Podcasts about new venture challenge

Anna Palmer is a venture capitalist, serial entrepreneur and Central Illinois native. At the 2025 New Venture Challenge hosted by Innovate Springfield at the University of Illinois Springfield, Anna shared insights from her journey building and investing in startups, her perspective on what's hot in tech, and the challenges she faced as a co-founder of Boston Legacy FC. The conversated was moderated by Bruce Sommer.

CMU's New Venture Challenge provides transformational experiences for CMU students to develop business ideas and earn start-up funds for their businesses. Amy talks with two student-athletes who won awards for their business ventures at this year's competition and alum Bob Oros, a dedicated CMU supporter and New Venture Challenge judge. 

Starting on June 25 at 1 PM Eastern time, Scott Love will lead a virtual six-session masterclass with a small group of professional services providers on the topic of rainmaking. Space is limited. Get your seat today at www.rainmakingseminar.com.  Use discount code “podcast” for a $200 tuition discount. Sophia Matveeva is the CEO & founder of Tech For Non-Techies, an executive education and consulting company. Sophia has contributed to the Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, The Guardian, and Forbes on entrepreneurship and technology, and hosts the top-rated Tech for Non-Techies podcast.  She has also guest lectured at the University of Chicago, London Business School, and Oxford University. Sophia is a start-up mentor at the Chicago Booth Polsky Center of Entrepreneurship and has advised leading accelerators including Chicago Booth's New Venture Challenge and the Techstars x Blackstone Launchpad. She holds an MBA from Chicago Booth, and a BSc (Hons) in Politics from Bristol. She speaks English, Russian, and French. Sophia also sits on the Advisory Board to Riviter, which uses AI to predict consumer trends for the world's biggest brands. ---------------------------------------- This show is sponsored by Leopard Solutions Legal Intelligence Suite of products, Firmscape, and Leopard BI. Push ahead of the pack with the power of Leopard. For a free demo, visit this link: https://www.leopardsolutions.com/index.php/request-a-demo/ www.theplacementclub.com Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophia-matveeva-556365a/ techfornontechies.co/  podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/tech-for-non-techies/id1516475320  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CMU's New Venture Challenge — hosted by the CMU Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship — provides transformational experiences for CMU students to develop their business ideas and earn start-up funds for their businesses. Amy sat down with two CMU student-athletes — football player Lawai'a Brown and baseball player AJ Kostic — who participated in the 2024 New Venture Challenge, earning awards and the interest of real investors. Also joining her was Kaye Reimers, program and event manager for the CMU Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship.

Today's guest is helping people understand technology concepts and jargon so that they can succeed in the digital age. Sophia Matveeva is the founder and CEO of Tech for Non-Techies, an education and executive coaching company that was inspired by her previous experience starting a tech company and struggling to communicate with developers. Through this education platform, business leaders—including legal professionals—can learn more about technology, entrepreneurship, and career success, without having to learn how to code. In addition to her work at Tech for Non-Techies, Sophia is a startup mentor at the Chicago Booth Polsky Center of Entrepreneurship, and has advised leading accelerators, including Chicago Booth's New Venture Challenge and the Techstars x Blackstone Launchpad. She also sits on the advisory board to Riviter, which uses AI to predict consumer trends for the world's biggest brands. Sophia has contributed to the Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, The Guardian, and Forbes, writing on entrepreneurship and technology, and she hosts the Tech for Non-Techies podcast. She has also guest lectured at the University of Chicago, London Business School, and Oxford University. In our wide-ranging discussion, Sophia talks about the origins and objectives of Tech for Non-Techies, perfectionism versus flexibility in the legal world, the readership of her tech blog, and allowing time for curiosity.

A great teacher can be the key to welcoming challenges, self-confidence, and a curious spirit. In the case of Larry Berlin, Chief Financial Officer at Freedom Fries, great teachers also inspired a lifelong commitment to mentorship, including his critical mentor role for the New Venture Challenge, an accelerator program that has launched Grubhub, Braintree/Venmo, and many more successful companies.In this episode, Larry shares details of the development process and aims of his recent venture: search engine and news aggregator Freespoke.com. He outlines how to approach analyzing product-market fit and your company's competitive grid. Bringing lessons from his experiences mentoring an array of startups, Larry discusses how to deal with surprises and highlights the “need-to-know” aspects of a pitch. (01:13) – Freespoke.com(05:21) – The challenges of managing a startup(11:24) – Flexibility as an entrepreneur(14:21) – Product-market fit and building your competitive grid(21:31) – Encountering surprises(24:12) – Testing your assumptions(29:52) – New Venture Challenge(34:24) - MentorshipLarry Berlin is the CFO of Freedom Fries (Freespoke.com), a mentor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and leads Blue Point Advisory Services. Previously, he worked at First Analysis for nineteen years and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Jon Morris is the founder & CEO of Ramsay Innovations and a serial entrepreneur. Prior to Ramsay, he established Rise Interactive in 2004 with prize money from his second-place finish in the University of Chicago's prestigious New Venture Challenge. Over the next 16 years, he grew Rise from a one-person shop to one of the largest independent marketing agencies in the world. After selling Rise, Jon pondered his next move and realized he was most energized when connecting and helping fellow entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Ramsay Innovations is the product of this inspiration. Like at Rise, Jon developed a proprietary, tech-enabled approach for surfacing hidden financial insights that drive critical business decisions. Ramsay Innovations' mission is to transform marketing agencies by providing them with world-class, agency-specific financial management and strategic planning at a fraction of the cost. What you will learn about in this episode: Jon's innovative framework around how agencies can fuel growth with a system of financial planning The core philosophy of Jon and his team Why differentiation is crucial for agency growth The four different concrete goals Jon highlights for growing agency revenue Why agencies should believe in marketing as well as prioritize it for the greatest impact How Jon helps other agency owners grow by applying the analysis process he built Resources: Website: https://ramsayinnovations.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmorrisramsayinnovations/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ramsay-innovations-llc/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RamsayInnovations Twitter: https://twitter.com/RamsayInno Additional Resources: Visit our newly expanded “Resource Library“ Join us in our free “How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline” Facebook Group LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

New Year, New Season! Welcome to Season 5 of the Actionable Futurist Podcast.To kick off the new season, I interviewed Sophia Matveeva CEO & founder of Tech For Non-Techies.Sophia argues that you don't have to be a tech expert to found, run or work in a technology company at senior levels.Tech For Non-Techies is an education company and consultancy. Sophia has contributed to the Financial Times, The Guardian, and Forbes on entrepreneurship and technology, and hosts the top-rated Tech for Non-Techies podcast.Tech for Non-Techies teaches non-technical professionals how to Speak Tech and succeed in the Digital Age through corporate & individual training programs.As a non-technical founder, Sophia has co-created apps and algorithms that have been used by thousands, won App of the Day by Mashable, and was featured by Inc, the BBC, and more.She has also guest lectured at the University of Chicago, London Business School, and Oxford University, and led the Blackstone x Techstars accelerator at the University of Texas at El Paso.Sophia is a start-up mentor at the Chicago Booth Polsky Center of Entrepreneurship, and has advised leading accelerators including Chicago Booth's New Venture Challenge and the Microsoft x London College of Fashion incubator.She holds an MBA from Chicago Booth and a BSc (Hons) in Politics from Bristol. She speaks English, Russian and French. Sophia also sits on the Board of the University of Chicago's Alumni in the UK.We covered a number of issues related to being “Digitally Curious™” such asstarting a tech company without a technical backgroundthe need for digital literacy among senior leaderswhy it's important to build a bridge between technical and non-technical people?what it means to be a “digital collaborator”?These issues and more will be covered in Andrew's upcoming book, to be published by Wiley later in 2023.More on SophiaSophia on LinkedInTech for non-techies websiteTech for non-techies podcastSophia on Twitter Your Host: Actionable Futurist® Andrew GrillFor more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com Andrew's Social ChannelsAndrew on LinkedIn@AndrewGrill on Twitter @Andrew.Grill on InstagramKeynote speeches hereAndrew's upcoming book

Discover Rising Tides with Alexandra Koys How the Outside Makes the Inside Better Through conversations with female business owners, we explore the benefits of time spent outside to maintain life balance. The time outside and activity may differ in each conversation, but we delve into the subject to find the commonality that drives us all.  As a business owner, I find myself outside to balance the challenges of every day Discovering Guest Alexandra Koys, 33, is the Founder & CEO of Lighten, a startup transforming the future of the funeral services industry. Lighten offers end-of-life arrangements designed for families who want to avoid the traditional, somber funeral home and opt for a more uplifting experience to honor a legacy. Lighten offers personalized celebrations of life that reflect an individual's unique personal, cultural, and spiritual identity. The company's online planning portal delivers a modern, streamlined process that allows families to plan from the comfort of their own homes. Alexandra founded Lighten while pursuing her MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. A pivotal moment for the business came in 2020, when Alexandra and her team won second place in Booth's annual startup competition, The New Venture Challenge. Alexandra raised $380,000 for the business, a significant accomplishment considering that companies founded solely by women receive only 2.4% of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups in the U.S. December 7th, 2022  2:00 pm PST Submit Questions  hello@discoverrisingtides.com Podcast page: https://discoverrisingtides.com/offerings Watch or listen at: https://linkedlocalnetwork.com/discover-rising-tides/

