Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

Founder Institute New York Twenty

On October 2nd, five new companies and six founders graduated from Founder Institute New York as the 20th cohort in New York City! The companies in this cohort represented several industries including augmented reality, healthcare, real estate, financial technology, and more. A noteworthy mention for this cohort is that graduates are 83%, female founders!

Founder Institute New York 20

Founder Institute New York 20

On October 2nd, five new companies and six founders graduated from Founder Institute New York as the 20th cohort in New York City! We held the event at the wonderful Stand Up NY club on the Upper West Side of Manhattan! The companies in this cohort represented several industries including augmented reality, healthcare, real estate, financial technology, and more.

A noteworthy mention for this cohort is that graduates are 83%, female founders! I want to thank the New York founders of FI NY 20 and I am excited to keep working together and you go forward building your company.

I want to thank the New York Mentors and the Founder Institute team for all the hard work and time put into helping the founders of FI NY 20.

Founder Institute New York 20

MRX World - Restoring ancient monuments to their full magnificence through AR.

Patient Orator - Improving healthcare delivery while eliminating inequities.

Rizep - An AI-powered analyzing platform for residential real estate investors.

SavTax - Taxes automated in a powerful new way.

Tripographers - Access trustworthy travel itineraries and recommendations.

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Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

The Inaugural Founder Institute Buffalo Cohort

I am very excited to say that we have graduated the Inaugural Founder Institute Buffalo cohort on July 18th. Nine new companies and founders graduated from Founder Institute Buffalo from our Spring cohort. The companies represented several industries ranging from fashion, to electric vehicles, to daycare and more.

Founder Institute Buffalo

Founder Institute Buffalo

I am very excited to say that we have graduated the Inaugural Founder Institute Buffalo cohort on July 18th. Nine new companies and founders graduated from Founder Institute Buffalo from our Spring cohort. The companies represented several industries ranging from fashion, to electric vehicles, to daycare and more.

I want to thank the Buffalo Mentors and the Founder Institute team for all the hard work and time put into helping the founders of FI Buffalo 2019. As well as the rest of the amazing local director team; Scott Wayman, Lauren Baynes, & Cody Semrau! I want to also thank the founders of FI Buffalo 2019 and I am very excited to continue supporting them on their journey. 

Founder Institute Buffalo 2019

Bands To Watch - Fan engagement platform for venues and artists.

Eco-Carriage - Providing alternative fueling, sourced from zero-emission energy resources. 

FashInPost - Realtime fashion feedback.

Inacquis - Attract and screen the next generation of talent.

Kubed Root - Indoor co-farming.

Lint - Modern wash and fold.

Reiner United - Unique online storefronts.

SmartPlay Playcare - A new kind of day care solution.

Third Estate Analytics - Driving neighborhood change with data.

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Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

Founder Institute New York Nineteen

On May 28th, five new companies and seven founders graduated from Founder Institute New York as the 19th cohort. The companies represented several industries including real estate, financial planning, music therapy and more.

Founder Institute New York 19

Founder Institute New York 19

On May 28th, five new companies and seven founders graduated from Founder Institute New York as the 19th cohort. The companies represented several industries including real estate, financial planning, music therapy and more.

I want to thank the New York Mentors and the Founder Institute team for all the hard work and time put into helping the founders of FI NY 19. I want to also thank the New York founders of FI NY 19 and I am excited to continue supporting their journey. 

Founder Institute New York 19

Knowledge to Own - Individually matching home buyers with home buying programs.

MoneyStack - Modern financial planning app for couples.

NestIQa - Helping landlords and tenants through the entire rental process.

Ownum - A unique IOT solution for monitoring consumption of medication containers.

StarTag - Changing people's lives through music.

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Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

Founder Institute New York Eighteen

On January 8th, eight new companies graduated from Founder Institute New York as the 18th cohort. The Founder Institute New York reviews are in and this was a great cohort to work with.

