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D'ontra Hughes is the Founder and CEO of Spare, which uses tech to solve cash management problems for unbanked small businesses and enterprises. D'ontra shares his entrepreneurship journey, driven by realizing the financial industry's impact on less privileged individuals. D'ontra highlights a significant issue in the banking sector where the poorest people are often charged the most in fees, perpetuating poverty. Spare addresses the high fees unbanked individuals face when accessing their money. D'ontra's entrepreneurial journey involved various challenges, including learning from customer feedback, understanding the importance of data-driven decisions, and navigating the competitive startup environment. The conversation also covers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Spare, leading to a strategic shift and a focus on regions with high cash circulation. D'ontra emphasizes the importance of strategic planning, data analysis, and a systematic approach to business growth. He also discusses the personal aspects of being a CEO, stressing the importance of maintaining personal relationships and self-care. Spare (https://www.gotspare.com/) Follow Spare on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/spare-cs/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SPAREapp/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/gotspare/), or X (https://twitter.com/gotSPARE). Follow D'ontra Hughes on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dontrahughes/) or X (https://twitter.com/dontrahughes). Follow thoughtbot on X (https://twitter.com/thoughtbot) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/). Become a Sponsor (https://thoughtbot.com/sponsorship) of Giant Robots! Transcript: VICTORIA: This is the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots podcast, where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. I'm your host, Victoria Guido. And with us today is D'ontra Hughes, Founder and CEO of Spare, which uses tech to solve cash management problems for the unbanked small businesses and enterprise. D'ontra, thank you for joining us. D'ONTRA: Well, thank you for having me. VICTORIA: Well, wonderful. So, we met at San Diego Startup Week a few weeks ago. So, I'm excited to have you on the podcast today. Why don't you tell me what was your experience of San Diego Startup Week? And how did you come to be one of the speakers on a panel there? D'ONTRA: Yeah, well, it's always a really nice thing to take part in, you know, kind of those innovative startup week events because you get to see a lot of what people are working on or what they're doing. So, we've been working very closely with the County of San Diego, especially with the city of Oceanside with our latest technology. And, you know, there came this opportunity where I could get on the stage and kind of tell people about our journey a little bit, I think because we're becoming a little bit more successful or something [laughs]; I don't know what to say. We're getting better at what we're doing, apparently, and so folks wanted to hear what I had to say. VICTORIA: I was able to catch your talk, and I thought what was really inspiring about it was that you came from the background of working in the financial industry and saw an opportunity to solve a problem that was common for other people and to be more fulfilled by the work you were doing. So, can you share a little bit about that? D'ONTRA: I came out of a background in finance, as you said. I used to work for JPMorgan. It feels like a long, long time ago. And that was my last corporate job until I became an entrepreneur. You know, one of the things that I learned at that time...and not that the bank was doing anything wrong, but in the nature of finance, it's a business, right? It's got customers. It's got clients. It's got shareholders. And the most important thing is it's designed to make money. There's always someone that loses, right? And sometimes you could say that that's the nature of business. But in this regard, it was a lot of people who lost that couldn't recover or wouldn't be able to recover from the financial waste that was left. You know, I went on my entrepreneurial journey wanting to learn how to build a business and, you know, try to solve problems for myself or for other people. And specifically for this endeavor with Spare, which we launched back in 2015, we looked at the subset of the population, roughly about 25% of the U.S. population, 90-something million households of folks that were basically spending about 7% of their own income every year just accessing their own money. And, like, that's wild, right? Because if I came to you and I said, "Hey, if you got 100 bucks in your pocket, in order to pull that money out of your pocket, you got to give me $7," you'd be furious. And so, the unfortunate thing is that this kind of tax on the poor was being facilitated by the ATM industry. At the time when we began the company, you had consumers out there going to an ATM roughly about seven times per month, withdrawing roughly about $60 per transaction. And the average fee at that time was $4.09. And today, the average fee is just about $4.80, something cents, depending on where you're at in the country. And so, it's unfortunate the difference in these fees for these folks. It might sound absurd to say this, but it makes a difference between eating and not eating for some of these folks. And anyone who's a struggling college student or lives on the low end of the economic spectrum they understand what I mean by that, where the extra $30 or $40 in their pocket per month actually matters. It's an extra tank of gas or two tanks of gas, depending on what kind of car you're driving. And so, it matters. We wanted to really take a really clean look, an assertive look at the relationship that, not just the ATM, but just cash management services or cash management on a local level the impact that it actually has. VICTORIA: Yeah. And to kind of play that back a little bit, let's say you have a bank or you're not able even to get an account in a traditional bank. Maybe your bank doesn't have an ATM in your neighborhood, and you need to always go to a different ATM to get money out of your bank. And you're just constantly paying those fees. You're more likely taking out smaller sums of money, and then you have to do that over and over again. And it becomes a really high percentage of your income that goes just towards getting money out of the ATM. D'ONTRA: Yeah, absolutely. So, when you consider even during the pandemic, right? Everyone's at home, but businesses were trying to figure out how to cut costs. And banks, just like any other business, when they have a retail bank branch that's in a neighborhood that's perhaps low income, they may not keep that bank branch around. And that's unfortunate because it creates an additional hurdle for folks to be able to become banked. You may hear this term of banking deserts, and that's partially because folks have to travel too far, which is an external cost of time, and money, and resources, just to be able to put their money inside of a bank. Now, the additional cost for this particular demographic is that fees tend to add up. And we all know that the bank says, "Hey, as long as you keep $1,200 in your bank account, we're not going to charge you any fees." Well, that's really great, except for the person who is living paycheck to paycheck, right? And so, this fee tax that's placed on them simply because they don't have enough money when you look at it, it's actually pretty rough [laughs]. I look at it, and sometimes I kind of laugh because it's absolutely absurd when you actually look at it on its face where the poorest people you're generating the most profits from. And unfortunately, those fees keep them in the cycle of being poor. And so, it's been really great. Over the past few years, you've seen really great applications or neobanks come up that have acted as, you know, somewhat shields against all of these arbitrary fees, like, hey, no overdraft fees, and no account fees, ever, no monthly fees, and things of that nature, right? But they still aren't solving the other issues, some of the major issues. So, it's really great that I have your debit card. But if you're a neobank, that means I either have to use your co-op ATM network, which is only going to allow me to withdraw cash so many times per month for free, or I have to use some other third-party ATM network. The unfortunate thing about that is they're still paying that fee [laughs]. At some point, they're still going to pay that fee, and when that money is better in their pockets, it's just a little rough. It's a little hard to digest. And so, we wanted to make sure we were doing something about it. VICTORIA: Right. It reminds me of a phrase I come back to sometimes is that being poor is actually very expensive [laughs]. D'ONTRA: It is. VICTORIA: There's a lot of fees, a lot of extra stuff you have to pay for that other people don't. I'm curious: how did you narrow in on this problem? Was it through doing some market research? Was it a personal experience that led you to wanting to work for these types of users? D'ONTRA: Even though JPMorgan was my last, like, corporate job, I went out into the world to be an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is expensive because you got to figure out how to pay bills. And so, one of the side gigs I had is I worked for a hotel in Santa Monica by the name of the Fairmont, and I was managing valet. For anyone who's been to the Fairmont in Santa Monica, it's not for the cheap folks, right? But what would happen is, you know, patrons would show up, and they'd say, "Hey, I'm going to valet my car. I'm going to come back and pick it up." I'm going to go ahead and settle this up. But, you know, where's the nearest ATM so I can give the valet person cash?" And the most often answer was, "Well, there's one inside the lobby of the hotel, and then there's one across this very busy street." Both of these ATMs had a fee of...the one across the street was about $3.75 if you weren't a bank customer, and, of course, it wasn't a national bank. And then the one in the lobby was about $4.75, I think is what the fee was. And so, here's the person who doesn't really carry cash that often being told that they have to pay a premium just to help this person out. And you could almost guess what the most likely outcome was is, unfortunately, that valet person just didn't get tipped. But the thing is, is there was actually a third source of cash, and it was actually in the valet's pocket or at the valet stand. So, there was money there in closer proximity. There just wasn't a mechanism of extracting it. And so, our first look was, well, hey, can we monetize a transaction between, say, the valet stand and this consumer where, basically, the valet stand is selling these folks their cash for much cheaper than the ATM? So, it's going to save everyone time, energy, money, and it ensures that the valet folks get cash in their pocket. I can remember when we initially launched this; I thought it was such a brilliant idea. We created an app in which we would populate a map with all the people around you that had cash on them. So, when you say it out loud, -- VICTORIA: [laughs] Yeah. I could see how that might be problematic. [laughter] D'ONTRA: So, we're super stoked. We're, like, "Hey, we got this app, and it's really great. And, you know, look at all the people here that have money on them." So, we go to submit this thing to the App Store, and the legal team's like, "Absolutely not [laughs]." So, we spent about six months working back and forth with their legal team to come up with a model. And it's somewhat similar to what you see today, where we're sending consumers to regular brick-and-mortar businesses that have spare cash on hand. That's it. Nothing glamorous about that. But the mechanism and the usefulness does some real overall good, not just for the consumers but for the businesses and for the local economy. VICTORIA: Right. So, I was going to ask you, like, what surprised you in the early phases: the discovery process? It sounds like you had at least [laughs] at least one big strategic turn. But I'm curious if there was anything else that came up in your early-stage journey where you realized you had to make a pivot and change up what you were doing based on the feedback you got from users. D'ONTRA: I'd love to be able to tell the story that we got it all right the first time around, but we didn't. I think we almost hit the checklist of things that you should not do. So, like [laughs], one example is you actually really truly shouldn't listen to your customer to some degree, right? So, you have the vision for this thing, but every customer has their idea of how your app should be better or something you should add. And we went through phases where we were adding features then that people just weren't using. You know, it might have worked for, you know, 10% of the user base, but we had spent two or three weeks with the dev team putting in this new feature. And it was somewhat of a departure from the core. It's adjacent, and so we could justify it. So, we did it, but we shouldn't have. So [laughs], then we had to, like, backtrack on that. We had lots of these moments. But I would say one of the most defining moments, and it was actually one of the first ones that came, was this moment in which one of early entrepreneurs' fear is that someone is going to steal your idea. So, we try to, you know, wrap folks up in NDAs, and secrecy, and things of that nature. You know, if you have a really solid idea, like, we all know that it has major potential to change your life. And so, I can remember, you know, we went out, and we pitched this business to a venture capital company. It was very early on. That was my first lesson: people don't steal things that are worthless. And the second being that just because they steal, it doesn't mean they can build it. I can remember, you know, it took us six and a half months to get Spare in the App Store the first time around. And during that time, we had met with this venture capital company looking for investors, angel investors. And it happened to be that this company gave us an offer to buy the company, and we said "No." But then were like, "Hey, why don't you come in and consult us, and let's see if we can work together to do a deal?" And me being super naive at that time, went in, and I said, "Hey, yeah. Like, this is how we would change the app, and this is what we would do." And after two or three hours chatting with them, I had designed my competitor. And I didn't know that until a week later where they made their announcement, and, you know, I had Google Alerts on. And so, this app comes out and, you know, they're posting to see what people think about it. And they had gotten their app in the App Store, same business model, mind you. And I was just blown away [laughs]. Like, I think, at that time, I think I lost all composure. I was, like, sick to my stomach. I was furious. When you asked about, like, the major pivot, it would have been in, like, my mindset because I went in thinking that we have this really great idea and how could anyone want to take something from an entrepreneur because starting is tough enough, especially the people that fund this stuff, right? And [laughs] I learned that, no, opportunities are opportunities, and people take them when they can. And the bigger you become or depending on where your industry is, people are just looking for a shot. They're looking for an opportunity. No one really cares whether or not they're copying someone else's tech, right? If you were destined to do it, you would do it, and you would do it well, and you'd be one of the top ones to do it, right? That was a major change in how I saw this journey, which allowed me to kind of reframe what we were doing and how I was approaching the market, how we collected data, how we dealt with our consumers, and how we ran our business in general. And then, we had to go in and pivot back to the conversation around the customer. So, we go back, and we're going back to build this thing. And so, at that time, I'm feeling, okay, I have to, like, do any and everything I can once we're in the App Store to get users and retain them. And that's when I learned the lesson of, like, don't listen to all of your users. Like, know what your thing is, and do that thing really, really well. And try not to build features that aren't central to your core because, honestly, that can just get you in a lot of trouble. And you can waste a lot of time for no reason. But I think the most important thing out of that is listen to the data, the information, and what I mean by that is where people go on a webpage, or where they go in your app, where they spend the most time. Listen to those things, and pay attention to the data, and somewhat become obsessed about utilizing the data to make your decisions. I think that'll save everyone a bit of heartache and, you know, pain as they go down that journey. VICTORIA: Yeah, I really love that. There's a couple of, like, interesting points. I feel like when you said it can be daunting, like, oh, there's a million apps in there that already do this or, like, somebody else has already started this. Like, sometimes that means, well, it's a good idea because clearly somebody was willing to try and put it together, and they found a market. But you can always do it better, and you can always have a unique angle and try if you think there's a strong enough idea. And I'm curious to, like, get more into, like, the data question and understand what do you use to understand how people are behaving in your app? And kind of metrics you look at to see how you're tracking and whether those are, like, key success measures or other ways that you think about that data. D'ONTRA: For our application, you know, our KPIs were pretty simple very early on. It was like, do we have, like, the keywords that people respond to to find the application? And is it cash? Is cash the keyword? Is ATM the keyword? How do people find us, ultimately, at the end of the day? Because if you can solve that, solving what keywords are most attractive to your company, then what you're going to be able to do is organic traffic is going to be a lot easier to come by. So, you don't have to spend a whole lot of money trying to get advertisements. There's going to be natural search traffic that drive people toward your platform. In addition to that, it was really paying attention to where the customer complaints were coming from because that told us a lot about the application. Even still, today, we have one very consistent customer complaint that, like, the unfortunate thing is, like, it's really difficult for us to solve this thing because it's actually more in the hands of the business than it is us. And that major customer complaint is when I went into this active location, the person at the cash register didn't necessarily know what I was talking about, and there's a myriad of different reasons for that. But the primary one is that these locations typically have high turnover for the person that's working at the counter. And so Spare has to be an integral part of their onboarding this person so that when someone walks off the street, they can get the service that they need. To some degree, listening or paying attention to the feedback that you're getting about the effectiveness of the service or being able to deliver the technology is actually a very useful data point. In addition to that, looking at where your app is available in cross-section with where the people are that are going to use your app. And this is one of the lessons, I think, we learned the hard way, where, you know, we came out the gate and said, "Hey, anybody and everybody can use this app. It doesn't matter if you're in New York, if you're in Texas, Midwest. It doesn't make a difference, right? Any and everyone can use it." And the unfortunate thing is, when you do that, like, you're going to new users, which is really fun. It starts off that way. So, you go out, and you get merchants and things of that nature. And the mentality that we used was, well, we'll build it. The users will come, and the users will tell us where the businesses are or where we need to place businesses. So, we had a new person or a group of individuals show up in downtown Los Angeles. It was like, okay, cool, there's a concentration of people in Downtown LA. Let's go make sure we put businesses there. Well, that's faulty thinking in and of itself. Even though you're getting the data points and the useful bits of data, you're actually doing it in pretty much, like, the wrong order [laughs]. We didn't really realize that, and Spare was my first tech company. And so, you know, when you think about things like that, like, you think, oh, users, they're important. But how you get them, and how you service them, and when you service them must be a strategic plan. You have to have that process thought out so that the user audience follows your plan, not you responding to them or following their informal plan. VICTORIA: Yeah, that makes sense. And I love that, you know, focusing on the users and really focusing, like, on all of their unique needs like location [laughs] and other things like that. And I talk about that, you know, in my role as managing director at thoughtbot, I work on our DevOps and platform engineering team. I often talk about it in terms of, you know, very early in the process; you know enough about your user to tell you a lot about what their needs are going to be like on the infrastructure side, like their regional location, the sensitivity of the data, you know, that can tell you a lot about what you need to build [laughs]. So, I'm curious, you know, you're working on a financial app here. Have you also had to consider that from a regional perspective and from an infrastructure perspective how that affects your users? D'ONTRA: Going into COVID and how we got there, was that we thought we were actually doing really well, right? So, we officially launched our platform to the marketplace in Q4 of 2018. And we did well for the initial launch without any marketing. And then a year later, we had done 3x the volume and had a strategic partner in place that would have grown our network by 30 times by the end of the next year, you know, we were moving. And then COVID came along, right? In which, you know, huge event that no one planned for. It kind of put the company on halt while businesses were shut down, and we lost about 98% of our network at that time. So, we had to go back to the drawing board and kind of, like, figure out, well, one, if this company is really truly something that we know that there's a thing, we're going to continue to build it, but let's do it better this time around, like, what did we miss the first time? And the first place that we went when we were trying to make this decision is we went to look up, like, cash effectively, like cash in circulation. And to our surprise, actually, there was more cash put into [laughs] circulation during COVID than there was at any other time in the past, like, decade, and so that was shocking. And so, we said, okay, cool. We know that cash is in circulation, perfect. Where is cash in circulation? And in addition to that, where should we start with the base of our technology? And how do we want to reconfigure this? And to be honest, we need help. So, you know, we applied to Techstars, and we were super fortunate that we got into the Techstars Anywhere program. I think it was a lifesaver and a reboot for us and the company primarily because, you know, during the pandemic, we had lost, you know, over 70% of the folks that worked for the company at that time. So, going through that program helped us rethink a lot about strategy infrastructurel...how exactly we need to rebuild and reconfigure the company for success this next time around. I think very early on, you know, we were just trying to do the business. We were just doing it rather than actually strategically building it. You know, that's the major difference between where we were versus where we are now is that everything that we do now is more methodical. When we look at, okay, where do we build merchant networks? Well, we're building them in a very strategic location. That particular location has this value to not only us as a company, the merchants in that area, but also the user base. When we were able to take this more strategic position around, you know, how exactly we're building this business, we were actually able to see much larger opportunities that have always been there, but we just didn't see them. And so [laughs], I'm super grateful for, like, us kind of doing that recalibration because we were able to build a business that is ten times bigger than we initially thought that we were building. VICTORIA: That's super interesting. So, yeah, like, pre-COVID, you're like, we'll get users, and then we'll figure out where to build. And then you had to, like, go through this full recalibration and focus on strategic regions, and that really opened up more opportunities and more growth than you had expected. Mid-Roll Ad: As life moves online, bricks-and-mortar businesses are having to adapt to survive. With over 18 years of experience building reliable web products and services, thoughtbot is the technology partner you can trust. We provide the technical expertise to enable your business to adapt and thrive in a changing environment. We start by understanding what's important to your customers to help you transition to intuitive digital services your customers will trust. We take the time to understand what makes your business great and work fast yet thoroughly to build, test, and validate ideas, helping you discover new customers. Take your business online with design‑driven digital acceleration. Find out more at tbot.io/acceleration, or click the link in the show notes for this episode. VICTORIA: What does success look like for you six months from now or five years from now? D'ONTRA: So, six months from now. We're hitting this hot streak with new clients and things of that nature. And we're going out, and we're pitching contracts that are bigger than I ever thought we would be able to pitch, honestly. And sometimes when I see the zeros on the proposals that we're sending out, there's part [laughs] of me that's like, oh, they're never going to say yes to this thing, but, one, they are, which is still shocking, even though we've gotten a few of these in. And six months from now, I just want us to be doing it right. I know that sounds so arbitrary, and it sounds, like, so whimsical. But there are so many things that we're adjusting to in the marketplace and with our tech. Some of this is kind of new frontier for us. But what I would like to have happen is for the results in the next six months to indicate that we're doing it the right way and meaning that we have clients sticking around, we're still getting contracts signed, the network is growing, consumers are actually getting their needs met by our technology, and the company is growing at a rapid pace. That's what I'd like to see. And granted, you know, we've, in the past, you know, few weeks here, we've doubled the size of the team, which is something that feels really great. But I want us to not lose sight of making sure that the team itself always has a common goal in mind, even as we're growing. And whether that's six months from now, 2, 5, 10 years from now, I want that to kind of be the core of the expectations of what I want this company to be able to do and to deliver. VICTORIA: That's exactly the right attitude to have [laughs], right? It's like I want it to work. I want us [laughs] to, yeah, be successful. I think it all makes sense. You know, it's easy to come on a podcast, like, you know, you're eight years into the startup now, and you're starting to see some success. And it's like, here's how I did it. Everything sounds great. So, I'm glad you've also shared some mistakes or some things that you maybe would have reconsidered or done [laughs] differently before. I'm curious: if you could travel back in time to when you first started, what advice would you give yourself, now that you've had this experience, to set your mind right from the very beginning? D'ONTRA: Oh God, there's so much. There's so [laughs] much. One of the major things that I would do differently is I would read more. And what I mean by that is there are lots of lots of people that have been here in this position and done that thing already. I think in the past year, I would say probably one of the most influential books that I've read is Zero to IPO by Frederic Kerrest. And I happened to listen to it in Audible. But when you talk about, like, just things being pivotal, or like [laughs], going, "Oh, that makes sense," yeah, you get that because being an entrepreneur isn't new. And there are folks that have already kind of cracked the code in some regards. So, if you don't have the existing network around you already, go get the materials. Go read the books or listen to the audios of people who have been there, done that. It's going to save you so much time. So, that would be the number one thing that I would change is I would really truly read more and ingest other people's experiences more, and reach out and get mentors and advisors as you're going down this journey. The second thing that I would do is–it's important to move fast when you're building a company. It's important to respond to the market and all that stuff. That's all super important. That's how you live or die, right? You treat it like there's a fire behind you, and you have to lead it. You have this really hot thing. You've got to be in front of it always, or you'll lose it. And sometimes what we miss is we miss the opportunity to do it faster or better by just slowing down just a little bit. And what I mean by that is, like, I mentioned earlier about looking at the data and things of that nature. There may be things in the data that are making suggestions that you should go a different direction. But because of how you've built this thing, you and your co-founders, and how you guys have built these things in your head, that piece of data may not seem like it's very relevant. Sometimes, it's good to take a breath and take an assessment of where you're at. So, when you're with your team, whether you're setting this up monthly, quarterly, whatever it is, make sure that you're taking some time to make sure that you guys are aligned around where your company is, the industry is, and the signs that you're getting inside the space that you're operating in. It's going to save you a lot of time. And I think the last thing that is probably the most important is for those out there who are listening to this that are CEOs, one of my board members/life mentors/ CEO mentors, a friend, and almost like a father figure to me at this point, one of the things that he said to me and that I've never gotten out of my mind is that the CEO position is the loneliest position inside of an organization. And the reason why is even though you may start a business with your friends or people who aren't your friends, whatever it might be, whatever those relationships might be, those folks will never quite understand what it's like to sit in your seat because everything must end with you. It has to. Every successful organization is going to rise or fall by the person that sits at the top. And because that burden is so heavy, oftentimes, we don't want to go and talk to people when things are going bad. We don't want to admit when, like, hey [laughs], this thing that we've sunk all these resources into isn't really working. And just the sheer pressure of being that person sucks sometimes. With that being said, take care of yourself and your key relationships. And I'm not talking about key as in, like, strategic. I'm talking about the people that love you. Make sure even though you're going down this journey, you're making time for your friends, your family, your significant others, your kids, whatever it might be. Because business stuff aside, and we're all chasing the–Man, this is going to be really successful one day, and I'll be able to change everyone's life. Sure, we're all chasing that. But there is a now moment. There is a person right now that might want your love or your attention, and do not rob them of that. Make sure that you're still making time for those things that are important. Because you could very easily start building a business and five years later, look up and go, oh, this thing didn't work. And then turn around, and there's a wasteland of relationships that you just didn't pay attention to. That's not worth it. So, make sure that you're not only showing, you know, the folks that support you some love but show yourself love by still nurturing those relationships. VICTORIA: That reminds me I heard something about like, your rest ethic should be as good as your work ethic. And your rest ethic includes that time that you spend with family, or whether it's your religion, or your hobbies, or anything like that that makes you feel whole and like yourself, which I know can be a difficult thing to do when you're balancing starting a new business and thinking about the growth and the future all the time. So, I really appreciate that. You know, you mentioned mentorship and these networking and relationships. Bringing it all the way back to Start Up San Diego Week, I'm curious if you have thoughts on how founders could get the most out of those types of events. And what draws you back to Startup San Diego or startup weeks in general? D'ONTRA: Just as a caveat to all this, even though I'm on the podcast and stuff like that, and I'm sure if you Googled my name, you'll see that I've been on TV and stuff, I generally don't like networking [laughs]. I'm a major introvert. So, like, when you put me in an event like that, it's very hard for me to talk to people. Like, when we met, it seems that would be contrary to what I'm saying because we were strangers, and I came over, and we started chatting and stuff like that. And by and large, like, that's not always, like, an easy thing for me to do. The reason why I'm saying that is that if you're that kind of person, do what you have to do to be more extroverted because sometimes that extroverted or that more open or welcoming side of you will allow for spontaneous interactions to occur. And so, when we think about events like, you know, Innovation Week or something like that, there's a lot of opportunity for you to either meet people that are on your journey or a similar journey like you who've been there done that, or even just to offer a different perspective. And if you're in a place where you're open and constantly seeking, amazing things can happen, right? You could end up with your next co-founder. You could end up, you know, with your next investor. Or you could end up talking on a podcast with a stranger that you met just a few weeks ago, right? So, anything can happen. Keeping yourself open to the opportunity and the ability to extract as much value as you can out of those events. It's really interesting to kind of have your pulse on what's going on, even if it's outside your industry. We're a FinTech, but I go, and I pay attention to things that are going on in aerospace or in health because it's always good to, one, not completely have yourself submerged in just your industry, even though that might sound really great. People like folks that can talk about a myriad of different topics [laughs]. So, it might be useful if you can go and have a chat with a stranger about, you know, what's the latest in aerospace, right? It gets you out of the brain drain of what it is that you do on a daily basis. But also, you get to learn some new things and cultivate some new relationships. VICTORIA: I love that. Yeah, I listened to...I think it's Happiness Lab episode where they talk about random conversations with people those, like, sparks of innovation or things like ideas you never would have thought of if you hadn't run into this random person [laughs] and talked to them for five minutes about, you know, what they do in health tech, or what they do for their consumer product that they're building. So yeah, I think that's great. And I've been excited to be here in Southern California for the last three years and starting to grow that network and meet people like yourself who are doing really interesting things. I'm curious if you have any questions for myself or about thoughtbot, or the podcast, or anything. D'ONTRA: Yeah. So, you say that you've been here for three years. Tell me a little bit about your journey, how'd you get here, and why you chose the podcast life, right? As one of your many things. VICTORIA: That is one of my many things, right? So, I grew up in Washington, D.C., And my career was in tech and civic tech. I was working for big three-letter agencies and some pseudo-federal banks like FDIC, and Fannie Mae, and PBGC, all the acronyms all the time. And we got an opportunity in early 2020 to move here for my husband's job. And we moved out here, and I decided to take a switch out of the federal space and get into more commercial consulting. And I was lucky enough to find thoughtbot; they had a position that just looked great for me. And when I joined, you know, we have an internal collaboration thing called Hub that I think our CEO wrote and writes with the other people. All the developers on our team all contribute to it. But he posted a message about this Giant Robots podcast and if anybody wanted to be a new co-host. And I was like, "Sure, I've done a little podcasting here and there, and I have a microphone, so I'm ready to go." And little did I realize just how popular the [chuckles] podcast was. And it ended up being a really great avenue for me to meet people and, learn more about their stories, and build relationships in a way that has been really impactful and meaningful. And like I said, you know, you never know how someone you meet might help you [laughs]. So, sometimes I'll interview people, and I'll get an idea about something that is, like, exactly relevant to the work that I am doing that week, just total kismet however it came about. So, that's how I got into podcasting and how I'm in thoughtbot and here in Southern California. And so, I'm super lucky that I live in a place where there's lots of events going on all the time and lots of great people to meet. Between LA and San Diego, you could go to a different event every single day, probably [laughs], and meet people who are working on cool stuff. So, my background was really in operations and maintenance and taking federal agencies into more modern practices with digital services, and agile development, and DevOps. And now I'm taking kind of a similar lens but to commercial partners who are much faster and can make change quicker. And, in some cases, are doing things in even cooler ways than I could have thought and trying to think about how to move them forward with their infrastructure and how they deploy software. D'ONTRA: That's fascinating. And, you know, it's difficult to be in Southern California, right? New events every day. VICTORIA: And then yeah, I'll go walk my dog in the morning-- D'ONTRA: [laughs] VICTORIA: And people are out there surfing. And I'm like, I could surf all day. I don't have to work [laughs]. D'ONTRA: Right? VICTORIA: But I do. I got to work. D'ONTRA: It feels like the world of limitless possibility, right? [laughs] VICTORIA: Yeah. You almost feel, like, a pressure. Like, everyone else is starting their own company. Why am I not starting my company? Everyone's doing cool stuff all the time. So, you get motivated that way by being around a great group of people who are...everyone is very happy and sunny and [laughs] for the most part, the people are so nice. D'ONTRA: Definitely a departure from the East Coast, right? And, like, I'm sure you came here with, like, that hustle mindset, where you're like, got to get it done, which is probably why you do, like, a million things. But then also, you have all of these people [laughs] that, like, I don't know, like, cares to the wind when they need to, right? Although you've got lots of successful people. But, sure, like, more or less down here, it's like, hey, you know, like, let's live life first and [laughs] make the dollars second. VICTORIA: It's very casual. I got rid of all of my blazers. There's no more of that anymore [laughs]. People when they found out that I was moving to California, they were like, "That makes sense for you [laughs]," like, just the general, like, vibe. D'ONTRA: [laughs] VICTORIA: And I'm a rock climber. So, they're like, of course, you're going to go somewhere where the outdoors is prioritized, yeah. Versus when you live in D.C., it's like the news is happening to you. D'ONTRA: Yes [laughs]. VICTORIA: And it's very, very close. So yeah, it's interesting. I love it, though. And it's cool to take experience from that and then apply it to this world and how people might think about stuff. So, I was worried that, like, my experience might not translate, but it has. It's been very helpful [laughs] in some cases, right? Is there anything else that you would like to promote today? D'ONTRA: Yeah, so, you know, maybe for a future conversation, but in line with, you know, your background and what you're talking about, I would love to have a discussion around CRA, the Community Reinvestment Act, for those who don't understand the lingo, right? Because Spare's latest, like, golden nugget that we've really been just, like, kind of moving on and we're talking to federal regulators about is actually our impact on banks and the Community Reinvestment Act. For those who follow the news and know, you know, the time and space that we're in right now, there are some changes that are taking place inside of CRA. And it's very fascinating because when you say about your background of helping agencies kind of modernize things with digital, that's effectively what we're doing with our tech, and we're getting a lot of support from the government. And so, you know, I think that we're really doing some very interesting things that are starting to get some really great attention. We recently partnered with Visa on one of our initiatives, and we're talking to a few other really large organizations and government organizations so that this technology can really be used at a scale, honestly, far beyond what I ever imagined. But when we talk about, like, actually helping people, we're doing it [laughs]. We're doing it in this very unique way, which I'm super stoked about. But maybe we'll have a chat about that in the future. But I think, you know, for those of you that are listening to this and you're curious, you know, what it is that we're working on, feel free to reach out. It's gotspare.com. Feel free to email me: ceo@gotspare.com. I'm generally in that email box every day. Or even just checking out our service, you know, searching Spare on the App Store or Google Play, and just going in and giving it a test drive. And, you know, we're happy to hear your thoughts. And for those of you who are out there that may be looking for a new experience, we are definitely growing this team, and we want to expand as quickly as we can. We have some really aggressive initiatives for the organization over the next 12-18 months. And so, we're not going to do it on our own. I'm super stoked to where we're, like, we're at a place where we're like, we're actively building [laughs]. We're actively moving. And so, if there was a [inaudible 38:44] for us, whether it's supporting us as someone who uses the application or supporting us as a merchant who's in our community. There's lots of value that we're adding that we're turning back around to reach all small businesses. We're really working on combating inflation with our tech. And we've been able to do that, which is one of those really, like, refreshing byproducts of a tech company, or at least of our services. Like, we're actually adding real, true value to folks, and I'm super stoked about that. VICTORIA: That's wonderful, and it's really close to my heart as someone who wants to see tech with purpose and who loves tech solving problems for people, especially groups of people that usually aren't the focus of founders who are trying to turn a quick buck, right [laughs]? The people who have real problems there's a real market there. It is a business, and it makes sense to start solving those problems. So, I'm really happy that you're working on it. Thank you so much for coming in today and being a guest on the show. We will include all those links and wonderful ways to reach out and get connected with you in the show notes. You can subscribe to the show and find notes along with a complete transcript for this episode at giantrobots.fm. If you have questions or comments, email us at hosts@giantrobots.fm. And you can find me on Twitter @victori_ousg. This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot and produced and edited by Mandy Moore. Thanks for listening. See you next time. AD: Did you know thoughtbot has a referral program? If you introduce us to someone looking for a design or development partner, we will compensate you if they decide to work with us. More info on our website at: tbot.io/referral. Or you can email us at referrals@thoughtbot.com with any questions. Special Guest: D'ontra Hughes.

