Dan Magnuszewski & Nicholas Barone of Radial Ventures
Introduction & Welcome
, welcome everyone to year three of Rupp Pfazlgraf's, Empire State Entrepreneurs and New York Business Law Podcast. A really fun and informative for for us to showcase, , some of our clients, strategic partners, , friends and community leaders to talk about relevant issues for entrepreneurs and business owners throughout New York.
By now of course you know that I'm, , David Pfalzgraf and I'm very blessed to be the managing partner at a local law firm called Rupp Pfalzgraf. And we, , our DNA is that we fashion ourselves and believe us to be as entrepreneurial as any law firm and any lawyers could be. And we're really, really excited to, , welcome guests who are in this space and who are doing wonderful things, , both from a business perspective, but also from a.
Community perspective. And before I get to our great guests today and introduce them, I do want to thank, , Eric and Mike and all of our buddies here at Incept for allowing us to host, , these podcasts in the super cool studio that we find ourselves in today, right in Downtown Buffalo. They've been a great, great partner, , for my law firm over the years, and, , we're looking to build on that relationship that we have with Inep.
So thanks Eric, for, for your time, , here today. , with that. I got Nick Barone Dan, , Magnuszewski.
Magnuszewskiy.
Magnuszewski. Eric, you'll make me sound good. And I've got Nick Barone and Dan Magnuszewski. You're so worried about his name
didn't. Yeah, because I had practice yours, Dan, here with me today. Two guys who are doing just a, a ton for.
, the startup community, the tech ecosystem that they're helping to build out. I've been looking forward to this one for a while, and I know they're both busy. So I'm, I'm really, really appreciative of you taking time outta your days to be with, , me here today on this podcast. And we're gonna get all into the tech ecosystem and all the things you're doing at, at Radial Ventures and with the foundation, the 43 North Foundation.
But before we do so, I think our, our listeners are. Are fortunate to have an opportunity to hear about both your backgrounds and sort of what has led you here today. So I think I'll, I'll start with Nick and I know a little bit about your background and about your better half and all that good stuff, Nick.
But, but
Nick Barone: Background & Early Career
give our listeners a sense of sort of, you know, where you grew up and, and you know a little bit about your early education. Before sort of, , being here today with, with me and Dan?
, yeah. So I was, I was born in Syracuse, New York, but , born to a Buffalo family that happened to just move back.
So really a buffalonian at heart. , and I grew up here. I mean, we moved when I was really young, so I grew up in Orchard Park. , I went to Canisius High School and College. We'll forgive you for that. That's okay. Yeah, no one's perfect. , great school, but, , yeah, and then also went to Kenesha College, , which is where I met my wife and, , studied the digital media arts.
, so I was one of the first four year graduates in a new program in 2006. For digital media, which centered around web design and, , graphic design, video production, but, but really sort of like new stuff that was happening. , and you know, upon graduation, you know, I. , in like 2005, 2006, I started reading TechCrunch a new blog at the time.
, and Flickr, that's great. Had sold to Yahoo for $20 million, , which was a huge s of money, right? , but like that gave me this like, bug in startups. So I looked for startup companies here. , there was really one sco, which I didn't go work at. Dan can talk a little bit about that. , I picked, I picked a different one.
, hyper-local media, but I essentially like looked for opportunities in small startups, wanted to learn how to run a business, grow a startup, that sort of thing. So that was really like. That like through line for me. And before that, you know, as a kid I was a computer nerd, played with love it, computers and stuff, stuff my whole life, but before I turn it to Dan, , so, so you, timeline wise, but you graduated from, from college in oh six - 2006. 2006. And, and you. Go out on your own, sort of thinking about the startup, , world or, or you joined a company right outta college?
So I, I joined a company, that company was Hyper-Local Media, which was the parent company of Buffalo Rising. Okay. So at the time, new Bombers, Newell is new, and George, so at the time, and George, that's right. We had raised, , angel round, , for Barry Henigan, which is where I actually met you.
That's right, that's right. I forgot. Barry introduced lawyer actually. He represented us in small claims. If you really want a story that was right. Hble beginnings for both of us. That was a long time, a long, , but yeah, we, , that, that company, you know, it didn't work out.
, and then I went and worked for a company in Silicon Valley. , but from here, so I got to telecommute and have the best of both worlds. And then at that point is when, so that was like 2009 when I went on my own. , and really like there is where I, I was working at home doing stuff, mainly building websites, but there was this need to like see what else was out there and what people were doing.
So started to find a group on Twitter mainly. , at the time. And, , that became a group of us kind of meeting at coffee shops, talking about companies building startups. And I think that was like, at, at that point in time, that was like a, a new era of grassroots startup creation that like just wasn't as formalized in Buffalo.
And those tools, you know, in those early social media platforms made it possible for us to then. Meet in real life, , talk about doing stuff. And then, you know, quickly thereafter we were, you know, like sitting at Steve's house, building my favorites or like an office is doing stuff among other things, so like off to the races, really fun. But yeah, like really always on the edge of, you know, entrepreneurial things and trying to do stuff that, you know, there's no parachute. You gotta just figure it out. . But yeah, that was really where,
and I want to, I want, I do want to explore this open coffee club and whether the, that sort of, , environment could, whether we could duplicate that again and whether you're doing some of that through Radial ventures today or not.
But before we get to that, you know, Dan,
Dan Magnuszewski: Background & Early Career
same sort of, , questions around your, your upbringing and sort of initial roots and, and ties to, to Buffalo and Western New York. Sure.
Yeah. So similar, similar story. , but born in a different city, a place called Florida, New York, , but to Buffalo parents. And, , so I was born down, down there, moved back to Buffalo.
, I, you know, I think it was around first, second grade, , moved back and, you know, spent some time at Kenmore and eventually ended up, , in Sweet Home and went to Sweet Home High School, graduated from there. , in 2001 and, you know, this was like a interesting, you know, peak time.com bubble. , you know, still hadn't blown up yet.
While I was still in school, , all these new web design classes were coming out. I took this thing called Cisco Network Academy, , while I was in high school. , and so was always interested in computers and stuff like that, and. Went to UB for computer science that was around the, you know, that was right after the.com bubble exploded.
, and it was a really interesting time where everything, you know, all the jobs were gone, like bubble popped, we're outsourcing everything to India. There's not gonna be any jobs. And there was like,
shit,
man, maybe 300 of us, , who were, you know, 300 of us. I think there're in the program that's not like.
4,500 people or something like that. So it was kind of this huge dip of, you know, everything.com, nothing, you know, technology is no longer, , as sexy of a thing. So, , so that was an interesting, but fortunately I, , outta high school I was able to get my Cisco certification and weasel my way through. A lot of interesting.
Like backdoor ways of finding people's nber at m and t. And we had heard that there was like an internship program, , in their network operations center. And so was able to do some maneuvering and got an internship outta high school, , that I worked that smer and then they kept me on during school.
So I already, it, it was interesting 'cause I felt like I already had a job and I was all set. , and so went, went through school. But still always wanted to start my own companies and, you know, in, in, , in college, , the Paul Graham essays were just coming out, so we were reading those. One of our current partners now, Mike Canner, we were buddies and we met in college.
We were buddies in college, and we would go into like classrooms and like write different on a chalkboard. You know, different startup ideas and like try to figure out which ones make sense. Love it. So, so, you know, there was always kind of a path, but it was like, okay, well I have this job and, and so I did that for a couple years outta school.
,
this is oh 5, 0 6, 0 7.
Yeah.
So I graduated oh five, so oh seven, , you know, was looking, looking around for something else. And, ,
you're at m and t.
I'm at m and t, big company. You gotta dress up to go to work. You gotta get there early. You know, these are things that,
good lessons.
Yeah. These are things that I'm not, you know, , the greatest at.
So, , so yeah. , and there was this local, I had known a bunch of guys from the tech community that, that we had established, , through the University of Buffalo, , about this company called cco. And so they were, you know, raising capital. They were really, you know, the, the first that was really taking off.
, ended up going there for a while. I was there for, , probably a little under four years. And so it was one of those phases where I think it was around like the hundredth employee, , at that time. And I was there and watched 'em kind of grow and scale to, I think it was maybe 350 people. , by the time we left.
And again, it was an interesting time. We were coming in, they're like, we're getting ready to IPO. You know, this was like a Yeah, when I came out in oh seven. And so you had Bear Stearns in there doing all the underwriting and , like, alright, we're gonna, I'm like, oh, this is gonna be great. I'm like, just join this company.
We're gonna go public. I got all this equity, it's gonna be awesome. And then 2008 happened, all of it went away, including Bear Stearns. And, , so, so it was an interesting experience and kind of going through, you know, kind of the macro environments. But, , for me it was kind of that first look at like.
Scaling companies and you know what to do, what not to do, what works?
Remind me what, in what synco, what was their core business?
So they had a couple different, , businesses. So they started out doing like email, , like budweiser.com, email, or you can choose your own. They had a bunch of different domains.
So it was really like how, , in the, it started in the late nineties and it was really like there's email. How can we allow people to have their own email? Or have their own email at their own domains like, and so it was kind of this conser, but they also did a bunch of like major league baseball's, email and a whole bunch of other stuff.
So it was email and then it got into portals for like charter communications, Cox, like a whole bunch of these other. Big telecom companies, and that would be your portal. I think maybe they had a delphi.com back in the day. Sure. And you would go in your, you have your email, you got your, all your widgets, you know, with the temperature.
You got, you know, all your news and you could customize it. Right. And so that was like, that was a really novel thing right. Back in those days. So, , so that was the core of, you know, a lot of what they did.
, and you stayed, you stayed at Seneco for around four years.
Yep.
And then from there,
yeah. So from there it was, you know.
I'm like, all right, I gotta it. It was one day I was working the second shift and I told the story a bunch of times, but there's, there was all these sailboats. We were right in, right on the waterfront there, and I see all these sailboats going out. It's like a beautiful night, and I'm like. If I stay here, will I end up being able to get a hi?
And I was like, oh no. I'm like, all right, maybe it's time for no chance. P exactly. The answer was no. , so, so it was like, okay, you know, it, it, it became time to kind of, , you know, start looking around and, , kind of while I was still at cco, you know, this was around, , 2010. You know, is when these Open Coffee clubs started, , we were having other events in kind of oh nine, , called Bar Camp where people would do talks and brought a bunch of people together.
