Paparelli Podcast

Wendy Salle built the single highest-grossing optical store in the United States of America.

I am a client of Salle Opticians. I found it over twenty years ago in Phipps Plaza shopping mall in Atlanta. Salle sells high-end optical to a well-heeled clientele. They have the best eyeglass frames that money can buy. And they fit them with the most carefully crafted lenses. In the end, they provide a personalized customer experience and a high-quality product.

Wendy Salle is the founder. Wendy is a certified optician, gifted merchandiser, and small business operator. She knows and loves her products. She knows and loves her clients.

Wendy came to Atlanta in 1985 with her suitcase and a dream for a new life in America. Within two years, she discovered her new occupation as an optometrist and eyeglass retailer. At that time, the industry trend was all about low prices and the speed of delivery provided by big-box retailers. She bucked this trend and discovered a high-end niche just as eyeglass frames became fashionable. The rest is history.

After thirty-four years in business, Wendy sold her store last year and is now the Chief Merchandiser for Luxury Optical Holdings. 

New entrepreneurs. Come. Listen and learn. 

Entrepreneurs often ask me, “Where can I meet angel investors?”

This video answers that question.

In this interview, we talk about how angel investors source deals. One of the overlooked success factors for Venture Capitalists and angel investors is early looks at new deals. Getting the first look at a deal that just hits the market gives the angel a huge advantage in achieving extraordinary financial returns.

Paul Gianneschi is the founder and CEO of Hatch Medical. Hatch is an incubator for medical device startups. He has been in medical devices for his whole career. His value-add in this space is enormous. 

Paul tells me in this conversation where he hangs out and how you can find him. His story is no different from any other active angel. Listen, and you’ll learn at least five new ways to get in front of angel investors. Why? Because you’ll be right where they are.

Greg Smith is one of those secret successful entrepreneurs. This under-the-radar success usually occurs in vertical market B2B businesses. 

Unless you were in the vertical served by the entrepreneur, you would never know they existed. But Greg built Advectis to speed mortgage approvals through the efficient collection, storage, and transmission of the documents required for loans. His business was growing so fast he was approached by Xerox as a potential acquisition. 

Between the signed term sheet and the final purchase agreement, Greg lost his biggest customer. This customer contributed $1mm of annual recurring revenue. In spite of this, he lost little to nothing in valuation. 

Amazing story. 

Greg is now a successful angel investor. He currently is invested in over fifteen early-stage tech deals. He is also a very successful crypto investor. He studied it. Went deep. His timing could not be better. He is a believer in crypto for the long term. 

And to top it all off, Greg is a guest professor at Clemson University, his alma mater. He teaches on, what else, how to start companies and grow them into valuable assets. 

Great conversation. Lots of lessons learned. 

Christian Ries pivoted Zeto eight times before he achieved product-market fit. He said, “The key to finally getting there is to avoid falling in love with your business model or solution.”

Christian is the co-founder and CEO of Zeto, a home management service. It shifts the burden of home maintenance from the owner to Zeto and their team of vetted suppliers. This is a high-value solution in our busy, two-income households of major metro markets.

This is not Christian’s first time as an entrepreneur. The lessons he learned in his first and second company are a great education for the first-time entrepreneur. Lessons in funding, business partnerships, product-market fit, cash flow needed for growth, customer churn, and pricing for sustainability. He hits on all of these and more in our conversation.

Christian impressed David Cummings and his team with his first startup. They asked him to join them as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Atlanta Ventures Studios. It was here he would search for the next big idea. An idea that was right for him and his experience. An idea big enough to start and build a $100mm company. A company that would serve a big market while making their lives better and make money doing it.

From professional golfer to a corporate employee, to entrepreneur, and finally, serial entrepreneur. Listen to Christian share the challenges he faced with his idea, his family, his market, and his investors. It is a full 360 experience.

Scott Lopano is the first contact at Tech Square Ventures. TSV is a Southeast-focused venture fund investing in early-stage technology companies. They are looking for opportunities to achieve the returns their limited partners expect. Finding those right investment opportunities takes an experienced VC, and that’s Scott.