Discover Rising Tides with Alexandra Koys How the Outside Makes the Inside Better Through conversations with female business owners, we explore the benefits of time spent outside to maintain life balance. The time outside and activity may differ in each conversation, but we delve into the subject to find the commonality that drives us all. As a business owner, I find myself outside to balance the challenges of every day Discovering Guest Alexandra Koys, 33, is the Founder & CEO of Lighten, a startup transforming the future of the funeral services industry. Lighten offers end-of-life arrangements designed for families who want to avoid the traditional, somber funeral home and opt for a more uplifting experience to honor a legacy. Lighten offers personalized celebrations of life that reflect an individual's unique personal, cultural, and spiritual identity. The company's online planning portal delivers a modern, streamlined process that allows families to plan from the comfort of their own homes. Alexandra founded Lighten while pursuing her MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. A pivotal moment for the business came in 2020, when Alexandra and her team won second place in Booth's annual startup competition, The New Venture Challenge. Alexandra raised $380,000 for the business, a significant accomplishment considering that companies founded solely by women receive only 2.4% of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups in the U.S. Submit Questions hello@discoverrisingtides.com Podcast page: https://discoverrisingtides.com/offerings

Rich Longo, executive director of the Duquesne Small Business Development Center, joins Rick to talk about the upcoming Duquesne New Venture Challenge, which encourages any and everyone to come forward with their best business and product ideas.

QUICK LINKS:• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blogGUEST LINKS:Ramsay InnovationsLinkedInCompany LinkedInABOUT JON MORRIS:Jon is the founder & CEO of Ramsay Innovations and a serial entrepreneur.  Prior to Ramsay, he established Rise Interactive in 2004, as a result of his second-place finish in the University of Chicago's prestigious New Venture Challenge.  Over the next 16 years, he grew Rise from a one-person shop to one of the largest independent marketing agencies globally.  After selling Rise, Jon pondered his next move and realized he was most energized when connecting and helping fellow entrepreneurs grow their businesses!

Jon Morris is the founder and CEO of Ramsay Innovations, a Finance Management and Strategic Planning company that is focused on helping marketing communication firms grow faster. Previous to starting Ramsay Innovations, Morris was the founder and CEO of Rise Interactive. Under Morris' leadership, Rise received recognition for excellence in client service, innovative marketing campaigns, and commitment to culture, including acknowledgment from Inc. 500|5000 Fastest Growing Companies (nine-time winner), Ad Age (Best Places to Work in Advertising), Fortune Magazine, Forrester, and more. Morris has been personally recognized as a leader in technology and innovation on the Techweek100 list and Crain's Chicago Tech 50 list. As a leader in the digital marketing community, Morris has mentored several entrepreneurs, with a significant focus on the University of Chicago's New Venture Challenge, a renowned business plan competition where Rise itself got its start. Morris has shared his expertise as a guest speaker, presenting on main stages and at workshops and webinars for organizations such as Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies, American Marketing Association, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, Forrester Research, Online Marketing Summit, iStrategy, and Vistage. Morris earned an MBA with high honors, graduating first in his class from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a bachelor's degree from Kenyon College.

Danielle Tice & Aaryn Richard sit down with the winners of the Burgess New Venture Challenge to discuss the event, their businesses, and future plans. The group reflects on the opportunities they have here at Michigan State University and how the Burgess Institute helped them to prepare for the event.  _______Like what you hear? Let us know! Subscribe and share—we really appreciate it.Have ideas or comments for us? Email us at hatchcast@msu.edu. For behind-the-scenes content, check us out on Facebook and Instagram.   Hatchcast is made possible by the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Michigan State University in collaboration with the MSU Innovation Center, the MSU Entrepreneurship Association, & MSU Women in Entrepreneurship.Today's episode was written and executive produced by Karina Stankowski.Original Music & Sound Design by Kakia Gkoudina and Karina StankowskiEngineered & Edited by Will RowanThe Hatchcast is co-hosted and produced by Gabe Hales, Gabe Berke, Diego Fernandez, Danielle Tice, Karina Stankowski, Charlotte Bachelor, Will Rowan, & Aaryn Richard.MSU Burgess InstituteThe Burgess Institute empowers Michigan State University students to learn through action.TEDxMSUTED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.Women in EntrepreneurshipMSU WE's mission is to inspire, support, & empower women interested in building their ventures.

