Our conversation today is with Eugene Malinskiy — Co-Founder and CEO of Lazurite.

Lazurite got its start back in 2015 and to date, Eugene has led Lazurite through three rounds of funding raising more than $18 million.

As you’ll hear in his incredible recounting of the experience firsthand, Eugene founded Lazurite after identifying the need for a wireless arthroscope while working at his prior venture, DragonID, when he witnessed a trip and fall accident in a minimally invasive operating room where a staff member was injured as a result of her tripping over surgical camera wires and the surgery itself was canceled. This incident left a lasting impression on Eugene and inspired the ArthroFree wireless surgical camera system, which will be Lazurite’s first product to market. Prior to Lazurite, Eugene founded and served as CEO of DragonID, LLC, a healthcare innovation and engineering consultancy specializing in medical devices for the fields of cardiology and orthopedics.

While at DragonID Eugene not only incubated the idea behind Lazurite, but also earned a number of accolades including being named to Forbes 30 under 30. Even before his time with DragonID, Eugene began his entrepreneurship journey when he founded and ran Dragon Intelinet Development, an information technology company that was acquired by a leading company in the SMB computing segment, from 2000 to 2008.

This was truly an incredible recounting of Lazurite’s journey, Eugene’s first principles systematic approach to solving seemingly impossible healthcare problems, and what the operating room of the future will look like. Please enjoy my conversation with Eugene Malinskiy.

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Follow Lazurite on Twitter @LazuriteLabs
Follow Eugene on Twitter @emalinskiy
Connect with Eugene Malinskiy on LinkedIn
Learn more about Lazurite

Our conversation today is with Ray Leach and Hardik Desai to discuss JumpStart and its role here in the Cleveland startup ecosystem. Ray is the founding CEO of Jumpstart and has been with the organization since its inception. Hardik is a Sr. Partner at JumpStart focused on their investment strategy has been with the organization since 2012.

This conversation comes off the bat of JumpStart announcing a new division within the organization — branded Jumpstart Ventures —  focused on the organization's venture capital investment activity. Since 2005, JumpStart has invested $70M into 145+ technology startups throughout Ohio, with 82% of the startups located in Greater Cleveland. JumpStart Ventures now plans to invest $70M in new capital into startups through 2025. The organization also plans to raise additional capital, expanding current funds, and creating new funds in partnership with corporations, institutions, and private sector investors.

To date, JumpStart has 4 funds — Evergreen, NEXT, Focus, and the Healthcare Collaboration Fund — providing capital across stages and sectors which we’ll cover in more detail later in our conversation.

The first half of this conversation covers some of the basics, facts, and history of JumpStart as an organization and their investment approach, while the second half covers questions and themes sourced from Cleveland founders and the startup ecosystem at large, and focuses on Ray and Hardik’s perspective on them.

This was a really insightful conversation — hope you all enjoy my discussion with Ray Leach and Hardik Desai

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Connect with Hardik Desai on LinkedIn
Connect with Ray Leach on LinkedIn
Follow Hardik Desai on Twitter
Learn more about JumpStart Ventures

Nolan Gallagher is the founder & CEO of Gravitas Ventures, which he founded in 2006. Under Nolan’s leadership, Gravitas has become a global all rights theatrical distribution company that has released more than 3,000 films on Video on Demand (VOD) and has since been acquired by Anthem Sports & Entertainment in late 2021.

Through its relationships with over 200 audience-facing customers, Gravitas can distribute a film into over 100 million homes in North America and over 1 Billion homes worldwide.

Nolan was born here in Cleveland and ultimately brought Gravitas Ventures back to Cleveland from the west coast, has been named a Hollywood New Leader by Variety and was chosen as part of the inaugural Indiewire Influencer class which recognized leaders in the independent film industry. Nolan has spoken on numerous industry panels including the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), SXSW Film Festival, and the Produced By Conference. Previously, Nolan worked in corporate marketing roles at industry leaders Comcast, Warner Bros., and General Cinema Theatres.

This was a fascinating conversation covering the business of entertainment and Nolan’s journey building Gravitas into the pivotal distributor it is today. Please enjoy my conversation with Nolan Gallagher.

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Follow Nolan on Twitter @NolanGravitas
Follow Gravitas Ventures on Twitter @GravitasVOD
Connect with Nolan on LinkedIn
Learn more about Gravitas Ventures

Our guest today is Dave Kennedy (@HackingDave), a cybersecurity authority whose mission is to drive the industry forward and make the world a more secure place. In addition to founding two large-scale cybersecurity firms — TrustedSec and Binary defense — Dave has testified before Congress on issues of national security and has appeared as a subject matter expert on hundreds of national news and TV shows.