Scott sees over one thousand business plans a year for TSV. He told me in this interview that close to sixty percent of the applicants are not VC fundable deals. They are easily eliminated, as they don’t meet the first-cut of criteria for the fund. And if they get through the first filter, there are the next three criteria in the second filter.

In my conversation with Scott you’ll learn what VC’s are looking for in an early-stage investment. And if you get past the initial screen, you’ll then experience the ten-step process of getting to a close of the funding you seek.

Lots to be learned here from Scott whose been doing this for over six years.

Yvonne Bryant Johnson, the founder of Bryant and Associates, is a close friend and a leader. A leader in her home, her community, and in business. She is also a self-proclaimed militant. 

She is a seeker of justice. If it is right, it needs to be right for everyone. 

I was always impressed with Yvonne. She seeks social change by trusting God and getting involved in organizations with community impact. She volunteers. She works hard. She builds relationships. She tells it like it is and, more importantly, how it should be.

Her intelligence, purpose-driven life, and relational skills have resulted in a successful business. A business that changes lives by inspiring men and women to be themselves.

This conversation is centered on integrating your faith and your work as an entrepreneur. It shows the power of this integration. It shows just what trusting God looks like and the fulfillment that flows from this trust.

I know this is a little different than conversations I’ve published in the past. But I just had to share this with you. I love and respect Yvonne. She is now and has always been, a leader at every stage of her life.

This is an interview with Mike Dickerson, CEO of ClickDimensions.

Mike Dickerson is an entrepreneur turned corporate executive. In every company he led, he demonstrated the heart of a general manager—a talented operator with the gift of superb execution and people skills. 

These leadership skills were developed by interacting with the most outstanding leaders in the world. 

He grew up in Washington, DC, to a mom who was the first female Whitehouse correspondent. A dad who was a serial entrepreneur. A stepdad was a partner at Goldman Sachs and later Assistant Secretary of State in the Reagan Administration. 

The stories Mike tells are worth every bit of your time. The lessons learned as an entrepreneur are practical and priceless. This is one of my two-hour interviews that is as entertaining as informative. 

There is so much more that needs to be asked and answered. We just ran out of time. I’ll have Mike back for the rest of the story. I promise.

This is Frank Bell’s formula for success as an entrepreneur.

In this interview, it became clear that people consistently brought Frank the idea for his next company. They saw the problem in the marketplace. Frank’s gift was that he was standing in front of them when they told him about it, and he listened.

Then Frank would take the time to research the idea. And he would do it by talking to the people who would benefit from the concept and see what they thought about it. Then he would look for a company model that was already working and improve upon it.

In very short order, Frank started another new company. Some of these companies grew into profitable small companies. A couple grew to become substantial successes. 

There is a lot to be learned from Frank on how to start from scratch. He makes it look easy!

Joel Neeb told me he was coasting on his success and reputation. Then Stage IV cancer hit. He was told he had eighteen months to live. He was thirty-three, a fighter pilot, husband, and father of two boys, three and one. And that’s when he began to move his life from success to significance.

Joel is an Air Force Academy graduate where he was one of thirty people in his class of seven hundred who became fighter pilots. He enjoyed a fourteen-year career only to one day realize he was coasting. And after facing death, he knew that’s not why God made him. There was so much more to do. So much more he could be. Not because he had to do it, but because he got to do it.

Joel is also the co-author of the book, Survivor’s Obligation - Navigating an Intentional Life. In this book, these fighter pilots talk about the wall they hit in their lives. One crashed and survived, and Joel survived cancer. Both survivor experiences radically changed their outlook on life. It’s a great read, filled with life lessons.

Now Joel is the CEO of Afterburner, an international consulting firm. He leads an elite team of former fighter pilots, Navy Seals, and special forces veterans. They share with corporate execs their experience and methodology on how to achieve flawless execution. 

There is much to learn here on starting, building, and leading your company. The lessons on leadership and organization execution will help you build a great company, but more importantly, a great life.

Come. Listen. Learn.

