Jina Klapisch

Coach Jina Klapisch who helps Sal Daher keep off 100 pounds is our guest in this episode. Sal and Jina discuss how HMR clients are able to take off and keep off significant weight with no hunger or feeling of deprivation. Check out HMR Weight Loss and Lifestyle Coaching at: https://www.hmrnatick.com/about_us Highlights: ●  Sal Daher Introduces Jina Klapisch ●  What Sets HMR Apart From the Rest ●  How HMR Works ●  "... What you're doing here is helping people discover the things that are easy for them to do repeatedly and make them into habits, and not try to do stuff that's hard, impossible for them..." ●   Decision-Free ●   Sal's Diet Journey at the Age of Thirteen ●   Oprah and HMR ●    "... when you're trying to make a very big change in your life, whether it's quitting smoking or quitting drinking, or with food, you need to take a break from that substance ... so that you can see clearly as you lose this weight and start to really figure out who I am as an eater..." ●  How Your Environment Can Affect Your Weight ●   Outlive by Peter Attia MD ●    "... The first half mile that you walk every single day is the golden half mile. The first mile you walk is the golden mile. That is going to add years to your life..." ●   Advice to the Audience ●   Jina's Background ●    "... 80% of weight loss is keeping it off, the hard part..." ●   Jina's Parting Thoughts

Coach Jina Klapisch who helps Sal Daher keep off 100 pounds is our guest in this episode. Sal and Jina discuss how HMR clients are able to take off and keep off significant weight with no hunger or feeling of deprivation. Check out HMR Weight Loss and Lifestyle Coaching at: <a href="https://www.hmrnatick.com/about_us" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.hmrnatick.com/about_us</a> Highlights: ●  Sal Daher Introduces Jina Klapisch ●  What Sets HMR Apart From the Rest ●  How HMR Works ●  "... What you're doing here is helping people discover the things that are easy for them to do repeatedly and make them into habits, and not try to do stuff that's hard, impossible for them..." ●   Decision-Free ●   Sal's Diet Journey at the Age of Thirteen ●   Oprah and HMR ●    "... when you're trying to make a very big change in your life, whether it's quitting smoking or quitting drinking, or with food, you need to take a break from that substance ... so that you can see clearly as you lose this weight and start to really figure out who I am as an eater..." ●  How Your Environment Can Affect Your Weight ●   Outlive by Peter Attia MD ●    "... The first half mile that you walk every single day is the golden half mile. The first mile you walk is the golden mile. That is going to add years to your life..." ●   Advice to the Audience ●   Jina's Background ●    "... 80% of weight loss is keeping it off, the hard part..." ●   Jina's Parting Thoughts

Jina Klapisch - Sal's Weight Coach

After recording the full episode titled “Tech &amp; Weight Control” I realized I left out some important technologies I use in making the shakes that support my keeping off 100 pounds. So, here’s a mini-episode with that staircase wit, as the French call it. Highlights:  ·      Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker ·      Ninja Bullet &amp; Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus Are Smaller &amp; Cheaper Alternatives ·      Shaker Bottles Are Real Calorie-Savers  ·      Acaia Digital Scale    Topic:              Healthy Aging Guest:             Sal Daher Title:                Staircase Wit: Shake Tech

After recording the full episode titled “Tech &amp; Weight Control” I realized I left out some important technologies I use in making the shakes that support my keeping off 100 pounds. So, here’s a mini-episode with that staircase wit, as the French call it. Highlights: <ul> <li>·      Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker</li> <li>·      Ninja Bullet &amp; Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus Are Smaller &amp; Cheaper Alternatives</li> <li>·      Shaker Bottles Are Real Calorie-Savers</li> <li> ·      Acaia Digital Scale</li> </ul> Topic:              Healthy Aging Guest:             Sal Daher Title:                Staircase Wit: Shake Tech

Staircase Wit: Shake Tech - Left out tech I use for making shakes - here it is

Sal Daher

Technology has long conspired against our health by making us fatter, more sedentary and sleepless. However, we can recruit tech as our ally in building healthy habits. Here is a review of the tech that is helping me keep off 100 pounds.   Highlights:    ·      Tech Can Make Us Less Healthy but It Can Be Good for Us Too ·      Getting Help in Weight Loss Is Really Powerful, You Can’t Do It Alone ·      MyFitnessPal App ·      Noom App ·      Fitbit Charge 4 Tracker + Fitbit App ·      WHOOP Band and App ·      Shoutout to the Great Products from Hoplark ·      Plenity, FDA-Cleared Weight Control Device (Does Not Act Systemically) ·      “I used it [Plenity] as an on-ramp for my HMR diet...” ·      Fitbod ·      Life Fitness Elliptical Cross-Trainer ·      NordicTrack Cross Country Exerciser ·      Tonal ·      Bowflex SelectTech ·      $19.99 Chin-up Bar from Amazon ·      Marathon Sports ·      PowerStep Arch Support ·      The Drive: Podcast with Peter Attia, M.D. ·      Huberman Lab Podcast  ·      HMR: for When You Are Really Serious About Losing Weight  Topic:              Healthy Aging Guest:              Sal Daher Title:                Tech &amp; Weight Control

Technology has long conspired against our health by making us fatter, more sedentary and sleepless. However, we can recruit tech as our ally in building healthy habits. Here is a review of the tech that is helping me keep off 100 pounds. Highlights: <ul> <li>·      Tech Can Make Us Less Healthy but It Can Be Good for Us Too</li> <li>·      Getting Help in Weight Loss Is Really Powerful, You Can’t Do It Alone</li> <li>·      MyFitnessPal App</li> <li>·      Noom App</li> <li>·      Fitbit Charge 4 Tracker + Fitbit App</li> <li>·      WHOOP Band and App</li> <li>·      Shoutout to the Great Products from Hoplark</li> <li>·      Plenity, FDA-Cleared Weight Control Device (Does Not Act Systemically)</li> <li>·      “I used it [Plenity] as an on-ramp for my HMR diet...”</li> <li>·      Fitbod</li> <li>·      Life Fitness Elliptical Cross-Trainer</li> <li>·      NordicTrack Cross Country Exerciser</li> <li>·      Tonal</li> <li>·      Bowflex SelectTech</li> <li>·      $19.99 Chin-up Bar from Amazon</li> <li>·      Marathon Sports</li> <li>·      PowerStep Arch Support</li> <li>·      The Drive: Podcast with Peter Attia, M.D.</li> <li>·      Huberman Lab Podcast</li> <li> ·      HMR: for When You Are Really Serious About Losing Weight</li> </ul> Topic:              Healthy Aging Guest:              Sal Daher Title:                Tech &amp; Weight Control

Tech & Weight Control - Sal Daher reviews the tech that helps him keep off 100 pounds

Angel Scale Biotech:  Learn More   Getting enough sleep is important to Sal Daher’s effort to keep off 100 pounds. This short episode discusses how sleep connects with weight and how to improve sleep in support of weight control.   Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson.   Highlights:  Why We Don’t Sleep Enough Markets &amp; Technological Innovation Are to Blame but the Solutions Need to Come from Individuals and Voluntary Associations, not from Leviathan We Know We Need to Sleep More but the Cards Are Stacked Against It Why Is Sleep So Important to Weight Control? As We Age Our Need for Sleep Does Not Decline but Our Ability to Sleep Does Why I do Early Morning Exercises Outdoors – GoodLux Technologies Huberman Lab Podcast Offers Valuable Tips    Topic: Healthy Aging

Angel Scale Biotech: <a href="https://syndicate.angelinvestboston.com/en-us/the-surge-of-opportunities-in-angel-scale-biotech" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Learn More</a> Getting enough sleep is important to Sal Daher’s effort to keep off 100 pounds. This short episode discusses how sleep connects with weight and how to improve sleep in support of weight control. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: <ul> <li>Why We Don’t Sleep Enough</li> <li>Markets &amp; Technological Innovation Are to Blame but the Solutions Need to Come from Individuals and Voluntary Associations, not from Leviathan</li> <li>We Know We Need to Sleep More but the Cards Are Stacked Against It</li> <li>Why Is Sleep So Important to Weight Control?</li> <li>As We Age Our Need for Sleep Does Not Decline but Our Ability to Sleep Does</li> <li>Why I do Early Morning Exercises Outdoors – GoodLux Technologies</li> <li>Huberman Lab Podcast Offers Valuable Tips</li> </ul> Topic: Healthy Aging

Sal Daher - Sleep and Weight

Angel Scale Biotech:  Learn More   Sal Daher, CFA discusses the role of exercise in his keeping off 100 pounds of body weight with no drugs and no surgery, just good habits for eating, exercising and sleeping. Listen for tips and for encouragement on building your exercise plan.   Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson.   Highlights:  Why Exercise? How Much Exercise Do I need? Don’t Get Overly Ambitious – Start Slowly but Build Steadily Within Safe Limits Do Try to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone – Here’s Why Think You Can’t Exercise? Listen to These Stories Then, Tell Me You Can’t Exercise No Financial Stake in HMR, Just Immense Gratitude for How Much They Have Helped Me It Matters When You Exercise Short Bouts Build Up Do a Variety of Exercises Zone 2 / Zone 5 Training Exercise Has an Unexpected Side Effect for Me I’ve Never Regretted Exercising    Topic: Healthy Aging

Angel Scale Biotech: <a href="https://syndicate.angelinvestboston.com/en-us/the-surge-of-opportunities-in-angel-scale-biotech" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Learn More</a> Sal Daher, CFA discusses the role of exercise in his keeping off 100 pounds of body weight with no drugs and no surgery, just good habits for eating, exercising and sleeping. Listen for tips and for encouragement on building your exercise plan. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: <ul> <li>Why Exercise?</li> <li>How Much Exercise Do I need?</li> <li>Don’t Get Overly Ambitious – Start Slowly but Build Steadily</li> <li>Within Safe Limits Do Try to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone – Here’s Why</li> <li>Think You Can’t Exercise? Listen to These Stories Then, Tell Me You Can’t Exercise</li> <li>No Financial Stake in HMR, Just Immense Gratitude for How Much They Have Helped Me</li> <li>It Matters When You Exercise</li> <li>Short Bouts Build Up</li> <li>Do a Variety of Exercises</li> <li>Zone 2 / Zone 5 Training</li> <li>Exercise Has an Unexpected Side Effect for Me</li> <li>I’ve Never Regretted Exercising</li> </ul> Topic: Healthy Aging

Sal Daher - Exercise and Weight

Nearly two years after starting the effort to take off and keep off 100 pounds, I took a series of trips. Here’s how I coped with the challenges of being on the road and maintaining my weight. Highlights:  ·      Trips to Napa Valley, Hamburg and San Sebastián Took Me Away from my Usual Supports ·      Travelling Heavy to Napa Valley ·      “…there may be people who can travel and not gain weight. But I’m not one of them. Therefore, I have to do unreasonable things to keep off those 100 pounds.” ·      Traveled Ultra-light to Hamburg – Just Carry-on ·      A Thought about the Effects of Alcohol on Sleep  ·      Traveled Medium-heavy to San Sebastián – 23 Days Away Is a Long Time 

Nearly two years after starting the effort to take off and keep off 100 pounds, I took a series of trips. Here’s how I coped with the challenges of being on the road and maintaining my weight. Highlights: <ul> <li>·      Trips to Napa Valley, Hamburg and San Sebastián Took Me Away from my Usual Supports</li> <li>·      Travelling Heavy to Napa Valley</li> <li>·      “…there may be people who can travel and not gain weight. But I’m not one of them. Therefore, I have to do unreasonable things to keep off those 100 pounds.”</li> <li>·      Traveled Ultra-light to Hamburg – Just Carry-on</li> <li>·      A Thought about the Effects of Alcohol on Sleep</li> <li> ·      Traveled Medium-heavy to San Sebastián – 23 Days Away Is a Long Time</li> </ul>

Sal's Travel Diet - How Sal Daher works on keeping off 100 pounds on the road

I’m Sal Daher and I’m keeping off 100 pounds of body weight with no drugs and no surgery. I’m doing it by building and reinforcing healthy habits. I eat a lot but do not put on weight. It was not easy to build the healthy habits I practice but it can be done. Highlights:  ·      Introduction ·      Food Intake Is the Main Driver of Weight Management, Not Exercise ·      Repeatable Changes You Can Live With ·      What I Eat for Lunch Regularly Now ·      My Fat but Fit Delusion ·      Your Longevity Is Up to You, Nature Does Not Care About It ·      I Could Not Change My Habits Alone, Not Even in Singapore ·      I Needed Help to Build and Maintain My New Habits ·      A Cool Mind Trick ·      There’s a Reason They Are Called “Support Groups” ·      Getting Back to Diet – Here’s What I Eat Throughout the Day ·      Breakfast – This One Is for You Ralph Wagner ·      Hydration Is Really Crucial – Always Trying Cool New Drinks ·      Mid-morning Snack – Efficiency Is the Keyword ·      Lunch – See Above – But There’s More ·      Vegetables and Fruits Are My Best Friends ·      Mid-afternoon Snack – My Vitamix Blender Comes in Handy ·      Supper – It’s a Lot of Food So I Try Not to Eat Too Close to Bed Time ·      Evening Snack – The Treat I Look Forward to All Day Long ·      After My Evening Snack, My Probiotic ·      The Biggest Aha! Moment of My Dieting Career  ·      Conclusion 

I’m Sal Daher and I’m keeping off 100 pounds of body weight with no drugs and no surgery. I’m doing it by building and reinforcing healthy habits. I eat a lot but do not put on weight. It was not easy to build the healthy habits I practice but it can be done. Highlights: <ul> <li>·      Introduction</li> <li>·      Food Intake Is the Main Driver of Weight Management, Not Exercise</li> <li>·      Repeatable Changes You Can Live With</li> <li>·      What I Eat for Lunch Regularly Now</li> <li>·      My Fat but Fit Delusion</li> <li>·      Your Longevity Is Up to You, Nature Does Not Care About It</li> <li>·      I Could Not Change My Habits Alone, Not Even in Singapore</li> <li>·      I Needed Help to Build and Maintain My New Habits</li> <li>·      A Cool Mind Trick</li> <li>·      There’s a Reason They Are Called “Support Groups”</li> <li>·      Getting Back to Diet – Here’s What I Eat Throughout the Day</li> <li>·      Breakfast – This One Is for You Ralph Wagner</li> <li>·      Hydration Is Really Crucial – Always Trying Cool New Drinks</li> <li>·      Mid-morning Snack – Efficiency Is the Keyword</li> <li>·      Lunch – See Above – But There’s More</li> <li>·      Vegetables and Fruits Are My Best Friends</li> <li>·      Mid-afternoon Snack – My Vitamix Blender Comes in Handy</li> <li>·      Supper – It’s a Lot of Food So I Try Not to Eat Too Close to Bed Time</li> <li>·      Evening Snack – The Treat I Look Forward to All Day Long</li> <li>·      After My Evening Snack, My Probiotic</li> <li>·      The Biggest Aha! Moment of My Dieting Career</li> <li> ·      Conclusion</li> </ul>

Sal's Diet - Keeping off 100 pounds is mostly about diet. Here's how Sal eats to stay at ideal body weight in his 60s.

Layne Sadler

Angel Scale Biotech:  Learn More   Layne Sadler founded KeyBio to help pharmaceutical companies better identify genetic traits in patients that may explain differing responses to cancer treatments. KeyBio’s computational approach promises to add a new dimension to precision medicine, which now looks at the genetics of the tumor, by also incorporating the genetics of the patient to improve outcomes in clinical trials.   Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson.   Highlights:  Sal Daher Introduces Layne Sadler What KeyBio is Solving "... The revenue is solely focused on cancer drug discovery and the reason for that is because that's where all the money is in the pharmaceutical industry..." "... 90% of clinical trials fail and the cost averages around 792 million, spending about a billion dollars to run a trial..." "... I developed this AI platform and I wanted to start collaborating with other principal investigators or heads of labs in the Boston area..." "... The DNA of tumors, over time, it mutates and it becomes very different from the DNA of the host..." Why Layne Chose Entrepreneurship    Topics: biotech, founding story, discovering entrepreneurship

Angel Scale Biotech: <a href="https://syndicate.angelinvestboston.com/en-us/the-surge-of-opportunities-in-angel-scale-biotech" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Learn More</a> Layne Sadler founded KeyBio to help pharmaceutical companies better identify genetic traits in patients that may explain differing responses to cancer treatments. KeyBio’s computational approach promises to add a new dimension to precision medicine, which now looks at the genetics of the tumor, by also incorporating the genetics of the patient to improve outcomes in clinical trials. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: <ul> <li>Sal Daher Introduces Layne Sadler</li> <li>What KeyBio is Solving</li> <li>"... The revenue is solely focused on cancer drug discovery and the reason for that is because that's where all the money is in the pharmaceutical industry..."</li> <li>"... 90% of clinical trials fail and the cost averages around 792 million, spending about a billion dollars to run a trial..."</li> <li>"... I developed this AI platform and I wanted to start collaborating with other principal investigators or heads of labs in the Boston area..."</li> <li>"... The DNA of tumors, over time, it mutates and it becomes very different from the DNA of the host..."</li> <li>Why Layne Chose Entrepreneurship</li> </ul> Topics: biotech, founding story, discovering entrepreneurship

Layne Sadler - KeyBio

Jason Syversen

Angel Scale Biotech:  Learn More   After a career at DARPA, defending America from cyber threats, Jason Syversen founded Siege Technologies which had a great exit. He now focuses on angel investing and philanthropy. Inspiring chat.   Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship, and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson.   Highlights:  Sal Daher Introduces Jason Syversen What Problem Siege Technologies is Solving "... How do you measure and predict probability of success and collateral damage for a cyberattack? That is actually the technology we end up being acquired for when we sold..." "... I took over 10X Venture Partners, which is an angel group..." SportsVisio and What it is Solving "... That was a really interesting example of you think that this is all figured out even in pro leagues, and yet it really isn't..." Jason's Background "... if you had a choice between being born in a family with trust funds where your parents really don't care about you or being born in a hardscrabble family where the parents do care about you, choose the latter..." "... Human infants need nurturing and then beyond that, and when we're grown, we need a society around us that supports us ... This lack of connection is the biggest problem in America today..." Advice to the Audience    Topics: discovering entrepreneurship, founding story, product

Angel Scale Biotech: <a href="https://syndicate.angelinvestboston.com/en-us/the-surge-of-opportunities-in-angel-scale-biotech" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Learn More</a> After a career at DARPA, defending America from cyber threats, Jason Syversen founded Siege Technologies which had a great exit. He now focuses on angel investing and philanthropy. Inspiring chat. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship, and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: <ul> <li>Sal Daher Introduces Jason Syversen</li> <li>What Problem Siege Technologies is Solving</li> <li>"... How do you measure and predict probability of success and collateral damage for a cyberattack? That is actually the technology we end up being acquired for when we sold..."</li> <li>"... I took over 10X Venture Partners, which is an angel group..."</li> <li>SportsVisio and What it is Solving</li> <li>"... That was a really interesting example of you think that this is all figured out even in pro leagues, and yet it really isn't..."</li> <li>Jason's Background</li> <li>"... if you had a choice between being born in a family with trust funds where your parents really don't care about you or being born in a hardscrabble family where the parents do care about you, choose the latter..."</li> <li>"... Human infants need nurturing and then beyond that, and when we're grown, we need a society around us that supports us ... This lack of connection is the biggest problem in America today..."</li> <li>Advice to the Audience</li> </ul> Topics: discovering entrepreneurship, founding story, product

Jason Syversen - Cyberwarrior

Losing and keeping off 100 pounds is hard. Having done it, Sal wants to convince you that you too can gain control of your weight. No drugs, no surgery, just new habits patiently created and reinforced. Sal’s daughter Grace Daher conducted this frank interview. Highlights:  Here’s the Story of How Sal Daher Lost 100 Pounds with No Drugs and No Surgery –  You Can Do It Too Sal Introduces His Daughter Grace Daher Who Is Asking the Questions When Sal Was First Told He Needed to Lose Weight A Big 13-Year-Old on a 1,300 Calorie Diet – Misery! Early On It Was Evident that Sal Was Triggered by Food but His Brother William Was Not Sal Became More Active in College but Bad Diet Caused Weight Gain Lost Weight During Summer Break in Brazil – Less Eating More Moving Sal Was Fit in College, But Still Overweight – Did Not Realize the Burden He Was Carrying Around Sal Got Down to His Ideal Body Weight in His Mid 30s Out of Concern for His Blood Pressure Lost the Weight on the HMR Program – No Hunger – More Is Better How the Weight Came Back On – Grace Remembers Sal’s Struggles HMR Program Turns Down Chance to Coach Oprah Winfrey Individually Because They Did Not Have Data to Support that Approach Attending Weekly Support Group Is Essential for Success Long Term – Alcoholics Anonymous Example Grace Was Shocked to See Sal’s Weight Loss After the Isolation from COVID Sal Was Proud to Be Fat but Fit – His Doctor’s Warnings Were Not for Fit People Like Him Being Overweight Has a Lot to Do with Genetics – We Have to Fight Our Genes A Painful Health Event Motivated Sal to Take the Weight Off for Good How the HMR Program Works The First Three Weeks Were Hard – Plenity Helped Maintaining Your Weight Loss Means Acquiring a Whole New Set of Habits The Multiple and Marvelous Benefits of Exercise There are No Magic Pills – Except Exercise The Importance of Human Connectedness in Weight Control Sal’s Regrets for Not Having Taken Off the Weight Earlier Sal Is a Big Supporter of Statins “How are you managing to keep off those 100 pounds?” Committed to a Baseline of 10,000 Steps Per Day Highly Structured Eating Cool Facts About Coffee “Why Is getting sleep so important?” “…you need the support of a coach to help you work out those particulars…” 

