Lay of The Land

Our conversation today is with Dallas Hogensen. Dallas is the CEO of Felux — making steel sexy since 2019 — which was established by a team of steel and technology experts to create the world’s largest operating platform and marketplace to help solve commerce for the steel industry. Having raised over $24 million since inception — under Dallas’ leadership, Felux has grown exponentially over the la...

Our conversation today is with Shawn Rech, a Cleveland-native and Emmy Award-winning producer and director who's created over 200 episodes of television programs that are currently licensed around the world and several films that have appeared on Showtime, Starz and Netflix. Shawn's first film — A Murder in the Park — was named one of TIME magazine's “15 Most Fascinating Crime Stories Ever Told.”...

Our conversation today is with Graham Veysey and Fisk Biggar — founders of Graham+Fisk’s Wine-In-A-Can. Headquartered in the 1854 brick firehouse in Cleveland’s Hingetown enclave, their wine in a can is now distributed in over 40 U.S. States, Asia, and the Caribbean and has won numerous accolades including being named #16 on the Wine Enthusiast Magazine Top 100 Best Buy list. Graham and Fisk are c...

Our conversation today is with Tom Tyrrell, Founder and Chairman of Great Lakes Biomimicry, an entrepreneurial 501(c)(3) organization (recently having merged with the Ohio Aerospace Institute) with a mission to create conditions for innovation through biomimicry, focused on assisting organizations explore new opportunities, solve problems and drive sustainability. Biomimicry, which we’ll explore i...

Our conversation today is with Baiju Shah, who is the president and CEO of Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP). GCP is the region’s leading economic development organization with over 12,000 members — the largest metropolitan chamber of commerce in the nation. Guided by a board of corporate and entrepreneurial CEOs, the organization focuses on accelerating growth and prosperity for Cleveland throu...

Our conversation today is with David Sylvan, president of UH Ventures — the innovation and commercialization division of University Hospitals — a Cleveland-based health system with two dozen hospitals, more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices located throughout 16 counties. UH Ventures comprises a diverse array of professionals with deep domain expertis...

Our conversation today is with Dr. Colleen M. Lorber — Founder & CEO of Wraparound Experts. Colleen Lorber has her Ph. D. in School Psychology and founded Wraparound Experts from over 15 years in the field, combining her knowledge of the environments and professionals that she has worked with to provide a model of services that “wrap around” a child and the environments and people that influen...

Our conversation today is with David Davis II — Founder & CEO of FBA Flip. David is a native Clevelander where he currently resides. After high school, David directly immersed himself into the tech-startup world. He’s been an entrepreneur his whole life — since the age of 13, he’s been involved in various direct-to-consumer eCommerce projects generating over 7-figures before he turned 21. Gath...

Our conversation today is with William J. Littlefield II — President and CTO of Wizest! At Wizest , Billy is on a mission to build a next-generation investment trading platform that democratizes access to financial expertise. Wizest recently closed on $1.7mm in financing and was featured in Forbes as a better solution to the problems posed by Robinhood. Billy has an eclectic background — spending...

Our conversation today is with Dr. Chelsea Monty-Bromer — founder & CEO of RooSense // SweatID. Chelsea founded SweatID back in December 2017 in order to make personalized health sensors available for everyone after an ultramarathoner suggested the technology could help athletes better monitor their hydration status. She began working with health sensors in 2010 while developing a fabric-based...

Our conversation today is with Mark D’Agostino — founder and president of ConnectedHR. Under his leadership, ConnectedHR has become one of the fastest-growing Human Resources consulting companies in NE Ohio. Before ConnectedHR, Mark began his entrepreneurial career in 2001 by starting Trifecta Business Products, Inc. As its CEO, it grew to two locations and over 40 employees. In 2011 he sold it to...

Our conversation today is with Chris Wentz, Founder & CEO of Everykey.  Chris has long been interested in entrepreneurship having founded an advertising network in middle school that grew into one of the largest video game advertising networks. He then started a consumer electronics resale business in college where he bought products that were only available in the US and sold them to customer...

(Full / Long Edit) Our conversation today is with Dennis Althar, founder of Althar Audio.  Dennis has an incredible story — from mastering electronics at a very young to joining the United States Air Force at Keslers Air Force Base with the highest scores they ever had. After demonstrating his expertise in the field of electronics, he returned from the Philippines and ultimately started a field se...

