The Friday Nooner

The Friday Nooner returned this week for one final episode. While more podcast/show content is coming in 2025, the Nooner as you’ve come to know it has now wrapped up its run. And what better way to celebrate said run than with some holiday cheer, old friends, and (as often comes with one such old friend) trivia?! Check out this final installment to test your knowledge of Nooners past, muse about plans for the holidays, and enjoy a certain someone being back on the air (ok fine, it was Pete). You’ll even be treated to some old holiday special snippets, all of which have unimpeachable production value. (Important note: Despite the GrepBeat Godfather’s prediction that—as befits a series finale—someone involved would die before the end of the show, we all made it out okay.) Watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

The Friday Nooner returned today after a one-week break for Thanksgiving. GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy was joined by co-hosts Melissa Crosby and Kaitlyn Dang and the trio discussed Christmas decoration timing. More specifically, Joe revealed that his distaste for pre-Thanksgiving Christmas trees is… um… fiercer than we realized. The main event was an interview with Victoria Fritz, who beamed in from D.C. Victoria is the Founder and CEO of Chapel Hill-based Baby Bumps—a startup that connects couples with surrogates (sort of like “Hinge for surrogacy,” as she once framed it for us). She filled us in on her personal journey, the need for Baby Bumps, and how the service is helping couples—with a brief foray into Friends talk in the middle.

Today’s episode of the Friday Nooner was triple-hosted by GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy, Kaitlyn Dang, and––making his Nooner debut, kind of—Cesar Romero. They opened the show with a few words on what they were all bringing to our midday “Grepsgiving” lunch. (We feasted immediately after the show.) Today’s main course was American Underground Executive Director Tim Scales. Tim spoke about the difference between AU and other “coworking” spaces like WeWork, indulged us in a place-of-origin guessing game, and filled us in on his journey from theater major (fun fact, yours truly was a theater studies minor, but this isn’t about me), to Duke MBA, to a career in Startupland.

Today on the Friday Nooner, co-hosting trio Joe Colopy, Melissa Crosby, and Kaitlyn Dang got us started with some conversation about CED’s GRO Demo Day, which took place Thursday evening (and which you can read more about here). Somehow this led to the revelations that Joe believes he’s going to die at 86 and Kaitlyn was a talented viola…ist… in high school. Evidently there’s now potential for a future musical episode on which Kaitlyn plans her instrument and I honk through an oboe reed. Finally we got to the important part and welcomed this week’s guest: Emily Foster, the Founder and CEO of Alpacasews. Emily took us through her journey: from a pursuit of meteorology driven by a love of clouds, through the Andrews Launch Accelerator program at NC State, and ultimately to adorable plushie designs that have fueled her startup (and earned her internet fame). She also teased some Black Friday activity and an upcoming “12 Days of Plushies” promotion you’ll want to learn more about. It has to do with helping cats.

On today’s episode of the Friday Nooner, GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy was back in the hosting chair alongside Melissa Crosby and new co-hosting addition Kaitlyn Dang—both of whom, to be clear, were in their own chairs. They started off with a bit of banter about Joe’s brush with death (he nearly crashed his new “GrepBeat red” vespa). Then, our trio of co-hosts welcomed this week’s guest, Annie Combs. Annie is the Co-Founder and CEO of ECPC Travel, which she describes as the “eco-friendly, socially conscious Expedia.” Annie filled us in on her startup’s mission to facilitate conscious travel in a way that simultaneously helps travelers find what they want and uplifts destination communities. From there, it was a four-way conversation covering all kinds of travel experiences and goals (including the “sick girls trips” Annie finds a chunk of her customer base enjoying!).

On today’s edition of the Friday Nooner, GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy and Co-Host Extraordinaire Melissa Crosby started off with a bit of conversation about the goings-on at HQ. Specifically, this meant a brief recap of the latest GrepBeat Book Club meeting and a look ahead to some pumpkin painting. Swing by in the coming days (I guess) to see Joe’s rendition of ‘80s Melissa on a pumpkin. Last and most importantly, Joe and Melissa welcomed Heather McWhorter, who is the Director of the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at UNC-Wilmington. Heather filled us in on the history of CIE and what it’s doing these days for the entrepreneurial community in and around Wilmington (including a focus on the blue economy). The group also worked in some conversation about ‘80s perm jobs and, naturally, Zanzibar.  

