Podcasts about Pioneer Square Labs

Top Stories1. New walkway opens downtownSeattle Magazine article2. Gen Z getting fired quicklyYahoo Finance article3. Pokemon to open a museumPSBJ article4. Avalara to move officesPSBJ articleAbout guest Maureen Wiley Clough - Founder & Host, It Gets Late Early podcastMaureen founded the It Gets Late Early podcast about aging in the tech industry about a year and a half ago. Prior to that, she was the head of partnerships at UpKeep and was the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Conga. In terms of Seattle companies – she's worked at Pitchbook, Zulily, and Concur. She also worked for Lumatax, which was one of the companies Pioneer Square Labs invested in.About host Rachel Horgan:Rachel is an independent event producer, emcee and entrepreneur. She worked for the Business Journal for 5 years as their Director of Events interviewing business leaders on stage before launching the weekly podcast. She earned her communication degree from the University of San Diego. Contact:Email: info@theweeklyseattle.comInstagram: @theweeklyseattleWebsite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.theweeklyseattle.com

Top Stories:1. Smartsheet to sell to private equityGeekwire article2. Electric boat engine company enters receivershipPSBJ article3. Deep fake startup gets $6.7MGeekwire article4. NVIDIA acquires Seattle AI startupPSBJ articleAbout guest Vivek Ladsariya - Managing Director, Pioneer Square LabsVivek is a Managing Director at Pioneer Square Labs which is a venture capital fund founded in 2015. Prior to this, he was the General Partner at SineWave Ventures in San Francisco and has founded a few of his own companies. Vivek holds an MBA from Yale University and a B.Eng in Electrical Engineering.About host Rachel Horgan:Rachel is an independent event producer, emcee and entrepreneur. She worked for the Business Journal for 5 years as their Director of Events interviewing business leaders on stage before launching the weekly podcast. She earned her communication degree from the University of San Diego. Contact:Email: info@theweeklyseattle.comInstagram: @theweeklyseattleWebsite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.theweeklyseattle.com

  My guest, T.A. McCann, Managing Director of Pioneer Square Labs, brings an exceptional blend of experience and insight. A serial entrepreneur, T.A. has founded companies like Synosis (acquired by Google), GIST (acquired by BlackBerry), and Rival IQ, a leader in marketing analytics. His journey from leading roles at Microsoft to being an active angel investor and a respected professor at the University of Washington Foster School of Business offers a panoramic view of innovation and entrepreneurship. In our conversation, T.A. discusses the critical role of venture studios and corporate venture capital in shaping the future of corporate innovation. He delves into how corporations can effectively navigate decision-making, balancing internal development with external collaborations and the strategic importance of engaging with early-stage startups. This episode is a masterclass in understanding the intricacies of corporate strategy, the build/buy/partner/create decision matrix, and the role of venture studios in realizing ambitious innovation goals. As we explore these themes, we also touch upon the challenges large corporations face in internal innovation, such as attracting the right talent, creating sustainable equity structures, and the importance of building venture-scale standalone companies. This episode offers invaluable insights, whether you're a CEO, a chief innovation officer, a business leader, or just someone fascinated by the interplay of technology and business. Join us as we uncover the strategies that can help corporates not just navigate but thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of tech innovation. What strategies does your organization employ to stay ahead in the innovation game? Share your thoughts and join the conversation!

Our guest this week is someone who is experimenting every day with AI, pushing the capabilities of the existing tools and technologies: Kevin Leneway, principal software engineer at the Pioneer Square Labs startup incubator in Seattle. He talks about the tools he's using across his personal and work life, and how they're transforming the process of innovation and creativity. He also shares details about a new project he's been working on, an AI coding assistant called JACoB. Hosted by GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The story of the past year or so, of course, has been an explosion in demand for all things artificial intelligence. Every company in the world is thinking about how their business, processes, or products can be improved with the addition of AI across all levels, and all are looking for applications relevant to them. The post Jung Lee & T.A. McCann: Pioneer Square Labs appeared first on CVC Unplugged.

In this episode, T.A. McCann, venture investor and serial entrepreneur, shares insights on how to find the right investors and successfully pitch to them. T.A. is a five-time founder with three successful exits, and is now a partner at Pioneer Square Labs. He also invests his own money into startups, making him well equipped to provide valuable advice from both sides of the table. We take a deep dive into identifying the right investor for your venture and navigating the tricky waters of funding rounds. T.A. shares his expertise on the types of investors you can approach, how to personalize your outreach, and how to prepare for and conduct your first and second investor meetings. With his pragmatic and candid advice, he lays out a roadmap for entrepreneurs aspiring to raise venture capital. Some highlights we explore: The advantages of deconstructing successful companies to inform your own business strategy. The value of a well-structured and personalized investor outreach, illustrated by T.A.'s Three-Paragraph Intro (3PI) formula. T.A.'s firsthand account of how he turned down an investment opportunity hours before raising funds. Why the goal of the first investor meeting should always be to secure a second meeting. The importance of building likability, understanding, and trust with potential investors. Enjoy!

In this episode of Shift AI, TA McCann Managing Director at the Pioneer Square Labs shares his experience as a startup founder, how sailing a ship has parralells to running a fast growing business and his take on the implications of AI on our society in the future. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shift-ai/message

In this episode of the What Fuels You Podcast, Shauna talks with T.A. McCann, managing director at Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio and venture capital firm. They discuss T.A.'s background in sailing, winning the America's Cup, swimming, his successful career in startups, and his tips for staying healthy and productive. This episode covers topics such as entrepreneurship, validation of startup ideas, time management, and health and human performance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To stay up to date checkout ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thestartupproject.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@natarajsindam⁠⁠ T.A. McCann is a serial entrepreneur with an impressive track record. He has founded and served as CEO of several successful companies. Some notable ventures include Senosis (acquired by Google), Gist (acquired by Blackberry), and Rival IQ, a leading company in marketing analytics. McCann's expertise extends beyond founding companies. He has also held senior roles at Microsoft, where he led divisions such as Exchange and the Mobile Services divisions. Additionally, he has worked as an EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence) at Polaris Venture Partners and Vulcan Capital. Full conversation includes: Becoming a professional sailor Working at microsoft exchange Starting 5+ companies (3 exits) Working for Paul Allen & building Startup Studio Vulcan Labs Selling Gist to Blackberry Rival IQ Synosis (acq by Google) Pioneer Square Labs Systematic customer discovery & customer development process Advice to entrepreneurs raising capital Is AI a step change? Who will capture value in AI? Big tech or startups? Follow TA on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamccann/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/startupproject/message

Former executive Soma on how to unlearn your Microsoft ways    Pioneer Square Labs managing director T.A. McCann sat down with former Microsoft executive S. “Soma” Somasegar to discuss his work as a partner at Madrona Venture Group. A 27-year veteran of Microsoft, Soma is a legend, especially amongst Microsoft developers. He became corporate vice president of Microsoft's developer division and is credited with reigniting Microsoft's relationship with the developer community. After much reflection on his next chapter, Soma joined Madrona Venture Group based in Seattle. This was not an easy decision. In the latest episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, Soma talks about the decision-making process he went through when leaving Microsoft, the transition from operator to investor, and the essential qualities every entrepreneurial CEO should possess.  

