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The Defiance_ Ventures Podcast

The Defiance_ Ventures Podcast

By John Espey

John Espey, a serial entrepreneur, MBA, and early stage investor interviews founders and investors at innovative companies. Defiance_ invests in, consults, and starts companies that defy conventional wisdom, and this podcast explores that world.
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#23, Alex Smereczniak, 2ULaundry

The Defiance_ Ventures PodcastOct 02, 2019

00:00
02:02:35
#83-Christian Giordano, Mancini Duffy

#83-Christian Giordano, Mancini Duffy

When Christian Giordano joined Mancini Duffy, he was attracted to working with a well established architecture firm with a top shelf list of customers and a stellar reputation.  He would eventually take a majority ownership stake and help the company transform the industry by embracing technology.  Christian hosts The Anti-Architect podcast.  He and John discuss all of this and more in this episode.

Sep 15, 202156:00
#82 - Jeff Wickersham, The Morning Fire

#82 - Jeff Wickersham, The Morning Fire

Jeff is a podcast host and executive coach who focuses on helping executives perform better by improving their daily habits.  In this episode Jeff tells his story of a life changing event that made him walk away from a successful corporate career to figure out how to improve his own health and effectiveness.  He ultimately turned that into a business and a podcast.  


Oxygen Advantage

Jeff's book

YouTube Channel



Aug 03, 202146:54
#81 - Amy Buckner Chowdry, AnswerLab

#81 - Amy Buckner Chowdry, AnswerLab

Amy is the founder and CEO of AnswerLab, a design strategy firm that she started after working with a design-focused startup in Japan.  In this episode she talks about starting and scaling AnswerLab.  She discusses challenges that female founders face and also talks about her ongoing efforts to support diversity and inclusion.  Amy created The Human-Centered Work Project in order to help companies embrace diversity and inclusion.  

Aug 03, 202154:48
#80 - Mac Lackey, 6 Exit Founder

#80 - Mac Lackey, 6 Exit Founder

Mac has started multiple successful business in industries ranging from apparel to internet software to soccer agency and many others.  He has six total exits and in this episode tells the story of how his career has shaped up.  He also talks about his interest in blockchain, what role soccer has played in his life, and what he is currently working on.  

Jul 20, 202101:08:43
#79 - Grant Ingersoll, Lucidworks

#79 - Grant Ingersoll, Lucidworks

Grant is one of the founder of Lucidworks, a leading search engine platform.  In this episode he and John discuss the evolution of search and big data, starting a business with a group of friends, scaling that business and raising money, contributing to and starting new Apache open source projects, and becoming the CTO of Wikimedia and some of the unique challenges they face.  Grant is an author and also hosts a podcast that explores careers in technology.

Jul 20, 202153:07
#78 - Laura Smailes, Ventureprise (UNCC)

#78 - Laura Smailes, Ventureprise (UNCC)

Laura is the Assistant Director at Ventureprise, an entrepreneurship center at UNCC.  In this episode she discusses working on a radio show, creating a radio program for NASCAR, joining a startup, and eventually joining Ventureprise after working closely with it at her startup.  She discusses entrepreneurship in Charlotte, building an ecoSystem, and shares lots of knowledge after years of working with students and founders.

Jul 09, 202101:14:26
#77 - Aaron Bock, Opkalla

#77 - Aaron Bock, Opkalla

Aaron is one of the founders of Opkalla, an IT services company based in Charlotte.  In this episode Aaron talks about going out on his own, surviving a pandemic, and scaling a business in a rapidly changing IT landscape.

Jul 07, 202101:29:48
#76 - Jonathan Kite, Rent Ready

#76 - Jonathan Kite, Rent Ready

In this episode John talks with co-founder and CEO of Rent Ready, Jonathan Kite.  Rent Ready is a turnkey solution for multi-family real estate owners.  Jonathan discusses the origin story of the company, when he and two friends with very complementary skillsets came up with the concept and turned it into a reality.  He discusses raising angel and VC capital and scaling a business during a global pandemic.

