Startup Success: A Podcast for Founders & Investors

On Startup Success, we discuss what’s working right now for scaling founders and investors... You’ll hear interviews with founders and investors who have compelling stories to share, new trends, and conversations from thought leaders and experts who have walked the walk. Each episode will dig into a crucial area of startup success: finance, entrepreneurship, fundraising, hiring, marketing, sales, and operations to help your startup or portfolio company scale.

Startup Success: A Podcast for Founders & Investors is a business podcast hosted by Burkland, with 154 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 83.

Burkland hosts Startup Success: A Podcast for Founders & Investors, a business show with 154 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #153

  How Real-World Experience Helps Founders Spot Market Gaps

  Sep 22, 202629 min

  Cortney Woodruff, Co-Founder and CEO of Assemble, is bridging the gap between college and industry after living the problem himself. Tune in to hear how founders can stand out beyond traditional networks and pedigrees, why real-world experience helps founders spot what others miss, and what he'd tell any founder who feels like they're starting without a map. === CHAPTERS === 00:18 --- Meet Cortney Woodruff, Founder and Angel Investor 01:03 --- From Jackson, Mississippi to the World's Top Business Schools 02:57 --- How to Seize an Opportunity With Almost No Notice 05:48 --- Moving to San Francisco, Living in a Hostel, Building From a Garage 06:31 --- The "Laying Bricks" Metaphor for Building Something Hard 07:54 --- The Problem Assemble Exists to Solve 09:56 --- Relevancy and Accessibility: The Two Pillars Behind Assemble 11:45 --- How One Course Reached 18,000 Students in 30 Days 15:02 --- Building What You Wish You'd Had: Finding Your "Why" 17:11 --- When a $4B VC Firm Didn't Know What an HBCU Was 19:26 --- Does Being an Angel Investor Make Him a Better Founder? 22:24 --- The Hardest Part of Being on the Operating Side 25:15 --- Advice for Founders: Patience, Speed, and the Tortoise and the Hare 27:45 --- Where to Learn More About Assemble ----Stay connected with our host, Kate Adams, https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateadams22/ Learn more about Assemble at https://www.assemble.fyi/ This episode is produced by: Brenda Hernández Jaimes: Podcast Producer & Talent Coordinator, Ellas Media Angela R. Chong: Audio Editor & Post-Production Producer, Amplify Podcasts

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  Episode #152

  How to Build a Category Leader When No One Sees the Problem

  Sep 8, 202629 min

  Kameale Terry set out to fix EV chargers everyone insisted weren't broken. Today, she’s CEO and Co-founder of the startup ChargerHelp, the undisputed category leader in reliability-as-a-service for EV chargers. She joins Kate to share what it takes to scale, her path to a successful Series A, how AI has been instrumental in the company's growth, and her infectious enthusiasm for building! === CHAPTERS === 01:40 — The EV Charger Reliability Issue That Sparked the Idea 02:42 — Why She Took the Leap 03:50 — Evolving the Solution to a Complex Problem 05:55 — Creating a Whole New Market Category 08:24 — Trusting Your Gut Despite Naysayers 09:30 — Feel Your Customer’s Pain & Build for It 10:10 — Lean Into Your Story to Convey Your Value 10:59 — How She Improved Her Pitching Skills 13:00 — What to Look for in a Co-Founder 14:49 — Their Fundraising Journey 16:00 — Positioning ChargerHelp as the Market Leader 17:35 — Scaling ClimateTech Through Policy Swings 21:45 — Using AI to Stay Ahead of the Competition 25:00 — Advice for Founders: Build, Build, Build 26:30 — It's Okay That It's Hard 27:20 — Where to Find ChargerHelp Stay connected with our host, Kate Adams, https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateadams22/ Learn more ChargerHelp at: https://www.chargerhelp.com/ This episode is produced by: Brenda Hernández Jaimes: Podcast Producer & Talent Coordinator, Ellas Media Angela R. Chong: Audio Editor & Post-Production Producer, Amplify Podcasts

