Live from the Café

In this feature interview, I sit down with Scott Kirsner, technology and innovation columnist for the Boston Globe, organizer of the Nantucket Conference, and founder of Innovation Leader. We discuss the current state of corporate innovation in Boston, nation-wide startup trends, and what makes the innovation so prevalent in the Boston ecosystem.

Startups often find it difficult to understand patent claim language and to sort out complex inventorship and ownership issues on their patents. In this seminar, we will discuss how patent claims work as well as the law regarding inventorship and ownership. By the end of this episode you’ll be able to:Read a patent claim and understand its scope.Identify the factors that determine whether someone qualifies as a co-inventor or co-owner on a patent.Prevent or mitigate potential disputes regarding inventorship or ownership of patentsPresented by: Stephen Hou, Patent Prosecutor, American Patent Agency PC

Growing your business online can mean time and money. While there is no blueprint every business can use to obtain growth or scale through digital advertising, there are several steps businesses can take to get the results they are seeking.In this workshop, Oliver goes over 10 steps you can take for your business to maximize its digital presence. By the end of the presentation, you will be able to:Develop a marketing strategy that leverages digital advertising to scale your business’s growthA general understanding of how to improve your business’s performance on Google Ads and Facebook AdsA methodology that will allow you to effectively leverage digital advertising as an integral part of your marketing mixPresenter: Oliver Schultz, Managing partner, Markatects

Melissa Withers is Founding Partner of RevUp Capital, a non-equity investment fund for B2B and B2C companies that are moving fast up a revenue-fueled growth curve. An experienced fund manager and biz builder with 100+ investments under management, With a background in customer experience and customer development, go-to-market strategy, and company storytelling, she began her career at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT, working the intersection of biological sciences and public policy, before starting her own entrepreneurial journey as a founder. She’s also worked in state economic development and youth advocacy and is a strong advocate for closing the diversity gap in technology and investment.

David has spent his career in staffing and hiring, currently working as the business development manager at Experis. On February 6, David presented a Community Talk on hiring talent, answers the question, "when is the right time to utilize a hiring agency?" In this interview, David discusses the challenges of hiring in today's tight labor environment.

Eran is the founder of the XRHealth and the CEO of XRHealth USA Inc. After serving in the Israel airforce, Eran started XRHealth to provide more effective physical therapy and cognitive therapy treatments to people using Virtual Reality. In under three years, Eran raised funds, has hired 30 people, earned over 20 FDA approved therapies, and is rapidly expanding across the United States.

Jung Starrett is the co-founder of SoulCo LLC, an educational venture whose mission is co-creating learning communities for the wellbeing of all. After a career in law, Jung recognized that a critical piece of happiness and efficiency was missing from most work environments: the connection between the mind and the hands-- the soul.

Sometimes just chatting with others is the springboard for ideas, insight, problem-solving tools, new directions–whether getting advice from experts or learning from startups just like you. Chuck Goldstone, strategist and mentor to hundreds and hundreds of startups, fields questions, provides mentor guidance, facilitates discussion, and urges you to share ideas and encouragement. This roundtable of kindred spirits is an engaging hour of ideas, creative vision, serendipity, group therapy, cheerleading, and a forum to learn and share.

In this Feature Interview, I interview Ragan McNeely, a Licensed Mental Health Clinician who is turning his attention to startup founders and CEOs. In the interview, Ragan details his professional career and explains how he started offering mental health services in the CIC coworking space in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Hi everyone, this is Frank Pobutkiewicz from Venture Café Cambridge wishing you and your family a merry, joyous, and relaxing holiday season! Like you, Venture Café is taking off for the holidays so we won’t have anything to post on the Live from the Café podcast for the next two weeks. Make sure to tune back into the podcast in January for more innovation and business content. If you haven’t marked it on your calendar already, we have three big nights coming up! Join us on January 23, 2020 for our Health and Wellness night. On January 30th, join us as we team up with JETRO and the Japanese Consulate in Boston to explore the 2020 Olympic games. And on February 27, we welcome you to our Corporate Innovation Connect conference night presented by getaround.For information on all these sessions and to get information on our new series of Community talks aimed at building skills for entrepreneurs, visit us online at venturecafecambridge.org. Have a happy and healthy 2020!

