Small City Startup: Recent Episodes
Ston Nguyen
How do startups build, scale, grow, and raise venture capital outside of Silicon Valley? We are here to find out.
Calvin Sedao is the founder and CEO of Awana.io, a platform that is globalizing employment to create opportunities in Latin America and open a larger talent pool for US companies. In this episode we talk about the pivot from the original business idea, and we also talk about the importance of networking.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Conscious Capitalism by John Mackey
- Awana website
- Calvin Sedao
Nigel Sharp has been a large player in the startup community for a long time. He has hosted Tedx Talks and organized startup events throughout the country. He is currently the CEO of Aquagga, which is an important Tacoma-based company focused on removing PFAS from our water streams. Listen to learn more about PFAS and Nigel's journey in the startup ecosystem.
- Dark Waters
- John Oliver on PFAS (Youtube)
- Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets by Al Ramadan
- The Startup Way: How Modern Companies Use Entrepreneurial Management to Transform Culture and Drive Long-Term Growth by Eric Ries
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you by Rob Fizpatrick
Claudius Mbemba is the CTO of Neu, a solution for Airbnb hosts and cleaners to easily collaborate with one another. In this episode, we talk about Claudius' extensive entrepreneurship background and some of his challenges in his current startup.
- Neu
- Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday
- Success Habits by Napoleon Hill
- The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni
- Claudius Mbemba LinkedIn
Branden Doyle is the founder and CEO of Violett, a startup that has a unique way of effectively purifying the air. In this episode, we discuss leaving his stable job during a pandemic, how he went from ideation to creation, and fundraising.
www.violett.com
The Lean Startup
Zero to One
Founder's Dilemma
Traction
Trajectory Startup
Matt is the founder and CEO of Namatad. Namatad creates easy-to-use technology that connects people, promotes safety, and enables data driven decision making. We talk about non-dilutive funding and forming the right team.
- Namatad Website
- Matt Tolentino LinkedIn
- The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek
- Startup Bible
- Dare to Lead & Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
Caleb Page is the Chief Executive Officer of PropertyScout.io. He is serial entrepreneur who has started and exited multiple companies. We talk about his experience in previous endeavors and how he ended up where he is today.
- www.propertyscout.io
- Caleb Page LinkedIn
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
- The E-Myth Revisited by Gerber Michael
- Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't by Verne Harnish
Will Gordon is the Chief Operating Officer at Latchel, an innovative tech solution for property managers. Latchel is a YC startup that is headquartered here in my hometown city of Tacoma, Washington. We talk about how he got started, his early funding, and his experience at Y Combinator.
- www.latchel.com
- www.startupschool.org
- Living With Complexity by Dan Norman
- Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug
- Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
- Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb
- Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
Tahni McGaughy joins me today from Empathy Admin. She is the Chief Marketing Officer and this isn't her first rodeo into business. We talk about some of her other earlier businesses, how she ended up here, and her future plans.
www.empathyadmin.com
Tahni McGaughy - LinkedIn
www.thesmallcitystartup.com
A Little Manual for Knowing - Esther Lightcap Meek
Syed Jamal is the founder and CEO of two companies right here in my hometown city of Tacoma. In this episode we learn how Syed came to the United States with only 6 months of savings and incorporating his business after one month of living in the States. We also discuss how he is building a tech platform with no tech experience.
www.branta.com www.collegey.com