The Startup Junkies Podcast

Lifetime entrepreneur, Bill Beyer is our guest this episode. He and his family are building a world-class tea company. Savoy Tea is the third venture that Bill has started, and he’s on his way to creating one of the first billion dollar brands without raising a dollar of capital. Savoy Tea has 3 (soon to be 5), locations where they create a customer-centric atmosphere and serve their house-blended...

Eric Hinson, CEO and Founder of Explainify joins us to share his story of building a great culture in a great company. Explainify is a company that can “find the diamond in the haystack” in helping brands clearly understand the value that they deliver to customers – and how to communicate it effectively. Eric is currently publishing his first book from his lessons and experience at Explainify: “Di...

We are joined by the professionals from SCORE, the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Center, and the regional SBA office to discuss the services available to small businesses around the nation, and particularly in Northwest Arkansas. If you’re interested in reaching out to utilize any of these services, you can reach out to our guests below: Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development...

We are joined by Will Hurst from AT&T as well as the team from Little Bird Systems - Bryon Western, Edgar Cilio, and Jim Lewis. The conversation leads us through an entertaining deep dive on the Internet of Things - both what it is and how it will have an increasing effect on our lives going forward. http://www.littlebirdsystems.com/ Hosts: Jeff@startupjunkieconsulting.com Michael@startupjunki...

James Smith joins us from James + James Furniture, a business that he started in his garage and grew to a nation-wide furniture and logistics company that's currently hiring if you like what you hear: Check out their showroom in Fayetteville or their online show room here: https://carpenterjames.com/ Hosts: Jeff@startupjunkieconsulting.com Michael@startupjunkieconsulting.com

Elise Mitchell is the founder of Mitchell Communications and most recently the author of Leading Through the Turn, which details her story of how a journey mindset can help leaders find success. In this episode, we learn how Elise took her interest and skill set and built it into an international strategic communications firm. We also discuss her brand-new book: Leading Through the Turn, which is...

Jeff and Michael dive into the intricacies of Kickstarter, and the recent successful campaign that Michael and his business partner Jay Clark had for FML! The Game. You can find out more about their project by viewing the updates to their campaign, and look for games to be available early 2017. Kickstarter: http://kck.st/2fdIBAL Michael@startupjunkieconsulting.com Host: Jeff@startupjunkieconsultin...

Jeff is joined by Bob Pelley with Innovacorp, and Darren MacDonald from Cape Breton University. During Global Entrepreneurship Week they set up shop at the Navigate Startup House in Cape Breton - all the way in North Atlantic Canada. In this episode discuss the incredible work that is going on there to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem and share perspective on what it takes to lift up a region....

Ashton McCombs and Jeff are both Naval Academy graduates who took a successful plunge into entrepreneurship. In this episode, Ashton shares stories about the path that led he and two colleagues to leave corporate careers and start Phigenics, a smart water management company in 2004. It has been over a decade, and Ashton shares stories, lessons learned and advice to future entrepreneurs. www.phigen...

We sit down with Jason and Justin to discuss retail technology and everything that the Skosay team has to offer. These entrepreneurs have been working and innovating in the CPG space for their entire adult lives, and have created a new product that is beginning to gain traction. Find out more at: www.skosay.com Hosts: Jeff@startupjunkieconsulting.com Michael@startupjunkieconsulting.com

In our final episode from the Tinkerfest at the Amazeum with co-host Jon Cadieux we speak with Adam Tobin and Sam Bell from the Chabot Space & Science Center. This conversation covers Adam's two previous toy companies, the museum they run in the bay area, cycling, education, hiring, and even dumpster diving! This is a fun one! Chabot Space & Science Center @ChabotSpace Hosts: Jeff@startupj...

In this episode Jeff is joined by Jon Cadieux and two fantastic guests. First is Carrie Beach, who is a veteran teacher at Washington Junior High in Bentonville. She runs the cardboard construction at the Tinkerfest, and created a Fab Lab in her classroom to help mold the creative minds of the students that she works with every day. At 11:50 we shift to speak with London Kaye who hails from New Yo...