Founder Institute New York 18

Founder Institute New York 18

On January 8th, eight new companies and 9 founders graduated from Founder Institute New York as the 18th cohort. This was the first Founder Institute New York cohort in partnership with Loyal.vc, which will be investing in each of the graduating companies! The companies represented several industries including biotech, fitness, edtech, erotica, fashion and more.

I want to thank the New York Mentors and the Founder Institute team for all the hard work and time put into helping the founders of FI NY 18. I want to also thank the New York founders of FI NY 18 and I am excited to continue supporting their journey. 

Founder Institute New York 18

Body Elevated - Creating hyper-personalized fitness programs using computer vision.

CapCell Biologics - Enzyme replacement therapy using NASA carbon nanotube capsules.

Gear Cities - Marketplace connecting owners of sports gear with prospective renters.

Go Traceable - Helping brands find the right manufacturers to produce their fashion products.

Lessonbee - School based health and sex education platform and marketplace.

Paid Exposure - Seamlessly connecting social media influencers with businesses.

Sound Sensual- online marketplace allowing anyone to create, share, sell & enjoy erotic audio.

Zydello - Bringing the trunkshow experience online for fashion designers.

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Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

Founder Institute New York Seventeen

On August 28th, eleven new companies graduated from Founder Institute New York as the 17th cohort.

Founder Institute New York

Founder Institute New York

On August 28th, eleven new companies graduated from Founder Institute New York as the 17th cohort. The Founder Institute New York reviews are in and this was a great cohort to work with. The companies represented several industries including coworking, influencers, cancer, travel, events, fashion, e-sports and more.

As always, I want to thank the New York Mentors and the Founder Institute team for all their work and time put into helping the founders of FI NY 17. I want to also thank the founders of FI NY 17 for being so great throughout the semester. I am excited to drink out of the amazing mugs they kindly gave all the mentors. I am very excited to work with all of the founders as they continue to grow over the next several years. 

Founder Institute New York 17

Artfuse - Putting street performers on the map in real-time.

Brnder - Helping influencers establish and grow their personal brand.

Curbicus - The clean compostable solution to dog waste for urban pet parents.

Fantasy Gods - An interactive daily sports fantasy game.

Kontomo - A digital publishing system enabling anonymous feedback for the performing arts.

LookStyler - A global marketplace for professional stylists.

One Remission - Empowering cancer survivors to stay in remission.

Redefined - Helping users secure income in retirement, not just helping save a nest egg.

The Lighthouse - Connecting young people with a network of young professionals.

Serene Ofiices - Helping mental health professionals grow their private practice.

Viahhey - Making viewing traditional travel content on social media, bookable.

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Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

Congratulating Founder Institute New York Sixteen

On May 8th, fourteen new companies graduated Founder Institute New York as the 16th cohort.

Founder Institute New York 16

On May 8th, fourteen new companies graduated from Founder Institute New York as the 16th cohort. The companies represented several industries including telemedicine, augmented reality, fin-tech, blockchain, automated travel, mobile tattoos, real estate and more. 

As always, I want to thank the New York Mentors and the Founder Institute team for all their work and time put into helping the founders of FI NY 16. I want to also thank the founders of FI NY 16 for being so great throughout the semester. The "Unicorn Herder" shirt they created for me is gold. It is included in the many pictures below! I am very excited to work with all of the founders as they continue to grow over the next several years. 

Founder Institute New York 16

Alternative Learning - Alternative employee training for financial institutions. 

Arella - Connecting precisions care experts and patients. 

Augmented Review - Changing how industrial designers review a 3D mobile mockups.

After All - Share memories, stories, and lessons from a life well lived.

Egg Fund - Helping the 1 in 8 Americans with infertility afford their dream to have a family.

Meddy - Cloud-based, patient-owned health records platform. 

Miramom - Connecting working professional parents with flexible jobs. 

ModiPhit - Voice enabled personal training app. 

Spot On - Ride hailing marketplace for pets and the people who love them. 

Tatjack - Mobile marketplace connecting tattoo artists and customers. 

Tenshey - Advancing gender diversity through executive coaching.

