Kelly Anne O’Neill With Dualboot Partners

Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome back to the Startup Showdown podcast, where we discuss pitching, funding and scaling startups. Join us as we interview winners, mentors and judges of the monthly $120,000 pitch competition powered by Panoramic Ventures. We also discuss the latest updates in software Web three, health care, tech, fintech and more. Now sit tight as we interview this week’s guest and their journey through entrepreneurship.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:39] Lee Kantor here another episode of Startup Showdown podcast, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor Panoramic Ventures. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Startup Showdown, we have Kelly Ann O’Neill and she is with Dualboot Partners. Welcome, Kelly Anne.

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:00:59] Thanks. Excited to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:01] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Dualboot. How are you serving folks?

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:01:06] Yeah, so Dualboot is a software and business development company. We build software that also builds your bottom line. So it’s a more holistic approach to taking a product to market or building out a piece of your software projects. And we do that through incredible product directors on our team, a very well-equipped and experienced tech team as far as developers go. So yeah, it’s been a really fun eight months. I’m relatively new to Dualboot and open up the office here as we expand into Atlanta.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:39] Now Dualboot are you are your clients typically enterprise-level companies that are just need to update their software want to go in a new direction from a software standpoint, are you working with startups that don’t have maybe a technologist and need kind of that your expertise to help them launch a venture?

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:01:58] Yeah, it’s a great question. So we work with startups all the way up to Fortune 500. We just it looks different every engagement. So we do five things, we build MVP’s. And so that’s mostly probably what you’re thinking about with the startups. And we do that through design, through launch phase, we do DevOps and QA, we do something called replatforming where it’s taking a legacy product and modernizing your tech stack, bringing everything over and relaunching that we do rescue missions, which is kind of what it sounds like of Holy cow, it’s crashing and burning help. We also do stuff acceleration where we if you need to augment your team with key role partners, we step we step in and help you accelerate your growth. So those are kind of the five things that we do and that can serve, again, startups to Fortune 500. It will just look different with our engagements.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:53] So what’s your back story? How did you get into this line of work?

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:02:57] Great question. I have a super diverse background, professionally speaking. So graduated college, went into the nonprofit world for two years, which was super helpful in laying the foundation really of whatever I wanted to do and randomly hopped back into health care after the nonprofit world where it’s what I went to college for. It’s called a child life specialist, but it’s a role that helps children and families cope with hospitalization and really get to step in with the kid, make sure they’re understanding what’s going on, their diagnosis, their prognosis, whatever that looks like to help a family cope. So I was at Children’s Health Care of Atlanta in neurosurgery and worked in the E.R. for a little bit for three years. Then, as you can imagine, that’s a pretty hard, hard role to stay in. So did a really big pivot and came to tech startups. So worked at the Atlanta Tech Village with Karen Houghton and David Whitburn for five and a half years, fell in love with entrepreneurs and their vision and startups and the ecosystem, so ended up there as the director of Strategic Partnerships and programing. And then in October I joined Dual Boot Partners. So on the more of the software development piece of entrepreneurs and startups and all those things. So it’s been a really fun ride, wild ride really.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:25] Well, looking back, you know, it’s interesting when you’re going through a journey like yours, looking back, maybe you see some dots that were connected that obviously you didn’t do it on purpose. But having that background in health care and especially in the space you were in, your empathy gene must be off the charts. So that probably helps you in building community and really kind of understanding maybe some of the struggle that some of these folks are going through, because you probably have seen struggles a lot. You know, more life and death struggles in real life.

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:04:56] Yes, you nailed it. So in the a lot of people are like, wow, how did you make that jump? That feels super far off. And to your point, it really isn’t that far off. In the end, humans are humans and people are people. So what I learned at the bedside was super applicable to startups, super applicable to entrepreneurship in the way of I learned to prioritize really well. Sense of urgency is high, earning the right to be heard really quickly and also building rapport with people because in the end, humans are humans. And so it just looks like you enter in differently obviously between health. In technology, but all the same.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:42] And, you know, the stakes are not exactly the same, but maybe they feel the same to a startup founder. You know, that is true.

