Innov865’s Post

What an incredible start it has been to 2024! Hmm, where to start...? Well, as most of you know, I pitched the most recent network product that Jack Sawyer and I built at the 2023 StartUp Texas Emerging Industries Demo Day. Which can be found here if you want to check it out: https://lnkd.in/gtM6C_hy -- A few days after the pitch I was serving customers at the restuarant, and I saw a few familiar faces from UTRGV Center for Innovation and Commercialization - CIC. They congratulated me on the pitch and we began to catch up. At the table there was a young man who I hadn't met yet, but spoke well about some interesting topics. The team members from the CIC spoke highly about his character, and urged that we connect to exchange ideas in AI, finance, and entrepreneurship. After the pitch competition a few days prior, I was told to be 'on vacation', because, Jack and I had built, tested, and launched Rizome (earning us our first revenue in over a year of trying to build network products) AND re-built the entire pitch for the Demo Day competition--in just under 15 days. One of the most difficult work sprints I have executed to date. That being said, I couldn't help but meet with this new friend the next day--something about our first interaction sparked my curiosity. Jorge Ayala brought his business plan, pitch deck, and projections to our first meeting...and after about three hours--I came to the realization that the problem he has identified in cross-border trade finance--might be one of the most interesting problems I have ever had the fortune of learning about. Our meeting left me speechless! I had so much investigating to do. So much for a vacation haha.

🧐 Looking forward to being a judge at Britain's Got Startups event in early April in Guildford!   If you're a startup or scale-up business in the South-West, applications close this Friday at midday.   What is it? 👇 Britain’s Got Startups is a national event series spotlighting the best startups and scale-ups. The event brings together investors, business leaders and local stakeholders to provide an active platform to pitch to. The best businesses from the regional finals will be invited to London for an event series finale on an international stage. Why am I bothering? 🤓 Regional businesses are undervalued and don’t get the attention they deserve. The goal is to boost investment to improve the flow of early-stage capital across the UK.

It had seemed like a faraway dream. ✨ A dream of my circular economy project being accepted into a startup incubator. Well, it has! One created by Google, BeCentral, BeAngels and Bruxelles Formation. How blessed to have your support from the outset. 🙏❤️ Last night was our first incredible masterclass. I don’t think anyone in the room was naïve to the fact that this will be a tough and long road. We can certainly all handle the truth that many of our companies will fail (and fail, and fail again 💪). But guess what? All successful companies have one thing in common. Yes. 💫 They all had to be founded in the first place. 💫 So here we go. WeAreFounders. I am a founder. Now it begins! 🚀 #Entrepreneurship #Startups #CircularEconomy #Grateful #Support #Believe

Thrilled to support and share this exciting news from The Source Groups! Refresh Miami and Nancy Dahlberg have featured the Startup World Cup Competition! 🙌🏽 ➡️ Don't miss out on this FIRST-TIME chance for startups to compete for $1 Million! Read the full article for details. #founders #startupfunding #foundersfund #startupinvestment

DareToShift is on a mission to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit—and this week I’m proud to share that we surpassed 900 members and have become the area’s largest meetup group for innovative startup founders and investors. 🚀 This wouldn’t be possible without you all, so thank you to all of our members, partners, supporters, sponsors, including Aron Rash⚡ Isaac Amos🗼⚡️ Jenna Stirling Dave Y. Anthony You Oluwatunmise Oni Rebekah Gregg Lauren Romer JP Maloney Chip Kennedy John K. Ben Provan Krista Covey Krishna Nair Reyna Michelle Jessica Cunningham, J.D. Jack Brockman Jake Shepherd Max Mesirow Isabella Barrios-Silva The Museum at Car Space Raleigh Founded Cary Founded The Loading Dock American Underground City Club Raleigh First Flight Venture Center Durham Bottling Co Innovate Raleigh City of Raleigh Municipal Government and so many more I couldn’t possibly name you all, thank you! Let’s continue to build the future in our vision, develop the local ecosystem together, and elevate how we live, work, and play—because it’s hard building a business, but you don’t have to do it alone! 🫶 #techstartup #smallbusiness #smb #startuplife #digitalnomad #remotework #angelinvestor #venturecapital #startuptips #foundertips

"This is like getting fundraising skills from 3 top American accelerators all at once, but only in a few weeks and without giving away equity," described our founder-participant. And you can join us this week! Our goal is to save you YEARS of your own mistakes and help you do everything right quickly and on the first try: 1. You will learn how to create an impressive presentation from Nat, who has screened over 5,000 decks in her career at 500 Startups. You will learn how to pitch like a pro from Dasha - a winner of 5 international startup competitions (one of them with a prize of $500k). 2. Learn from Nat how investors think and what motivates them to invest, based on her experience of selecting over 100 startups for the 500 startups programs. Dasha will share all the tricks and secrets on how to close deals quickly, based on her experience of raising $4 million and skills from mentors at Techstars and Berkeley SkyDeck. 3. Get the opportunity to practice your pitch in front of investors and founders from Silicon Valley. Get valuable feedback and build new relationships. 

Thank you Refresh Miami and Nancy Dahlberg for featuring us and our Startup World Cup Competition 🙌🏽 ➡️ Dive into the article to learn about this FIRST-TIME Opportunity we're offering startups to win $1 Million #founders #startupfunding #foundersfund #startupinvestment

Hey Nashville Founder and Funder friends: StartupNash is hosting events! We are having a happy hour during the week of #3686, and I want you to come. This event is for high-growth founders in Nashville launching something new (or an interest in newly launched startups)! Founders should expect to meet peer connections. Let me share a bit more. - Startup founders have a lonely road. It's important to make/invest in professional friendships. - 3686 is a great time to share new things you're working on/launching. - We practice peer mentorship (founder knowledge sharing) every day in StartupNash. - We are bringing our community experience to life with this ongoing event. There is a mix of founders and funders already signed up. Those attending 3686 can attend the conference happy hour, then StartupNash in East Nashville, then LaunchTN's after-party. It'll be a busy day but we can do it! I'll be attending every event. How you can help: - Share this event with a founder new to town - Be open to knowledge-sharing with founders - StartupNash is seeking sponsorships for our founder events in the future Details here: https://lu.ma/03h7wpei

Business Briefings Alert 🚨 🚨🚨🚨 Upcoming Pitch Competition for Startups the deadline to apply is in a few day so make sure you click the link 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽below and register to 🗣️🎤💵💵💵 #pitchcompetiton #startups #pitchtowin #EndeverPitchCompetition

Last chance to register your startup via this important survey! The information gathered helps regional decision makers understand how the startup ecosystem is developing and parse out important trends.