Andi Govindia has gone through three accelerators on her start-up journey. This helped her build a business model, find co-founders and get her first major clients. Andi leads Riviter, a visual search company that uses AI to predict fashion and beauty trends, and counts L'Oreal amongst its clients.   If you're interested in entrepreneurship and how non-technical founders can succeed in tech, this one is for you. Learning notes from this episode: Use Effectual Logic: ask yourself what the simplest and laziest way is for you to solve a problem. The simplest way is often imperfect, but results matter more than perfection. If you are applying for accelerators, link their speciality to your current needs. Andi participated in Chicago Booth's New Venture Challenge, Plug & Play and Founders Factory. Each accelerator has different strengths, and Andi used them for different purposes. Andi collaborated with her co-founders for a year before they made their agreement official. It is important to really get to know the people you are going to have a long term business partnership with.    If you want to learn the system Sophia used to raise $1 million for her tech venture as a non-technical founder, join the Fundraising For Non-Technical Founders Workshop on 19 September.    Do you have a brilliant app idea and no tech knowledge to build it? Get your FREE guide here.   To watch the full session on video and access learning notes, join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: Weekly live masterclasses with global experts Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter. 

In this episode of the global sales leader podcast, we speak with Sophia Matveeva, who helps sales teams adapt to changing technology without learning hard coding skills. We talk about Tips on leading companies into the age of digital transformation without a technical background. And what you really need to know to succeed in today's innovation economy (and what you can ignore) Sophia also has guest lectured at Chicago Booth and London Business School and led the Blackstone x Techstars accelerator at the University of Texas at El Paso. As a non-technical founder, she has co-created apps and algorithms that have been used by thousands, won App of the Day by Mashable, and were featured by Inc, the BBC and more. Sophia loves helping entrepreneurs and has advised Chicago Booth's New Venture Challenge and Microsoft x London College of Fashion incubator. She holds an MBA from Chicago Booth and a BSc (Hons) in Politics from Bristol. She speaks English, Russian and French.

Sebastian Rivas is the Founder & CEO at Andes STR, a PropTech startup dedicated to providing investors turnkey access to Short Term Rentals as an asset class.Sebastian led the Andes team through Polsky Center's New Venture Challenge, achieving 1st place in the largest competition to date and obtaining commitments for over USD $1.8M during fundraising

Sophia Matveeva is the founder of Tech For Non-Techies, a learning community and media company. Sophia has contributed to the Financial Times, The Guardian, and Forbes on entrepreneurship and technology and hosts the top-rated Tech for Non-Techies podcast. She has also guest lectured at Chicago Booth and London Business School, and led the Blackstone x Techstars accelerator at the University of Texas at El Paso. As a non-technical founder, she has co-created apps and algorithms that have been used by thousands, won App of the Day by Mashable, and were featured by Inc, the BBC and more. Sophia loves helping entrepreneurs and has advised Chicago Booth's New Venture Challenge and Microsoft x London College of Fashion incubator. She also holds an MBA from Chicago Booth, and a BSc (Hons) in Politics from Bristol. She speaks English, Russian and French. Sophia Matveeva shares her startup story. Then, we talk about why investors are turning towards non-technical founders and what this means for the industry. Sophie shares advice on how non-technical professionals can transition into a career in tech for non-technical professionals.

