Podcasts about techstars seattle

Show NotesSanjit Singh is a Fractional Sales Leader and Fractional COO helping B2B companies accelerate revenue and build a repeatable, scalable sales model. Previously, Sanj was a serial founder. He has deep expertise in sales, marketing strategy, and business development. He co-founded LeadCrunch, a San Diego based AI Marketing startup, which raised $18M and built the company to a $24M run rate with 60 employees before he exited to a fund at Series B. He mentors at Techstars Seattle, The Founder Institute - Seattle, and The Founder Institute - Silicon Valley. He holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a bachelors from UCSB.  When he's not working, he enjoys spending time with his friends, playing guitar, cycling, paddle boarding, reading, and yoga. One of his passions is talking to people about their recovery from emotional challenges on his podcast Heal Grow Thrive.  Quote - "Fractional expertise opens doors for businesses to tap into seasoned senior talent without the complete commitment, offering strategic value that fits well within budget constraints." - Sanjit SinghFergie's Top 10+ Knowledge Nuggets and Take-Aways:Fractional Expertise: Sanjit represents the wave of part-time senior professionals helping companies bridge critical gaps in leadership.Leveraging C-Suite Talent: Access to experienced executives like Sanjit without the complete commitment stands out as a game-changer for businesses on the rise.Navigating C-Suite Dynamics**: Not every executive needs to be full-time; fractional experts bring strategic value that fits into budget constraints.Unconventional Career Paths: Sanjit's journey of starting as a reseller to becoming a CRO highlights the diverse opportunities professionals can explore.Sanjit's strength lies in identifying bottlenecks across sales and marketing, factoring in broader strategic considerations for enhanced outcomes.Reflective Momentum: Lock onto customer needs and growth by spot-checking bottlenecks and finding tailored solutions for each interval.Customer-Centric Insight: Core advice – understand customer needs intricately, guide business decisions towards addressing workflow and solutions.Sanjit recommends 'Essentialism' for pivotal lessons in prioritization and focus that transcend mere organizational strategies.Sanjit's counsel transcends business genres, bearing tonal values of compassion that infiltrate executive coaching boundaries.Sajit is a believer in intentional purpose and higher calling, identifying universal signals through an enriched consecutive business-mind-lifestyle values blend.Vulnerability is not a weakness but a strength, essential for personal growth in business and life, catalyzing profound learning and meaningful connectionsHere is a link to this episode on Time To Shine Today Site:  https://timetoshinetoday.com/podcast/sanjitsingh/Recommended Resources:  Visit BolttSanjit's Linked INBoltt YouTubeBoltt Tik Tok  

This week, Jim and Yonathan break down one of the word-for-word best blog posts on the internet, Sam Altman's "What I Wish Someone Had Told Me." Jim and Yonathan pick out some of their favorite points before exploring potentially huge opportunities for both of them in the near future. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S EPISODEValue for seconds readWho is Sam AltmanOptimism and ObsessionIncentivesConcise communicationSuperstar ImpactOpportunity VehicleOutcomes over processes Resources:What I Wish Someone Had Told MeJim Huffman websiteJim's TwitterGrowthHitThe Growth Marketer's Playbook  Additional episodes you might enjoy:Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (#45)Nathan Barry: How to Bootstrap a Company to $30M in a Crowded Market (#41)How I Met My Biz Partner and Less Learned Hitting $2M ARR (#44)Ryan Hamilton on his Netflix special, touring with Jerry Seinfeld, & how to write a joke (#10)How We're Validating Startup Ideas (#51) 

This week, we're still digging through all of the conversations about Techstars Seattle being shuttered, creating a list of AI startups, AI companies, and artificial intelligence projects in Oregon, Bend has a new resource for entrepreneurs, and more. PORTLAND OREGON STARTUP NEWS 00:00 Portland Oregon startup news for March 1, 202400:42 First Friday at UpStart Collective Westside01:47 Techstars Seattle shutdown conversation continues https://omny.fm/shows/geekwire-podcast/bonus-seattle-after-techstars-with-chris-devore03:51 AI (artificial intelligence) startups in Oregon https://siliconflorist.com/2024/02/28/bakers-ai-dozen-13-local-artificial-intelligence-startups-to-watch/05:47 Rosie, Portland startups AI concierge https://sflo.me/rosie07:16 Composing the 2024 Black History Month list10:05 Bend Entrepreneur Lab launches ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #portland

