220: Alexander Allin of Trales: Powering The Pulse of Tomorrow's World Travel

Nick Hughes is joined by Julia Arpag, CEO and cofounder of Aligned Recruitment. They make Recruitment easy - Instantly scale your tech company with their senior-level recruiters. They exist so you can bring your organization's vision to life.

The episode starts with Nick and Julia chatting about her background in the corporate world and then her journey into entrepreneurship and startups. We hear why Julia now  chooses entrepreneurship. Next, they talk about why she started her company, and we learn what is Aligned Recruitment? What is so unique about recruiting and why is Julia drawn to it? Nick and Julia talk about what startups need to understand about attracting talent, how to get the best people at the earliest stages. Julia discusses how to put together comp packages, what to think about when hiring, and creating a results based work environment vs time based environment. We hear her vision for the next 5 or 10 years of Aligned Recruitment and then they finish the conversation with her advice for founders and early stage startups. This is a great interview with an recurring expert and we hope it helps you today.

https://www.alignedrecruitment.com/

Nick Hughes is joined by Sergio Nunez, CEO of Fixi from Austin Texas. Fixi connects stranded drivers with everyday people that have the skills to provide roadside assistance.

The episode starts with Nick and Sergio talking about his background and journey into entrepreneurship and startups. Why did Sergio choose entrepreneurship? Why create a startup? We then hear about his experience pitching at Founders Live Austin, emerging as the event winner, and his tips on pitching at the Founders Live event. They then go into why her started his company, which has an interesting backstory involving his family. We learn about Fixi, and how it builds on the gig economy.  But is it Safe? Can it scale? Where is Fixi available now? We then hear Sergio's vision for the next 5 or 10 years, and where he sees the industry going.  Lastly, Sergio shares his advice for founders and early stage startups. Take Notes! This is a fun interview with an emerging startup leader from Austin with a amazing vision for local help,  we hope it helps you today.

https://getfixi.app/

Nick Hughes is joined by John Starke, Founder and CEO of MyMatR from Raleigh, North Carolina. MyMatR is an affordable and customizable automatic sorting waste container that creates a cleaner recycling stream at the source of disposal.

The episode starts with Nick and John discussing his background and journey into entrepreneurship and startups. We hear, Why entrepreneurship? And why John wanted to go out on his own. We then hear about his experience pitching at Founders Live Raleigh-Durham, where he was the winner. John shares his tips on pitching and how to best prepare for the experience. Then, they talk about why he started his company and what exactly is MyMatR? We learn how recycling is challenged and not as much is getting to the final destinations. John talks about climate sustainability and importance of cleaner recycling, his vision of 5 or 10 years and where he sees the industry going. Lastly, we hear his advice for founders and early stage startups. This is a great interview with an up and coming startup leader from the East Coast of US with a powerful vision,  we hope it helps you today.

https://mymatrcorp.com/

Nick Hughes is joined by Matthias Neumayer, CEO and Cofounder of Oscar Stories from Vienna, Austria. Create Personalized Bedtime Stories for your children. Oscar Stories goal is to make bedtime storytelling enjoyable for both parents and children. Using AI technology, Oscar generates unique stories based on user input, resulting in an infinite universe of storytelling possibilities. Their team worked closely with parents to ensure that 

The episode starts with Nick and Mattias chat about his background and journey into becoming a lawyer, and then an entrepreneurship and startups. Nick asks: Why entrepreneurship? Why the artistic approach?  We love the answer! Next we hear about his experience pitching at Founders Live Vienna - where he was winner - and Mattias shares his tips on pitching at the event. Then, we hear why he started his company, and what is Oscar Stories? They are bedtime stories, and Mattias shares why these stories important in general, to both children and adults.  They talk about other directions planned for the company,  entertainment angles they plan to take. Mattias shares his vision of 5 or 10 years for the company and the industry as we enter a new era of entertainment. Lastly, we hear his advice for founders and early stage startups. This is a great interview with an fun startup leader from the Vienna with a amazing vision for entertainment,  we hope it helps you today.

https://oscarstories.com/

This conversation is from a recent Founders Live Conversations session, Nick Hughes talks with Founders Live Prime Time 2023 Global Winner Elizabeth Arnold of FLIP from Ventura, CA. FLIP app connects users based on sports & hobby interests.

The episode starts with Nick and Elizabeth talking about her background and journey into entrepreneurship and building a startup.  We hear why she chose entrepreneurship and what she likes about creating her own startup. Then we hear about Elizabeth's experience particpiating in both the Founders Live Pitch Challenge and Prime Time 2023. She ended up the global winner! Next, Nick and Elizabeth talk about FLIP, why they built it and what challenges they are trying to solve getting local people to connect offline. Lot's of lessons here! Lastly, we hear her advice for founders and early stage startups when just starting out. This is a great interview with an awesome startup founder from California,  we hope it helps you today.

https://goflipapp.com/

Nick Hughes is joined by Haley McClain from Long Beach, CA who is the founder of TORCH Warriorwear. TORCH Warriorwear is a subscription direct to consumer military apparel and lifestyle brand that celebrates, empowers, and serves current and future generations of military warriors.