Jun 30, 202101:26:32
#75-Lee Arthur, Blenheim Chalcot

#75-Lee Arthur, Blenheim Chalcot

Blenheim Chalcot is the UK's leading venture builder and much of the inspiration for Defiance Ventures.  In this episode Lee Arthur gives an overview of several of BC's portfolio companies.  He also talks about what it takes to make it in early stage companies.  

Jun 04, 202140:05
#74-William Bissett, Portus Wealth Advisors, Charlotte Angel Connection

#74-William Bissett, Portus Wealth Advisors, Charlotte Angel Connection

William hosts one of the most popular early stage investment podcasts in the SouthEast.  In this episode he and John discuss angel investing in Charlotte, entrepreneurship broadly, and how the Charlotte early stage community has changed through the years.



Jun 04, 202101:01:30
#73 - Desmond Wiggan, BatteryXchange

#73 - Desmond Wiggan, BatteryXchange

BatteryXchange is a Charlotte-based startup that provides portable charging solutions for mobile devices in popular venues.  Desmond is the founder and CEO.  In this episode he describes the process that led him to create the company.  He talks about building a supply chain in China, raising money, and the challenges that minority founders face throughout the process.


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batteryxchange_/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/batteryxchangetech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/batteryxchange/

In the news: https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2020/06/01/batteryxchange-founder-focuses-on-recharging.html

May 19, 202101:04:31
#72 - Matteo Collina, NearForm, Creator of Fastify, and Node.js Steering Committee Member

#72 - Matteo Collina, NearForm, Creator of Fastify, and Node.js Steering Committee Member

Matteo is a JavaScript expert, having created and maintained multiple open source frameworks including Pino and Fastify. Matteo is also a Technical Director at NearForm, a leading application development consultancy that focuses on JavaScript and Node.js in particular.  In this episode Matteo talks about the popularity of JavaScript, speaking at conferences, and building open source frameworks.  Matteo also talks about his popular newsletter, Adventures in Nodeland.



LinkedIn 

Twitter


May 17, 202152:52
#71 - Juston Burris, Carolina Panthers, Real Estate Investor

#71 - Juston Burris, Carolina Panthers, Real Estate Investor

Juston Burris talks in this episode with John about making it in the NFL and planning for the future.  Juston purchases and up-fits homes in towns that he knows and turns them into income producing short term rentals.  

May 13, 202142:45
#70 - Cassmer Ward, Nexagy, Intelligent Design

#70 - Cassmer Ward, Nexagy, Intelligent Design

Cassmer is the founder of multiple companies throughout his career.  He is also a professor at Queens University and hosts a popular entrepreneurship video series.  He also has written a book on cost accounting.  



May 06, 202101:23:24
#69 - Chris Shipferling, Global Wired Advisors

#69 - Chris Shipferling, Global Wired Advisors

Chris is one of the founders of Global Wired Advisors, an investment bank with a particular focus on e-commerce.  In this episode Chris discusses starting Global Wired Advisors with partners, watching COVID unfold and the incredible effects it had on his clients, and he talks about growing, scaling, and exiting an e-commerce business.

May 03, 202101:05:01
#68 - Farhan Hussain, Axcelinno, Open Source Architects

#68 - Farhan Hussain, Axcelinno, Open Source Architects

Farhan is the founder and general manager at Axcelinno, a software consulting shop based in Dallas and Charlotte.  In this episode he and John discuss the growth of open source, the disruption of public and hybrid clouds, OpenShift, and the Red Hat/IBM acquisition.

Apr 30, 202101:01:24
#67 - C-Trax

#67 - C-Trax

C-Trax is a cannabis POS solution developed by the founding team of Sean and Kiah Tolliver and Michael Clinton.  In this interview, the team talks about weed legalization, social justice, raising money as minority founders, and the future of legalization in this country and globally

Apr 27, 202101:27:05
#66-Steve Amedio TKXS, All In to Fight Cancer

#66-Steve Amedio TKXS, All In to Fight Cancer

Steve has founded, invested in, run, and exited multiple companies through the years.  He is the founder of All-In to Fight Cancer. In this episode he talks about his philosophy on business, work life balance, fitness, and especially on the progress being made against cancer.