Entrepreneur and investor Chris DeVore had an inside view of Techstars Seattle as one of the original leaders of the local startup accelerator in 2010, serving as its managing director from 2014 to 2019. His Feb. 21 post "What went wrong at Techstars," looked closely at the organization's evolution — including its increased focus on corporate sponsorships and shift to centralized fundraising — as the backdrop for the news last week that Techstars is closing its Seattle accelerator as part of a broader reset. So where should Seattle's tech community go from here? And what role do startup accelerators serve in the age of AI and remote work? Devore, the founding managing director of the Founders Co-op venture fund, joins us on this bonus episode of the GeekWire Podcast to share his thoughts about what happened, and his optimism about what's next. "I think Seattle is setting itself up for a great moment in its entrepreneurial journey," he says. RELATED LINKS AND STORIES David Cohen: Techstars is evolving and growing Techstars: Techstars 2.0: Supercharging Founder Success Chris DeVore: What went wrong at Techstars GeekWire: Techstars Seattle is shutting down as accelerator shifts focus to cities with more VC activity Marcelo Calbucci: The most successful accelerator cohort ever: How this Techstars Seattle class produced 3 unicorns GeekWire Podcast: Techstars Seattle's demise leaves a gap in the startup market See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Techstars Seattle helped launch more than 160 startups over the past decade, partnered with the likes of Microsoft and Amazon to spark even more startups, and led to the creation of three companies currently valued at more than $1 billion — making it one of the most successful programs in the Techstars network.  Founded in 2006 in Boulder, Colo., Techstars provides fledgling startups with early capital, coaching, mentorship, a chance to pitch to investors, and an opportunity to work for three months in a shared space with other entrepreneurs. Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and for more than a decade, it worked. And then, this week, it ended. TechStars announced that it's closing its Seattle accelerator as part of a broader restructuring. So what happened? And what's next? GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper joins the show this week to address those questions. Related stories Seattle tech leaders lament departure of Techstars but remain bullish on new opportunities Techstars CEO responds to former Seattle managing director, tells him to check his facts Techstars Seattle is shutting down as accelerator shifts focus to cities with more VC activity See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week — in a special Pacific Northwest startup news version — we cover the history of Techstars Seattle as it closes its doors, hard cider entrepreneur Reverend Nat West runs for Portland City Council District 2, Dtocs takes the Demolicious belt from Kickplan, and the next First Friday is at the new westside location of UpStart Collective. PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS00:00 Pacific Northwest startup news00:30 Techstars Seattle is no more01:08 A brief and probably incorrect history of Techstars and Y Combinator04:35 DTOCS wins Demolicious06:40 Reverend Nat West runs for Portland City Council09:10 First westside First Friday ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #portland

Innovating with NoCode & AI: In this interactive discussion on 'This Week in No Code', hosts JJ and David Pal engage with guest Marius Ciocirlan, a Managing Director at Techstars Seattle. Topics include current tech drama, industry updates from Notion AI, TL Draw, App Sumo, and a deep dive into the OpenAI controversy. Marius, a former filmmaker and developer of ShareGrid, shares his journey into the tech sphere and his experiences with the Techstars startup accelerator program. The dialogue delves into the transformative power of No Code and AI platforms in enhancing website functionalities, with Marius citing his personal navigation of Open AI. The digital era is likened to 'medieval times' as it stands on the brink of democratizing content creation and altering workflows. The episode imparts unique insights into impending AI trends and provides valuable advice for startups aiming for funding. 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:18 Recap of Previous Episode and Preview of Current Episode 01:36 Deep Dive into TLDRAW - https://tldraw.ai 04:36 Controversy with AppSumo 10:34 Introduction to Notion AI - https://notion.ai 12:31 Discussion on OpenAI Controversy 22:11 Guest Interview: Marius' Journey 38:47 Early Career and Role Switch 39:33 Techstars: Structure and Global Presence 40:14 Techstars Seattle: Success Stories and Program Details 41:31 Techstars: Mentorship and Fundraising Support 42:43 Understanding Pre-seed and Seed Stage 43:50 Deciding How Much Money to Raise 47:24 When to Seek Investment: Bootstrapping vs. VC 49:13 The Role of No-Code in Startups 01:12:52 The Future of No-Code and AI Join us: https://www.nocodealliance.org/newsletter Hire us to make your next MVP: https://www.studio-nocode.com Learn with us: https://www.nocodealliance.org Follow us: https://twitter.com/JJEnglert https://twitter.com/cerealbuilder --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/this-week-in-nocode/message

To stay up to date checkout ⁠thestartupproject.io⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: @natarajsindam In this episode Nataraj spoke to Marius Ciocirlan who co-founded ShareGrid, a marketplace for filmmakers and photographers to rent and sell their equipment. It was ⁠acquired⁠ by Backstage and is now Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and since then more than 130 companies have gone through the program & collectively gone on to raise more than $2.5 billion in capital.  Full Transcript: [00:00:00] Nataraj: So Techstars is an, you know, traditionally what we call as an accelerator, right? Yeah. Uh, so what are the founders really getting outta, um, joining tech? [00:00:09] Marius: Yeah, for sure. So, um, the Tech Techstars program essentially, uh, falls into almost three phases. So it's a 13 week program and it's kind of, uh, set up in three phases. The first phase is customer discovery, so we worked with you to ensure that like, , you truly understand who your customer is and what are they buying from you. [00:00:31] Marius: Like, you know, you, you would be surprised how many people have an idea of who their customer is, but it's not clearly defined. They don't really understand why that customer is interested in their product. So even companies that are farther along, we find. , it's always good to like really reflect on who your customer is. [00:00:50] Marius: So the first phase is customer discovery. Second phase is go to market and execution, which is more important nowadays, especially given the market [00:01:00] situation. More important than ever to actually gain real traction in your business and prove out that your business has some product market fit. And product market fit can mean different things at different stages. [00:01:12] Marius: But at least in your initial M V P, there needs to be some product market fit. And then the third phase is we're preparing you to go out in front of investors. So we're working on your pitch deck, we're working on your delivery, we're working on all of your documents, uh, getting you ready to ensure that you're ready for, uh, investors and putting you in front of investors. Full version at thestartupproject.io --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/startupproject/message

