Ed Trimble & Jim Garrett: Startup Challenges, Funding, Lessons Learned

The Start-Opia Radio Show by BusinessRadioX show focuses on successful entrepreneurs involved in repeat ventures.  They recently connected with Ed Trimble, president of Bonds Cove and Jim Garrett, chief revenue officer of Tillster to share their insights on Atlanta's startup community.

Main talking points:

• the struggle between founders and funders with opposing B2B vs B2C focuses
• emerging sharing economies
• early startup challenges & how to mitigate
• technology's role in driving down cash needs
• funding needs in Atlanta
• personal lessons from startup growing pains

Check out their bios below and then listen to the interview on the commute home. 

Ed Trimble- Ed Trimble is the President of Bonds Cove, a digital consultancy helping companies capture new opportunities created by emerging technologies. After starting his career at Accenture, Ed has been a serial entrepreneur in the Atlanta tech community for 20 years. Ed was a Founder and President/CEO of InterArch Technologies, SparkIP, Kevy and EzGov. EzGov, a pioneer in the e-government space with 180 employees across 4 global offices, was acquired by CACI in 2009. Ed has received recognition for his companies’ successes including Ernst and Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year and Duke University’s Distinguished Young Alumnus.

Jim Garrett/Tillster- James (Jim) Garrett, founder and CEO of Snapfinger.com received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Georgia in 1980 and his MBA from Georgia State in 1991. He has spent more than 30 years developing and marketing advanced application technology including the deployment of much of the Internet’s initial infrastructure with companies like Scientific Atlanta, Cisco and Harris Corporation.  In 1993 Garrett formed Accelerated Growth Partners, a consulting firm focused on re-inventing companies and strategic business initiatives around the changes brought on by the Internet and other advanced technologies; assisting companies such as Disney, Bank of America, Cisco, Equifax, NET and others. Garrett is largely credited as being one of the pioneers behind the Internet banking and online bill payment industry. In 2004, Garrett started Kudzu Interactive AKA Snapfinger Inc. the leading provider of remote ordering technology within the restaurant industry.  Today Snapfinger as the Internet’s largest and only nation-wide restaurant online ordering site with over 12,000 restaurants in over 3,600 cities. Snapfinger’s mobile app represents the single largest mobile ecommerce application connecting mobile users to thousand of restaurants for ordering and payment.

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