How 11thEstate Founder Went From Rural Russia to World Traveler

Stan Vick, founder and CEO of 11thEstate via X

Russia is a place that will make or break you. This is the environment where Stan Vick, 38, learned to succeed. Today, the founder and CEO of 11thEstate, a New York-based platform for investors to get compensated in securities fraud cases, considers himself a true global citizen. But before Stan was able to set off … more

Tope Awotona’s Astonishing Journey from Broke Salesman to Billionaire Founder

by Tess Danielson

It can be difficult to leave your mark in the startup world. But occasionally, someone comes along who upends the system. In the modern age, that someone is Tope Awotona. Tope, founder and CEO of the scheduling automation platform Calendly, has become a hero to many. His journey resonates with so many underdog founders – … more

How Attane Health’s Co-Founder Became an Entrepreneurial Conductor

by Tess Danielson

Emily Brown, co-founder and CEO of Attane Health, was born and raised with her siblings in Dallas, Texas. She had a great childhood and even better parents. Growing up, Emily, who now lives in Kansas City, Missouri with her family, describes herself as a go-getter, which is highlighted throughout her professional career. But her first … more

Jowanza Joseph: It’s My Life’s Mission to Prove All My Critics Wrong

by Tess Danielson

Growing up, Jowanza Joseph, 36, didn’t have the most stable home life. His parents immigrated from Saint Kitts to the United States before separating. He ended up living with his mother and three brothers. Joseph’s family spent his childhood jumping from borough to borough in New York – occasionally popping into Connecticut for brief stints. … more

From Butcher to Apple Engineer: How WEDEVX’s Co-Founder Achieved the American Dream

by Tess Danielson

Askar Musakunov and Adina Tilek, his wife and co-founder, prefer a nomadic lifestyle. They don’t think twice about switching cities or disappearing to Qatar for 6 months. For them, slowing down to create a foundation is completely out of their comfort zone. “It’s very hard to get out of your roots, and we have no … more

How Bolder Money Co-Founder Uses Entrepreneurship as a Force for Good

by Tess Danielson

Siddharth Singh, 39, has spent much of his life analyzing how to solve big problems. He prefers to look at the overall picture and how to do the most good within those parameters. Singh, who currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, began life in India. He grew up in Bombay and eventually moved to London … more

How the Startup OK2StandUp Helped Its Founder Become More Human

by Tess Danielson

As the founder of OK2StandUp, Dr. Eunice Yang has made it her mission to keep seniors safe. Standing at 5’4”, Dr. Eunice Yang represents the living embodiment of ‘big things come in small packages.’ She’s a mechanical engineer, professor, mother, Christian, immigrant, and founder. As the CEO of her startup, OK2StandUp, elder safety has become … more

Desiree Vargas Wrigley to future CEOs: “Often you’re the one who’s holding yourself back”

by Kimmy Paluch

After exiting the first company she founded, Desiree Vargas Wrigley–no relation to Chicago’s famous Wrigleys–found herself a stay-at-home-mom for the first time, caring for her two boys who were both under the age of five. Finding activities for her kids proved to be a huge challenge for Desiree, but one that inspired her to embark … more

Unlocking a $4.4 Trillion Opportunity

by Sergio Paluch

As a general partner of an early stage venture fund focused on founders that don’t fit the Silicon Valley profile, I have often been asked how much of our returns we expect to sacrifice by investing in overlooked founders such as women and people of color. This question implies that tech companies led by diverse … more

Ablorde Ashigbi built a startup on his belief in the power of networking

by Kimmy Paluch

When Ablorde Ashigbi left Pritzker Group Venture Capital to build his own company, 4Degrees, in 2017, everyone around him was surprised. “You’re leaving VC? The best job on earth? Why the hell would you do that?” Before 4Degrees, Ablorde had never thought about being an entrepreneur. “Building a company is really hard, and the rate … more

Ashlee Ammons of Mixtroz on conquering the fear of starting over

by Kimmy Paluch

In 2014, Ashlee Ammons was living a comfortable life in New York City, producing celebrity driven events and working in brand marketing. She’s close with her mom, Kerry Shrader, and one day Ashlee called to vent about an awkward experience she’d had at a conference mixer. The two women realized that, despite having strong networks … more

Amanda DoAmaral closes a $615K seed round and opens up about her roller coaster year as a founder

by Kimmy Paluch

Amanda DoAmaral is the founder and CEO of Fiveable, an edtech livestream platform with a growing user base of teachers and students from every state in the US. She has described Fiveable as Twitch for education: “If kids can get help with video games, they should be able to get help with homework, too.” Fiveable … more

Founder Spotlight: Cindy Mi of VIPKid

by Kimmy Paluch

Here in the US, the fable of the dropout-turned-tech-billionaire is a familiar one. But it doesn’t usually bring to mind a young Chinese woman reinventing her country’s foreign-language education system. Meet Cindy Mi, the 35-year-old founder and CEO of the online teaching platform VIPKid, who’s bringing new life–and considerable business savvy–to the bootstrap stereotype. Hailing … more

New Pattern Spotlight: Amanda DoAmaral, Founder of Fiveable

by Sergio Paluch

Amanda started out as a Teach for America teacher in Skyline High School in Oakland, where she taught Advanced Placement U.S. and World History. After leaving the classroom, she still wanted to help all students do well on their AP exams and started tutoring students online.

Amanda didn’t know it at the time, but she stumbled upon a model that really resonated with students and helped students pass their AP exams at twice the national average. She kept growing and evolving her model and went on to build one of the leading online social learning platforms—Fiveable.

In this episode of New Pattern Spotlight, we learn about the highs and lows of running a startup as well as the advantages that underrepresented founders like Amanda have. This candid interview with the founder of Fiveable is a must-watch!

New Pattern Spotlight: Jude Chiy, Founder of Flamingo

by Sergio Paluch

In this first episode of the New Pattern Spotlight series, Kimmy speaks with Jude Chiy, the founder and CEO of Flamingo, which lets property managers offer residents a plethora of services ranging from housekeeping to cooking classes. Kimmy and Jude discuss building a quickly-growing tech startup in Chicago, the advantage of being an underrepresented founder, … more

Founder Spotlights

How 11thEstate Founder Went From Rural Russia to World Traveler

Tope Awotona’s Astonishing Journey from Broke Salesman to Billionaire Founder

How Attane Health’s Co-Founder Became an Entrepreneurial Conductor

Jowanza Joseph: It’s My Life’s Mission to Prove All My Critics Wrong

From Butcher to Apple Engineer: How WEDEVX’s Co-Founder Achieved the American Dream

How Bolder Money Co-Founder Uses Entrepreneurship as a Force for Good

How the Startup OK2StandUp Helped Its Founder Become More Human

Desiree Vargas Wrigley to future CEOs: “Often you’re the one who’s holding yourself back”

Unlocking a $4.4 Trillion Opportunity

Ablorde Ashigbi built a startup on his belief in the power of networking

Ashlee Ammons of Mixtroz on conquering the fear of starting over

Amanda DoAmaral closes a $615K seed round and opens up about her roller coaster year as a founder

Founder Spotlight: Cindy Mi of VIPKid

New Pattern Spotlight: Amanda DoAmaral, Founder of Fiveable

New Pattern Spotlight: Jude Chiy, Founder of Flamingo

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