The Emerging Enterprise Series is brought to you by AppZoro and hosted by Sam Agarwal and Marianna Velozo
Karen Rands with Kugarand Capital Holdings, LLC is the best selling author of Inside Secrets to Angel Investing and a nationally recognized expert on attracting angel investors AND making angel investments. She has been described as a Venture Catalyst, a Compassionate Capitalist, Economist, Investor, and Entrepreneur. She is the Leader and Advocate for the Compassionate Capitalist Movement. She brings over 15 years experience in working with entrepreneurs and investors, with over 2000 investors participating her investor education, and over 5000 have attended her events seeking to meet with entrepreneurs that have compelling investment opportunities. Furthermore, over 1000 entrepreneurs have benefited from Karen’s teaching and coaching, many of them applying that knowledge to their business strategy, and capital raise activities. Her clients have raised over $60 Million (est) combined and created hundreds of jobs, according to what we have been able to track. Karen believes entrepreneurism is the greatest source for wealth creation. According to Karen: “You don’t have to be a successful entrepreneur to create generational wealth if you can learn how to invest in those companies that have the potential to be the next big thing”.
Connect with Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Steve Schilling with Convergent Media has been leading startups, turnarounds and high-growth businesses in highly competitive markets for 25+ years. He has been working in “the cloud” since the mid 90’s and creating “managed services” offerings even longer. The press and industry analyst have recognized him as an industry visionary, strategist and disruptor. He has twice put companies into Gartner’s Leadership and/or Visionary Magic Quadrant. He is an M&A veteran including twelve successful transactions and broad based experience in all aspects of M&A strategy, deal making and integration.
Specialties: Venture backed startups, turnarounds, high-growth technology, Software as a Service (SaaS/CaaS), Cloud Services, Product Development, Software Architecture, Telecommunication, Sales Effectiveness, M&A and perhaps most importantly – creating a culture of accountability!
Connect with Steve on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Sam Agarwal is an Innovative Applications Developer. Sam is the founder and CEO of AppZoro Technologies, Inc. – an experienced team of full-stack mobile app developers and web designers. He holds a BS in Computer Science and is working on his Master’s at Georgia Tech. Sam is an Advisor of Mobile App Technology for the Atlanta Tech Village, one of the U.S. leading co-working space entities located in Atlanta, Georgia.
From concept to market-ready digital product, AppZoro is your single-source for everything from complex programming and database development to payment integrations and front-end design. With AppZoro’s in-house team of Agile Coders and Inventive Designers, you’ll get consistent high-quality work at a startup-friendly price.
Sam is also an experienced businessman. In addition to the work he does with AppZoro, he is Vice President of Sara Hospitality – an international, family-owned furniture manufacturer based in India, serving the US hospitality industry. He has been materially involved since he was 18 and is responsible for procurement, marketing, sales, customer service and finance for the business. In this role, he has learned the key elements of “grind” to build a successful startup.
Through Atlanta Tech Village, and as a private consultant, Sam helps business owners develop sound digital strategies that leverage both current and emerging technologies to increase revenues, streamline productivity, attract investors, and nurture customer relationships.
Learn more about Sam and AppZoro on their website, and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
