Venture In The South

S4:E203 David summarizes the past week in Venture and then looks back at the most significant events in Venture for 2025. He then follows with some strategic planning ideas for Angels and Founders in 2026.  (recorded 12.28.25) Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth Connect On LinkedIn with David at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgrisell/ Follow Paul on X at https: / /x.com/PalmettoAng...

S4:E202 David gives a Holliday Venture Update, then I’m joined by Andrew Elliott and William Trible, formerly of Crypto startup RoundlyX. They both have substantial industry experience with Blockchain as a product tool and we’ll be discussing some of the practical and technical aspects of using Blockchain technology for Tokenizing Real World Assets. We’ll be focusing specifically on alternative in...

S4:E201 David gives an AI Bubble Update, then an encore presentation of The Southeastern US Investment Thesis from E123. That thesis is critical for Southern Investors to keep their eye on the investment ball and is worth repeating. What I mean by ‘keeping your eye on the investment ball’ is that IRR, rather than Multiple on Invested Capital or MOIC, is the most meaningful metric for startups. And...

S4:E200 David gives The Venture Update, then Paul and David updates listeners on some of the Startups and topics reviewed in the last 100 shows. (recorded 11.25.25) Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth Connect On LinkedIn with David at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgrisell/ Follow Paul on X at https: / /x.com/PalmettoAngel Connect On LinkedIn with Paul at https://www.linkedin.com/i...

S4:E199 David gives The Venture Update and then shares a 'What-If' story about how innovative healthcare could replace our broken and unsustainable Health Industrial Complex. (recorded 11.30.25) Consumer Directed Healthcare, An Innovative Solution To Our Current Unsustainable Healthcare System Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth Connect On LinkedIn with David at https://www...

S4:E198 David gives The Venture Update, then Paul joins with a special segment on Tokenization of Real World Assets. Paul and I thought we’d spice up your Thanksgiving with a technical challenge: Tokenization. This is a rapidly developing innovation in FinTech that is likely to touch all investors in the future, particularly younger investors. It offers investors the promise of maximum liquidity,...

S4:E197 David gives The Venture Update and then introduces a special segment with Guest Co-Host Karl Rábago , a utility lawyer, who shares his perspective on the issues contributing to the Data Center Power Struggle and how winners and losers will emerge. (review recorded 10.29.25) Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth Connect On LinkedIn with David at https://www.linkedin.com/in/david...

S4:E196 David gives The Venture Update with a special segment on the potential impact of Quantum Tokens on the blockchain. Then Paul provides a brief update on the current status of Capital Gains Tax Exclusion for gains on Qualified Small Business Stock or QSBS with Ben Glenn, an accountant specializing in startups. The One Big Beautiful Bill substantially updated the QSBS rules, solidifying one o...

S4:E195 David gives The Venture Update and then Paul and David review BIP Venture’s 2025 report on the ‘State of startups in the Southeast’. We cover the strengths, weaknesses and what's not included. (review recorded 10.22.25) Tim Higgins' WSJ article "Is OpenAI Becoming Too Big To Fail" Chris Mims WSJ article on Small Model AI  State of Startups in the Southeast Follow David...

S4:E194 David covers The Venture Update for the week and then Paul interviews Mike Carnes of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center about recent challenges in dealing with the Foreign Risk constraints for US Biotech Startups that win SBIR Grants. (interview recorded 9.29.25) Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth Connect On LinkedIn with David at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgrisel...

S4:E193 David covers The Venture Update and then Paul interviews Dan Haight , an experienced Investor who tells his personal story of Angel Investing, what works for him and what doesn’t. (interview recorded 9.23.25) Mothering Across ContinentsSM (MAC) a 501c3 non-profit Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth Connect On LinkedIn with David at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgrisell/ Fo...

S4:E192 David covers The Venture Update and then interviews Runbin Dong, Founder of Scale Social, an innovative social marketing platform that harnesses short video format testimonials for multisite service businesses. Scale Social validates authentic customer reviews while avoiding fake reviews and doesn't require customers to provide personal information. It has gained significant market tr...

S4:E191 David gives the Weekly Update on Venture and then guest co-host Josh Miller, CEO of Gradient Health which is a data provider for Medical AI Model developers, joins David in a wide ranging discussion of what is AI, where is it going, what works about it and what doesn't, and how will it make money. (discussion recorded 9.23.25) David's Consumer Directed Healthcare (CDH) solution W...