Christina M. Wallace, Harvard Professor, Entrepreneur & Author, shared the story behind her title with us on July 5, 2023.A self-described “human Venn diagram” CHRISTINA WALLACE has crafted a career at the intersection of business, technology, and the arts. She is currently a Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurial Management at Harvard Business School, where she co-leads HBS Startup Bootcamp, and is an active angel investor and startup advisor. Her latest book, The Portfolio Life: How to Future-Proof Your Career, Avoid Burnout, and Build A Life Bigger Than Your Business Card will be published in April 2023 (Hachette). She co-authored New To Big: How Companies Can Create Like Entrepreneurs, Invest Like VCs, and Install a Permanent Operating System for Growth (Penguin Random House, 2019) with David Kidder, co-founder of growth advisory firm Bionic, where she worked as the Vice President for Growth before joining the HBS faculty. Early to the podcast scene, she co-created and co-hosted The Limit Does Not Exist, a podcast about portfolio careers produced by iHeartRadio with 125 episodes over 3 seasons and millions of downloads by passionate listeners.She regularly speaks, writes, and consults on a wide range of topics, ranging from failure and resilience to corporate innovation, from K12 computer science education to her viral TED talk detailing her unique approach to hacking online dating. Mashable called her one of “44 Female Founders to Know” and Refinery29 named her one of the "Most Powerful Women in NYC Tech." She has been profiled in Elle, Marie Claire, the Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company, among others.Originally from Lansing, Michigan, Christina is pleased to serve as a mentor for several accelerators, including Techstars Anywhere and the NEW INC accelerator for startups at the intersection of art and technology. A lifelong musician, she earned her high school diploma from Interlochen Arts Academy, where she studied piano, cello, and classical voice. In her free time, she sings with various chamber choirs, embarks on adventure travel, including summiting Mt Kilimanjaro and trekking to Everest Base Camp, and is an endurance athlete, with 22 half marathons, 3 triathlons, and 3 marathons under her belt. She lives in Cambridge with her husband Chas Carey and their two children.SUE SAYS"Christina grew up with a love of both music and math. While she thrived academically, she also had a love of the arts. When she combined the two she would learn that the perfect route for her was to become an entrepreneur. Many twists and turns that took place in her life led to her latest book, The Portfolio Life which details the importance of diversification in both finance and life."Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/women-to-watch-r/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

