Metro Startup Launcher

Cornbread Hemp's Website In the last MetroStart podcast, we talked to Cornbread Hemp's Jim Higdon about their ongoing equity crowdfunding round. This week, we talk to Jim again about how they knocked it out of the park - nailing an oversubscribed $107,000 round in just 17 days! Listen to the podcast to learn how they were so successful, even in the middle of the Coronavirus shutdown.   Podcast Transcript (This is machine transcribed, so please forgive the typos.) Alan (00:03): Welcome everyone to the MetroStart podcast. This is Alan Grosheider and I'm here today again with Jim Higdon. Jim is the co founder of Cornbread Hemp ,and it's a first for Metrostart because I'm interviewing Jim for the second time in a row. So it's the first time I've ever interviewed the same person twice right in a row. And there's a good reason for that. In the last podcast we talked about a capital raise that a cornbread hemp was going through and what was the first, because they received $20,000 from Render Capital and they were the first to be accepted into we funders special program with render capital for a discounted rate with we funder and they were doing a capital raise and I won't spoil the surprise but uh, about what happened cause we'll talk about it but Hey Jim. Okay, great to have you back again. And I guess we'll go ahead and say what it is and congratulations because Jim and Cornbread Hemp, they just finished a fund raise on Wefunder and raised the full amount in, what was it, two weeks? Jim (01:20): It was 17 days. Alan (01:24): Wow and in the middle of the coronavirus thing, Jim (01:29): Right in April of 2020. Alan (01:33): Crazy. But it's a, it's a great sign of what's going on with crowdfunding. Crowdfunding. Equity crowd funding is a really good way to raise capital for your company. Even in tough times. Probably an easier way during tough times if it's a product that people like and people can identify with. Um, so quickly, just, just so in case somebody is listening to this podcast and didn't listen to the other one, tell a little bit about what corn bread hemp is. Jim (02:03): Sure. So cornbread hip is a CBD brand based here, Louisville, Kentucky, where the first Kentucky based CBD brand to offer USPA certified organic CBD oils, which is how we kind of got out of the, uh, out of the norm brands and really elevated ourselves to a national level. Um, we've been, uh, we've been offering certified organic CBD products since, uh, the end of last year. Uh, and, um, we had been plotting several different fundraising strategies last year and nothing really clicked. A Louisville is a particular sort of, uh, you know, ecosystem, uh, for capital and fundraising. Um, and so at the beginning of the year we decided to shift gears and pursue a crowd funding strategy. Equity crowd funding was new to me, a learn. Most of my beginning, uh, understanding of crowd was through talking to you and some of these other folks in the Louisville startup community. Um, I was familiar with a Kickstarter and go fund me and Patrion, but none of those are pro, uh, platforms that, that sell equity, uh, in a, in a crowdfunding capacity. Jim (03:16): So understanding the mechanics of what equity crowd funding would look like is something that I had to learn on the fly and we put these pieces together and we were ready to go. Um, in March, uh, we were going to go on another platform and someone in the Louisville startup community, actually, Larry Horn at leap said, told us, Hey, did you know about this matching fund between render and we funder. Um, and we didn't. So we switch gears and replatform I'm really in the Nick of time. Um, and um, it just really set us up for success. Uh, we got that Mmm relationship between render and we funder, um, that we got a discount on the percentage that we funder's going to take on the res. And a render matched our first 20 K. so on our first day out in the, in the raise,

