Podcasts about venture for america

Do we really need more jeremiads exposing the Randian greed of Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg & Travis Kalanick? Rob Lalka's THE VENTURE ALCHEMISTS is about how big tech turned profits into power. but this has been the alchemy of American economic life for two hundred years. What isn't clear to me is how we are supposed to distinguish good big tech guys like Bill Gates, Pierre Omidyar, Craig Newmark, & Reid Hoffman from the evil Peter Thiel, Travis Kalanick and Elon Musk. Lalka's fetishization of “ordinary people” might be well meaning, but it doesn't really address today's alchemic challenge of democratizing the economic benefits of technological innovation. Rob Lalka is Professor of Practice in Management and the Albert R. Lepage Professor in Business at Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business and the Executive Director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He has twice received the A.B. Freeman School's Excellence in Intellectual Contributions Award and is the author of a forthcoming book, The Venture Alchemists: How Big Tech Turned Profits Into Power, from Columbia University Press. Lalka moved to New Orleans from Washington, DC, where he was a director at Village Capital and a senior advisor at the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Prior, he served in the U.S. Department of State's Office of Global Partnerships and was on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff, for which he was recognized with the State Department's Superior Honor Award and its Meritorious Honor Award. Lalka currently serves on the boards of Public Democracy, Inc., Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, and Venture For America in New Orleans. He graduated from Yale University, cum laude with distinction in both history and English, holds his master's degree in public policy from Duke University, and earned executive education certificates from Harvard Business School.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown childrenKeen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode of The Internship Show, we speak with MaryCatherine Wright from Venture for America. She discusses their organization, the opportunities they provide early talent, and more.

Mandi Ford Argo is the Director of Tulsa at Venture For America, an initiative creating economic opportunity in American cities by mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs. She focuses on driving economic development through entrepreneurship and is committed to collaboration, creative problem-solving, and influencing positive social change.  Before joining VFA, Mandi was the Events and Engagement Manager at The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Computer Science, where she supported fundraising efforts by overseeing relationships with companies and foundations that support research and development and student programs.  In this episode… As business and entrepreneurship continue to evolve, studies have shown that DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) is crucial to organizational profitability and success. So, what are the benefits of DEI, and how can you incorporate diverse practices in your business? According to Mandi Ford Argo, DEI promotes greater economic development by creating job opportunities for underrepresented people and providing them with the resources to launch a successful business. When fostering DEI in your hiring and operational processes, Mandi recommends pursuing mission-aligned organizations to recruit diverse candidates. It's also critical to develop a strategic onboarding process that encourages inclusion and psychological safety for employee retention. Venture For America recruits entrepreneurial fellows to build professional development and help them achieve their goals.  Join Mat Zalk in today's episode of The Same Day Podcast as he talks with Mandi Ford Argo, the Director of Tulsa at Venture For America, about implementing DEI strategies to recruit and retain diverse talent. Mandi explains the value of DEI in organizational development, how businesses can implement DEI in their hiring processes, and the characteristics of entrepreneurial success.

Magnolia aims to balance the needs of economic development with the important task of preserving our world's most valuable natural resources. On this episode of Real Estate for Breakfast, host Phil Coover talks environmental mitigation (that is mitigation with an “M”, not an “L”), and the creation of ecological offset markets, with Mark Bernstein of Magnolia Land Partners. The two discuss Magnolia Partners' distinctive business model, which includes creating mitigation banks to help businesses navigate complex permitting challenges, while working with landowners to restore environmentally protected areas such as wetlands. The company receives credits for each restoration project, which it then trades with companies that need to comply with environmental regulations. The podcast also covers the economic incentives for participating in these types of restoration programs, and how available programs create economic markets which revolve around mitigation. Mark explains that Magnolia covers 100 percent of the costs associated with restoration and landowners are simply required to maintain the land and comply with the terms of the conservation easement. He also points out that this opportunity allows a proprietor to retain ownership of their land. This company is a fascinating case study in land preservation, while creating tax incentives, other economic incentives, and even profits, while being environmental stewards. Phil also asks Mark about the challenges of environmental mitigation work, his favorite projects, and the company's plans to increase their ability to preserve land. As a co-founder of Magnolia Land Partners, Mark and his team have already secured 10,000 acres under conservation in fourteen active states, and are pioneering a new era in environmental stewardship. Prior to founding Magnolia Land Partners, Mark led the analyst team and guided new market development at one of the largest mitigation banking companies in the US. During that time, he was published in the Journal of Environmental Geosciences for contributing to the development of a new condition assessment protocol employed in wetland and stream mitigation throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Mark holds a Bachelor of Arts (cum laude with departmental honors) in Environmental Science and Economics from Northwestern University and is a member of the inaugural class of Venture For America. For more information about Magnolia Land Partners, visit https://mitigation.org/.

In this episode of Startup Hustle, Lauren Conaway and Craig Moore II, Director at Venture For America and Founding Executive Director of Black Excellence KC, talk about how to be an effective leader, diversity & inclusion within the entrepreneurial community, and how to attract, retain, and nurture quality talent.   Find Startup Hustle Everywhere: https://gigb.co/l/YEh5   This episode is sponsored by Canva: https://www.canva.com/   Learn more about Venture For America: https://ventureforamerica.org/   Learn more about Black Excellence KC: https://bxkc.org/   Learn more about InnovateHER KC: https://www.innovateherkc.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chukwudi N. Kanu is a Nigerian-American entrepreneur and investor, laser-focused on leveraging technology to solve today's systemic problems while creating a more equitable & inclusive future. He is the Cofounder & CEO of Humblebrag, a tool for investors to find overlooked pre-seed founders in emerging tech hubs while giving scouts interest on the investment. In addition to that, Chukwudi is the Managing Director of Binghamton Alumni Angels, the Binghamton University alumni investment network. He is also an active angel investor that has co-invested with notable investors Bill Trenchard, Naval Ravikant, Arlan Hamilton, and Marc Randolph.He's been recognized by LinkedIn, Indeed.com, the United Nations Development Programme, Ernst & Young, Notley, the United States Senate, and Venture For America for his leadership and new ideas.HumbleBrag is in an earlier stage than other companies we normally feature although it is part of our mini-series on alternative funding models with OnDeck, Wefunder, Pando and Exit to Community.“Learn how to tell your story, and tell it succinctly. Definitely know what your story is, tell it and be confident when you tell it like that's the biggest thing before you open your mouth.” - Chukwudi N. KanuToday on Startups for Good we cover:Deciding on entrepreneurshipChanneling confidenceBecoming a scoutRegulatory constraintsTips for raising moneyLocations for future innovationConnect with Chukwudi on LinkedIN or TwitterThe book discussed in this episode is The Innovation Blindspot by Ross BairdSubscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!Thanks for tuning into today's episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.Don't forget to visit our website, connect with Miles on Twitter or LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about Purpose Built visit our website.