Losing and keeping off 100 pounds is hard. Having done it, Sal wants to convince you that you too can gain control of your weight. No drugs, no surgery, just new habits patiently created and reinforced. Sal’s daughter Grace Daher conducted this frank interview. Highlights: <ul> <li>Here’s the Story of How Sal Daher Lost 100 Pounds with No Drugs and No Surgery –  You Can Do It Too</li> <li>Sal Introduces His Daughter Grace Daher Who Is Asking the Questions</li> <li>When Sal Was First Told He Needed to Lose Weight</li> <li>A Big 13-Year-Old on a 1,300 Calorie Diet – Misery!</li> <li>Early On It Was Evident that Sal Was Triggered by Food but His Brother William Was Not</li> <li>Sal Became More Active in College but Bad Diet Caused Weight Gain</li> <li>Lost Weight During Summer Break in Brazil – Less Eating More Moving</li> <li>Sal Was Fit in College, But Still Overweight – Did Not Realize the Burden He Was Carrying Around</li> <li>Sal Got Down to His Ideal Body Weight in His Mid 30s Out of Concern for His Blood Pressure</li> <li>Lost the Weight on the HMR Program – No Hunger – More Is Better</li> <li>How the Weight Came Back On – Grace Remembers Sal’s Struggles</li> <li>HMR Program Turns Down Chance to Coach Oprah Winfrey Individually Because They Did Not Have Data to Support that Approach</li> <li>Attending Weekly Support Group Is Essential for Success Long Term – Alcoholics Anonymous Example</li> <li>Grace Was Shocked to See Sal’s Weight Loss After the Isolation from COVID</li> <li>Sal Was Proud to Be Fat but Fit – His Doctor’s Warnings Were Not for Fit People Like Him</li> <li>Being Overweight Has a Lot to Do with Genetics – We Have to Fight Our Genes</li> <li>A Painful Health Event Motivated Sal to Take the Weight Off for Good</li> <li>How the HMR Program Works</li> <li>The First Three Weeks Were Hard – Plenity Helped</li> <li>Maintaining Your Weight Loss Means Acquiring a Whole New Set of Habits</li> <li>The Multiple and Marvelous Benefits of Exercise</li> <li>There are No Magic Pills – Except Exercise</li> <li>The Importance of Human Connectedness in Weight Control</li> <li>Sal’s Regrets for Not Having Taken Off the Weight Earlier</li> <li>Sal Is a Big Supporter of Statins</li> <li>“How are you managing to keep off those 100 pounds?”</li> <li>Committed to a Baseline of 10,000 Steps Per Day</li> <li>Highly Structured Eating</li> <li>Cool Facts About Coffee</li> <li>“Why Is getting sleep so important?”</li> <li>“…you need the support of a coach to help you work out those particulars…”</li> </ul>

Saleh Daher - Losing 100 Pounds - No Drugs, No Surgery

In the Decade of Biotech when there will be myriad opportunities to invest in angel-scale biotech startups. After decades of angel investing, I am focusing on the life science side of my portfolio and invite other angels to do the same. Here's why: https://www.labcoatventures.com/why-we-are-focused-on-early-stage-biotech/I’m Sal Daher, host of the Angel Invest Boston Podcast. After immigrating to Boston as a child and attending Belmont High School, I studied engineering at MIT and Stanford. Decades of work in international finance followed. During that time, I invested in a handful of ventures founded by friends and acquaintances. Now, I’m a member of Walnut Ventures and MIT Angels and spend most of my time as an angel investor. Startups in my portfolio include: SQZ Biotech, Gelesis, Akili Interactive, Vedanta Biosciences, FineTune Learning, Concrete Sensors, Squadle, doDoc, Pixability, Mavrck, Viral Gains, Streamroot, XMOS, Alice's Table and others. Exits include: Exos (Microsoft), Rifiniti (KKR) and PIKA Energy (Generac).

Really enjoy listening to all the Boston founder stories! Sal does a great job!!

Well done podcast on the startups in Boston

A friend surfaced this podcast for me, and I’m really enjoying the Boston-local content!

Great stuff!

In the Decade of Biotech when there will be myriad opportunities to invest in angel-scale biotech startups. After decades of angel investing, I am focusing on the life science side of my portfolio and invite other angels to do the same. Here's why: <a href="https://www.labcoatventures.com/why-we-are-focused-on-early-stage-biotech/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.labcoatventures.com/why-we-are-focused-on-early-stage-biotech/</a> I’m Sal Daher, host of the Angel Invest Boston Podcast. After immigrating to Boston as a child and attending Belmont High School, I studied engineering at MIT and Stanford. Decades of work in international finance followed. During that time, I invested in a handful of ventures founded by friends and acquaintances. Now, I’m a member of Walnut Ventures and MIT Angels and spend most of my time as an angel investor. Startups in my portfolio include: SQZ Biotech, Gelesis, Akili Interactive, Vedanta Biosciences, FineTune Learning, Concrete Sensors, Squadle, doDoc, Pixability, Mavrck, Viral Gains, Streamroot, XMOS, Alice's Table and others. Exits include: Exos (Microsoft), Rifiniti (KKR) and PIKA Energy (Generac).

Angel Invest Boston

Jeff Arnold

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Our Syndicates To super angel Jeff Arnold the way to make money in biotech is to make few but highly researched bets and then back them to the hilt. His remarkable record is hard to argue with. The interview takes us from his student days at MIT through his various startups and investments; a tour de force. His approach has much to teach angels and founders.  Sal opens by talking about how he delights in the promising companies that come from Boston’s unrivalled concentrations of universities. He mentions his investment in Gelesis which recently got FDA approval to market a new weight loss treatment. Sal introduces engineer, founder and super angel Jeff Arnold who studied electrical engineering at MIT and then spent the next seven years building and marketing medical devices at Becton Dickinson. Jeff Arnold describes his experience at Cambridge Heart which he headed through an IPO. The most salient lesson is that technologies that work in the lab do not necessarily translate to the real world. Incentives differ greatly from business to the academy. In business, the goal is to fail fast so that you can find the ultimate solution. In academia, the goal is to discover new things so that reliability of the technology is not such a big issue. To Jeff Arnold, the CEO’s job is to raise the money needed to execute the plan, not to execute the plan that can be afforded by the money available. Jeff gives a vivid example of trying to do without an expensive study and permanently limiting the value of the company’s technology. It was profound and painful experience. Jeff advises to raise as much money as you can when the money is available. Another vivid example is given. Led to Jeff being Entrepreneur of the Year at Goldman Sachs. Entrepreneurs are optimistic and tend to raise just enough to get them to the next round. This leaves no room for miscalculations, which are common with new technologies. Miscalculating the raise could be company-ending. Companies fail because the CEO allowed a bad thing to happen when the company was out of money. Common sense advice: don’t schedule outcomes that can make or break the company during raises. You can get very far with a compelling pitch. Hear the pitch that got Goldman Sachs to take Cambridge Heart public. Being CEO is all about selling; selling to your investors, selling to your hires, selling your vision to your employees and selling to customers. If a founder can’t sell, she/he needs to get a CEO who can. For a CEO, an IPO is merely a funding event. When a CEO sells some of his shares a lot of alarms go off. They have to stay all in. Jeff started angel investing after his last job as a CEO. He hired his replacement and became chairman. That gave him time to be a mentor at MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service (VMS). He discovered that the companies in which he invested and advised did better than the companies in which he was only an investor. He decided to invest only in companies he could advise. He invested in 17 life science companies, advised 15 of them, about half of which had exits, two failed and the rest are doing well. A very impressive record. Jeff’s style of investing resembles that of Elon Musk and Walnut colleague Frank Ferguson. Take few bets but work with them intensively and invest in every round that looks promising. Jeff Arnold looks for companies that are addressing problems big enough for a nice exit to be possible and yet will not take too much money to get off the ground. In deciding whether or not to get involved with a company, Jeff does not place so much emphasis on the team because he helps build the team. He looks for a CEO or founder who is coachable. Jeff looks at all the risks to the success of the startup and expects all to have 90 percent chance o success except one, that might be fifty-fifty. If there are two 50 % risks, that’s too much risk for him. Sal asks for you to leave a review on iTunes. Super angel Jeff Arnold gracefully offers to leave a review himself. Some of Jeff’s favorite startups: JB Therapeutics, now public as Corbus Pharmaceuticals. JB/Corbus was developing a treatment for fibrosis based on a non-psychotropic derivative of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) which is a powerful anti-fibrotic; i.e. prevents the growth of fibrous tissue that shows up in scars after injury. Targeted systemic scleroderma which affects mostly women in middle age and has a 50 percent ten-year mortality. Corbus is now valued at half a billion dollars. Jeff thinks it’s undervalued because he thinks it’s going to get FDA approval for its systemic scleroderma therapy. What made Corbus a great investment was that the drug was already in use in humans so it was not so expensive to re-purpose it to this orphan disease. Xeno Biosciences founded by Hasan Celiker, Ph.D. aims to achieve the weight loss of Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass surgery by introducing oxygen into the small intestine via specially designed capsules that the patient ingests thus altering the biome of the gut. The significant benefits in terms of weight loss and control of Type 2 diabetes caused by gastric bypass surgery is not replicated by any other treatment. It was originally believed that bypass surgery worked by reducing the absorption of food due to a reduction of the size of the digestive tract. There is now growing evidence that bypass surgery works by altering the biome in the intestine to include aerobic bacteria made possible by the presence of air that bypass surgery lets in. Xeno Biosciences seeks to make a similar change to the micro-biome by introducing oxygen via a pill, thus avoiding the need for surgery. It is believed that oxygen in the gut changes brain signaling to produce weight loss. Xeno is going to start patient trials in Australia soon. The recurring mistake Jeff sees in startups is over confidence by CEOs and founders. Bob Langer companies succeed in part because they attract a lot of money and a lot of smart people. This allows them to succeed when things don’t go well. They have money in the bank which allows them to pivot. I saw this in the case of SQZ Biotech. Life science companies usually have nothing to sell but shares in the first few years. This leads to a conflict with the boards desire for transparency. Too much truth can dry up funding. Jeff sees value in a strong advisor who is not on the board and can support the CEO. Jeff’s value to companies is in helping them avoid company-ending mistakes. Never apply to angel groups via the website, go to LinkedIn and look for someone you know to introduce you. Then apply. You are ready to pitch to angel group when you can provide validation that most of the risks to your startup are low. There are a lot of competitors from well-funded labs who have a lot of data to backup their likelihood of success. There should be at most one area in which the angels have to do due diligence; beyond that is too much friction and your raise will go nowhere. Jeff was inspired to build a product from watching the heart monitor at his mother’s bedside in the hospital and wondering if the data could be captured digitally. This led to eventually creating such a device at Becton Dickinson. In summation, Jeff advises company founders to be honest and straightforward with their boards and investors. He provides a cogent example. Being willing to help people pays off eventually, and in surprising ways. That’s the approach of Keith Ferrazzi of “Never Eat Alone” fame. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our Syndicates</a> To super angel Jeff Arnold the way to make money in biotech is to make few but highly researched bets and then back them to the hilt. His remarkable record is hard to argue with. The interview takes us from his student days at MIT through his various startups and investments; a tour de force. His approach has much to teach angels and founders. <ul> <li>Sal opens by talking about how he delights in the promising companies that come from Boston’s unrivalled concentrations of universities. He mentions his investment in Gelesis which recently got FDA approval to market a new weight loss treatment.</li> <li>Sal introduces engineer, founder and super angel Jeff Arnold who studied electrical engineering at MIT and then spent the next seven years building and marketing medical devices at Becton Dickinson.</li> <li>Jeff Arnold describes his experience at Cambridge Heart which he headed through an IPO.</li> <li>The most salient lesson is that technologies that work in the lab do not necessarily translate to the real world.</li> <li>Incentives differ greatly from business to the academy. In business, the goal is to fail fast so that you can find the ultimate solution. In academia, the goal is to discover new things so that reliability of the technology is not such a big issue.</li> <li>To Jeff Arnold, the CEO’s job is to raise the money needed to execute the plan, not to execute the plan that can be afforded by the money available.</li> <li>Jeff gives a vivid example of trying to do without an expensive study and permanently limiting the value of the company’s technology. It was profound and painful experience.</li> <li>Jeff advises to raise as much money as you can when the money is available.</li> <li>Another vivid example is given. Led to Jeff being Entrepreneur of the Year at Goldman Sachs.</li> <li>Entrepreneurs are optimistic and tend to raise just enough to get them to the next round. This leaves no room for miscalculations, which are common with new technologies. Miscalculating the raise could be company-ending.</li> <li>Companies fail because the CEO allowed a bad thing to happen when the company was out of money.</li> <li>Common sense advice: don’t schedule outcomes that can make or break the company during raises.</li> <li>You can get very far with a compelling pitch. Hear the pitch that got Goldman Sachs to take Cambridge Heart public.</li> <li>Being CEO is all about selling; selling to your investors, selling to your hires, selling your vision to your employees and selling to customers. If a founder can’t sell, she/he needs to get a CEO who can.</li> <li>For a CEO, an IPO is merely a funding event. When a CEO sells some of his shares a lot of alarms go off. They have to stay all in.</li> <li>Jeff started angel investing after his last job as a CEO. He hired his replacement and became chairman. That gave him time to be a mentor at MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service (VMS).</li> <li>He discovered that the companies in which he invested and advised did better than the companies in which he was only an investor. He decided to invest only in companies he could advise.</li> <li>He invested in 17 life science companies, advised 15 of them, about half of which had exits, two failed and the rest are doing well. A very impressive record.</li> <li>Jeff’s style of investing resembles that of Elon Musk and Walnut colleague Frank Ferguson. Take few bets but work with them intensively and invest in every round that looks promising.</li> <li>Jeff Arnold looks for companies that are addressing problems big enough for a nice exit to be possible and yet will not take too much money to get off the ground.</li> <li>In deciding whether or not to get involved with a company, Jeff does not place so much emphasis on the team because he helps build the team. He looks for a CEO or founder who is coachable.</li> <li>Jeff looks at all the risks to the success of the startup and expects all to have 90 percent chance o success except one, that might be fifty-fifty. If there are two 50 % risks, that’s too much risk for him.</li> <li>Sal asks for you to leave a review on iTunes. Super angel Jeff Arnold gracefully offers to leave a review himself.</li> <li>Some of Jeff’s favorite startups: JB Therapeutics, now public as Corbus Pharmaceuticals. JB/Corbus was developing a treatment for fibrosis based on a non-psychotropic derivative of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) which is a powerful anti-fibrotic; i.e. prevents the growth of fibrous tissue that shows up in scars after injury. Targeted systemic scleroderma which affects mostly women in middle age and has a 50 percent ten-year mortality.</li> <li>Corbus is now valued at half a billion dollars. Jeff thinks it’s undervalued because he thinks it’s going to get FDA approval for its systemic scleroderma therapy.</li> <li>What made Corbus a great investment was that the drug was already in use in humans so it was not so expensive to re-purpose it to this orphan disease.</li> <li>Xeno Biosciences founded by Hasan Celiker, Ph.D. aims to achieve the weight loss of Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass surgery by introducing oxygen into the small intestine via specially designed capsules that the patient ingests thus altering the biome of the gut.</li> <li>The significant benefits in terms of weight loss and control of Type 2 diabetes caused by gastric bypass surgery is not replicated by any other treatment. It was originally believed that bypass surgery worked by reducing the absorption of food due to a reduction of the size of the digestive tract. There is now growing evidence that bypass surgery works by altering the biome in the intestine to include aerobic bacteria made possible by the presence of air that bypass surgery lets in. Xeno Biosciences seeks to make a similar change to the micro-biome by introducing oxygen via a pill, thus avoiding the need for surgery.</li> <li>It is believed that oxygen in the gut changes brain signaling to produce weight loss. Xeno is going to start patient trials in Australia soon.</li> <li>The recurring mistake Jeff sees in startups is over confidence by CEOs and founders.</li> <li>Bob Langer companies succeed in part because they attract a lot of money and a lot of smart people. This allows them to succeed when things don’t go well. They have money in the bank which allows them to pivot. I saw this in the case of SQZ Biotech.</li> <li>Life science companies usually have nothing to sell but shares in the first few years. This leads to a conflict with the boards desire for transparency. Too much truth can dry up funding. Jeff sees value in a strong advisor who is not on the board and can support the CEO.</li> <li>Jeff’s value to companies is in helping them avoid company-ending mistakes.</li> <li>Never apply to angel groups via the website, go to LinkedIn and look for someone you know to introduce you. Then apply.</li> <li>You are ready to pitch to angel group when you can provide validation that most of the risks to your startup are low. There are a lot of competitors from well-funded labs who have a lot of data to backup their likelihood of success.</li> <li>There should be at most one area in which the angels have to do due diligence; beyond that is too much friction and your raise will go nowhere.</li> <li>Jeff was inspired to build a product from watching the heart monitor at his mother’s bedside in the hospital and wondering if the data could be captured digitally. This led to eventually creating such a device at Becton Dickinson.</li> <li>In summation, Jeff advises company founders to be honest and straightforward with their boards and investors. He provides a cogent example.</li> <li>Being willing to help people pays off eventually, and in surprising ways. That’s the approach of Keith Ferrazzi of “Never Eat Alone” fame.</li> </ul>

Jeff Arnold, Super Angel & Founder - "How to Make Money in Biotech"

Jason Calacanis

Learn About Sal's Syndicates: Link to Sal's Syndicate Page Silicon Valley's angel-investing phenomenon Jason Calacanis is our guest. Hear how he turned $700K into a portfolio worth $100 million. We had an inspiring conversation about building companies and investing in them. Highlights include:  Sal Daher Introduces Jason Calacanis as his Guest on Angel Invest Boston How Jason Built the Stellar Team that Makes His Success Possible Sequoia Capital Picked Jason Calacanis to Scout for Promising Ventures How Jason Calacanis Turned $700,000 into $100 million Jason Calacanis Once Thought Angel Investing Was Stupid The Odds of Success for Founders and for Angels “…we live in a time when people believe in balance, and they believe in getting Olympic-caliber rewards…but they only want to commit to putting in 40 hours a week.” Jason Calacanis Investment Syndicates versus Funds VC Returns Have Note Been Spectacular “If you want to be active, you can do syndicates…” “My personal goal is to train 10,000 people to be active investors in thesyndicate.com. We've got 3,300 members.” Why Jason Leads Syndicates Despite Having Raised Several Funds Syndicate Members Act as Scouts, Bringing in Interesting Companies Jason Would Not See Otherwise Syndicate Members Can Be a Resource to Founders As His Syndicates Develop, Jason Calacanis Hopes to Match Investor Background to the Needs of Companies “For me, media is my leverage…” Jason Calacanis Success Brings More Success How “This Week in Startups” Podcast Came About The Responsibility That Comes with Success “And I watch my contemporaries, and I hold many of them in contempt for the cavalier nature of which they go through their work. They must take the work seriously.” Jason Calacanis Jason Calacanis’ Launch Accelerator – Sam Bogoch of Axle.ai Found It Very Useful Jason Calacanis Recommends “Skin in the Game” by Nicholas Nassim Taleb “Angel” by Jason Calacanis, a Manual on How to Be an Angel Investor How Y-Combinator Plays the Odds Jason Is Building His Organization So He Can Start Delegating Investment Decisions Delighting Your Clients Is Essential, But It’s Not Enough: Luxe Valet The Unit Economics Has to Work for a Company to Make Delighting Its Customers into a Business “I think we could have at least 10 times the number of people participating in angel investing than we do here in the United States”. Jason Calacanis “Start small and start slow. Yes. And you know, it's just like learning how to play poker or blackjack”. Jason Calacanis on Angel Investing Jason’s Advice for Angels &amp; Founders Distinctions Between a Life Style Business and a Venture Business 

Learn About Sal's Syndicates: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Link to Sal's Syndicate Page</a> Silicon Valley's angel-investing phenomenon Jason Calacanis is our guest. Hear how he turned $700K into a portfolio worth $100 million. We had an inspiring conversation about building companies and investing in them. Highlights include: <ul> <li>Sal Daher Introduces Jason Calacanis as his Guest on Angel Invest Boston</li> <li>How Jason Built the Stellar Team that Makes His Success Possible</li> <li>Sequoia Capital Picked Jason Calacanis to Scout for Promising Ventures</li> <li>How Jason Calacanis Turned $700,000 into $100 million</li> <li>Jason Calacanis Once Thought Angel Investing Was Stupid</li> <li>The Odds of Success for Founders and for Angels</li> <li>“…we live in a time when people believe in balance, and they believe in getting Olympic-caliber rewards…but they only want to commit to putting in 40 hours a week.” Jason Calacanis</li> <li>Investment Syndicates versus Funds</li> <li>VC Returns Have Note Been Spectacular</li> <li>“If you want to be active, you can do syndicates…”</li> <li>“My personal goal is to train 10,000 people to be active investors in <a href="http://thesyndicate.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">thesyndicate.com</a>. We've got 3,300 members.”</li> <li>Why Jason Leads Syndicates Despite Having Raised Several Funds</li> <li>Syndicate Members Act as Scouts, Bringing in Interesting Companies Jason Would Not See Otherwise</li> <li>Syndicate Members Can Be a Resource to Founders</li> <li>As His Syndicates Develop, Jason Calacanis Hopes to Match Investor Background to the Needs of Companies</li> <li>“For me, media is my leverage…” Jason Calacanis</li> <li>Success Brings More Success</li> <li>How “This Week in Startups” Podcast Came About</li> <li>The Responsibility That Comes with Success</li> <li>“And I watch my contemporaries, and I hold many of them in contempt for the cavalier nature of which they go through their work. They must take the work seriously.” Jason Calacanis</li> <li>Jason Calacanis’ Launch Accelerator – Sam Bogoch of <a href="http://Axle.ai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Axle.ai</a> Found It Very Useful</li> <li>Jason Calacanis Recommends “Skin in the Game” by Nicholas Nassim Taleb</li> <li>“Angel” by Jason Calacanis, a Manual on How to Be an Angel Investor</li> <li>How Y-Combinator Plays the Odds</li> <li>Jason Is Building His Organization So He Can Start Delegating Investment Decisions</li> <li>Delighting Your Clients Is Essential, But It’s Not Enough: Luxe Valet</li> <li>The Unit Economics Has to Work for a Company to Make Delighting Its Customers into a Business</li> <li>“I think we could have at least 10 times the number of people participating in angel investing than we do here in the United States”. Jason Calacanis</li> <li>“Start small and start slow. Yes. And you know, it's just like learning how to play poker or blackjack”. Jason Calacanis on Angel Investing</li> <li>Jason’s Advice for Angels &amp; Founders</li> <li>Distinctions Between a Life Style Business and a Venture Business</li> </ul>

Jason Calacanis, Super Angel & Podcast Host

Justin Real

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels in Our Syndicates: Learn About Sal's Syndicates Making the capture of high school sports video easy and affordable is the mission of Realplay. Founder Justin Real explains the business and his motivations to get into it. Fun and insightful conversation with an energetic and focused founder. Highlights include:  Shoutout to Podcast Listener and Walnut Member Erik Bullen for Suggesting Justin Real as a Guest Justin Real Bio What Realplay Does “Getting the video up until now was incredibly labor intensive and cost prohibitive… It limited … entry into the world of sports … the ability to use it to gain advantages and opportunities and education and professionally”. The Realplay Founding Story “… the problem with the business is not so much that the demand wasn't there or that the market wasn't vibrant, the volume was too high”. Realplay’s AI Identifies Players, Understands Their Actions and Edits to Put Relevant Content Together: “Every Player, Every Play” The Competition to Realplay’s Business Realplay and WePlayed: Compare &amp; Contrast The Realplay Team Is Growing Thoughts About Athletic Founders Such as Bryanne Leeming, Adam Martel and Justin Real Justin Real’s Analogy of Startups as Baseball:” you fail 7 out of 10 times, you're going to go to the Hall of Fame”. Investors Undervalue the Social and Economic Impact of Sports Coaching Has Gotten Much More Effective: “…you're seeing 12, 13-year-olds looking like Olympians…” Unlike in the Past, Athletes Now Have to Be in their Training Regimen Year-Round: Tom Brady This Dedication and Focus Has Changed Sports, Massively Raising Performance Standards Sal Daher Talks About Portfolio Company Vedanta Biosciences – Pitch for His Investment Syndicates Justin Real on How Realplay Is Being Received by Coaches and Players “And the bestselling point that we have to those parents are when we see them, we tell them put their phone in their pocket. You're there to watch the game and you're there to watch your kid play”. Realplay’s Go to Market Approach 2020 Forecasts How Justin’s Family Life Shaped His Entrepreneurship Justin Real’s Parting Advice “I listened to your podcast way at the early days of Realplay and it inspired me to keep going and reach out to guys like Christopher in Launchpad You give us a path”. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels in Our Syndicates: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Learn About Sal's Syndicates</a> Making the capture of high school sports video easy and affordable is the mission of Realplay. Founder Justin Real explains the business and his motivations to get into it. Fun and insightful conversation with an energetic and focused founder. Highlights include: <ul> <li>Shoutout to Podcast Listener and Walnut Member Erik Bullen for Suggesting Justin Real as a Guest</li> <li>Justin Real Bio</li> <li>What Realplay Does</li> <li>“Getting the video up until now was incredibly labor intensive and cost prohibitive… It limited … entry into the world of sports … the ability to use it to gain advantages and opportunities and education and professionally”.</li> <li>The Realplay Founding Story</li> <li>“… the problem with the business is not so much that the demand wasn't there or that the market wasn't vibrant, the volume was too high”.</li> <li>Realplay’s AI Identifies Players, Understands Their Actions and Edits to Put Relevant Content Together: “Every Player, Every Play”</li> <li>The Competition to Realplay’s Business</li> <li>Realplay and WePlayed: Compare &amp; Contrast</li> <li>The Realplay Team Is Growing</li> <li>Thoughts About Athletic Founders Such as Bryanne Leeming, Adam Martel and Justin Real</li> <li>Justin Real’s Analogy of Startups as Baseball:” you fail 7 out of 10 times, you're going to go to the Hall of Fame”.</li> <li>Investors Undervalue the Social and Economic Impact of Sports</li> <li>Coaching Has Gotten Much More Effective: “…you're seeing 12, 13-year-olds looking like Olympians…”</li> <li>Unlike in the Past, Athletes Now Have to Be in their Training Regimen Year-Round: Tom Brady</li> <li>This Dedication and Focus Has Changed Sports, Massively Raising Performance Standards</li> <li>Sal Daher Talks About Portfolio Company Vedanta Biosciences – Pitch for His Investment Syndicates</li> <li>Justin Real on How Realplay Is Being Received by Coaches and Players</li> <li>“And the bestselling point that we have to those parents are when we see them, we tell them put their phone in their pocket. You're there to watch the game and you're there to watch your kid play”.</li> <li>Realplay’s Go to Market Approach</li> <li>2020 Forecasts</li> <li>How Justin’s Family Life Shaped His Entrepreneurship</li> <li>Justin Real’s Parting Advice</li> <li>“I listened to your podcast way at the early days of Realplay and it inspired me to keep going and reach out to guys like Christopher in Launchpad You give us a path”.</li> </ul>

Justin Real, Founder and CEO, Realplay: Sports Video Reinvented

Marlene Boyaner

Doug Bates

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Link to Our Investment Syndicates Two of Boston’s most active angels, Marlene Boyaner of Golden Seeds and Doug Bates of Walnut Venture, talk to Sal Daher about angel investing, fundraising, building a startup and various other topics. The panel takes challenging questions from an audience of startup founders. Highlights include:  Marlene Boyaner bio. Doug Bates bio How Marlene went from intrapreneuring at CIBC &amp; Capital One to angel investing. Golden Seeds is on the organized end of the spectrum among angel groups; Marlene likes the way it operates. Entrepreneurship was a natural for Doug Bates due to several examples of in his family. Founded a successful business with the woman to whom he was married at the time. Put his wife’s idea through a thorough MBA-type scrutiny and became convinced it would work. Golden Seeds seeks to ensure that women get their share of startup funding and invest in businesses where they can see the possibility of an exit. They are generalists, no industry focus. When Golden Seeds started women got only 3% of startup funding, now women get 27% of such funding. Women now start 50% of all businesses so it seems that Golden Seeds has room to grow. Startup Parade: Fortified Bike from which was spun off Save My Sales. Doug admires founder Tivan Amour who has been interviewed on the Angel Invest Podcast (Link to Tivan Amour's Podcast). Sal is also an investor. Fortified Bike was a theft-proof bike business which proved to be a hard ride. While trying to get the bike business up the hill, Tivan built a highly effective texting tool that drove sales very powerfully. That’s the business that became Save My Sales. Tivan demonstrated integrity in the way he migrated to Save My Sales by giving investors in Fortified Bike stakes in the new company. Startup Parade: Clean Fiber has a prosaic business but an extremely sound one. The team is impressively high-performing in building out a new production process for producing insulation with recycled materials. Doug likes the boring but lucrative niche they occupy. Startup Parade: Marlene Boyaner brought up Day Zero which has technology to determine at the outset of treatment what is the best antibiotic to use on an infection. Currently, patients with severe infections are started on broad spectrum antibiotics until the result of cultures allows the determination of the ideal treatment. Startup Parade: Marlene Boyaner also mentioned Acivilate helps people involved with the justice system get better results in terms of lower recidivism. Although this is not an industry Marlene would have anticipated investing in, the ability of the team was so compelling that Golden Seeds has backed Acivilate. Startup Parade: Sal GainLife which has been building software to help disability insurers get better outcomes with workers who are out of work due to an injury. Founder Sean Eldridge and his team have gotten impressive traction with insurers. Here is Sean’s interview on this podcast, an episode called “Transforming Lives”: Interview with Sean Eldridge Startup Parade: Meenta founded by Gabor Bethlendy and Stephan Smith is building Stripe for science, a workflow platform to make the notoriously inefficient process of scientific experimentation more efficient. Gabor was also on the podcast, here’s the interview with him: Interview with Gabor Bethlendy of Meenta Doug Bates believes that angel investing requires a high level of understanding of the industry in which the startup is being built. Powerball vs. Moneyball; Doug is a moneyball investor, i.e. he likes to take small, highly-analyzed bets that are likely to pay off consistently. Marlene talked about Golden Seeds’ focus on portfolio companies having defensible businesses, i.e. businesses that cannot be easily copied by competitors. Golden Seeds also needs validation from pilot programs or repeat sales. Golden Seeds looks for teams that are coachable and resilient. They liked big markets. Each big Golden Seeds chapter sees three pitches per month. Office Hours is a great way to connect with Golden Seeds if you don’t have connections. Sal asks for your review on iTunes to help the Angel Invest Boston podcast found by listeners. Doug and Marlene tell us the best ways founders can connect with angel investors. Sal on the proper way to use LinkedIn to connect with angel investors. Hint: it does not involve sending mass emails to people you don’t know. Resources for founders raising money; start with The Capital Network, a non-profit dedicated to supporting founders. Marlene says keep pitch decks crisp and to the point. Less is more. Doug says pitch decks should address greed or fear. Don’t go into the weeds. Marlene adds that they have to explain how the product works in layman’s terms. Sal recalls Joe Caruso urging founders to make sure angels listening to their pitches understand what the company does. Here’s Sal’s interview with Joes Caruso, the CEO Whisperer: Interview with Super Angel Joe Caruso Doug: the most important subtext of due diligence is that it’s all about evaluating the founding team. Doug: the golden mean between dogmatism and lack of conviction. Founders should understand that Golden Seeds has a process; no on-the-spot answers. Doug urges frequent communications with investors. Monthly is good. Sal urges founders to occupy investor mindshare with monthly reports.  Audience Questions:  Jake Kayser of YourAgora asks questions about how angels invest directly or through entities. Paul Livingston, Ph.D. of EdTech Advisory Group ask questions about how investors view educational tech companies. Caleb, a senior at Babson, had a question about how to engage angels. Davin, a Babson student asks for advice on having an entrepreneurial career. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Link to Our Investment Syndicates</a> Two of Boston’s most active angels, Marlene Boyaner of Golden Seeds and Doug Bates of Walnut Venture, talk to Sal Daher about angel investing, fundraising, building a startup and various other topics. The panel takes challenging questions from an audience of startup founders. Highlights include: <ul> <li>Marlene Boyaner bio.</li> <li>Doug Bates bio</li> <li>How Marlene went from intrapreneuring at CIBC &amp; Capital One to angel investing.</li> <li>Golden Seeds is on the organized end of the spectrum among angel groups; Marlene likes the way it operates.</li> <li>Entrepreneurship was a natural for Doug Bates due to several examples of in his family.</li> <li>Founded a successful business with the woman to whom he was married at the time.</li> <li>Put his wife’s idea through a thorough MBA-type scrutiny and became convinced it would work.</li> <li>Golden Seeds seeks to ensure that women get their share of startup funding and invest in businesses where they can see the possibility of an exit. They are generalists, no industry focus.</li> <li>When Golden Seeds started women got only 3% of startup funding, now women get 27% of such funding. Women now start 50% of all businesses so it seems that Golden Seeds has room to grow.</li> <li>Startup Parade: Fortified Bike from which was spun off Save My Sales. Doug admires founder Tivan Amour who has been interviewed on the Angel Invest Podcast (<a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/ep-17" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Link to Tivan Amour's Podcast</a>). Sal is also an investor.</li> <li>Fortified Bike was a theft-proof bike business which proved to be a hard ride. While trying to get the bike business up the hill, Tivan built a highly effective texting tool that drove sales very powerfully. That’s the business that became Save My Sales.</li> <li>Tivan demonstrated integrity in the way he migrated to Save My Sales by giving investors in Fortified Bike stakes in the new company.</li> <li>Startup Parade: Clean Fiber has a prosaic business but an extremely sound one. The team is impressively high-performing in building out a new production process for producing insulation with recycled materials. Doug likes the boring but lucrative niche they occupy.</li> <li>Startup Parade: Marlene Boyaner brought up Day Zero which has technology to determine at the outset of treatment what is the best antibiotic to use on an infection. Currently, patients with severe infections are started on broad spectrum antibiotics until the result of cultures allows the determination of the ideal treatment.</li> <li>Startup Parade: Marlene Boyaner also mentioned Acivilate helps people involved with the justice system get better results in terms of lower recidivism. Although this is not an industry Marlene would have anticipated investing in, the ability of the team was so compelling that Golden Seeds has backed Acivilate.</li> <li>Startup Parade: Sal GainLife which has been building software to help disability insurers get better outcomes with workers who are out of work due to an injury. Founder Sean Eldridge and his team have gotten impressive traction with insurers. Here is Sean’s interview on this podcast, an episode called “Transforming Lives”: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/ep-51" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Interview with Sean Eldridge</a></li> <li>Startup Parade: Meenta founded by Gabor Bethlendy and Stephan Smith is building Stripe for science, a workflow platform to make the notoriously inefficient process of scientific experimentation more efficient. Gabor was also on the podcast, here’s the interview with him: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/ep-65/gabor-bethlendy-meenta" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Interview with Gabor Bethlendy of Meenta</a></li> <li>Doug Bates believes that angel investing requires a high level of understanding of the industry in which the startup is being built.</li> <li>Powerball vs. Moneyball; Doug is a moneyball investor, i.e. he likes to take small, highly-analyzed bets that are likely to pay off consistently.</li> <li>Marlene talked about Golden Seeds’ focus on portfolio companies having defensible businesses, i.e. businesses that cannot be easily copied by competitors. Golden Seeds also needs validation from pilot programs or repeat sales.</li> <li>Golden Seeds looks for teams that are coachable and resilient. They liked big markets.</li> <li>Each big Golden Seeds chapter sees three pitches per month.</li> <li>Office Hours is a great way to connect with Golden Seeds if you don’t have connections.</li> <li>Sal asks for your review on iTunes to help the Angel Invest Boston podcast found by listeners.</li> <li>Doug and Marlene tell us the best ways founders can connect with angel investors.</li> <li>Sal on the proper way to use LinkedIn to connect with angel investors. Hint: it does not involve sending mass emails to people you don’t know.</li> <li>Resources for founders raising money; start with The Capital Network, a non-profit dedicated to supporting founders.</li> <li>Marlene says keep pitch decks crisp and to the point. Less is more.</li> <li>Doug says pitch decks should address greed or fear. Don’t go into the weeds.</li> <li>Marlene adds that they have to explain how the product works in layman’s terms.</li> <li>Sal recalls Joe Caruso urging founders to make sure angels listening to their pitches understand what the company does. Here’s Sal’s interview with Joes Caruso, the CEO Whisperer: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/ep-49" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Interview with Super Angel Joe Caruso</a></li> <li>Doug: the most important subtext of due diligence is that it’s all about evaluating the founding team.</li> <li>Doug: the golden mean between dogmatism and lack of conviction.</li> <li>Founders should understand that Golden Seeds has a process; no on-the-spot answers.</li> <li>Doug urges frequent communications with investors. Monthly is good.</li> <li>Sal urges founders to occupy investor mindshare with monthly reports.</li> </ul> Audience Questions: <ul> <li>Jake Kayser of YourAgora asks questions about how angels invest directly or through entities.</li> <li>Paul Livingston, Ph.D. of EdTech Advisory Group ask questions about how investors view educational tech companies.</li> <li>Caleb, a senior at Babson, had a question about how to engage angels.</li> <li>Davin, a Babson student asks for advice on having an entrepreneurial career.</li> </ul>

Marlene Boyaner & Doug Bates in Ask an Angel 3

Jeff Behrens

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Our Investment Syndicates How to fund scrappy biotech startups is foremost on Jeff Behrens’ mind. He was CEO if a startup that raised $20 million in funding but not one cent from VCs. An invaluable interview for anyone thinking of starting or investing in a life science company. Highlights include:  Jeff Behrens Studied Philosophy at Harvard but Stumbled Upon Entrepreneurship: Renaissance Man for the 21st Century MIT/Harvard Medical School Collaboration, HST, is Discussed Siamab Therapeutics Siamab Pursues Therapies Based on the Work of Ajit Varki on the Weird Sugars on the Surface of Cancer Cells Siamab Did Not Go the VC Route, I Took a Scrappier Approach to Funding from Other Sources Ovarian or Pancreatic Cancers Are Tough to Fight; Siamab Targeted them Based on the Unique Sugars on the Outside of the Cancer Cells Creating Lethal Molecules that Attack only the Cancer Cells Standard Chemotherapy Is a Carpet-Bombing Approach, Doing Harm to Healthy Cells Jeff Behrens Has Started and Run Companies but He has an Unusually Thoughtful Approach to the Work VC Are Making Large Bets on “Big-Idea” Companies, Leaving More Targeted Startups Struggling for Funding More Targeted Approaches May Be Promising but How Do They Get Funding? The Early-Validation Trap “So, I think there's an opportunity, there's some funding available, but I think there's a real need for more attention and more creativity around sort of those next stages of how we take those ideas forward”. Sal Updates Us on Portfolio Company SQZ Biotech How Jeff Behrens Went from Philosophy Major to Entrepreneur “…my roommate said at the time, "You're really a business person. Why don't you just make this your thing."” Built Telluride Group to 35 Employees &amp; It Got Acquired by a Fidelity-Backed Group “And we had enough money from that exit to be able to support that so I started thinking what would I be interested in learning about the life sciences…” “…but in biology, it struck me, we just don't know what we're doing. It's just it's hard”. “…who makes more money, drugs, devices, healthcare IT or other healthcare investments?” Unusual PhD Program for Business People at Lausanne’s EPFL “…how often do angel-funded companies go on to raise venture capital?... in tech companies that’s true only 8% of the time…” “…only about 4 to 5% of biotech firms start in angel land and then transition on to venture land.” Venture Capitalist in Life Sciences: “…have evolved their model dramatically from 10, 15 years ago. So, they're doing much larger rounds. They are syndicating a lot less. They're taking more of the early equity, and most importantly they're creating companies.” “...companies that are born out of this model start... They are born with $50 million…” Crucial Question for Biotech Entrepreneurs: “…how you get to that pharma exit without needing the venture money?” Capital Efficiency Is Growing in Biotech How LabShares Newton Came About Tenancy in Shared Labs Has Low Turnover Since It’s Not Easy to Get Your Lab Up and Running A Discussion of Meenta as Part of the Trend Towards More Capital Efficiency in the Life Sciences Jeff Behrens Urges Entrepreneurial Postdocs to Spend Time in Large Companies to Learn How they Work, Before Venturing Out on Their Own “One of the few ways you can get to know pharma is working at pharma for a while.” Savran Technologies as an Example of a Scrappy Life Science Startup “…memo to founders. When you're offered money, take it. You will need more than you expect.” Different Paths of Lives Well Lived – The Life of Joe Tosti Getting into Business Alongside Your Spouse “It's not easy working with your spouse…And you're never far away from the company and all those things.” Having His Wife as His Co-Founder Was Key to the Success of Jeff Behrens’ First Company “I think there is this unsolved problem of funding, not the first steps of an entrepreneurial scrappy biotech, but sort of the next steps.” 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our Investment Syndicates</a> How to fund scrappy biotech startups is foremost on Jeff Behrens’ mind. He was CEO if a startup that raised $20 million in funding but not one cent from VCs. An invaluable interview for anyone thinking of starting or investing in a life science company. Highlights include: <ul> <li>Jeff Behrens Studied Philosophy at Harvard but Stumbled Upon Entrepreneurship: Renaissance Man for the 21st Century</li> <li>MIT/Harvard Medical School Collaboration, HST, is Discussed</li> <li>Siamab Therapeutics</li> <li>Siamab Pursues Therapies Based on the Work of Ajit Varki on the Weird Sugars on the Surface of Cancer Cells</li> <li>Siamab Did Not Go the VC Route, I Took a Scrappier Approach to Funding from Other Sources</li> <li>Ovarian or Pancreatic Cancers Are Tough to Fight; Siamab Targeted them Based on the Unique Sugars on the Outside of the Cancer Cells</li> <li>Creating Lethal Molecules that Attack only the Cancer Cells</li> <li>Standard Chemotherapy Is a Carpet-Bombing Approach, Doing Harm to Healthy Cells</li> <li>Jeff Behrens Has Started and Run Companies but He has an Unusually Thoughtful Approach to the Work</li> <li>VC Are Making Large Bets on “Big-Idea” Companies, Leaving More Targeted Startups Struggling for Funding</li> <li>More Targeted Approaches May Be Promising but How Do They Get Funding?</li> <li>The Early-Validation Trap</li> <li>“So, I think there's an opportunity, there's some funding available, but I think there's a real need for more attention and more creativity around sort of those next stages of how we take those ideas forward”.</li> <li>Sal Updates Us on Portfolio Company SQZ Biotech</li> <li>How Jeff Behrens Went from Philosophy Major to Entrepreneur</li> <li>“…my roommate said at the time, "You're really a business person. Why don't you just make this your thing."”</li> <li>Built Telluride Group to 35 Employees &amp; It Got Acquired by a Fidelity-Backed Group</li> <li>“And we had enough money from that exit to be able to support that so I started thinking what would I be interested in learning about the life sciences…”</li> <li>“…but in biology, it struck me, we just don't know what we're doing. It's just it's hard”.</li> <li>“…who makes more money, drugs, devices, healthcare IT or other healthcare investments?”</li> <li>Unusual PhD Program for Business People at Lausanne’s EPFL</li> <li>“…how often do angel-funded companies go on to raise venture capital?... in tech companies that’s true only 8% of the time…”</li> <li>“…only about 4 to 5% of biotech firms start in angel land and then transition on to venture land.”</li> <li>Venture Capitalist in Life Sciences: “…have evolved their model dramatically from 10, 15 years ago. So, they're doing much larger rounds. They are syndicating a lot less. They're taking more of the early equity, and most importantly they're creating companies.”</li> <li>“...companies that are born out of this model start... They are born with $50 million…”</li> <li>Crucial Question for Biotech Entrepreneurs: “…how you get to that pharma exit without needing the venture money?”</li> <li>Capital Efficiency Is Growing in Biotech</li> <li>How LabShares Newton Came About</li> <li>Tenancy in Shared Labs Has Low Turnover Since It’s Not Easy to Get Your Lab Up and Running</li> <li>A Discussion of Meenta as Part of the Trend Towards More Capital Efficiency in the Life Sciences</li> <li>Jeff Behrens Urges Entrepreneurial Postdocs to Spend Time in Large Companies to Learn How they Work, Before Venturing Out on Their Own</li> <li>“One of the few ways you can get to know pharma is working at pharma for a while.”</li> <li>Savran Technologies as an Example of a Scrappy Life Science Startup</li> <li>“…memo to founders. When you're offered money, take it. You will need more than you expect.”</li> <li>Different Paths of Lives Well Lived – The Life of Joe Tosti</li> <li>Getting into Business Alongside Your Spouse</li> <li>“It's not easy working with your spouse…And you're never far away from the company and all those things.”</li> <li>Having His Wife as His Co-Founder Was Key to the Success of Jeff Behrens’ First Company</li> <li>“I think there is this unsolved problem of funding, not the first steps of an entrepreneurial scrappy biotech, but sort of the next steps.”</li> </ul>

