Lea Strickland on NAACE’s Making Our Way Forward Podcast!
Thanks to NAACE and Jeff Smith for the invitation to talk about Entreneurship, Entrepreneurs with Disabilities, and Leadership on the Making Our Way Forward Podcast!
Cryptocurrency, Blockchains, ICOs, and Fintech
Cryptocurrency, Blockchains, ICOs, and Fintech
Guests: Jim Verdonik and Benji Jones
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Jim Verdonik and Benji Jones lead Ward and Smith P. A.’s Securities and Fintech groups. These groups include crowdfunding, cryptocurrency, blockchains and ICOs. They are also leaders of the Raleigh Blockchain Working Group of E4 Carolinas a networking group for new energy businesses.
They have represented Venture Capital Funds, public and private portfolio companies and other growth businesses in financing, M & A, licensing and other transaction across a wide range of industries, including technology and bio-science. Both Jim and Benji played a critical role in the passage of North Carolina’s intrastate crowdfunding exemption (NC PACES) and building a state-wide on-line capital raising ecosystem.
Jim and Benji are Thomson Reuter’s answer people for Crowdfunding issues.
They write a nationally distributed newspaper column about business, technology and legal issues for the American Business Journals www.bizjournals.com that reaches more than four million readers through local business publications in more than forty cities across the U. S.
Jim has written multiple books about finance and growing technology businesses, including:
- Crowdfunding: A Legal Guide to Investment and Platform Regulation
- Crowdfunding Opportunities and Challenges
Both books analyze Crowdfunding business practices and technology the impact of the JOBS Act on the venture capital industry and traditional securities laws, including the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
Conducted a series of Crowdfunding webinars for Thompson Reuters, which calls itself the “Answer Company.”
You can read their blog, Entrepreneur Intersection, check out their YouTubeChannel, and attend workshops, conferences, and continuing legal education course that they present on Fintech, Blockchain/COINS, Crowdfunding, the JOBS Act, and related matters.
Corporate attorney Benji Taylor Jones. She recently joined the Raleigh office of Ward and Smith. She has been a trusted counselor to numerous private and public companies in a variety of corporate and securities law matters for nearly two decades. Most recently, she’s been focusing her practice on crowdfunding and fin-tech financings. Benji played a critical role in the passage of North Carolina’s intrastate crowdfunding exemption (NC PACES). She represented the only platform offering peer2peer real estate loans under Regulation A and the first NC company to conduct a Regulation Crowdfunding campaign under Title III of the JOBS ACT. Benji is on the forefront of crowdfunding offerings in North Carolina.
Additionally, Benji advises public and private companies on a broad spectrum of legal issues affecting businesses. She regularly represents clients in public equity and debt offerings, traditional private placements and repurchase programs, public company securities compliance, corporate formation and governance, early stage financing for start-up and growth companies, mergers and acquisitions and strategic contracting.
Benji teaches as an adjunct professor and as a guest lecturer at local area universities and law schools. She regularly speaks and writes on crowdfunding, the JOBS Act, and related matters. While in law school, Benji was on the staff and editorial board of the Columbia Law Review, externed for the Honorable Shira Schiendlin of the Southern District of New York, worked at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton in New York City, and clerked for the Italian law firm of Ughi e Nunziante in Rome.
EDUCATION
Columbia University, J.D., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, 1998
New York University, M.A., 1996
Southern Methodist University, B.F.A., 1991
NC PACES Act: Intrastate Crowdfunding – Benji Jones
NC PACES ACT INTERVIEW LISTEN NOW
My guest today is Corporate attorney Benji Taylor Jones. She recently joined the Raleigh office of Ward and Smith. She has been a trusted counselor to numerous private and public companies in a variety of corporate and securities law matters for nearly two decades. Most recently, she’s been focusing her practice on crowdfunding and fin-tech financings. Benji played a critical role in the passage of North Carolina’s intrastate crowdfunding exemption (NC PACES). She represented the only platform offering peer2peer real estate loans under Regulation A and the first NC company to conduct a Regulation Crowdfunding campaign under Title III of the JOBS ACT. Benji is on the forefront of crowdfunding offerings in North Carolina.