Brendan Wang is the Founder and CEO of CAPNOS, a company that is on a mission to help people quit vaping in order to prevent lung disease and save lives. CAPNOS also finished first place in the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship's New Venture Challenge. He is also an incoming Senior at Michigan State University majoring in Supply Chain Management. He was also the Director of External Relations for the MSU Supply Chain Management Association (MSUSCMA). LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wangbrendan/ CAPNOS: https://mycapnos.com/pages/about Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship: https://entrepreneurship.msu.edu/ MSUSCMA: https://msuscma.com/ WMA website: http://msuwma.com WMA YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT-eaRPTd0R1WlrLkRBweuQ Contact: msuwma@gmail.com Song credits: Khalid - Better (OFFICIAL INSTRUMENTAL) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLeOfpSv31c

Matt Maloney admits he had a bit of an ego when he entered the New Venture Challenge. He had already launched Grubhub, had a few customers, and had landed at a top business school.But during his first presentation to the NVC judges, he fell on his face.“You could tell mid-way through, the blank stares, people were expecting unit model economics,” Maloney, MBA '10, recalls. “They're expecting financial plan. What do you need to invest? What's the runway? What's the outcome? What's the next round? What's your marketing plan? What's your hiring plan? We weren't even doing a good job of explaining the technology and the product itself.”Maloney followed the advice to speak to all of the Booth advisors he could in order to gain insights on everything from marketing to quantifying the opportunity. Grubhub ended up tying for first-place in the 2006 NVC and the following year secured a $1.1 million Series A.“We didn't change the product. The opportunity didn't change. The solution didn't change. It was completely about how did I go about communicating to potential investors the opportunity, the solution, and the potential payout,” Maloney said.Chicago-based Grubhub, which went public in 2014, has since become a mammoth food delivery company. A deal to be acquired by Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway for $7.3 billion is set to close June 15.In this episode, Maloney, who continues as Grubhub's CEO, speaks with Mark Tebbe, an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Booth who calls Maloney the “poster child” for the NVC.They discuss the leadership challenges at a fast-growing company, why some markets were not successful for Grubhub, and the difficulty of learning how to sell.

Coco Meers' career has centered on helping women look and feel their best. When she caught the entrepreneurship bug and looked for a pain point to solve in that space, she kept remembering a long flight delay she had when traveling between Paris and New York and how she wished she could spend the time getting an eyebrow wax in town – if only she knew what salons were good, nearby, and available.Her idea for PrettyQuick was to offer a marketplace for booking beauty services much like OpenTable does for restaurant reservations. She chose to attend Chicago Booth so she could take the idea through the New Venture Challenge, where in 2011 she tied for third place and received $10,000.She recalls presenting to the panel of judges, which at the time was overwhelmingly male, and feeling that they couldn't quite identify with the problem.“With the emergency of eyebrow and bikini wax booking, I didn't get a lot of confirmatory nods at the time,” Meers, MBA '14, laughed.Meers, who sold PrettyQuick to Groupon in 2015, has since committed to helping improve gender diversity among startup founders and investors. She launched Rebelle Collective, an angel fund that invests in women-owned companies, and through that platform cofounded Equilibria, a premium CBD company targeting women.In conversation with Starr Marcello, deputy dean for MBA programs at Chicago Booth and former executive director of the Polsky Center, Meers discusses the times PrettyQuick nearly failed, why marketplaces are so difficult, and why she made the tough choice to sell to Groupon.

The New Venture Challenge at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has served as an innovation hub for startups and entrepreneurs. On Wednesday, a dozen teams will pitch their business plans for a chance of at least $1 million in investment. Reset brings on a co-founder of the annual competition and an alumni company to discuss Chicago Booth's legacy of supporting startups.

Growing up in a small, religious town in Utah, Bryan Johnson felt he existed in a video game where the rules were all mapped out. His favorite part of the day as a kid were the early mornings he spent wandering the fields with his dog, shooting at targets with his BB gun, which gave him a feeling of “endless possibility.”Now he's playing in a video game of his own making, as he puts it, that allows him to explore the “infinite expanse” of the brain and how it might be measured and shaped to help humanity thrive.But before he could found Kernel, a neurotech company building scalable brain-recording devices, Johnson had to sell Braintree – a pioneering mobile payment platform that he took through the New Venture Challenge.In this podcast episode, Johnson, MBA '07, speaks with Starr Marcello, deputy dean of MBA programs at Chicago Booth and formerly executive director of the Polsky Center.In a fascinating, at times mind-bending interview, Johnson discusses how the NVC taught him to communicate his vision for Braintree; why big ecommerce companies trusted his tiny startup with their payment platforms; and how he leads sophisticated engineering companies without being an engineer himself.Johnson, who sold Braintree to PayPal for $800 million and used the money to start Kernel, also reveals that he rarely spends time in the present anymore as he contemplates what intelligence will look like in the future.“For some reason, I don't know why, I feel responsible for the year 2500,” he said.Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