En esta ocasión platicamos con Ileana González, Venture Associate en Techstars Anywhere; Un fondo de VC basado en USA con operaciones internacionales que además de invertir, apoya startups con un programa de seguimiento que les permite prepararse para levantar inversión. Durante la platica conversamos con Ileana sobre los siguientes temas: Tesis, proceso y deal de Techstars Common VS Preferred Stock Conectar startups con inversionsitas La mentalidad del emprendedor de USA vs México Cold Emails VS Warm Intros Contexto de fundraising en 2022 Crear tu newsletter para inversionsitas

Ileana is the tip of the spear, constantly meeting entrepreneurs and innovators on the bleeding edge of technology and business in the hottest markets in the world for tech and innovation. She finds and screens pre-seed startups in preparation for admission into the Techstars Anywhere accelerator. Once startups are accepted to Techstars Anywhere, Ileana helps maintain the relationship with startups and is constantly on the lookout for opportunities to get them exposure to potential employees, investors, customers, partners and other VIP's through Techstars Anywhere. Prior to Techstars, Ileana was a Sr. Venture Associate at Capital Factory where she drove deal flow to Capital Factory Ventures (CFV) and pitched her startups to the Partners. Ileana managed Capital Factory's most important relationships throughout Texas with accelerators, venture funds, universities, and other ecosystem partners. In this episode we talk about all you need to know about Techstars Anywhere accelerator: - What kind of founders get selected? - Techstars Anywhere's focus on backing underrepresented founders - What does it look like from the insides? - Value add & a lot more Follow Ileana at https://twitter.com/IleanaGonzxlez Apply for next cohort of Techstars Anywhere- https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/anywhere Hosted by- https://twitter.com/ChoubeySahab Full epsode blog- https://vc10x.com/techstars-anywhere-ileana-gonzalez

In this episode, Rob and Ile, welcome Ileana Gonzalez, from San Antonio, Texas. Ileana is an up-and-coming millennial venture capital leader in the San Antonio and Texas entrepreneurial economy who shares her story of immigrating to the United States from Mexico. She discusses her experiences in the Texas entrepreneurial economies while discussing the Techstars Anywhere program and the challenges of being a Mexicana in a macho/male dominated entrepreneurial world on both sides of the border. Ileana has been a leader in her community since her days as Student Body President, and Miss UTSA, at University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA), where she fell in love with the creativity and possibilities of entrepreneurship. She learned VC while working for Texas' leading venture/acceleration community, the Capital Factory, where she was a Senior Venture Associate. Currently she is a Venture Associate at Techstars, the global entrepreneurial support community. She is the leader of their new “Techstars Anywhere” program, which was one of the first entrepreneurship programs in the world to “go virtual and global” in response to the pandemic. Ileana's job finds and screens pre-seed startups in preparation for admission into the Techstars Anywhere accelerator cohort. Feel free to follow and engage with Ileana here: Twitter: @ileanagonzxlez LinkedIn: @ileanagonzxlez Correo/Email: ileana.gonzalez@techstars.com We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers, and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA! Plug in, relax, and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of Spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate, and empower you, so that you can build the future! ¡Salud y gracias! Mentors Today's Team. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mentorstoday/message

Jen Saxton is the founder and CEO of Tot Squad, a marketplace that connects new and expecting parents with health, wellness and safety services like car seat installation, sleep consulting, babyproofing, and lactation consulting. She's an alumna of Duke, has a Kellogg MBA and is a serial entrepreneur having sold her first business in 2020 and was part of the 2020 Techstars Anywhere accelerator.  But above all, Jen is the mom of Charlotte and Sophie, aged 7 months and 3 years. In this episode, Jen and I chat about... Selling her business in March 2020 (literally when the Pandemic was beginning) Her vision and drive for starting a business centered around family and work-life balance and how she launched a baby company out of business school before she had kids or even was married Her "infants at work" policy she implemented pre-kids She didn't take a break after selling her company (10 years) and dove into something new, joined an Accelerator and became pregnant with her second kid What “maternity leave” the second time looked like and her fun out of office response How she kept her boundaries within the company while on leave How she implements the Fair Play system at home to create boundaries, manage her relationship, and replenish herself Advice for founders on when to leave their “day job” Follow Jen at... Website: totsquad.com IG: @totsquad ----- Come join me in my sandbox of life and in this podcast to explore, play and discover something new every single week. Subscribe and tune in weekly because I know you've yelled "Mommy's on a Call" at least once in the last week!!! For show notes, visit www.MommysonaCall.com Stephanie's Website IG: @MommysonaCall // @StephanieUchima

A VCFamilia member, Leandro Bedolla is a VC at M25 in Chicago, the most active Pre-Seed and Seed stage firm investing in Midwest-based startups across most industries (14 states, 117 companies). He sources and meets with founders, conducts analysis and due diligence, supports portfolio companies and firm operations, and initiatives including MidwestStartups.com and the Midwest Startup City Rankings. Additionally, Leandro volunteers with LatinxVC co-leading the Breaking into VC Fellowship, VCFamilia, mentors for Techstars and NVCA/Venture Forward's VC University, and was recognized by HBCUvc as a 2021 Emerging Venture Leader. Previously, Leandro was an associate for the Techstars Anywhere accelerator, Tech Coast Angels' volunteer analyst program, and built up Startup San Diego's ecosystem as MD of sponsorships and a lead organizer for San Diego Startup Week. He graduated from Valparaiso University, grew up in Illinois, and is originally from Central Mexico.

