Value Drivers

In this episode, Marc Frenkel, CFO of Coterie Insurance, discusses his path from investment banking and insurance finance to helping scale a tech enabled MGA focused on simplifying commercial P&C insurance for small businesses. Marc began his career in investment banking at Rothschild, where an early insurance restructuring assignment introduced him to the complexity of the industry. He later work...

In this episode, Yogi Goel, co-founder and CEO of Maxima AI, discusses his path from EY, Wall Street, and Rubrik to building a company focused on applying agentic AI to accounting and record-to-report workflows. Yogi started his career at EY, where he developed a foundation in audit, accounting standards, controls, and how large companies operate. He later worked in finance and capital markets bef...

  In this episode, Sara Wyman, founder of Stackpack, discusses her journey from Wall Street to operating roles at high-growth companies like Etsy and Affirm, and how those experiences led her to focus on vendor spend, contracts, and operational complexity. At Etsy and Affirm, Sara saw the same issue appear again and again: vendor management was often handled through spreadsheets, even as companies...

  This episode features Neil Tween, CFO of Owlstone Medical, and his path from audit at Deloitte into biotech and life sciences. He started in accounting, which gave him a strong foundation in public company reporting and SEC requirements. But what really pulled him was the science side and working on "novel things." That led him to roles where he could get closer to the business itself. After a c...

In this podcast episode, Colin Hurd, the CEO of Mach, discusses his decade-long journey in the autonomous vehicle space, beginning with his first company, Smart Ag, in 2016. The initial inspiration for his work came from observing farmers struggle with severe labor shortages and realizing that existing drone navigation technology could be adapted to heavy machinery.   After Smart Ag was acquired b...

Kishore SM is the CFO of Boba Bhai, a fast-growing consumer brand defining the boba tea category in India. He brings more than 26 years of experience across global corporations such as Caterpillar and high growth startups such as Flipkart. Since launching in late 2023, Boba Bhai has scaled to nearly 100 company owned locations, intentionally avoiding the franchise model to maintain full control ov...

In this episode of Value Drivers, Peter Ho interviews Eduardo Torrealba, the co-founder and CEO of Lumafield, a company dedicated to helping manufacturers eliminate hidden defects by "seeing inside" their products. Torrealba, a mechanical engineer by training, was inspired by the semiconductor fabrication facilities near his childhood home and later dropped out of a PhD program to pursue entrepren...

Robert Schoff, CFO of Forth Management Family Office, discusses his journey from a CPA at EY and private equity firm Scorpion Capital Partners to building a multi-generational single-family office from scratch over the last decade. He characterizes the family office environment as a provider of "patient capital," offering a long-term, decade-spanning investment horizon that distinguishes it from t...

In this episode of Value Drivers, we interview Pamela Cytron, the founder and president of Founders Arena, a specialized wealth tech accelerator. Cytron brings over 40 years of experience in the financial technology sector, having started her career in sales and telemarketing long before the term "fintech" was coined. She emphasizes that her career was built on relationship selling, trust, and acc...

This episode features an interview with Elan Adler, the founder and CEO of OneImaging, a nationwide diagnostic imaging network dedicated to making medical imaging faster, more affordable, and more transparent. Adler, leveraging his background in radiology operations and technology sales, explains that the company was founded to address the common problem faced by patients who lack fundamental info...

This interview features Greg Saunders, CFO of Coast Energy, discussing the complexities of scaling solar, storage, and microgrid projects for commercial real estate portfolios, a sector he notes is exciting but prone to risk, complexity, and surprises, likening the environment to "riding the roller coasters". Saunders, who has a background in specialty finance and clean energy financing, highlight...

  Dori Yona, CEO and co-founder of Simple Closure, introduced the platform designed to streamline the difficult, manual, and bureaucratic process of shutting down a startup. Yona's inspiration stemmed from his own experience running low on cash at a previous company, where he found that seeking guidance on dissolution was lonely, and no readily available platforms existed to help navigate the proc...

  The interview features Darrell Cox, a veteran finance professional who has guided some of Canada's fastest growing tech companies, discussing his philosophy on finance leadership and the solutions offered by Una Software, where he currently serves. Darrell notes that a consistent theme throughout his career, working at big and small growth-oriented companies, has been the imperative to "push the...