Without your support as listeners, we wouldn't be here in Season 4....so THANK YOU!!!!  Additionally, thank you, #CatchSitkaSportFishing and #ACMEHomes, for your continued support as sponsors of this podcast!Today, we sit down with Chase Nall, the Vice President of Sales at Outgo, an innovative startup disrupting the trucking industry.    Outgo is changing the logistics industry, helping owner-operators and small carriers manage their financial needs - from invoice and factoring to banking and expenses.Chase is a Lifelong learner, sales crafter, woodworker, and traveler. Important roles include Husband, Father, Brother, Son, and Friend. I admittedly own too many backpacks and tools.  He also is the Uncle Rico of college lacrosse.  Joking!    Chase is as authentic as they come, as seen in today's episode.   He is a dad who believes in developing the right mindset to start the day through exercise and journaling.  He is the father of two young children who are very active and keep him and his wife busy. Chase grew up in Austin and was raised by two Marines who would later divorce at 13.  He would talk about the divorce's positive impact on him through his amazing step-parents.  Chase would talk about his humility and how his stepfather taught him the power of this.  You will hear about his stepfather's successful life in a design that genuinely shocked him when he found out how successful he was.  Value-wise, his parents instilled hard work early, as was reading! So was vulnerability and working on improving his emotional intelligence.  Chase is a natural storyteller, which reading helped instill in him.  What I love about Chase is that we both are criers in movies and commercials.  Yup, I said it.  Sorry, Chase.  You can visit the link above to learn more about Chase or the fantastic team at Outgo, Pioneer Square Labs, or the Growth Shop. Catch Sitka Sport Fishing At Catch Sitka, Issam and team provide an amazing fishing experience with Halibut, Salmon and more!Zencastr- Easy to use podcast recording! They are the engine behind the QB DadCast! Click the link below to start your own podcast today!Please don't forget to leave us a review wherever you consume your podcasts! Please help us get more dads to listen weekly and become the ultimate leader of their homes!

Without your support as listeners, we wouldn't be here in Season 4....so THANK YOU!!!!  Additionally, thank you, #CatchSitkaSportFishing and #ACMEHomes, for your continued support as sponsors of this podcast!Today, we sit down with T.A. McCann, who comes to the podcast through the talented Chase Nall and Marcus Womack.   T.A. is one of the most intelligent, curious, successful, and down-to-earth dads we've interviewed over the past few years.  He was the founder and CEO of Senosis (acquired by Google), Gist (acquired by Blackberry), and Rival IQ, a leader in marketing analytics. Previously, he was an EIR at Polaris Venture Partners, Vulcan Capital, where he built Vulcan Labs and Providence Health Services, focused on quantified health ideas and investments. He also held senior roles at Microsoft, leading Exchange and the Mobile Services divisions. In addition to his own startup experience, he is an active angel investor in companies including SkillJar, CreativeLive, Assist, Migo, and Vendor Hawk and is on the board of Guidant Financial, Volt Athletics, and Splash.org.  He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Washington Foster School of Business and an active TechStars mentor.  Prior to his startup career, he was a professional sailor, having competed in 2 America's Cups (won one, lost one) and the Whitbread Round the World race. Today's conversation is about T.A., the dad.  We learn how his parents taught him to take risks and be curious.  He shares a story of his father on the power of "look it up," which he said was very annoying, yet he is so thankful for the guidance now as an adult.  His entire family is driven, goal-oriented, and enjoys seeing the world!  In fact, his father visited over 100 countries!  Yes, that's right!   T.A. would also share a mantra that is a gift and also a gap where he finds himself happy but not satisfied.   As you listen to his story, it is no surprise to hear about his success, and I hope you enjoy learning about T.A., the dad, as much as I did today!  To connect with T.A. and learn more about Pioneer Square Labs, you can connect with him here. Catch Sitka Sport Fishing At Catch Sitka, Issam and team provide an amazing fishing experience with Halibut, Salmon and more!Established in 2006, Acme Homes WA One of the most value-based home builders in the state of Washington! Go Check them out!Please don't forget to leave us a review wherever you consume your podcasts! Please help us get more dads to listen weekly and become the ultimate leader of their homes!

Startup entrepreneur and investor Ben Gilbert, co-founder and managing director of Pioneer Square Labs and PSL Ventures, is always watching for the next big tech wave. He concedes that there have been plenty of false starts in the industry in the past: augmented and virtual reality, "personal audio computing," and more. But Gilbert, who also co-hosts the popular podcast "Acquired," didn't hesitate for a moment when asked what he believes will be the most important technology of 2023. "ChatGPT based on GPT 4," he said, referencing a future version of OpenAI's conversational AI chatbot running on the next version of its large language model. Gilbert and his Acquired co-host David Rosenthal were two of the business and tech leaders who spoke with us about the challenges of the past year and their outlook for the future at the GeekWire Gala on Dec. 4. The potential for generative and prescriptive AI to transform industries was a key theme running through many of the conversations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we talk to Julie Sandler about her psychology background and how that has translated to her work today, especially her relationships with founders. Talking about PSL, she touches on the growth of the fund and the Northwestern region and the venture studio model. She also dives into diversity both within the fund and their investments, serving as a testament to advancements in the industry. She concludes with her observation that the support system among women prominent in VC provides guidelines to help navigate the space. 

Amazon is one of the most extraordinary business stories of our time. Many people in the tech industry have a general understanding of this story, picking up bits and pieces of its lore and culture over the years. But what are the real reasons for Amazon's success? What can today's startup entrepreneurs learn from what Jeff Bezos did? And where is the company headed next? Two investors spent the better part of two months researching Amazon in their spare time to answer questions like those, and they just shared what they learned. Ben Gilbert, managing director at Seattle-based Pioneer Square Labs, and David Rosenthal, a San Francisco-based angel investor, this week released an episode of their podcast, Acquired, that spans nearly 4-and-a-half hours, providing a deeper understanding of Amazon and new insights into how the company works. Gilbert joins us on this week's episode of the GeekWire Podcast to discuss some of the key takeaways and highlights from their Amazon deep dive. With Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited and produced by Curt Milton. Theme music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

T.A. McCann got the entrepreneurial bug as a teenager and never stopped building. His career has been a mix of corporate and startup ventures that have shaped his perspective on marketing and leadership. Now he's the managing director of Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio and venture capital fund. He draws on the experience of raising millions of dollars during his career to share what he's learned about selling, fundraising, and shipping new projects. He also opens up about how he regained his confidence after a failure and why you should always have a side project. Behind His Brilliance: Great advice and being given opportunities  Say hi to T.A. on Twitter: @tamccann  

