Yash & Company Podcast

Marcus Stroud was raised in the small town of Prosper, Texas, and accepted an offer to play football at Princeton University. He received his A.B. in Religion, writing his thesis on a historical analysis of American religious and cultural trends in the 20th and 21st Century. After Princeton, Marcus cut his teeth on Wall Street, where he was a fixed income analyst at the largest and leading fixed income electronic trading platform company for institutional investors and dealers. Marcus left Wall Street to join Vida Capital in Austin, Texas, a multi-billion-dollar alternative asset manager. After Vida, Marcus was recruited to lead the Clubhouse Investment Club, a conglomerate of celebrity investors looking to co-invest with top-tier VCs. Marcus sourced deals, conducted due diligence, circulated investment opportunities, and raised funds for individual deals. At TXV, Marcus will focus on fundraising and deal sourcing, with a particular focus on consumer deals.

Anand Ravipati is a native of Huntsville, Alabama. He studied biotechnology at Penn State before pursing his medical degree at Ross University. After medical school, Anand has served as an advisor to many start ups while also being a venture capitalist investor. He currently serves as a product manager at Radical Motion, a start up focused on detecting and reconstructing 3D human motion from 2D content. In his free time, Anand helps organize the annual gala for the Tusk Foundation, is an avid tennis player, and tries his best to become a true seeker. 

“Do not wait for the right time or moment. Just get started at whatever you really want to do. Thats what I’d tell myself in high school.” - Frederick Daso  Frederick Daso has obtained his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a recipient of the 2018 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship. Frederick has completed five internships at The Boeing Company as a structural analyst, working on the 737, 777, 787, Commercial Crew Transport System, Space Launch System, and Xtra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle across the company’s major business units including Boeing Commercial Airlines, Boeing Defense, Space and Security, and Boeing Research & Technology. Frederick is also an Under 30 Contributor to Forbes.com and a 2016 and 2018 LinkedIn Top Voice with over 355,000 followers, where he writes about startups founded by college students and recent college graduates, ranging from biotechnology to artificial intelligence.   https://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickdaso/#39c7908854b3  

Colin is Chief Medical Officer of Reata Pharmaceuticals (a public biotech company: RETA). At Reata, he leads product development and strategy, clinical trial design and analysis, and medical affairs. He joined Reata in 2003 as one of its first few employees. Colin received a B.S. in chemistry with specialization in biochemistry and a B.A. in biology from the University of Virginia. He received an M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business. 

“There are a lot of amazing people in this world but there are some who like change and some who don’t.” - Shaily Baranwal, CEO and Founder of Elevate K-12 * Shaily Baranwal is the Founder and CEO of one of the fastest growing edtech companies Elevate K-12. The company brings live streaming instruction to schools and is working to change how K-12 classrooms work. Her mission behind Elevate K-12 was to bring the best quality teaching to all classrooms and create work opportunities for women. She was also the founder of a chain of pre-schools and restaurants in India. An entrepreneur by heart, she is a Production Engineer, with a teaching degree in Early Childhood Education and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. If you do not see her working on building Elevate K-12, you can see her deeply immersed in a book or scuba diving somewhere. 

Zach Harting is a professional swimmer for the US national team. He began swimming when he was 7 years old and has won numerous state championships at Bob Jones High School before swimming at the University of Louisville. There, he served as a Captain for the 2018-2019 season and was an NCAA All-American. Zach graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the university and is currently working on his Masters in Engineering Management. After qualifying for the US’s national swim team in 2017 and competition in numerous races, Zach qualified in the 200m butterfly for the 2019 World Championships in South Korea, where he finished 6th in the world. 

Kobby, Grant, and Yash talk through the tricks, tips, and experiences they've picked up as they traveled internationally for less than $30 a day. 

