Ricky Lavina is the co-founder and CEO of on-demand accounting platform Taxfyle. Born and raised in Miami, Ricky launched Taxfyle in Coral Gables in 2015 with the goal of modernizing tax prep and the accounting industry for both people and practitioners. Today, Taxfyle has roughly 3,000 CPAs on its network, ready at a moment’s notice to help people and businesses file their returns, as well as an enterprise and B2B division that serves CPA firms across the U.S. and a Big Four accounting firm. In 2020, Taxfyle ranked. 74 on Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 list.Check out Taxfyle: https://taxfyle.com/ Follow Ricky on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LavinaRicky

Lessons via Leaders

Episode 35: Taking Taxes To The Next Level w/ Ricky Lavina CEO @ Taxfyle

Jacklyn Baumgarten combines two decades of experience as a startup expert, seasoned leader, change agent, founding member of new industries, new divisions, and always leading the charge for scalable growth.She&apos;s the Co-founder & CEO of leading boat sharing startup, Boatsetter, where her strong leadership led to the creation of the peer-to-peer marine insurance policy that launched the industry.Previous experience ranges from creating new divisions in Fortune 500 corporations to growing startups into $1B entities to spearheading one of the largest commercial real estate developments in the City of Los Angeles, including PwC, IBM, and Westfield Corp.Selected as: Inc Magazine 2019 Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs and 2018 Endeavor Entrepreneur of the year in Miami BoatsetterBoatsetter combines the rental mechanics of Airbnb with the on-demand labor dynamics of Uber to deliver a hassle-free boat rental experience for all stakeholders. Its peer-to-peer boat sharing platform connects individuals seeking a day out on the water with boat owners and captains looking to charter their goods and services.

Episode 34: Building A Better Boating Experience w/ Jaclyn Baumgarten CEO of Boatsetter

I&apos;m incredible excited for this week&apos;s episode as we have Andrew Parker, CEO of Papa on the show. Founded in 2017 in Miami, FL, Papa began due to a personal need that Andrew had with his own family. Recognizing the extreme difficulty associated with juggling daily life and senior family member’s needs, Papa was initially built to support Andrew’s own grandfather. Andrew and his family recognized how impactful and positive it was to connect their grandfather with a young, energetic, and enthusiastic individual. After the first visit, he knew he had something special to offer other families with the same need.In this episode, Andrew and I talk about the origin of Papa, the early inspiration to start the company, raising money from investors, scaling the company, lessons learned along the way, and much much more.Find Andrew on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aparkthelarkLearn more about Papa: https://www.joinpapa.com/

Episode 33: Building a Company focused on Connections, Companionship, and Care with Andrew Parker, CEO of Papa

Leigh-Ann A. Buchanan, Esq. is a writer, strategist, and a facilitator.  She supports leaders and communities bridge systemic gaps in access, inclusion, opportunity and racial equity, with a focus on technology, innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems.She has advised and provided technical support to  innovation and technology leaders at Fortune 500 companies including Google, Facebook, Delta, P&G Ventures,  AirBnB, HSBC and UBS.As a founder, she has launched ventures from concept to scale, raised seven figure philanthropic investments and designed platforms to connect innovators, young leaders and communities with the capital and opportunities necessary to take their impact to the next level.Leigh-Ann is the Founder of  Nyah Project(https://www.nyahproject.org/)  and currently serves as the President of aīre ventures (https://www.aireventures.org/) .  She co-hosts the  Innovation City (https://www.innovationcity.co/)  podcast and produces storytelling projects.I had a great time having Leigh Ann on the show we talked about her background, what she’s up to Aire Ventures, how she thinks about thoughtfully building community in the most meaningful ways possible and much more.

Episode 32: Elevating Equity and Ecosystem w/ Leigh-Ann Buchanan, President @ aīre ventures

Jeff Ransdell is a founding partner and the managing director of Fuel Venture Capital. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, Fuel VC boasts a portfolio of 23 technology startups all over the globe, including  Taxfyle,  Soundtrack Your Brand, Boatsetter, and more. Prior to co-founding Fuel VC, Jeff served as a managing director and market executive of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, overseeing more than $130 billion of global private client investment assets, a P&L of $2 billion, and over 2,000 employees across the Southeast Wealth Management Division.I had a great time chatting with Jeff on this episode where we talked about what it&apos;s like to raise a fund, the type of entrepreneurs he looks for, thoughts on the rising #MiamiTech scene, and much more.Check out Fuel VC: https://fuelventurecapital.com/

Episode 31: Fueling Founders with Funding w/ Jeff Ransdell Founding Partner @ Fuel Venture Capital

