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PODCAST

The Diligent Observer Podcast

Helping angel investors see what most miss.Want more? Get essential angel intel in 5 min with The Diligent Observer Newsletter: your weekly shortcut to vetted deals and expert takes.https://www.thediligentobserver.com/https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2459970.rss

business entrepreneurship

All Episodes

35:47

Episode 18: "Government CAN Move Efficiently" |...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/11/19

Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: * The Value of Intentional Silence - Mike’s approach to founder interviews, watching body language, and creating space for stories shows how sometimes what's NOT said reveals more than what is.* Government as Startup Catalyst - Mike explains how efficient government support can drive innovation. This challenges the stereotype of slow bureaucracy. McKinney EDC’s unique Innovation Fund model is making a crazy impact with nearly 50

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44:06

Episode 17: "Your Board Can Make or Break the...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/11/12

Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: * The university endowment mindset shift: Transition from the for-profit real estate world to Stanford's endowment revealed how different time horizons (centuries vs quarters) fundamentally change decision-making.* Weak markets force better habits: Launching a career in Oklahoma during the energy crash of the 80s and jumping into Silicon Valley post-internet-bubble taught Curtis that downturns force rigor and prevent the development of

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51:32

Episode 16: The 3 T’s of Early Stage Investing |...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/11/05

Larry Warnock is the Founding Partner of Ring Ventures (part of the Alumni Ventures Group), a Venture Capital Fund that deploys investment capital into tech and tech-enabled early-stage businesses. He continues consulting with the fund as a Partner Emeritus. He has made over 70 investments in his tenure as a VC. Larry is a seasoned venture-backed tech executive with multiple exits via acquisition or IPO. Prior to founding Ring Ventures he was the President and CEO of Olono, an AI platform for sales

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40:23

Episode 15: Diligence the Diligence: Unpacking the...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/10/29

Alden Zecha is the Managing Director at SideCar Angels and serves on the Board of the Angel Capital Association. He has invested in over 80 startups, two of which have become unicorns valued at over $1 billion. Alden has founded multiple enterprises and previously worked in various roles in government, academia, and private industry. He has spoken at the White House on entrepreneurship, serves as a Senior Fellow at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, and is NACD Director Certified. Alden

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43:06

Episode 14: Don't Throw Away $50K: Lessons from...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/10/22

Igor Belagorudsky builds, advises and scales startups. From a germ of an idea through seed, VC rounds, strategic partnerships and anything that comes next. Sometimes, he invests in them too.He helps entrepreneurs make good decisions about product, team, processes and everything in between.As a CTO, Igor is a confident full stack enterprise architect in several technology ecosystems. As a leader, he is a champion of smart and transparent teams, open communication across the entire organization,

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44:38

Episode 13: Growing the Alamo Angels from 30 to 130...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/10/15

Juan “Sebastian” Garzon serves as the Executive Director of Alamo Angels, the largest angel network in Texas. In his role, Sebastian facilitates access to capital via angel investing to companies across the U.S. and Latin America. Through his strategic guidance, Alamo Angels has invested in over 50 companies to date.Sebastian's exceptional acumen and dedication have been recognized by industry peers and publications alike. His notable accolades include being named to the prestigious Texas Top 100

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40:06

Episode 12: From CPG Founder to B2B SaaS Investor |...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/10/08

Brook Stroud is a Senior Principal at Alumni Ventures, where he applies his passion for early-stage investing, drawing from his experience as both an entrepreneur and investor. He founded and successfully exited two consumer startups: La Matera, a fashion brand, and Somerset, a beverage company.Prior to Alumni Ventures, Brook worked at Brand Foundry Ventures, focusing on early-stage investments, due diligence, and portfolio management. He also gained valuable fintech experience at Funding Circle

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36:55

Episode 11: The Power of Relationship-Driven Angel...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/10/01

Patrick Farrell founded Potomac Angel Capital (PAC) in early 2022 to bring like-minded angel investors together in the D.C. area to invest in mission-driven, early-stage entrepreneurs for mutual financial benefit, lasting impact, and meaningful relationship. As the Executive Director, Patrick is intimately involved in sourcing deals, hosting events, leading diligence, and serving as a trusted advisor to investors/portfolio companies. In late 2023, he moved to Austin, TX to expand PAC and plant a

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36:04

Episode 10: Investing in Venture Capital for Human...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/09/24

Phil Jung is a Partner at Sovereign’s Capital where he invests in Seed and Series A stage technology companies led by faith-driven entrepreneurs across the U.S. and Southeast Asia. He was previously the CFO and CPO at Mindoula, a healthtech company that serves populations with complex behavioral health, medical, and social challenges. Prior, he was with the Maryland Venture Fund, Foundation Capital, and TDF Ventures, leading investments in early and growth stage technology companies. He began his

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43:34

Episode 9: Bouldering & Biomedical Entrepreneurship |...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/09/17

Dr. John Criscione is a professor of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University who trains medical device engineers while simultaneously inventing, testing, and commercializing medical technologies. Dr. Criscione has been serving in this capacity for over 20 years and also serves as the CTO for CorInnova, a biomedical technology company focused on addressing Acute Heart Failure. During our conversation, he discusses: * The importance of disagreement for innovation* Translating inventions into

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40:03

Episode 8: The Art & Science of Angel Investor...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/09/10

Dr. Margaret Bacheler is the Director of Educational Initiatives for the Angel Capital Association, where she oversees the Ann and Bill Payne ACA Angel University program. Dr. Bacheler is passionate about inclusive economic development, facilitating opportunities for multigenerational wealth creation, and diversifying the ranks of angel investors and the founders they support. She has also been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to elevate Early Stage Investing in the Deep Tech Space. She

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51:16

Episode 7: Evaluating Startup Marketing Strategy |...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/09/03

Matt Bell was born and raised in the UK, has lived on 4 continents, worked in, or visited, over 50 countries, and now calls Houston, Texas, home. His career journey has taken him from field operations to company leadership and corporate venture capital, from startup to growth stage, and on to strategy consulting, marketing, and angel investing.As co-founder of MessageUp and Strategic Piece, Matt works with B2B companies to make messaging and content more effective without overburdening their teams

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39:51

Episode 6: Lessons in WealthTech Investing | Marshall...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/08/27

Marshall Smith is a seasoned WealthTech investor and corporate development leader with over 18 years of experience in WealthTech, Fintech and SaaS. He is the Managing Director of First Rate Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of First Rate Inc, the global leader in data aggregation, performance, and reporting solutions for over 500 Wealth Managers, Family Offices and Asset Managers across five continents.Marshall leads the strategy and execution of minority investments in early-stage

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49:15

Episode 5: Angel Investing in the Energy Transition |...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/08/20

John Jeffers is an accomplished energy industry executive who has dedicated his 32-year career to tackling some of the sector’s most critical emerging challenges. His journey spans global upstream oil and gas, technology, and strategic leadership roles with ExxonMobil, Schlumberger, and Southwestern Energy.Since leaving his corporate role in 2020, John has focused on helping early-stage companies succeed by mentoring and advising entrepreneurs on customer discovery, product development strategy,

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38:21

Where the Magic Happens: Sports, Media, and Culture |...

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/08/13

Geoffrey Cheng is the Investment Manager for Comcast SportsTech. Before working at Comcast SportsTech, he was lucky enough to work alongside entrepreneurs and management teams from seed stage to growth stage. He's been one of the first employees at a startup, worked at a media investment advisory firm (where he worked on deals impacting over $750M in total assets), and spent time with dozens of startups as investor, advisor, and ad-hoc fundraising guru.During our conversation, he discusses: * The

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33:41

Evaluating Startup Quality of Earnings | John Samore III

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/08/06

John Samore III is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner with over 25 years of experience in forensic accounting, fraud investigations, and litigation. He has worked with Big 4 firms and other professional service firms, collaborating with companies across various industries.John specializes in financial, managerial, and operational due diligence for M&A transactions, including quality of earnings and working capital analysis. He has also performed internal audits, control

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45:19

Thesis-Driven Investing | Eric Alfuth

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/07/30

Eric Alfuth is an investor and advisor with over 20 years of experience. He is the managing partner of the early-stage VC Caymont Ventures, and he serves as a board member and advisor to multiple emerging companies. He also serves as President of the Houston Angel Network, one of the largest and most active angel networks in the country.Prior to forming Caymont Eric helped launch and sell two energy companies, a public exit and a private sale. Before his entrepreneurial journey, Eric led a high

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43:45

Identifying a Great Pitch | Matt Gore

The Diligent Observer Podcast ·

2024/07/23

Matt Gore was a BCG consultant and startup founder with the Saturn Five Venture Studio. Along the way, he got hooked on crafting stories that help founders raise money. Now he manages OPTIO, a firm that specializes in crafting pitch decks. OPTIO pitch decks have helped founders raise over $2 Billion dollars in capital from top firms like A16Z. He is a partner in several service businesses, an angel investor, and leads the Aggie Venture Fund, a student VC fund at Texas A&M. During our conversation,

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58 results

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