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Andy Seykora is the co-founder and CEO of Axia Orthopedics, a medical device company focused on empowering orthopedic surgeons to achieve better outcomes faster. Andy has previously managed product development teams at companies like Acumed and played key roles in the growth of startups such as Acute Innovations and Outerpull.

Hollie Miller was a freelance strategic and financial consultant for non-profits in the Portland area, and she was frustrated that there were no supports for freelancers like herself to plug into for benefits, admin support, or government provided safety nets. So Hollie started Guilds with Benefits to provide those services to freelancers and small business owners alike. She believes self-employer...

Cindy Anderson is a long-time entrepreneur who has a passion for health and wellness. She started Manny's Choice after being diagnosed with severe gluten-intolerance and breast cancer. After much research, she found that Italian or European wheat did not react like other wheat products, making her feel wonderful. Today, Cindy is on a mission to bring Manny's Choice products to everyone so they can...

Carter Guddell is the Regional Specialist for the Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE). He's based in Bend, where he helps out organizations that encourage investment and entrepreneurship in central Oregon. His work serves a wide span of the region -- his county coverage includes Deschutes, Jefferson, Crook, and South Wasco.

Yalda Moshiri is the Angel Oregon Program Director for the Oregon Entrepreneurs' Network. Yalda grew up in Silicon Valley where she was deeply influenced by the region’s entrepreneurial spirit, fueling her curiosity for innovation from an early age. She launched her career with renowned Fortune 50 companies, including Disney and Amazon. Her entrepreneurial spirit eventually led her to co-found two...

Toby Roberts is the former President of the famous Pok Pok restaurant chain here in Portland. Today he has a new company that is focused on bringing the ingredients that can help you create amazing Thai food yourself. His first product is high quality charcoal from Thailand. High, consistent heat, long burn time, no smoke, and made from orchard bi-product. A fascinating culinary startup story!

Founded by Susan & Joseph Piacenza, SeaStereo stands at the forefront of aquaculture innovation, committed to advancing the sustainability and vitality of aquatic populations. The mission of this innovative startup is to empower the industry with precise, AI-enabled monitoring solutions that safeguard marine health, enhance productivity, and ensure a thriving future for our global ecosystems a...

Cori Omundson is the Founder, CEO and chief Winemaker at Rising Wines Collective -- an innovative company that is opening the doors to quality small-production wines you might only find by traveling to wine country.  Rising Wines gives access to wines all over the country for any consumer.

Kristin Howard is CEO and cofounder of Joie Energy Drinks, Oregon's premier clean energy drink with function and purpose! Full of all the good and zero bad, joie energy packs 212 mg all natural caffeine with over 100md L theanine to create a perfect focused dnergy without crashes or jitters!

DARE welcomes Jess Jensen to the show. For over 20 years, Jess has shaped how leaders communicate, helping them inspire, clarify, and elevate their voices. Today, she leads Co-pilot Communications, a company she founded in 2024 to help executives and founders leverage digital channels to bring optimism, inspiration, and gratitude into conversations. With great experience at Microsoft, Adidas, and...

Meg Hull, Founder, & CEO of Hullsome Foods, the maker of Shredder Cheddar. Inspired by a craving that hit on a Mount St. Helens trails run, Meg created a savory snack that goes big and goes everywhere.  Shredder Cheddar is real food packed for real adventure.  Whether you're powering through a marathon or a busy day, this cheese has the protein, electrolytes, and flavor to keep you moving....

DARE is excited to welcome Corey Scholibo to the show today -- Corey is the creator of “Dayo,” an AI-powered app incentivizing users to limit social media use by earning rewards for staying offline. Dayo was named the winner of the 2024 Angel Oregon Technology competition and has had great success to date -- in this episode we learn more about their big idea, their plan to conquer the world, and h...

DARE is excited to speak with Chris Hull, President and Co-Founder of Otus, a startup that improves educational experience for students, teachers, and administrators. Chris shares his history as a social studies teacher and the journey that has taken him from the classroom to creating a whole technological platform to empower educators and students. Otus is dedicated to transforming how data is ut...

