Atlanta Startup Podcast

ATDC is one of Georgia’s critical startup ecosystem drivers and one of the leading accelerators in the nation. Founded in 1980, ATDC has a global reputation for fostering technological entrepreneurship. Forbes named ATDC to its list of “Incubators Changing the World” in 2010 and 2013, alongside Y Combinator and the Palo Alto Research Center. Get to know Director John Avery. We dive into the various stages of membership at the ATDC and which level may be most appropriate for your startup. John shares some of the ways the ATDC has positively impacted the burgeoning Georgia ecosystem and some ways you can help support innovation in our state.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

By any criteria, Venture Atlanta, led by Allyson Eman, is a contender for the best place in the country to pitch your startup. Hear why, learn about their successes getting capital to startup outside of the Valley, and how you can get involved in this coming October's conference. This ep is full of insider tidbits that if you're investing OR raising capital, you don't want to miss. (Disclosure: Valor Ventures, which founded and underwrites this podcast, is a proud sponsor of Venture Atlanta.)Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Meet new Atlanta neighbor Rakesh Nankani, principal with University Growth Fund, one of the largest pure education investors in the country. University Growth Fund is a $54M second fund that trains students on how to manage deals. It is based in Salt Lake City and now has its sights set on Atlanta. Local principal Rakesh explains how he works with college students from public institutions who are doing hands on robust deal experience.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Startup Runway executive director Mecca Tartt and one of our podcast's cohosts, interviews four Atlanta pre-seed startup founders. You'll hear their tips on handling no, encouraging yourself before you see success, and pushing forward in the earliest days. Enjoy this discussion with eStreamly's Smitha Kommareddi, TotemID Biosciences' Monica Isgut, Ask Me Your MD's Patricia Marsh MD, and Helix Automotive's Keith Wilson.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Investor Ayanna Kerrison of Precursor Ventures joins us to talk about all things pre-seed investing. Ayanna's perspective is extremely valuable as Precursor is widely known as one of the first and most active pre-seed funds in the world--they firm has over 300 portfolio companies and was founded in 2015. Tune in for an enlightening episode as Ayanna joins the podcast to break down the firm's perspective on pre-seed investing. You'll learn how they write 20-25 checks a year and add value at the earliest stage of a startups lifecycle, and why she's bullish on southern startup founders. We're proud that Ayanna is a Startup Runway judge.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

For businesses both large and small, churn is a key KPI leaders try to wrap their heads around. Atlanta founder Sebastian Builes has built Arcum, which leverages AI to predict when your customers will churn up to 12 months in advance and more importantly, why they may churn. He joins the podcast to talk about growing up in Colombia influenced his entrepreneurial aspirations, how he’s formulated Arcum’s go-to-market strategy, and how he’s building community in Atlanta through this monthly founder meet-ups.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Meet venture capital investor Allyson Plosko of Spring Time Ventures, interviewed by Valor's William Leonard. The firm has roots in Boulder/Denver, and now Allyson is focusing on other geographies, especially the Southeast--drawn by the growth in this region. Allyson recently joined William as a judge for Startup Runway as part of her focus on finding more opportunities. In this episode, she shares what Spring Time is looking for in Atlanta and how she evaluates a great pitch.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Musheer Ahmed of Codoxo shares the core metrics that helped his startup raise an oversubscribed Series B. Plus, hear more about the unique strategy this Atlanta healthcare leader is pursuing, using an AI-based approach to combat financial fraud within healthcare.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

"Now SVB is focused on markets that have been untapped in the VC ecosytem," says Jaisa. As an Atlanta native and Howard grad, Jaisa Gooden has always been aware of the growth and potential of our area. Now, Silicon Valley Bank created a new position to focus on more banking opportunities for the region centered on Atlanta. Interviewed by Valor's William Leonard, hear Jaisa's perspective on why Silicon Valley Bank is doubling down on Atlanta and early stage founders in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Successful Atlanta startup founder Ryan Wilson shares his takes on fundraising, firm building, and The Gathering Spot's recent exit to Greenwood. He's interviewed by Interviewed by Lisa Calhoun, founding managing partner at Valor Ventures, who invested the first professional venture capital in The Gathering Spot. This dynamic conversation has lots of take aways for founders and investors building on the venture frontier.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

