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In this episode of Ventures, my guest Foxy Davison and I discuss her journey as a community advocate and venture-builder in Seattle’s Central District and beyond. Foxy has a remarkable ability to listen and serve, and we - as fellow entrepreneurs - have many things to learn from her about how to pay attention to our communities. In addition to hearing about her entrepreneurial pursuits, we also discuss how to focus and step back from opportunities that might otherwise seem important, and how to effectively identify an internal compass in order to say yes and no to the appropriate things. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-27 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:  2:27 - Quick intro and background.3:18 - Where did Foxy first begin to realize that she had entrepreneurial drive and passion?8:02 - In terms of “paying attention to your community”, where did she first begin the process of spinning up new ventures and helping others with theirs?10:58 - Raising awareness and support for those afflicted with Sickle Cell Anemia.13:55 - What lessons did Foxy learn about her community while working as a 4th grade teacher at T.T. Minor?16;30 - What was Foxy up to in St. Louis when she moved there? 18:14 - When she moved back to Seattle (late 2000s), what types of entrepreneurial ventures was she up to?20:45 - What is/was Clean Greens up to? What is their mission? (Bring fresh food to the Central District, and provide jobs for the local community)22:09 - What aspects of the change of the Central District over the past couple of decades were good and not-so-good?24:22 - The Cortona Cafe story27:48 - Lessons for entrepreneurs: listening to our community. Where does Foxy’s story take her after Cortona?36:26 - What is Work Release? What kind of effort was/is Foxy doing in that world?40:03 - Knowing when to say “no” and when to step away. What advice does Foxy have?43:33 - Brainstorming ideas for different programs in the work release world? How did she and her team come up with the idea and test/validate it?46:42 - Lessons to be mined from raising kids. 47:22 - What kinds of ventures is Foxy passionate about in her short to medium future?54:56 - Final words for the entrepreneurs/investors listening in about how to better listen to their markets and communities. 56:29 - FYI - the best way to reach Foxy is via direct email: foxyandjason@q.com  Special thanks to our sponsors: https://mybirdbuddy.com, https://www.startuprocket.com, and https://satchel.works 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest (Jed Collins: https://www.tiktok.com/@fullbackoffinance) and I discuss the basics of financial literacy and Jed’s journey into the NFL and entrepreneurial venture thereafter. Of particular interest is not only Jed’s story and important content he is teaching young people, but also how he has been using TikTok as a marketing engine to grow his business. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-26 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:  2:50 - Jed intro and background; his journey into the NFL and into now teaching financial literacy.9:02 - Jed was a receiving tight end at Washington State University. He had 53 catches his senior year (which is amazing). Question: What’s the story from there to getting into the NFL?16:14 - What is Jed up to these days? 21:29 - What is the basic motivation, structure, and content of Jed’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Vehicle-Driving-Financial-ebook/dp/B08596991L 27:18 - This curriculum needs to be in every school across America. How are things going with Jed’s entrepreneurial journey? 32:16 - Regarding founders with their day job, what financial lens should they be thinking about regarding when to leave their day job. 35:30 - Word of caution to hold on to the day job as long as you can.37:20 - Once you fully understand that you have something - and it’s validated - then it’s best to build the day job.38:00 - “When is my idea validated?”38:35 - In what ways has Jed approached marketing his book and course?40:00 - TikTok marketing; how to find an audience there. 43:33 - What is the difference in the audience and mechanisms on TikTok? 45:40 - What is Jed’s big picture vision? What is his hope for humanity? 1m people to U.S.E (Understand, Strategic, and be Efficient) money and open a ROTH account.49:22 - How can people find Jed online? https://yourmoneyvehicle.com and FullbackofFinance on the socials. https://twitter.com/fullbackfinance // https://www.tiktok.com/@fullbackoffinance 

In this episode of Ventures, Sol Cates (https://twitter.com/solcates, cloud and cybersecurity expert at Thales) and I discuss advice for founders regarding technical infrastructure security. We also have a bit of a Random Show at the end of the year here as we discuss ways to combat COVID-19, provide technical founder training, practice self-discovery with the Enneagram, and think about New Year’s Resolutions. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-25 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:  3:10 - Sol intro, cloud and cybersecurity expert at Thales. 8:40 - What advice does Sol have for startup founders with regard to cyber security and security by design? Follow a good framework such as Cloud Native. 14:10 - Rapid Antigen Tests. See: https://satchel.works/@wclittle/a-primer-on-viruses-antigens-antibodies-contagiousness-vaccines-and-covid-19-testing Also see: Michael Mina, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Immunology, Harvard) that if we were all equipped with rapid antigen tests, we could defeat COVID-19 within a month. Check out this article he wrote in Time and this podcast he did recently with Lex Fridman.   18:11 - Technical founder training & learning to code. Motivation / background. See: https://satchel.works/@wclittle/learn-to-code-as-an-entrepreneur &  https://www.codefellows.org/ & https://hotwire.dev/ 25:33 - The Enneagram. Check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality and Google search around to follow the rabbit trails. 41:29 - New Year's Resolutions. How to develop models that work. Diet, exercise, sleep, time management, money, etc.. For doing your homework on health science, for example, check out: https://satchel.works/@wclittle/health-science.  46:58 - Last word of advice from Sol; never let a crisis go to waste, build a team of experts around you. 47:38 - Find and follow Sol at https://twitter.com/solcates Sponsors: https://satchel.works, https://www.startuprocket.com, https://mybirdbuddy.com 

