Eureka Moments Only

Welcome to the Eureka Moments Only Podcast, a show that highlights members of the global entrepreneurship community and breaks down the moments of change that lead to success in business that we like to call eureka moments.Chris Decker kicks off this season with Helen Kontozopoulos, who teaches Product Development, Design, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Toronto. Among Helen's achievements include co-founding the Department of Computer Science Innovation Lab and co-founding ODAIA Intelligence.HIGHLIGHTSHelen on being a startup founderThe process of growing her startupHelen's Vision and MissionThe difference between the academic world and the business worldHelen's eureka momentHelen's role modelsQUOTESHelen: “It's really great being a founder, but it's also very scary. So you kind of kind of have an embrace, and be courageous around the fear you have every day. So that's what I do.”Helen: “My mission is to really kind of educate what it means to have tools at your hands and, and be empowered by them.”Helen: “If you kind of live in a silo, you don't see that there's opportunities out there, you gotta showcase the problems of what's happening in the real world for students to really log on to and find solutions for.”Helen: “It was an aha moment. You beat yourself up a little bit too much. You think you do worse than what you really do. On that stage, I thought I was flopping like I thought I wasn't doing great at all. And then you realize that's not what people are seeing. People want to be your champion. People want to hear you. And people want to see you.”Helen: “I realized if you don't speak your truth and your personality. I'm not the person who is going to try to be someone else. I tried that. Do not do that. Do not try to be somebody else. Do not try to be some person who's supposed to be a startup founder. Be yourself, be the authentic person you are.”Helen: “Just go out and have fun, you know, and be open and experiment with your thinking, experiment with who you are. And help others experiment and be creative.”Connect with Helen and learn more about her with the links below: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/helenissocialWebsite:helenissocial.ca  (Personal Website)HELEN KONTOZOPOULOSodaia.ai  (Company Website)Learn more about Chris and what he's been up to with the links below: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/decker-christopherEmail: christopher@deckerventures.comEureka Fest 2022: “Find the Future” is coming. Featuring 30 speakers and over 50 exhibitors from 15 countries, this will be one of the biggest startup festivals in California. Visit https://www.eurekafest.com to learn more about this amazing event.Tune in to more Eureka Moments from amazing people by subscribing to Eureka Moments Only at https://eureka-moments-only.simplecast.com.Join our free podcasting community today at http://salescast.community.

Join us for a special episode of Eureka Moments Only where we had the chance to sit down with the Founder of Toucan Ventures, Rasha Khawaja. We spoke about embracing creativity in entrepreneurship and explored her formula for coming up with Eureka Moments. Rasha Khawaja is the founder and CEO of Toucan. Rasha's innate desire for knowledge took her to Brown University where she studied Psychiatry and Cognitive Science. Further education followed at both Oxford University and Cambridge University before Rasha started her career at Condé Nast Publications and went on to work at Christie's. These experiences heightened her entrepreneurial drive and after spotting a gap in the market for a way to help creatives get their businesses out in front of influential business luminaries, Toucan was born. Rasha's passion for innovation and nurturing new talent and business continues through her role as a member of the UKBAA, and being an active member of the advisory board of Innovation RCA and the development and strategy board of the ZSL. Outside of the world of Toucan, Rasha is a devoted mother and an adventurous traveller who one day hopes to conquer Kilimanjaro and The Great Wall of China. Rasha is also dedicated to a number of charities and sits on the board of ‘The Playing For Change Foundation', as well as supporting her family's charity, ‘The Said Foundation'. Toucan Ventures were proud to win ‘One to Watch – Best Entrant to the Angel Ecosystem' at the 2016 Angel Investment Awards. Learn more about Rasha and Toucan Ventures here: http://toucanventures.com/

Join us for another episode of the Eureka Moments Only Podcast - today we're speaking with Eric Clement, the Managing Director of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Today we're speaking about how impact investing is creating an anchor in the midst of today's economic storm. Eric is an entrepreneurial executive with a strategic mindset.  He has successfully led transactions and built businesses in North America, Europe and Africa, and his key motivators are identifying how to invest thoughtfully while still generating strong returns. Eric Has managed pools of capital in excess of $500 million, and within these allocations have led strategies encompassing private credit, private equity, and venture capital.  He's played many roles ranging from capital raising and the development of strategic alliances, to the structuring of investments (both direct and alongside private equity and venture capital) with the aim of achieving triple bottom line (i.e. ESG) goals. Most recently, he's built one of the only direct investing platforms within a development finance institution in the country.  Utilizing tax incentives, debt, equity, and other hybrid instruments, we show that government can make socially impactful investments - helping millions of people, while generating attractive returns for the City of New York. 