So what is it like to be a enterprise software expert, and turn your day to day into a project? Sal goes into detail about his journey as a tech leader and how he's taken the leap from project to product.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Founded in 2013, Ada Developers Academy is the top program for empowering women and gender expansive adults to become software developers for companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, and other household tech names. CEO Lauren Sato is expanding into Atlanta and discusses Ada's amazing placement statistics, why Atlanta is the perfect city for Ada's model, and how funding from Melinda French Gates will take the program to new heights in our city.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Ryan Johnson is co-founder of Cxmmunity, the most diverse Esports league in the world. Cxmmunity has support from Microsoft, Twitch, Verizon and others. An HBCU grad Ryan left corporate America in 2019, deciding to pursue entrepreneurship by combining his passions of video games and sports. You won't want to miss Ryan's insider views on major acquisitions in the gaming space and how the pandemic served as a tailwind for Cxmmunity's global expansion.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

As one of the largest ERPs globally, SAP invests in early-stage technology startups that strategically expand the SAP ecosystem and create value for their diverse group of customers. Head of Investments Sallie Jian joins the Atlanta Startup Podcast to break down her team's investment strategy, the value add that SAP brings to startups, and her take on the state of corporate venture capital. She's recently relocated to Miami and has Atlanta founders top of mind. You'll learn a lot about their startup program, Foundry, and how to win big with SAP's global footprint as a founder.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Founder Matt Pfaltzgraf packed up his car and drove to South Georgia to meet with his first investor. Now, his startup Softgiving creates high-impact online fundraising for brands & charities. Hear Matt's story of his leap of faith to creating an alternative fundraising solution that raises millions for influencers, brands, & charities.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

While working in the cybersecurity industry for Cisco, Founder Henry Zhang became aware of critical gaps that large cybersecurity corporations overlooked when it came to the security posture and safety of local businesses. He and co-founder Nicole Wraback, a Georgia Tech computer science engineering grad who studied AI, decided to invent a solution that could work for real people. They enrolled in Georgia Tech's Create-X student accelerator and met Robin Bienfait, of Valor. He then went through Startup Runway, Valor's pre-seed investor introduction platform. Valor led Senteon's seed round, which also had participation from Lytical Ventures and Purdue.Senteon's cybersecurity platform allows stakeholders to audit endpoint behavior and identify system-level settings that can be implemented on in-production machines to provide "best-case" system hardening.While many competitors in the space are only touching part of the process and still requiring some manual output, Senteon's platform creates baselines specifically tailored to the granular needs of each business unit, spending only a fraction of the time previously needed to achieve greater efficacy. Henry explains it why Senteon is different and how it helps in this fascinating conversation with Valor investor William Leonard.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

In this interview with Valor investor William Leonard, meet investor Mahati Sridhar of Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. Mahati has deep ties to Atlanta and the South, and she's bullish about investing in this region. Learn why Revolution is focusing on the South and the kinds of investments Mahati is looking for--it just might be you!Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Hear how Antoine Woods sees investing in Atlanta in this thoughtful conversation with Valor investor William Leonard. You'll learn about his first fund, what they're looking for, and why they're bullish about the growth and opportunity for founders in Atlanta--especially founders of color.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Georgia Tech leads the world in the number of startups launched, behind only Standard and MIT. Part of the magic is Create-X, a unique university accelerator that teaches students to build real businesses. Meet the man behind Create-X since 2019, Rahul Saxena, a GT grad himself with a robotics and genetics engineering background who's also worked as a VC, got an MBA from Emory, and experienced a turn-around as an operator. You'll hear how Georgia Tech sees "evidence based entrepreneurship." What Saxena says is, "You can actually teach entrepreneurship. It's a process." Don't miss this engaging interview with Valor investor William Leonard and learn all the tips Rahul has for starting great tech firms and the process of becoming a founder.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Now with five investments in the growing portfolio, Shila Nieves Burney shares with Valor investor William Leonard the types of bold and diverse founders she's looking to fund across the U.S. Don't miss this conversation with host, Valor investor William Leonard. She goes into the advantages and disadvantages of being a solo GP and how she's building Zane with passion and focus.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Did you know 2 of the top 4 software companies in the world are in Atlanta? That's what G2's 1.6 million software reviews say. Learn which companies these are, and get more inside stories from CEO and Founder Godard Abel of G2. He shares both founder challenges and successes on his path to building a unicorn company. If you are a founder, listen to this ep for tips on how his software ratings platform can bring you customers. Find out which metrics to use when you ask customers for reviews. You'll earn why Godard is expanding in Atlanta. Hint: it's not just that Atlanta has some of the best reviewed software in the world. There's more! Enjoy the episode with Atlanta Startup Podcast co-host Lisa Calhoun of Valor Ventures.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

"I was always an artist, but was not celebrated because it was not something you could make a career in growing up." Meet entrepreneur, former social worker, and artist Ashley Daramola, Valor's 2021 Art of Inclusion Honoree. She shares her fascinating story from social worker on Atlanta's toughest streets, to a startup founder working in her home community in Atlanta. The thread of using art to shine light in hurting souls makes this interview one of kind. Listen in.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Morgan J Ingram got a job out of school as a BDR --and it was NOT what he wanted to do. Sales is hard. This Atlanta leader applied himself and learned the ins and outs, becoming a self-taught top sales performer and sales manager. Now, his podcast, YouTube and consulting business takes the guess work out of top sales performance. Get his insights in this fun conversation with co-host and Valor investor William Leonard.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Students aren't well served with bolt-on 'adult' business tool like Zoom in the classroom. Naomi Thomas built her first computer at 6, and she's taking on the challenge of building a better, wholistic educational environment for all students at InfinityEDU. In this passionate, informed conversation with Atlanta Startup Podcast host and investor William Leonard, learn how the future of education is being re-imagined by pioneers like Naomi.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Ever had your platform go down? Hacked? Ransome? Software engineer and founder Doug Neumann of Arpio knows how painful all of that can be from first hand experience. He engineered his own one-button disaster recovery solution, which is now being used by airlines, software firms large and small, and many more. Learn from this down to earth, passionate expert about how to build better software now, interviewed by infrastructure and cybersecurity technologist Robin Bienfait, former CIO at Samsung and Blackberry.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Where are things growing? The Southeast. Jeff Uphues of DC Blox helps governments, counties, universities and other key organizations get the security and speed they need online. He explains how the market has evolved and what he's doing to make sure no American is left behind. He's bringing "Atlanta infrastructure" to places like Huntsville, Greenville, Birmingham and more. He's bullish on the Southeast's growth and is betting on it with his business plan--listen in!Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Interviewed by host Mecca Tartt, hear Inc. 5000 honoree and Global Licensing Top 20 entrepreneur Julie Newman of Artonomo, a recent Startup Runway Finalist. Julie struggled to find a content management platform for her brand Jewel Branding, and couldn't find it--so she built it. Hear her exciting story and learn how she went from professional services to software to support all creators.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Atlanta is the fastest-growing venture capital ecosystem in the country--and the most diverse. Could the VC climate get any hotter? Listen up as insiders Renee Montgomery, Robin Bienfait, Gary Peat, William Leonard and Lisa Calhoun of Valor Ventures help founders and investors get a compass on a new normal.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Atlanta psychologist and entrepreneur Dr. Yared Alemu of TQIntelligence is passionate about improving access to quality mental health care for youth from low-income communities. This visionary founder shares his perspective on the gradual adoption of AI in mental health applications, improved outcomes for underserved youth, and the overall state of innovation within the mental health world. With direct support from the NSF and Google For Startups, the company's core product Clarity AI is moving the needle in the right direction. Tune into this dialogue with host William Leonard of Valor Ventures. Guaranteed to inspire and inform listeners from all walks of life!Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Anne Bailey is an MBA student at Emory studying private equity in the popular class hosted by David Panton and Klaas Baks. She fell in love with the topic. In this unscripted and open-hearted episode, hear her ask co-host Lisa Calhoun, founder of leading seed-stage venture capital firm Valor Ventures, everything she wants to know about how to break into private equity in Atlanta. It's a fun, challenging conversation, and if you're curious about a career in private equity or venture capital, this conversation is for you!Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Using Florence Healthcare, doctors and nurses save time in clinical trials. Founder and CEO Ryan Jones joins William to talk through key lessons learned as a healthcare founder, finding early product-market fit, and innovation in clinical trials in today's pandemic healthcare environment.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