LG Energy is General Motors partner of choice for the firm's broad new Ultium battery program, but the company has just announced a new joint venture with Stellantis to produce EV batteries at a yet undisclosed American location. The project is substantial in size and will supply multiple Stellantis brands. LG has a relationship with Stellantis going back to 2014 when the firm supplied batteries and control systems for the Chrysler Pacifica hybrid. Former Boeing engineering test pilot Mark Forkner has been indicted in a Fort Worth, Texas Federal Court on multiple charges stemming from his involvement in the development of the MCAS system used in Boeing 737 Max airplanes. Prosecutors allege that Forkner deliberately concealed details of the MCAS system from FAA regulators, resulting in the exclusion of it from Boeing pilot operating manuals. Allegations claim that this omission was an important contributory factor to the crashes of two Max airplanes with the loss of all aboard. This is the first indictment of an individual in the Boeing MCAS saga. Access all episodes of https://www.engineering.com/viewAll?category=this-week-in-engineering (This Week in Engineering) on engineering.com TV along with all of our other series.

Sean Wen is the co-founder of Pinch Boil House & Curry Boys BBQ. Hear about Sean's journey from working at a startup, making his way over to Geekdom, to chasing his dream and opening two San Antonio restaurants that have quickly become local favorites.

Want to see future episode highlights? You can add me on Linkedin here.A New Jersey native and business graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Bethany joined Venture For America after college. She led marketing for start-ups, Filestack and VidGrid before shifting gears to pursue her own entrepreneurial aspirations to co-found Sendspark in 2019.Sendspark is a video messaging platform for businesses to record & send personalized videos to customers. Users can record themselves, their screen, or request videos from others. Businesses are able to use Sendspark for onboarding new users, announcing new features, customer support, and more.

Meet George, a college graduate and Venture For America fellow, who lost all his money, got rejected from over 100 jobs, and packed his bags and headed to Austin. Learning from his mom's hustling attitude and coveting the Mamba Mentality, George never let adversity slow him down and is now an EA Sports Brand Personality sponsored by the NBA, and founder of a cardio fitness app, Run IO. Listen to George talk about how he took his love for the video game NBA 2K and created a 501 Hustle around it, by realizing that when you follow what you love instead of getting stuck in "what you should be doing," things fall into place and the right connections will come into your life. During quarantine, George learned the valuable lesson of how to alter his mindset and see opportunities in times of struggle. Listen to George share how he turned the worst moments in his life into opportunities that allowed him to gain strength, seize power, and grow into the individual he aspired to be. His app, Run.IO, has won several pitch competitions, has official advisory from the founder of Map My Run, currently has two engineers on the project, and is looking to grow his team! Reach out to George on Instagram: @gfortune_500

Kristy Reed and Lydia Ashburn are both Venture for America (VFA) Fellows that graduated from the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC and NC State in 2019. The Venture for America program is a 2-year fellowship for recent college grads that want to gain entrepreneurial experience. Fellows have the opportunity to work in a variety of roles/environments that provide entrepreneurial exposure, such as startups, SMBs, the innovation branch of larger companies, and VC firms. Plus - when Fellows want to start their own company, VFA provides resources to help them achieve their goals. The mission of the VFA program is to stimulate economic development in American cities by empowering and supporting VFA Fellows. Through the VFA program matching process, Kristy became a Production Engineer for Infinite Biomedical Technologies (a startup), and Lydia, a Senior Operations Analyst for Total Access Urgent Care (a SMB in the growth phase). On this episode, Kristy and Lydia talk about the VFA program, and their roles, companies, day-to-day work, and impact. Read about the VFA Program: https://ventureforamerica.org/ For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

Kristy Reed and Lydia Ashburn are both Venture for America (VFA) Fellows that graduated from the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC and NC State in 2019. The Venture for America program is a 2-year fellowship for recent college grads that want to gain entrepreneurial experience. Fellows have the opportunity to work in a variety of roles/environments that provide entrepreneurial exposure, such as startups, SMBs, the innovation branch of larger companies, and VC firms. Plus - when Fellows want to start their own company, VFA provides resources to help them achieve their goals. The mission of the VFA program is to stimulate economic development in American cities by empowering and supporting VFA Fellows. Through the VFA program matching process, Kristy became a Production Engineer for Infinite Biomedical Technologies (a startup), and Lydia, a Senior Operations Analyst for Total Access Urgent Care (a SMB in the growth phase). On this episode, Kristy and Lydia talk about the VFA program, and their roles, companies, day-to-day work, and impact. Read about the VFA Program: https://ventureforamerica.org/ For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

1/25/2021 - Sarah Olivarez, Director at Venture For America (San Antonio) joins the show to discuss what Venture For America does and how she became the director here in San Antonio. Sarah is a UTSA alum, has worked for Launch SA, the Alamo Colleges, and even for the city of San Antonio. She shares her journey and her "why." She also explains the importance of programs like these and how becoming a fellow can lead to success down the road. Check out episode 32 to hear more about Venture For America and Sarah Olivarez. In current events, Zachary and Amanda discuss some of the new developments that are planned in the urban core. Also, the hosts discuss their opinions on cities giving incentives and large amounts of money to big businesses when small businesses need it most during the pandemic. Where To Find/Follow Venture For America: Website Facebook Twitter Instagram --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sapodnetwork/support

Carrie Murphy was born and raised in Cleveland. After graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in Public Policy and Strategic Management she decided to move to New York City. Her first job was working for the startup, The Ladders, where she began her career in recruiting. From there, she went into retained executive search working at a boutique firm, Daversa Partners, where she placed executives across the C-Suite for high-growth, venture-backed companies. This is when she realized the positive impact startups and disruptive technology can have on the economy and global population. In 2015, Carrie decided it was time to move back to her hometown and became the Director of HR and Talent Acquisition at a series B technology company, Vertical Knowledge. There she saw the company nearly double in size from 35 – 65+ employees and helped with not only identifying and retaining the best talent but also figuring out the processes needed in order to successfully scale the business. Carrie found herself inspired to want to help Northeast Ohio attract the best talent and further help the startup ecosystem grow and thrive. She's extremely excited to be able to join the VFA team as the Director of Northeast Ohio and hopes to expand VFA's footprint and impact locally and beyond.Learn more about Venture for America: https://ventureforamerica.org/Follow Carrie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarrieMarkworthFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLandVisit our website: https://layoftheland.fmEmail us: hello@layoftheland.fm

Andrew Yang is an American businessman, lawyer, book author and philanthropist, as well as a former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. He is the founder of Venture for America which connects young professionals to innovative companies in economically challenged cities. Andrew joins me today to discuss Venture for America and his 2015 book Smart People should Build Things. He shares his experience with building a social venture and placing young professionals in cities like Detroit, New Orleans and Cincinnati. He discusses the mindset of entrepreneurship and how to be successful. Andrew shares how he prepared himself for the leadership role and what inspires him. “What most business boils down to is that sense of what makes people tick.” - Andrew YangToday on Startups for Good we cover:Andrew's beginning following graduating from Brown and entering law school.Explaining what inspired Venture for America and how it began.Andrew also shares the success of Venture for America. We learn about the mission and goals of the company.Andrew shares the relationship between the fellows and the companies.Some of the challenges as CEO of a non-profit and why he chose the non-profit route.Some of the staffing issues involved when hiring for a social impact venture.Andrew addresses if he has received any criticism in regards to a high scale/high growth model. Connect with Andrew: @AndrewYang on TwitterAndrew's WebsiteHis latest book The War on Normal PeopleSubscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!Thanks for tuning into today's episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.Don't forget to visit our website, follow Miles on LinkedIn, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, and share your favorite episodes across social media.For more information or to join The Giving Circle visit: www.startupsforgood.com and click on Giving Circle.

