Startup Redding

Jenna of Turbans for Tots built a top 100 Esty Store and sells 1000's of baby bows. She manufactures them with a team of seamstresses in Redding, CA. After 5 years she is willing to acknowledge the obvious, she is an entrepreneur. Why has it been hard for her to see when it's obvious to her team? What could happen if she took this role seriously? Well for one will pitch at the Redding Venture Conference with a chance to win a 10k prize and possibly angel investment.

Theme music by Starving Architect

Nathan Slafter, President of Rentevate (www.rente.io) explores how his love of riding bulls as a young man revealed his inner entrepreneur. And, how bull riding is both a great and dangerous way to approach building a startup. Yes, it's a full-throttle ride that requires determination and courage, but sometimes you "break your face." as Nathan did on his final ride. Listen in and get acquainted with Redding's latest startup founder.
Music by Starving Architects
Sponsor is the Redding Venture Conference.

Lot's of people want to start a business. The upsides are clear: Be your own boss, unlimited earning potential, reap the fruit of your own labor, flexibility...this list goes on and on. But, it's also a scary project and the fear of failure is often what prevents people from taking the leap. 

In this episode, Josh Miller and Kirk Wayman explore some of the ways people try to start a business and avoid failure. Turns out it's doable but might not produce the result people are hoping for. 

Episode Sponsor: The Redding Venture Conference. Learn more at https://www.startupredding.com/reddingventureconference

Special thanks to:

Starving Architect for our music https://starvingarchitect.bandcamp.com/

Toby Lyles of Twenty Four Sound for making us sound great. 

Email: toby@twentyfoursound.com

Dave Charlson started a company in a space he has succeeded in before. But, this time he was the CEO, in charge of everything. It's a wonderful opportunity and filled with new experiences and challenges. In this episode we begin to tell Dave's story as he works to scale his company. As this story unfolds we will share the ongoing journey of Dave, his company and what it takes to start, build and scale a startup. 

All music in this episode is by Starving Architects and can be found on iTunes. 

You can purchase WAG dog treats online at chewy.com or at your local pet supply store. 

There are lots of reasons to pitch your startup. 10K in free money might be the best. On this episode, Eric Hiatt, Executive Director of the Shasta Angels, describes how to pitch your business to investors. He has raised millions of dollars for his own companies and heard hundreds of pitches. Now he is leading a team to bring investment, startup pitches and all the work the Shasta Angels have been doing to the public in a new event called the Redding Venture Conference. Listen in and get a behind the curtain look at how you could win the 10K prize plus a chance at angel investment for your startup. 

Everything did not go as planned when Joy Monster received funding from the Shasta Angels two years ago. They learned, pivoted and reorganized. Now Joy Monster finds themselves with a new focus and in their second round of fundraising.

In this episode we meet Mark Soderwall, Joy Monsters new CEO and hear the story, the struggle and the dreams to finally scale. Will it become Reddings next startup success story? We don't know. What we do know is that they are a company on the brink. . . .

Rachel Hatch might have the coolest job in the world. She is a community vitality officer for the McConnell Foundation. The foundation has made a 10-year commitment to supporting the revitalization of Redding's downtown. With much of Startup Redding's focus being concentrated in downtown, we thought it was the perfect time to bring Rachael into the studio to find out how these two efforts intersect. 

Kirk is joined by Lauren Jerome for a conversation about the current state of innovation and how it impacts the new economy. Startup enthusiasts consistently look to thought leaders like Lauren for perspective on where the economy is going and how to build companies that move with it. We hope you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom.

Lauren is the Entrepreneur in residence at RAIN in Eugene Oregon, a fabulous developer and co-founder of Mindbox Studios. 

Special thanks to Starving Architect for our theme music. Toby, Josh, and Andrew for there work bringing you this podcast. 

Women make up a significant part of Redding Startup ecosystem and help define what it means to be an entrepreneur in Redding. We celebrate this with the Women in Entrepreneurship Award. It was shared by Jenna Zint of turbansfortots.com , Anne Ballard of TheCrowningJewel.com and Christine Sullivan of TwinSparrow.com. They join Kirk to share about their adventures discovering what it means to be women in entrepreneurship. It's a story of struggle, success, discovery and finally owning the term Entrepreneur. 

