In this mini-episode of the Extraordinary Pursuits Podcast, BIP Capital co-founder and CEO and BIP Ventures founder Mark Buffington joins host Rachelle Kuramoto to talk about one of the most pivotal transitions in a company’s growth: moving from visionary founder to high-performance CEO.

Drawing on more than two decades as an economist, investor, performance engineer, and entrepreneur, Mark explains why the traits that fuel early-stage growth have to evolve to lead larger teams effectively. He shares candid lessons from his journey to help you learn from his experience.

• 1:41 Founder traits that ignite early growth but can limit scale 3:58 The mindset shift from founder to high-performance CEO 4:50 Scaling through people and building leadership skills

• “You can’t scale yourself—you have to scale through people.”

Mark Buffington is the co-founder and CEO of BIP Capital and the founder and Managing Partner of BIP Ventures. Since 2006, he has led more than 150 investments and built one of the most active venture platforms outside of Silicon Valley. Known for his Performance Engineering framework, Mark has helped guide category-leading companies to premium exits by combining capital investment with hands-on operational support.

• Substack: https://markbuffington.substack.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bipmarkbuffington/

• Website: www.bipventures.vc
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/bipventures/
• Extraordinary Pursuits: https://www.bipventures.vc/podcasts

This week, we bring you an episode from the archives. In this discussion, Mark Flickinger shares insights, trends, and implications for founders and investors from the 2024 State of Startups in the Southeast Report.

We're sharing the episode because we have exciting news: The 2025 State of Startups in the Southeast Report is underway. It's painting a fascinating picture of emerging industries, new investors, and a capital environment that learned some important lessons during the 2020-2022 pandemic.

Click here to be one of the first to get a copy of the report.

Since 2017, the BIP Ventures State of StartupsSM in Southeast report has been a leading trend resource on the region's innovation and investment landscape. In this special episode of the Extraordinary Pursuits podcast, BIP Capital General Partner and COO Mark Flickinger joins us to give a preview of the 2024 report.

Mark’s conversation with colleague and Extraordinary Pursuits host Rachelle Kuramoto covers the evolving capital environment, trends in startup funding, and the unique characteristics of the Southeast's investment landscape compared to major hubs like Silicon Valley and New York. Mark also discusses the impact of AI on the startup ecosystem, the importance of accessing private markets, and future projections for investment trends in 2024 and beyond.

• [00:00] Introduction to the State of Startups
• [01:51] Capital Environment Trends in 2024
• [05:11] Southeast vs. Major Innovation Hubs
• [07:54] Investor Trends in the Southeast
• [11:11] Accessing Private Markets
• [14:00] Future Projections for 2024 and Beyond
• [16:48] Impact of AI on Investment Trends
• [19:07] Emerging Investment Trends for 2024

• "Startup funding is beginning to find balance."
• "We're starting to see competition for deals."
• "The Southeast has a very different approach to investing."

Mark Flickinger joined BIP Ventures in 2015. In his role as General Partner and Chief Operating Officer, Mark oversees fundraising, investor relations, marketing/branding, talent acquisition, and acceleration. Before joining the firm, Mark held leadership roles for 4th Strand, a product performance consulting firm (acquired by Intertek in 2012). He oversaw project management, product development, HR/recruiting, operations, and sales. Mark's experience also includes Medarex, a biotech startup developing therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune diseases, as well as the oral care division of consumer products company Church & Dwight.

Mark has been at the helm of the State of Startups(SM) in the Southeast report since 2017. LinkedIn

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In this mini-episode of the Extraordinary Pursuits podcast, we're joined by Kristian Schwartz, founder of Montgomery Group Executive Search. Drawing from decades of executive search experience, Kristian shares how to think beyond resumes and reference calls to identify the right leader for the right moment.

He unpacks why chemistry matters, how to surface areas of support (instead of just gaps), and what a working session can reveal that no interview ever will. The conversation is a candid look at the intersection of leadership, context, and conviction—and what it takes to make the right hire when the stakes are high.

Timestamps:

• 00:38 | Art vs. Science in Hiring

• 01:41 | Understanding Areas of Support

• 02:28 | Why Final Working Sessions Matter

• 04:06 | Fit vs. Technical Skills

• 05:10 | Matching Leaders to the Moment

Points of Wisdom:

• “Interview questions have predefined answers. But a whiteboard doesn’t.”

• “Some people interview well—and some don’t. An interview isn’t real life.”

• “You’re not hiring for perfection. You’re hiring for alignment and possibility.”