Apr 22, 202101:11:45
#65 - Duncan Littlefield

#65 - Duncan Littlefield

Duncan operates multiple companies related to marketing and sales.  In this episode he explains how he started each company and where he is taking them.  

Apr 19, 202101:30:30
#64, Tony Mecia, Charlotte Ledger

#64, Tony Mecia, Charlotte Ledger

Tony decided to build a subscription news service focused hyper-locally on Charlotte.  In this episode he talks about new business models in media enabled by Substack.  He talks about creating a free service and converting it into paid.  And the two discuss the changing landscape of tech and media broadly.  

Apr 15, 202101:19:58
#63 - Meggie Williams, SkipTown

#63 - Meggie Williams, SkipTown

Meggie joins John for her second appearance to talk about pivoting during a pandemic and having to dig deep.  She also talks about the various stages of fundraising as the company has matured.  She also discusses growth strategy as we come out of lockdown.

Apr 13, 202101:14:05
#62 - Solosode - Health Hacks

#62 - Solosode - Health Hacks

John discusses the various ways he seeks to improve his health.  This includes a fairly extensive list of supplements, self quantification devices and tests, dietary approaches, mindfulness, and hormetic stressors.

Apr 08, 202146:47
#61 - Joseph E. Pizzorno, ND - Bastyr University, ICMJ, Institute for Functional Medicine

#61 - Joseph E. Pizzorno, ND - Bastyr University, ICMJ, Institute for Functional Medicine

Dr Pizzorno is a Naturopathic Doctor and the founder and director of Bastyr University, founder and director of the Institute for Functional Medicine, and editor in chief of PubMed Indexed IMCJ.  He has authored 13 books as well.  In this episode he and John discuss functional medicine (also known as naturopathic medicine) and its history in the United States.  They talk about detoxification and why it is so important to health.


The Toxin Solution


Apr 08, 202101:10:02
#60 - Solosode, Get in the Game

#60 - Solosode, Get in the Game

In this episode John discusses how it is often more important to "get in the game" than to figure out every detail and wait for perfection. 

Apr 05, 202106:45
#59 - Kyle Hepp, Boxmagic

#59 - Kyle Hepp, Boxmagic

In this episode John interviews Kyle Hepp, founder of Boxmagic, the leading gym management software platform in Latin America.  John and Kyle discuss starting a gym in Chile as an American female and then starting a software business to support gyms.  They also discuss handling the business in a pandemic when gyms were forced to shut down.


Apr 05, 202101:18:32
#58 - Jeff Wanner, PairPEO

#58 - Jeff Wanner, PairPEO

Jeff is the founder of PairPEO, a PEO brokerage that helps clients save money on health and dental benefits.  In this episode he explains how PEOs work and why they are so popular, and he talks about scaling a business through building his network meticulously.

Apr 01, 202101:28:57
#57 - Bobby Robinson, IntellyDoc

#57 - Bobby Robinson, IntellyDoc

Bobby is the founder of IntellyDoc, a contract management system.  He also is an attorney with a history in M&A and a current focus on social media influencers.  In this episode he gives the background on building IntellyDoc and selling it to Defiance.  He also talks about challenges minorities face in law and entrepreneurship and how to turn those challenges into opportunities.   He also discusses emerging legal issues related to social media influencers.

Mar 29, 202101:31:05
#56 - 2ULaundry, Dan D'Aquisto and Alex Smereczniak

#56 - 2ULaundry, Dan D'Aquisto and Alex Smereczniak

The founders of 2ULaundry came back to the studio to chat about a pivot, managing during a crisis, how their board of directors helped them react to COVID, and the future of laundry.

