『Startup Ignition Podcast』のカバーアート

Startup Ignition Podcast

Startup Ignition Podcast

著者： John & Tyler Richards
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 Father and son team John and Tyler Richards — veteran entrepreneurs, venture investors, mentors, and educators — discuss all things entrepreneurship and venture capital.Startup Ignition Academy, Inc. マネジメント マネジメント・リーダーシップ リーダーシップ 経済学
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  • Brian Beutler: From Massive 100:1 Cramdown to 700 Employees and $100M Raised

    Brian Beutler: From Massive 100:1 Cramdown to 700 Employees and $100M Raised
    2025/05/08
    In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we're joined by the remarkable Brian Beutler, CEO and founder of Alianza, and Utah Business CEO of the Year 2025. Brian takes us on an incredible two-decade journey of building Alianza, a leading cloud communications platform. From its early days as a VOIP disruptor born out of a BYU business plan competition to navigating multiple near-death experiences – including the 2008 financial crisis, competitive pressures, and major customer bankruptcies – Brian shares invaluable lessons in resilience, strategic pivoting, and the art of the investor pitch. Discover how Alianza not only survived but thrived, culminating in a game-changing acquisition of a Microsoft business unit and scaling to 700 employees across 20 countries. This is a masterclass in entrepreneurial grit, navigating funding rounds, and the relentless pursuit of a vision.

    (00:00:00) Introducing Brian Beutler, CEO of Alianza
    (00:01:10) Brian's Legendary Investor Pitching Skills
    (00:04:07) Icebreaker: Tech This or That
    (00:09:56) Early Days: Get Phone & Catching the VOIP Wave
    (00:17:46) Identifying Market Shifts & Being "In the Game"
    (00:20:07) Alianza's Genesis: BYU Business Plan Competition
    (00:27:24) The Art of the Pitch: Preparation & Mentorship
    (00:32:46) Alianza 1.0: Raising $2M and Early Growth
    (00:35:02) The 2008 Financial Crisis Hits Hard
    (00:38:07) Near-Death #1: Funding Falls Apart & Payroll Tax Issues
    (00:44:09) The AT&T "Partnership" & Asset Sale
    (00:46:10) Alianza 2.0: Pivoting to a Cloud Platform
    (00:49:42) Recapitalizing: The "Pay to Play" Down Round
    (00:55:03) Near-Death #2 & #3: Rural Broadband Collapse
    (00:57:01) The "Conniving Plan" to Land Anchor Customers
    (01:01:19) Near-Death #4: Major Customer Acquired & Shut Down
    (01:04:08) Acquiring a Microsoft Business Unit
    (01:07:04) Taking Chips Off the Table: Founder Liquidity
    (01:10:42) Alianza's Funding Journey & Investor Outlook
    (01:13:21) Scaling to 700 Employees Across 20 Countries
    (01:15:01) Brian's Advice: Resilience in Entrepreneurship

    Join our online academy for free:
    https://startupignition.com/academy

    Apply to be a guest on the pod:
    https://startup-ignition-podcast.paperform.co/

    Follow John & Tyler:
    https://x.com/trich_
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrichards/

    Subscribe on YouTube:
    https://www.youtube.com/@StartupIgnition

    Follow on X:
    https://x.com/startupignition

    Follow on Instagram:
    https://www.instagram.com/startupignition/

    Follow on TikTok:
    https://www.tiktok.com/@startupignition

    Follow on LinkedIn:
    https://www.linkedin.com/school/6458758/admin/dashboard/

    Follow on Facebook:
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    #StartupIgnition
    #BrianBeutler
    #Alianza
    #Entrepreneurship
    #StartupJourney
    #VOIP
    #CloudCommunications
    #VentureCapital
    #AngelInvesting
    #PitchingInvestors
    #BusinessResilience
    #OvercomingAdversity
    #StartupPivots
    #TechAcquisition
    #Microsoft
    #CEOInsights
    #UtahBusiness
    #StartupFunding
    #TechStartups
    #BusinessGrowth
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    1 時間 18 分
  • Evan Teshima: Bootstrapping ForeUP to a Massive SaaS Exit and the $400k Chess Game

    Evan Teshima: Bootstrapping ForeUP to a Massive SaaS Exit and the $400k Chess Game
    2025/05/01
    In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, we sit down with Evan Teshima, founder and former CEO of ForeUP, a massive bootstrapped success story in the golf tech SaaS space. Evan shares his incredible journey from meeting John in a BYU classroom, enduring 5-7 rapid pivots during an accelerator program, navigating a near-death convertible note crisis resolved by a $400,000 chess game and desperate calls to family, scaling to over 2,300 golf courses with only $200k in outside capital, and ultimately achieving a huge acquisition with tax-free gains. Hear war stories, lessons on founder-led sales, customer-funded growth, and the true reward of the entrepreneurial grind (including retirement on a beach in Hawaii!).