Transparentcity - Sharing apartment experiences with the community. 

Urban Trips - Automated generation of customized travel agendas in the worlds best cities. 

WILO - Send and receive video messages with digital cash gifts. 

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Welcome The Newest Founder Institute Philadelphia Graduates

On March 1st, Founder Institute Philadelphia graduated seven new companies.

Founder Institute Philadelphia Kevin Siskar co.jpg

On March 1st, Founder Institute Philadelphia graduated seven new companies.

A massive thank you to all the Mentors and the whole Founder Institute Philly team for all their work to help the founders. I want to also thank the founders of Founder Institute Philadelphia for being so dedicated to their company's mission throughout the semester. Best of luck to all of the founders as they continue to build their company to achieve their vision.

Founder Institute Philadelphia

Consolibox - Safe keeping for all of life's important stuff.

Day One Solutions - Improving college student outcomes. 

Deciding Vote - Match with candidates who care about the same things you do.

FundingFuel - Invest in pre-vetted franchises. 

Murality - The world is your gallery.

On Your Slyvs - Wearable designs that inspire and empower. 

SASTE - Technology to support organizations providing mentorship programming for women.

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Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

Celebrating Founder Institute New York Fifteen

On November 14th, nine new companies graduated Founder Institute as the 15th New York cohort.

IMG_9518.jpg

On November 14th, nine new companies graduated Founder Institute as the 15th New York cohort. The companies represented several industries including space, mobile video, fin-tech, immigration, real estate, sports media, enterprise sales, and digital retail. 

I want to thank the Mentors and the Founder Institute New York team for all their help and time put in to helping the founders of FI NY 15. I want to also thank the founders of FI NY 15 being so great throughout the summer semester. The custom shirts are pretty amazing as well, pictures below! I am very excited to work with all of the companies as they continue to grow and evolve.

Founder Institute New York 15

Diasppo - Helping internationals secure internships and job sponsorships.

Insider Rental - Increasing real estate building transparency. 

Postadium - Enhancing the soccer fan experience.

Process Pure - Opportunity management software for B2B sales. 

Ranked - Rating student culture at every college in the nation.

Rater Bee - Digital ratings for in-store retail associates.

Rose Galactic - Making CubeSat access to low earth orbit as accessible as possible.

String Flix - Effortlessly stringing mobile video clips together across the world.

Transfer Impact - Easily transferring cashless funds, directly to those who are unbanked and in need.

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Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

Introducing Founder Institute New York 14

I am excited to introduce the six new companies that have graduated from Founder Institute New York.

Founder Institute New York Spring 2016 Batch 14

I am excited to introduce you to the 14th cohort of Founder Institute New York. Last Monday six new companies graduated FI NY. Companies from the 14th batch are listed below and span across industries such augmented reality, fashion, internet of things, hardware, SaaS, and real estate.

We are very grateful to the time and energy that is given to the graduating companies by our generous FI NY mentors. Congratulations to the new founders and companies of Founder Institute New York! This is just the start of your entrepreneurial journey and I look forward to working with you all going forward. 

 

Founder Institute New York 14

Ceeq - Luxury convertible bags to take you from professional to functional. 

Invoira - Automating the supplier payment process. 

Menusnap - Translating restaurant dishes through augmented reality.

MERE - Direct to consumer luxury knitwear brand for socially conscious consumers. 

Perceptive Things - Protecting real estate properties from damaging internal incidents.

Okupied - Helping rental property owners manage their business on the go. 

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From Israel to Silicon Valley, Niv Dror's Journey To Conquer Social Media

Season Two of Ambition Today is happy to welcome Niv Dror, head of social media for Product Hunt. Niv boasts in impressive resume in both startups and finance, stemming from his education at UC Santa Barbara.

Niv Dror, Shrug Capital

Niv Dror, Shrug Capital

Season Two of Ambition Today is happy to welcome Niv Dror, head of social media for Product Hunt. Niv boasts an impressive resume in both startups and finance, stemming from his education at UC Santa Barbara.  After moving to Silicon Valley at a very young age, Niv had surprisingly little involvement in the tech world. It surrounded him entirely and thus he never noticed it, as water to a fish.  However, after auditing a few hedge funds and VC funds as a CPA, he knew where his skills truly belonged.

Niv Dror’s taste of the tech community flourished very quickly, landing non-engineering jobs at DataFox, Meerkat, and Product Hunt. He aspired to add value without asking anything in return, and was rewarded with the experience and skills to climb the ranks at multiple organizations, currently aiding the curation of the world's most cutting-edge technology on Product Hunt. Kevin and Niv explore what's behind this drive, the man he gives credit to involuntarily kickstarting his success, and much more:

  • Growing up in Israel and moving to the U.S. at a young age.

  • Pursuing a finance degree and applying it to the startup world.

  • Getting exposure to the tech industry by auditing a successful VC.

  • Building an engaging community around a product.

  • What changes we can see in social in 2017.

  • The war of pronunciation for “gif”.

  • We why all love gifs and how Twitter is the perfect platform.

 

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:
"Should people optimize for learning or for earning?"

Quote Of The Episode:
"Community is everything. Without the community, Product Hunt wouldn't work."

 

Links from this episode:

Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android

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Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

Announcing Founder Institute New York 13

I am excited to announce that Monday of this week eight new companies have graduated from Founder Institute New York.

 

Founder Institute New York Fall 2016 - credit: Sally Kung

Founder Institute New York Fall 2016 - credit: Sally Kung

I am excited to announce that Monday of this week, eight new companies have graduated from Founder Institute New York.

Companies from the 13th batch of Founder Institute New York are listed below and span across industries such as fin-tech, diamond trading, fashion, e-sports, artificial intelligence, social, real estate tech, and more. 

As always we are extremely grateful to the time and energy given to the new companies by our generous FI NY mentors. Congratulations to the new founders and companies of Founder Institute New York! This is just the beginning of the journey and I look forward to working with you all going forward.

Founder Institute New York 13

Access Square - Improving investor access to the management of public companies.

BucketCheck - Create and accomplish your bucket list with your friends.

Diamond Hedge - The first price comparison with over $5 Billion dollars of diamonds to choose from.

GameBase - Developing localized mobile e-sports games.

Klothe - Connecting consumers with new and independent fashion brands. 

LocaHolic - Artificial intelligence to make sharing great restaurants easy.

Minque - Connecting curious minds with educated answers.   

ViaHome - Platform connecting investors with sponsors of affordable housing developments. 

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Companies, Millenials, Product, Startups, Snapchat Kevin Siskar Companies, Millenials, Product, Startups, Snapchat Kevin Siskar

The Spectacle Of Snapchat

Snapchat has come a long way to become the spectacle it is today. As the oldest brother of four I still remember when Snapchat was known exclusively by only my youngest brother, still in high school at the time. 

Snapchat has come a long way to become the spectacle it is today. As the oldest brother of four I still remember when Snapchat was known exclusively by my youngest brother who was still in high school at the time. 

Snapchat in Times Square.

Snapchat in Times Square.

When Facebook offered Snapchat $3 Billion to be acquired founder and CEO Evan Spiegel surprisingly declined the offer. Overnight the company was a household name.

From there the growth continued. I watched from New York as they secured offices in the old New York Times building, one floor below where I was working at the time. A few months later most of the Times Square billboards were taken over by iconic white ghosts on yellow backdrops.

Around this time I started using Snapchat on a daily basis and so did a lot more people. Brands started to take notice. Snapchat started selling ads for more money then YouTube was charging for its famous homepage banner ad.

The company kept iterating on its mobile first platform without adding unnecessary distractive features. Like all great companies they made complex things feel simple. Adding augmented reality as face filters, gamification through badges, publicly accessible geotagging called geo-filters, QR codes rebranded as snapcodes and more. 