The two big questions that must be answered by an entrepreneur

1. What is the purpose of your business?

2. What is God’s purpose for your business?

These are the questions a prayer partner asked Bob Lewis the day he founded LewisLeadership. Bob is a coach and consultant to the most famous current generation of entrepreneurs in the Southeast. These are people who have built technology companies from scratch with current valuations from $1-3 billion. 

Mind you, he has no website. He does no marketing. He does no selling. 

Bob started his business in 2007. His impact as a coach is measurable. And the numbers are good. What is not measurable is the quality of the leaders he has developed over these fourteen years. His life’s work made a difference and his legacy will be felt for generations.

I was interested in knowing how he became this incredibly successful entrepreneur coach. What life did he live that prepared him to be an effective leadership coach to entrepreneurs building big tech businesses?

We talk about his methodology upfront, but the really interesting bit is how God prepared him. Bob speaks to his broken family, meteoric corporate success, losing it all, and being rebuilt by God. And it took all of this experience to answer the question: What is God’s purpose for your business?

Come. Listen. Learn.

Bird Blitch built a healthcare and payments company from scratch. Thirteen years later he sold PatientCo for over $450mm to Waystar Health. His first company sold too, but for the equivalent of one year’s living expenses, and that’s what he used to create PatientCo.

In this conversation, Bird shares his secret of building big companies. And it isn’t about the idea, it is all about the problem. He gives entrepreneurs tips like, “Carry a notebook with your wherever you go. Write down the problems you see and experience. It could be something simple, like your brakes squeak. You never know where this will lead you.”

This is Bird. He is fundamentally an entrepreneur. He is also a leader, business creator, and most importantly, a problem solver. Using these God-given skills, he has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. 

And he’s not done solving problems. He is now the Chief Innovation Officer at Waystar. In his new role, he told me how excited he is to be working with the best and brightest in healthcare.  
Listen in as Bird shares his three secrets to a successful startup, and three steps to getting closer to God. It is all part of the richness in life through entrepreneuring.

Jim was an entrepreneur from birth. He just didn’t know it. But when he joined our startup as a twenty-two-year-old and saw it modeled. Bang!

He was a co-founder of his first company. Then he founded four others. His life is the entrepreneur's life. 

Jim has been in search of the big problem in the market that deserved a big company to solve it. He found it while at the Flashpoint accelerator under the direction of Merrick Furst and Georgia Tech.

HelloPackage is solving the last one hundred yards of the last mile problem in logistics. We are all e-commerce mavens. Put three hundred of us together in an apartment complex and package receipt, distribution, and returns are a nightmare. But a nightmare for consumers is a huge opportunity for an entrepreneur.

In this conversation, Jim and discuss how entrepreneurs make decisions. Early in every startup, there are big decisions needing to be made. The wrong decision results in little to no market traction and running out of cash. The right one moves you closer to market leadership. 

Jim shares with us how he makes these decisions. This conversation is a playbook for entrepreneuring.

It took twenty years for Rob Kischuk to reconcile his interests and talents with a business model that works. At forty-three he arrived. 

Rob is the founder and CEO of Dellwood Labs. His mission is to build the code that captures your vision. His talent is to attract, assemble and motivate the technical teams to build and deliver the desired product. And he is doing it every day with bigger and bigger projects coming his way. 

I met Rob fifteen years ago. He was just stepping into the role of entrepreneur. And this is a tough place to be for a person who graduated with honors from Georgia Tech with a Computer Science degree. He was surrounded by advisors who were telling him 

• The product to build 
• The company to create 
• The method to be used to fund it 
• The skills he needed to succeed 

And he followed their advice. 

But over time, he learned something very important. He learned how to answer those questions for himself. He learned why people were attracted to him. How he could help them. Then he realized it was precisely what he enjoyed doing and was good at. And that is a supernatural moment. 

This is an interview of high value for aspiring entrepreneurs and those on the journey but not yet arrived.

"Selling. No Problem. If you dropped in the middle of downtown with nothing but my phone, I would sell my way to prosperity," said Clint Emerson.

Early in Clint's career, he was a sales executive for Lanier/Harris Corp. He used his success as a springboard into the executive ranks. He became the turnaround country manager for the Caribbean, then Australia, and finally South America. 