Jeff Behrens, Founder, CEO, Scholar - The Gap in Biotech Funding

Lucinda Linde

Join Boston's Top Angels in Our Syndicates: Learn About Our Syndicates Upon graduating in the upper strata of her engineering class at MIT, Lucinda Linde was promptly accepted at Harvard Business school. She worked as an engineer in two successful tech companies, one of which was co-founded by Clayton Christensen of “Innovator’s Dilemma” fame. Her incisive intellect and practical outlook were prized by giants such as HBS’ Howard Stevenson (Link to Howard Stevenson's Interview - Our Most Downloaded Podcast) who hired her to study best practices in angel investing. Lucinda joined Walnut and entered the realm of venture investing. Along the way she took seven years off to be a full-time mother. She has now reinvented herself as a mathy marketing consultant.  Sal describes his role in raising the first money for startup rocket ship SQZ Biotech. Lucinda’s undergrad summer internships helped eliminate doing research as a career. Experience running Lecture Series Committee gave her an early taste of running a business. Got into HBS with admissions deferred for two years; did two internships in those two years. Project management and operations in two successful tech companies. Ceramics Process Systems co-founded by Clayton Christiansen &amp; Molten Metal Technologies. Consulting on best practices for business innovation and angel investing. Left consulting when her first baby came along due to travel schedule. Venture investing seemed a better life style fit with parenting. Drawn to Walnut because she wanted to get into software investing. Jean Tempel, also of Walnut Ventures, brought Lucinda into the VC fund she was raising. Jean was a fantastic mentor to Lucinda. Ken Morse and Howard Stevenson hired Lucinda to write a study on the best practices in angel investing. Study was used to teach about angel investing at MIT Sloan for a decade. Angel groups were just starting then. Band of Angels. The VC fund was fully invested so Lucinda saw this as a natural moment to take time out from her career to focus on her children. Fired by 11-year-old son as robotics coach. Wake up call to go back to her career! Parents have to be the voice that teenagers hear as an alternative to mass media and their peers. Connected with Ric Calvillo, founder of Nanigans, at Walnut Venture Dinner. In 2011 Nanigans was one of the companies Facebook was trying out as it got into advertising. Lucinda’s jaw dropped to hear they were already at cash flow break even. Helped with raising money and recruiting. Sal reads a splendid review from listener &amp; angel investor Erik Bullen. Nanigans’ pivots. Started out managing campaigns for clients but gradually migrated to SaaS model where their platform enabled customer to run their own campaigns. Next step was to provide transparency to customers. Focus is “incrementality” rather than attribution, figuring out where spending money actually causes customers to do incremental purchases. Attribution models had failed to make the distinction. Squadle, restaurant automation startup automating. Saves time and increases reliability of data. IoT comes to the back of the restaurant house. At Squadle, Lucinda learned the importance of speaking in the language of the customer; using abstract terms like accountability and IoT got no response from restaurant operators. When she showed an image of a log book the response hit an artery of concern. Lucinda started angel investing because of father in law who is a successful repeat founder. What Lucinda looks for in startups:  Are you solving a top priority of your customers? Is this a green field? Nanigans. Wayfair. Critical skills. Traction &amp; agility. How close to product/market fit. Room enough to pivot. Easy to invest too early.   Lucinda wonders if there is some application of distributed ledger technology whose time has come. Marketing advice for startups. Trial and error applied wisely is the best tool. Exposure to the customer is essential. Advice to startups: hire marketing people according to how developed your marketing program is. In marketing, there is no playbook. 

Join Boston's Top Angels in Our Syndicates: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Learn About Our Syndicates</a> Upon graduating in the upper strata of her engineering class at MIT, Lucinda Linde was promptly accepted at Harvard Business school. She worked as an engineer in two successful tech companies, one of which was co-founded by Clayton Christensen of “Innovator’s Dilemma” fame. Her incisive intellect and practical outlook were prized by giants such as HBS’ Howard Stevenson (<a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/ep-29" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Link to Howard Stevenson's Interview - Our Most Downloaded Podcast</a>) who hired her to study best practices in angel investing. Lucinda joined Walnut and entered the realm of venture investing. Along the way she took seven years off to be a full-time mother. She has now reinvented herself as a mathy marketing consultant. <ul> <li>Sal describes his role in raising the first money for startup rocket ship SQZ Biotech.</li> <li>Lucinda’s undergrad summer internships helped eliminate doing research as a career.</li> <li>Experience running Lecture Series Committee gave her an early taste of running a business.</li> <li>Got into HBS with admissions deferred for two years; did two internships in those two years.</li> <li>Project management and operations in two successful tech companies. Ceramics Process Systems co-founded by Clayton Christiansen &amp; Molten Metal Technologies.</li> <li>Consulting on best practices for business innovation and angel investing.</li> <li>Left consulting when her first baby came along due to travel schedule.</li> <li>Venture investing seemed a better life style fit with parenting.</li> <li>Drawn to Walnut because she wanted to get into software investing.</li> <li>Jean Tempel, also of Walnut Ventures, brought Lucinda into the VC fund she was raising.</li> <li>Jean was a fantastic mentor to Lucinda.</li> <li>Ken Morse and Howard Stevenson hired Lucinda to write a study on the best practices in angel investing. Study was used to teach about angel investing at MIT Sloan for a decade.</li> <li>Angel groups were just starting then. Band of Angels.</li> <li>The VC fund was fully invested so Lucinda saw this as a natural moment to take time out from her career to focus on her children.</li> <li>Fired by 11-year-old son as robotics coach. Wake up call to go back to her career!</li> <li>Parents have to be the voice that teenagers hear as an alternative to mass media and their peers.</li> <li>Connected with Ric Calvillo, founder of Nanigans, at Walnut Venture Dinner. In 2011 Nanigans was one of the companies Facebook was trying out as it got into advertising. Lucinda’s jaw dropped to hear they were already at cash flow break even. Helped with raising money and recruiting.</li> <li>Sal reads a splendid review from listener &amp; angel investor Erik Bullen.</li> <li>Nanigans’ pivots. Started out managing campaigns for clients but gradually migrated to SaaS model where their platform enabled customer to run their own campaigns.</li> <li>Next step was to provide transparency to customers. Focus is “incrementality” rather than attribution, figuring out where spending money actually causes customers to do incremental purchases. Attribution models had failed to make the distinction.</li> <li>Squadle, restaurant automation startup automating. Saves time and increases reliability of data. IoT comes to the back of the restaurant house.</li> <li>At Squadle, Lucinda learned the importance of speaking in the language of the customer; using abstract terms like accountability and IoT got no response from restaurant operators. When she showed an image of a log book the response hit an artery of concern.</li> <li>Lucinda started angel investing because of father in law who is a successful repeat founder.</li> <li>What Lucinda looks for in startups: <ul> <li>Are you solving a top priority of your customers?</li> <li>Is this a green field? Nanigans. Wayfair.</li> <li>Critical skills.</li> <li>Traction &amp; agility. How close to product/market fit.</li> <li>Room enough to pivot.</li> <li>Easy to invest too early.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Lucinda wonders if there is some application of distributed ledger technology whose time has come.</li> <li>Marketing advice for startups. Trial and error applied wisely is the best tool. Exposure to the customer is essential.</li> <li>Advice to startups: hire marketing people according to how developed your marketing program is.</li> <li>In marketing, there is no playbook.</li> </ul>

Lucinda Linde, Engineer, Consultant, VC, Angel

Chuck Eesley

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels in Our Syndicates: Click to Learn More Which Founding Teams Succeed? Are Founders Born or Made? Can Innovation Be Crowdsourced? How Many Jobs Do MIT &amp; Stanford Add to the Economy? Blockchain for the Supply Chain? Chuck Eesley, Stanford's Startup Prof Addresses These Questions and More. Highlights include:  Introduction Professor Charles Eesley Bio The Traumatic Founding Experience Shivang Dave, PlenOptika &amp; Entrepreneurs in Poor Countries How Chuck Eesley Ended Up at MIT Studying with Ed Roberts The Economic Impact of MIT &amp; Stanford: Millions of Jobs Created &amp; Trillions in Economic Activity “And the other big takeaway is that we had been looking at the impact of these universities in too narrow of a way previously.” Robust Finding: Larger Teams Do Better; Startups Tend to Have Teams that Are Too Small Chuck Gets a Great Idea for Research While Hiking with a Friend Cooperative vs. Competitive Commercialization “…, if the industry is high in the effectiveness of patent protection, and high in the importance of complementary assets ... you're motivated to go and talk to the big guys, because you need their complementary assets…” “…low effectiveness of patent protection, low importance of complementary assets, that's where you tend to get competitive commercialization…” “Are You Experienced, or Are You Talented?” Sal Talks About the Impact of Portfolio Company Concrete Sensors Evidence-based Entrepreneurship Blockchain to Make it Easier to Finance Supply Chains “And with that additional data, then we can also start to optimize more and more of the startup process, and do a better job of picking which ventures to invest in, and to devote resources towards.” The Value of Thrift in Life and in Entrepreneurship Chuck &amp; Family Plan to Give Their Money to the Universities that Made Their Success Possible “So, I think it [thrift] is an underappreciated value. And definitely in Silicon Valley…” Early Google Investor David Cheriton Is a Role Model for Chuck Chuck’s Parting Thoughts: (1) Entrepreneurs Can Change Their Luck, (2) If Chuck’s Projects Interest You, Reach Out, and (3) Be Frugal in Life and in Entrepreneurship. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels in Our Syndicates: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click to Learn More</a> Which Founding Teams Succeed? Are Founders Born or Made? Can Innovation Be Crowdsourced? How Many Jobs Do MIT &amp; Stanford Add to the Economy? Blockchain for the Supply Chain? Chuck Eesley, Stanford's Startup Prof Addresses These Questions and More. Highlights include: <ul> <li>Introduction</li> <li>Professor Charles Eesley Bio</li> <li>The Traumatic Founding Experience</li> <li>Shivang Dave, PlenOptika &amp; Entrepreneurs in Poor Countries</li> <li>How Chuck Eesley Ended Up at MIT Studying with Ed Roberts</li> <li>The Economic Impact of MIT &amp; Stanford: Millions of Jobs Created &amp; Trillions in Economic Activity</li> <li>“And the other big takeaway is that we had been looking at the impact of these universities in too narrow of a way previously.”</li> <li>Robust Finding: Larger Teams Do Better; Startups Tend to Have Teams that Are Too Small</li> <li>Chuck Gets a Great Idea for Research While Hiking with a Friend</li> <li>Cooperative vs. Competitive Commercialization</li> <li>“…, if the industry is high in the effectiveness of patent protection, and high in the importance of complementary assets ... you're motivated to go and talk to the big guys, because you need their complementary assets…”</li> <li>“…low effectiveness of patent protection, low importance of complementary assets, that's where you tend to get competitive commercialization…”</li> <li>“Are You Experienced, or Are You Talented?”</li> <li>Sal Talks About the Impact of Portfolio Company Concrete Sensors</li> <li>Evidence-based Entrepreneurship</li> <li>Blockchain to Make it Easier to Finance Supply Chains</li> <li>“And with that additional data, then we can also start to optimize more and more of the startup process, and do a better job of picking which ventures to invest in, and to devote resources towards.”</li> <li>The Value of Thrift in Life and in Entrepreneurship</li> <li>Chuck &amp; Family Plan to Give Their Money to the Universities that Made Their Success Possible</li> <li>“So, I think it [thrift] is an underappreciated value. And definitely in Silicon Valley…”</li> <li>Early Google Investor David Cheriton Is a Role Model for Chuck</li> <li>Chuck’s Parting Thoughts: (1) Entrepreneurs Can Change Their Luck, (2) If Chuck’s Projects Interest You, Reach Out, and (3) Be Frugal in Life and in Entrepreneurship.</li> </ul>

Chuck Eesley, Stanford's Startup Prof - Evidence-Based Investing

Sam Bogoch

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Click Here to Learn More Sam Bogoch’s company, axle.ai, helps clients with massive video files make sense of the content they have. The accumulation of video content is going way beyond the traditional broadcast networks and includes universities, large enterprises not in the entertainment industry, churches, sports venues etc. Video has yet to migrate to the cloud. It still sits in hard drives. The conversation with this brilliant interlocutor expanded my understanding of significant trends in video. Here are some highlights:  Some content owners have a petabyte of video in storage, that’s 1000 X what my laptop’s hard drive holds. Video files are too big to move to the cloud; cloud storage used only for distributing final product so raw footage is still stored in big hard drives. Footage captured in one night in Madison Square Garden could take weeks to upload. Amazon actually has 18-wheelers that drive to sites of customers with particularly large amounts of data and receive the data via a 10-gigabyte connection, rather than sending the data over the web. Then they drive the data to Seattle! Amazon now storing data closer to client sites. Sam helped Avid rescue a product as a consultant and then signed on as a manager. Tripled business. Sam was an intrapreneur for half his tenure at Avid. Sam Bogoch’s work at Avid led him to discover the need that axle.ai now addresses. Avid confronted innovator’s dilemma. Go after low-end business while cannibalizing its mainstay product. Sam decided to leave Avid to pursue the low-end opportunity. Joined co-founder Patrice Gouttebel with whom he had collaborated in an earlier venture. Founders went to trade show with resume in hands just in case things did not work out; ended up winning award for best of show and getting validation of their product. Pivot that axle.ai executed. Small players such as wedding videographers have little need for axle.ai due to the nature of their work. Company then focused on larger players who really had a problem with video content. Customers came to axle.ai. Solution included creating a low-resolution browser version of the video which could be easily scanned with AI object recognition. Revamped the architecture of the software to accommodate the new type of client. Availability of storage gives videographer permission to shoot indiscriminately; contrast with film days: Monty Python and the Holy Grail ended when they ran out of film. Basic functions for searching on laptops don’t exist on network devices used for video storage. Customer found lost movie master using axle.ai; instant sale! Big stadium staff searching through duffle bags of disk drives looking a valuable scene. Thousands of churches across the country are in axle.ai target market because they shoot so many videos. Universities taking videos of classes are big users. The U.S. Senate is a client. Going after state legislatures. Company doing $1 million in revenue a year but growing fast. Has raised a bit of angel money plus some VC money. It’s a hundreds-of-millions opportunity in the near future; not a unicorn. Will spend money on user interface to make it simpler to operate for a broader range of users. Clients are leery of sending content to the cloud due to fear of breaches; another advantage for axle.ai; it’s air-gapped. Sam Bogoch’s parting thought: reach product/market fit and everything else, like funding, will fall into place. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click Here to Learn More</a> Sam Bogoch’s company, <a href="http://axle.ai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">axle.ai</a>, helps clients with massive video files make sense of the content they have. The accumulation of video content is going way beyond the traditional broadcast networks and includes universities, large enterprises not in the entertainment industry, churches, sports venues etc. Video has yet to migrate to the cloud. It still sits in hard drives. The conversation with this brilliant interlocutor expanded my understanding of significant trends in video. Here are some highlights: <ul> <li>Some content owners have a petabyte of video in storage, that’s 1000 X what my laptop’s hard drive holds.</li> <li>Video files are too big to move to the cloud; cloud storage used only for distributing final product so raw footage is still stored in big hard drives.</li> <li>Footage captured in one night in Madison Square Garden could take weeks to upload.</li> <li>Amazon actually has 18-wheelers that drive to sites of customers with particularly large amounts of data and receive the data via a 10-gigabyte connection, rather than sending the data over the web. Then they drive the data to Seattle!</li> <li>Amazon now storing data closer to client sites.</li> <li>Sam helped Avid rescue a product as a consultant and then signed on as a manager. Tripled business.</li> <li>Sam was an intrapreneur for half his tenure at Avid.</li> <li>Sam Bogoch’s work at Avid led him to discover the need that <a href="http://axle.ai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">axle.ai</a> now addresses.</li> <li>Avid confronted innovator’s dilemma. Go after low-end business while cannibalizing its mainstay product.</li> <li>Sam decided to leave Avid to pursue the low-end opportunity.</li> <li>Joined co-founder Patrice Gouttebel with whom he had collaborated in an earlier venture.</li> <li>Founders went to trade show with resume in hands just in case things did not work out; ended up winning award for best of show and getting validation of their product.</li> <li>Pivot that <a href="http://axle.ai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">axle.ai</a> executed. Small players such as wedding videographers have little need for <a href="http://axle.ai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">axle.ai</a> due to the nature of their work. Company then focused on larger players who really had a problem with video content.</li> <li>Customers came to <a href="http://axle.ai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">axle.ai</a>.</li> <li>Solution included creating a low-resolution browser version of the video which could be easily scanned with AI object recognition.</li> <li>Revamped the architecture of the software to accommodate the new type of client.</li> <li>Availability of storage gives videographer permission to shoot indiscriminately; contrast with film days: Monty Python and the Holy Grail ended when they ran out of film.</li> <li>Basic functions for searching on laptops don’t exist on network devices used for video storage.</li> <li>Customer found lost movie master using <a href="http://axle.ai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">axle.ai</a>; instant sale!</li> <li>Big stadium staff searching through duffle bags of disk drives looking a valuable scene.</li> <li>Thousands of churches across the country are in <a href="http://axle.ai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">axle.ai</a> target market because they shoot so many videos.</li> <li>Universities taking videos of classes are big users.</li> <li>The U.S. Senate is a client. Going after state legislatures.</li> <li>Company doing $1 million in revenue a year but growing fast.</li> <li>Has raised a bit of angel money plus some VC money.</li> <li>It’s a hundreds-of-millions opportunity in the near future; not a unicorn.</li> <li>Will spend money on user interface to make it simpler to operate for a broader range of users.</li> <li>Clients are leery of sending content to the cloud due to fear of breaches; another advantage for <a href="http://axle.ai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">axle.ai</a>; it’s air-gapped.</li> <li>Sam Bogoch’s parting thought: reach product/market fit and everything else, like funding, will fall into place.</li> </ul>