“I would tell people, I’m the least connected guy on Wall Street. That was my catch phrase” - Aaron Fletcher, PhD * Aaron Fletcher founded and serves as President of Bios Research, a financial services firm that provides public equity research in the healthcare space tailored to institutional firms and large family offices. Bios Research provides fundamental healthcare industry research focused in the biotech and med-tech sub-sectors and through this research, Dr. Fletcher has a strong understanding of commercial viability in the marketplace. Dr. Fletcher holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Colorado State University and currently serves as a visiting professor at Dallas Baptist University where he assists in teaching Biochemistry, Bioethics, and Cell Biology. Dr. Fletcher has worked as an independent consultant for the biotech/healthcare equity industry for over 10 years.

Grant Hensel is the founder of Nonprofit Megaphone, a company helping 180+ nonprofits manage the $10,000/month Google Ad Grant to reach their target audiences online. He is also the founder of the RoundUp App, which allows thousands of individuals to donate the change from their everyday purchases to a nonprofit they care about. Grant graduated from Wheaton College where in senior year, along with his now wife, wrote to every Fortune 500 CEO and has received feedback by nearly a 3rd of them. He published his results in the book What the Fortune 500 Read. 

“They measured how much I weighed, my height, but they could not measure my heart. They could not measure my ability to get knocked down 7 and get up 8” - Justin Forsett Justin Forsett (@jforsett) is an NFL Running Back and Pro Bowl Player. He was ranked #65 of the Top 100 players of 2015. He’s been described as a powerful player despite being “undersized and overmatched.” At 5’8”, Justin became an underdog fan favorite in the NFL. Drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 7th round in the 2008 NFL Draft, Forsett started his 9-year football career in which he played with 7 different teams. He is a podcast host on LeBron James' UNINTERRUPTED Podcast Network, featured in Sports Illustrated, and appears in the final episode of Long Shot. Justin is a writer, sporting news contributor, and radio broadcast color analyst. Justin’s skills as an entrepreneur & inventor found him featured on ABC's Shark Tank as the creator of the ShowerPill. Justin spends his time dedicated to helping victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. He is an expert on leadership, overcoming adversity, & perseverance. 

“Make positivity louder” - Dr. Ryan Lowery  Dr. Ryan P. Lowery, PhD, a 2014 national champion baseball player, earned his BS and MS in exercise physiology and exercise and nutrition science from the University of Tampa.   Ryan completed his doctorate work at Concordia University in Health and Human Performance with a focus on “The Effects of a Well-Formulated Ketogenic Diet and Exogenous Ketone Supplementation on Various Markers of Health and Body Composition in Healthy and Diseased Populations.”  Ryan currently serves as the CEO of Ketogenic.com and the President of the Applied Science and Performance Institute.  Over his career, Ryan has published over 150 papers, abstracts, and book chapters on human performance and sports nutrition and is heavily focused on the impact of ketogenic diets and exogenous ketones on performance, cognitive function, and longevity.  Ryan has received the Exercise Science Scholar of the Year Award, NSCA Award for Outstanding Presentation of the year award, and the National AAHPERD Exercise Science Major of the Year Award.  Ryan recently co-authored the book The Ketogenic Bible alongside his partner Dr. Jacob Wilson which focuses on the science and practical application behind the ketogenic diet, exogenous ketones, and all of their potential applications.  

Brandon Luckett was born in a small town outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In high school, he was a 3x state champion wrestler and was ranked 30th in the nation as a senior in the 160 pound classification. He graduated from LSU with a degree in physics and is currently pursuing a masters in medical physics from the University of Texas in the Texas Medical Center. His dissertation is on the commissioning of micro-cube thermoluminescent dosimeters for small field quality assurance in radiotherapy. After finding CrossFit in college, Brandon competed for 3 years before being ranked 24th in the US and qualifying for the World Championship CrossFit Games in 2018, where he finished in the top 35. After finishing his masters in June 2019, Brandon will pursue a residency at the University of Oklahoma. 

Yash provides a reflection of the top 5 life hacks from episodes 1-10 that have helped him in his own life. 

