10/14/21 – Episode 1
Jim Franklin is an angel investor based in Boulder, CO and ex-CEO who attributes his personal success to connecting Colorado success stories via collecting people, stories, and capital. Today Emily talked to Jim about his law degree, his philanthropic investment thesis, and why you should invest in what you know.
About Jim Franklin:
Jim Franklin attended William & Mary for his JD/MBA. He’s held multiple C-Suite positions including CFO and CEO at Decisioneering and CEO of Sendgrid. Jim has taught a Venture Capital MBA course at the University of Colorado Boulder and is currently on the board of Flurofinder and Wurk. He resides in Boulder, CO and is an active angel investor in the Rocky Mountains.
In this episode with Jim, you’ll learn:
- How Jim got into investing
- Jim’s personal mission and investment thesis
- Jim’s experience as CEO of Sendgrid
- Brad Feld’s career guidance to Jim
- How Jim made the decision to make his first investment one night before closing
- The power of investing early
- Philanthropic and economic investing
- Jim’s passion for Colorado
- The 4 H culture
- Importance of clarity in a pitch deck
Mentioned in this episode…
Companies:
Sendgrid
Oracle
Rockies Venture Fund
Twilio
Uber
Wurk
Sondermind
Founder Institute
People:
Jim Franklin
David Cohen
Brad Feld
Natty Zola
Matt Blomstedt
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