Neal: Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News by Neal Bloom and Jonah Peake from Fresh Brewed Tech. Every Friday at 12:30pm Pacific on Clubhouse and now we record them for you to enjoy as well.  I'm Neal Bloom, entrepreneur, investor, and community builder    Jonah: And I'm Jonah Peake, serial tech operator and investor both, both of us big fans of growing the San Diego tech community. Let's dive into our five stories of the week For week of Aug 27, 2021 ​​Smartphones in the sky: Qualcomm launches first 5G and AI platform targeting commercial drones Qualcomm stated on mars Supplying chips to NASA for Ingenuity helicopter Because why not start with a challenge QQ unveiled tech to power beyond line of site flight on earth  What do you think of this name?  Operation Swarm or Digital Eagle or  Platform is called RB5 5G platform Crop inspection Wsin turbine monitoring Package delivery Mapping Many other application potential Enabling applications like: They are also launching a physical drone kit   ModalAI https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005256/en/ModalAI-Serves-as-Distributor-for-Qualcomm%E2%80%99s-World-First-5G-and-AI-Enabled-Drone-Platform-and-Reference-Design   Pretty clever strategy Speed up innovation for commercial applications Drone body, rotors, etc To date 12 flights 1 mile total flight Graduated from demonstration to aerial scout for Perseverance Rover A quick update on Ingenuity:    Rare defense unicorn: San Diego AI startup corrals $210M for drone technology used by military Shield AI is now worth over a billion After raising  Unicorn status completed An AI startup making military surveillance drones Used in combat zones over last 3 years US forces in the middle east Allows operations in low gps Degraded GPS environments They have a platform: Nova-class   Pretty cool origin story   Founded by Navy Seal Brandon Tseng Goal: Help US forces scout for threats  Enter buildings Send back surveillance (maps or photos) An MIT Grad Who sold company WiPower to Qualcomm Brandon teamed up with brother Ryan Who worked on Draper Labs Robotic guidance system Pairing with last founder, Andrew Reiter   Shield has been growing through acquisition   Heron Systems: which makes software designed to power autonomous jets Martin UAV: maker of 125 lb drones launched from vehicles From 200 to nearly 400 Both acquisitions doubled the head count over night Shield is based out of DT SD!    Incubator News - find deadlines and links Founders Institute   Final Admissions Deadline: Sep 19, 2021 San Diego Virtual 2021 Focus: pre-seed startup accelerator,   ConnectAll   Fall 2021 Cohort 5 applications are open! Apply by Aug. 30 Focus: low to moderate income and diverse founders from broad backgrounds   EvoNexus   Rolling Focus: DeepTech (MedTech, FinTech, AI/ML, IoT, Hardware)   Logicboost   Application deadline is September 30, 2021. Focus: SaaS   StartBlue - Looking for mentors https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6Yb63O4zwaYHqAFDDEwKJTa0tTd5X0W0QfyWIgdqWrNfwNg/viewform Focus: StartBlue, the new accelerator from UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Rady School of Management Please complete this form by Friday, September 10, 2021 for consideration.   Techstars Anywhere   October 6, 2021 Program starts January Join the Techstars Anywhere three-month virtual accelerator to gain funding, mentorship, and access to the Techstars network for life. We Tha Plug - We Tha Incubator - https://www.wethaplug.com/new-page Application for Cohort 2 due September 24, 2021 Have applied to an accelerator or incubator, but have not been accepted. Have been working on an idea, but cant figure out steps next.   Launched and still not getting the traction you need to scale.  Focus:    Torrey Project - https://www.torreyproject.org/bootcamp We are offering a discounted early bird rate for our tuition until August 31st. Entrepreneurs who embrace stakeholder capitalism and use their business as a force for good.   PureWater SD project - San Diego launching Pure Water, largest infrastructure project in city's history It's formally been launched 3 years ago sewage recycling system that will boost local water independence Multi Billion Dollar Project named: Pure Water  Slowing it down Some Nimby Some Toilet to Tap That has navigated through a number of lawsuits   This story might be a little misleading   Broke ground 3 years ago Stalling at a construction of a few critical components   The 3 essential pieces:   Sewage purification plant in Miramar A pipeline through Clairemont supplying the plant Pump station in Morena   At completion of the first phase in 2025   34 million gallons of potable water / day Another 53 million gallons come online in 2035 This project will drop imported water from 85% to less than 50% Prior to this project, only 8% of sewage had been recycled into irrigation water What are the steps of the water purification? Ozonization:  Ozone gas destroys microorganisms,  then consumers and converted them into O2 helpful bacteria thrive in O2 environment Consuming 30-50% anything that was or is living Biological activated filters,  Steps:   Membrane filtration   Particles, viruses, bacteria  Only salt, water and other very small molecules can pass through 300 times narrower than a human hair pulling out additional materials 50k smaller than smallest bacteria Reverse osmosis,    Ultraviolet Disinfection   Light (similar to extremely concentrated sunlight) Destroys DNA of any microbes left Other contaminants This results in water that meets or exceeds standards  But we need to factor in a rise in price  This is slightly more expensive at current rates Orange County produces 70 million gallons of purified water per day and is in the process of expanding production to 100 million gallons per day.  Singapore, Australia, Virginia, Texas, and Colorado Growing need and others are looking at this system: IPOs - Carlsbad-based Tyra Bio files for IPO https://endpts.com/ra-capital-aims-to-take-preclinical-biotech-to-nasdaq-as-tyra-files-s-1-during-summer-lull/   Fundings - ShieldAI - $200M Series D AdarxPharm - $75M ContaktWorld - $1.35M Acq - SOCi acq Anaheim-based Brandify https://www.sdbj.com/news/2021/aug/15/soci-makes-first-acquisition/   Highmetric acquires NewRocket https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/highmetric-acquires-newrocket-301359129.html Ra Medical  acq by Strata Skincare https://www.marketwatch.com/story/strata-skin-sciences-acquires-u-s-dermatology-business-of-ra-medical-271629147631 Copia https://www.sdbj.com/news/2021/aug/19/san-diego-based-biosurplus-merges-form-copia-scien/   Carwave acq by Kar for $450M https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kar-to-accelerate-dealer-to-dealer-growth-profitability-through-acquisition-of-carwave-301360260.html   Find us on twitter / Linkedin: @NealBloom & JonahPeake And find this news and more at FreshBrewedTech.com

Ryan Kuder is the Managing Director for Techstars Anywhere, an investment and innovation group that connects entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, and city governments to solve challenges across industries and geographies. Their 13-week virtual and in-person accelerator program opens six times a year and Ryan dives into how they embrace and collaborate with a distributed workforce in this week’s episode. Key Takeaways A little bit about Ryan and what he does at Techstars Techstars was ahead of the curve when it came to cultivating remote talent. You are missing out on opportunities if you only work in your backyard. A company needs to find what works best for itself. Sometimes that means having a remote team vs. an on-site team. When you no longer have to work in an office, the types of relationships we develop will be different, how we interact with our city will also be different. What types of startups does Ryan look for? There’s still a lot of value that comes from an in-person interaction, but we can leverage technology to do this without zoom fatigue. Ryan breaks down how their accelerator program works and how startups can build a work bond while being distributed. What kind of work/life trends is Ryan seeing currently? Has Ryan noticed a difference in the people who are thriving in this new world vs. those who aren’t? What types of characteristics does Ryan look for in their startup founders? There have been some concerns about how companies are coming in and changing the local culture. Ryan shares his thoughts. The global economy will change, but to what extent? We don’t know yet. Great entrepreneurs are able to embrace the unknown, read the environment, and adapt to it. How does Ryan avoid selection bias in his founders? What is Ryan’s follow-up process with the founders after the 13-week accelerator program has ended? Ryan’s advice: Understand your strengths, your weaknesses, and get really, really good at asking for help. Resources Thebraveworkforce.com (http://thebraveworkforce.com/) Bravenewcompanies.com (Bravenewcompanies.com) Email Anna: Anna@Thebraveworkforce.com (mailto:Anna@Thebraveworkforce.com) Techstars.com (https://www.techstars.com/) Ryan on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryankuder/) Ryan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ryankuder?lang=en) Special Guest: Ryan Kuder.

Janine Davis began in engineering as a software developer. After 20 years in tech recruitment, she is now an executive coach and is a staunch supporter of the #GiveFirst concept, providing pro bono coaching for founders in the Techstars LA and Techstars Anywhere accelerator programs. As a board member for the Women Founders Network, she supports female entrepreneurs. She talks about why coaching is important for startups early on.As Janine explains, “The more you can follow (executive coaching) with leadership development and building your culture intentionally early, the less headaches and clean-up you're going to have to deal with later.”Janine also discusses the challenges of coaching during COVID and provides tips for startup executives during this time – balance empathy with accountability, have regular “check-ins” and “time outs” to reduce anxiety and internal conflict, and find time for self-care.Follow Janine on Twitter: @janineenerdFollow Evolution on Twitter: @EvolutionSvcFollow Women Founders Network on Twitter: @womenfounderslaTechstars personnel and/or guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions, and not the opinion of either Techstars or any company discussed in this podcast. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities are for illustrative and/or informational purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investor or prospective investor, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by Techstars. Certain of Techstars funds own (or may own in the future) securities in some of the companies discussed in this podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In Episode 83, we met and heard the story of Marcus Bullock, who is currently a CEO, and a formerly incarcerated individual. The first part of the conversation painted the picture of his time entering and spent in prison - something we bet most of you hadn’t heard firsthand about before. But here’s the thing. 95% of incarcerated individuals DO make it out of prison, so how is the American system setting people up for success - or for failure, as the case may be? These are citizens we’re talking about, even though some of their basic rights are stripped away from them as a result of their time in prison. But these missing rights along with the stigma and societal setup make it very, very difficult to ever fully re-integrate into society. Should we really all be defined by our worst mistake, forever? Listen in to the conclusion of our two-part interview with Marcus Bullock to hear more truths about the US prison system - and so much more. Questions? Comments? Contact us at hello@dearwhitewomen.com What to listen for in Part Two: The medical care within prison, and how our society’s linkage of medical insurance to jobs inherently prevents returning citizens from getting the care they need What it takes to get a job, when so many people ask you if you’ve been convicted of a felony in the last few years The work that Flikshop is doing to restore connection and hope to those who are in prison The humanity that continues to link us together, regardless of what bad decisions we’ve made About Marcus Bullock: Marcus Bullock is an entrepreneur, justice reform advocate, and TED speaker. Following his 2004 release from prison, he launched a construction business that grew to employ other returning citizens. Bullock is the Founder and CEO of Flikshop, Inc., a software company that builds tools to help incarcerated people stay connected to their families and build community. He also founded the Flikshop School of Business, a program that teaches returning citizens life skills and entrepreneurship via computer coding and software development. Marcus is an inaugural cohort member of Techstars Anywhere 2018 and John Legend's Unlocked Futures business accelerators. He was selected as one of The Root's 2019 100 Most Influential African Americans in the U.S. He is also a member of the Justice Policy Institute's board of directors, Advisory Board member for Princeton University's Prison Teaching Initiative, and serves as an advisor to the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and Aspen Institute's Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund. Married with two children, Marcus' story has received coverage from Forbes, CNN, Washington Post, Black Enterprise, and NPR.  Venture: Flikshop is the tech platform that allows family members to connect easily with their incarcerated loved ones. The Flikshop app is famously known as the Instagram for prisons, allowing users the ability to send personalized pictures and messages delivered as postcards to any person in any cell in the US. Website: http://www.flikshop.com/ Like what you hear? Support us through Patreon! Don’t miss another episode and subscribe to the podcast! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – and don’t miss our new anti-racism action calendar by joining our email list.  

Have you ever had someone who has been incarcerated over for dinner, to learn about their story? Or, if you knew that someone was in prison, does that frighten you enough to stay away? Whatever you think about “law & order,” 95% of incarcerated people do leave prison and rejoin society. What is being done to help support them, instead of making it more difficult to succeed post-incarceration?  If any of these questions have intrigued you - at any level - we encourage you to take some time to listen to this special two-part series, where we interview someone who helps us answer all of these questions and more. Introducing Marcus Bullock, the CEO of Flikshop.   What to listen for in Part One: The proper terminology to refer to someone who has spent time in prison What does it feel like to stand in front of a judge, and end up going to adult maximum-security prison as a 15-year-old boy? The connections that kept Marcus going through eight years of incarceration, and which inspired the creation of his current company His interactions with other prisoners and the misconceptions people have of the motivation to get out and succeed … and subscribe to the show to make sure you don’t miss Part Two, where we will talk about life after prison. About Marcus Bullock:  Marcus Bullock is an entrepreneur, justice reform advocate, and TED speaker. Following his 2004 release from prison, he launched a construction business that grew to employ other returning citizens. Bullock is the Founder and CEO of Flikshop, Inc., a software company that builds tools to help incarcerated people stay connected to their families and build community. He also founded the Flikshop School of Business, a program that teaches returning citizens life skills and entrepreneurship via computer coding and software development. Marcus is an inaugural cohort member of Techstars Anywhere 2018 and John Legend's Unlocked Futures business accelerators. He was selected as one of The Root's 2019 100 Most Influential African Americans in the U.S. He is also a member of the Justice Policy Institute's board of directors, Advisory Board member for Princeton University's Prison Teaching Initiative, and serves as an advisor to the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and Aspen Institute's Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund. Married with two children, Marcus' story has received coverage from Forbes, CNN, Washington Post, Black Enterprise, and NPR.  Venture: Flikshop is the tech platform that allows family members to connect easily with their incarcerated loved ones. The Flikshop app is famously known as the Instagram for prisons, allowing users the ability to send personalized pictures and messages delivered as postcards to any person in any cell in the US. Website: http://ww.flikshop.com/

Ryan Kuder is the Managing Director of Techstars Anywhere, the remote-first startup accelerator that stems from the prestigious Techstars. The accelerator was founded in 2006, and its roughly 2,000 alumni have raised a collective $10 billion in venture capital.  Listen in as host, Neal Bloom, chats with Ryan Kuder about startup accelerators, entrepreneurial mentorship, and San Diego Startup Month. 4:11 As a third generation San Diegan in a tech-oriented family, Ryan had been surrounded by computers from a young age. His dad worked as a computer programmer for various industries, so having been exposed to his work, Ryan learned how to code and work with AI as early as second grade. Though he hasn’t coded much since, he’s glad he understands how technology works, as it allowed him to better understand and market for larger tech companies like Yahoo and Ebay earlier in his career. 6:32 Ryan launched his first startup in 1998 called givetoschools.com, where his team built virtual shopping malls for K-12 schools. While his startup made a small profit, its competitor raised millions of dollars. From this, Ryan learned a lesson in the intricacies of company growth. After trying his hand at the startup game, he spent the next 12 years working for Yahoo and Ebay, up in the Bay Area. There, he learned how consumer tech companies grow, scale, organize, service themselves, and eventually sell. However, in 2008, Ryan was laid off by Yahoo and this event proved eye-opening for him. He tweeted about his lay off and soon his thread went viral, getting national attention. It wasn’t long before Ryan decided to take control of his life and create his own destiny from then on.  11:20 Ryan discusses his decision to pursue the accelerator route and help companies. He wanted to focus on San Diego startups because the local startup scene is sometimes overshadowed by those of LA and the SF Bay Area. Ryan joined the Techstars team when the accelerator partnered with Qualcomm to launch a robotics accelerator in San Diego. Ryan soon realized that his role at Techstars gave him the perfect opportunity to give back by helping the next generation of founders.  14:31 Ryan shares statistics about the positive impact accelerators have on startups. 86% of companies that have gone through a Techstars accelerator have either been acquired or are still operating today. When it comes to making sure operations can be funded and capital can be accessed, having someone who has undergone the same experience to offer their insight can prove helpful and help founders avoid some pain. “Something that great entrepreneurs do is say ‘where do I want to make my mark in the world and how do I control my destiny for that.’” A good accelerator is beneficial in that it will surround entrepreneurs with mentors who will then help them figure out what they know and don’t know and guide them in the right direction.  16:39 Since March, most companies scrambled to shift almost entirely to a virtual setting. Ryan shares that Techstars Anywhere suffered minimal disruptions, as it has been primarily virtual since its 2017 inception. Because the accelerator is well versed in a remote environment, the Techstars Anywhere team was able to help other Techstars accelerators, as well as ones outside their company, and make the transition to remote by offering guidance in the form of webinars, blog posts, and videos. Ryan believes that remote work will continue to be prevalent in the long term and sees a massive market opportunity for those working on tech to help power the future of work.  23:11 As someone who has been around San Diego for the majority of his life, Ryan has witnessed the San Diego tech community grow and evolve. San Diego is at a point where much of the resources and mentors that are necessary for a healthy startup ecosystem are emerging within the city. And some of the local tech companies that have been successful in fundraising and hiring local talent have been able to attract the attention of investors from outside of the region, a win for the local startup scene.  26:42 Ryan talks through what the San Diego startup ecosystem should focus on building next, as the community continues to grow. One of the factors Ryan mentions is the need for startup employees to learn from their employers and subsequently start their own companies. Experience needs to be shared, as people who have experience with startups are typically those who then create new startups. Capital also plays a big role. Companies need to have the resources to fund themselves internally rather than solely relying on investors from outside the region. With Startup Month approaching, Ryan hopes to introduce mentorship to more companies and get a head start on San Diego's journey in becoming one of the leading tech spots in the country.  30:13 San Diego Startup Month starts October 1, and it will be full to the brim with great speakers, workshops, local incubators, and mentors - there’s something for every attendee and company to find value in. Kick-off night will be a great way to bring everyone together and set the tone for the rest of the month. Get pumped for #SDSM2020, and don't forget to buy your tickets at SanDiegoStartupWeek.com with the discount code “TACOPOD30” for $30 off!  Applications for the Techstars Anywhere 2021 class close on October 11, 2020. Apply here: https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/anywhere    Ryan’s favorite local tacos:  Getting supplies from El Nopalito in Encinitas and making the tacos at home   Connect with Ryan: LinkedIn Twitter: @Ryan Kuder   Keep up with Techstars: Website: https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/anywhere LinkedIn Facebook: @Techstars Twitter: @Techstars   Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

