Startup Savant

Margaret Wishingrad is the CEO and founder of Three Wishes , a high protein, low sugar, grain-free cereal. After struggling to find a healthy cereal for her son, Margaret decided to create her own. Taking on the cereal industry juggernauts is a daunting task, but having had experience running an advertising agency with her husband, Margaret has used her marketing skills to develop a brand and buil...

#34. Fran Maier   is the CEO and founder of BabyQuip , the "Airbnb of baby rental equipment." Having been a co-founder for Match.com, Fran is no stranger to the startup world. In fact, Fran has been involved in starting numerous enterprises and continues to invest in other startups. Fran encourages founders to differentiate their business from the market and talk with customers in order to establi...

#33: Alex French is the CEO and founder of Bizzy Coffee . Frustrated by the lack of cold brew coffee available in retail stores, Alex got to work developing what would become the #1 best-selling cold brew coffee on Amazon. Alex leveraged his previous experience at General Mills to better understand the beverage market and ultimately scaled his product from an apartment creation to a profitable bus...

#32: Andrew Gershfeld is a partner at Flint Capital , a VC firm that has invested in big-name companies such as Source, WalkMe, and Flo. Andrew began his entrepreneurial journey in management consulting and eventually led his own startup. Andrew emphasizes the importance of listening and growing empathy while working with startup founders. In this episode we dive into:  Andrew’s journey from a sci...

Greg Giniel is the founder of Giniel Financial Group , a real estate startup focused on simplifying the mortgage process.  Greg  joins Annaka and Ethan to talk about his company Giniel Financial Group, a mortgage company that puts people first. Greg explains why it can be difficult to obtain a mortgage if you are a self-employed business owner, and we discuss the importance of establishing your bu...

#30:  John Salzinger and Seungah Jeong join Annaka and Ethan to talk about MPOWERD, a B Corp whose signature product, the solar-powered Luci Light, aims to help create a more sustainable future while providing light to those without access to electricity. John and Seungah share their story building MPOWERD and how to use business as a tool for change. This episode we dive into:  The importance Tra...

#29: Juan Andrade  joins Annaka and Ethan to talk about Rebank, a startup-to-startup software company that provides young businesses with the financial operation systems needed to succeed. Juan discusses the importance of trial-and-error marketing and how his own issues at his previous job led him to conceptualize Rebank. This episode we dive into:  Finding a target audience and understanding the...

#28: Alex Iceman is a serial entrepreneur and, most recently, the founder and CEO of Genium, a tech startup that provides solutions for affordable, quality tech hiring on a global scale. Iceman is also an advisor at Hawaii-based accelerator, Blue Startups, and in his spare time works as a hockey referee for the NHL. In this episode we dive into:  Hiring and vetting developers overseas  Iceman's 'r...

#27 BONUS EPISODE : This week, Annaka and Ethan are joined by Dr. David Vik or 'Doc' to discuss how he helped Zappos find their 'wow factor' and his top advice for startups looking to establish their competitive edge. Doc is a former chiropractor turned startup advisor, investor, and expert known most prominently for his role in the success of Zappos.  In this special episode we dive into:  How Do...

#26: Chadwick Carlson and Marc Gingras join Annaka and Ethan to talk about Nook, a software company working to give users better agency over their scheduling through their calendar tool. Their first product, Nook Calendar, was Product Hunt’s #1 Product of the Day. Chad and Marc walk us through their decision to pivot their business, their philosophy for merging innovation with familiarity, and the...

Luís Valente is the CEO and founder of iLof, a health tech startup using photonic and AI to gather biological data that will be used to improve clinical trials and drug discovery. Luís has an engineering background and prior to iLof he founded a computer hardware manufacturing company. This episode we dive into:  How they are using data to help companies develop treatments for illnesses  such as A...

Joshua Sear is the CEO and founder of Empower , a software platform that targets drivers as their primary customer, taking on the rideshare giants Uber and Lyft. In this episode we dive into:  How Joshua created Empower  What sets this SaaS startup apart from Uber and Lyft  Innovating an established business model and disrupting an industry  Finding unorthodox ways to connect and appeal to your ta...

