearable technology company that empowers greater personal freedom.

Chris Glode sits down with Luke and Danny to discuss wearable technology and how he got his start in this space. Chris is the Vice President of Digital Products at Under Armour where he leads product management for UA Connected Fitness, a platform that hosts 160 million registered users.

Erik Mitisek joins Turnpikers to discuss his perspective on the Denver/Boulder tech scene. Erik was recently appointed as the Chief Innovation Officer for the state of Colorado and also works as the executive director of Project X-ITE at the University of Denver.

Lee Mayer sits down with Luke and Danny to talk about her journey running a start-up in Denver. Lee is the co-founder and CEO of Havenly, an interior design company aimed at making decorating easier and more affordable.

Mac Freeman joins Turnpikers to discuss how technology is transforming the NFL and how the Denver Broncos are working with local tech companies and start-ups on numerous initiatives, including enhancing the game experience for fans. Mac is the Senior Vice President of Business Development for the Denver Broncos and has been with the organization since 2001.

Luke and Danny sit down with friend and local entrepreneur, Michael Gellman, to discuss how he launched his career and found success in the Denver tech scene. Gellman is the founder and CEO of Spire Digital, a Denver-based digital product development firm.