The episode starts with Nick and Haley talking about her background and journey into entrepreneurship and building a startup. After the military and some corporate experience, why entrepreneurship?! Next she shares her experience pitching at Founders Live Minneapolis, and winning! Haley also provides a few helpful tips when preparing to pitch at a Founders Live event. Then, they about why she started her company - TORCH warriorwear. We hear what problems she experienced in the military and what pushed her to start a clothing brand. They talk about how to create a brand and unique marketing strategy in this crowded and loud market, and Haley shares here vision 5-10 years out of she sees with her company. Lastly, we hear her advice for founders and early stage startups when just starting out. This is a great interview with an awesome startup leader from California with a powerful vision,  we hope it helps you today.

https://torchwarriorwear.com/

https://www.instagram.com/torch_warriorwear

Nick Hughes is joined by Felix Ochefu, founder and CEO of Kahana from London, UK. We're building the world's first Superapp for Group Travel. Kahana brings together all the separate parts of organizing and booking your group trip into one place.

The episode starts with Nick and Felix talking about his background and journey into entrepreneurship and building a startup. Nick asks, Why entrepreneurship? You will enjoy Felix answer! They talk about how to balance freedom to explore and focus on startup results, which is not easy. Felix then shares his experience pitching at Founders Live London, and winning! He also provides tips for others when pitching at a Founders Live event. Next, we hear why Felix and his team started your company - Kahana. What problems did they see in the group travel experience? Why is it so hard to book group trips and multiple people at once?  We also here where Felix sees the travel market going and what the vision of Kahana is 5-10 years out. Travel will not be going away! Lastly, we hear Felix's advice for founders and early stage startups and why you just need to get started. This is a great interview with an awesome startup leader from the UK,  we hope it helps you today.

Join Kahana Here. 

Nick Hughes is joined by Meg White, CEO of To The Mountain Shuttle from Seattle, WA. To The Mountain Shuttle provides private charters and public transportation to event and recreation in Washington State.

The episode starts with Nick and Meg sharing about her background and journey into entrepreneurship and startups. We hear why she chooses entrepreneurship, rather than a typical job. Next, we hear about her experience pitching at Founders Live Seattle, she emerged as the winner, and her tips on preparation and pitching at the event. They then shift to talk about why Meg started her company - To The Mountain Shuttle - and why she is so passionate about outdoor recreation. They want to Connect people to nature, climate sustainability and emphasis the importance of Recreation - active lifestyles. We hear about her Vision for the next 5 or 10 years and how to improve sustainable transportation not just in Washington State build around the country. Lastly, we hear her advice for founders and early stage startups and what she wished her earlier self would have been told.  This is a fun interview with a startup leader from Seattle,  we hope it helps you today.

https://tothemountainshuttle.com/

Nick Hughes is joined by Sean Gigremosa founder CEO of Claritiv from Las Vegas, Nevada. Claritiv.ai is a product management platform powered by LLM and AI.

The episode starts with Nick and Sean jumping into his background and journey into entrepreneurship and startups, where he started by building websites in the early internet. We hear why he chose entrepreneurship, why build startups? Next, they talk about his experience pitching at Founders Live Las Vegas, he was the winner and his tips on pitching at the event. Next we hear about why they started their company, what problems did he and his team see in the market, and how AI is helping automating documentation process. The areas they focus on are Distractions which Amplify Challenges in Remote Meetings, Slow Decision Making,  andThe Blind Spots of Manual Documentation. We hear how they improve team communication and execution and Sean's vision 5 years from now. Lastly, he shares his advice for founders and early stage startups for validating their ideas. This is a great interview with an awesome startup leader from Vegas,  we hope it helps you today.

https://claritiv.ai/

Nick Hughes is joined by Jeff Wickert, who is CEO of Quoala from Seattle, WA. People are quitting their jobs and companies don't know why. That's a problem for businesses, but when these people are essential workers, it's a problem for society. Essential workers like Nurses and Police don't sit at a desk and they don't have time to write reasons why they are ready to quit. We know employees are talking, so Quoala makes it easy to listen. By listening regularly, Quoala customers will establish a baseline based on words, track movement in employee attitudes, and take action to retain essential employees.

The episode starts with Nick and Jeff discussing his background and journey into entrepreneurship and startups. Nick asks, Why entrepreneurship?! His answer is very interesting. They then talk about his experience pitching at Founders Live Seattle, winner and his tips on pitching at the event.  Next,  Nick and Jeff talk about why he started the company, and what is Quoala? We learn how AI is helping this, and what are the biggest challenges with employee engagement. Looking forward, Jeff and his team have some interesting ideas of how to improve employee experience and engagement! The end with his advice for founders and early stage startups. This is a great interview with an emerging startup leader from Seattle,  we hope it helps you today.

https://quoala.co/