“You can’t ever allow yourself to be counted out. That is what makes the difference between good athletes and great athletes”- Bryce Petty  Bryce Petty (Twitter @b_petty14 & Instagram @brycerr09) was born in Thomaston, Georgia. His family later moved to Midlothian, Texas where he played football for Midlothian High School. As a high school QB, Bryce was ranked No. 25th in his position by Rivals.com. Bryce signed to play collegiate football at Baylor University and backed up Robert Griffin III for 3 years. He went on to start for the bears in the 2013 and 2014 seasons and lead the team to back to back Big 12 conference title. He finished 7th in the heisman voting in 2013 and 10th in 2014. After being drafted in the 4th round by the New York Jets, Bryce started 7 games and played for the team for 2 seasons. In 2018 after battling injury, Bryce stepped away from professional football and now lives in the Dallas, Texas area with his wife. He currently serves as Director of Capital Markets with AMR Capital.  Sponsor: FourSigmatic.com If you know me, you know that i am obsessed with Four Sigmatic Coffee. This stuff is hands down the best coffee I have ever had, and I am a personal die hard fan of their mushroom coffee with lion’s mane and chaga. I have been using this product for the past year now, and I still typically take half a serving. That is because that is all I need to get wired for the whole day. The best part is that I personally never face the crash that comes along with coffee. So if you want to try some real coffee that will let you get some real work done check out four sigmatic at foursigmatic.com and use code Yash to get 10% your purchase. 

“One struggle I have with American society is that no one smokes cigarettes anymore” - Dr. Matthew Lee Anderson  * Dr. Matthew Lee Anderson (@mattleeanderson), M.Phil., recently received his doctorate in Christian Ethics from  Oxford University. He is the author of Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith (2010) and The End of Our Exploring: A Book about Questions and the Confidence of Faith(2013). He is the founder of Mere Orthodoxy, a website devoted to reasonable discourse about matters of faith, culture and politics and was named by Christianity Today in 2014 as one of evangelicalism’s leading young thinkers.  *  Sponsors:  Four Sigmatic Coffee: Use code "YASH" to save 10% off If you know me, you know that I am obsessed with Four Sigmatic Coffee. This stuff is hands down the best coffee I have ever had, and I am a die hard fan of their mushroom coffee with lion’s mane and chaga. I have been using this product for the past year now, and I still typically take half a serving. This is because that is all I need to get wired for the whole day. The best part is that I personally never face the crash that comes along with coffee. So if you want to try some real coffee that will let you get some real work done check out four sigmatic at foursigmatic.com and use code Yash to get 10% your purchase.    Octopus Outfitters: use code "YASH" to save 15%  Get a hammock that is sturdier than ENO's for HALF the price. Use code Yash and snag a hammock for around $50.   

“There’s not a lot that determination can’t accomplish” - Shayna Fowler, Social Entrepreneur & Founder of Khana Panties * Shayna is a twenty-two-year-old Ohio native. With a degree in Entrepreneurship and Biblical Studies, she is passionate about participating in the sacred reconciliation of all things. Prior to her work with Khana, at the age of 15, Shayna founded a non-profit that held self-esteem and students rights assemblies for 5-12 grade girls. Within the first year of the organization’s existence, 9 girls in Central Ohio were rescued from sex trafficking. At 17, Shayna was named one of Ohio’s 20 Outstanding Women. Upon graduating high school, Shayna spent one year in Eldoret, Kenya. These experiences fostered the idea to develop underwear, as well as a continued pursuit of women's equality. * Show Notes: Link: Yash & Company Website: YashandCo.com Book Recommendations:Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn  *  Sponsor: OctopusOutfitters.com As you all know, its officially spring, and that means it's time to get outside and finally enjoy some good weather. I’m sure some of y’all might have started seeing some hammocks around town and have thought of getting one yourself.  Maybe you've heard of ENO or some of these other companies, but paying over $100 for the hammock AND straps is just ridiculous. That’s why I want to tell you about the best hammock I’ve ever tried. It’s made from Octopus Outfitters, a company that was actually started by a college student at Baylor. They are the real deal. They make hammocks that are sturdier than ENO for HALF the price AND – here’s the kicker-  they come with all the major parts like tree straps already included so you don't have to pay extra. I don't know of any other brands that do that. Octopus is extending listeners a special offer- go to Octopusoutfitters.com and use the code "YASH" to get 15% off your purchase.  