The following panel discussion took place during our Social Impact Connect conference night. A tech-enabled future holds both promise and anxiety as communities look at how best to prepare their workforces, often focused on STEM education. Frequently, the focus on technology and engineering experiences put too little emphasis on the core math proficiency needed to truly succeed in these fields. The panel discusses the missing “M” in STEM education.

The following panel discussion took place during our annual Social Impact Connect conference night. In this session, an entrepreneur, a corporate innovator, a government agency, and a nonprofit organization share their stories of making impact. While for a nonprofit the choice between profitability and impactful is clear, maintaining balance between being profitable and impactful is a challenge entrepreneurs face when launching social impact ventures. The speakers share their expertise in running successful programs and ventures that have positive influence on individuals, communities, nation, and the world.

In this Community Talk, Lori Lennon, founder and CEO of Thinkubator Media, outlines how to effectively communicate your business’s story in five easy steps. She shares key tips that will hone your communication strategy and help you get the buy-in you need to succeed. To learn about our upcoming community talks, please visit us online at venturecafecambridge.org/calendar.

The following Roundtable Discussion took place during our Mobility Innovation Night. The panel reflects upon how this year’s milestones, momentum and wake up calls will continue to shape the movement of people and goods going forward. To learn more about Mobility Innovation, please visit us online at venturecafecambridge.org/mobilityinno.

StartHub Founders Series are monthly gatherings where we invite a startup founder from our ‘Startup to Watch’ program to share their startup story in a conversational setting. This month’s featured startup founder is Galen Karlan-Mason, CEO & Founder at GreenChoice. GreenChoice is a data-driven platform empowering consumers to make informed food choices and leading the industry to supply food that’s good for us and the planet.Starthub.org

The following feature interview was recorded with Erik Modalh, founder of beantrust., a corporate and events coffee curation company. Erik has been a long-time member of the Venture Café community and during the interview we discuss today’s culture, the history of coffee, and Erik’s unique view of value. Enjoy!beantrustcoffee.com

The following feature interview was recorded with Liz Stubbs and Charlie Marquart of Cambridge Spirits. During the interview, Charlie talks about the challenges of running a traditional brick and mortar retail store and the current trends in beer, wine, and spirits. Cambridge Spirits has been Venture Café’s retail partner for years, so make sure to visit them in Kendall Square on Broad Canal Way or follow them on Instagram @cambridgespirits.

