In this final episode for the fall season of In The Soup 🍲, hosts Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby are actually sitting down with a experienced ecosystem leader to talk about all things NC entrepreneurial ecosystem. They discuss how much the ecosystem has grown, what makes our ecosystem different and what is next for the ecosystem's future. For this live edition of In The Soup, they sat down with Jay Bigelow, the head of founder engagement at CED (Center for Entrepreneurial Development), who has not only been with the entrepreneurial support organization for over a decade, but has also been a part of the ecosystem's history for over 30 years.

Happy In The Soup 🍲 Wednesday! For their penultimate episode before the end of the fall season, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures discuss why startups should think about creating a talent pipeline with graduates from local universities. The Triangle is home to some of the nation's top research universities and high-performing technical community colleges. That's why our hosts are joined by experienced graduate talent pipeline builders, Haley Huie of NC State's Entrepreneurship Clinic and Jared Sokolsky of Chapel Hill-based Well, to talk about the importance of utilizing these high potential talent coming out of these schools.

Another Wednesday, another episode of #InTheSoup 🍲! In today's episode, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial Ventures and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures are talking about what kind of and how to utilize product feedback as an early stage company. They especially ask the question of how does feedback change and evolve as your company changes and evolves. On to answer these questions are Jonathan Rollman of ProdUx Design and Scot Wingo of previously Spiffy.

Happy Wednesday and welcome back to another episode of In The Soup 🍲 !  Life as a one-founder startup has its pros and cons, but at the end of the day, it's always going to be a little difficult running a company by yourself. That's why in today's episode, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures hear from founders who are running their companies solo.  They are joined by solo founders Dr. Sarah Glova of Reify Media and Jeff Soplop of Nimble Energy to break down the good and bad challenges as a one-founder company. 

It's Wednesday, Wednesday, gotta get down on In The Soup 🍲 Wednesday! In today's episode, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures are taking a deeper dive into one route your company might take: pivoting. What exactly defines a pivot? When and how would you know to take one? These are the questions they answer with the help of Brandon Kashani of Raleigh-based TRAKID and Lauren Goodell of Charlotte-based Zinnia.

Happy #InTheSoup 🍲 Wednesday! Whether you are a very early-stage startup or a far off company, you are always having to discover what your customers need as they (and your business) evolve. That's why in today's episode, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures are joined by local customer discovery experts to break down customer discovery and what it consists of. They are joined by Rob Cotter, the Founder and CEO of Environmental Transit Authority and the creator of the eco-friendly, solar/hybrid-powered ELF, and John Austin, who is currently a mentor/coach for startups since having graduated from being a Senior Director at NC IDEA for over six years.

Happy #InTheSoup 🍲 Wednesday! Hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures are continuing this series on demystifying venture capital by talking about alternative funding models for your business. In today's episode, they'll be discussing equity crowdfunding as another option in case VCs aren't writing enough checks. Joining them are crowdfunding experts Will McGuire of Incolo and David Shaner of Offline.

In today's episode of In The Soup 🍲, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures are continuing their mini-series on demystifying the world of venture capital. One of the reasons a VC might pass on a early stage startup is because they don't think it is a "venture scale" business. What does it really mean to be venture scale? Our hosts hear from Kevin Mosley of Jurassic Capital and Doug Kaufman of Belongly to answer that question.

Happy #InTheSoup 🍲 Wednesday! In today's episode, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures discuss the different factors that influence how and when a fund deploys capital. They are joined by local Triangle investors Jan Davis of RTP Angel Fund and Scot Wingo of the Triangle Tweener Fund.

Are you still hungry for the ingredients needed to build a successful startup? Well, good news! In The Soup Wednesdays are back to give you just that and much more! In this week's season opener episode, hosts Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby of Primordial are stirring the pot on how to build your brand with early markets and adopters. Helping them cook are Lauren McCullough of Tromml and Susan Wall of (previously) Corevist.

In their final episode of the spring/post-winter season, In The Soup hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures are wrapping up and getting ready for the summer! And what's summer good for? Doing nothing but read and listen to podcasts. And they want to help you do just that by speaking with local founders about their favorite or most recommended books and podcasts that they like to listen to, especially ones for founders and entrepreneurs. Recommendations come from Dr. Sarah Glova of Reify Media, Jason Gillikin of Earfluence, Austin Armstrong of Syllaby and Akash Ganapathi of Opine. That's it for this season folks! Check back in early September when In The Soup returns for its second season.

In this special, penultimate episode of In The Soup, hosts Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby are actually sitting down to speak with a very local VC (as in local to the GrepBeat office) to talk about how and when to start a VC fund for startups in their early stage. They also talk about favorite Christmas songs and who this investor's animated twin can be. For this live edition of In The Soup, they are joined by the GrepBeat Godfather himself, Joe Colopy. In case you didn't know, Joe is also a partner in our sister investment companies: Jurassic Capital and Primordial Ventures.

Happy In the Soup Wednesday! In this week's episode, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures are chatting with some artificial intelligence (AI) experts about when you should leverage open source AI versus building your own models. Plus: some discussion and advice on how to avoid chiggers. Their guests this week are two Primordial-invested founders who both have AI as integral parts of their businesses: Tina Tang of Bristles and Austin Armstrong of Syllaby. 

Happy Wednesday aka In The Soup day! Hope you're ready to do some thinking because in this week's episode, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures are talking numbers. They are joined by local numbers experts (aka an investor and chief marketing officer) to talk about specific metrics that matter for growing your company, whether it's business or marketing metrics. This week's guests are Kevin Mosley of Jurassic Capital and Dan London of Adwerx.

Ageism is an issue that every industry faces, but for young founders in the tech startup space, it can potentially make or break a company and its founders' worth. That's why in today's episode of In The Soup, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Ventures discuss with local, younger founders about experiences they've felt were manipulated or commandeered by their age. They are joined by Tai Huynh of Acta Solutions and Lauren McCullough of Tromml. If you have your own experiences that you felt were pressured by ageism, whether younger or older, feel free to send your thoughts and comments to [email protected] or on our GrepBeat social media.

Happy Wednesday and happy In The Soup day! Since May 1st is "Law Day," hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby of Colopy Venture are discussing with local lawyers who's worked with startups to give you the best advice on what to look for when finding legal representation – which was a totally intentional move and they definitely did not find that out on the day of the episode. They're joined by Venus Liles of Liles Law and Trevor Schmidt of Hutchison PLLC. Make sure to subscribe to the rest of the show so you never miss out on an episode!

To wrap up Stress Awareness Month, hosts Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby are back with another In The Soup episode to talk about how to manage your mental health as a founder. Being a founder holds many hats that come with many responsibilities that lead to many stresses. That's why they're joined by Doug Kaufman, the CEO and Founder of Belongly, a free, secure space for mental health professionals to collaborate with, meet and support new colleagues. He is a seasoned entrepreneur and has an experienced educational background in psychology, so that's why in this episode, he takes a deeper dive into managing mental health and stability as a founder.

In recognition of April being Stress Awareness Month, In The Soup hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby are back with another episode to tackle founder burnout. They are joined by local entrepreneurs Tina Tang of Bristles and Dr. Sarah Glova of Reify Media to talk about ways founders can identify and deal with burnout within their personal and work lives.

Since April is Stress Awareness Month, In The Soup hosts Jenn Summe from Primordial and Melissa Crosby chat with founders about how they manage their stress while managing a company. For this week's episode, they discuss with Akash Ganapathi from Opine and Lucy Kosturko from Social Cascade about how they balance their companies with, arguably, the hardest thing in life: babies. Not that babies always equal stress, but they're a lot of work—and these founders can agree. That's why they offer tips and advice on how to manage both your business and your baby. 

Happy In The Soup Day! Taking investment from VCs can be a tricky process, especially when you don't know what to look out for. That's why hosts Jenn Summe from Primordial and Melissa Crosby from Colopy Ventures are joined by experienced startup leaders to relay some lessons learned before and after working with VCs. This week's guests are Brian Reale of ProcessMaker and Susan Wall of Corevist.  If you enjoyed the episode and want to submit your own questions or topics, send them over to [email protected]. Thanks for listening and make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss an episode!

We are back with another episode of In The Soup! Since it's the last week of March, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby wanted this episode to go in tandem with Women's History Month. That's why they are joined by Cara Marin of Stashpad and Lauren McCullough of Tromml to talk about what it's like being a female founder in tech spaces and industries that are normally male dominated.

Conference season is revving up in the Triangle, with CED's Venture Connect starting next Wednesday. In The Soup will be taking a break to celebrate the summit, but don't worry! Hosts Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby are taking this week to share advice on how to network effectively not only in general, but especially at conferences. In this last part of their special edition conference season tips series, they are joined by Lucy Kosturko of Social Cascade and Austin Armstrong of Syllaby to hear how they network and build connections.

In today's episode, hosts Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby are continuing their conference season theme by talking with investors on the importance of having an advisory board when raising pre-seed and seed rounds—something to keep in mind when making a pitch deck for potential investors.  They are joined by familiar local investors: Abby Phillips from Wolfpack Investor Network and Jason Caplain from Bull City Venture Partners.

Conference season is revving up in the Triangle, so it's the perfect opportunity for In The Soup hosts Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby to discuss some tips on how to prepare yourself and your company for these big events. From proper networking to successful pitching, they've got you covered on what you need to know. In this week's episode, they are joined by Jason Gillikin from Earfluence and David Mayer from Elemmir to talk about how to pitch your startup when the business or idea is complex.

Creating a startup is hard work and unfortunately doesn't come with any instruction manuals. Thankfully, the guests in this week's episode of In The Soup has got you covered with advice on how to avoid some common, big mistakes you might make as a startup founder. Hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby are joined by Chris Geiss of Seguno and Brian Reale of ProcessMaker.

In today's special episode of In The Soup, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby talk with some local startup couples who founded their companies together while being together. They give some pros and cons to starting a company with your significant other and advice on how to maintain your relationship while maintaining your business. They are joined by Tina Tang and Anthony Alers from Bristles.ai, Cara (Borenstein) and Theo Marin from Stashpad and Andrea and Charles Inokon from Cadence Cash.