Cornbread Hemp's Website Louisville's Cornbread Hemp just scored a local fundraising first. They're the first company to receive Render Capital's $20,000 investment in their WeFunder Match Fund. They're also the first local company to raise funds using Regulation CF equity crowdfunding through WeFunder, one of the nation's top equity crowdfunding portals. Equity crowdfunding is the way of the future for startup companies, and Cornbread Hemp is blazing the trail in the Louisville area. In this episode of the MetroStart podcast, learn: --- how Cornbread hemp got started; --- what they learned about equity crowdfunding; --- the pros and cons of equity crowdfunding; --- pitfalls to avoid; and --- how to make equity crowdfunding successful.     Transcript (This has been machine transcribed, so there may be some typos.) Alan (00:02): Welcome everybody to the MetroStart podcast. I'm Alan Grosheider, and today I'm talking to Jim Higdon. He's a cofounder of Cornbread Hemp Company, and we've been talking about raising capital and what he did to get his company started for a little while. And I've been trying to give him any experience that I could and what I've learned in raising capital. And he is hot in the middle of doing a regulation CF crowdfunding capital raise on Wefunder. So we thought it was a good, a good time for us to talk, to help others learn the process that he went through to get his company started and, and what he's doing to raise capital. Hey Jim? Jim (00:47): Uh, Hey. Thanks for, thanks for having me. It's really, this is really great. Alan (00:51): Yeah. So just, just for recording our thoughts right now, we're, we're right in the middle of all the coronavirus stuff and everybody's on lockdown and staying home. So it's, it's a really weird, interesting time. Jim (01:07): Yeah. It's a strange time to be running a business and raising capital. It really kind of afraid about, uh, you know, how this was, you know, obviously you and I had been talking about Cornbread Hemp and us raising capital for six months now or so. Um, and so this is not an, not a new thing for us, but as we finally got our legs under us and finally figured out the path forward and how to do a reg CF crowd fund and, and, and, and to find the right platform for our crowd fund, uh, all these things took a little time and as soon as we got everything lined up ready to go, that here here comes a global pandemic, you know, not something that we anticipated dealing with obviously. Um, but you know, doing a quick heat check on ourselves and our company, we really feel like we're a company of the moment. Uh, we were getting reviews from customers saying that our products help them with the anxiety they're feeling as a result of social distancing, uh, related to the coronavirus. And it's just a really, um, it's a really good time too to be, I'm trying to grow a company that is helpful in this situation. Alan (02:18): Yeah, I think there's, there, there are a few industries that are going to do pretty well. You know, my day job is a company called Bluetooth 22 that helps companies manage remote employees and manage remote contractors. And it looks like it's actually going to be something that is a good thing in this weird economy where people can't travel. Jim (02:42): So we're, or the travel is certainly going to be deemphasized and all alternatives are going to, are going to be looked at first. Alan (02:49): Right. So let's talk about how you got the company started and maybe maybe a little bit of back about your background first. Where did you grow up in the Louisville area? Jim (02:59): I grew up in Lebanon, which is Marion County, which is on the other side of Bardstown, hens on who you ask whether that's the Louisville area or not. But anytime I've ever been in a bar and anyone asks me where I was from, I can always point to the bottle of maker's Mark behind the bar and say,

Steven Plappert and two co-founders, Andrew Busa and Chris Pierce, started an online fantasy sports company in 2013 called FantasyHub. The company saw early promise and growth, moved to Austin, TX to join the TechStars accelerator program, and even attracted $1.1 million in investments. However, due to issues in the industry as a whole, FantasyHub eventually shut down and sold parts of their operations to another fantasy sports company called DraftKings. In the world of startup companies, you learn more from being in the game than you ever could from reading any books or even earning an MBA. So, the experience was a fantastic learning opportunity. Steven is now back in Louisville, sharing his experience with our local startup community. He's also back in the game with a new startup called Forecastr. In this episode of the MetroStart podcast, learn how Steven got started as an entrepreneur, how he funded his previous company, and what he has learned from his entrepreneurial journey. Also learn what's happening with his new startup and where they're going.   