In this episode of Ventures, Joel Fariss (https://joelfariss.com; a design research and strategic futures associate at Gensler) and I continue our conversation from Episode 21 and explore the implications of self-defined virtual identities and data stores as it relates to innovation, human progress, Dream Thinking, and Web 3.0.  Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-24 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.In this episode we cover the following:  1:56 - Recap of Episode 21, the epistemology of design, the future of work, and opportunities for humanity to make lemonade out of this lemon of a year. 2:30 - Discussing the tee-up of virtual identities, Kanye’s recent hologram gift to Kim, and identity in the Web 3 era. 9:31 - Problems with confirming identities, including virtual identities that are tied to the same human. What types of problems/crises will be associated with this?14:35 - Pent up anger / frustration in society right now across politics and sociology. In the early days of the Internet, where our inner thoughts began being published online, that became problematic. What dangers (and promising signs) do we need to watch out for in the 2020s?29:58 - If we were to design a utopian future where virtual identities are playing a key role, what would that look like? In fact, how do we define flourishing as humans? United Nations: Universal Declaration of Human Rights28:03 - The importance of improving childhood experiences to bring about a better world; a lot of work is needed here. The human brain is constantly thinking about terrible things and beautiful wonderful things. How do we design a future to tease out the beautiful things? 35:14 - The Web 3 era will allow people to own their own identities and data. Is there a future where new markets are created for subsets of people’s virtual identities? How is Joel thinking about this in the Web 3 world? (A discussion on virtual influencers)43:15 - Reinventing roads / basic public infrastructure. 43:26 - New economies are going emerge, which will require new value creation, and technology innovation will be the driver of this. 45:30 - In Joel’s work at Gensler as a design researcher, what does he see the coming year looking like in terms of the corporate world and work design? 51:44 - Final thoughts around the concept of virtual identities and human flourishing in the web 3 era. Dream Thinking. How are we going to encourage people to be “good” ? We have a grand call to action for entrepreneurs.

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Franci Zidar (https://mybirdbuddy.com) and Kyle Buzzard (https://protaventures.com) discuss the Bird Buddy story from an idea to a successful Kickstarter campaign. Bird Buddy is a smart bird feeder that notifies users of visiting birds with a live stream and AI-assisted photo capturing features. We discuss many aspects of the story to date, including early validation work, design interactions, and the incorporation of feedback from interested customers. We also dive into practical advice for aspiring hardware/IoT entrepreneurs considering a Kickstarter campaign as part of their marketing strategy. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-23 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:   1:40 - Franci intro, path as a technical entrepreneur leading up to him co-founding Bird Buddy2:32 - Kyle’s intro, path as an industrial designer, Bay Area to Chicago, to being a partner at Prota Ventures working with the Bird Buddy team.3:27 - Introduction to Bird Buddy. Where did the idea come from? 7:23 - At what point did the team get serious about testing the validity of Bird Buddy as a business? What did those tests look like? 11:24 - Kyle’s advice for founders building hardware/IoT startups; how to best validate an idea in the early stages, using Bird Buddy as an example.13:24 - Where did the Bird Buddy and Prota Ventures stories converge?  (Shout out to Danny and Daniel from https://ioterra.com/ for the intro)17:09 - For hardware entrepreneurs trying to figure out next steps - once they are serious about taking their business to the next level - what advice does Kyle have? 18:55 - Comments on “Hardware is Hard” in the VC/Angel community.21:31 - What information was Franci looking for when he was Googling around and found Ioterra and Prota? 23:55 - What is the history of the design of Bird Buddy? 27:16 - Product details of Bird Buddy. What was the rationale for the features? 31:26 - Product materials and industrial design in light of the brand strategy; i.e. the balance between fun/playful and tech-focused. 35:02 - How is the Bird Buddy powered? 36:17 - What is the vision for the software, data, and AI features moving forward? 41:27 - What questions are bird experts/scientists/conservationists (ornithologists) asking?45:25 - Kickstarter strategy advice for hardware entrepreneurs, building community, and the evolving purpose of Kickstarter from “incubator to accelerator.” 50:33 - How has the Bird Buddy team been communicating with their audience? Check out: https://www.facebook.com/mybirdbuddy 55:30 - Community development: groups on social media/slack vs. direct email and facebook pages. “Bird of the Day” and steady blog content. 58:10 - How did/does the Bird Buddy team think about Public Relations leading up to (and through) the Kickstarter campaign? 1:02:00 - Final words of encouragement and advice for entrepreneurs. 1:04:50 - How can people follow up with Franci and Kyle? https://www.linkedin.com/in/franci-zidar/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-buzzard/ 

In this episode of ventures, my guests Joe Clarke (TaskBill.io) and David Parrott (ProtaVentures.com) and I dive deep into the world of web development. We discuss its history over the past few decades, languages and frameworks, tools for entrepreneurs, tips for those learning to code, and thoughts about the upcoming “New Magic” from the Rails and Basecamp communities.FYI: If you are learning to code, check out my new series: https://satchel.works/@wclittle/learn-to-code-as-an-entrepreneur For this podcast episode, visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-22 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:   2:58 - Joe intro, journey as an entrepreneur, TaskBill.io and Hosting Playground5:02 - David intro, journey from video games to over a decade at Amazon Web Services8:22 - Code and the teenage years. What Joe and David did when they were that age, and their advice for teenagers today.15:06 - Will’s journey from elementary school, middle school, and high school learning to code a little bit here and there.17:19 - What were Joe and David doing and learning during the 2000s and 2010s? What programming languages were they working with and what kind of applications were they building? 24:29 - Big shifts in the late 2000s and 2010s, jQuery, Single-Page Applications, how were Joe and David thinking about modern web applications during this time? 29:24 - From a pure education standpoint, describing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and frameworks on top of JavaScript. 30:30 - What stack did/does Joe build his companies on? How did/does he think about JavaScript frameworks?33:34 - Will’s experience with Angular 1 & 2, Ember, Backbone.js, React, Redux, and how he advised founders to think about their software stack for their startup. 33:05 - A brief journey through David’s experience with AWS. What did he learn during that season and how he thinks about progressive web apps, StimulusReflex, and Rails. 41:03 - Does Rails scale? How do Joe and David think about this question? 46:55 - What are Service-oriented architectures? 50:17 - What are “Serverless” architectures?53:08 - What is Joe learning now in the Stimulus/StimulusReflex as he’s building Taskbill.io? What is TaskBill? 57:58 - What do Joe and David think about the upcoming “New Magic” that the basecamp team is releasing? What do they think it will be? What potential pitfalls might there be? 1:04:05 - For the developers considering using Stimulus/StimulusReflex and/or New Magic, what are considerations to keep in mind when choosing your software stack? 1:09:58 - Discussing how developers have a choice to determine where RAM and CPU computation take place (i.e. on client machines or on back-end servers). 1:11:54 - Final words from Joe and David. Advice for entrepreneurs choosing their stack, and advice for investors doing diligence on technical teams.1:17:12 - People can find Joe @jclarke on Twitter, and at TaskBill.io, and get a hold of David at https://protaventures.com. 

In this episode, Joel Fariss - a design research and strategic futures associate at Gensler (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelfariss/) - and I discuss the nuances of the word “design” in light of 2020 and the future of work and innovation. Based on his experience at Gensler and in the nonprofit world, we dive into the connection between design and value for humanity, the need for time and space for humans to innovate, and the role of grief to create a more equitable work environment. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-21 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:   2:40 - Joel intro, design and his journey into Gensler. Design “as a mental model for perceiving the world”. 6:18 - How does Joel think about and define “Design” more broadly? In thinking about the trajectory of human civilization, check out The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein.11:53 - Thoughts about design as a software engineer.19:30 - Why we do what we do. The importance of the heuristic of “how am I contributing to humanity”? In thinking about the trajectory of human civilization, check out The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein.21:43 - Will as a grad student, thinking about time efficiency, practicality, contributions to society, and designing experiments.23:18 - Standing on the shoulder of giants. Where good ideas come from. The adjacent possible.  25:28 - Thoughts around the future of work and humanity in light of the pandemic. 36:48 - Where does humanity need to go? What needs to be introduced into the Future of Work conversation to benefit humanity? Some great reads regarding work: Brave New Work, Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work, Bullshit Jobs, Can't Even, Dying for a Paycheck, Humanocracy, and Reinventing Organizations. On data, value creation, and future economics check out Who Owns the Future, Radical Markets, Neo Feudalism, Debt, and The Post American World.43:04 - Doing what we can as society to give people more time, which can lead to adjacent possibilities. At the heart of innovation, what has Joel seen “not work” and what has he seen that is promising?49:06 - From a DE&I perspective, what has Joel seen in light of the pandemic and changing landscape of work and design? We talk about the role of grief as an important part of the work environment. To learn more about what grief is and why it is so important, read The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller.55:01 - Where can people find more about Joel online? http://joelfariss.com // https://twitter.com/joelfariss // https://instagram.com/joel.fariss/

In today’s episode of Ventures I had the honor of interviewing Omari Salisbury (https://twitter.com/Omarisal) about his journey as an entrepreneur in the international media space, his company Converge Media (https://www.whereweconverge.com/), their unique spotlight in Seattle, and their new campaign NoExcusesJobs (https://NoExcusesJobs.com) in collaboration with Prota Ventures (https://www.protaventures.com).  Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-20 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:   2:41 - Omari intro / background / what he’s up to at Converge Media.4:49 - When did Omari know that entrepreneurship was in his DNA?9:40 - What kind of work did Omari do while he was a teenager into his early 20s? 17:14 - How did Omari end up doing radio and media in the Middle East and Africa?  23:12 - Importance of life experience that facilitates people from all over the world to be successful entrepreneurs in the USA, and more about Omari’s experiences abroad and locally in Seattle. 29:40 - What motivates Omari to be genuinely interested in people and the truth? Where did this drive of curiosity come from?37:25 - A discussion about biases and prejudices. How does Omari listen and learn? How should we collectively listen and learn? 45:58 - From Omari’s perspective, what’s his general thoughts on DE&I efforts globally and overcoming biases?52:07 - What is the vision and mission of Converge Media? How are Omari and his team executing toward that vision/mission? 57:56 - A discussion about https://NoExcusesJobs.com // Why Omari is launching a campaign to help people of color land living-wage jobs. 1:02:39 - Final words from Omari to entrepreneurs and investors. 1:11:52 - How can people practically help out Omari and Converge? https://www.whereweconverge.com/donate 1:14:15 - Is Converge currently taking on sponsors? (Yes, and Omari talks about what that relationship can look like), 

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Andrew Cronk (Co-Founder, Figment.io) and I discuss practical ways to engage with the Web 3.0 stack, how to keep up with information in the blockchain space, how to learn and teach others about crypto technologies, and where everyone is going to be storing and sharing baby photos in the future.  Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-19 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:   2:30 - A quick discussion about what’s been happening in the blockchain world since summer 2020, i.e. the DeFi “boom.” 4:09 - What has Figment.io been up to? Servicing two personas with three products. Coin holders and Web 3 developers, with validator nodes/staking, Hubble, and Data Hub.7:00 - Figment Learn - new product for developers to learn how to build on blockchains. 7:50 - Why do we need all these extra blockchains? Why do we need more than Ethereum?  11:23 - Regarding the question “Where do you upload your baby photos?” // What is it now within the Figment team and what will it hopefully be in the near future? 13:16 - What technology shifts are happening that are warranting the creation of these new blockchains? Trusted Execution Environments and Intel SGX, Oasis, Secret.Network. Users owning their own data. Example of the project looking at people sharing xrays/CT scans to train a model. 16:03 - Would people training these models need to be compensated with a token? 16:50 - Where are/would people’s images be stored in the Web 3 stack in this example? 17:58 - What areas in the blockchain space is Andy most excited about? Where does it get his news about blockchains? Check out Messari. Privacy of data. Personal digital locker of data. 20:10 - Commentary/questions about the multidisciplinary nature of blockchains - where does Andy like to spend his time? What things are working? Speculation, DeFi like Automated Market Makers (Uniswap), and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). OpenSea marketplace.     25:10 - Example of a “receipt” that could be given to consumers who buy something. 25:50 - More about Figment’s new Learn product. How does it work? Who is it for? (Peer to Peer learning system)27:45 - Would people in Learn get paid in the token of the chain that is promoting content? Or what incentive mechanisms are in place?  29:48 - As a developer today, what sorts of things can I do with DataHub?30:34 - What are some examples of things I can build with NEAR? 31:55 - Will DataHub have the APIs necessary to interact with NEAR? 32:30 - Final thoughts from Andy to the Web 2 to Web 3 engineers and investors out there. Let’s take back the internet.  

In this episode of Ventures, I discuss with my guests Spencer Graham (https://twitter.com/spengrah) and Tony Little (https://twitter.com/DrTonyLittle) the past, present, and future of blockchain technologies and Web 3.0. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-18 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:    1:59 - Tony intro, including his new job at https://www.prescryptive.com/ 2:38 - Spencer intro, Web 3.0 product manager. 3:50 - Tee-up about exploring the narratives of blockchain, starting first with explaining what blockchain is.11:00 - How would Tony talk about the story of blockchain from its origin to today? 17:00 - A quick caveat from Spencer about the problem of narratives. 17:56 - How would Spencer talk about the story of blockchain from its origin to today? 22:17 - What’s up with DeFi (Decentralized Finance? Why has it been all the rage the last couple of years? 25:00 - Blockchain ecosystem today similar to the “primordial soup” in biology that gave birth to life. The “experiments” happening today are like that early environment, and time will tell what comes out of it and evolves.26:36 - Transition from the infrastructure narrative into products. What prevents someone from borrowing money in the DeFi space and running away with it? 29:52 - Why would someone borrow ~$1k by putting up something like $1.5k in collateral? What is the engine that makes DeFi go right now?31:55 - What other products in the DeFi space are catching Spencer’s interest? (discussing risk management products)  34:59 - What’s up with yield farming and COMP’s governance protocol? (see also https://www.coindesk.com/defi-yield-farming-comp-token-explained) 39:44 - Recapping yield farming and the ability to potentially make more money from owning these tokens in the future. 42:06 - How active is yield farming now in DeFi? Is it a zero-sum game? 43:39 - What “net new” types of products can blockchain enable? (discussion around identity, shared governance, company ownership, and the future of work)50:30 - Perhaps blockchains simply enable existing products/protocols to be scaled? (Will’s example of chaining internet through neighbors in mountain/valley environments, and a reminder that technology reduces cost and/or increases convenience)53:50 - Blockchains as “scaling trust”. 55:38 - What is “trustless” then? Do we really mean “scaling trust” ?  An extreme minimization of trust? What are we trusting in with regard to the blockchain tech and ecosystem? 57:33 - What is Web 3.0? (A discussion of Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and the sharing of costs, ownership, and outcomes of ventures at the infrastructure and application level in Web 3.0. “Putting communities back in control”) 1:00:51 - Discussion of Filecoin / IPFS - and The Graph - as examples of new Web 3.0 stack components.1:02:55 - Discussion of identity, “directory”, and consent. 1:04:30 - Discussion of Web 1/2/3 transitions as an expansion of protocols and interfaces with those protocols. 1:05:08 - How do Tony and Spencer think about the future of blockchain? What excites them? 

In this episode, Alexandra Skillman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexskillman/) shares her extensive knowledge in the world of PR for an entrepreneurial audience. We discuss at length PR considerations for startup founders regarding go-to-market strategies, overall marketing plans, working with journalists, reaching out to influencers, and avoiding common mistakes.Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-17 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following:    2:02 - Alex intro, background, and journey into public relations 7:32 - More details about Alex’s time at the Walt Disney Company and working with Aaron Sorkin, Sean Connery, and others.15:13 - Alex’s time in the Bay Area working in both entertainment and startups23:16 - Leaving Electronic Arts and working for a global PR firm 27:07 - The story of Alex launching her own PR business29:52 - How Alex started acquiring clients 34:23 - At what point in a founder’s journey should they consider hiring a PR firm / publicist? 41:10 - What is a Butter Twist and what are Stix golf clubs? https://www.bttrkitchen.com/ // http://stix.golf/ 43:48 - More about the details about how a PR person can get products featured by journalists and influencers. 47:33 - What business models make sense for PR? How would B2B SaaS companies, for example, make use of PR? 49:38 - What should founders expect from an ongoing relationship with a PR firm/person, on a month-to-month and year-to-year basis? (e.g. “Newsjacking”) 53:40 - How should teams use a press release (or not) ?56:30 - Information about embargos and the timing of press releases across media outlets.1:01:40 - What advice does Alex have for founders considering hiring a PR person/firm. 1:07:30 - “PR isn’t dead” // Advice for founders who may think that PR isn’t effective. 1:14:23 - PR can be an important part of startup validation, since journalists and influencers have a unique perspective. (PR can also lead to important pivots). 1:16:02 - Where can people find Alex online? https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexskillman/ // https://twitter.com/typeamarketing 

