#1: How to Invest In Your Talents, Build Your Team, and Tell Your Story w/ Kristian Andersen

Learn from serial SaaS entrepreneur and investor Kristian Andersen (@KristianIndy). And while I had met a lot of people in school, I had never met anyone like him. Andersen is positive but direct, which I believe is the key to why he is able to accomplish so much in his companies, investments, and community. You can trace the start of his streak of successes back to 2003, when he founded Studio Science, a design and innovation agency where he still serves as CEO. He and his team have helped many B2B SaaS and innovation-driven organizations (including Verge and Powderkeg) find their brand voice, define their positioning, and design their customer journey. Kristian Andersen is also an active angel investor and co-founder of Gravity Ventures, a seed-stage venture fund that invests in tech-focused startups. He's gone on to co-founded a few startups of his own, including; Octiv, Lessonly, Visible.vc and Pathagility. In 2016, he also co-founded High Alpha, a New Venture Studio that conceives, operates and scales enterprise cloud companies. Beyond working on his direct startup investments, Andersen sits on a few non-profit boards, co-founded The Speak Easy & Indy Made, and serve as a mentor at The Iron Yard, RunUpLabs, and the ARK Challenge accelerators. He lives in Indianapolis full time, his wife and six (yes, six!) kids. So dive in with open ears and an open mind, and absorb some wisdom from my good friend and mentor, Kristian Andersen. In this episode you’ll learn: 1.) Why geography is not a factor in the success of your start up. The power of entrepreneurship and how it's transforming communities 2.) Why developing your narrative can mean the difference between success and failure. 3.) What separates the winners from the losers in terms of mindset. 4.) The importance of gratitude. 5.) How to hire A players into your company. This episode of Powderkeg is brought to you by DeveloperTown. If you’re a business leader trying to turn a great idea into a product with traction, this is for you. DeveloperTown works with clients ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 companies who want to build and launch an app or digital product. They’re able to take the process they use with early stage companies to help big companies move like a startup. So if you have an idea for a web or mobile app, or need help identifying the great ideas within your company, go to developertown.com/powderkeg. If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powder Keg Podcast.