Mar 19, 202101:05:16
#55 - Stu Brauer, WTF GymTalk, UrbanMvmnt

#55 - Stu Brauer, WTF GymTalk, UrbanMvmnt

In this episode John sits down with Stu Brauer, his first guest on the show and now his first repeat guest.  They cover a wide range of topics including workout modalities, using workouts to mentally prep for a tough day, franchising vs licensing, the changes at CrossFit HQ in 2020, and a host of other topics.  Stu also talks about navigating the pandemic while also balancing three different pillars of his fitness empire.



Mar 12, 202101:41:51
#54 - Jim Roberts, WALE and NEW

#54 - Jim Roberts, WALE and NEW

Jim has been involved in and started numerous organizations throughout the Southeastern United States.  He currently runs an entrepreneurial network and an angel fund in Wilmington, NC.  In this episode Jim talks about starting eco-systems, the wild success Wilmington is currently having, early stage funding, and gives his thoughts on how NC cities can collaborate better.   He also talks about a lot of great resources for founders.


Here are a few of his favorites:


NC Tech Association

NC IDEA 

RIOT

Dig South

CED 

And a newsletter


Articles about Wilmington's tech/startup scene:

https://hypepotamus.com/feature/whats-up-with-wilmington-nc-the-small-city-with-surprisingly-strong-startup-roots/

https://www.wilmingtonbiz.com/technology/2020/07/17/fostering_a_startup_ecosystem/20639

https://digsouth.com/2020/06/15/southern-coastal-cities-need-to-attract-more-resources-for-entrepreneurs-and-tech-talent-will-follow/


Jim hosts a wonderful podcast here and a local startup news feed here (Twitter for news feed).


Follow Jim on Twitter or NEW on Facebook


Mar 07, 202101:13:43
#53 - West Kept Secret

#53 - West Kept Secret

West Kept Secret is a boutique gym that combines cardio with pilates and strength training in a High Intensity Interval (HIIT) format.  In this interview John interviews Marissa West and Heidi Hillman.  They discuss how Marissa parlayed her experience as a Panthers cheerleader into doing personal training and then partnering with Heidi as a client.  The two talk about why they work well together and how they've scaled the business.  They also dig into specific fitness and nutritional advice.  They discuss opening a gym in a pandemic and how the pandemic forced them to rethink digital/virtual/streaming.

Feb 15, 202101:11:11
#52 - Sureyya (Sy) Ciliv, Kuika
Oct 02, 202053:49
#51 - Gower Smith, Swyft

#51 - Gower Smith, Swyft

Gower is a serial entrepreneur.  He has founded multiple companies in the US, New Zealand, and Australia.  Defiance Ventures led an investment round in Swyft, his most recent creation.  Swyft is the global leader in unattended retail.  In this article he and John discuss what it takes to start multiple companies, modern trends in retail, growing an international business, and many other related topics.


Gower often gifts this book about William H Pickering.  


Oct 02, 202055:45
#50 - Yigit Ihlamur, Vela Partners

#50 - Yigit Ihlamur, Vela Partners

Yigit is the founder of Vela Partners, a Bay Area based Venture Capital fund focusing on AI and machine learning.  It has developed very interesting AI technology to help it find the best investment opportunities in the space.  Yigit tells his story about joining Google early on and how he parlayed that into building a world class VC fund.

Oct 02, 202001:18:19
#49 - Emir Dukic, Rabbu

#49 - Emir Dukic, Rabbu

Emir Dukic owns Rabbu, a short term rental commercial real estate startup in Charlotte.  In this episode John and Emir discuss going out on his own, the short term rental market, being flexible in the COVID-19 era, and working with AirBNB.


Sep 13, 202050:46
#48 - Ramy Serageldin, HoneyFi

#48 - Ramy Serageldin, HoneyFi

HoneyFi is a couple's financial planning platform.  In this episode John interviews its CEO and founder, Ramy Serageldin.  Ramy talks about starting a company after learning from a high flying fintech success story from very early on.  He shares insights into the payments industry and gives indispensable guidance to any would be startup founder.