On this episode, special guest host Nick Kallins interviews pioneer in education, Professor Andrew Stott.  As the former Dean of Undergraduate Education at the University of Southern California Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Stott played a leading role in ensuring that undergraduate programs at USC Dornsife reflect USC's mission of creating the college of the 21st century. Andrew Stott has recently been appointed Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Dean of the Graduate School at USC. He is also a professor of English, the author of four widely-acclaimed books, and the recipient of multiple fellowships. In this episode, Vice Provost Stott highlights the power of a liberal arts education and how it benefits the mind and future of next generation scholars.  Before joining USC, he held the position of Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, repeatedly distinguishing himself for his innovative leadership. His day-to-day activities included overseeing the core undergraduate experience, general education, academic policy, and program approvals. Most notably, Stott designed and implemented the first major overhaul of the university's undergraduate liberal arts curriculum in more than 20 years. This nationally recognized, four-year project bridged all areas of the university's academic enterprise and centered on global citizenship, integrative learning, and high-impact educational practices. 

On this episode of Eureka Moments Only, we sat down with Oscar Winning Producer Nick Reed. Nick is the co-founder of Shareability (shareability.com) and gives us insights on storytelling, advertising and building brand love in the digital world. Nicholas (Nick) Reed is an Oscar winning documentary film producer, Digital Transformation expert, creator of the most shared and engaging content In the world. He has worked for Pepsi, AT&T, Global Olympics, Hyundai, Pizza Hut, and many high level influencers like Cristiano Ronaldo.

On this episode of Eureka Moments Only, we sat down with Annastasia Seebohm Group CEO of Quintessentially. Annastasia shares insights on the future of the connectivity economy and changes she is seeing in consumer behavior towards experiences, travel and luxury. Annastasia is the Group CEO of Quintessentially Group the lifestyle group. The business has over 60 offices worldwide and employs 1000 colleagues. In 2012 Annastasia joined Quintessentially's headquarters in London, working alongside founders Aaron Simpson and Ben Elliot. In 2016, she relocated to New York as CEO - Americas. She was subsequently appointed to Group CEO in 2018. Annastasia is an authority on the lifestyle industry and luxury market, and has been featured in Business Insider, Harper's Bazaar, Forbes, The Evening Standard and Huffpost amongst others. She has spoken on panels for the FT How To Spend It, and appeared at summits such as Worth's ‘Women and Worth'. In 2018, Annastasia was included in Luxury Daily's ‘Women to Watch 2018' list, honoring 25 smart women executives who show the potential to make a difference in the world of luxury. In 2019, Annastasia was included as part of About Time magazine's top 100 professional women to watch in the UK. ​Annastasia sits on the advisory board of Racked Stretch, an innovative wellness start-up, and Electric Woman, which helps connect women to 1-1 coaching and workshops.

Brad started out his career at Fedex and moved on to serve in senior executive roles in various Fortune 500 companies. At 40 years old, Brad started to focus on working with startups and has brought a wealth of experience and expertise to companies looking to build products that scale.

On this very special episode of the Eureka Moments Only Show - we sit down with Brad Costello a venture capitalist who also runs his own private tech portfolio. Today, Brad is sharing his experiences mentoring and sharing unique perspectives about value. Brad started out his career at Fedex and moved on to serve in senior executive roles in various Fortune 500 companies. At 40 years old, Brad started to focus on working with startups and has brought a wealth of experience and expertise to companies looking to build products that scale. This is the fourth part in a 6 part series with Brad Costello!

On this episode of Eureka Moments Only, we sat down with Zina Wilde, a regular on the Showtime hit Billions. Zina joins us on this episode as she starts her recovery from COVID-19 as she spent for than 2 weeks fighting the Coronavirus.

Katrina Xavier is the CEO of Blitz Marketing and the founder of Embrace Your Alpha Do we agree with what we've been doing as individuals and companies? Now might be a great time to reignite passion into the fabric of our businesses.

In this action packed episode of the Eureka Moments Only Podcast, we sit down with Ryan Foland and cover everything from failure, communication and even end with a rap! Ryan is a global keynote speaker, author, and brand consultant who teaches people how to build their brand, get featured in publications, and grow their social media following. Ryan's clients include New York Times bestselling authors, venture capitalists, and Fortune 500 executives. His book, Ditch the Act, helps executives and entrepreneurs navigate the waters of what to do, in the right order, to help them harness the power of vulnerability and authenticity to build a better, more relatable, more profitable brand. Recognized by Inc. Magazine as a Top Marketer and named a Top Personal Branding Expert by Entrepreneur Magazine, and a 4 time TEDx speaker whose talks have been named in Top TED lists by Forbes, Mashable, and Inc. Ryan works with thought leaders to create and syndicate content that reveals their whole self to drive differentiation, growth, and loyalty. By positioning the expertise of people within companies as the core talent behind the corporate brand, he helps to drive reputation, trust and more clients to their businesses.

