We believe this is one of the best and most valuable podcasts we’ve had the privilege to share. Michele McGough is the founder and CEO of solutions4networks, a professional services and integration company that provides network engineering and network security consulting as well as associated equipment/software to a select client portfolio. She’s been in IT for more than 30 years and has learned a lot of lesssons along the way. In this episode, you’ll hear her discuss retaining the talented peop...
Nov 04, 2019•35 min
Michelle Walters founded Liberty Closet Systems in 1993. The family-owned and operated business serves up custom closet, cabinetry, and storage solutions in Westmoreland County & surrounding areas. Over time, operations have been scaled to meet the demands of over one hundred builders in PA, WV, and Maryland. In 23 years LCS, Inc. has grown from a single designer/installer to a full staff of designers, fabricators, and installers specializing in custom closet design & storage systems. In...
Oct 28, 2019•26 min
James Haluszczak founded SteelBridge Consulting in 2008. The boutique consultancy exclusively focuses on serving as a strategic advisor to Private Equity and Venture Capital fund managers, investors, and administrators. He is also a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SteelBridge Laboratories, which he and his partners founded in 2016 as an investment firm focused on early-stage Fintech companies. James has 20 years of experience in Financial Service operations, finance, and technology roles, and...
Oct 21, 2019•31 min
Austin Webb is leading a startup that aims to upend the food system. How? By using robotics and AI to build and operate highly efficient, commercial-scale urban vertical farms. In late September 2019, his company Fifth Season (originally founded as RoBotany) came out of stealth mode by announcing a $35 million round of funding. With this capital, it plans to build its first commercial-scale indoor vertical farm to be located just outside Pittsburgh, in Braddock. The startup plans to expand into ...
Oct 14, 2019•39 min
Hayden Cardiff is the co-founder and CEO of Idelic. Idelic is a B2B Saas startup that helps trucking companies track data on their fleet & drivers to improve safety. Idelic recently announced a Series A financing round of $8M led by Origin Ventures with participation from TDF Ventures, Birchmere Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and SaaS Venture Capital. Hayden, with cofounders Nick Bartel & Andrew Russell, spun Idelic’s software out of Pitt Ohio, a logistics service firm providing less-t...
Oct 07, 2019•37 min
Denise DeSimone has started & run 9 different companies. Some have been successes, some have been failures, some have fallen in between. In 1998, Denise founded and grew one of her greatest successes, Unicorp where she developed the privately-held technology-based business from the ground floor to over $74 million in revenues. In this conversation, Aaron and Denise discuss where to get good mentorship, how she has changed her service offerings, and the importance of company culture. Pittsbur...
Sep 30, 2019•34 min
Nathan Martin is the founder and CEO of Deeplocal, a Pittsburgh-based marketing agency. The firm is comprised of creative engineers, hired by brands to build interactive experiences. Since spinning Deeplocal out of an art and technology lab at Carnegie Mellon University in 2006, Nathan has become a leader of innovation and invention in advertising, creating custom solutions that are often the world's firsts. In the last decade, Nathan has grown Deeplocal’s portfolio to include advertising work f...
Sep 23, 2019•35 min
Kristy Knichel is a second-generation logistics executive and the president of Knichel Logistics. Prior to leading the company, she led the operations team for 10 years. Kristy has driven a staggering amount of growth for the company. Since its inception, Knichel Logistics has grown from $2 million in revenue to $80 million under Kristy’s leadership. Knichel Logistics is a woman-owned and operated, non asset based third-party logistics provider. In this interview you’ll find out what that means....
Sep 16, 2019•30 min
Çetin Meriçli is the co-founder and CEO of Locomation, a Pittsburgh startup building autonomous trucks. His company is taking a novel approach to the technical challenge by pairing trucks together, instead of building a single truck to stand alone. Locomation has raised more than $5 million from 13 venture investors, including Pittsburgh VC firm Draper Triangle Ventures . Çetin’s team, including 5 co-founders, have been working together for a decade and are aiming to realize the opportunity in t...
Sep 09, 2019•41 min
Ryan Kulp is both a marketer and a programmer. This unique skill set allows him to do things that most entrepreneurs only fantasize about. Ryan constantly builds and ships new products and services on a monthly basis. This gives him the opportunity to experiment and test lots of ideas, seeing which ones stick. He also uses this skill set to buy small technology companies & software products that most private equity firms are forced to overlook. In this uncharted terrain, Ryan uncovers value ...
