Angel Invest Boston
317 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago - ★★★★★ - 181 ratingsIn the Decade of Biotech when there will be myriad opportunities to invest in angel-scale biotech startups. After decades of angel investing, I am focusing on the life science side of my portfolio and invite other angels to do the same. Here's why: https://www.labcoatventures.com/why-we-are-focused-on-early-stage-biotech/
I’m Sal Daher, host of the Angel Invest Boston Podcast. After immigrating to Boston as a child and attending Belmont High School, I studied engineering at MIT and Stanford. Decades of work in international finance followed. During that time, I invested in a handful of ventures founded by friends and acquaintances. Now, I’m a member of Walnut Ventures and MIT Angels and spend most of my time as an angel investor. Startups in my portfolio include: SQZ Biotech, Gelesis, Akili Interactive, Vedanta Biosciences, FineTune Learning, Concrete Sensors, Squadle, doDoc, Pixability, Mavrck, Viral Gains, Streamroot, XMOS, Alice's Table and others. Exits include: Exos (Microsoft), Rifiniti (KKR) and PIKA Energy (Generac).
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Episodes
Alice Lewis, Founder - "From Techstars to Shark Tank"
December 05, 2018 06:30 - 40 minutes - 46.8 MBOur Investment Syndicates: Link to Our Syndicates Page Techstars and Shark Tank alumna Alice Lewis is building both a business and a movement. Her startup, Alice’s Table, offers a “business in a box” to entrepreneurial women who need a flexible schedule and want a meaningful activity. Alice’s Table helps with logistics, marketing, training and technology; the members, called “execs”, bring energy and connection with local brick & mortar businesses hungry for new things to keep their locati...
Keith Elliston, Repeat Founder "Open Sourcing Medical Data"
November 21, 2018 06:30 - 54 minutes - 62.9 MBRepeat founder Keith Elliston has found the capstone to his brilliant career. His startup Axiomedix is supporting the creation of a massive bank of patient data tied to the genetics of each patient to enable medical research on an unprecedented scale. Imagine what could be learned by comparing the medical records of millions of patients with their genomic data! Keith also has the ambition of building blockchain technology to create a transparent marketplace where patients might make their me...
Laura Indolfi, CEO & Co-Founder of PanTher Therapeutics - "Target: Pancreatic Cancer"
November 07, 2018 06:30 - 41 minutes - 47.9 MBAccredited Investors, an Exciting Syndicate Is Under Way: Click to Learn More Coming from a family of lawyers in Italy, Laura Indolfi was an unlikely candidate to found a tech startup. Yet, her love of engineering and fascination with materials took her to the storied labs at MIT led by Elazer Edelman and Bob Langer. Her startup, PanTher Therapeutics is using off-the-shelf cancer drugs and biomaterials to create a new way to treat cancers that are really hard to treat such as pancreatic ca...
David Ciccarelli, CEO & Co-Founder of Voices.com
October 24, 2018 05:30 - 47 minutes - 54.1 MBAccredited Investor, an exciting syndicate is under way:Learn More Here How do you become the giant player in a fragmented business like that of finding voice-over talent? This is just one of the questions that intrigued me in this interview with David Ciccarelli, CEO & Co-Founder of Voices, a business he stated and runs with his wife and co-founder Stephanie. If you’re raising money, this episode and “The Secrets of Fundraising” (Click Here) are must listen. Highlights include: Introdu...
Sean Eldridge, CEO of Gain Life - "Transforming Lives"
October 10, 2018 05:30 - 38 minutes - 44.1 MBNew Syndicate! Sign Up to Learn More: Link for Signing Up Running a landscaping business while in grade school gave Sean Eldridge a taste for entrepreneurship. Years later, after a successful career in large corporations, he decided to start a business, Gain Life, building software to change people’s lives. Big players in the insurance business are betting that Gain Life will help their bottom line. Here are some things that came up during my interview of Sean Eldridge: “…these individu...
Kevin Lyman, CEO of Enlitic "Deep Learning in Medical Images"
September 26, 2018 05:30 - 29 minutes - 34.4 MBGamer turned AI maven, Kevin Lyman is implementing Jeremy Howard’s vision of harnessing the super chips that power gaming machines (GPUs) to interpret medical images. Deep learning algorithms are already making radiologists faster and better at their work. It’s a story of man plus machine not man versus machine. Don’t miss this accessible report from the frontier where machine is starting to make a tangible difference in medical care. Some highlights from the interview: Kevin Lyman Vers...