After fundraising millions and rebranding as Snap Inc they are now doubling down on their new mission to be a camera company. Their first hardware product, Spectacles, is slowly being released around the country by a surprisingly cool popup vending machine called "Snapbot". One of which just showed up in New York City! 

For me Snapchat has replaced Facebook as the way I stay in touch with friends and family. If you don't currently have some Snapchat streaks with your friends and family or know what they are I suggest you start some today. They are fun and effective for making sure you communicate with people each day. 

And recently the company has filed for an IPO. I have to say Snapchat, or Snap Inc. as it is now called, has become a company I am very fond of. They have come a long way from "that app where your photos delete themselves after 10 seconds". Snapchat has stayed true to the mission of making a great product that helps people connect. I am excited to see the company IPO and watch what they do next.


Epilogue: If you want to check out my Snapchat adventures around New York City and the rest of the world you can add me by clicking here!

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Lessons Howard Love Learned While Sitting On Both Sides Of The Table

Over the last 30 years Howard Love has founded 15 companies and invested in over 50 early stage startups. His new book "The Startup J Curve" organizes his experience into the 6 phases startups go through as they grow. Howard also is the Founder & CEO of LoveToKnow, a digital publishing firm with over 30 million monthly visitors.

HOWARD LOVE

HOWARD LOVE

Over the last 30 years Howard Love has founded 15 companies and invested in over 50 early stage startups. His new book "The Startup J Curve" organizes his experience into the 6 phases startups go through as they grow. Howard also is the Founder & CEO of LoveToKnow, a digital publishing firm with over 30 million monthly visitors.

With coal magnates and aviators as his ancestors, entrepreneurship has been in Howard's bloodline for generations. In this episode, Kevin speaks to Howard about what he has learned from sitting on both sides of the table, both as a founder and an investor. We also discuss the 6 phases all startups go through according to Howard's new book The Startup J Curve. We also hear about the value of getting a formal education versus learning directly from the real world and much more:

  • Growing up in a family that encourages and breeds entrepreneurial spirit.

  • Dropping out of college to get real world experience.

  • Being resourceful in the startup space.

  • The grit it takes to get your company off the ground.

  • The knowledge and insight gained from writing a book.

  • Advancing the dialogue of startup culture through understanding of the J-curve.

  • The phases of a company: create, release, morph, model, scale, and harvest.

 

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

"When you think about the younger version of yourself, how do you reconcile where you are now, and where you thought you would be?"

 

Links from this episode:

Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android

Listen to this episode now

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

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Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar Founder Institute, Companies, Portfolio Kevin Siskar

Presenting Founder Institute New York 12

Founder Institute New York 12 includes new companies from across several industries such as virtual reality, international food, HR-tech, weddings, fashion, social media, and more.

FINY12: Summer 16

FINY12: Summer 16

Tuesday of this week we had our Graduate Showcase event bringing together the graduating companies of Founder Institute New York 12 (Summer 16), our New York Founder X Alumni, and our monthly Startup Founder 101 Meetup. Here are some of the great photos from our event: 

 

The Founder Institute New York Summer 2016 cohort came to an end with 14 new companies graduating. The twelfth batch of the Founder Institute New York includes companies from across several industries such as virtual reality, international food, HR-tech, weddings, fashion, social media, and more.

I would like to thank the great mentors here in New York for the incredible lessons, experience, time, and wisdom brought to each semester's graduates. Without any further ado, I give you #FINY12.

 

Founder Institute New York 12

Bridal Playbook - Tell us your vision, sit back and relax while wedding vendors send you quotes.

Candogram - Job match technology using unique machine learning & big data.  

Factual VR - Capture and reproduce crime scenes using Virtual Reality technology. 

Happo - Simplifying your children's birthday planning.

Home Abroad - Discover Africa through textiles. 

Home Matcher -  Find your dream home before it's for sale.

Moro Labs - Bringing ethnic foods to their global diasporas with Baegopa. 

Nekai Leon - A socially conscious & contemporary fashion brand with a personalized shopping experience.

ONYO - The power of choice is yours, always get the food you want.