Alcor, a cloud solutions company, announced the new release of their Applicant Tracking System, TalentRun. It is an automated, self-service enterprise applicant tracking system built on the ServiceNow® platform and helps organizations in achieving automated, centralized, and seamless management of their recruitment cycle. https://hrtechfeed.com/talentrun-is-a-new-applicant-tracking-system/ Kevala, a workforce management and engagement solution built specifically for healthcare, announced today that it raised $12.1 million in Series A funding to modernize the healthcare industry through innovative scheduling and compliance software. Kevala spun out of Pioneer Square Labs in April 2020. https://hrtechfeed.com/kevala-raises-12-1-million-series-a-to-modernize-healthcare-staffing/ Fama, the world's largest social media screening company and a leader in applying AI to background screening services, announced its Series B investment this week. The company allows HR departments to leverage insights from the public web and bring them into their talent screening process. More than 1,500 businesses in 32 countries turn to Fama to help protect their brand and ensure a safe and welcoming workplace culture. https://hrtechfeed.com/social-media-talent-screening-tool-gets-10-million/ Epoch, an employee experience platform, announced the close of $3.6 million in seed funding. Rally Ventures led the seed round, with participation from Precursor Ventures, and a number of angel investors with deep operational and industry expertise. https://hrtechfeed.com/employee-experience-platform-gets-3-6-million/ Emi, the conversational AI recruiting platform for frontline workers, has secured $11 million in Series A funding, led by Merus Capital and Khosla Ventures. David Rangel, General Partner at Merus Capital and former COO of Iterable, has joined as a Board member. https://hrtechfeed.com/emi-raises-11m-to-help-enterprises-hire-better-frontline-worker/ WorkWhile announced it has raised a $13M Series A finding round , led by Reach Capital The company currently has a presence in 13 major markets across the US, and plans to use the funds to drive growth and hiring, doubling market footprint in 2022. https://hrtechfeed.com/hourly-worker-platform-raises-13-million/ Finally Jobvite, the end-to-end talent acquisition solution provider, today announced the launch of a newly-formed parent company, Employ Inc. The new corporate identity reflects the significant business transformation the Company has undergone since joining forces with JazzHR and NXTThing RPO to create the market leader in talent acquisition solutions. https://hrtechfeed.com/employ-inc-is-the-new-brand-for-jobvite-trio/

Greg Gottesman is the co-founder and managing director of Pioneer Square Labs, former managing director at Madrona Venture Group, and is a co-founder of Rover (ROVR), the biggest pet sitting marketplace in the nation. Greg has spent his entire life authoring his journey. At 22 he published a book that became the survival manifesto for the 1980's college student (7 editions), at 24 he became a lawyer which he soon left so he could start working in business, and has been n investor in venture capital ever since. Greg has plenty of noteworthy accomplishments too long for this intro, including a TED talk, getting both an MBA & JD from Harvard, and his cousin being Fred Savage (for reals) This conversation was remarkable; Greg is super generous & a well of knowledge of not only marketplaces, but startups in general. Also, a gifted storyteller. We dive deep into…what spurred Greg's entrepreneurial journey, the genesis of Pioneer Square Labs, how to build a marketplace startup from scratch & what makes it tricky, obsessing over marketplace dynamics, the 80/20 rule for marketing funnels, killing great ideas, and "starting with 1" (and what that means). This episode is particularly valuable for digital marketplace founders, COOs, and CEOs. Greg has both founded AND funded several marketplaces, so he's able to share deep specifics on key principles & secrets. Please enjoy! You can like & subscribe if you like to, but ultimately we'd PREFER to hear your thoughts: so tell us what you think of the episode & leave a review. You can also find show notes @ https://jakubkubicka.com/greg-part-2

Greg Gottesman is the co-founder and managing director of Pioneer Square Labs, former managing director at Madrona Venture Group, and is a co-founder of Rover (ROVR), the biggest pet sitting marketplace in the nation. Greg has spent his entire life authoring his journey. At 22 he published a book that became the survival manifesto for the 1980's college student (7 editions), at 24 he became a lawyer which he soon left so he could start working in business, and has been n investor in venture capital ever since. Greg has plenty of noteworthy accomplishments too long for this intro, including a TED talk, getting both an MBA & JD from Harvard, and his cousin being Fred Savage (for reals) This conversation was remarkable; Greg is super generous & a well of knowledge of not only marketplaces, but startups in general. Also, a gifted storyteller. We dive deep into…what spurred Greg's entrepreneurial journey, the genesis of Pioneer Square Labs, how to build a marketplace startup from scratch & what makes it tricky, obsessing over marketplace dynamics, the 80/20 rule for marketing funnels, killing great ideas, and "starting with 1" (and what that means). This episode is particularly valuable for digital marketplace founders, COOs, and CEOs. Greg has both founded AND funded several marketplaces, so he's able to share deep specifics on key principles & secrets. Please enjoy! You can like & subscribe if you like to, but ultimately we'd PREFER to hear your thoughts: so tell us what you think of the episode & leave a review. You can also find show notes @ https://jakubkubicka.com/greg

Kate Wallich is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Dance Church. Kate is a Seattle-based choreographer who believes in the combined power of artists and the public. A dancer, choreographer, educator, and founder who was named one of Dance Magazine's “25 To Watch,” Kate has cultivated community through her inclusive dance-fitness class Dance Church. Which has been bringing people together through the joy and release of dance since 2010 — in real life and on the internet. In response to COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown that left many in search of new ways to exercise, they partnered with Seattle-based startup studio Pioneer Square Labs to launch their subscription video on demand platform and brought on CEO Clara Siegel. With Dance Church Go, the Dance Church movement has reached a massive audience and has brought joy to living room dancers all over the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another day, another deal. Keeping up with the flurry of acquisitions, IPOs, SPACs and venture capital these days is no easy task. In fact, IPO dollar volume for 2021 has already reached $171 billion, surpassing the record totals of last year. Same goes for mergers and acquisitions, with record levels of deal activity tracked for 2021. The money is certainly flowing. Washington state now boasts 11 "unicorns" — privately held companies boasting valuations of $1 billion or more. Many of them — such as Highspot, Zenoti and Outreach  —  have raised venture capital rounds of $150 million or more in the past six months. And each day here at GeekWire we're updating our funding list — not blinking an eye when a company announces $30 million, $40 million or $50 million in new funding. Even more, we've tracked 32 IPOs, SPACs and acquisitions involving Pacific Northwest companies so far this year, including blockbusters like Okta's $6.5 billion purchase of authentication ID startup Auth0 and Twilio's $850 million acquisition of business texting startup Zipwhip. (See full list of deals here). To help put the wild market in perspective, we're joined this week on the GeekWire podcast by Ben Gilbert, a co-founder at Seattle venture capital firm Pioneer Square Labs and the co-host of the Acquired podcast, an in-depth show that discusses the ins and outs of acquisitions and recently ranked as the number one tech show on Apple Podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week our partners chat with Greg Gottesman, Managing Director & Co-Founder at Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio and venture capital fund based in Seattle, WA.

