Chris Fernandez could have continued to grow his t-shirt company, which had more than $50,000 of sales in its first year. But he sold it, got a graduate degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and in 2015 co-founded a completely different type of company. EnsoData pioneered the use of AI and machine learning to analyze medical tests like EKGs and pulse oximeters. Today, the Madison company’s products and services help clinicians diagnose and care for patients with sleep disorders.

Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

Linda Kinkel spent more than three decades studying the tiny microbes that live in soil and on plants. Over the years, as the University of Minnesota researcher’s insight into these microbes’ function and benefits grew, companies tried to license her discoveries. But Linda was never satisfied with their plans. Finally, in 2019, she took matters into her own hands and founded Jord Bioscience. The company is using her microbes to increase crop productivity, decrease chemical inputs, and improve agricultural sustainability. 

Linda joined MIdwest Moxie with Keri Carstens, Jord Bioscience’s CEO and a key person in developing the strategy for how the company plans to positively impact agricultural systems around the world.

Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

David Bromberg didn’t want to start a company, and he didn’t want to work at a big one. So after completing his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon, he left for California and a job at a solar energy startup. Two years later, though, David returned to Pittsburgh to co-found a company with his Ph.D. advisor – an international expert in integrated circuit design -- and another colleague. Pearl Street Technologies developed software that automated and accelerated the grid interconnection process for renewable energy projects. The company was acquired in early 2025 by Austin, Texas-based Enverus. 

Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

Dan Schaefer didn’t know it at the time, but the idea for his startup company began to take shape on the day he and his wife adopted a dog. A 10-week-old Labrador retriever named Louie to be exact. Louie was in bad shape, so Dan and his wife turned to specialty pet nutrition to improve his health. And Dan found a great startup idea. In 2017, Dan and his childhood friend Pat Barron co-founded Native Pet, a St. Louis maker of all natural supplements and treats for dogs and cats.

Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

Cale Johnston knew what startup success looked like. ClickSwitch, his first company, had a software platform that simplified the process of moving consumer accounts from one financial institution to another. It grew to more than 100 employees and was acquired in 2021 by a publicly traded company. So when the time came to launch a second startup, Cale knew just what to do. He’d made it easier to move consumer accounts; now he’d do it with business accounts. In July 2025, Cale founded Minneapolis-based Onsetto, which he believes will be even more successful than ClickSwitch.

Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

Mike Fern started at Baxter Healthcare as a chemist, then got an MBA, but saw no clear path to the type of jobs he wanted. So he responded to a newspaper ad – this was 1990 after all – and became the first employee at Eichrom Technologies, which was commercializing some Argonne National Lab discoveries in an Evanston, Illinois incubator. Fifteen years later Mike was named President. Today Eichrom has a staggering 90+% share of the global purified isotope chemistry market, and serves customers in nuclear medicine, environmental cleanup and other industries. Eichrom has about 40 employees. It got its initial funding from Arch Venture Partners, and in 1998 was acquired for an undisclosed price by GCI, the family office of Land’s End founder Gary Comer.

Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

Nina Jenkins’ insect-killing fungal spores eliminate the need to fumigate, clean out cabinets and drawers.

Nina Jenkins didn’t start out thinking about bedbugs. The Penn State researcher was studying how insect-killing fungal spores could combat locusts, houseflies and Asian long-horned beetles. But that all changed when a graduate student asked Nina if her fungal spores would work on bedbugs. Sure enough, they were the perfect target. So in 2017 Nina founded ConidioTec to deliver a novel, non-toxic bedbug-fighting product to pest management companies. Eight years later, in 2025, the Pennsylvania company sold its flagship product to Kansas City, Missouri-based Rockwell Labs for an undisclosed, eight-digit price.

Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

After stints at the White House, Air Force Academy and Amazon, Nick Mastronardi set out to help the public sector make data-driven decisions and improve performance.

Nick Mastronardi had the realization while writing his dissertation about applying game theory to public finance. In game theory, each person’s outcome depends upon all the participants’ strategies and decisions. It was the fact that everyone wasn’t participating, Nick reasoned the outsized influence of the vocal few that made the public sector underperform. If someone could help officials harness the collective intelligence, it could improve local governments’ performance. Six years after finishing his Ph.D., in 2015, Nick co-founded Madison-based Polco to act on that realization. Its platform helps local governments engage residents, analyze data and measure and track their performance.

Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

Louisville-based GoodMaps, hatched at the American Printing House for the Blind, provides turn-by-turn directions in train stations, airports and other indoor spaces. 

Theresa Reno-Weber saw right away that GoodMaps, which had been developed to help blind and low sighted people navigate indoor spaces, had enormous potential for sighted people as well. So, she jumped in, first as Chief Operating Officer, then as CEO, and has been expanding its reach ever since. The expansion is no surprise to Anne Lancaster, Chief Officer for Innovation and Strategy at the American Printing House for the Blind. Like curb cuts, closed captions, and 33-⅓ records, ideas developed to serve one special group often grow to be used by many others. 

Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.