Forging The Future with Chris Howard

Compaq’s legendary Co-founder and former CEO Rod Canion joins the pod this week to talk about how an uncertain career risk led to one of the fastest growing tech companies of the 1980s. Rod discusses the company’s earliest days in part 1 of this insightful interview, including Compaq’s rapid growth from $100 million in sales in its first year and to its $1 billion milestone by year 5. Talking poin...

In this episode, Chris Howard sits down with Tamara Shaw, former Chief Transformation Officer at C1, to discuss the evolving role of Chief Transformation Officers (CTOs) and the challenges of integrating company culture during acquisitions. Talking points include managing offshore and global initiatives, the necessity of operational technology investments, and Tamara’s advice for aspiring future T...

A new generation of geothermal energy is here, and guest Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, is at the forefront of energy innovation. Sage Geosystems has developed proprietary geothermal technologies targeting lower surface temperatures which could reduce the cost of geothermal electricity production and increase adoption of geothermal around the world. Talking points include transitioning from a...

This week’s guest has a lot of irons in the fire; meet Justin Segal, Co-Founder of Stemmons Enterprise, President at Boxer Property, and Co-Founder of Relay Human Cloud, who joins host Chris Howard to talk about workplace culture, from job hopping to AI usage. In each of his roles, Justin oversees strategy and provides important workplace solutions without compromising culture and collaboration. T...

Forging the Future goes out of this world and into the great beyond in today’s episode, guest starring Guy de Carufel, Founder and CEO of Cognitive Space. Based in Houston, Cognitive Space brings an AI-SaaS solution for intelligent satellite automation to empower and enable the use of space. Talking points include space utilization as a national security concern, competitive pressure from China to...

Embedded World 2024’s Best in Show winner, Beacon EmbeddedWorks, brings VP of Products Russ Stebner to the show this week. Beacon EmbeddedWorks is a full-service provider of embedded products for regulated markets like medical and aerospace, providing in-house manufacturing and support for innovative System on Modules (SoMs). Talking points include custom solutions for assistive technology, challe...

Forging the Future goes on the road to Embedded World 2024 in Austin, Texas, to talk with 4 tech experts on key topics like advanced AI technology and intelligent product development. Chris is joined by Jason Griffin from Analog Devices, POLYN Technology CEO Aleksandr Timofeev, Weier Wan of AIZIP, and Martin Unverdorben at Tria. Talking points include integrating analog data with digital technolog...

Forging the Future goes on the road to Embedded World 2024 in Austin, Texas, to talk with 3 tech experts on open source, embedded systems, and safety and security. Chris is joined by Kate Stewart from the Linux Foundation, Frederic Desbiens from the Eclipse Foundation, and Gulroz Singh from NXP semiconductors. Talking points include the Zephyr project, open source community building, and the futur...

Forging the Future talks to Guneet Bedi, Senior VP and General Manager at Arduino, at Embedded World 2024 in Austin, Texas, in this week’s AI and electronics-focused episode. Arduino designs, manufactures, and supports electronic devices and software, allowing people around the world to easily access advanced technologies that interact with the physical world. Talking points include supporting Ard...

Artificial intelligence takes the mainstage at Embedded World 2024 and in this week’s episode with Pete Bernard, edge AI computing expert and Executive Director at tinyML Foundation. At tinyML, Pete helps nurture a community focused on low-power machine learning technologies at the very edge of the cloud with the most cutting-edge AI technologies, deep ties to academia, and investments in AI for G...

Forging the Future gets some legal help this week from Jeff Dodd, a Partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth (current sponsor of Forging the Future). With over 900 lawyers in the United States and around the world, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP serves clients across a broad range of complex transactional, litigation and regulatory matters. Talking points include when startups should seek legal advice, how emerg...

Can flowers bloom in space? Founder and CEO Federico Marques wants to make this happen by 2030. Federico’s company, Moonflower Farms, created the first indoor vertical farm in Texas and continues to innovate hydroponic growing through partnerships with local universities and NASA. In this week’s episode, talking points include the technology and challenges of hydroponic farming, the crisis of nutr...