About Kristian Schwartz: Kristian Schwartz is the founder of Montgomery Group Executive Search, a retained executive search firm that helps high-growth companies hire transformational leaders. With a background in strategy and organizational design, Kristian has built a reputation for matching companies with executives who deliver more than what’s on their resumes—they deliver the right kind of change.

• Montgomery Group

• Kristian Schwartz on LinkedIn

BIP Ventures

• Website: www.bipventures.vc

• LinkedIn: BIP Ventures

• Podcast: Extraordinary Pursuits

What separates a “good on paper” executive from a truly transformational leader? In this episode of Extraordinary Pursuits, host Rachelle Kuramoto sits down with Kristian Schwartz, founder of Montgomery Group Executive Search, to dig into the art and science of hiring leaders who can move a business forward, especially when the stakes are high.

Executive hiring isn’t about ticking boxes or filling roles with the most impressive names and resumes. Kristian explains why it’s about clarifying the real business need, finding alignment on mission and culture, and having the conviction to recommend the candidate, even if they aren’t the one who looks “perfect on paper.” Whether you’re a founder building your first leadership team or an executive seeking to scale without making costly hiring mistakes, this is an episode that will help you think differently about talent, risk, and fit.

‍It’s not about finding the ‘perfect’ candidate. It’s about identifying the right one for the right reasons.

Key Takeaways:

• Why 40–70% of executive hires fail, and how to avoid the common traps of misalignment and poor onboarding

• How to clarify the true business problem a new leader is meant to solve before you even start the search

• The importance of transparency around candidate risk profiles (and why some risk is good)

• How to use both data and intuition to make a confident, high-stakes hiring recommendation

• Strategies for validating role specs with real candidates and making final selection decisions that last

Points of Wisdom:

• “Making the recommendation requires a lot of conviction, and when it sticks, it’s incredible.” [09:27]

• “40–70% of executive hires fail in the first 18 months because of poor role definition, misalignment, and onboarding gaps.” [12:49]

• “Have a very clear role specification based on what the first-order problem is.” [16:54]

• “De-risking and being transparent with risk is key because different people have different appetites for risk; understand where a person is and what their comfort with risk is.” [20:22]

Timestamps:

[00:01] – Introduction: Rethinking Executive Hiring

[03:47] – Kristian’s Background and Entrepreneurial Journey

[08:24] – Conviction in Hiring: Finding the Unicorn

[09:55] – The Art (and Reward) of Executive Search

[11:34] – Strategic vs. Tactical: Getting Clear on What Matters

[14:29] – Why “Slowing Down” Can Accelerate Better Hires

[16:45] – Filtering Candidates for Fit, Not Just Skills

[20:22] – De-Risking the Process: Understanding Appetite for Risk

[22:54] – Validating Role Specifications with Real Candidates

[26:12] – The Science (and Art) of Final Selection

[32:08] – Balancing Technical Skills with Culture and Support

[34:47] – Humanizing the Process: The Role of AI

[37:11] – Where to Connect with Kristian

About Kristian Schwartz:

Kristian Schwartz is the founder and partner at Montgomery Group Executive Search, specializing in recruiting functional leaders for digital marketing, transformation, and strategy. With a background as an entrepreneur and seasoned recruiter, Kristian helps high-growth companies find leaders who fit the context, not just the job description.

LinkedIn | Montgomery Group

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In this mini-episode of the Extraordinary Pursuits podcast, we're joined by BIP Ventures portfolio company leader Greg Reffner. Greg is the founder and CEO of Abstrakt.ai, a call center platform that automates quality assurance and enhances real-time agent support. He joins host Rachelle Kuramoto to discuss the importance of product market fit, the evolution of the company’s ideal customer profile (ICP), and the lessons learned from customer experiences that have shaped the company's growth and success.

• 01:51 Understanding Product Market Fit
• 02:51 Refining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
• 05:33 Lessons from Customer Experiences

• "There were...100 different things on the list."

Greg Reffner is the founder and CEO of Abstrakt, an innovative AI platform that is enhancing call center operations by providing real-time guidance to agents and automating quality assurance. With a background in solving complex challenges for call center supervisors, Greg has built Abstrakt into a prominent player in real-time agent success and QA automation. His focus on finding and maintaining product-market fit has been crucial to Abstrakt’s market traction and scaling success. Under his leadership, Abstrakt has grown significantly within the BIP Ventures portfolio.

• Website: https://abstrakt.ai/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregreffner

BIP Ventures

• Website: www.bipventures.vc
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/bipventures/
• Extraordinary Pursuits: https://www.bipventures.vc/podcasts

Ambition can launch a startup, but metrics scale it. Without clear, measurable goals, teams can lose focus, waste time, and miss opportunities. That's where KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) come in. They transform big ideas into trackable milestones, ensuring that every effort aligns with the company's mission.