Andrew Hoag is the CEO and founder of Teampay, a startup working to simplify businesses’ financial processes. Andrew began his career working for the National Science Foundation Internet, and he later went on to work at NASA. Following his time at NASA, Andrew started numerous ventures. Today, he serves as an angel investor for startups and has raised over $21 Million for Teampay. Teampay links: ...

Troy Bannister is the CEO and founder of Particle Health , a startup working to revolutionize data sharing across the healthcare industry. Troy’s experience with patient care began while working as an EMT. He considered pursuing a career in medicine but ultimately went on to work in the healthcare VC space. Troy’s experience within the healthcare industry showed him the difficulties associated wit...

Alisa Pospekhova is the CEO and founder of Kindroot, a supplement company fusing the benefits of herbs into a lozenges that taste like candy. Alisa has a background in global brand marketing, and she used her marketing skills to develop the vision for her company. Alisa always wanted to start her own company, and she developed Kindroot to revamp the lozenges industry, an industry that has seen rel...

James Avery is the founder and CEO of Kevel , which helps users launch their own custom ad platforms. After working as a consultant, James saw an opportunity to build a platform that helps businesses take control over their advertisements. Although it began as a side project, Kevel now works with brands such as Klarna, Ticketmaster, and Yelp. Episode Notes From consulting to building a software fo...

Jules Miller is a partner at Mindset Ventures , an international venture capital firm that invests in early-stage enterprise software companies. Prior to working in venture capital, Jules also founded her own company and worked at a variety of startups. She has an extensive background in blockchain and has been in the venture capital space for quite some time. Full Show Notes Episode Notes  From f...

Reuben Swartz is the founder and CEO of Mimiran, a CRM (customer relationship manager) specifically designed for solo consultants. Reuben worked as a consultant himself and wanted a tool for managing clients. Although these tools were abundant for large enterprises, he could not find a tool that met his needs and was made for a one-man team. So, Reuben built the tool himself and created Mimiran. ...

Devon Copley is the founder and CEO of Avatour, a company working to share real places in real time without the need for travel. While at Nokia, Devon worked on a similar product bringing VR technology to cameras. However, Nokia ended up scrapping the project and making cuts to the team. Devon, having had experience working at a variety of startups, chose to continue pursuing his vision for VR tec...

Rachel Cossar is the CEO and founder of Virtual Sapiens, a SaaS platform that serves as a communication coach helping customers better use nonverbal communication techniques. Rachel previously worked as a professional rhythmic gymnast before becoming a professional dancer. While working as a ballerina, Rachel sustained an injury that forced her to give up dancing and find a new path. She later use...

Courtney Werner is the CMO and founder of KOYA Innovations, which allows users to send gifts and messages to friends and family from anywhere. Growing up, Courtney’s dad owned his own business, so when he said he wanted to start a family business, Courtney, and the rest of the family, could not say no. Courtney has an extensive background in marketing and spent many years working abroad in the non...

Frida Leibowitz and Rachel Lauren are the founders of Debbie, a platform working to help users create a path towards debt freedom. Frida previously worked in credit risk and product development at Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Rachel formerly worked as a VC at BDMI. Both thought there needed to be better systems in place to help educate consumers about their debt and how to pay off debt. Together, alon...

Evan Buist is the founder and CEO of Melodie Music , a copyright-safe music licensing platform and publisher. Evan initially began his career working as an audio engineer. However, he found the music licensing industry to be difficult and confusing and created a platform to help bridge the gap between music artists and the entities that purchase the rights to their music. After some pivots as well...

Greg Rozdeba is the founder and CEO of Dundas Life , an insurance company that is bringing empathy and tech to an industry that has remained relatively stagnant. Greg walks us through the process of going all in and finding ways to scale and fund a growing business. Additionally Greg provides his insights on how to market for a new company, how to build your first batch of clients, and how he used...

Christine de Wendel is the founder and CEO of Sunday, which uses QR-code technology to improve the payment process at restaurants while helping generate more revenue and tips. Within Sunday's first year as a company, they’ve raised $124 Million and currently operate across five different countries. Christine previously had experience scaling various startups and has leveraged that experience to he...