→ The housing crisis facing healthcare travelers and medical students

→ Midterm rental market opportunities and challenges

→ Balancing medical residency with startup entrepreneurship

→ Building partnerships with Madison real estate companies

→ Creating startup communities within healthcare systems

→ Property vetting and quality control processes

→ The unique advantages healthcare professionals have as entrepreneurs

00:00 - Introduction and launch day excitement

02:20 - Why Christina never expected to be a founder

03:17 - Residency housing story

05:11 - Why hospitals don't solve housing for travelers

07:37 - How Reliable Residence works vs Airbnb/Zillow

11:49 - Balancing medical residency with startup building

12:53 - Sponsor break (Headway.io)

14:24 - Walking into Terrence Wall's office unannounced

16:22 - Madison startup ecosystem support and mentors

18:34 - Building healthcare entrepreneurship community

21:12 - What's next for Reliable Residence

22:18 - Advice for healthcare professionals considering startups

24:33 - Finding technical co-founders and resources

Reliable Residence

Christina Henderson on LinkedIn

Merlin Mentors

BioForward

Christina Henderson, D.O., is an anesthesiology resident at UW Health who earned her medical degree from Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker, Colorado. Born and raised in Broomfield, CO, she has always embraced the outdoors and brings that same energy and focus to patient care & entrepreneurship. Outside the hospital, she’s an avid biker, skier, hiker, and angler.

Subscribe to the Startup Wisconsin Newsletter

https://www.startupwi.org/

Upcoming Events (400+ every year)

https://www.startupwi.org/events

Follow us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wisconsin/

Interested in being a guest? Reach out!

[email protected]

Startup Wisconsin's mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow tech startup communities across the state, not just during events, but year-round. This podcast is part of that vision, creating deeper connections and sharing the knowledge that helps Wisconsin's startup ecosystem thrive.

SmartCert tackles the complex world of manufacturing documentation - every bolt that goes into an airplane needs a complete "birth certificate" proving its origins, manufacturing process, and compliance standards. For decades, this critical process has been manual and paper-based, creating bottlenecks and errors throughout supply chains from small manufacturers to Boeing and Airbus.

→ Digitizing decades-old manufacturing documentation processes

→ Building a network of 3,000+ companies across supply chains

→ The strategic decision to relocate from Phoenix to Wisconsin

→ Change management when transforming traditional industries

→ AI integration in document processing and compliance checking

→ TitletownTech partnership and Green Bay's manufacturing ecosystem

→ Scaling from individual companies to enterprise supply chain solutions

00:00 - Introduction

00:22 - SmartCert's Mission: From Paper Chaos to Digital Efficiency

02:56 - Multi-Departmental Workflows and Implementation Challenges

07:30 - Origin Story: Living the Problem in Sales

10:00 - Building the Right Team and Finding Talent

12:52 - Phoenix to Green Bay: The Reverse Migration Story

15:54 - Work-Life Balance and Midwest Advantages

19:49 - Titletown Tech Partnership and Ecosystem Support

24:23 - Manufacturing Proximity and Customer Relationships

28:23 - AI Implementation and Industry Education

33:16 - Customer Success Stories and Paper Savings

36:45 - The Future: Enterprise Adoption and Supply Chain Transformation

38:00 - Advice for Founders Considering Smaller Tech Hubs

As Co-Founder and COO of Aramid Technologies, Lonni is focused on transforming traceability, documentation, and collaboration for every company across critical supply chains. She leads operations and the customer experience, ensuring that SmartCert — the company’s flagship platform — delivers measurable value and solves real-world challenges. With expertise spanning data analytics, onboarding, support, and strategic growth, Lonni is committed to building seamless, scalable solutions that help businesses thrive in a complex and competitive landscape.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lonni-kieffer/

SmartCert is a SaaS platform that digitizes and automates supply chain documentation for manufacturing industries. The company creates networks that eliminate bottlenecks, reduce errors, and automate critical compliance processes for aerospace, electronics, and manufacturing companies.

https://smartcert.tech/

Titletown Tech
https://titletowntech.com/

Microsoft Co-Innovation Lab
https://news.microsoft.com/2023/11/15/microsoft-announces-new-co-innovation-lab-in-milwaukee/

Wisconsin Economic Summit
https://www.wedc.org/programs-and-resources/business-development/wisconsin-economic-summit/

Subscribe to the Startup Wisconsin Newsletter

https://www.startupwi.org/

Upcoming Events (400+ every year)

https://www.startupwi.org/events

Follow us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wisconsin/

Interested in being a guest? Reach out!