On this very special episode of the Eureka Moments Only Show - we sit down with Brad Costello a venture capitalist who also runs his own private tech portfolio. Today, Brad is sharing his secret to effective communication. Brad started out his career at Fedex and moved on to serve in senior executive roles in various Fortune 500 companies. At 40 years old, Brad started to focus on working with startups and has brought a wealth of experience and expertise to companies looking to build products that scale. This is the third part in a 7 part series with Brad Costello!

On this very special episode of the Eureka Moments Only Show - we sit down with Brad Costello a venture capitalist who also runs his own private tech portfolio. Today we're discussing changing your "OR" to an "AND" Brad started out his career at Fedex and moved on to serve in senior executive roles in various Fortune 500 companies. At 40 years old, Brad started to focus on working with startups and has brought a wealth of experience and expertise to companies looking to build products that scale. This is the second part in a 7 part series with Brad Costello!

On this very special episode of the Eureka Moments Only Show - we sit down with Brad Costello a venture capitalist who also runs his own private tech portfolio. Given the nature of the businesses that he helps to run, Brad has a unique perspective on the economic impacts of the Coronavirus as it relates to the global supply chain. Brad started out his career at Fedex and moved on to serve in senior executive roles in various Fortune 500 companies. At 40 years old, Brad started to focus on working with startups and has brought a wealth of experience and expertise to companies looking to build products that scale. This is the first part in a 7 part series with Brad Costello!

On this episode of Eureka Moments Only, we sat down with Christopher Gavigan, an American entrepreneur, author and, co-founder & chief product officer of The Honest Company. Gavigan is currently the Founder and CEO of Prima: Wellbeing essentials made with broad spectrum hemp CBD and functionally innovative botanicals — with the highest standards of purity, potency and transparency. He is also an author of the best-selling book Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, published by Dutton in 2008. ​ In January 2012, Gavigan and business partner Jessica Alba launched The Honest Company, a collection of household goods, diapers, and body care products. The company had $170 million in 2014 sales and was valued at $1.7 billion as of August 2015. He has also served as CEO of Healthy Child Healthy World, a nonprofit organization that works to improve children's health by eliminating toxins from their environment. He founded Pinnacle Expedition, an adventure travel company for teens. -- The Eureka Moments Only Podcast highlights members of the global entrepreneurship community and breaks down the moments of change that lead to success in business that we like to call "Eureka Moments" Check out our full schedule here: http://eurekahub.com/podcast

David Perry is a Northern Irish video game developer and programmer. He became prominent for programming platform games for 16-bit home consoles in the early to mid 1990s, including Disney's Aladdin, Cool Spot, and Earthworm Jim. He founded Shiny Entertainment, where he worked from 1993 to 2006. Perry created games for companies such as Disney, 7 Up, McDonald's, Orion Pictures, and Warner Bros. In 2008 he was presented with an honorary doctorate from Queen's University Belfast for his services to computer gaming. He was the co-founder & CEO of cloud-based games service Gaikai, which was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment. In 2017 Perry became the co-founder & CEO of a customer intelligence startup called GoVYRL, Inc. developing a new advanced brand dashboard called Carro. In his spare time, following in his father's footsteps, Perry is an avid photographer. ----- The Eureka Moments Only Podcast highlights members of the global entrepreneurship community and breaks down the moments of change that lead to success in business that we like to call "Eureka Moments" Check out our full schedule here: http://eurekahub.com/podcast

This episode was filmed in front of a live audience at the Eureka Building. Christopher Decker sat down with Sean Ellis, host of the "Breakout Growth Podcast," and author of "Hacking Growth." Sean Ellis is the host of The Breakout Growth Podcast, author of Hacking Growth (published in 16 languages), keynote speaker and runs workshops around the world to implement a cross-functional approach to growth he calls growth hacking (a term he coined in 2010). Sean helped to bring five companies to market as VP Marketing/Growth that exceeded billion-dollar valuations including Dropbox, LogMeIn, Eventbrite, Uproar, and Lookout in addition to launching and selling two businesses as Founder/CEO (Qualaroo and GrowthHackers.com). Sean has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, WIRED, Fast Company, Inc, and newspapers around the world as well as on MSNBC. ----- The Eureka Moments Only Podcast highlights members of the global entrepreneurship community and breaks down the moments of change that lead to success in business that we like to call "Eureka Moments" Check out our full schedule here: http://eurekahub.com/podcast