The following panel discussion took place at our Defense Innovation night at Venture Café Cambridge. The panel discusses the role of government labs in defense innovation.To find out more about our Defense Innovation program, please visit us online at venturecafecambridge.org/defenseinno.PANELISTSModerator: Dr. Francesca Scire-Scappuzzo, BAE Systems, Inc.Dr. Scire-Scappuzzo is Sr. Dir. of Advanced Technology & Innovation and Tech Scouting Lead at BAE Systems FAST Labs. She was Co-founder and CEO at Ondetech LLC, Cambridge, MA; Vice President of R&D/CTO at Metamagnetics Inc., Canton, MA; Principal Research Scientist at Physical Sciences Inc., Andover, MA; and tenured Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of Catania, Italy. Francesca obtained her BS and MS, in EE at Univ. of Catania, Italy; MS at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA; PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland; and she was Post Graduate Fellow at the European Space Agency ESA/ESTEC in The Netherlands. Dr. Scire-Scappuzzo has published over 30 technical papers in peer-reviewed journals and holds 7 patents. She is serving as Chair of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society, Boston Section, and Reviewer for the IEEE Transactions on Antenna and Propagation, Plasma Science, and Antenna and Propagation Letters.Dr. Bernadette Johnson, MIT Lincoln LaboratoryDr. Bernadette Johnson is the Chief Technology Ventures Officer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The Technology Ventures Office was established in 2018 to support access to and development of commercial technologies relevant to national security. Prior to this appointment, she was the Chief Science Officer (CSO) at Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), which focuses on accelerating commercial innovation for the Department of Defense. As CSO, her primary responsibilities were to provide strategic guidance on emergent technologies and support development of a technical workforce. Dr. Johnson is a 2007 recipient of the Lincoln Laboratory Technical Excellence Award for her system-level architecting, technical innovation, and prototype demonstration. She holds a BS degree in physics from Dickinson College, an MS degree in condensed matter theory from Georgetown University, and a PhD degree in plasma physics from Dartmouth College. She attended the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in National and International Security Program in 2015 and has served as a member of the Naval Studies Board since 2012.Dr. Charlene Stokes, U.S. Army CCDC Army Research LaboratoryDr. Stokes is the Army Research Lab (ARL) Human Research and Effectiveness Directorate’s (HRED) Lead for human-centered research and innovation in the Northeast region, operating out of ARL Open Campus, Northeast, and serving as the Deputy Program Manager of STRONG. She completed a dual-focused Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational & Human Factors Psychology at Wright State University. Beginning with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and most recently joining ARL/HRED, she has over 14 years of experience as a defense researcher and program manager working to push the boundaries of DoD innovation, particularly in the area of human-agent teaming and artificial intelligence. She established and directed the Human-Machine Social Systems (HMSS) Lab as an AFRL resource at Yale University from 2011-2016. She then moved the HMSS Lab from Yale to a Boston robotics innovation hub for startups, MassRobotics, to increase engagement with the commercial sector and spur Government S&T innovation. Her primary research focus is on the social dynamics of human-machine interaction, with numerous publications on the topic of trust in autonomy and human-machine teaming. She is heavily involved with service activities in the Boston local area, she serves on various NATO research task gro

The following panel discussion took place at our Defense Innovation night at Venture Café Cambridge. The panel discusses how universities and defense innovators can partner to speed-up industry innovations. Each of the panelists presents their findings on what’s working and what needs to do to improve partnerships with universities.To find our more about our Defense Innovation program, please visit us online at venturecafecambridge.org/defenseinno.

The following panel discussion took place during our Energy Connect conference night. During the session, three entrepreneurs share their stories of building successful Energy and CleanTech companies.To read about each of the founders, please visit venturecafecambridge.org/energyconnect.

The following discussion took place during our Energy Connect conference night. During the session, experts from academia, venture capital, and corporate innovation discuss entrepreneurship in energy and clean technology and share their knowledge on what makes an energy venture fail and succeed.To read about the panelists, please visit venturecafecambridge.org/energyconnect.

The following is a segment of a Community Talk given by Deniz Johnson entitled “Slaying Bias in AI—An Implementer’s Guide.” In her talk, Deniz explains how to implement AI systems in highly regulated fields, such as finance and insurance. Deniz has been named a FinTech thought leader and Top100 RegTech Influencer. If you’re interested in hosting a community talk, please submit a proposal online at venturecafecambridge.org.

The following Flash Talk was given by Jake Tamarkin, cofounder and CEO of everyday life. In his talk, Jake explains why life insurance is broken, why you should care, and how you can fix it. Jake has over 20 years of leadership experience at MetLife and Ernst and Young before launching his own startup.To give your own flash talk at Venture Café Cambridge, submit a proposal on our website at venturecafecambridge.org.

The following conversation highlights leadership in seed-stage FinTech companies – how is it different when it’s there and what’s missing when it’s not. Founders discuss how an organization leverages the assets of leadership and how startups create an inclusive environment.The panel features Raven Smith from Jointly, Eilon Shalev from Elphi.io, David Fragale from Arwen.io, and Dipali Trivedi from everyday life.

