Venture Capital & Private Equity Episodes

Scot Lowry — Managing Partner and Co-Founder of PromiseONE Companies Scot is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of PromiseONE Companies, a Cleveland-based investment firm that helps purpose-driven entrepreneurs acquire and g...

Today’s episode was recorded live at Ohio VC Fest, where I hosted a panel on AI, joined by an incredible group of investors, including: Peggy Roberts , Managing Partner at The Riverside Company ; Candice Matthews Brackeen , F...

Craig Newmark is the founder of Craigslist and someone whose work has shaped the modern internet as we know it. Long before Craigslist became one of the most enduring, important, and frequented platforms on the web, long befo...

Brad DeHays — Founder and CEO of Connect Real Estate and Connect Housing Blocks. Brad’s journey spans from buying small distressed properties while still in college to leading one of the most ambitious housing manufacturing p...

Chaya Slain is the Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Virtera Partners. After studying mathematics at Columbia University, she discovered her deeper interest in investing at Goldman Sachs. After several years...

On this special episode of Lay of the Land, I’m joined—for the first time—by the two co-founders of The O.H.I.O. Fund, Mark Kvamme and Ray Leach, as well as the fund’s two founding partners, Jill Meyer and Mike Venerable, to ...

Dale Wollschleger is the Founder and former CEO of Cleveland-based ExactCare Pharmacy and the developer of the ExactPack™—a patient-specific medication packaging system designed to simplify complex medication regimens. This O...

TJ Dembinski is the co-founder and CEO of Eagle Electronics, dedicated to on-shoring America’s critical technology supply chain, starting with the IoT and automotive-grade cellular modules! This journey traces a fascinating a...

Blake Squires began his journey in the mid-90s in Los Angeles, capitalizing early on the convergence of technology and media. He soon returned to his hometown of Cleveland to co-found Everstream with Steve McHale (episode 196...

Andy Tran has lived more lives than just about anyone I know. He’s a serial entrepreneur who has started multiple businesses across industries, including tech, ammunition manufacturing, defense contracting, and tequila, among...

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Lay of The Land podcast. Today, we're doing something a bit different as I take on the role of guest on other podcasts to discuss recent developments in my journey and offer a glimpse...

Hanna Kassis — founder @ Babylon Asset Management — who has deployed over $1.5 billion in capital throughout his career in alternative lending.Starting with Tim Ryan's congressional campaign in Youngstown, Hanna went on to build OAREX Capital Markets while still in law school, securing seed fun…

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Lay of The Land podcast. Today, we're doing something a bit different as I take on the role of guest on other podcasts to discuss recent developments in my journey and offer a glimpse...

Andrew Rising, CEO of Encore Ventures Labs. As someone who believes deeply in the opportunity for Cleveland’s future, I find Andrew’s journey to be an inspiring and optimisitc one… …Deeply rooted in the heart of Cleveland’s w...

Laura Bennett and Alex Krooglik, co-founders of Embrace Pet Insurance, which was sold in 2023 for $1.5 billion to JAB Holding Company. The duo founded Embrace Pet Insurance after graduating from Penn’s Wharton School of Busin...

Fred DiSanto, Chairman and CEO of Ancora — the Cleveland-based investment firm with nearly $10B in assets under management and over 100 employees — which he’s led since 2006! Before Ancora, Fred had an expansive investing car...

Jack Greco, co-founder and former CFO and COO of ACV Auctions, a Buffalo-based wholesale online marketplace for cars (ACV Auctions went public in 2021 and is currently valued at approximately $3 billion dollars) Now an active...

Michael Sirpilla, co-founder and CEO of Society Brands. Under Michael’s leadership as CEO, Society Brands has raised $205 million in capital to continue their rapid consolidation in the e-commerce sector with many completed a...

Stewart A. Kohl is Co-CEO of The Riverside Company — a $14 billion global private equity firm founded to invest in premier companies at the smaller end of the middle market, with headquarters in Terminal Tower in Tower City h...

Bill Manby, Founding & Managing Partner at Interstate Fusion Ventures. An entrepreneur at heart, Bill grew up in NEO and has always been passionate about working every day to make his home better through investments, philanth...

Michael Goldberg, Executive Director of the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship, as well as an Associate Professor of Design and Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management at CWRU where he teaches courses on entrepre...

Brendan Anderson and Donnie Bedney on their work at ScaleCo — a Cleveland-based entrepreneurship-through-acquisition organization that has invested more than $165 million in over 20 regional companies. In our conversation tod...

Lay of The Land's conversation today is with Brian Folmer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Brian has boomeranged back to Cleveland after 6 years in NYC and starting his own company. Brian is the founder of FirstLook.vc and Dist...

Dr. Elad Granot — Dean of John Carroll University’s Boler College of Business, co-founder and managing member of an early-stage technology Venture Capital fund, and advisor to a $450mm VC fund — on what Cleveland can learn from Startup Nation and Elad’s time in Israel, the role of academia in foste…