And so this is when we met Steve Poland and, you know, my, my other buddy Mike Anzania, who I mentioned, we went out to Boulder Startup Week in 2010. And so, you know, we got to experience like, here's what Boulder's doing. And they had tours and we were meeting with all these different startup. Founders and these different companies and seeing what people were doing.
And then looking at Boulder was interesting because at that time it was very much like this was even, you know, people weren't even as much saying, you gotta go to New York City. It was more like, you gotta go to Silicon Valley if you want to do this right. And Boulder's, you know, kind of view was. Well, that's bullshit.
Like, you wanna go, you wanna go to Silicon Valley? Go. I don't, I don't give a shit like
Right. We don't care.
We're we're, we're not, we're not Silicon Valley. And it was a refreshing look of, you know, a town or city of 125,000 people or 130,000 people, whatever it is. Like this place is smaller than Buffalo.
And they have like, you know. I, I don't give a fuck attitude. I don't know if I can swear. No, you
can.
You're fine. But, but that, that, that was basically a lot of kids listen to a lot of kids. Yeah. Yeah. We'll, we'll clean it up for the high school. But, , but like that, that was their view. And it was just like, you know, we, we don't care.
And if you wanna go do that, that's fine. We're gonna do us. And they had a great, you know, they, they have a great thriving ecosystem with a lot of activity. , so I kinda liked that. Rebel view of, you know, we don't need to go do what everyone tells us to do. So that was really refreshing, bringing that back, , came back to Buffalo and it's like, okay, we can, you know, we have more people.
We have like, you know, there's some of these open coffee club things going on. We started getting some moment and so it's like, you know, this is, this is possible in Buffalo. And so, , left CCO and started. , joined a company called My Favorites with Steve Poland. , we were worked on that for about six months.
Went to South by Southwest, trying to raise funding, tracking down Ashton Kutcher and whoever the other,
we didn't actually track him down.
We were at a bar at a hipmunk party and he showed up, but then he just scurried me more,
passed us. And Steve didn't, Steve did not get a pitch. Him.
Yeah. So, so, so that didn't work.
Right. Great party. It was a great party. We
had a lot of fun in
Austin. It was, it was, it was a great weekend. . But it, yeah, it was an interesting time and it was, you know, kind of early social media. You know, mobile was now becoming a thing, and so early stage of mobile, and so there was just a lot of activity, a lot of excitement, a lot of people trying to figure it out.
, so we did that for a while. That ended up, , closing down and then, , I was just kind of working as a, you know, freelancer technical co-founder for hire. , partnered up with another, , local startup that Nick and I were at called Dooley. Oh, I forgot. Yeah, so we did, we, we did that for about a year and then, , at the same time I'm traveling around to like different cities and upstate trying to connect the upstate market from a startup tech perspective and let people in Syracuse know like, Hey, here's what's going on in Buffalo.
And
Sure. So
I was doing a lot of this type of stuff and Z 80 labs, you know, I get word that. CAD Labs was gonna be this new incubator. They had $5 million in seed funding and there was a lot of the stuff I was trying to like get involved with and how do we get more of, , in, in Buffalo. And so that was a good opportunity and met with, , Jordy Levy, Ron Triber, and you know, they hired me on to go.
Get it off the ground and run it.
Z80 Labs: Building Buffalo's Startup Ecosystem
What year was that? That that
2012.
2012. That Z 80 gets mm-hmm. Sort of launched. Yeah. And you have a active role then a sort of a full-time role at, at Z 80.
Yep. Yeah. And the goal there, so that was a big shift from doing software engineering work to kind of VC slash community development, economic development kind of work.
, and it, and it was great. So, you know, that was kind of my MBA and. Starting companies a hundred percent. You know, having those guys and, you know, people like Eric Rech and, and, and others who were on the board, , you know, it was a great learning experience and I saw how they look at companies, how they dis dissect 'em, what they're looking for in pitches, you know, and you start kind of learning a lot of that.
So for me, that, that was huge. , and so did that for a while. , we brought in a ton of, you know, the biggest VCs in the world came to Buffalo and we're doing talks and meeting with our companies and, but. I still like building companies and building product. And
you still had that in the back of your mind?
Yeah. That this is great that I'm sort of involved in all of this, but, but ultimately I, I want to do, I want to do this,
I wanna be, I want, yeah. It's like, do you wanna be the coach and the mentor and the this and that, or do you wanna like get on the field and, you know, get, get dirty?
There's a lot. It was also validation Z 80 and then 43 North after was validation for all this work we had done before.
Where it's like,
remind me, Nick, when you guys met, when, when, when do you remember first meeting?
So we met 2010 probably at Bar Camp or 2009. , which
is, and BARC camp was a similar like, open coffee club
bar. Yeah. But we would've speakers, it was at night,
like anyone could sign up and
we'd go to Pearl Street and people would give a talk on, you know, Pearl or design concepts.
Who, who,
who were the originators of
Steve Poland is really like, really, that's funny line for everything. He wanted to have this stuff happen and then as like more people got in the orbit, it got just worked out better. But then, yeah. Z 80 was that validation point of like. There's actually real money.
Mm-hmm. And real VCs that have, that actually are from Buffalo and have all this experience that have now like are trying to like build something here too, that's not just us, you know, clicking away, trying to make it happen.
Did you have a role at ZA formal role
at c? I was SI state at duly. Okay. , and I worked there for another couple months.
What was Duley doing again?
A lot of stuff. The one, , was, it's basically Airtable, so it was like a database in the cloud at the time. You could just build a database and share it with people. , and it was a great, we learned a lot. We learned a lot what not to do, but we learned a lot of good things too.
, founder from had gone to school in Buffalo, was in New York City. Team was here. So it was, it was a lot of interesting stuff. It just, you know, these things are hard and they don't work and , you know, there's various reasons, but a lot of the alni from that. Ended up then going to a cv. I see, I see.
Well, like that's, that's the other thing you realize as you go and meet and like, and like Steve is almost that godfather that created a lot of that, that network is that you get, you meet more people and they are gonna go build something or they might work and you know, be like that linchpin that makes part of what you do successful.
So there's just a ton of that networking that was really valuable and really like, I think helped spur on what was happening beyond just capital. 'cause all the money in the world isn't good if you can't actually build and execute.
Yeah. And and, and that was the thing, ZZ Eighty's goal was we need a place for people who don't want to go to New York City, don't wanna go to Silicon Valley and wanna build a high growth company like we were that spot.
And you know, I think, you know, it's definitely instances that people came back to Buffalo and like, oh, I was looking to come back. I see this here. Like, that's interesting. , there was other people who were like, I, we may have to, like, everyone says we have to go to New York or whatever. Maybe we gotta move.
And it was like, oh, we now have this thing here that's, you know, equivalent to, you know, what else? Wherever else you'd go. And we're bringing in all the VCs. You can't, you know, from New York that you wouldn't be able to get in front of. In New York, we can bring 'em to Buffalo. You can have some quality time with him.
So
in, in early on, Z 80, yourself, Dan, you're still at Duley, Nick, but, , Poland, you've got support from Ron and Jordy. You've got Eric and, and sort of a nascent board that they're starting to build out for the couple years that you were formally. At Z 80, you just learn, you learn a ton about how to evaluate.
Mm-hmm. You know, sort of challenges or opportunities with startups and what you like, what you don't like, if you're gonna do it yourself, how you would do it. And then what's the catalyst or what's, what's the springboard and when do you say the hell with I'm, I'm, I'm going, I'm going.
Yeah. I mean, I, I think it was just, like I said, it was more a lot of mentoring, a lot of, you know, it wasn't a lot of like actual doing.
It was more like, let's build this. Like environment that people can come in and build companies. But, , at the core of it, it, it's, you know, and a lot of times if, if you advising it's like, alright, you should go do this or do this within this amount of time, or have this urgency or, and then you come back and they may be in the same spot.
So, , for me it's more just like, you know, it was time to get back into it, get, you know, and so I looked at a couple other opportunities, was talking to some other founders. And that's when, , Joe Neiman, , applied to the incubator. So he applied to Z 80 and
called on the phone,
right?
He, he called on the phone, I think he submitted and then he called and they're like, we have a call.
I'm like, what kind of weirdo calls? Right? Called on the
phone
a car dealer. I'm
not gonna
a car dealers line. One use car dealers is gonna call you. So, . So he, he applied and, you know, we, we kind of, I met with him, kind of walked him through the normal like intro meeting and , you know, basically, and, and my dad has a background in, he's, you know, smaller used car dealer, used to go to the auction.
So I actually had a pretty decent understanding of, of the market. An opportunity there and went through it and I was like, I think I can build this. And you know, this is, this seems interesting. And so we kind of started that, , in the smer of 14. And, you know, so from there it was kind of nights and weekends trying to figure it out.
, started building the product and that's when, , Nick and Jonathan started helm. And so we brought them on for, you know, doing a lot of the design work and things like that. And. Then it was, you know, I think it was probably around Thanksgiving of 2014, went to Jordy and was just like, all right, I, I have this idea, like I'm working on, like, I'm gonna go do it.
And so from there, that was, you know, January 1st, we kind of went through and, , you know. We're all in on it. And, , you know, sold our house. We had a nice house. SCO had iPod at that point, so I had a little, little, little bit. So
Thousand there.
Yeah, a thousand there. , which was better than a negative air.
So, . But yeah, so had his nice house. I had a 1-year-old was married and crazy. Crazy. Yeah. I told my wife like, you know, I, I think we have to sell the house 'cause I'm not gonna have any income. , crazy. So, so we did that and , we were kind of off to the races with, with a CV I'd known Jack Reco, , through my Z 80 time.
And he was coming into town and, you know, what are you working on? What's going on? I told him about that, , and brought him on. , you know, and that was really like the three of us, you know, kind of all legs of the stool in terms of capabilities and what we were doing. And, you know, it was off to the races trying to raise, you know, we were trying to raise a million dollar round, , in Buffalo and, you know, late 20 14,
20
15.
Not easy. Not easy,
not easy. , you know, it, it, and, you know, obviously Z 80 D. Put money in. , but really our first investor was a stroke sub Iranian who had started Liasing. Sure.
Yep.
And so I had known him and we were talking 'cause he was trying to, you know, different sponsor events in the community and stuff.