Sam Bogoch, CEO & Co-Founder of axle.ai

Phillip Lachman

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels:  Click Here to Learn About Our Syndicates Still in his thirties and still working full-time, Phillip Lachman is a leader at Walnut Ventures. How this startup exec finds time to invest as an angel is a remarkable story. Clever, articulate and full of good cheer, Phillip is always a delightful interlocutor. Fun episode! Highlights:  How Phillip leverages his angel network and modern means of communication to work full-time and still be an active angel. Phillip’s first angel investment was in a company called CoolChip, in which Sal also invested. The company went under but Phillip and Sal still greatly respect the founder. Will Sanchez, PhD and his co-founders provided an example of how to wind up a failed venture. Phillip and Sal would gladly invest in a future venture of Will Sanchez. He showed a sterling character in difficult circumstances. Will is actually friends with Shakeel Avadhany, CEO &amp; co-founder of ClearMotion where Phillip works. Phillip explains his approach to early-stage investing. He looks for founders with whom he has a rapport, a sense of shared values. Phillip looks for grit and perseverance in the character of the founders, considering the enormous obstacles founders have to overcome. Phillip relies on emotional intelligence to gauge the commitment of founders. He looks for the ability to be good stewards of investor money, for the ability to listen and the determination to solve problems. Sal tells the story of his investment in PIKA Energy, recently acquired by Generac. Two MIT frat brothers eager to democratize the wind turbine business. PIKA discovered that the real business was creating circuits to manage the load from the various alternative energy sources in an efficient way. Their partnership with Panasonic batteries gave Powerwall from Tesla a good run for its money. Sal invites you to consider his syndicates. Phillip talks about one of this podcast’s favorite founders “Action Jack” Huntress of HomeBinder as an example of someone who has his act together as an entrepreneur. Fundraising tip from Phillip Lachman: no does not mean no forever; it means no right now. If an angel turns you down, continue to keep that angel in the loop on your raise. That’s how Jack Huntress got Phillip to invest in HomeBinder. Sal talks about how hard it is to resist the temptation to play business analyst when deciding to invest in a startup. The angel should focus on the team, provided the market is large enough. If the team is really great, let them figure out the business. On pitch decks, Phillip Lachman emphasizes having a simple explanation of the business the startup is in. Fearless Angel Joe Caruso also made the same point in his interview. Keep in mind that angel investors are usually intelligent generalists. Don’t assume deep familiarity with industry jargon. Phillip Lachman is also a fan of Kendall Tucker of Polis, a startup with sophisticated software to inform door-knocking campaigns. Polis, a Techstar alum, has raised $2.5 MM in seed funding from Haystack VC whose portfolio also includes DoorDash and Instacart. Kendall Tucker, like Jack Huntress, is a founder who stays engaged with her investors. Reaching out for help and keeping investors informed with regular reports. Regular reporting has many virtues that founders may not appreciate. Encapsulate the key take-aways in the subject line. Remember that you’re fighting for mind share with your investors. Phillip makes a point about building credibility by saying what you’re going to do and then doing what you said you were going to do. Seems obvious but too many founders fall into the trap of over-promising. ClearMotion, where Phillip works, started out in 2009 trying to harness energy being dissipated by shock absorbers with the goal of increasing fuel efficiency of military vehicles by 1 or 2 percent. Given how hard it was to build business with the government, ClearMotion (formerly Levant Power) pivoted in 2012 to building active suspensions to improve the ride of automobiles. The goal is to “erase the road” so as to improve the quality of the time when a rider is in motion ClearMotion has grown a lot. It’s raised $290 million in funding and now employs about 210 people. They expect to get their first order later this year. New England’s bumpy roads are the ideal lab for ClearMotion. Think how valuable the company’s tech will be when autonomous vehicles start transiting our bumpy roads. ClearMotion aims to make the time riding autonomous vehicles as usable as possible. What if they could eliminate motion sickness? ClearMotion’s technology creates maps on a cloud that track where there are road bumps, thus enabling vehicles to react appropriately. These maps are constantly updated by sensors on vehicles. Insurance companies may appreciate the reduction of wear and tear on vehicles. Municipalities will have very precise information about the condition of roads in their jurisdiction. Shakeel Avadhany of ClearMotion is a truly exceptional founder. He has the talent of bending reality to make seemingly impossible things happen. Shakeel is also great at motivating the organization to keep making constant improvements. NextGen Partners, in which Phillip participates, employs a network-driven venture investing model. NexGen’s community of more than a thousand partners helps originate interesting deal flow and provides needed expertise for due diligence. Founders appreciate the significant funding and support that NextGen can mobilize. Phillip and Sal invite listeners to consider angel investing wherever they live. They describe the rewards of being angel investors. Sal invites listeners to follow the splendid example of Phillip Lachman and leave a review on iTunes. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels:  <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click Here to Learn About Our Syndicates</a> Still in his thirties and still working full-time, Phillip Lachman is a leader at Walnut Ventures. How this startup exec finds time to invest as an angel is a remarkable story. Clever, articulate and full of good cheer, Phillip is always a delightful interlocutor. Fun episode! Highlights: <ul> <li>How Phillip leverages his angel network and modern means of communication to work full-time and still be an active angel.</li> <li>Phillip’s first angel investment was in a company called CoolChip, in which Sal also invested.</li> <li>The company went under but Phillip and Sal still greatly respect the founder.</li> <li>Will Sanchez, PhD and his co-founders provided an example of how to wind up a failed venture.</li> <li>Phillip and Sal would gladly invest in a future venture of Will Sanchez. He showed a sterling character in difficult circumstances.</li> <li>Will is actually friends with Shakeel Avadhany, CEO &amp; co-founder of ClearMotion where Phillip works.</li> <li>Phillip explains his approach to early-stage investing. He looks for founders with whom he has a rapport, a sense of shared values.</li> <li>Phillip looks for grit and perseverance in the character of the founders, considering the enormous obstacles founders have to overcome.</li> <li>Phillip relies on emotional intelligence to gauge the commitment of founders. He looks for the ability to be good stewards of investor money, for the ability to listen and the determination to solve problems.</li> <li>Sal tells the story of his investment in PIKA Energy, recently acquired by Generac. Two MIT frat brothers eager to democratize the wind turbine business. PIKA discovered that the real business was creating circuits to manage the load from the various alternative energy sources in an efficient way. Their partnership with Panasonic batteries gave Powerwall from Tesla a good run for its money. Sal invites you to consider his syndicates.</li> <li>Phillip talks about one of this podcast’s favorite founders “Action Jack” Huntress of HomeBinder as an example of someone who has his act together as an entrepreneur.</li> <li>Fundraising tip from Phillip Lachman: no does not mean no forever; it means no right now. If an angel turns you down, continue to keep that angel in the loop on your raise. That’s how Jack Huntress got Phillip to invest in HomeBinder.</li> <li>Sal talks about how hard it is to resist the temptation to play business analyst when deciding to invest in a startup. The angel should focus on the team, provided the market is large enough. If the team is really great, let them figure out the business.</li> <li>On pitch decks, Phillip Lachman emphasizes having a simple explanation of the business the startup is in. Fearless Angel Joe Caruso also made the same point in his interview.</li> <li>Keep in mind that angel investors are usually intelligent generalists. Don’t assume deep familiarity with industry jargon.</li> <li>Phillip Lachman is also a fan of Kendall Tucker of Polis, a startup with sophisticated software to inform door-knocking campaigns.</li> <li>Polis, a Techstar alum, has raised $2.5 MM in seed funding from Haystack VC whose portfolio also includes DoorDash and Instacart.</li> <li>Kendall Tucker, like Jack Huntress, is a founder who stays engaged with her investors. Reaching out for help and keeping investors informed with regular reports.</li> <li>Regular reporting has many virtues that founders may not appreciate.</li> <li>Encapsulate the key take-aways in the subject line. Remember that you’re fighting for mind share with your investors.</li> <li>Phillip makes a point about building credibility by saying what you’re going to do and then doing what you said you were going to do. Seems obvious but too many founders fall into the trap of over-promising.</li> <li>ClearMotion, where Phillip works, started out in 2009 trying to harness energy being dissipated by shock absorbers with the goal of increasing fuel efficiency of military vehicles by 1 or 2 percent. Given how hard it was to build business with the government, ClearMotion (formerly Levant Power) pivoted in 2012 to building active suspensions to improve the ride of automobiles. The goal is to “erase the road” so as to improve the quality of the time when a rider is in motion</li> <li>ClearMotion has grown a lot. It’s raised $290 million in funding and now employs about 210 people. They expect to get their first order later this year.</li> <li>New England’s bumpy roads are the ideal lab for ClearMotion.</li> <li>Think how valuable the company’s tech will be when autonomous vehicles start transiting our bumpy roads. ClearMotion aims to make the time riding autonomous vehicles as usable as possible.</li> <li>What if they could eliminate motion sickness?</li> <li>ClearMotion’s technology creates maps on a cloud that track where there are road bumps, thus enabling vehicles to react appropriately. These maps are constantly updated by sensors on vehicles.</li> <li>Insurance companies may appreciate the reduction of wear and tear on vehicles.</li> <li>Municipalities will have very precise information about the condition of roads in their jurisdiction.</li> <li>Shakeel Avadhany of ClearMotion is a truly exceptional founder. He has the talent of bending reality to make seemingly impossible things happen. Shakeel is also great at motivating the organization to keep making constant improvements.</li> <li>NextGen Partners, in which Phillip participates, employs a network-driven venture investing model. NexGen’s community of more than a thousand partners helps originate interesting deal flow and provides needed expertise for due diligence. Founders appreciate the significant funding and support that NextGen can mobilize.</li> <li>Phillip and Sal invite listeners to consider angel investing wherever they live. They describe the rewards of being angel investors.</li> <li>Sal invites listeners to follow the splendid example of Phillip Lachman and leave a review on iTunes.</li> </ul>

Phillip Lachman, Angel Investor "Young Angel"

Chris Selland

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Tech Angels: Our Syndicates DipJar makes charitable giving fast and compelling. 8,500 devices are deployed to 4,500 clients and the business is set to scale fast. My interview with Chris Selland, CEO was an excellent opportunity to learn more about this exciting company just after I invested. Interview highlights include:  Sal Introduces Chris Selland, CEO of DipJar The Story of DipJar DipJar Started Out as an Easy Way to Tip Waiters – But the Economics Did not Work Out Fixed Fees Charged by Credit Card Companies Become Meaningful for Small Transactions Devices Are Connected to a Platform – Charge per Dips Are Pre-Set People Saw the DipJar in Coffee Shops and Started Asking If It Could Be Used for Charitable Giving “…but the bottom line is 80% of the money comes in when they actually get the donors in person”. “…we can take a lot of donations very, very quickly”. About the Team Startups Love to Create Brands Having No Idea of How Hard &amp; Expensive It Is: Brand-itis “So, the DipJar you just power it up and it works. And that's a big part of our selling prop too”. Sal Talks About His Investment in Fine Tune Learning Like DipJar, Fine Tune Learning Had a Restart – Hired CEOs Are Much Maligned But… Investors Like Syndicates Because They Don’t Have to Write $25,000 Checks Sal Asks the Burning Question for Angel Investors: How Am I Going to Make 30X on DipJar? DipJar’s New Head of Platform Is Building Capabilities Critical for Scaling Revenue “We've now got … I think about 8,500 DipJars out there in market and 4,500 customers”. “We don't need to raise more capital ever if we don't want to”. On Possible Exits: “I mean net, we're a FinTech company, we're in a hot space, right”? On Being a Hired CEO CEO’s Big Challenge: “…you have to be inspiring and you have to believe in the company when there's very good evidence for you not to believe in the company”. “…optimism is not shading the truth”. West Coast, East Coast “The West Coast is more about top line; the East Coast is more about bottom line”. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Tech Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our Syndicates</a> DipJar makes charitable giving fast and compelling. 8,500 devices are deployed to 4,500 clients and the business is set to scale fast. My interview with Chris Selland, CEO was an excellent opportunity to learn more about this exciting company just after I invested. Interview highlights include: <ul> <li>Sal Introduces Chris Selland, CEO of DipJar</li> <li>The Story of DipJar</li> <li>DipJar Started Out as an Easy Way to Tip Waiters – But the Economics Did not Work Out</li> <li>Fixed Fees Charged by Credit Card Companies Become Meaningful for Small Transactions</li> <li>Devices Are Connected to a Platform – Charge per Dips Are Pre-Set</li> <li>People Saw the DipJar in Coffee Shops and Started Asking If It Could Be Used for Charitable Giving</li> <li>“…but the bottom line is 80% of the money comes in when they actually get the donors in person”.</li> <li>“…we can take a lot of donations very, very quickly”.</li> <li>About the Team</li> <li>Startups Love to Create Brands Having No Idea of How Hard &amp; Expensive It Is: Brand-itis</li> <li>“So, the DipJar you just power it up and it works. And that's a big part of our selling prop too”.</li> <li>Sal Talks About His Investment in Fine Tune Learning</li> <li>Like DipJar, Fine Tune Learning Had a Restart – Hired CEOs Are Much Maligned But…</li> <li>Investors Like Syndicates Because They Don’t Have to Write $25,000 Checks</li> <li>Sal Asks the Burning Question for Angel Investors: How Am I Going to Make 30X on DipJar?</li> <li>DipJar’s New Head of Platform Is Building Capabilities Critical for Scaling Revenue</li> <li>“We've now got … I think about 8,500 DipJars out there in market and 4,500 customers”.</li> <li>“We don't need to raise more capital ever if we don't want to”.</li> <li>On Possible Exits: “I mean net, we're a FinTech company, we're in a hot space, right”?</li> <li>On Being a Hired CEO</li> <li>CEO’s Big Challenge: “…you have to be inspiring and you have to believe in the company when there's very good evidence for you not to believe in the company”.</li> <li>“…optimism is not shading the truth”.</li> <li>West Coast, East Coast</li> <li>“The West Coast is more about top line; the East Coast is more about bottom line”.</li> </ul>

Chris Selland, CEO & Angel - DipJar: Frictionless Giving

Ed Goluch

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Our Investment Syndicates The brilliant son of immigrants discovers a way of identifying and counting bacteria that could upend the world of diagnostics. Listen to this engrossing interview with professor and founder Ed Goluch of QSM Diagnostics. Highlights include:  QSM Diagnostics Is What Jeff Behrens Calls a “Scrappy Biotech” Ed Goluch Bio QSM’s Mission: Identify &amp; Quantify Bacteria Present in a Sample in Minutes “No one wants to be the five or ten percent that's misdiagnosed, and so our technology really gets them closer to being perfect and these critical first few minutes and getting it right the first time”. The Founding Story of QSM Cool Example of Bacteria Interacting with Squid Bacteria Communicate to a Startling Degree Quorum-Sensing Molecules Allow Fine-Grained Detection Down to the Level of the Species of Bacteria “Trying to get a faculty job is actually a lot like starting a startup. You have your idea and you go around pitching to schools”. Boston as a Life Science Hub: “This was one of the great parts of being in Boston. I got 20 amazing candidates in less than a week”. Why QSM Wants to Get to Human Patients Via the Veterinary Market QSM’s Big Pivot: From Addressing Urinary Tract Infections that Require Six Sensors to Ear Infections that Require Just One How an Investor Can Make Money Investing in a Scrappy Biotech Like QSM, Hint: Capital Efficiency “…we don't want to overlook how large dog ear infections are as a problem… You're looking at 9 million dog infections per year”. Getting a Product to Patients with Just $1 Million in Capital Raised Is Very Efficient for a Life Science Business Sal Daher Talks About Another Option for Funding: Revenue-Based Financing How Ed Goluch Found His Calling: From Being Born to Immigrants in the South Side of Chicago to Getting a PhD “…just growing up seeing the hardships of having very little money, parents that are struggling… triggered me to say early on, "I want to get out of this...” " My parents said, "This is perfect, you'll have a job, you'll be comfortable." But for me, I was like, "I want to do more." Edgar Goluch’s Parting Thoughts “Looking back, I think we should have done even more research on…Who’s going to be the user.” Accelerators Ed Goluch Attended: Did Not Have to Give Up Any Equity 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our Investment Syndicates</a> The brilliant son of immigrants discovers a way of identifying and counting bacteria that could upend the world of diagnostics. Listen to this engrossing interview with professor and founder Ed Goluch of QSM Diagnostics. Highlights include: <ul> <li>QSM Diagnostics Is What Jeff Behrens Calls a “Scrappy Biotech”</li> <li>Ed Goluch Bio</li> <li>QSM’s Mission: Identify &amp; Quantify Bacteria Present in a Sample in Minutes</li> <li>“No one wants to be the five or ten percent that's misdiagnosed, and so our technology really gets them closer to being perfect and these critical first few minutes and getting it right the first time”.</li> <li>The Founding Story of QSM</li> <li>Cool Example of Bacteria Interacting with Squid</li> <li>Bacteria Communicate to a Startling Degree</li> <li>Quorum-Sensing Molecules Allow Fine-Grained Detection Down to the Level of the Species of Bacteria</li> <li>“Trying to get a faculty job is actually a lot like starting a startup. You have your idea and you go around pitching to schools”.</li> <li>Boston as a Life Science Hub: “This was one of the great parts of being in Boston. I got 20 amazing candidates in less than a week”.</li> <li>Why QSM Wants to Get to Human Patients Via the Veterinary Market</li> <li>QSM’s Big Pivot: From Addressing Urinary Tract Infections that Require Six Sensors to Ear Infections that Require Just One</li> <li>How an Investor Can Make Money Investing in a Scrappy Biotech Like QSM, Hint: Capital Efficiency</li> <li>“…we don't want to overlook how large dog ear infections are as a problem… You're looking at 9 million dog infections per year”.</li> <li>Getting a Product to Patients with Just $1 Million in Capital Raised Is Very Efficient for a Life Science Business</li> <li>Sal Daher Talks About Another Option for Funding: Revenue-Based Financing</li> <li>How Ed Goluch Found His Calling: From Being Born to Immigrants in the South Side of Chicago to Getting a PhD</li> <li>“…just growing up seeing the hardships of having very little money, parents that are struggling… triggered me to say early on, "I want to get out of this...”</li> <li>" My parents said, "This is perfect, you'll have a job, you'll be comfortable." But for me, I was like, "I want to do more."</li> <li>Edgar Goluch’s Parting Thoughts</li> <li>“Looking back, I think we should have done even more research on…Who’s going to be the user.”</li> <li>Accelerators Ed Goluch Attended: Did Not Have to Give Up Any Equity</li> </ul>