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:   In 2013 I spoke with Andrew Yang who was the CEO of Venture for America at the time. He was at his office and multi-tasking during our interview, so when you listen to the interview, you’ll hear some background noise and typing. At the time he talked about being invited to the White House amongst several things.   Who would have predicted that a few years later that he would be running as a Democrat for the 2020 U.S. President election?   Many now know him as the Presidential candidate who proposed something called the “Freedom Dividend.” With the 2020 U.S. Presidential election results unfolding, and Joe Biden recently declared President-elect, some say that there may place for Andrew in the Biden administration. I thought it would be a good time to share this interview that I did with Andrew.     Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:   Andrew’s involvement with the Entrepreneur Challenge and Competition and connection with the Taiwanese American Professionals What is Venture for America? What it was like for Andrew to be invited to the White House and speak to President Barack Obama about Venture for America? How Venture for America was modeled after Teach for America What cities Venture for America was in (at the time of the interview) and where they were planning to expand to What types of startups Venture for America works with How long is the bootcamp that Venture for America fellows are required to go through and what are they taught How many fellows there were in Venture for America (at the time of the interview) What are some of the things that the fellows have done/accomplished How Jeff Weiner the CEO of LinkedIn has agreed to join Venture for America’s investment council The highlights of being involved with Venture for America for Andrew What’s the most challenging thing about running an organization like Venture for America What motivates Andrew with Venture for America Who are some of Andrew’s role models in the nonprofit space What’s the difference between a struggling and successful entrepreneur What advice Andrew has for someone wanting to start a community-based organization What Andrew’s future plans are for Venture for America Andrew’s book Smart People Should Build Things Andrew’s thoughts on Taiwan and the entrepreneurship of the Taiwanese people   Related Links:   Venture for America: www.ventureforamerica.org   Teach for America: https://www.teachforamerica.org/   Charity Water: https://www.charitywater.org/   Donors Choose: https://www.donorschoose.org/   Angela Lee Duckworkth’s TED talk about Grit: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare     Smart People Should Build Things by Andrew Yang: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B00DB3D7EY&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_BVrSFb10ZBV39   Andrew Yang’s campaign website for the 2020 U.S. Presidential election: https://www.yang2020.com/   Taiwanese American Professionals- New York (TAP-NY): https://tap-ny.org/

This week Adele talks to Hannah Anokye, a Northwestern grad student getting her MBA and MS in Design Innovation. Learn how Hannah discovered this path, the book that changed her life, and how her time in Venture For America prepared her for where she is now.Check out Hannah's podcast, Awks, here! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/awks/id1448558407Check out my website agoodlife.coach to learn more about me and make sure to subscribe on Apple podcasts to never miss an episode.Music courtesy of Kevin Macleod

Amy Nelson is the CEO of Venture for America, a non-profit mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs. This week, Kathleen and Daniel (a Venture for America Fellow himself) speak with Amy about the barriers to entrepreneurship, what it's like to take on the CEO role, and choosing a career that indicates your values. Amy also talks about what it was like being the only single mother in her Stern full-time MBA class and why we should push our institutions to be more equitable and inclusive. Hosted by: Daniel Yellin & Kathleen Dillon Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: PJ Wyderka

In this episode, we hear from Cassie about the role of an Operating Partner at VCs. These roles are relatively new, and are valued by portfolio companies for getting VC support over and above just the capital.Cassie is an Operating Partner at Primary Ventures and works closely with founders and portfolio companies to help them build, scale and optimize their sales, marketing, and customer operations. Prior to Primary, Cassie joined CM Group as their Chief Customer Officer when they acquired Sailthru. Pre-acquisition, she served as Sailthru’s Chief Commercial Officer. Cassie has years of experience in marketing and analytics. She holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She is also on the advisory board for Venture for America.

This week Brock & Jeremy had a chance to speak with Mapate Diop. Mapate is a co-founder & entrepreneur of WearDiop.com, a custom clothing line. Mapate is an alum of Venture For America, like Brock. His co-founder Evan and Mapate were both in Venture For America when they decided to launch Diop. Mapate provides his insight on why gathering experiences is important to entrepreneurs and leaders. In his career, he had focused on internships and jobs to better understand a variety of industries. During that time, he noted the sea changes of tech and the financial crisis as playing a big role on how he viewed his career.Mapate was earlier than his peers to things like computer science and startups, relying on both formal and informal networks throughout his career. Beyond a network, we discuss one of the most important aspects of being first - defining success. Once you know what success means, you can fail and quickly recover and try again. Some practical advice for anyone leading a team or trying to start a business, Mapate has interviewed over 300 of his own customers to better understand his business. His framework is 1). Know your customer 2). Understand what the thing is they want 3). Why they buy 4). What will ensure they come back.It's not all about the bottom line at Diop. Mapate and his co-founder, Evan, have made over 100,000 masks for frontline workers during the COVID-19 response. Diop has also donated over $75,000 to non-profit organizations in the past few months using the proceeds from mask sales.Mapate is an inspiring leader. Follow his progress and get some clothing at WearDiop.com.

Are you interested in working in product? What about startups? Have you heard about the Venture for America program? What's the importance of thinking long-term? Listen now to find out and more! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/careerbites.ohmaneats/support

An indisputable character trait of every successful person is their willingness to stay persistent even when it feels uncomfortable. In this episode we discuss the growing importance of persistence in today's increasingly uncertain economic climate and how we should all get more comfortable with asking for help. A good way to remove negative self think when something triggers you to feel that you're asking too much of others is to remember stories of other ambitious people accomplishing great things because of their willingness to ask others for help directly. We discuss Barbara Corcoran's story of landing a spot on ABC's Shark Tank by following up with Mark Cuban after being rejected for the opportunity. We also talk about how Sergei got a job working for Andrew Yang's last nonprofit, Venture For America, after being rejected for a job there and following up directly with the COO almost two years later. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This Cleveland based couple has committed their entrepreneurial journeys to solving problems with a focus on people. Leopoldo Peña is the Co-Founder and Head of Product at Opportunity Exchange. Julia Wang just took on a role as the Entrepreneurship Programs Manager for Venture For America and recently participated in CLC's pitch competition, Accelerate. Both have developed intricate networks in the CLE and discuss how you can get connected. Then, we dove into a discussion on how to build communities that present opportunities to groups that are often disproportionately allocated resources. Do you want to use community focused solutions for your business? Apply for our online savings club today! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Meet Han Ju Seo, Founder of the Asian Creative Network. Founded in November 2018, the Asian Creative Network is a thriving community of more than 35,000 creatives around the world who network, help, and create with each other. The Network has 15 city specific groups and has hosted hundreds of in-person events around the world.