“Adversity sucks, but adversity is also privilege” - Marcus Stroud * Marcus Stroud is the co-founder of TXV Partners. He was raised in the small town of Prosper, Texas. Marcus accepted an offer to play football at Princeton University. He received his A.B. in Religion, writing his thesis on a historical analysis of American religious and cultural trends in the 20th and 21st Century. After Princeton, Marcus cut his teeth on Wall Street, where he was a fixed income analyst at the largest and leading fixed income electronic trading platform company for institutional investors and dealers. Marcus left Wall Street to join Vida Capital in Austin, Texas, a multi-billion-dollar alternative asset manager. After Vida, Marcus was recruited to lead the Clubhouse Investment Club, a conglomerate of celebrity investors looking to co-invest with top-tier VCs. Marcus sourced deals, conducted due diligence, circulated investment opportunities, and raised funds for individual deals. At TXV, Marcus will focus on fundraising and deal sourcing, with a particular focus on consumer deals. *  Sponsor: Octopus Outfitters: use code YASH to get 15% off As you all know, its officially spring, and that means it's time to get outside and finally enjoy some good weather. I’m sure some of y’all might have started seeing some hammocks around town and have thought of getting one yourself.  Maybe you've heard of ENO or some of these other companies, but paying over $100 for the hammock AND straps is just ridiculous. That’s why I want to tell you about the best hammock I’ve ever tried. It’s made from Octopus Outfitters, a company that was actually started by a college student at Baylor. They are the real deal. They make hammocks that are sturdier than ENO for HALF the price AND – here’s the kicker-  they come with all the major parts like tree straps already included so you don't have to pay extra. I don't know of any other brands that do that. Octopus is extending listeners a special offer- go to Octopusoutfitters.com and use the code "YASH" to get 15% off your purchase.

“Always assume positive intent.” - Dr. Neil Garg, PhD * * * Professor Garg (@garglab) received a B.S. in Chemistry from New York University where he did undergraduate research with Professor Marc Walters. During his undergraduate years, he spent several months in Strasbourg, France while conducting research with Professor Mir Wais Hosseini at Université Louis Pasteur as an NSF REU Fellow. Garg obtained his Ph.D. in 2005 from the California Institute of Technology under the direction of Professor Brian Stoltz. He then joined Professor Larry Overman’s research laboratory at the University of California, Irvine as an NIH Postdoctoral Scholar. Garg joined the faculty at UCLA in 2007. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012, and then to Full Professor in 2013.  He has served as Vice Chair for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2012-2016) and currently serves as Faculty-in-Residence in the UCLA undergraduate community. In 2018, Garg was appointed as the inaugural holder of the Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry and is the recipient of Baylor’s prestigious Cherry Award. He is the speaker of the highly popular TEDx talk titled “Challenging Your Perceptions”   Show Notes: - TEDx: Challenge Your Perceptions - Coloring Book   Sponsors:  - Octopus Outfitters: use code "YASH" to get 15% off your purchase As you all know, its officially spring, and that means it's time to get outside and finally enjoy some good weather. I’m sure some of y’all might have started seeing some hammocks around town and have thought of getting one yourself.  Maybe you've heard of ENO or some of these other companies, but paying over $100 for the hammock AND straps is just ridiculous. That’s why I want to tell you about the best hammock I’ve ever tried. It’s made from Octopus Outfitters, a company that was actually started by a college student at Baylor. They are the real deal. They make hammocks that are sturdier than ENO for HALF the price AND – here’s the kicker-  they come with all the major parts like tree straps already included so you don't have to pay extra. I don't know of any other brands that do that. Octopus is extending listeners a special offer- go to Octopusoutfitters.com and use the code "YASH" to get 15% off your purchase. - Established & Company: use code "YASH" to get 15% off your purchase Make your college experience last a lifetime. From meeting your new roommate for the first time, to your first rush event, football tailgates, and walking the stage at graduation, these are the best years of your life. At Established and Company, we’re bringing school spirit BACK through the ultimate college apparel experience. Founded in 2017 by 2 Baylor students, Established and Co. seeks to provide trendy apparel with retro flair to past, present, and future students. Visit us at establishedandcompany.com today to check out spirit-wear you can’t get at the University bookstore. Use code YASH for 15% off your entire order online. Join us and SHOW YOUR SPIRIT, at establishedandcompany.com  