Ed Goluch, Scholar & Founder - Diagnosis in Minutes

Larry Sullivan

Invest Alongside Boston's Leading Angels: Learn About Our Syndicates A Renaissance man still lives in our times. He’s been a priest, a Harvard prof, a non-profit exec and he’s now a founder.  The startup Larry Sullivan helped found has built a platform on which C-level executives implement strategic initiatives. The proof of the pudding is that Chiefofstaff.com’s platform has been adopted by some of the biggest names including Deloitte. Larry is a charming guest. His vast knowledge and dry humor made for a really fun podcast! Highlights include:  Larry speaks nine languages, plays rock on a faculty band and is a devoted husband, father and grandfather. com is a B-to-B SaaS platform to help C-level execs implement strategic plans. I was surprised to discover that poor implementation of strategic plans is a top worry for CEOs of large enterprises. Larry was a beta tester for the platform when he was CEO of a large foundation. The results were so impressive that Larry joined founder Bob Epner at the startup. Platform gives managers with strategic responsibility actionable items every day. The platform ties in to the enterprise’s management software. There are no comparable platforms that compete with Chiefofstaff.com. McKinsey sees a gap in this space. Harvard Business Review study found that failure to deliver on strategic plans was the top worry for CEOs. Competition is from software designed for other uses. Chiefofstaff.com is the only software custom-designed for the C-suite. Initially thought about selling direct to large enterprises then realized that it was far more effective to go through partnership channels such as major consulting firms like Deloitte. Due diligence with Deloitte was a day at the dentist for a whole year. Learned that the business proposition for their partners was to use the platform to present the strategic plans to their clients. Chiefofstaff.com helps the partner get the engagement and makes it easier to deliver the strategic plan. Hard behind Deloitte are other major consulting firms. Finally reaching the end of the long dales cycle. Larry has raised money across a broad range of activities, his advice to fundraisers is to build a rapport with the investor so that she or he understands what drives you and your company. People who have suffered the problems addressed by the platform tend to be the most open to investing in the company. Sal, given his decades of experience in small companies, did not initially see the need for Chiefofstaff.com. The Harvard Business Review article was an eye-opener. The company developed a formal process to channel the advice of the senior executives who invested because they understood the pain point being addressed by Chiefofstaff.com. The Harvard Business Review article, based on a very robust study (8,000 senior leaders tracked for 8 years), also found that executives had little confidence in information provided across functional units (less than 9%) versus information provided directly within the business silo (80% reliable). Chiefofstaff.com was designed to address this disparity. Larry was drawn into the priesthood by the prospect of working in war-torn areas of the globe. Worked as priest for 16 years. Larry got “heart disease” while at the University of Chicago doing a PhD in comparative religions; he met and married a doctoral student in anthropology. Created their own “kin unit”. Larry left an endowed professorship at Harvard to create a program in world religions at Notre Dame. A unique opportunity for a Roman Catholic. Had to win the hearts of the world’s largest university faculty of theology. Later he was invited to head up the Fetzer Institute, a large non-profit with activities in 40 countries. Picked up Latin, Ancient Greek, French and German at BC High. Knowing nine languages opens up unexpected possibilities of connecting with people and ideas. In summation Larry expressed astonishment at the chain of events that had to have occurred for us to be sitting here able to contemplate the Big Bang that occurred 14 billion years ago. It leads him to be grateful and appreciative of the similarities and differences of people around him. Larry ties this to the work of Chiefofstaff.com. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Leading Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Learn About Our Syndicates</a> A Renaissance man still lives in our times. He’s been a priest, a Harvard prof, a non-profit exec and he’s now a founder.  The startup Larry Sullivan helped found has built a platform on which C-level executives implement strategic initiatives. The proof of the pudding is that <a href="http://Chiefofstaff.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chiefofstaff.com</a>’s platform has been adopted by some of the biggest names including Deloitte. Larry is a charming guest. His vast knowledge and dry humor made for a really fun podcast! Highlights include: <ul> <li>Larry speaks nine languages, plays rock on a faculty band and is a devoted husband, father and grandfather.</li> <li>com is a B-to-B SaaS platform to help C-level execs implement strategic plans. I was surprised to discover that poor implementation of strategic plans is a top worry for CEOs of large enterprises.</li> <li>Larry was a beta tester for the platform when he was CEO of a large foundation. The results were so impressive that Larry joined founder Bob Epner at the startup.</li> <li>Platform gives managers with strategic responsibility actionable items every day. The platform ties in to the enterprise’s management software.</li> <li>There are no comparable platforms that compete with <a href="http://Chiefofstaff.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chiefofstaff.com</a>. McKinsey sees a gap in this space.</li> <li>Harvard Business Review study found that failure to deliver on strategic plans was the top worry for CEOs.</li> <li>Competition is from software designed for other uses. <a href="http://Chiefofstaff.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chiefofstaff.com</a> is the only software custom-designed for the C-suite.</li> <li>Initially thought about selling direct to large enterprises then realized that it was far more effective to go through partnership channels such as major consulting firms like Deloitte. Due diligence with Deloitte was a day at the dentist for a whole year.</li> <li>Learned that the business proposition for their partners was to use the platform to present the strategic plans to their clients. <a href="http://Chiefofstaff.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chiefofstaff.com</a> helps the partner get the engagement and makes it easier to deliver the strategic plan.</li> <li>Hard behind Deloitte are other major consulting firms. Finally reaching the end of the long dales cycle.</li> <li>Larry has raised money across a broad range of activities, his advice to fundraisers is to build a rapport with the investor so that she or he understands what drives you and your company.</li> <li>People who have suffered the problems addressed by the platform tend to be the most open to investing in the company.</li> <li>Sal, given his decades of experience in small companies, did not initially see the need for <a href="http://Chiefofstaff.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chiefofstaff.com</a>. The Harvard Business Review article was an eye-opener.</li> <li>The company developed a formal process to channel the advice of the senior executives who invested because they understood the pain point being addressed by <a href="http://Chiefofstaff.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chiefofstaff.com</a>.</li> <li>The Harvard Business Review article, based on a very robust study (8,000 senior leaders tracked for 8 years), also found that executives had little confidence in information provided across functional units (less than 9%) versus information provided directly within the business silo (80% reliable). <a href="http://Chiefofstaff.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chiefofstaff.com</a> was designed to address this disparity.</li> <li>Larry was drawn into the priesthood by the prospect of working in war-torn areas of the globe. Worked as priest for 16 years.</li> <li>Larry got “heart disease” while at the University of Chicago doing a PhD in comparative religions; he met and married a doctoral student in anthropology. Created their own “kin unit”.</li> <li>Larry left an endowed professorship at Harvard to create a program in world religions at Notre Dame. A unique opportunity for a Roman Catholic. Had to win the hearts of the world’s largest university faculty of theology.</li> <li>Later he was invited to head up the Fetzer Institute, a large non-profit with activities in 40 countries.</li> <li>Picked up Latin, Ancient Greek, French and German at BC High.</li> <li>Knowing nine languages opens up unexpected possibilities of connecting with people and ideas.</li> <li>In summation Larry expressed astonishment at the chain of events that had to have occurred for us to be sitting here able to contemplate the Big Bang that occurred 14 billion years ago. It leads him to be grateful and appreciative of the similarities and differences of people around him. Larry ties this to the work of <a href="http://Chiefofstaff.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chiefofstaff.com</a>.</li> </ul>

Larry Sullivan, "Priest, Harvard Prof & Founder"

Victor Santos

Accredited Investor? Check Out Our Syndicates: Link to Syndicate Page DACA recipient, Berkeley grad, and a Googler, Victor Santos is not a typical startup founder. His Boston-based startup, Airfox is addressing a huge problem: access to affordable financing in Latin America. Through a partnership with one of Brazil’s leading retail lenders, Airfox is able to gather data that enables lower-cost lending in a country where consumers routinely pay interest rates of 400% per annum. Highlights from the interview include:  Airfox seeks to accelerate financial inclusion in developing markets. Focus for next three years is Brazil. Imagine your neighborhood bank being a payday lender; 50% of population use only cash. Airfox mobile app acts as free banking simplifying user’s life. As data builds on app, Airfox creates an alternative credit profile and user can take micro loans. Scalable sub-prime lending at more affordable rates. Via Varejo, Brazil’s biggest retailer to low-income people, with 1,000 stores gives Airfox great reach. Retailers make money from financing. Via Varejo has $1 billion consumer loan portfolio. Attractive to Via Varejo because it simplifies their operation which now uses coupon books for payments. Brazilian banking system has advanced features but average consumer has limited access. Brazil’s world-class central bank has opened up to fintech companies but traction is still limited. Victor left Google because he did not want to be working in advertising. Time at Google served to show Victor what it’s like to work at a big company. Was COO of failed startup, determined to found his own company where he could control the direction the company took. Also wanted to bring some type of utility to the end consumer. First instance of Airfox provided software to cellular carriers that made it easy for them to give free data plans to low-income users who opted into receiving ads. Three carriers signed up with 2,000,000 users. Sal asks listeners to leave a rating or a review on iTunes. Victor Santos tells about the major pivots Airfox executed. Airfox’s solution created real value for carriers in terms of increased retention of users. Carriers were frustrating to work with, slow to adopt system that could address massive user churn of 8 to 12% per month. Airfox realized user data could be the key to providing funding to users. Decided to look for way to go direct to consumer. Victor saw an opportunity to apply what they had learned in the cell phone business to the Brazilian market that was being de-regulated by the Central Bank. Contingent life of middle-class Brazilians. Airfox’s digital wallet will be offered through Via Varejo’s 1000 stores. Via Varejo sees Airfox as a way to grow their lending and decrease defaults. With launch of debit card in Q1 Airfox will become a full digital bank for consumers. AirFox brand name will have to change because the name has less than great associations for consumers. Via Varejo’s equity stake reassures the retailer that it will continue to benefit as Airfox’s credit business expands. Comparison with Amazon Pay in India. Advice for fundraising, make sure investors understand how your vision of social change will pay off in terms of profits to the company. Via Varejo has a two-year call to buy 80 percent of Airfox. How angels took that. A call option is a right to buy at a certain price. On cap table have Techstars, Project 11, Launch Capital, Boston Seed and One Way Ventures. Victor came to the US at age 12. Parents were entrepreneur by necessity not by choice. Primed Victor to think about entrepreneurship. Experience with startup in Silicon Valley confirmed in Victor’s mind he wanted to start a company. Immigrants have to be scrappy and resourceful, prepares you to be an entrepreneur. Brazil’s economic dichotomies. Airfox’s consumer loans are 13 to 26 percent per year vs. 400 percent in other places. Victor advises founders to determine what are the principals that underlie their company. Handy in difficult time to know what you stand for. Company values from the A-Team &amp; Ray Dalio. 

Accredited Investor? Check Out Our Syndicates: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Link to Syndicate Page</a> DACA recipient, Berkeley grad, and a Googler, Victor Santos is not a typical startup founder. His Boston-based startup, Airfox is addressing a huge problem: access to affordable financing in Latin America. Through a partnership with one of Brazil’s leading retail lenders, Airfox is able to gather data that enables lower-cost lending in a country where consumers routinely pay interest rates of 400% per annum. Highlights from the interview include: <ul> <li>Airfox seeks to accelerate financial inclusion in developing markets.</li> <li>Focus for next three years is Brazil.</li> <li>Imagine your neighborhood bank being a payday lender; 50% of population use only cash.</li> <li>Airfox mobile app acts as free banking simplifying user’s life.</li> <li>As data builds on app, Airfox creates an alternative credit profile and user can take micro loans.</li> <li>Scalable sub-prime lending at more affordable rates.</li> <li>Via Varejo, Brazil’s biggest retailer to low-income people, with 1,000 stores gives Airfox great reach.</li> <li>Retailers make money from financing. Via Varejo has $1 billion consumer loan portfolio.</li> <li>Attractive to Via Varejo because it simplifies their operation which now uses coupon books for payments.</li> <li>Brazilian banking system has advanced features but average consumer has limited access.</li> <li>Brazil’s world-class central bank has opened up to fintech companies but traction is still limited.</li> <li>Victor left Google because he did not want to be working in advertising. Time at Google served to show Victor what it’s like to work at a big company.</li> <li>Was COO of failed startup, determined to found his own company where he could control the direction the company took.</li> <li>Also wanted to bring some type of utility to the end consumer.</li> <li>First instance of Airfox provided software to cellular carriers that made it easy for them to give free data plans to low-income users who opted into receiving ads.</li> <li>Three carriers signed up with 2,000,000 users.</li> <li>Sal asks listeners to leave a rating or a review on iTunes.</li> <li>Victor Santos tells about the major pivots Airfox executed.</li> <li>Airfox’s solution created real value for carriers in terms of increased retention of users.</li> <li>Carriers were frustrating to work with, slow to adopt system that could address massive user churn of 8 to 12% per month.</li> <li>Airfox realized user data could be the key to providing funding to users. Decided to look for way to go direct to consumer.</li> <li>Victor saw an opportunity to apply what they had learned in the cell phone business to the Brazilian market that was being de-regulated by the Central Bank.</li> <li>Contingent life of middle-class Brazilians.</li> <li>Airfox’s digital wallet will be offered through Via Varejo’s 1000 stores.</li> <li>Via Varejo sees Airfox as a way to grow their lending and decrease defaults.</li> <li>With launch of debit card in Q1 Airfox will become a full digital bank for consumers.</li> <li>AirFox brand name will have to change because the name has less than great associations for consumers.</li> <li>Via Varejo’s equity stake reassures the retailer that it will continue to benefit as Airfox’s credit business expands.</li> <li>Comparison with Amazon Pay in India.</li> <li>Advice for fundraising, make sure investors understand how your vision of social change will pay off in terms of profits to the company.</li> <li>Via Varejo has a two-year call to buy 80 percent of Airfox. How angels took that.</li> <li>A call option is a right to buy at a certain price.</li> <li>On cap table have Techstars, Project 11, Launch Capital, Boston Seed and One Way Ventures.</li> <li>Victor came to the US at age 12.</li> <li>Parents were entrepreneur by necessity not by choice. Primed Victor to think about entrepreneurship.</li> <li>Experience with startup in Silicon Valley confirmed in Victor’s mind he wanted to start a company.</li> <li>Immigrants have to be scrappy and resourceful, prepares you to be an entrepreneur.</li> <li>Brazil’s economic dichotomies.</li> <li>Airfox’s consumer loans are 13 to 26 percent per year vs. 400 percent in other places.</li> <li>Victor advises founders to determine what are the principals that underlie their company. Handy in difficult time to know what you stand for.</li> <li>Company values from the A-Team &amp; Ray Dalio.</li> </ul>

Victor Santos, CEO & Founder "DACA Kid, Googler, Founder"

Adam Martel

Christopher Mirabile

Repeat founder Adam Martel went to work for Babson College as a major gifts fundraiser in order to get his MBA for free. While at Babson he identified the problem Gravyty is addressing and met his co-founder Rich Palmer. Gravyty attracted early support from Christopher Mirabile’s LaunchPad Venture Group. The company just completed a $2 million plus raise to ramp up its growth. A really sparkling interview with two outstanding leaders.  Adam Martel, former coach, and full-time fundraiser at a college, tried to start a couple of businesses but realized he needed a co-founder to improve his odds of success. Adam decided to quit his job and go to work at Babson College where he could get his MBA for free. Adam’s motivation was to find a co-founder at Babson. Rich Palmer, a fellow MBA student, had worked on Wall Street building quantitative models. They hit it off and have made a great founding team. From Adam’s work at Babson it was obvious that each fundraiser needed help in identifying which of their more than a hundred assigned potential donors to prioritize. Rich Palmer was confident he could build software that would provide that intelligence. Rich used to build systems to predict which stocks were likely to pop. He and Adam found that predicting donations had a lot in common with that. It was easy to sell management on the platform; the problem was that fundraisers were no logging in; which is the real measure of success for this type of platform. Adam and Rich discovered the “three screens” principle, i.e. people have three screens they’ll look at: their calendar, their email and their database. It’s hard to get them to look at a fourth screen. The solution to the login problem was to incorporate all the insights from the platform in emails addressed to the fundraisers. This approach was a big game changer. The product is called “First Draft” and provides, in addition to predictions of who is most likely to give, content which is intelligently adapted to the individual fundraiser’s writing style. Christopher Mirabile and Ham Lord were initially not convinced that there was a big market for the company but they were so impressed by Adam and Rich that they scheduled a series of meetings. After each meeting Ham and Christopher got more and more impressed with the team from Gravyty and decided to invest. LaunchPad early on impressed on Gravyty the need to have a board. Adam and Rich signed on eagerly, much to their credit. Too many founders perceive boards as “grumpy dogs” that have to be “managed. Christopher and Ham were provided great help. Christopher thinks Gravyty has the perfect set up for the board, two members representing the common shareholders (founders), two members representing preferred shareholders (investors) and one independent member with industry experience; perfect for the early years. Gravyty is 100% SaaS. Gravyty Live provides support for fundraisers, a profession plagued by high turnover, who frequently need to be brought up to speed on their new accounts. Gravyty has achieved great SEO and leads their category for search terms. Adam’s experience as a sports coach has served him well in his work of team building in his companies. Of particular value is the ability of getting people to do the things that need to get done. Working as a college fundraiser taught Adam to listen and to build relationships. These skills translated to raising money for Gravyty. Adam and Christopher fifteen-minute call every two weeks and this has been highly fruitful. Christopher sees three functions for early=stage companies: (1) support in execution, (2) different perspectives, and (3) mentorship. A really meaty podcast! 

Repeat founder Adam Martel went to work for Babson College as a major gifts fundraiser in order to get his MBA for free. While at Babson he identified the problem Gravyty is addressing and met his co-founder Rich Palmer. Gravyty attracted early support from Christopher Mirabile’s LaunchPad Venture Group. The company just completed a $2 million plus raise to ramp up its growth. A really sparkling interview with two outstanding leaders. <ul> <li>Adam Martel, former coach, and full-time fundraiser at a college, tried to start a couple of businesses but realized he needed a co-founder to improve his odds of success.</li> <li>Adam decided to quit his job and go to work at Babson College where he could get his MBA for free.</li> <li>Adam’s motivation was to find a co-founder at Babson.</li> <li>Rich Palmer, a fellow MBA student, had worked on Wall Street building quantitative models. They hit it off and have made a great founding team.</li> <li>From Adam’s work at Babson it was obvious that each fundraiser needed help in identifying which of their more than a hundred assigned potential donors to prioritize. Rich Palmer was confident he could build software that would provide that intelligence.</li> <li>Rich used to build systems to predict which stocks were likely to pop. He and Adam found that predicting donations had a lot in common with that.</li> <li>It was easy to sell management on the platform; the problem was that fundraisers were no logging in; which is the real measure of success for this type of platform.</li> <li>Adam and Rich discovered the “three screens” principle, i.e. people have three screens they’ll look at: their calendar, their email and their database. It’s hard to get them to look at a fourth screen.</li> <li>The solution to the login problem was to incorporate all the insights from the platform in emails addressed to the fundraisers. This approach was a big game changer.</li> <li>The product is called “First Draft” and provides, in addition to predictions of who is most likely to give, content which is intelligently adapted to the individual fundraiser’s writing style.</li> <li>Christopher Mirabile and Ham Lord were initially not convinced that there was a big market for the company but they were so impressed by Adam and Rich that they scheduled a series of meetings.</li> <li>After each meeting Ham and Christopher got more and more impressed with the team from Gravyty and decided to invest.</li> <li>LaunchPad early on impressed on Gravyty the need to have a board. Adam and Rich signed on eagerly, much to their credit.</li> <li>Too many founders perceive boards as “grumpy dogs” that have to be “managed.</li> <li>Christopher and Ham were provided great help.</li> <li>Christopher thinks Gravyty has the perfect set up for the board, two members representing the common shareholders (founders), two members representing preferred shareholders (investors) and one independent member with industry experience; perfect for the early years.</li> <li>Gravyty is 100% SaaS. Gravyty Live provides support for fundraisers, a profession plagued by high turnover, who frequently need to be brought up to speed on their new accounts.</li> <li>Gravyty has achieved great SEO and leads their category for search terms.</li> <li>Adam’s experience as a sports coach has served him well in his work of team building in his companies. Of particular value is the ability of getting people to do the things that need to get done.</li> <li>Working as a college fundraiser taught Adam to listen and to build relationships. These skills translated to raising money for Gravyty.</li> <li>Adam and Christopher fifteen-minute call every two weeks and this has been highly fruitful.</li> <li>Christopher sees three functions for early=stage companies: (1) support in execution, (2) different perspectives, and (3) mentorship.</li> <li>A really meaty podcast!</li> </ul>

Adam Martel & Christopher Mirabile "Super Founder + Super Angel"

