Charlotte Angel Connection

Today, we welcome Jim Roberts to the podcast.  Jim is a familiar name in the Charlotte area startup and investor ecosystem.  Today, Jim runs the Wilmington Angels for Local Entrepreneurs (WALE), Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington (NEW), and his own consulting firm, Rojo Octo Ecosystem Consulting. Yet, in 2000, he started a non-profit ecosystem in Charlotte before moving to Ashville to start their startup ecosystem and angel network.  From there Jim was recruited to work for the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Division in Raleigh.  In 2013 he moved to Wilmington to start UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE).  The CIE offers programs, services, and activities to promote and support entrepreneurship and the creation of innovative new ventures in Southeastern North Carolina. Jim has been around the entrepreneur ecosystem since it’s infancy and has helped get several cities off the ground.  It was a great opportunity for him to talk about how Wilmington has – and continues to