Impact Michigan

Andy Gutman is a commercial real estate exec and songwriter/author combo. He may be the President of the Farbman Group during his 9-to-5, but for his 5-to-9 he’s chosen and pretty unique side hustle as a songwriter and children’s book author. We chat about how he finds his left and right brain balance, how his kids fuel his creative fire, and what parents can learn from deploying creativity in their parenting strategy.

Links:

The Farbman Group: https://www.farbman.com/

Intermitten: www.intermitten.org

Charlie the Caterpillar: https://www.gutcheckpublishing.com/author.php

Andy’s Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/Andy-Gutman/e/B07B6BR767

Chris Lambert, CEO of Life Remodeled. Life Remodeled is an organization whose mission is to bridge people across divides to help transform each other’s lives. They do this by investing approximately $5 million in cash, labor and materials into one Detroit neighborhood each year. If you’ve ever seen large groups of people wearing brightly colored shirts working to clean shrubbery, tear down blight, remodel a high school, etc, you’ve probably come across Life Remodeled volunteers.

Links:

Life Remodeled: https://www.liferemodeled.com

Intermitten: https://intermitten.org

Chris’s TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a4xt1gfB6s

Pamela Moore is the President and CEO of the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, where they work to support the Detroit Public Schools Community District. In this episode, we discuss her background, growing up in Detroit and attending Detroit Public Schools, and the crowdfunding campaign the Foundation is running. 

–––––

Links:

DPSF: http://www.dpsfdn.org/educate-detroit-public-schools-live/

Crowdfunding Campaign: https://give.classy.org/dpseducates

In today’s episode, we chat with Chanell Scott Contreras and Joanna Dueweke-Perez. They are Intermitten 2019 speakers and they are giving their talk on Radical inclusion. Listen in as we discuss community-centered economic development, courage in entrepreneurship, and being co-creators instead of gatekeepers. 

Intermitten is a grassroots, volunteer-operated organization that was founded in 2016. Our  mission is to unite the Midwest tech community, thoughtfully nurture its development, and highlight it as a hub of and destination for entrepreneurial talent and innovation. 

—————

Links:

ProsperUS: http://www.prosperusdetroit.org

TechTown: https://techtowndetroit.org

Chanell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chanellscottcontreras/

Joanna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannaduewekeperez/

Intermitten: https://intermitten.org

Marc Hudson is the CEO and Cofounder of Rocket Fiber, the fastest internet out there, certainly in the Detroit area. We get to chat about the founding story of the company, how a submission to “The Cheese Factory” kickstarted it all, and what happens when you deploy a #GiveFirst mentality. 

Intermitten is a grassroots, volunteer-operated organization that was founded in 2016. Our  mission is to unite the Midwest tech community, thoughtfully nurture its development, and highlight it as a hub of and destination for entrepreneurial talent and innovation. 

—————

Links:

Rocket Fiber: http://rocketfiber.com

Marc's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-hudson-5863a64/

Intermitten: https://intermitten.org

NETSCOUT: https://www.netscout.com/

WeWork: www.we.co/podcast

In this episode of the Impact Michigan podcast, we host Jim Tenzillo of Invest Michigan. Invest Michigan is an investment fund that invests in early stage technology companies that are located in the state of Michigan. Jim started there a few years ago after first cutting his teeth as an accountant in Chicago, eventually breaking into the world of startups running Operations & Marketing at LinkCapital. We chat about how he got his start in venture capital, what’s he’s seen with regard to the growth of the Michigan startup ecosystem, and he even gives us a few startups to watch over the next few years. 

—————

Links:

Invest Michigan: https://investmichigan.org

Jim's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimtenzillo/

NETSCOUT: https://www.netscout.com/

Intermitten: https://intermitten.org

Beth is an expert at navigating corporate cultures and has over a decade of experience maximizing organizational impact. She leads the community engagement initiative at NETSCOUT leading the charge on impactful community initiatives. In today’s episode, we get to chat about her take on culture from a wide range of professions, how to create meaningful community strategies, and what drives her to do good work. 

—————

NETSCOUT: https://netscout.com

Beth's Twitter: https://twitter.com/bethskirsch

Intermitten: https://intermitten.org/

Jeff Epstein is the Founder of Ambassador, the #1 referral marketing software platform. They were recently acquired by West Corp., and Jeff has since moved on from the company. We catch up with him a few months after the acquisition and chat about his next phase of life, reflect on his time being a pioneer of the current Detroit startup scene, and we even talk about the ingenuity needed to get through a recession. 

—————

Links:

Jeff's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeff_epstein

Jeff's Blog: https://medium.com/@jeff_epstein

Intermitten: https://intermitten.org/

Blake Robbins is a Michigan State grad who’s worked at Tesla, Nest, Google, and now Ludlow Ventures, Blake is one of the pioneers in the eSports industry when it comes to investing and even founding. He helped launch and cofound 100 Thieves, the fastest growing eSports and lifestyle brand in the space. We have the pleasure of chatting about that as well as discussing eSports and streaming in general, how video games have become the Third Place for kids, and where the industry is going. 

—————

Links:

Ludlow Ventures: https://ludlowventures.com/

Blake's Twitter: https://twitter.com/blakeir

Intermitten: www.intermitten.org

WeWork: we.co/podcastdetroit

Today’s episode features not one guest, but two! Lia James and Christopher Guest are the halves that make the whole of Human Inclusive, which is a podcast that curates stories of diverse communities amplifying voices and experiences of marginalized communities. Join us as we chat about what they’ve learned highlighting stories and voices of the underheard. 

—————

Links:

Human Inclusive: https://www.humaninclusive.com/

Intermitten: https://intermitten.org