Carrie Murphy is a Senior Director at Venture for America which is a fellowship program for recent college graduates who want to become startup leaders and entrepreneurs.Based in Cleveland, Carrie returned to Ohio from New York City where she worked at Goldman Sachs and a leading retained technology executive search firm. With additional experience at startups, Carrie is helping recruit and place college graduates from some of America's best universities at startups in Cleveland and throughout Ohio.In this episode we talk with Carrie about the future of work, what the best talent looks for in deciding on career opportunities and returning to Ohio from the east coast - and how Ohio can recruit more professionals back home. For more information on Venture for America, please visit: https://ventureforamerica.org/To connect with Carrie on LinkedIn, please visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-murphy-8a8948a/

From venturing around america to building a venture for america's beekeepers. Lets all show some appreciation for Dawn the co-founder of HIVELEND! We get into everything in this episode involving bees, beekeeping, finding your way, and more. Listen, and then act on what you hear. We all can do our part to make the world better. 

Amy Nelson, CEO of Venture for America, and her organization's Detroit director, Sarah Craft, talked with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood on the Detroit Rising podcast about the entrepreneurship-focused fellowship for young professionals, which has brought 145 fellows to work in Detroit startup companies over the past seven years. They were joined by VFA alum Lauren Kase and Ashton Keys, a current fellow with the program who is working at Quicken Loans. Keys is a Detroit native and graduate of Cass Tech.

Joining us today are Kate Loar of Venture For America and Chisom Uche, Alumnus of Venture For America and current Senior Associate at SixThirty. Kate works with Venture For America Fellows, company partners, donors and support systems in St. Louis and Kansas City. Chisom serves on numerous boards, one of which empowers students to direct their own lives and learning. In this episode: Kate discusses her many roles with Venture For America Chisom tells us how he became a "fellow" with Venture for America and how he fills his role as an alumni of the program. Kate talks about the criteria Venture For America looks for in the "fellow" selection process and what strategies they use in choosing the perfect candidate. Kate tells us about a few benchmark milestones that Venture For America recently hit. Chisom discusses the diversity within Venture For America community. Chisom goes into detail just how exactly the "fellows" of Venture For America contribute to the start-up community. Learn More: Kate Email: kate@ventureforamerica.org Chisom Email: chisom.uche@gmail.com Venture For America Website: https://ventureforamerica.org

Joining us today are Kate Loar of Venture For America and Chisom Uche, Alumnus of Venture For America and current Senior Associate at SixThirty. Kate works with Venture For America Fellows, company partners, donors and support systems in St. Louis and Kansas City. Chisom serves on numerous boards, one of which empowers students to direct their own lives and learning. In this episode: Kate discusses her many roles with Venture For America Chisom tells us how he became a "fellow" with Venture for America and how he fills his role as an alumni of the program. Kate talks about the criteria Venture For America looks for in the "fellow" selection process and what strategies they use in choosing the perfect candidate. Kate tells us about a few benchmark milestones that Venture For America recently hit. Chisom discusses the diversity within Venture For America community. Chisom goes into detail just how exactly the "fellows" of Venture For America contribute to the start-up community. Learn More: Kate Email: Chisom Email: Venture For America Website:

Joining us today are Kate Loar of Venture For America and Chisom Uche, Alumnus of Venture For America and current Senior Associate at SixThirty. Kate works with Venture For America Fellows, company partners, donors and support systems in St. Louis and Kansas City. Chisom serves on numerous boards, one of which empowers students to direct their own lives and learning. In this episode: Kate discusses her many roles with Venture For America Chisom tells us how he became a "fellow" with Venture for America and how he fills his role as an alumni of the program. Kate talks about the criteria Venture For America looks for in the "fellow" selection process and what strategies they use in choosing the perfect candidate. Kate tells us about a few benchmark milestones that Venture For America recently hit. Chisom discusses the diversity within Venture For America community. Chisom goes into detail just how exactly the "fellows" of Venture For America contribute to the start-up community. Learn More: Kate Email: kate@ventureforamerica.org Chisom Email: chisom.uche@gmail.com Venture For America Website: https://ventureforamerica.org

Interview begins: 06:33 Debrief begins: 51:26Amy Nelson is the CEO of Venture For America (VFA). VFA is a two-year fellowship program for recent grads who want to work at a startup and create jobs in American cities. Fellows learn important startup skills at our month-long Training Camp, apply for jobs within our vetted company network, and work for two years as full-time, salaried employees in one of 14 cities.  About VFA (03:25) Is going to business school still necessary? (13:30) Discussing the challenges in starting a business? (15:27) What does it take to be part of VFA? (29:19) Getting to know the VFA community (32:15) What it's like to hire VFA fellow (33:48) Learn more about Venture For America: https://ventureforamerica.org/Follow Amy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmyNelsonVFAFollow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

At the 2019 South by Southwest, Amol Sarva (Knotel cofounder) moderated a panel with the fabulous CEO of Venture For America, Amy Nelson, as well as Upwork’s Head of Public Affairs, Mike McGeary, and Claire Vo of Optimizely. The topic:

In this episode of Taking Notes, NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Andrew Yang. Andrew founded Venture for America (VFA), a fellowship program for recent college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs. VFA trains its fellows then sends them to work at early-stage growth companies and startups in Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland and other cities with the goal of generating job growth in cities across the country. After seeing the impact of increasingly automated jobs on cities, Andrew realized that startup job growth was akin to tossing water into a leaky bucket. He stepped down as VFA's CEO and launched his 2020 presidential campaign with Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a central pillar.

This latest episode of The Doers Network features an interview with Jacob Smith, entrepreneur, business developer, startup organizer, podcast producer and former Detroit office Director for Venture For America.  His experience and insight provides a look into his remarkable life, so take a listen right here on The Doers Network!!! Contact Jacob: Facebook:  Jacob Evan Smith LinkedIn:  Jacob Evan Smith Visit us:  https://www.bamboodetroit.com/

This week Eric and David talk with Andrew Yang, founder of Venture for America and Presidential Candidate for 2020! Mr. Yang talks about his journey as an entrepreneur, what his motivation was to start Venture for America and why he has decided to run for President. This is an awesome episode and we can't wait for you to hear it! Give it listen and let us know your thoughts.You can find more about Andrew Yang here:Thank you to this week's sponsors The David Miller Group and Westporte Capital Consulting. If you like what you hear we would love if you would give us a rating here!

Sports teams spend a lot of time and money on their annual drafts, trying to get their hands on top talent at rookie prices.  It's exciting. Done well, it can literally change the trajectory of your team forever. This week's guest is Katie Grimm, Pittsburgh director of Venture for America, and VfA brings that kind of excitement to the startup scene by making similarly promising talent available to entrepreneurial ventures.  In this episode, Scot MacTaggart talks to Katie about the sports draft analogy as a way to simplify the pitch and clarify the value that Venture for America brings to the 14 cities it supports.

