Startup: Conversations With Louisville Entrepreneurs

After 94 great episodes and two great years, I’m pulling the plug on the Startup Podcast – not because I don’t love it or because it wasn’t working. I simply don’t have the time and flexibility to carry my own show. I’m grateful for the time and attention you’ve given me. Listen in for the […]

It’s arguable that nobody is as consistent and makes as much of a difference in the Louisville startup scene than Tendai Charasika. Easily one of the most likable and dialed in guys, he’s made the jump from startup support to startup CEO of SuperFanU. In this episode, he details the challenges of balancing life in […]

Finding a way to serve others and blend that into entrepreneurship has been a goal for Sean Vandevander throughout his career. He now volunteers for a Louisville social entrepreneurship startup called Waterstep and is working on facing the challenges that come with a non-profit.            

The @kycoffeeguy came in for a chat about his history in the Louisville tech scene why he stays involved. Richard Meadows is around every turn at startup events and provides a few laughs on this week’s episode.

As a guy who has made his living in sales and networking, John Zeydel knows a thing or two about making connections. He and his business partner, Christy Smallwood, own and operation Arkham Executive, a “group therapy” of sorts for entrepreneurs. They also organize an annual event called Gear Up Louisville.         […]

Having grown up with a dad in the Navy, Jason Kelly is no stranger to travel. That helps as he hops across the map as part of his company, Drifter Events, that hosts outdoor biking and running events around the company. The first event was an experiment that caused him to see enough potential to […]

As a native Lousivillian, Chris Bailey has seen his fair share of rear-end collisions on the highways and biways of the area. It took his being a witness to a giant pileup on I-71 to realize that there’s a better way for drivers to be aware of velocity changes on the highway. That incident was […]

After spending four years at Miami (OH) and time in the Marines (including a tour in Afghanistan) to hone his leadership skills, Andrew Klawier is heading up the development of GroomHQ, one in the new class at the Velocity accelerator in Jeffersonville.          

After finding Louisville a good match for raising a family and starting a business, Brian Wallace and his wife settled here to get their marketing company, NowSourcing, to a place where they could rapidly grow. After several years of success and observation in the city, they’ve started up a Louisville suburban coworking space with several […]

For a guy who wasted too much time skateboarding around UofL’s campus (according to him), Keith Ringer has accomplished some things. He and his partner Chuck Burke were early in no the social network thing with LouisvilleMojo.com. After selling the business off, he’s been busy with other projects and staying relatively active in the Louisville […]

Brandon Powers is no stranger to the startup world, having worked as a developer with Andy and Landon Swan for many years, but now, as a leader of his startup, LensFactory.com, he’s in uncharted waters. Brandon tells us what lessons he’s learned so far and how he manages his time with a wife and 3 […]

A seasoned veteran of startups and investing, Andy Swan has plenty to say about what works and what doesn’t. His latest two projects, Voomly and LikeFolio are both operational and creating revenue within an unbelievably short time of inception. He has strong things to say about Lean Startup, the Louisville scene, and why he doesn’t […]

Creating a whole new platform of communicating isn’t easy, and getting to the point where you can execute on that idea isn’t either. After many years in the workforce at several different startups in northern California, Jonathan Erwin moved back to Louisville to start a family. Fast forward a few years and he’s taken the […]

Recent “Launch It” graduate (and Scotsman) Angus McLachlan came to Louisville two years ago to work on medical devices. His work developed so far down the road, he found himself at the helm of a new effort with the blessing (and assistance) of his former employer. He’s still two years from product launch, but has […]

In the digital age, become a brand unto your self is “easy” to do. Elite Pierre is a youth mentor, public speaker, and soon-to-be publisher who is finding out that it takes a lot of focus and determination to make it happen. After completing the Nucleus Lean Launchpad training last spring, Elite is primed and […]

Necessity (and opportunity) are the mothers of invention. Mike Pifer’s wife exclaimed that outdoorsmen will buy anything and challenged him to come up with something. He did, and DCVR Outdoors was recently named one of Louisville’s “Hot Dozen” companies. It’s a great story of a “regular joe” who made up his mind to do something…then […]

Seeing an opportunity to help his father make something marketable got developer Clay Turner into the entrepreneurial space at an early age. He eventually teamed up with Michael Browning to work on a software business aimed at the banking industry and now the two have spun off another company called Onovative that aims to help […]

After leaving town and returning during a great career in web hosting, Stacy Griggs found himself with some time on his hands and an opportunity to helm a Louisville startup that is revolutionizing the way ads are targeted online with www.eltoro.com.

We all have ideas and they’re easy to steal. So what can you do to protect yours? We dropped a microphone in on Open Coffee Louisville on Monday, October 14 as Chuck Baxter from Intellectual Property Insurance Services shared the basics of IP, trademarks, patents and more. Great basic listening for anybody with an idea […]

Producing and marketing a hard good isn’t easy, but Todd Schleuning and his family don their yellow dresses and hit the concert circuit to introduce the world to Shart, a quick and easy way to frame your favorite t-shirt as wall art without damaging it. He’s also teamed with his wife to write and illustrate […]