Own Your Crisis - SaaS for pre-planning family emergencies

Paxi - Native tongue ride sharing for international visitors. 

SocioSpree - A curated marketplace for successfully crowdfunded products. 

Tagland Toys - Simple, organic, fun plush toys for babies. 

The Weekend SPIN - Automatically capture and share your weekend. 

 

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Kelly Roach, From NFL Cheerleader To Million Dollar Brand

Kelly Roach is the founder of Kelly Roach Coaching and host of the Unstoppable Success Radio podcast. With a resume of NFL cheerleader, fitness enthusiast, and mother, Kelly doesn’t exactly fit the usual business coach profile. 

Kelly Roach

Kelly Roach

Kelly Roach is the founder of Kelly Roach Coaching and host of the Unstoppable Success Radio podcast. With a resume of NFL cheerleader, fitness enthusiast, and mother, Kelly doesn’t exactly fit the usual business coach profile. In Episode 22 of Ambition Today Kelly gives us some great insight into how she leverages her unique experience to grow her businesses, how she published an internationally bestselling book, and why she started the Unstoppable Success Radio podcast. 

Growing up in a financially struggling family, Kelly learned the value of hard work at a very early age while working for the NFL before she was 20. With an unparalleled work ethic she quickly climbed the ladder of success in Corporate America. Soon after she then realized her passion for aiding others in pursuit of their dreams. We cover how Kelly now does just that and more on this episode of Ambition Today:

  • Going out and working for what you want at an early age.

  • Applying her degree in Communications to create productive interactions in the business environment.

  • The importance of travel in shaping a healthy lifestyle mentality.

  • Lessons learned from holding multiple positions on an NFL team.

  • Appreciating the value of lesser jobs to build knowledge before having your dream job.

  • The inherent ebb and flow of startups.

  • Lifestyle building via business development.

  • Why building a personal brand is so important now.

  • Publishing her bestselling book & starting a podcast.

  • The necessity of human contact in growing your business.

 

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

"What does Ambition mean to you and how do you satisfy your personal ambition each day?"

 

Links from this episode:

Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android

Listen to this episode now

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

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Companies, Founder Institute Kevin Siskar Companies, Founder Institute Kevin Siskar

Forget the Cronut, You Need To Try Mise En Place

Mise en place believes in bringing people back around the dinner table by designing a home cooking experience that is both convenient, and fulfilling. If you want to try Mise En Place use the code "siskarlovesmep" and you will get $15 off your first order!

It's time to bring people back around the dinner table, not back around the stove. Cooking dinner shouldn't require standing by the stove for the same amount of time as it takes to watch two episodes of Game of Thrones. Meticulously preparing, chopping, dicing, mixing, and cooking so you can eat for 20 minutes all before you have to clean up, is no longer ideal in todays fast paced world. I'm looking at you Grocery Stores, Fresh Direct, Blue Apron & Hello Fresh... 

It's the prepping and the clean up that are the biggest time consumers when cooking a fresh dinner. The cook part of cooking, is the part I actually enjoy. I have tried many meal kit companies in the past year but there is one that shines above the rest.

Mise en place (mepNYC for short & those that don't speak French) believes in bringing people back around the dinner table by designing a home cooking experience that is both convenient, and fulfilling. They successfully address the "last mile of cooking", the prep, and are the next evolution of the current meal-kit industry. And by handling all the prep work earlier in the day, you use many less dishes when cooking the meal so you save on the clean up too. 

In my honest opinion the food is delicious. If you want to try Mise En Place use the code "siskarlovesmep" and you will get $15 off your first order! If you want to bring your family back around the dinner table, I highly recommend giving mise en place a try! 

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FINY11 Graduates Founder Institute New York

Last week the Founder Institute New York graduated the Spring 2016 cohort with 12 promising new companies. The eleventh batch of the Founder Institute in New York includes companies from across several industries.