[email protected]

Startup Wisconsin's mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow tech startup communities across the state, not just during events, but year-round. This podcast is part of that vision, creating deeper connections and sharing the knowledge that helps Wisconsin's startup ecosystem thrive.

Nick Myers recently sold his Madison-based AI startup RedFox AI to recovery.com, where he now serves as Director of AI Innovation. In this episode, Nick shares the complete journey from founding his healthcare AI company to successfully exiting after five years.

RedFox AI tackled one of the most critical challenges in artificial intelligence: preventing hallucinations when AI systems guide patients through medical processes. Nick's personal experience as a childhood leukemia survivor drove his mission to make healthcare more accessible through conversational AI that could walk people through home lab tests and medical devices.

→ Building AI systems that don't hallucinate in healthcare settings
→ The technical architecture of constrained RAG systems
→ Navigating accessibility challenges for elderly and first-time tech users
→ How proximity and relationships drive startup success in Wisconsin
→ The acquisition process and knowing when to "get out of your own way"
→ AI's potential impact on the labor market and policy implications
→ Resources for Wisconsin startup founders and mentorship programs

00:00 - Introduction
00:27 - The RedFox AI Story: Making Healthcare Accessible
02:25 - Technical Deep Dive: Preventing AI Hallucinations
06:08 - Building for Accessibility: Elderly Users and Language Barriers
09:02 - The Exit Strategy: Building to Be Acquired
12:28 - How Proximity Led to Acquisition at StartingBlock
19:12 - Wisconsin Startup Ecosystem and Networking Advice
28:28 - Mentorship Resources and Programs in Wisconsin
32:26 - Life After Exit: Director of AI Innovation Role
39:14 - The Future of Work: AI's Impact on Jobs

Nick Myers is the Director of AI Innovation at recovery.com and former cofounder/CEO of RedFox AI. He's been working in conversational AI since 2016 and has spoken globally about AI technology and policy. Nick is also an advocate for AI regulation and has worked with lawmakers on Wisconsin startup funding initiatives.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-myers-0794/

Recovery.com (formerly Rehab Path) is a behavioral health platform that connects patients with treatment resources. The company helps hundreds of thousands of people find addiction and mental health treatment options.
https://recovery.com/

StartingBlock Madison: https://www.startingblockmadison.org/
Merlin Mentors Program: https://merlinmentors.org/
Wisconsin Technology Council: https://wisconsintechnologycouncil.com/
UW Small Business Development Clinic: https://business.wisconsin.edu/initiatives/small-business-clinics/
Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic: https://law.wisc.edu/uwle/

Subscribe to the Startup Wisconsin Newsletter

https://www.startupwi.org/

Upcoming Events (400+ every year)

https://www.startupwi.org/events

Follow us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wisconsin/

Interested in being a guest? Reach out!

[email protected]

Startup Wisconsin's mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow tech startup communities across the state, not just during events, but year-round. This podcast is part of that vision, creating deeper connections and sharing the knowledge that helps Wisconsin's startup ecosystem thrive.

→ How evolution guides modern drug discovery
→ Why ground squirrels are going to space with NASA
→ The surprising advantages of doing biotech in Wisconsin
→ Building academic-industry partnerships outside major hubs
→ Creating scientific community in the Fox Valley

Fauna Bio leverages millions of years of evolution by studying animals that naturally avoid diseases humans struggle with—from cancer-resistant elephants to hibernating ground squirrels that survive without eating for six months.

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-sajdak/
Fauna Bio
https://www.faunabio.com/
Fox Valley Science Society
https://www.tardigradesbookshelf.com/fv-science-society

00:00 - Intro
00:40 - What Fauna Bio Does: Using Evolution to Fight Disease
02:03 - Ben's Journey from Construction Worker to Biotech
03:08 - Why Study Disease-Resistant Animals vs Disease Models
04:16 - The Ground Squirrel Colony at UW-Oshkosh
05:35 - Hibernation Biology: From 300 to 3 Heartbeats Per Minute
07:02 - Academic-Industry Partnership Model
08:23 - NASA Space Mission: Sending Squirrels to Space
10:07 - Machine Learning and the "Convergence" Platform
13:04 - Sponsor Break (Headway)
14:10 - Spiny Mouse Research: Regeneration and Scar Prevention
16:44 - Wisconsin's Underrated Biotech Potential
18:11 - Breaking Down University Research Silos
19:57 - Community Building and Networking Challenges
23:14 - Showcasing Hidden University Research

Subscribe to the Startup Wisconsin Newsletter

https://www.startupwi.org/

Upcoming Events (400+ every year)

https://www.startupwi.org/events

Follow us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wisconsin/

Interested in being a guest? Reach out!

