Charlotte Angel Connection Episode 129: Justin Adams and Pat Morrell, Co-Founders of Anduin
Today we welcome Justin Adams and Pat Morrell, co-founders of Anduin. Many of you know this is their second startup together as they sold Digitize.ai back in 2019 – which is now part of Waystar. So, this is our first podcast dealing with co-founders in Charlotte who have built and sold and are now building again, together.
For that reason, we get to dive into some great topics with them. We didn’t ask them, “what would you do differently”, we asked, “what ARE you doing differently?” This dynamic allows us to cover some great aspects of their entrepreneurial journey. We dove into the concept of Digitize.ai and how they jumped into it as co-founders. We learn how they built the product and sold it customers. Along the way, we hear about their travels to Atlanta as well as the sacrifices – personally and professionally – they both made along the way.
As we run through their trials and tribulations with Digitize.ai, we naturally break straight into the discussion of how Anduin has been developed differently. What have they instantly put into practice with the second startup and where are they seeing the results along the way?
For a little background, Justin serves as the CEO of Anduin and was also the CEO of Digitize.ai. Prior to the startup route, Justin spent his career helping transform organizations through technology and innovation from Fortune 500 firms to the United States Intelligence Community. He also sat on a board that advised a venture capital firm on promising new technologies
Pat Morrell is the Chief Revenue Officer at Anduin. Pat grew up Raleigh and spent some time in DC, dealing with campaign politics. He moved back to Raleigh to work for a start-up, Three Ships. Pat and I first met when he was with Skookum where he was the Director of Strategic Partnerships.
Anduin started in June 2020. They help accounting firms fix their billing process and speed up their cash flow. Their intelligence-based billing solution automates and improves time-consuming back-office finance processes. Anduin’s mission is to fix the work-to-cash cycle to help accounting firms save time, speed up cashflow, and deliver a superior client experience.
It’s a great podcast to hear of their success from their beginnings to where they are now.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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 128: Haley Sutton, Founder of Box Babe Gift Co.
Today, we welcome Haley Sutton, Founder of Box Babe Gift Co., to the podcast. I first met Haley when she was an intern for Packard Place a few years ago. She was regularly at Packard Place as we recorded podcasts and showed up for startup/investing events. So it was awesome to have her on the podcast to talk about her own startup and the path she has taken to get here.
The one thing Haley continued to say in our podcast I loved was how it was worth swinging for the fences. That’s the mentality that has allowed her to flourish and grow as a person and as an entrepreneur. While she has been selling goods online through Etsy and other platforms since she was 14 years old, her journey as an entrepreneur wouldn’t prepare her for the twists and turns as she launched Box Babe Gift Co. It took guts and grit to leave Element Brands, a position with health insurance benefits, in the spring of 2020 – right during the early days of the Covid19 pandemic.
Yet, her bet on herself paid off. She started working out of her apartment and quickly moved the business into her boyfriend’s new house for extra space. She quickly outgrew the house and continues to outgrow each space she moves the company into and the existing one is no different as she is already thinking she’ll have to move again by the end of 2021.
But growth hasn’t come easy. She looks to support small female business owners as they pack their boxes of gifts. But maintaining a steady supply of product creates challenges for Haley and the company. As such, Haley had to learn how to make candles from her home as a way to make sure they had plenty of supply. It was a messy learning process but just demonstrates the mindset of an entrepreneur willing to do what it takes.
Listen for the part in the podcast where we talk about Haley’s “Jeff Bezos Moment”. It’s a great Bezos story and awesome to hear Haley’s version of it too.
I hope you enjoy this one. Haley has an infectious mentality and attitude and she’s using it to build a great company – one that is still swinging for the fences.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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 127: Ben Boyer, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of R-Zero
Today we welcome Ben Boyer, co-founder and Executive Chairman of R-Zero Systems, to the podcast. Prior to March 2020, Ben had worked in Venture Capital – getting his feet wet with Lehman Brothers as he came out of college.
After the Lehman bankruptcy, he went to work for Tenaya Capital which was spun out of Lehman Brothers. At Tenaya, Ben focused on global consumer and related investments, with an emphasis on vertical applications and network effect businesses. He led investments in companies based in four countries and on three continents. In 2020, he remained a Partner at Tenaya Capital but he stepped away from raising new funds to focus on R-Zero Systems. Ben now lives in Park City UT.
Ben speaks about his early days at Lehman and the fall of the financial business. He shares in-depth stories of investing in venture capital including some of the success stories.
Ultimately, though , as Covid begins to develop in the US it brought back emotions of 9/11 – and what he could do to help. This led to him to research pathogens, how they are treated and ultimately R-Zero was launched in April 2020.
Ben started it with Grant Morgan and Eli Harris to help combat all known pathogens: COVID-19, seasonal flu, Norovirus, E.coli, MRSA, C.diff and whatever COVID-25 might be. R-Zero designs hospital-grade disinfection solutions for the day-to-day realities of modern businesses.
