Episodes

AC Evans — co-founder & CEO of Drips — on building the first conversational texting company of its kind, founding a new market category and leading the way for some of the biggest brands in the world to use automated, humanized conversations at scale.

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

Brent Zimmerman — Co-Founder & CEO of Saucy Brew Works — on starting and building one of Ohio’s fastest growing breweries and Cleveland-based brewpubs, now valued at over $100mm.

Shane Bigelow — CEO at CHAMPtitles (Cleveland based with >$17.5 million raised) — on jettisoning antiquated paper-based processes and digitizing the process of vehicle titling.

Kate Volzer — Co-Founder and CEO at Wisr — on helping schools and students connect with each other, innovating with academic institutions, and Wisr’s acquisition to EAB, a key player in the education industry, in March 2021.

Jacob Sheridan — Co-Founder and CEO at TPA Stream — on simplifying healthcare administration challenges, the power of bringing people together, building TPA Stream from idea to business, and innovation in insurance and employee benefits.

Charu Ramanathan, PhD — Co-Founder and CEO at vitalxchange — on healthcare innovation, building & selling CardioInsight (her first startup) to Medtronic for nearly $100 million, serial entrepreneurship, and on the progress and vision for vitalxchange.

David Edelman — CEO & Founder of Thrivable — on building the leading online community for those touched by diabetes (Diabetes Daily), company building, closing their $1.7mm seed round, helping healthcare companies capture the voice of the patient,

Terence McCarron — CEO & Founder of OpinionRoute — on growing his bootstrapped market research and sample firm to 8 figures in revenue, industry dynamics, company culture, and doing it all here in Cleveland!

Lindsay Watson PT, MPT — CEO & Founder of Augment Therapy — on clinician-driven innovation and building Augment Therapy, which leverages augmented reality to engage kids to exercise, to solve the problems she encountered as a practicing pediatric physical therapist.Augment Therapy looks like a …

Jarred & Brandon Smith — co-founders of NOOMA — on going beyond making sports nutrition drinks and building a company that makes an impact on society.

Todd Federman — managing director of North Coast Ventures — on investing in Cleveland-based startups and the larger Cleveland entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Brett Lindsey — CEO of Everstream & Founder of Snip Internet — on the infrastructure of the internet, the future of telecom, and how he’s realizing that future by growing Everstream to over 25,000 route miles of fiber and multiple $100 millions in contract value while simultaneously building Snip I…

Gordon Daily — founder & CEO of BoxCast — on Cleveland entrepreneurship and the future of live streaming off the bat of a $20 million series A and series of strategic acquisitions.

Laura Steinbrink — founder & CEO of Brilliency and managing partner at Emerald Built Environments — on driving environmental change, sustainability initiatives, and bridging the gap between utilities and consumers by giving people access to their own

Ryan Cleary — co-founder & COO of FloatMe — on how they’ve helped save their users over $30mm in fees and boost savings via financial alternatives to the $46 billion overdraft and payday lending industries. Since its founding in 2017, FloatMe has raised over $28mm in funding on its mission to make …

Justin McLoughlin — founder & CEO of airCFO — on building a bootstrapped company, scaling a professional services organization, the future of work, the importance of taking care of your employees, and finance!

Marisa Sergi — founder & CEO of Red Brands & chief growth officer of L'uva Bella Winery — on starting a wine brand from scratch that is now available in over 3,000 stores nationally and acquiring L'uva Bella Winery, the largest wine operation in the state of Ohio.

Tom Lix — founder & CEO of Cleveland Whiskey — on pushing the boundaries of convention while building on tradition to artfully blend science with craft to create unique award-winning Whiskey.

Mac Anderson — co-founder & CMO of Cleveland Kitchen (formerly Cleveland Kraut) — on creating world-class culinary fermented foods for all and how Cleveland Kitchen has grown from a side-hustle at local-Cleveland farmer’s markets to the #1 brand in sauerkraut with distribution at over 9,000 locatio…

Manoj Jhaveri — co-founder & CEO of Hyr Medical — on transforming the healthcare staffing industry by empowering providers to find the best freelance opportunities while simultaneously offering more flexibility for healthcare employers.

Cullen Naumoff — co-founder of Farm Fare — on why local food is better food and how Farm Fare allows family farms to compete in a world built for economies of scale.

Anthony Hughes — co-founder and CEO at Tech Elevator — on their recent acquisition to Stride, the future of education, unlocking people’s potential, and software development.

Brandon Bryant — co-founder and venture partner at Harlem Capital — on investing in companies started by people of color & women with the purpose of changing the face of entrepreneurship.