As a Black founder, Seyi Fabode, MBA '10, has experienced the challenge of investors taking him seriously.Fabode, an immigrant from Nigeria, recalls an investor calling him and his African-American partner in his first venture, Power2Switch, “boys.” It happened again 10 years later, after Fabode had founded the clean water company Varuna Tech.“I have two kids, I'm a grown man,” Fabode said. “And you can tell there's this, I'll say, discount and disregard and disrespect that is just embedded in some of these conversations that I can't imagine some of my White counterparts experience.”In this podcast episode, Fabode speaks about his entrepreneurship journey with Ellen Rudnick, a senior advisor on entrepreneurship at Chicago Booth and the first executive director of the Polsky Center.He took Power2Switch, an online marketplace to help people choose electricity suppliers, through the New Venture Challenge in 2009. And while it was not selected to advance to the finals, the experience was pivotal in helping to make the business a success, he said.The entrepreneurial peers Fabode met through the program continue to serve as mentors and investors. The early mistakes he made in his haste to assemble a team taught him the value of hiring slowly. And Michael Polsky himself, the namesake of the Polsky Center and CEO of Invenergy, served as chairman of his board.Power2Switch was acquired by Choose Energy in 2013, and five years later Fabode launched Varuna Tech, which uses sensors to measure water health in municipal water systems and alerts the proper authorities if something is wrong. The company is drawing interest as the world comes to grips with the dangers of water contamination.“I feel we've timed this right,” Fabode said.In his interview, Fabode discussed what makes a good hire, the need for more mental health support for entrepreneurs, and the challenges that continue to face minority and women founders.

Foxtrot cofounder and CEO Mike LaVitola, MBA '14, has become expert at hearing “no.” He was not initially accepted into the New Venture Challenge, and after he talked his way in, his team did not make the finals. Despite steady revenue, it took years to put together a seed round.But LaVitola remained committed to his idea of a reimagined convenience store, with curated locally-made products that could be ordered online for delivery on demand.The ecommerce model soon evolved to include physical stores after Foxtrot's first distribution warehouse, in the West Loop, became a community gathering place and organic marketing for the brand.“People were in and having an espresso in the morning and taking meetings there and grabbing wine after work, and it just became this total embodiment for the brand,” LaVitola said.Chicago-based Foxtrot in February announced a $45 million Series B round. It has eight stores in Chicago, two in Dallas and two in Washington, DC, with plans to double its store count this year. It is also recently launched nationwide shipping.In this episode, LaVitola speaks with Waverly Deutsch, a professor of entrepreneurship at Chicago Booth and academic director of University-wide entrepreneurship content. She was on the committee that initially rejected Foxtrot's NVC application.

Jennifer Fried, MBA '15, started her MBA at Chicago Booth with dreams of a career in venture capital. By the time she graduated, she had launched a healthcare tech company that helps ensure surgical procedures go smoothly — and today her product is becoming a must-have in operating rooms.Fried, MBA '15, took second place in the Edward L. Kaplan, '71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) with ExplORer Surgical, a digital playbook that helps surgical teams coordinate and communicate during procedures.The Chicago-based company recently closed a $2.5 million round, bringing its total funding to $11 million.In a conversation with Steve Kaplan, her former Booth professor and co-founder of the New Venture Challenge, Fried discusses how she went from having no medical experience to being a healthcare entrepreneur, and how the NVC helped steer her toward a viable concept.“We got destroyed in our pitch presentations,” Fried recalled. “The judges just ripped apart everything we did, and it made us so much stronger as a company to push on our business model and think through the problem and what evidence did we have to show and how could we validate it.”Fried, who left her “dream job” at a VC firm to run the company, reveals the sweat that went into finding the right investors, the challenge of making sales and the hardest part of being the boss. She describes how the company found a foothold by partnering with medical device reps and how the COVID-19 pandemic catapulted her business as hospitals sought ways to go virtual.“I think 2020 was the inflection point for us where we went from, candidly, I think, a nice-to-have product that might've been a little bit ahead of its time to being a must-have product that the entire medical device industry needs and is looking for,” Fried said.