[email protected]

Startup Wisconsin's mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow tech startup communities across the state, not just during events, but year-round. This podcast is part of that vision, creating deeper connections and sharing the knowledge that helps Wisconsin's startup ecosystem thrive.

We chat with Casey Cammilleri, CEO and founder of Sprocket Security, a Madison-based cybersecurity company that's revolutionizing how businesses approach penetration testing. Casey started as a solo penetration tester - essentially getting paid to legally hack into companies to find vulnerabilities - but realized he could help more organizations by building software to scale that expertise.

What makes Sprocket Security different is their continuous approach. Instead of testing once a year like traditional security firms, they monitor organizations continuously, testing whenever there are changes or new threats emerge, so companies always know what their risks are.

We explore Casey's journey from individual consultant to leading a team of cybersecurity experts, his approach to building company culture with both local and remote employees, and his thoughts on growing a tech business in Madison versus coastal markets. You'll also hear his practical advice for founders about when to focus on building versus pitching, and insights for anyone interested in getting started in cybersecurity.

00:00 - Intro
01:32 - What Sprocket Security Does: Continuous Penetration Testing
02:57 - Casey's Background as a Penetration Tester
04:44 - Building Software to Scale Security Testing
06:03 - Early Go-to-Market Strategy and Local Network
07:14 - Early Challenges of Scaling from Solo to Team
08:26 - Learning Leadership and Using Mentorship
11:51 - Hiring Strategy: Local vs Remote Talent
13:42 - Building Company Culture Across Distributed Teams
15:04 - Sponsor Break (Headway)
16:46 - How the Vision Has Evolved Over 8 Years
20:04 - Running MadSec: Madison Security Community
21:06 - Getting Started in Cybersecurity Career Path
23:04 - Advice for Breaking Into Cybersecurity
24:36 - Hardware Security vs Software Security Focus
25:49 - What Casey Loves About Building in Madison
26:53 - What Wisconsin's Tech Scene Needs More Of
28:23 - Pitch Contests and Capital: Casey's Perspective
32:43 - Build First, Then Sell: Casey's Bootstrap Philosophy
34:57 - Balancing Innovation with Customer Commitments

→ Building continuous penetration testing from the ground up

→ Scaling expertise through software and automation

→ Early challenges of hiring and building company culture

→ Local vs. remote hiring strategies for specialized talent

→ Growing a tech business in Madison's startup ecosystem

→ When to bootstrap vs. seek investment funding

→ Getting started in cybersecurity and penetration testing

Sprocket Security is an expert-driven offensive security platform that provides continuous penetration testing. Instead of testing just once a year, they monitor organizations continuously and test whenever there are changes that impact security or new threats emerge.

Sprocket Security:

https://sprocketsecurity.com

Casey Cammilleri on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseycammilleri/

MadSec - Madison Information Security Group

https://www.meetup.com/madsec/

TryHackMe - Cybersecurity challenges and training

https://tryhackme.com/

Subscribe to the Startup Wisconsin Newsletter

https://www.startupwi.org/

Upcoming Events (400+ every year)

https://www.startupwi.org/events

Follow us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wisconsin/

Interested in being a guest? Reach out!

[email protected]

Startup Wisconsin's mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow tech startup communities across the state, not just during events, but year-round. This podcast is part of that vision, creating deeper connections and sharing the knowledge that helps Wisconsin's startup ecosystem thrive.

Join us for an in-depth conversation with Dan Fogarty, a thought leadership strategist who helps founders and executives tell their stories authentically through content that drives real business results. Dan brings a fascinating background - he started as a journalist at major outlets like USA Today and the Boston Globe, but a boxing-related concussion led him to leave traditional media and build his own business around content strategy.

