We were lucky to catch up with Tony Macarena recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tony thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I moved to Denver in 2019 with just a tax return check and 1 friend. Attended Denver startup week and met a friend whom to this day still helps me and we have grown in the Industry together. Evolved the pivot and strategically was able to connect with all the VC’s in Denver. I had 2 accounting job where I would wake up at 5:30am to take the bus and be there by 7am. It took me 8 months to find a tech job where I landed with Red Canary. Grew in my sales tech career through the pandemic, lost my job first month of pandemic. Applied my learning from these tech companies and enabled them in my business which has helped us get to where we are today. Being employee 100 at a series A startup allowed me to see the ever evolving landscape while having access to the founders and how they built/ran/scaled their business to what it is today 100m+ monster.

This lead me to meeting Zaneta who is the founder of Access Mode last year at Denver startup week 2023. That relationship catapulted my business into the position it is in today. Access Mode is the only BIPOC incubator in town and when I connected with Zaneta, it was serendipitous and couldn’t have come at a better time in my life. I loved everything that she stands for and her mission for providing an equal opportunity for a underrepresented founder was extremely humbling and an inspiration.

Since ending this program my business is able to reach new heights it’s never been before. The assets she provided int he program were far and wide and allowed our business to have access to IBOTTA ceo’ Bryan Leach.

After being here in Denver for 5 years my risk paid off with me being well insulated not only in the tech and VC arena but the food scene as well.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As someone who grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, I learned and followed the footsteps of the ones who came before me. I pride myself on being true to who I am and connecting with people who share the same values and mindset. I am passionate about the business I am building and look forward to carving a lane in the industry we are disrupting. I look to connect and collaborate with like minded individuals who aspire to do great things in life. I am proud of the path I have paved for myself despite the ups and downs and look forward to what’s to come in the future!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

We made 2 pivots during my time here one being a marketplace to now a subscription based model. We constantly followed the trends in the market where we could find product market fit.

The marketplaces in the sneaker industry were very saturated and we were able to reinvent our business to be unique and unlike anything in the space today.

As for career/life, I have always taken risks and always worked on my business while working in corporate America, logging 10 hour days usually. Sometimes mored depending on the fires I had to put out.

I always find time to work on the business and take any risk necessary to grow my business at the expense of my professional career.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I was part of a fraternity and it was my senior year, we had lost our roommate and only had 3 weeks to backfill the room or else we would’ve been liable for the rent.

One of my 5 roommates said that he met some cool guy names JR who was looking to rent a room and had a job, 18 credits and would barely be home.

Fast forward a few days later, JR came to the house and we found alot of synergy in being from the same area and knowing some of the same friends in our inner circle. That coupled with our love for sports, sneakers and food made for a great friendship that has blossomed to what it is today.

Upon graduating Chapman University in 2015, 6 months after we graduated i was working for a startup as a CFO and he found a job ajacent to the building I was working in. We would meet during lunch and talk. A month later he asked if he could come over and pitch me an idea.

Can remember it like it was yesterday, he said what if there was a business that was Tinder for sneakers, I laughed and said tell me more. Being that I played football and was a sneaker-head I knew that day it would be a business that would revolutionize the space. That spiraled into us building a marketplace for sneakers and 2-3 months later quit my job, 9yrs later we are still kicking and pushing thank the man upstairs.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.viafunnelcake.com
• Instagram: viafunnelcake
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/viafunnelcake/
• Other: Tik tok : Viafunnelcake