Startup Life Show With Ande Lyons

Hold onto your seats folks – you’re about to take a roller coaster ride with these two startup co-founders!Our guests, Rajia Abdelaziz and Ray Hamilton, are the founders of invisaWear, a safety jewelry company that creates smart jewelry and accessories with advanced safety technology, allowing users to instantly alert friends, family, and police during an emergency. Rajia and Ray didn’t set out to start a tech company. They met in their sophomore year in an engineering lab at UMass Lowell and became good friends. But due to a series of events in her senior year, Rajia realized there was a strong need for a stylish, smart jewelry with safety technology product and approached her pal Ray with her idea. He responded with the suggestion “Let’s do this as our senior year class project!” Three years later, invisaWear is a vibrant, online safety jewelry company.Since starting the company, invisaWear has been featured in many newspapers, news stations and magazines, and Rajia and Ray were named one of the top ten sta

Do you have a dream business you'd like to launch but don't know where to start? Our guest, Nichelle McCall Browne, shares her best launch and growth strategies for the Solopreneur and Online Entrepreneur. Nichelle is a Startup Strategist, Venture-backed Tech Entrepreneur and Money Milestones Maven. She is the founder of Bold Startups, which provides courses and results-based coaching to help consultants, online and tech entrepreneurs hit six figures and secure funding, so they can be full-time, fully-funded, and financially-free. I love that outcome! As a non-tech founder, Nichelle raised $500,000 within a year for her own software company, making her part of the .02% of black women founders in tech to raise venture capital. Bravo!She has also managed two startup accelerators, where entrepreneurs have made over $3.6M in revenue within a few years. Woo hoo!She’s been blessed to be featured by INC Magazine, FORTUNE, ESSENCE, GLAMOUR, Crain’s, Huffington Post, The White House, Black Enterprise, and SXSW (South

How do you keep a dynamic startup team engaged, empowered and retained? Our guest, Aaron Levy, shares the best advice to keep turnover low under the stressful conditions of startup life!Aaron is the Founder and CEO of Raise The Bar, a firm focused on helping companies address the problem of millennial turnover.Aaron is an ICF Associate Certified Coach, a Thrive Global contributor, an 1871 mentor, the Co-Director of Startup Grind Chicago and a member of the Forbes Coaches Council. He has educated, coached, and consulted over 7,000 business leaders, helping them to define goals, create action plans, and achieve sustained success. Aaron is on a mission to transform the manager role by empowering each manager with the tools, skills, and training to be leaders of people who unlock the potential of their team.Startup Founders who are on a very lean budget know how important it is to empower their teams and maximize the potential of their teams. I’m so delighted Aaron’s here to help us create and retain dynamic team

Is podcast marketing right for your business? How much does it cost, and is it hard to get started? Our guest, Shannon Hernandez (also knows as The Shan Man) is a 19 year radio veteran with 18 of his years spent with Arizona rock station, 98 KUPD.He's had the opportunity to interview some of the biggest names in the rock industry like Ivan Mood of Five Finger Death Punch, Phil Labonte of All That Remains… to Ben Anderson of Nothing More, David Ellefson of Megadeth and many more.Shannon's biggest passion is helping content creators build podcasts that make a sonic impact for listeners through sound design, branding/imaging and storytelling. He currently holds down his normal 7-midnight shift for 98 KUPD and produces podcasts like Carey Peña Reports and the Catalyst Conversations. You can also catch him on his YouTube channel and podcast, The Swing Shift Side Hustle.I became a devoted fan of Shannon and his remarkable work in the world 5 years ago when I had a live video show on Google Hangouts. He has helped

Why would a hard working Pediatrician launch a business? On this episode of the Startup Life Show Dr. April Inness shares the life-changing moment that compelled her to create eekMD!This health tech startup is a series of experiential and immersive learning programs for elementary school age children that teaches them how to advocate for their own health and communicate with health care providers.The healthcare setting is often intimidating and scary, and children need tools to effectively communicate their symptoms, ask questions of their healthcare providers, and feel empowered. Dr. Inniss is a licensed pediatrician and researcher with expertise in creating and evaluating media products for young children. I was curious… and perhaps you are too… why someone … who has devoted so much time and effort to her education in and practice of medicine… why would they start a business?! Wasn't medical school hard enough? I know… that is such a limiting belief I have, right?! I am so delighted Dr. Inniss is here to bl

