Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture For America Podcast

This week we are re-airing one of our first few episodes with 2012 Fellow, Brian Rudolph. Brian is the Co-Founder and CEO of Banza, a chickpea pasta company aiming to do for pasta what Chobani did for greek yogurt. Brian is also one of the featured Fellows in Generation Startup, an independent documentary which tells the story of six Venture for America Fellows who put everything on the line to build startups in Detroit. Generation Startup premieres in New York this Friday, September 23rd and will hit theaters in select cities across the country in the coming months. Brian shares a lot of his story in this interview but you can see him building Banza in action in the film. For more information visit www.generationstartupthefilm.com.

Christine Hunsicker began her career as at a financial reporting company where, on his second day, she convinced the CFO to take an inexperienced college graduate onto his time. She gained tremendous experience helping the company through 7 restructurings and then went on to another startup, industrial design school, and a media company that grew tenfold 2 times while she was there! Today Christine is the CEO of Gwynnie Bee, an online women’s clothing subscription service for sizes 10-32. Christine started the company 4 years ago, first from her apartment and now in a proper space in Long Island City. Listen to this week's podcast episode to learn more about Christine journey building Gwynnie Bee and how she is disrupting the apparel industry.

As roommates Yale Business School Ben Young and Frederick Kukelhaus were commiserating over the horrible experience of buying furniture. They discovered that they were both ammature furniture makers and decided to try their hand at making it into a full time gig. They named their new company Hugo & Hoby after their grandfathers who were both also, coincidentally, carpenters and furniture designers. Hugo & Hoby started building their first collection and entered some business competitions and realized that there are a plethora of lumber mills and skilled craftsman right here in the US. Hugo & Hoby uses small batch, just-in-time manufacturing to deliver quality, sustainably sourced, handcrafted furniture at affordable prices. They sell their products direct to consumers through their website. Listen to this week's podcast to learn how they are building their business and check out www.hugoandhoby.com to catch a glimpse of their new line.

Hailing from Denmark, Henrik started his career in media as a radio producer for BBC before moving on to MTV. He was the first person to come up with the idea of inserting user generated content in between music videos (for anyone who remembers when MTV used to play music). Later on in his career, Henrik became a Founding Partner at Prehype, an innovation studio that helps established companies and VCs facilitate spin-out companies, incubation and venture partnerships. He developed a structured methodology to come up with new ideas and helps connect talent with companies that have big problems that require innovative solutions. Henrik helped found some well known companies such as Bark & Co and Managed by Q among many others. Check out this week's podcast episode to hear all about Henrik's experience building companies and what percentage of people prefer their dogs over their partners.

After graduating from Columbia University in 2009, Jared joined Tumblr during a major growth phase for the company. While at Tumblr he entered a hackathon attempting to solve a group texting problem which resulted in GroupMe, a free group messaging service that essentially creates a private chatroom for a small group. Jared and his co-founders sold GroupMe to Skype for $80million. He stayed on for 2 years before leaving to start Fundera, a company providing a safe, friendly, and free way to find your lowest rates on small business loans, guaranteed. Fundera is backed by several well known VCs and has raised $14million to date. Listen to this week's podcast to learn more about Jared's career and what it's like to sell a company in your early 20's.

Erik Schreter grew up believing that he would take over his family's department store when he completed his undergraduate degree. But an unexpected job opportunity led him to IsaiX Technologies where he stayed for 10 years, eventually moving into a very senior role. In 2012 with the support of his wife, Erik founded Venwise, a membership organization of high-growth tech company executives providing leaders with a safe place to work through their challenges. Venwise members include executives from some of the most well known startups in the industry. Check out this week's episode to learn more about Erik's career and his journey building Venwise!

This week Jeremy sits down with Wiley Cerilli for one of our most raw and honest interviews about the pressures and emotional challenges of starting a company. Wiley lost his father at a young age and bounced around colleges for a year or two while trying to work full time to help his family. In 2000 he joined the SeamlessWeb founding team prior to their epic launch and spent 13 years building the company. In 2010 Wiley started SinglePlatform, a company that helped small businesses manage their digital presence, which eventually sold to Constant Contact for $100million. After a quick stint at First Round Capital Wiley founded Good Uncle, a company giving people access to crave-worthy food no matter where they live. If you are an aspiring founder you really don't want to miss Wiley's incredible story and why his father has always inspired him to see windows in a windowless building.

