Interview: entrepreneur Archive

« Older Entries

Product Design and Delivery Via Crowd Supply

Posted April 24, 2013 By Frank

CrowdSupply

Lou Doctor

Lou Doctor

He’s taking an eCommerce approach to Crowdfunding and he should know how to do that. Lou Doctor returns to describe his latest entrepreneurial venture: Crowd Supply.

He’s running about a dozen eCommerce sites. One new one is xCameras where he offers the GoPro and Contour video cameras and all the accessories. He’s opened AudioGeeks; a new site with matching bricks and mortar shop that sells high-end headphones. Makes me wonder what he’ll be selling next. Of course, this all started with a garage-based business selling bicycle tires; check out BikeTiresDirect.

As early-stage investors we’re often perturbed over the potential disruptions Crowdfunding may bring, but there are other aspects that offer great benefits to startups:

There’s information that you learn by Crowdfunding a project that isn’t complete yet that will help make it a better product.

Lou shares stories and thoughtful insights as he describes his vision for a renaissance in consumer product development.

I’m already pledged to one of the Crowd Supply projects; check out the LIT Ultra-reflective Bike Tire.

Disclaimer: I’m an angel investor in Crowd Supply.

Play

Show #410 Stream, flash player or iTunes

Filed in Angel Investing, Interview: entrepreneur | Tagged:

James Digby, Rockstart Accelerator

Posted February 25, 2013 By Frank

James Digby

James Digby

Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Baton Rouge?

Meet James Digby; he’s one of the men behind Amsterdam’s Rockstart Accelerator.

James and I met at the super, over-the-top Get In The Ring event in Rotterdam in November; he was the Master of Ceremonies. I knew he was behind an accelerator in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, so I made a note to get him on the Show.

I caught up with him in Baton Rouge, LA and that’s a story unto itself. He’s moving his headquarters there, merging into the Springboard Baton Rouge facility where he plans to build an ecosystem almost from scratch. He must enjoy a challenge; a $5M fund will help to get things moving.

The three-legged stool is where we start our discussion; the money comes from oil and gas and farmers, not the alumni of high tech investors that we take for granted in CA.

More or less, we’re all entrepreneurs and we find great satisfaction in doing something no one else has done before. James has carved out just such an opportunity for himself here in Baton Rouge.

Play

Show #405 Stream, flash player or iTunes

Baton-Rouge

Filed in Interview: entrepreneur | Tagged: ,

Vincent Everts, InCrowd

Posted January 3, 2013 By Frank

Play

Vincent Everts
photo by Wouter Went

InCrowd‘s Vincent Everts was a finalist in the Get In The Ring event in Rotterdam last month. Seen here dressed for a wedding, he’s pitching his video tool to the wedding market.

Yes, it’s an interesting product, but more pertinent is Vincent’s reaction to my answers to his questions about angel investing here in California. Thought you’d find it eye-opening, too…

Show #400 Stream, flash player or iTunes

Filed in Interview: entrepreneur | Tagged:

Startup Valuation by Equidam

Posted December 10, 2012 By Frank

Daniel Faloppa and Gianluca Valentini

Play

What’s one of the biggest turn-off’s when reviewing a funding applicant?
That might be a long list, but a high valuation would be somewhere near the top.

That’s tempered at Tech Coast Angels, and likely your angel group, too, because we filter the deals and only the best deals get to pitch in front of an audience. They won’t make ‘the cut’ at Pre-screening if they persist in their ridiculous valuation. That’s how things have worked for over a decade, but in the future when entrepreneurs are sitting in their pajamas on a Crowdfunding site, what will be the digital equivalent of the filters our Pre-screen Committee applies today?

My guests would say, Equidam, their startup, is the solution.

Daniel has a slide with a quote from the Kauffman Foundation.

I told him a quote this good belongs on a slide by itself.

They’re based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and their product calculates a startup’s pre-money valuation.

Who wouldn’t like to see their stamp of approval on every early-stage deal that gets in front of business angel investors?

Daniel Faloppa and his partner Gianluca Valentini started their company while at Erasmus University. They share office space with the SymBid team and somewhere in the interview this will make perfect sense.

According to Daniel, Crowdfunding will attract inexperienced entrepreneurs, so how will investors react to their pre-money valuations? That’s where Equidam was born.

Show #396 Stream, flash player or iTunes

Filed in Interview: entrepreneur | Tagged:

Ash Kumra, Bullet Proof Startups

Posted October 16, 2012 By Frank

Listen:

Ash Kumra

Play

He’s the President of TCVN here in Orange County, California.

TCVN’s a long term contributor to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Once a year they host a big pitch-fest, Survivor. Ash describes the process and the $25,000 grand prize payout.

Show #390 Stream, flash player or iTunes

Filed in Interview/podcast, Interview: entrepreneur | Tagged: ,

Ryan Rzepecki, Social Bicycles

Posted September 18, 2012 By Frank

Ryan Rzepecki

Play

Next generation already?

Things happen fast and Ryan Rzepecki thinks he has a big advantage over traditional bike share systems, including a significantly less costly solution. He’s raising money to fund his startup, Social Bicycles.

A Bixi station in Montreal

What makes it so much cheaper?

He’s placed all the technology on the bike. Users reserve a bike via their smartphones and enter a pin to unlock it from whatever it’s locked to — because this system has eliminated the bike share station.

Earlier bike share systems are deployed from a station; a customer approaches a kiosk, swipes his card and rides away with a bike. Using a bike rack, instead of the station, his solution is cheaper and disruptive.

There’s a lot more to it, of course, and that’s what Ryan shares during the interview…

Show #386 Stream, flash player or iTunes

Filed in Interview: entrepreneur | Tagged: ,
« Older Entries