Matt Hulett is the president of Rosetta Stone. He is a seasoned entrepreneurial technology executive with more than 20 years of experience leading product, sales, marketing, operations, and engineering teams for global companies. Prior to joining Rosetta Stone, Matt served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Pioneer Square Labs. Previously, Matt served in several executive roles, including Chief Product Officer at TINYpulse, CEO at ClickBank, and President of the corporate travel division of Expedia, where he took the corporate travel business from an idea to a billion-dollar worldwide leader in just a couple of years. Listen to this podcast and know Matt's interesting entrepreneurial journey and how he has led to the growth of companies in the private and public sectors. Please Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider being 1% and leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/ iTunes? It takes less than 30 seconds, and it really makes a world of difference in reaching new interesting guests! To sign up for Kevin's Podcast email Newsletter and to view the show notes & past guests please visit-https://officialkevindavid.com/podcast Follow Kevin: https://mmini.me/@FollowKD

Ben Gilbert is a founder and General Partner at Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio and VC firm focused on the Pacific Northwest. He’s also the host of the incredible Acquired podcast. On this episode, we talk about PSL’s new $100 million venture fund, the startup studio, and what Ben looks for in funding early-stage founders. Check out PSL! You can follow Ben on Twitter @gilbert and Joe @joeysweeny

This week we're presenting a new episode of the GeekWire podcast 2025: Tomorrow, Today featuring a discussion with Julie Sandler of Pioneer Square Labs. It's one in a series of conversations with technology investors on the 2025 podcast. Find more episodes at geekwire.com/2025podcast. We'll be back next week with our regular weekly show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can a market predicted to top $60 billion this decade still be considered a niche? With over half the population born biologically female and women controlling 80% of all consumer spending, and spending 30% more on healthcare than men do, Femtech's time has come. In this edition of the podcast, Julie Sandler, Managing Partner at Pioneer Square Labs, joins hosts John Cook/GeekWire and Jordon Voss to detail the explosion of opportunities in Femtech and why it's such an area of interest for this leading investor. And we discuss the opportunities and challenges for female business leaders despite all of the advances that have been made to improve diversity in recent years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is sponsored by Cronofy, the scheduling platform for business and HR professionals. Don’t let impersonal and lengthy interview scheduling stop you from acquiring top talent! https://www.cronofy.com/rectech   Recruiting Technology Headlines   NextStep, a mobile-based training and job placement company aiming to radically expand the supply of qualified Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) to address the nation’s caregiver shortage crisis, today announced a $3.6 million investment round from health and education technology-focused investors including Springrock Ventures, JAZZ Venture Partners, Learn Capital’s LearnStart fund, and the managing directors of Pioneer Square Labs.   NextStep’s unique program, free to students and supported by employers, is helping to retrain workers in distressed industries as Certified Nursing Assistants, the most in-demand role in health care. Through courses delivered on mobile devices in 10-15 minute modules that can be consumed during a commute or after hours, displaced workers with experience in service and hospitality roles can retrain for jobs in the health care industry with higher earning and promotion potential.   “NextStep is led by an experienced and nimble executive team that knows how to create technology-enabled solutions to meet our healthcare workforce needs,” said John Harris, managing partner at JAZZ Venture Partners. “I can’t think of any company that is better suited to having a positive impact on society and businesses in a world shaped both by the COVID crisis and an aging population.” The investment round was led by Springrock Ventures, the url is nextstep.careers https://hrtechfeed.com/skills-training-platform-raises-3-6m-to-help-workers-transition-to-health-care-roles/ Cornell Capital and Trilantic North America, two private investment firms, announced that they have acquired trustaff Management, Inc., a leading provider of travel nurse and allied healthcare staffing services, and CardioSolution, a managed services offering providing cardiologists and support personnel to hospitals.  As part of this transaction, Cornell Capital and Trilantic North America they also agreed to acquire Stella.ai, Inc., a VC-backed, AI-driven online marketplace for employers and job seekers that brings cutting-edge technology expertise to the staffing sector. The combination of these companies will create a leading healthcare staffing platform with a unique technology-driven approach.  In conjunction with the announcement, Adam Zoia, CEO and Co-Founder of Stella, has been named CEO of the combined company, succeeding Brent Loring, CEO of trustaff, who is retiring. STella launched as stell.ai and now operates asStella.jobs, the company pivoted at one point and appears to have given up on its current course as their platform will now pivit again to healthcare. Stella had raised $10 million back in 2017 under the guise of a shared talent network. https://hrtechfeed.com/stella-ai-acquired-by-private-equity-firms/ WizeHire, has announced the closing of $7.5 million in Series A funding co-led by Amplo and Mercury. Additional investors include existing backers Ruchit Shah and RigUp co-founder Sandeep Jain. WizeHire intends to use the funds to provide small businesses a faster, easier hiring experience previously only available to large corporations. That includes creating more personalized resources to address clients’ unique hiring needs, hiring more support staff and expanding its partner program to build a network of experts in its key industries of real estate, insurance, mortgage, legal and hospitality. “WizeHire is focused on a future where small business owners have easy access to the elevated hiring experience large corporations already have,” said Amplo’s Sam Garcia, who will join WizeHire’s board. “They’re not just creating a better alternative to current recruiting solutions; they’re giving employers more peace of mind about the hiring process so they can get back to building their business.” “We are thrilled to support WizeHire’s opportunity to define talent acquisition for small businesses,” said Heath Butler, Managing Director at Mercury, who will also join WizeHire’s board. “By systematically helping hiring managers align company values, behavioral competencies, technical skills and industry requirements to identify the best candidate, WizeHire is enabling their clients to maximize productivity, reduce turnover cost and increase customer loyalty.” Wizehire.com is the address https://hrtechfeed.com/wizehire-raises-7-5m-for-smb-hiring/ Circa (formerly known as Local job network)  is launching AI Candidate Matching, to help companies accelerate their success toward building more diverse, innovative, and high-performing teams. The new product delivers a SaaS-based artificial intelligence solution guaranteeing unbiased sourcing and matching of diverse, qualified talent from a curated 160 million+ candidate database. When looking to reduce or mitigate unconscious bias, AI Candidate Matching redacts ethnic, gender, age, LGBTQIA+, veteran status, community, culture, and disability to present candidates based on their skill sets to be evaluated in fair, equal and consistent manners. This includes automatically reviewing job postings and optimizing them to make it as engageable as possible for a diverse community while removing biases within the description.  AI Candidate Matching focuses on candidate sourcing and matching that reaches both active and passive candidates. The active and passive candidates are sourced from 3,500 different online organizations from community groups to service organizations that provide more than 160 million diverse candidates. The diverse candidate database network reaches 13 million veterans with approximately four million having security clearances.   https://hrtechfeed.com/circa-announces-ai-candidate-matching-product/ Careerist raised a $1.25 million Seed round of VC for its marketplace that provides training for software training and QA roles, career coaching, and job board in exchange for a percentage of the salary of any jobs found via the service.   Analyst george larouqe says...Merging education with jobs and career services isn’t a new model, neither is charging placed candidates a percentage of salary. The amount being charged and the placement success rate make this model either a vehicle/accelerant to a tech career for those who need it or something more predatory.---careerist.com   https://hrtechfeed.com/careerist-raises-1-25m-for-tech-education-career-coaching-job-board-for-a-percentage-of-salary/  

This week, a conversation with entrepreneur, podcaster and investor Ben Gilbert, who, in 2015, started two entities. The first is Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio that builds and invests in early-stage companies. And the second transcends the walls of startup incubation as Ben teamed up with a venture capitalist named David Rosenthall and launched the podcast, Acquired FM, a great show that dives deep into the origin story of a company. I sat down with Ben to discuss his entry point into tech, the origin story of Pioneer Square Labs and Acquired FM and, of course, Ben's views and ideologies on all things tech, startups, company building and everything in between. This conversation was recorded on October 8th, 2020, thanks for listening!