  The podcast interview features Prem Kumar, founder and CEO of Humanly, an AI-powered recruiting platform. We delve into Prem's journey, the origins of Humanly, its business model, market positioning, recent funding, and the ethical integration of AI in recruitment. Prem's inspiration for Humanly stemmed from his personal experience as a job candidate in 2006, where he observed a lack of communic...

Lynn Perkins, founder and CEO of UrbanSitter, discussed her journey in building a trusted care platform. Her inspiration for UrbanSitter stemmed from a personal need for childcare and the idea to leverage social connections to replicate word-of-mouth trust online. Unlike many marketplaces, UrbanSitter operates on a subscription model for families and providers, which helps to maintain high-quality...

  John Climaco, Chairman and CEO of CNS Pharmaceuticals, elaborates on his company's dedicated mission in the research and development of new cancer treatments for the brain and the central nervous system. Climaco, an experienced entrepreneur, was drawn to the immense challenge of glioblastoma, referring to it as an "uncrackable nut" and "the toughest of the tough". He explains that glioblastoma m...

  Sunil Shinde, a product leader and co-founder at CueZen, was the guest on the Value Drivers podcast. He shared insights into CueZen's mission, its innovative use of AI in healthcare, and his professional journey, which includes past roles at Microsoft and Harman. Sunil began his career in India with Microsoft before migrating to the United States. He spent a significant portion of his early care...

Val Lee, co-founder of Manifest, transitioned to entrepreneurship after over a decade in management consulting at Deloitte, where he focused on economics and business. He realized his increasing draw to entrepreneurial projects, which large consulting firms are not structured to support, necessitating a "decompression period" to rewire his brain from high-pressure deliverables to long-term learnin...

  Voltaire is an AI-powered program founded by Yo Sub Kwon, designed to help insurance carriers by making claims correspondence faster, more accurate, and cheaper. Kwon, a technologist who started programming at 12 and launched his first company at 16, has a background in founding multiple companies, including Launchkey and one of the earliest US-based crypto exchanges. His entry into the P&C insu...

Peter Ho welcomed Alejandro Castellano to the podcast to discuss how he uses technology to make operations and businesses work smarter. Alejandro shared his background, starting with a childhood dream of being an inventor in Lima, Peru, leading him to study electrical engineering. He pursued entrepreneurial ventures early, starting an EdTech company in college where he learned the basics of runnin...

  This podcast episode features an interview with Chat Joglekar, the founder and CEO of Baton, a company aiming to be the "Zillow for small business". Chat, an experienced executive with previous roles at Google and Zillow, was inspired to start Baton after a friend's frustrating experience trying to buy a small business, highlighting the lack of transparency in valuations. The market for small bu...

In this episode, we interview Alex Smereczniak, a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Franzy, a franchise discovery and acquisition platform, and former CEO of 2 U Laundry and Laundry Lab. Alex shares his journey of growing 2 U Laundry/Laundry Lab to over 30 locations and his decision to hire a CEO and move to a board position. This transition allowed him to focus on his idea for Fra...

Peter Ho welcomes Julian Lange, an experienced CFO who has guided companies from startup to IPO, including scaling Marley Spoon and leading VC fundraising for Aiven. Currently CFO at Upvest, Julian brings strategic financial leadership and a passion for team development. Julian's Career Journey: Julian shares his background, starting with 10 years in the corporate world at General Electric (GE), w...

The interview with Alex Lee, CEO of Truewind, explores how his company uses artificial intelligence to streamline accounting processes for accounting firms. Truewind is presented as a "digital staff accountant" that utilizes AI to perform accounting tasks with greater efficiency and predictability. Lee's background is in aerospace engineering, having worked at Boeing on the 777X program. He transi...

Nate Helbach, founder and CEO of Neutral, discusses his company's mission to redefine real estate development through sustainable practices and a focus on tenant wellness. Neutral aims to construct mixed-use and multifamily developments that achieve carbon neutrality. Inspiration and Background: Nate was inspired to start Neutral by the lack of differentiation and sustainability in typical multifa...