Spoiler alert: there is no cursing in this week's episode. But in lieu of cursing, hosts Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby do discuss some common legal f-ups (we didn't actually say it) and some advice from familiar, local lawyers on how to avoid them. Joining them are Venus Liles from Liles Law and Trevor Schmidt from Hutchison PLLC.

On today's episode, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby finish their Investors Series with exploring what happens after an investment and what portfolio support for companies look like from their investors. They are joined by some familiar voices from the local VC community: Jason Caplain from Bull City Venture Partners, Abby Phillips from Wolfpack Investor Network and Lister Delgado from IDEA Fund Partners.

On this week's episode of #InTheSoup, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby are continuing their investors series to dive deep into what typically goes on during an investment process. They are joined by Tim McLoughlin of Cofounders Capital and Ryan Perlowin of Jemison Alexander.

On this week's episode of In The Soup, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby are stepping away from the world of entrepreneurs to step into the world of investors. They are joined by Lister Delgado from IDEA Fund Partners, Jason Caplain from Bull City Venture Partners and John Hagy from Carolina Angel Network. The trio discuss some red flags and green lights that investors keep in mind before, during and after an investment process.

In the first episode of 2024, hosts Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby delve back into the topic they previously explored on the inaugural episode of In The Soup: the right time to take the leap and start your own company. This time, the focus will be on single individuals, without a spouse or partner.  Jenn and Melissa will be joined by DeShawn Brown, founder & CEO of Coworks; and Tai Huynh, co-founder & CEO of Acta Solutions. (Fun fact: Tai recently got engaged! Congratulations!)

In the final episode of 2023, In The Soup host Jenn Summe of Primordial and her sidekick Melissa Crosby, a seasoned talent acquisition specialist, delve into pricing before finding product-market fit. They are joined by Chris Geiss, Co-Founder and CEO of Seguno Software; and Rachael Classi, Founder and CEO of Tiny Earth Toys.  Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Liles Law!

On this week’s episode of “In The Soup,” host Jenn Summe of Primordial and her sidekick Melissa Crosby explore the difference between angel groups and traditional VC firms. They are joined by John Hagy, Managing Director at Carolina Angel Network; and Abby Phillips, Assistant Director for Member Services at NC State's Wolfpack Investor Network.  Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Liles Law!

On this week's episode of "In The Soup", host Jenn Summe of Primordial and her sidekick Melissa Crosby explore when startup founders should consult an attorney. They are joined by our gracious show sponsor Venus Liles, Founder of Liles Law, and Trevor Schmidt, Partner at Hutchison Law Firm.  Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Liles Law!

On this week's episode of In The Soup, host Jenn Summe of Primordial and her sidekick Melissa Crosby explore the importance of storytelling for startups. They are joined by Jason Gillikin, CEO of Earfluence; and David Delaney Mayer, CEO of Elemmir. Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Liles Law.

On today's episode of #InTheSoup, host Jenn Summe of Primordial and her sidekick Melissa Crosby discover the best marketing strategies for startups. They are joined by local marketing experts Dan London, who is currently the chief marketing officer at Adwerx, and Christina Noel, the founder and principal of Noel & Co. Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Liles Law. Have an idea for a topic? Send them to [email protected]

On today’s episode, host Jenn Summe of Primordial and her sidekick Melissa Crosby dive into how to handle rejection as a startup founder. They are joined by local founders Matt Williamson of Plum CoOwnership and DeShawn Brown of Coworks.  Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Liles Law.

On today's episode, host Jenn Summe and her sidekick Melissa Crosby explore how to find the right investor for your company. They are joined by two local investors, Ryan Perlowin of Jemison Alexander and Tim McLoughlin of Cofounders Capital. Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Liles Law.

Last week, Jenn Summe of Primordial and Melissa Crosby discussed the pros and cons of bootstrapping. In this episode, they are exploring the world of venture capital with two local entrepreneurs, Rachael Classi of Tiny Earth Toys and DeShawn Brown of CoWorks. They talk what it means to accept an investment and the factors to consider as you go down that path.  Thanks to our sponsor, Liles Law.

On this week’s episode, host Jenn Summe and her sidekick Melissa Crosby dig into the age-old debate: should I bootstrap or take venture capital funding? This topic will be divided into two episodes. They are joined by two local entrepreneurs, Meghan Corroon of Clerdata and Chris Geiss of Seguno, who both bootstrapped their companies and delve into the pros and cons. We would like to thank our podcast sponsor, Liles Law.

On this week's episode, host Jenn Summe and her sidekick Melissa Crosby dive deep into the topic of mentorship in the startup world. They are joined by two local founders, Rachael Classi of Tiny Earth Toys and Meghan Corroon of Clerdata, who provide invaluable advice on finding the right mentor as an entrepreneur, and what makes a good one. 

On this episode of "In The Soup", host Jenn Summe and her sidekick Melissa Crosby unpack company culture. They are joined by Get Spiffy Chief People Officer Nicole Haight and Seguno Software CEO Chris Geiss to talk about where company culture comes from, and how much of it is organic.