This episode of Extraordinary Pursuits features Andy Seavers, the co-founder and CEO of Case Status, a BIP Ventures portfolio company. Andy and host Rachelle Kuramoto discuss how startups can unlock growth by setting (and sticking to) intelligent, accurate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Andy shares how his company scaled in the chaotic world of legal tech by turning operating data into a strategic asset.

From using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to make metrics actionable to building team-wide accountability through numbers, Andy offers a playbook for any founder looking to scale with precision. Whether you're just getting started or trying to systematize growth, this episode will show you why setting, benchmarking, and tracking the right KPIs isn't optional. It's foundational.

Timestamps:

• [02:27] Andy's background and his role at Case Status
• [03:49] What sparked Andy's entrepreneurial drive
• [09:52] The problem that led to Case Status
• [10:14] How Case Status has evolved
• [13:40] Practical tips for how to set successful KPIs
• [17:37] How Case Status uses the EOS Framework
• [22:43] How the EOS Framework keeps everyone aligned and accountable
• [25:00] Creating structures to move quickly—and in the right direction
• [29:24] Case Status operating principle and how it uses data to drive operations
• [31:18] Andy's advice to startups on being data-driven
• [35:38] Where to learn more about Andy and Case Status

Points of Wisdom:

• "The core piece of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is that everybody has a number." [22:44]
• "You can't make good decisions without data, and with data, a lot of changes become factual." [26:05]
• "Being prepared for what could happen is trying to look into the future and see what happens if you're here or there." [33:13]

About Andy Seavers:

Andy Seavers is the co-founder and CEO of Case Status, a legal tech platform that has transformed how law firms engage with clients. With secure messaging, real-time updates, and AI-driven insights, Case Status helps law firms streamline communication and improve satisfaction. As an entrepreneur since 2014, Andy has led Case Status to achieve outstanding growth, including a top spot on the Inc. 5000 list.

• Website: https://www.casestatus.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyseavers/

BIP Ventures

• Website: www.bipventures.vc
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/bipventures/
• Extraordinary Pursuits: https://www.bipventures.vc/podcasts

Success isn’t (just) about working hard; it’s (also) about working smart. It’s about bringing clarity, efficiency, and purpose to your efforts. But how do you build and sustain focused momentum without burning out? In particular, how can organizational leaders drive change and set the right pace, rather than falling into reaction mode, especially as things get busy?

True leadership at speed is about control, intention, and the courage to drive forward with clarity, purpose, and direction in an ever-accelerating world. It’s the ability to create high-performing teams that can move fast while staying aligned and grounded in a shared purpose.

In this episode of the Extraordinary Pursuits podcast by BIP Ventures, Sophie Devonshire from The Marketing Society shares how leaders can succeed in a fast-paced environment by sustaining a high-functioning team of individuals.

This is an episode for anyone who wants to grow up without slowing up.

Timestamps:

• [02:06] Sophie's background and what she does in the leadership space
• [04:54] The inspiration behind Sophie’s book Superfast: Lead at Speed
• [10:21] How founders can lead effectively in a high-speed world
• [17:41] How leaders can create velocity and move in the right direction
• [19:54] How to build a successful team and business relationships
• [24:26] Assessments and classic listening in building a high-functioning team
• [28:35] Setting up structures and rituals to listen, connect, and build inside out
• [30:47] What a super team looks like and what happens when we achieve that
• [35:01] Sophie’s advice for founders looking to build velocity and accelerate their company
• [37:22] How to connect with Sophie and get her book

Points of Wisdom:

• “There’s a shortcut and accelerator in learning from the stories of other people; it’s what the most curious and smart business leaders do.” [06:33]

• “Whatever the size of your business, you need to slow down to build relationships in order to have the permission and the support to take risks and to move faster.” [20:59]
• “It’s not strategy, it’s not finance, it’s not technology, that’s is the ultimate competitive advantage, it’s teamwork.” [30:53]

Resources Mentioned: Superfast by Sophie Devonshire

About Sophie Devonshire:

Sophie Devonshire is the CEO of Marketing Society, which is a global network of marketing leaders. Sophie is an experienced business leader and entrepreneur who has experienced firsthand the thrill of starting up, scaling up, setting a pace, and building velocity. She is also the author of the best-selling, award-winning book Superfast: Lead At Speed, which was shortlisted for Business Book of the Year and reached #1 on Amazon. With a background spanning multinational corporations, high-growth startups, and leading agencies, she brings a unique blend of creativity, strategy, and commercial expertise to leadership.

BIP Ventures

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