On today’s Friday Nooner, GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy and his co-host Melissa Crosby (who was good enough to beam in remotely despite being on the tail end of a bout with Covid) started off by chatting a bit about the tragic vespa heist that took place outside GrepBeat HQ earlier this week. They also discussed the State Fair and the bizarrely accepted practice of spending more money to win a gigantic stuffed animal than one would buying one directly.  After that we got to the highlight of the episode as the hosts were joined by Jay Bigelow, the Head of Founder Engagement at CED. Fresh off CED’s aforementioned birthday bash, Jay discussed how the 40-year milestone applied not only to CED but to the entrepreneur community as a whole. Accordingly, he delivered a lot of interesting insights on how (and why) things have evolved over the years. Watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

On today’s Friday Nooner, GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy and his sidekick Melissa Crosby recapped the GrepBeat and Primordial teams’ Thursday excursion to Wilmington. The teams headed down to The Wine Sampler for a kickoff event where we enjoyed some networking, intros, and delicious refreshments with folks from the Wilmington ecosystem. Joe and Melissa also talked a bit about North Carolina joining a multi-state lawsuit against TikTok. Then they welcomed this week’s guest: Wilmington entrepreneur and OpiAID Founder/CEO David Reeser (who joined us at our launch event in Wilmington Thursday evening!). David filled us in on OpiAID’s ability to use data science to make addiction treatment safer and more effective. Built on the idea that everyone has “infinite and inherent worth,” the company combines electronic health records with real-time biometric data to provide clinicians with timely, actionable insights—leading to better outcomes for patients with substance use disorders.

For today’s episode of the Friday Nooner, the GrepBeat Godfather and co-hosting maestra Melissa Colopy started off with some talk about storm-ravaged Western North Carolina, and some of the ongoing relief efforts we’ve seen in the community (special shout-outs to the folks at Raleigh Founded and Greenplaces). They also spent a few moments recapping the GrepBeat Happy Hour that took place this past Wednesday at Bull McCabe’s. Then yours truly popped in with a quick update on the week at GrepBeat.com. We touched on this week’s episodes of the Monday Mix and In The Soup, recapped our written features on local startups Brainery Labs and Roboro, and talked a bit about the Wednesday evening Happy Hour GrepBeat hosted alongside the American Underground. Rounding into the heart of the episode, Joe and Melissa welcomed this week’s guest: Daniel Summers, the CEO and Founding Partner of Wilmington-based Electronic Lab Logs.

On today’s Friday Nooner, GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy and “Survivor” Melissa Crosby opened with a few words about Hurricane Helene and the storms pelting the Southeast (and the very nice but occasionally porous GrepBeat HQ). Then Melissa recapped this week’s Ladies Investing/Local Angels (LILA) meetup and Joe offered a few words on some of the latest with OpenAI. Joe and Melissa then welcomed this week’s guest: Atlanta-based David Cummings, who has founded or co-founded 10 startups, and is the CEO of Atlanta Ventures. He was also one of the first, lead angel investors in Calendly! David—who fortunately managed to stay safe and dry as the storms rolled through Georgia—delivered some impromptu Atlanta history before talking us through some of his latest projects. Long story short, these involve buying up a significant portion of South Downtown Atlanta with the aim of turning it into a kind of sprawling startup campus. Somehow Melissa’s old punk rock-ish phase came up, too.

On today’s Friday nooner , the GrepBeat Godfather and Melissa Crosby opened things up with some discussion about a few miscellaneous goings-on around the Triangle. They also touched on a yoga studio sliding into some former Bronto space at the Tobacco Campus. (Joe seemed to have some thoughts.) Once all that was done, they got to the heart of the episode and welcomed in Mark Littlewood, the Founder and CEO of the Business of Software (BoS) Conference. (P.S: Mark was also generous enough to provide a discount code for our readers/audience...)

Today’s Friday Nooner opened with the GrepBeat Godfather and Melissa Crosby discussing fond memories of video stores, short-versus-longer book chapters, and more. Then your friendly neighborhood editor popped in with a temperamental green-screen background and a brief update on all things GrepBeat.com. We covered the Monday Mix, our first Book Club recap, In The Soup, and, naturally, our (viral?) post on Taylor Swift update app Swift Alert. Once we wrapped up the internal recap, Joe and Melissa welcomed this week’s guest, Ryan O’Donnell. Formerly Co-Founder and CEO of EmployUs, Ryan is now the Founder and CEO of Sunlight. This newly launched startup (which we wrote about recently) aims to “upgrade our social safety net’s operating system,” beginning with an effort to reduce the amount of time kids stay stuck in foster care. Ryan—a former foster parent himself—explained how attorneys, case workers, and parents can use Sunlight’s tool to navigate the process. Watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

Welcome back! Today’s Friday Nooner effectively marked a season premiere, as well as the beginning of a new chapter for the show sans longtime co-host Pete McEntegart. GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures brought the show back on air, comfortably seated in front of the awesome new mural at HQ (special thanks to summer artist-in-residence Xiomara Colopy!). Joe and Melissa provided a general update on all things GrepBeat, a few takes on the news, and a bit of banter. Then they welcomed the season’s first guest, Chris Geiss of Seguno, who last Nooner‘d with us in 2021. Watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

Today’s season finale episode of the Friday Nooner was a mini-celebration of Pete on his final day with GrepBeat. The GrepBeat Godfather beamed in from the Costa Rican mist, video tributes were shown, and multiple fun rounds of trivia taught us a bit more about both Pete himself and the standup comedy world he’s diving into. For those who may not have heard, there will be a more extensive farewell party for Pete, dubbed GrepBeat Pete’s Irish Goodbye, at Bull McCabe’s Irish Pub on July 11 from 5-7pm. You can register here. In the meantime, you can watch this latest episode of the Nooner on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

Today’s Friday Nooner had a little bit of a different vibe. With the GrepBeat Godfather on vacation with the GrepBeat First Family in Costa Rica, Pete was joined by first (only?)-time guest co-host, Not Joe (Kaitlyn). After a vague tease of special material on next week’s Nooner season finale (tune in!), the pair provided a rundown of new Colopy Ventures employees’ annual gifts—which, despite Kaitlyn’s admitted abuse of her new-employee gift card to the ForeverGrep store, still culminate in personalized bobbleheads after a few years. Pete and Not Joe were then joined by Rob Creighton, the Founder and CEO of Windlift, who beamed in from his ocean sports equipment’s retirement suite. (It’s the equipment that’s retired, not Rob.) One of GrepBeat’s 2023 Startups to Watch—and the subject of a past feature—Raleigh-based Windlift is introducing a new approach to harnessing wind energy. Specifically, the startup is using autonomous, tethered aircraft to fly hundreds of feet into the air and function somewhat like wind turbines—only without the giant, expensive pillars in the ocean. Rob filled us in on the journey up till now and what’s next for Windlift. Watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

It was a busy first segment on this week’s Friday Nooner. We heard from The Super Real Version Of GrepBeat Pete Who Has Lovely Things To Say About Joe; we got an update on Durham’s resident Vespa “gang”; and we found out that one of the chickens you may have heard about on a past episode several past episodes is, in fact, a rooster. Sadly, this means it will need to be re-homed (any takers outside the Durham city limits?). Then Joe and Pete welcomed Vince Beese, the Founder and CEO of Sales HQ. This RTP-based startup, which was the subject of a GrepBeat feature earlier this year, has developed a “co-selling” space as a twist on the co-working concept. Vince gave us a fresh update on Sales HQ and explained the need for a community for sellers today—particularly in the wake of the pandemic. Watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

On this week’s Friday Nooner, Joe and Pete spent a bit of time recapping Grep-a-palooza 3 (with special acknowledgment of all our volunteers) before delving into breakfast routines. In the end it was established that despite a regular regimen of plant-based breakfast smoothies and Saturday-morning Eggo waffles, Pete is not, in fact, a professional athlete. Once that was determined, Charles Douthitt joined in from the green room-slash-mythical nap studio downstairs. Charles is the Co-Founder and CEO of Chapel Hill-based Virnika, which is using an AI-powered call system to improve the restaurant ordering process. The startup, which received an investment from our sister company Primordial earlier this year and was the subject of a GrepBeat feature, is taking some of the weight off restaurant owners’ shoulders by providing a seamless way to handle high demand—without burdening employees. To hear more about Virnika’s approach as it nears the launch of its beta customers, watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

It was a well-caffeinated crew on today’s Friday Nooner, which made for a bit of a roller-coaster intro. Pete tapped into his glory years as a “celebrity juror” to lend us some perspective on jury procedures, and then the GrepBeat Godfather took us through various stages and sub-stages of investment (proving that he is not, in fact, “just a pretty face riding a Vespa”). Then they welcomed Dr. Beth Goldstein and Elianna Goldstein to the show. This mother-daughter duo co-founded Modern Ritual Health, which applies a telehealth approach to dermatology. The Chapel Hill-based startup—which GrepBeat profiled earlier this year—uses a network of dermatologists to assess patients remotely and expedite care if recommended. To learn more about the Goldsteins’ approach and hear the latest on Modern Ritual Health, watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

Today’s Friday Nooner guest was Rob Cotter, the Founder, CEO, Re-Acquirer, and CEO again of Raleigh-based Organic Transit—and the inventor of solar-powered pedal hybrid vehicle, the “ELF.” We covered Cotter as part of a “Where Are They Now” series back in 2022, and more recently highlighted his triumphant rescue of the previously shelved ELF. Once Joe got stretched out and he and Pete reflected on the (hopefully-not-too-prescient) 2013 Joaquin Phoenix movie Her, they brought Rob on to talk about the past and future of Organic Transit. Rob recapped the story of how he sold and eventually reacquired Organic Transit. Then he delved into the ELF, with a particular emphasis on the safety of the unique vehicle. For bonus content, we also learned what defines a bike, and even heard teases of some new, forthcoming Organic Transit vehicles. To hear those teases yourself, and get a full update on Organic Transit and the future of the ELF, watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.

We learned several things about today’s Friday Nooner guest, Akash Ganapathi, the Co-Founder and CEO of Durham-based Opine. He met his wife when they were both students at the North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics.He met his two Opine co-founders—Charlie Duong and Austin Kelleher—when they were all early employees at Morrisville-based unicorn JupiterOne.He and the other Opine-rs are the reason there are bottles of Solyent in the downstairs fridge at GrepBeat/Colopy Ventures/Primordial World HQ, which they work out of once or twice a week. For much more on Akash and Opine—such as what the startup does—you should watch the full episode here.