In this episode of Ventures I had the honor of interviewing executive coach Shandel Sutherland (https://www.shandelgroup.com/) about topics including organizational effectiveness, personal/team wiring and communication, the “why” behind a company, and setup work that is necessary for teams to be maximally efficient. Establishing clarity is one of the hardest jobs as an entrepreneur and business leader, and in this episode we get a front-row seat into how a 20-yr coaching veteran helps founders and their teams be amazing. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-16 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following: 2:16 - Shandel intro, background into how and why she got into coaching4:00 - How she started her coaching business (founding story). 5:22 - Landing her first handful of customers, how did she position herself to customers? What was the value proposition? 8:07 - Fighting against the hustle/fake-it-until-you-make it culture that founders often think they need to espouse at the expense of their personal life and mental health. 11:23 - At what point did Shandel’s business scale from serving individuals to serving teams? 14:45 - Will’s experience of - and Shandel’s commentary on - how interpersonal relationship conflict and miscommunication can lead to operational inefficiency in a company. (And how trust between people is either growing or shrinking but never staying the same; it takes work).16:34 - About Shandel Group and the origin story of the name.  18:55 - What are the assessments that her group does at the beginning of an engagement? Can founders/executives do those on their own? 23:44 - When you are in a situation where you aren’t self aware, what do you do? How do you become aware? 27:44 - Coaching frameworks, a bit of Will’s story being coached, and what does the coaching framework typically look like for an executive? 30:24 - Personal retreats (when/how) and truth-telling from coach to client. 37:14 - Talking through the five dysfunctions of a team (Lencinoi). 44:32 - Mental health for founders, and what founders listening in need to hear as they are feeling convicted from this conversation. 48:38 - Why does miscommunication happen amongst teams? 53:33 - Talking through purpose, values, vision, mission, and why all the pre-work before you get to the particulars is necessary (and can create low-drama, high-functioning teams). For details, see: https://www.shandelgroup.com/thrive 1:07:44 - What should founders look for when choosing a coach to hire? What are the things to watch out for? 1:09:54 - Will’s high-level takeaways from this episode (given that Shandel always ends her coaching calls with takeaways). :)

My guest this week (John Biggs, https://twitter.com/johnbiggs, https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndbiggs/) is an entrepreneur, writer, and technologist. He was the east coast editor at TechCrunch for fifteen years, was an editor at Coindesk, and is currently the Editor in Chief at Gizmodo. In this conversation we dive into a wide range of topics including 5G, the future of work, blockchains, recommended books, John’s entrepreneurial ventures, his new book (Get Funded), previous books (https://johnbiggsbooks.com/), and practical advice for entrepreneurs.  Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-15 to watch via video, for detailed notes, and for links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. In this episode we cover the following: 1:55 - John intro, technologist, entrepreneur, and writer.2:17 - About John’s time at TechCrunch3:00 - Advice that John has for people who have an idea for a startup5:19 - John’s own personal journey entering the world of being a writer6:55 - His journey diving intro entrepreneurship himself (a cryptocurrency-based remittance system). 9:16 - John’s overall take on the crypto world and it’s future 11:11 - More entrepreneurial stories from John’s career, learnings for entrepreneurs, and details about his more current projects.13:22 - What technology stack does John recommend for founders who want to build their own software startups. 14:49 - About John’s new book Get Funded. 17:24 - Thoughts on crowdfunding, the overall landscape, and practical advice for founders considering it.20:47 - Advice for writers starting their career23:08 - Thoughts on tech trends and topics that are interesting to John, especially AI in journalism and graphene. 24:55 - Thoughts on 5G, is it real or overhyped (or both?)26:16 - Future of Work: Is the work-from-home shift in light of the pandemic a good or bad thing for society in general? 27:37 - History and entrepreneurial journey of each of John’s books. (https://johnbiggsbooks.com/) 29:40 - What are serverless architectures and why are they getting so much attention today? 31:40 - What books does John recommend for founders? (Negotiating books: Getting to Yes, Pitch Anything, Never Split the Difference, -- And History books to understand how major decisions have been made in war and politics. Also, Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson) 33:42 - Advice for people interested in lots of different things who are being told to focus. 36:39 - What questions is John thinking about and most curious about right now? 38:42 - Is there a glimmer of hope regarding meaningful content out there that people are paying for? 40:00 - Where can people learn more about John and find him online? https://twitter.com/johnbiggs // https://johnbiggsbooks.com/

