A Few Things with Jim Barrood

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Lou's entrepreneurial career journey 2. State of crypto and web3 sectors 3. Importance of community 4. Davos insights 5. Future forecasts Lou is a Partner at Blockchain Coinvestors, a #crypto fund-of-fund invested in 40 of the leading crypto #VCs around the world. He is also the CEO of Blockchain Coinvestors Acquisition Corp. 1, a publicly traded #SPAC...

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Christina's entrepreneurial journey 2. Scopio's growth and pivots 3. State of NFT marketplaces 4. Paying artists in crypto and NFTs 5. Launch of first global photo book of 2020 pandemic Christina Hawatmeh, as cofounder and CEO of Scopio, overseas vision and growth. Scopio is a community-based platform and marketplace where anyone can share images and s...

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Tej’s career journey 2. How he landed at Axiom 3. Opportunities ahead for the space industry 4. Insights on the changing tech ecosystem 5. Future trends (startup and investing) With 25 years of startup and strategic leadership experience at some of the world’s biggest companies and three investor-backed, high-growth startups, Tejpaul leads revenue gene...

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Vanessa and Kobie's leadership and entrepreneurial journeys 2. How the tech industry sees the talent pipeline 3. Talent challenges and opportunities 4. Diversity initiatives and best practices Vanessa leads the Substrate Engineering team which fuels a simple, delightful and personal experience, assisting our customers to be the most productive across w...

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Maryam’s career journey 2. How she landed at Nextdoor 3. Opportunities ahead for Nextdoor 4. Nextdoor 100 - super amazing neighbors initiative 5. Industry trends Maryam has more than 25 years of marketing experience, managing global brands and international teams. She was most recently the Global #CMO of Hyatt Hotels, repositioning the Hyatt brand as p...

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Michael's journey to McCarter 2. Intersection of arts and innovation 3. Pandemic innovations at McCarter and theatres nationwide 4. Post pandemic vision and trends 5. Ride the Cyclone musical Michael has been the Managing Director at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton since 2018. McCarter’s mission is to create stories and experiences that enliven mi...

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Angelo's entrepreneurial  journey 2. How Apprentice has scaled during pandemic 3. How funding affected his company 4. Industry trends + importance of partnerships 5. Advice for founders Angelo is co-founder and CEO of Apprentice.io, the world’s first and only intelligent software platform built specifically for the life sciences. Angelo realized the un...

We discussed a few things including:   1. Chris' and Clark's entrepreneurial and growth journeys 2. How CentralReach and Avidon have scaled during pandemic 3. How funding affected your companies 4. Industry trends 5. Leadership lessons learned Chris is the CEO of CentralReach and is leading the company in its mission to provide an end-to-end platform of software and services that enable Applied Be...

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Tracey and C.J.'s entrepreneurial journeys 2. How entrepreneurship education has changed since NFTE 3. New trends and initiatives 4. Prisoner/reentry education initiative 5. Youth education initiatives - gaming   Tracey is the Founder of From the Block to the Boardroom LLC, VP & COO of Phax Group Construction & Design LLC, Senior Managing Partner with...

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Anouk and Chantalle's entrepreneurial journeys 2. Importance of branding and how things have changed 3. Chantalle's branding transformation 4. Branding and storytelling trends   5. Advice for younger generations   In 2006 Anouk started a storytelling expedition: ‘Around the World in 80 Brands’. The goal was to help brands and companies convey their mes...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. Marcus and Jenn's entrepreneurial journeys  2. Latest news from the Metaverse + Gaming + NFTs  3. Marcus' new venture, MetArena  4. Jenn's vision for GoBeyond  Marcus Howard is a lifelong gamer, serial entrepreneur, featured speaker and international startup advisor. He started his career in the gaming industry in 2013, building ProjectMQ to solve gam...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. Mark and Sonia's entrepreneurial journeys  2. Mark's new venture, Creator Nova  3. Sonia's vision for Signet Beauty  4. Funding outlook for startups in creator space  Sonia first launched @badgirlnails in 2014 as a way to break a lifelong nail biting habit. From there a passion for nail art grew, and before long she was sharing her designs with an aud...

We discussed a number of things including: 1.  Alfa's entrepreneurial journey and vision for Rising Tide Capital 2. State of the small business sector across the state and region 3. Funding outlook for startups and underserved entrepreneurs 4. Alfa's vision for Future Tide Partners Born and raised in Ethiopia, Alfa lives in New Jersey with her husband and two boys. She is the Chief Executive Offic...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. State of the #drones industry, regionally, nationally and globally  2. Outlook for sector and funding forecast  3. What's next in drones at Rutgers and at Dronedek  4. Talent pipeline opportunities and challenges  Laurent joined the Rutgers University Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2019, after serving as a scientific researcher...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. State of #cannabisindustry across the state and region  2. How are the state and investors helping fund entrepreneurs  3. How is #diversity and #equity in space being supported  4. Outlook for the sector in short and long term  Bruce is a consultant, coach, author, and speaker on organizational development and performance management. Originally an arc...

We talked about their entrepreneurship journeys and their current ventures in podcasting and healthcare.  Ryan Estes is an American Buddhist entrepreneur. As the cofounder of Kitcaster, a podcast booking agency, he facilitates thousands of extraordinary conversations. The mission is to put the world’s top startup founders on the world’s top podcasts and let them share their stories with a wider au...

We discussed a few things including Kashif's entrepreneurial journey, personalized medicine, functional genomics, longevity trends and the future of healthcare.  Kashif is an author, speaker, visionary entrepreneur and investor based in Toronto who has built, run, and scaled numerous businesses across various industries. He is the founder and CEO of The DNA Company, a digital health company that u...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. State of entrepreneurship in the entertainment and influencer marketing industries  2. Funding outlook in media, blockchain and crypto/NFT sectors  3. Diversity gains in startups from their vantage points  4. Talent pipeline challenges; NAMIC efforts  Always keeping ‘profit with a purpose’ in mind through various career roles as a hedge fund analyst,...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. How the pandemic has affected our mental health  2. The notable rise in depression, anxiety and stress across all populations  3. How individuals, particularly young people, can improve their mental health  4. How novel tech solutions are helping to change the script  Mark Metry is a 23 year old entrepreneur, author, creator, mental health advocate, c...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. State of the robotics industry, regionally, nationally and globally  2. Outlook for sector and funding forecast  3. What's next in robotics at Ghost and Stevens  4. Talent pipeline opportunities and challenges  Jiren Parikh is the CEO of Ghost Robotics. He joined Messrs. Avik De and Gavin Kenneally in late 2015 to found Ghost Robotics to build agile,...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. State of eSports in high school and higher education  2. Future forecast for the sports tech industries  3. Talent pipeline outlook: opportunities and challenges  Scott Huston, Chief Information Officer, at Stockton University, is responsible for providing leadership to the Division of Information Technology Services team for the continued development...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. His entrepreneurial journey and vision for Field Trip  2. State of the pyschedilics and cannabis industries  3. Funding outlook for startups in this space  4. Industry outlook  An entrepreneur and a visionary, Ronan is one the founders of Field Trip. Concurrent with his work at Field Trip, he is a partner at Grassfed Ventures, a venture capital and ad...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. State of philanthropy across the state and region  2. Examples of how foundations/nonprofits weathered the pandemic  3. Innovations across the spectrum worth highlighting  4. Outlook for the sector in short and long term  Jeffrey Vega is the President and CEO of the Princeton Area Community Foundation, which has the mission of promoting philanthropy t...

We discussed a few things including Anjalee's journalistic journey, the dynamics of the pharma, biotech and healthcare industries and the COVID pandemic.  Anjalee Khemlani is an award-winning journalist with a decade of experience spanning numerous beats and media. She is currently the Senior Reporter at Yahoo! Finance covering all things health care, including the COVID-19 global pandemic.  As an...

We discussed a number of things including:  1. State of entrepreneurship in the entertainment and influencer marketing industries  2. Funding outlook in media, blockchain and crypto/NFT sectors  3. Diversity gains in startups from their vantage points  4. Talent pipeline challenges; NAMIC efforts  Always keeping ‘profit with a purpose’ in mind through various career roles as a hedge fund analyst,...