Joshua Aikens

Let's keep the #evinfrastructure train rolling. There are billions of dollars in federal funding making its way down stream. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe met last night to figure out how they can get there's. Here is what our AI sales insight says: "EV Infrastructure is a Priority: The Rosebud Sioux Tribe is aggressively pursuing federal grants for clean energy projects, including the Tribal Electrification Program. This program aims to electrify homes using microgrids and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, a major step toward an EV-friendly future. Key Speaker: Scott Herman: Scott, the Tribal Program Department and Tribal Project Manager, is leading this initiative. He is deeply knowledgeable about the Tribe's energy goals, securing funding, and building partnerships with organizations like WAPA. He is the key decision-maker for EV-related infrastructure projects. WAPA Partnership is Crucial: The Tribe has a unique agreement with the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) that includes technical assistance for selling excess energy produced and access to WAPA's electricity at cost. This partnership is a significant advantage for establishing EV charging infrastructure. Microgrid Focus Creates Opportunity: The Tribe's focus on microgrids, particularly the proposed 5-megawatt system, presents an immediate opportunity to incorporate EV charging stations. This would demonstrate commitment to sustainability and attract further EV adoption. Future Expansion Plans: The Tribe's long-term vision to electrify the entire reservation through clean energy sources indicates a strong commitment to a sustainable future, paving the way for large-scale EV adoption." #ev #evcharging #evchargers #publicinfrastructure #publiccharging #fleetelectrification

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🚨 Small business owners deserve better. There's a massive opportunity in a massive industry to do things better - change is long overdue. Navigating customer acquisition can be daunting, especially for many small trade service business owners. Unfortunately, the current landscape dominated by lead aggregators like Angi's and Yelp often adds to the confusion rather than alleviating it. Key Issues: ⚠️ Deceptive Tactics: The FTC decision in 2023 against HomeAdvisor for deceptive lead-selling practices highlights a major issue. Many platforms promise quality leads but often leave businesses with little understanding of customer acquisition and service value. Sadly, it's our belief and position based on intimate review, that old habits die hard. ⚠️ High-Pressure Sales: Boiler room sales tactics push business owners into minimum to long-term agreements with no recourse, leaving many operating in the red. Take the $ (earn their commission), deliver poor leads, then force the business owner to fight to even receive credits or refunds. ⚠️ Review Manipulation: Yelp faces continual complaints about authentic reviews being removed or deprioritized by arbitrary algorithms, further handicapping business growth. A Better Way Forward: 💡 Opportunity to Build Something Better: New platforms featuring better-aligned incentives that genuinely prioritize small business success. Providing knowledge and tools for accurate service valuation and effective customer acquisition is crucial. Competition is good - if you want to collaborate, let's do it. 💡 Balanced Approach: Emphasize real connections with your clientele and deliver exceptional service to encourage word-of-mouth referrals. There's nothing more powerful than a satisfied customer spreading the word. While not perfect, Google has fostered a more encouraging business environment. Let's rethink how we support small businesses. Even while building our own, we're motivated to discover ways we can pull others forward. By fostering a transparent, fair, and supportive environment, we can ensure that trade service businesses not only survive but thrive. 💬 Join the Conversation: How have lead aggregators impacted your small business? #SmallBusinessSupport #TradeServices #CustomerAcquisition #IncentiveAlignment #BusinessGrowth #WordOfMouth #Empowerment #FairBusiness #Search #PaidMedia

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I 💯agree with Oz Merchant on this topic. Some folks advise founders to pitch very selectively and 'pick your pitch' - you get one shot, choose it wisely? I'm 180 degrees opposite of that - be a promiscuous pitcher! - ABP - ALWAYS BE PITCHING. Because your pitch gets better with every no, take that feedback, learn, iterate. Right now it's taking 50-100 no's for Triangle co's to get funding, it's still tough out there, so get through the no's fast to get to a yes. Check out the event - also go see others pitch, it all helps you get better - pitching is like PMF - lots of iteration, tons of grinding to get through to the other side.

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Celebrated Shachi’s new gig last night. (Yes, I’m a giant who decided to wear 4” stilettos) Shachi made the pivot from being on the buy side (big corporate) to the world of procuretech startups. She’s joined ORO Labs as the VP of Strategy. Pretty freakin’ excited for Shachi to enter my world. ORO is a procurement orchestration platform (intentionally called it procurement orchestration instead of process orchestration for Shachi). What does Procurement Orchestration mean to me?! The intake process a stakeholder follows to request the help of procurement. It’s important that this process is super simple and fast. Process orchestration tools are usually no code or low code so a workflow can be defined without any programming skills (makes me think about Trello; project management tool I use). Goal is to be a one stop shop - stakeholders only need to use this one tool vs. having to bounce around between multiple platforms. Procurement teams are going to prioritize investing in a procurement orchestration tool to win over more internal stakeholders and get more of their spend under management. Name of the game is User Experience. The easier the experience for the user the more likely the adoption. There are sooooo many Procurement Orchestration platforms in the market already. The winners will be the ones that handle intake all the way through payment. A system that will work as a standalone solution. PS: Kathy is a boss lady procuretech CMO. So kind and cool.

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Boulder StartUp Week is right around the corner -- kicking off on Monday morning with a welcome breakfast at Galvanize. It's a fantastic week of networking and resources for entrepreneurs, and I'm thrilled to be presenting a session called TELL YOUR FOUNDER STORY on Tuesday 5/14 at 9am. Here's info about my session. If you're in Boulder, join us! ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ You know you need to tell a better story, and that your story will set you apart from the mob, but most entrepreneurs don't know what a good story is, how to tell it with unshakable confidence, or how to make it 100% relevant to your audience – so they buy from you, tell their friends about you and stick around for the long haul. In this session, I'll show you how nailing down the story of how you got where you are today has the power to build loyal followings, raise revenue and change the world. You'll learn: 📣 How to boil your big mess of a story down to its compelling essence 📣 Why telling the *right* story is absolutely essential if you want to get the funding and effectively convey your why 📣 Why the stories you think are great stories might be derailing your mission and costing you money Tuesday May 14, 9-10am at WeWork in Boulder. Register for this session and check out the rest of the schedule at this link: See you there! ~~~ Know someone in Boulder who would benefit from this talk? Tag them in the comments! #boulderstartupweek #publicspeaking #storytelling #founder

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🚀 Big Shout Out to Our Client in the Dumpster Rental Space! 🚚 We've successfully scaled their company to generate an extra $10K in income solely through Facebook and Instagram ads! 📈 With a cost per lead of just $12-18, our client is now ready to ramp up their daily ad spend to attract even more customers. 🌟 They're also looking to enhance their marketing efforts by adding SEO strategies into the mix.💥 #ClientSuccess #DigitalMarketing #FacebookAds #InstagramAds #SEOOptimization

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Having a community makes you money when building a startup. 7 seconds, here’s how: 1. Having a community makes it easy to get feedback on your product. 2. When a community member who uses your product moves to a new company, they will promote your product there. Zach Perret gave his first 200 customers two conditions before using the product. 1. They had to onboard within 4 weeks and 2. They had to communicate with him often about the product. The bonds were built over many conversations and each new user became a new champion of the product. This is how Plaid’s founder went from 0 to 1 and then scaled his company to $13.4 billion.   As a founder how do you engage with your community? Learn more about how to use communities to build from my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/d7WGB8fi

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We All Have Our Days. Let's Talk About Them. Life's a rollercoaster, right? Some days, you're conquering summits, feeling invincible. Others? It's "what the heck am I even doing here?" swirling in your head. June is #MentalHealthMonth, a perfect time to acknowledge that. It's also the exciting launch date for Season 2 of my incredible friend Alex Snider's podcast (seriously, check it out – I'm may be crying at points 🥹). This episode dives deep into the experiences men face, and the experiences I have faced, the struggles we often keep hidden – the "dark passenger" we all carry sometimes, the traumas that linger beneath the surface. It's a powerful journey, one that reminds us of the critical question: how are the people we care about REALLY doing? Because guess what? We all put on a brave face from time to time. So, this month, let's pledge to look beyond the smiles. Let's open the door to honest conversations. Let's truly connect. P.S. Did you hear Alex also has a fantastic new brand identity? Head over and show your support!

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How far are you willing to go to get the job done? Me? 6,303 miles. In one of the crazier stories from my time at Tellme Networks, we put a guy on a first-class flight to Japan for no other reason than to have him sit next to a key executive/decision-maker we were pursuing for a huge deal. My guy and the candidate—uninterrupted for 12 hours. Unorthodox? Absolutely. Yet opportunistic. To build a successful business, you need to be relentlessly determined to the nth degree and creatively think outside the box. Your ability to turn a challenge (someone heading to a different country) into a solution (following that person to said country) will separate you from those who see roadblocks as the end. Let me clarify one thing: Being relentless isn't about being stubborn. Rather, you see your goal and the pathway to achieve it, and you don't let anything get in the way—even if it means going the extra (few thousand) miles. Epilogue: we won the deal BUT not why you might think. The executive actually got freaked out in the first-class lounge and asked for our sales guy to be removed from the lounge. The rep never took the flight. HOWEVER, the executive did review our package on the plane and concluded that any company willing to go to such lengths to win the business would surely commit to make the program and him successful. He landed, called us and awarded us the contract.

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Today on Homebase, we cover the founding story of Kapwing: The Video Editing Powerhouse Serving 3M Monthly Users, currently profitable and $12.7 million in funding in the bag🎥 Founded by Julia Enthoven and Eric Lu, Kapwing has: ✅ Achieved profitability through organic growth ✅ Developed an AI-powered video editing arsenal ✅ Innovated with features like Smart B-roll and Premium Text-to-Speech Learn how this team went from a simple web app to a robust, user-friendly platform that helps users create 10x more video content. Discover how they: - Filled a gap in the user-friendly video tool space - Grew organically with minimal ad spend - Embraced a remote-first approach - Prioritized real user feedback over theoretical market studies Read the full story of Kapwing's journey to profitability and success here: https://lnkd.in/gZPhpNKd

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That's why it's often very difficult to recognize new leaders – their ideas go beyond the conventional frameworks we're accustomed to. Keep your mind open. Don't let yesterday's templates define your future. #Leadership, #Innovation, #OpenMind, #FutureThinking, #venturethinking,   https://lnkd.in/eASPGsuu

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**ANNOUNCEMENT: No longer a recovering founder!** 🚀 Founder Update 🤩 I got some news! I am officially a founder once again. I've partnered with Hew Hamilton and Precursor Ventures to build the plumbing system for the AI world. Much needed infrastructure allowing founders and engineers to leverage these new technologies with little to no code. Our first product and go-to-market will be a knowledge aggregator, allowing startups to leverage business insights to train and use LLMs in their products. Sound interesting? Wanna help? Let me know!! 🥲 I am leaving Wefunder. Kind of... 🙃 After a year supporting founders to let their communities invest alongside institutional investors, my time as Head of Strategic Partnerships at Wefunder has come to an end. Thank you to my favorite boss Jonny Price for being patient with me and letting me spread my wings wide as I navigated the Reg CF space! I have nothing but gratitude for the Wefunder team, and believe community rounds will become part of the not so distant future, for myself included (hint hint 😉). Although officially off of the Wefunder payroll, I am excited to continue to support them with deal flow for Reg CF and Reg D deals as a Venture Partner through the end of this year! 🤓 Saucy Ventures 🤩 At some point I'll raise my own fund. But for now, I am happy to support early stage founders navigate the nuances of startup life. Which is why I plan to volunteer 10% of my time to one-on-one meetings with founders. My focus is to help founders tell their stories, expand their access to financing options, and to provide context around my own challenges as a founder and operator. My hope is that these founders will become my first LPs. Some may even call it venture karma. So if you need advice or warm intros, hit me up :D A written smile, Serg

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Inconvenient Choices: Why We Stay Hooked So much of why we stick with social media or technology that we don't like involves inconvenient choices. If you don't want TikTok to have your data you can delete your account. If you don't want YouTube to recommend you hours of videos you don't want you can go into--> Profile ---> Settings---> General----> Remind Me to take a break and toggle it on. Compare that with the path to watch a YouTube Short? Just one click --> Shorts or to watch videos in your feed (one swipe). It's clear what this app wants you to do. When we start relying on apps as important sources of information or entertainment we face the FOMO, but when we go to regulate our use we're given choices that we don't exactly want. I want to watch TikTok and not have my data get mined. Where is that option? These false dilemmas aren't accidental, they're designed. And in the menu of our phone screens it's the app maker who makes the rules. If you're a product builder and want to make sure your products don't fall into this trap, you check out the free course from The Center for Humane Technology https://lnkd.in/gnikvia5

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Once in a great while, someone posts an unsolicited ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ endorsement of your idea 💡 on LinkedIn. Thanks for the kind words, Ramsey! 😊 Thrilled to have Uptrends.ai and other amazing MN Startups joining the Startup Swag Store. The seeds of this idea were planted because I scored a Maazah Chutney hat that I'm proud to wear. It's one small step I can take to evangelize a brand I love. But they don't have a swag store. I couldn't buy a hat if I wanted to. It made me think "There should be a store where you can buy swag from the startups you love. It should be super simple to join, hands-off for founders, and the profits should be split with the startups." So that's what Colin and I built as one of our Monkey Island Ventures ventures. Please check it out, do some shopping, and list your startup. #startups #swag #brandambassador

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The base of the Triangle is made up of Team and Money The top is supported by the base The top of the Triangle is Product. Team is made up of Builders, Growers, Advisors Money is made up of Revenue, Grants, Equity, Debt Product is made up of Options You may have one or many Strive for one. Each point of the Triangle feeds the next At the core of the Triangle, creating that momentum, are Customers The more they love you, the greater the momentum The stronger the Triangle. --- (thoughts on company building)

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Here is the reason why you fail with your small business. You are not teaming up with other people in community to build it. The instance you team up is the instance you will win. 🥇 Join me and Lee on Fud. #sidehustlers #fud #feudalsystem #freedomfusionsystem

Funding Opportunity Alert! pt 5 150 small businesses will receive $10,000 grants and a LegalZoom product valued up to $500. Plus, 3,000 emerging entrepreneurs will get a LegalZoom product to kickstart their business. Applications open Feb 15 and close Sep 13, 2024. #SmallBusiness #VeteranOwnedBusiness #FundingOpportunity #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrants #NanaTalks #NanaFund

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