With guest host, Jon Cadieux, Jeff talks with Joel Gordon of the Arkansas Innovation Hub, one of the founders of Tinkerfest. He shares stores of makers, maker faires, making, and education. Find out more at: www.arhub.org Hosts: jeff@startupjunkieconsulting.com Jon@455mediagroup.com

Our original co-host, Jon Cadieux rejoined the set this week with our guest, Sam Dean of the Scott Family Amazeum. We discuss the incredible children's museum in Northwest Arkansas and some other great initiatives like the Tinkerfest, and the local maker movement in Northwest Arkansas. Discover more here: www.amazeum.org Hosts: Jeff@startupjunkieconsulting.com jon@455mediagroup.com

Shannon Bedore joins us this week. We learn about her 20 year career in the retail world, a successful birthing center that she started and sold to a private equity group, and her most recent venture, Sightline Retail. Sightline optimizes the process of selling into major retailers for early stage product companies. Learn more at www.sightlineretail.com Hosts: jeff@startupjunkieconsulting.com mich...

We had an on-site visit to Power Technology, Inc. in Little Rock, AR and learned about the new advancements coming in the theater world with the transition from bulbs to lasers. Power Technology has been providing innovative laser solutions for over 40 years - they create military lasers, bioanalytical lasers, and other industrial applications. Find out more: http://www.powertechnology.com/ Host:...

Jeston George has been growing Apptegy for the past three years - what started in his living room is now occupying an entire floor of the Simmons building in Downtown Little Rock with nearly 50 employees. Apptegy is a constant contract tool for any schools and their communities, and their user base is growing rapidly with over 200 districts signed up. To learn more find them at www.apptegy.com or...

Arlton has been growing the Made by Few conference over the last five years, and will be holding the event in Northwest Arkansas for the first time on October 26-29. You can find more information about the conference, or register here:https://madebyfew.com/ The Made by Few vimeo account with recaps of former conferences: https://vimeo.com/workwithfew Arlton referenced another podcast that he has f...

This episode was recorded in Cape Breton, Canada at Breton Brewing just before the kickoff of Mentor Camp. www.mentorcamp.ca The first group was the founding team from TrapTap, the world’s simplest traffic indicator, and they were incredibly successful on Kickstarter, raising $370K on Kickstarter and even more on Indiegogo. Find out more: http://traptap.com/ hello@traptap.com April Dunford and Pat...

Omar Kasim graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Sam M. Walton College of Business in three years. He balanced the decision of starting a restaurant that he had been contemplating launching, or going to Law School. The entrepreneurial track seemed more intriguing, and now one year later he has a successful fusion taco fast-casual restaurant in Fayetteville, AR and plans to expand the brand. The Motiv...

Songcat makes top-notch music production feasible for musicians to access from their home studio. The service matches artists with other talented musicians online, and then produces a radio-ready song for $500. Described as the "Uber for Music Production," Songcat has been experience 2x user and revenue growth each of the last three months. The opportunistic founder team has made four moves across...

Mike Abb, Dr. BowtieTodd Jenkins, and Keaton Smith joined the show to discuss the upcoming Young Professional Summit in Northwest Arkansas - Ignite Your Passion. Conversation started with the background of these young community leaders. It flowed into some details about the upcoming summit, and why it is important to have a strong group of young people engaged in the community, and we discussed ho...

52nd Episode! Released weekly, this means we've lasted an entire year on the air! Pop the champagne? Nah. We went with hard cider from our friends at Black Apple Crossing. This week we were joined by Spencer Jones with LineGard Med, and exciting company that was founded by Spencer under two years ago when he was working as a registered nurse. He saw problems with the status quo in the hospitals he...

Joe Ehrhardt began his banking career in high school, and it has been his area of focus ever since. He combined that passion with his interest and skill in computer science to begin 3E Software, Inc. which has grown into a national software solution company for banks, headquartered in Northwest, AR. Joe Ehrhardt info@3esoftware.com http://www.3esoftware.com/ Hosts: Jeff@startupjunkieconsulting.com...

Mathew Scott joined us to share his interesting background - everything from a military background in psychological warfare to building medical sales teams, and his current venture, FEED. The Agency which helps with brand building for physicians and dentistry. accounts@feedtheagency.com http://feedtheagency.com/