(Compressed / Short Edit) Our conversation today is with Dennis Althar, founder of Althar Audio.  Dennis has an incredible story — from mastering electronics at a very young to joining the United States Air Force at Keslers Air Force Base with the highest scores they ever had. After demonstrating his expertise in the field of electronics, he returned from the Philippines and ultimately started a f...

Our conversation today is with John Wetzel, Alex Hilleary, and Brooks Sime — Co-Founders of Gather (acquired by ChartHop in March, 2022) — on building a company oriented around a future of work that puts people first and streamlines workflows for People Operations teams. Alex is the former COO of Gather where he led sales and marketing. John is the former CEO of Gather where he led product, design...

Our conversation today is with Camille Heard — CEO & Co-Founder of FELOH — on building a beauty tech startup celebrating diversity in beauty through community and inclusion, the startup journey, building in and up Cleveland, and authentic inclusion in beauty. Camille is a Cleveland native where she currently resides. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and MSPH from the Universi...

Our conversation today is with Patrick M. Howard and Ben Kanelos, of RustBit Studio and creators of the Grip of Madness! Patrick is the CEO and a game developer of RustBit Studio — He is an entrepreneur passionate about building memorable experiences that keep players coming back. Ben is an architect by day and a game designer by night. He comes to the table with a decade of experience designing b...

Our conversation today is with Eugene Malinskiy — Co-Founder and CEO of Lazurite. Lazurite got its start back in 2015 and to date, Eugene has led Lazurite through three rounds of funding raising more than $18 million. As you’ll hear in his incredible recounting of the experience firsthand, Eugene founded Lazurite after identifying the need for a wireless arthroscope while working at his prior vent...

Our conversation today is with Ray Leach and Hardik Desai to discuss JumpStart and its role here in the Cleveland startup ecosystem. Ray is the founding CEO of Jumpstart and has been with the organization since its inception. Hardik is a Sr. Partner at JumpStart focused on their investment strategy has been with the organization since 2012. This conversation comes off the bat of JumpStart announci...

Nolan Gallagher is the founder & CEO of Gravitas Ventures, which he founded in 2006. Under Nolan’s leadership, Gravitas has become a global all rights theatrical distribution company that has released more than 3,000 films on Video on Demand (VOD) and has since been acquired by Anthem Sports & Entertainment in late 2021. Through its relationships with over 200 audience-facing customers, Gr...

Our guest today is Dave Kennedy ( @HackingDave ), a cybersecurity authority whose mission is to drive the industry forward and make the world a more secure place. In addition to founding two large-scale cybersecurity firms — TrustedSec and Binary defense — Dave has testified before Congress on issues of national security and has appeared as a subject matter expert on hundreds of national news and...

Our guest today is Tony Pietrocola — Co-Founder & President of AgileBlue, a lifelong Clevelander extremely passionate about The Land, and now, a three-time Cleveland founder! In the midst of the first internet wave in 2001 and in an effort to make website development easier for those organizations looking to create their online presence, Tony started his first company in Cleveland called Tenth...

Our guest today is John Nottingham — Co-Founder & Co-President of Nottingham Spirk . If you’ve ever used a Swiffer Sweep+Vac, a Crest Spinbrush, a Dirt Devil, a Jacuzzi, a Little Tikes Playhouse, Duck Tape, SmartMouth Mouthwash, an Axe Bullet, a Sherwin-Williams Twist & Pour paint container...you’ve used one of their inventions. Nottingham Spirk is a Cleveland-based product innovation firm...

Our guest today is Rick Simmons — CEO of the telos institute, a firm he co-founded in 2006 which offers specialized expertise to leaders and leadership teams around the world in the areas of business strategy, leadership development, and change management.  In his role, Rick is responsible for shaping the vision and guiding the strategic direction of the firm, while inspiring a growing cohort of w...

Our guest today is Drew Kraemer — CEO of Code3 & Founder of Marketplace Strategy.  Code3 is a digital performance marketing agency that serves some of the largest digital advertisers globally. With over 250 employees and offices based in Cleveland, and other cities around the country, Code3’s mission is to be the best growth partner to brands by running advanced, high-scale data-driven and eff...