Secrets of Fundraising with Sal Daher, CFA
September 12, 2018 05:30 - 36 minutes - 42.3 MBThe secrets of startup fundraising revealed by an angel steeped in Boston’s tech investing scene. 35 minutes is all it takes to make you a better fundraiser. Sal Daher, CFA of the Angel Invest Boston Podcast is your mentor. Topics covered include: Introduction Why Do You Need Funding? “So, raising money has to be for a purpose. There's a real danger of getting money and it killing your ” Secret #1: Raising Money Is Selling – Stephen Hawking vs. Willy Loman – Warm Calling not Spammin...
Super Angel Joe Caruso in "Fearless Angel"
August 29, 2018 05:30 - 47 minutes - 54.1 MBHis bonhomie masks a keen intelligence that has, for decades, taken note of what makes or breaks founding teams. Joe Caruso is the CEO Whisperer, the Father Confessor to Founders. Joe’s an intrepid angel investor who goes where other angels fear to tread. This makes him a highly sought-after board member or advisor. I was privileged to sit down with him for an hour and to imbibe his wisdom and good humor. Typical Joe Caruso comment: “…you don't train a Labrador to flap its ears. It makes for...
Randy Parker, Founder of Constant Contact - "Tenacity + Kindness"
August 15, 2018 05:30 - 42 minutes - 48.6 MBFew are as well positioned to see the huge opportunities that exist for small and medium businesses in digital marketing as the founder of Constant Contact. In his new company, Brevi, Randy Parker is using software to allow mom & pop businesses to access those opportunities in ways that pay. I had loads of fun talking to this most clever and affable guest; and I learned a lot. Here’s what we touched on: Randy Parker Introduction How Randy Parker Discovered He Wanted to Build Software ...
Catherine White & Ben Littauer in Ask an Angel II at Babson College
August 01, 2018 05:30 - 1 hour - 140 MBInvest Alongside Boston's Top Angel in Our Syndicates: Link to Syndicates Page Angel investors Catherine Friend White and Ben Littauer answered questions about investing in startups in front of an audience at Babson College. Then the audience got to ask questions. The conversation ranged from the optimal portfolio size to the usefulness of the blockchain. Here are some highlights: Sal Introduces Live Event - Thanks Nina Block & Margaret Jone from Babson for Making it Possible Sal Intr...
Jean Hammond "Indispensable Angel"
July 18, 2018 05:30 - 45 minutes - 104 MBZipcar’s first investor, Jean Hammond, is Boston’s indispensable angel. Her hands-on approach has been pivotal to the success of her startup and several others. She co-founded the leading accelerator for educational technology startups, LearnLaunch. The interview was great fun and hugely instructive to me. Don’t miss it! Here are some highlights: Sal Introduces Jean Hammond From Studying Biology at Boston University to Running a Food Warehouse Jean Decides She Needs a Rigorous MBA – G...
Phillips Kuhl - "The Timeless & The Now"
July 04, 2018 05:30 - 51 minutes - 119 MBTimeless values of loyalty and integrity have helped Phillips Kuhl build a thriving company at the heart of one of the economy’s most innovative sectors: biotechnology. Holding more than 250 conferences per year, Cambridge Healthtech Institute or CHI, helps participants discover new perspectives on the problems they are addressing. This impressive feat requires the concerted effort of 150 talented employees whose encouragement and guidance are Phillips Kuhl’s constant concern. I really enjoy...
James Field - “A LabGeni.us”
June 20, 2018 05:30 - 22 minutes - 51.6 MBThe possibility of transcending the limits of human intelligence in scientific discovery has led this young British scientist to leave academia and found a startup. Founder & CEO James Field and LabGenius are engineering the evolutionary process to create novel proteins that have remarkable qualities. I caught up with James at TEDMED and had a most revealing interview. Topics covered include: Sal Pitches the Syndicate Sal Introduces James Field, CEO & Founder of LabGenius James Field ...