What makes Dan's approach different is how he brings journalistic rigor to thought leadership. He's not about generic LinkedIn posts or AI-generated content. Instead, he helps people find what's happening "in the room" - those insights and perspectives that only come from being deeply embedded in your industry and the conversations you have every day.

We explore what's fundamentally broken about thought leadership today, Dan's process for helping clients discover what's actually worth talking about, and his perspective as a recent transplant to Madison's startup community. You'll also hear about his new AI tool TalkBox and his thoughts on what founders should be doing more of to tell Wisconsin's innovation story.

Key Topics Covered

→ Why most thought leadership content fails (and how to fix it)

→ The three-circle framework for authentic content creation

→ Finding your unique insights: "what's happening in the room"

→ Personal brand vs. authentic storytelling

→ Building TalkBox: AI tool for scaling expertise

→ Moving from East Coast to Madison's startup scene

→ The future of AI in creative work and content strategy

🔗 Connect with Dan Fogarty

Dan Website

https://imdanfogarty.com

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfogarty1/

👉 Resources Mentioned

Starting Block Madison

https://www.startingblockmadison.org/

Level Set Program

https://www.startingblockmadison.org/levelset

Segments

00:00 - Intro and Dan's Background

01:19 - From Journalism to Content Strategy

07:48 - The COVID Turning Point

15:19 - What's Broken About Thought Leadership

20:22 - Finding What's Worth Talking About

31:34 - Sponsor Break (Headway)

33:03 - Personal Brand vs Company Brand

38:16 - Building TalkBox AI Tool

44:28 - AI and Creative Work Philosophy

48:58 - Moving to Madison Experience

57:36 - Advice for Wisconsin Founders

1:04:23 - Contact Information and Wrap-up

Subscribe to the Startup Wisconsin Newsletter

https://www.startupwi.org/

Upcoming Events (400+ every year)

https://www.startupwi.org/events

Follow us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wisconsin/

Interested in being a guest? Reach out!

[email protected]

Startup Wisconsin's mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow tech startup communities across the state, not just during events, but year-round. This podcast is part of that vision, creating deeper connections and sharing the knowledge that helps Wisconsin's startup ecosystem thrive.

Join us for an in-depth conversation with Nati Solomon Fett and Colin Guest, the cofounders of Syrenn, a Madison-based AI-powered sales training platform that's revolutionizing how sales teams practice high-stakes conversations.

In this episode, we explore Syrenn's unique approach to sales training - moving beyond traditional role-playing to create AI-powered scenarios that actually help sales reps improve their conversational skills. Both Nati and Colin bring strong technical backgrounds to this challenge, and their journey from multiple pivots to finding product-market fit offers valuable lessons for any entrepreneur.

We dive deep into their hands-on customer discovery process, including walking into gyms and car dealerships to understand how sales training really works. You'll hear about their experience in the Madworks Accelerator Program, their thoughts on building with AI coding tools like Cursor, and what they've learned about Madison's tight-knit startup ecosystem.

→ Building AI-powered sales training from the ground up

→ The pivot journey: from solution seeking problem to market fit

→ Real-world customer discovery strategies

→ Co-founder dynamics with two technical founders

→ Madworks Accelerator experience and mentorship value

→ Madison startup community pros and cons

→ Leveraging AI tools for faster development

Syrenn helps sales managers remove themselves as bottlenecks in training by providing AI-powered role-play scenarios for their sales reps.

Syrenn: https://syrenn.co/

Cursor AI coding tool: https://cursor.com/en

Madworks Accelerator: https://www.startingblockmadison.org/madworks-business-accelerator

Starting Block Madison: https://www.startingblockmadison.org/

Subscribe to the Startup Wisconsin Newsletter

https://www.startupwi.org/

Upcoming Events (400+ every year)

https://www.startupwi.org/events

Follow us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wisconsin/

Interested in being a guest? Reach out!

[email protected]

Startup Wisconsin's mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow tech startup communities across the state, not just during events, but year-round. This podcast is part of that vision, creating deeper connections and sharing the knowledge that helps Wisconsin's startup ecosystem thrive.

Join us for an in-depth conversation with Beth Ott, Director of Entrepreneurial Programming at StartingBlock in Madison, as we explore the evolution of entrepreneurship education and community building in Wisconsin.