And so he was one of my first, first calls and pitched him and, you know, we were, I think we were originally only trying to raise 250 K and he looked at the performa and all the like. He's like, you're gonna, you're gonna need more money. He's like, you need to raise. And, and first meeting he was like, I'll give you 50 K or whatever.
Just send me the stuff. Then he is like, you know, you know you're gonna need to raise a million, but you know, I'll put 200 or whatever, whoever it was. Right,
right, right.
Okay. Guess we're raising a million bucks. And, you know, so from there it was, it was definitely an interesting experience in that, like going through, raising the, raising the capital, building the product.
You know, building out demand, you know, , all that stuff. So
what,
ACV Auctions: Winning 43 North & Going Public
what year was it then that you won? 43 North.
So, so that would've been October of 2015. So we launched, , we kind of went full in on it January 1st of 15. Sure. We launched June 1st, 2015, and then 43 North was probably October of. October 30th or something.
Yeah, end of October 20. And that
gave you, that gave you some capital, but it also gave you some good press and PR to
Yeah.
Capitalize on and
Yeah, it was a good, you know, so we had raised a million, you know, we had proved out the Buffalo market. We had started going into the Albany market to show we can go into other, take a, c, b, to other markets.
, and so at that point it was kind of working and it was really, you know, how do we get cash in there to help? Speed up, , you know, how many markets we can open at a time and how quickly we could grow. And so yeah, the 43 North was great. 'cause that was a million bucks. Had some national like media things that went out, but a lot of the local stuff as well.
It was kind of this, , you know, validation stamp that, , you know, even though we were like just some kids like trying to, you know, go disrupt. Automotive market. So, , so that was great as well.
And you, you ended up ringing the bell or when, when did the IPO,
, March of 21.
So a, a, a pretty quick.
Yeah, it's pretty
fast.
Yeah. Five or six years stretch there.
Yeah, it was, I mean, you know, a CV days, I mean, we were growing 350% year over year for Oh
geez,
however many years. Right. And so that was another, you know, where I'd learned a bunch on Synco from the, you know, the. Kind of the a hundred person company to three 50 person company a CV was, you know, from three people to over 2000 people.
Right. And how do you, you know, I think we were hiring. I think the one year we hired like 60 engineers and stuff like that. So, you know, it's, it then becomes different problems of like, how do you, how do you onboard, how do you like train? How are you like finding the right talent? How are you, you know, assimilating 'em in?
How are you structuring your teams? How do you, because you have to then structure your technology and your teams in a certain way so that you can add more people and go faster. 'cause what normally happens is you add more people and then there's a point where you start going slower. Right. And so you have to make these shifts and, you know, we were growing and, and expanding so fast that it was very, like what would normally take a lot longer of a time.
We had a very condensed in terms of org structures and tech, you know, and product and all these other things that we were, we were dealing with. , so, so yeah, it was fun. It was a very condensed, , you know, growth phase point, point
of time in your life, I'm sure. And yeah, six years must have seemed like, right?
Yeah. It's, it is, it's like if it was quick. But actually it kind of felt long, but I, I guess it's not that bad
how it's, it's a remarkable story. I mean, you both should be extraordinarily proud of, of how. You had an impact on really transforming a community. And so many people, , were fortunate to have been a part of that ride.
And, and it just in, in my memory of, you know, practicing law and buffalo and building, you know, my own little scrappy little law firm, it, it, it just, it gives you energy when you know that. This stuff can happen and that that, you know, dreams can become realities and just, I look back at a CV and it's, it's remarkable and, and such a great story to tell and been so looking forward to having you here.
Dan, tell, tell me. How come like the 10 years from 2015, or call it 10, 11 years at 43 North and obviously Colleen's doing an amazing job and looking for great things. , still coming outta 43 North and the foundation that we'll get to in a minute. But, but there hasn't been another a CV at least yet. And, and will there be, could there be, what can we do as a community?
Or as entrepreneurs or business leaders or investors or anything else, like what can we do? Like I, I want more a CV stories
what, what we all do. Yeah. And that's, ,
can we get there?
Yeah. I mean, I, I think that dovetails into, you know, what we're doing with the 43 North Foundation and with, , radio ventures.
But, you know, I think at a high level, you know, there, there are companies that are, you know, in the 4 43 North portfolio that, you know, are on a great path. . And, you know, they may get there. I think the macro, you know, kind of the zero interest rate market and all the other stuff, , from the economy has, you know, really shifted.
And so, , there's a lot more headwinds out there than, than there used to be. So, you know, I think that's gonna delay, you know, some of these companies, what, you know, maybe we were able to do in seven years or six years. It may take, you know, it may take now 10 plus years, you know, depending on makes sense how things go.
More
normal.
You, right?
Yes. That was actually a very fast, right, and there was a lot going on. Right. COVID also kind of happened during that timeframe. Yeah. COVID. Yeah, COVID was, which, which was bad then really helpful in terms of like, you know, stock market, everything available.
So, and May maybe that's a good segue to like, I know.
43 North Foundation: Pillars & Mission
Most of our listeners, Dan and Nick know of the shit ton about 43 North, and it's, you know, been great for, for Buffalo and Western New York and really put us on the map, I think, , in part because of success stories like a CV, but I don't think a lot of our listeners know a lot about the foundation. Yeah.
