Authentically Successful

Should you take venture money? "You really need to be up for growing a business, growing it relatively quickly, and finding an exit." — Seth Levine

On this episode of Authentically Successful, Carol interviews Seth, the managing director and co-founder of Foundry Group. The venture capital firm was formed in 2007 and has now grown to 75 employees. 

You’ll hear about Seth’s winding journey from majoring in psychology and thinking he would become a professor to working long hours at an investment bank to eventually leading a large company. 

He talks about the founding of Foundry Group and the world of venture capital. According to Seth, taking venture capital is not always the best course of action for entrepreneurs and they should do their research carefully before taking the plunge.

They also discuss Seth’s first book called “The New Builders: Face to Face With the True Future of Business” and the surprising facts about entrepreneurism today. 

BIO

Seth Levine is a successful venture capitalist and co-founder of Foundry Group, a venture capital firm based in Boulder, Colorado. In 2007, Seth and his team faced numerous challenges while raising their first fund, and he even considered finding another job to support himself after investing his life savings in the company. However the fund finally came together, and Seth and his team have since experienced great success in the world of venture capitalism.

Learn more about Seth Levine and Foundry Group.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“Don’t invite me onstage because I’m a female.” Bobbie Shrivastav says, “Invite me onstage because I have something valuable to add to the conversation.”

Bobbie, co-founder, and COO of Benekiva, is a second-time founder. She and her husband first created Docsmore, a document manager, and later moved on to join Benekiva, a platform that transforms the end-to-end insurance claims and servicing experience. 

In a previous episode, Carol interviewed Benekiva’s founder & CEO, Brent Williams. Now you’ll hear more about the industry from the perspective of his female co-founder.  Bobbie tells us how she and her husband met Brent initially and began working with him to form Benekiva. 

In this episode, she opens up to Carol about the reality of working with her spouse. They also discuss the delicate issue of being chosen because you’re a woman or racially diverse rather than being chosen based on what you bring to the table. 

There have been many lessons for Bobbie as a founder of both companies, but she touches on one that she considers most important: trust.

Learn more about Bobbie Shrivastav and Benekiva.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“The true answer in the startup world is those who are successful are almost always white men who have exited before.” Leslie Hyman says, “In order to compete particularly in the payment world and then in the multifamily world, it takes a fair amount of money. That is not easy, and I just want to call out, it’s hard, I mean women still get 2-3% of VC funds. That is unconscionable.”

Leslie co-founded Circa, an organization that is reinventing rent. The company created a platform for renters to customize their payment experience, splitting payments if needed. Their goal is to increase the overall number of people that can successfully pay rent. 

After working at large companies for many years, Leslie decided to take the leap and build her own business. She details the impetus for that decision as well as the long road of funding she and her co-founders went through to gain a footing in the space. 

In this episode, Carol and Leslie dive into how the platform works and the ideal client. Leslie explains that no marketing is needed because the demand is so high on the part of renters. They also discuss how people are discovering Circa and how that is shifting as they grow. 

Learn more about Leslie Hyman and Circa.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“I want to hear people acknowledge that they have failed,” Chuck Frydenborg says, “What I ask of my people is to make new mistakes. Don’t make the same ones over and over again. Then we got a problem. Make new ones. Learn from them.” 

MarketMuse, an AI platform for content creation and strategy, began as a personal science project. The original founder, Aki Balogh, was researching the space when he met the second founder, Jeff Coyle, and they joined forces to create MarketMuse 10 years ago.  

Where does Chuck come in? After a long career in sales, you’ll hear what made him join the organization and what led him to become CEO, replacing Aki.  He also tells us his initial concern with the company and why he chose to work there despite it. 

In this episode, Carol and Chuck discuss all things content, from how to generate topics effectively to analyzing the “why” behind the content. You’ll also hear about Chuck’s views on introspection and why he believes it’s significant in success. 

Learn more about Chuck Frydenborg and MarketMuse.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“I think we’ve learned pretty quickly that we can do work remote. (But) It is difficult to lead and it is difficult to be the leader you need to be without being around the leaders you’re going to replace,” Rick West says, “I think you’ll have a whole wave of people upset that they’re not the next partner…because they were in California on a beach doing amazing work but someone else was there around and available and they’re going to get those opportunities.”

Rick co-founded Field Agent, a marketplace that provides B2B retail solutions through mobile research and retail data collection. Rick dives into how his company functions and talks about their most recent creation of “Plum Marketplace” to speed up and transform the process of purchasing services. 

