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.
Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland, on running for office and his vision to modernize city government.
Matt Buder Shapiro — co-founder and chief marketing officer of MedPilot — on building and growing his company specifically in Cleveland which has helped over 1 million patients better understand and resolve their medical expenses. Matt Shapiro is a co-
Dan Whalen (VP of design and development @ Harbor Bay) on INTRO — Cleveland’s first and America’s tallest mass timber project located at Market Square in the heart of Ohio City in the shadow of the historic West Side Market.
Bob Sopko is the director of Case Western’s LaunchNet focused on helping students and alumni build startups and supporting their entrepreneurial efforts. Bob is also an entrepreneur-in-residence at Youngstown Business Incubator where he mentors early-stage technology companies.