Sep 07, 202001:12:22
#47-Jack Ossa, Power of Design Podcast and Ossa Studio

#47-Jack Ossa, Power of Design Podcast and Ossa Studio

Jack Ossa owns Ossa Studio which designs commercial real estate projects and has branched into marketing services and even software development.  He also hosts the Power of Design Podcast.  In this episode John and Jack dig into his business, how he got started, and where he wants to take it.



Sep 04, 202001:43:21
#46 - Mike Privette Interviews John

#46 - Mike Privette Interviews John

Mike is a technologist who has been working at big banks and recently started his own consultancy where he advises startups on partnering with banks and on cyber security.  In this episode he interviews John about his history and what he's doing with Defiance.  They discuss what makes products successful and what things entrepreneurs need to be able to do in order to be successful.

Aug 26, 202052:57
#45 - Ivan Barajas Vargas, MuukTest

#45 - Ivan Barajas Vargas, MuukTest

Ivan Barajas Vargas is the founder of MuukTest, a TechStars 2020 company that provides a comprehensive automated software testing solution.  In this episode John and Ivan talk about lessons learned working for one of the biggest enterprise software companies in the world and building a product and company to solve problems encountered along the way.

Aug 20, 202055:60
#44 - JP Conklin, Pensford and LoanBoss

#44 - JP Conklin, Pensford and LoanBoss

In this episode John interviews JP Conklin, founder of Pensford and LoanBoss. Pensford was his first company and it is a financial services company providing derivatives for commercial real estate owners.  From what he learned in building and scaling Pensford JP identified a set of software tools that were not supported well by existing PropTech vendors.  This lead to the creation of LoanBoss, a software platform that helps commercial real estate owners leverage their data to make better loan decisions.

JP talks about building a software product without a technical background, trends in commercial real estate, what the data tell him about COVID, and his background jumping from his dream corporate job to going out on his own.  He also talks about his own philosophy on managing two distinct but related companies.

Aug 04, 202001:24:06
#43 - David Wells, New Years Revolutionary Podcast

#43 - David Wells, New Years Revolutionary Podcast

In this episode John is interviewed by David Wells, founder of the New Years Revolutionary Podcast.  The sound volume level is a little low as this was the first episode recorded in the Defiance Ventures studio since COVID, but David asks John about his history and philosophy on building scalable businesses. 



Aug 04, 202035:42
#42 - Jamie Brown and Jeff Tonidandel - Haberdish, Crepe Cellar, et al

#42 - Jamie Brown and Jeff Tonidandel - Haberdish, Crepe Cellar, et al

In this episode John interviews the couple behind popular NoDa restaurants Haberdish, Crepe Cellar, Growlers, and Reigning Donuts.  In this episode Jeff and Jamie discuss starting a restaurant during a recession and financial crisis, growing into multiple restaurants, driving innovation on both the culinary and mixology in one of Charlotte's top neighborhoods, and then opening a new concept in a new neighborhood (Supperland in Plaza Midwood) during a global pandemic and local shutdown.


Jamie and Jeff mentioned finding inspiration and guidance from Setting the Table and You are a Badass.



Jul 13, 202001:11:08
#41 - Derek Holt, K4Connect
Jul 03, 202001:46:43
#38, Chris Elmore, Avidxchange

#38, Chris Elmore, Avidxchange

Avidxchange is one of the most well known startups in Charlotte.  It has been recognized for many awards and has raised over $1 billion of capital.  In this episode John interviews Chris Elmore, one of Avid's first employees.  Chris talks about the early days at Avid, scaling it, raising multiple rounds of capital from big name investors across the US, keys to sales success, and also talks about the classes he teaches in NC.  