Julie is a managing director at Pioneer Square Labs, and runs the firm's venture capital arm, PSL Ventures. Prior to PSL, Julie was a partner at Madrona Venture Group, where she led the firm’s investments in Integris, Poppy, and Julep. In 2013, Julie launched the Seattle Entrepreneurial Women’s Network, an informal forum for women entrepreneurs and startup executives to connect in the Greater Seattle area. She currently resides in Seattle with her husband, Alejandro, and their toddler son and newborn daughter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Think Tank, our host Kelly Stonelake was joined by Aaron Martin, Providence Digital Innovation Group's Chief Digital Officer, and Julie Sandler, Managing Director at Pioneer Square Labs. The trio identified analogous experiences across the health care and consumer technology verticals relating to the challenges associated with creating technology incubators. Our guests went on to discuss the overlaps in their businesses, and how similar barriers can actually unlock new ways to drive innovation.

More than half of the U.S. population over age 12 has now listened to a podcast, according to Edison Research. The medium has fundamentally altered the landscape for audio content, liberating and empowering both listeners and creators. And big acquisitions such as Spotify’s purchase of Gimlet Media signal that the business of podcasting is coming of age, too. But there remains an economic gulf that some entrepreneurs and investors see as an opportunity. Ad spending on podcasting is around $500 million, by some estimates, but that compares to $17 billion or more for radio. So where is podcasting heading next? How will speech recognition, smart speakers and other innovations change the landscape for podcasts? Should you start your own show? Could you make any money if you did? On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we’re going meta. It’s a podcast about podcasting: a discussion with podcast producers, media vets and startup entrepreneurs, recorded on stage at the GeekWire Summit this fall. Phyllis Fletcher, the senior editor for podcasts at American Public Media, who has worked on shows including APM’s hit business podcast, Spectacular Failures. You may recognize her voice from her previous work as a reporter and editor at KUOW Radio in Seattle. (You can check out all of her tweets from the GeekWire Summit here.) Steve Henn, who leads content strategy for audio news at Google. He’s a journalist turned tech entrepreneur who left a career in radio to co-found a digital media startup that was acquired by Google in 2017. You may recognize his voice from his work in public radio as a correspondent on such shows as Marketplace, Planet Money and NPR. David Payne, the president of Rainstream Media and the co-creator, author and executive producer of its flagship show, “Somebody Somewhere,” a true crime podcast. A lawyer and former federal prosecutor, his career in media has included roles as Chief Digital Officer for Gannett/USA Today, and senior vice president and GM of CNN Digital. Amira Valliani is the CEO and co-founder of Glow, a Seattle startup and Pioneer Square Labs spinout that is building a subscription, monetization and distribution platform for podcasts. She served as a communications adviser in the Obama White House and as a speechwriter for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She got started in podcasting with her own local politics show in Cambridge, Mass.

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile) Coming to you live from the University of Washington, Ben and David are joined by hundreds of awesome Seattle listeners (and a few non-Seattle listeners!) to cover the meteoric rise of trucking industry disruptor and hometown hero Convoy. How did Dan and Convoy go from nervously conducting market research at truck stops on I-5 to one of the largest logistics companies and fastest-growing startups in the world in just four short years, raising over $650m (not a typo) along the way? Tune in to find out! Special thank you to the Paul Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington and to Pioneer Square Labs for generously sponsoring the show venue.    Carveouts:  Mystery: https://mystery.sh  Sponsor:  Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Minh Le, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: http://bit.ly/2txmq4e

Ben Gilbert’s had the entrepreneurial bug since he was young, starting with building his high school website and developing apps in his college dorm room. Since then, Ben has worked at several incredible startups, become Co-founder of Pioneer Square Labs, Co-host for popular venture capital podcast, Acquired, and was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. Ben attributes much of his success to always “having two careers at once” by working on side projects and being fueled by a sense of accomplishment. In this episode, Ben talks about his first app, SeizeTheDay, that was downloaded over a million times, the story of how Acquired came to be, if he invests in people or ideas and the entrepreneurs he admires outside of PSL. He also shares what growing up in the Midwest was like, what being an Eagle Scout taught him, his involvement with the Anti-Defamation League, and much more.

A startup studio is not just an institution, but an internalized mindset. Ben Gilbert takes us through his journey to launch and grow Pioneer Square Labs; with over a dozen spinouts under their belt, he shares common traits and practices of successful founders.

Ben and David discuss the newest development in the venture ecosystem, startup studios, through the lens of Pioneer Square Labs (which Ben cofounded in 2015). David manages to trick Ben into sitting on the other side of the table and being interviewed about how PSL works, how he and his partners started it, and what lies ahead!   For more information, check out http://psl.com.

Xiao Wang talks about his own family’s process of immigrating to the United States from China and how it influenced him to start his company, Boundless Immigration. Before Boundless, Xiao received degrees from both Stanford and Harvard Universities and worked for McKinsey, the New York City Department of Education, and Amazon. With the help of Pioneer Square Labs, Xiao decided to leave the corporate world and cofound his company in 2017. Xiao discusses what his parents went through during their immigration process, his plans for what he wants to achieve with Boundless in the future, and how he’s extremely proud of their 100% approval rate from the government. He also shares his passion for doing multiple Ironman triathlons, why he got really into cooking, and how he’s fueled by “contributing a meaningful brick” to the great wall of humanity. 

“Startup guy” Ben discusses how to set intentions for your career. The virtues of starting off at a big company (Microsoft) and how to think entrepreneurially within a large organization. Also, why side projects are so important. www.onlinemba.unc.edu/wso

Salesforce surprised the tech world this week with its agreement to acquire Tableau Software for $15.7 billion -- but maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise after the Seattle-based data visualization company was listed among the cloud giant's acquisition targets in a leaked internal slide deck a while back. With Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff declaring Seattle the new HQ2 for the San Francisco company, GeekWire's John Cook and Todd Bishop tell the story behind this record-setting deal and consider the implications for the West Coast tech 'megalopolis.'   Plus, a Seattle startup entrepreneur unveils a smart new tool for finding candidates with views similar to your own, a Pioneer Square Labs spinout wants to help podcasters raise money from their most passionate listeners, and we debate the merits of dogs in the workplace after several Seattle tech companies rank high a list of pooch-friendly places to work.

T.A. McCann, serial entrepreneur and Managing Director of Pioneer Square Labs, has sailed in two America’s Cups. How are sailing and startups alike? T.A. explains.

