Skin in the Game VC Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Investing in Startups with Brad Feld Feb 01, 2023

Show notes

Brad Feld, an avid ecosystem-builder, tech entrepreneur, and early-stage investor for over 35 years shares his insights on the venture capital, startup, and tech community in this episode of Skin in the Game VC Podcast. Brad began his journey in tech and venture capital in the ‘80s and has since become a respected and influential figure in the industry. He has written several books on entrepreneurship and venture capital and started blogging in 2004 before VC Twitter existed.

Join Tom Wallace as he dives into the world of angel investing in startups with Brad Feld where they’ll discuss his successes, what it takes, and where startup investing could be going.

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Building a Betr Company with Joe Levy Aug 12, 2022

Show notes

On this episode, Tom interviews Joey Levy. You may have seen him recently all over the news and social media alongside his business partner and top sports influencer Jake Paul. They have recently launched Betr (initially known as Instabet), the world’s first micro-betting focused app and new media venture for the next generation of sports fans.

If you want to learn more about investing in early-stage tech like a venture capitalist, be sure to visit the Florida Funders website at floridafunders.com. Join our angel network at no cost and get access to Florida Funders VC-vetted investment opportunities in the next great breakout tech companies.

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Building a Tech Community with Lakshmi Shenoy of Embarc Collective Jul 13, 2022

Show notes

Lakshmi Shenoy is the CEO of Embarc Collective in Tampa, Florida. Tom Wallace discusses her story and how she ended up helping to build and lead the fastest-growing startup hub in Florida.

If you like what you hear, please rate us 5 stars and check out other episodes here: https://www.floridafunders.com/category/podcast/

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Lessons Learned in Early Stage Tech Investing During Market Downturns Jul 13, 2022

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Florida Funders partners Tom Wallace and Marc Blumenthal discuss the ups and downs of markets and the lessons learned from the past. Learn more about early-stage tech investing during these times.

If you like what you hear, please rate us 5 stars and check out our site: https://www.floridafunders.com/category/podcast/

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Tony DiBenedetto: Thinking Big Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

Hello, my name's Tom Wallace, and I'm the Managing Partner of Florida Funders. Welcome to Florida Funders podcast. Our podcast is all about how to make all of us better angel investors, or better founders or entrepreneurs. We really address two audiences here. One thing that I love about angel investing and entrepreneurship is, it's so dynamic, so fluid, and there's always something new to learn, and somebody new to learn from. Our guest this week is Tony Dibenedetto.

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Elias Torres: Elevating Minority Founders Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

When you paint a picture in your head of the American Dream, what do you see? For many of us, it involves the vision of being ‘self-made’ and designing our own destiny, no matter where we came from.

For Elias Torres, the choice his mother made when she immigrated from Nicaragua to Tampa would prove to be a fortuitous one in helping him realize that dream. After his early start at IBM, Torres became committed to the vision of entrepreneurship. With Drift, his current company, he has proven time and again that Latino founders deserve a place amongst the world’s biggest capital projects.

Torres is the founder and CTO of Drift, the world's leading conversational marketing and sales platform.Drift helps businesses connect with customers who are ready to buy. After just three years in the market, Drift has become one of the fastest growing SaaS companies of all-time and was named to the Forbes Cloud 100, LinkedIn Top 50 Startups, Entrepreneur's Top Company Cultures, Boston Business Journal's Best Places to Work, and SaaS Company of the Year by the NEVCA.

Listen to today’s episode of Investing in Florida Technology and hear how Elias made the incredible leap from struggling to take orders in English at his fast food job as a teen to becoming Chief Technology Officer of his own company. He also discusses dealing with imposter syndrome, starting with a new company just weeks before the 2008 crash, and the major expansion plans he has for Drift.