Aki Balogh, Jeff Coyle & Noah Davis of MarketMuse
June 06, 2018 05:30 - 59 minutes - 137 MBInvest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Click Here to Join Our Syndicates List Aki Balogh had a project to apply machine learning to help content creators. Suddenly it looked like a business when Jeff Coyle, the VP of Search at an established company, joined him as co-founder. MarketMuse is now a fast-growing startup helping hundreds of companies figure out what content to create. Aki, Jeff and VP of Engineering at MarketMuse, Noah Davis, were in studio for an engaging interview. S...
Jo Schneier "Training for the Other 64%"
May 23, 2018 05:30 - 29 minutes - 68.8 MBInvest Alongside Boston's Leading Angels in Our Syndicates: OPT IN HERE In this interview, repeat founder Jo Schneier addresses the problem of providing effective training to the 64 percent of the population that does not have a college degree. Drawing on Jo’s experiences and prior startups, Cognotion’s opening gambit is a training platform for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) an occupation with stratospheric job turnover. Cognotion seems to be succeeding in improving retention of its c...
Chris Savage & Brendan Schwartz - "Wistia's Remarkable Culture"
May 09, 2018 05:30 - 53 minutes - 123 MBInvest Alongside Boston's Leading Angels Via Syndicates: Opt In Here Cambridge-based Wistia has taken the road less-traveled to success. They did not raise a lot of money but now compete with richly-funded startups. What’s their secret? Listen to the interview with the delightful founders of this popular video platform, Brendan Schwartz and Chris Savage, as they discuss the unique culture and vision that make the startup remarkable. During the interview I pondered naming the episode “The...
Molly Lindquist, Founder of Consano - "Crowdfunding Medical Research"
April 25, 2018 05:30 - 27 minutes - 62.7 MBJoin Sal's Investment Syndicate. Opt In Here: Syndicates Page At age 32 Molly Lindquist was diagnosed with breast cancer. Other women in her family had also endured this terrible ordeal. She survived it and is fighting back. Consano, the crowdfunding platform she founded, funds more than 65 medical research projects at leading academic centers such as Dana-Farber and Memorial/Sloan Kettering. Her work is getting serious attention because she’s figured out how to help disease survivors chan...
Bob Goodof, Investment Analyst & Angel Investor "From Oil & Gas to Cleantech"
April 11, 2018 05:30 - 52 minutes - 120 MBInvest Alongside Angels Like Bob Goodof. To Join our Syndicate List Opt In Here: Link to Syndicate Sign Up Growing up in humble circumstances in Ohio, Bob Goodof discovered he had a head for numbers from playing with his baseball cards. At MIT he excelled in material science. After stints in the chemical industry and an MBA from Harvard, Bob became an investment analyst on Wall Street specializing in the oil and gas industry. He now invests as an angel with Walnut Ventures and teaches at B...
Joe Meyer, Founder of ExecThread on FounderFocus
March 28, 2018 05:30 - 24 minutes - 56.9 MBINVEST WITH BOSTON'S LEADING ANGELS JOIN OUR SYNDICATES: Opt In Here Joe Meyer founded ExecThread, https://execthread.com/, to solve a pain point he felt acutely himself. Joe had sold his company to Apple and, after the obligatory stint at the acquirer, was looking for a senior executive position. He was astonished when he revealed all sorts of important things about his career profile to a recruiter and the recruiter did not take notes. That’s when it hit him that the recruiting ind...
Keenan Wyrobek, Roboticist & Founder "Drones + Robots + Africa"
March 28, 2018 05:30 - 23 minutes - 53.6 MBInvest with Boston's Leading Angels. Join Our Syndicates: Opt In to Syndicates List Roboticist Keenan Wyrobek’s first career was founding Willow Garage which created ROS (Robot Operating System) that now makes robotic components inter-operable. After creating a foundation to sustain this vital piece of open source software, Keenan went in search of new engineering challenges. He became intrigued with the idea of helping developing countries deliver crucial medical supplies to areas that ...
Diane Stokes, Startup Builder, Founder & Angel - "Ironwoman"
March 14, 2018 05:30 - 39 minutes - 89.8 MBInvest with Boston's Leading Angels. Click here to Opt In to Our Syndicates List => Syndicates Page In college, Diane Stokes juggled caring for a sick mother, working full-time, doing ROTC and even had time to be on U Mass Lowell’s cheer leading squad. This energy and focus served her well as she progressed in her career of helping build startup after startup. Eventually, Diane founded a startup of her own. It succeeded beyond her greatest expectations. She invested as an angel for a while...