To stay up to date checkout ⁠thestartupproject.io⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: @natarajsindam In this episode Nataraj spoke to Marius Ciocirlan who co-founded ShareGrid, a marketplace for filmmakers and photographers to rent and sell their equipment. It was ⁠acquired⁠ by Backstage and is now Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and since then more than 130 companies have gone through the program & collectively gone on to raise more than $2.5 billion in capital.  Full Transcript: [00:00:00] So you decided you want to be in tech. Then how did, uh, your, uh, company start, uh, share grid? [00:00:06] Yeah, so she started, um, actually the idea was kind of originated while I was, was working our group on both my co-founder and I, Raj. He was, he was, he went to film, well he went to photography school. I, uh, uh, I believe it was more of like a media communication, uh, background. [00:00:24] But he ended up in tech as well. He was a designer and front end developer and um, he was a longtime photographer and we would take walks all the time and. , he, he sold his previous company to Groupon, so he's been very entrepreneurial himself and we were always kicking around ideas of potential startups that we could start. [00:00:47] And one of the ideas was, uh, it derived from him trying to sell some of his equipment. He was like, I really want this new lens, but I already have so many lenses. How do I justify kind. [00:01:00] Investing more money into more equipment when I'm not even using the equipment I already have. So that was kind of the thread that we started to talk about the idea, and essentially the idea was a lot of filmmakers, photographers invest. [00:01:15] Quite a bit of capital into, uh, equipment, into, into different, uh, cameras, lenses, audio equipment, lighting equipment, and it's very, very expensive. I mean, we're talking thousands of dollars for a camera or lens. Sometimes for film equipment, you're looking at 40, $50,000 for cinema camera, and that doesn't count all the additional accessories and, and everything else you need. [00:01:41] I knew about this from my prior film years, and I had a lot of friends who after school, their, their thinking was, if I invest a bit of money into equipment, the chances of me being hired, uh, will increase. Because the film world is actually a very much [00:02:00] a gig economy, freelance type of world. So they were thinking, if we invest in, in this equipment, uh, I will stand amongst the rest and like be hired more frequently. [00:02:10] That doesn't always happen. So you invest all this money, but your monthly payments are coming in every day, every, every month. , but you're not always getting hired. That equipment's not always being used. So Arra and I saw that opportunity of like, there's all this idle equipment. What if you were to rent that equipment out, similar to other pure tope economies, like, uh, like u you know, like Airbnb, um, So we had the idea and we essentially wanted to validate if this is something that other people would be interested in First. [00:02:43] I spoke to a lot of my friends from Phil School and everybody said, It's a great idea, but what about if somebody steals my equipment while they're renting it? They don't come back with the equipment. So that was always kind of the big challenge that we had to face. But, but that's how the [00:03:00] idea, just to answer your question, that's how the idea kind of derived is just from a personal need and also just a brainstorm of ideas. [00:03:07] So it was essentially a marketplace for renting, uh, camera and other high-end equipment for production. [00:03:14] Exactly. Exactly. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/startupproject/message

To stay up to date checkout ⁠thestartupproject.io⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: @natarajsindam In this episode Nataraj spoke to Marius Ciocirlan who co-founded ShareGrid, a marketplace for filmmakers and photographers to rent and sell their equipment. It was ⁠acquired⁠ by Backstage and is now Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and since then more than 130 companies have gone through the program & collectively gone on to raise more than $2.5 billion in capital.  Full Transcript: [00:00:00] So I was like, you know, working on Samsung, making videos and then also like working on sets, like reality TV shows and stuff like that, while at the same time doing a startup and. Uh, learning UX design. So I had to make a decision. I couldn't do both. And the reason I decided to go into tech, I remember having this kind of conversation with my significant other, is that in film it's a very traditional career path, meaning, In order to become a cinematographer or a director or a producer, you have to pay your dues. [00:00:35] Like there is very strict rules about what certain people could do on a set and what they can't do, like. I've been told in my position as a production assistant was like, you are not allowed to move that equipment. You're not allowed to move that chair because the union, you don't belong to that union. [00:00:53] So it's actually like a safety regulation or. It was a very traditional kind of [00:01:00] career path, and I realized that like I was not going to reach my dream of becoming a cinematographer or director well into my forties, probably fifties, and it was gonna take a long time where in tech it was actually the complete opposite. [00:01:18] The younger you were, the more respect you got and almost the more opportunities you received. So my goal was always like, I really enjoyed. and it seems like doors are just really opening, people are just much more supportive. If you have big ambitions, you don't have to like, wait in line and wait your turn. [00:01:38] You could just act on those ambitions. Uh, so it just felt like a much friendlier community and just more embracing. So, um, it went towards tech and I, I always planned like at some point in my career, I'll make it in tech and then I'll come back at an older age and a film and I'll be a producer and I'll fund my own films or uh, [00:02:00] documentaries or whatever, whatever that might be. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/startupproject/message