    (00:00:44) Met John in school, he was my teacher
    (00:13:59) My first idea was a toilet seat controlled by a lever
    (00:16:25) I literally stood up... mark my words, this is gonna be the best company
    (00:19:39) Literally you pivoted somewhere between five and seven major times in about three months
    (00:24:43) My stinking point of sale is a POS... This thing sucks
    (00:25:22) Literally the software looked like Oregon Trail
    (00:28:46) Judy Flint... she was our first customer
    (00:31:31) Now we'll buy it
    (00:37:08) They raised $200,000 and no more equity investment after that? Yes, period.
    (00:38:13) The hotels that we went to were the most janky hotels
    (00:42:56) If there's anything that we did right it was founder led sales
    (00:47:00) This note's coming due... valuation will drop from 1.5 to 500,000
    (00:50:19) Per that paragraph, I'm notifying you of my intent to convert right now
    (00:53:14) Got some pretty nasty phone calls when they received those checks
    (00:55:03) I had to do the hardest thing of my life. I called my mom
    (00:58:29) Do you know what I thought? I go this guy's really good at golf...There's no way he's good at chess. So what happened?
    (00:59:55) Close to 400 grand
    (01:02:45) Was that an inflection point? Was that a tipping point for ForeUP, like getting Brendan in the CTO role? It was.
    (01:07:48) You built it to 10 million dollars in revenue basically off of... for a huge exit
    (01:08:03) The first 10 million for each of us tax was tax free
    (01:15:39) I'm on the beach with an umbrella drink in my hand right now
    (01:23:43) There was a company out there... raised $40 million... Had to fire. Sell.
    (01:24:13) Enjoy the journey

    Join our online academy for free:
    https://startupignition.com/academy

    Apply to be a guest on the pod:
    https://startup-ignition-podcast.paperform.co/

    Follow John & Tyler:
    https://x.com/trich_
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrichards/

    Subscribe on YouTube:
    https://www.youtube.com/@StartupIgnition

    Follow on X:
    https://x.com/startupignition

    Follow on Instagram:
    https://www.instagram.com/startupignition/

    Follow on TikTok:
    https://www.tiktok.com/@startupignition

    Follow on LinkedIn:
    https://www.linkedin.com/school/6458758/admin/dashboard/

    Follow on Facebook:
    https://www.facebook.com/startupignition/

    #StartupIgnition #Entrepreneurship #Bootstrapped #SaaS #GolfTech #StartupLife #FounderStory #BusinessGrowth #Acquisition #VentureCapital #AngelInvesting #WarStories #ProductMarketFit #Pivot #ConvertibleNote #FounderLedSales #CustomerFunded #BYU #TechStartup #ExitStrategy
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    1 時間 28 分
  • Eric Smith: Smart Home Legend, Hotel Internet Inventor, Control4 IPO, & Founder Lessons That Matter

    Eric Smith: Smart Home Legend, Hotel Internet Inventor, Control4 IPO, & Founder Lessons That Matter
    2025/04/25
    In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards sit down with Eric Smith, a true pioneer and legend in the smart home industry. Currently the CTO of Savvy IQ following a recent merger with Oliver IQ, Eric shares his incredible entrepreneurial journey, starting from building home automation systems as a teenager. He recounts co-founding the iconic Control4, taking it public in 2013, and his earlier ventures like FAST (sold to AMX) and STSN/iBahn, which brought high-speed internet to hotels but faced the .com crash during its IPO process. Eric discusses raising over $400 million in venture capital, navigating non-competes, the excitement and frustrations of the IPO roadshow, landing massive deals unexpectedly (like MGM Mirage), and the evolution of smart home technology leading to his current work integrating disparate devices with AI. He also offers invaluable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs rooted in passion and solving real-world problems.(00:00:00) Welcoming Eric Smith, CTO of the newly merged Savvy IQ(00:01:32) Why Eric switched from Electrical Engineering to Computer Science(00:03:00) Eric's earlier ventures: FAST selling to AMX and STSN/iBahn(00:04:00) Icebreaker Game: 100% of $10M vs 5% of $500M?(00:06:17) Icebreaker Game: Google Search 1998 vs OpenAI 2023?(00:08:03) Icebreaker Game: Deeply Proud Niche vs Embarrassing Mass Product?(00:09:20) Icebreaker Game: Founder vs VC during the .com Bubble?(00:11:05) Eric's origin story: Building home automation in middle school(00:13:52) Meeting Will West and co-founding Synergy while at BYU(00:16:10) Starting FAST after the Synergy sale(00:17:24) What FAST's products were (early Control4)(00:18:35) The 5-year non-compete and starting STSN (hotel internet)(00:21:40) Using DSL technology to bring internet to hotel rooms(00:23:50) STSN's near-miss IPO during the .com crash(00:26:07) Getting pushed out of STSN/iBahn and starting Control4(00:29:05) Control4's unique approach: Wireless, retrofit, lower cost(00:33:08) Landing the massive MGM Mirage Las Vegas deal by accident(00:37:55) The Control4 IPO experience: Process and pricing frustrations(00:43:18) How Google buying Nest impacted Control4's stock post-IPO(00:45:40) Post-Control4: Seeing the fragmented smart home market need(00:47:42) The vision for Oliver IQ: Integration and managed services(00:48:16) Leveraging Generative AI for natural language home programming(00:49:47) The recent merger creating Savvy IQ(00:51:58) Eric's industry awards (CEDIA, CTA) and CES Board involvement(00:53:27) Reflections on Utah's evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem(00:58:00) Core advice for entrepreneurs: Solve real problems with passion(01:01:20) The future of connected devices and the "Negroponte Flip"(01:03:40) Wrapping up and final thoughtsJoin our online academy for free:https://startupignition.com/academyApply to be a guest on the pod:https://startup-ignition-podcast.paperform.co/Follow John & Tyler:https://x.com/trich_https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrichards/Subscribe on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@StartupIgnitionFollow on X:https://x.com/startupignitionFollow on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/startupignition/Follow on TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@startupignitionFollow on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/school/6458758/admin/dashboard/Follow on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/startupignition/#EricSmith#Control4#SavvyIQ#OliverIQ#SmartHome#HomeAutomation#InternetOfThings#IoT#Startup#Entrepreneurship#VentureCapital#IPO#UtahTech#SiliconSlopes#CES#STSN#iBahn#TechPioneer#Innovation#GenerativeAI
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    1 時間 7 分

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