Or certainly now this, this radial ventures, which is super cool. I think. So can you guys, , give, give us a sense of sort of. The work that the foundation's doing. I know John Gavigan, who's been a guest is, is now, you know, running headstrong on the foundation and, and then how radial venture sort of ties into the work that the foundation is doing.
Sure. Yeah. So the 43 North Foundation is separate from the competition. Right. And I think that's a, a, a big thing to kind of lay out. And so the foundation itself was created. Through, you know, economic windfalls from PCV and a bunch of the other 43 north companies that have had exits. , and we established a foundation whose goal is really, how do we help continue to drive startup technology, you know, sector here in Western New York, and help be able to build the talent.
So one of the pillars is talent. How are, how are we, you know, funding and helping develop talent? Even at the earliest ages of elementary school and, , and through the, you know, through the different years, , the, the, the folks, so Eric Raj, bill Maggio, Sara Ucci, , and others were involved doing a lot of research into other cities and seeing what they did.
India, you know, the Indianapolis is the Pittsburgh Salt Lake City. You know, people who we look to as aspirational peers. , and said, what did they do right? And, and so they looked at a ton of these cities and found that there, there's a consistent theme across them, right? So one of them is talent. They have programs, you know, you know, K through, you know, K through adult, right?
Where you're going out there, you're identifying talent. There's programs to help accelerate those who are, , inclined or advanced or, you know, moving along. But how do you give more people that. That training and not rely on state government or school district or fund, you know, other fund, like this is, you know, something that's so important that if we're gonna try to create companies and jobs, we need people that can fill those jobs, right?
So, , so that's one of the big pillars and we're working with Tech Buffalo on that. , then there's another, , another around corporate connectivity and that's what Ga John Gavigan's leading and it's really around. You know, historically, and really how we've been doing it was, it's less like we're working with the established business community to move things forward.
It's more like, screw it. We're just gonna go do it and build this stuff up, and you know, whoever tags along, tags along. But that wasn't really a focus. So it's really more about how do we work, you know, how do the kind of startup ecosystem work well with established corporates, right? And other cities do this really well.
In terms of, you know, being design partners or first customers or just advising or helping, you know, just helping in a variety different way. Support. Sure. Just support in general. , you know, that was a piece that was lacking and so we have a pillar that's really focused on, on accomplishing that. , and
that's a good way that the community, like the corporate community can help startups.
Yeah. Is being that, especially like a first customer. Because that's often a challenge. Right?
Right. I'm sure historically it was a tremendous challenge as you guys are building out a CV and, and that lack of awareness piece, the lack of engagement piece from the business community
can, the early dealerships helped, right?
Like that actually worked out there. But I think if you look at other ones where this like a B2B thing or whatever, and just the local, it's too risky. There's three kids or whatever. Hard I really liked.
Yeah. And there
was some, that chance on it,
there was, yeah, we had some dealerships that were. The reason we survived, and then others who didn't give us the time of day.
Right. And so, , which is interesting as it kind of grew and then they're like, oh, you, you weren't involved. Okay. , you, you missed it. You could have invested. But, , but anyway, so, so yeah. So then we have another peer around, , pillar not here, , pillar around, , storytelling. Right? And so the other piece is, you know, how do you have a consistent drbeat.
Of information on the tech community, the startup community, kind of the ecosystem in general, and be able to build a brand around Buffalo where, you know, you go out and target expats and local people and you know, you, you have your different customer segments like you would if you're starting a company and trying to market to your customers.
, what we're trying, we're trying to do that. In addition to, you know, having, you know, building out the content. So we've basically built up a newsroom, , you know, wow, this is led by Dan Miner. , and
great,
who knows, who knows, everyone has been really reporting on this stuff since, , I think he came on just as, , Z Labs was getting off the ground.
So like he's, he's been reporting on it, he's been in it, he knows the players, he knows the history. , and so now it's a way to turbocharge that, you know. That marketing message and, you know, have a bigger microphone, , to really keep people who, you know, a ton of people who've moved away and they're always like, yeah, I'm wondering how I can get involved and help in Buffalo.
What's going on? Right. That's always the, the questions like, so now what if they come, you know, they come to Buffalo for a Bills game or they're doing whatever, visiting family and they already know what's going on, and they're like, I need to go talk to this person and this person when I'm in, because I'm reading about.
All this stuff they're doing. Like that's, you know, that's a huge piece that we think, you know, it's, it's important and it's something that's, that's been lacking.
I couldn't agree more. Couldn't agree more. I think that storytelling piece is, is equally as important to some of the outreach to, you know, corporate community and talent and that, that tying it all together and being able to package that.
So someone when they are, , when you do pique their interest sort of knows more or is more. You know, information and more, , ability to reach out to you or, or to you and, and make those connections. So the storytelling piece is, is critically important.
Yeah. It's, and it's brand building, right? And so what's the brand of Buffalo, right?
And so that's another piece we look like, what is that brand? And so if we want to attract companies here, we want to attract talent here. We want people to stay here. How do you build that brand so it's sexy and people say yes to it, you know? , so, so that's the storytelling piece. , and then
Radial Ventures: The Venture Studio Model
the final pillar is Venture Studio, right?