Siddarth Satish, CEO & Co-Founder of Gauss Surgical at TEDMED
February 28, 2018 06:30 - 15 minutes - 36.8 MBWhen Sid Satish saw his first surgery he was struck by the contrast between the advanced technologies in use side by side with ancient practices such as the negotiation over how much patient blood has been lost. He saw an opportunity to apply technology to create an informed calculation of blood loss. This was in 2011, now this technology runs on iPad Pros and is in use at 30 hospitals. Here are some highlights from this eye-opening interview: Siddarth Satish’s Bio Got Hooked on...
Radical Report I - Radhika Dutt, Geordie Kaytes & Nidhi Aggarwarl
February 28, 2018 06:30 - 25 minutes - 59.3 MBSince its publication in 2011, “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries has determined how startups are built. The idea is that little can be known up front about what customers really want, thus a series of cheap and quick experiments are in order. Minimally viable products (MVPs) are slapped together and put in front of trial audiences with the goal of having them “fail fast”. This rapid experimentation may lead the startup to change directions repeatedly. These changes in business direction have c...
Shiva Kashalkar of Green Piñata Toys
February 14, 2018 06:30Invest Alongside Boston's Leading Angels in Our Syndicates Learn More Here: Angel Invest Boston Syndicates Shiva Kashalkar of Green Piñata Toys The toy industry is hard for new comers. Building a subscription business in the toy industry is doubly hard. Despite the obstacles, Shiva Kashalkar and her company, Green Piñata Toys, are starting to get traction. They report 50% organic growth month over month with 90% monthly retention. The secret of their growth has been the creation of an ...
Shiva Kashalkar of Green Piñata Toys
February 14, 2018 06:30 - 27 minutes - 31.2 MBInvest Alongside Boston's Leading Angels in Our Syndicates Learn More Here: Angel Invest Boston Syndicates Shiva Kashalkar of Green Piñata Toys The toy industry is hard for new comers. Building a subscription business in the toy industry is doubly hard. Despite the obstacles, Shiva Kashalkar and her company, Green Piñata Toys, are starting to get traction. They report 50% organic growth month over month with 90% monthly retention. The secret of their growth has been the creation of an ...
Semyon Dukach, Super Angel, Founder & VC - "One Way VC"
February 14, 2018 06:30 - 50 minutes - 58.2 MBInvest Alongside Boston's Leading Angels in Our Syndicates Learn More Here: Angel Invest Boston Syndicates Guest: Semyon Dukach, Super Angel, Founder & VC - "The Energizer" When Semyon Dukach’s family came to America as refugees from the Soviet Union, they had a hundred dollars to their name. Semyon is now one of Boston’s most consequential super angels. Along the way he founded a couple of startups himself and made some remarkable angel investments that put him in a position to be hel...
Bryanne Leeming, Founder of Unruly Studios "A Passion for Action"
January 31, 2018 06:30 - 32 minutes - 37.5 MBThe best measure of a founder is how much she can get done with limited resources. By this metric, Bryanne Leeming is outstanding. A couple of years ago she had a paper prototype and vague hopes for a Kickstarter program. Now she has a sleek physical product that works and is likely to get built. She has the software to make it valuable and she’s completed a successful Kickstarter campaign. 3000 kids have played with Splat, the device and software Bryanne has built to encourage physically ...
Jay Singh of ClearCoin
January 31, 2018 06:30 - 19 minutes - 22.4 MBJay Singh co-founded ViralGains which is on Deloitte’s Fast 500 list of North America’s fastest growing tech companies. Still working on the marketing technology space, he has founded Clear Coin, a company hoping to apply distributed ledger technology to making digital advertising more accountable. He chose a token sale as a way of acquiring the resources needed to build his new company and seems to be off to a great start. Jay Singh’s is the first Founder Focus interview on Angel Invest B...
