Investor Connect Podcast

Today, we'll talk about should you raise funding and if so, how much should you seek. - Funding accelerates what you already have going in your business today. You should have a core process for acquiring customers and providing a service. If you don't have it then funding at this stage will only hurt your business. It's best to continue testing your core business model till you know it works. It'...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Ben Faubion of Reactive Canvas, and Austin-based digital design firm specializing in startups. He talks about how design has evolved over the years into a more strategic, problem-solving service. He explains how design is often becoming more and more integrated into a startup's vision, and a focus throughout the various stages of product delivery. Ben relates that, w...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Jonathan Olsen of Unorthodox Ventures. Unorthodox Ventures partners with founders who demonstrate disruption and discipline. Dreamers who do something. Tinkerers who create solutions to real-world problems. Jonathan has focused his career on tackling problems that are too quirky to fit into an existing mold. As an investor Jonathan has now been set free to help devel...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Gabriel Jarrosson, founder of Leonis Investment. Gabriel was an entrepreneur at an early age, creating his first company while in engineering school. He then created his second company, Le Vin de France, a community marketplace for French winemakers, after leaving school. When he began investing, Gabriel quickly realized the benefits of working with syndicates and st...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Kevin Van Eekeren, Founder and CEO of Fulcrum Investing. Fulcrum Investing is a private investment group focused on making seed to Series B investments in startups across the United States. Kevin is not only an investor but also an entrepreneur and a farmer. Before Fulcrum, Kevin worked as a civilian logistics officer in a SWAT team. Through his experience there, he...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Kevin Koym Founder & CEO of Tech Ranch. Austin based Tech Ranch provides accelerators for pre-seed and seed-stage technology companies of Central Texas entrepreneurs. Kevin has developed a combination of training and web-based systems designed to create a local culture of success and entrepreneurship. Kevin's mission is to help solve world problems through entreprene...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Phil Nadel Founder and Managing Director of Forefront Venture Partners. Phil is an angel investor, author, and frequent speaker at industry conferences and events. Before early-stage investing, Phil was a serial entrepreneur. He started and sold several companies which led to friends and family looking for advice. He then began to invest in those as well as advising....

In this episode, Hall welcomes Emlyn Scott, Managing Partner of CP Ventures. Emlyn has over 25 years of financial and business development experience in Australia and Europe. He has made 15 early-stage investments personally since 2012. CP Ventures has built high growth businesses and has invested in over 100 startups. They look to invest in the world's best companies in their domain and then help...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Namek Zu'bi Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Silicon Badia. Before investing in early-stage companies, Namek has always been fascinated with technology. He moved to the US to pursue a degree in computer science at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh PA and fell into the general tech landscape. He eventually went into financial services and wanted to work with big banks t...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Cole Harmonson, the President and co-founder of Far West Capital. Before Far West Capital, Cole was the founder and senior vice president of State Bank's Working Capital Finance Group (WCFG), the asset-based lending and factoring division of State Bank. In 1996, Cole joined State Bank to start the WCFG, where he managed the business until the sale to Prosperity Bank...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Gina Luna of Luna Strategies. GIna is a recognized leader with invaluable business insight. She is a trusted advisor to CEOs and business owners. As CEO of Luna Strategies, Gina counsels companies and their leaders on complex strategic issues and growth initiatives. She has established a reputation for partnering with owners, boards, and management from a broad spect...

One this episode, Hall is joined again by Jake Ryan, founder and manager of Tradecraft Capital. Jake brings over 20 years of professional experience in software technology to the world of crypto-asset investing. Following up on their earlier discussion, Jake talks about the state of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market. In addition, Jake explains how the blockchain space as a whole is still in th...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Leslie Goldman of the Artemis Fund. The Artemis Fund is the first female-founded, female-focused venture fund in Houston, Texas. The Artemis Fund will be investing $20M in 15-20 female-led US-based companies that disrupt the Consumer Tech, Life Tech, Fin-Tech, and Energy Infrastructure industries. In this episode, you'll learn Leslie's background before early-stage a...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Chris Hall of Escalate Capital. Escalate Capital is an Austin, TX-based Mezzanine Private Equity Firm, primarily focusing on high-growth late-stage technology companies, including SaaS, tech-enabled services, internet, and healthcare. Before investing in early-stage companies, Chris had his eye on mergers and acquisitions but at the time it was not feasible due to th...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Fran Maier of BabyQuip. BabyQuip is a sharing economy business that helps families pack light and travel happy to hundreds of destinations in the US and Canada. Powered by a trusted community of trained, insured and amazing independent Quality Providers, BabyQuip delivers and sets up clean, quality baby gear at a family's hotel, vacation rental or private residence....

On this episode, Hall welcomes Constantine Potamianos co-founder and CEO of Black Bull Advisors. Black Bull Advisors is a hedge fund that utilizes a proprietary, artificial intelligence technology, to direct and manage technical trading within the crypto space; they are a primarily crypto-focused fund. Before Black Bull Advisors, Constantine began his career in engineering at Caltech and also has...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Karyn Scott of Care2Rock. Care2Rock is a company that is absolutely committed and passionate about helping transform lives through music. This philosophy is rooted in everything they do, especially the teachers they select through a triple-vetting process to teach on the platform. Karyn launched Care2Rock in May of last year. After a year and a half of technology dev...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Chris Bystrom of Ruca. Before investing in early-stage companies, Chris has a background running UX design firms in Chicago, Tokyo, and New York. He built large enterprise-grade software for clients and then ran his startup for two years. During that period, he had a chance to see what worked in that space and what did not. Jake wanted to create a different model and...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Jay Olshansky Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at of Lapetus Solutions. Lapetus Solutions, Inc. (LSI) is a science and technology growth company dedicated to creating products and services that will revolutionize the prediction of life events. By combining biodemography, dynamic questioning, and facial analytics, while harnessing the power of cloud computing, our scien...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Luni Libes of Fledge, a global network of conscious company accelerators and impact investment funds. Luni is a serial entrepreneur. He started his first company in 1992. Luni then spent 20 years working with tech startups. Right around the 20-year mark, he decided to start a business accelerator and in that process, he started investing in startups. In this episode,...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Jimmy Frischling of Branded Strategic Hospitality. Before investing in early-stage companies, Jimmy has a career spanning just under 30 years in financial and capital markets. He started his career in investment banking with a firm called Kidder Peabody - which no longer exists - and was always on the sell-side working for firms such as Bear Stearns and Paine Webber....

On this episode, Hall welcomes Danish Rizvi COO of ASA Ventures - ASA Ventures is a hybrid venture capital firm established in 2003 in Portugal and is currently headquartered in Dubai. It is the combined strength of professional expertise and smart capital, adding value to the start-up ecosystem with a unique investment philosophy and in-house expertise. Danish has a career spanning over 20 years....

In this episode, Hall is joined by Tim Hoerr, CEO of Serra Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm focusing primarily on technology companies in the Midwest and West Coast regions. With a background in tech entrepreneurship, he eventually founded a consulting firm which later became the venture firm Serra Ventures. Tim provides his advice for those entering into startup investing, and emphas...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Janine Yorio of Compound Asset Management- Janine started her career in real estate right out of college working for a private equity firm called North Star Capital. While there she eventually worked her way up to portfolio manager and was able to work on all types of real estate deals from origination to exit, including some that were publicly traded. She then went...

On this episode, Hall welcomes Ash Kaluarachchi of StartEd Accelerator. Prior to entering early stage investing in the education technology space, Ash was focusing on helping executives learn from each other. Ash worked with Executive Board in DC, introducing peer groups and best practice research into the corporate learning environment. Ash explains his advice for those looking to invest in educa...