Glen Coates founded Handshake in 2010 with only one day at Columbia Business School under his belt. Glen came up with the idea for Handshake while he was attending trade shows for an employer. He became frustrated by writing down orders with a pencil and paper and saw thousands of others fumbling in the same way. Glen knew that if he didn’t find the solution himself, then someone else would. Handshake is a mobile sales and B2B eCommerce platform that helps manufacturers & distributors grow their business by making it easy for their customers to order the right products from them, in-person and online. In six years, Handshake has acquired 65 employees and has made over $1 billion in orders across 47 countries. Major companies such as Roland, Starkey, OXO and more are using Handshake today. Check out this week’s episode of Smart People Should Build Things to hear more about Glen’s career journey from programmer to general manager of an exciting startup!

A few weeks ago, Jeremy was vacationing in Manchester, Vermont and stumbled upon some fantastic granola. He ended up chatting with Ingrid and Franklin Chrisco, the husband and wife team that founded the granola company. Not only did Jeremy love the granola, but he also loved their story! For many years both Ingrid and Franklin worked as educators while making pounds of granola on the weekends for their friends and family. In 2006, Ingrid was afraid that she would burn out and decided she needed to take her granola full time to create balance in her life. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear the founding story of True North Granola and get the free code that will give you a discount on any of their delicious products!

Ever wonder what it takes to build a VC firm? Brad Svrluga and Ben Sun can attest that it is no easy task. On this week’s episode of Smart People Should Build Things, Jeremy catches up with Brad and Ben, the co-founders of Primary Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital fund based in NYC. In 2004, Brad created High Peaks, a venture capital firm focused on making Seed and Series A investments, but re-launched the firm with Ben in 2015 with its new identity: Primary Venture Partners. Being raised by an entrepreneur, Ben already knew that running a small business was extremely hard, but ultimately chose this path because he had an “incredible desire to control his own destiny”. Download this week’s episode to hear more about the impact Primary Venture Partners is having on entrepreneurs and to find out what makes this company unique compared to other firms.

On this week’s episode of Smart People Build Should Build Things, Jeremy speaks with Daniel Chait, co-founder and CEO of Greenhouse, the world's first recruiting optimization platform. Daniel is not new to entrepreneurship. Since graduating from the University of Michigan in 1995, he has started three companies – each more successful than the last! Daniel started Greenhouse with the goal of unifying technology used in the recruiting process. In only four years, Greenhouse has raised $60 million and hired 180 employees. Tune in to this week’s VFA Podcast to learn more about Daniel Chait's career and how he has set out to build new capability for the finance industry.

This week, Jeremy sits down with VFA Alum Steven Mazur, Co-Founder and CEO of Ash & Anvil. Steven dabbled in entrepreneurship at the age of fourteen selling paintball accessories. After completing his two year VFA Fellowship, Steven was eager to found his own company. Searching for company ideas, Steven asked his friends and family what he griped about the most. Their answer - shopping! Many men struggle with finding clothing that fits well. As a 5’6” man himself, Mazur knows the struggle of the "short guy". Steven and his fellow Fellow alum created Ash & Anvil, a clothing company for men 5’8” and shorter. As a 2013 Fellow, Mazur credits two VFA opportunities (VFA’s Innovation Fund and the Accelerator) with helping him create his company. Listen to this self-proclaimed “math and science nerd” speak about his VFA experience and how he and his co-founder, Eric, have gotten to where they are today.

In this week's intriguing episode of Smart People Should Build Things, Jeremy speaks with Meg Daly, Founder of Miami's Underline, a ten-mile park built on the underutilized land below Miami's MetroRail. Check out this episode to hear Meg chat about her journey spearheading the project that she calls her "crazy idea".