Erik was interviewed by Jacob Evan Smith (@jacobsmith88) at Venture For America in Detroit, which is where Erik attended the University of Michigan before he started his live rap battle app, rapt.fm.In this episode he talks about founding and running rapt.fm, why it didn’t work out, and how he ended up joining Product Hunt before co-founding Village Global.Erik explains why it’s not important that entrepreneurs get it right the first time, but instead that they don’t stop trying.He talks about why lifestyle businesses are unfairly looked down upon in startup world, the usefulness of failing, and why you need to keep your identity separate from your company.He also talks about why you want to do things that seem hard to other people but easy to you and why when building a network you should give without taking, without thought of what you might get in return.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

Erik was interviewed by Jacob Evan Smith (@jacobsmith88) at Venture For America in Detroit, which is where Erik attended the University of Michigan before he started his live rap battle app, rapt.fm.In this episode he talks about founding and running rapt.fm, why it didn’t work out, and how he ended up joining Product Hunt before co-founding Village Global.Erik explains why it’s not important that entrepreneurs get it right the first time, but instead that they don’t stop trying.He talks about why lifestyle businesses are unfairly looked down upon in startup world, the usefulness of failing, and why you need to keep your identity separate from your company.He also talks about why you want to do things that seem hard to other people but easy to you and why when building a network you should give without taking, without thought of what you might get in return.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

“That's really one of the most powerful things about Universal Basic Income. You start to believe in a sense of abundance and possibility.” In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and Nat speak to Andrew Yang, the author of The War on Normal People, a follow up to our previous book episode. Today we are discussing the possibility of Universal Basic Income for all. “The bigger people think, the more they wake up. We can make this real together.” We cover a wide range of topics, including : Objections and barriers to adopting UBI The cost of UBI and if can we afford it Video games vs the real world Social Credit Systems and Basic Jobs VAT and economic migration Trump and running for president in 2020 And much more. Please enjoy this interview with the author of The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang. You can also listen on Google Play Music, SoundCloud, YouTube, or in any other podcasting app by searching “Made You Think.” If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and our episode on Emergency by Neil Strauss for related topics discussed in today’s show. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show Universal Basic Income [00:30] Roosevelt Institute [04:02] VAT [06:16] Freedom Dividend [07:49] Twitch [10:00] Social Credits [13:24] World of Warcraft [13:50] Pink Collar Jobs [11:19] Blockchain [16:45] (Crypto episode) Ypsilanti, Michigan [18:15] Yang Ventures [18:18] Mynt  [18:31] UBI Pilots [18:59] Solyndra [20:18] The Hamptons [34:32] Enlightened Self-Interest [34:38] Allegiance [30:36] Scrooge McDuck [39:48] Reddit Andrew Yang AMA [43:35] State of the Union Address [43:47] Yang2020.com [47:23] One For Humanity [48:14] Cryptocurrency [54:09] (Crypto episode) Joe Rogan Podcast [59:40] Tim Ferriss Podcast [59:41] Vocal fry [01:01:59] Books Mentioned The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang [00:17] (book episode) Homo Deus by Yuval Harari [07:10] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson [35:20] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Emergency by Neil Strauss [38:08] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Raising the Floor by Andy Stern [47:44] Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb [52:02] (Nat’s Notes) (Neil’s Notes) (book episode) Sapiens by Yuval Harari [53:22] (Nat’s Notes) (part 1, part 2) Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch [01:00:40] (book episode) College Dropout by Kanye West [01:00:56] (book episode) People Mentioned Andrew Yang Yuval Harari [07:06] Sam Altman [19:09] Chris Hughes [19:10] Cory Booker [25:11] Jeff Bezos [32:04] Donald Trump [40:43] Barack Obama [41:50] Bernie Sanders [41:47] Chris Rock [42:31] George Bush [42:34] Jesus Christ [42:41] Kanye West [1:03:24] Questions Asked 01:01 – What are the main challenges and objections to UBI? 01:36 – Are any of these objections compelling? 05:04 – Isn’t UBI just cycling money from the top consumers to those that are below $120k a year in spending? 08:18 – Do you see any differing objections between liberals and conservatives to UBI? 09:24 – Do you think there will be a portion of society that replaces work with video games and do you see a growth in the gaming industry because of UBI? 14:40 – How would we implement the social credits app in cities for real? 17:33 – Does it have to be the government that starts a social credit initiative? 20:35 – If you were elected, how are you viewing the idea battleground? 21:10 – How do you get past the inertia to convince people UBI is necessary? 25:00 – How do you feel about basic jobs? 26:40 – What makes the basic jobs idea attractive to other candidates and some voters? 29:15 – Is making the majority of the population reliant on a government subsidy making it easier for a totalitarian president to take control after you? 30:58 – You said in the book we are moving to a winner-take-all economy in a variety of fields, where you have a handful of companies controlling Government policy. Do you see a future where that is possible and how do you stop that? 35:20 – Have you read Sovereign Individual? 35:32 – In Sovereign Individual there is an idea that as wealth disparity grows, eventually the elite will separate themselves from the rest of the population. Do you see any concern for that? 38:54 – Will we see countries trying to attract citizens to move and will VAT be a factor in that? 39:59 – How bad would it have to be before more people left? What’s the threshold? 41:24 – Do you think that Trump getting elected is helpful to someone who’s not a career politician, helping them get elected in 2020? 45:40 – Has communicating a very statistics and quantitative approach been a struggle for you when speaking to audiences? So much of politics is about the emotional appearance. How have you adapted to that? 54:09 – Extra Question that we didn’t get to ask - Would adoption of a VAT accelerate a crypto economy and how does that change the estimates of how we would pay for UBI? Show Topics 1:11 – The main objections to UBI are : How can we afford it? Will it turn people into less happy, lazy wastrels? Won’t it cause mass inflation? 1:44 – Universal Basic Income is affordable but we’ve poorly managed budgets in the past and there is stigma around hoarding money. We need to believe in sense of abundance and possibility. Culture and mental barriers and block around hoarding money. 3:28 – Cost of UBI in the US would cost $2 Trillion. It would be $1000 per month given to each person, we call it the Freedom Dividend. It would cause economy growth due to increased taxes and spending. 4:27 – Benefits of UBI. We would get more out than we put in. It reduces health issues, crime and has many secondary benefits to putting the money into the hands of the people. 05:57 – How the money would be spent. The wealthy vs the majority. VAT taking from those who spend the most and given to the bottom 80%. Money sitting in bank accounts causes a stagnant economy. 07:27 – Basic Income as both appealing Liberals and Conservatives. Most people seem to think it is impossible, shows decline of society and lack of faith in democracy. 10:21 – Video games and the growth of the eSports economy. Parents as an early form of UBI for large groups of young people. Will additional income cause people to withdraw into games more or will it allow them to participate in real life more? 11:03 – Lack of appealing opportunities for men in the real world. The digital world as the cheapest form of entertainment, more money equals more options and less time spent in the digital world. 12:05 – Games used as a sense of accomplishment and emotional highs, which can wear off over time. UBI will give opportunities at a time when people are looking for something new. 13:24 – Social credits as a socially constructive gamification of the real world. Gaming impulse transferred into the real world and other outlets. Current philanthropic trials are small by comparison and Government could apply resources. 20:02 – Yang’s plans as president. Government currently too risk averse. Electing a president with UBI as a main objective would be a huge step towards it. Congress people would have to listen to their constituents. 24:08 – Nothing is as effective as cash to people when talking about control of programs. People losing faith in government programs. Basic jobs as a bad idea, no long term value in unproductive work as more jobs get automated. Unproductive jobs lead to unhappy people. Instead find out what work is inside of each person. The idea of Basic jobs doesn’t value people. Valuing people as stakeholders and not serves. 30:10 – People heading towards reliance on the government. UBI as better way, gives people a higher-level of integrity and self-determination. Any government change to UBI would cause riots and is still a powerful check on the government. Doing nothing will lead to bloodshed and revolution. Antitrust laws and harm to consumers. 32:38 – Defining human success independent of economic or monetary measures. Wealth getting concentrated in ever smaller pools is bad for all businesses. Riots in America looking more likely, how can we prevent that instead of waiting. 37:54 – Enlightened self-interest and lifting others up. Renouncing citizenship for tax reasons. Ad campaigns trying to encourage economic migration. VAT not a powerful factor. 40:17 – Lack of entrepreneurial migrants. Electing Andrew Yang would be a compelling message to immigrants. The opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian guy that likes facts and figures. Clear message through recent politics, people are desperate for change. 44:54 – Using Universal Based Income as a lever to address a crisis. The road to the 2020 election. Challenge of evolving as a person over time. Humanity First and One For Humanity project. Reduction of labor as a central role, the rise of automation and an economy that values people first. 48:36 – Possibility of a follow-up episode. Listeners, send in any questions. Next time we could dive deeper on Venture For America and his other policies. Check out his site Yang2020.com. Follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewYangVFA and @andrewyang2020 53:29 – Influences of Yuval Harari. Andrew’s perspective is super refreshing for a politician. Getting other authors on the podcast. 57:44 – If you’re enjoying this show we would love to see you over on our Patreon page. You get the bonus material, detailed book notes, all of our questions from interviews and upcoming books and the opportunity to join Neil and I on a live Q&A hangout. Patreon helps us to keep the show as we want it without ads interrupting the flow of the conversation. 01:01:22 – Keep telling your friends about the show, leave a review on iTunes. It helps us to show as up as a recommended podcast. We read all of them and we super appreciate it. If you want to support the podcast in another way you can go to MadeYouThinkPodcast.com/Support. We do have a bunch of products there that we use on a regular basis. If you click through or use the coupon code it does help support the show, I guess we should mention Amazon as well as listed on there and you can go do your normal shopping on Amazon doesn't cost you anything. 01:03:08 – The interview format is new for us so we’d love to know what you think. Send us an e-mail or tweet. On Twitter I’m @TheRealNeilS and I’m @NatEliason and we will talk to you there, see you all next week. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com

