Whether you're a tech founder or a non-tech founder, you need help to successfully scale a startup. Our guest, Software Engineer turned “The Mary Poppins of Startups”, Naily Makangu, is passionate about bringing her multi-faceted toolkit to lead complex software projects and launch products. With over ten years of experience, she has a proven track record of turning around struggling technical projects and organizations, from seed startups to large corporations such as Siemens Industry Software....
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Fostering connection among employees and company leaders is hard enough to do within brick and mortar walls. Building company culture and forging employee relationships without the four walls is a challenge many companies are failing at today. Our guest, Dave Wilkin, is an award-winning serial LGBTQ+ entrepreneur who grew up in a small, rural town, and experienced firsthand that mentors and meaningful connections were critical to accessing career-progressing and skills development opportunities....
Jun 13, 2023•54 min•Ep. 288
You are not built to do life alone. But how do you get the real support you need to navigate the real life events you’re sailing through? This delicious conversation on the Startup Life Show is with Tamar Blue - the fab female co-founder of MentalHappy – an online health platform that provides access to peer support and group therapy, especially for people of low-income, underrepresented populations, and people living in rural areas. What I especially loved about this conversation was how Tamar’...
Jun 09, 2023•53 min•Ep. 286
Less than 2% of Venture Capital funds go to Women and Minority Owned Businesses. Our guest, Professor Banu Ozkazanc-Pan, is the Founder and Director of the Venture Capital Inclusion Lab at the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship at Brown University. With $260,000 in funding from the Kauffman Foundation, Banu launched the lab to investigate WHY this abysmal under 2% number exists and find ways to solve it. During our delicious conversation we dove deep into the data pool to learn what Banu and her...
May 30, 2023•55 min•Ep. 286
Our guest, Tonia Jahshan, was recovering from a difficult time in her life when she had her first cup of tea… and it was love at first sip. You will be inspired by her startup story and will love hearing how she built her direct sales wellness drink empire to extraordinary heights, by building a thriving, committed community, one sip at a time. Tonia is the founder of Sipology, a multi-million dollar direct sales company selling wellness drinks and accessories. Tonya founded Sipology after suffe...
May 26, 2023•59 min•Ep. 285
Veleké Brown is dedicated to addressing food insecurity through a program focused on ensuring access to fresh produce for those in underrepresented communities and creating systems of sustainable agriculture. It's called Operation No Food Gap, and it's changing lives through learning how to grow and harvest and eat fresh produce, while ending food insecurity in marginalized neighborhoods. Veleké dives deep into her decades experience as the non-profit founder of E-Roadmap, a 501c3 nonprofit that...
May 23, 2023•56 min•Ep. 284
Bootstrapping is how many newly minted founders launch their startup. Using their own savings and borrowing capability to get their business off the ground. However, lack of funding can cause a founder to freeze, to get caught in a mindset chokehold that prevents them from moving forward... from seeing solutions. How do you get unstuck? Our guest, Tiana Sanchez, is the queen of dissolving mindset blocks that keep folks from achieving their dreams. AND… she shares outstanding advice and pathways ...
May 16, 2023•57 min•Ep. 283
Everyone’s chatting about ChatGPT, but how does one successfully leverage this AI to grow a startup? Without increasing the work load, distracting your engineers, disrupting the work flow and causing headaches for founders? Our guest, Shanif Dhanani, is here to help! He’s the founder of Locusive, where he and his team help businesses understand and build systems that connect their internal and proprietary systems to ChatGPT, enabling internal employees, customers, and other stakeholders to reap ...
May 12, 2023•48 min•Ep. 282
It takes a considerable amount of courage, purpose, resilence and tenacity to bring a Micro Mobility (scooter-bike!) startup to life! With an entrepreneurial spirit that was evident from a young age, our guest – Emil Nnani - took the business world by storm when he launched his first venture at just 17 years old. His tenacity and vision led him to achieve his first million in sales by the age of 22. A serial and seasoned entrepreneur, Emil takes us on a wonderful journey through his earlier busi...
