Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 048: Curtis Watkins CEO of BovaMetrics Part II
Today we welcome back Curtis Watkins, CEO of BovaMetrics, to the Charlotte Angel Connection. As we learned last week, BovaMetrics is a young Fintech company based in Charlotte. BovaMetrics has developed a proprietary model designed to capture opportunities and add value in a client’s existing portfolio – in essence merging an advisor’s knowledge of the client with an artificial intelligence platform.
Last week, we spent time talking about how Curtis ended up as the CEO of BovaMetrics, what he’s learned over the years working with startups and established companies, and
This week, we discussed some of the following:
- What’s different about starting a company in 2001 (Curtis’ first startup) and 2018?
- How does BovaMetrics begin to execute their strategy after raising a pre-seed round late in 2017 and early 2018?
- How does he handle recommendations from a potential investor knowing the investor may be pleased with Curtis’ agreement in the investor’s recommendation, thus, leading to a higher chance of receiving an investment?
- Does Curtis expect help from the city’s entrepreneur system since Charlotte has staked a claim on Fintech – where his company clearly sits?
- What’s the support network like for Charlotte area founders?
- Why isn’t Curtis scared of someone stealing the concept/idea of BovaMetrics?
Next week, we turn back to talking with an angel investor in the first of a two part series with T.J. Eberle. T.J. has been an angel investor since selling his business in 2011 and is active in the Charlotte area investing scene. We recently sat down with T.J. for an hour to discuss a number of interesting?
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 047: Curtis Watkins CEO of BovaMetrics
Today we welcome Curtis Watkins, CEO of BovaMetrics, to the Charlotte Angel Connection. Curtis joined BovaMetrics in September 2017 to help drive the company growth as it moves from the early stages of development.
BovaMetrics is a young fintech company in Charlotte targeting wealth managers with an augmented intelligence solution. It was developed as a proprietary model designed to capture opportunities and add value in a client’s existing portfolio – in essence merging an advisor’s knowledge of the client with an artificial intelligence platform.
For the Part I of the podcast I wanted to cover some of the following with Curtis:
What brought Curtis to where he is today? In essence, what experience did he have that BovaMetrics was seeking?
Given his past experience of starting CLT Joules while he worked at Duke Energy, what did he learn from a big company about innovation that can be brought to a young startup?
What is BovaMetrics and how did it come into existence?
How are they going to start finding customers for BovaMetrics?
How long will beta customers be on board for before they launch the full product?
How different is the beta testing and development phase of a company today from 2001 when Curtis launched his first startup?
What is downside to being able to be too nimble today versus the environment in 2001?
Listen in next week for Part II with Curtis as we discuss entrepreneurship and more about BovaMetrics.
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 046: John Espey CEO and Co-Founder of Levvel, Part II
Today we welcome back John Espey, Co-Founder and CEO of Levvel. Levvel has started getting some much deserved press locally for the fast growth track they have burned over the last 5 years. Last week we spent the majority of our time talking about the track of Levvel over the last 6 to 7 years as it morphed from Reward Summit and into Levvel.
This week I wanted to spend some time with John exploring entrepreneurship in general and specifically in Charlotte. He’s been with several successful companies and several that weren’t so he’s seen success and failure in Charlotte. As such, he’s got great perspective and insight into doing things here.
Stay tuned to the end as John and I discuss why Charlotte can’t seem to promote its own startup successes like Avid, Passport, DealCloud, MapAnything, Stratifyd, etc.
What is necessary to grow Charlotte’s entrepreneurial community: more investors or more entrepreneurs?
How do you get more entrepreneurs into Charlotte?
Do we need home grown talent or do we need to import a bunch of millennials and future founders to come to Charlotte and start companies?
What does John say to a younger version of himself – the 36 year old John who started Reward Summit (which eventually became Levvel)?
What advice does John have for the young entrepreneur in Charlotte trying to raise capital?
What does John have to say to potential Charlotte area investors who are interested in venture capital or angel investments?
Charlotte doesn’t have a huge research presence yet – though UNCC is making big inroads – and we don’t have a medical university. What does John think we have as a community to promote as great for entrepreneurs?
Does John have a hard time finding talent in Charlotte given everyone says there isn’t enough talent in Charlotte?
Hopefully you enjoyed our podcast interview with John today. I thought it was a great discussion on entrepreneurship in the Charlotte area and entrepreneurship in Charlotte in general. I thought was it was a really good two part interview. Next week, we welcome Curtis Watkins, CEO of BovaMetrics to the podcast to talk about his company - delivering a virtual assistant to help financial advisors add value to your portfolio through use of performance harvesting.
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 045: John Espey, Co-Founder and CEO of Levvel
Today we have John Espey, Co-Founder and CEO of Levvel. Levvel has started getting some much deserved press locally for the fast growth track they have burned over the last 5 years. Recently John and I got together to discuss what’s most important for the Charlotte ecosystem: more entrepreneurs or more early stage money. A heated debate ensued and I think we all know who won the argument. Regardless, we had a really good lunch and a great discussion and I feel in love with the Levvel story. As such, we agreed it would make great sense to continue the conversation on the podcast.
