Startups for Good

Ade Adesanya, is the Co-founder & President of Moving Analytics Inc, a telehealth company that is increasing access to cardiac rehab and helping patients recover faster at home through an innovative app-based virtual cardiac rehab program, Movn. Moving Analytics’ programs are developed in partnership with Stanford University, and are based on more than 30 years of published research.  Ade is also a lecturer of entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California. Prior to launching Moving Analytics, Ade helped researchers at the University of Southern California to commercialize their research into startup ventures.  Ade grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and moved to the US to study electrical engineering at the University of Houston, he later got a master’s in engineering management from the University of Southern California and a certificate in Finance from UCLA.  He was recently recognized as a top 30 under 30 in healthcare by Forbes magazine.

Ade joins me today to discuss the impact of his company and the growth with the increase of Telehealth in this post COVID environment. I ask him why it takes a life changing event like cardiac arrest for some people to change their health habits. Ade shares his founder’s story with us and the growth of the company over the past few years bringing him to 2000 patients. He discusses how Stanford university’s technology transfer office was pivotal in his company’s success. 

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Finding the why when founding a company
• Knowing when to bring on extra staffing
• Is Vertical integration a pattern to be repeated in other areas
• Common barriers in Telehealth
• Fundraising challenges for minority entrepreneurs

Connect with Ade through LinkedIn 

Ade’s non-profit MAIN (Multicultural Angel Investor Network) can be found on LinkedIn

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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

Nadim is the son of immigrants who arrived in the US with virtually nothing. His upbringing instilled in him a passion for helping people build financial resilience and independence. Prior to EarnUp, Nadim worked at Serent Capital, a $600M private equity firm, focused on tech-enabled services. Prior to Serent, Nadim led investments with NCB Capital, a $12B asset manager. Before this, Nadim worked at McKinsey & Company consulting large banks. Nadim also practiced IP and technology law at Kirkland & Ellis. Nadim holds a JD degree from Harvard Law School and graduated highest honors from Rutgers University.

I kick off Nadim’s interview with a question about banks, a necessary evil or are they fighting the good fight. He turns the tables and returns the question and we have a good discussion about the banking industry. Nadim continues the interview by sharing his founder's story and how it was inspired by his family and his own experience with paying off their mortgage payment. He tells us how his company grew in customers and employees. He shares the impact on the company and the startup space when his co-founder stepped down to care for his own mental health. Near the end Nadim asks me how people can put into practice the learnings from leadership books. (Note: EarnUp is a Purpose Built portfolio company.)

“ I think that's a that's one of those proud moments for me, where we we spend that we spent all the years building a business that has a trusted relationship, a trusted conduit with the customer, such that one of our investors in this nonprofit at the same time is comfortable enough and confident enough in our ability to do the work, but also our relationship with the customer.” - Nadim Homsany

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• How FinTechs differ from traditional startups
• The insights of the word “earn” rather than “save”
• The impact of a kitchen table on a startup
• What a Concierge MVP offers
• Mental health in tech startups
• The concerns of a double bottom line company
• Building a diverse team
• Managing diverse investors
• Balancing internal resources when you are a B2B2C

Connect with Nadim on Twitter or at myearnup.com 

The books that Nadim referred to High Output Management and Feedback that Works

The books that Miles suggested: 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership and The Great CEO Within (review) as well as Lean Startup

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Laura Kleiman is Founder and CEO of Reboot Rx, the tech nonprofit dedicated to fast-tracking the development of affordable cancer treatments using repurposed generic drugs and AI technology. Laura’s career has focused on building collaborations across disciplines and sectors to expand treatment options for cancer patients. She was previously Scientific Research Director in the Department of Data Sciences at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Laura earned a PhD in Computational and Systems Biology from MIT and conducted translational cancer research as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Laura was recently featured in Forbes and received the 40 Under 40 in Cancer Award.

Laura joins me today to discuss not only her founder story but the role perseverance plays in all realms of a startup. She shares with us her experiences with fundraising as well as some of the challenges and advantages of choosing to be a tech non-profit. 

“I'm passionate about bringing together different people towards a common goal. And in my case, I'm very focused on improving the lives of cancer patients through developing more effective and affordable drugs.” - Laura Kleiman

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• How to know if you have chosen the right co-founder
• The implications of choosing tech non-profit status
• Lessons for other founders about fundraising
• The Mass Challenge incubator
• Misnomers of repurposing generic drugs
• Ways that clinical trials could be hastened

Connect with RebootRx at www.rebootrx.org or on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. 

The podcast that Laura referenced was Startup Therapy

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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.

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Nathan Schneider is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he leads the Media Enterprise Design Lab. His most recent book is Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that Is Shaping the Next Economy. Danny Spitzberg is a user researcher for a cooperative economy.

Nathan and Danny join me today to discuss their Exit to Community report that they have been recently working on. They share with us recent examples of other exit to community companies that we would be familiar with. They also talk about another effort, Start Co-op. We also discuss if innovation is tied to risk taking and they share their advice with us.

“The cool thing that this startup culture is good at is, is being nimble and being a pivot and enabling really creative exploration to figure out where the market fit is where the who the true community really is, and sometimes it takes some time to figure that out.” - Nathan Schneider

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Policy changes that are needed when to support  exit to community
• Thinking about the exit during the start up phase
• Blockchain compared to co-op models
• Sharing equity with users and the SEC take on it
• How tech enabled co-ops can access capital
• If co-ops can scale quickly
• 
  

Learn more at the  exit to community 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. Please share your feedback with us by going to our listener survey here.

Max Nova is the co-founder and COO of SilviaTerra.  He has spent the last decade designing, building, and deploying precision forestry tools for some of the largest landowners in the US.  Using satellites, cloud computing, and mobile technology, SilviaTerra collaborated with Microsoft to develop the first high-resolution forest inventory of the United States.  This data is now informing markets for natural capital like carbon, wildlife habitat, and fire risk.  Born and raised in Louisville, KY, Max earned a degree in computer science from Yale University.

Max joins me today to discuss his early start to becoming a founder. He shares the core technology that is the center of the company. We talk about which came first, the mission or the technology. Max counters the criticism of some that don’t value a carbon exchange program. He also speaks to his reluctance of taking on outside investments and the benefits of not being too quick to fundraise. He shares his vision for the company in the years to come. Max shares some controversial advice in the startup community. 

“I think it's much more important to say, Well, what are the types of problems I want to be working on, and to really focus on that. And so the reason I tell people not to do startups necessarily, is because I think you gain so much by being able to specialize and having an institutional overhead in place for you” - Max Nova

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• How to find the right co-founder
• The benefits of having a co-founder
• A carbon exchange program
• What motivates major corporations to choose a carbon exchange program
• The use of the technology to reduce wildfire risk
• Building the team of a mission driven company
• The increasing workforce in mission driven companies

Connect with Max on Twitter  and his company SilviaTerra or Max’s book recommendation website,  books.max-nova.com

The books that Max recommended: The Power Broker by Robert Caro

The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy

Getting Things Done by David Allen

More From Less by Andrew McAfee

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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...

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

Diane Yoo is a results-driven entrepreneur, venture capitalist and angel investor with more than 15+ years of experience. As an accredited investor, she has invested in 30+ companies and is passionate about empowering women and diversity investors and founders. With only 1% of Asian females leading as Partner or Founder in Venture Capital, Diane is the first woman General Partner for medtech and healthtech venture capital in the heart of the largest medical center of the world, Texas Medical Center. With a proven track record, she is a seasoned expert as founder and partner to several investment funds and investment networks. Diane has extensive experience in leading deals, sitting on boards and leading companies to successful exits.

Diane joins me today to discuss her road to venture capital which had stops in the restaurant and bar industry and the fashion industry. Diane speaks to how these industries helped her to express her creative side that is sometimes missing in the business world. She shares with us her work with universities. 

“I think it all comes down to relationships, whether it be an entrepreneur, investor, it all comes down to having a great reputation, building a brand and having these relationships and a large part of it is.” - Diane Yoo

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Venture Capital 
• Advocating for diverse teams
• Starting your own venture capital firm
• Creating expanded opportunities for minorities in tech
• Why business relationships are so important. 

Connect with Diane on LinkedIn. 

Some of the books that Diane referenced are:

The Lean Startup

Venture Deals

The Business of Venture Capital

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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.

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Alexandre (Alex) Lazarow has spent his career working at the intersection of investing, innovation, and economic development in the private, public, and social sectors. He is the author of Out-Innovate: How Global Entrepreneurs - from Delhi to Detroit - Are Rewriting the Rules of Silicon Valley (HBR Press). Alex is a venture capitalist with Cathay Innovation, a global firm that invests across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. 

Previously, Alex worked with Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm that has invested over a billion dollars in hundreds of startups around the world. He has served as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company, a financial regulator with the Bank of Canada, and an M&A investment banker with the Royal Bank of Canada.  

Alex is an adjunct professor specializing in impact investment and entrepreneurship at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He is a Kauffman Fellow, CFA Charterholder, and a Stephen M. Kellen Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.Comm from the University of Manitoba. 

