
On today’s Friday Nooner, Joe and Pete were still riding the social high from GrepBeat’s in-person Happy Hour yesterday (loyal readers would know that this is our first in-person event since last February.) If you weren’t one of the 50-some lucky GrepBeaters (Greppers?) who made the event to eat Pete’s cookies and answer trivia questions about 1996—the year that our sponsor Hutchison law firm was “born”; it just turned 25—fear not: we will have another Happy Hour soon!
Here’s what else Pete and Joe, and guest Trevor Schmidt of Hutchison, covered:
- Scooter aficionado Joe talks the new-ish electric Vespa—he thinks it’s not a great investment just yet—and his gang of Durham Vespa-rados. Later in the podcast Joe (who apparently is very gang-happy today) also shares his opinions on the Triangle’s “West Side,” Durham and Chapel Hill; and “East Side,” which he claims is Cary and Raleigh. (ends at 5:00)
- This morning, CED released its Annual Innovators Report, which elaborated on what we already knew: Triangle entrepreneurship continued to boom in 2020 despite, and even because of, the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. Some highlights include over $3.4 billion of funding raised by NC companies, $2.7 billion of which is from Triangle companies, including $1.8 billion from Cary’s Epic Games. Tech made up 80% of these funds vs. life sciences—a stark increase from previous years, which Pete and Joe attributed partially to the pandemic spurring the need for virtual, touch-less and high-tech solutions. (6:45)
- On the note of financial anomalies, Pete and Joe give us a #FlashbackFriday to one of the wildest plays (literally) of pandemic financing: GameStop stock’s January Reddit skyrocket. Joe thinks recent high-profile hackings might lead to some policy change. The duo also got into the potential policy implications of ProPublica’s recent report on billionaires’ tax returns (spoiler alert: In 2018, Elon Musk paid less in federal income taxes than the digits than his baby’s name). (11:05)
- Speaking of policy, Happy Hour sponsor Hutchison Law’s Trevor Schmidt joins Pete and Joe some 21 minutes in. Thanks in large part to the Hutchison crew, Happy Hour was a huge success. Trevor said his favorite part of the night was seeing how many new faces joined the Triangle tech startup scene since the start of the pandemic. (21:25)
- If you’re looking for a great podcast to follow up Robbie Allen’s latest episode of For Starters, check out Trevor’s podcast, Founder Shares. In the podcast, which views entrepreneurship from a legal perspective, Trevor chats with Hutchison clients about what worked, what didn’t and what they learned along the way. He said he’s always looking for great stories — so if you can think of a more interesting legal question than what’s next for our “The Pete” NFT merch (answer: it’s legally safe for us) you should check him out. And more to the point, if you are startup founder or know someone who is, that’s right up his alley.
Watch the Friday Nooner on Facebook at this link.
Or watch on Youtube: