Derek Johnson, founder of Tatango, is only 24, but has already raised $100k’s of start-up capital, outsourced software development to china & brought it back to the US and gotten tons of press for his firm. Despite his age, he shares some lessons he has learned so far such as hustling all the time, being a sponge and hiring super stars. iV gets the inside scoop on office hoops, Red Bull fridges, the new Tatango Energy Drink and his perspective on hustling Gary Vaynerchuk style.

The founder of Tatango, Derek Johnson, launched his firm 2 years ago & has already been all over the news (CNN, WSJ, Mashable, etc.). He shares with iV how & why he got all that press while launching it from his parent’s basement. Derek goes on to explain how they used seed money to kick-start it & then got a seed round of $100k from angel investors in the Bellingham, WA area. iV also learns about the Tatango revenue model & tries to get a deal for the show!

Derek Johnson got denied to business school & dropped out of entrepreneurship school before he decided to start his group text messaging company Tatango at age 22 in 2007. iV interviews Derek to learn how he did it so quickly & what’s so unique about his company. Derek shares how sport teams, cheerleaders, churches & a breathing heavy Britney Spears site can easily reach out to fans & followers so all can do the Tatango.

CREATED BY: On the Road with iV (Ingrid Vanderveldt, Lyn Graft). Ingrid Vanderveldt (Host), Lyn Graft (Director/Producer), & Chance Carpenter (Virtual Producer).

The founder of Bra Barrette, Lara Merriam-Smith, had a number of early successes and failures starting her company that taught her some valuable lessons. Lara shares some of these lessons with iV that center on research, faith and opportunities as well as a fabulous quote from Winston Churchill that she keeps taped to her wall to help keep her enthusiasm on at all times.

Lara Merriam-Smith started Bra Barrette while working full-time, using her paycheck and a small inheritance to get it going. iV learns how much Lara started with, what she spent the money on (R&D), and how she protected her idea. A true entrepreneurial “trial and error” process, Lara shares how a Japanese firm inspired her to grow faster, and where she turned to raise the money, as well as her thoughts on Route 66/startups.

Lara Merriam-Smith, a former geography teacher, was grading papers one day , and got fed up adjusting her bra straps. To fix the problem, she created a little contraption called the Bra Barrette. iV interviews Lara, to learn how she turned this idea into a startup, even after she failed the first time and had gone back to teaching. Learn how she made this leap a 2nd time, faced her biggest challenge (Fear) head-on, and found a powerful mentor (Women’s E-Network). CREATED BY: On the Road with iV (Ingrid Vanderveldt, Lyn Graft). Ingrid Vanderveldt (Host), Lyn Graft (Director/Producer), & Chance Carpenter (Virtual Producer).