Startups for Good

Tinsley Galyean is a Co-founder and Executive Director of Curious Learning. Curious Learning with partners has curated thousands of free and open source interactive literacy learning experiences reaching over 3.5 million users. Tinsley holds a PhD from the MIT Media Lab and a ScM in computer graphics from Brown University. He has developed interactive technology driven projects for museums around the world. He’s also developed media experiences through Disney, Warner Brothers, and an Emmy-nominated program for Discovery Kids.

Tinsley joins me today to share how he came to literacy and its impact on the world. We discuss how people learn and why some of them struggle to learn how to read. He tells us the importance of curiosity in learning. We discuss how to approach building a team in dealing with being a non-profit and a tech company. We get into the difference between the academic research orientation and the tech startup AB testing orientation.

As Chair of the Board of Curious Learning, I’m excited to share this story with you..

“You earn 40% more over the course of your lifetime you live 26 years longer if you're literate, there's direct impacts on your health, your ability to access resources of understand how to take care of yourself and your health, how subject you are to being radicalized and its impact on world peace or or human trafficking or child labor.” - Tinsley Galyean

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Can reading be taught on a smartphone?
• Learning from past tech “failures” and incorporating them into the software
• Limiting beliefs and its effect on the organization
• How funding is different as a non-profit
• How to reach more people
• Protecting the learner’s privacy

Connect with Tinsley by email or on the Curious Learning website

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Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Miles on Twitter or  LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle

Madison Campbell is a trailblazer and sexual assault advocate. After going to college to study epidemiology in space populations, Madison has become a well-seasoned entrepreneur. She led a company prior to Leda Health called “Iyanu,” which was a software development shop based in Lagos, Nigeria. Today, she is working hard to promote the autonomy and self-actualization of sexual assault survivors through Leda Health by developing and providing resources to help them overcome their difficult trauma.

Madison joins me today to discuss her company and her thoughts on transformative justice through the use of the at home evidence collection kits. We kick off the episode with a question about why so few sexual assault cases are resolved by the legal system. We also discuss the proper role of the legal system and the cost to the victim following a sexual assault. Madison shares her opinion on ways of ending the cycle of abuse. She also tells us about the other service offerings of Leda Health. 

“I think we will be not only like the market creator for this space, but I do think there is a possibility of being a winner take all and I want to be the winner.” - Madison Campbell

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Transformative Justice
• At home self collection evidence kits
• How to build a strong relationship with your co-founder
• The Nigerian business ecosystem
• How improv can improve business skills
• Using Excel spreadsheets with ideation
• How to take the news when investors say no
• How the mission can help in dealing with controversy

Connect with Madison on Twitter: @martyrdison IG: martyrdison: 

Books mentioned in this episode:

48 Laws of Power by Robert Green

Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman

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Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Miles on Twitter or  LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle

Slava Solonitsyn is an accomplished investor, entrepreneur, inventor, co-founder, and CEO of Mighty Buildings, a construction technology company creating beautiful, affordable, and sustainable homes using 3D-printing, advanced materials, and robotic automation. Mighty Buildings is based in Oakland, CA and is backed by several notable International and Silicon Valley tech investors, including Khosla Ventures, Zeno Ventures, and Y Combinator.

Mighty Buildings has a near-zero waste production process, preventing 1,100 - 2,000 kg of CO2 emission per 3D-printed home. We are committed to achieving Net-Zero by 2028 - making our company 22 years ahead of the construction industry.

Not only are we certified under California's Factory Built Housing program to build units using 3D-printing, but we are also the first company to achieve certification under the UL 3401 standard for evaluating building structures and assemblies.