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:05:52] I think at times. Yeah, it’s like you truly ride life with people. And so, yeah, the end result might be different, but the feelings associated with what’s going on can be a roller coaster, like you mentioned.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:05] Now, you mentioned some in your background. You were involved in creating strategic partnerships and you were involved in that side of the business. Can you talk about maybe or maybe share some advice on how do you go about kind of creating these partnerships? How do you create those win wins? And how do you all get on the same page so that you’re you can build something bigger than each of the individual participants?

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:06:30] Yeah. Something I learned really quickly in Atlanta in particular in the ecosystem, is that everybody wants to help and be a part of exciting things. So on the outside you think of these big corporations feel very separate, but a lot of time there are people in those organizations that really want to help by paying it forward or help monetarily or help you build something to help entrepreneurs. Because really, when you’re when you’re building businesses within a city, you all went together. So bringing in the strategic partners, it really was taking time to listen to founders here and kind of sift through what was going on to see what they needed and then identifying who that key person was within a different corporation to tell the story of what’s happening at Atlantic Village or at EDC or wherever these entrepreneurs are, is telling the story, and then specifically the village, inviting them in to work with the entrepreneurs. And it looked different for every partner, but I think it brought a lot of life to like within the partnership of exciting, fun, supportive. It kind of hit all the things for the corporate sponsor and it really helped the entrepreneur.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:48] Now, when you’re kind of trying to explain that value proposition from the entrepreneur, it looks like, Oh, why would they pick me? Like, why would they work with me? I’m this little startup. And then from the Enterprise they’re like, Hey, we’re this huge thing. Why, you know, how are we going to help that individual person? Like, how do you kind of help them each connect the dots that they are each bringing value?

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:08:09] Sure. I think it is. Again, kind of going back to the whole premise that humans are humans and people are people and we all need each other. And it’s really sitting down and learning how we can all help each other and showing that, hey, just because this looks wildly different from the outside doesn’t mean on the inside that there’s not a super connection here, whether that be a mentorship as far as sitting with a founder and giving feedback or whether it’s like, Hey, we have the financial means to really help build something here for a founder to help them get to X, Y and Z to meet those goals. So it’s really doing a lot of listening and a lot of careful thought of how can I bring value to both sides and kind of educate both sides to see that we’re not that different and what we’re doing and we’re super helpful to each other now.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:07] How did you hear about Startup Showdown in Panoramic Ventures?

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:09:12] So Tami Queen I feel like she does a great job of sharing about what she’s doing and so anything she’s involved in and great people are involved in, you immediately want to get involved in as well. So seeing the social media posts and kind of watching from the outside, it was just something that drew me in immediately. And getting to be a mentor has been really fun, has been really fulfilling. And so kind of hearing the stories of other mentors and what the program has looked like, it was an exciting thing to join.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:46] Now is there a piece of advice that you share with founders kind of regularly? Is there something that you’re like, Hey, everybody should know this?

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:09:58] So I think if an early stage founder is like, Hey, what’s one piece of advice coming in you would think to share with me? And it kind of takes me back to my days at Atlantic Village and running the mentor and advisor program there. I would tell all early stage founders to get a mentor, one that you can trust and know that has your best interest in mind. Whether that be personally, professionally, whatever that looks like, someone that you know always has your best interest at heart. Entrepreneurship Startups. Building a company is a roller coaster and it’s equally important to find. That person who’s going to push you and help you work on your business plan as it is to find a person who can pause and say, Hey, you need to take a walk or take a break, take a vacation. Someone who can play both sides of the fence of taking care of you and your business.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:55] Now from let’s kind of dive in there a little bit. Now, from the mentoring standpoint, do you have any do’s and don’ts of how to be a good mentor?

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:11:06] I think something I always keep in mind is the respect for the founder and the thought that, hey, this person put a lot of time, emotion thought into what they’re building. And while I might have opinions, I always want to make sure they know that they are the founder and empower them. And people are going to make mistakes and understand that even if this founder makes a mistake or goes against what I’m saying or suggesting that that’s part of the that’s part of the roller coaster, and I’m not always going to be right. So I think it’s coming to the table with new ideas and maybe some wisdom or, hey, I’ve seen this done before. Here’s what I saw work and didn’t work. But also having the humility to know that you’re being invited into something which is an honor to be trusted. And so I think it’s a yeah, it’s a balance of knowing when to speak, when to listen, when to give advice, when to push, when to not. So just always keeping that in mind for the founder.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:10] Now, let’s get on the other side of the table. What some do’s and don’ts for being a good mentee.