Sam Larobardiere and Joel Taylor share a behind the scenes look at what it took to create the partnership that fuels Theory Coffee. It was not easy to build a powerful relationship but it was worth it as they are now award-winning coffee roasters operating one of Redding's preeminent coffee companies. It's not often that two business partners will pull back the curtain and share this kind of story with us. We hope it helps you find the co-founder to kickstart your startup as well. 

The 2018 Startup Weekend was another huge success. In this episode, Todd Jones the winning team's founder shares his experience and perspective on Startup, entrepreneurship and leading a team to victory. Todd opens up about the team's valley of sorrows and what it took to break-through and make it to the big pitch.

In this light-hearted episode, JDM and Kirk try to talk you out of becoming an entrepreneur by exploring the hardships of the journey. If you stick with them to the end you may have what it takes to be an entrepreneur or at least be a glutton for punishment. We hope you enjoy the journey. 

Theme music by Starving Architects

End Music: Death by Low Tide by Head vs. Wall. Copyright info and track can be found at http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Head_Vs_Wall/Death_At_Low_Tide/Death_At_Low_Tide

It's amazing how hard failing is. If we are not careful it can take us out. In this episode, Kirk is joined by Josh Johnson, Co-founder and President of Mindbox Studios on this episode. He tells the story of his first startup called College Piggy which failed. Pay attention and you will discover that in the midst of this failure he found the dream and partners to create Mindbox Studio. He learned the valuable lesson of how to fail up!

This episode could save you tons of money! Luke Miner joins us to share his thoughts about customer validation as presented in a recent Pub Talk. Listen in as he explores ways to find out what your customers think of your idea or product long before you have invested tons of money and time creating a product that no one wants to buy. Customer validation is a key part of the lean startup model and if you are not doing it you are most likely wasting money and time. 

Here is the link to the blog Luke references:  http://paulgraham.com/ds.html

We continue our conversation with Dan Morrow, CEO of SOF-TEK Integrators and longtime Redding entrepreneur. The conversation remains focused on entrepreneurship: What it is, how to do it and what's it is for. Dan also gives us his perspective on what we need next to keep expanding the Startup Redding Ecosystem.

Dan Morrow, CEO of SOF-TEK Integrators, Inc. holds the unofficial "record" (because who is really keeping track) for founding Redding's longest startup. Dan is one of Redding longtime Entrepreneur and we were excited he stopped by the studio to share his thoughts about entrepreneurship. What it is, how to do it and, what it is for. Join Eric Casequin and Kirk Wayman for this insightful conversation that is sure to stir your heart and thoughts. 

If you are a designer or developer, interested in becoming one or trying to hire one this episode is for you. Eric Casequin is the co-founder of Redding Area Designers and Developers (R.A.D.D.) and he shares their 6-year journey of gathering the design and tech community in Redding. 

Jack, JDM, Eric, Luke, and Kirk are back to continue the discussion they started in Ep 7. This time they are asking two questions. First, what do we mean when we say ecosystem and, given what we know about startups and ecosystems... What is the purpose of the Startup Redding Ecosystem? 

We use the word Startup all the time, but what do we mean when we say startup? In some ways it probably obvious but Eric Hiatt, Luke Miner, Josh Miller, Kirk Wayman and Jack Burgess discover that the definition is more elusive than they thought. Join their experience as they look for this unicorn definition. 

Special thanks to twentyfoursound.com for sweetening our sound and Starving Architects for their great music. 

In 2014 Garrett, Alan, Jason, and Michael set out to reimagine how the insurance industry quotes benefits. This is their story of starting Limelight Health told by Garrett Viggers. Garrett unfolds the journey as they conceive of a product and it features, validate them with real customers, raise millions of dollars and travel through the inevitable valley of sorrows. Stay tuned to the end when Garrett, an accomplished musician introduces a new song written on this journey. 

You can learn more about Limelight at limelighthealth.com

Special thanks to:

Toby Lyles of twentyfoursound.com for audio and creative support.

Starving Architect for their music starvingarchitect.bandcamp.com/album/silence-the-inner-voices

Find us at startupredding.com for more events and content that will enhance your enterprise.