Founder Institute New York Spring 2016 

Founder Institute New York Spring 2016 

Last week the Founder Institute New York graduated the Spring 2016 cohort with 12 promising new companies. The eleventh batch of the Founder Institute in New York includes companies from across several industries such as film, childhood education, real estate, fin-tech, retail, HR-tech, fashion and more. As always, I am very grateful for the incredible lessons, experience, and wisdom brought to each semester's graduates by our great mentors here in New York.

 

Founder Institute New York 11

Clapper - Streamlining communication and logistics for media productions.

GigSesh - Helping professionals make extra cash by connecting them to advice seekers.

Mindsprinkles - Sprinkling culture into your child’s screentime.

NvestN - Low cost robo-investing platform for the underserved market of investors.

PicketFencer - Find a hometown that fits.

Prix Fixed - Where planning is not the event. 

Real Assembly - The future of real estate crowdfunding.

Skour - Mobile storefront for brick and mortar boutiques.

SquarePeg - Intelligent assessment based job matching for candidates and employers.

TeddyMozart - Let your memories transcend borders and time.

TellyVizion - Where artist's work and shows are compensated directly by the audience.

Ushu - Custom tailored shoes to your unique foot's shape.

 

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Startup Of The Week: TeddyMozart

The Startup Of The Week I have selected for the week of May 30th is Teddy Mozart. The first smart toy dedicated to connecting families across the world to share love and inspire growth in young children through music.

 

I am starting a new blog segment called the "Startup Of The Week", or S.O.T.W.™ for short, where I plan to highlight some great startups. There are several startups working to make the world a better place and I want to tell you a little bit more about some of them.

The Startup Of The Week I have selected for the week of May 30th is TeddyMozart


Company: TeddyMozart

Founder: Carlton Bennett, Founder & CEO

Headquarters: Brooklyn, New York          Operating: Globally

One sentence pitch: The first smart toy dedicated to connecting families across the world to share love and inspire growth in young children through music.

In my words: The app technology and the plush bear that come together to make TeddyMozart, create a unique experience that allows a child and family member to feel connected in a fun, loving, engaging and playful way.  

In their words: “Families can use the TeddyMozart app and easily record and store a family's traditional songs, lullabies and stories from anywhere and share it with young children from generation to generation, forever. Young children get to listen to these musical experiences through the comfort of a high quality TeddyMozart plush toy.”

Accomplishments: 

Who is product for:

  • Family members who believe in preserving their voice through memories.
  • Parents who want to set the mood or inspire kids with a song.
  • Busy parents who like to set playlists of songs unique to their child's daily routine.
  • Family members wanting to provide a unique and memorable gift experience.
  • Parents who want to provide a great companion for their kids.

How It Works:


 
 

If you want to learn more about the company or team behind this week's Startup Of The Week you can contact me here

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Founder Institute New York Graduates FINY10

Wednesday February 24th celebrated the graduation of FI NY 10. The tenth batch of the Founder Institute in New York. The Fall 2015 semester in New York's Silicon Alley ends with nine great companies.

Wednesday February 24th celebrated the graduation of FI NY 10. The tenth batch of the Founder Institute in New York. The Fall 2015 semester in New York's Silicon Alley ends with nine great companies. Of course none of this would be possible with out the incredible lessons, experience, and wisdom brought to the program by our mentors

Here are the new companies building a better tomorrow: 

DealGeeks - Drive foot traffic into your business.

Donate Me - Help vetted students go to the college they deserve.

Home-Cooked Dinner Club - Fastest way to a home-cooked meal.

My Citizen Source -  The first U.S. citizenship game.

Paction - Friend to friend marketing platform. 

Pocmi - Connecting companies with international talent.

Ready To Go Survival - Personalized emergency survival packages.

Sofos Labs -  On-demand one-on-one legal experts.

Stareable - Searchable. Shareable. Stareable.

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Companies Kevin Siskar Companies Kevin Siskar

How To Pay Your Annual Delaware Tax For Corporations

This helpful guide is packed with information to aid Delaware C Corporations when filing their "Annual Franchise Tax Report" and paying the amount due. How to file your Delaware annual report and pay business entity tax. 