Jon Morris is the founder and CEO of Ramsay Innovations, a management consulting firm focused on helping small to medium-sized businesses grow faster. Previous to starting Ramsay Innovations, Morris was the founder and CEO of Rise Interactive. Under Morris' leadership, Rise received recognition for excellence in client service, innovative marketing campaigns, and commitment to culture, including acknowledgment from Inc. 500|5000 Fastest Growing Companies (nine-time winner), Ad Age (Best Places to Work in Advertising), Fortune Magazine, and more. Morris has been personally recognized as a leader in technology and innovation on the Techweek100 list and the Crain's Chicago Tech 50 list. As a leader in the digital marketing community, Morris has mentored several entrepreneurs, with a significant focus on the University of Chicago's New Venture Challenge, a renowned business plan competition where Rise itself got its start. Morris has shared his expertise as a guest speaker, presenting on main stages and at workshops and webinars for organizations such as Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies, American Marketing Association, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, Forrester Research, Online Marketing Summit, iStrategy, and Vistage.  Morris earned an MBA with high honors, graduating first in his class from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a bachelor's degree from Kenyon College.

Over the years of hosting #WeGotGoals, we’ve heard a lot of founders tell us that they want to “Revolutionize X” or “Shake up Y.” But when David Rabie, the founder and CEO of Tovala told me that he's going to “revolutionize home cooking,” I absolutely believe him. That's because I talked to him three years ago just after Tovala started selling to the masses, and I've watched the company deliver on the promises they made. Tovala’s countertop cooking device uses a barcode to tell a smart oven how to combine steaming, convection, broiling and toasting to produce a *chef’s kiss* meal. And they promise less than a minute of prep. Rabie says that’s all intended to give you “the best parts of home cooking, but none of the messy stuff – like prepping.” Salmon, he said, will steam, bake and broil as it cooks, giving you a perfectly baked, caramelized meal. But the journey from idea to that smart counter-top oven has been winding, rewarding, and full of the kind of moments that occupy entrepreneurs' dreams. In this week's episode of #WeGotGoals, you'll hear about Tovala's journey to winning the New Venture Challenge at The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, their time at Y-Combinator, and their successful kick-starter campaign – which, by the way, meant that the company had to build a food production process and fulfill 1,000 orders. At the time of our interview, Rabie had recently closed a $20 million funding round - the company's Series-B. And as he put it, "Yeah, that's a lot of money."   Resources: Learn more about Tovala and check out its weekly menu If you want to reminisce at how far company has come, look back at the sheer delight as Tovala (originally named Maestro) won the New Venture Challenge at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business Learn more about Y Combinator and go to their free Start-up School, you don’t even have to apply for that. Find Tovala and its menu online and look for a really incredible deal for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The Tovala Smart Oven, which normally retails for $299, will be on sale for Black Friday and Cyber Monday for just $99 with 6 meal deliveries. You can also get a deal with the code ASWEATLIFE for $50 off before 1/31/2021. If you love this episode as much as we do, subscribe to the #WeGotGoals podcast wherever you like to listen to podcasts, including on Apple and Spotify (and hey, leave us a rating while you’re at it!).

Join us this week as we sit down with the winners of the annual Burgess New Venture Challenge (Phenologic, Veg-N, & Starforged Studios), along with Josh Cooper—#BNVC19's top winner & SKOOP Digital's founder & CEO—to talk about their ventures and plans for the future. As always, thank you for listening & stay safe out there!***Is there a topic you're curious about? Do you want to hear more about something we've already covered? Don't be shy, email us at hatchcastpodcast@gmail.com! We'd love to hear from you. Love the show? Subscribe and share with a friend!

In this episode of the Startup of the Year Podcast, Frank Gruber talks with Larry Berlin, an entrepreneur and angel investor, who teaches and mentors at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Larry also talk about his work with the "New Venture Challenge” every year, where 30 teams compete for a total of $1M for the tops winners. Frank also catches up with Reed Alexander the Relationship Manager, SMB Partnerships at American Airlines. The two talk about the products and travel programs that AA offers for startups and small business and the AA Business Extra program. Lastly, Frank talks about Established's partnership with .US and suggests that veteran startup founders apply for the .US Veteran Startup of the Year competition. Apply at the link: soty.link/SOTYUSVET Startups can also obtain a free .US domain at the following link: soty.link/USdomain

Jon Morris is the founder and CEO of Rise Interactive. Under Morris’ leadership, Rise has received recognition for excellence in client service, innovative marketing campaigns, and commitment to culture, including acknowledgment from Inc. 500|5000 Fastest Growing Companies (nine-time winner), Ad Age (Best Places to Work in Advertising), Fortune Magazine, and more. Morris has been personally recognized as a leader in technology and innovation on the Techweek100 list the Crain’s Chicago Tech 50 list. As a leader in the digital marketing community, Morris has mentored several entrepreneurs, with a significant focus on the University of Chicago’s New Venture Challenge, a renowned business plan competition where Rise itself got its start. Morris also regularly shares his expertise as a guest speaker. He has presented on main stages and at workshops and webinars for organizations such as Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies, American Marketing Association, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Forrester Research, Online Marketing Summit, iStrategy, and Vistage. Morris earned an MBA with high honors, graduating first in his class from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a bachelor's degree from Kenyon College.Check out what Jon is up to at: https://www.riseinteractive.com/

