by Mike Goodrich | May 18, 2022 | 2022, Advising, Birmingham, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Marketing, Revenue, Sales, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, The Structured Start-Up Podcast
Blog 2 of 2 (unless I can work in a Sumo Wrestling or Drone Racing analogy) I recently had two entrepreneurs share with me that they are considering and under consideration for selling their wares at the World Games. I gave one an enthusiastic thumbs up, as it was an...
by Mike Goodrich | Apr 27, 2022 | 2022, Birmingham, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Start-Ups
If you follow this blog, you know I love an analogy: a story that helps provide context and, hopefully, clarity for those in, on, and around the entrepreneurial journey. You probably also know that I love Birmingham — all of it, the good, bad, and ugly – and...
by Mike Goodrich | Apr 13, 2022 | 2022, Alabama, Birmingham, Economic Development, Entrepreneurialism, Legislation
Business blogs and LinkedIn are places for business discussion, and I respect that. So without comment on the merits of HB 322 (Alabama’s version of the “Don’t Say Gay Bill”), which was recently signed into law by Governor Ivey, I ask: 1. ...
by Mike Goodrich | Apr 7, 2022 | 2022, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Financing, Founders, Start-Ups
Because we want to stay true to our mission – to help in creating and building Birmingham businesses — we don’t want to say no too often, put in place strict rules, or create hard-and-fast criteria. Early-stage businesses, by definition, are typically works in...
by Mike Goodrich | Feb 17, 2022 | 2022, Birmingham, Books and Resources, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups
The recent Disney+ delight, The Beatles: Get Back, shows us the full creative process. It is messy and slow, but it helps put the challenges of producing quality creative material in perspective. Sure, we all enjoy the pithy tweet or the poignant Medium article, but...
by Emma | Feb 1, 2022 | 2021, Advising, Birmingham, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Sales, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, The Structured Start-Up Podcast
When we spoke with Zane Tarence of Founders Advisors for The Structured Start-Up podcast, he shared his three best pieces of advice for entrepreneurs, and they were so good, we had to share them on our blog, too. In addition to his role as Managing Director and...
by laurelfain | Jan 25, 2022 | Uncategorized
On this week’s podcast episode, we talk to Mary Drennen and Tiffany Vickers Davis of Nourish, an at-home meal delivery service that brings fresh, healthy, chef-inspired dishes to their clients. We talked about product testing and getting to the MVP level (and you can...
by Mike Goodrich | Jan 12, 2022 | 2021, 2022, Birmingham, Birmingham Funded Start-Ups List, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups
As always with the new year, we’re taking some time to pause and reflect. First Avenue does so by compiling our annual list of funded start-ups in Birmingham, which helps us analyze the health of the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. I also like to take stock...
by laurelfain | Jul 16, 2021 | 2021, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Sales, Start-Ups
My middle son is in the midst of a passionate love affair with French fries, so I’ve done what any good mother would do – I’ve turned that love into a bargaining tool. He doesn’t like swim lessons? I’ll buy fries after. He hesitates to clean his room? I offer to make...
by laurelfain | Jun 29, 2021 | 2021, Advising, Business Lessons, Competition, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups
My children are obsessed with the musical Hamilton (to be fair, they come by this obsession honestly. It’s not an accident that I have children named “Alexander” and “Philip”). As a result, I’ve listened to Hamilton nearly non-stop for the last two months. My kids...