“Tolerance to risk in Silicon Valley is absolutely one of the key advantages” 

- Slava Solonitsyn

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• New innovations in 3D printing homes
• How to select the first market to enter with an new invention
• Managing former founders differently than start up employees
• The difference between the Silicon Valley ecosystem and other ecosystems
• Cultivating innovation is a regulated industry
• How to level up as a founder
• Admitting you’re wrong
• Lean culture
• Discussing mission internally
• Building partnerships

The books that were discussed on today’s episode were:

No Rules Rule by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

Radical Candor by Kim Scott

Books by Jim Collins

Connect with Slava at mightybuildings.com

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Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Miles on Twitter or  LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle

Anna de Paula Hanika is the Co-Founder and CEO of Uno Health. Uno Health unlocks financial equity for low-income seniors so millions can afford better health. Uno enrolls and re-certifies the Medicare members in all state and federal programs they are eligible for - putting thousands of dollars in their pockets and creating direct revenue and savings for their insurance company. Anna has raised a successful seed round from Floodgate and Cowboy Ventures. She also worked in product and operations and product and marketing at places like Google, Clover, mHealth, and Sum. She has also been a fellow at HITLAB Healthcare Innovation Lab. Bachelors from University of Oxford in Psychology & Neuroscience.

On knowing when to expand your team - “So it’s a combination of, data driven, but also a good amount of gut that gets you to identify when you need to actually hire someone and give your hat to them.” - Anna de Paula Hanika

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Helping consumers on the enrollment side
• How company ideas evolve throughout the startup process
• Differing CEO roles for product based business vs service based
• Knowing when to expand your team
• Testing your hypothesis 
• How to create a good relationship with your co-founder
• Vulnerabilities

Some of the books that Anna discussed were:

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

Team of Teams by Gen. Stanley McChrystal

Getting More by Stuart Diamond

And Chris Voss does have a Masterclass

Connect with Anna: LinkedIN and on the UnoHealth Website

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Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.

Don’t forget to visit our website startupsforgood.com/, connect with Miles on Twitter https://twitter.com/Startups4Good or  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mileslasater/, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle https://www.startupsforgood.com/giving-circle/

We are taking a short break here at Startups For Good. Miles will return in September with new guests to inspire. In the meantime please revisit some of our earlier guests that you may have missed and check out our website and other links found below for more information. Thank you for listening.

Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Miles on Twitter or  LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle

Atif is the Executive Director of Tarjimly, a tech nonprofit with the mission of eliminating language barriers for refugees. He served as an interpreter for his own refugee and immigrant family and graduated from MIT during the height of the Syrian refugee crisis. In 2017, his team joined Y Combinator and launched Tarjimly, an app that enables bilinguals to volunteer as translators for refugees and NGOs which has helped 25,000 people overcome language barriers globally. He was awarded Forbes 30 Under 30, Silicon Valley Business Journal's 40 Under 40, the Echoing Green Fellowship, and MIT Martin Luther King Service Award.

Atif joins me today to enlighten us on the refugee crisis around the world and what his company Tarjimly can do about it with the help of micro volunteers. We discuss how web based translators are sometimes unsuccessful in certain scenarios. Atif talked about revenue as well as B2B and B2C models. He also shares the reasons why they chose to build their non-profit like a for profit tech start up. 

“As populations grow around the world, I think the United Nations expect us to break 100 million displaced people around the world quite soon. So it's a sad reality, but there's a lot of things we can do to help.” - Atif Javed

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

-How volunteers can help from across the world

-How quickly volunteers are matched and offer assistance

-Maintaining quality given the variety and scale of Tarjimly

-Selecting the non-profit structure

-Vanity metrics vs. metrics that matter

Connect with Atif on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atifmjaved/

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Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.

Don’t forget to visit our website startupsforgood.com/, connect with Miles on Twitter https://twitter.com/Startups4Good or  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mileslasater/, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle https://www.startupsforgood.com/giving-circle/

Victor is an economic growth expert.  His ideas have shaped the economic lives of millions of people worldwide. His work has helped over 300 communities, cities, states, companies, and even entire countries in creating greater economic prosperity.

His economic development clients have included the World Bank, Ford Foundation, Inter-American Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He has also worked with corporate clients seeking to grow entrepreneurial innovation, including Accenture, IBM, and Microsoft.

He is founder and CEO of Victor & Company, an economic growth consultancy.

He is founder and CEO of Right to Start, a campaign fighting to rebuild the economy by making entrepreneurial opportunities available to all. 

Previously, he was Vice President of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, the world’s leading philanthropy supporting entrepreneurs with an endowment of $2 billion. At Kauffman, he led initiatives that impacted over 200,000 entrepreneurs, including efforts in catalyzing capital formation, transforming economic development practices, launching a national policy roadmap, and breaking barriers for underserved entrepreneurs.