This week I’m excited to share an in-depth conversation with Troy Henikoff  (https://www.linkedin.com/in/troyhenikoff/, https://www.mathventurepartners.com/ ) about his entrepreneurial story and path into startup investing. Troy is one of the most amazing and inspiring people I know. I first met him when I moved to Chicago in the mid-2010s, and his generosity, enthusiasm, and support for founders has been consistently admirable and contagious. After an extended introduction where he shares his story, we walk through practical validation, execution, and funding advice for early stage founders. Be sure to visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-14 for detailed more notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following: 2:12 - Extended Troy intro: his journey as an entrepreneur, starting and selling multiple companies, working for his acquirers, angel investing in new companies, starting a fund (Firestarter Fund) and accelerator (Excelerate Labs), teaming up with Techstars, and ultimately starting MATH Venture Partners.26:20 - What fuels Troy’s “Give First” ethic? Many who have worked with him over the years have noticed his exceptional and inspiring generosity, where did that come from? What’s behind that? 30:21 - Going back to Troy’s early companies, once he noticed a semblance of Product-Market Fit, how did Troy navigate the dance between managing growth and product? 40:20 - What advice does Troy have for someone who has a day job and has an idea for a startup? (Check out the Jobs to Be Done and Clayton Christensen Milkshake, specifically this short video)45:25 - In the startup landscape, is “Business to Business” (B2B), “Consumer” (B2C), and “Marketplaces” roughly the broad categories out there, and how do entrepreneurs know whether their startup in each model is “validated”? (It’s an art form, and “it depends”, but a key thing to look for is engagement)51:03 - How should entrepreneurs with a validated idea - or idea they think is validated - go about the process of practically building the product? 55:54 - What advice does Troy have for founders looking for a technical co-founder? 1:00:40 - When a founder finds a potential technical co-founder, how should they practically engage? What are the first steps? How do they set up clear communication and expectations? 1:08:22 - How should founders think about fundraising? Who are the players and what are the stages? 1:13:25 - A word on financial modeling and the importance for founders to build one (Troy and I co-wrote an article series here on Financial modeling, including a practical example).1:17:53 - Where can people find out more about Troy, MATH Venture Partners, and the videos he’s put together? https://www.mathventurepartners.com/ 

In this episode of Ventures we examine the origin story of Lead Honestly, a web-based software platform designed to help managers have better one-on-one meetings with their direct reports. My guests Shay Howe (https://www.linkedin.com/in/shayhowe/) and Darby Frey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/darbyfrey/) have a frank and open conversation about starting a side business, balancing family life and their day jobs, transitioning from builder to manager, validating their startup idea, holding to values when setting pricing, and advice for entrepreneurs.Importantly, Shay and Darby are two of the people I respect most in the world when it comes to being “product people”; i.e. those with smart and relentless focus on the customer and the ability to translate that focus into a world-class (and lean-startup friendly) product and consumer experience.  Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-13 for detailed notes and links to resources mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following: 3:54 - What does Darby do, day-to-day, in his day job? 6:04 - What does Shay do, day-to-day, in this day job? 9:31 - When did Darby start writing code?11:08 - Shay’s shout-out to Darby on being an entrepreneurially minded engineer, i.e. shipping value to customers. 12:24 - Will’s story of watching a master's thesis from someone very excited about optimizing an algorithm (and why these kinds of people are important/needed, but they are often different than an engineer wired to be customer-minded). 13:02 - How did Darby transition from writing code to becoming a manager? 15:09 - What advice would Darby have for an early stage startup CTO looking to hire their first engineer? 17:20 - What is the origin story of Lead Honestly? 22:52 - How did Shay/Darby go about testing/validating the idea to decide to give it a go?27:00 - Once initially validated, how did Shay/Darby go about growing the company and juggling the day jobs, family life, etc…  30:38 - Darby highlights the importance of using their own product 32:00 - Shay highlights that the origin story was born out of a real problem that both Shay and Darby experienced themselves. 37:35 - Darby emphasizes their holistic approach to focusing on the customer problem and building/iterating features from that perspective. 38:20 - What should an “idea person” do who isn’t technical or a “product person” go about building a company from scratch? 45:08 - The importance of Product-Market Fit, Founder-Product Fit, and Channel-Product Fit. 46:17 - Tips for validating an idea that overcomes (understandable) biases. (Check out the book: The Mom Test)52:43 - How did Shay and Darby balance their product vision and feedback from early customers that might point in a different direction? 56:10 - Once you know you “have something” - how do you go about actually building the product? What are the nuts and bolts of the build process? 1:02:22 - What is the vision for the short-to-medium future of Lead Honestly? 1:05:55 - Where does Lead Honestly fit in the spectrum of Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C), and marketplaces for software startups? 1:11:50 - Final words to entrepreneurs and early stage investors listening in, especially founders trying to juggle a day job and a side business.

In this episode we cover the full spectrum of an amazing startup story: Patrick’s original idea, recruiting a team, landing his first customers, getting into an accelerator (Techstars), raising a $1.2 million seed round, and being acquired by ServiceNow. Overall, the purpose of this show (Ventures) is to educate and inspire a new generation of venture builders and investors. In this episode, we dive deep into a variety of strategies and tactics that are important for founders to consider. My guests today are Patrick Lowndes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricklowndes/) and Brian Geihsler (https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangeihsler/), co-founders of VendorHawk (acquired by ServiceNow in 2018)Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-12 for full notes and links to resources mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover the following (this is an abbreviated list): 3:55 - The origin story of VendorHawk8:22 - Work with the early Prota Ventures crew and support for Patrick to focus on selling the idea to potential customers with wireframes/mockups. 10:25 - Intentionality on writing down and testing hypotheses with wireframes/mockups, and eventually quick MVP demos of the business concept.12:06 - How exactly did Patrick successfully sell contracts with wireframes? What strategies/tactics did he use? 16:04 - Key hypothesis: is this enough of a pain point that customers would pay money for it?16:26 - What was the problem that Patrick/Brian were solving? What was the value proposition that the first handful of customers were sold on?18:25 - How did Patrick navigate his way into an organization in order to meet a decision-maker?20:21 - What was Brian thinking about during the time when Patrick was landing the initial customers? 26:50 - Importance of worldview and value alignment, especially amongst co-founders, and why investors should look for it in early stage companies. 28:44 - The story of scaling the company even more, getting into Techstars, and raising seed money. 30:30 - Help from the Seattle community, mentors, and other founders. Closing their seed round 70 days after demo day.32:00 - The story of hiring software engineers, an early sales team, and scaling a business while navigating family life as founders, having a new baby, etc… 33:12 - At what point did Patrick quit his day job? 34:37 - At what point did Brian quit his day job? 35:12 - What aspects of an accelerator - and Techstars in particular - make it most helpful for founders? 36:40 - What did Patrick/Brian and their team do after being seed funded? How did they scale? How did they architect their product roadmap and company operations? 41:40 - How did they build a B2B software sales team? 50:32 - What was Brian learning during the scaling process? How did he think about building the best possible engineering team and operations processes? 52:14 - How to successfully sell customers when you can’t build all the features they need right away? 54:47 - Where did those conversations with Corp Dev end up? What is the story behind selling VendorHawk to ServiceNow?  1:00:06 - How did Brian/Patrick navigate telling their team about the company sale? How did they set expectations with their acquirer about what the team merging in would look like?1:03:06 - What did things look like after the acquisition? What did the team do? How did it go?

