In this week’s The Friday Nooner, a familiar face—journalist Chantal Allam—joined Pete and Joe as a guest co-host. The trio talked about today’s Triangle Business Journal stories on Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, which included a rare extensive interview with the Triangle’s most reclusive tech leader.
Our featured guest was Kelly Rowell, the President and CEO of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED). Launched in 1984, CED is a North Carolina non-profit organization that focuses on connecting regional entrepreneurs with resources to launch a successful business.
Here are some highlights:
- Pete started the show off alone, but not for too long! Joe’s computer problems were eventually resolved. Joe talked about his birthday being Jan. 13, which happened to be Friday the 13th on his 13th birthday, and then made an odd argument that January is technically the 13th month. Pete disagreed (because he’s sane) and changed the subject to the stories that TBJ writer—and former guest co-host—Lauren Ohnesorge published today on Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games. (You can find the stories here and here.)
- Chantal loved the Tim Sweeney interview. The trio discussed Tim admitting how disconnected he was from the rest of Triangle ecosystem, despite being one of the wealthiest individuals in N.C. (He’s reportedly second behind the CEO of another Cary-based tech company, SAS Institute’s Jim Goodnight.) Joe also mentioned Red Hat and Epic Games having a similar journey to success; both companies started out “doing their own thing,” by which Joe meant they had limited local media coverage and an intense focus on serving their customers.
- Kelly started as the CED’s VP of Customer Experience in 2017 and officially became CEO this past May after a year-plus as Interim CEO. She talks about her journey stepping into the “visionary” role and CED’s upcoming Venture Connect 2022 Summit. Kelly said they want to showcase innovation within the region and bring in outside people—especially investors—to learn about Triangle startups and how they can help. Mark your calendars for the week of April 4. More details to come!
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