In today’s podcast, we spent most of the time talking about Levvel because despite the fact that it’s getting covered in the press, I don’t think many people know much about the story. This allowed us to fill up the time talking about the awesome ride Levvel has had since 2012 and 2013.
What’s the back story to how Levvel got to where it is today?
How did John and Chris Hart, his original co-founder, first meet?
Levvel came out of Reward Summit. How long did it take them to realize Reward Summit wasn’t going to be the home run they wanted it to be?
How does the conversation to pivot out of Reward Summit and into consulting go?
How has Levvel gone from 2 people (John and Chris) in 2013 to 170 employees in early 2018?
It’s oftentimes talked about the vital role that ‘first customers’ play in a young company’s growth. What were the first customers like for Levvel?
What’s the benefit of being a mature entrepreneur, rather than a young, fresh recent college graduate?
Hope you enjoyed today’s podcast with John Espey and you agree the story of Levvel and the impact it will have on the Charlotte economy over the course of the next 5, 10 years and beyond. Next week, we tackle the discussion over what’s more important – more entrepreneurs or more early stage capital and the general Charlotte startup scene. It’s a really good discussion and if you enjoyed John’s story today and I think you’ll enjoy the perspective he brings to the startup ecosystem 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 044: Greg Brown, Administrator of Charlotte Angel Fund I & II - Part II
Today we have Greg Brown, Administrator of the Charlotte Angel Fund I and Charlotte Angel Fund II as well as owner of Cardinal Finance – a fractional CFO firm – back on the podcast for a continuation of our discussion from last week. Greg has been firmly involved in the startup community for at least five years now and talks with a bunch of investors AND founders. As such, he has a very unique perspective on what’s happening in the ecosystem of high growth companies.
In today’s podcast we cover the following and more:
What’s the difference in the startup/investment space since our first interview in October 2016?
Are you talking with more Charlotte based founders who want or need to raise money? Is there a difference in the founders you talk with today versus the founders you talked with in Charlotte three years ago?
Besides getting Mike Praeger and his team at AvidXchange to IPO – which seems to be everyone’s solution for Charlotte’s lack of new companies and funding – what does Charlotte need to do more of to attract new founders and companies?
Why doesn’t Fund II have 1,000 members?
How can people find out more about the Charlotte Angel Fund?
Tune in next week for the first of our two part series with John Espey – Co-Founder and CEO of Levvel – as we explore how Levvel started out (hint it was more about credit cards), why they pivoted to their current mission and where they are going along with much more. It’s a great interview that will lead us into our second part of the interview in two weeks – a discussion of what’s most important now for Charlotte’s startup scene.
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 043: Greg Brown, Administrator of Charlotte Angel Fund I & II
Today we have Greg Brown, Administrator of the Charlotte Angel Fund I and Charlotte Angel Fund II as well as owner of Cardinal Finance – a fractional CFO firm – back on the podcast. Some of you may know but the Charlotte Angel Fund I just recently closed for new investments. And I wanted to get Greg back on the podcast to talk about the fund I and fund II. Additionally, it’s been 16 months since we spoke with Greg so a lot has changed in terms of the startup community and the angel community here in Charlotte. I thought it would be fun to get his perspective.
In today’s podcast, I want to spend a fair amount of time talking about Fund I and Fund II. What was learned? How the investments are playing out so far. Where the investments were made and just spend some time on that part of the world. In our second part with Greg we will dig more into the entrepreneurial ecosystem here in Charlotte.
Today we discuss the following:
How many members and capital did Charlotte Angel Fund I end up with at the end? What was the make-up of those members?
How many investments did Fund I end up making? What was the makeup of them from an industry perspective? How about location?
What’s the status on these investments? Have any of them sold, raised additional money – or worse gone out of business?
As the fund administrator, what is Greg’s role in the investment process?
Why is Charlotte a difficult market right now for companies looking to raise capital? How many funds can Charlotte support before it becomes oversaturated?
Next week, we turn our attention to the Charlotte startup scene and how much it has developed since Greg started Charlotte Angel Fund I – and even since our first interview with Greg (which happened to be episode #1).
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 042: Brett Brohl Managing Director of Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator
Today we welcome back Brett Brohl, Managing Director of a new accelerator called TechStars Farm to Fork (www.techstars.com/farmtofork). Brett has been traveling the US the last couple of weeks and made a stop in Charlotte to talk with entrepreneurs about raising money and had open office hours to meet with a bunch of different folks.
In this episode, I wanted to explore a few different things with Brett. First, we celebrated Brett's successful prediction of watching the Patriots lose in the Super Bowl. Second, I wanted to discuss Brett's experience in Charlotte versus his expectation. We start down this theme, get sidetracked and then end the episode with a 5 minute discussion on his thoughts on the Charlotte startup scene. I also wanted to continue the theme of just learning from Brett about startups and investing.
As such, we hit on the following topics in our discussion:
The 4 key things Brett looks for in a management team.
