Ben Siegel: Don’t Pitch-Make Them Care

Ben Siegel: Don’t Pitch-Make Them Care

This week Adam [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] speaks with Ben Siegel [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benabode/], the Co-Founder and CEO of Abode [http://www.abodehr.com/], a modern early-career platform built for Gen Z. Ben has steered the company since its inception during his college years. Under his leadership, Abode has partnered with major corporations such as Fidelity and Amazon, positioning itself as an essential operating system for early career programs. Ben successfully raised over $5 million in venture capital and ultimately sold Abode to 10,000 Coffees in 2025 [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10kc-acquires-abode-creates-leading-130000896.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALS5u4O5mNebl4zeFLMbf0ncg2VgGcIoEEbUgeYUfbKFHBSTstyZnRVxZnEMIn8Xg5o6hBraU6edNiJM_GsGOCDEhiie7skyzC9QnjS9MU9F3_S1YvwD51CYX8T3jNIMyfPhnQHlVf87f-qnZh-eC9TlVmu9kY5DZhdnIOlCjMF2].  In this episode, he shares insights from Abode’s evolution, the decision to sell but still lead, and the role of AI in early career hiring, plus his biggest lesson on the importance of consultative selling with customer-centric storytelling. Listen now on: Amazon Music (Alexa)  [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e8b43101-933e-4d1f-990d-23743bc08e55/MY-BIGGEST-LESSON]| Spotify  [https://open.spotify.com/show/32zbIPlLCFLJeBCDzP7pwA?si=q0hcUcUGQ2eIf_RKiwYniw&dl_branch=1]| Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-biggest-lesson/id1574241594] or wherever you get podcasts! Connect with hosts Adam [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and Chris [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and the Range VC team on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/]  https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/] Check out more about what we're up to at Range.vc [https://www.range.vc/]  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Raj Babu: Great Ideas Come From Anywhere

This week Adam [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] speaks with Raj Babu, partner at BFG Partners [https://www.bfgpartners.com/], an early-stage venture capital firm investing in emerging food, beverage, and consumer brands. Prior to joining BFG, Raj served as President of Birch Benders, the #1 natural pancake and waffle mix brand and a BFG portfolio company. Under his leadership, the business expanded to four product lines in over 10,000 stores, leading to an acquisition by Sovos Brands. In this episode, Raj talks about the nuances of investing in the food sector, particularly consumer packaged goods (CPG), and the innovation from Colorado's natural food industry with companies like Bobo's Oat Bars [https://eatbobos.com/] and Caulipower [https://www.forbes.com/sites/yolarobert1/2025/11/03/urban-farmer-acquires-caulipower-to-create-leading-vertically-integrated--foods-platform/]as examples of standout successes. He also shares insights on identifying lasting trends versus fleeting fads and emphasizes that great ideas can come from anywhere within an organization. Listen now on: Amazon Music (Alexa)  [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e8b43101-933e-4d1f-990d-23743bc08e55/MY-BIGGEST-LESSON]| Spotify  [https://open.spotify.com/show/32zbIPlLCFLJeBCDzP7pwA?si=q0hcUcUGQ2eIf_RKiwYniw&dl_branch=1]| Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-biggest-lesson/id1574241594] or wherever you get podcasts! Connect with hosts Adam [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and Chris [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and the Range VC team on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/]  https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/] Check out more about what we're up to at Range.vc [https://www.range.vc/]  This podcast is powered by The Plug Podcast Agency [https://www.theplug-agency.com/] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Andrew Schremp: Give Before You Get

This week Chris [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] speaks with private equity executive, entrepreneur, and Colorado native, Andrew Schremp [https://www.copera.org/board-members/andrew-schremp], to discuss his journey across banking, entrepreneurship and investing. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Colorado PERA [https://copera.org/] providing fiduciary oversight of $65B+ in assets for nearly 700,000 beneficiaries. Formerly, he was the Director at Bow River Capital and prior to that, he was the Founder and CEO of Health Sqyre, Inc., a health tech company acquired by The VGM Group. In this episode, Andrew's shares his unique perspective on the evolution of the Colorado tech ecosystem, valuable insights for navigating the startup scene, plus examples of his biggest lesson on the the importance of building genuine relationships Listen now on: Amazon Music (Alexa)  [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e8b43101-933e-4d1f-990d-23743bc08e55/MY-BIGGEST-LESSON]| Spotify  [https://open.spotify.com/show/32zbIPlLCFLJeBCDzP7pwA?si=q0hcUcUGQ2eIf_RKiwYniw&dl_branch=1]| Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-biggest-lesson/id1574241594] or wherever you get podcasts! Connect with hosts Adam [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and Chris [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and the Range VC team on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/]  https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/] Check out more about what we're up to at Range.vc [https://www.range.vc/]  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Robin Thurston: You Have to Find a Way

This week Adam [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] speaks with Robin Thurston [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinthurston/], the CEO and founder of Outside Interactive, Inc. [https://www.outsideonline.com/], the world’s leading creator of outdoor content and home to iconic brands like Outside Magazine, Warren Miller, MapMyFitness, and others. Through its network of 25 media, digital, and technology platforms, Outside reaches over 100 million active consumers worldwide. Before founding Outside, Robin worked at Under Armour and led a consumer genetics company in Silicon Valley. In this episode, Robin discusses how his entrepreneurial family background helped him navigate his groundbreaking career. He also shares his perspective on the evolution of Denver's tech ecosystem as a Colorado native, his biggest lessons for building sustainable businesses, and his vision for the future of outdoor content and lifestyle brands. Listen now on: Amazon Music (Alexa)  [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e8b43101-933e-4d1f-990d-23743bc08e55/MY-BIGGEST-LESSON]| Spotify  [https://open.spotify.com/show/32zbIPlLCFLJeBCDzP7pwA?si=q0hcUcUGQ2eIf_RKiwYniw&dl_branch=1]| Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-biggest-lesson/id1574241594] or wherever you get podcasts! Connect with hosts Adam [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and Chris [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and the Range VC team on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/]  https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/] Check out more about what we're up to at Range.vc [https://www.range.vc/]  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Perry Rosenbloom - What You Do Is Who You Are

This week Chris [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] speaks with Perry Rosenbloom [https://www.linkedin.com/in/perry-rosenbloom/], CEO and co-founder of Motion.io [https://motion.io/], a cutting-edge client onboarding and collaboration platform for service-based businesses. Previously, Perry founded Brighter Vision, which he successfully bootstrapped and later sold to EverCommerce in 2020. On this episode, Perry provides insights into the ecosystem’s evolution, highlighting his frontline exposure at a startup in the Foundry Group's [https://foundry.vc/]office to the significance of intentional culture building in startups, recounting his lessons learned while scaling Brighter Vision. With a focus on actionable takeaways, Perry underscores the importance of cultivating a defined company culture early on, tapping into attributes like speed to stay competitive in the fast-paced startup world. Listen now on: Amazon Music (Alexa)  [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e8b43101-933e-4d1f-990d-23743bc08e55/MY-BIGGEST-LESSON]| Spotify  [https://open.spotify.com/show/32zbIPlLCFLJeBCDzP7pwA?si=q0hcUcUGQ2eIf_RKiwYniw&dl_branch=1]| Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-biggest-lesson/id1574241594] or wherever you get podcasts! Connect with hosts Adam [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and Chris [https://www.range.vc/#chris-erickson] and the Range VC team on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/range-ventures/]. Check out more about what we're up to at Range.vc [https://www.range.vc/]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].