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Dave Feldman (@DaveKeto) and I discuss a variety of topics related to lipids, immunology, ketogenic diets, and the future of health tech. I first came across Dave’s work when I noticed my cholesterol levels (specifically LDL-C) raised significantly when fasting and/or low-carb dieting, and I found that there is a large community of people who have noticed the same phenomenon. Dave has helped pioneer efforts to formulate hypotheses around why this might be the case, and why LDL levels in our blood may be considerably more complex than we’ve been led to believe. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-11 for more detailed notes and links to resources mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. In this episode we cover a wide variety of topics, including: 8:02 - Introduction to basic lipidology12:50 - Introduction to the basic lipid panel17:06 - What are the likely purposes of having LDL particles stick around the bloodstream in humans for a few days? 22:06 - Description of the study where lipopolysaccharide killed mice with low LDL.23:12 - Description of why LDL undergoes endocytosis to deliver cargo to tissues around the body. 24:50 - Why are the antioxidant features of LDL important? 29:47 - Further discussion on immunology and free radicals. 32:14 - What is the purpose of oxidative stress and inflammation? 35:37 - A conversation about statins, PCSK9 inhibitors, and drug studies in general targeted at lowering LDL-C.42:08 - How do statins work to lower cholesterol? What is the mechanism? 48:00 - Why does LDL-C shoot up when fasting?50:35 - How could LDL be related to fighting COVID-19?  52:43 - Coming back to Dave’s story, what is Dave up to now? What is his most recent N=1 experiment? 59:29 - What are Dave’s hypotheses for the expected data for this most recent experiment?1:00:42 - How should low-carb dieters be thinking, generally, about inflammation and LDL? How should we think about data from people who lack LDL receptors? 1:08:05 - How should people think about the size/impact of LDL particles and their ability to “shoot holes” like beebees in vascular cell walls. 1:16:00 - Why do we care about how/why LDL particles get on the inside vascular cell walls? What does Dave think is going on when this happens?1:20:35 - What is Dave’s overall advice for people, at the end of the day, that are concerned about their elevated LDL-C when going on low-carb, high-fat diets? 1:25:33 - Why are triglyceride levels typically low in people on low-carb, high-fat diets?1:33:50 - What would Dave study right now if he had a full lab to run an experiment? 1:35:10 - What’s causing the inflammation damage on vascular cell walls in heart disease? 1:40:23 - What’s up with high susceptibility to electrolyte imbalances on low-carb diets? What are the mechanisms involved here? 1:47:25 - What opportunities exist for startups considering tackling the problem of heart disease and obesity?   1:52:49 - Where can people learn more about Dave and his work? https://cholesterolcode.com/ and https://twitter.com/daveketo and https://www.facebook.com/groups/CholesterolCode/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/LeanMassHyperResponder/ 

In this episode my guest Rachael Kim (Founder & CEO, Project Untaboo) and I discuss period equity, period health/care/education, Project Untaboo, and advice for entrepreneurs and investors considering the space of femtech and healthcare in general. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-10 for detailed notes and links to resources mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. Throughout this conversation we cover the following: 1:45 - Rachael intro, background as a young entrepreneur and data privacy expert5:07 - Principles learned from Rachael’s first business as a violin teacher 10:18 - Experience in London working in data privacy when GDPR legislation passed 16:54 - Rachael’s experiences traveling around the world and lessons learned. 22:26 - More background on the threads that came together for Rachael to start Project Untaboo; origin story. 24:05 - What was the original vision for Project Untaboo before COVID-19 hit and how did things change when the pandemic was widespread?27:29 - What are the global social justice / social impact issues surrounding period care and the need for period education? 30:17 - What options/education/innovation is happening globally? 34:15 - What stories and resources does Project Untaboo (https://www.projectuntaboo.com) have available today for people to check out?36:21 - What is “femtech” ?37:52 - What is the outlook for femtech and what is Rachael hopeful for in this industry in the future? 42:30 - What apps/services are available for period care/tracking? What does Rachael recommend? 44:11 - What research is happening in period care/science/equity? What is Racheal currenting learning/investigating? 49:17 - Where is Project Untaboo heading in the future? 52:04 - Who is Project Untaboo’s customer? 53:35 - Will it be a subscription service for consumers? 53:58 - What will the Business-to-Business (B2B) side look like? 54:40 - What advice does Racheal have for a younger audience listening in that may not have a great support system to talk about period care? 56:40 - What opportunities exist for entrepreneurs interested in innovating in femtech/period care? What new products/services would be excited for Rachael to see in this space? 59:05 - What is Period Equality / Period Equity? (Note: for a more general conversation about the difference between “equity” and “equality”, see: https://www.premiertalentpartners.com/how-equality-and-equity-are-different/ ) 1:01:25 - What final words does Rachael have for investors/founders/innovators listening and watching in? 1:03:33 - How can people help Rachael and Project Untaboo? (Learn more and sign up for their newsletter at https://www.projectuntaboo.com/ )