The New Venture Challenge finals are the culmination of a year-long business launch program where finalists present to a panel of judges comprised of top investors, entrepreneurs, and others. Each finalist team presents their full business plan in-person to the panel of NVC Judges. Only University of Chicago team members can present to the judges, […]

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Tovala controls the entire end-to-end experience of each meal, from sourcing the ingredients to creating unique recipes with its in-house chefs -David’s background in the food industry, and how he found himself creating Tovala shortly after arriving at Chicago Booth -How the advice David received from the founders of Airbnb helped him go after such a bold idea -The decision to go through Y Combinator after winning Booth’s New Venture Challenge, and how it gave the Tovala team an excuse to focus on nothing but the business for a few months -The benefits to growing an IoT startup in the Midwest, and how it has allowed Tovala to rapidly scale -How David’s parents, who are both Iranian immigrants, molded his ideas on entrepreneurship and healthy eating Catch the end of the show, where David shares another Chicago startup he’s a fan of and the founder he’s most keen to interview. P.S. Thanks to 52 Founders alumn Kevin Marvinac for the intro!

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Ezza stores plan to operate, and the thought process that went into the details behind the customer experience -The benefits of starting a business while obtaining an MBA, and how Chicago Booth’s New Venture Challenge helped make things happen -What it’s like to work inside of 1871, Chicago’s technology and entrepreneurship center -Kim’s ability to bring people together, ranging from full-scale performances when she was young to an outhouse team race in South Dakota to pizza trolleys for MBAs (myself included) -Why Ale finds ways to continually challenge herself, even in activities not related to work -The most surprising aspects of entrepreneurship that each woman has learned thus far At the end of the episode we’ll chat about the startup both founders love in Chicago, in addition to the person they’d most want to interview and why (it’s a new one to boot!).

Twenty-four year old Devon Tivona is the Co-founder and CEO of Pana, an on-demand travel agent software service that blends technology and real humans for ultimate ease in traveling. Devon is a rare mix of tech and EQ, getting energy from making human connections as well solving complex technical problems. These qualities have not only helped him launch a successful, well-designed and highly engaging app, but he has also garnered real loyalty his investors and advisors. He recognizes the value of this circle: "In order for a concept to be successful, you have to have this inner circle of people who are obsessed with your product."  Growing up Devon dreamed of attending Stanford. Although he was accepted there, he chose to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he was offered a full merit scholarship. It was outside the classroom, however, where Devon found cohorts of like-minded people in the startup community. He founded Pana with classmates, won the University’s prestigious New Venture Challenge, and the company was accepted to Techstars Boulder upon his graduation. When talking about his experience in creating and maintaining a tight team, he believes that candor and transparency are the two greatest lessons he and his co-founders have learned. When it comes to vetting new ideas, the Pana team keeps its process open. "We have an idea, and we have a gut about it and we give the freedom to say 'Great. Build a hypothesis and go test it.'" Find out how this young entrepreneur won his company the backing of Techstars Ventures, The Foundry Group, Galvanize, Flight VC and a host of angel investors through his raw talent, obsession with learning, excitement and authenticity. 

Sandra is a veteran leader and/or co-founder of several innovative high-growth ventures--including one company acquired by Groupon, another acquired by Microsoft, another that successfully exited to an EMC competitor, and others recognized for notable industry awards (SIIA CODiE winner for best online & mobile solution, New Venture Challenge winner, Grammy-nominee). Formerly a "Big 4" management consultant (Deloitte, IBM), she focused on Strategy & Operations for the TMT industries (Technology / Media & Entertainment / Telecom). She has also produced original entertainment featured internationally on MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Pandora, iTunes, Amazon, and over 40 film festivals worldwide.A Fulbright Scholar, Sandra earned a master's degree in Computer Science from Stanford University's School of Engineering, a bachelor's degree in English from Princeton University, and two certifications in Business Management and Business Leadership from Harvard University. Additionally, Sandra enjoyed training in improvisational comedy at The Second City and IO.