How do you improve the employee experience? With today's record unemployment, leaders are learning they better move fast. Atlanta Founder Prem Bhatia has been working the problem of better employee experiences for years. At Cooleaf, he is empowering mid to large enterprises to make data-driven decisions to continuously improve how their teams interact with the company culture. Cooleaf was just recognized on the Inc. 5000 as one of America's fastest-growing firms. Hear Prem's powerful founder story about Cooleaf's early pivot, critical lessons learned while building an HR startup, the importance of founder mentorship, and how employers are winning the talent strategy equation with Cooleaf. Can't miss material--tune in now.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

CEO and Founder Anisa Telwar Kaicker and her 500 team members operate global beauty powerhouse Anisa International, the "Apple" of beauty. This visionary shares her perspective on the beauty industry, including her unique definition of what beauty is. Can't miss moments in this heartfelt conversation with host Lisa Calhoun of Valor Ventures include -- her leadership secrets, how she recharges as a founder, how she changes herself to free her company to scale, founder health, and so much more. Listen to the end to hear Anisa share a board position she's recruiting for now.Please share this conversation with a founder who's scaling and could learn more from Anisa right here in Atlanta.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Enjoy a spirited conversation with Alana Mann about how she broke into VC, her blog series outlining conversations with early stage female founders, and her thoughts on navigating the frothy venture markets. Alana joins host William Leonard, investor at Valor, for Startup Runway this month and the two took the opportunity to dive into what's cooking now in early-stage investing.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Retail tech veteran and Black female tech founder Barbara Jones is building Lilli RnB, returns-management software that helps retailers solve billion-dollar fraud problems. Barbara shares her story of productizing her consulting business, building resiliency while fundraising, and leveraging the SalesForce to scale Lilli. This is a must-listen for experts who dream of building their expertise into a lucrative software platform.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

UGA Alum and Inbrain.ai Founder Jason Schubert built and exited his survey platform startup to the world's largest first-party data platform for insights, Dynata. Join us for a conversation every founder should hear, as Jason talks through his thought process of the acquisition and offers his insights for founders considering acquisition offers.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Meet Derrick Barker, CEO of Nectar, an Atlanta startup providing upfront cash for short-term rental operators and unlocking real estate cashflows for investors. Hear Derrick's story of exiting his first venture during undergrad, building a 4500+ unit real estate portfolio with his payout, and his strategic advice for early-stage founders thinking of participating in an accelerator. Derrick just graduated from Techstars in Atlanta.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Honored among the Top 40 Tech Companies in Georgia, Vouch.io unlocks digital keys for carmakers. Tune in to hear Vouch.io Cofounder Anthony Maley share leading edge innovation in the automotive industry. Learn if blockchain really is the future of your car!Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

As one of Atlanta's newest unicorns, Flock Safety equips neighborhoods and police departments in over 1200 cities with machine learning tools to mitigate crime. Founder and CEO of Flock Safety Garrett Langley openly shares how he navigates growth roadblocks and his mindset for building excellence. You don't want to miss his practical fundraising advice for founders in Atlanta.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