Transcript (Machine transcribed, so please forgive the typos.) Alan: 00:02 Hey everybody. Welcome to the MetroStart podcast. This is Alan Grosheider. On this podcast I talk to local entrepreneurs about how they got started, about their ups and downs, and about anything else that might help other entrepreneurs. Today I'm talking to Steven Plappert. He started a company a while back called FantasyHub, and he's currently the CFO and in business development for a company called VentureFirst, and is building another startup called forecaster. Hey, Steven. Steven: 00:28 Hey Alan. How's it going? Alan: 00:30 Good. Does that, did I say everything right there? I said, is that accurate? Steven: 00:34 Sorry, I'm, I'm not the CFO of venture first. I'm in the finance department, so I do operate as an outsourced, uh, head of finance or CFO for a lot of our client companies, but not a venture first proper. Alan: 00:46 I got you. Steven: 00:46 Other than that, you've got it perfect. Alan: 00:48 I understand. Did I say Plappert right? You did. You did. All right. Everybody butchers, my last name is pronounced "Gross - Hider", not "Gro - Shider" you know, so I'm used to, so anyway, let's talk about kind of how you got started. I love finding out what people, you know, when people kind of got the entrepreneurial bug. And I'm always interested in finding out what, what got you started at a young age. Were you entrepreneurial as a kid? Steven: 01:19 Yeah, I'd say so. I was definitely entrepreneurial is that give, but I don't think I used that term or knew that I was, if that was, you know, I mean I, I was very curious. Uh, I was always very independent. I was kind of uh, do my own thing kind of guy. And I always asked a lot of questions. So I think at a basic level that's kind of the entrepreneurial mindset, you know, you want to asking questions, solving problems, being kind of a self starter. Um, and actually my father was an entrepreneur and still today as he's owned his own business for the last 20 years, uh, somewhat paradoxical. I didn't really view him as an entrepreneur because again, I would, didn't really have a lot of exposure to that world. So I didn't really see him as a, as a founder, if you will. Steven: 01:59 I just saw him as I just said, hey, you know, I Know Dad dad's got his own thing. Uh, but that's all I really, really thought about. And, uh, when I went into, when I went into college, actually wasn't planning on starting my own business at all. I wasn't even on my radar. Uh, I was always kind of a math nerd growing up and that was always my forte. So when I went into college I was like, well, you know, I'm good at math and I want to make a good money so you know, what's the profession where I could do that? And I looked at, I was actually considering being an actuary as funny as that is to me now,

People often cite healthcare as an area of expertise that may help propel Louisville, KY to greater startup and business prominence in the United States, and Dr. Angelique Johnson is helping us make that happen. She holds undergraduate degrees in mathematics and in computer engineering, a masters in electrical engineering, and a PhD in electrical engineering. Her doctoral work lead her to the development of technologies that she now applies in her own company called MEMStim. To quote directly from their website: "At MEMStim we produce implantable electrode leads capable of providing targeted electrical stimulation to highly dense and small nerve fiber groups. Using automated Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) manufacturing similar to that of the micro-computer chip industry, we create biocompatible electrode leads, which, just like computers, can be made smaller, and do much more than their hand-assembled counterparts." The website also notes that, "We are an early stage startup dedicated to enhancing the full lives of individuals with Parkinson’s tremors, chronic pain, or hearing loss." So, Elon Musk is not the only guy out there creating implants! Learn how Dr. Johnson got started and how she is helping to put Louisville on the high tech healthcare map.  

After years of working in the corporate world, Mo Sloan saw a need. Online ordering systems that were available to restaurants had a glaring problem. They do not integrate with the restaurant's current point-of-sale systems. This causes many restaurants to forego offering any sort of online ordering, even though the demand is very high. Mo set out to create a solution: EZ-Chow. The company found early traction and is growing fast. Entrepreneurs like Mo are a great example of how the "Third Wave" of growth of the Internet is happening. Specifically, people like Mo with industry experience are spotting problems and creating solutions with current technology. Learn how Mo saw the opportunity, how he got started, and where EZ-Chow is headed in this MetroStart podcast interview.  