Field Agent was originally created as a tool for the larger product and eventually, they decided to focus in and scale it. You’ll hear how the economy at the time inspired people to start using their product.

In this episode, Carol and Rick discuss the swiftly changing technology in the industry and how Field Agent works to keep up with it. Rick discusses areas in his company’s growth that he would have approached differently in hindsight.

Learn more about Rick West and Field Agent.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“You take care of your people and your people take care of your company every day— on personal levels, professional levels. I know without a doubt that they have my back.” - Melissa Hurrington 

As CFO of Premier Claims, a public adjustment firm that advocates on behalf of the customer, Melissa leads with a people-first approach. 

Melissa says her company turns away about 50% of work because the policyholder may have been paid out appropriately or may not have had the right coverage in the first place. 

In this episode, Carol and Melissa discuss the inside workings and issues in the property insurance industry. They also delve into Melissa’s recruiting strategy and her unique way of hiring people based on skills- even if a title isn’t there. 

You’ll also hear about Melissa’s career journey including her time as an auditor, working concerts, and eventually the path that led her to Premier.

Learn more about Melissa Hurrington and Premier Claims.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“What we’ve done is we’ve really tried to take peoples’ skill sets and use them so that they’re not only doing what they’ve been hired to do but they’re doing what they love to do.” - Cynthia Adams

Cynthia and two others started GrantStation in a one-room cabin in the woods of Alaska. The organization was created to connect nonprofits with grantmakers nationally and internationally in order to get the funding they need. Years later, it has now grown to 20 employees as a membership-based model. 

At just 14, Cynthia had her first encounter with fundraising-- for a horseback-riding club she was a part of. She discovered she had a special ability to get funding for projects and eventually began her career working for nonprofits. 

In this episode, Cynthia and Carol discuss a challenge in the philanthropy industry right now: new funding sources throwing off the traditional funding landscape. Cynthia also reflects on an issue that faces small nonprofits trying to get grants and how it is a “numbers game”.

They also discuss the future of her company as she is planning to fully retire in the coming years. 

Learn more about Cynthia Adams and GrantStation.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Jagadish Gattu (Jag) came to the US from India to get his master's and stayed here ever since. After working at many companies, he realized that many customer needs could be better fulfilled through AI. 

In 2019 he founded UptimeAI, an artificial intelligence-based predictive maintenance software provider for companies in heavy industries. Since its start, the company has grown to 24 employees.

UptimeAI is different because it bridges the gap in knowledge in fields where this knowledge usually takes decades of experience to access. It uses human-like cognitive skills to problem-solve and self-learn, which distinguishes it from other tools, he says.

In this episode, he and Carol discuss the effect Covid had on the company and the culture he has proudly created at UptimeAI, along with the inner workings of his organization.

Learn more about Jagadish Gattu and UptimeAI.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

“I’m sorry– there is no balance. Some people can separate the two, you know, but overall it’s integrating and how do you bring it all together and make it work harmoniously together,” Dan LaBroad says. 

Dan’s company, Ovation Health and Life Services, is an employee benefits firm aimed at helping employers create better health plans. 

Dan began his career in the restaurant industry, completely unrelated, and eventually got into insurance when he needed a license for one of his jobs. He later quit and since he had the license, he figured, why not find a job in the insurance industry? That’s where it all began. 

In this episode, Carol and Dan discuss diversity and how it affects communication in modern-day companies. Dan dives into a major lesson for him: how to adjust spending based on client numbers. He also talks about the concept of “self-funding” which is transforming health care benefits.

Learn more about Dan LaBroad and Ovation.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

“We made a big mistake. We configured the platform where—luckily it never saw production because it was caught in testing– but we had where we pointed the system to the wrong logo,” Brent Williams tells Carol, “We owned it. We said ‘This is us, we did this.’” 

Brent founded Benekiva, a SaaS technology platform that aims to transform the end-to-end insurance claims and servicing experience. Four years ago the startup employed only three people, and today it employs almost 60 people.

After noticing the issue of an archaic claims and servicing system and then taking three years to research further, Brent began the journey of designing a platform to innovate it.

In this episode, Brent recounts the process he and his co-founders took to get the startup going, prioritizing product development over immediate sales. And they discuss a key part of their growth: speaking at conferences. 

Carol and Brent discuss his talent strategy, especially with such a high growth rate. And you’ll hear about his number one hobby-- golf.

Learn more about Brent Williams and Benekiva.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.