Welcome to another episode of The School For Humanity where we connect with Andrew Yang about how he is changing the path to entrepreneurship with his company, Venture for America. Andrew shares his vision for Venture for America in creating economic opportunity in American cities by mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs. It's the ripple effect, in full effect. Stay tuned as we dive into how Andrew recruits recent graduates, trains them to become entrepreneurs, connects them to opportunities in cities with emerging entrepreneurial eco-systems, and supports the Venture for America Fellows to start their own companies. We're excited to share this conversation with you! Let's get started, with Andrew Yang.

Welcome to another episode of The School For Humanity where we connect with Andrew Yang about how he is changing the path to entrepreneurship with his company, Venture for America. Andrew shares his vision for Venture for America in creating economic opportunity in American cities by mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs. It's the ripple effect, in full effect. Stay tuned as we dive into how Andrew recruits recent graduates, trains them to become entrepreneurs, connects them to opportunities in cities with emerging entrepreneurial eco-systems, and supports the Venture for America Fellows to start their own companies. We're excited to share this conversation with you! Let's get started, with Andrew Yang.

This is the second part of our podcast with Yami Nesrala, Director of Miami and Charlotte for Venture for America. In our interview last week, we spoke a lot about the fellows – who they are, how they are selected and more.  This week I wanted to address the benefits the companies and the community get out of Venture for America and then focus on how the community can support VFA in Charlotte.  As such, today’s podcast with Yami covers the following: What does the company get out of hiring a VFA fellow? Why can’t companies just do this on their own? What’s the goal for building the VFA program in Charlotte over the course of the next 2 to 3 years? What does VFA look for in companies for their fellows? How many company partners does Charlotte have and how can we increase the number of company partners here in Charlotte? What makes a company successful as a VFA city? How can Charlotteans support VFA? Are there volunteers for the Selection Day? At several points during our interview, Yami mentioned contacting her directly about volunteering or financially supporting VFA in Charlotte.  Her email address is yamile@ventureforamerica.org for those of you who want to be a mentor, advisor, offer meeting space, or support VFA financially. I’m also excited to announce that Charlotte has been selected to host Venture for America’s Selection Day on December 1, 2017.  As you heard in the first part of this podcast from Yami, Venture for America has been in Charlotte for three years now and we’ve had 20 VFA fellows come through startups here.  Charlotte hosted our first Selection Day in the Spring of 2017 and we are fortunate to have the opportunity to host it again. This event is a tremendous opportunity to showcase Charlotte to students who may have never been here and could consider coming to Charlotte as a fall 2018 VFA fellow.

Today we are very fortunate to have Yamile Nesrala, Director of Miami and Charlotte for Venture for America.  Much like the Venture for America Fellows we will talk about shortly, Yami has an extraordinarily impressive background.  She graduated with an economics degree from Harvard, received her Masters in Philosophy from University of Cambridge, and completed her law degree back at Harvard in 2013. She has spent time in the consulting world, with legal firms, and more recently with a startup called CommonBond which helps lower the cost of student loans to borrowers. In October 2016, though, Yami joined Venture for America serving as the point person for both the Miami and Charlotte.  After our interview today, you will be more impressed and happy to know that we have Yami working for us here in Charlotte. We covered the following aspects of the Venture for America Fellowship this week: What is the drive behind Venture for America (for more read Andrew Yang's book, Smart People Should Build Things)? Who is a typical fellow and how are they recruited? What is selection day? (hint: it helps select the next group of VFA fellows) What’s the goal of the fellows? Are the natural entrepreneurs or are there other motivations? How does Venture for America vet and match the companies with the fellows? Is there a compensation structure in place for fellows? What do fellows get out of the fellowship? How many fellows are in the 2017 class? What is life like for a VFA fellow? In the surveys VFA conducts with its fellows, what are they learning about the experience they are creating? Along with much more in a jam packed 30 minute podcast. Next week, we are going to talk more about the impact to the Charlotte and how Charlotte can benefit from having a thriving Venture for America program here.  This leads us to the obvious question of what can Charlotte do to support and grow the VFA program here. Hope you enjoy today’s podcast and be sure to listen in next week to Part II with Yamile!  

  Today, we welcome back Betsy Hauser Idilbi, Co-Founder of Tech Talent South to the show.  Last week, Betsy spoke about Tech Talent South and how it got off the ground on so many different levels. This week we wanted to change the direction of the conversation and talk about the future for Tech Talent South, Charlotte and Betsy.  It's even better than Part I and I hope you enjoy it as we discuss the following: The placement rates of coding schools - how they are 'ranked' - and Tech Talent South's recent step into training employees at corporations. How Tech Talent South plans on using Charlotte as a training ground for other cities moving forward. Their recent decision to raise capital from Cramer Mountain Growth Partners - a new VC fund in the Charlotte area. How has Tech Talent South not only survived but thrived while some in the coding world have gone under recently? Would Betsy have a Co-Founder if she starts another business in the future? What would Betsy like to see in Charlotte in the future that doesn't exist today or when Tech Talent South was getting off the ground. And much, much more. It's a great podcast and hope you enjoy the episode.  Please check in next week as we interview Yamile Nesrala who is the Director of Miami and Charlotte for Venture For America.

