by First Avenue Ventures | Aug 3, 2022 | 2022, Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham Funded Start-Ups List, Economic Development, Entrepreneurialism, Start-Ups, World Games
The best analogy that I have for start-ups and early stage companies in this time of tumultuous public markets is one of a submarine. A start-up shares the key benefit of being able to float beneath the surface — unaware and, to an extent, untroubled by the...
by First Avenue Ventures | Jul 19, 2022 | 2022, Birmingham, Business Lessons, Competition, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Marketing, Podcast, Sales, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, The Structured Start-Up Podcast
The fifth and final episode of The Structured Start-Up Podcast is all about the competitive landscape. For this episode, we turned to Lee Ross, the CEO of SlateXP, a Birmingham-based student safety software company. Ross has successfully launched two companies in...
by First Avenue Ventures | Jun 28, 2022 | 2022, Birmingham, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Football, Founders, Marketing, Podcast, Sales, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, The Structured Start-Up Podcast
The fourth episode of The Structured Start-Up podcast focuses on the importance of finding your entrepreneurial story. As Mike Goodrich, the principal of First Avenue Ventures, says, “If you don’t have a compelling narrative that people will buy into, your...
by First Avenue Ventures | Jun 23, 2022 | 2022, Alabama, Birmingham, Business Lessons, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, World Games
“And you may ask yourself, ‘Well, how did I get here?'”– The Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime” As Randall Woodfin and Protective Stadium get ready to welcome the world to Birmingham, we need to to remember that the journey towards...
by First Avenue Ventures | Jun 7, 2022 | 2022, Advising, Alabama, Birmingham, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Marketing, Podcast, Sales, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, The Structured Start-Up Podcast
We were lucky to have the opportunity to speak with Jeff Gale of TicketBiscuit for The Structured Start-Up podcast. Drawing on his experience building a successful full-service ticketing company, Gale shared his tips for marketing, growth hacking, and other sales...
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, World Games
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, World Games
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...