May 09, 2023•57 min•Ep. 281
Leveraging LinkedIn as a Startup Founder is a different strategy than when you were an employee. You need to build your authority as the leader of your new business, while appealing to potential investors, business partners and talent. Our guest, Donna Serdula, is a leading authority on LinkedIn profile optimization. As the founder and president of Vision Board Media, a professional branding company, Donna helps individuals and companies tell their unique stories on LinkedIn and beyond. Via her ...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 278
Knowing when to form and build a Board of Directors is a challenge for many startup founders. Once the Board is formed, how to manage and communicate with the Board presents an additional burden on founders. Our guest, Mahendra Ramsinghani, co-authored Startup Boards: Getting the Most of Your Board of Directors with Brad Feld, and has all the insights and advice you need to skillfully navigate this important segment of your startup’s structure. Currently, Mahendra is the Founder of Secure Octane...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 279
With 20+ years working for the post office, our guest had a dream to one day own her own postal store with the ability to individualize customer service and provide guidance. In the spring of 2019 that dream came true when Tiffany Townsend founded Ship Black, a logistics super center focused on serving black owned e-commerce businesses. Ship Black is a one-stop-shop for startup businesses. It provides fulfillment services, education, and guidance in the customer service realm to elevate its cust...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 278
Social media strategies often leave you feeling like you're working for the social media platforms. Our guest and his team built an AI solution that helps make social media actually work for you and your business. Rhys Ryan, is the Co-Founder, CEO and Chief Engineer of Ekkobar, an AI solution giving you control over social media and the narrative you want to tell. Ekkobar uses social listening to keep an eye on the conversation and lets you know if anything needs immediate attention. There’s als...
Apr 18, 2023•58 min•Ep. 277
April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Our guest, Rajia Abdelaziz, is the Co-Founder and CEO of invisaWear, the best safety jewelry and fashion accessories technology on the market. From her own personal experience, Rajia understands how important it is to feel safe. She was walking to her car after an event at college, when a car full of guys pulled up next to her, yelling frightening comments at her, and when one of the guys started to get out to take action, Rajia was able to...
Apr 14, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 273
To be their best selves, both professionally and personally, women need time in a welcoming space and place. Our guest, Shubhi Rao, spent years as a senior executive at Fortune 100 companies and understands how important women-centric spaces are for professional and personal growth. That’s why she launched Uplevyl, a global digital platform designed to transform the lives of all professional women through shared experiences, peer connections, and highly curated, personalized content. A software ...
Apr 04, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 275
Having a Mentor is an essential part of career growth, especially for the under-networked tech worker. Our guest, Kirk Fernandes, is the Co-Founder of Merit, a tech mentorship and recruiting platform for the under-networked. Merits mission is to democratize the professional network by giving every knowledge worker in the world a world class network. With 6,000 members, the majority of which are women and people of color, Merit is is self funded by its community and team. Kirk has a decade of pro...
Mar 31, 2023•59 min•Ep. 274
Bootstrapping your startup without relying on raising capital and loans is an ideal strategy, especially given the current investor and banking landscape. Our guest, Melissa Widner, has the best advice to help you launch and build your startup, without raising capital. She’s the CEO of Lighter Capital, the pioneer and leader in revenue-based financing for tech startups, founders, and companies. Previously, Melissa was the Managing Director of NAB Ventures, the VC arm of the National Australia Ba...
Mar 28, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 273
40 million drivers can't transition to electric vehicles without an affordable and convenient EV charging infrastructure. Increasing access to affordable public charging not only encourages the adoption of EVs, but leads to cleaner air and healthier communities. Our guest, Tiya Gordon, is Co-Founder and COO of itselectric, a cleantech startup bringing EV charging to the millions of drivers who cannot charge at home as they park their cars on city streets. itselectric does this by overcoming city...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 273
When people are given the opportunity to take someone else’s point of view - walk a mile in someone else’s shoes - bias against stigmatized groups is reduced. Our guest, Aubrey Grant, MD, is the Co-Founder and Chief Equity Officer of Equity Commons, where he and the team are integrating a unique blend of cross-disciplinary research, cutting edge technology, and established discussion-based learning to bring organizations highly effective and engaging approaches to address the complexities of imp...
Mar 17, 2023•59 min•Ep. 268
He had zero experience in the liquor industry. He didn’t have a background as a food scientist. He knew no one, had no connections, and had never worked in a bar, restaurant, or distillery. What our guest, Jackie Summers, did have was an abundance of audacity, passion, and the ideal Mentor, who helped him quickly build the social capital and liquor industry knowledge he needed to launch a liqueur brand from Brooklyn, NY! After 623 failed attempts, Jackie was able to create the first-ever shelf s...