What single Louisville company is part of the same fraternity as Airbnb and Dropbox? It's a company called WeatherCheck, and they now are an alumnus of the prestigious Silicon Valley accelerator Y-Combinator. They're the first and only Y-Combinator company to date from Kentucky! Demetrius Gray, Founder of WeatherCheck, and Co-Founder Jermaine Watkins recently returned from their 4-month stint with the accelerator, and it has proven to be an amazing accelerator for their company. In this podcast, I have an in-depth conversation with Demetrius and learned: ◊ more about his background and how he became and entrepreneur, ◊ how WeatherCheck got started and raised early seed capital, ◊ how they got into Y-Combinator, ◊ what they learned from Y-Combinator that can apply to our startup community, and ◊ where they're headed. This is a must-listen podcast for our startup community and aspiring entrepreneurs.   Transcript (This was machine transcribed. Please forgive the typos.) Alan: 00:00:01 Hi everybody. Welcome to the MetroStart podcast. This is Alan Grosheider, and today I'm interviewing Demetrius Gray. He's a founder of WeatherCheck and the first Louisville area company to, I think. right Demetrius, ever get into Y-Combinator? Demetrius: 00:00:18 Yeah, man. The first actually in the state of Kentucky. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. That's, wow. Alan: 00:00:25 That's pretty amazing because that's one of those, if you're an entrepreneur, you've heard of y Combinator and you've heard of Airbnb and I guess Dropbox and some of the big companies that have gone through y Combinator. So congratulations man. That's amazing. Demetrius: 00:00:39 Man. It was, it was a heck of an experience. I mean we, uh, we were out there for like three months and I'm like, I'm just telling you, you know, I'm out there still once a month for about a week at a time and um, it's been really cool to kind of, um, build a little bit of a bridge to the bay area, um, with a heck of a lot of access. Alan: 00:01:02 Yeah. And I think I'm excited because it seems like that access is going to be good for other companies in our area, since you guys are pretty tied into the startup community. And in fact, you know, you and I have, have, have some combined founders and, and you know, I, hopefully it's going to be good for the whole startup community. It's those connections kind of take off. Okay. All right, well why don't we start, let's kind of get an idea about, I like to find out what got somebody started being an entrepreneur and it seems like there's a lot of common common denominators that, you know, got somebody that made somebody want to be an entrepreneur. So I'm just curious, you know, about growing up and what got, what made you want to be an entrepreneur? Would you do, what was your, your childhood like were you an entrepreneur as a kid? Those sorts of things. Demetrius: 00:01:54 Yeah. So, um, so you've heard of the Book Rich Dad, Poor Dad? Yeah, I probably will eventually write a book called Black Dad White Dad. Alan: 00:02:06 Okay. Demetrius: 00:02:08 Um, my mother actually married a, um, petroleum engineer, white guy from, um, uh, central California, um, Stanford educated, um, petroleum engineer. Um, his, his, his father actually had invented the horizontal drill, um, for the oil and gas industry, which really kind of, um, opened my world. And then, um, my, uh, grandmother on that side, um, her father had invented a form of die casting, um, called Granger's. Dot Casting and southern California. And so, um, it was really my first sort of foray into entrepreneurship, having watched to them I'm running oil and gas proliferation company, um, that was eventually sold to Halliburton. Um, then, uh, before that, um, then watching my, my great grandfather Harlow's, um, die casting company, um, pass success simply through generations and eventually be sold. Um, and so, you know, every meal was about sort of like what's going on in the busin...