Sep 02, 2019•43 min
Meredith Meyer Grelli is the co-founder of Wigle Whiskey, the first Pittsburgh distillery since Prohibition. Wigle’s spirits are distributed throughout the country and the distillery has been the most awarded Craft Whiskey Distillery in the US for four straight years. Meredith and her team have followed up the success of Wigle with Threadbare Cider & Mead. In this conversation, Aaron and Meredith discuss what it takes to build a strong team, why they develop so many different product lines, ...
Aug 26, 2019•31 min
The best way to prepare to run your own startup is to learn from one of the best. Ajay Kori got to work under Marc Lore and learn from an eCommerce master before launching his own company. Ajay founded UrbanStems in 2014 to fix a flower delivery industry that was institutionally broken. The company offers same-day, on-demand delivery in New York & DC, while offering nationwide next-day shipping. The company has raised millions of dollars from top VC firms including SWaN & Legend, The Mot...
Aug 19, 2019•33 min
How do you catalyze change within a large organization? Sarah Ahmad shares her insights from in the trenches. Sarah is the senior VP of innovation and transformation strategy for Pittsburgh’s Highmark Health, a national health and wellness organization, and America’s second-largest integrated delivery and financing system. Sarah Ahmad leads Highmark Health’s effort to transform health care by developing innovative health solutions and value-based, high-quality health experiences for their custom...
Aug 12, 2019•34 min
David Passavant is the CEO of Numo, a subsidiary company of PNC Bank. Numo is tasked with funding innovative technologies that can meaningfully move PNC’s business forward. In this conversation, Aaron interviews David about what life is life running a corporate-backed financial technology incubator in Pittsburgh and how David found his way into the role. David has been the CEO of Numo for 2.5 years and has recently launched its first two products. Great episode for anyone interested in corporate...
Aug 05, 2019•30 min
Lily D is an ASMR YouTuber. What does that mean? Listen to the podcast to find out. ASMR helps with anxiety and insomnia. Lily started making ASMR videos in 2013 and has racked up over 65 million views of her videos. In this conversation, Aaron and Lily discuss how she got started, the positive & negative messages she receives, and what the future holds for a brand built around an individual. Never miss one of our best episodes by subscribing to the newsletter . Lily’s Challenge; Try deletin...
Jul 29, 2019•29 min
Dave Nelsen has been a successful CEO in multiple businesses. Two of his startups, CoManage and TalkShoe, raised more than $70 million in angel and venture funding. He has since moved into a full-time speaking career, traveling to country to share his perspective on Social Media for Business and Technology for Executives. In this conversation, Dave and Aaron discuss how Dave went from a large corporation to a startup, where Dave found the ideas for his companies, and how he launched his speaking...
Jul 22, 2019•56 min
Matt Stroud is the co-founder & CEO of Postindustrial Media. His new media startup is aiming to change the tenor of journalism in the Midwest. He’s come a long way since founding a bimonthly magazine, called Deek, out of his basement apartment while enrolled full-time at the University of Pittsburgh. Matt has written short- and long-form journalism for Esquire, Harper’s, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, Politico, The New York Times, and Reuters, and held staff writer positions with the Associated Pre...
Jul 15, 2019•32 min
In the past, magazines like Vogue & GQ were exclusively at the epicenter of fashion and style. They alone could play kingmaker to the tastes, trends, and brands clothing of an entire culture. Today, the influence has been disseminated to a broad swath of creators and media outlets with their own perspective. Jon Shanahan saw this opportunity coming and has staked a claim with his brand, The Kavalier. He started a YouTube channel more than 4 years ago and now creates content full-time reviewi...
Jul 08, 2019•43 min
For half a century, women wore bras that had been designed by men. Sophia Berman knew there had to be a better way. She’s spent that last 3 years launching and growing Trusst Lingerie, a company that has re-engineered the bra for larger-busted women. In this conversation, Aaron and Sophia discuss what she’s learned about running a company, how 3-D printing failed to live up to the hype, and how to develop a product and take customer feedback. Never miss one of our best episodes by subscribing to...
Jul 01, 2019•28 min
We had a guest no-call/no-show. No fun. HP & I made the best of it by recording a podcast reflecting on Piper Creative being 18 months old, our hardest days of the process, and how great our team is. Hope you have a lovely day.
Jun 24, 2019•19 min
Zak Slayback returns to the podcast after a 317 episode hiatus. He’s here because he’s ready to help even more people with his new book, How to Get Ahead . It builds off of Zak’s talk at the 2018 Going Deep Summit where he laid out his framework for building a great career from scratch. Zak is a career building expert and a Principal at Peter Thiel-backed 1517 Fund. He was one of LinkedIn’s most influential voices on education in 2015 and has been published in Newsweek, the New York Examiner, th...
Jun 17, 2019•35 min
Barry Young used to be a pharmacist. Now he makes vodka and rum. In this interview, you’ll hear how Barry transitioned out of corporate life, what makes some vodka better than others, and why he’s so passionate. Barry’s company, Pennsylvania Pure Distilleries, is based in Glenshaw and has been around for about 10 years. Boyd & Blair Potato Vodka was awarded the Chairman’s Trophy from the Ultimate Spirits Challenge - the beverage industry's most coveted award. Never miss one of our best episo...
Jun 10, 2019•35 min
Kurt Schnieders has served as CIO of DICK’S Sporting Goods, L Brands and ING Latin America and worked internationally in corporate America for 35 years. As a steward of digital revolution in large organizations, he has overseen the creation and launch of websites taking in over 1 billion dollars in annual sales. Throughout his career, he has provided executive leadership, business strategy and technology solution delivery across multi-cultural landscapes, working in Dubai, India, Australia, Braz...
Jun 03, 2019•31 min
Ever wonder how bills get passed and how policy gets changed? While elected officials and public servants hold a lot of power, lobbying firms like Wellington Strategies influence the government, too. Joe Kuklis, the founder and president of Wellington Strategies, came on the podcast to talk about how his business works and the challenges of building a lobbying firm. Joe focuses on helping small-to-medium-sized businesses to navigate the government marketplace in Washington and state capitols. Ne...
May 27, 2019•31 min
Yummyholic is a custom cookie & cupcake bakery with distinct, made-to-order designs. Jasmine Cho, the founder, came on Going Deep to discuss her business and how baking can be more creative and therapeutic. She’s learned a lot through launching Yummyholic and you can learn from someone who’s been in the trenches. Jasmine is currently working to pioneer research-based bake therapy by exploring baking as a form of art therapy. Never miss one of our best episodes by subscribing to the newslette...
May 20, 2019•29 min
For the last few decades, “Human Resources” was responsible for getting the most out of workers. This meant optimizing for health plans, salaries, and interpersonal conflict. Claude Silver believes there’s another way. She leads with her heart and emotional optimism. She owns the onboarding, recruitment, retention, and graduation of all the people that come through VaynerMedia. She calls upon 20 years of guiding client relationships, global brand strategies, operations, and management at numerou...
May 13, 2019•25 min
IAM Robotics named a new CEO in August 2018 and closed a $20M Series A that November. How have they managed so much upheaval? I decided to find out directly from Joel Reed Joel is the CEO of IAM Robotics and calls upon 20 years of experience in strategic planning and business development to lead the company’s commercialization of its innovative products. We discuss the fundraising process, how Joel came to join IAM Robotics, and how he recruits technical talent. Joel previously worked to introdu...
May 06, 2019•32 min
You can get your tickets to Going Deep Summit 3.0 here; https://www.eventbrite.com/e/going-deep-summit-30-tickets-60834779463
Apr 29, 2019•33 min
Joe Vennare was the 2nd keynote at the 2019 Going Deep Summit. He shared his story of transitioning from history teacher to serial entrepreneur. It's advice anyone can use. I'm so glad he shared his message at the Summit. We could not have put it on without two of our sponsors. Covalent https://www.wearecovalent.com/ TreeCup https://www.buyateaplantatree.com/...
Apr 22, 2019•29 min
Allen Gannett, the author of The Creative Curve, spoke at the 2019 Going Deep Summit about how to make moments of "creative genius" less random and more intentional. Most people want to know how to be more creative. Allen explains that thoughtful consumption is a key unlock for aspiring creatives. Allen is the founder of TrackMaven and a bestselling author. Here are videos from the Going Deep Summit on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8REcAy3zwEArtRTmEufaQHo4UQ1bjdrZ...
Apr 08, 2019•33 min
