Powderkeg

Sam Parr retired with over $20 Million by age 31, just a few years after losing his job offer at AirBNB. In this interview, Sam goes deep into his journey to share his biggest lessons learned while creating an impressive career and company.&nbsp; Parr is the founder of The Hustle, a daily newsletter providing an entertaining delivery of the latest news in business and tech. He was born in Missouri, grew up in Tennessee, and moved to San Francisco after graduating from college. His media company The Hustle was acquired by Hubspot in 2021 for a reported $25-30 million dollars.&nbsp; In today’s episode of UNVALLEY with Sam Parr you’ll learn:<ul><li>7:30 Which Midwest values lay the foundation for Sam’s successful career in tech</li><li>14:05 The simple writing technique that helped Sam create enormous opportunities in his career</li><li>28:30 How to optimize your career for success, even if you don’t have money or connections</li><li>42:30 Why Sam is investing in real estate in Unvalley tech hubs like Austin&nbsp;</li></ul> UNVALLEY is the show for tech leaders that want to unlock their full potential and connect with the biggest opportunities in tech beyond Silicon Valley.&nbsp;UNVALLEY is brought to you by Powderkeg — the only private member network focused on supporting tech companies and leaders in fast-growing communities beyond Silicon Valley. Join the community at <a href="https://powderkeg.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Powderkeg.com</a>.

Sam Parr retired with over $20 Million by age 31, just a few years after losing his job offer at AirBNB. In this interview, Sam goes deep into his journey to share his biggest lessons learned while creating an impressive career and company. Parr is the founder of The Hustle, a daily newsletter providing an entertaining delivery of the latest news in business and tech. He was born in Missouri, grew up in Tennessee, and moved to San Francisco after graduating from college. His media company The Hustle was acquired by Hubspot in 2021 for a reported $25-30 million dollars. 


How to write irresistible copy (just like Ben Franklin)

Sam Parr

Founder of The Hustle

#3 Sam Parr: From The Heartland to The Hustle | The Art of Business & Building a Network

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Unvalley is the show for leaders who want to unlock their full potential and plug into the biggest opportunities in Tech and Startups beyond Silicon Valley.&nbsp;Unvalley is brought to you by Powderkeg — the only private member network focused on supporting tech companies and leaders in fast-growing communities beyond Silicon Valley.

Unvalley

Arlan is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a venture capital firm dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBTQ. Backstage has raised tens of millions of dollars, invested in 200 startups led by underestimated founders, and has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, Inc., Entrepreneur, and Quartz. Arlan also founded Runner, a talent operations startup that connects outstanding operations talent with inclusive companies. She also published It’s About Damn Time, her book detailing her journey from homelessness to venture capital. In today’s episode of Unvalley you’ll hear Arlan’s incredible story and learn some of her best strategies that have helped her succeed in venture capital, startups, and tech, despite enormous challenges.

Arlan Hamilton built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a fund that is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT. Started from scratch in 2015, Backstage has now raised more than $15 million and invested in more than 170 startup companies led by underestimated founders. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio which launched four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London.

Arlan Hamilton

Founder + Managing Partner at Backstage Capital

#2 Arlan Hamilton: How to Break Into Tech and Build Wealth with Startup Investing

Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee) shouldn’t need an introduction. Revered as the king of content, he has an uncanny ability to spot trends in the market and skate to where the puck is going. Gary has his finger on the pulse of consumers and is one of the most forward-thinking voices in business today. He is also a prolific angel investor. His portfolio is bolstered by early positions in Facebook, Uber, Twitter, Coinbase, and his own NFT project VeeFriends. Mickey Cloud is the Executive Director of The Sasha Group. A VaynerX company based in Chattanooga Tennessee. Mickey works with some of the biggest brands around the world helping them turn business objectives into actionable marketing plans.&nbsp; In Episode 1 we hear Gary’s thoughts on the Unvalley and his approach to building a company with a dispersed team.

#1 Gary Vee: The Unvalley “Golden Era” | Business Opportunity Beyond Silicon Valley

Six years ago we launched the Powderkeg Podcast Igniting Startups. We were featured in top publications like Entrepreneur and Forbes. Since 2017 we have interviewed over 100 execs at dynamic tech companies beyond Silicon Valley.&nbsp; We are excited to bring this Podcast back in a way that honors both the Powderkeg community and the amazing growth that we have seen in the Unvalley community over the last several years.&nbsp; In Episode 0 we are going to catch you up on what we’ve been up to for the last two years.

#0 UNVALLEY: New Podcast Launch | How and Why We’re Relaunching the Podcast

The last two years have taught us so much. How to be flexible and adapt quickly to change. A whole new style of doing business in a virtual world. Even how to integrate your work and your life in a healthy way. 

Today we are hearing startup growth stories from 5 CEOs based in the Circle City. These five Indianapolis-based tech companies are doing incredible things and we are joined by their CEOs to hear some stories and lessons learned over the last two years. 

One CEO opened a 50-acre innovation community during the first year of the pandemic. She proceeded to lead her organization through the biggest mass-adoption of remote work ever.

Another CEO started their company less than a year ago from his home office. 

One even wrote a book chronicling the whole journey!

We are going to hear from;

Emily Krueger, President and CEO, 16 Tech
Jake Miller, CEO, The Engineered Innovation Group
Jim Goldman, CEO, Trava
Steve Johns, CEO, OneCause
Lindsay Tjepkema, CEO, Casted

 These 5 CEOs share practice advice and stories that they have learned over the past two years that you can use in your professional career.

#152: 5 Startup Growth Stories and Lessons Learned While Leading through Change

Culture, when built correctly can be your key differentiator. When built incorrectly it can be your Achilles' heel. 

Today we do a deep dive into the founding story of Indianapolis darling startup Lessonly. Lessonly is a market leader in training software and was acquired by San Diego-based Seismic in 2021. 

We sit down with co-founders Max Yoder and Conner Burt to discuss Lessonly's development over the last decade and why culture has always been a North Star in the companies evolution. 

Max and Conner both started their professional career by means of the Orr Fellowship, a two-year, Indianapolis-based fellowship focused on developing the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs. 

Max began working on Lessonly after winding down his first startup. Conner was working in sales at ExactTarget (acquired by Salesforce) at the time. The two were roommates and Conner became an early adopter of the original Lessonly platform, where he used it to help train an international sales team of ExactTarget. 

Learn more about the Lessonly journey and hear the words of wisdom this dynamic duo has about growing a high-performing, venture-backed tech company.

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher.

#151: Why You Should Prioritize  Culture at Your Startup

Have you ever been stuck in a parking garage and couldn't quite figure out how to leave? Well, you're not the only one; according to reports, 85% of "help" calls in a parking garage are due to struggles with understanding the equipment, whereas only 15% of those calls are due to actual equipment failure. That’s why today, you'll hear from a company that saw the need for human interaction within the parking industry and set out to fill it—combining software-as-a-service, hardware, and a 24/7 call center to create personal, high-empathy interactions in the parking industry.

On today's episode of the Powderkeg Pitch, you’ll be hearing a 5-minute live startup pitch between an entrepreneur and myself. You’ll be hearing from Brian Wolff, President & CEO at Parker Technology based in Indianapolis, Indiana. 
 
Before joining Parker Technology, Brian, in 2006, co-founded Bluelock, Indiana's fastest-growing private company in 2010, with four other Indiana tech entrepreneurs. He has helped fund more than 30 local companies through angel funds Gravity Ventures, xCap Angels, and Momentum Ventures. Brian consulted several other organizations, including Purdue Research Foundation, where he was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) at The Foundry. 

On today's show, Brian will be pitching Parker Technology, a company focused on providing parking facilities with a premium customer service experience platform through software.

Brian will have just 5 minutes to pitch Parker and share more on the incredible team they're growing at Parker, and then I will have the opportunity to hit Brian with a few hard-hitting and rapid-fire-q-and-a, sort of shark tank-style questions right after his pitch. Tune in for more!

Please enjoy this conversation with Brian Wolff!

If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast.

Recent Episodes

SEASON 1

#2 Arlan Hamilton: How to Break Into Tech and Build Wealth with Startup Investing

#1 Gary Vee: The Unvalley “Golden Era” | Business Opportunity Beyond Silicon Valley

#0 UNVALLEY: New Podcast Launch | How and Why We’re Relaunching the Podcast

#152: 5 Startup Growth Stories and Lessons Learned While Leading through Change

#151: Why You Should Prioritize Culture at Your Startup

Why People Push Help 85 Million Times in a Year

About The Show

Unvalley

Matt Hunckler

CEO, Powderkeg

Nate Spangle

Head of Community, Powderkeg