In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine and Chandler Abbott sit down with Michael Iseman, the former Chief Relationship Officer of Startup Junkie, now an Analyst and Investor Educator at AcreTrader. Michael reflects on four years of working at Startup Junkie, finding a wife, and working with thousands of entrepreneurs and startups. Jeff recalls highlights of Michael’s tenure, such as kicking off Arkansas’s first accelerator program, helping entrepreneurs run the startup race well, and finishing with a grand finale at the Fuel Accelerator Demo Day. Thank you Michael for your hard work to grow Startup Junkie!
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Haley Allgood and Martha Londagin sit down with Eric Howerton and Brooke McNeely of WhyteSpyder. WhyteSpyder has recently relocated to Emma Avenue and Startup Junkie has opened a new office in Springdale for events and consulting meetings in the Springdale area. Eric and Martha reflect on the history of Springdale while Haley details the resources available to entrepreneurs through Startup Junkie.
Learn more about WhyteSpyder. Connect with Haley, Martha, Eric, and Brooke.
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Haley Allgood and Martha Londagin sit down with Eric Howerton and Brooke McNeely of WhyteSpyder. WhyteSpyder has recently relocated to Emma Avenue and Startup Junkie has opened a new office in Springdale for events and consulting meetings in the Springdale area. Eric and Martha reflect on the history of Springdale while Haley details the resources available to entrepreneurs through Startup Junkie.
Learn more about WhyteSpyder. Connect with Haley, Martha, Eric, and Brooke.
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine, Haley Allgood, and Chandler Abbott join Ryan Burton, the founder of Burton’s Creamery. Ryan started Burton’s Creamery as a food truck in 2014 and it has since expanded into catering service and a brick and mortar store in Uptown Fayetteville. Ryan tells the story of how a sweet hobby became a successful startup by establishing a MVP, going to ice cream school, and creating NWA’s only premium soft serve.
Connect with Ryan
Check out Burton’s on Dickson or Uptown
Follow Burton’s Creamery on Instagram
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine, Haley Allgood, and Chandler Abbott sit down with Helena Gadison and Dr. Todd Jenkins to discuss how entrepreneurs should create an authentic brand for themselves and their business. Todd currently serves as the chair of the NWA Young Professionals Summit and Helena will be one of the guest speakers this year. During this podcast, Helena and Todd preview the themes of personal, professional, and philanthropic development for the 4th annual NWA YP Summit.
Get your ticket to the 2019 NWA YP Summit here
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine, Haley Allgood, and Chandler Abbott sit down with Edwin Ortiz, the founder and CEO of Luncher. Luncher is a platform that enables customers to get lunch delivered for free in high density areas with supply chain efficiencies. Edwin views Luncher as a culmination of his experiences in supply chain that began when he took over his parents transportation business when he was just 12 years old. To Edwin, Luncher is not just an innovative delivery service, it’s a way to reclaim a lost hour every day while eating healthy.
Luncher is currently delivering lunch to Bentonville, Springdale, and Fayetteville
Connect with Edwin on LinkedIn
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine and Taylor Hasley sit down with Kent Wood, the founder and CEO of ReadtheLabl. Kent founded ReadtheLabl after recognizing a need in the marketplace for transparent packaged foods and researching at the University of Arkansas Food Innovation Center for a solution. Kent’s vision for ReadtheLabl began by creating three sauces that are organic, shelf stable without acids, and contain no added sugar or preservatives. Using his experience of coaching professional tennis players and implementing technologies like artificial intelligence, Kent envisions expanding the brand with personalized healthy meal solutions.
ReadtheLabl’s sauces are currently distributed across several local stores in NWA and central Arkansas. They can also be ordered directly from https://readthelabl.com.
Connect with Kent on LinkedIn.
In this episode of the Startup Junkies podcast, Jeff Amerine and Michael Iseman sit down with James Farmer, the founder of startup grocery delivery service, Easybins. Easybins is a unique delivery service that offers free delivery in which a user places their order before midnight and it’s delivered while the customer sleeps at night. The mission of Easybins is not just to create a seamless delivery service, but to make eating at home easier. According to James, food for us is more than fuel. It's how we gather in community, share in conversation, and connect to the many cultures around us.
To order from Easybins, visit https://www.easybins.com/
Connect with James
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Michael Iseman and Chandler Abbott sit down with Stephen Linn during his visit to Bentonville for the Power of Music Festival. Stephen founded AmpliFLY entertainment after two decades of broadcasting and marketing experience with major networks to help independent artists build a sustainable career and currently serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Building and growing something new has been a defining characteristic throughout Stephen’s career and he shares how both artists and entrepreneurs do customer discovery, develop their brand, and pivot when necessary.
Connect with Stephen and AmpliFLY entertainment
Learn more about the I’ll Fly Away Foundation, which sponsors the Power of Music Festival
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine and Michael Iseman sit down with David Baker, current Vice President of Product Strategy at RevUnit. RevUnit builds digital solutions and strategies that unlock productivity and drive employee engagement by leveraging human-centric design, strategic vision, and emerging tech. David discusses how collaborative design processes and opportunities to try new things foster employee ownership in their work. To David, working better means constantly trying to question how you’re working and seeking alignment with the people you’re working with.
Learn more about RevUnit: https://revunit.com/
Connect with David Baker
Hosts: Jeff Amerine and Michael Iseman
jeff@startupjunkieconsulting.com
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine and Haley Allgood head to the first ever Shark Tank casting call in Arkansas. Presented by Startup Junkie, the casting call gave local entrepreneurs in the heartland the opportunity to give a one-minute pitch of their business, product or idea. If chosen, local contestants may be featured on “Shark Tank” for a chance to make their dreams a reality. Guests featured in this episode include Mindy Zemrack, casting coordinator for Shark Tank, several companies participating in the casting call (Luncher, Shiphike, dOugh M G, Bristle), and Dmitri Love, a University of Arkansas graduate who was previously featured on Shark Tank with his company Bundil. Shark Tank season 11 premiers this fall on ABC and will hopefully include companies that pitched at the Bentonville Casting Call!
Watch the current season of Shark Tank
Connect with Mindy
Connect with Luncher
Connect with Shiphike
Connect with dOugh M G
Connect with Bristle
Connect with Dmitri
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine and Michael Iseman sit down with the creators of the Purlu App, Brad Cardwell and Caitlin Trickett. Purlu showcases food and drink specials for Northwest Arkansas in an app interface that is easy to use. Brad and Caitlin discuss the challenges of communicating with a development team on the other side of the world while sharing the excitement of gaining momentum by partnering with NWA restaurants.
Download the Purlu app: https://www.purluapp.com/
Connect with Brad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-cardwell-014a07115/
Connect with Caitlin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-trickett-4b801799/
Connect with Jeff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffamerine/
Connect with Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-iseman/
Hosts: Jeff Amerine and Michael Iseman
In this episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine and Michael Melfi reflect on investing in America’s heartland. This episode was recorded as a live simulcast for Michael Melfi’s Be Investable podcast. In Fayetteville and Detroit, Jeff and Michael are improving the odds of entrepreneurs by building sustainable startup ecosystems. As entrepreneurs turned investors, Jeff and Michael discuss how critical the importance of the team is in increasing the chances of raising money and becoming venture ready.
Check out the Be Investable podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-be-investable/id1335245597?mt=2#
Connect with Michael Melfi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsmelfi/
Connect with Jeff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffamerine/
Host: Jeff Amerine
This episode of the Startup Junkies Podcasts contains four mini episodes featuring mentors and participants of the 2019 Northwest Arkansas Startup Weekend. Hosts Jeff Amerine, Haley Allgood, and Chandler Abbott sit down with mentors Kent Watson of Metova, Jordan Carlisle of the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, and Aricka Lewis of RevUnit. Kent and Aricka talk about advising the Startup Weekend teams with customer discovery and validation while Jordan reflects on his experience of being involved in over a dozen Startup Weekends. As participants, the Listing Village team returns to the podcast to share the side hustle concept they developed throughout the weekend.
To learn more about Arkansas Startup Weekend: https://www.facebook.com/ArkansasStartupWeekend/
Connect with Kent: https://www.linkedin.com/in/watsonkent/
Connect with Jordan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordantcarlisle/
Connect with Aricka: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arickaclewis/
Connect with Listing Village: https://www.linkedin.com/company/listingvillage/
Hosts: Jeff Amerine, Haley Allgood, & Chandler Abbott
In this special edition of the Startup Junkies Podcast, Jeff Amerine and Chandler Abbott sit down with mentors and participants of the 2019 Northwest Arkansas Startup Weekend. Startup Weekend gives aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators a chance to develop a working concept in a weekend and get feedback from experienced mentors. Ryan Frazier and Chuong Nguyen, former co-founders of DataRank, returned to mentor teams at Startup Weekend and share updates on their careers during an on location interview at the Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub. As a mentor, Ryan used his experience of gathering user feedback and customer validation from DataRank to advise the Startup Weekend teams as they developed their first prototype. Chuong reflects on how the NWA entrepreneurial scene has evolved from when he first entered in the early 2010’s and a new venture he’s working on with some of the former Datarank founders. Please excuse the background noise of Startup Weekend teams hard at work!
To learn more about Arkansas Startup Weekend: https://www.facebook.com/ArkansasStartupWeekend/
Connect with Ryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryfraz/
Connect with Chuong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phodamentals/
Hosts: Jeff Amerine & Chandler Abbott