  Since the very beginning, MetroStart (formerly Metro Startup Launcher) has worked to make it easier for startup companies in our area to raise capital and get started. With a lot of trial and error, we believe we have figured out a much easier way for startups to raise capital. The same method allows investors to invest smaller amounts and spread their risk, which statistically produces huge returns compared to typical stock market returns. As we have worked to build the audience for MetroStart over the last couple years, we've heard a lot of common themes: ◾ It's REALLY difficult to raise the first $25,000 to $50,000 for startups that need a small amount of cash to get started. ◾ NO ONE wants to be the first investor to help me get my concept off the ground. ◾ After raising my initial chunk of capital (sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars), we just can't seem to find any additional investors. ◾ All the serious angel investors say they are tapped out.   And, from the investor side, we've heard similar things: ◾ I don't want to be the first investor on someone's idea. ◾ Come back after you have proven your concept. ◾ Come back after you have traction in the marketplace. ◾ Come back after you're profitable. ◾ I invested $25,000 in a startup one time, and I lost all my money. I'm not doing that again.   Not only does this lack of very early stage capital lead to less startups, this means that the MAJORITY of ideas for companies never get started at all. I'm not saying that ALL ideas deserve to be funded or should even get started. However, there are many great ideas and great companies that never get started and/or eventually fold because they can't raise the capital they need to maintain momentum. From the investor side, it makes sense for us to launch a lot more startups and for investors to invest in a lot more startups. If you download MetroStart's ebook, Little Angels, Big Profits, and look at the information contained in multiple studies of angel investors, there's an important statistic. Angel investors MUST invest in multiple startups in order to be profitable. Here's the stats: ◾ If you invest in one startup company, you're likely to lose all your money. ◾ Invest in 6 or more startups, and you'll probably reach break-even. ◾ Invest in 12 or more startups in a 5 year period, and you'll start to approach a 27% annual return on your investments.   I think this leads to a pretty obvious plan for our area: ◾ Teach startups how to set up their company, file with the SEC, and raise capital in small chunks (as small as $1,000 per investor). ◾ Make it easy for investors to invest small amounts ($1,000 or so) in multiple startups. ◾ Help the best startups get the funding they need to get started and grow. ◾ Help angel investors actually make money over time through DIVERSIFICATION.   What have we learned: After assisting with several local capital raises, we believe we found a formula that works: 1 - Create your company as an LLC so that you can write off all early losses. 2 - Write a short business plan that is polished enough to get investors to write you a check. 3 - Create a SAFE agreement, which investors will sign to invest as little as $1,000 in your company. 4 - Submit a Regulation D 506(b) SEC filing, which allows you to take investments (privately) from any number of accredited investors and up to 35 non-accredited investors per year. 5 - Raise capital from family and friends (including non-accredited). 6 - Switch to a Regulation D 506(c) SEC filing, which allows you to ADVERTISE as much as you want and take investments from accredited investors only. 7 - Advertise on LinkedIn, Facebook, and social media to find investors that have interests in your product or service. So what are we doing to help: 1 - We're in the process of creating an online course that will provide complete step-by-step details on how to perform all the steps above.

Patrick Henshaw came to Louisville about 4 months ago to lead the Louisville Entrepreneurship Acceleration Partnership (LEAP) as CEO. If you're part of our entrepreneurial community, you've probably seen him speak at an event or two. You've probably heard some of his vision for the local startup world. However, he probably hasn't had time to talk too much about his background. It's become more and more clear with successful entrepreneurial communities around the country that startup communities are more successful when they are lead by entrepreneurs. Well, when you hear his story, you'll see that Patrick has real, in-the-trenches, entrepreneurial experience, including pitching many, many, many angels before getting his first investment. In this podcast, you'll learn about his entrepreneurial journey and more, including his real life combat experience, which earned him a Bronze Star. You'll also find out what Patrick has learned from 4 months on the job and his thoughts about the growth and success of our startup community. So enjoy the latest MetroStart podcast with Patrick Henshaw. Transcript (machine transcribed, so please forgive the typos) Alan: 00:02 Hey everybody, welcome to the MetroStart podcast. This is Alan Grosheider. And today I'm talking to Patrick Henshaw . He's the CEO that was just brought in about four months ago to run the label entrepreneurship acceleration, partnership or leap. And uh, we've met a number of times that I've seen him speak a number of times at events. And, uh, with this podcast we're going to kind of dig a little deeper into who Patrick is and how he's qualified to help us bring our startup community together and accelerate this startup community. So, Hey Patrick. Patrick: 00:37 Hey Alan. How are you? Alan: 00:39 I'm doing all right. We've, we've already had our discussion about the weather so we can, Patrick: 00:44 right. I'm more impressed not only at the weather but the fact that you knew the entirety of leaping its acronym of Louisville Entrepreneurship acceleration partnership. That's good. Alan: 00:54 Well that's the benefit of being able to sit on my computer while we're having the interview. Cause I'm looking at here at your linkedin profile right now. I love it. I can like bending. You're one of those guys like me that has your whole resume on there. And so now I can really just roll through it and pick, you know, try to find things to ask you about some Patrick: 01:14 that's right. Well, it's been quite the journey with, uh, I think we're up to 20 addresses in 20 years now. So literally and physically been all over the place. Alan: 01:23 I, you know, I was rolling through your resume out here and just thinking, man, um, you know, you're, for one thing, you're younger than me and you've in so many places and done so many different things on there. I don't even know how you were able to keep your head on straight while you're doing awesome. Patrick: 01:40 Supporting spouse Alan: 01:41 Yeah, and married to the same person the whole time. Patrick: 01:45 Yeah, exactly. Alan: 01:46 Yeah, that's, that's amazing itself. So once you kind of start with, um, where you grew up and I always like to try to figure out what things in your childhood made you more entrepreneurial than somebody else now what, where, where'd you grow up? What was your childhood like? And you know, we don't have to get into like anything really traumatic rating. Patrick: 02:10 We can, we can go there too. I'm a, I'm a transfer kind of guy. So I grew up in Houston, Texas, uh, born and raised, uh, moved once my entire life. Uh, one, one of the reasons was because of, uh, our neighbors. Uh, their backyard. Well, I'll fast forward the story because it was full of grass. Uh, I, he marijuana, uh, and that was not as kosher as it was as it is moving into today. So it was, it was not a great neighborhood shop of the day, old bread store, you know, uh,

Rebah Wheeling was a successful insurance claims adjuster. One emotional day while meeting with a hurricane victim lead to the founding of her fast growing local company - Schedule It. In this podcast, Rebah talks about the emotional moment that lead her to start her company. Her description of the process of building her company is a MUST-LISTEN for any aspiring entrepreneur in our area and anyone else who would like to see our area prosper with technology startups in the "Third Wave" of the global economy. Learn how she got started, how she got funded, and how she is building a very successful software as a service company right here in the Louisville area.   Transcript (machine transcribed - please forgive the typos) Alan: 00:01 Hey everybody, welcome to the Metro Startup Launcher podcast. This is Alan Grosheider and today I'm talking to Reba wheeling with schedule it and we've known each other for a while, but I think we were introduced originally about Greg Langdon. Right. Rebah: 00:17 I think that everybody gets introduced to somebody else by greg, master connector in the city Alan: 00:24 every time you ever talked to anybody to make a connection Xyz and that's almost, they're always first responses. Have you talked to Greg Langdon and is he. Rebah: 00:36 No, I mean as a volunteer in our city, I don't think he's paid by anybody. I mean what an incredible asset that we have in our community with Greg Langdon. Alan: 00:44 Yeah. He really works tirelessly for without anybody around him and I don't know how he does it, but it is nice to have somebody working that hard for the community and I think our startup community. Yeah, there's been. I think there's been some of the early things with metro startup launch era. I said, what's wrong with our startup community? It wasn't really intended to say there that we have a bad startup community. It, it was just saying what could we do better? And I kind of put it in a way that was a little maybe abrasive to some people, but that got attention. But our startup community is really great, you know, it's so supportive and you know, people like Greg and enterprise court for the size of our city, we really do have a lot going on and start a community now. We just need a few more billion dollar companies that put money back into it. So I just wanted to kind of what I normally do, I don't know if you've listened to any of the metro startup launch your podcast, but a lot of times I just talk to people about their journey getting started as an entrepreneur. Maybe things that you did early in life that led you to become an entrepreneur. Were you somebody that did a lot of entrepreneurial things as a kid? Rebah: 02:04 Um, I grew up in an entrepreneurial family for sure construction businesses, um, you know, and my family's in medical. They're in construction there in restoration on the insurance side, so our dinner conversations were always about profit loss, employee issues, benefits, um, you know, rfps, all those types of things. So I didn't know really that there was another way to be able to live even though I did go to corporate and corporate environment. Alan: 02:43 So when, when you were growing up, were you thinking, I don't ever want to get into all that because I know my daughter, uh, I have always been an entrepreneur and her mom has always been an entrepreneur and a lot of times these days she'll say, that seems too stressful for me. I don't want to get into all to being an entrepreneur. Was that, did you think you would eventually become an entrepreneur? Rebah: 03:07 No, I mean my goal is a little girl was never to grow up and own a technology company for sure. Um, you know, um, when I started out then I really focused on just doing the best at whatever I was doing at that time. I owned my own business at night. Um, I burnt myself out at 23. Then, um, I went to the medical field, uh, took the logical, um, you know, and the more you work,

What's the most effective way to raise capital for your startup? How do most companies actually raise capital for their startup in our area? What changes in SEC law have made it easier to reach a lot more investors? What's the best way for YOUR startup to raise capital? In this video and podcast, Alan Grosheider, Director of Metro Startup Launcher, recaps his recent speech at Venture Connectors to discuss all of the above and more. Transcript Below (Machine transcribed, so please forgive the typos.) Hey everybody, it's Alan Grosheider with Metro Startup Launcher in this video and we'll also put it out as a podcast on how to get capital for your startup. I'm recapping a speech that I gave recently to venture connectors and in the speech I talked about what seems to be working and not working for raising capital for your startup in our area and some of the law changes that allow you to be more public about raising capital for your startup and what I would recommend that you do. So first let me ask you if you think it's a good idea to raise capital from lots of small investors to get your company started. Well, let me give you a couple examples of companies that have done that and had been very successful with it. The first I witnessed myself when I was going to college, I would come home in the summertimes and workout at a gym in Southern Indiana and at that gym there was a guy who would walk around asking people to invest in his company and he was asking for five or $10,000 and talked to a guy, another guy one time who was pointing in mountain talking about it and said, this guy's crazy. He walks around the gym every time he's here and he's trying to get people to invest in his company and he thinks he's going to build this big national company and it's going to compete with pizza hut and little caesars and dominoes. So I think you can probably guess who I'm talking about: Papa John. Everybody's heard the story about him selling his Camaro so he could buy an oven and put the oven in his dad's bar and get his company started. But what they haven't heard is he also raised capital from fairly small investors in a number of fairly small investors in the area to get the company started. And of course now he is the first Forbes 400 billionaire in the Louisville area. So the point is small investors can definitely lead to big success. I'll give you another example. My company, it was called ESA1 in 1994. I was 25 years old and I found for investors to put $6,000 each into my company and I started this company that was going to be a nationwide environmental inspection company. We then ended up, I ended up putting an $85,000 on credit cards and I definitely would not recommend that to anybody. But from there we raised $350,000 from 52 to individual investors. And then finally $3,000,000 from a venture capital firm. From there we built the company to include operations in all 50 states with employees in 30 different cities around the country. So again, small investors can definitely lead to big success. So how do you do it? If you want to raise capital for your startup, the classic way I'll call it this, is the way that most companies still raise capital around here and probably the most common way that's raised around the United States. You start with an idea and then you form your corporation and you create a business plan. Then you get your friends and family to invest in. Hopefully you've got some friends and family who are willing to put some money in that. If you're lucky, you find a lead investor and the lead investor knows how to set up all of these things. They set up your help. You set up your Cap Table and your valuation and shareholder agreement. All of the different pieces that you need in order to successfully raise more capital and then the lead investor helps you go out and get more investors. But this can. There's a lot of places this can go wrong,