Additionally, Benji advises public and private companies on a broad spectrum of legal issues affecting businesses. She regularly represents clients in public equity and debt offerings, traditional private placements and repurchase programs, public company securities compliance, corporate formation and governance, early stage financing for start-up and growth companies, mergers and acquisitions and strategic contracting.
Benji teaches as an adjunct professor and as a guest lecturer at local area universities and law schools. She regularly speaks and writes on crowdfunding, the JOBS Act, and related matters. While in law school, Benji was on the staff and editorial board of the Columbia Law Review, externed for the Honorable Shira Schiendlin of the Southern District of New York, worked at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton in New York City, and clerked for the Italian law firm of Ughi e Nunziante in Rome.
EDUCATION
Columbia University, J.D., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, 1998
New York University, M.A., 1996
Southern Methodist University, B.F.A., 1991
iFundWomen
Listen Now to IFundWomen Podcast
Guests:
Corporate attorney Benji Taylor Jones and
Concetta Rand is CRO of iFundWomen.
Benji Jones Bio
Benji has been a guest on the program before, but let me refresh your memory by sharing her bio.
Benji joined the Raleigh office of Ward and Smith in 2017. She is a trusted counselor to numerous private and public companies in a variety of corporate and securities law matters for nearly two decades. She is also a specialist in crowdfunding and fin-tech financings. She played an important role in the passage of North Carolina’s intrastate crowdfunding exemption (NC PACES). She represented the only platform offering peer2peer real estate loans under Regulation A and the first NC company to conduct a Regulation Crowdfunding campaign under Title III of the JOBS ACT. Benji is on the forefront of crowdfunding offerings in North Carolina.
Concetta Rand Bio:
Concetta Rand is a new guest on Focus on Business. She has an extensive background as a growth-oriented strategic marketer. She has held positions with global brands including American Express and Google.
As CRO for iFundWomen, she oversees revenue management, marketing, and analytics.
She is passionate about entrepreneurship and is committed to supporting and scaling iFundWomen’s vision and mission to close the funding and confidence gaps for women.
Twitter: @ifundwomen
Food Trucks, Technology and Foosye’s Ray Chow
Host Lea Strickland talks with Ray Chow of Foosye about the transformation of the food truck industry with new business models and technology. Ray has been in the restaurant Business for 20 years.
Ray was on our show in June of 2015 and shared insights and experiences with the food truck industry.
About Ray Chow:
- Happily Married to wife Rachael and has 3 kids (Nathan, Madi, Ali)
- Lives in Cary, NC
- Owner of Hibachi Xpress Food Truck
- Owner of Catering by Ray
- Owns commissary in Raleigh currently serving 8 other food truck family members
- Co-founder and CFTO (Chief Food Truck Officer) of Foosye; technology for the food truck industry
- Founding board member of RDU Mobile Food Association
- Advisory board member of Wake county Health & Human Services
- NC State Graduate with Mechanical Engineering Degree
- Supports Make A Wish
Ray is here as the co-founder and Chief Food Technology Officer of Foosye.
Foosye is a technology start-up for the food truck industry. Learned many difficulties and challenges of brick/mortar restaurants, catering and especially Food Trucks…it’s a mobile business. We build technology platform/apps to help food truck owners run their business more efficiently…basically everything but the cooking!
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Customer Satisfaction and Social Media for Small Businesses
Guest Nancy MacCreery of Broad Reach Marketing Services:
Broad Reach develops practical, effective marketing solutions that ensure local small businesses attract, engage and retain customers. She’s worked with both large and small organizations, developing successful market strategies, directing groundbreaking market research, and distilling compelling messaging for interactive campaigns.
Additionally, Nancy has founded and grown her own successful small business which gives her an in-depth understanding of the critical challenges small business owners face.
Her credentials include an MBA in Marketing, and certifications from NC State, HubSpot, and Pragmatic Marketing.