Victor has created two leading conferences on unleashing innovation and entrepreneurship: Global Innovation Summit and ESHIP Summit. The Global Innovation Summit became Silicon Valley’s leading conference on building innovative economies, with over 1,000 delegates from 50 nations. The ESHIP Summit, during Victor’s term at the Kauffman Foundation, became the nation’s leading conference on building entrepreneurial communities, with over 1,200 attendees from all 50 states and over 100 mayors and key staff.

Victor was co-founder and CEO of the startup Liquidity, a Silicon Valley venture-backed firm making safe drinking water filtration based on nanotech manufacturing. He led the company through product launch, early revenues, and winning the TechCrunch Disrupt startup competition.  

He was CEO and co-founder of T2 Venture Creation, a venture firm that built startup companies and designed ecosystems that fostered entrepreneurial innovation in dozens of countries and cities.  

He was President and Chief Operating Officer of Larta Institute, an organization commercializing technology from key government agencies, such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.   

He was chief strategy officer of Veatros, a video startup where he led the company’s acquisition by a public company.  

Victor practiced corporate and technology law with the firms of Mayer, Brown & Platt and Irell & Manella.

He has been a contributing columnist to Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, and Entrepreneur, and his opinions have been cited in The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among others.

National Public Radio named his graduation address to Austin Community College one of “the best commencement speeches ever.”  

Victor pioneered the use of the metaphor “rainforest” in a business context. He applied it to show how communities can replicate the historical innovation dynamics of Silicon Valley. His co-authored book, The Rainforest, was awarded Book of the Year, Gold Medal, by ForeWord Reviews for “a big idea that defines a way of thinking.”

Victor received his bachelor's degree (with honors) from Harvard University, where he studied Government, plus additional studies in Computer Science. He received his law degree from the University of Chicago.

Victor joins me today to share the differences and benefits of high tech startups and small businesses. We discuss the importance of company culture and how to foster the values of the corporation with the employees. Victor tells us about the aspects that make one economic ecosystem better than another. We talk about the...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.startupsforgood.com

Dani Pensack is the CEO and Co-founder of Rightfoot. With over a decade of experience working in the financial technology space, she started her career leading API strategy for IBM's banking clients. At Stanford's MBA program, she and her co-founders dug deep into the problem of student debt, collaborating with professors and classmates. Rightfoot's leadership team have all taken on student loans and understand the real challenges it presents for millions of Americans. The team started Rightfoot to break apart the American debt crisis, starting with student debt.

Dani joins me today to explain why there is so much student debt and how her company, Rightfoot, is attempting to help college graduates pay it off. She enlightens us with the demographics of the average student debt holder. Dani tells us about her three types of customers and their specific needs. She shares with us her founder story and what she values in her co-founders. 

“Find co founders who you trust, respect, believe in, and who will challenge 

you to be the best leader possible.”  - Danielle Pensack

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

-Changing product focus midstream

-Building trust with competitors to parlay them into customers

-The benefits and values of being a mission driven company

-Lean Startup methodology

-How specificity can generate more generosity

-Selling to developers vs. selling to human resources

-The importance of transparent pricing

The book that Danielle mentioned:

The One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard - https://www.amazon.com/New-One-Minute-Manager-Manager-updated/dp/8172234996/ref=sr_1_3?crid=14LKGFMICEV5K&dchild=1&keywords=the+one+minute+manager&qid=1626279729&sprefix=the+one+minute+manager%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-3

Connect with Dani at [email protected], find more information about Rightfoot at www.rightfoot.com and contact them at [email protected].

Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.

Don’t forget to visit our website http://startupsforgood.com/, connect with Miles on Twitter https://twitter.com/Startups4Good  or  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mileslasater/, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle https://www.startupsforgood.com/giving-circle/.Sh

Jonathan Petts is the co-founder of ImmigrationHelp.org, a tech nonprofit helping low-income immigrants make their immigration dreams come true. Prior to co-founding ImmigrationHelp.org, Jonathan co-founded another legal tech nonprofit, Upsolve (YC W19), and practiced at two international law firms. He has served as an advisor on international law to both the IMF and the World Bank. In 2017, Jonathan was recognized by FastCase as one of the 50 most innovative leaders in the legal profession. Jonathan is the proud son and husband of immigrants. 