I&apos;m really excited for this week&apos;s episode as we have an awesome guest on the show, Amanda Goetz, CEO and Founder of House of Wise. Amanda was formerly Head of Brand at The Knot and now is part-time CMO at Teal AND making huge moves with her new company, House of Wise, where she is Founder and CEO. House of Wise is an incredible new CBD company making waves in the industry and you’ll hear Amanda talk more about it today.In this episode, Amanda shares a bit about her background, why she started House of Wise, what it’s like to make a drastic career change, and thoughts on the rapidly growing CBD industry as a whole. She also shares a bit about work/life balance, personal branding, lessons learned along her career, and much much more.This was an incredible episode filled with a ton of value, so I&apos;m excited to share it with you all today. After listening, be sure to connect with Amanda and check out all the awesome things she&apos;s building at House of Wise via the links below.Enjoy!Connect with Amanda on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmandaMGoetzLearn more about House of Wise: https://houseofwise.co/

Episode 30: Taking Charge of Your Life and Business w/ Amanda Goetz - Founder & CEO @ House of Wise

I&apos;m incredibly excited for this episode as we have Jonah Fink, President of net2phone on the show today.As President of net2phone, Jonah Fink is focused on the vision to disrupt technology and change the way the world communicates.  Jonah was actually a member of the original sales team at net2phone when the company first started out, and over the years worked himself up to become president and now runs the entire organization.Under Jonah’s leadership, net2phone is thriving and building some incredible products and software. I know that first-hand because I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jonah for the past few years at net2phone, and I’ve enjoyed it immensely. Jonah truly is a rare leader in that he really does treat his employees and his customers like family. He’s one of the most down to earth, knowledge guys I know so I was grateful that he spent some time with us to chat about his experience at net2phone, what he feels makes a great leader, some of his lessons learned along the way, and much more.Enjoy the episode!Check out net2phone: https://net2phone.com/Connect with Jonah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonah-fink/

Episode 29: Innovating Communications on a Global Scale w/ Jonah Fink - President of net2phone

Mark Crofton is Global Vice President and leads the Sales Coaching team at SAP SE.  Prior to his current role, Mark led the SAP Academy for Sales, the flagship SAP sales training program for Early Talent. Previously, he was VP Sales, Latin America, launching and leading the Mobility business in that region. He has also held positions in the North America Sales and Corporate Development organizations. His expertise is in leading sales teams and implementing Go-to-Market strategy with a focus on attaining revenue targets. I’ve had the privilege of working with Mark at my previous company LiveNinja when we pivoted to a B2B model, and we didn’t know the first thing about selling into enterprises. Mark came in, taught us how to build a salesforce from the ground up, and ever since then I consider him one of the most knowledgable people in software sales.

Episode 28: Mastering Startup Sales w/ Mark Crofton - Global VP @ SAP SE

Ana Paula González is Head of Managed Funds at 500 Startups, a Silicon Valley-based, early stage tech VC fund whose mission is to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. To date, 500 Startups has invested in over 2,500 companies in 80+ countries around the world, and ran 60+ accelerator programs in 15+ countries around the world.At 500 Startups, Ana leads the efforts to raise dedicated investment vehicles to complement corporate and ecosystem development programs around the world. Previous to that, Ana led the development and implementation of innovation and ecosystem development programs with partners around the world, including sourcing investment opportunities for the 500 Startups family of funds. Previously, Ana launched the 500 Startups Miami with the goal of supporting Miami to become a global hub for tech and innovation.Find Ana on Twitter: https://twitter.com/anapauglez

Episode 27: Elevating Ecosystems w/ Ana Paula Gonzalez - Head of Managed Funds @ 500 Startups

I'm really excited about this week’s episode as we have Alex Taub, CEO of Upstream on the show. I’ve recently had a chance to connect with Alex after he and his family moved to Miami in the this past find him to be one of the most thoughtful, approachable, and knowledge people in the tech scene.Before coming to Miami, Alex was a fixture in the NY tech community working at companies such as Aviary and Dwolla before then going off to start his own company SocialRank. After SocialRank was acquired, he’s back at it again with a new company called Upstream, which is an incredible platform that is changing the way people connect and build professional communities. On this episode Alex and I talk about a variety of topics including his background, what led to him creating Upstream,  his plans for the future, how he thinks about building community, his biggest lessons learned, and much much more.Check out Upstream: https://upstreamapp.com/Find Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajt

Episode 26: Building The Next Big Thing By Creating and Connecting Communities w/ Alex Taub CEO @ Upstream