"One Cell in A Billion" - Çağrı Savran, Engineer, Academic & Founder
January 17, 2018 06:30 - 48 minutes - 56 MBThe way cancer is treated is about to change. Close monitoring during treatment will become possible, telling us within days with much greater precision if a treatment is working or not. Long-term monitoring of patients in remission will also be revolutionized by making fewer biopsies necessary and detecting relapses much earlier. All these promises come from the technology developed in the lab of Çağrı [Cha-ree] Savran at Purdue University that is being commercialized in Savran Technologi...
MIT Enterprise Forum - Poland
January 03, 2018 06:30 - 51 minutes - 58.6 MBMy colleague at Walnut Ventures, Adam de Sola Pool connected me with four promising startups from Poland participating in the MIT Enterprise Forum Poland contest in Cambridge. This created an opportunity to interview four really promising young founders. Being a founder of a startup in a place like Poland where the infrastructure to support new companies is just starting is really challenging. The four young founders have all demonstrated impressive determination to bring their startup’s p...
Adam de Sola Pool, Cleantech VC, Advisor & Angel - "Johnny Appleseed of Cleantech" Ep. 30
December 20, 2017 06:30 - 48 minutes - 55.5 MBA curious but orderly mind prepared to take advantage of serendipity has taken Adam de Sola Pool on a remarkable journey during his career. His father, Ithiel de Sola Pool, the brilliant political scientist (look up Six Degrees of Separation or Convergence) took young Adam to many different countries. These travels sparked in Adam an interest in geography which led to a job on Wall Street. From Salomon Brothers he went to the EBRD to restructure companies emerging from communism. This grew...
Howard Stevenson, Founder, Angel & Scholar of Entrepreneurship - "Wealth & Families" Ep. 29
December 06, 2017 06:30 - 1 hour - 70.7 MBiTunes Podcast Page for Review & Subscribing If you want to get rich and to pass money to your kids, listen closely to Howard Stevenson. Here’s condensed wisdom from the heart of the investing world delivered with dry humor and charm. Professor Stevenson was a co-founder of storied Baupost Group and helped hire its legendary manager Seth Klarman. He began the study of entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School and eventually became HBS’ biggest fundraiser. His book “Wealth & Families” ...
Chee-Yeun Chung of Yumanity Therapeutics at TEDMED - "Target Alzheimer's"
November 29, 2017 06:30 - 33 minutes - 38.5 MBAt the TEDMED Conference in Palm Springs, CA I had the chance to interview people from interesting startups. These brief interviews will appear in the coming months interspersed with our regular episodes. Chee-Yeun Chung, a neuroscientist from Korea, was captivated by the idea that cures for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS, could be found by doing experiments on yeast cells. Conventional approaches to neurodegenerative diseases had proved problematic. H...
Ty Danco, Fintech Founder, Crypto-currency Maven, Angel & Olympian
November 22, 2017 06:30 - 50 minutes - 58 MBTy Danco is an outlier in a population of outliers. His interests are varied and pursued passionately. He’s founded two fintech companies, he’s invested in a gazillion startups and he’s been a hugely generous advisor to companies, in fact the chief advisor at Techstars. Oh, I forgot to mention he’s an Olympian and also deeply involved with crypto-currencies. In this really meaty interview, Ty and I covered a wide range of topics. He explained his ideas in his affably quirky way. This was a s...
Matt Singer, Musician, Founder & Thought Leader on Digital Communication "Music Moves Him" Ep. 27
November 08, 2017 06:30 - 34 minutes - 39.8 MBWhile in prep school Matt Singer performed at a religious ceremony and became fascinated with the impact his music had on the congregants. This fascination led Matt Singer to major in music at Yale, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, and to think of how to make a life in music. Matt hit the streets soon after graduating to start his music business. For ten years he built Dawn Treader Production with marquee names such as Paul McCartney, James Earl Jones and the New York Philharmonic. Relyin...
Bettina Hein, Exemplary Repeat Founder in "Fearless Founder" - Ep. 26
October 25, 2017 05:30 - 41 minutes - 47.1 MBBettina Hein is the founder of Pixability, one of the fastest-growing companies in Massachusetts. She was also co-founder of SVOX, a profitable Swiss startup sold to Nuance Communications for $125MM. This record may make her success seem easier to achieve than it was. Bettina Hein overcame numerous obstacles to justify the sobriquet “Fearless Founder”. Learn from her as I did. She is an exemplar of resilience, grace under fire and plain common sense. She also has much to teach us about how a...