Music has always been our guest’s passion. Dalton Dellsperger, founder of the TownWave app, was an independent hip-hop artist, performing across the country and consistently putting out content, when he realized there was a problem. There were zero platforms willing to help independent musicians succeed. Sure, you can upload your music to big platforms, but NO ONE provided a way for musicians to get their music in front of listeners that are near them and who they should be interacting with and reaching in order to increase that local buzz for their music.Like many founders, Dalton decided to fix that problem and created TownWave, a social sound platform that allows for local musicians to reach new listeners nearby or in targeted regions. Townwave’s goal is to level the playing field for musicians and help them grow their fan base organically. The app aims to empower musicians of all levels and allow them to develop a local buzz and eventually expand outwards.Within the app, artists are able to upload music,

Our guest, seasoned Tech Startup Founder and Angel Investor Igor Belagorundsky, is all about startups. As his bio on Angel.co reads: Founder of startups. Developer for startups. Adviser for startups. Investor in startups. Excited about startups. I love it!I first met Igor at a local monthly startup pitch event called Startupalooza. He’s a judge for this event, and I had to dial up my smarty pants decoder ring to tap into his brilliant ability to quickly zoom in on a startup’s business model and ask relevant, highly valuable questions of the Founder(s).A technical, hands-on professional with over 20 years of experience in technology based businesses, Igor is a serial entrepreneur having most recently scaled Erecruit from a team of 3 to over 120, through several rounds of investments and to a successful sale for $62.8 million dollars. Woo Hoo!Active in the Boston startup scene as a founder, adviser, pitch competition judge and angel investor, Igor generously adds value everywhere he glows. He’s a confident full

Did you know 90% of our senior population wants to age at home? Our guest, Meetcaregivers Founder Florence Furaha, has made the process easier, safer and 50% more affordable than traditional services - and she doesn't have a tech background!With years of experience as a caregiver, and after earning her MBA at Babson College, Florence saw a problem in the caregiver space and founded Meetcaregivers, a Massachusetts based platform using online and video technology to help families safely find and connect with qualified caregivers. Families can go to the website and watch one to three-minute videos of caregivers in their area talking about their experience, skills, background, and availability. These videos help families get to know the caregivers before scheduling interviews.Meetcaregivers is easier and safer than job boards such as Craigslist and Care.com. It pre-screens the caregivers and handles payments and insurance, so families never have to worry. How wonderful is that?I saw Florence pitch Meetcaregivers

How does an architect become a fashion designer and create a fashion brand business? Our guest, Cecile Thieulin, shares her deep insights for launching a fashion brand, even when you've never stepped foot into the fashion industry.From fundraising to design decisions to manufacturing options - Cecile brings strategies and tactics for building a fashion brand. Her startup stories and advice will also resonate with business owners across all industries and with those who are dreaming of launching their own business.Cecile Thieulin was born in France, grew-up in Paris, studied in Barcelona and worked in New-Delhi, London and New-York before she settled in between Paris and Boston… where she works today.Because Cecile has always had a fascination for geometry, light and shadows, shape and spaces, cities and history, she chose to study architecture. In 2006, she started her own architectural business and, along the way … when she was looking for specific clothes she couldn’t find, she did what many women do. She d

Are you thinking about hitting the streets and serving up some tasty treats? It's an excellent decision given the food truck industry has a huge 7.9% annual growth rate for the past 5 years, has a low start-up cost of approximately $50,000 to $100,000, with expected annual revenue of $250,000 to $500,000!Bob Cuesta, Founder of the Empanada Dada Cuban Food Truck, shares his best advice to help you launch, brand and build a successful food truck business.In May of 2017 Bob left Corporate America and launched the Empanada Dada food truck. It’s based out of Lowell, MA and can be found at local farmer's markets, fairs, corporate venues, and festivals around Eastern MA and Southern NH. Bob goes deep into every aspect of the food truck business - from build out to customer experience - he covers all the nitty gritty details from his own food truck founder journey.If you’d like to learn how to provide an outstanding social media customer experience, please follow Bob on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn – the way he