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Some Questions Asked:

You came here at a young age from another country, can you tell us about that? (01:37)
What was your first entrepreneurial venture? (12:32)
Can you tell us about Drift, your current company? (17:30)
Can you explain to the listeners the difference between venture capital and private equity? (31:29)
Would you ever consider moving Drift’s headquarters to Florida? (39:59)

In this episode, you will learn:

How and when Torres became interested in tech (03:48)
Torres’s early start with IBM (06:42)
What the original vision was for Drift (21:43)
Why venture capitalists love first generation immigrants (25:49)

Connect with Elias:

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David Blumberg: From the Bay to the Magic City Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

It's been more than 18 months since the COVID-19 pandemic started and we experienced weeks of lockdowns, quarantines, and a total reconfiguration of the way we work.

For venture capitalist David Blumberg, the pandemic took him from his ancestral home of California across the country to Florida. Realizing that he was no longer chained to his fixed, physical office in San Francisco, he took the plunge and moved over 3,000 miles in order to take advantage of the up-and-coming vibe of Miami, as well as the state’s business-friendly regulations and taxes. David learned how to take advantage of the pandemic and was able to recognize it as -- as he puts it -- a catalyst of virtualization, innovation, and decentralization.

Blumberg is the founder and managing partner of Blumberg Capital, a private Venture Capital firm investing in early-stage IT, digital media, social media, mobility, Internet, e-commerce, payments, SaaS, and tech-enabled services. He also serves as a board member of Credorax, Trulioo, IntSights, and Slync.io. David holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Listen to today’s episode of Investing in Florida Technology and find out how David made the leap from studying government to becoming a venture capitalist, how he embraces virtualization, and why he believes that the 21st century will be one of massive innovation and productivity for office and service work.

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Some Questions Asked:

Can you tell our audience a bit about your background and where you grew up? (01:54)
You have this tie with Israel, when did that start? (14:10)
What do you see in Florida and Miami? (22:41)
What are you looking for in a founder? (29:38)

In this episode, you will learn:

Why Miami made the top of David’s list when he and his family decided to relocate (03:16)
About taking ‘acorns’ and turning them into unicorns (09:41)
How patience has paid off for Blumberg Capital (12:57)
A little about the Israeli company that David and Tom are both investors in (20:01)
Venture capitalists either follow the NASCAR model or the marionette model (33:59)

Connect with David:

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Brian Murphy: the Importance of Reinvention Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

What happens when a brand new tech startup finds itself in the middle of one of the worst financial crises the country has ever seen? With a little luck, some intuitiveness, and a lot of hard work, a pivot in the right direction can not only save a company, it can create major success, too.

Brian Murphy founded ReliaQuest in 2007, just as the US was plunging into the Great Recession. While he didn’t know it yet, a DoD contract would come to be instrumental in the company’s pivot from IT to cybersecurity. In the years following, Murphy was able again to lead the company with flexibility to a market that better suited them.

Murphy is the CEO and founder of ReliaQuest, a cybersecurity company serving enterprises globally. ReliaQuest, the leader in Open XDR-as-a-Service, is known for being the force multiplier for security operations teams. He also serves on the board of Embarc Collective, a Tampa Bay-area startup incubator, and is an official member of the Forbes Technology Council.

On today’s episode of Investing in Florida Technology, Murphy speaks about the evolution of ReliaQuest, his advice to founders that are just starting out, and how he still finds time to serve as a chairman on the board of Embarc Collective. He also discusses the big pivot that brought ReliaQuest to where it is today and what he sees happening in the industry looking ahead.

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Some Questions Asked:

Can you tell us a little about your background? (01:50)
How did you make the switch to recurring revenue? (06:20)
Have you had any trouble attracting talent in Florida? (08:47)
How did COVID affect ReliaQuest? (12:02)
Where is most of your hiring taking place? (14:06)
Are you being acquisitive? Or are you still just growing organically? (15:58)

In this episode, you will learn:

What inspired Murphy to start ReliaQuest (2:41)
A little about the software team at ReliaQuest (07:50)
About the growing cybersecurity industry in Tampa (10:57)
Brian's experience with bootstrapping (14:53)
Where Brian sees ReliaQuest going in the next 5-10 years (23:04)

Connect with Brian:

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Hugh Campbell - Entrepreneurship as a Team Sport Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

Discipline, initiative, and responsibility are all skills you would expect a young person to learn in the military. But what about teamwork and learning to successfully collaborate with others as a whole greater than its parts? For Hugh Campbell, his time in the US Army taught him this invaluable lesson.

