Technori Podcast

Latest Episodes:

John Pompliano on personal finance and digital growth Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

John Pompliano, co-host of the The Best Business Show on YouTube with his brothers Anthony and Joe, joins the pod with Scott Kitun. They dive into the new media landscape, finding the right balance between newsletters, video and social posting. John and Scott riff on the pros and cons of sponsorship, advertising and subscription models for digital media businesses, and how market appetites favor flexibility which smaller groups like the Pompliano brothers or individuals can muster better than bigger companies. John talks about his goals to advocate for personal finance and how to get the next generation deeper into philanthropy and helping people.

irrvrntVC General Partner Andrew Gluck Sep 23, 2021

Show notes

Andrew Gluck, GP at irrvrntVC, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Andrew runs through his career from working with name brands, cofounding his own agency to getting into venture capital and how he fell in love with startups. Scott and Andrew trade stories and ideas about working with founders and other VCs, the pros/cons of rolling funds, why founders should know their numbers and be good at sales, how to come up with your investing thesis and more. irrvrntVC invests in startups from seed to seed+, providing hands on support including strategy, key hires, partnerships, office space, etc.

mmhmm app, distributed work and why timing is everything with founder Phil Libin Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

Phil Libin, founder of video communications app mmhmm, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Previously the founder of Evernote, Phil shares his thoughts on how timing is everything in entrepreneurship - it certainly was the case with Evernote (the iPhone changed the game for digital note-taking) and has taken hold with mmhmm. After mmhmm's $5 million seed round led by Sequoia Capital early on in the pandemic, investors realized emphasis on video communications wasn't a short-term fad, but an evolution of the workplace, culminating in mmhmm's recent $100 million round led by Softbank Vision Fund. Phil and Scott talk about looking at remote work instead as "distributed work" and why we need to transform the idea of how we get work done. Finally, Phil shares his thoughts on being a "rigorous optimist" as an entrepreneur (focusing on progress you can make yourself) and how he landed on the mmhmm name instead of something more conventional and boring.

Featuring: Phil Libin (@plibin) founder at mmhmm

Host: Scott Kitun (@kitun) CEO at Technori

More to explore: Subscribe for free to Pitch Reviews where Scott Kitun breaks down startup pitches with the added hook that you can invest whether you’re accredited or not.

About Technori: Technori helps you understand businesses with founder interviews, investing conversations and sussing out the good and bad from startup pitches.

Catching Up With TechCrunch Reporter Alex Wilhelm Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

Alex Wilhelm, Senior Editor at TechCrunch and well-known as @alex on Twitter, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Scott and Alex share their feels being able to talk to so many founders and struggles keeping up on email. They run through Alex's Chicago roots and Technori nostalgia - Alex talks about how Technori events helped familiarize him with the tech scene during his college years and early professional years. Scott and Alex talk about the big changes in venture capital and the growing number of people joining the space, seeing niches like solopreneurs and equity crowdfunding shoot up in popularity. Scott finishes off the show with a little game of founder pantheon, who are some of the greatest founders of all time and why?

Skedulo CEO Matt Fairhurst on the digital transformation for the "deskless" workforce Aug 25, 2021

Show notes

Matt Fairhurst, co-founder and CEO of Skedulo, joins the show with host Scott Kitun. Skedulo is a project management and productivity platform that is geared towards the majority of the workforce (up to 80% globally according to Skedulo) that doesn't work behind a desk. Matt talks about how they started with four clients in four different industries that needed better management on their core physical tasks, and how that bloomed into whole business offering productivity solutions for companies worldwide. Fresh off a $75 million Series C led by Softbank Vision Fund 2, Matt talks about their growth in Europe and the US, how they integrate with other platforms and what's next for Skedulo. They also banter about changes to the workforce since the start of the pandemic, the heightened appreciation for digital transformation across industries running on analog and how Skedulo played a role in scaling up COVID-19 testing.

Changes in the crowd with Indiegogo CEO Andy Yang Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

Indiegogo CEO Andy Yang joins the show to talk crowdfunding shop with Scott. They kick off with some banter about all things Indiegogo (having just had former Indiegogo CEO David Mandelbrot on now at Reverb) and how much things have changed since it launched in 2008. Andy also shares how the platform has grown through the pandemic and general upward trends in the crowdfunding space as a result. Scott and Andy share the belief that crowdfunding is becoming increasingly the simplest way to raise capital for your project, company or idea. If you're interested in creating a campaign, email the team launch@indiegogo.com

Rivalry creates the sportsbook for esports Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

Steven Salz, co-founder and CEO of Rivalry joins Scott to talk about the wide world of esports, video games and building the ability to bet on those games with the Rivalry platform (18:35). In the intro Scott talks about his experience at the National Sports Collector's Convention, how tech founders like Steven are finding ways to disrupt an old way of doing things in the collecting/betting business, how dealers look at cards and viewing cards and strategic bets is a trend that is here to stay. Steven digs into how Rivalry works, the rise of NFTs and how digital assets will become ubiquitous as Gen-Z ages up into the workforce. Scott and Steven share their passoin for games and how building a sportsbook for gamers (and attracting new demographics into the space) is some of the more exciting changes happening next to meme stocks and crypto, among other things.

Mike Doyle shares how to build a glamping business Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

Mike Doyle, co-founder of new glamping resort Off Map, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Fresh off his previous business Rent Like A Champion, Mike took his expertise from the rental markets and got right to work on a new company focused on the outdoorsy, increasingly popular glamping experience. Mike shares his honest thoughts on what it takes to start a glamping business, why these glamping sights are more common abroad than in the US, finding the right locations and navigating permits. Mike and Scott talk about what Off Map is building right now (first location in South Haven, Michigan) and exploring how you would scale a a hospitality business from scratch.

Kim-Mai Cutler on the growth of venture capital and supporting great ideas Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

Kim-Mai Cutler, a longtime tech journalist and currently a partner at Initialized Capital, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Kim-Mai has spent most of her life around Silicon Valley and knows from her experiences and studies just what the problems tech faces and its impact on California and the world as a whole. She dives into her journey, how she got interested in journalism, and how building those relationships in tech got her interested in the venture, how venture has grown and helping founders turn their great ideas into real businesses. She also talks about her interest in real estate and proptech companies, her work studying the ongoing California housing crisis and finding viable paths forward for better policy and innovation.

Tackling childcare with Winnie CEO Sara Mauskopf Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

Sara Mauskopf, founder and CEO of Winnie, joins the show to talk with Scott about finding access to childcare and the challenges millennial parents face. Sara goes into her origin story how she never intended to be a founder, but after experiencing difficulties finding childcare solutions for her own child, she decided to create Winnie, a one-stop marketplace for childcare providers and parents to contact and transact. Parents can see vetted information on childcare options all across the US. Sara and Scott talk about the unique circumstances the pandemic brought on parents, especially working moms, and how it shined a glaring light on opportunities to address childcare through public policy and the private sector. They also talk tech and why Winnie is able to attract talent from some of the best tech companies around and make a impact on people's daily lives.

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