Humans have become increasingly vulnerable to technology engineered to grab our attention, pulling us away from more meaningful and fulfilling moments and interactions in our lives. Can technology itself be part of the solution? Our guest this week on the GeekWire Podcast is Caroline Cadwell, co-founder and CEO of Unpluq, a recent graduate of the Techstars Seattle accelerator program. The startup offers an app, subscription service, and keychain tag designed to help people become more conscious and mindful about their use of smartphones, social media, and other addictive apps and services. Related links: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and others, seeking compensation for youth mental health crisis Rational Overrides: Influence Behavior Beyond Nudging — research that helped to inspire Unpluq's approach. Could You Live Without a Smartphone? — TedX talk by Anastasia Dedyukhina of  Consciously Digital, who is referenced by Caroline Cadwell on the episode. Our favorite startup pitches from Techstars Seattle Demo DaySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To stay up to date checkout thestartupproject.io & follow Nataraj on twitter: @natarajsindam In this episode Nataraj spoke to Marius Ciocirlan who co-founded ShareGrid, a marketplace for filmmakers and photographers to rent and sell their equipment. It was acquired by Backstage and is now Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and since then more than 130 companies have gone through the program & collectively gone on to raise more than $2.5 billion in capital.  Full Conversation includes: How skateboarding led do film school Raising funds via grants Startup weekends Early days at Groupon Mobile Team Origin story and cofounding Sharegrid (acquired by Backstage) Joining Techstars Seattle as Managing Director What's special about Techstars Seattle? How founders should think about Techstars Seattle If you are founder and is interested in applying to TechStars Seattle you can get in touch with Marius at marius.ciocirlan@techstars.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/startupproject/message

TomTom bundelt de krachten met Meta, Amazon en Microsoft om zo de strijd aan te gaan met Google. Met 'Overture', een nieuwe openbare kaart, moet de hegemonie van Google Maps gebroken worden. Gaat dat lukken? En hoe wil TomTom geld blijven verdienen? Dat vragen we aan Willem Strijbosch, Vice President of Product for Maps bij TomTom. Unpluq Een gezonde relatie met je smartphone creëren krijgt steeds meer aandacht. Sinds een tijd is daar nu ook een app voor: Unpluq. Het plan van twee Delftse studenten valt ook in Amerika erg in de smaak, want Unpluq is opgenomen in de startup accelerator TechStars Seattle.   Hoe het nu gaat in Amerika, hoor je van Jorn Rigter, CTO en mede-oprichter van Unpluq. Dataverdrag EU-VS Progressie in de datarelatie tussen de EU en de Verenigde Staten! Met het ‘EU-US data privacy framework' moet voorkomen worden dat bedrijven als Meta en Microsoft zomaar met onze gegevens aan de haal gaan. , om te voorkomen dat bedrijven zoals Microsoft en Meta zomaar met onze gegevens kunnen werken. Maar: is dat werkelijk zo?  Dat bespreken we met Menno Weij, tech-jurist bij BDO Legal. Meer podcasts over tech? Luister dan naar All in the Game, De Technoloog en de Tech Update.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you feel like you're burning money at the altar of Facebook while Zuckerberg builds a VR empire? Are you earning break even ROAS, and hoping ad prices don't rise any further?If you are, that's not uncommon.In August, I was at Ecommerce Day in LA, and heard their keynote speaker say "Facebook and Google's entire business model is to take credit of sales that were already going to happen."And then he convinced me that was true.Joining us today with some unconventional wisdom on building a better marketing plan for your brand is Rand Fishkin.Rand Fishkin is cofounder and CEO of SparkToro, makers of fine audience research software.Rand's Bio: In 2018, Rand started SparkToro with Casey Henry and published, with Penguin/Random House, Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World. Rand previously co-contributed to two books: Art of SEO, and Inbound Marketing & SEO. He's been profiled in the Seattle Times, featured in Puget Sound Business Journal's 40 Under 40, named to BusinessWeek's 30 Under 30, written about in Newsweek, The Next Web, the Inc 500, and hundreds of other publications. He is, however, most proud of his prominent appearances in Geraldine's first book, All Over the Place. Geraldine and Rand are also small investors in TinySeed Accelerator, LegUp, TeamSportz, Techstars Seattle and Backstage Capital.Show LinksSparkToroSurveyMonkeyLost and FounderVirtual Confernece: Spark TogetherSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Back up your store with RewindTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialPrivy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMSNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Our guest this week is Kristen Buchanan, the CEO and Founder of Edify, an AI platform that enables engineers to be high performing. Edify's first product, Eddy, is slack-native solution that helps developers and product managers build technical onboarding plans for their new hires. She received $2M of seed funding in Dec. 2020 right before being accepted into the TechStars Seattle 2021 Cohort. Prior to founding Edify, she consulted for various large organizations implementing onboarding and learning plans for engineering and product teams including AWS Elemental, OpenSky Alibaba, Puppet.and many others.

What does a startup accelerator do and why does a founder or founding team need one? Today, you'll find out as you listen to an interview with Isaac Kato, managing director at Techstars Seattle. Listen in to learn what a startup accelerator actually does, why founders want it, and what founders can do to pique the interest of a startup accelerator like Techstars.Topics Discussed in Today's Episode: Isaac's role and background What a startup accelerator is The main selling point of a startup accelerator for founders What someone can do to stand out with their idea The questions answered by traction and what kind of traction Techstars is looking for Founder/market fit Industries that Isaac is interested in Applications of virtual worlds Isaac's experience with Stanford and Harvard What Isaac is thinking about as he takes on new things Isaac's work in Iceland Helping founders with critical thinking Resources: Isaac Kato Isaac on Twitter Techstars Seattle Accelerator Jim Huffman website Jim's Twitter GrowthHit The Growth Marketer's Playbook

Rand Fishkin, cofounder and CEO of audience research startup SparkToro, may be best known for his popular blogs and regular Whiteboard Friday series on Moz, the company he co-created and grew to 130+ employees, $30M+ in revenue, and traffic to 30M+ visitors/year. This series is watched by tens of thousands of marketers each week. He raised two rounds of funding for Moz, led three acquisitions, and a rebrand. Rand stepped down as CEO in 2014 during a rough bout with depression and left the company 4 years later. Rand was also the co-founder of Inbound.org alongside Dharmesh Shah. The site was sold (for no profit) to Hubspot in 2014.In 2018, Rand founded SparkToro and published, with Penguin/Random House, Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World. Rand previously co-contributed to two books: Art of SEO, and Inbound Marketing & SEO. He's been profiled in the Seattle Times, featured in Puget Sound Business Journal's 40 Under 40, named to BusinessWeek's 30 Under 30, written about in Newsweek, The Next Web, the Inc 500 (to which Moz was named 5 years in a row), and hundreds of other publications. He is, however, most proud of his prominent appearances in his wife Geraldine DeRuiter's first book, All Over the Place. Geraldine and Rand are also small investors in TinySeed Accelerator, Techstars Seattle and Backstage Capital.Rand is also a frequent keynote speaker at marketing conferences around the world, averaging (before the pandemic) ~100 days on the road each year and 30-40 speaking appearances. He has, much to his own surprise, amassed a large following on Twitter, LinkedIn, Pocket, Facebook, and Instagram.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=44196766)

Isaac Kato is a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist and now serves as the Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. In this episode, we talk about His adventures in Iceland with an exciting stint as founder of a Green data center company How Techstars is run, their current diversity focus and adapting to the pandemic His timeframe for autonomous driving As a bonus, we conclude with a short Iceland trivia. Enjoy! You can tweet to us https://twitter.com/carabinermedia1 You can also send us feedback to startupfeedback@carabinermedia.com If you enjoyed the podcast and found it useful, please subscribe, rate and share with friends and colleagues

Colin Bryar started at Amazon in 1998; Bill Carr joined in 1999. With twenty-seven years of Amazon experience between them, much of it in the early aughts—a period that brought products and services including Kindle, Amazon Prime, Amazon Studios, and Amazon Web Services to life—Bryar and Carr joined us, in conversation with Chris Devore, to offer unprecedented access to the Amazon way as it was refined, articulated, and proven to be repeatable, scalable, and adaptable. Bringing recollections from their book Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon, these two long-serving former Amazon executives shared how Amazon’s fourteen leadership principles inform decision-making at all levels and reveal how the company’s culture has been defined by four characteristics: customer obsession, long-term thinking, eagerness to invent, and operational excellence. Bryar and Carr explained the set of ground-level practices that ensure these are translated into action and flow through all aspects of the business, and offered replicable steps for applying it at your own company. Join Bryar and Carr as they presented a practical guidebook for finding corporate success. Colin Bryar joined Amazon in 1998 — four years after its founding — and spent the next 12 years as part of Amazon’s senior leadership team. After Amazon, he and his family relocated to Singapore for two years where Bryar served as Chief Operating Officer of e-commerce company RedMart. Colin is co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives at both large and early-stage companies on how to implement the management practices developed at Amazon. Bill Carr joined Amazon in 1999 and spent more than 15 years with the company. As Vice President of Digital Media, Carr launched and managed the company’s global digital music and video businesses, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Carr was an Executive In Residence with Maveron, LLC, and, later, the Chief Operating Officer of OfferUp. Today Carr is co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives at both large and early-stage companies on how to implement the management practices developed at Amazon. Chris DeVore is Managing Partner of Founders’ Co-op and the former Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. As a community volunteer, Chris co-chaired the City of Seattle’s Economic Development Commission, partnered with the University of Washington to create Startup Hall (a commercial innovation space located on the UW Campus). Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781250267597  Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation online click here. 