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

— Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789


Learning to pay your taxes as an individual is complicated and confusing. For first time founders, learning how to pay your corporation taxes can be just as confusing. The state of Delaware website has tons of information but it's user experience wasn't exactly designed by Jony Ive. With the Delaware annual filing deadline coming up the question of what is going on here is a something I am hearing a few times from first time founders.

To offer some guidance I wanted to gather all the information and links you need understand filing your Delaware Corporations Annual Report and paying it's due taxes. The Delaware annual report due date to file without late fee's is before the March 1st deadline annually. 

Disclaimer: I offer this post only as helpful guidance as I am not a lawyer or certified accountant. You should still research on your own and consult your accountant if you are uncertain of the process for paying a Delaware C-Corporation Annual Tax. 

This information will help Delaware C Corporations file their "Annual Franchise Tax Report" and pay the amount due. Please note that the online portal to file and pay your Delaware taxes is not open 24/7, therefore you should not wait to the last minute to file. It is open between 8:00am and 11:45pm Eastern Time. For filling your Federal Annual Report with the United States IRS please note it is a separate process from the below.  


FILE YOUR DELAWARE ANNUAL TAX REPORT AND PAY BUSINESS ENTITY TAX

  • Go to the Pay Taxes page on the Delaware Division of Corporations website: https://corp.delaware.gov/paytaxes.shtml

    • Review and understand that there are two methods of calculating the Delaware annual franchise tax tax that is due. One is "Authorized Shares Method" and the other is "Assumed Par Value Capital Method". They are both explained here: https://corp.delaware.gov/frtaxcalc.shtml. I will be showing you the "Assumed Par Value Capital Method".

  • On the Pay Taxes page click "Pay Taxes/File Annual Report"

  • Enter 7 digit Business Entity File Number. If you are not sure what your is you can search for it. When inputted press continue.

  • Click "File Annual Report" for the year you are filing for.

  • You will now see the "Annual Franchise Tax Report" for you to fill out.

  • If you applied for (link here) and have received a Federal Employer Id Number or EIN (for short) put that in the "Federal Employer Id" field. It is not required though for state taxes, so don't worry if you don't have one.

  • On the top right you will see the Franchise Tax amount. It will most likely default to $180,000 (the most your taxes can be in Delaware, $400 is the minimum). Don't worry again as you will most likely recalculate this amount while filling out the report.

  • Below that you will see the Stock Information that Delaware has on file for the company. This is where your most up to date capitalization table is going to be useful for you to reference. You are going to need to know the number of "Issued Shares". Look it up on your cap table and input it.

  • Now input the "Gross Assets" of the company. The Division of Corporations FAQ page gives some information on how to report this.

  • Put in the "End Date for the Companies Fiscal Year". Most likely 12/31/YYYY.

  • Include "Any relevant Dates of Inactivity" for the company.

  • Click "Recalculate Tax".

    • The amount of Franchise Tax due on the top right of the report should have now updated to a new dollar amount.

  • Now finish filling out the form by adding:

    • Principal Place of Business: address, phone, and e-mail

    • Appointed Officers: name, title, and address

    • Directors: name and address

    • Authorization Section: date, name, title, and address

 

  • Check over all the information you have input to ensure its accuracy.

  • Read the terms and conditions and then check the box confirming you have done so.

  • Press "Continue Filing".

 

  • Review the copy of the information you entered.

  • I highly recommend you print a copy of the information you entered for your records. You will thank yourself when you have that information handy one year from now to reference.

  • Proceed to payment.

  • Enter your payment information.

  • Submit.

And you are done! You have now paid your Delaware Franchise Tax and filed your C-Corp’s Annual Report. If you still have questions the FAQ page from Delaware Division of Corporations can be found here and maybe helpful: https://corp.delaware.gov/taxfaq.shtml. If you still have questions or see any mistakes in the above, please put them in the comments below. Between either myself and the combined wisdom of all the other readers I am sure an answer is only a link away. 

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