I kick off the interview with Jonathan asking if lawyers are trained to be bad entrepreneurs, listen to find out what his answer is. Jonathan shares with us what brought him to want to help clients dealing with bankruptcy procedures. He discusses with us where the funding for his two non-profits came from. We discuss the bureaucracy of the immigration system and if it is designed to be complicated. He also shares with us what most American’’s don’t understand about the immigration process. ImmigrationHelp.org was a recipient of our own Giving Circle funds.

“This process can be. I mean, you can have done everything perfectly and have a very simple straightforward case. But then like, you know, your paperwork is lost by the government or there's one you know, blank square that's, that's unmarked for there is you know, any any number of just really bizarre reasons, and then you're denied. And your life is in upheaval, the life that you thought you're going to build in the US. And that's just really, really scary.”   - Jonathan Petts

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

-How to know where to start as a co-founder 

-How to measure success with a non-profit

-The efficacy of software in the legal world

-The impact of immigration on society

-Should government be more user driven

-The advantages and disadvantages of a tech non-profit

-Competition in the non-profit space

-How to set pricing in a non-profit

Books suggested by Jonathan:

The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+great+ceo+within&crid=1MTV4ARXAK8UJ&sprefix=the+great+CEO+within%2Caps%2C234&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_20

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Phil-Knight-audiobook/dp/B01CRJA470/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3VXDVEXP4TYA3&dchild=1&keywords=shoe+dog&qid=1625690050&sprefix=Shoe+Dog%2Caps%2C536&sr=8-1

Connect with Jonathan by email: [email protected] or at www.immigrationhelp.org

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Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.

Don’t forget to visit our website startupsforgood.com/, connect with Miles on Twitter https://twitter.com/Startups4Good or  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mileslasater/, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.startupsforgood.com

As the Financial Health Network’s Vice President for Innovation, Hannah Calhoon is responsible for the strategic direction of our Innovation practice, including the Financial Solutions Lab. In her role, she leads our efforts to uncover new ways to support our innovators as they work to improve financial health and deliver quality services that treat communities with dignity.

Hannah has more than 12 years of experience building mission-oriented innovation systems. Before coming to the Financial Health Network, Hannah founded Blue Ridge Labs, an initiative inside the Robin Hood Foundation that unites communities and technologists to build new tech platforms that address economic inequality. Before founding Blue Ridge Labs, Hannah was Project Leader in BCG’s healthcare and global development practice areas and held roles at Acumen and Embrace. She currently sits on the Legal Service Corporation’s Emerging Leaders Council and the advisory boards of Finance Forward and legal tech start-up community.lawyer.

Hannah holds a BA in Social Studies from Harvard College and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. She lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and her two daughters. In her free time, she enjoys baking, hiking, and sci-fi novels."

Hannah joins me to discuss some of the aspects of serving a low income population in improving their financial health. She shares with us the things that she learned working with  founders of this type of company. Hannah talks about the differences between a for profit and a non-profit company. She shares with us some of the companies that are coming out of the Financial Services Lab incubator. Hannah continues to tell us what areas are missing or needs tackling.

“…it's never a bad idea to go find a couple of people you can bounce ideas off of who can serve as your kitchen table of sorts, because it is a long and challenging journey to get from the very beginning of these things to something that looks like an exit, if that's what you're looking for.”    - Hannah Calhoon

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

-Founding a company without experience with the problem

-Building trust to get the best answers from users

-How the short term nature of the VC process works in serving low income populations

-Biases in the founder and the customer population that is served

-Is the financial health of families in America improving?

-How the regulatory environment effects the health of families

-User centric software products that help awareness of government programs

Other Mentions:

Episode 6: Mara Zapeda, Managing Director at Zebras Unite: https://www.startupsforgood.com/sfg-06-mara-zapeda/

Subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss the Jonathan Petts episode releasing next week, Monday, July 12th.

The book that Hannah mentioned, The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahcalhoon/ and Financial Health Network on Twitter, https://twitter.com/finhealthnet, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/finhealthnetwork/ and their website is: https://finlab.finhealthnetwork.org

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Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Startups For Good with your...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.startupsforgood.com