Ben explains UV-C disinfection and their goal to make it better and cheaper. We discuss the roles and strengths of each of their founders and he shares his story of entrepreneurship.
Great podcast and it’s good to see that R-Zero is keeping to their goal to create safer communal spaces, today and forever.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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 126: Noam Mani, Co-Founder and CEO of Quartix
Today we welcome Noam Mani, Co-Founder of Quartix. Quartix is a company combining technology with institutional cash to transform vendor early payments into a true win-win for both the buyer and the vendors. I met Noam several years ago when he was participating in the QC Fintech Accelerator program (run by RevTech Labs).
The company has come a long way since those early days and they are now growing quickly – which is a great testament to Noam, his co-founder (Dror) and the rest of team including his stable of advisors they picked up along the way (some of which he picked up as a result of his participation in in the accelerator program).
Noam is originally from Israel but he and Quartix now call Charlotte home. It’s great to see founders like Noam and Dror come through the QC Fintech program and ultimately decide to call Charlotte home. It’s a testament to the types of mentors in the program as well as the quality of program Dan Roselli and the rest of the team over there have built.
Noam served as an Engineer in the Israel Military and after fulfilling his military duties in Israel he became a consultant. This is where the idea of Quartix started to brew. His co-founder Dror was seeing the vendor payments as a real pain point and the two of them teamed up to deliver a powerful solution. It’s a complex problem for many of us who don’t sit in this space to understand but Noam does a wonderful job walking us through the problem and the solution in today’s podcast.
At the end of the day, Quartix is a data and technology driven alternative lender operating in the US and Canada. Their mission is to improve the financial performance of supply chains on the buyer side and reduce the borrowing costs of SME suppliers by offering effective supply chain finance.
Noam shares their takeaway from QC Fintech and how and why he Dror Polak, started Quartix what it took to start and how they keep up with the demand. Noam also explains that working with both sellers and buyers will expand the business. We discuss working with funding partners, and how they add value.
At the end of the podcast we discuss the different type of markets that utilize their service and the opportunities that scale the business and what’s on the horizon for them in the future.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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 125: Jim Roberts, Founder of Network for Wilmington Entrepreneurs and much more
Today, we welcome Jim Roberts to the podcast. Jim is a familiar name in the Charlotte area startup and investor ecosystem. Today, Jim runs the Wilmington Angels for Local Entrepreneurs (WALE), Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington (NEW), and his own consulting firm, Rojo Octo Ecosystem Consulting.
Yet, in 2000, he started a non-profit ecosystem in Charlotte before moving to Ashville to start their startup ecosystem and angel network. From there Jim was recruited to work for the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Division in Raleigh. In 2013 he moved to Wilmington to start UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). The CIE offers programs, services, and activities to promote and support entrepreneurship and the creation of innovative new ventures in Southeastern North Carolina.
Jim has been around the entrepreneur ecosystem since it’s infancy and has helped get several cities off the ground. It was a great opportunity for him to talk about how Wilmington has – and continues to develop/support the startup ecosystem.
Jim talks through the difference of what WALE does verses NEW. NEW holds free monthly events for a wide variety of entrepreneurs, investors, professional service providers, and community supporters considering entrepreneurship. The mission of NEW is to make the Wilmington region a more nurturing community for local startup entrepreneurs to improve and diversify the regional economy.
WALE on the other hand is a platform for local angels to invest in Wilmington area startups. Jim also dives into the reason why he started WALE, why it is important is to local entrepreneurs and how people (even Charlotte area people) can become members.
I also wanted to talk with Jim a little about the differences of working in Raleigh and Wilmington.
We also dive into how UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship built an innovation organization in 8 years that has been globally ranked. He explains how they started the ecosystem in the Coastal corridor and their success stories of their first conference.
Jim discussed his excitement about the PBS Start-Up Series being filmed in Wilmington. At the end of the podcast, we discuss the future of Wilmington’s ecosystem.
Anyone who has talked with Jim knows he has worked tirelessly across NC to build startup communities. It is great to see the Wilmington area getting more than its fair share of press thanks to Jim’s hard work in putting the city on the map.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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 124: Luke Wilcox, Founder and CEO of Ethos
Today we are pleased to welcome Luke Wilcox, CEO and founder of Ethos, to the podcast. Luke was part of the most recent RevTech Labs program and we got the chance to sit down with him and a few of his classmates to talk about their experience with the world class program as well as learn more about their businesses.
Ethos is a first-of-its-kind FinTech platform to align your money with the causes you care about, including racial justice, climate change, LGBTQ equality, and more. Essentially, it is a tool allowing investors and their advisors identify the causes most important to them and then screen the investment world for opportunities best fitting for them. Luke started this as he was trying to identify investments whose causes aligned with his own and it has grown rapidly since then. At first Luke was targeting individual investors only but he has allowed the platform to grow and is working with financial advisors and others to broaden it's reach.
Luke started his career with McKinsey and clearly learned a lot about business and growing them. Luke is bringing that skillset to Ethos as it expands its screening capabilities and continues to grow the number of advisors and investor on the platform. Listen in to today’s shorter podcast to learn more about the business model and how Charlotte has and continue to help Ethos grow.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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 123: Nish Krishna, Founder and CEO of Lend-Grow
Today we are pleased to welcome Nish Krishna, CEO of Lend-Grow, to the podcast. Nish was part of the most recent RevTech Labs program and we got the chance to sit down with him and a few of his classmates to talk about their experience with the world class program as well as learn more about their businesses.
Lend-Grow is an online lending marketplace connecting borrowers with community banks to offer the best deals on loans. Borrowers can check their rates in less than two minutes and get matched with the lender that has the best deal for their needs. Nish and his team are having success building out a marketplace which is a tough thing to do. But they are creating that success by partnering with local community banks who are looking to expand their reach. It's a great concept to serve a very large niche.
Nish started his career with Capital One which is a very data intensive company and he is bringing that skillset to Lend-Grow as it scales up the number of loans it can and will provide through its marketplace. Listen in to today’s shorter podcast to learn more about the business model and how Charlotte has and continue to help ArchiveCore grow.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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 122: Lennox McNeary, Co-founder and CEO of ArchiveCore
Today we are pleased to welcome Lennox McNeary, CEO of ArchiveCore, to the podcast. Lennox was part of the most recent RevTech Labs program and we got the chance to sit down with her and a few of her classmates to talk about their experience with the world class program as well as learn more about their businesses.
ArchiveCore is a creating a simplified credentialing process for complex industries. Lennox understands this well as she is a physician as well as a co-founder and grew frustrated with the process of hiring in her profession. The typical delays of 90 days or more are costing hospitals money and reducing access to care for patients.
ArchiveCore is building a software - utilizing blockchain technology - and a process to help the process become much more efficient. Listen in to today's shorter podcast to learn more about the business model and how Charlotte has and continue to help ArchiveCore grow.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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 121: CFV Ventures with Nat Clarkson and Dan Roselli
Today, we are fortunate to have Nat Clarkson and Dan Roselli join us on the podcast to talk with us about CFV Ventures. We all know Dan and Nat from their work at RevTech Labs/QC Fintech.
We wanted the opportunity to sit down and explore what CFV Ventures has been up to since closing their first fund. Since this is our first time talking with Nat on the podcast we spend a good bit of time learning more about his background before we shift the discussion over to the fund. Once we dive into the fund discussion we get into what types of companies they are investing in and where they are investing.
It's great to hear the relationships they are creating and the awareness this fund is having on the world's perception of Charlotte. Listening to Nat and Dan talk I realized how far Charlotte's ecosystem has come and yet how much further it can continue to go. Fortunately, Charlotte continues to recruit good companies and talent - in large part to the work of Dan, Nat and many others have had in supporting the ecosystem.
Next week, I'll publish interviews with several of the companies from the recently graduated class of RevTech Labs. These podcasts are short 20 minute versions meant to get a quick understanding of young startups and their founders. I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk with each of the founders - I think you'll find them interesting and full of opportunity too.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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 120: Jonathan Kite, CEO of Rent Ready
Today, we are fortunate to have Jonathan Kite join us on the podcast to talk with us about Rent Ready. Jonathan and the Rent Ready team (including co-founders Ryan McMillan and Will Brugh) completed a $10 million Series A in March 2021 - another great raise for a Charlotte based company.
Jonathan grew up in Charlotte and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Jonathan started out leading the IT and marketing functions for Rent Ready to ensure their technology platform is constantly adapting to meet customer and Service Pro’s needs. He co-founded Rent Ready after a 6-year tenure at Microsoft working as a technical account manager, operations consultant, and program manager. Jonathan has a passion for technology and how it unlocks new potentials.
Rent Ready is a rapidly growing services platform that uses technology to help coordinate the process of getting vacant apartment homes ready to rent (“turn”). Built to eliminate the frustration of typical apartment turns, Rent Ready utilizes a proprietary logistics platform to connect communities to skilled professionals. Rent Ready is transforming the apartment turn process.
They are a B-to-B model and Jonathan explains their processes of what communities need to do to get a unit ready. They are in the process of releasing a mobile app.
Rent Ready currently is in Charlotte, Raleigh and Atlanta and they have 35 employees. They just recently completed the Series A round and Jonathan discusses raising the capital and the importance of staying in touch with people who can add value and the network affect of building connections.
We talk about the importance of keeping communication open with vendors and investment group. Jonathan also shares their success of a new service line they launched because of the pandemic which has scaled to a national level and how they capitalized on it.
At the end of the podcast, we discuss the roles of the three Co-Founders at Rent Ready, the diverse mind set it brings to lead the team, and the vision and importance of future product development.
William Bissett is the owner of and an Investment Advisor Representative of Portus Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of Portus Wealth Advisors. The topics discussed and opinions given are not intended to address the specific needs of any listener.
Portus Wealth Advisors 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 applicable state and federal regulation 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.