John talked about Jeff Bezos's day one letter

Chris likes the How I Built This podcast

Chris also likes The Pitch podcast



Jun 10, 202002:04:05
#40 - Nina Barnett, Grooop

#40 - Nina Barnett, Grooop

Nina is an impressive young entrepreneur who created a safety app while in under grad to address a problem that she and her friends could not find a good solution for.  She talks about building an app without a technical background through a partnership and what she had to do to figure out how to build a company around it.  Her company Grooop is an app that makes it easy to let friends and family know when a person is safe versus in transit and to discretely notify others when one might be in danger.  It strikes a delicate balance between privacy and security, which is a topic that has taken on increasing significance as society grapples with topics such as contact tracing.


Here are many of the resources that John and Nina discussed throughout the interview:

Nina's development partner out of Durham - Smashing Boxes

UNC's Adam's Apprenticeship Program

Vital Voices Non Profit

Girlboss

Female Founder Collective 

Project Scientist

Hooked - how to build habit forming apps

Founders Live

Carolina Challenge

Launch Chapel Hill

Greensleeve


Check out the video on the Defiance_ YouTube Channel


Jun 06, 202001:22:02
#39 - Neeta Kirpalani, Consultant, Healthtech Women

#39 - Neeta Kirpalani, Consultant, Healthtech Women

John interviews Neeta Kirpalani.  Neeta left a successful career in healthcare to become an independent consultant and her practice has thrived.  She also invests her time in Healthtech Women and Springboard Enterprise's Women's Health Tech Hub.  Neeta talks about building a branding strategy, building a team to support her efforts and scale, and moving from a career in non profits to healthcare.  She also talks about the value of an MBA to an entrepreneur.


Resources that Neeta likes:

Carolina Health Innovators

Society of Physician Entrepreneurs

HIMSS

Bootcamps at UNCC

Tech Talent South

IASA



May 26, 202058:19
#37, Lauren McAbee, Chakti Yoga, Essential Thrive

#37, Lauren McAbee, Chakti Yoga, Essential Thrive

In this episode John interviews Lauren McAbee, founder of Essential Thrive, a holistic health company focusing on essential oils and Chakti Yoga, a yoga form she created that combines dancing moves with Yoga.  Lauren talks about the health benefits of Yoga, why she created her own form, and also about going virtual and actually increasing revenue.  She discusses thinking about going virtual and COVID-19 forcing her hand and she also talks about how much more scalable the business model is.  Lauren also talked about her personal regimen including sauna, drinking mineral water from springs, and also talks about being a vegan.



Essential Thrive on Instagram

Lauren shares her playlists on Spotify.  They are awesome!



May 23, 202001:27:13
#36-Jordan Schindler, nufabrx
May 01, 202001:04:32
#35, Linda Nash, WellcomeMD

#35, Linda Nash, WellcomeMD

In this episode John interview Linda Nash, a serial entrepreneur from Richmond, VA.  Linda discusses starting and exiting three businesses prior to starting WellcomeMD, she explains proactive vs reactive medicine, she talks about concierge and executive medicine, and she goes into how the medical industry has changed through the past two decades.  


John and Linda also discuss some of the challenges that women face in finding female mentors.  Linda gives some very interesting statistics about how VCs and PE funds treat women founders differently, and she talks about what men can do to help overcome some of the biases that prevent there from being a more diverse pool of entrepreneurs.


Linda also talks about running a business during the COVID pandemic and how she thinks things might change.


Women & VC Funding: https://qz.com/work/1372843/quartz-analyzed-the-top-female-founders-to-understand-why-their-companies-are-worth-just-20-of-mens/

Exercise & Immune Health: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/health/immunity-exercise-sleep-meditation-stress-coronavirus-drayer-wellness/index.html






Apr 17, 202001:13:47
#34, Dino H Carter, D Branding

#34, Dino H Carter, D Branding

Dino Carter, a brand and marketing consultant, interviews John in this episode for a video series he hosts. They talk a lot about running a business and raising money during a pandemic and also cover technological and business changes that may come out of the current COVID crisis. They also talk about the startup scene in North Carolina.

Apr 08, 202050:20