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January 27, 2023
Serial Entrepreneur Gabriela Isturiz Turns Investor with The Fund XX
By Adam Burroughs
Serial entrepreneur and early-stage investor Gabriela Isturiz, who founded two high-growth technology companies that she sold to Fortune 500 companies, recently co-founded The Fund XX, which makes
November 11, 2022
Young People See Startups As A Way To Make An Impact
Ohio Innovation Fund Principal Faith Voinovich on changes she's seen in early-stage investing and shares her view of the broader startup picture.
November 4, 2022
Pitch perfect: The need for newbie entrepreneurs to improve their talk track
Project Olympus' Kit Needham on the areas where fist-time entrepreneurs stumble when seeking their earliest funding rounds.
October 14, 2022
Michael Sirpilla On Society Brands’ $204M Raise
Society Brands CEO Michael Sirpilla spoke on Dealmaker TV's DealTalk program about the company’s $204M raise and its growth since its launch in 2020.
October 7, 2022
From funder to fundraiser
MOBILion's Dr. Melissa Sherman on growing the company and how she's adapted to the fundraising process.
September 15, 2022
CreativeCo Capital finds early success through data-driven outreach
CreativeCo Capital's Ashley Gautreaux on the progress her firm has been able to make in a short time and why.
September 15, 2022
ESG’s increasing impact on investment decisions
Black Brain Trust's Angel St. Jean on the rise of ESG, her company’s growth, and the challenges of fundraising.
August 26, 2022
Building a culture of support for startups
Wisconsin Startup Coalition Co-founders Matt Cordio and Peter Welch on the progress the organization has made since its launch in 2020, and how creating a network of support could lead to putting Wisconsin on investors' maps.
August 26, 2022
Pushing through the noes
Immaculate Cleaning Founder and President James Barnes on his entrepreneurial journey and the importance of pushing through the noes to get to the all-important yeses.
August 12, 2022
Engineered From Personal Need, Nollapelli Is Ready To Grow
Nollapelli founder Allison Howard talks with the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast about how she created Nollapelli and prepared the company for early-stage investing.
August 11, 2022
Archetype Solutions Pursues A Unique Approach To Investing
Archetype Solutions Group CEO Chetan Bagga on launching Archetype Solutions and its unique approach to investing.
July 29, 2022
Dan German on lessons learned launching Orthobrain
Orthobrain's Dan German on launching Orthobrain, fundraising, and how the lessons he learned growing and selling German Orthodontics are informing his new venture.
July 22, 2022
When Three Little Pigs Went To Market
Village Gourmet's David Kemp and Gemini Investors' James Goodman on buying Three Little Pigs, growing it into Village Gourmet and taking that company to market.
July 14, 2022
Ascender Lifts Early-Stage Entrepreneurs
Nadyli Nuñez, executive director, Ascender, has guided hundreds of early-stage entrepreneurs through her incubator, co-working programs, and numerous early-stage investments to position them for add-on capital as part of their growth journey from scale-up to the middle market. She has a detailed, hands-on approach to ensure the success of her clients.
July 6, 2022
Reasons to be excited, cautious, when launching a business with family
Geneoscopy's Andrew Barnell on launching Geneoscopy, structuring the business and working with family.
July 6, 2022
Family must earn their way into Archangel's CEO seat
Archangel Protective Services' Ken Thomas on how the company got its start, the importance of getting help along the way, succession planning and the ways he's helping others get their entrepreneurial start.
June 17, 2022
Founders helping founders
Ilana Diamond on launching 412 Ventures, its investment thesis, and how their collective experience as founders might give them an advantage.
June 2, 2022
It’s All About Partnerships and Pitch Decks for Rambus
Mykolas Rambus is a serial entrepreneur who founded and sold two previous companies, including Wealth-X, where he served as CEO until its 2016 sale for more than $20 million. Most recently, Mykolas raised early-stage rounds of capital in 2021 to build out Hush, a company that offers cybersecurity services. Though the capital raise process went well, Mykolas talks about how better pitch materials would have made for a smoother raise.
April 28, 2022
Capital alignment and speaking investors' languages
Amicus.io CEO and Co-Founder Cor Hoekstra, talks prior to the company's acquisition by TIFIN about attracting investors, differentiation, and what he sees as the future for the company.
March 24, 2022
When PE goes downstream
North Coast Ventures Managing Director Todd Federman on the deal year for early-stage companies, as well as the trends he's seeing on that end of the M&A spectrum.
March 11, 2022
Raising capital as a startup is about more than money
Rabbu CEO Emir Dukic talks about the process of raising capital and how he went about doing diligence on potential investors.
March 11, 2022
Even for the best entrepreneurs, raising capital is always harder than it looks
Bloomscape Founder and CEO Justin Mast spoke with Dickinson Wright's Zan Nicolli about his venture and the process of raising capital from investors.
February 11, 2022
City Shoppe's Ash Cintas on Investors as Coaches
Ash Cintas, founder and CEO of City Shoppe, talks about her experience launching the company, fundraising, and what she looks for in an investor.
February 11, 2022
When pitching nascent opportunities, explain it so grandma would understand
Play One Up CEO Brandon Pitts talks about the growing esports industry, building Play One Up and how he pitches investors who might not be familiar with the opportunity.
January 7, 2022
Three mistakes that signal you're unlikely to get funded
Serial entrepreneur Bob Norton talks about what investors really look for in a pitch, the team and the concept, as well as where most entrepreneurial ventures stumble and fail.
December 2, 2021
How Chris Molaro launched NeuroFlow
NeuroFlow co-founder Chris Molaro on changing the way mental health care is delivered, his most recent M&A deal, and the company’s future.
October 8, 2021
Shane Bigelow on launching CHAMPtitles
CHAMPtitles Shane Bigelow talks about the venture, its recent raise and progress in the market, as well as the challenges of being based in Ohio.
September 3, 2021
Will Zell sees exuberance in venture capital
Will Zell, founder of Zell Capital and Executive Chairman at Nikola Labs, offers his take on the view from the early stage.
August 27, 2021
Nat Clarkson on the impact of investor moves downstream
CFV Ventures Managing Partner Nat Clarkson on what he’s seeing at the seed stage, and how firms at his level may look to adjust their strategies if larger firms became a player in the mix.
August 13, 2021
Feuer Innovation Accelerator Fund Gives UH Leader Power To Promote Ideas From Within
A $2 million gift to University Hospitals by serial entrepreneur Michael Feuer and his wife Ellen aims to enhance the hospital’s ability to spur innovation by giving UH’s CEO the financial and decision-making latitude to back strong ideas.