"Taking risks is what has contributed to my success and definitely 99% of startup co-founders." - Akilesh Bapu Akilesh  (@akbapu14)  is a recent graduate of UC-Berkley on leave from his Computer Science master's program with a concentration in AI. He's currently co-founder of DeepScribe, a healthcare startup building an Artificially Intelligent medical scribe.  Before DeepScribe, he was heavily involved with the entrepreneurial ecosystem at Berkeley. As a sophomore, his patent search venture got featured on Steve Blank's blog: Machine Learning meets the Lean Startup after taking his graduate level course. Outside of class, he was involved with most of the Berkeley startup accelerators including the House Fund, SkyDeck, Citris, and the UC Berkeley Sutarjda Dai Center for Entrepreneurship.  Outside of entrepreneurship, he taught Berkeley’s introductory iOS course with over 100 students and directed engineering efforts for Berkeley Mobile, UC Berkeley’s student led mobile app with over 10,000 users.  Before pursuing his startup, Akilesh interned at Apple where he made it easy to localize iOS apps into different languages. He was one of seven interns who got invited to present to Craig Federighi, Senior VP of Software Engineering. Akilesh grew up and spent most of his life in Texas, specifically the small town of Nacogdoches. * * * Show Notes:  INC Article on DeepScribe Suggestions: Steve Jobs Speech at Stanford 

“We never get out of high school.” - Alan Steelman  Alan Steelman is a former member of the U.S. Congress (R-Texas), former Vice Chairman of Alexander Proudfoot Company, and former Chairman of the Dallas Council on World Affairs. He has served on the Board of Directors of Sterling Software (NYSE), Aristocrat Technologies (ASX), and the Texas Growth Fund. He is a graduate of Baylor University, holds an MLA degree from Southern Methodist University, and was a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.  His career in politics was marked with distinction. He was the youngest member of Congress when he was elected. Time magazine named him one of the top 200 Young Emerging Leaders in America in a special issue devoted to leadership. In endorsing his re-election, the Dallas Times Herald called him one of the best ever sent to Congress from Texas. Texas Monthly named him among the top five of the most effective members of the 24-person Texas Congressional Delegation, and New Times Magazine named him one of the top "10 Best Congressmen" in the country during his second term.  His global business career, which spanned 35 years, included an 8-year stint in Singapore as President of the Asia-Pacific region for Alexander Proudfoot, and culminated in his serving as Vice Chairman of the company and Chairman of the Board of Advisors, a global group of former Fortune 500 company Chief Executives. Mr. Steelman is a certified yoga instructor, and he has spent the last few years promoting his book Yoga on the Yellow Brick Road: Exiting the ASAP Lane and hosts a podcast with the same title.  Contact: alansteelman@tx.rr.com Sponsor:  This program is brought to you by our friends at Waco Native (@waconative). Show your love for Waco, Texas with our cool, colorful and fashionable clothing. Founded in 2017, Waco Native wants you to be able to represent Waco without sacrificing your fashion needs. Head on over to www.waconativeclothing.com today to get your t-shirt, hat, basketball jersey and more! Join us in showing the world THE NEW WAY TO WACO! I personally own and use Waco Native gear. The clothes are really comfortable, and they are sold at a great price! If you want to rack up more discounts on your Waco Native purchase, use code YASH at checkout to get 20% off your purchase.  Show Notes:  Book Suggestions: I’m OK - You’re OK by Thomas Harris, 10% Happier by Dan Harris, Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John Gray, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey  Apps for Mediation: Waking Up by Sam Harris, Headspace, Insight Timer, Calm  Apps for Yoga: Gaia, Down Dog Other Suggestions: yoga nidra