Mar 14, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 267
Innovation is often inspired by biomimicry - the design and production of materials modeled on biological entities. Our guest, Sissi Liu, is passionate about solving complex societal problems with cutting-edge technology, and she was inspired by the metalmark butterfly for her innovative new product. After nearly 20 years in clean tech/sustainability, entrepreneurship, and venture investing, Sissi co-founded Metalmark Innovations to tackle air quality and climate change challenges. Metalmark Inn...
Mar 10, 2023•53 min•Ep. 269
Many parents are seeking ways to give their children a better head start financially in life. Our guest, Ksenia Yudina, is a chartered financial analyst, a Mom, and the Founder and CEO of UNest, an app that empowers parents to easily invest and save for their kids’ future. After coming to the U.S. from Russia at 18, Ksenia took on $180,000 in debt to pay for college. She quickly realized that many other graduates were strapped with debt and saw a need for a more accessible savings vehicle than t...
Mar 07, 2023•59 min•Ep. 268
Research shows that aligning company and personal purpose improves productivity, retention, and overall wellness in the workplace. Greg Sloan, CFP®, CEPA, CPMTM, is the Chief Purpose Officer and Co-Founder of Go Beyond, a talent development company that leverages behavioral science and technology to help companies attract, engage, and grow their people. Go Beyond has humanized and gamified the purpose discovery process for both company and worker. Their SaaS platform includes on-demand videos, s...
Mar 03, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 267
How does one take a brilliant expertise and turn it into a thriving, profitable B2B tech platform serving thousands of paying customers? Our guest, Lee Rubin, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Confetti, a young, well-funded startup helping companies create memorable, easy-to-plan experiences that inspire dynamic workplaces, encourage healthier offices, and motivate happier, more holistic teams. Today Confetti is loved by 2,500+ businesses such as Google, Facebook, Spotify, and many other startups, fi...
Feb 28, 2023•57 min•Ep. 266
Supporting and funding entrepreneurs is a terrific way to accelerate economic development in a community. Our guest, Ian Cain, is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of QUBIC Labs, a startup incubator and innovation hub focused on helping entrepreneurs and innovators to develop world-class companies to serve businesses, governments, and people. QUBIC Labs is located in Quincy, MA – the birthplace of many famous founders and innovators: from John Adams and John Hancock to Howard Johnson’s ice c...
Feb 21, 2023•59 min•Ep. 265
Founders – you work so hard to be prepared for investors' questions during your pitch presentations. But are you qualifying those investors? Your time is valuable, and you need to minimize the chance of wasting your time with investors who will not invest in your startup. Our guest, Alex Iskold, is a 4x founder, a software engineer, an investor in over 150 startups, and the Founder and a Managing Partner at 2048 Ventures, where he leads pre-seed rounds, backs visionary founders who are creating ...
Feb 17, 2023•57 min•Ep. 261
Karen Lee is on a mission to reimagine e-commerce for beauty lovers by providing a trusted market place for buying and rehoming new beauty products. Glou Beauty is empowering beauty lovers to become more conscious consumers, pushing against an industry that encourages over-consumption. As the first consumer-to-consumer re-commerce marketplace for beauty, Glou enables consumers to easily buy and sell makeup, skincare, and beauty products. The platform is an environmentally friendly option as it b...
Feb 14, 2023•1 hr 1 min
You don’t have to come up with a terrific idea to become an entrepreneur. You can buy and scale an already established business! Our guest, Allegra Stennett, is the Co-Founder of New Majority Capital, an impact investing firm that addresses the racial and gender wealth gaps in the United States by providing training and capital for BIPOC and women entrepreneurs to buy and scale existing small businesses. Prior to launching NMC, Allegra completed an MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management and an Ed...
Feb 10, 2023•53 min•Ep. 262
Helping schools help students is a mission that began in Alyse Maslonik's childhood. From living in a domestic abuse shelter to creating a self-funded business that now raises millions of dollars for under-privileged children, Alyse has experienced it all. At age 21, with a measly $63 dollars to her name, she packed up everything she owned and set out on a journey to change her life. By the age of 23, she was managing a multi-million-dollar property asset in Charlotte, NC and went on to become o...
Feb 07, 2023•54 min•Ep. 261
The chemical industry has become the third largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, with more than half of its resources ending up in waste streams. Our guest, Daniela Blanco, Co-Founder & CEO of Sunthetics, is solving this global problem by making the chemical industry more sustainable by helping it fast-track innovation, which leads to better materials and more efficient processes. Daniela obtained her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from New York University (2020). At Sunthetics, sh...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 260