After spending a decade to perfect their process, Atlanta-based Nexus Fuels created a profitable and environmentally sustainable way to recycle plastics. Led by industry veteran Jeff Gold, Nexus has truly hit a gold mine--diverting 2.7M lbs of plastic from landfills. Jeff joins William to share more about finding product-market fit during the early days of Nexus Fuels and his thoughts on the future of cleantech in the US.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Learn about the founder's journey to a multi-million dollar startup from Candace. She's a Georgia Tech grad, a computer scientist, and an entrepreneur transforming the hair care industry with engineering. Hear her journey to building a tech platform for hair. Myavana uses artificial intelligence to recommend the perfect products --and some of the largest brands in the world are on board.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

The increasingly frequent occurrence of cyberattacks and ransomware has led to a more pressing need for proactive cyber awareness. Nick Santora and the Curricula team are bringing customization to cybersecurity training by allowing companies to generate modules that address firm-specific security concerns. Meet Nick and understand why Curricula's brings fun and fluidity to cybersecurity training.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Inovcares Founder and new Atlanta resident Mohamaed Kamara is modernizing healthcare for women of color. The tragic death of his sister in childbirth catalyzed him to take on changing the world. Hear Mohamed's insights around choosing the right business model, customer discovery tips, and why he feels Atlanta is the perfect city to build a healthcare startup.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

In this interview hosted by William Leonard of Valor Ventures with De'Havia Stewart of Softbank, Vernon Lee of Marathon, and Maria Velissaris of SteelSky Ventures, you'll hear what seed-stage VCs are looking for right now. If you're a founder, this is a can't-miss episode. Over half a billion of capital ready to invest right now is sharing their perspective on how to raise from them--listen now.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Hear two of Valor Ventures' team, general partner Lisa Calhoun and investor William Leonard, dive into trend for startups in the Southeast. This fast-paced conversation will help you get your arms around the valuations, the terms and the trends founders can expect raising a round right now. Listen in as two investors detail their craft and the insights they get from dozens of weekly founder interviews.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Founder Kristina Williams joins the Atlanta Startup Podcast to share about her journey of building Unpacking, a data-driven, gamified platform powering the future of diversity training. She's been backed by Beyonce and others to change DEI for better. After recently moving her business to Atlanta from the West Coast, she breaks down why she chose Atlanta (where else!?!) and why Unpacking's gamified approach to diversity training will change culture in a positive direction.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

First investor checks--that's the mission of the Startup Runway Foundation, backed by presenting sponsor Cox Enterprises and founding partners Truist, Georgia Power, Avanta Ventures, and Innovator's Legal. Meet the dynamic first executive director of the Startup Runway Foundation Mecca Tartt, interviewed by co-host Lisa Calhoun of Valor Ventures.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Founded in 2018, Atlanta startup Hermeus is seeking to shrink the world by connecting global cities through its hypersonic aircraft. Hermeus founder and CEO AJ Piplica sits down with Valor Investor William Leonard to expound on his vision for creating a hyper-connected world as hypersonic travel creeps toward commercialization.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

After successfully building, scaling, and exiting her fintech startup LoanHero, Kristin Slink moved across the country and joined the Advanced Technology Development Center as Fintech Catalyst. Founded in 1980, ATDC has developed a global reputation for fostering technological entrepreneurship. Forbes named ATDC to its list of “Incubators Changing the World” in 2010 and 2013, alongside Y Combinator and the Palo Alto Research Center. Hear Kristin elaborate on the numerous ways the ATDC supports not only Metro Atlanta founders, but founders across the state of Georgia.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.

Atlanta's booming film scene isn't just "LA does ATL." Jon Gosier shines light on rising film stars thanks to his startup FilmHedge, which helps connect emerging producers and investors with new projects for financing. Hear about this latest innovation in the film scene in this interview with Valor investor and host William Leonard.Let's take this conversation to real time. Join Valor for an upcoming event.