DARE welcomes Parisa Saki, founder of Hauvant Heels, to the show. Parisa just spent the last week at SXSW, and we're excited to hear about her work to rewrite the story of high heels. Armed with a background in science and a passion for innovation, she envisioned a solution that eliminated the need to compromise—a heel that supports women from day to night without sacrificing style. Learn more at...

DARE talks with Nahed Khairallah , head of Organized Chaos -- an organization that helps companies of all sizes to understand their workforce better and optimize all HR functions. Nahed got to brass tacks on how teams can be successful, how digital transformation is shaping executive leadership, and ways you can future-proof your business.

DARE talked with Stefano Laboni, founder of Smile Solution, where he works with companies large and small to engender happiness and job satisfaction. Stefano's work is in the traditional field of "clowning" and creating hilarious and memorable moments as a team. In this episode, Stefano shares his work as a professional mischief maker, and also shares some tips for how your teams can...

DARE is excited to speak with Joseph Wyno, Executive Director for the UAS Accelerator, a Center for Innovation Excellence in the State of Oregon. In this episode, we learn about the work of the Accelerator and how you too can apply to be part of the accelerator, with your drone, robotics or autonomous vehicle startup! Learn more at https://oregonuas.org/

A special interview with OEN Executive Director Cara Turano and Darwoft CEO Cecilia Mariani. Today, the Oregon Entrepreneur's Network and Darwoft announce a new partnership to sponsor the "Dare" podcast -- the show for innovators, entrepreneurs, and startup leaders who dare to shape the future. Cara and Cecilia tell us how their organizations are supporting and nurturing startups, and how they wil...

DARE welcomes Jude Mannion, Co-Founder of Vita Viola , a unique startup that is revolutionizing end of life rituals and ending life with dignity and personality. Jude has an extraordinary background as a senior leader at Elizabeth Arden, Kelloggs and other global organizations, and now she's bringing her expertise and insight to the new domain of end-of-life.

The DARE podcast welcomes Elsy Dinvil, founder of the successful Portland-based food startup Creole Me Up . Originally from Jérémie, Haiti, Elsy came to America on a scholarship to study Food Science Technology. After a long arduous process, she founded her successful company here in Portland and recently completed her MBA. Recently published a book,  Cooking With My Mother , which is filled with...

The DARE show welcomes Anya Cheng, founder and CEO of ⁠Taelor⁠ , a unique menswear company that is on a tear in 2025! Anya has an amazing personal history at Facebook, EBay, Target and other leading consumer-focused companies. Now with her launch of Taelor, she's bringing rented menswear to the masses. We also have special discounts on Taelor for DARE listeners! ⁠Here's 30% off your first month⁠ w...

DARE is happy to welcome Tyler Dunagin, CEO of Turnserv. Tyler has a unique entrepreneurial journey, and he's now operating a multi-brand business that focuses on multiple innovative home improvement product lines, including LiquidLiner. In the past few years he's had over 3 brands do a million + dollars within less than 18 months. He was nominated as UI’s Entrepreneur of the year. Tyler had a lot...

Rick Turoczy is the Co-Founder of Built Oregon and creator of the Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE). Now, for our first episode of the new year, with our new partners the Oregon Entrepreneur's Network , we are happy to welcome Rick back to the DARE show! In this special episode, on the day of his new PIE event, we talk about how the startup scene in Portland has changed and how the next generati...

DARE's last episode of 2024 is a fascinating interview with marketing entrepreneur Nikita Byakadarov, founder of Maildoso. The company is a sales SaaS currently doing $3M in revenue, and is deep in the email deliverability and cold email business. Nikita previously failed at 7 startups before finding Maildoso, and he speaks eloquently about building a bootstrapped startup, customer acquisition pra...

DARE welcomes Asim Razzaq of Yotascale. Asim founded Yotascale to deliver real savings and scalable efficiency in public cloud management systems. He's had great success with Yotascale, and brings to the team his past experience building the PayPal cloud infrastructure and scaling the PayPal Developer Platform from zero to a billion dollars in payments volume.