Investor Connect Podcast

What Is a Family Office? Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A family office is an entity setup to manage the wealth and business activities of a family to promote its values and identity. Here are some key activities found in many family offices: Develops and implements the investment strategy of the family business....

How the Board Can Help During a Turnaround Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. During a turnaround the board should help. Here are some key steps to engage the board in the turnaround process. Interview the board for their input on the turnaround plan. Reconfirm the board's role in the company. Define the specific act...

Why Turnarounds Fail Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Just as not all startups succeed so not all turnarounds succeed either. Here's a list of reasons why turnarounds fail: Failure to adapt. The market continually changes so it's important to keep up. Make sure you are following the market and change to meet it. Fa...

Evaluating Your Startup for a Turnaround Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. If things are not going well at your startup you may want to consider implementing a turnaround program at some level. Here are key points to evaluate your startup's need for a turnaround: What are the customers saying? Review customer feedba...

Managing Employees in a Turnaround Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. During a turnaround it's important to maintain team morale and involve everyone in the process. Here are some key steps to managing the team. Make clear the need for the turnaround. Employees may not have visibility on the financials and don't know...

The Four Rs To Turnaround a Business Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A turnaround can take several forms based on the severity of the changes required. Some businesses require a complete overhaul of their operations while others perform a repositioning or rebranding. Here are the four Rs to turnaround your startup...

Key Tests of a Turnaround Process Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In turning around a startup there are key tests you must pass to achieve success. Here's a list of tests: Is the core business viable? If the basic business won't work then no amount of funding or strategy will save it. Do the team and the investors...

Best Practices for a Turnaround Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There's an old saying, 'never let a good crisis go to waste'. A turnaround is not only a crisis but also an opportunity to rebrand, redirect and reposition the company. Here are some best practices in working on a business turnaround. View each turnar...

More Best Practices in a Turnaround Process Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Here are more best practices to apply in your turnaround process: Consider options that go beyond the current resources in the business. Consider bringing in additional team members and outside funding. Get multiple views of the company fr...

How To Turnaround a Business Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A business turnaround is just like any other aspect of running a business. Here are some key steps in running a turnaround program for your startup: Identify the problem to be solved. There's typically 2-3 major issues to address. Develop a plan to move...

In this episode of Investor Connect, host Hall T. Martin speaks with Kyle, an entrepreneur in the consumer product goods (CPG) sector. They discuss the shift from traditional brand building to focusing on direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels like Amazon and Walmart. Both reflect on their experiences with SKU, a CPG accelerator, and how the market has evolved over the years. Kyle shares insights from...

Hiring a Turnaround CEO Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In many turnaround situations you'll need to hire a new CEO. Here are some key points to consider when hiring: Track record -- look for someone with a proven track record in turning around businesses. Cash management -- needs to monitor cash on a daily basis...

Key Steps in a Turnaround Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are many sources of problems in a startup. For each problem there is a key step to solve it. Consider these problems to be solved. Lack of funding. This is one of the most common reasons businesses fail. They lack the capital to carry out the function...

Stages of a Turnaround Process Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are several stages in a business turnaround. Consider these phases for your startup: Assessment: This phase determines the crises and the impact on the business. This can include both internal and external factors Triage: This phase sorts through...

Key Strategies To Turnaround a Business Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. To turnaround a business you must take action early and not wait till it's too late. Here are some key strategies to take to turnaround your business: Assess the situation. Review the market to see if the company is still competitive in the cu...

Signs the Startup Needs a Turnaround Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Here are some signs your startup needs a turnaround: You're close to breaching loan covenants. The financial performance is still below expectations. The startup's revenue and profitability is below the industry average. Cash flow continues to be...

Welcome to this episode of Investor Connect, hosted by Hall T. Martin, featuring Gary Forni, the Chairman of the Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN). With a distinguished career in technology and venture capital, Gary has been pivotal in starting, mentoring, and investing in startups, particularly in Central Texas. He emphasizes innovation and disruptive technology in his investment strategy and su...

Business Turnarounds Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A business turnaround is taking a company that is underperforming and modifying its operations and strategy so that it recovers financially. Startups who are candidates for a turnaround are not doing well. They suffer from a lack of leadership, focus, strategy,...

Data Models Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A data model is a visualization of the data showing the structure, rules, and relationships for how it works. Here's a list of key data models to consider for your data program: Concept -- shows at a high level the overview of the data blocks and what they do. Logical --...

Data Terms To Know Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In working with data there are key terms used in the industry. Here is a list of terms to know: Data governance -- a set of rules and procedures for managing data for integrity, regulatory and security purposes. Data warehouse -- a central repository for all the d...

Data Champions Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Moving your company into the data world can be a challenge as it's a new space and many are not familiar with it. Consider the Crossing the Chasm paradigm by Geoffrey Moore in which new technologies start with early adopters and technologists. In building data activit...

Data Sources for Monetization Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In a startup there are many sources of data to draw from for monetization. You can capture primary data from your own systems. Consider this list for gathering data from your startup: Start with your customer database or CRM. Review the webforms that ca...

In this episode of Investor Connect, host Hall T. Martin sits down with Fred Gumbinner, President and Managing Partner of Keiretsu Forum, a global investment community. Keiretsu Forum connects accredited private equity angel investors, venture capitalists, and corporate institutional investors across 53 chapters on four continents, fostering diverse investment opportunities. Fred shares his journe...

Privacy Issues With Data Monetization Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Many startups collect data from users that is useful to other companies. Those companies are not interested in the raw data but rather the insight into the behaviors of the users. For example, users who use the app at the same time of day give a...

Building Trust With Data Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In building a data business you'll need to establish confidence in the data you are collecting and using. It's often the case, the team will not trust the data at first. Here are some key steps to consider in building trust with data: Establish a level of da...