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:12:17] I think one of the greatest things that I’ve seen in mentoring is a founder who can take feedback and is open to suggestions. It’s a. It’s easy to get super passionate about things and think that you’re correct and right all the time. And while it is your company, I also think it’s a really it’s a it’s a really special skill to be able to sit back and listen and absorb and. Process through feedback. So that’s something I always really admire about founders is when they are there being super vulnerable and sharing a bunch about their business and where they want to go and their dreams and aspirations and goals all to get all this feedback. And when a founder can sit and kind of process, I think that shows a ton of maturity.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:11] Yeah, coach ability is an important quality.

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:13:15] Yep.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:17] Now, is there any mistakes that you commonly see? Is there something that you’re like, Oh, here we go again? I’ve seen this movie before.

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:13:26] I think, and maybe it’s because I tend to be I don’t even know the word to describe excited or making. So I think it would be kind of jumping into something without putting thought behind it and kind of sitting and running by someone else. So we have blind spots in life, all of us do. And so I think sometimes as a solopreneur or a founder, that’s kind of like Steamboat Head, lets go. I’m running this by myself. It’s, it’s doing things without asking others or bringing someone into it to get feedback because we’re only able to see what we can see. So if you’re not involving your customers, if you’re not asking the right questions, if you’re not caring about the market you’re serving, I think that’s where I see the biggest issue is getting so far along and having so much pride in what you’re doing, all to realize that you never asked your customers or anyone else like, Hey, what’s your opinion on this? And kind of getting to a point where you’re not actually serving a customer in any way or have a product that aligns with the market you’re trying to enter.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:30] Now, do you mind sharing a story? Maybe it doesn’t have to be about you mentoring somebody, or maybe it’s just somebody you heard, like a mentoring kind of success story where somebody came in, maybe they were at a plateau or maybe they were struggling and they got a mentor. And it really did move the needle in their business and it did take them to a new level. You don’t have to name names, but just maybe the problem solution kind of thing.

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:14:54] Yeah, I think I’ve seen it over and over again at the Atlantic Village. If you think of all the graduates there and you hear their stories and listen, most of those graduates will tell you what made the difference was a mentor, whether it was a pivot that happened and someone to kind of call that out of, hey, I think we’re at a point where this isn’t making sense anymore to, hey, I’m a brand new founder and I really don’t know what I’m doing because who does? And this person really stepped in with me. So the stories I have of success through mentorship, I wish I had a whole I have for a long time, I kept quotes from people of what it meant to have a mentor. I think personally, where I’ve seen it really work too, with early stage founders is I mean, even through honestly, Startup Showdown, getting to work with these founders for the small opportunity we get like that 30 minutes to really get feedback and work with people. I’ve seen it really work in the Hey we’re getting we’re in the finals for this. We’re going to pitch and giving feedback on the pitch or giving feedback on the deck or encouraging them as a founder like Here’s who you are, you are equipped and you can do this. And seeing the confidence turn on that, even for this small amount of time, you get to see a founder win the whole thing or shift. And through the small changes you’ve been able to suggest, hey, now they have this funding and I think it can go from the small story of 30 minutes. So imagine what can happen with a year long relationship. There has been I’ve never I’m sure there are mentor stories obviously that are awesome, but I’ve never heard a founder say, Man, I really wish I never had a mentor.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:52] Right? No one ever says mentoring. That was a waste of my time. Like, you’re going to get something out of it no matter what I mean. And hearing somebody else kind of invest their time and wisdom into your situation, I mean, even if you disagree, it’s going to be a worthwhile endeavor.

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:17:10] Sure.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:11] Well, Kellyanne, thank you so much for sharing your story today. If somebody wants to connect with you or learn about dual boot, is there a website for that? And what’s the best way to get a hold of you?

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:17:23] Absolutely. Linkedin. I am active on LinkedIn. Dual boot partners websites. Dual boot partners dot com we are. Email me Kellyanne O’Neill at boot partners dot com so very open to being in touch with and we’ll respond on LinkedIn for sure.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:44] Good stuff. Well, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Kelly Anne O’Neill: [00:17:49] Absolutely. Thanks for having me on.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:51] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Startup Showdown.

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