Alex is a regular columnist with Forbes, and his writing has been featured in the Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly, Entrepreneur Magazine, TechCrunch, Fast Company, VentureBeat, Business Insider, and Quartz , among others. He speaks regularly on global innovation trends and has presented at Collision, Endeavor, InsureTech Connect, the Social Innovation Summit, SOCAP, and the Corporate Venture Capital Summit. He is most proud of having once been called a ‘sad, low budget Ryan Reynolds’ on Twitter. 

“ I believe that some of these businesses in this impact world are building not just fabulous business models, but something that has impact aligned with it. And as they scale they will scale to their impact as well.” - Alex Lazarow

Alex joins me today to discuss his background in impact investing with the Omidyar group. We discuss financial ecosystems around the world and how they differ from the changing ecosystem in Silicon Valley. Alex shares some advice for people seeking investment and with those who want to become an investor. Alex shares his secret to getting fifteen minutes with a venture capitalist.

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Frontier Ecosystems
• Global Financial Inclusion Investing
• A camel as an example rather than a unicorn
• Blitz Scaling 
• How to develop a team in a frontier market
• Multi Mission Athletes

Connect with Alex on his website or on LinkedIn or Twitter

You can purchase Alex’s book Out Innovate on Amazon or like Alex suggested your local bookstore. 

The authors that Alex suggested: Brad Feld and Bill Draper Startup Game

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Ben Chesler has been a social entrepreneur since before he really knew what the words meant.  He just liked solving problems.  While in high school he co-founded a non-profit that went on to raise $100,000+ to combat the child sex trade. In college, he started the Food Recovery Network to bridge the gap and recover food and donate it to food banks and shelters in the community.  Over the next 4 years, they scaled Food Recovery Network to 200 colleges across the country, and it became the largest student movement against hunger in the US.  

Ben kicks off our discussion by answering my question to force rank Customers, Employees, Planet and Investors. Listen how our answers differ. Ben also talks about starting Imperfect Foods and some of the mistakes that were made and the benefits of not always knowing the “proper” way of starting a business. He shares how the press was helpful to their launch and it was not customer acquisition. Ben shares why they chose to register as a B-corporation. He also discusses his different roles within the company and the one that he has settled on now. 

“I think that I really believe in the power of, you know, young people with ideas to change the world. And I don't believe that, you know, you have to be an expert to solve a problem.” - Ben Chesler

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Starting a business while still in college
• How to hire the right people and how to know they are right
• Raising money from venture capitalists
• The differences from impact investors vs traditional investors
• Starting a company with a friend
• The highs and lows of starting a company
• Creating good jobs for the employees

Connect with Ben on LinkedIn and check out Imperfect Foods

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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. Please provide us with your feedback on our new survey

David is the Founder and CEO of Founders Pledge, a global community of entrepreneurs finding and funding solutions to big global challenges. Launched in 2015, Founders Pledge has raised more than $2 billion in pledges from 1400 entrepreneurs in 30 countries and seen $450 million donated to charity as a result. Their members include the people behind some of the most innovative companies in the world, including Planet, Bolt, Memphis Meats, Transferwise, Credit Karma, Skype, Spotify, Klarna, Deepmind, and many more. 

David joins me today to discuss how he came to create Founders Pledge. He shares their mission and how successful they have been so far. David also conveys some of their big challenges. We discuss where he received the seed money for the firm. David also shares with us what he considers, “the best thing on the internet”.

“That's sort of how founders pledged developed is this idea where, you know, just help the best people do the most good with their money” - David Goldberg

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Founders Pledge goals of community, advising and gaining pledges
• The criticism of Donor Advised Funds being a tax shelter and the funds getting stagnant
• The challenges of being an international company.
• The funding environment of for startups and non-profits

Connect with David through Founders Pledge 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

Tara is founder & CEO of Rupa Health, an integrative health tech company that aims to make root cause medicine the standard of care. Their first product, Rupa Labs, is a lab ordering portal for telemedicine providers that turns 15 hours of weekly physician admin work into 15 minutes.

Tara joins me today to discuss how she bridged her worlds to create Rupa. She shares with us about the early days and the low tech way that her and her co-founder would get the work done at first. We learn about the scale and the future of her company. Tara shares her philosophy of interviewing and the importance of growing a great team.

“If you can just be really kind and make everybody be genuinely interested in the people you're talking to, and care about them and their life and what their wants and needs are. So if you're a founder, and you're meeting an investor, take time to learn about their life and what you know what they've done. And that will go a long way. And people forget about that.” 

- Tara Viswanathan

Today on Startups for Good we cover:

• Weaving conventional medicine with other styles 
• How it feels when you reach market fit
• Selling your product when it isn’t quite ready
• Fundraising strategy
• The importance of momentum

Connect with Tara on her website, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. 

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 and sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss any information about our upcoming guests. Connect with Miles on Twitter or  LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle