Jake DeCicco and his two brothers have a fascinating story about becoming top entrepreneurs in one of the most saturated consumer goods categories – Coffee. Super Coffee’s most recent valuation is $500 million, and its goal is to expand into the international market in the next few years. Super Coffee’s core premise was to make a drink that was a third of the calories and zero sugar but tasted like a Starbucks Frappuccino. Read more.

PREVIOUS INTERVIEW – Hint Water was born out of Kara’s curiosity to find answers. Answers about her health issues and why “diet” drinks were deceiving consumers into believing they were healthy when they were, in fact, detrimental. 

“I mean, it was crazy because again, I think the challenge that people have is there are healthy perceptions versus healthy reality. And here I am, a smart person, a successful person, and I was fooled, right. It is really, really tricky.” Read more.

In The Trenches, this week, we have Ben Cantey, Founder and CEO of Rumby.co, and Nick McHenry, Co-Founder and CEO of OneShop.

They are taking the old-school, out-of-date economies and turning them on their heads with new retail tech. “Mobile app engagement is a huge thing. Just as important as local brick-and-mortar store engagement is. So getting people in the store and then giving them this mobile app experience that they come back to is so important.”

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Today, in the trenches, we invited Ian White, Co-Founder of Koffie Labs, and Rashid Galadanci, Founder of Driver Technologies, to talk about what they are seeing in the insurance tech sector. “Somebody first identified trucking insurance to me as Satan’s pit of insurance, but I love it.” Ian jokes about his love of commercial trucking insurance and knows that the industry has lost money for the last ten years. “Bringing in new tech folks and underwriters who are experienced but not jaded is a really exciting way to turn it around.”

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I met Mick Batyske years ago in Barcelona, and I was blown away by his incredible musical talent and entrepreneurial spirit. This guy has DJ’d for some of the biggest names: Cartier, Complex, GQ, Instagram, Jay-Z, LeBron James, Michelle Obama, Miguel, Prince, Spotify, Vanity Fair, and Will Smith. Not only is he one of the most requested DJs, but he is also an investor, speaker, podcaster, and devoted father.

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Welcome to the second installment of In The Trenches. In line with our core strategy of traditional old economy sectors looking for productivity solutions, we have started to see a marked increase in the number of solutions aimed at the traditional brick-and-mortar retail space. And in some cases, maybe even the e-commerce space or something in between. In this episode, Matt shares data to support what we’ve seen regarding the limitations of e-commerce and the misunderstood features of traditional brick-and-mortar retail. He talks about what innovations we are seeing with AI, security, and much more.

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Phil Bronner and I have known each other for the last X years. Phil started as a self-described snotty-nosed kid running around Baltimore trying to play ball and became one of the most successful venture capitalists in the D.C. area.

“I was leaving for school, and my dad said congratulations. You’re going off to college. I really hope it goes well. But if it doesn’t, you’re never coming back here. You’re going to the military. And that stuck with me.”

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I want you to meet my partner, Matt Olivo. This year, I am getting him more involved in the Superpowers Podcast because he is a wealth of knowledge for new founders and anyone interested in Venture. Matt and I are starting a series called, In The Trenches, where we talk about things that we find interesting, companies we see killing it in tech, founders we admire, advice for new startups, and so much more. Episode Page.

I have known Heidi for over 15 years, since her MySpace and Pandora days, where I got to see first-hand how incredible she was at listening to her customers and using that knowledge to make better business decisions for the companies. This led her to an opportunity at the NHL when they were building out their social marketing and marketing practice. Read More.

“I’ve been very safe, my whole career, and I was at a place where I could afford to take a risk. And so I thought, yeah, I can take this risk,” said Nathalie Walton. Her resume is what most people dream of – JP Morgan, eBay, Google, and Airbnb. She had relentlessly pursued every career move with the constant push to keep trying. Read more.

“I grew up in a Russian household, but in Sweden, which are two very different cultures. My dad was a Russian diplomat, and we stayed in Sweden after the fall of the Soviet Union.” Taras shares how his childhood has shaped his journey as an entrepreneur. “My dad left governmental politics and started his company. So I grew up with my dad starting a company, failing, and starting, then failing, which lay the foundation of oh, wait, you can go out and do whatever you want to do?” Read More.

“There is this [media] shift from institutions to individuals. People have more connections with other people rather than abstract concepts. And I think that’s the promise of the “Creator Economy.”  Read More.

Adam Singolda, Founder and CEO of Taboola, has always been obsessed with learning. “I was constantly pitching my parents and my parents’ friends for ideas that I had. I always wanted to do things.” Read More.

“I need to feel like I get to the end and did the most that I could do, or I’m not going to be satisfied. So I need to be great, whatever that’s going to be.” Katie Schuele, Co-Founder of Boostr, joins the Superpowers podcast to talk about her journey into entrepreneurship. Read More.

My friendship with Andy Dunn started 10 years at a conference in Hawaii. Even though we have been in each other’s lives for a long time, I had no idea he is a life-long sufferer of depression. When we think about incredible entrepreneurs, like Andy, it is hard to believe that they can be so successful while battling such dark times. Today, on the show, we hear about the human behind the entrepreneur. Andy shares his tumultuous journey and how his mental illness has shaped the way he creates his future businesses. Read more.

Alex Cruz, International DJ, has produced music for almost 30 years. At the age of 18, Alex left his hometown of Amsterdam for life at the beach. He realized he had a passion for music and started making his own. He partnered with a childhood friend who bought a mixing console, and they started djing for friends. He was 22 when he released his first track on LP vinyl. After 7 years, the childhood friend’s paths separated, and Alex found himself on his own, free to find his signature sound. Read more. 

Hint Water was born out of Kara’s curiosity to find answers. Answers about her health issues and why “diet” drinks were deceiving consumers into believing they were healthy when they were, in fact, detrimental. 

“I mean, it was crazy because again, I think the challenge that people have is there are healthy perceptions versus healthy reality. And here I am, a smart person, a successful person, and I was fooled, right. It is really, really tricky.” Read more.