Sal Daher is Interviewed by Martin Aboitiz, Engineer, Founder & Angel in "Every Startup Is a Folly"
October 11, 2017 05:30 - 51 minutes - 59.5 MBQuotes from the podcast: “Every startup investment is folly, but not every folly should be a startup investment…” "How can I eliminate the real follies?" “Banks are dominated by all these rules, and they're extremely risk averse. It's sort of like belt and suspenders, and yet, periodically, their pants fall down.” “Someone who's selling is steeling herself for failure in every phone call…” Sal Daher got a person who knows him really well, his brother in law Martin Aboitiz, to inter...
Martin Aboitiz, Repeat Founder & Angel in "Healthcare & Paella" - Ep.24
September 27, 2017 05:30 - 54 minutes - 62.9 MBEpilogue to the Interview: Martin Aboitiz asked me to add this to the notes: "...I do have a regret though, that I did not mention four names during the interview: Juan Manuel Garcia Carral, my CTO in Intermedia who suggested Healthcare as an industry worthy of application and data integration, Dr. Richard Low of PraxisEMR, who first gave me a picture of the lack of data integration in Healthcare Juan Manuel's suggestion, and my two other founders in Healthjump, Mark Ribeir...
Super Angel Michael Mark & Marketing Wiz Kathryn Roy in "Ask an Angel Investor" Ep. 23
September 13, 2017 05:30 - 48 minutes - 55.9 MBSuper angel Michael Mark and marketing wiz Kathryn Roy take questions on the topic of angel investing. This was recorded before a live audience at gorgeous Babson College, a university dedicated to teaching entrepreneurship. Sal, as usual, finds it hard to keep his opinions to himself! Topics covered include: Recorded on the Beautiful Campus of Babson College, Thanks to Margaret Jones & Nina Block Michael Mark Mini Bio Kathryn Roy Mini Bio Michael Mark on What Angel Investing Is Not...
Ed Roberts, Founder, Angel Investor & Pioneering Scholar of Entrepreneurship, "Startup Prof" Ep. 22
August 30, 2017 05:30 - 1 hour - 103 MBEd Roberts started the scholarly study of startups. Learn from this brilliant academic pioneer and seasoned investor in Sohu.com and HubSpot about the keys to success in founding a tech company. Along the way you will be entertained and charmed by his most engaging narrative style. He grew up in working-class Chelsea, Massachusetts. At Chelsea High, he received preparation that would allow him to explore the academic delights offered by MIT’s curriculum. Four MIT degrees later he was on ...
Christopher Mirabile & Ham Lord, Super Angels Leading Launchpad Venture Group in "Winning Collaboration" Ep. 21
August 16, 2017 05:30The collaboration of Ham Lord and Christopher Mirabile, two of Boston’s most consequential super angels, is widely admired. Its most visible fruit is the success of Launchpad Venture Group, which they manage together. In this revealing interview, they let us in on how this winning collaboration came to be and what keeps it productive as it approaches the end of its first decade. Christopher Mirabile and Ham Lord are already familiar to our listeners. Each has been interviewed individually...
Christopher Mirabile & Ham Lord, Super Angels Leading Launchpad Venture Group in "Winning Collaboration" Ep. 21
August 16, 2017 05:30 - 55 minutes - 63.3 MBThe collaboration of Ham Lord and Christopher Mirabile, two of Boston’s most consequential super angels, is widely admired. Its most visible fruit is the success of Launchpad Venture Group, which they manage together. In this revealing interview, they let us in on how this winning collaboration came to be and what keeps it productive as it approaches the end of its first decade. Christopher Mirabile and Ham Lord are already familiar to our listeners. Each has been interviewed individually...
Hambleton "Ham" Lord, Super Angel Investor & Startup Founder, "Launchpad Founder", Ep. 20
August 02, 2017 05:30 - 46 minutes - 52.7 MBWriting software never seemed like work to young Ham Lord. In high school and then in college, coding is what got him rolling with his other courses; he loved it. This passion, and the happy coincidence of being at the right place (Brown University) at the right time (early 1980s) led to a brilliantly productive career in computing and entrepreneurship. Ham’s early work in computer graphics would eventually lead to innovation in applying 3D imaging to the creation of new molecules. Later h...