Dave started his career serving in the United States Marine Corps focusing on cyber warfare and forensic analytics, including two tours to Iraq. All experience he was able to leverage to become Chief Security Officer for Diebold — a fortune-1000-company based here in northeast Ohio.

In 2012, Dave left Diebold to found TrustedSec — an information security consulting company — and sister company, Binary Defense which is a full-service 24/7/365 monitoring and detection company that focuses on the detection of attackers in its early stages. Simultaneously, Dave started the DerbyCon which became one of the highest regarded and attended security conferences in the industry over its tenure.

Dave is a true cybersecurity champion — online, he goes by his @hackingdave handle where he has over 150,000 followers across social media; he’s served as an advisor to the hit TV show Mr. Robot, and he is the co-author of Metasploit: The Penetration Tester’s Guide, co-creator of the Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES), and creator of the Social Engineer Toolkit (SET).

Really special to hear Dave’s story and learn about the incredible organizations he’s founded and grown here in Cleveland — please enjoy my conversation with Dave Kennedy!

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Follow Dave Kennedy on Twitter @HackingDave
Connect with Dave on LinkedIn
Learn more about Binary Defense
Learn more about TrustedSec
Follow TrustedSec on Twitter
Follow Binary Defense on Twitter

Our guest today is Tony Pietrocola — Co-Founder & President of AgileBlue, a lifelong Clevelander extremely passionate about The Land, and now, a three-time Cleveland founder!

In the midst of the first internet wave in 2001 and in an effort to make website development easier for those organizations looking to create their online presence, Tony started his first company in Cleveland called Tenth Floor which developed a web application management software solution and was later acquired by Bridgeline Digital out of Boston in 2008. In 2014 Tony started vLoan.com for Union Home Mortgage in the direct-to-consumer financing world which was a direct competitor to Rocket Mortgage. And most recently and where we spend most of our time in the conversation today — in 2019, Tony co-founded and is president of AgileBlue a cybersecurity technology company.

One of many things we discuss is the nature of technology waves which Tony has been successful in identifying over his career — spanning the internet, direct to consumer financing, and cybersecurity. I really enjoyed hearing Tony’s perspective on the Cleveland ecosystem, the ever-changing landscape of cybersecurity, and how he’s planning to navigate it and help organizations stay ahead of threats with AgileBlue — please enjoy my conversation with Tony Pietrocola

Connect with Tony Pietrocola on LinkedIn
Follow Tony Pietrocola on Twitter
Learn more about AgileBlue

Our guest today is John Nottingham — Co-Founder & Co-President of Nottingham Spirk.

If you’ve ever used a Swiffer Sweep+Vac, a Crest Spinbrush, a Dirt Devil, a Jacuzzi, a Little Tikes Playhouse, Duck Tape, SmartMouth Mouthwash, an Axe Bullet, a Sherwin-Williams Twist & Pour paint container...you’ve used one of their inventions. Nottingham Spirk is a Cleveland-based product innovation firm responsible for these worldwide product platforms and many more — and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Since founding the company in 1972 on Case Western Reserve University's campus, John and his co-founder, John Spirk, have led their team of innovators to create hundreds of breakthrough products, resulting in over 1,350 issued (and commercialized) patents and counting — more than Thomas Edison!

Although Nottingham Spirk started in a garage on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, they now operate out of the 66,000-square-foot Nottingham Spirk Innovation Center, a mile and a half from their original location. With teams dedicated to insights, product design, engineering, prototyping, digital design and commercialization, the projects – and ideas – stay within those walls until market launch.

This was a true pleasure of a conversation — amazing to hear John’s stories and reflections on building some of the most ubiquitous products while stewarding a firm with such a commitment to the creative process and innovation — please enjoy my conversation with John Nottingham

Connect with John Nottingham on LinkedIn
Learn more about Nottingham Sprik
Follow Nottingham Spirk on Twitter

Our guest today is Rick Simmons — CEO of the telos institute, a firm he co-founded in 2006 which offers specialized expertise to leaders and leadership teams around the world in the areas of business strategy, leadership development, and change management. 