Andy Sack has been a technology entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist for 25 years — and is one of the godfathers of the Seattle startup community. He was managing director for Techstars Seattle, founder and executive chairman for Lighter Capital, and cofounder of seed stage fund Founder's Co-op. He participated in the first Techstars Boston Startup Weekend and was so moved by the experience that he decided to run a Techstars Startup Weekend in Seattle. As Andy says, “(I gave) a talk to the Techstars Boston class and it was supposed to be one hour. Three hours later after talking and answering questions, I left the building, and I was moved to tears.”He rallied the venture capital community in Seattle to support entrepreneurs through Techstars, creating a vibrant startup ecosystem that didn't previously exist. Three different unicorn startups (valued over a billion dollars) came out of Andy's 2011 Class of Techstars Seattle. Follow Andy on Twitter: @AndySackLearn more about his favorite charitable organizations:Two Screens for Teachers - Gives teachers a second computer screen so they can see their students while teaching remotely.Rainier Scholars - Creates pathways to college graduation for hard-working, low-income students and provides access to transformative educational opportunities.REST - Helps women on the street get out of troubled situations and abusive relationships and gives them a place to live.Techstars 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.

This week, Host Jeremy Barnett speaks with Claudius Mbemba, CTO of Neu Inc. This episode starts off with some EPIC Rad Nuggets that provide a glimpse into the daily life of a startup CTO, then transitions into a highly informative conversation about the entire process of fundraising.  Claudius explains the importance of being able to seamlessly speak to both customers and engineers as he walks us through his personal list of do’s and don’ts when fundraising!  Tune in and devour these Rad Nuggets!!   Claudius Mbemba is CoFounder @ neu (useneu.com).  He is also a Speaker and Tech Entrepreneur who advises early-stage founders and aspiring entrepreneurs on how to break through and win.  Along with the tips and tricks, he's learned some lessons along the way. He's passionate about raising the number of BIPOC in Tech & VC and is paving the way.  Claudius believes the most important thing to do is just get started. Tattooed on his forearm is "The sooner you start, The sooner you finish." We love the mindset. Along with his CoFounder, Claudius was nominated for the GeekWire Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2020) and most recently, graduated from the Techstars Seattle. He previously worked as a top software engineer at Microsoft and played D1 college football at his alma mater. Claudius has been invited to speak in front of students at Ball State University to CTOs/Engineering Executives at the Nasdaq in NYC.   Needless to say, he has a diverse skill set and is a high performer.  For more info on Claudius Mbemba, please visit  https://claudiusmbemba.com/ Twitter: @Mbembaship For info on Neu Inc. https://www.useneu.com/ Be sure to tune in and catch all the great takeaways! If you’ve found value in this podcast please remember to Subscribe / Share / And drop us a great review!  For more Rad Intelligence for Entrepreneurs Head over to: Email: show@radintelligence.com Podcast:  https://radintelligence.com/rad-chats LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barnettjeremiah Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radinfluencer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radintelligence Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/RadIntelligence Influencer Marketplace: https://radinfluencer.com Corporate Site: https://radintelligence.com/ Blog: https://radintelligence.com/blog/ You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClkdIolVp9BvjMBmb9B3fzg?

Surbhi is the CEO and co-founder of Symbl.ai. At Symbl, she is building the programmable platform to empower developers to deploy conversational intelligence in their collaboration products and workflows. She co-founded Symbl (previously Rammer.ai) almost 2 years back and was a part of Techstars Seattle ’19 class, following which the company raised an early-stage venture round of 1.8M, just 6 months ago. She comes with a background in various technical and customer-obsessed roles across startups and enterprises like Nevis Networks and Amdocs. Before starting Symbl, she was working in the Conversational AI space focussed on delivering value to Telco users. She is also an ambassador of Women in AI with a mission to get more women involved in Data Science and adjacent spaces and a big-time travel-lover. Listen Now to Surbhi's amazing STEM Story!   Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/surbhi-rathore/ https://symbl.ai/ https://twitter.com/symbldotai?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/company/symblai  

Like many businesses entering 2020, Neu was riding a wave of optimism and growth. With its marketplace that connects Airbnb hosts with hotel-grade cleaners, the Seattle-based startup had found its niche. Just as Neu was joining the 11th cohort of Techstars Seattle to further fuel its success, the coronavirus pandemic arrived and changed everything. The economic fallout was swift, and travel was among the hardest hit industries. "It was a one-two punch that definitely knocked us down a little bit," Neu co-founder Kwame Boler told GeekWire. "We had a lot of momentum going into February. We were developing a lot of wealth within the Airbnb community. And then all of a sudden, everything almost completely flipped upside down." Neu experienced an unprecedented number of cancellations within its platform in just two months, with business shrinking to less than 10% of where it was the previous year. It had to stop its work to address various pain points and re-evaluate what it would mean to run a cleaning business in a post-COVID climate, especially one in which travel would likely be impacted for some time. But with the desire for on-demand cleaning and sanitizing suddenly skyrocketing, the startup rapidly accelerated its plans to look into cleaning beyond vacation rentals and taking on businesses, residential and commercial real estate properties. "Those who enjoy or thrive in this kind of environment, in doing a startup or owning a business around this time, are those who are really in it for the long run," said Neu co-founder Claudius Mbemba. "It just taught me that this is what I really want to be doing." GeekWire caught up with Boler and Mbemba to learn more about how the startup is faring in this installment of a special GeekWire Podcast series highlighting some of the finalists for the upcoming GeekWire Awards. Boler and Mbemba are among the finalists for Young Entrepreneur of the Year — celebrating startup founders in the Pacific Northwest who are 30 or younger. Register here to watch the live virtual event for free at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 23.

