In today’s powerful episode, Gregg Cohen sits down with Dilip Rao, CEO & founder of Sharebite, for a deeply inspiring conversation about resilience, second chances, and the power of overcoming adversity. From his unconventional journey into Wall Street to a life-altering car accident that reshaped his life and career, Dilip’s story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.

Dilip opens up about his recovery process after the accident and how it completely shifted his perspective on life. He reflects on the importance of gratitude, neuroplasticity, and the human brain’s incredible ability to heal. His story is not just about surviving a near-death experience, but about using that experience to fuel a mission that helps others.

As the founder of Sharebite, Dilip is on a mission to tackle food insecurity in the workplace. He shares how his journey, which started in the challenging world of finance, led him to launch a platform that ensures workers in America have access to meal benefits, regardless of their circumstances. ️

In this candid conversation, Dilip emphasizes how food insecurity affects hard-working professionals, many of whom go hungry without anyone ever knowing. He believes that by incentivizing meal benefits as part of employee well-being, companies can make a world of difference. With Sharebite already seeing a 95% utilization rate for meal benefits, Dilip’s vision for the future is clear: food insecurity is solvable, and it starts with us.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to be inspired by a story of perseverance, vision, and the power of second chances. Dilip's belief in using setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow shines through every part of this conversation.

Don’t miss out on this motivating and heartwarming episode about the resilience of the human spirit and the power of innovative thinking to solve real-world problems.

Gregg Cohen Interviews Larry Hutcher: The Evolution of Law in the AI Era 

Welcome back to my channel! It's been four years since I last had Larry Hutcher on the podcast, and so much has changed in the legal industry. Larry, the Co-Managing Partner at Davidoff, Hutcher, and Citron, joins us to discuss the transformative role of AI, the firm’s culture, and the ever-changing landscape of law.

Larry shares his insights on AI, noting that while it's a buzzword, many attorneys are cautious due to instances of inaccurate case citations. He emphasizes the importance of double-checking AI-generated content and sees AI as a useful starting tool, not a finished product. Although some attorneys at Larry’s firm are exploring AI, Larry himself remains wary. He advises using available resources cautiously and emphasizes mindful implementation.

Larry's firm boasts a 50-year history as a quintessential New York middle-market firm with a strong culture. They pride themselves on being a "scrappy Knicks" team, with a hard-nosed, aggressive approach that attracts clients. The firm operates on a collegiate, face-to-face basis, fostering a cohesive team environment. They value a well-rounded life for their attorneys and staff, accommodating personal needs like attending children’s games and ensuring that work on weekends is only when necessary. Clear expectations about in-office work foster a team-oriented atmosphere.

Larry discusses the rise in M&A activity, the reasons behind firm breakups, and the complexities of integrating new attorneys or entire firms. He prefers bringing in individual attorneys over entire firms to maintain cultural cohesion. Networking and referrals are crucial, and Larry highlights the importance of building relationships with other attorneys and the value of referrals. His two most successful relationships stem from networking with attorneys in complementary practice areas.

For those considering starting their own firms, Larry stresses the importance of financial preparation, having a comprehensive setup, and partnering with someone else rather than going solo. Larry reflects on the challenges and scrutiny in the legal profession, especially with high-profile cases like the Trump trial. Despite the pressures, he remains passionate about the law after 50 years in the field.

Stay tuned for my next episode as I explore more topics in the legal field among managing partners!

In this episode of Conversations with Cohen, I sit down with Jasson Casey, CEO and co-founder of Beyond Identity. Jasson’s journey is a fascinating one that came full circle, starting from his high school days writing software for local companies to realizing the potential of startups. A pivotal moment in college, sparked by a book on Craig Computer, inspired him to embark on his entrepreneurial path.

Jasson’s first startup experience at 19, coupled with the influence of Jim Clark’s book The New New Thing, shaped his career trajectory. After serving as CTO at Security Scorecard, Jasson felt the itch to push the boundaries of the security world. While sailing in the Mediterranean, he received an email from Jim Clark, initially thought to be spam, which led to their collaboration on a groundbreaking venture focused on password-less authentication.

Jasson explains the flaws in traditional password systems and how Beyond Identity leverages asymmetric cryptography and modern signature systems to enhance security. He shares insights on the concept of zero trust, the challenges of corporate adoption, and the federal mandate for agencies to eliminate password-based access within 18 months.

We also delve into the impacts of COVID-19 on startups, the nuances of remote vs. in-person work culture, and Jasson’s passion for reading. He offers book recommendations, including The New New Thing, and discusses his current reads like How Democracies Die and the Faller Series by Peter F. Hamilton.

Tune in to discover Jasson’s journey, the innovations at Beyond Identity, and his thoughts on cybersecurity’s future. Connect with Jasson on BeyondIdentity.com, LinkedIn, or at major security expos. Don’t miss this insightful conversation!

Join Gregg Cohen in an inspiring interview with Dima Gutzeit, the founder and CEO of LeapXpert, as he shares his remarkable journey and the innovative strides of LeapXpert in revolutionizing professional communication within enterprise procedures and consumer messengers. Born in 1978 in the Soviet Union, Dima's life took a dramatic turn when his family, facing the collapse of their country, moved to Israel. This transition from a communist regime to a vibrant new environment was challenging, especially as they had no friends or connections. However, Dima's early fascination with technology, fostered by accompanying his father to work on mainframe computers since the age of five, stayed strong.

Dima's passion for technology continued to flourish in Israel, where he served in the Navy for three years, managing communication systems and leading a team of officers on battleships. This experience sharpened his skills in communication and management, laying a solid foundation for his future career. After his military service, Dima transitioned from being a guard to a support person, eventually becoming a webmaster. His first significant role in enterprise communication involved mobile phone authentication, which marked the beginning of his deep engagement in the sector. Despite the novelty and challenges of internet messaging at the time, Dima was captivated by the potential to reach a broad audience.

His journey then took him to Hong Kong, where he embraced the fast-paced world of startups. As a CTO, he faced both success and setbacks, learning valuable lessons about building a company and a product. This period of growth and reflection was crucial, as it matured him and prepared him for the founding of LeapXpert. Despite initial struggles, including a challenging financial situation and a difficult start at an Asian festival, Dima’s breakthrough came when major businesses showed interest in his innovative integration of consumer messengers for enterprise communication. This pivotal moment led to meetings with industry giants like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, propelling LeapXpert forward.

The Covid-19 pandemic, while challenging, also highlighted the critical need for effective remote communication solutions. LeapXpert thrived by addressing these needs, securing major clients, and raising substantial funds. Dima's journey underscores the importance of resilience, adaptability, and surrounding oneself with a team that complements one's strengths and weaknesses. His story is a testament to the power of persistence, innovation, and the right partnerships in achieving success.

For more insights and to connect with Dima Gutzeit, explore LeapXpert’s groundbreaking contributions to the enterprise communication landscape. Don't miss this inspiring conversation that highlights the intersection of technology, leadership, and the relentless pursuit of innovation.

In the latest insightful interview, Gregg Cohen sits down with Seonghoon Woo, the CEO and co-founder of Amogy, a pioneering company dedicated to providing carbon-free energy solutions to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as maritime, power generation, and heavy industry.

Born in South Korea. Seonghoon later moved to the United States for graduate studies at MIT and shifted his focus from energy engineering to climate solutions. His journey led him to work at IBM and eventually to co-founding Amogy, driven by a desire to solve immediate energy problems with his technical expertise.

Amogy's patented ammonia cracking technology is a game-changer. Proven in real-world applications, it offers a mature, scalable, and highly efficient method for splitting liquid ammonia to generate electrical power. This process, in combination with hydrogen fuel cells, achieves five times the energy density of lithium batteries, making it a promising solution for decarbonizing large industries.

In the interview, Seonghoon discusses the significant environmental impact of large industries, particularly shipping, which accounts for 20-25% of carbon emissions. He shares the challenges and triumphs of pitching his innovative ammonia-based fuel solution to over 300 potential investors, handling rejection, and staying committed to his vision.

Seonghoon also delves into the importance of building a passionate and dedicated team, the need for continuous engagement with customers, and the hurdles of proving the reliability of new technology in long-term applications. He highlights key milestones, from demonstrating the technology with drones to securing substantial funding from Amazon and scaling up to ocean-going vessels and tractors.

As a first-time founder, Seonghoon reflects on the surprises and lessons learned, emphasizing the importance of having the right people on board and the dynamic nature of risk-taking in the entrepreneurial journey. He encourages everyone to get involved in the decarbonization agenda, predicting its growing significance in the coming years.

Tune in to learn about Seonghoon's inspiring journey, the innovative technology behind Amogy, and the future of carbon-free energy solutions.

🎙️ On today’s podcast, I’m diving deep into the world of surgical innovation with Dr. Teodor Grantcharov, founder of Surgical Safety Technologies. He’s a visionary surgeon with a mission to make surgery safer. From humble beginnings in Bulgaria to pioneering Surgical Safety Technologies in the United States, his journey is as inspiring as it is impactful.

Growing up during communist times in Bulgaria, Dr. Grantcharov was deeply influenced by his mother and relatives, many of whom were doctors. This family legacy naturally led him into medicine, where he fell in love with surgery. For over 20 years, he has been a dedicated surgeon at Stamford, researching human performance in the operating room and striving to enhance surgical safety.

Starting his research career in 1999, Dr. Grantcharov aimed to develop a system to accurately measure surgical success. Despite facing skepticism and lack of support, his perseverance paid off in 2014 when he introduced the first prototype of his surgical black box into the operating room. Drawing inspiration from aviation, this black box technology captures comprehensive data on various factors affecting surgical outcomes, such as surgeon performance, team quality, distractions, fatigue, and stress.

Dr. Grantcharov's work is not just about identifying what went wrong but about understanding and predicting patient outcomes with greater accuracy. With medicine being the third leading cause of death in the US, the need for systems that learn from errors and improve efficiency is critical. His objective data approach aims to drive better decisions, enhancing both efficiency and safety in hospitals.

Despite concerns about monitoring, many surgeons see the value in learning and improving from objective feedback. Currently, there are 40,000 operating rooms in the US, but only 30 are equipped with his black box technology. The goal is to replace traditional beliefs with data-driven decisions, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and transparency in healthcare.

Tune in as we explore the power of data-driven decisions, the transformative potential of black box technology in surgery, and the importance of embracing a culture of learning and improvement in healthcare.

Meet Sarah Paiji Yoo, founder of Blueland, and accidental activist! Today I sat down with Sarah to discuss how she ended up founding Blueland and tackling the single-use plastic industry by developing a reusable option that at first seemed almost impossible! Her chemist didn’t even know if it could be done. 

How did she start out at Harvard Business School but end up making the world a better place? Sarah dives into how she got started as an entrepreneur, starting with a company called Snapette in 2011. Once she sold that company, she went on to build Launch, which led to the companies M.Gemi and Rockets of Awesome. 

Motherhood had Sarah questioning what was in the drinking water she was using to prepare her son’s formula, and from that research, she identified the need for a reduction in the use of plastics and safer, non-toxic cleaning products. Cleaning tablets, a new concept in the industry hadn’t been done before and she didn’t even know if it was possible.

Sarah’s journey is an amazing one, and it landed her on the hit show, Shark Tank. From there, Blueland’s products took off and Sarah has single-handedly revolutionized the cleaning industry. Have a listen and hear how she did it!

Today Gregg sits down with Jennifer Fisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Jennifer Fisher, also known as ‘The Queen of Hoops’!

Growing up in Montecito and watching her silversmith grandfather make jewelry in her parent’s garage, Jennifer had no idea she’d enter the jewelry industry years later. She had a childhood passion in fashion, but no jewelry experience. All self-taught! Gregg has Jennifer step back 18 years ago and explain her evolution from college student to business mogul!

While working as a wardrobe stylist, she decided to start a family, had some bumps along the way, but ultimately had her son, Shane. Wanting a unique piece of jewelry to commemorate his birth led to the start of Jennifer Fisher jewelry. The charm pendant she designed was a hit with celebrities on the set she was styling for. Uma Thurman was one of her first celebrity clients-she even wore the charm on the cover of Glamour magazine.

Jennifer started in a tiny studio in Soho and grew from the ground up. She used intuition to help grow her business. She dealt with magazines saying charm jewelry wasn’t fashion-forward enough and she would never be successful. Customizable fine jewelry wasn’t a thing at the time and Jennifer saw the opportunity to bring to market this new trend. Pivoting to brass jewelry made the charms more accessible to everyone, and the business exploded!

Jennifer’s top tips:
Resiliency is key and relationships are everything!
Family support means everything. This support led to Jennifer taking risks knowing they had her back. Watching her father fail at times in business taught her how people can come back from failures. Life is not perfect, especially for working parents. Jennifer is not only married, but her husband is her business partner!

Be a self-funded smaller business with an entrepreneurial spirit. Find the employees that appreciate that spirit. Transitioning older employees from the entrepreneurial style the company used to have, to the current style with more ‘guardrails’ in place. It’s been a challenge for Jennifer to no longer be the one in charge as her company has grown. Her design schedule has changed to accommodate her new company’s structure.

Be vulnerable and finally, don’t take anything too personally, especially while fundraising!

Want insight into growing a business from the ground up, entering an industry without any experience, working with your spouse as your partner, how to hustle and handle the word ‘no’? Check out my full interview with Jennifer Fisher for all this and much more!

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Cohen! Today Gregg sits down with Don Gelestino, President and CEO of Champion Elevator. Don had no background in the elevator business, so how did he become one of the largest elevator companies in the NY area? 

From very humble beginnings, Don came from a working class family that moved out of the NY area due to an increase in crime while Don was in high school. As soon as the opportunity came for Don to head back to NY, he hitched a ride with $20 in his pocket and a dream to play bass guitar in NYC. 

Sleeping on a friend’s couch and needing to pay for rent led to his introduction into the elevator business. The rest is history as Don shares his fascinating journey, from having nothing to being the President and CEO of Champion Elevators. Learn how being a team player, having innovation, a great work ethic, grit, and a heart of gold led Don to success as a founder. 

Today Gregg Cohen sits down with none other than Kevin Gearheart, president and partner of Rehab Medical, an Indianapolis-based company that provides mobility solutions for people with neurological and spinal cord injuries.

Kevin's journey as a founder is a unique one. After getting an MBA, he ventured into healthcare by running a retail optical chain for 5 years. He had the desire to get into some type of business ownership, went back to business school, and was approached about a unique opportunity to buy a business that was being split in two.

Kevin felt there was risk but was willing to do whatever it takes to win, so he went for it! By taking on a company that was split in two, Kevin had no back-office support, no infrastructure, IT, or HR and had to spend 4-5 years to stabilize and gain traction as essentially a new medical solutions company. It was like building an airplane while it's in the air!

Kevin stresses that building his business was a forced necessity. It took not only a winning mindset, belief in the product, and growing a team made up of the right people, in the right seats, aligned for success. Learn how this bootstrapped business went from a disaster to a success. If you're a new founder, you don't want to miss Kevin's insight into breaking into a new industry.