Welcome back to the Charlotte Angel Connection – the Charlotte Area Podcast linking entrepreneurs, investors, and the broader Charlotte community.  Our goal is to interview the individuals who are building, shaping, and influencing entrepreneurship in the Charlotte region so you can be invested in Charlotte’s growth. We pick up where we left off last week with Niki Chimburg and Natalie Vick – two Venture for America Fellows (www.ventureforamerica.org). Remember in our last episode we learned Niki keep an idea book with more than 175 business ideas stored away and is in the process of starting her first company right here in Charlotte after spending two years with Versame (www.versame.com).  We also learned Natalie landed a great opportunity with a group of VFA fellows by joining Rob Cummings and DealCloud (www.dealcloud.com).  Like Niki, the pursuit of the typical Ivy League investment banking career sounded dreadful and her path lead her to Venture for America – where she will likely one day follow in Niki’s footsteps by starting her own company. In this episode, we continue our interview by learning what Venture for America does to support and develop its fellows, what benefit the companies receive from having fellows for the two-year period, where Natalie and Niki thing they will end up in the entrepreneurship scene and more. Millennials get a bad rap sometimes but I think you’d be hard pressed to not see a bright future for both Niki and Natalie – and after meeting the rest of the fellows here in Charlotte I can assure you that quality runs through the program. When I set out to do this interview, I wasn’t intending on having it be a two part series but it carried on for about 50 minutes.  As such, there isn’t a true set up as I really just picked what I thought was a good stopping and starting point.  So we are going to go straight back into our discussion with Niki and Natalie.

In today’s session, we interviewed two very impressive recent college graduates who are working with startups in Charlotte as part of the Venture for America program (www.ventureforamerica.org). If you are not familiar with Venture for America, be prepared to become educated on this fast growing initiative across the country with a growing presence in Charlotte.  Today you will learn how this impressive set of college graduates are and will continue to shape Charlotte’s future. Niki Chimburg just wrapped up her two year stint with Versame and Natalie Vick is just starting her second year with DealCloud.  I’ve wanted to interview VFA candidates for the last couple of months and Niki and Natalie were gracious enough to join me for what turned out to be a nearly 50 minute recorded session.  Rather than doing an hour long podcast, I’ve broken this down into a two part series with each being under 30 minutes. Niki has always known she wanted to start something.  She’s been collecting ideas for companies and has an ‘idea book’ with over 175 ideas.  Now she’s ready to start using what she learned in her two year internship with Versame (www.versame.com), under the leadership of local entrepreneurs and brothers Jon and Chris Boggiano, to start her own company.  Versame makes wearable technology for early education and is located up in Davidson is great startup with offices in Davidson and Menlo Park, CA (Jon Boggiano was interviewed on Episode 003 of the Charlotte Angel Connection). Natalie, on the other hand, didn’t immediately gravitate towards entrepreneurship but found her path during her time at school.  She’s been with DealCloud (www.dealcloud.com) who is a CRM, deal management and business development for principal investing and M&A professionals.  She’ll eventually strike out on her own too but right now she’s still learning and growing under the guidance of a great, maturing Charlotte startup built by Rob Cummings and Ben Harrison (Rob was Episode 008 on the Charlotte Angel Connection) Things we discussed in today’s podcast: What is the process to become a VFA Fellow? What’s the dinner conversation like when you break the news to your parents that you are going to take the entrepreneurship program through VFA? What were their expectations of working for startups versus what has been the reality? What’s the network of VFA? What are the benefits of the network? What’s up next in the second part of this series?  You’ll have to listen in to find out what their plans are next, how VFA supports the fellows in their own startup ideas, what’s the benefit for the companies they work for, and other questions. Hope you enjoy Part I of this two part series!

Jeremy sends off the podcast after its final episode. You can follow Jeremy @JeremyShinewald and keep up with Venture For America at http://ventureforamerica.org 

Andrew Yang, Founder and CEO of Venture for America joins us to talk about what their group is doing to encourage young entrepreneurs to join a different kind of work force. Help out the show with a donation! Become our boss! Go to patreon.com/awesomecast Also, check out sorgatronmedia.com and awesomecast.com for more entertainment. Follow Michael Sorg (@sorgatron) and @AwesomeCast for updates and live streams of our interviews! Subscribe on Facebook,Stitcher, Spreaker, iTunes, and Youtube!

Andrew Yang, Founder and CEO of Venture for America joins us to talk about what their group is doing to encourage young entrepreneurs to join a different kind of work force. Help out the show with a donation! Become our boss! Go to patreon.com/awesomecast Also, check out sorgatronmedia.com and awesomecast.com for more entertainment. Follow Michael Sorg (@sorgatron) and @AwesomeCast for updates and live streams of our interviews! Subscribe on Facebook,Stitcher, Spreaker, iTunes, and Youtube!

Andrew Yang is Founder and CEO of Venture for America, a fellowship program for enterprising recent college graduates to launch their careers as entrepreneurs and revitalize American cities. Andrew has accomplished a lot with VFA since founding it in the last 6 years and has been a tireless advocate for entrepreneurship. He’s spoken at length on the subject, appearing on CNN, CNBC, Time, and the Wall Street Journal. Andrew was named a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship by the White House and one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business for his work with Venture for America. This conversation was a lot of fun; Andrew really humanized entrepreneurship and how to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Some of my favorite moments included: (1) why entrepreneurship isn’t a magic trick (3:05), (2) how he sees entrepreneurship shaking out over the next decade (16:55), (3) the consciousness that has emerged from this election cycle (24:06), and finally (4) key takeaways for young professionals (40:01). Check out Andrew’s awesome book “Smart People Should Build Things.”

Andrew is the Founder and CEO of Venture for America, and has worked in startups and early-stage growth companies as a founder or executive for more than twelve years. He was the CEO and President of Manhattan GMAT, a test prep company that was acquired by the Washington Post/Kaplan in 2009. He has also served as the co-founder of an Internet company and an executive at a healthcare software startup.   Andrew has been selected by the White House as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship and a Champion of Change for his work with Venture for America. He is the author of “Smart People Should Build Things,” published by Harper Business, and he was named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business”.   He is a graduate of Columbia Law and Brown University and lives in New York City with his wife and son.   Andrew’s Book = Smart People Should Build Things   Andrew’s Challenge; Find one company or store that you like and do one concrete thing that will help them.   http://www.goingdeepwithaaron.com/podcast   Connect with Andrew LinkedIn Twitter Website If you liked this interview, check out episode 134 with Gisele Fetterman where we discuss building communities, food rescue and civic duty.

In this episode Jeremy Shinewald, along with guest host Miles Lasater, interviews Dan Porter - former teacher and CEO of Teach for America, serial entrepreneur, and current Board Member of Venture for America. Dan may be most well known for serving as the CEO of OMGPOP, where he created Draw Something, an app that had over 100 million downloads and is one of the most downloaded games ever in the history of the iPhone. Dan sold OMGPOP to Zynga for $180 million in 2012. Listen to Dan tell his story and how he landed his current role as Head of Digital at William Morris Endeavor.