In his role, Rick is responsible for shaping the vision and guiding the strategic direction of the firm, while inspiring a growing cohort of world-class practitioners to deliver insight, growth, and transformational experiences for telos clients. Prior to founding telos, Rick spent ten years in various senior strategy and sales leadership positions within the financial services industry. Most notably, he led several organizations through periods of transition, which afforded him the opportunity to share his experience and insight in the best practices of managing personal and organizational change.

More recently, he was named a Founding Fellow at The Harvard Institute of Coaching at the MacLean Medical School where he contributes insights and best practices to the growing field of executive coaching. Rick is a sought-after speaker on the topics of resilience, achievement, and personal and organizational performance and recently published a book "Unleashed" that helps readers launch their own liminal spaces.

Personally, Rick tests his beliefs around achievement by running ultra marathons. His recent tests include the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 US Track and Field 24 Hour Run National Championships. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife and telos co-founder Amy, and their four children. 

We go quite deep in this conversation on topics spanning leadership, personal betterment, liminal spaces, embracing disruption, ultramarathoning, and much more — please enjoy my conversation with Rick Simmons.

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Learn more about the telos institute
Connect with Rick on LinkedIn
Learn more about "Unleashed" — Rick's most recent book
Follow the telos institute on twitter

Our guest today is Drew Kraemer — CEO of Code3 & Founder of Marketplace Strategy. 

Code3 is a digital performance marketing agency that serves some of the largest digital advertisers globally. With over 250 employees and offices based in Cleveland, and other cities around the country, Code3’s mission is to be the best growth partner to brands by running advanced, high-scale data-driven and efficient digital media campaigns across the most important paid media platforms including search, social, programmatic, marketplaces, and emerging channels.

At Code3, Drew oversees the strategic direction for the agency and its primary services across media, creative, and commerce. Additionally, he focuses on company culture, corporate strategy, and key clients such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, LVMH, Gap, Chipotle, and FoxBet, to name a few. Prior to Code3, Drew founded and led Marketplace Strategy which was ultimately acquired by Social Code which has since rebranded to Code3 where he is currently steering the ship — Please enjoy this fascinating deep-dive into the world of marketing & advertisement and my conversation with Drew Kraemer!

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Learn more about Code3
Connect with Drew on LinkedIn
Follow Drew on Twitter

Our guest today is Jamie Van Doren — Founder & CEO of NeverEnding, a Cleveland-based gaming and entertainment start-up that aims to change how stories are told and by whom.

NeverEnding is a new kind of social media platform, with easy-to-use art and animation tools that help you bring your stories to life! With NeverEnding you can create fantastic custom illustrations and animated videos, without relying on complicated, time-consuming tools. Initially, targeting gamers and fans of pen and paper RPGs, NeverEnding builds on the popularity of live streams and podcasts, by allowing anyone to transform their recorded audio into animated videos.

Jamie Van Doren is an entrepreneur and gamer, with an unusual background; a mixed-race Latino who grew himself from teen homelessness to the C-Suite. He’s been successful in a variety of industries including consumer products, professional services, even clinical research and non-profit management. 

I loved hearing Jamie’s inspiring story, his path to entrepreneurship, perspective on the market at large from the metaverse, to NFTs, to pseudonymity, and the ambitious vision he’s set out building NeverEnding — please enjoy my conversation with Jamie Van Doren about empowering a whole new generation of storytellers!

Learn more about NeverEnding
Connect with Jamie on Linkedin

Our guest today is Ryan Lambacher —  Founder & CEO of Graffle, a venture-funded web3 infrastructure provider for projects built on blockchain (starting with Flow) — which recently closed on a nearly $4 million-dollar round. 

Ryan has a unique cross-section of skills that accelerated him ahead of the competition in the world of NFTs. First, his technical experience building product at Drips (with former Lay of the Land guest, AC Evans) and second, years of building hype and generating sales with his marketing firm. This combination allowed him to see the value of NFTs and recognize the massive opportunity in solving the infrastructure layer for every project built on blockchains.

For context, the Flow blockchain, which was originally conceived by the team behind CryptoKitties and has since powered applications like NBA Topshot and established partnerships with organizations like the UFC and Dr. Suess — is a blockchain designed from the ground up to support consumer user experience at mainstream scale with a growing community of brands and web3 builders leveraging its infrastructure.

From entrepreneurship to Flow to NFTs, we make our way down the crypto rabbit hole and cover a wide range of topics here through the lens of Graffle — please enjoy my conversation with Ryan Lambacher!

Learn more about Graffle
Connect with Ryan on Linkedin