Own Your Zone Podcast JiNan Glasgow George

Davis Jones is a serial entrepreneur and investor with 18 years of experience in software development, e-learning, contract recruiting, and e-commerce. He is the founder of several businesses, including Eazl, an online business school creating coursework used by firms like Tesla, CentralTexas.com, the world’s first integrated regional commerce platform, and Simulations.net. As an angel investor, Davis funds organizations with promising leadership and business opportunities.
In this episode… Early-stage seed investments provide immense opportunities for both angel investors and start-up entrepreneurs. Private lenders facilitate the launch process for next-generation business owners while gaining privileged insights into innovation, new product inventions, and more. How can you source and execute these investments?
As an investor in technology start-ups, Davis Jones engages in introductory conversations with future founders on LinkedIn. This allows entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas for investors to evaluate. You can also attend networking events to connect with start-ups and other investors and remain informed of industry trends and developments. When investing in these companies, building relationships with innovators and joining their board of advisors is crucial to support them effectively and obtain maximum value.
On today’s episode of Own Your Zone Podcast, JiNan Glasgow George invites Davis Jones, Founder of Eazl, Simulations.net, and CentralTexas.com, to talk about building and investing in technology and software companies. Davis shares tips for engaging users in online courses, intellectual property trends in ed tech, and his journey creating Eazl from ideation to conception. 

Charles Hudson is the Founder and Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investments for promising software and hardware companies. He is also the Board Chair of the National Venture Capital Association, which funds America’s most innovative entrepreneurs. Before launching Precursor, Charles was a Partner at SoftTech VC, where he focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure. He also identified valuable investment opportunities for the CIA at In-Q-Tel.
In this episode… Venture capital investments experienced the highest increase in 2022, with company valuations outpacing this surge. Additionally, in 2022, 65% of US-issued patents were software-related inventions. What are the most pervasive VC trends in technology, and how can you position your startup as a favorable investment?
In the past, public market investors have been attracted to SaaS and other technology businesses, leading VC firms to invest aggressively in private tech companies, accelerating their revenues by 20 times more than traditional private company revenue. Yet investors have realized that building a revenue-generating private business with high margins is risky — significantly diminishing funding. According to operator, investor, and VC expert Charles Hudson, intellectual property patents are crucial in differentiating private companies from the masses and protecting and documenting inventions. By leveraging patents, private startups can maximize their value. You can also lower your early-stage company’s risk for investors by remaining transparent when establishing contracts. 
In today’s episode of Own Your Zone Podcast, JiNan Glasgow George welcomes Charles Hudson, Founder and Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, to discuss VC trends in the software landscape. Charles addresses how AI impacts investments in software companies, investors’ ideal due diligence criteria for early-stage businesses, and his approach to managing a VC fund.

Al Buda is the Founder and Managing Partner of Aware Partners, an algorithmic venture capital fund of funds. The firm strives to create positive returns for LPs, GPs, and startups. With over 20 years of experience as an engineer, investor, and entrepreneur, Al founded and exited two profitable SaaS companies. Before founding Aware Partners, Al was the President of the Oxford University Startup Accelerator, where she became an angel investor and helped launch 19 unicorn companies. 
In this episode… Early-stage startup value is accelerating, with unicorn companies gaining the most traction. The number of businesses valued at over $1 billion has increased from 300 to 1,200 in five years, with one data analytics company generating $1.5 billion in just three years. So what does it take to build a secure unicorn company?
As a seasoned angel investor, Al Buda understands the logistical measures startups must take to obtain funding quickly. Before entering the startup phase for unicorn growth, you must invest in IP assets to forecast the market and protect your inventions. Neglecting this step introduces high-risk rates for investors, lowering your overall value. A public launch takes approximately 12 years, so building a personal network of institutional and private investors is imperative for generating a $1 billion valuation. 
In this episode of the Own Your Zone Podcast, JiNan Glasgow George hosts Al Buda, the Founder and Managing Partner of Aware Partners, who discusses unicorn funding trends. Al also addresses data investment trends, the future of global innovation, and the relationship between data and AI.

John Hagel is a Management Consultant, Trusted Advisor, and Inspirational Speaker at Beyond Our Edge, LLC, which motivates institutions and individuals to collaborate, overcome obstacles, and address emerging opportunities. As a Silicon Valley veteran, he was the Founder and Leader of Deloitte’s Center for the Edge, where he identified new business opportunities. John is the author of The Journey Beyond Fear, which addresses the psychology of change. As an entrepreneur, speaker, and author, he has written several additional books and been featured in prominent business publications, including The Economist, Fortune, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.
In this episode… The rise of global economic, digital, and business transformations has intensified competition and initiated opportunities for growth, innovation, and entrepreneurship. But these rapid developments have also led to increased fear, as people become overwhelmed by seemingly unlimited possibilities during disruption. How can you embrace these changes to address the future rather than evade it?
Passionate futurist John Hagel recognizes that global shifts require continuous innovation, strategizing, and collaboration to capitalize on abundant business opportunities and develop creative solutions to unprecedented challenges. Exchanging ideas in small groups mitigates competition and industry silos by forming trusted relationships and encouraging one another to refine outcomes. To facilitate these groups, John recommends assembling communities of diverse people from various companies to foster entrepreneurial innovation.
In this episode of Own Your Zone Podcast, JiNan Glasgow George invites John Hagel, Management Consultant, Trusted Advisor, and Motivational Speaker at Beyond Our Edge, LLC, to speak about cultivating innovative opportunities for the future. John talks about futurism, the Big Shift, digitization, and the future of work.

Allison Baum Gates is a General Partner at SemperVirens Venture Capital, an early-stage VC fund investing in healthcare, fintech, and workforce technology. As an experienced investor in the future of work, venture capital, and technology, she is the author of Breaking Into Venture. Before SemperVirens, Allison was the Principal of Trinity Ventures and the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Fresco Capital.
In this episode… Partnering with organizations for early-stage funding accelerates business growth and value. Yet many startups merge with larger corporations too quickly and struggle to structure their services for an ideal market, intensifying risk and compromising value for additional funding efforts. How can you assess partners effectively to obtain funding suitable for your business ventures?
Venture capital and investing specialist Allison Baum Gates emphasizes the importance of having thorough insight into your industry and target market. As experts in growth valuation, venture capitalists help position early-stage founders and their companies for the market. This includes conducting due diligence and analyzing regulatory requirements and risk. Allison advocates for various perspectives and diverse founders and investors in VC to eliminate oversights and bridge the knowledge gap.
Allison Baum Gates, a General Partner at SemperVirens, joins JiNan Glasgow George in this episode of the Own Your Zone Podcast for a discussion on partnering with funding businesses and VC firms. Allison talks about AI’s potential in VC and technology industries, how to leverage VC funds to optimize business funding, and notable IP trends in venture capital.

Daniel Doulton is the CEO of Solaris Suborbital, an aerospace R&D company designing and operating third-generation solar gliders. As a visionary technology executive and entrepreneur, he has experience creating award-winning products and brands at the intersection of AI, telecommunications, mobile, and aerospace. Daniel has also built world-class product teams, scaled startups to over $100 million, created corporate spin-outs, and consulted on strategies for growth-minded CEOs and boards. 
In this episode… As the aerospace industry adapts to technological advancements and companies innovate to solve complex global challenges, data collection, evaluation, and monetization become vital. How are technology startups leveraging data sets to fuel innovation, and what can you observe from their discoveries?
As an experienced aerospace entrepreneur, Daniel Doulton has developed suborbital space satellites that utilize high-definition video and precise data stacks to detect forest fires and greenhouse gases and observe migrating animals to predict climate change. The aircraft’s configurations can adapt to meet commercial requirements in aerospace, meteorology, and ocean and land science while protecting Earth’s most valuable resources. Other leading aerospace product companies are building storage infrastructure to reduce satellite debris and developing high-quality communications capabilities in space.
In today’s episode of Own Your Zone Podcast, JiNan Glasgow George sits down with the CEO of Solaris Suborbital, Daniel Doulton, to talk about innovation in the aerospace industry. Daniel describes how data influences Solaris Suborbital’s innovations, AI’s applications in aerospace engineering, and how Solaris Suborbital has advanced commercial flight innovation.