In this episode

Beth shares her unique journey from educator to entrepreneur, co-founding House on Jenny Street and teaching the innovative "Clark Tank" program. We dive deep into Starting Block's comprehensive program offerings, including their groundbreaking LEAP Year initiative - a "third option" for young adults beyond the traditional college-or-work binary.

Discover how Starting Block is transforming entrepreneurship education through practical, hands-on programs like Level Set (their 6-week pre-accelerator) and Next Level (12-week accelerator), plus industry-specific accelerators with partners like American Family Insurance. Beth reveals the key "light bulb moments" founders experience and shares insights about Madison's vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

We also explore the challenges and opportunities in Wisconsin's startup landscape, the importance of community collaboration, and how the Midwest can develop solutions tailored to regional problems.

Topics Covered

→ Beth's transition from education to entrepreneurship

→ StartingBlock's program portfolio and impact

→ LEAP Year: Creating a third option for young adults

→ Founder success stories and breakthrough moments

→ Madison's entrepreneurial ecosystem strengths

→ Building effective startup community networks

→ The future of entrepreneurship education

Segments

00:00 - Intro

01:24 - Beth's Education Background and Teaching Philosophy

02:37 - From Furniture Flipping to Entrepreneurship

03:56 - Clark Street Community School and Clark Tank Program

08:41 - Joining Starting Block Madison

10:46 - Starting Block's Program Overview

14:17 - Introducing LEAP Year - The Third Option

22:53 - LEAP Year Application Process and Structure

27:25 - Sponsor Break

28:59 - Founder Success Stories and Light Bulb Moments

35:06 - Madison's Entrepreneurial Community Strengths

40:26 - Startup Wisconsin's Vision and Ecosystem Challenges

45:49 - Building Midwest Startup Collaboration

49:47 - Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

51:43 - Shout Outs and Contact Information

Resources Mentioned

StartingBlock Website

Leap Year Program

Events at StartingBlock

The Mom Test

Subscribe to the Startup Wisconsin Newsletter

https://www.startupwi.org/

Upcoming Events (400+ every year)

https://www.startupwi.org/events

Follow us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wisconsin/

Interested in being a guest? Reach out!

[email protected]

Startup Wisconsin's mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow tech startup communities across the state, not just during events, but year-round. This podcast is part of that vision, creating deeper connections and sharing the knowledge that helps Wisconsin's startup ecosystem thrive.

Welcome to the Startup Wisconsin Podcast! Join hosts Jacob Miller and Andrew Verboncouer as they share their vision for building a thriving statewide tech startup community across Wisconsin.

In this first episode:

🏛️ How we're supporting founders from Green Bay to Milwaukee to Madison

🎯 Our approach to year-round community building beyond just Startup Week

🤝 Plans for supper clubs, mentorship programs, and meaningful networking experiences

📅 What to expect from Startup Wisconsin Week 2025 (November 10-14)

Featured Topics:

→ Wisconsin startup ecosystem

→ Tech entrepreneurship in the Midwest

→ Community building for founders

→ Startup networking and mentorship

→ Wisconsin venture capital and funding

→ Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Madison startup scenes

Upcoming Guests Include:

→ Founders from Siren (Madison sales simulation platform)

→ Beth Ott from Starting Block Madison

→ Dan Fogarty on thought leadership

→ Casey Cammilleri, Sprocket Security

→ Ben from Fauna Bio (space hibernation research!)

→ Nick Myers, Red Fox AI exit story with Recovery.com

Segments:

00:00 - Intro & Welcome

00:39 - Meet the Hosts

04:03 - Startup Wisconsin Mission & Vision

05:40 - Why We're Doing This Podcast

11:08 - Types of Guests & Conversations

15:29 - Sponsor Message

16:56 - Government & Policy Discussions

17:41 - Community Building Philosophy

27:07 - Startup Wisconsin Week 2025

33:40 - How to Get Involved & Support

34:03 - Upcoming Guest Previews

37:07 - Outro & Contact Info

Subscribe to the Startup Wisconsin Newsletter

https://www.startupwi.org/

Upcoming Events (400+ every year)

https://www.startupwi.org/events

Follow us on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wisconsin/

Interested in being a guest? Reach out!

[email protected]

Startup Wisconsin's mission is to connect, educate, inspire, and grow tech startup communities across the state, not just during events, but year-round. This podcast is part of that vision, creating deeper connections and sharing the knowledge that helps Wisconsin's startup ecosystem thrive.