Chris DeVore, Managing Partner of Founders’ Co-op and former Managing Director of Techstars Seattle, shares how he’s helped over 200 Pacific Northwest startups raise over $1.5 billion in investor capital. You’ll learn what is unique about Seattle’s startup ecosystem, how seed rounds came to be and details on what the venture capital process is like for investors. Chris talks about how he’s now raised four funds, why he’d always rather back a founder who has been told she or he isn't 'enough' and is hellbent to prove otherwise, the lessons he learned from working at Patagonia and the founders/companies he’s most proud of from Techstars Seattle. During this episode, you’ll also get to know him personally - including his love for making pizza, how he ended up at Yale and his fond memories of spending time at his family’s place up on Lopez Island.

Do you know how to be a great ally in the workplace? Why should all startup founders do karaoke? What is the secret sauce of the Seattle startup ecosystem? Create33 Director Rebecca Lovell knows the answers to all these—and more.

Alex Jiao is the co-founder and CEO of Silene Biotech, a stem cell biotechnology company. Alex received a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern and his Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Washington. He’s worked as a biomedical engineering researcher at the University of Michigan. Alex led Silene Biotech through the 2017 TechStars Seattle program. Alex is an expert in stem cells and stem cell technology. His startup is dedicated to helping people preserve their stem cells so they can take advantage of emerging opportunities created by advances in the field. By harvesting and preserving their cells today, a 30-year old might be able to use their stem cells to reverse the aging process, cure diseases like arthritis and leukemia, and even regrow vital organs. In this episode, we answer questions on stem cells and stem cell therapy. What are stem cells and IPS cells in the context of regenerative medicine? What can stem cells do for us? How will new technologies like CRISPR make the process better in the future?  Can stem cells cure blindness? Why should you save your stem cells when you’re young? How can you turn blood cells into beating heart cells through reprogramming, like Alex did with his own... How to Live to 200 podcast listeners can get 20% off Silene Biotech, just CLICK HERE to receive your L200 discount. Give it a try today! As part of the episode, we set up a Silene "popup shop" at Pioneer Square Labs where a bunch of us did blood draws and sent our cells off for safe keeping. About Alex Silenebiotech.com Alex Jiao Twitter Show Links Autologous stem cell transplants Cellular regeneration strategies for macular degeneration: past, present and future CRISPR Juno Therapeutics Facebook - New England Journal of Medicine Facebook - Scientific American Athletigen IPS cells Shinya Yamanaka Clinical trials in knee cartilage regeneration Cell Medicine - Panama Stem Cell Clinic Studies on Metformin and Rapamycin Video of Alex's beating heart cells

Automation Alley Executive Director Tom Kelly is joined by Ian Sefferman, a TechStars Seattle alum and software entrepreneur, formerly with Amazon and currently with TUNE, a mobile marketing platform, to discuss the potential of automation...beyond the manufacturing sector. Which industries will benefit the most from automation? And how can Michigan capitalize on these trends?

Rand Fishkin: The Wizard of Moz SEO's have always been tactical about how they use content, but they have become increasingly strategic and content-driven as digital marketing has evolved. Rand Fishkin talks about "the SEO as content strategist" and much more, including empathy and teamwork, "10X Content," voice search, and his thoughts on this week's FCC decision to roll back net neutrality. Rand's Bio Rand Fishkin goes by the ludicrous title, Wizard of Moz. He's founder and former CEO of SEO software startup Moz, host of Whiteboard Friday, co-author of a pair of books on SEO, co-founder of Inbound.org, and serves on the board of the presentation software firm, Haiku Deck. Rand's currently writing a book for Penguin/Random House on the ups and downs of startup culture, due out in 2018. In his minuscule spare time, he loves to travel with his wife, author Geraldine DeRuiter, and read about their adventures in her books and blog. Geraldine and Rand are also small investors in Backstage Capital and Techstars Seattle. Video Here's the video version of our conversation: https://youtu.be/u71KHOrLjyY Transcript This current version is not a word-for-word transcript, just my raw notes from my first listen-through of our conversation. The SEO as Content Strategist 1:15 how and why SEOs should be strategic about content - SEO used to be tactical: ID keywords, get links - a rankings strategy 1:50 SEO content strategy - start from a place of "I believe that if I can get my audience in front of this content it will help my brand, my conversions, my business goals" - after I create and amplify this content, the world will change in this way - start with: how to get them in front of my content - start with the right content - then find the right audience - do keyword research, etc. - and then search is another channel (along with word of mouth, email, etc.) to attract visitors to your content 3:15 evolution of the role - different content than 10-15 years ago - then formulaic keyword targeting landing pages - now serve visitor intent, accomplish task, amplification-worthy, viral-worthy - but similar volume of content creation in SEO role 4:45 how SEOs cope with SEO-unfriendly CMS's - work-arounds - SEOs becoming more technical - realization that marketing should drive decisions, not tech - tech should be there to serve business goals - much less of SEO Content Team Dynamics 7:40 optimal team? - "small teams of collaborators with different skills all working together" - e.g. content team that includes 2 devs, a designer, 2 content creators, an SEO strategist, and a content strategist - problem he sees all the time 8:55 team dynamics - "tribalism" - we crave it - "me good, you bad" - the "other team" the cause of problems - harder to complain when diverse team assigned a strategic goal 10:50 - empathy - core principle: "I want to be able to emotionally and intellectually put myself in someone else's shoes so that I can feel their pain and their problems, so that I can understand things from their perspective." - by doing that you can get a better relationship with - developers e.g. may not write a single line of code before they know X 12:45 - benefits of literally working side by side - no more villians "10X Content" 13:45 - "10X" Content - Google doc with criteria and examples at bit.ly/10Xcontent - remarkable content - that everyone has seen - that stuff is powerful - not required of every piece of content - but consult his list for inspiration for 10X content you could create for your audience 15:45 - yes, we serve customers and business goals, "But I think when content is really special and people get truly inspired - it becomes art. It's something that we do for ourselves. It's something that we do to be proud of. It's something that we do where we say, 'You know what, I made that, and whether it helps us get more free trials or close more business - that's fine,