How can entrepreneurs test for 'traction' before launching their product?
As an investor, what do you do when an entrepreneur lets you down during the due diligence process?
And stay tuned for next week's Charlotte Angel Connection as we start our 1st of two interviews with Greg Brown - Administrator of Charlotte Angel Fund I & II. Fund I just recently closed after investing in excess of $1.5 million in startups and it seemed like a great time to sit down and talk with Greg about a host of things including how far Charlotte has come in the startup world since he started CAF I 5 years ago.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 041: Brett Brohl Managing Director of TechStars Farm to Fork Accelerator
Today we have Brett Brohl, who is the Managing Director of a new accelerator called TechStars Farm to Fork (www.techstars.com/farmtofork) - note Techstars is a long-running accelerator, but Farm to Fork is a brand new program within Techstars. They are working with Cargill and Ecolab to develop this program. Brett first came to North Carolina where he went to Wake Forest in college. Since then he has gone on to start and run quite a few startups and now lives in Minneapolis where he has been part of Techstars for the last couple of years.
For our typical two part interview with Brett, I wanted to change things up. We did the first part of the interview prior to Brett coming to Charlotte in early February. First I wanted to hear about the program and what Brett is setting up. I also wanted to get Brett’s expectation about Charlotte before he got here. The second part of the interview occurred after Brett had come to Charlotte. In this interview, we will explore more about the Farm to Fork program but will also talk with Brett about his experience in Charlotte and what he saw.
So as we explore those concepts, we touched on the following topics today:
What’s does Food to Fork mean what types of companies are the looking to find?
When does the first class start and how long will it last?
What does the program cover for the entrepreneurs and what can founders expect during the 3 months?
What’s life like for a company after the 3 months in the accelerator program?
What is Brett’s experience as an entrepreneur (including what was Brett’s highest selling candy bar as a middle schooler)?
Why is Brett coming to Charlotte to look for companies for the Farm to Fork Accelerator?
What are Brett’s expectations for coming to Charlotte?
What is the startup scene like in Minneapolis – Brett’s current hometown?
What does Brett think is more important to grow an entrepreneur ecosystem – founders or capital?
What do they look for in a company?
Stay tuned for next week as we continue with Part II with Brett.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 040: Lucas Timberlake with Fintech Ventures Fund, Part II
Today, we welcome back Lucas Timberlake, Partner with Fintech Ventures Fund to the Charlotte Angel Connection. As you may remember, last week we spoke with Lucas about how his experience brought him to be a VC, what types of companies they look for, what traits are they seeking in a management team, and other questions in a pretty wide ranging conversation.
This week's podcast expands on that wide ranging conversation. Our discussion today hits on many of these questions outlined below:
Why doesn’t Charlotte have a Venture Capital fund?
How does a seed stage VC fund help their companies in acquisitions and exits?
How are the investments in their fund doing three years in?
What is it like to invest in a failure – a company that doesn’t make it?
Does Lucas track the companies they pass on?
How much is valuation a factor in their investment decision?
What’s the ideal holding period for their early stage investments?
How do they typically expect to exit their holding in a company?
Stay tuned for next week. We have a slight adjustment to our schedule as Brett Brohl, from TechStars Farm to Fork - a new accelerator out of TechStars - joined the podcast. Since Brett isn't from Charlotte and hasn't been much time here, especially in the last couple of years, we did an interview with Brett before he came to Charlotte to get his expectations. We will follow up with him after he left to talk with him about his experience in Charlotte. I'm excited about bringing this to you.
Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 039: Lucas Timberlake Partner with Fintech Ventures Fund
Today, we welcome Lucas Timberlake, Partner with Fintech Ventures Fund to the Charlotte Angel Connection. Lucas was in town in November for the Southeast Fintech Venture Conference and we had a chance to talk about Venture funds, Charlotte, Atlanta, and tech in general. It became apparent quickly that Lucas would make a great guest on the podcast. He's got experience in the Venture space and has watched Charlotte from afar over the last couple of years. More importantly, he expects to be in town more frequently as things continue to pick up with QC Fintech, the Carolina Fintech Hub, and Charlotte's startup scene in general.
Here are some key topics from today’s podcast:
- Lucas's background and how he ended up Co-Founding the Fintech Ventures Fund.
- How were they able to raise their first fund?
- How many companies do they expect to invest in with their first fund?
- What is a growth stage venture fund and where does it fit in the venture world?
- Are they active venture investors or what value do they offer to the companies they invest in.
- How do you decide when to become active in a business versus just sitting back to see how things go?
- What does Lucas look for in a management team?
- What's the difference between venture capital in San Francisco and the rest of the country?
- There's a disconnect between the amount of money in the south and how much is being invested in startups. Why is that the case.
- And more....
We finish the podcast with an eye towards Charlotte - the startup and investor scene. We will also expand more on the role Fintech Ventures fund plays with their portfolio companies and more. Essentially, I wanted to discuss some of the operational aspects of the discussion.
Please join us next week to listen to Part II of our podcast with Lucas.