Forging the Future takes it to the court in this week’s episode, featuring GRIND Founder and CEO Thomas Fields. GRIND is a consumer brand developing the world's first smart ecosystem of sports equipment products, starting with a portable basketball rebounding machine, and is focused on empowering athletes, trainers and coaches with affordable and innovative products. Talking points include experie...

Cryptocurrency expert John T. Perrone joins the pod to talk about the future of finance and technology, sharing insights from his experience as CEO and founder of BitWallet, a leading company in the digital currency space. With a unique twist on his entrepreneurial journey, John also owns BitWallet Bet, a sports book, and brings a fresh perspective to the conversation. Having successfully navigate...

Kyle Judah, Executive Director of Rice University's Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Lilie), joins the pod to talk about launching world-changing startups. With a background in fostering startup ecosystems, Kyle is passionate about offering career-altering opportunities for the Rice University campus community to learn about innovation and entrepreneurship. Talking points include th...

Host Chris Howard is joined by Tony Nash, CEO and Founder of pioneering AI-powered financial forecasting company Complete Intelligence. Originally started as a hypothesis, Complete Intelligence automates the financial forecasting process to limit time spent manually budgeting. Talking points include financial forecasting automations that save time and money, the biggest debates around corporate AI...

Tech finds a path to the great outdoors in today’s episode, featuring Co-Founder and CEO of Mallard Bay Outdoors, Logan Meaux. A participant in the Rice Business Plan Competition and a member of a cohort at the Softeq Venture Studio, Mallard Bay Outdoors an Airbnb-style marketplace where sportsmen and guides can connect, transact, and book hunting and fishing trips on a frictionless online platfor...

Human resources expert Andrew Bartlow joins the pod to talk about all things management, especially when it comes to tech startups looking to scale and grow their management strategy and team. Working with corporations like Pepsi and GE, as well as gaining experience in every stage of startup growth, Andrew specializes in helping early stage companies adopt management and HR strategies that set th...

Forging the Future gets its first student entrepreneur guest, Adis Lujinovic, a Texas A&M Chemical Engineering senior and CEO of Switchless. Switchless, founded in 2022, is a startup pioneering the smart home industry with feature-rich and interconnected smart switches for commercial and residential use. Talking points include Adis’ early inspiration in entrepreneurship, Switchless’ origins with c...

Nate Thompson, Managing Partner of HTX Sports Tech, joins the show to talk about his impact as a key player in the sports technology industry. Sports tech is an industry experiencing massive growth and incredible innovations in recent years, and Nate has been at the forefront, providing strategic guidance to sports organizations, innovation ecosystems, and startups. Talking points include Nate’s j...

Forging the Future finds itself in Aggieland with this week’s guest, 1876 Venture Director Shelly Brenckman. As a lifelong entrepreneur and learner, Shelly works with Texas A&M students on an independent, pro-bono startup and student accelerator. Talking points include gaining fundraising experience in unlikely places, catching the spark of entrepreneurship vs having a founder’s DNA, and how the T...

Timothy Neal, CEO of AmPd Labs, joins the pod to talk about the future of manufacturing and the industry side of 3D printing. Standing for “additive manufacturing product design,” AmPd Labs is a Houston-based additive manufacturing startup with capabilities that span the entire product lifecycle, from design to production. As the first CEO of AmPd, Tim talks with Chris about his “make it or break...

Muriel Foster, Director at gBETA Houston, joins Forging the Future in a conversation about equipping entrepreneurs with skills, networks, and mentors for the challenges of the future. gBETA is a part of a growing community of accelerators under the brand gener8tor, a platform that empowers programs like gBETA to provide incredible opportunities for local entrepreneurs and industry-specific founder...

Forging the Future heads to Austin for the Texas Venture Forum & Gala to discuss community-driven innovation happening across the state and the impacts of the Texas triangle on the global economy. From Austin’s own backyard to Latin America, Chris talks with directors, CEOs, and futurists in this mashup episode about their respective projects and their hopeful aspirations for the future of venture...

Denny Chared, Founder of DC Finance, joins Chris at the Texas Venture Gala & Forum in Austin to discuss the current trends and future potential of family office investments in tech and venture. With origins in Israel and a base in New York, DC Finance builds an international network of high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and investors for mutual growth and support through first-tier events...