CTStartup Podcast

The United States has been the champion of free-market capitalism since its inception, but the 21st century has brought new societal and technological changes that have created an unbalanced playing field that often stifles innovation and places wealth in the hands of a select few.

Enter Conscious Capitalism, and organization that “...builds on the foundations of Capitalism - voluntary exchange, entrepreneurship, competition, freedom to trade and the rule of law.” Following four guiding principles of purpose, culture, stakeholder, and leadership, Conscious Capitalism recognizes that today’s businesses need a purple beyond simply making money.

In our latest podcast, we spoke with Larry Bingaman, President of the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority and the Chairman of the Connecticut Chapter of Conscious Capitalism and board member Jennifer Bernheim. We are joined by our special guest host, Ojala Naeem from reSET, for this podcast.

They join us in a discussion about how capitalism, startups, and the free market can push society as a whole towards a better, more conscious future. For startups hoping to leave a lasting, positive impact on society, this podcast is a must-hear.

Healthcare remains one of Connecticut’s leading industries, and that extends to a growing number of health-related startups blossoming all over the Nutmeg State. But navigating the healthcare field is difficult for startup founders, which is where the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center hopes to help.

We spoke with Scott Orsey, Director of Operations and Strategy at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center about the hospital’s efforts to reach out to startups and innovators working to improve healthcare.

This includes the nationally recognized Advancing Kids Innovation Program that “..cultivates a variety of programs that address a wide range of issues impacting children including developmental delays, special needs, domestic violence, teen driving safety, teen suicide prevention, home hazards, asthma and sexually transmitted diseases.”

Join us as we look at Connecticut’s startup ecosystem from the other side of the playing field.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, and Adam Lazar found it in the leftover water from a Vermont maple farm. For every 1 gallon of maple syrup, a maple farm produced 49 gallons of tree-filtered water, inspiring the launch of Asarasi Maple Water.

With his business partner Brian Pare, Lazar took Asarasi through Hartford’s reSET program and now runs the company full time, getting its tree-filtered water from a maple farm in Western New York. The sugar-free water has a slight-carbonation, as well as the direct benefit of being naturally filtered and reducing water waste.

We spoke with him about the benefits and drawbacks of doing business in Connecticut, as well as how incubator programs such as reSet play an important role. The podcast also touches on the benefits of being an environmentally conscious company in this day and age, and how other startups can work environmentalism into their products.

Tune in as we talk to one of the most unique startups in Connecticut.

In this week’s episode of the CT Startup Podcast, we speak with Bruce Carlson of the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC), covering topics such as Connecticut’s venture capital ecosystem and the upcoming Innovation Nights event put on by the CTC.

The CTC’s describes itself as “...a statewide association of technology oriented companies and institutions, providing leadership in areas of policy advocacy, community building and assistance for growing companies.” The CTC claims to represent over 2,000 companies employing more than 200,000 individuals in its pursuit to create a culture of innovation right here in Connecticut.

Our guest on the podcast, Bruce Carlson, is President and CEO of the CTC, and prior to working there, Bruce served as president of the IP Factory, as well as a ten-year stint as chief of staff at the UCONN Health Center.

He brings a lot of insight into what is happening in the Connecticut startup ecosystem, as well as what still needs to be done for the state to compete with places like New York City and Boston. We also discuss the upcoming Innovation Summit on November 17th, Connecticut’s largest networking event for Launch, Growth and Proven companies. The Innovation Summit features workshops, Lunch with an Angel, Company Showcase, and is perfect for entrepreneurs, businesses, venture capitalists, angel investors, and members of the public.

Tune in for this enlightening conversation from one of the people best positioned to talk about Connecticut’s startup culture.

Wondering where your favorite podcast about Connecticut’s startup ecosystem has been? Well, we’ve been busier than ever, revamping and reworking our podcast to delve deeper into the Nutmeg State’s fledgling startup community. Over the summer, Eric, Dave, and Mike invited me to join their startup about startups and to help expand their reach across this great state.

Who am I? My name is Chris DeMorro, and I’m (surprise) a startup founder of my own, specifically digital marketing with a focus on (drumroll please) startups. I’ve spent the past 10 years working at every level for several startups, and now I’m helping local companies and non-profits implement the right strategies for presenting themselves to the world.

That’s about all I’m comfortable writing about myself for now, because this podcast isn’t about me. It’s about Connecticut’s young-but-growing startup community, and going forward we’ll continue to interview founders and policy-makers, but we’ll also be adding roundtable discussions, written content, a renewed emphasis on social media, and more live events.

Most importantly, however, is we want more interaction from you. We want you to give us your opinions, thoughts, and comments on the topic du jour, as well as suggestions on what you’d like to see more of. Give us your feedback, positive or negative, on our show, Connecticut, and the startup community as a whole.

Going forward, we’re going to take a harder look at both sides of the startup community, the benefits and drawbacks, and what it is really contributing to our economy. We may love Connecticut, but it’s no secret that this isn’t the most business-friendly state, and everybody has their own ideas on how to fix it.

So welcome back to the new CT Startup Podcast, and enjoy the first of many new episodes we have in store for you.

We had a lot of fun with this podcast as we have Antwaine Debnam on to talk about his newest product the TripleTote. Antwaine developed the TripleTote after he noticed his mother was always having trouble carrying multiple bags.

During the episode we talk about a lot and Antwaine speaks to how he goes about validating a new idea and how he used that strategy to develop the TripleTote. Currently the TripleTote is live on kickstarter so go over there, check out the video, and support this local energetic entrepreneur.

This episode we have two of the hosts Dave Menard and Eric Francis sitting down with Michael Cocuzza of Enviro Power. Michael has been able to leverage the resources the Connecticut startup ecosystem offers to move his company forward.

Enviro Power, LLC is an engineering and manufacturing company focused on delivering the most advanced and efficient micro combined heat and power generators (mCHP) to the residential and commercial heating markets.

Look out for Michael and Enviro Power as they are on the rise and will be disrupting the mCHP industry.

On this weeks podcast Dave and Eric are joined by Jennifer Corvo an attorney at Murtha Cullina about what startups should know about hiring employees. Ms. Corvo fits right in and gives us the rundown of what startups should be doing when hiring employees and what to do if you want to have "Interns".

As a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, Ms. Corvo assists clients with labor and employment law matters and ERISA litigation. She represents public and private employers in Massachusetts and Connecticut before federal and state courts and administrative bodies. Ms. Corvo also represents clients before the National Labor Relations Board and assists them with labor issues including elections, unfair labor practice charges, and arbitration.

Let us know if this podcast was informative and beneficial to you.as we can bring you more informational episodes like this one.

Dave Menard and Mike Kauffman hold down this podcast with Albatross Productions. Co-founders Tim Kerr and David Ritter join Dave and Mike at our favorite recording location The Happiness Lab in New Haven to talk about the pivots of their company.

Their company started with using drones to take promotional videos of golf courses but soon began seeing the challenges around the newer industry of using drones. Tim and David get into how their business has traveled a few different paths on the road to working on a documentary about refugees in Connecticut.

This episode is somewhat different then the others. We normally try to learn as much about the founding of the company and their challenges and successes. What ended up happening is that we talked a lot about something all entrepreneurs have to go through..Networking Events!!

We spoke with Jenny Drescher and Ellen Feldman Ornato about their company ConnectAnd Improv. Jenny and Ellen founded ConnectAnd Improv in 2014 to bring the mindset and skills of applied Improvisation to the businesses and professional lives of their clients and students. They believe that anything is possible through increasing human connections, building better relationships, and cultivating trust and courage. With a combined 30 years in facilitation, Jenny and Ellen deliver workshops in public speaking, “engagement networking,” effective teamwork and more with professionalism and a ton of fun and humor. Learn more at http://www.connectandimprov.com/

Next event: ConnectAnd Stand Out, Monday, April 18 at reSet Social Enterprise Trust, 5:30-9PM, Register at Eventbrite (search Stand Out)