Tag Archives: Entrepreneurship

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What it Takes to Build a Successful Business Venture With Kim Overton (Ep. 14)



All great businesses begin with an idea. But what’s the secret behind turning an idea into a thriving enterprise?

Find out in this episode, as Kevin Kaylakie speaks with Kim Overton, the founder and CEO of SPIbelt. Kim reveals how SPIbelt went from a small, local startup to a globally successful company with sales in over 40 countries. She also shares the biggest mistakes that she made during her entrepreneurial journey — and how she overcame them.

Kim discusses: 

  • ”06:35” How the idea for SPIbelt was born
  • ”10:10” Key organic growth strategies that she used during SPIbelt’s first year
  • ”12:58” How SPIbelt ended up getting significant media coverage (including the QVC television network!)
  • ”18:50” SPIbelt’s future growth plans
  • ”20:08” Her best advice for up-and-coming entrepreneurs
  • And more

Resources

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About Our Guest:

Kim Overton is the Founder and CEO of SPIBelt (small personal item belt). In 2006, Kim went for a run and faced a problem familiar to runners, where to stash her keys. Frustrated but motivated, Kim purchased the materials for the initial prototype, and began creating an answer. Soon, Kim had assembled the first belt and quickly knew she was onto something, officially launching SPIbelt at the Austin Marathon in February of 2007. Today, you can find SPIbelt products in over a thousand stores across the US and in over 40 countries!


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Solving Biotech’s Biggest Digital Challenges With Yash Sabharwal (Ep. 10)



The pharmaceutical and biotech industry is facing a major challenge: How to effectively scale and distribute drugs. 

This is partially due to outdated software tools in the industry— and that is exactly what CherryCircle Software’s co-founder, CEO, and product visionary, Yash Sabharwal, wants to solve.

In this episode, Kevin Kaylakie welcomes Yash to explore his story of entrepreneurship with CherryCircle and why he believes they are creating a powerful solution for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry’s biggest digital challenges. In addition, he explains why the concept of reinvention is important to him and how he has evolved over the years.

Yash discusses: 

  • ”05:00” The problem with antique software tools
  • ”16:16” How CherryCircle Software solves common software issues
  • ”26:51” How he learned about the business side of running a company and applied it to his entrepreneurial ventures 
  • ”33:00” Why building a strong culture within your business is so important
  • And more

Connect With Yash Sabharwal:

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About Our Guest:

Co-founder, CEO, and Product Visionary at CherryCircle Software, Yash Sabharwal, is a successful serial entrepreneur tackling complex problems in the life sciences. Yash started CherryCircle in 2017 to develop the QbDVision knowledge management platform for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Prior to starting CherryCircle, Yash was a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Xeris Pharmaceuticals. During his tenure at Xeris, Yash was responsible for the manufacturing process development and scale-up activities related to the lead drug development program. While managing these activities, Yash became acutely aware of the limitations of the current solutions for the aggregation and analysis of all the data generated over multiple years of development. Further discussions with industry veterans confirmed the need for a solution like QbDVision.

Prior to starting Xeris in Austin, Yash co-founded Optical Insights in 1997 to solve imaging challenges in biomedical applications. Optical Insights was acquired by Roper Industries in 2005. Xeris Pharmaceuticals completed its IPO in 2018 and the products Yash helped launch are now FDA-approved products.

Over the years, he has been a mentor to budding entrepreneurs within the Austin community including support of many local incubators. From 2014 to 2017, Yash was a director on the board of the Austin Technology Council. He also served as an advisor to the Texas Health Catalyst program of the University of Texas Dell Medical School.

Yash has a B.S. in Optics from the University of Rochester and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona.