Raquel Barrett is a dynamic entrepreneur and leader known for her expertise in e-commerce, technology, and operations. As one of the co-founders of FUNBOY, a leading leisure and lifestyle brand, Raquel has played a pivotal role in shaping the brand's success. Driven by an innate passion for problem solving and a keen understanding of consumer behavior, Raquel has always been at the forefront of adopting new technology and e-commerce strategies. Before co-founding FUNBOY, she served as the Head o...
Oct 17, 2023•44 min•Season 17Ep. 7
Alessya Visnjic is the CEO of WhyLabs , the AI Observability company building tools that power robust and responsible AI deployment. Prior to WhyLabs, Alessya was a CTO-in-residence at the Allen Institute for AI, where she evaluated commercial potential for the latest AI research. Earlier, Alessya spent 9 years at Amazon leading ML initiatives, including forecasting and data science platforms. Alessya is also the founder of Rsqrd AI , a global community of 1,000+ AI practitioners who are committ...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 17Ep. 6
Gaurav Oberoi is the CEO and co-founder of Lexion. He started his career as an engineer at Amazon, before moving on to found and sell two startups (BillMonk, and Precision Polling), and build a $20M+ ARR business from $0 as a VP of Product at SurveyMonkey. Gaurav co-founded Lexion as the first EIR at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. He thrives on building products that customers love, with diverse teams that enjoy working together. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 17Ep. 5
John Case brings nearly three decades of industry leadership in cloud services, software product management, marketing, partner sales, digital promotion, and brand development to his role as CEO of Acumatica. Before joining Acumatica, John served as president and CEO of Unify Square, a leading provider of operations and performance management software and cloud-managed services. He also spent 16 years at Microsoft in a variety of executive-level positions, including corporate vice president of O...
Aug 29, 2023•56 min•Season 17Ep. 4
Walter Berger currently serves as President and Co-CEO as well as a director of Kymeta Corporation. Under his leadership, the company successfully released its second-generation product and broadband service, improving performance through an integrated WAN device providing seamless satellite and cellular communications, accelerating Kymeta's global market penetration. Walter has served on several public boards including REG a renewal energy company and private boards including Sirius Computer So...
Aug 15, 2023•57 min•Season 17Ep. 3
Hope Cochran is currently a Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group. Previously, she served as the CFO of King Digital, the creators of Candy Crush. At King, she not only led the company through an IPO and acquisition to Activision but also became a rockstar Candy Crush player. Prior to that she was the CFO of Clearwire through its sale to Sprint in 2013 and was the founder of her own company, SkillsVillage which she went on to sell to PeopleSoft. In 2013 Fortune named her to the top 10 Most ...
Aug 01, 2023•59 min•Season 17Ep. 2
Derek Streat is the Co-founder and CEO of DexCare, a data-driven intelligence company that makes healthcare access better for everyone. He is an accomplished healthcare technology entrepreneur and executive, having co-founded and/or led six venture-backed companies including three in health tech and four acquired by public companies. Prior to joining Providence as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence to commercialize DexCare, Derek served as Vice President of Digital Solutions at Johnson & Johnson a...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 17Ep. 1
Kris Engskov is the Co-Founder & CEO of Rippl, a venture-backed start-up redefining the next generation of mental health for seniors. Leveraging a value-based approach, disruptive technology, and a relentless focus on empowering its clinicians, Rippl is pioneering a new care model to dramatically expand access to high-quality, wrap-around mental and behavioral healthcare for seniors, their families, and caregivers. Most recently, Kris served as President of Aegis Living, one of the nation’s ...
Jul 05, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 16Ep. 12
Mo Afshar is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pipe17 - Bringing the power of modern enterprise software to the e-commerce marketplace. Previously, he was CEO of Spoken Communications which was acquired by Avaya and served in various positions at Oracle. Over his fourteen years at Oracle, he built and managed multi-billion-dollar businesses. Mo is an advisor to several venture and private equity firms. He was educated in the UK and attended Cambridge University for his Ph.D. in Computer Science. See omn...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 16Ep. 11
Grant Ries is the CEO of Deep Sync, a leading data and technology company in the marketing industry. Before Deep Sync, Grant was a member of the executive leadership team at Liveramp, where he continues serving as a strategic advisor. During his time at the company, he held several roles, including CEO of Liveramp B2B, as well as running the following businesses: Data, Marketplace, Advanced TV, and most recently as the Executive VP of Emerging Markets. Grant joined Liveramp through the acquisiti...
Jun 06, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 16Ep. 10
In this episode of the What Fuels You Podcast, Shauna talks with T.A. McCann, managing director at Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio and venture capital firm. They discuss T.A.'s background in sailing, winning the America’s Cup , swimming, his successful career in startups, and his tips for staying healthy and productive. This episode covers topics such as entrepreneurship, validation of startup ideas, time management, and health and human performance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 16Ep. 9
Craig Unger is the Founder and CEO of Hyperproof, a security assurance and compliance operations platform transforming the way you manage and do the work. Craig is an expert in building technology businesses and teams. Prior to founding Hyperproof, Craig founded Azuqua and was a leader at Microsoft where he led the development of Microsoft Dynamics and Access. He has 30 years of experience building software used around the world. Craig loves technology and he is addicted to designing software th...
May 09, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 16Ep. 8
Stephanie Sprangers is the Founder and CEO of Glamhive, the online personal styling service that brings expert personal stylists and makeup artists - recruited directly from Hollywood and Instagram - to everyone. Stephanie is a lifetime style-seeker and tech executive turned entrepreneur. With vast experience in the affiliate marketing and digital rewards space, she launched Glamhive as a place for the average consumer to share images of their outfits and get rewarded for the purchases they driv...
Apr 25, 2023•54 min•Season 16Ep. 7
Nicole Alvino is the Founder and CEO of Firstup, a leading enterprise SaaS company in workforce engagement and intelligence. She is a passionate entrepreneur making millions of global employees more supported and productive and enterprise customers – including 40 of the Fortune 100 – more agile with workforce intelligence. Previously, was the Founder and CEO of Dermalounge and started her career at Enron where she learned important lessons about how to lead authentically and transparently. She r...
Apr 11, 2023•59 min•Season 16Ep. 6
Dave Cole is the CEO and Co-Founder of Open Raven, a Kleiner Perkins-backed post-series B company focused on reimagining data security for the modern era. He also started the Security Voices podcast as a sponsorless show focused on highlighting the diverse people and perspectives in cybersecurity. Dave’s fingerprints are visible across the cybersecurity industry from his 26 years of working as a leader in consulting (at Deloitte and ISS), enterprise products (at Foundstone, CrowdStrike, and Tena...
Mar 28, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 16Ep. 5
Katherine Sizov is the CEO and Co-Founder of Strella, a biosensing hardware and software company that provides data to optimize the produce supply chain and decrease losses due to food waste. She started the company when she read that 40% of food was wasted before being consumed. Now, Strella has helped Washington state apple and pear growers organize their inventory based on shelf life to reduce food waste and improve the overall quality. Katherine studied molecular biology at the University of...
Mar 14, 2023•43 min•Season 16Ep. 4
Dr. Grin Lord is a clinical psychologist and AI empathy innovator. She is the founder/CEO of mpathic.ai - AI empathy at scale - and of Therapists in Tech, a collaborative of 3k+ digital mental health experts who are defining the digital mental health revolution together. Grin was previously the Chief Clinical Officer of Lyssn.io, a Clinical Product Psychologist at Youper.ai, and a Research Scientist at the University of Washington where she studied the key ingredients in conversation that make t...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 16Ep. 3
Dr. Daniela Braga is the Founder and CEO of Defined.ai, one of the fastest-growing startups in the AI space. She has been the recipient of several awards, including the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Pacific Northwest 2020 Award, #27 Deloitte Fast 500 2020 (#1 in the Pacific Northwest region); #27 in Inc.5000 in 2020, and Goldman Sachs Most Intriguing 100 Entrepreneurs in 2021. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network as a Tech Pioneer and AI Expert in WEF Davos 2022. She’s...
Feb 14, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 16Ep. 2
John DeFeo is the President and CEO of Rapid NanoSensor, Inc and President of Venture Advisors, LLC. Previously, he served as the Chairman, President, and CEO of CoCo Communications. John is a seven-time CEO with more than 40 years of leadership experience in strategic planning, marketing and sales, customer care, six-sigma, lean manufacturing, and product & business development. His experience touches nearly every facet of telecommunications and medical device industries. He has extensive e...
Jan 31, 2023•56 min•Season 16Ep. 1
Vishal Sunak is the Founder and CEO of LinkSquares, the company behind the fastest-growing AI-powered contracting platform for legal teams. LinkSquares is trusted by more than 800 legal teams at mid-to-large companies, including Commvault, Fitbit, and Wayfair, to move their businesses forward faster. Vishal was named to Boston Business Journal’s 2022 40 Under 40 list, honoring the Boston area’s young professionals who are achieving the most in their careers and giving back to the community. Link...
Jan 17, 2023•50 min•Season 15Ep. 12
Allison Arzeno is the CEO of Assurance, which helps people choose the best insurance products for themselves. As CEO, Allison leads the company’s strategy to scale and drive growth while staying true to its original mission of building a better insurance solution for the mass market. Allison joined Assurance in 2017 as a chief data scientist, then became president in 2020 and CEO in 2021. She is passionate about using data science to help people address life’s most important challenges and teach...
Jan 04, 2023•48 min•Season 15Ep. 11
Manik Suri is the Founder and CEO of Therma, a technology startup whose mission is to help protect our food, health, and planet. Therma builds smart cooling technologies to reduce emissions and improve grid resilience of distributed energy resources through refrigeration to help power the grid across food and healthcare industries. Manik is an expert on climate and refrigeration and has been speaking at international climate events like The New York Times Climate Hub at COP26, GreenBiz VERGE Ele...
Nov 30, 2022•59 min•Season 15Ep. 10
Kristen Bauer is the CEO of Laird Norton Wealth Management (LNWM) and has more than two decades of experience in private wealth management, financial services, and business management. Before joining LNWM, Kristen was a senior leader at Tiedemann Advisors serving as Managing Director for the Pacific Northwest. She also served as CFO, Chief Business Development Officer, Chief Client Service Officer, and then President of Threshold Group. Kristen graduated from the University of Washington Foster ...
Nov 15, 2022•49 min•Season 15Ep. 9
Kirill Makharinsky is the Founder and CEO of Enki, the company that helps teams with adoption of business intelligence and data tools. Previously, he co-founded Emerging Travel Group (including the brands RateHawk & ZenHotels) a profitable OTA with net annual revenues of over $100M, and Quid, a leading research and analysis tool for strategy teams with revenues of over $50M. In addition to his entrepreneurial ventures, he is an angel investor in Calm, AngelList, Opencare, and more. See omnys...
Nov 01, 2022•46 min•Season 15Ep. 8
Greg Schwartz is the CEO and co-founder of Tomo, leading the company in its mission to make buying a home as enjoyable as living in one, by providing an intuitive platform with empathic experts. Prior to Tomo, Greg was part of the executive leadership team at Zillow Group. As president of media and marketplace, he led sales, business strategy, product development and customer service across the company’s Premier Agent, real estate, rental, mortgage, and new construction marketplaces. Before join...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 15Ep. 7
Megan Jasper currently works for Sub Pop Records as the label's CEO. She started working for Sub Pop in 1989 and eventually went back to the label in 1998. Before working at Sub Pop she was the Northwest Sales Representative (for five years) for Alternative Distribution Alliance, a music company that distributes mostly independent music to retailers in the US. Megan has also volunteered for numerous non-profits, served on the Board of Directors for SCBWI for four years, volunteered and served on...
Oct 04, 2022•59 min•Season 15Ep. 6
Lisa Gersh is an experienced operating executive and public company board member, having been the CEO of multiple companies and currently serving on three public company boards. Most recently, Lisa was the CEO of the fashion brand, Alexander Wang. Prior to that, Lisa served as the CEO of Goop, Inc. (a lifestyle brand founded by Gwyneth Paltrow) and was the President and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. In 2000, Lisa co-founded Oxygen Media with Geraldine Laybourne and served as its P...
Sep 20, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 15Ep. 5
Nancy Xiao is the CEO at Mason, where she is responsible for day-to-day company leadership as well as driving its next stage of innovation. She previously served as the President of Mason–overseeing the company’s meteoric growth both in terms of company expansion and platform adoption. A mobile technology and hardware industry nerd, Nancy has undertaken complex challenges, from pushing the boundaries of VR to enabling companies to build their own smart hardware product lines. Prior to Mason, Nan...
Sep 06, 2022•56 min•Season 15Ep. 4
Matt Ehrlichman is the CEO, Chairman, and founder of Porch Group, a Seattle-based vertical software platform for the home. Porch’s mission is to help home services companies grow and through these relationships to help make the home simple, from moving to maintenance and everything in between. Prior to founding Porch, Matt created his first technology startup, Thriva, in his dorm room at Stanford University, where he also received his Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Engineering and Master...
May 31, 2022•53 min•Season 15Ep. 3
Poppy MacDonald is the President of USAFacts, the non-partisan, non-profit civic initiative, and source for well-visualized data on the American people and how we are doing as a nation – leading an effort to help Americans ground their democratic debate in facts. Previously, Poppy served as president and chief operating officer of POLITICO USA; President, publisher, and chief revenue officer of the National Journal, as well as executive director of business development at POLITICO Pro, overseein...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 15Ep. 2