Jack Huntress

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Link to Our Syndicates Page Action Jack Barker move over! Chainsaw Jack Huntress is the real deal. CEOs don’t get more dynamic than this geologist turned founder. Jack's startup, HomeBinder offers invaluable tools to help homeowners manage and record work done on their most valuable asset. It’s getting real traction via home inspectors eager to help home buyers. Breaking News: HomeBinder is in Techstars! Special mention in this episode:  Ed Hosepian and Dean Kahr. Thanks for your generous help in the purchase of the big, dilapidated house in Cambridge. Guys, you were right!  Jack Huntress trained as a geologist and geophysicist then worked as a consultant for decades. Acted as an intrapreneur in building a new practice at an existing firm. No Conjoined Triangles of Success for this Jack – he’s a truly action-prone CEO. How “Chainsaw Jack” got his name. Story told by super angel and CEO whisperer Joe Caruso (Link to Joe Caruso Episode Page) Jack’s owned a bunch of homes including one built in the 1700s. Having been orphaned at an early age he had to come up to speed fast on home maintenance. Homeowner is more like a home steward. Lack of continuity on home maintenance information. HomeBinder solves that problem. Jack bought a house from an owner who had a binder with loads of details about the house including paint colors, receipts for work done, warranties and manuals. This gave Jack the idea for HomeBinder. We homeowners did not have a good way to keep information about the home before HomeBinder. Proactive home maintenance rather than reactive. For the most valuable asset homeowners own, their house. Home inspectors create binder for homeowner, making their life easier. Integrated into home inspection software. Someday, you won’t buy a house without a HomeBinder report. Sal thanks Jack for helping in a crucial moment in the purchase of big dilapidated house in Cambridge. Thank you, Ed and Dean! Getting tens of thousands of HomeBinders set up by home inspectors. Need to enlist other players in the home buying process to grow even faster. Building valuable data on the home. Can tell you about the electricians and plumbers who will show up. Really important! Biggest complaint for plumbers &amp; electricians is that they don’t call you back. Career advice for your kid who’s handy but not a great student. Get the kid into the trades; they’re not going away! HomeBinder is like a drip campaign for the home inspectors in helping inspectors stay in touch with home owners. Sal reads inspiring review from listener Andy_C_B. He points out an underappreciated objective of the podcast, to inspire young people to take on big challenges. Please leave a review on iTunes. Jack’s pivot. Thought real estate brokers were the best initial channel for HomeBinder. Discovered they were not. Real estate agents actually do few transactions per year compared to home inspectors. Average home inspector does 250 to 300 home per year. Home inspectors are ideally positioned to create the HomeBinder. Jack used to dodge managing people; he’s now embraced people management in his startup. Jack Huntress thinks people management can be greatly improved to the huge benefit of our economy. When you get a high-performing team it’s glorious. We should want to go to work. HomeBinder will be in Techstars Boston this year. Inspired by Clem Cazalot of Techstars to apply. Ideas are easy, getting it right is far more valuable than being the first to do something. There was Friendster, then there was My Space and then there was Facebook. Instant success that’s taken seven years. TED Talk by Bill Gross, a very useful way for angels and founders to spend seven minutes: (https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gross_the_single_biggest_reason_why_startups_succeed?language=en) CORRECTION: during the interview I mentioned Bill Gross, the bond genius. The Bill Gross I should have mentioned is the startup genius with the TED Talk linked above. The biggest factor for startup success is market timing, i.e. Lots of companies throw in the towel and a year later their market takes off. Why Jack decided to start a company. Jack was not a good fit at a large company; too impatient with things not being done right. First run at it was as an intrapreneur. Starting a company is like an itch. Like Jack’s need to build potato canons, trebuchets and the like. If you find yourself spending too much time on your hobby and too little time at work, you should take the hint that you’re in the wrong job. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone was a ditherer but his future father in law was not. Filed patent on the telephone just hours prior to another person. Jack’s story about Arthur D. Little &amp; Co. Invented synthetic penicillin, color contact lenses, inkjet printing etc. Sold at a fire sale. Biggest obstacle was raising money. Bootstrapped for four years. Jack read his family into the business he was founding, yet being a startup CEO has been a very lonely experience. Techstars is a great place to find peers to talk to. Sal recommends finding a board member/investor that you can open up to. Jack Huntress’ parting thoughts: founders need to take care of themselves. Eat well, exercise and get enough sleep. Brings to mind wisdom of Brendan Schwartz that you can’t out hustle the competition, you can only out think them. How are you going to out think the competition if you’re exhausted from working twenty-hour days? Link to the Wistia Episode 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Link to Our Syndicates Page</a> Action Jack Barker move over! Chainsaw Jack Huntress is the real deal. CEOs don’t get more dynamic than this geologist turned founder. Jack's startup, HomeBinder offers invaluable tools to help homeowners manage and record work done on their most valuable asset. It’s getting real traction via home inspectors eager to help home buyers. Breaking News: HomeBinder is in Techstars! Special mention in this episode:  Ed Hosepian and Dean Kahr. Thanks for your generous help in the purchase of the big, dilapidated house in Cambridge. Guys, you were right! <ul> <li>Jack Huntress trained as a geologist and geophysicist then worked as a consultant for decades.</li> <li>Acted as an intrapreneur in building a new practice at an existing firm.</li> <li>No Conjoined Triangles of Success for this Jack – he’s a truly action-prone CEO.</li> <li>How “Chainsaw Jack” got his name. Story told by super angel and CEO whisperer Joe Caruso (<a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/ep-49" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Link to Joe Caruso Episode Page</a>)</li> <li>Jack’s owned a bunch of homes including one built in the 1700s. Having been orphaned at an early age he had to come up to speed fast on home maintenance.</li> <li>Homeowner is more like a home steward. Lack of continuity on home maintenance information. HomeBinder solves that problem.</li> <li>Jack bought a house from an owner who had a binder with loads of details about the house including paint colors, receipts for work done, warranties and manuals. This gave Jack the idea for HomeBinder.</li> <li>We homeowners did not have a good way to keep information about the home before HomeBinder.</li> <li>Proactive home maintenance rather than reactive. For the most valuable asset homeowners own, their house.</li> <li>Home inspectors create binder for homeowner, making their life easier.</li> <li>Integrated into home inspection software.</li> <li>Someday, you won’t buy a house without a HomeBinder report.</li> <li>Sal thanks Jack for helping in a crucial moment in the purchase of big dilapidated house in Cambridge. Thank you, Ed and Dean!</li> <li>Getting tens of thousands of HomeBinders set up by home inspectors. Need to enlist other players in the home buying process to grow even faster.</li> <li>Building valuable data on the home.</li> <li>Can tell you about the electricians and plumbers who will show up. Really important!</li> <li>Biggest complaint for plumbers &amp; electricians is that they don’t call you back.</li> <li>Career advice for your kid who’s handy but not a great student. Get the kid into the trades; they’re not going away!</li> <li>HomeBinder is like a drip campaign for the home inspectors in helping inspectors stay in touch with home owners.</li> <li>Sal reads inspiring review from listener Andy_C_B. He points out an underappreciated objective of the podcast, to inspire young people to take on big challenges.</li> <li>Please leave a review on iTunes.</li> <li>Jack’s pivot. Thought real estate brokers were the best initial channel for HomeBinder. Discovered they were not.</li> <li>Real estate agents actually do few transactions per year compared to home inspectors.</li> <li>Average home inspector does 250 to 300 home per year.</li> <li>Home inspectors are ideally positioned to create the HomeBinder.</li> <li>Jack used to dodge managing people; he’s now embraced people management in his startup.</li> <li>Jack Huntress thinks people management can be greatly improved to the huge benefit of our economy.</li> <li>When you get a high-performing team it’s glorious. We should want to go to work.</li> <li>HomeBinder will be in Techstars Boston this year. Inspired by Clem Cazalot of Techstars to apply.</li> <li>Ideas are easy, getting it right is far more valuable than being the first to do something.</li> <li>There was Friendster, then there was My Space and then there was Facebook.</li> <li>Instant success that’s taken seven years.</li> <li>TED Talk by Bill Gross, a very useful way for angels and founders to spend seven minutes: (<a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gross_the_single_biggest_reason_why_startups_succeed?language=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gross_the_single_biggest_reason_why_startups_succeed?language=en</a>)</li> <li>CORRECTION: during the interview I mentioned Bill Gross, the bond genius. The Bill Gross I should have mentioned is the startup genius with the TED Talk linked above.</li> <li>The biggest factor for startup success is market timing, i.e.</li> <li>Lots of companies throw in the towel and a year later their market takes off.</li> <li>Why Jack decided to start a company.</li> <li>Jack was not a good fit at a large company; too impatient with things not being done right.</li> <li>First run at it was as an intrapreneur.</li> <li>Starting a company is like an itch. Like Jack’s need to build potato canons, trebuchets and the like.</li> <li>If you find yourself spending too much time on your hobby and too little time at work, you should take the hint that you’re in the wrong job.</li> <li>Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone was a ditherer but his future father in law was not. Filed patent on the telephone just hours prior to another person.</li> <li>Jack’s story about Arthur D. Little &amp; Co. Invented synthetic penicillin, color contact lenses, inkjet printing etc. Sold at a fire sale.</li> <li>Biggest obstacle was raising money. Bootstrapped for four years.</li> <li>Jack read his family into the business he was founding, yet being a startup CEO has been a very lonely experience. Techstars is a great place to find peers to talk to.</li> <li>Sal recommends finding a board member/investor that you can open up to.</li> <li>Jack Huntress’ parting thoughts: founders need to take care of themselves. Eat well, exercise and get enough sleep.</li> <li>Brings to mind wisdom of Brendan Schwartz that you can’t out hustle the competition, you can only out think them. How are you going to out think the competition if you’re exhausted from working twenty-hour days? <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/ep-40/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Link to the Wistia Episode</a></li> </ul>

Jack Huntress, CEO & Founder of HomeBinder, "Chainsaw Jack"

Brendan Dowdall

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Learn About Our Syndicates From studying Ancient Greek to building a business, founder Brendan Dowdall has traveled an interesting path. Construction is a staid industry but Brendan is revolutionizing it with data. Concrete Sensors’ innovative devices sit in concrete and transmit data. The payoff is already evident in time savings and improvements in quality experienced by the industry’s biggest players. As their data set grows, Concrete Sensors hopes to become the go-to source of information for contractors on concrete. I was an early investor in this company and am excited about its future. It was a fun and instructive interview with a delightful founder. Highlights include:  Sal celebrates the success of portfolio company SQZ Biotech which is working on training our immune systems to fight cancers and other diseases (Interview with Armon Sharei of SQZ Biotech) Brendan Dowdall bio and introduction. Brendan Dowdall explains what Concrete Sensors does and why it matters. Hardware, software, lab &amp; data. Producing reliable results that speed up construction jobs and save money. Co-founder Ryan Twomey and Brendan met while getting their Babson MBA in 2014. Ryan is a software engineer but his mother is an architect and his father worked in a construction company so he was familiar with the space. Ryan and Brendan hit it off and decided to start a business together; Concrete Sensors was the product of what they thought would be their most promising idea. They have now signed up five of the top ten general contractors in the country. Concrete Sensors’ clients finish weeks ahead of time. Sal asks for audience to leave a review or a rating on iTunes. Brendan already left a rating. Concrete Sensor’s big pivot was on how they went to market. Initially selling online but found it did not work; their clients don’t spend time on social media. Had to build a direct sales organization. It was expensive. Execution is 99% of success. How to be lean and still have the right sales operation? Why device businesses are so hard. 2016 McKinsey Report pointed to potential for development in construction. Autodesk has been buying companies in the construction tech space. Starting to become interesting. Selling to a contractor is totally different from selling to other types of businesses. Contractors don’t like to pay for subscriptions; prefer to buy outright. Contractors are sensitive to being left behind technologically. CS is the only player in the business that has a lab and takes a scientific approach to the data. The holy grail for data on a construction site is to know what’s going on without having to enter data. Introducing a hub that gathers data from sensors and transmits via the cellular network to allow remote monitoring. Have 8,000 sensors in place. Hard to find investors; angels don’t understand construction and construction people don’t do early-stage investing. Bolt was their first investor and a huge help. Brendan invites people who are thinking of starting a company to just jump in. he’s found it hugely rewarding. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Learn About Our Syndicates</a> From studying Ancient Greek to building a business, founder Brendan Dowdall has traveled an interesting path. Construction is a staid industry but Brendan is revolutionizing it with data. Concrete Sensors’ innovative devices sit in concrete and transmit data. The payoff is already evident in time savings and improvements in quality experienced by the industry’s biggest players. As their data set grows, Concrete Sensors hopes to become the go-to source of information for contractors on concrete. I was an early investor in this company and am excited about its future. It was a fun and instructive interview with a delightful founder. Highlights include: <ul> <li>Sal celebrates the success of portfolio company SQZ Biotech which is working on training our immune systems to fight cancers and other diseases (<a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/ep-16" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Interview with Armon Sharei of SQZ Biotech</a>)</li> <li>Brendan Dowdall bio and introduction.</li> <li>Brendan Dowdall explains what Concrete Sensors does and why it matters.</li> <li>Hardware, software, lab &amp; data.</li> <li>Producing reliable results that speed up construction jobs and save money.</li> <li>Co-founder Ryan Twomey and Brendan met while getting their Babson MBA in 2014.</li> <li>Ryan is a software engineer but his mother is an architect and his father worked in a construction company so he was familiar with the space.</li> <li>Ryan and Brendan hit it off and decided to start a business together; Concrete Sensors was the product of what they thought would be their most promising idea.</li> <li>They have now signed up five of the top ten general contractors in the country.</li> <li>Concrete Sensors’ clients finish weeks ahead of time.</li> <li>Sal asks for audience to leave a review or a rating on iTunes. Brendan already left a rating.</li> <li>Concrete Sensor’s big pivot was on how they went to market. Initially selling online but found it did not work; their clients don’t spend time on social media. Had to build a direct sales organization. It was expensive.</li> <li>Execution is 99% of success.</li> <li>How to be lean and still have the right sales operation?</li> <li>Why device businesses are so hard.</li> <li>2016 McKinsey Report pointed to potential for development in construction. Autodesk has been buying companies in the construction tech space. Starting to become interesting.</li> <li>Selling to a contractor is totally different from selling to other types of businesses.</li> <li>Contractors don’t like to pay for subscriptions; prefer to buy outright.</li> <li>Contractors are sensitive to being left behind technologically.</li> <li>CS is the only player in the business that has a lab and takes a scientific approach to the data.</li> <li>The holy grail for data on a construction site is to know what’s going on without having to enter data.</li> <li>Introducing a hub that gathers data from sensors and transmits via the cellular network to allow remote monitoring.</li> <li>Have 8,000 sensors in place.</li> <li>Hard to find investors; angels don’t understand construction and construction people don’t do early-stage investing.</li> <li>Bolt was their first investor and a huge help.</li> <li>Brendan invites people who are thinking of starting a company to just jump in. he’s found it hugely rewarding.</li> </ul>

Brendan Dowdall, CEO & Founder "IoT in Construction"

Steve Shapiro

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels in Our Syndicates: Our Investment Syndicates Page Building a business in education is hard but Steve Shapiro has beaten the odds several times. His latest accomplishment is as CEO of FineTune Learning which is set to grade essays from 3.6 million students taking the CollegeBoard's AP Exams starting in July of 2019. Founded by brilliant Maine educator Ogden Morse, FineTune Learning is a platform using software to facilitate human grading of essays at scale. An awesome interview with an outstanding and captivating entrepreneur. Highlights of the interview:  Ogden Morse’s inspired approach made possible the use of software to evaluate answers by students to open response questions. The first product, Literature Companion, got local traction in Maine. However, selling district by district proved daunting. Steve Shapiro opted to go after large businesses that already had established relationships with schools. The danger to Steve’s strategy is that large players can string startups along and not do any business. Ogden, an AP teacher heavily involved in grading the exam, teed up this process for Steve by initiating the conversation with the CollegeBoard, which happened to be the ideal partner for FineTune. The challenge is aligning the standards of the tens of thousands of teachers who grade the AP Exam. CollegeBoard is a leader in developing technology for assessing critical thinking skills; FineTune’s approach was a natural fit. Phase I supports teachers in preparing student for the summative exam which will happen in May 2020. The platform will be used formatively throughout the year and will likely result in students being better prepared for the exam. Helping teachers assess the progress of individual students and of the class as a whole and to remedy weak spots. Phase II will be scoring the exam, a massive production. 5,000,000 exams are taken in early may and need to be graded by mid-June. Challenges: (1) how do we know the exams are being scored reliably and (2) how can the scoring be reported in a coherent way to the test takers. Sal was surprised that FineTune is also in the classroom helping teachers assess learning. FineTune also has a teacher development portal with short videos from master teachers on how they teach each particular topic. Its competency based and allows teachers to earn credit for professional accreditation. FineTune’s pedagogical approach will be used in all 36 AP Exams including the exam in calculus FineTune is collaborating with a small educational publisher to deploy its platform in support of teachers in the classroom outside the context of the AP Exam. Steve Shapiro is not big on the “individualized student journey”; like most educators he believes there’s more value in helping students learn in collaboration with their peers. Tech world is fascinated with individualized learning; educators are not. Rubrics are a set of expectations for student learning; FineTune has pioneered the digital rubrics to empower educators to be more effective at teaching. This also empowers students to understand what is expected. CFA Exam and the Bar Exam are on Steve’s prospect lists. Sal asks for your review of the podcast. The future of FineTune, AI enhancement of the human workflow in education. FineTune is integrating existing AI resources to automate the more mundane aspects of evaluation open responses to questions. Steve thinks the winner is this space will be taking a hybrid approach; using AI where it can help and having humans do the more subtle aspects of the assessment. Example: AI can now discern if there are supporting arguments for a position but will likely always struggle to understand the voice of the writer. Estimates indicate that FineTune’s platform can save teachers 40 to 50% of the time they spend correcting essays. This means teachers can assign more essays. It’s a force multiplier for teachers. Finding your calling: as a high schooler, Steve worked at a local delicatessen that made all its food from scratch and he was captivated by the idea of running a restaurant. One of his father’s students had gone on to the hotel school at Cornell. Steve and his dad went up to Cornell and visited and he loved the hotel school. In the early 1980s when Steve went to the Hotel School at Cornell, entrepreneurship was not yet cool, but there was a strong entrepreneurial spirit in the hotel program. In those days, people coming out of an Ivy League school looked for safe careers in large companies, startups were not an option for most graduates. A required summer internship exposed Steve to the risks of the restaurant business and dissuaded him from that career path as an owner. Working in the hospitality industry instilled in Steve the importance of pleasing your customer; it now informs his approach to product management. Working at a large bank as a credit analyst after business school convinced Steve that banking was not for him. While on a hiatus from graduate school at Harvard, Steve’s wife was working for a company that taught brought in foreign students to Boston. She convinced him he could start a similar business an be really good at it with his background in hospitality. This idea became American Learning, Steve’s most successful venture. Steve emphasizes that a lot of his success was due to lucky timing; he caught the start of a wave of foreign students wanting to come to the US to study. Good timing is everything in business. Focused on four-week stays and for students mostly from Japan. Had so much business they could almost not accommodate all the students who wanted to come. Being at the right place at the right time with the right skills led to a big success. Two-sided market: American kids teaching English to Japanese kids created an inter-cultural experience for local youth while serving foreign students. American Learning generated an unexpected benefit of wonderful good-will between Americans and Japanese people, frequently bypassing negative media stereotypes. Loads of positive unexpected benefits from intentional decisions that achieved their aim and got an additional unplanned bonus. Social impact imperative. Next business was tutoring for kids in poor neighborhoods. Provided parents with formation to help parents navigate the school system for the benefit of their kids. Third business was a workforce training. Helping blue-collar workers to transition to white-collar jobs. Cornell’s hotel wine courses and beer courses; highly popular electives! Steve’s best job ever was being a teaching assistant to a multi-hundred student wine course. Had to manage wine sampling and (boo-hoo) deal with the left-overs! Steve also learned computer programming, accounting and a bunch of other practical disciplines at the Hotel School. Steve is a big believer in bootstrapping your business and raising money only if you really must. He mentioned “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley as providing the surest way to wealth. Steve is a member of Launchpad Venture Group (a leading angel group in Boston) and Red Bear Angels (Cornell’s angel group). Involved in LearnLaunch, America’s premier ed-tech accelerator in Boston. Steve is also a fan of “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi, the best book on business networking. If you get in the habit of helping others amazing things come back to you. Steve’s advice to first-time founders: really bone up on the competitive landscape to understand what your unique advantage your business can offer customers. He sees a lot of pitches in which not enough attention is given to the competitive matrix. Watch the Bill Gross video on startup success. Be sure to go into entrepreneurship for the right reasons; job avoidance is not a good reason. Bootstrap as much as you can; it’s easier than ever to do that. Once you have real data on your business investors will be chasing you. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels in Our Syndicates: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our Investment Syndicates Page</a> Building a business in education is hard but Steve Shapiro has beaten the odds several times. His latest accomplishment is as CEO of FineTune Learning which is set to grade essays from 3.6 million students taking the CollegeBoard's AP Exams starting in July of 2019. Founded by brilliant Maine educator Ogden Morse, FineTune Learning is a platform using software to facilitate human grading of essays at scale. An awesome interview with an outstanding and captivating entrepreneur. Highlights of the interview: <ul> <li>Ogden Morse’s inspired approach made possible the use of software to evaluate answers by students to open response questions.</li> <li>The first product, Literature Companion, got local traction in Maine. However, selling district by district proved daunting.</li> <li>Steve Shapiro opted to go after large businesses that already had established relationships with schools.</li> <li>The danger to Steve’s strategy is that large players can string startups along and not do any business.</li> <li>Ogden, an AP teacher heavily involved in grading the exam, teed up this process for Steve by initiating the conversation with the CollegeBoard, which happened to be the ideal partner for FineTune.</li> <li>The challenge is aligning the standards of the tens of thousands of teachers who grade the AP Exam.</li> <li>CollegeBoard is a leader in developing technology for assessing critical thinking skills; FineTune’s approach was a natural fit.</li> <li>Phase I supports teachers in preparing student for the summative exam which will happen in May 2020. The platform will be used formatively throughout the year and will likely result in students being better prepared for the exam. Helping teachers assess the progress of individual students and of the class as a whole and to remedy weak spots.</li> <li>Phase II will be scoring the exam, a massive production. 5,000,000 exams are taken in early may and need to be graded by mid-June. Challenges: (1) how do we know the exams are being scored reliably and (2) how can the scoring be reported in a coherent way to the test takers.</li> <li>Sal was surprised that FineTune is also in the classroom helping teachers assess learning.</li> <li>FineTune also has a teacher development portal with short videos from master teachers on how they teach each particular topic. Its competency based and allows teachers to earn credit for professional accreditation.</li> <li>FineTune’s pedagogical approach will be used in all 36 AP Exams including the exam in calculus</li> <li>FineTune is collaborating with a small educational publisher to deploy its platform in support of teachers in the classroom outside the context of the AP Exam.</li> <li>Steve Shapiro is not big on the “individualized student journey”; like most educators he believes there’s more value in helping students learn in collaboration with their peers.</li> <li>Tech world is fascinated with individualized learning; educators are not.</li> <li>Rubrics are a set of expectations for student learning; FineTune has pioneered the digital rubrics to empower educators to be more effective at teaching. This also empowers students to understand what is expected.</li> <li>CFA Exam and the Bar Exam are on Steve’s prospect lists.</li> <li>Sal asks for your review of the podcast.</li> <li>The future of FineTune, AI enhancement of the human workflow in education.</li> <li>FineTune is integrating existing AI resources to automate the more mundane aspects of evaluation open responses to questions.</li> <li>Steve thinks the winner is this space will be taking a hybrid approach; using AI where it can help and having humans do the more subtle aspects of the assessment.</li> <li>Example: AI can now discern if there are supporting arguments for a position but will likely always struggle to understand the voice of the writer.</li> <li>Estimates indicate that FineTune’s platform can save teachers 40 to 50% of the time they spend correcting essays. This means teachers can assign more essays. It’s a force multiplier for teachers.</li> <li>Finding your calling: as a high schooler, Steve worked at a local delicatessen that made all its food from scratch and he was captivated by the idea of running a restaurant. One of his father’s students had gone on to the hotel school at Cornell. Steve and his dad went up to Cornell and visited and he loved the hotel school.</li> <li>In the early 1980s when Steve went to the Hotel School at Cornell, entrepreneurship was not yet cool, but there was a strong entrepreneurial spirit in the hotel program.</li> <li>In those days, people coming out of an Ivy League school looked for safe careers in large companies, startups were not an option for most graduates.</li> <li>A required summer internship exposed Steve to the risks of the restaurant business and dissuaded him from that career path as an owner.</li> <li>Working in the hospitality industry instilled in Steve the importance of pleasing your customer; it now informs his approach to product management.</li> <li>Working at a large bank as a credit analyst after business school convinced Steve that banking was not for him.</li> <li>While on a hiatus from graduate school at Harvard, Steve’s wife was working for a company that taught brought in foreign students to Boston. She convinced him he could start a similar business an be really good at it with his background in hospitality.</li> <li>This idea became American Learning, Steve’s most successful venture.</li> <li>Steve emphasizes that a lot of his success was due to lucky timing; he caught the start of a wave of foreign students wanting to come to the US to study. Good timing is everything in business.</li> <li>Focused on four-week stays and for students mostly from Japan. Had so much business they could almost not accommodate all the students who wanted to come.</li> <li>Being at the right place at the right time with the right skills led to a big success.</li> <li>Two-sided market: American kids teaching English to Japanese kids created an inter-cultural experience for local youth while serving foreign students.</li> <li>American Learning generated an unexpected benefit of wonderful good-will between Americans and Japanese people, frequently bypassing negative media stereotypes.</li> <li>Loads of positive unexpected benefits from intentional decisions that achieved their aim and got an additional unplanned bonus. Social impact imperative.</li> <li>Next business was tutoring for kids in poor neighborhoods. Provided parents with formation to help parents navigate the school system for the benefit of their kids.</li> <li>Third business was a workforce training. Helping blue-collar workers to transition to white-collar jobs.</li> <li>Cornell’s hotel wine courses and beer courses; highly popular electives!</li> <li>Steve’s best job ever was being a teaching assistant to a multi-hundred student wine course. Had to manage wine sampling and (boo-hoo) deal with the left-overs!</li> <li>Steve also learned computer programming, accounting and a bunch of other practical disciplines at the Hotel School.</li> <li>Steve is a big believer in bootstrapping your business and raising money only if you really must.</li> <li>He mentioned “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley as providing the surest way to wealth.</li> <li>Steve is a member of Launchpad Venture Group (a leading angel group in Boston) and Red Bear Angels (Cornell’s angel group).</li> <li>Involved in LearnLaunch, America’s premier ed-tech accelerator in Boston.</li> <li>Steve is also a fan of “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi, the best book on business networking.</li> <li>If you get in the habit of helping others amazing things come back to you.</li> <li>Steve’s advice to first-time founders: really bone up on the competitive landscape to understand what your unique advantage your business can offer customers. He sees a lot of pitches in which not enough attention is given to the competitive matrix.</li> <li>Watch the Bill Gross video on startup success.</li> <li>Be sure to go into entrepreneurship for the right reasons; job avoidance is not a good reason.</li> <li>Bootstrap as much as you can; it’s easier than ever to do that. Once you have real data on your business investors will be chasing you.</li> </ul>