TrueFacet is a New York-based online marketplace for authentic pre-owned designer watches and jewellery from the most luxury of brands like Cartier, Bulgari, Patek Philippe, and Van Cleef and Arpels. Tirath Kamdar, CEO and Co-Founder of TrueFacet discusses how himself and his team are building a 'controlled' eCommerce marketplace for luxury physical products. Tirath has over a decade of experience in the jewellery industry in retail and manufacturing, as well as comes from a family of jewellers. Tirath went through TechStars Seattle, and just completed a $7 million dollar round of funding from Maveron and Joe Montana's Liquid2Ventures. On this episode, we talk about: How TrueFacet has had to blend elements of physical product online retail into a marketplace model i.e. they handle and vet products sold through their marketplace for authenticity How vetting the authenticity of every single item sold through TrueFacet delivers customer satisfaction and marketplace trust Marketplace chicken or egg situation: what did Triath's growth marketing team chase first? Buyers or Sellers? How Tirath organise sellers first before attracting buyers to TrueFacet How TrueFacet found initial traction without any paid advertising. How his team made use of Google Analytics to run a manual demographics study. How they approached their customers and made sure that they are building trust between the buyers and sellers and the marketplace as a whole. How to be strict and provide security while still giving your customers an incredible experience. How to build trust and security with buyers and sellers.   Guest’s Top Tips: Tirath, recommends the following three steps to building a business. Solidify and make sure you have the most optimal user experience. Get some real partners - the ones around the table that really matter. Get some capital. It is also important to build trust and provide security to your customers, that delivers the best experience possible. He believes in deep data analysis, paired up with a personal approach customer service. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR FULL SHOWNOTES WEBSITE / BLOG: 2xecommerce.com/podcast/ Subscribe to our iTunes Channel: itunes.apple.com/podcast/physical…ess/id1181834388 FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/kunletcampbell TWITTER: twitter.com/2xeCommerce

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THIS CHANNEL: if you enjoyed the interview. We are also on YouTube, here is where you can SUBSCRIBE: www.youtube.com/channel/UCfZrWNt4L8CQqdulAOv2n6g --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TrueFacet (https://www.truefacet.com/) is a New York-based online marketplace for authentic pre-owned designer watches and jewellery from the most luxury of brands like Cartier, Bulgari, Patek Philippe, and Van Cleef and Arpels. Tirath Kamdar, CEO and Co-Founder of TrueFacet discusses how himself and his team are building a 'controlled' eCommerce marketplace for luxury physical products. Tirath has over a decade of experience in the jewellery industry in retail and manufacturing, as well as comes from a family of jewellers. Tirath went through TechStars Seattle, and just completed a $7 million dollar round of funding from Maveron and Joe Montana's Liquid2Ventures (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160921005277/en/TrueFacet-Raises-6-Million-Series-Led-Maveron). On this episode, we talk about: How TrueFacet has had to blend elements of physical product online retail into a marketplace model i.e. they handle and vet products sold through their marketplace for authenticity. How vetting the authenticity of every single item sold through TrueFacet delivers customer satisfaction and marketplace trust Marketplace chicken or egg situation: what did Triath's growth marketing team chase first? Buyers or Sellers? How Tirath organise sellers first before attracting buyers to TrueFacet How TrueFacet found initial traction without any paid advertising. How his team made use of Google Analytics to run a manual demographics study. How they approached their customers and made sure that they are building trust between the buyers and sellers and the marketplace as a whole. How to be strict and provide security while still giving your customers an incredible experience. How to build trust and security with buyers and sellers. Guest’s Top Tips: Tirath, recommends the following three steps to building a business. 1: Solidify and make sure you have the most optimal user experience. 2: Get some real partners - the ones around the table that really matter. 3: Get some capital. It is also important to build trust and provide security to your customers, that delivers the best experience possible. He believes in deep data analysis, paired up with a personal approach customer service. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR FULL SHOWNOTES WEBSITE / BLOG: 2xecommerce.com/podcast/ Subscribe to our iTunes Channel: itunes.apple.com/podcast/physical…ess/id1181834388 FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/kunletcampbell TWITTER: twitter.com/2xeCommerce CONNECT SOME MORE.... Subscribe to our MEDIUM: physicalproductbusiness.com/