Mile High Hustle: The Denver Startup Week Podcast

There’s a million ways to hustle in this city. What’s yours? We look back at some incredible, inspiring moments from Denver Startup Week 2018 (and Denver Startup Weeks past), before looking ahead to Denver’s vibrant future with fascinating leaders and entrepreneurs like Denver Startup Week Designer Track co-chair Castle Searcy and JP Morgan Chase Region Manager Chris Jensen.

Guess what? You made it. You've built a company, and you're thinking it's time to take it to the next level. Part of starting something new is thinking about how you exit. We speak with two experts who have recently steered their companies through an IPO and an acquisition. Meet Sameer Dholakia, CEO of Sendgrid; and John Levisay, CEO of Bluprint & Craftsy.

Andre Durand. Bryan Leach. Two names you hear a lot in the Denver Startup community. Who are these leaders? How did they get to where they are now? And what does their rise say about where Denver is headed? We've got some hints: there was a plane, a boat, and a whole lot of hustle. 

Cannabis, meet cryptocurrency. Given Colorado's success with legalizing marijuana, is the state positioned to become a leader in blockchain and other emerging industries? To find out, Paul interviews two Denver cannabis and blockchain experts: Wanda James, CEO of Simply Pure Dispensary, and Shala Burroughs, COO of Satis Group.

Announcement! We're taking a break for Labor Day. So instead of a full episode this week, we're giving you a sneak peek of what's coming next in Episode 6, releasing on September 10th, 2018. Denver Startup Week is right around the corner, September 24-28th, and this is the perfect time to catch-up on Mile High Hustle to get you ready. So tell a friend, share, and enjoy the three-day weekend.

Building diverse companies is a business imperative. But where do you start? Paul turns over the mic to producer Cat Jaffee to speak with two of the Denver business community's rising stars: Bijal Shah, Chief Product and Analytics Officer at Guild Education, and Olivia Omega, personal branding strategist and co-founder of Wallace Marketing Group and Director of Brazen Denver.

It’s finally time to talk about the only thing that really matters in business: money. How are local businesses scaling up and building out without compromising what makes them great? We talk to Chris Onan, an 18-year veteran investor in local high-growth tech companies, and share the story of Krista Morgan, cofounder and CEO of one of Denver’s most exciting young fintech companies, P2Binvestor.

The pitch competition at Denver Startup Week this year is going to be bigger and better than ever. The prize package is large, and the competition will be fierce. In this third episode of Mile High Hustle: The Denver Startup Week Podcast, we talk to two past pitch competition winners to hear how they did it; and we speak with the organizer of this year’s competition to hear how you can too. A big thank you to Mile High Hustle's sponsors: Husch Blackwell, General Assembly, and Zayo Group.

How did a cowtown like Denver become a booming entrepreneurial hub, and can you still make it here? To find the answers, we travel back to 1866 and 1986. A big thank you to the Mile High Hustle sponsors: Husch Blackwell, General Assembly, and Zayo Group for this episode.

Denver is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. It's an easy thing to take for granted. But what’s making it boom? On this first episode of Mile High Hustle: The Denver Startup Week Podcast, host Paul Karolyi takes to the streets and the Commons on Champa (a free and inclusive entrepreneurship hub) to learn why Denver's a great place to start something new.

We're live! Mile High Hustle, the Denver Startup Week podcast, explores the people, businesses, and ideas that are shaping Denver.  Episodes drop every other week leading up to the 2018 Denver Startup Week, the largest free entrepreneurial event of its kind,  happening September 24 through 28, 2018. Mile High Hustle is directed by Denver Startup Week, supported by General Assembly, Husch Blackwell, and the Zayo Group, and produced by House of Pod.