Summary: In this episode of COMMERCE NOW, we are joined by Steve Gotz of Silicon Foundry, and we discuss how banks are increasingly creating new environments and structures to pursue innovative ideas and build new capabilities.  We explore one specific kind of innovation structure: the Venture Studio (also known as a Company Builder). Resources: Silicon Foundry LinkedIn: Steve Gotz Twitter: @stevegotz Blog: The Rise of the Venture Studio Transcription: Amy Lombardo:                Hello again to our listeners. This is Amy Lombardo, your host for this episode of Commerce now. Today I am joined once again by Steve Gotz, of Silicon Foundry, who is a known expert at helping organizations navigate the complex world. Amy Lombardo:                So today we're going to discuss how banks continue to increase and create new environments and structures to pursue innovative ideas and build new capabilities. Amy Lombardo:                So Steve, welcome back to COMMERCE NOW. Steve Gotz:                        Hey thanks Amy, excited to be here. Amy Lombardo:                Great. So it's been couple months here since we spoke last. So what have you been up to here lately? Steve Gotz:                        So, just quick refresher for everybody, my background. I spent a long time launching new ventures for corporations. I've done that as an investor, an entrepreneur, university researcher, and a corporate executive. And most recently I was co-founder and COO of Pivotus Ventures, which was a venture studio I created with Ray Davis at Umpqua Bank. And coincidentally was acquired by Kony recently. Steve Gotz:                        Currently a partner at Silicon Foundry, where I advise large corporations on their new venture strategies. In that role that we're talking about some of the ideas today. Amy Lombardo:                Got it. Okay. So in our last podcast we focused more on transformation strategies. We gave examples, both from banks and even other industries on when they kind of when they hit that wall, that roadblock, and how they partnered with new and other types of organizations [00:01:30] to think about what's next. Steve Gotz:                        Yeah. Amy Lombardo:                So let's shift our conversation here and talk about what an organization knows they need to transform. Kind of this idea of migrating to a new business model, a new environment, and really the intent of Venture Studios. Amy Lombardo:                So maybe we can start with discussing the evolution of this idea of like the Accelerator Business Model. Steve Gotz:                        I think Accelerators is an interesting place to start. So Accelerators, as we know them [00:02:00] today, have been around for about a decade. And they were started during this rich period of famense, right? So it was 2005, a couple years after the dot com bubble. And in many ways, the Accelerators that started back then, and that was Y Combinator, Techstars, would be great examples, they laid the foundation of what's to come today, right? Steve Gotz:                        And Y Combinator recognized that there were some economies of scale to be had by launching start-ups in a different way. And the Accelerator Model [00:02:30] is young teams, lots of bets, and a little bit of money. And when you do that well, you get really interesting companies. Steve Gotz:                        And that's what we've had for the last decade but I think what we're seeing now, is things are starting to change. Technology is starting to change. Corporate strategy is starting to change, which is why now we're starting now to talk about the rise of Venture Studio. Which is a new forum that organizations are using to build new things. Amy Lombardo:                Mm-hmm (affirmative). So does the Accelerator Business Model, does it kind of [00:03:00] compliment the Crowd Storming Idea? Steve Gotz:                        Yeah. So, Accelerators as they started a decade ago, really about bringing young teams together to pursue big opportunities. And at that point if you think about it, right after the dot com burst there was a lot of opportunities so there was a lot of opportunities that the infrastructure had been laid to build things in a cost-effective way. So companies are using Accelerators as part of their innovation strategies. Steve Gotz:                        Now what's happened in the last decade is [00:03:30] a lot of that low-hanging fruit has gone away. The ability to launch a business to scale quickly. The dynamics are slightly different in the current day and age. Because startups need data, they need distribution, they need access to capital. So what we're seeing is that traditional Accelerator Model evolved into the Studio Model. And Studios are different in a couple new ways that we can talk about them but we're entering this period of change when it comes to innovation strategies. And the Studio is just one manifestation [00:04:00] of the change we're seeing. Amy Lombardo:                So talk to me a little bit about this change. Dive into that for me and just kind of talk to me about why and how. Steve Gotz:                        So I think, in Silicon Valley, the era of "Move Fast and Break Things," is over. I think what we're starting to see are more diverse teams, in a broader sense, gender, age, background. I think there's a recognition that launching new ventures requires a diverse skillset. And it needs new kinds [00:04:30] of partnerships. Steve Gotz:                        Launching a start-up by itself as an Accelerator doesn't work as efficiently as it could. Launching a new start-up in collaboration with a corporate that gives you data, that gives you distribution, that helps you access customers. That's really powerful. Steve Gotz:                        So what we're seeing is more and more start-ups. More and more entrepreneurial teams and Venture Studio is coming together, launching new ventures in collaboration with corporates. And that's a really interesting dynamic that we're starting to [00:05:00] observe. Amy Lombardo:                So is it still in these high-tech areas like Silicon Valley? Or where is the Venture Studios? Where are you having the most luck? Steve Gotz:                        Hmm. So this is what's really interesting, right? So Accelerators largely, when they started, were concentrated in Silicon Valley, right? Y Combinator, in the Valley, Techstars in Colorado. What we're seeing with Studios is a dispersion, right? We're seeing Venture Studios crop up [00:05:30] across the country, across the globe. And oftentimes they're locating themselves close to large corporations. Steve Gotz:                        So, High Alpha, one Venture Studio, and they're located in the Midwest. Primarily because the companies that they're building new ventures with are in the Midwest as well. There's another studio in Seattle called Pioneer Square Labs and they're up there and they're looking at really interesting consumer ventures, direct consumer ventures. Steve Gotz:                        [00:06:00] So I think you're seeing the capabilities moving to the most natural place. And that may not be Silicon Valley. That may be somewhere else across the globe. Amy Lombardo:                So even though these corporations might be in these major metropolitan areas, is the talent there as well? Or are these innovators being found then all over the world based on what the need there is? Steve Gotz:                        Yeah, so, it's across [00:06:30] the world, right? Amy Lombardo:                Okay. Steve Gotz:                        It's where is the need? Amy Lombardo:                Right. Steve Gotz:                        And it's launching ventures as close to the need as possible, right? Steve Gotz:                        So a good example would be Heidelberg Cement. So, Heidelberg is one of the World's largest cement companies. They have operations in virtually every continent. And they're launching a Venture Studio and what they're doing is really smart. They're building new ventures in country. Steve Gotz:                        So the problems that you have with cement distribution, say, in Latin America and Brazil, [00:07:00] are fundamentally different than some of the challenges you have in a place like California. So it's natural to take your best people and put them at the edge. Put them close to those problems and say, "solve these problems and do it different ways." Amy Lombardo:                Right. So clearly I know nothing about cement, so I can't even think of the next question. Steve Gotz:                        Nor do I. Steve Gotz:                        But think about this, right. Because there's a lot of similarities between the cement business and the banking business. [00:07:30] Right? Amy Lombardo:                Oh both are important, here we go. Let's get what you're going to say here. Steve Gotz:                        So look. These are both largely commodity businesses, and they're easily swappable, right? You could get a bank account from Wells Fargo, B of A, or any one of the 7,000 or 8,000 banks in America. And largely the product is the product. What can you do with that? Steve Gotz:                        You can innovate around that experience. That's what Heidelberg is doing and that's what most banks are doing today. They're innovating around the experience. [00:08:00] And to innovate around the experience you need to be close to your customers, right? Steve Gotz:                        So creating a banking experience, or a cement experience, in Brasil, is fundamentally different than the kind of banking, or cement experience you want to create in California, right? Did that