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  Startup Success: A Podcast for Founders & Investors

  How to Stand Out to Investors in an AI-Saturated Market

  Aug 25, 202630 min

  Medha Agarwal, General Partner at defy.vc, joins Kate to share how founders can stand out to investors in an AI-saturated market, what she looks for before writing a check, why founder-market fit matters, and how AI is reshaping everything from startup defensibility to pricing models. She also offers a look at how devy.vc supports founders well beyond capital. Full show notes, transcript, and companion article: https://burklandassociates.com/podcasts/how-to-stand-out-to-investors-in-an-ai-saturated-market

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  Startup Success: A Podcast for Founders & Investors

  Why Investors Say No to Your Pitch Deck (And How to Fix It)

  Aug 11, 202631 min

  Our 150th episode is a big one. Kate sits down with Carl Fudge, Founder and CEO of Presentation Mode, who's helped startups raise over $1 billion in venture capital. Carl reveals why most pitch decks fall flat, the "why now" argument nearly every founder overlooks, and why logic alone isn’t enough to win investors over. Tune in to hear lessons from years spent helping founders get to “yes.” Full show notes, transcript, and companion article: https://burklandassociates.com/podcasts/why-investors-say-no-to-your-pitch-deck-and-how-to-fix-it Chapters 00:00 – Introduction to Carl Fudge & Presentation Mode 01:10 – Carl's Background: Psychology, McKinsey, IDEO & Catching the Startup Bug 02:58 – What Presentation Mode Actually Does 05:50 – How They Help Founders Craft Compelling Pitches 07:50 – Why They Bring in a Trained Actor 11:35 – The Must-Have Components of Every Pitch Deck 13:44 – The "Why Now" Argument Most Founders Overlook 15:30 – Logic vs. Feeling: The Psychology of Investor Decisions 17:09 – The Mac vs. PC Lesson on Selling Features vs. Selling Feeling 19:19 – Less Is More: How Much Detail Should Be on a Slide 20:50 – Shifting the Power Dynamic With Investors 22:50 – Fundraising Advice for AI-Native Startups vs. Non-AI Startups 26:10 – Storytelling: More Than a Fundraising Tool ----Stay connected with our host, Kate Adams, here on LinkedIn! Learn more about Presentation Mode: https://www.presentationmode.co/

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  Startup Success: A Podcast for Founders & Investors

  Building a Healthcare Startup in the Age of AI

  Jul 28, 202630 min

  Winning over investors as a healthtech founder requires fortitude, relentless pitching, and the ability to tell a hard "no" from a "not right now." In this episode, Kate sits down with Melissa Hanna, co-founder and CEO of Mahmee, a healthcare platform transforming how families experience pregnancy and postpartum care. Melissa pitched 500 to 1,000 investors before landing backers like Mark Cuban, Serena Williams, and Steve Case, plus a Series A led by Goldman Sachs. Melissa walks us through how Mahmee built the technology and workforce infrastructure that now has 70 million lives under contract. She also opens up about the fundraising grind and shares her perspective on AI's role in healthcare. Tune in to hear: Strategies for fundraising in this challenging market How founders outside the AI space can still leverage AI An insider's perspective on where AI should and shouldn't be used in healthcare Why core values are key, even at early-stage startups Melissa’s advice to fellow founders: accept the struggle, and commit to a problem worth solving. Don't miss this conversation with a founder proving healthcare can be both high-tech and deeply human. ----Stay connected with our host, Kate Adams, here on LinkedIn ! Learn more about Mahmee at: https://www.mahmee.com/ This episode is produced by: Brenda Hernández Jaimes: Podcast Producer & Talent Coordinator, Ellas Media Angela R. Chong : Audio Editor & Post-Production Producer, Amplify Podcasts

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