Keith Rabois is a serial entrepreneur and investor working and investing in companies such as Airbnb, Lyft, YouTube, Wish, Yammer, DoorDash, Stripe, and Affirm (among many others) and has worked at companies like PayPay, LinkedIn, and Square. Keith is one of the most respected people in the tech industry so I was very much looking forward to sit down with him to talk about a variety of topics including:The recent tech migration to MiamiMiami's rise as a tech scene and where it's headingThe qualities Keith looks for in founders/entrepreneurs The rise of SPACs and how companies might think about choose between SPACs, IPOs, and Public OfferingsAn overview on OpenDoor and what it offers to home sellersAdvice to anyone deciding between a career in VC vs being an entrepreneur Some of the biggest lessons/takeaways he's learned in his careerand much moreFind Keith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/raboisLearn more about Founders Fund: https://foundersfund.com/

Episode 25: Creating Impact and Building in Miami w/ Keith Rabois, General Partner @ Founders Fund

I’m really excited for today’s episode because we have Mike Marotcci from SwagUp on the show. Michael is the CEO of SwagUp - a company that makes it simple to create high quality branded swag for companies to give as gifts to employees and clients.SwagUp is an incredible company that is growing like crazy so I was stoked to have Michael on the show to discuss the origins of SwagUp, how he’s been scaling the company, lessons learned along the way, what’s next for the business, and much much more.For more on SwagUp, check out their website: https://www.swagup.com/Reach out to Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelMartocci

Episode 24: Scaling Swag w/ Michael Martocci CEO @ SwagUp

“How can I help?”: a simple tweet that Miami Mayor Francis Suarez sent out on December 4th, which has since gone viral, has put Miami into the spotlight on a global stage as one of the top emerging tech hubs in the world. Since that time, Mayor Suarez has front and center leading the charge on bringing more talent, attention, and capital to the 305. That&apos;s why I was very grateful when the mayor invited me to City Hall to sit down in his office and talk about everything that has transpired since he sent that tweet and how he is turning this moment is turning into a movement. Follow Mayor Suarez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrancisSuarez

Episode 23: Building The City of the Future in Miami w/ Mayor Francis Suarez

Rebecca Danta is the Managing Director of Miami Angels, the largest angel network in Florida, which funds Seed and Series A technology companies with early traction across various sectors.   Miami Angels has deployed $13.6M into 33 companies since 2014, and Rebecca built a sustainable, independent business model for the organization.  Prior to joining Miami Angels, Rebecca managed global campus operations for General Assembly in New York City, the first accelerated learning provider, and the "Top Most Innovative Company in Education" per Fast Company. General Assembly had a successful exit in 2018.  Rebecca is a Miami native and passionate about investing into markets and teams that are often overlooked in traditional venture capital. She serves on the board of the Florida Venture Forum and is a Class XI member of Miami Fellows.In this episode, Rebecca talks about:- Why now is a great time to get into angel investing- Why it may be more accessible than most people think it is- How Miami Angels can help you get started as an investor- How the investment landscaped has changed in the past year- Tips for startups raising capital- and much, much more….Find Rebecca Danta:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccadantaMiami Angels: https://www.miamiangels.vcEmail: hello@miamiangels.vcTwitter: https://twitter.com/rebeccadanta

Episode 22: Innovating The Early Stage Investing Model with Rebecca Danta of Miami Angels

I am really excited for today&apos;s episode because we have my guy Miles Varghese, CEO @ Cargologik on the show. Miles and I go way back. He and I worked together at my previous company, LiveNinja where Miles where our very first sales hire and really was an intricate part of shaping the culture of our company. We consider him a founding team member and over the years as we built the company he very much felt like family so I’m really excited to now have him on the show to talk about his new company Cargologik and what they’re doing there.Prior to joining Cargologik, Miles served as employee #3 at Octopi where he lead sales, growth, and go-to-market them as the first true SaaS TOS in the industry. Octopi was the “Gmail of Terminal Operating Systems,” and the first modern web-based platform.  In under 2.5 years, the company was acquired by Navis and now Miles is doing his thing with his new business Cargologik, which you’ll hear about here.In this episode, Miles and I talk a lot about sales and what it takes to be a great salesperson in today’s modern era. Miles breaks down the importance of human-to-human interactions in the digital space and how to effectively do that and he shares a TON of great tips along the way that you can implement today to make your sales process more efficient. 

Episode 21: Succeeding At Sales Through Authenticity w/ Miles Varghese, CEO @ Cargologik

Lessons via Leaders is a weekly video podcast where we bring you valuable insights from some of the top entrepreneurs in their respective fields. ???

hubhopper

Lessons via Leaders

hubhopper