work? Amy Lombardo:                Wow, wow. Okay. I'm a believer. Because if you were going to go down some path of like brick and motor cement shops closing, I was going to be like, "we're going to be [crosstalk 00:08:28] now because we're not even [inaudible 00:08:33] here." Steve Gotz:                        [00:08:30] And this is why I think banking executives can learn a lot by expanding the aperture and looking outside of the industry for best practices. And it just so happens that what I'm setting is in cement, but we also see interesting things happening in food, interesting things happening in agriculture, right? Steve Gotz:                        So I think there's more that we can learn like breaking down some of the silence and sharing ideas. Amy Lombardo:                Okay so let's go to some examples. [00:09:00] Let's jump ahead there. Steve Gotz:                        Hmm. Amy Lombardo:                You know for people unsure of our business model is, we're working with banks and retailers, can you give me any specific examples of Venture Studios working with banks and retailers? Steve Gotz:                        Yep. Yeah so there's a couple of really interesting examples. So, yeah, one of the ones you know, springs to the top of my mind is what BBVA has done with Dennison. So, three years ago BBVA hired an entrepreneur and said, "we want to build a new business." Steve Gotz:                        They didn't tell them [00:09:30] where he should build a business, they just gave him the free reign to do that. And fast forward three years, and what we have today is Dennison. Which is global bank for expats. So in three minutes or less, as an expat, I can open up a local currency account of one in 20 countries. And if you think about what Dennison has done is they've innovated the customer experience. And that allows them to do really interesting things with global remittances, global payments, currency transfers. Steve Gotz:                        So [00:10:00] a really interesting example of a big, incumbent corporation, like BBVA, saying, we're going to create new ventures, we're going to put structures in place to allow us to build things that probably wouldn't be possible inside of the normal organizational structures. So that's BBVA. Steve Gotz:                        Standard Chartered Bank is doing something similar in Hong Kong with their digital bank there. They just recently received their digital banking license from the regulator, so that's an interesting experiment. Steve Gotz:                        [00:10:30] In the UK, RBS has done really interesting things with S&Me, which is their small business lending platform. So there's a lot of examples and I think what's at the center of all of these examples is corporations coming together with partners to launch new things. Steve Gotz:                        And I think the opportunity for dVault and dVaults customers is to come together and say, "how do we create new experiences, right? How do we take a few bits of the interesting capabilities that dVault has, sprinkle [00:11:00] in a few bits of the interesting relationships that your banking clients have, to create a new kind of customer experience? That delivers value." Amy Lombardo:                Right and you know we think it's always about the touchpoints that a consumer has within a day. And if you think about just financial transactions, it isn't just this one-to-one, I'm going to a bank, I'm taking out cash, I'm depositing checks. Whatever it might be. Amy Lombardo:                It's that you touch [00:11:30] transactions in so many different sets through a day, so how is it that bank can complement that. Steve Gotz:                        Yes. Amy Lombardo:                And provide you with a seamless experience. And those examples that you gave are spot on to that. I love the one about the expat because that could be something that's so laborious, challenging for a consumer, but the bank is adding value there. Steve Gotz:                        Yeah, absolutely. Right. And if we step back a little bit and kind [00:12:00] of think about what's happening here, it's the replatformification of the bank, right? We're creating new ways for the bank to be consumed by customers. Amy Lombardo:                Right. Steve Gotz:                        At a fundamental level, fluctuation doesn't matter for the customer. The customer doesn't really care if you're using distribute ledger or cryptocurrencies to clear the transactions on the back end. They care about what's the experience. And are you making my life easier. Steve Gotz:                        And I think Dennison's a really good example of solving a very complex problem [00:12:30] in an elegant way. Amy Lombardo:                Exactly. Can I get an immediate access to cash? Can I get an immediate access or, you know, what I need to live my life, right? Steve Gotz:                        Yeah. Yeah. And what's really... What I find interesting about Dennison is everybody talks about the unbundling of the bank, right? And transfer-wise, it's often one of those perfect examples that people cite, that you've basically decoupled international payments of remittances from the bank. Steve Gotz:                        [00:13:00] What we're starting to see with Dennison is a replatformification, we're rebundling the bank in new ways that the consumer can then consume. Amy Lombardo:                Got you. Touching on that, unbundling, almost like a macro, [inaudible 00:13:14] talked about it so much in our business models. Steve Gotz:                        Yeah. I think this is a good/. it's good area for you guys. Amy Lombardo:                Okay, so let's say, I'm Mr. Banking Executive and I'm sitting here, and I'm scratching my head saying, "gosh, I [00:13:30] don't know where I need to breakthrough and transform my business. I'm stuck," and I go to you, Steve, or you know the partners that you work with. Amy Lombardo:                How do they begin this process? Steve Gotz:                        So I think there's a couple of points I'd like to make. And so I think the first one is so a general observation, and this isn't restricted to the banking industry, but corporations in general, have a hard time knowing what they have and knowing what the opportunities are. And that's not because [00:14:00] they're deficient, it's just the nature of human biases. Right? Amy Lombardo:                Mm-hmm (affirmative). Steve Gotz:                        When you work at the same place, in the same industry, for a long time, you start to see things in a certain way. The way you break out of those biases is to bring in people with new perspective. Bring in organizations with new perspective. Steve Gotz:                        So I think the first place to start is increase the aperture of your conversations, right? Don't spend time with your peers. Spend time with organizations and executives [00:14:30] that are different from you, right? Steve Gotz:                        So we spoke about cement and banking, there's a lot that can be learned there. So the first thing I would encourage executives and your listeners to do is increase the aperture. Look beyond banking for opportunities to be innovative. Look what's happening in the retail space. Look what's happening in the food and beverages space. Because I think there are things to be learned there. So that's the first thing. Amy Lombardo:                Right. Steve Gotz:                        The second point I'd make in terms of [00:15:00] how to get started is really related to where does innovation live within the corporation? So there was an interesting study a couple years ago where they looked at risk among banks. And what they found was, after a bank appoints a Chief Of Risk Officer, the organization tends to take more risks. And the observation there is, when a job becomes somebody's [00:15:30] function, somebody's role, responsibility now lives with that person. Right? So we now have a Chief Risk Officer, so they're going to manage all of the risk so the organization tends to adopt slightly riskier behaviors. Steve Gotz:                        Now, where this is interesting is with innovation because innovation is everybody's responsibility. Including the CEO. So I think an important take away from this is everybody from the top down and bottom up in the organization [00:16:00] is responsible for doing new things. Steve Gotz:                        Now the nature and scope of what those innovative things may change, may look different, but everybody needs to have a hand in how do we think about doing new things and creating new experiences. Particularly the CEO and the board. Especially when it comes to new things that are potentially really big and disruptive. Amy Lombardo:                I love that thought. So, I'm taking away from this, look outside your industry and everyone is an innovator. Steve Gotz:                        [00:16:30] Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Innovators just don't live in Silicon Valley. Amy Lombardo:                Right. Steve Gotz:                        They live everywhere. Encourage them. Amy Lombardo:                Right. I think this is a good place to wrap up the discussion. Steve, it's a pleasure to have you on and join us on Commerce Now. Steve Gotz:                        Thanks Amy. Amy Lombardo:                And thank our listeners for joining. Amy Lombardo:                So if you've got questions, feel free to reach out to Steve. Either via LinkedIn or via Twitter at @SteveGotz. Keep checking in on iTunes or however you listen to your podcasts for new topics [00:17:00] on COMMERCE NOW.