Are you wondering which marketing tactics and resources to use with your limited time and marketing budget? Our guest, Growth Marketer, Educator and Founder Shamir Ozery shares his best startup marketing advice.Shamir helps entrepreneurs, startups and businesses build, plan and execute digital marketing initiatives that focus on growth, business impact and ongoing optimization, while making the most of existing resources.Shamir taught Entrepreneurial Marketing at the University of Michigan’s Center For Entrepreneurship, and continues to share his marketing brilliance with the startup community here in Boston. With extensive international agency experience, and working with various Fortune 500 clients, Shamir Ozery has spent the past 10 years focusing on branding, messaging, digital marketing strategies, and execution to help clients of all sizes attain impactful and measurable growth.I randomly met Shamir on Twitter, as one does when hanging out at the Twitter bar, when he shared an extraordinary startup mark

Known to many as Mr. Persuasion, our guest, Jeff Tippett, is the founder of Targeted Persuasion, an award-winning public affairs and communications firm. Jeff shares how Startup Founders can use persuasive communication to capture, connect and convince customers, investors, team members, vendors and advisers.Founders don't need to think they're trying to make somebody else do something or that they have to try to sell someone. He explains founders are showing leadership, sharing their vision for a better future, a better outcome. When we truly believe we are meeting our customer's needs, it sets our minds free to be out there, to run, wide open and it becomes effortless to help persuade our clients and customers. Jeff shares his three C's for persuasive communication: Capture, Connect, Convince. How do we capture the audience's attention? How do we connect with our audience? How do we convince them to take action?You will learn how to apply the three C’s to grow your business … to help increase revenue, build

Social Media and Brand Strategist Dede Watson has been a really good online friend of mine for over 8 years. She was one of the first people I met on Twitter in 2011 … when I was a newbie social media user… as a business owner… stumbling along, trying to figure things out. Dede was a warm, welcoming light in a vast, confusing landscape.Dede is the Founder of Turn It Social, where she provides social media marketing services to personal brands … as well as small to mid-sized companies … helping them build their businesses with fresh, creative social media strategies. She is recognized as one of the top social media influencers in the world and listed as an exclusive FORBES Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer.Dede is also responsible for my own special brand: Andelicious! That’s right – it was on Twitter she began calling me Andelicious… and of course, I call HER Dedelicious!I am so delighted Dede is here to share her best Instagram Growth Hacking tips and social media strategies for startup founders, along wi

Author, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and mentor Will Herman shares his best startup stories, lessons, insights and advice to help founders build a successful and sustainable business.Will co-authored The Startup Playbook, based on his and co-author Rajat Bhargava's entrepreneurial journeys. They have started over a dozen high-tech software companies, raised over $500 million in investment capital, acquired over thirty-five companies, had three of their startups go public, sold six of them, and made billions of dollars for shareholders. They’ve also advised and mentored over two hundred companies.You will find so much valuable and actionable advice in this episode - I'm excited to hear how Will's insights helped you and your startup!You can grab a copy of The Startup Playbook here: https://startup-playbook.com/ and follow Will on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/FounderBook.Here's the link to CB Insights: https://www.cbinsights.com/.You can purchase my Pitch Deck Template here: http://andelyons.com/pow

You will love this delicious conversation with Laura Mignott, CEO and Founder of DFlash, a New York-based, experience communications agency!While attending the Chole Capital Boston Women Investors Forum a few weeks ago, I was so impressed by how well this extraordinary event was run and produced, I asked Chloe Capital’s partner, Kate Cartini, "who made this amazing event happen?!" She pointed across the room to a glowing powerhouse of a woman and said: Laura Mignott.DFlash creates high impact brand experiences for Fortune 500s like Samsung, Netflix, Amazon, Bose to tech companies, non-profits and trade associations. DFlash creates experiences that make people feel welcome from pop-ups, private dinners, product launches, guerilla stunts to multi-city tours.Laura shares how her business idea happened “by accident” in 2010. She and her co-founder were not happy with the current networking experiences in NYC, so they started their own networking events! They built events they would want to go to - always remember