When Campbell entered West Point fresh out of high school, he never dreamed of the opportunities that would soon be accessible to him. Through his work as a communications officer, Campbell learned invaluable lessons about leadership, problem-solving, and tech. After leaving the military and joining the private sector, Campbell put to work the skills that he had honed, which led directly to his many successes and a career as an “accidental entrepreneur.”

Campbell currently serves as President of AC4S Technologies, a hybrid cloud solutions provider. Prior to his current position, he served as CEO of AC4S for 16 years. Before that, he held positions in planning, designing, and implementing large-scale telecommunications networks for companies like Intermedia Communications and Accelacom. He also serves as Chairman of the Board for the CEO Council of Tampa Bay and as a member of the board of trustees for BayCare Health System.

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Some Questions Asked:

Where did you grow up and how did you end up at West Point? (04:07)
Where did you go after you left the military? (07:10)
How did West Point and the military prepare you for being an entrepreneur? (11:21)
How can people like me invest more in minority founders? (18:25)

In this episode, you will learn:

About AC4S Technologies and where the name came from. (02:25)
How Campbell became what he calls an “accidental entrepreneur.” (08:21)
The advice Campbell has for young, hungry founders who are just starting out and why it’s so important to make sure you’re really vetting the partners you’re going into business with. (12:34)
Why being an entrepreneur isn’t for the faint of heart and easily discouraged—and why it’s best to play the game as a team sport. (15:22)

Connect with Hugh:

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Arnie Bellini - The Case for Being an Early Adopter Oct 19, 2021

Show notes

We’ve all had that lightbulb moment at least once in our lives, where we have a striking realization seemingly independent of everyone else around us. What we don’t all have the privilege of experiencing? Having that moment lead to an early adoption of and investment in what would quickly become the most important, groundbreaking technology on the planet.

Arnie Bellini began his career at Price Waterhouse just as personal computers began their evolution from space-age technology to household necessity. Realizing the potential of this type of tech, he quit his consulting job, founded a company to help small businesses optimize their servers, and never looked back.

Bellini is co-founder and former CEO of ConnectWise, a provider of IT services to companies in the Tampa market and the publisher of the industry's most widely-used business operating system.He currently serves as managing partner of Bellini Capital, an investment firm based in the Tampa area.

Listen to today’s episode of Investing in Florida Technology and learn Bellini’s start-up origin story at the dawn of the PC, why he believes it’s so important to balance your work life with family and hobbies, and how he equates the lessons he gained training to swim the English Channel to his business philosophy.

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Some Questions Asked:

What was the dynamic like between you and your brother when you started your company as business partners? (03:32)
When you started, did you envision that you would be building a company that you would sell for over a billion dollars? (04:24)
When was the tipping point when you realized that you had become more of a software company? (11:08)
How is your family involved in Bellini Capital? (16:18)
What advice would you have for founders out there? (20:13)
What kind of investments and things are you looking for that excite you? (24:32)

In this episode, you will learn:

A bit about Bellini and his experience as a founder of ConnectWise. (02:09)
How Bellini became a programmer—out of necessity. (08:24)
About Bellini’s experience becoming one of the few people over 50 to swim the English Channel. (12:52)
How Bellini Capital is working to help preserve the Florida Wildlife Corridor. (16:56)
The importance of work/life balance in order to avoid burnout as an entrepreneur. (21:52)
What Bellini finds most exciting in the world of up-and-coming technology. (27:41)

Connect with Arnie:

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