In Episode 5 of Beyond the Blue Badge, we sit down with serial entrepreneur and Managing Director of Seattle startup studio Pioneer Square Labs T.A. McCann. T.A. discusses what drives him as an entrepreneur, dishes up the hard truths about running a startup and doles out great advice about starting a company.

Greg Gottesman, a major influencer in the Seattle startup community, sits down and shares his knowledge about entrepreneurship, his passion for the early stage of building companies, and the story behind what sparked the idea for Rover, where Greg is a co-founder. Greg serves as a Managing Director and co-founder of Pioneer Square Labs, both its studio and fund. He was a partner of Madrona Venture Group for 20 years and founder of Madrona Venture Labs. In this episode, he also discusses the entrepreneurship class he teaches at the University of Washington, what he looks for in entrepreneurs’ pitches, and why he would choose Seattle “if you could choose one place in the world to start a company now.

Alex Jiao is the co-founder and CEO of Silene Biotech, a stem cell biotechnology company. Alex received a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern and his Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Washington. He’s worked as a biomedical engineering researcher at the University of Michigan. Alex led Silene Biotech through the 2017 TechStars Seattle program. Alex is an expert in stem cells and stem cell technology. His startup is dedicated to helping people preserve their stem cells so they can take advantage of emerging opportunities created by advances in the field. By harvesting and preserving their cells today, a 30-year old might be able to use their stem cells to reverse the aging process, cure diseases like arthritis and leukemia, and even regrow vital organs. In this episode, we answer questions on stem cells and stem cell therapy. What are stem cells and IPS cells in the context of regenerative medicine? What can stem cells do for us? How will new technologies like CRISPR make the process better in the future?  Can stem cells cure blindness? Why should you save your stem cells when you’re young? How can you turn blood cells into beating heart cells through reprogramming, like Alex did with his own... How to Live to 200 podcast listeners can get 20% off Silene Biotech, just CLICK HERE to receive your L200 discount. Give it a try today! As part of the episode, we set up a Silene "popup shop" at Pioneer Square Labs where a bunch of us did blood draws and sent our cells off for safe keeping. About Alex Silenebiotech.com Alex Jiao Twitter Show Links Autologous stem cell transplants Cellular regeneration strategies for macular degeneration: past, present and future CRISPR Juno Therapeutics Facebook - New England Journal of Medicine Facebook - Scientific American Athletigen IPS cells Shinya Yamanaka Clinical trials in knee cartilage regeneration Cell Medicine - Panama Stem Cell Clinic Studies on Metformin and Rapamycin Video of Alex's beating heart cells

Family life with three kids, the rising costs of education and where AI and machine learning will take us. Venture Capitalist Greg Gottesman shares business stories, as well as tips on parenting and education. It's a blast! Full episode summary on the Rad Dad website

Ben Gilbert is Co-founder of Pioneer Square Labs, and host of Acquired.

Ben Gilbert's an ex-Microsoft guy with a passion for startups and growth. He runs Pioneer Square Labs, an innovative venture studio that after raising $12M, has cranked out half a dozen successful startup spin offs – think Rocket Internet without the copy/paste. Ben is also the co-host of the Acquired podcast where he and David... The post Ben Gilbert of Acquired on The End of Government, The Death of Apple and The Amazon Apocalypse appeared first on The Syndicate.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How the Pioneer Square Labs model works, and why the team views the people that eventually run the company as the true founders -What qualities PSL looks for in these founders, and why domain knowledge is key -The startup ecosystem in Seattle, and why the big tech incumbents are largely to thank for it -How Taunt currently operates, and the future monetization strategy the company sees playing out -How Startup Weekend played a pivotal role in both Ben and his father’s careers -Ben’s advice to budding entrepreneurs about working for a large tech company before starting something of your own -Why accountability is critical to having a great career, and the best thing Ben’s ever read on the topic Check out Ben’s Seattle startup pick (outside of PSL companies) at the end of the episode, in addition to hearing us both geek out about Amazon.

Today's episode is a special event, a crossover episode with the Acquired Podcast, which you can find in your podcast directory by searching for the word Acquired, or by going to Acquired.fm. Acquired is hosted by Ben Gilbert, the Co-Founder of Pioneer Square Labs and David Rosenthal a Principal at Madrona Venture Group out in Seattle. To mash up our two models, we're going to talk about Yahoo's acquisition of Overture, and how that related to Google's ultimate success with Adwords. We talked about a lot of this with Gary Flake in episode 133, so, for a bit of context, here is that entire story. Please enjoy, and please, do check out the Acquired podcast at Acquired.fm See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Much has changed about Venture Capital in the last few decades, and Greg Gottesman has witnessed it up close and personal as a founder of Madrona Venture Group, then of Madrona Labs, and now of Pioneer Square Labs (PSL). And while he’s still involved at… Read more The post @techvitamin 2.2: Greg Gottesman, Pioneer Square Labs appeared first on @techvitamin.

Benjamin Gilbert Co-Founder of Pioneer Square Labs, talks with us about what it is like to be apart of a company that constantly creates, tweaks, and publishes products. He digs into the process of building his products and how using customer feedback, wo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://kimberlite.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile)   The meta show: Ben and David turn their gaze inward and examine the podcasting industry through E. W. Scripps’ recent acquisitions of the Midroll podcast advertising network and Stitcher podcast client. Featuring discussion of our own product process and metrics at Acquired.    Announcements: We’re pivoting! (not really) Our new show description: A Podcast About Technology Acquisitions That Actually Went Well But we are launching a new feature! Since so many of you, our listeners, are also tech and startup folks and/or other builders, we wanted to create a space to feature cool products, companies and side projects you’re working on. Thus we’re adding a "Community Showcase” section to the show. If you’d like to be included just send us a Slack message or email, and we’ll choose one submission to feature on each show. This episode we’re highlighting BESTR, from community member David Resnick (aka @the_rezonator in Slack), which is an online platform to share lists of great things. Check it out and let David know what you think.    Topics covered include: Top Google search results for “acquired podcast" Midroll’s origins in the comedy podcast Comedy Bang Bang (now an tv show on IFC) and exit last year to Scripps  The structural challenges inherent to podcasting as a medium and the gap between audience size/engagement and industry revenues Opportunities for independent podcasters and our own audience and business metrics at Acquired  Stitcher’s long corporate history as a venture backed company, first acquisition by French music company Deezer, and now second acquisition from Deezer by Scripps Problems with Stitcher as a product and industry reaction to the acquisition including John Gruber's response, Ben Thompson’s article on Stratechery, and Ben & James Allworth's discussion on their excellent podcast Exponent Handicapping Stitcher+Midroll’s chances for success within Scripps, and opportunities for new startups & innovation in the podcasting space Pioneer Square Labs’ own past efforts in the podcasting space and their process for evaluating potential new company ideas  Shoutout to Pocket Casts and our listeners down under    Followups: Twitch: bringing tipping onto the platform with the launch of Cheering + Bits (H/t Slack community member jamesk) Facebook Instant Articles: pour one out for Facebook Paper (developed by the Push Pop Press team) LinkedIn: the hotly anticipated SEC filing detailing all the negotiation drama is now live (scroll down to "Background of the Merger” on p.31)   The Carve Out Ben: Mark Titus, AKA @ClubTrillion is joining the Ringer David: OKR’s and regular goal setting, including great “how to" from GV partner Rick Klau