Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 058: Aru Anavekar, Co-Founder and CEO of botsplash
Today we are excited to have Aru Anavekar join the podcast. Aru and her husband, Ramu Pulipati, are the Co-Founders of botsplash – “a software as a service messaging platform aimed at improving communications between consumers and businesses.” I saw Ramu pitch this as a very early beta in 2016 at 1 Million Cups in Charlotte. It has come a long way since then with intense work by Ramu and Aru.
In today’s podcast, I wanted to get to know Aru and learn more about the backstory. As an entrepreneur and investor, I think the background is so important. It helps bring out the character of the person and lets us peak into some of their values.
I love her story of discovery and learning. It plays so well into the heart of being an entrepreneur. Not to be left out, we dive into several key aspects of botsplash too as we lay the groundwork for a really good discussion next week. In today’s podcast, we address the following and much more:
What brought Aru to where she is today?
We learn they have always had a few side hustles in the past. How have they traditionally determined what is worth pursuing and what falls to the side?
Did Aru come from an entrepreneurial family? How about Ramu?
Aru got her MBA from Wake Forest several years ago? What has she taken from the MBA as she starts her own business?
What is she learning in her ‘new MBA’ in terms of getting a startup off the ground that she hasn’t learned before now?
How did working for a huge business (a bank) help prepare her for the startup world?
Would Aru go back to work for a bank or is she a forever entrepreneur?
What would Aru take back to the banks that she has learned from a startup?
How has it been raising a child in a startup family?
And more on a family working on a startup which comes with some really good personal finance advice from Aru.
Enjoy today’s podcast and come back next week for a really solid discussion on the business. I'm really excited to post it already!
William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Secrest Blakey & Associates does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 057: Dan Roselli and Sara Smith from QC Fintech
This week we welcome Dan Roselli and Sarah Smith back to talk about Class 8 from Class 8 of the QC Fintech Accelerator program as well as about Fintech Generations (their upcoming conference on June 13) - presented by Oracle and Carolina Fintech Hub.
Dan and Sarah have somewhat been regulars on the podcast over the last two years and we are glad to have them back. This episode I wanted to dive further into Class 8, talk about some of the successes previous class members have had over the last 3 -6 months and learn more about the upcoming conference.
QC Fintech is a world class accelerator bringing great talent and now great capital to Charlotte twice a year. And Dan has more planned to bring mature companies to the Queen City too. Listen in to learn more about what's happening now and what else is on the horizon.
Listen to this episode and then register for the Fintech Generations Conference using coupon code CLTANGEL to receive 50% off the registration price.
William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Secrest Blakey & Associates does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 056: Keith Luedeman, Founder of GoodMortgage Part II
This week we continue our two part interview with Keith Luedeman, founder of GoodMortgage. Last week, we spent most of our time talking about Keith and GoodMortgage in a really exciting interview. This week, we wanted to turn the page and talk to Keith about his newfound role as startup advisor and angel investor. Since he is new to this space/role, we were fortunate to get some really good insight into where Keith is in the process and I think we get a glimpse into where he will be in the future too. It’s an awesome discussion with someone Charlotte should be thankful we have on our team.
Enjoy listening to Keith discuss the following and more.
At what point in time after selling Good Mortgage did you realize you wanted to get involved in the startup community?
How did Keith find the Charlotte angel investing and entrepreneur scene?
How is Keith going to tackle his new hobby of being an angel investor? After all, it’s not something he has done before so how does he expect to grow into this new role?
He had profitability in the 1st quarter of Good Mortgage – is that something he is going to look for? If not, what does Keith expect to be a priority when he starts to look at companies?
Does Keith expect to be an active role as an investor by serving on multiple boards?
What does Keith think about the Charlotte startup and investor scene? (Hint: Keith is excited about where things are and where they are going).
Keith has owned real estate (commercial and residential) and Charlotte has many real estate investors. Why is Keith interested in early stage investments instead of sticking with something he has known and understood for the last 15-20 years?
How does Keith think about risk capital? How does Keith come up with his ‘number’ when determining how much he is going to invest in risk companies? (FULL DISCLOSURE: every investor should talk with their financial planner or investment professional before committing risk capital as every family has different risk tolerance AND risk capacity).
With such a low investment minimum for the Charlotte Angel Fund ($25,000), why aren’t more people participating in an angel investment? (VentureSouth has a minimum investment of $50,000 or a $2,500 subscription fee – click here to learn more about VentureSouth and Charlotte Angel Fund).
How much of the process for the Charlotte Angel Fund has been surprising to Keith? What has he learned along the way of going to these meetings?
And much more….
That was fun. Don’t forget to join Keith and many others at the Fintech Generations Conference on June 13 at AvidXchange. Next week, we will host Dan Roselli and Sarah Smith to talk more about the Fintech Generations conference and Class 8 from the QC Fintech Accelerator program before we jump back into some interviews with local entrepreneurs. And when you register, use the coupon code CLTANGEL for 50% off the conference price.
William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Secrest Blakey & Associates does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 055: Keith Luedeman, Founder of GoodMortgage
It may be because I’m not from Charlotte – then again very few people are - but GoodMortgage was another local success story I hadn't heard much about until recently. Fortunately, I met Keith Luedeman at a Charlotte Angel Fund meeting and was able to grab coffee with some soon thereafter to learn more about Keith and GoodMortgage.
Our discussion was far ranging as we talked about the early days of GoodMortgage all the way to how he’s gotten involved in the startup and investor scene in Charlotte over the last couple of months. It was a great discussion and you'll soon learn how lucky Charlotte is to have Keith as part of its investor and startup scene. Listen in as we discuss the following and more:
You started an internet-based mortgage company in 1998. What lead you to believe it was a good idea?
Talk about the decision to start an internet business in 1998? There wasn’t much competition but there also had been people who had laid down the path about how to create businesses on the internet.
How much more difficult is it now given how much competition has evolved in the online lending space and how did they evolve as a business over the years?
GoodMortgage had 5 employees several months into business yet they never raised money. How did they do it and how were they able to continue to do it without raising money?
If you had it to do over again – knowing it could have been a land grab at that point – would you?
Keith didn’t raise money yet he talks every day to startups who are looking to raise money to scale and grow. How does he talk to them about scale and raising capital knowing he was very successful in not taking investor money?
Did Keith ever wake up in 2010 and say, shoot I should have sold four years ago?
What was the exit like for Keith? Did he expect to run the business for 18 years?
Next week, we bring Keith back to talk about the Charlotte startup and investor scene. At the time of this interview, Keith had been gone from Good Mortgage for two months and getting his perspective of where things stand 2 months into his learning was really cool. Plus, Keith built a great internet business in Charlotte and learned a thing or two along the way. Getting his insight into where the Fintech scene is today was a great little discussion.
William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Secrest Blakey & Associates does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 054: Founders of Credpal and Invoira – Class 8 members of QC Fintech Accelerator
For this episode of the Charlotte Angel Connection, we continued our interview with two of the founders of Credpal (they have 4) and one of the founders with Invoiro (they have 2). In keeping with tradition, the first episode is primarily dedicated to their companies and the second episode will target their experiences thus far (about 1/2 way into the program at the time of the recording).
These two companies are part of the QC Fintech Accelerator Program Class 8 – a world class accelerator program.
As a reminder, you can come see these two companies and their classmates on June 13 at the Fintech Generations conference at AvidExchange. It will be an awesome event and would love to see you out there.
In this episode we tackle some of the following questions:
How did you find QC Fintech? What was the process like for finding it? I found it interesting they were both very quick to credit (www.f6s.com).
What were you looking for out of an accelerator program?
What’s been the most surprising thing so far about the program – positive or negative?
How do they process the feedback they get from the advisors and mentors associated with QC Fintech and use it to propel the business forward to their next board meeting (they have board meetings every two weeks during the program)?
What has QC Fintech done for you so far? Has it caused them to pivot their original business, focus further, or something else?
Are they currently raising money? What do they do in the interim while they raise money? How do they stay afloat?
What are the potential exit strategies for both companies and at what point do they start thinking about the exit?
Come back next week and listen to Keith Leudeman in the first of two podcasts. As many of you know, Keith started GoodMortgage in 1998 and sold it back in 2016. After staying on board for two years, Keith started to become VERY active in the startup space in Charlotte in March 2018. For our first interview, I wanted to explore Keith’s journey with GoodMortgage – he never took investor money – and then in Part II we talk about the Charlotte startup scene in ways we have yet done. They are both worth the wait.
William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Secrest Blakey & Associates does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 053: Founders of Credpal and Invoira - Class 8 members of QC Fintech Accelerator
Today we are happy to bring back two companies from the QC Fintech Accelerator Program Class 8. This is the third class now where we have brought several members onto the program to talk about their companies and their experience in Charlotte - and more importantly being a part of what has grown to be a world class accelerator program.