In this episode of Ventures we look at the response to COVID-19 by teams involved with emergency preparedness and innovation at University of Washington (UW) Medicine in Seattle. We also discuss the need and options available for startups to collaborate with UW Medicine to help - not only with COVID-19 relief - but with general medtech and telehealth innovation to provide better care for patients in a post-COVID-19 world. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-9 for detailed notes and links to resources mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here.    My guests this week are Danica Little (Director of Preparedness at UW Medicine, https://www.linkedin.com/in/danica-little-mha-6b998a2b/), Dmitry Levin (see below for is current three roles: https://cardiology.uw.edu/research/center-cardiovascular-innovation-ccvi), and Dr. Robert Sweet (Urology professor and doctor, Executive Director of WISH - WWAMI Institute for Simulation in Healthcare - https://www.washington.edu/urology/people/robert-sweet/)  6:29 - How did Danica and UW Medicine first respond/act upon the news that COVID-19 was going to be a serious threat in the US? 15:50 - What was information flow like to Danica and her team in the early days? How reliable was it? 18:29 - What was the story of Rob getting involved with the innovation response at UW?24:08 - How was Rob and his team able to organize themselves so quickly to rapidly prototype new innovations at the beginning of the pandemic? 27:50 - What was Dimitri’s story of getting involved in the innovation group? 31:47 - Rob explains on how they focused the group on rapid prototyping and small-scale manufacturing32:50 - How was the innovation team identifying the problems to address and what products to focus their work on? 38:48 - How did collaboration across campus and UW medicine in particular work? 43:20 - Rob commenting about their collaboration with Cornell in NYC. 44:26 - Danica commenting about the burn rate at the height (in April) of going through 3000 gowns per day. 50:17 - Danica commenting on the relationship with Microsoft to build reporting systems. 53:38 - What sort of things are Danica and her team focusing on moving into the fall and winter?55:47 - Rob & Danica commenting on the future of telehealth, the needs today, and reimbursement details.1:00:50 - Dimitri commenting on pre-procedural models in XR, which is another layer to the telehealth space. 1:01:57 - What telehealth platforms are clinicians at UW medicine using? How do external companies become approved? How is UW responding to new innovation in the overall market?1:03:30 - How can Medical Assistants, Physician Assistants, interns, and new equipment/devices be a part of the future of telehealth? 1:05:10 - Brief comments regarding the science of the virus as it relates to urology and cardiology. 1:08:35 - Rob plugging the need and opportunity for external teams to partner with the simulation training center and innovation groups at the University of Washington.  1:09:37 - What types of simulation opportunities and scenarios are available? 1:11:55 - Dimitri commenting on device development and putting them in tissue models with realistic disease patterns for testing. 1:13:58 - Rob commenting on a grant they won recently regarding direct 3D-print soft materials with electronic sensors embe

In this episode of Ventures we explore the world of impact investing & social entrepreneurship to help the poorest of the poor around the globe. We hear and discuss the founding story of Global Brigades, the world’s largest student-led movement for global health (approximately one in five medical students today have gone on a Brigade). We also hear the launch announcement of Eskala, a for-profit company with an ambitious (and believable) 20-year plan to help end poverty for 18 million people. Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-8 for detailed notes and links to resources mentioned. You can watch this episode via video here. My guests this week are Steve Atamian (Co-Founder of Global Brigades :: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenatamian/) and seasoned impact investor/advisor/attorney Brian Howe (Managing Director of Wyttmab & Venture Partner at Prota Ventures :: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankhowe/), and we cover the following: 1:55 - Brian’s intro and journey from law school into the social impact space, starting a community hub, and advising social impact founders reaching people globally. 8:30 - Steve’s story from school, to Deloitte, to starting and scaling Global Brigades. 20:00 - Talking about the different sides of the supply/demand with Global Brigades and the “bridge” they form between students and local communities in the countries they serve. 25:58 - How does Brian advise someone who is considering social impact entrepreneurship in terms of thinking about for-profit vs. non-profit, company structure, etc.. 31:27 - Using “relationships first” as a heuristic for deciding how to structure things later, what were the early relationships that mattered for Global Brigades as they were starting and deciding how to structure themselves? 34:10 - How does donor money flow and support happen? Where does the money go? 41:34 - What was the process of scaling Global Brigades like?48:42 - The importance of listening to understand needs. 50:12 - What are the common stories like for the pre-med students that go on Brigades? What do they do?58:04 - Example of a new social enterprise being formed when a new water system is created, like a public utility. 58:55 - How does Brian advise, structurally, nonprofits who are considering forming for-profits? 1:04:00 - The story of the new for-profit Global Brigades is spinning out. 1:11:55 - What does the regulatory landscape look like in the countries that Global Brigades serve regarding banks?1:14:28 - What advice does Steve have for budding social entrepreneurs / investors considering new ways to innovate and help out globally? 1:17:08 - What advice does Brian have for budding social entrepreneurs / investors considering new ways to innovate and help out globally?1:21:16 - The need for innovation for things like more affordable latrines.  1:22:00 - Side story of Fledge investing in a founder that launched The Obama Stove in Africa, and how that enterprise was/is an important model for social entrepreneurs leveraging local talent and resources. 1:26:20 - Where can people find out more about Brian and Steve online and contact them? https://www.globalbrigades.org/ // steve@globalbrigades.org // https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenatamian/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankhowe/