Awesome Inc

This episode is for founders.

In Part 1, Keith McMunn, Director of the Awesome Fellowship, program talks about the importance of knowing your roots, and the direction Awesome Inc's startup programming is headed and shares some behind-the-scenes goals most people don't know about.

Jamie shares why she’s so passionate about changing the narrative around performance management (aka make metrics meetings not suck) and dispels some of the myths around Google's culture (is there free food? free dry cleaning? free massages??)

Performance Management articles: 

This episode is for innovators. 

We have Jamie Rosenstein Wittman, who is a boomerang (which is a term we’re desperately trying to normalize at Awesome Inc). She grew up In Lexington, KY, and left to spread her wings at Cornell and Google. For now, she's back to take advantage of remote learning and further her career.

Show notes:

This episode is for innovators.

Garrett and Liz wrap up their time with Andy as he shares how he pivoted the Lexington Legends business model (yes, professional baseball teams do have those) and sought out baseball talent of all ages. 

Check out our conversation with the founders of Zone Traxx! Co-founder, Tommy Warner, is a pitcher for this organization. 

This episode is for innovators.

Garrett and Liz start another Innovation Inc series and interview Andy Shea, President, and CEO of the Lexington Legends to talk about how he organically created a baseball brand that’s now known for innovation.

Blake Reichenbach of Hubspot, a light-hearted Boomerang tech enthusiast and entrepreneur, shares insights into how Internet users' ignorance is in fact exploited and capitalized for "The Algorithms." 

He discusses tech ethics - no, not quite "ethics" from Billy Madison - and why there is a lack of clarity around this topic, how to properly say L.A., and how to confidently wear fruit patterns on your clothes.

Resources:

*Parental advisory material at 23:45-24:00*

This episode is for innovators.

In the final episode, Ben Atkinson from Toyota talks about how to manage the diverse skill sets of teams to find the balance between developing and maintaining ideas. Companies need both innovators and adaptors to feel the freedom to pitch and develop ideas for the machine of innovation to work.

And bringing it full circle, they talk about how the corporate world and the startup world are “a marriage waiting to happen.”

Ben ends by sharing his strongest emotional muscle and his greatest piece of advice for innovators that he would share with his younger self.

In this episode, Ben Atkinson from Toyota explains the S curve of innovation and the difference between attainers, maintainers, and sustainers (we like to think of it as the Enneagram, but for corporate employees).

They talk about the risk of growing a team that can both dream and build and sustain ideas, which often means hiring the right people *before* the right time.

They cover Scottie Pippin, teenage driving, and bourbon. You won’t want to miss it.

This episode is for innovators.

We invited one of Venture Lab’s closest friends, Ben Atkinson from Toyota, to talk about what innovation actually means (and about beat-up Toyota Camrys).

Ben explains that Luiz Pere-Breva’s definition, from his book, Innovating: A Doer’s Manifesto..., “Bringing parts and people together, to solve a problem in a novel way.” gets us partway to a clear understanding of what innovation is...it’s solving problems in new ways.

But, if we apply some systems thinking to this definition, we arrive at a much more useful definition.

If you care about innovation and are looking for a more effective way to talk about it, this episode is for you.

Silver Fern Group is a technology company providing software, mobile apps, IoT Devices, data analytics, and custom solutions for the horticulture industry. The team at Silver Fern is helping Individuals simplify their businesses with technology for growers. 

Adam VanWingerden sits down, shares his recent experiences, and talks about the mindset needed to succeed. Taking action yields fruit, it's just a matter of time.