As a reminder, you can come see these two companies and their classmates on June 13 at the Fintech Generations conference at AvidExchange. It will be an awesome event and would love to see you out there.
For this episode of the Charlotte Angel Connection, we interviewed two of the founders with Credpal (they have 4) and one of the founders with Invoiro (they have 2). In keeping with tradition, the first episode is primarily dedicated to their companies and the second episode will target their experiences thus far (about 1/2 into the program at the time of the recording).
As such, in this episode we tackle some of the following:
What is their company and where the idea came from?
Are they scared about the fact that both companies have competition in their space?
What were the founders doing prior to starting their companies?
How did they meet their co-founders?
What's been the most difficult aspect of their startup - given they are both about 1-year into it?
How do they tackle all the various challenges they already see and anticipate the ones ahead of them?
Come back next week and listen to what they have to say about Charlotte and the QC Fintech Accelerator program. How is Charlotte attracting really high quality talent from across the world and what do they think of the program today! It's a great part II and speaks to the quality and depth of what Dan and his team have built. I'm excited to bring it to you next week!
William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Secrest Blakey & Associates does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 052: Jude Colangelo, Founder and President of Eat the Bear
Today we welcome back Jude Colangelo, Founder and President of Eat the Bear, to the podcast. As we learned last week from Jude, Eat the Bear has grown from a desire to fill his own protein needs to a company now shipped across the country. Last week we heard a lot of the story around Eat the Bear and how it’s grown.
This week I wanted to explore what Jude learned about being a startup raising money in Charlotte.
- How did Jude make the decision to leave his day job and jump full force into growing Eat the Bear?
- What’s is like being a startup raising ‘risk capital’ in Charlotte?
- What was the response from “Eat the Bear” when they pitched high net worth investors in Charlotte?
- How long did it take Jude to raise his $1 million in funding last year and how long did it take him to realize Charlotte wasn’t going to be where he raised his capital?
- When will Jude have to raise money again and does he think any of the investors he spoke with last year will come on board for his Series B?
- What does Jude think it will take to increase the amount of ‘risk capital’ available for Charlotte entrepreneurs from within Charlotte?
- Does Jude expect to sell this in 2 years or does he expect to take it public and run it for years?
Good perspective from Jude. I thought it would be great to dive into his thoughts about raising money and really let him voice the entrepreneur side of raising money in Charlotte. We will circle back around soon and get some feedback from investors about their side of turning down the investment opportunity for some of the local startups.
In the meantime, next week we will open the first of two podcasts with the founder of two companies from Class 8 from the QC Fintech Accelerator Program, Credpal and Invoira.
William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Secrest Blakey & Associates does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 051: Jude Colangelo, Founder and President of Eat the Bear
Today we welcome Jude Colangelo, Founder and President at Eat the Bear, to the podcast. Jude has grown Eat the Bear from simply satisfying his own protein needs to a company who raised $1 million in angel funding in late 2017 and already almost doubled in that short time (April 2018). He partnered with Luke Kuechly several years ago and has new products ready to roll out that could really open things up any further. Yet, his story is likely not known in Charlotte.
He worked in banking for years, had invested in some small startups too. As I learned about Jude and Eat the Bear – knowing he was unable to raise money in Charlotte but successful raising money elsewhere – I thought it would be great to bring the story to the Charlotte Angel Connection listeners.
This will be our standard two part podcast with Jude. I wanted to take time with Jude in our first series just talking about Eat the Bear and how it has developed over the years. As such, we covered the following topics and more:
- How did Eat the Bear come into existence? What were the 10 simple things he was looking for in a protein supplement?
- How did Jude – with a background in investment banking – go about developing a formula for a protein supplement?
- How did Jude shift this from supplying his own protein needs to developing a product?
- Jude left his corporate job in April 2017. But for several years, he ran Eat the Bear and worked in investment banking. How did he juggle the two different jobs?
- How did Jude come up with the experience to run company shipping protein and other supplements across the country –including sourcing product, supply chain knowledge, dealing with retailers, etc.
- Given the fact that Jude hadn’t fully committed to the company (afterall he was still working with a bank), how did Jude find the talent – COO and Sales guy – to help him run the company?
- How is Jude adding products to his product line?
- Jude is trying to break into a very established industry. What makes Jude think he can take on such an established market with a brand new company?