In today’s chat, Ryan Kuder - the Managing Director of Techstars Anywhere - shared the biggest challenge he’s seen on remote teams, the secret to getting into Techstars, and why Techstars Anywhere is all-in on remote work. Get on the email list at remotelyinclined.substack.com

Listen in as Tech Coast Angels investors Ashok Kamal and Al Bsharah chat with host Neal Bloom about the latest happenings in San Diego tech.  4:00 Ashok Kamal provides an update on Tech Coast Angels and investing amid the pandemic, noting now is a great time for investors to find favorable deal terms. 7:32 Al, who is the VP of Product Operations at Seismic, gives insight on trends he sees in the SaaS space. Although Seismic had to dial back its hiring spree, it is still adding new members to its team and has made a few successful deals despite the health crisis. 9:10 Biotechs VelosBio and BioAtla each raised tens of millions of dollars in funding. 9:54 Clickup, which moved its HQ from Silicon Valley to San Diego recently, raised $35M. 12:45 GoSecure raised $20M, bringing to light the importance of cybersecurity, especially with the normalization of remote work. 14:30 Koji raised $10M to help non-techies create mini apps, games, and memes. 16:46 Sun Genomics raised $8.6M to support growth in the custom probiotics market, advance scientific publications, and scale delivery of its comprehensive gut probiotics solution. 18:16 Customer insights startup GroupSolver raised $2M. 19:18 Early-stage startup Hygienica raised $1M with local venture fund, Impala Ventures. 20:21 Local incubator CONNECT ALL has a focus on underserved communities, specifically in southeast San Diego. The group also discusses being mentors to startups going through accelerators such as Techstars Anywhere. Apply to join the next Techstars Anywhere cohort here: https://bit.ly/2EQwMC1  23:02 New organization Data Science Alliance aims to put San Diego’s data science hub on the map. 24:47 San Diego Startup Month will be held this October as a unique, virtual event, where attendees can make avatars to represent themselves. Get your tickets here: https://bit.ly/2Dt9otA  Learn more about Ashok and Al’s individual careers in previous Tacos & Tech episodes. Ashok’s episode: https://bit.ly/2XoKsKM | Al’s episode: https://bit.ly/31f8FnN  Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego startup and tech ecosystem.

Marcus Bullock is Founder and CEO of Flikshop. Marcus radiates optimism and a sense of purpose that is reflected in the Flikshop mission, to keep families and communities connected and to ultimately reduce recidivism.    After being convicted of carjacking when he was 15 years old, Marcus spent the next 8 years of his life in a maximum security prison. During that time, Marcus says that getting a flik, or a picture, was like winning the lottery. While incarcerated, Marcus educated himself and planned for a productive future, thanks to the persistence of his mother, his extended family, and friends.   After his release, Marcus created a construction company that employed returning citizens. He then launched Flikshop, an app that allows individuals to send a note and a picture to anyone at any prison in the United States. Marcus and his colleagues then created The Flikshop School of Business to help give men and women who are incarcerated a blueprint for success.   Marcus was named to The Root’s Top 100 most influential African Americans for 2019. He is an inaugural cohort member of Techstars Anywhere 2018 and John Legend’s Unlocked Futures business accelerators. He is a member of the Justice Policy Institute's board of directors and serves as an advisor to the Aspen Institute’s Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund.   Check out Flikshop and download the app.   Help keep a child and an incarcerated parent connected by becoming a Flikshop Angel.   For investment inquiries, connect with Marcus on LinkedIn.   More from Marcus:   2019 TED Talk   White House Talk 2019   Ever Better Podcast, July 2016    =====   This podcast originated as a video that you can find on the Founders and Startups YouTube Channel along with two highlight videos: “Creating Flikshop’s Minimum Viable Product” and “Focus on What Gives You Energy.”   ====== Special Thanks To:  Josh at Podcastguymedia.com for his patient editing and guidance. Darko at darkokriznik.com for his stellar video editing and graphic design.    ====== Learn about working with me, Lisa Conners Vogt, at EverBetterU.com.  Here's what a recent client said after a coaching session: "Lisa offers a holistic approach to coaching business owners. Her unique approach allowed me to articulate goals involving my family, employees, community, customers and myself. She draws out the entire spectrum of the entrepreneur's objectives and brings them into a manageable and livable perspective."

Kendra Dixon is the program manager at Techstars Anywhere, the one (mostly) virtual accelerator within Techstars. Techstars is a global network that helps entrepreneurs succeed through its many accelerators around the world, startup events, and more. Kendra grew up in San Jose, CA during the tech boom. Both her parents worked for IBM, so Kendra had a tech influence in her upbringing. She attended college at San Jose State University, studying business and interning at nearby companies like Cisco and HP.  Early on in her career, Kendra found a remote marketing gig so that she could travel with her husband, who was a professional baseball player. The young couple traveled to many cities big and small, and even lived in Colorado, before deciding to make a home in San Diego about five years ago. She now resides in Carlsbad, where Techstars Anywhere Managing Director Ryan Kuder is also based. The two of them work together to support entrepreneurs in the accelerator's remote program. Applications for the next Techstars Anywhere cohort are due October 13, 2019! Listen in to hear all about Kendra’s journey to her current role and her local favorite eats and brews. Thanks to our partners Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.   Kendra’s favorites Tacos - El Puerto in Carlsbad Beer - Park 101 in Carlsbad  Coffee - Steady State Roasting in Carlsbad   Keep up with Techstars:  Facebook: @Techstars Twitter: @Techstars Instagram: @Techstars techstars.com/programs/anywhere-program/

Marcus Bullock is an entrepreneur, justice reform advocate, and public speaker. Following his 2004 release from prison, he launched a construction business that grew to employ over 18 employees. Bullock is also founder and CEO of Flikshop, a free app that enables incarcerated people to receive personalized postcards from their families, building community and decreasing recidivism. He also founded the Flikshop School of Business, a program that teaches returning citizens life skills and entrepreneurship via computer coding and software development. Marcus is an inaugural cohort member of Techstars Anywhere 2018 and John Legend’s Unlocked Futures business accelerators. He is also a member of the Justice Policy Institute’s board of directors and serves as an advisor to the Aspen Institute’s Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund. Married with two children, Marcus’ story has received coverage from Forbes, CNN, The Washington Post, and NPR. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Today, my guest is Ryan Kuder. Ryan is the Managing Director at Techstars Anywhere.  Techstars is a global startup accelerator with a combined market cap of over $18B. They’ve funded companies like DigitalOcean, ClassPass, Bench, Plated, Localytics and SendGrid, which was acquired for $3B. Traditionally, the Techstars accelerator programs are city specific, but Ryan is...

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Cody Barbo, CEO of TrustAndWill.com. The Company recently complete the "Techstars Anywhere" program and raised $500k via convertible note. In this episode, Cody talks about "reflective listening," his agenda for pitch meetings, hacks for closing the round and getting docs signed, getting comfortable being uncomfortable, and so much more. For more on his previous company, Industry -- and the wild ups and downs -- check out https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/today-i-am-moving-from-company-founded-3-years-ago-cody-barbo/