With the synergy of finance and technology, Fintech has the potential to disrupt current business practices in many major industries. Challenges range from cyber-security, regulation, and the potential loss of the human touch. Opportunities exist for payment systems, banking operations, investment management and financial advisers. The following panel discussion aims to categorize financial technology opportunities and challenges for the near and long term as well as the technologies that are powering this transformation. Panelists will discuss their own experiences and what the future will hold as FinTech makes its steady climb into business.The panel features moderator, Ahmad Namini, Brandeis University International Business School and panelists Beralda Kokoshi, State Street; Sumedh Mehta, Putnam Investments; and Leo Guyshan, Open Avenues Foundation.

Conventional wisdom often tells Americans that building short-term savings is the key to building wealth. However, due to factors such as income volatility, increasing debt, unexpected expenses, and savings accounts that are failing to meet their needs, Americans are struggling to build an emergency fund and are taking on high-cost debt or dipping into their retirement accounts to address their financial challenges. Before building wealth, people need to achieve a baseline level of short-term savings. The following conversion tackles the emergency savings challenge for underserved communities through a variety of engagement models and non-traditional channels. The presenters discuss what it will take from the fintech ecosystem for everyday Americans to move beyond short-term financial security to long-term wealth.

The following panel discussion took place during our annual Robotics and AI Connect night.During this session, entrepreneurs discuss innovation in robotics and AI, sharing perspectives on the role and opportunities for research and development in various industries.The panel features Ken Sutton from Yobe, Byron Stanley from Wavesense, Tina Chen from Activ Surgical, and Eamon Carrig from Autonomous Marine Systems.

The following keynote address by Bruce Tannenbaum, manager of technical marketing for vision, AI, robotics, and autonomous applications at MathWorks, was given at Venture Café Cambridge’s annual Robotics and AI Connect night. In this talk, Bruce Tannenbaum presents key factors for successful projects and illustrates the importance of these factors using case studies from diverse vision applications including automated driving and crop harvesting.

The following Round Robin Discussion took place at Venture Café Cambridge during our annual Robotics and AI Connect Conference. Four experts representing distinct industries present the latest developments and the current applications of AI and Machine learning to their sector of practice. Moderated by Chris Requena, the discussion features Randy Tate of iFlip!, Charis Loveland of ML Assist, and Gaugarin Oliver of CapeStart.

This fireside chat took place at Venture Café Cambridge during our Founders Over 55 affinity group. The chat was hosted by Danielle Duplin, co-founder of AGENCY, with Rob Kornblum, startup advisor and author of Never Too Late to Startup: How Mid-life Entrepreneurs Create Wealth, Freedom & Purpose.AGENCY is equal parts coworking, programming, and an international community of innovators to make the aging journey better for all.To join us at the next open meeting of Founders Over 55, please find more information online at venturecafecambridge.org and click on the Startup Programs link on the top navigation bar.

Danielle Goldman, co-founder of Open Avenues, speaks about her company's novel approach to high-skilled immigration for companies and employees. In our first feature segment, Danielle discusses the H1B visa lottery and what it takes for small companies to retain foreign-born talent.

In this community talk, David Orozco and Christopher Davis, cofounders of GenOne Technologies, explore the product development cycle.

On this episode of Live at the Café, our panel discusses how international companies from emerging economies can scale into the United States, and also how US-based startups can partner and grow in overseas markets.

During this panel discussions, panelists from retail, transportation, product development, and academia will discuss innovation in the supply chain – both opportunities and challenges – and how the product journey from manufacture to sale will continue to change with advances in technology.Panelists include: Emma Cosgrove, Supply Chain Reporter, Supply Chain Dive; Dr. Josué C. Velázquez-Martínez, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics; Ashley MacLearn, Director of Replenishment, Retail Business Services; Shreya Patel, Unilever,

Troy Leshko, Executive Lead of Operations & Logistics for Peapod Digital Labs, gives a keynote address that explores the intersection of the supply chain and e-commerce and how the rapid growth of omnichannel retailing and online shopping is impacting supply chains–at the warehouse, in transportation and logistics, and through the last mile.