S4:E190 David summarizes The Weekly Insights in Venture and then gets an update on HealthyCell from CEO Doug Giampapa.  HealthyCell is a neutraceutical provider of a proprietary supplement gel that is easier to swallow than multiple pills and provides far better absorption. Doug updates listeners on their current primary channel, DTC with metrics. He also talks about aspirations to gradually devel...

S4:E189 David covers The Weekly Insights into Venture and then David and Paul discuss the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in the Startup exits we’ve had this year. It’s the goal of every startup investment to exit for a princely sum but the journey is frequently a winding path with many detours, hopefully leading to an attractive reward at the end of the journey. (interview recorded 9.12.25) The Jeremy...

S4:E188 David covers The Weekly Insights into Venture and then Paul interviews Grady Johnson , Executive Director at The Harbor Entrepreneur Center in Charleston, SC. He talks about the dramatic growth of the startup ecosystem in Charleston, the kind of companies they attract, their Mentors and how Harbor supports them. (interview recorded 9.4.25) Rebecca Szkutak's article on The Golden Age o...

S4:E187 David covers The Weekly Insights into Venture and then interviews Tacilent.ai CEO Ron Johnson . Tacilent is an AI-native enterprise risk management platform that turns risk management into continuous resilience with predictive risk intelligence. They came out of Stealth in September of ‘24 and are on track to hit over $1M in ARR by Q1 of ‘26. They have bootstrapped this growth to date and...

S4:E186 David covers The Weekly Update in Venture followed by David and Paul's review the 2025 Angel Funders Report from an investor perspective. We talk about what the data in the report means, what is not there, what we would like to see in the future and how this data influences Seed Stage Startup Investing. (interview recorded 8.26.25) The ACA's 2025 Angel Funder's Report Follow...

S4:E185 David provides The Weekly Update in Venture and then Paul interviews John Harbison , a Board Member of the Angel Capital Association and early advocate for hard data for startup investing.  Paul and John discuss some of the highlights from the ACA's 2025 Angel Funders Report . Next week, Paul and I will share our own insights from the report in Part 2 on The Angel Funder's Report...

S4:E184 David provides The Weekly Update in Venture and then Paul interviews Adovate CEO William Stilley about their innovative drug development platform to exploit adenosine receptors involved in multiple major diseases. He explains their strategy of focusing on a single drug candidate with favorable physiochemical characteristics and distribution kinetics that treats a common disease with few to...

S4:E183 David starts out with The Weekly Venture Update and Paul interviews 2 VentureSouth market leaders about their startup markets, Jay Shaffer in Chattanooga, TN and and Eric Thome in Charleston, SC. They talk about what brought them to those markets and the kind of startups and investors they see. (interviews recorded 4.26.25 & 6.17.25) Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth Co...

S4:E182 David closes out the most economically eventful week of the Summer with Inflation down, GDP up and short-term interest rates headed lower in September. With each show, I’m hoping to give you an information edge on investing in general and Venture Investing in particular. After updating you on the notable happenings in venture for the past week, I then bring you Part 2 of my 2 Part Series o...

S4:E181 David brings the weekly update on venture and then Paul follows with an interview with Rob Rodrigues , CEO of MP Cloud , a software startup focused on Revenue Cycle Management for EMS providers. The EMS industry is being acutely compressed by the Medicaid Cuts but MP Cloud expects to gain market share by offering better tools to improve cash flow, streamline operations, and reduce errors i...

S4:E180 David brings the latest insights into Venture and then has a follow up interview with Cam Doody of the Brickyard, a different kind of Seed Fund. I first interviewed Cam in Februrary 2024 for E105 and now I’m getting an update on the Brickyard. They have a truly unique approach to recruiting founders from across the US and across business verticals to their Fund Residency in Chattanooga, TN...

S4:E179 David offers the latest insights into venture and then Paul interviews Leigh Hsu, CEO of Atticus Pharma, a specialist BioTech Startup focused on Immunodermatology therapeutics. Atticus is utilizing a unique proprietary sustained-release skin delivery technology to address 2 specific skin conditions for which there is no good treatment. Atticus was spun out of Zylo Therapeutics who develope...