Awesome Inc

This episode is for founders. In Part 1, Keith McMunn , Director of the Awesome Fellowship , program talks about the importance of knowing your roots, and the direction Awesome Inc's startup programming is headed and shares some behind-the-scenes goals most people don't know about.

Jamie shares why she’s so passionate about changing the narrative around performance management (aka make metrics meetings not suck) and dispels some of the myths around Google's culture (is there free food? free dry cleaning? free massages??) Performance Management articles:  On the folly of rewarding A while hoping for B Transforming Performance Management in Drive Performance: An Evidence-...

This episode is for innovators.  We have Jamie Rosenstein Wittman, who is a boomerang (which is a term we’re desperately trying to normalize at Awesome Inc). She grew up In Lexington, KY, and left to spread her wings at Cornell and Google. For now, she's back to take advantage of remote learning and further her career. She leads the conversation on how to hire and encourage a culture of curio...

This episode is for innovators. Garrett and Liz wrap up their time with Andy as he shares how he pivoted the Lexington Legends business model (yes, professional baseball teams do have those) and sought out baseball talent of all ages.  Check out our conversation with the founders of Zone Traxx ! Co-founder, Tommy Warner , is a pitcher for this organization. 

This episode is for innovators. Garrett and Liz start another Innovation Inc series and interview Andy Shea , President, and CEO of the Lexington Legends to talk about how he organically created a baseball brand that’s now known for innovation.

Blake Reichenbach of Hubspot, a light-hearted Boomerang tech enthusiast and entrepreneur, shares insights into how Internet users' ignorance is in fact exploited and capitalized for "The Algorithms."  He discusses tech ethics - no, not quite "ethics" from Billy Madison - and why there is a lack of clarity around this topic, how to properly say L.A., and how to confidently wear fruit patterns...

This episode is for innovators. In the final episode, Ben Atkinson from Toyota talks about how to manage the diverse skill sets of teams to find the balance between developing and maintaining ideas. Companies need both innovators and adaptors to feel the freedom to pitch and develop ideas for the machine of innovation to work. And bringing it full circle, they talk about how the corporate world an...

In this episode, Ben Atkinson from Toyota explains the S curve of innovation and the difference between attainers, maintainers, and sustainers (we like to think of it as the Enneagram, but for corporate employees). They talk about the risk of growing a team that can both dream and build and sustain ideas, which often means hiring the right people *before* the right time. They cover Scottie Pippin,...

This episode is for innovators. We invited one of Venture Lab’s closest friends, Ben Atkinson from Toyota , to talk about what innovation actually means (and about beat-up Toyota Camrys). Ben explains that Luiz Pere-Breva’s definition, from his book, Innovating: A Doer’s Manifesto... , “Bringing parts and people together, to solve a problem in a novel way.” gets us partway to a clear understanding...

Silver Fern Group is a technology company providing software, mobile apps, IoT Devices, data analytics, and custom solutions for the horticulture industry. The team at Silver Fern  is helping Individuals simplify their businesses with technology for growers.  Adam VanWingerden sits down, shares his recent experiences, and talks about the mindset needed to succeed. Taking action yields fr...

Stuccco provides virtual staging services for real estate agents; online interior design services for homeowners.  Real estate agents place virtual staging orders on Stuccco.com (est. time: three minutes). Stuccco renders the photos and completes the order within 24 hours. Agents add virtually staged photos to their online listings, share them on social media, and include them in flyers, broc...

Coaches and players want every edge possible to stay competitive. Having accurate analytics for pitching and hitting is now an essential part of the game. Zone Traxx is a baseball and softball analytics tool designed to improve players and teams before, during, and after games. The Zone Traxx app allows you to easily track important information in real-time during practice and games and automatica...

Charley Miller of Louisville, Kentucky is an entrepreneur, product manager, and game designer with a focus on systems and product experience. He's the founder of Unitonomy , o ne of the companies in Awesome Inc's 2020 class of the Fellowship. Unitonomy is making culture management software for knowledge workers and their teams. They primarily focus on helping remote teams augment communication. Ch...

Charley Miller of Louisville, Kentucky is an entrepreneur, product manager, and game designer with a focus on systems and product experience. He's the founder of Unitonomy , o ne of the companies in Awesome Inc's 2020 class of the Fellowship. Unitonomy is making culture management software for knowledge workers and their teams. They primarily focus on helping remote teams augment communication. Ch...

Natasha Sams dives into what it took to make a Kentucky teacher become an innovation leader for the Commonwealth's future entrepreneurs. The Governor's School for Entrepreneurs (GSE) identifies and enables Kentucky high school students to become our Commonwealth's next generation of entrepreneurs. Through our three-week residential experience, GSE participants from throughout the Commonwealth are:...

Natasha Sams dives into what it took to make a Kentucky teacher become an innovation leader for the Commonwealth's future entrepreneurs.  The Governor's School for Entrepreneurs (GSE) identifies and enables Kentucky high school students to become our Commonwealth's next generation of entrepreneurs. Through our three-week residential experience, GSE participants from throughout the Commonwealt...

Here's the conclusion to our live Lunch & Learn podcast with Logan Burchett and Steven Plappert Forecastr reflecting on their journey through Techstars and how they are moving forward during a global pandemic.  This podcast episode was recorded live to catch up with our friends from Louisville, KY Steven Plappert and Logan Burchett of Forecastr to hear of their journey through Techstars a...

This podcast episode was recorded live to catch up with our friends from Louisville, KY Steven Plappert and Logan Burchett of Forecastr to hear of their journey through Techstars and the future of the company. Over a year ago in July 2019 we sat down with Logan and Steven and caught the background story of Forecastr ( episode linked here ). Forecastr is online software that helps founders build gr...

With 34 years of background in education, Scott Stuckey has been improving teaching systems for almost two decades.  Founded for the unique challenges of rural communities, Inquiry Technologies , LLC (InqTech) is a research and development firm with a mission to create new instructional technology that has a positive impact on education, healthcare, and workforce development sectors. Founded...

Adam Brown is the creative director and founder of Marrow : a brand design agency for challenger brands and startups that give a damn. Call him a design zealot, a provocateur, or—if you’re his mother-in-law—a BS artist. With Adam, brands embrace empathy as a strategy, value audacity over relevance, and commit unequivocally to the remarkable.  Clients include a craft distillery, a br...

In 2015, the city of Louisville, KY noticed a big problem: half of all fires involving two or more buildings involved an abandoned property. The city recognized the threat to families and challenged the community to make a solution – and they did. Meet CASPER! CASPER and its suite of sensors constantly monitor abandoned properties for events like smoke detector sirens, break-ins, and floods. When...

Shane Slone founder of Nursing CE Central has one mission: deliver high-quality nursing CEUs in a convenient, stress-free online environment.  They provide the required continuing education nurses need in a fast & easy online platform. Every detail has been taken into account to make your experience fast, easy, and hassle-free. The platform never requires tests and your certificates are a...

Brian Raney shares what started his vision of creating a startup community in Lexington, KY.  In 2009, a few college friends came together to bring to life an idea. They believed in the potential for Lexington to be a creative, innovative, welcoming community that helped anyone and everyone pursue their definition of “awesome.” This has meant many things over the years (remind us to tell you...

Some things are changing in house and we want you to stay In the know!  Long story short, we've got some fun and new stuff in the works. We're excited to share more of what our awesome team, startups, and community are doing to make Kentucky the best place to live and work.

Ian Gerard , the CEO and product designer of Adder talks about his company making outdoor advertising engagement easy. Adder is a specialized real-time, real-world data analytics platform for out-of-home and word-of-mouth advertisers.  Their advertising and audience measurement tools bridge the gap between digital and physical ad spaces and help brands invest directly in their community. Ian...