Welcome to The Vitalize Podcast by Vitalize Venture Capital

Founders Episodes

Authentic and Engaging VC Marketing, Transitioning from Angel Investor to Fund Manager, and Avoiding Common Failure Patterns, with Dan Kimerling of Deciens Capital

September 29, 2022

Authentic and Engaging VC Marketing, Transitioning from Angel Investor to Fund Manager, and Avoiding Common Failure Patterns, with Dan Kimerling of Deciens Capital

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Dan Kimerling (@dkimerling), Founder and Managing Partner of Deciens Capital, a venture capital firm that supports early-stage founders building the next generation of enduring companies in financial services.

Angel Investing Startup Investing Founders Investors
Cold Outreach Done Right, Turning Accelerator Rejections into Offers, Defining North Star Metrics, and the Dark Art of Pricing, with Patrick Utz of Abstract

September 15, 2022

Cold Outreach Done Right, Turning Accelerator Rejections into Offers, Defining North Star Metrics, and the Dark Art of Pricing, with Patrick Utz of Abstract

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Patrick Utz (@PatrickUtz), Co-Founder & CEO of Abstract, the premier platform and database for working with California state & local legislation that’s bringing lobbying and advocacy into a new era by increasing government transparency.

Startup Investing Future Of Work Founders
Taking on Amazon by Changing Consumer Behavior, the Evolution of Customer Acquisition, and How to Vet Investors, with Zach Hudson of Deft

September 08, 2022

Taking on Amazon by Changing Consumer Behavior, the Evolution of Customer Acquisition, and How to Vet Investors, with Zach Hudson of Deft

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Zach Hudson (@nosduhz), co-founder of Deft, an ad-free, SEO-free search engine for e-commerce enabling its users to find, research, and buy products all in one place.

Founders
Disrupting and Democratizing Venture Capital, an Inside Look at SEC Regulations, and How to Survive Fundraising, with Jesse Randall of Sweater Ventures

August 11, 2022

Disrupting and Democratizing Venture Capital, an Inside Look at SEC Regulations, and How to Survive Fundraising, with Jesse Randall of Sweater Ventures

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Jesse Randall (@SweaterCEO), CEO and Co-Founder of Sweater Ventures, a VC fund that pools money from millions of regular people and invests it into emerging technology and product companies poised for growth—companies you’ll see in your daily life or at work.

Startup Investing Founders Investors
The FOODS Founder Evaluation Framework, Post-Investment Support, and Protecting Your Time, with Shayna Harris and Noramay Cadena of Supply Change Capital

August 04, 2022

The FOODS Founder Evaluation Framework, Post-Investment Support, and Protecting Your Time, with Shayna Harris and Noramay Cadena of Supply Change Capital

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Shayna Harris (@mamashayna) and Noramay Cadena (@noramayc), co-founders and managing partners at Supply Change Capital, a VC firm that believes in a future of food that is sustainability-mindful, supply chain efficient, better for you, and culture rich. They invest at the intersection of food, culture, and technology to catalyze early stage sustainable businesses that modernize the food system.

Startup Investing Founders Investors
Raising a $50M Fund to Elevate Diverse Founders, Impactful Fund Differentiation, and Co-Founder Value Alignment, with Kelly Graziadei and Joanna Lee Shevelenko of f7 Ventures

July 29, 2022

Raising a $50M Fund to Elevate Diverse Founders, Impactful Fund Differentiation, and Co-Founder Value Alignment, with Kelly Graziadei and Joanna Lee Shevelenko of f7 Ventures

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Kelly Graziadei (@kkgraz) and Joanna Lee Shevelenko, the founders and General Partners of f7 Ventures (@F7Ventures), a seed investment fund comprised of seven senior female operators who met at Facebook. With expertise in product, engineering, sales, marketing, partnerships, HR, and operations, they invest in and help bold founders grow and scale at their earliest stages.

Startup Investing Future Of Work Founders Investors
The Path to Executive Coaching, Getting Unstuck, and Improving Team Communication, with Amy Wong of Always on Purpose

July 21, 2022

The Path to Executive Coaching, Getting Unstuck, and Improving Team Communication, with Amy Wong of Always on Purpose

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Amy Eliza Wong (@amyelizawong), the founder of Always On Purpose®. She is an executive leadership coach, author, speaker, and facilitator offering transformative leadership development and cutting-edge communication strategies to executives and corporate teams around the world.

