Fast Frontiers

In today's episode, we're talking with John Simon, Managing Director at Sigma Prime Ventures and Co-Founder of the GreenLight Fund. We're going to dive into John's venture career that he has used for good, and discuss the activities and impact we can make on our communities for a multidimensional and meaningful life experience.

In this episode, we're talking with Mitch Port, Vice President of Strategy and Analytics at BlockFi, which provides wealth management products for crypto investors, all powered by blockchain technology. We're going to dive into all things cryptocurrency, how exchanges are actually very similar to traditional financial services, and how crypto is plugging into open monetary networks worldwide. We also discuss that crypto is still in the very early stages, likely the first or second inning. While it still seems like everyone is talking about it, adoption and engagement is only around 1%. It'll be exciting to see how the next few innings evolve.

In today's episode, we're talking with Darcy Howe, founder and managing director of KCRise Fund, which launched in 2016 as an initiative of KC Rising, which has a long-term vision for the greater Kansas City region, building capacity and bringing existing businesses to scale. In 2019, KCRise Fund II was launched bringing total committed capital to over $60 million. We're going to dive into Darcy's background and her family inspiration, as well as her first career in private wealth management and investment banking, which led to her passion for early-stage entrepreneurs. Darcy's also going to share with us what she believes is the secret sauce of Midwest startups.

In today's episode, we're talking with two great recruiting leaders in the Midwest, Nick Cromydas and Kaleb Dumot. Nick is co-founder and CEO of Hunt Club in Chicago, Illinois. Kaleb is the founder and CEO of Integrity Power Search in Cleveland, Ohio, a boutique retained search firm for high-growth startups and technology companies across North America. We're going to dive into the effects of COVID on remote work, hiring, and recruiting, how it has eliminated friction in that first phone call interview, how the ability to work remotely opens up options for companies and potential hires, and how you would develop trust remotely. Taking a job is incredibly personal so feeling that trust is important.

In today's episode, we're talking with Adam Symson, president and CEO of the E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. We're going to dive into the disruption of television where we learn new terms like 'time poverty'. We're also going to talk about consumer choice and how Scripps is evolving with over-the-air broadcasting and been the country's largest holder of broadcast spectrum.

In today's episode, we're talking to Dhani Jones. Dhani is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, host, and explorer, who began his career in the NFL as a linebacker playing with the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Cincinnati Bengals. We're going to dive into how a professional athlete and entrepreneur are actually very similar, and Dhani's focus on the future of mobility.

In today's episode, we're talking with Ethan Batraski, Partner at Venrock, in Palo Alto, California. Ethan invests across sectors with a particular focus on hard engineering problems, such as development infrastructure, advanced computing, and space technologies. We're going to dive into our shared investment in Astronomer and why they invested as well as the Space Frontier and how communication will change and new cases will start to emerge that we're not even thinking about today.

Check out The Casted Podcast, hosted by Casted CEO, Lindsay Tjepkema. Their sixth season started last week, including an episode recorded with Fast Frontiers. Please enjoy listening to: Making the Leap Into Podcasting with Refinery Ventures' Abby Fittes and Tim Schigel.

Check out our friend, Mark Raffan's podcast, Negotiations Ninja. Episode #197 is from our very own host at Fast Frontiers. Please enjoy listening to: Inside the mind of venture capitalist Tim Schigel

Jon Medved is a serial entrepreneur and leading high-tech venture capitalist. Jon is the founder and CEO of OurCrowd, the world's largest equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors, which has raised more than $1B for over 170 companies since its launch in February 2013.

Thanks for listening to Fast Frontiers, Season 2 - We will be back with Season 3 soon!