On The Heels of Innovation with Ted Zoller

With Brent Comstock, founder and CEO of BCom Solutions; principal, Change Ventures For entrepreneurs, what does it mean to be all in, all the time? As entrepreneur, rural economic developer and venture capitalist Brent Comstock describes, it doesn’t have to mean working until 11 o’clock every night. But as he’s discovered in developing his team at BCom Solutions, it does require challenging yourself to excellence and dedicating your full focus to growing a company.  Listen as Comstock shares lessons from his entrepreneurial journey, which began when he was 12 years old and led him to build a profitable company with a sustainable revenue model by the time he graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2017. He discusses the concept of purposeful failure, how mentors can spark breakthrough moments and why investing in great people and technology are a great way to mitigate risk.

With Kimiko Suzuki and Jessime Kirk (CodeStories) and Rob Haisfield (Aloha) If you’re looking for advice on how to start a venture, you might not immediately think of turning to students. After all, they’re the ones who are learning, right? Yet, listen to the founders of CodeStories and Aloha, and you’ll get concrete advice based on critical early lessons learned from student founders who are building traction in their tech startups. These standout student entrepreneurs discuss five key ideas that can make or break early ventures: The value of on-campus resources, what to look for in your team members, how and why to seek customer feedback, creative ways to build new skills, and how to use courses as testing grounds for your ideas.

With Lucy Best and Emily Kian (Phyta) and Ana Soule (Phoenyx Project) Problem or solution? Which should you be more passionate about as a student entrepreneur? And what’s more critical: having the right entrepreneurial skills or in-depth knowledge? During our latest podcast, you’ll hear insights from students who lead the ventures Phyta (cultivating seaweed to combat pollution, food insecurity and climate change) and the Phoenyx Project (upcycling billboard vinyls to reduce landfill pollution and homelessness). Learn about the tools, traits, and resources – from courses to competitions to mentor networks – that have helped these students start to turn their ideas into realities.

With Tom Byers, professor of entrepreneurship at Stanford University Data privacy concerns at Facebook. Fraud at Theranos. Sexual harassment controversies at Google. The news headlines are filled with one revelation after another of things gone askew at top tech companies – many led by some of our most revered entrepreneurial heroes. Join Tom Byers, entrepreneurship professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University, who examines the increasingly jagged intersection between ethics and entrepreneurship. Hear why Byers says it’s critical for entrepreneurs to place values before value creation. Are ethical lapses the fault of individuals or systemic shortcomings? Can investors encourage startups to authentically embed values into their cultures? How can universities make entrepreneurial ethics a more prominent lesson for students? Byers explores this hot topic that has significant implications in the boardroom and classroom.

with Ben Barras, president and chief operating officer at Indie Do Good Find what you love and do it. When Ben Barras emerged from a dispiriting part of his distinguished career in consumer products and merchandising, he followed this advice from his father and helped to launch Indie Do Good, the dot-com home of independent makers and entrepreneurs who are driven by the purpose of doing good. What e-commerce and branding strategies did Ben use to set the company apart in an ultra-competitive market? And how did he use storytelling to connect consumers to entrepreneurial makers who have a passion for creating a positive difference through the products and services they provide?

With Dr. Christina Jackson, instructor and former Masters Student at UNC School of Dentistry. Getting braces for straighter teeth is a rite of passage for many adolescents and an increasing number of adults. Wouldn’t it be great to have an orthodontic option that is comfortable and that other people can’t see? Christina Jackson, who completed the orthodontic specialty program and serves as an instructor at UNC School of Dentistry, is launching a venture that uses 3D printing to create individually customized brackets to both things possible. But, before she could use her innovation to better align teeth, she first had to line up the right resources at UNC: market research and patent services, legal advice and grant writing expertise. Hear how her resourceful approach kept her innovation journey on the straight path.

Interview with Lauren Eaves and Scott Diekema, Co-Founders of The Meantime Coffee Co. When a small group of UNC students team set out to launch a full-service, student-run coffee shop on campus, there were a lot of days they thought it would never happen. Hear about the entrepreneurial path these students traveled to get their idea off the ground. What was hardest about learning to operate a business? Why are they are big believers in organizational values? And how are they handling change management?

Coulture Magazine, the premier fashion lifestyle publication at UNC-Chapel Hill, has taken the campus by storm. What began as a conversation over lunch between Alexandra Hehlen and Remington Remmel — both recent Carolina seniors — blossomed into a full-fledged operation with 180 staff members. Created by students for students, the popular magazine offers hands-on opportunities for students to develop skills in modeling, photography, writing, design and other areas. Learn about the ups and downs the team went through to bring the magazine to where it is today.

How is a builder different from an entrepreneur and an innovator? And how can you build something - a new business, nonprofit, social enterprise or initiative - that can make an economic and social impact? Listen as Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO of Gallup, and Dr. Sangeeta Badal, Principal Scientist - Entrepreneurship & Job Creation Initiative, at Gallup, discuss tools and techniques that can help you better understand your best approach to building something of your own. Based on findings from their book Born to Build, Clifton and Badal discuss building teams, technology and work ethic, and how a focus on building can power the next generation of the American economy. Link to book, Born to Build: www.amazon.com/Born-Build-Jim-Cl…ton/dp/159562127X LinkedIn of Jim Clifton: www.linkedin.com/in/jimcliftongallup LinkedIn of Dr. Sangeeta Badal: www.linkedin.com/in/sangeeta-bhar…waj-badal-98042a

This episode features entrepreneur Taylor Rhodes, class of 2002 alum of the UNC Kenan Flagler Business School MBA program and CEO of SMS assist, a company at the intersection of the cloud and facilities management. He shares his story and discusses the importance of teams and mentorship to the entrepreneurial process. From serving in the U.S. Marine Corps to building great teams in the business world, Rhodes talks about why a focus on team culture, an eagerness to learn and a passion for hard work are ingredients for success. Connect with Taylor LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/taylorrhodes/

Bill Aulet is the Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and Professor of the Practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Bill has degrees from Harvard and MIT, and is a board member of MITEK Systems (NASDAQ: MITK) and XL Hybrids Inc. (Private). He is also a Visiting Professor at University of Strathclyde (Scotland). On July 1, 2017, Bill was named a Professor of the Practice at MIT Sloan, the first at the school in the area of entrepreneurship since Alex d’Arbeloff held that title in 2003. For his efforts, Bill has earned external recognition as well including Boston 50 on Fire, 2017 Favorite MBA Professors from Poets and Quants, and 2018 Nannerl Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professorship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. For more information: http://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-directory/detail/?id=9118

The very first episode of On The Heels of Innovation!

The very first episode of On The Heels of Innovation!

The very first episode of On The Heels of Innovation!

With Ronda Taylor Bullock, co-founder and lead curator, we are When Ronda Taylor Bullock enrolled in her doctoral program at the UNC School of Education in 2014, she planned to be an educator, not a social entrepreneur. Yet growing social unrest across the country drove her to become both. As co-founder of a social startup that provides anti-racism education to families, children and educators, Bullock discusses how her research and pedagogy help shape her business decisions and why it’s critical to inspire people to become more than just cognitive allies. She offers advice for social entrepreneurs on why it’s important to build a diverse executive board, ways to make social ventures financially sustainable, and how to maintain personal and professional boundaries when the substance of your work intertwines tightly with who you are as a person. Bullock also offers words of inspiration for students of color just getting started on their entrepreneurial journeys.

With Niki Shamdasani (UNC-Chapel Hill alumna), co-founder and CEO of Sani; and Ritika Shamdasani (NC State student), co-founder of Sani For two sisters who grew up in rural North Carolina, building a startup that fuses South Asian fashion with the perspectives of first-gen South Asian Americans has been an entrepreneurial education on a global stage. Niki and Ritika Shamdasani launched Sani to increase the visibility of Indian culture and attire by designing the types of outfits they’d always wanted, but couldn’t find. Get their take on confronting feelings of imposter syndrome as fashion-industry novices who had to navigate the intricacies of fabrics, costs, quantities, and supply chains that stretch more than 7,500 miles between Delhi, India and their North Carolina headquarters. Both sisters discuss why mentors matter and ways to tap into second- and third-level professional networks. Get their advice on how entrepreneurs can practice patience when grinding through extended business cycles that don’t include immediate returns but set the stage for long-term growth.

With Cecilia Polanco, founder and CEO, So Good Pupusas After several  years of investing in her El Salvadorian-inspired, socially driven food  truck businesses, 2020 promised to be a breakthrough year for Cecilia  Polanco and the So Good Pupusas team. They’d paid off debt from  purchasing trucks, refined their business model and were primed for  profitability. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In this episode, Polanco  talks about how she’s using her entrepreneurial mindset to shift from  short-term coping mechanisms to long-term pivot strategies. Learn how  her venture, which also serves up social good in the form of higher  education scholarships to undocumented and DACAmented students, is  wrestling with its own business future and the issues of racial equity  and food access. Polanco shares advice on what aspiring social  entrepreneurs need to make sure they know to ensure that the positive  social impact they make isn’t outweighed by unintentional harm.

With Sheri Smith, founder and CEO of the Indigo Project What if you had more than an inkling of who is most poised to become an entrepreneur? What if there was a way to identify K-12 students who may lack access to traditional resources, but who have characteristics they can use to build entrepreneurial success? In this episode, Sheri Smith describes how her venture, the Indigo Project, uses an assessment technology based on artificial intelligence to find young entrepreneurial-oriented students and inspire them to build their own ventures. What does it mean that entrepreneurs score high on individualism, innovation and futuristic thinking, but low on time management? Is their tendency to focus on external goals a help or a hinderance? And can entrepreneurial behavior really be predicted? Smith answers these questions and more. She also shares a case study of how the assessment technology helped identify students from the Navajo Nation Indian reservation who are now using their entrepreneurial spark to make an economic impact.

With Patrick Sullivan, CEO of Bonsai; and Jake Rosenfeld, COO of Bonsai For many, the scenario is familiar: You apply for a job, and 10 days later an email hits your inbox politely telling you that you’re not getting an interview. How do you break through the hiring barrier? And how do you tap into professional connections that only the most privileged traditionally enjoy? In this episode, the co-founders of Bonsai describe how the company’s online platform flips privilege into access. Learn about their method for matching talented students and young professionals from all backgrounds with highly regarded mentors via virtual one-on-one meetings. You’ll hear the co-founders describe how their own entrepreneurial journeys inspired them to create a systematic way to facilitate introductions that wouldn’t otherwise happen. If who you know – like leaders at Google, Apple, Amazon, McKinsey, Microsoft and other top organizations – is often more important than what you know, the Bonsai team discusses why it’s critical to level the playing field and create social capital for all.

With Zac Gonzalez, Carolina alumnus and former student intern at Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Entrepreneurship Center; and Asa Juhlin, Carolina student and summer virtual intern In the early spring of 2020, many students at UNC-Chapel Hill and other universities had their summer internships set. Then the COVID-19 pandemic had other plans. During this podcast, we’ll hear from alumnus Zac Gonzalez, who worked at the UNC Entrepreneurship Center to develop the Innovation Internship Program, which included many students whose original startup internships were disrupted or morphed into virtual gigs. One of those students was Asa Juhlin, a sophomore who spent his summer working virtually in Hillsborough for Darkroom, a full-service digital agency located in Los Angeles and founded by a recent UNC alumnus, Lucas DiPietrantonio. Gonzalez shares how the new internship program works as a matchmaker to identify meaningful, project-based opportunities at high-growth startup companies and pair them with self-starter students like Juhlin. Gonzalez talks about the benefits of interning at startups, while Juhlin describes living out those benefits firsthand as he navigated the world of online collaboration technologies and sales business culture with growing curiosity and confidence. UNC students, faculty and staff, do you need advice about a virtual internship? Or something else related to entrepreneurship? Check out our new "Ask an Innovator" online platform that gives you a quick, simple way to get answers about your idea or venture. ""Ask an Innovator" - askaninnovator.protopia.co/