Investor Connect Podcast

The startup world is open to anybody and it seems like everybody comes through it at some time or another. I receive calls daily from entrepreneurs who are seeking to start a business, raise funding, or hire a team member. I can always tell who is the serious entrepreneur and who is the pretend-preneur- someone who likes the idea of running a startup but is not committed to the work required to ma...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Gene Wang, CEO of People Power, a developer of consumer and white-label IoT solutions. Gene is a four-time CEO with a history of successful exits. Gene talks about how People Power uses IoT technology in the clean tech and senior care spaces, among others. He also provides advice for investors looking into the home care sector, and how affordability and simplicity ar...

In the past venture capitalists stood in the shadows of their successful portfolio companies hinting about their contribution using veiled wording in Twitter posts. Today we see VCs stepping up to take more credit for their contribution. There are numerous examples of VCs using successful exits as validation for their investment thesis. With the explosion of the number of venture capital providers...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Max Brickman, Managing Director of Heartland Ventures. Max is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist with a passion for expanding technological innovation into smaller, underrepresented Midwestern communities. He founded Heartland Ventures, a $15mm Indiana-based venture fund, to enhance Silicon Valley startups' access to this market. Heartland Ventures is a Midwester...

I love startup stories. In the startup world everyone has a grand idea and big plans to make it happen. It's the venture world so you better have an idea that can be big. The talk around the idea is large and full of hyperbole. The future is going to be so bright that you find yourself reaching for your shades. But then the startup has to actually build it and show the growth story in progress. Sc...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Ben Jones of Skipcart. Skipcart is an on-demand last-mile delivery company. Retailers, grocers, and local businesses have the option to give their customers same day delivery by utilizing software and a crowdsourced community of drivers. Ben started out as an entrepreneur working on the service side for large companies before breaking out on his own. Skipcart grew ou...

When I look through my LinkedIn network these days it appears every fifth contact is a venture capitalist of one kind or another. When I started in the early stage funding world 20 years ago, the VC was a rare breed who had access to venture funding. Most of them were in a handful of tech clusters in the US - Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston to be exact and they were few and far between. At th...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Jef Sharp CEO of Qnect. Qnect is an intelligent, cloud-based connection app that gives fabricators, detailers, and engineers fast and flexible connections with significant cost and schedule savings. In minutes, users can connect most steel buildings without capital cost and with minimal initial training. Two important benefits of Qnect include Preference Optimization...

Here are some pointers for startups raising funding Launching a startup and growing a business is hard. It's supposed to be hard. You need a complete team to start a business – someone building it and someone selling it. No fair, everyone on the team is building it and no one is selling it. Being all-in on your startup is step one. Part-timers need not apply. Sweat equity is table stakes - not val...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Anton Golub of flovtec, a financial technology company focusing on providing liquidity for digital assets. After exhibiting a talent for mathematics at an early age, Anton eventually entered the high-frequency trading space, in a research position. Later he began working at a hedge fund, before transitioning to the blockchain space. He talks about riding the surge of...

Here are three key pointers for investors who are funding startups. The team is the most important part of a startup. Diligence should focus first on the team, not the product, space, or anything else. Monitor the startup for three months before investing to gauge momentum and traction. You need to peel back enough layers of the onion to know what's there. Ask lots of questions -- your mantra shou...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Trent Simmons, Founder, and CEO of Bess Corporation. BESS Corporation is a private holding company that specializes in lower market business acquisitions. At Bess, Trent maintains responsibility for strategic direction, capital allocation, and effective communication across an array of majority-owned businesses. He also maintains direct control of M&A sourcing, execu...

Design for virality not revenue I heard a startup CEO once comment, 'I wish I had designed for virality and not revenue.' Virality is a key competitive advantage. The more your users share your information with others the more traffic and sales opportunities you will receive. Most companies set up their product and website for generating revenue. They include click here to buy buttons and popups t...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Jason Jacobsohn, Managing Partner of Propellant Ventures. Propellant Ventures is filling the funding gap with a powerful investment focus on fast growth early stage opportunities. They invest in "Game-Changing" companies with highly attractive valuations across underserved U.S. regions. Jason has always been an advocate for the entrepreneur. He has provided trusted c...

10X rule your Startup Today, we'll talk about the 10X rule for Startups. For startups to displace an incumbent, the offer needs to be 10X better than the current alternatives. So often, startups go to market promising their customer an ROI of 10, 20, or 30% better. Unfortunately, that's not enough to win over customers from an established player. Your startup is an unknown quantity so you have to...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Richard Raizes, Partner at Plutus21 Capital. Plutus21 is a Dallas-based investment firm focused on alternative assets such as crypto, venture capital, and real estate. Before early-stage investing, Richard received a finance degree from SMU in Dallas Tx. He then worked in both investment and corporate banking. Richard has worked in a variety of sectors, most recently...

If they don't define the exit, then you define the exit. Today, we'll talk about how to achieve an exit in a startup investment. It's easy to get into a startup investment, but difficult to get out- especially with a positive return. Most startup exits come when they sell the business to another company or go public on the stock exchange. It takes seven to ten years to achieve an exit in most case...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Gerry Reihsen, Founder and CEO of Coasis Coalition. Coasis Coalition is an organization that builds community and offers a range of services to all participating or interested in participating in Opportunity Zones – investors, fund sponsors, real estate developers, startups and traditional businesses, state and city governments, and public institutions. By helping fi...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Brett Lanuti, CEO and President of Nocimed. Nocimed centers on providing a better approach to low back pain diagnosis and related patient management. Brett has been in the medical device space for 25 years, focusing on providing better outcomes for patients. Brett provides advice to investors looking to break into the medical device and MRI/imaging space. He emphasiz...

Should You Invest in a Startup Fund Choose broad or narrow investing to meet your goals Today, we'll talk about investing in a fund and choosing between a narrow or broad investment thesis. When does a fund make more sense than direct investments? A fund works best when you are not familiar with a sector or geography and don't have the time to research and learn more about it. Also if access to th...

In this episode, Hall welcomes David Chaplin of Searchdex. SearchDex is a Dallas based SEO Service and Technology company with over 15 years in the eCommerce solutions space. They believe that every search should produce meaningful outcomes. No other company can identify and solve issues as SearchDex does. Today, businesses need a navigator to drive the best outcomes in this dynamic marketplace. D...

Figure out what you want to invest in then look for resources to help Today, we'll talk about investing in startups Should you invest in startups? Startups are very risky and it's a lot harder than it looks. If you have already invested in mutual funds, index funds, stocks, bonds, real estate etc. then you may want to consider investing in startups through either funds or directly in startups. How...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Dr. Scott Augustine, CEO of Augustine Surgical. Augustine Surgical is dedicated to developing innovative products that target surgical safety to improve outcomes. Dr. Scott Augustine is the inventor of the HotDog Patient Warming technology and is the world's expert on patient temperature management, having also invented Bair Hugger forced-air warming over 30 years ag...

Use Metrics to show your progress Today, we'll talk about knowing your metrics Investors look for the metrics in your business so it's important to know them. There are three levels of metrics you can use: Activity metrics show the basic activity of the business Unit economic metrics show the unit economic model including cost of customer acquisition and revenue. Growth metrics show the growth in...

In this episode, Hall welcomes David Blankman of Title3Funds.com. Title 3Funds provides investment opportunities in curated startups and growing businesses. They work with leading incubators to find the next big idea for their subscribed investors to hit home run after home run. David is an experienced serial entrepreneur, bootstrapping five startups in diverse industries. He founded Blankman Asse...