Please meet Customer Experience expert, Steve Pappas! On this episode you'll learn:•Why Steve had no choice but to become an entrepreneur!•The origins of Customer Experience•The difference between Customer Service and Customer Experience•How today’s companies are staying competitive using Customer Experience•How to differentiate your product/service to the level of being so memorable the customer will have no problem in recommending you to everyone they know!•Advice for founders who choke when it comes to “selling” their product/service – how to embrace the hustle hurdle!•Why building your Trusted Advisor role will increase sales and give you a competitive edge.•Steve’s outstanding advice for inspiring and retaining employees is pure gold for any Founder.•How to stay nimble and flexible while implementing systems and procedures into your scaling business.•Steve’s “outside in” approach to running a business and driving a business.You can connect with Steve on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sxpappas

An engineer from Colombia who moved to the USA 15 years ago and earned her MBA at Babson College, Angela Sanchez would constantly get compliments from the jewelry she purchased in Columbia. An idea sprang up and, given her deep commitment to social responsibility, Angela quickly realized she could launch a business that would not only generate employment for artisans in Latin America, who have no chance of securing employment in the mainstream labor market in their countries, but also support women entrepreneurs in the United States.Highlights from this delicious conversation:•How Angela proved her value proposition and customer segment in the crowded jewelry space – you’ll love her tactics and market survey questions!•How the Babson WIN Lab Accelerator Program propelled her business forward•Advice for overcoming the Founder “sales hustle syndrome”•Online sales vs. Wholesale – Angela shares surprising data results•Angela’s Entrepreneur Magazine “Elevator Pitch” experience -> https://artyfactos.com/blogs/artyf

Please meet Nate Hirsch, Founder and CEO of FreeeUp, a marketplace connecting business owners with the top 1% of freelancers in eCommerce, digital marketing, web development, and much more. Nate shares his best startup insights and stories – and his deep knowledge of remote hiring, ecommerce and bootstrapping.Highlights from this delicious conversation: •Nate’s Big Hairy Problem, how he solved it, and what he learned: one of the most important parts of problem solving is putting steps in place so that the same thing doesn't happen again.•How many times do you hire someone with a good resume, and it just doesn't work out? Nate shares how they vet the best freelancers at FreeeUp – and it’s not an algorithm!!•How Nate bootstrapped his businesses: I’m a big proponent of making hires and really investing back into people in order to grow the business and reinvesting revenue that comes in.•Nate’s best tips for getting off the ground without dumping a ton of money in marketing (you will LOVE his advice!!)•How to cre

At the age of 19, college student Vlad Mkrtumyan launched his first startup, where he learned how to hustle, build relationships, and embrace solving problems. His 2nd startup gave him an even deeper knowledge of how to be a better founder and business owner. Even though both businesses failed, they led Vlad to his current successful business.Today Vlad is a serial entrepreneur, a connector, a community builder and a smarty pants SEO growth hacker. He’s the CEO of Logic Inbound, a digital marketing agency based in Seattle, where they provide high performing search marketing campaigns for clients. Vlad is also the founder of Cofounders Connect, a community he is leading to give back to co-founders seeking mentorship and advice from other co-founding peers. Vlad shares the best startup stories, marketing tips, and inspirational quotes. Vlad loves meeting and connecting with people, and hosts some of the largest events in Seattle. Please reach out to him on LinkedIn and Twitter (see links below).Thank you for tu

Does your business look good on paper, but it’s actually living on borrowed time?Several years ago I had the sincere pleasure of interviewing the extraordinary entrepreneur and author, Mike Michaelowicz on my live video show. It was such an eye-opening and engaging interview, I wanted to share it with you, my podcast listeners.Many founders live in what I’ll call entrepreneurial poverty… walking a stressful tightrope of financial instability.But it doesn’t have to be that way IF you implement Mike’s advice from his book … Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine. Throughout this 30 minute interview, Mikes shares tactics that will help you create a predictably profitable business.My favorite quote from the interview: "Profit is not an event. It's a habit.”Get ready to learn some valuable tips for your biz… I promise you’ll be smiling throughout the interview from Mike’s self deprecating humor. I’m so grateful you tuned in - enjoy the conversation – cheers!Ande*