Founders
Raising a $25M Fund, Implementing a Narrow Investment Thesis, and Hawke Ventures’ Unique Portfolio Construction Strategy, with Drew Leahy

July 07, 2022

Raising a $25M Fund, Implementing a Narrow Investment Thesis, and Hawke Ventures’ Unique Portfolio Construction Strategy, with Drew Leahy

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Drew Leahy, Managing Partner at Hawke Ventures (@hawkeventures), an early stage consumer and B2B marketing technology fund. He is also the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Hawke Media.

Startup Investing Founders Investors
Organic Growth Loops, Customer-Led Product Development, Raising a $13.5M Series A, and the No-Code Landscape, with Mariam Hakobyan of Softr

June 30, 2022

Organic Growth Loops, Customer-Led Product Development, Raising a $13.5M Series A, and the No-Code Landscape, with Mariam Hakobyan of Softr

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Mariam Hakobyan (@mariam_hakobyan), Co-Founder and CEO of Softr, the easiest no-code platform for building custom apps and portals, in minutes. With Softr, you can build client portals, internal tools, marketplaces, online communities, resource directories, websites and more.

Startup Investing Future Of Work Founders
Building a Team that Resembles Planet Earth, Distributed Work as a Global Resilience Strategy, and Becoming a Unicorn in Under Two Years, with Oyster’s Tony Jamous

June 23, 2022

Building a Team that Resembles Planet Earth, Distributed Work as a Global Resilience Strategy, and Becoming a Unicorn in Under Two Years, with Oyster’s Tony Jamous

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Tony Jamous (@jamingo), the CEO and founder of Oyster, a Global Employment Platform that empowers companies to hire, pay, and care for team members wherever they are in the world. Oyster allows growing companies to tap into the global talent pool and offer their remote workers around the world a great employment experience.

Future Of Work Founders
The Work Revolution: Inside VITALIZE's Investment Focus with Gale Wilkinson

June 17, 2022

The Work Revolution: Inside VITALIZE's Investment Focus with Gale Wilkinson

In this episode, Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks again with Gale Wilkinson (@galeforceVC), Founder and Managing Partner at VITALIZE, a seed-stage venture fund and angel community investing in The Work Revolution. In this round with Gale, we dig into the details of the Work Revolution and VITALIZE's investment focus.

Angel Investing Startup Investing Future Of Work Founders Investors
VITALIZE Throwback: Accessing Founder Resources, Executing Capital Allocation, and Building in Public, with Fiveable’s Amanda DoAmaral

June 03, 2022

VITALIZE Throwback: Accessing Founder Resources, Executing Capital Allocation, and Building in Public, with Fiveable’s Amanda DoAmaral

This is a special episode pulled from the VITALIZE vault—back when The VITALIZE Podcast was Talking Venture! Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Amanda DoAmaral (@AmandaDoAmanda), Co-Founder of Fiveable, a social learning network for students.

Startup Investing Founders
The VITALIZE Team on Changing the Face of Venture by Making Investing Accessible to Everyone, and the Less Glamorous Side of Working in VC

May 26, 2022

The VITALIZE Team on Changing the Face of Venture by Making Investing Accessible to Everyone, and the Less Glamorous Side of Working in VC

In this special episode, Justin Gordon (@justingordon212), the Director of Marketing with VITALIZE Venture Capital, interviews three key VITALIZE team members, Founder and Managing Partner Gale Wilkinson (@galeforceVC), Partner Caroline Casson (@carolinecasson_), and Community Manager Larissa Insogna (@LarissaInsogna).

Angel Investing Startup Investing Future Of Work Founders Investors
Reducing Meeting Times by 70% and Increasing Your Team’s Innovation by Reimagining Collaboration, with Balloon’s Amanda Greenberg

May 05, 2022

Reducing Meeting Times by 70% and Increasing Your Team’s Innovation by Reimagining Collaboration, with Balloon’s Amanda Greenberg

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Amanda Greenberg (@AKGreenberg), Co-Founder and CEO of Balloon, a research-backed platform that unlocks ideas and feedback from a group by eliminating groupthink and amplifying voices. They’re rebuilding the way teams collaborate, making them more productive, innovative, informed, and inclusive.

Angel Investing Future Of Work Founders
Eliminating the Geo-Lottery via Turing’s Intelligent Talent Cloud, with Jonathan Siddarth | Future of Work

April 29, 2022

Eliminating the Geo-Lottery via Turing’s Intelligent Talent Cloud, with Jonathan Siddarth | Future of Work

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Jonathan Siddarth (@jonsidd), CEO and Founder of Turing, a company on a mission to help unleash the world’s untapped potential. Turing’s hiring platform combines planetary reach and AI to deliver your ideal engineers in order to help you spin up your engineering dream team.

Future Of Work Founders