Venture Backed Episodes

Lay of The Land's conversation today is with Artur Grabowski — co-founder of Extendify. Artur emigrated from Poland to the Cleveland area at the age of 8 — where he later attended Case Western and got exposure working both wi...

Jan Jenson — Ph.D., CEO/CSO/Founder of Trailhead Biosystems — on the basics of cell differentiation and development biology, and the vast implications that unlocking industrialized manufacturing of specialized human cells can have for regenerative medicine

Aaron George — Founder/CEO of SupplyNow — on building the on-demand wholesale grocery delivery market for foodservice and his journey as an immigrant founder working as Global Entrepreneur in Residence with Global Cleveland

Steve Santamaria — CEO of Folio Photonics — on innovating storage media and the future of storage technology, the opportunity ahead for Folio Photonics, Cleveland's entrepreneurial ecosystem, and reflections on leadership!

Kris Snyder — founder of Vox Mobile and Impact Architects & Head of Finance and Partnerships at Ninety.io — on working with entrepreneurial leaders to create impact and pursue a world where small and medium organizations and their employees can become more humane, productive and resilient in order …

Leopoldo Peña — Co-Founder & CEO of Presta ($3.3 million raised) — on startups, his passion for expanding access to those who historically haven't had it, Cleveland's ecosystem, and the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurship — from failures to acquisitions.

Dallas Hogensen — CEO of Felux ($24mm raised) — on marketplaces, importance of culture, and creating the world’s largest operating platform and marketplace to help solve commerce for the steel industry.

William (Billy) Littlefield II — President & CTO of Wizest — on Wizest's (recently raised $1.7mm) vision to democratize access to financial expertise to his own path to Cleveland, to digital normadacy, philosophy, and more!

Dr. Chelsea Monty-Bromer — founder & CEO of SweatID (aka RooSense) — on bridging the academic-entrepreneurial gap, the implications of bio-electrochemical interfaces, building a company capitalizing on them, and the future of wearables!

Chris Wentz — Founder and CEO of Everykey — on taking an idea at his Case Western entrepreneurship class to building a leading cybersecurity company, offering a patented universal smart key replacing passwords and keys, to consumers, enterprises, and governments alike with a deep commitment to bran…

John Wetzel, Alex Hilleary, Brooks Sime — Co-Founders of Gather — on building a company oriented around a future of work that puts people first and streamlines workflows for People Operations teams, and their journey from inception to acquisition by ChartHop

Patrick M. Howard and Ben Kanelos — founding team of RustBit Studios and creators of the Grip of Madness game — on video games, game design, bringing games to market, and building a gaming studio.

Eugene Malinskiy — Co-Founder and CEO of Lazurite — on the future of the operating rooms, the path to get there, and his first principles systematic approach to solving seemingly impossible healthcare problems!

Tony Pietrocola — Co-Founder & President of AgileBlue — on serial entrepreneurship, technology waves, and cybersecurity.

Jamie Van Doren — Founder & CEO of NeverEnding — on gaming, entertainment, entrepreneurship, pseudonymity, the future of storytelling, and empowering a whole new generation of storytellers!

Ryan Lambacher — Founder & CEO of Graffle — on unlocking the value of NFTs and solving the infrastructure layer for every project built on blockchains.

Ryan Young — Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Fello (formerly FlashHouse) — on the real estate industry today, ins and outs of iBuying, empowering realtors, simplifying the buying and selling of homes, and differentiation in a truly competitive ma

Dr. Daniel German — founder & CEO of orthobrain — on transforming the delivery of orthodontics, solving the global orthodontic skills shortage with technology that puts a virtual orthodontist chairside with every dentist, and making smiles happen!

David Boone Jr. — co-founder and CEO of BlendED — on boomeranging back to Cleveland from Seattle to found and build BlendED, which has raised over $1mm in funding from leading education-technology investors in their mission to bring syllabus and course management into the future.

Scott Colosimo — Founder at Cleveland CycleWerks & LAND Energy — on Cleveland manufacturing, commitment to design, and the future of motorcycles, electric vehicles, and energy distribution!

Stan Garber & Alex Yakubovich — Co-Founders of Scout RFP (now known as Workday Strategic Sourcing) — on serial entrepreneurship and Scout RFP’s journey to acquisition by Workday for $540mm in 2019, where both of them still work leading Workday’s strategy and growth in the source-to-pay space.

Jake Bailosky — CTO & Founder of OnStation (Cleveland-based & closed $1.4mm from Cleveland investors) — on revolutionizing how road workers locate and communicate in the field.

Charlie Lougheed — Co-founder & CEO of Axuall (>$30 million raised) — on serial entrepreneurship, building in Cleveland, and his most recent endeavor, Axuall, an HR data network that empowers providers to manage and share their verified career data and credentials with healthcare organizations.

Dan Collins — Founder & CEO of Wastebits — on building a software waste-management company and bringing technology to the trash industry.