Wan Li Zhu, Early Stage VC & Angel Investor, Co-founder of MIT Angels, "Wise VC" Ep. 19
July 19, 2017 05:30 - 37 minutes - 42.7 MBThe family of Wan Li Zhu did not see a future in China. His parents, persecuted by the one-party state, came to America when Wan Li was ten years old. China’s great loss became America’s brilliant gain. Wan Li benefited from high-quality public education at Bronx High School of Science and went on to a perfect grade-point average at MIT. He studied under renowned quant wiz Andrew Lo and was poised for a career on Wall Street but was lured away by the prospect of hands-on responsibility for...
Keith Hearon & Matthew Stellmaker, Greentech Co-founders & Friends - "Good Chemistry" Ep. 18
July 05, 2017 05:30 - 39 minutes - 45.1 MBTwo brilliant scholarship kids became friends at Georgia Tech and went on to found a company that could change the world. This is the story of Matthew Stellmaker and Keith Hearon and of the good chemistry manifested in their friendship and in the creation of new polymers friendly to people and nature. The idea came to Matthew when he was working at a large company that produces 50,000 tons of citrus waste per year. His friend Keith thought that he could do something interesting with the ci...
Tivan Amour, Young Repeat Founder & Growth Hacker, "Growth Rider" Ep. 17
June 21, 2017 05:30 - 51 minutes - 59.1 MBTivan Amour is reinventing how urban bikes are designed and sold. This is a tall order. The competition is ferocious. Wise counsel is justifiably skeptical of the possibility of success in this endeavor. Yet, Tivan is gaining traction with his approach. He may be defying the odds. This young repeat founder bristles with energy but is also capable of contemplation. He is a growth hacker familiar with the Socratic Dialogue. He is hugely ambitious yet generous with the less fortunate. It was...
Armon Sharei, Young MIT Scientist & Biotech Founder - "Biotech Rockstar" - Ep. 16
June 07, 2017 05:30 - 44 minutes - 51.3 MBArmon Sharei wants to train our immune system to fight cancer. We hear a lot of claims like this, however when a mega-pharmaceutical company like Roche inks a $500 million deal to work on it, we pay attention. At age 29, Armon convinced not only Roche but gimlet-eyed VCs to back him. How did he do this? How did he go from a boy living in Iran to being one of the stars of MIT’s storied Langer Lab? Part of Armon’s secret is the ability to explain thickly complex ideas in accessible language ...
David Chang. Founder & Angel, Ex-PayPal & Goldman Sachs, Early Stage Maven, Startup Boston Guru, Ep. 15
May 24, 2017 05:30 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBStill in his forties, David Chang seems to have a lifetime of achievement behind him. Six startup exits, stints with TripAdvisor, PayPal and Goldman Sachs as well as close connections in the world of VCs give David a most informed perspective on startups. In this candid and instructive interview, David highlights the dos and don’ts of tech startups in clear and engaging prose. He provides a wealth of suggestions on how to approach markets and technologies. He immigrated to America from Tai...
Jay Batson, Software Pioneer, Founder & Angel, "Open Source Dude" - Ep. 14
May 10, 2017 05:30 - 44 minutes - 40.7 MBIt is rare that we hear reports from the frontiers of technology expressed so lucidly and accessibly by a real insider. This gem of an interview rewards the listener with Jay Batson’s sensible and eloquently expressed explanations of the pitfalls of building products and companies. Jay recounts how angel investing taught him things he wishes he had known as a founder. He closes with wise words to recent college grads thinking of founding a startup. Jay Batson started out as a land man hel...
Arrigo Bodda, Executive & Angel Investor - "European Angel" - Episode 13
April 26, 2017 05:30 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBGrowing up in Northern Italy, Arrigo Bodda dreamed of becoming an architect. He chose instead to study law, a handy pre-requisite for a career in human resources in a country where staffing involves a lot of legal work. His corporate career neatly coincided with the emergence of the European Union, a phenomenon that deeply influenced his work and life. After much success in the executive suites of global enterprises, Arrigo now has the opportunity to pursue his passion for design and archite...