"Rare is not rare" - Swapna Kakani Swapna Kakani (@swapnaspeaks) is a professional keynote speaker and advocate in the area of healthcare delivery and the patient experience. Her inspirational life story, of being born with Short Bowel Syndrome, requiring IV nutrition through a central venous catheter for 29 years and counting, nutrition through a feeding tube for 20 years, and enduring 65 surgeries including a small intestine transplant. Her story shows audiences her individual resilience and self-determination in the face of constant difficulties, as well as the impact of her healthcare advocacy across disciplines. Swapna through her platform, Swapna Speaks, has given several presentations across the U.S. through medical conferences, hospitals, medical schools/residencies, graduation ceremonies, and corporate events, including giving a TEDx talk, performing live for The Moth, and speaking for Fortune 500 companies and Pharmaceutical companies. Swapna, in addition does healthcare advocacy work both at the federal and state level for the Short Bowel Syndrome/Intestinal Failure and broader rare disease community. She has been part of various projects to improve care and maintenance of central venous access devices (CVAD) and part of regulation changes to improve the patient experience of IV nutrition consumers.  In 2017, Swapna worked in Washington D.C. for the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) researching federal and state health policies and advocating on Capitol Hill to ultimately expand care for individuals with rare diseases. Also, in 2017, back in Alabama, Swapna noticing a disconnect in her home state in regard to rare disease care, and created Alabama Rare. It is a grassroots coalition to unite the state around the rare disease population. It acts to bring support for individuals & families, educate the broader community, bring awareness to the population’s needs, and advocate for necessary change.    Swapna, originally from Huntsville, AL, received her bachelors in Psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2013 and is currently back at UAB working on her Masters in Public Health.  * * * Show Notes:  Ted Talk: How I Found My Purpose In My Disease  Book Suggestions: Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande Others Suggestions: Toastmasters 

“We need to be thinking about how to not make our money our commander. In fact, (we need to) command our money and use it to keep changing the world.” - Daniel Huizinga  Daniel or Danny Huizinga (@huizingadaniel) is a management consultant at Accenture, focusing on data-driven strategy for nonprofit, education, and state and local government clients in the Washington, DC area. He also co-leads Accenture's Wealth Creation community, a team of 30 employees dedicated to improving financial literacy for thousands of employees around the country. He personally speaks to over 1,000 employees a year on the importance of retirement saving and investing. In his free time, he is a business and policy columnist (starting from writing op-eds during his time at Baylor), and has interviewed close to 50 startup founders and business leaders around the country - publishing over 200 articles. Daniel also serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Komolion Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to economic development and community improvement in Kenya. Daniel graduated from Baylor University with majors in economics and finance and minors in political science and mathematics.   Show Notes:  - Baylor Article on Daniel - Financial Resources: NerdWallet, Wealthfront, WiseBanyan, Betterment, Acorn App - Podcast Suggestion: Hardcore History  - Book Recommendations: Unshakeable by Tony Robbins, How to Think by Alan Jacobs, So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, & Deep Work by Cal Newport    

In this intro, Yash shares his story, what this podcast is all about, and why it got started.  * * * Show Notes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasanka-chalasani-29b638111/

"Without putting yourself out there, you’ll never go far." - Travis Whitfill Travis Whitfill (@twhitfill) is a Partner at Bios Partners. He received scientific training at leading academic institutions including M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Duke University, and Yale University. He serves on the board of several companies, including Azitra Inc., Incysus Therapeutics, and 410 Medical Inc., and is an Entrepreneur in Residence at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He also holds a faculty research appointment at the Yale School of Medicine and is on the executive board of an international research organization in pediatrics, the INSPIRE Network. Lastly, he serves as the Senior Analyst at Bios Research, which provides research services to institutional investors. Mr. Whitfill’s strong background in entrepreneurship and business was recently acknowledged when he was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2018. Mr. Whitfill is the cofounder of several startup companies, has led numerous grant-funded projects, holds several patents, and has co-authored over three dozen publications.