Ever think it would be easy to get a food truck up and running? You thought wrong! This week Jeremy chats with Thomas Kelly, Co-Founder of Mexicue, a restaurant that serves delicious food inspired by two of America’s favorite comfort foods: Mexican & BBQ. Six years ago Thomas and his partner saw the food truck craze taking off in California and knew there was an opportunity in New York City. Thomas had no formal training as a chef but managed to buy a food truck on EBay while his partner navigated the shady black market of food truck permits. Today Mexicue has three brick and mortar locations and employs over 100 people. If you haven't had the pleasure of eating Mexicue, you are truly missing out! Listen to this week's episode to hear more about Thomas's path and the ins and outs of the food truck underworld.

Last week we heard from VFA Fellows Evan Brandoff and Zubin Teherani. This week, Jeremy sits down with Evan's big brother, Randy! Randy began his career at the private jet company, Marquis Jets which was eventually acquired by NetJets, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Randy stayed on as the CMO and helped create Avion Tequila. After 11 years Randy was ready to start his own venture, Eleven James, an annual membership club that gives you unprecedented access to hundreds of the world's most exquisite watch brands and styles. Download this week's episode to hear about how Randy is building a luxury watch business by treating his customers like gold and how he was able to walk away from a Warren Buffet owned company. 

Evan & Zubin met at Venture for America's second ever Training Camp and knew it was business partners at first sight. Evan spent his VFA Fellowship in Detroit as VP of Business Development at Benzinga while Zubin worked as the Manager of Business Development at IDScan in New Orleans. They always kept in touch, bouncing startup ideas off of each other in preparation to build a company. Evan had his "AHA" moment at a basketball tournament in Detroit where he realized that the best way for companies to connect with families was through youth sports games. He called Zubin with his idea and LeagueSide was born! Evan & Zubin joined the first ever VFA Accelerator at the end of their Fellowships with just an idea and finished 3 months later with real clients and a growing business. They have since hired a VFA Fellow as their first employee and continue to grow and scale at a rapid pace. Check out this week's episode of the Venture for America podcast to hear more about LeagueSide's fumbles and recoveries and

Sarah Kunst grew up in a tiny rural town in Michigan with one gas station and one stop light. At Michigan State University she was the ultimate brand rep on campus, working for Red Bull, Apple and 2 other brands simultaneously. Sarah's experience and hustle took her many places after college including Chanel, Guest of a Guest and a major VC firm. Today Sarah is working on her fitness app, Proday, which features a variety of engaging training routines led by fitness celebrities and world-renowned athletes. Download this week's episode to hear about how Sarah is building her company and all of the tidbits and tips she has for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Sarah Kauss has always been an environmentalist. Even when it wasn't fashionable to carry around a non-disposable water bottle, Sarah never used plastic bottles. It was on a hike with her mother in Arizona that Sarah realized that she had the vision and passion to start S'well, a company that creates chic and beautifully crafted bottles that keeps drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12. Sarah started with $30k and spent the first 2 years working on her company all by herself. Today S'well has over 40 employees and is sold in Bloomingdales, the MoMA store, and just inked a deal with Target. Hear more about Sarah's story and S'well's path to success on this week's episode of the Venture for America podcast!

The beginning of Bleacher Report almost reads like the beginning of a corny joke: “Four high school buddies launch a sports site..." Back in 2007 Dave Finocchio and 3 friends saw a gap between the sports coverage that was available and the "snackable" coverage that young people desired. Dave and his co-founders saw an opportunity to make sports fans happy and they took it! In this interview Dave takes Jeremy through the early days of Bleacher Report when the team, admittedly, had no idea what they were doing, to a pivot from a technology company to a media company, and the eventual sale to Turner Broadcasting System for $215 million. Along the way Dave leaves the company, travels for a year, and then comes back as CEO. Listen for yourself on this week's episode of Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture for America Podcast!

Bea Arthur is the definition of a hustler. Before finding her calling as a therapist, Bea dabbled in real estate and personal training, among other things. Bea had a rough start with In Your Corner (formerly Pretty Padded Room), appearing on Shark Tank with some less than friendly sharks who made her question her ability to build a real company. Bea kept at it and was accepted into Y Combinator in 2014 as the first African American female founder! For the past 5 years In Your Corner has found success as a tele-health platform that provides instant, expert support when you need it. Bea has a lot of exciting things in the works, including a new service to help military families and service personnel. Listen to this week's episode for a sneak peak of all that's coming up in Bea's world and the inside scoop on how to survive the Shark Tank.