upside
Named a top 27 business podcast by Fortune, upside examines startup investing outside of Silicon Valley.
Every Wednesday, we speak with an early stage founder. We interview them as if we are angel investors considering the company as an investment opportunity.
Each show has three segments:
1.) Intro: independent research of the company
2.) Interview: interview with the founder
3.) Debrief: breaking down the opportunity
Sometimes, we share Coffee Chats interviewing venture capitalists, community builders, and later-stage founders.
Subscribe and see why Business Insider called our podcast "Almost as Good as Getting an MBA."
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 59 minutes
- Episodes
- 219
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2021
Jack Greco of Buffalo Bridge // the co-founder of Buffalo’s first unicorn on giving back to build the ecosystem [CC079]
Interview Begins : 7:37
Debrief: 45:43
Jack Greco is the co-founder of ACV auctions.
ACV auctions is an online marketplace for used cars. As of November 2019, the company was valued at more than $1.5 bi…
Karla Gallardo of Viwala // providing revenue-based loans for women entrepreneurs in Mexico [CC078]
Interview Begins : 6:57
Debrief: 37:08
Karla Gallardo is the CEO of Viwala.
Viwala provides loans for women entrepreneurs who have high-impact businesses as well as a network of mentors and entrepreneur…
Reclaim // a smart calendar assistant helping find time for your real priorities [UP089]
Interview Begins 6:53
Debrief 52:25
Patrick Lightbody is the co-founder of Reclaim. Reclaim is a smart calendar assistant that can save you up to 40% of your workweek.
Reclaim aligns your priorities to …
John Gannon of GoingVC // helping people break into venture capital [CC077]
Interview begins: 6:28
Debrief: 41:25
John Gannon is the co-founder and general partner of GoingVC.
John has mentored thousands of current and aspiring VCs through his VC Careers blog and email list, wh…
Revisiting "Test City, USA" // now streaming online for free! [JE022]
When we filmed Test City, USA in the summer of 2019 about the startup ecosystem in Columbus, Ohio, we knew the timing was special. Little did we know how good that timing was!
Columbus has continued …
Ginger Rothrock of HG Ventures // corporate venture capital investing in heavy construction and materials, environmental services, and specialty chemicals [CC076]
Interview begins: 7:16
Debrief: 43:38
Ginger Rothrock is a Senior Director at HG Ventures.
HG Ventures supports innovation and growth across The Heritage Group by investing and partnering with private c…
Tom Cottingham of Flyover Future // building a news organization covering innovation in 20+ cities across the midwest. [CC075]
Interview begins: 7:00
Debrief: 38:33
Tom Cottingham is the founder and CEO of Flyover Future.
Flyover Future is a digital newsletter covering innovation and start-ups in the heartland. They cover the …
William Hsu of Mucker Capital // an accelerator committed to getting to you to your next round of funding [CC073]
Interview begins: 7:07
Debrief: 38:45
William Hsu is a founding partner at Mucker Capital. He started his career as a founder, creating BuildPoint, a provider of workflow management solutions for the c…
Rally // buying & selling equity shares in ultra-rare, collectible assets [UP088]
Interview begins: 5:59
Debrief: 50:11
Rob Petrozzo is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer for Rally.
Rally is a liquid financial marketplace for buying & selling equity shares in ultra-rare assets …
[REWIND] Peter Livingston of Unpopular Ventures // early stage investing through a syndicate [CC058]
Interview begins: 5:16
Debrief: 43:55
This week we’re revisiting CC058, a coffee chat with Peter Livingston of Unpopular Ventures. In this episode, we explored syndicate investing.
Unpopular Ventures is…
Venture Capital 101 with Scott Shane of Comeback Capital [When Pigs Fly #10]
Interview begins: 6:23
Debrief: 50:32
This week we’re hosting an upside feed takeover from When Pigs Fly! When Pigs Fly is a podcast covering the Cincinnati business ecosystem on the upside podcast net…
Michael Cohn and Sean O'Brien of Overline // leading seed stage deals in Atlanta and the southeast [CC072]
Interview Begins: 6:16
Debrief: 37:03
Michael Cohn and Sean O’Brien are the Managing Directors of Overline.
Overline is an Atlanta-based, founder-operator led venture capital firm focused on investing i…
Best Shot // a digital companion for fertility patients [UP087]
Interview begins: 5:49
Debrief: 51:25
Abby Mercado is the co-founder and CEO of Best Shot.
Best Shot is a patient’s companion in fertility treatments, providing medication management & education, stream…
Jackie DiMonte of Chicago Ventures // ascending the venture career ladder and opening an office in Austin [CC071]
Interview begins: 7:15
Debrief: 55:14
Jackie DiMonte is a partner at Chicago Ventures.
Prior to joining Chicago Ventures, Jackie was a principal at Hyde Park Venture Partners, working with portfolio com…
Jessica Peltz-Zatulove of Hannah Grey // a first check venture fund investing in founders reimagining everyday experiences [CC070]
Interview Begins: 7:12
Debrief Begins: 55:03
Jessica Peltz-Zatulove is a Founding Partner at Hannah Grey, a first check venture capital firm investing in customer-centric founders reimagining everyday …
Protoball // building a first-person sports shooter indie game [UP086]
Interview Begins: 8:19
Debrief 46:25
Zachary Spradlin is a co-creator of Protoball, a futuristic first-person sports game merging basketball, soccer, and high tech style. Players athletically jump, sli…
Chris Bergman // building Gylee Games and The Fund Midwest [CC069]
Interview begins: 7:58
Debrief: 47:33
Chris Bergman is the founder and CEO of Gylee Games and a General Partner at The Fund Midwest.
Gylee Games believes in building big worlds. They believe in games th…
The Launch Company // building the world’s first multi-user, mobile launch site for this planet and beyond [UP085]
Interview begins: 6:51
Debrief: 53:55
Ben Kellie is the Founder and CEO of The Launch Company
The Launch Company is building the world’s first multi-user, mobile launch site for this planet and beyond. …
[REWIND] SuperRare // creating a tokenized digital art marketplace [RE006]
Interview begins: 11:40
Debrief: 58:48
John Crain is the Founder and CEO of SuperRare.
SuperRare is a marketplace to collect and trade unique, single-edition digital artworks. Each artwork is authentica…
Splash Financial // helping people refinance their student loans [Lay of The Land #9]
Interview begins: 4:27
This week we’re hosting an upside feed takeover from Lay of The Land! Lay of The Land is a podcast covering the Cleveland business ecosystem on the upside podcast network. And i…