Mike Wilner, the co-founder and CEO of Compass, a web design marketplace for small businesses. Mike’s a Venture For America fellow and has secured funding for his startup - a platform which handles marketing and project management for web designers and connects them to small business clients. Listen in to find out why you should forget the startup hype and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.   Famous 5:   Favorite Business Book? – The Servant What CEO do you follow? — None. I prefer following athletes. Favorite online tool? — Asana Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Close If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Don’t believe all the hype in the startup world. There are just as many falls as there are success stories.   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:18 – Nathan’s introduction 01:50 – Compass works with network of freelance web designers - they connect small businesses to designers, manage projects, and take a cut 03:23 – Compass takes a 40% cut of everything that comes through 04:07 – People who need a project completed come to Compass - they take the details and then invite designers to the project 05:15 – Designers make around $40-60 per hour, after the 40% cut 06:24 – Started in late 2014 and have been launched full-time for just over 1 year 06:46 – First-year revenue in 2014 was $4k 07:40 – Total 2015 revenue was $40k 08:00 –  4 people in the core team, plus 40 designers on contract 08:30  – Around $250k worth of projects processed 09:15 – Designers have a lot of flexibility on how many projects they take on 09:43 – Growing 40% month over month 10:30 – Compass manages standardized rounds of revision to prevent scope creep 11:10 – “The technology is the easy part - the harder part is managing humans and expectations” 12:08 – Raised a $300k angel round via convertible note last year 13:20 – “There’s still a huge need in the marketplace for people who need a professional web designer” 13:40 – Connect with Mike on Twitter or at Compass 15:38 – The Famous Five   3 Key Points: Don’t believe the startup hype The hard part of startups is managing humans and expectations: work on having great soft skills Leadership is about service Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.   Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives    

Steven Mazur, co-founder and CEO of Ash & Anvil, a clothing company for short guys. Steven co-founded the company last year and he’s excited about how many dedicated customers their store already has. Tune in to hear how Steven’s getting inventory orders right; the importance of connecting with the entrepreneurs around you; and why everything always takes longer than you think.    Famous 5:   Favorite Book? – How To Win Friends And Influence People What CEO do you follow? — Andy Dunn Favorite online tool? — Wunderlist Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Everything takes longer than you think it will   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:20 – Nathan’s introduction 01:51 – Welcoming Steven to the show 02:06 – “I’m 5’ 6”, my business partner’s 5’ 8” - we decided to be the ones to make clothes for shorter guys” 02:56 – Started with an IndieGoGo campaign with a $10k goal, and ended up generating $26k in pre-orders 03:40 – The bestseller is their blue gingham shirt 04:55 – The price of the shirt is $69 - what are the margins on that? 05:20 – Base unit cost at a low volume is around $25 05:35 – Around a 55% gross margin at this point 06:00 – First run of shirts was 1000 units 06:35 – Steven doesn’t have a figure for net margin at this point 07:30 – How do you handle the challenge of ordering the right amount of inventory? 07:50 – The company is self-funded 08:31 – “It always takes longer than you think to order” 08:53 – Founded in 2015 09:11 – The team is currently just Steven and his co-founder Eric 09:37 – The most important metrics for them are revenue, number of customers, and re-order rate 10:50 – Close to having 1000 unique customers at the moment 11:24 – The next order is 1,250 shirts 12:10 – Average customer buys 1.5 shirts 12:32 – Total revenue in 2015 was $50k 13:30 – What’s Venture For America? 14:00 – It’s a startup program that places entrepreneurs in struggling American cities, like Detroit, and helps them connect with investors and other start-ups 16:03 – “It’s been a big part of our story” 10:45 – Connect with Steven at Ash & Anvil 18:40 – The Famous Five   3 Key Points: It takes 10 years to build an overnight success: focus on the long-term and be patient Engage with the smart people around you. Be part of your community and your ecosystem Start the company that you want to exist - but check that other people want it too Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.   Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives  

In this special edition of FAST FORWARD, FOX Business Network's Jo Ling Kent talks to Andrew Yang, founder and CEO of Venture for America, a nonprofit organization that seeks to place talented college graduates in cities across the United States to help build tech startups. Their conversation was so full of new and worthy information that we had to dedicate an entire episode to it. Take a listen to learn about Andrew’s unique organization and how it is helping millennials across the country achieve their dream jobs. Subscribe and get automatic downloads of this podcast on iTunes Join FOX Business Network's Jo Ling Kent with this edition of Fast Forward FAST FORWARD is a podcast on tech, innovation and media. Every week, FAST FORWARD, digs into today's stories with the most dynamic leaders and voices. Featuring the inventors, innovators and investors who shape the future while we wait patiently in the present, we leverage our Fox Business intel to explore what happened, why and what's coming next. And robots. Lots of robots. Follow Jo on Twitter @JoLingKent #FOXFastForward Click here for more “Fast Forward” with Jo Ling Kent

We are excited to present our very first interview with a VFA Fellow on the Venture for America Podcast! This week Jeremy talks to Brian Rudolph, Co-Founder and CEO of Banza, a chickpea pasta company aiming to do for pasta what Chobani did for greek yogurt. In this interview Brian shares the trials and tribulations of perfecting a difficult recipe, scaling to service hundreds of grocery stores around the country, convincing his older brother to leave a stable job in private equity to join the company, and what is feels like to be the first VFA Fellow to hire another Fellow.

In the latest episode of Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture for America Podcast, Jeremy interviews Charlie Kroll, Co-Founder and President of Ellevate Financial and Founder and CEO of Andera, a venture-backed provider of customer acquisition solutions for the financial services industry, which he started from his dorm room at Brown University. Charlie brings us along on his journey from naive 22 year old founder struggling to make payroll, to profitable industry leader with hundreds of employees and $17MM in investment.

In this episode, Jeremy Shinewald sits down with Will Nathan, Co-Founder of Homepolish, a company attempting to change the design industry one interior at a time, skipping commissions to charge hourly rates for budgets of all shapes and sizes. Will walks us through his early career in finance and his first failed startup, Brilliant.li, all the way through his fruitful stint at Buzzfeed and his fateful encounter with his current co-founder Noa Santos.

In the third episode Jeremy Shinewald and Miles Lasater interview Shara Mendelson, Founder of Plum Benefits and Board Member of Venture for America. Shara shares her journey from play house volunteer to founder of Plum Benefits - a company that moves ticketed entertainment inventory through a private network of B-to-B relationships partnering with 20,000 corporations to give millions of employees exclusive discount and access offers to live entertainment events, including Broadway shows, sporting events, attractions and family events.

In this episode Jeremy Shinewald, along with guest host Miles Lasater, interviews Dan Porter - former teacher and CEO of Teach for America, serial entrepreneur, and current Board Member of Venture for America. Dan may be most well known for serving as the CEO of OMGPOP, where he created Draw Something, an app that had over 100 million downloads and is one of the most downloaded games ever in the history of the iPhone. Dan sold OMGPOP to Zynga for $180 million in 2012. Listen to Dan tell his story and how he landed his current role as Head of Digital at William Morris Endeavor.

In the pilot episode of Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture for America Podcast, host Jeremy Shinewald chats with longtime friend Andrew Yang about being a dissatisfied lawyer, how he recovered from launching a failed startup and the inspiration for building Venture for America from the ground up.