- Does Jude regret any aspect of Eat the Bear – including leaving a very nice paying bank job?
In Part II of our discussion with Jude next week, we will tackle Jude’s experience raising money as a Charlotte based company. What was his experience like in raising money? What does he have to say to young entrepreneurs and investors in Charlotte?
William Bissett is an Investment Advisor Representative with Secrest Blakey & Associates, a Registered Investment Adviser. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Secrest Blakey & Associates. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Secrest Blakey & Associates does not offer legal or tax advice, listeners are encouraged to discuss their financial needs with the appropriate professional regarding your individual circumstance.
Investments described herein may be speculative and may involve a substantial risk of loss. Interests may be offered only to persons who qualify as accredited investors under the Securities Act, and a Qualified Purchaser as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) under the Company Act or an eligible employee of the management company. There generally is no public market for the Interests. Prospective investors should particularly note that many factors affect performance, including changes in market conditions and interest rates, and other economic, political or financial developments. Past performance is not, and should not be construed as, indicative of future results.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 050: T.J. Eberle, Entrepreneur and Angel Investor, Part II
Today we welcome T.J. Eberle back to the podcast. As you learned last week, T.J. has been involved in the angel community in Charlotte since 2011 when he sold his company NouvEON.
As a recap into last week, T.J. enjoys being the crazy uncle who can come in and mentor and advise company founders but ultimately being able to step aside and watch the founders work through the execution of developed strategies. T.J. also gave us great insight into three questions he asks of the founders before making an investment - including what are you willing to sacrifice if things don't go right.
In today's podcast, we explore more about Charlotte as an investment city with the following questions and more.
- What strikes you most about the Charlotte angel investor scene?
- Why should Charlotte area people explore being an angel investor instead of or addition to commercial real estate or other more normal investment options?
- Does T.J. think small and mid-size business owners identify better with investing in angel type investments?
- What has T.J. learned from an early stage company he invested in that went on to fail?
- In T.J.’s role as a lead investor, has he ever had to step in and run the company and what do passive investors have to think about when making investment decisions?
- Does T.J. believe the city of Charlotte and its citizens need to take a harder look at the startup and investment scene as a greater part of the economic development of the city?
- What does T.J. think it takes to grow the investor scene here in Charlotte – knowing there is plenty of money in Charlotte to invest in these types of companies?
T.J.’s insights over the last two weeks as an angel investor and entrepreneur in Charlotte was really insightful. We look forward to having him back on the podcast in the future to talk about successful exits and maybe from Virginia Tech softball!!
Next week we have the first of two podcasts with Jude Colangelo, Founder and CEO of Eat the Bear. Jude raised $1 million for Eat the Bear last year and did it by leaving Charlotte to find his investors. We spend the first half talking about Jude the entrepreneur and the second half talking about his experience raising money and the Charlotte scene in general. As someone who left a large financial institution to start his own company, he’s got great insight into the leap many consider but never pursue.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 049: T.J. Eberle, Entrepreneur and Angel Investor
Today we welcome T.J. Eberle to the podcast. T.J. has been involved in the angel community in Charlotte since 2011 when he sold his company NouvEON. During that time, he’s become a lead investor in several companies and an active angel investor through several of the local funds in town. His insight into companies through the meetings is always well received and so I wanted him to be on the podcast so everyone could hear the great insight T.J. has into this world.
This will be our standard two part podcast with T.J. I wanted to take time with T.J. in our first series just talking about being an angel investor in general. As such, we covered the following topics:
- How or why did TJ start investing in young, high growth companies?
- What does TJ get out of being an angel investor instead of just playing golf and fishing in retirement?
- TJ talked a little about being a crazy uncle as an angel investor? What does that mean?
- What pulls TJ into the role of being an angel investor/crazy uncle?
- What has T.J. learned most about being an angel investor as he has gone done this path?
- When T.J. gives advice to a company and they shrug those recommendations and off, how does he handle those types of situations as an investor?
- What’s the difference between Shark Tank (the television show) and real world angel investing?
- What does T.J. look for in a company before he makes an investment?
- Is being an angel investor intimidating?
- What does it take to be a startup founder? Does that ‘make-up’ have to be different for a Charlotte founder?
- What three things does TJ ask when he’s thinking about exit strategies before making an investment decision?
Next week, we continue our discussion with T.J. and explore more about being an angel investor in Charlotte. What has surprised him most about the scene, what Charlotte needs to do to grow the investor base, and much more.