So that's radial ventures. And really the thought there is, you know, how do we get more ACVs, right? And so, you know, 43 North competition, that model is how do we, you know, fund local or companies outside the area, bring 'em to Buffalo, put you know, have 'em live here, work here, get involved in the community with the, you know, the hopes that they'll stay and create new jobs and be successful.
, radial Ventures is taking a different, you know, in, in venture studios in general, and I'll break down the Venture Studio model, but essentially our goal is to build a team that has experience building, scaling, exiting companies and put them in an environment where we can take ideas and go and build companies and build them faster and de-risk them, get 'em in the market and generate more companies.
So it's less of. We're waiting for someone to accidentally meet at a coffee thing, and those are the right two people with the right idea at the right time. And then they were able to figure out all the other stuff. We've, you know, we, we really know the playbook on, you know, what needs to happen in what amount of time.
The urgency. , we have great networks now, and so how can we leverage that to. In, you know, increase the amount of startups that we create, but also de-risking 'em at that time so that they have a higher rate of success. And the Venture Studio model is that right? It's, it's a, a company that creates new companies and, you know, looking at the data, if you look at venture capital, which is just, here's money, we're gonna put money into these companies and maybe advise what we're doing is really a hands-on approach where.
, you know, we're funding a team. We are not doing direct capital investment, but we have a, a, a dedicated team that we can put towards these ideas to build a product, do design, understand, go to market, take it to market, recruiting, you know, so we do all these aspects to where it's
incredible.
We work it through this, this process, and then we, then we have something that is investible.
We go raise capital, build out the rest. You know, we may need to build out the rest of the management team. And then that company spins out onto its own. If people from the studio want to continue on, they can do that. If they wanna fall back and go work on the next idea, they can do that.
It's so, it's different than a Z 80 approach, right?
This is sort of like a modern day Z 80 or,
yeah. Yeah, for sure. And it, it was stuff that, you know, I've running an incubator, it's inter, 'cause you gotta find people who are already doing companies, bring 'em in. They need to kind of do the work themselves. And so, you know, and then they're trying to get funding and they're trying to build a product, but they don't have enough money to hire someone to go build it.
Right. And, you know, so you're in this chicken and egg thing, right. And, you know, and we dealt with that at Z 80. , and that was a big frustration of mine. , and so, you know, more and more the, the, the Venture Studio model is kind of coming where it's a nice combination of venture capital incubator accelerator, but with.
People who can, who've done it, build scale and, you know, spin out these companies
for, for an entrepreneur, an entrepreneur listener who has, , a great idea. H how do, how do we, how do we get to radio ventures or is how, like, we'll make an intro or call me and I'll call Dan and we'll be off to the races.
But, but how, how are you sourcing prospects and, and onboarding, you know, potential, , entrepreneurs to work, work with?
Yeah, so our, our website, we have an apply, so radio ventures.com/apply. , you know, we have a quick form that we, you know, have them fill out from the idea and then depending on the idea, and, you know, if it seems like something that's in our wheelhouse, , you know, we'll meet with the founder.
We'll talk through the idea. And, , you know, that's kind of how we're looking at running that process.
And is, is it a, is it a offshoot of the 43 North Foundation or is, is Radial Ventures sort of its own entity? Its own, ,
it's essentially its own entity underneath the brella of 43 North Foundation.
So our funding comes from the 43 nor Foundation, , with the goal that. We can build companies we, you know, have successful exits. We, we were able to fund it and really grow it more, right? So these are, you know, venture studios are very deliberate efforts to go and build companies, right? And so if we can build that factory, it becomes a new way of, you know, a new form of economic development here in Buffalo.
'cause , we're all here, we're all in office. We're, you know, cranking away and, you know, if we can, you know. Fill a couple buildings with successful companies. It's
really exciting goal. Do you, and that's how Dan, today, you're spending most of your time is Yep. Is engaged with Radial ventures. And Nick, you're still,
I'm full-time at radial.
You're fulltime at radial too. Now. That's a, that's awesome. So we had, there's a, there's a credible infrastructure and, and team now that you've built and assembled and that's ready to be deployed to help out these
entrepreneurs. Yeah. Like I said, you know, you have to start these with people who. Have been in the trenches of, you know, they have the scars.
They've built multiple companies that have flamed out. Did okay. Did well, right? And so you learn a lot, you know, over the past, you know, 20 years or so, like, it's crazy. It's that long. But, , you know, you learn a lot, right? And I think we, we've, we've done that. And so having that experience, it's like, okay, let's do this and then this, because if we don't, then these other five things.
Down the road like this is gonna happen in three months and then six months we're gonna run into this other issue, which, you know, it removes a lot of the first time founder mistakes that happen. , you know, but at the same time, people who have ideas that, you know, they may be working at a company and they're like, I have they know three kids, a mortgage, a partner, and two car payments.
I can't go and do this, but I have this great idea. , the Venture Studio model is, is nice because they say, I have this idea. I'm the subject matter expert on it. I can't leave my, you know, my job 'cause of this, this, and this. Great, we'll, we'll, we'll work with you got, we'll give you a, we'll figure out what your role is, , but you can keep your job and we'll, we'll go build this company.
And then maybe when that thing's up and running and, you know, rolling now, now it may be a good time for you to make the jp and, and join the company. Right? So there is like a training as well. You know, it is a lot of people who have been there done that, but it's also another way that, , we can, you know, give these, some of these founders or people with idea that get involved.
