In this week’s edition of The Friday Nooner, Pete received a surprise: Joe gifted him his very own bobblehead, with a GrepBeat T-shirt and all. Pete was clearly so emotional that continuing the show proved to be an arduous endeavor.
For the rest of the show, Pete, Joe and Chantal discussed recent developments on the Triangle tech scene and chatted with Written Word Media CEO and Founder Ricci Wolman.
Here are some highlights from the episode:
- Durham’s Bull City Venture Partners announced this week it closed on a $53 million oversubscribed fourth fund. Joe, Pete, and Chantal discussed what this means for the Triangle. It essentially is a huge boost for the ecosystem and puts a lot more money in play here (and the larger Southeast). Then the trio launched into a discussion of the perceived national slowdown in VC dollars and how this differs for lower- and higher-valuation startups.
- When Wolman came on to the show, she shared the ways Written Word Media can serve independent authors. She also gave her perspective on Amazon, which was initially a contentious company in the book publishing space. Since Written Word has a complementary relationship with Amazon, she doesn’t see them as a threat down the road and they’ve actually sparked a surge in independent authors finding success.
- Wolman told the Friday Nooner trio (and audience) what her biggest surprises were along her entrepreneurial journey. They include the realities of customer acquisition costs and what it actually means to have both parents working for one company. (Her husband is her co-founder and the startup’s CTO.) Needless to say, taking care of children and other family members becomes much more difficult when you and your spouse are both executives at the same company.
Thanks to the sponsor for this quarter, which is our upcoming GrepBeat tech conference Grep-a-palooza. The one-day conference will be held June 9 at the Durham Convention Center. Get your tickets here.
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