Steve Shapiro, CEO & Founder "Miracle-Working CEO"

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Our Syndicates - Get Qualified The need to re-skill is essential for workers confronting AI with obsolescent knowledge. Techstars alum Ace-Up is addressing this problem with a software platform that makes executive coaching more accessible and accountable. Founder Will Foussier opened for us a fascinating window into this important but obscure industry. Highlights include:  Will Foussier a young Frenchman who studied in France and Switzerland, had stints at Ralph Lauren, Raymond James and the Clinton Global Initiative. At the Clinton Global Initiative Will Foussier had the opportunity to use an executive coach and came to realize how valuable it is. Companies ranging from GE to the dynamic startup LovePop are seeing the value of Ace-Up’s coaching platform. It’s expensive to hire people; coaching makes the most of company’s most valuable resource, its people. “We leverage technology to deploy personalized executive coaching in a way that is scalable, impactful and measurable.” At Sanofi, Ace-Up deploys coaching to more than 100 women leaders in 22 countries and in five different languages. The skills gap within organizations is wider than ever. In the 1990s people’s skills were relevant for almost 30 years, digitalization has reduced that to five years now. 2/3 of employees consider that they are not properly supported by their employers. Founding story: working as an analyst of the telecoms industry at Raymond James in London, Will wanted to do something more significant. This led him to the CGI where he learned how an executive coach can change your life. Will started to dream about using technology to make coaching more accessible. Ace-Up’s team is 18 people from diverse backgrounds. Sal talks about his early investment in Vedanta Biosciences, a leading company in the microbiome space. He invites those curious about the intriguing startups that abound in Boston to fill out the accredited investor form at AngelInvesBoston.com. Will credits the traction Ace-Up is getting to the effort to connect with a lot of people aided by the introductions and mentoring provided by Techstars. The stint at this top accelerator helped Ace-Up sharpen their message. Techstars’ focus on giving helped mold the culture at Ace-Up. Ace-Up wants to build a seamless platform for one-to-one remote learning that is progressive and keeps track of what works. They now have 500 coaches on their SaaS-enabled marketplace. The next step is to build value around this core market by providing rich learning content and benchmarking tools. Seeking to automate instructional design. Tend to work with the Chief People Officer or VP of Talent. User start by doing an assessment. The platform recommends coaches for the user to evaluate. Coach and employee/user jointly develop a coaching plan. The solution offered by Ace-Up is framed as a benefit for employees. By the end of 2019 Ace-Up expects to be at $2MM ARR by the end of 2020 they project $5MM ARR. By the end of 2019 they will be in 100 companies. The goal is to develop long-term collaborations with their client companies. 94% of Millennials consider that the reason to stay at a company is career development, this places an emphasis on companies supporting the development of their employees through executive coaching. It’s getting harder and harder for companies with bad cultures to compete in today’s marketplace. They can’t hide anymore. Building an employer brand is growing in importance. Will realized at the Clinton Global Initiative that his calling was to redistribute opportunities to others. Coaching is an amazing way to do that. Inspiring. Will and Sal speculate how by 2030 Ace-Up’s services could be broadly available. Will thinks that coaching and mentoring will inevitably continue to grow and that this trend will greatly benefit the country. Will’s advice to founders: (1) every moment counts, make the best of it, and (2) get out of your comfort zone. Will emphasizes the importance of having a vision, which at first may be unpolished but which eventually, through effort, can be refined. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our Syndicates - Get Qualified</a> The need to re-skill is essential for workers confronting AI with obsolescent knowledge. Techstars alum Ace-Up is addressing this problem with a software platform that makes executive coaching more accessible and accountable. Founder Will Foussier opened for us a fascinating window into this important but obscure industry. Highlights include: <ul> <li>Will Foussier a young Frenchman who studied in France and Switzerland, had stints at Ralph Lauren, Raymond James and the Clinton Global Initiative.</li> <li>At the Clinton Global Initiative Will Foussier had the opportunity to use an executive coach and came to realize how valuable it is.</li> <li>Companies ranging from GE to the dynamic startup LovePop are seeing the value of Ace-Up’s coaching platform.</li> <li>It’s expensive to hire people; coaching makes the most of company’s most valuable resource, its people.</li> <li>“We leverage technology to deploy personalized executive coaching in a way that is scalable, impactful and measurable.”</li> <li>At Sanofi, Ace-Up deploys coaching to more than 100 women leaders in 22 countries and in five different languages.</li> <li>The skills gap within organizations is wider than ever. In the 1990s people’s skills were relevant for almost 30 years, digitalization has reduced that to five years now. 2/3 of employees consider that they are not properly supported by their employers.</li> <li>Founding story: working as an analyst of the telecoms industry at Raymond James in London, Will wanted to do something more significant. This led him to the CGI where he learned how an executive coach can change your life.</li> <li>Will started to dream about using technology to make coaching more accessible.</li> <li>Ace-Up’s team is 18 people from diverse backgrounds.</li> <li>Sal talks about his early investment in Vedanta Biosciences, a leading company in the microbiome space. He invites those curious about the intriguing startups that abound in Boston to fill out the accredited investor form at <a href="http://AngelInvesBoston.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AngelInvesBoston.com</a>.</li> <li>Will credits the traction Ace-Up is getting to the effort to connect with a lot of people aided by the introductions and mentoring provided by Techstars. The stint at this top accelerator helped Ace-Up sharpen their message.</li> <li>Techstars’ focus on giving helped mold the culture at Ace-Up.</li> <li>Ace-Up wants to build a seamless platform for one-to-one remote learning that is progressive and keeps track of what works. They now have 500 coaches on their SaaS-enabled marketplace. The next step is to build value around this core market by providing rich learning content and benchmarking tools.</li> <li>Seeking to automate instructional design.</li> <li>Tend to work with the Chief People Officer or VP of Talent. User start by doing an assessment. The platform recommends coaches for the user to evaluate. Coach and employee/user jointly develop a coaching plan.</li> <li>The solution offered by Ace-Up is framed as a benefit for employees.</li> <li>By the end of 2019 Ace-Up expects to be at $2MM ARR by the end of 2020 they project $5MM ARR.</li> <li>By the end of 2019 they will be in 100 companies.</li> <li>The goal is to develop long-term collaborations with their client companies.</li> <li>94% of Millennials consider that the reason to stay at a company is career development, this places an emphasis on companies supporting the development of their employees through executive coaching.</li> <li>It’s getting harder and harder for companies with bad cultures to compete in today’s marketplace. They can’t hide anymore.</li> <li>Building an employer brand is growing in importance.</li> <li>Will realized at the Clinton Global Initiative that his calling was to redistribute opportunities to others. Coaching is an amazing way to do that. Inspiring.</li> <li>Will and Sal speculate how by 2030 Ace-Up’s services could be broadly available.</li> <li>Will thinks that coaching and mentoring will inevitably continue to grow and that this trend will greatly benefit the country.</li> <li>Will’s advice to founders: (1) every moment counts, make the best of it, and (2) get out of your comfort zone.</li> <li>Will emphasizes the importance of having a vision, which at first may be unpolished but which eventually, through effort, can be refined.</li> </ul>

Will Foussier, Founder & CEO "Ace-Up: Executive Coaching Re-Invented"

Invest with Sal's Syndicate: Sal's Syndicates “The biggest thing that we learned is that 78% of them were struggling to share those stories with their consumers, the biggest reason being a fear of feeling inauthentic.” “What do I mean by the organic model? I mean that the influencers we're engaging for these brands are not paid.” Ashland Stansbury, age 23, is building a new category with her startup, Because Intelligence. Belief marketing helps brands create genuine connections with their customers. She’s funded by Launchpad and BOSS Syndicate. Highlights include:  Sal Daher’s Intro Correction: Enterprises Manage to Capture 5% of the Value They Create Not 2% as Stated Bio of Ashland Stansbury What Because Intelligence, Ashland’s Startup, Does Common Misconception that Only Expensive Products Are Environmentally Conscious The Founding Story of Because Intelligence “So, we took this approach of going out and talking to as many of our customers as possible. We got on the phone with over 50 different enterprise consumer brands.” “The biggest thing that we learned is that 78% of them were struggling to share those stories with their consumers, the biggest reason being a fear of feeling inauthentic.” “…I knew I was really good at was convincing other people to follow my mission.” “…if we can prove that giving back is actually good for business, that it actually impacts the bottom line, then we can financially motivate corporations to get involved in our key social and environmental issues.” How Ashland Stansbury Won Over Investors Skeptical That Her Startup Could Be Profitable “…we have all these metrics around how consumers are buying, and essentially proving the facts and figures behind this mission.” Sal Daher Talks About One of His Favorite Portfolio Companies: SQZ Biotech If You Are an Accredited Investor Do Check Out Sal’s Syndicate at AngelInvestBoston.com Go to Market Strategy for Because Intelligence “What do I mean by the organic model? I mean that the influencers we're engaging for these brands are not paid.” “Our long-term vision is to eventually become the social platform for talking about causes and beliefs.” Where Ashland Expects the Company to Be in Five Years Ashland Stansbury’s Father Is a Repeat Founder Who Inspired Her to Be a Founder Ashland Stansbury’s House Painting Company Started When She was a Freshman at Babson Entrepreneur of the Year Crazy Story from Her House Painting Company Days Pros &amp; Cons of Early Entrepreneurship “…and I went off and did this crazy path of not taking a salary, living off of ramen noodles.” “I'm that annoying person at the gym that's always on the phone.” Sharing Your Wisdom: Getting Funded by Launchpad &amp; The BOSS Syndicate “…we have really been trying to bring on investors who bring tremendous advice and network and value to the table on top of just capital.” “Last summer, I spent the entire summer building up my founder network.” “…when you go in to get advice from an entrepreneur, they will open up their network to you.” Because Intelligence Is Hiring "Be fearless in what you stand for and talk about your beliefs…" 

Invest with Sal's Syndicate: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sal's Syndicates</a> “The biggest thing that we learned is that 78% of them were struggling to share those stories with their consumers, the biggest reason being a fear of feeling inauthentic.” “What do I mean by the organic model? I mean that the influencers we're engaging for these brands are not paid.” Ashland Stansbury, age 23, is building a new category with her startup, Because Intelligence. Belief marketing helps brands create genuine connections with their customers. She’s funded by Launchpad and BOSS Syndicate. Highlights include: <ul> <li>Sal Daher’s Intro</li> <li>Correction: Enterprises Manage to Capture 5% of the Value They Create Not 2% as Stated</li> <li>Bio of Ashland Stansbury</li> <li>What Because Intelligence, Ashland’s Startup, Does</li> <li>Common Misconception that Only Expensive Products Are Environmentally Conscious</li> <li>The Founding Story of Because Intelligence</li> <li>“So, we took this approach of going out and talking to as many of our customers as possible. We got on the phone with over 50 different enterprise consumer brands.”</li> <li>“The biggest thing that we learned is that 78% of them were struggling to share those stories with their consumers, the biggest reason being a fear of feeling inauthentic.”</li> <li>“…I knew I was really good at was convincing other people to follow my mission.”</li> <li>“…if we can prove that giving back is actually good for business, that it actually impacts the bottom line, then we can financially motivate corporations to get involved in our key social and environmental issues.”</li> <li>How Ashland Stansbury Won Over Investors Skeptical That Her Startup Could Be Profitable</li> <li>“…we have all these metrics around how consumers are buying, and essentially proving the facts and figures behind this mission.”</li> <li>Sal Daher Talks About One of His Favorite Portfolio Companies: SQZ Biotech</li> <li>If You Are an Accredited Investor Do Check Out Sal’s Syndicate at <a href="http://AngelInvestBoston.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AngelInvestBoston.com</a></li> <li>Go to Market Strategy for Because Intelligence</li> <li>“What do I mean by the organic model? I mean that the influencers we're engaging for these brands are not paid.”</li> <li>“Our long-term vision is to eventually become the social platform for talking about causes and beliefs.”</li> <li>Where Ashland Expects the Company to Be in Five Years</li> <li>Ashland Stansbury’s Father Is a Repeat Founder Who Inspired Her to Be a Founder</li> <li>Ashland Stansbury’s House Painting Company Started When She was a Freshman at Babson</li> <li>Entrepreneur of the Year</li> <li>Crazy Story from Her House Painting Company Days</li> <li>Pros &amp; Cons of Early Entrepreneurship</li> <li>“…and I went off and did this crazy path of not taking a salary, living off of ramen noodles.”</li> <li>“I'm that annoying person at the gym that's always on the phone.”</li> <li>Sharing Your Wisdom: Getting Funded by Launchpad &amp; The BOSS Syndicate</li> <li>“…we have really been trying to bring on investors who bring tremendous advice and network and value to the table on top of just capital.”</li> <li>“Last summer, I spent the entire summer building up my founder network.”</li> <li>“…when you go in to get advice from an entrepreneur, they will open up their network to you.”</li> <li>Because Intelligence Is Hiring</li> <li>"Be fearless in what you stand for and talk about your beliefs…"</li> </ul>

Ashland Stansbury, CEO and Founder "Because Intelligence: Belief Marketing Platform"

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: Learn About Our Syndicates How his grandfather succeeded despite being blind inspired Shivang Dave, Ph.D. to change the world.  As an accomplished bioengineer and a founder, he aims to bring high-quality eye exams to the masses in India with a new device. The Madrid-MIT M+Visión Fellowship was crucial to building a capable and cohesive founding team for PlenOptika. Shivang was a cheery and inspiring guest; great interview! Some highlights:  Shivang Dave, Ph.D. bio Shivang introduces his wonderfully multi-disciplinary co-founders: Eduardo Lage, Ph.D., Daryl Lim, Ph.D., and Nick Durr, Ph.D. Device looks like binoculars from Star Wars. Addresses a massive problem: 1.5 billion worldwide don’t have the eye glasses they need. The scarcity of trained vision professionals and the large size of optical equipment creates bottle necks outside rich countries. Market research with NGOs and other stakeholders pointed to the need for an accurate, portable and cheap autorefractor. As they spun out from MIT, they discovered that there was also a need for their device in high-resource setting such as the US. Founding story: Madrid-MIT M+Visión Fellowship, an MIT program set up with the government of Madrid to support 34 post-docs working together over 5years in identifying solutions for important problems. Daryl Lim, an optics-related Ph.D., discovered that poor vision was a major health problem. Nick Durr also had optics background. Shivang had worked on translating technology to address global health issues; Eduardo had built scanners used by GE. Plan was to create a work-saving device to multiply the capacity of trained professionals. Interplay between the perfect image and what your brain expects to see. PlenOptika and Zipline parallels. Shout-out to MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS). Leave a review on iTunes for Angel Invest Boston. Go to market strategy for PlenOptika. Business plan: sell the device. Massive market. Competition: disrupting desktop autorefractor. Other portable technologies; complementary? Slower to market but best-developed device. Fail fast not always applicable; particularly in medical devices. Backed up by independent studies. De-risks tech for users. Launched in India a year ago, launched in the US five months ago and both are going well. In 2020 expect to be expanding globally. Influenced by poverty in India and his grandfather’s blindness, Shivang felt compelled to do something to improve the world. First thought of being a doctor but realized that biotech could have impact on a much larger scale by creating medical tools. Publishing papers was not enough; wanted to take the technology out into the world. Worked at Celera Genomics; colleagues saw Shivang’s entrepreneurial spirit and urged him to pursue it. Grandfather was an entrepreneur despite blindness. Shivang’s fundraising advice for device companies; make sure to focus only on investors that invest in hardware. Chasing the wrong investors wastes a lot of time. Surround yourself with good advisors. Getting to no faster can actually save time. Sal say to angels, don’t BS founders; if you know you won’t invest, tell the founders right away. Shivang advises founders to steel themselves and their teams to the challenges of raising money and building the product. Don’t be surprised that it’s hard. 

Invest Alongside Boston's Top Angels: <a href="https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Learn About Our Syndicates</a> How his grandfather succeeded despite being blind inspired Shivang Dave, Ph.D. to change the world.  As an accomplished bioengineer and a founder, he aims to bring high-quality eye exams to the masses in India with a new device. The Madrid-MIT M+Visión Fellowship was crucial to building a capable and cohesive founding team for PlenOptika. Shivang was a cheery and inspiring guest; great interview! Some highlights: <ul> <li>Shivang Dave, Ph.D. bio</li> <li>Shivang introduces his wonderfully multi-disciplinary co-founders: Eduardo Lage, Ph.D., Daryl Lim, Ph.D., and Nick Durr, Ph.D.</li> <li>Device looks like binoculars from Star Wars.</li> <li>Addresses a massive problem: 1.5 billion worldwide don’t have the eye glasses they need.</li> <li>The scarcity of trained vision professionals and the large size of optical equipment creates bottle necks outside rich countries.</li> <li>Market research with NGOs and other stakeholders pointed to the need for an accurate, portable and cheap autorefractor.</li> <li>As they spun out from MIT, they discovered that there was also a need for their device in high-resource setting such as the US.</li> <li>Founding story: Madrid-MIT M+Visión Fellowship, an MIT program set up with the government of Madrid to support 34 post-docs working together over 5years in identifying solutions for important problems. Daryl Lim, an optics-related Ph.D., discovered that poor vision was a major health problem. Nick Durr also had optics background.</li> <li>Shivang had worked on translating technology to address global health issues; Eduardo had built scanners used by GE.</li> <li>Plan was to create a work-saving device to multiply the capacity of trained professionals.</li> <li>Interplay between the perfect image and what your brain expects to see.</li> <li>PlenOptika and Zipline parallels.</li> <li>Shout-out to MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS).</li> <li>Leave a review on iTunes for Angel Invest Boston.</li> <li>Go to market strategy for PlenOptika.</li> <li>Business plan: sell the device. Massive market.</li> <li>Competition: disrupting desktop autorefractor. Other portable technologies; complementary?</li> <li>Slower to market but best-developed device.</li> <li>Fail fast not always applicable; particularly in medical devices.</li> <li>Backed up by independent studies. De-risks tech for users.</li> <li>Launched in India a year ago, launched in the US five months ago and both are going well. In 2020 expect to be expanding globally.</li> <li>Influenced by poverty in India and his grandfather’s blindness, Shivang felt compelled to do something to improve the world.</li> <li>First thought of being a doctor but realized that biotech could have impact on a much larger scale by creating medical tools.</li> <li>Publishing papers was not enough; wanted to take the technology out into the world.</li> <li>Worked at Celera Genomics; colleagues saw Shivang’s entrepreneurial spirit and urged him to pursue it. Grandfather was an entrepreneur despite blindness.</li> <li>Shivang’s fundraising advice for device companies; make sure to focus only on investors that invest in hardware. Chasing the wrong investors wastes a lot of time.</li> <li>Surround yourself with good advisors.</li> <li>Getting to no faster can actually save time.</li> <li>Sal say to angels, don’t BS founders; if you know you won’t invest, tell the founders right away.</li> <li>Shivang advises founders to steel themselves and their teams to the challenges of raising money and building the product. Don’t be surprised that it’s hard.</li> </ul>

Shivang Dave, CEO & Founder, "PlenOptika: Vision for India & Beyond"

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