Episode 79: 1 Million Cups Rochester with Stationary Astronauts and Solken Technologies

This week on the podcast we share some audio from the most recent 1 Million Cups Rochester. 1 Million Cups is a national education program for entrepreneurs that takes place most Wednesdays in 174 communities across the United States. 1 Million Cups provides a platform for local entrepreneurs to share the story of their business and ask members of the community for help on one particular issue that their startup is facing. Due to a snow storm last week, the original speakers at 1 Million Cups Rochester were not able to attend. Instead, we had two entrepreneurs in the community step up and pitch with very little notice including:

• Nikolai Zeppa of Stationary Astronauts, a philanthropic event and media company that just celebrated its one-year anniversary in February. Stationary Astronauts is embarking on a huge mission with the launch of their Meeting of the Minds series to bring a world renowned public speaker and paired Netflix comedian to Rochester. The inaugural show will take place this August with serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk and comedian Theo Von.
• Solomon Antoine, Cofounder and Manager of Solken Technologies. This startup just launched their first product, FAVR, a service platform for users to request low skilled tasks such as errand running, snow removal, or leaf raking, at their own set price. The first live version of the platform launched just the day before Solomon gave this pitch.

We also heard updates on previous 1 Million Cups Presenters: Twisted Barrel Wood Fired Pizza, How to Babysit, and Spark DJ. Xavier Frigola, Director of the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator, provided an update on the Southeast Minnesota Capital Fund.

This week on the podcast we share some audio from the most recent 1 Million Cups Rochester. 1 Million Cups is a national education program for entrepreneurs that takes place most Wednesdays in 174 communities across the United States. 1 Million Cups provides a platform for local entrepreneurs to share the story of their business and ask members of the community for help on one particular issue that their startup is facing. Due to a snow storm last week, the original speakers at 1 Million Cups Rochester were not able to attend. Instead, we had two entrepreneurs in the community step up and pitch with very little notice including:

·      Nikolai Zeppa of Stationary Astronauts, a philanthropic event and media company that just celebrated its one-year anniversary in February. Stationary Astronauts is embarking on a huge mission with the launch of their Meeting of the Minds series to bring a world renowned public speaker and paired Netflix comedian to Rochester. The inaugural show will take place this August with serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk and comedian Theo Von.  

·      Solomon Antoine, Cofounder and Manager of Solken Technologies. This startup just launched their first product, FAVR, a service platform for users to request low skilled tasks such as errand running, snow removal, or leaf raking, at their own set price. The first live version of the platform launched just the day before Solomon gave this pitch.

We also heard updates on previous 1 Million Cups Presenters: Twisted Barrel Wood Fired Pizza, How to Babysit, and Spark DJ. Xavier Frigola, Director of the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator, provided an update on the Southeast Minnesota Capital Fund.