But the time came to come home and find a business he could call his own. He bought CableQuest in Ball Ground, Georgia. It had $2mm in sales and was losing $500k per year. It is now growing 40% per year and is profitable. In fact, Clint just made his first acquisition. 

Clint's faith in Jesus Christ is the foundation for his company's culture. He has a unique formula for hiring, developing, and giving back to his community. His use of company chaplains and a pastor are something I've not seen in any business. Fascinating!

"It is all about the people," said Charlie Paparelli. 

That's right. In this 20 minute video, I'm being interviewed. Brendan Tolleson asks me the questions. 

Brendan is the CEO and co-founder of RevPartners. I've watched Brendan over the years building his career. (https://revpartners.io/)

He started as a leader on the soccer field and, over time, became a successful sales leader. As part of his quest to build successful revenue processes for his clients, he wanted my thoughts. 

In this interview, I share my experience on the three stages of startup growth. 

This includes: 
1. Finding your tech co-founder.
2. Cracking the code on sales and delivery processes.
3. Establishing a real management team. 

Brendan did a great job of getting the best I had. 

And, yes, building a successful company is all about the people. Starting with you, the founder.

Ashish Mistry and BLM Ventures started with a $500k investment in a startup and never looked back.

He and his co-investor met at Emory’s MBA program. Neither one of them was in a tech career, but both decided that’s where the action will be.

Ashish Mistry may not have a technology industry background, but he does have one amazing skill. He understands the value of volunteering to build a meaningful network. He also learned earlier in his career how to drive leads through digital marketing.

Using his network and lead-gen skills, he built one of Southeast's most successful angel investment portfolios.

Ashish is a friend, angel investor, family man, and community builder. His humility bleeds through in this interview as he shares his story on how he became successful.

“If I should be given credit for one thing, it is this. I remained true to my calling for over forty years," said Bill Bolling. 

I've never had anyone who accomplished so much in their life tell me this. 

Forty-two years ago, Bill founded the Atlanta Community Food Bank. But even more impressive, he is the creator of the community food bank concept. 

The idea is simple: eliminate hunger in the community they serve. 

Communities throughout the United States and the world adopted his way. Incredible! Bill has received dozens of accolades and community awards for his work. 

When we talked about them, he was uncomfortable. He said quite plainly, “It is never one person who accomplishes so much. It is always a team effort.” 

Bill is a true servant-leader, an entrepreneur, a community builder, and a life-long servant. His social network is rich and still active. And his network continues to fund his new ideas and startups aiming to eliminate hunger. 

He is all about using food as a platform to transform lives. Bill loves the people he serves! And he continues to serve them even today, six years after he retired from the Food Bank.

As an entrepreneur, you will be well served to listen to David Friedman of Tech Coast Angels. David is the chapter director of TCA of Orange County. 

In this discussion, David shares:

• The angel groups process for investing
• Deals they’ve done and are interested in doing
• Terms and Exits 
• Partnerships with other angels and angel groups
• The heart of a true angel

Lots to be learned from this west coast angel investor. He is the real deal.

Blake started life in Jamestown, North Carolina. He is the son of a career army non-com and the first in his family to go to college.

From there it was all upside.

D1 Swimming Scholarship
President’s Advisory Council at Georgia Tech
Wallstreet
Startup entrepreneur
Successful exit
Led international expansion for a public company at 28

And this story ends with Blake becoming a successful VC. He is just about to close Tech Square Venture’s Fund II.

What blew me away was how his life-long relationships carried him from one opportunity to the next. But there was a break in his career where he chose family first.

Give this conversation a listen and learn the secrets of a successful life, even in technology.

David is my son. He is also the 2021 London School of Economics Entrepreneur of the year.

I wanted to know, “How did you do that?”

In this interview, I learned: 

1. Why as a newly married man, he chose to quit his job, sell everything and move to London to pursue his Executive MBA.
2. Why he felt called to be a social entrepreneur right out of undergrad.
3. Why it took ten years to start his first business.
4. How he came to the business idea that won the LSE startup competition.
5. How he was awarded LSE’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Along the way, you’ll learn the importance of relationship building. 

It is his secret sauce!