Forging The Future with Chris Howard

Chad Spensky, Founder and CEO of Allthenticate, joins the pod today to talk about his path toward founding Allthenticate, building a Houston business, and why passwords are on their way out the door. On the business side, Chad talks on Houston as a hotspot for tech startups and why he is excited to grow a business in the city. The cybersecurity industry has failed society, Chad says, and now he’s...

Flying solo this week, host Chris Howard tackles the 5 types of capital that you need in order to support your business. From relationships to finances, intellectual ideas to the people working in your business and supporting your endeavors, capital comes in many forms and is a necessary part of not only helping your business survive, but thrive. Using his own experiences as a founder, CEO, and ve...

SXSW tackles ecosystem innovation in this Forging the Future episode at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Hear from Murat Uralkan, Natalie Harms, and Paul O’Brien about the exciting advancements in medical tech (medtech), marketing communications (marcomm), and marketing tech (martech). Each bite-sized interview within this episode brings a new set of insights from the front lines of the constantly innovatin...

Chris Howard tackles the startup crowd at SXSW in Austin and encounters experts in the innovative fields of sportstech, biotech, healthtech, and pettech. In these fast-paced interviews with Lydia Davies, Taci Pereira, Blaine Killen, and Ken Ehrman, Forging the Future gets a peek behind the curtain of a few of the most innovative tech startups in Texas. From sports team hangouts to 3D human tissue,...

Forging the Future goes on the road to Austin for this special mash-up episode at South by Southwest. In short yet insightful interviews with Carrie Colbert, Rob Meadows, and Susan Davenport, host Chris Howard gets a taste of the hot tech topics making waves at this year’s event. From artificial intelligence to startup innovation, banking controversies to up-and-coming technology, this episode tac...

John Reale, Managing Director at Integr8d Capital and Venture Lead at the TMC Venture Fund, joins the pod to tackle the Houston startup ecosystem from the medical tech perspective. After learning the ropes of the financial sector and trying his hand at his own entrepreneurial ventures, JR has channeled his energy into giving back to the future generation of startups-- so much so that he’s been nam...

Chris goes solo today to share three entrepreneurship bits of advice that he has picked up throughout the highs and lows of his journey in the business. Entrepreneurship is like a rollercoaster. While you have to learn to enjoy the highs, you must also learn how to navigate the lows. Listen in to hear how to navigate potentially business-ending dilemmas, how to  future-proof contracts, and how put...

Wade Pinder, Principle Product Management Consultant at Improving and Co-Founder of the Houston Product Community, talks about Blinds.com, communities of practice, and product vs project in this week’s episode. With decades of experience in the product space, Wade currently spends his time giving back to the entrepreneur and startup community, as well as finding Houston solutions to Houston proble...

Moina Tamuly, Co-Ceo of Ntention embarks on his tech journey, sharing his story of rising in the tech world and breaking through burnout along the way. Moina hails from Norway and has gotten to know both American and Norwegian tech ecosystems throughout the years. When he and his team unveiled their space glove concept and demo at a Norwegian energy conference, they started to get noticed. Althoug...

Chris Howard takes FTF on the road as he interviews 3 of the individuals making an impact at Code Launch 2023 in Houston. This episode includes interviews with Brian Candido from Tech Elevator, a company bringing in-person and remote tech learning opportunities to Houston, Matt Bonasera from InTech Energy360, which aims to tackle the complex balance between energy efficiency and air quality, and O...

Indrajit Datta, Co-founder at Equipt, brings B2B software for industrials into the equation and emphasizes the importance of catering to the next generation of workers. With gas and oil primed for the fast, efficient approach Equipt promises, Indrajit is excited for the next steps in raising funds and becoming profitable with his co-founder. Indrajit walks through the unique position Equipt aims t...

Staci Latoison, Founder and CEO of Dream Big Ventures, tackles the disheartening statistic that only 2% of investment funds go to female founders and injects some serious girl power into the Softeq Venture Studio. As a former Chevron manager, Staci learned the importance of giving women of color the opportunity to speak up in business settings. Now, tackling the venture world, Staci aims to put wo...

Read Boles, professor at Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship and multi-time business founder, joins the show to talk about his journey from hopping trains at Harvard Business School to helping future entrepreneurs gain real-life educational experience. Not only has Read created and founded his own businesses, he’s also specialized in turning around failing businesses. In this episode, Read explains...

Julie Moir Messervy, Founder and CEO of Home Outside, brings her green thumb to the pod to talk about how the key to climate change might be your own front yard. As a landscape architect whose credits include the Toronto Music Garden, Julie wanted to bring her skills and expertise to millions of homeowners with just a few clicks of a button. Enter Home Outside, an innovative app that promises to c...

Tiffany Lewis and Raika Djalali, Co-founders of Allkind, forge the future of fertility this week with an innovative new app. Seeing the need to bring empathy back into the process of sperm and egg donation and surrogacy, Tiffany and Raika took to TikTok to build the Allkind brand from a dream into a startup reality. These two founders are birthing a business that puts the baby-making decisions bac...

Ken Ehrman, Founder and Managing Partner at Halo Collar, takes on the task of making the world safer for the family dog, and explains the technological limitations of the previously popular Invisible Fence in this week’s episode. From forklifts to fluffy dogs, Ken discusses the ups and downs of startup funding, GPS technology development, and taking a company public. Forging the future just got a...

Craig Ceccanti, CEO & President at T-Minus Solutions and Co-Founder of Pinot’s Palette and sEATz, brings his numerous entrepreneurial experiences and endless expertise to the pod. Craig and Chris talk about franchising, failing, and finding a way to give back to fellow entrepreneurs. Craig has taken a full-circle path in his career, from employee to founder to franchiser to investor, and now, he’s...

Mark Valdez and Alejandro Mendez, Co-founders of Royal Eagle Capital Partners, talk about leaving the corporate world for the excitement of entrepreneurship. Royal Eagle, an investment company headquartered in Houston and partnering with Softeq, focuses a majority of their work in both the US and Latin America. Mark and Alejandro discuss the unique connections they’ve made personally and professio...

Billy Grandy, Director at Softeq Venture Studio, takes us on a journey from his hardworking childhood in Florida to the important personal connections that led him to Softeq. With a guiding philosophy of “giving first,” Billy has always been a generous supporter of startups and small businesses, moving to Houston to take advantage of the innovation and reinvention happening here. Billy covers past...

Dave Mathews, CTO Portfolio Advisor at Softeq Venture Studio, attempts to condense his incredibly varied experience into one jam-packed podcast episode. This week, Dave covers his childhood as a computer wiz, inventing the CueCat, and building an art car out of a 747 airplane. Alongside his extensive work as an inventor, Dave also talks about his inspiration for the work he does with the Softeq Ve...

Brad Burke, Managing Director at Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship, comes on the pod to talk about innovations of all kinds happening in Houston. A massive energy transition is upon us, and the time is now for Houston investors to look toward the startups forging the future of tech. Brad discusses the many entrepreneurship and startup based programs through Rice Alliance and discusse...

Joey Sanchez, Senior Director of Ecosystems at The Ion Houston and Founder of Cup of Joey, brings a caffeinated boost to the pod as he talks about building an ecosystem of innovation in Houston. This week, Joey tackles his background at Houston Exponential, his inspiration for starting Cup of Joey, and his involvement with Houston Tech Rodeo. Additionally, Joey brews a fresh new vision for Houston...

Juliana Garaizar, Head of Houston Incubator and VP of Innovation at Greentown Labs, builds something exciting in this week’s discussion on climate technology and the unique challenges of a climate tech incubator. Originally created in Boston, Greentown has expanded to Houston for their second location, offering a unique prototype space in midtown. Juliana explains the startup process for working w...

Tasos Katsaounis, Founder, President, & CEO of Bread Man Baking Co., whips up a tasty discussion in this episode about carving a niche in Houston’s breadmaking market. Originally started out of Tasos’ home, Bread Man Baking Co bakes and supplies artisan breads for restaurants and grocers, including at local Whole Foods. Tasos discusses taking the leap from consulting to baking, building unique bus...

Carrie Colbert, Founder and General Partner of Curate Capital, joins the pod to talk about her journey from the gas and oil industry to investing with her venture capitalist fund, Curate Capital. Curate Capital aims to invest in businesses by women for women, expanding the typical demographics of investors and the invested to include women like never before. This week, Carrie talks about leaving h...