, the education around building, scaling, growing companies.
What, what a great way Dan and Nick to, to sort of use that 20 years of experience, the hard school of hard knocks and but to, to pay it forward in such a meaningful way for, for an entrepreneur, just like you described, who's got a great idea, but a, a ton of impediments to success or challenges to success.
You, you guys have, have seen what it takes then to take that idea and, and make it. Become reality. So I I, I really am excited about seeing what sort of impact you guys can have with, with radial. And, , I'll let you go in a minute, but just a couple. , last questions, one for you, Dan, like, looking back, do, do you and Greco and Neiman ever reflect or, or hop on a call or a team and say, holy shit.
I mean, that was, that was crazy and that was fun. Or Look, look at, , you know, not, not just the, the great IPO and the outcome, but sort of. The impact then that that story has held had on our community and how transformative those, you know, that that story has been for the ecosystem and entrepreneurs and, and people who are great ideas and dreamers and like, looking back, the three you ever say like, wow, that was crazy.
It's,
, yeah, I mean, I mean, I, I know I definitely think about it a lot and I still talk to those guys. . You know, yeah. It, it, it is interesting to take, you know, take a step back and look at it and that, that's something I kinda learned going through that process. 'cause it's very easy to like, focus on certain issues or what's going on and just getting run down and burned out and new issues and, , so yeah, I mean, I, I, I definitely take a step back once in a while.
It's like. Glad, glad that worked out. , but, , , but yeah, I mean, back from the open coffee days to Z 80, I mean, that was the goal is like how can we build a company that can grow and scale and have a big exit IPO And, , you know, for me that's, you know, that. Kind of the full loop of checking all the boxes and , you know, so now, now we have a new checklist we have to go.
I'm sure. I hope you guys can figure out a way to repeat. And, and I guess on, on that note,
What Does Success Look Like for Buffalo?
what does success look like for, for you and for our community? Saying, you know, three to five year timeframe, how you'll know that radial had the impact that you're. Desiring it to have today? If, if what happens and, and three, three to five years from now more ACVs or more traction and energy in downtown Buffalo or what, how, how do we, how do we sort of look into the future and, and think about what success would look like for, for you guys personally or for, for radio ventures in general?
Yeah. I mean, so I think it's, it is multifaceted. I mean, I think for radio ventures, if we're. You know, I, I think success looks like, you know, I, I would say a bunch of other companies that have achieved success similar to a CV. You know, if we can get three to five more of those, that'd be great. , but I also think, , having the, you know, the amount of start, like more startups to where it is a more vibrant.
Startup community, there's more companies being launched all the time. , it's hard to keep track of all of, like, all, all of those things I think could be, you know, great, great outcomes. I think if there's other people who have, you know, been successful and had an exit are now on their next thing, you know, that that success, you know, so I think if we can get it to really build off of, you know, the success of a CV, I think a CV was like, can we do that here?
And then like. Okay, we can do that here now. It's okay. Can we do that a lot of times? Right. And so that's really, , you know, this second phase of my career is really just around like, how do we help get Buffalo to that phase where, , you know, we're building companies. It's vibrant. Yeah. I think we gotta do a ton, , to get people.
Back in offices and back downtown, and I think there's a whole piece there. I think, , you know, working with UB and, and you know, UB is such a huge anchor, , and, and area of talent attraction that comes into the area and such, you know, has so much impact economically that, you know. Building out UB and the relationships there and, and kind of that pipeline of, of students and talent that come in.
Like how do we, how do we take advantage of that as opposed to people come here and get trained and go away, right? And so if we can catch that talent and be able to get that top talent that's coming here from all over the world. You know that that's success as well.
It reminds me a little bit, Mike Whistler was a guest and he was talking about that need for constant, , collaboration and, and it's, it's what you're doing.
It's what UB is doing. It's what m and t is doing and figuring out ways to break down traditional barriers or, or, , lack of collaboration. I know, like, I, I feel good that with, with with, with Whistler and Gavigan and you guys and others that like, we're, we're. For the first time in a long time, we have this opportunity in front of us.
Like we have potential as a community to really explode, but it's gonna take the stuff that you're doing and others are doing, and
we, we gotta do it together. And you know, I think maybe the old school way of silos and while this is my turf and this is my turf, and I, we're the ones that do this. And I think all that just needs to go away.
And, you know, it needs to be a no ego situation. And like, listen, we're here to, like, we're all, we all have the same goal. Like, let's. Work together and not try to duplicate each other's efforts and try to fight each other like, we need to work together. 'cause it's, it's hard enough to do this. If we all work together, let alone we all have pitch it's point matches between each other.
You know, it's, it's a great point. It's a great point. Well, look guys, I can't begin to thank you enough. You got a ton of stuff going on. I know. I speak for, , many in our community. When I say that, , our hopes, our expectations of, of radial ventures under your leadership are high, that we have a a, a great.
Possibility and a great potential to do something really cool. And, and I hope, , you're able to succeed because it's important for our community. So thanks for everything that you're doing and look for many, many great, , outcomes for you and in the months and years to come. So thanks again for being on the show.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Thank you.
Thanks. That was great. I could have gone all day…