The Digital Footprint

In recent years, Atlanta has increasingly gained national recognition for its growing startup scene and vibrant tech community. A dense mix of Fortune 500 companies, excellent colleges and universities, a relatively low cost of living, and more have created a perfect recipe for innovation. 

Always at the heart of the hustle and bustle is Jacey Cadet, VP of Marketing and Community at Atlanta Ventures, a venture capital firm with a mission to serve entrepreneurs. With a portfolio packed with success stories such as Calendly, Salesloft, Terminus and more, Atlanta Ventures clearly knows a thing or two about navigating the myriad challenges that founders face.

Jacey has built her career around creating community, empowering entrepreneurs, and helping new businesses get off the ground. Let's just say Jacey stays busy; she also serves as President of the Board for Community Bucket and runs Pitch Practice weekly at Atlanta Tech Village.

In this episode, we speak with Jacey about how the Atlanta startup community has changed since COVID, what she sees as the key ingredients for startup success, and more. 

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Jacey Cadet

💡 What she does: Jacey is the VP of marketing and community at Atlanta Ventures

💡 Company: Atlanta Ventures

💡 Noteworthy: Jacey is an extreme extrovert with a passion for people, skilled in high-level strategy and operational minutia. As a self-starter who thinks outside the box, she is organized, outgoing, and reliable. In addition, Jacey is an experienced designer and marketer with expertise in brand strategy, employee engagement, and development across all media. Jacey is also president of the board of directors at Community Bucket and leads Pitch Practice at ATV.

💡 Where to find Jacey: LinkedIn |  Website

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Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin

When we think about giving back, it is hard to imagine a better focus than supporting kids in our communities. The resources and opportunities kids are exposed to at a young age can have long-term life changing benefits. 

So when Brent Macon became CEO of Daymaker, the self described "Big Little Kid" knew where he and his team could make the biggest impact. The Daymaker platform makes giving easy and rewarding, allowing organizations and individuals to participate in seasonal giving campaigns to children in underserved communities.

What makes Daymaker unique is the one-to-one connection each giver has with an individual child and their specific needs. With non-profit partners such as the Boys & Girls Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters, Daymaker helps organizations build habits of generosity that can transform company culture. 

In this episode, we speak with Brent about his vision for the company, innovation in corporate giving, and the lessons he's learned along the way. 

Guest-at-a-Glance

 💡 Name: Brent Macon

 💡 What he does: He's the CEO and Big Little Kid at Daymaker.

 💡 Company: Daymaker

 💡 Noteworthy: Before joining Daymaker, Brent worked as an operations and logistics manager at Uber and an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company.

 💡  Where to find Brent: LinkedIn

Want to bring a SaaS product to market, quickly?
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Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin

Refugees face enormous challenges. Completely starting over. Learning a new language and navigating a new culture. Finding work and attempting to redefine their careers. For most of us, it is hard to even imagine.

After being exposed to Atlanta's large refugee population and drawing from his own life changing experience with software engineering, Brenton Strine founded Refcode, a non-profit that introduces refugees to computer programming. As Brenton explains, it is not just about teaching refugees how to code. Setting off on a new career in tech requires so much more. Refcode continues to expand its broader programming and currently offers not just classes but labs, mentorship, access to paid projects and apprenticeships, and more.

In this episode, we speak with Brenton about his mission to change the typical refugee story. He shares lessons he's learned along the way, how software engineering transformed his life, and how he hopes to open that opportunity for others.

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Brenton Strine

💡 What he does: He is the founder of Refcode.

💡 Company: Refcode

💡 Noteworthy: Brenton holds a master's degree in Theology, but he began teaching himself to code in the ‘90s and has gone on to have an extensive career as a software engineer. For the last 20 years, he has been involved with non-traditional software engineering education as a learner, a teacher, a creator, and an innovator. Now he is working to solve the opportunity gap for refugees in tech by creating an ironclad talent pipeline that teaches skills that are usually only gained through traditional education or extensive experience.

💡 Where to find Brenton: LinkedIn | Website 

Want to bring a SaaS product to market, quickly?
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Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin

In our healthcare system, women often struggle to get the support, information, and tests they need. This reality is especially prevalent and dangerous in breast cancer risk assessment and detection where delayed diagnosis can have dire consequences

Drawing from her own experience, Kaitlin Christine, CEO and Founder of Gabbi, is on a mission to increase early breast cancer detection and save lives. With a proprietary AI-driven risk assessment model and  app, Kaitlin and her team are giving women the tools they need to understand their risk, connect, and advocate for the care they need.

In this episode of The Digital Footprint, we speak with Kaitlin about her mission, the highs and lows of startup life, and lessons learned along the way.

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Kaitlin Christine

💡 What she does: Founder and CEO of Gabbi.

💡 Company: Gabbi

💡 Noteworthy: Kaitlin Christine is a breast cancer survivor who has dedicated her life to empowering women to understand their bodies and advocate for themselves. Kaitlin has spent over nine years in women's health, and with the Gabbi team, she is on a mission to decrease delayed diagnosis. Kaitlin has been selected as Oregon's Entrepreneur of the Year 2021, the HITLAB Women's Health Tech Challenge winner, and HITLAB's Audience Choice Award.

💡 Where to find Kaitlin: LinkedIn | Website 

Want to bring a SaaS product to market, quickly?
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Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin

When you donate to a nonprofit, what happens to that money before it makes its way to those in need? Endowments, donations, and reserves left sitting idle in a savings account can translate to missed opportunities and dwindling spending power. Nonprofits need savvy tech-enabled investment strategies, especially in a time of rising inflation. 

In this episode of The Digital Footprint, we interview Seth Radman, CoFounder and CTO of Infinite Giving. Seth and his team are on a mission to help nonprofits grow their giving by introducing modern, financial technology. Their platform empowers nonprofits to better invest reserve funds, donations, and endowments with tools, automation, and passive strategies more typically marketed to individual investors.

We speak with Seth about what it's like selling into the nonprofit space, his perspective on work/life balance and countering burnout among entrepreneurs, and more.

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Seth Radman

💡 What he does: He's the co-founder and CTO of Infinite Giving.

💡 Company: Infinite Giving

💡 Noteworthy: Seth is a 4x startup founder who has designed, built, and launched over 40 mobile and web apps.

💡 Where to find Seth: LinkedIn

Want to bring a SaaS product to market, quickly?
Book a consultation: https://tyrannosaurustech.com/contact/

Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin

Let's face it. Many of us grew up with the perspective that math was intimidating, hard, or "just not our thing." For those of us that felt this way early in childhood, those feelings were hard to shake. Math wasn't very approachable and it certainly wasn't "fun."

In this episode of The Digital Footprint, we speak with Marcus Blackwell, Founder and CEO of Make Music Count. Marcus and his team are on a mission to make math fun and approachable by mixing pop and hip hop music into engaging math lessons. By injecting this innovative approach into more traditional math curriculum, Make Music Count looks to help all students reach their full potential. With Make Music Count, for many students, math can go from a dreaded obligation to a fun and interactive learning experience.

We speak with Marcus about the challenges of innovating in education, his growing partnerships in the music industry, and the ongoing challenges students face in the classroom.

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Marcus Blackwell

💡 What he does: He's the Founder & CEO of Make Music Count.

💡 Company: Make Music Count

💡 Noteworthy: Marcus is passionate about helping students overcome their biggest obstacles, one of them being math. He wants to eliminate math phobia and help kids find their true potential.

💡 Where to find Marcus: LinkedIn

Want to bring a SaaS product to market, quickly?
Book a consultation: https://tyrannosaurustech.com/contact/

Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin

Everyone deserves a safe place to call home, but around the world, up to 1 billion people struggle with homelessness. For those affected, this struggle cascades into problems in virtually all aspects of daily life. Without a safe home, kids don't have a place to do their homework, families don't have reliable access to clean water, and parents struggle to get on a stable financial footing. 

In this episode of The Digital Footprint, we're joined by Morgan Lopes, CTO of New Story Charity. New Story is on a mission to end global homelessness, starting with a goal of housing 1 million people in Latin America by 2030.  By leveraging innovative approaches and technology, New Story is creating a system and mindset that opens up potential for real transformational impact.

We talk with Morgan about New Story's mission, his perspective on innovating in the non-profit space, and lessons he's learned in entrepreneurship along the way.

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Morgan Lopes

💡 What he does: Morgan is the CTO of New Story Charity, a non-profit focused on pioneering solutions to end global homelessness. 

💡 Company: New Story Charity

💡 Noteworthy: Although he spends most of his time focused on his mission with New Story Charity, Morgan is also one of the authors of Code School Book, a book that helps more people transition into careers in tech.

💡 Where to find Morgan: LinkedIn

Want to bring a SaaS product to market, quickly?
Book a consultation: https://tyrannosaurustech.com/contact/

Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin

Giving global public health organizations the tools they need to succeed is more important now than ever. But efficiently collecting and managing data across teams, initiatives, and continents is no easy feat. Many public health organizations struggle with how to properly organize, format, and analyze their extensive data sets in a way that drives action and impact. 

In this episode of The Digital Footprint, we sit down with TJ Muehleman, Founder and CEO of Standard Co. With their Standard Data toolkit, TJ and his team have created a powerful platform that simplifies data management in public health, empowering organizations with technology so they can do more and help more people.  

We talk with TJ about Standard Co's transition from services to product and the ups and downs along the way. A tech and startup veteran, TJ shares advice on how to be in it for the long haul and define your own path to success.

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: TJ Muehleman

💡 What he does: TJ is the CEO and Founder at Standard Co, a company focused on helping public health organizations better utilize data to make better decisions and broaden their impact.

💡 Company: Standard Co

💡 Noteworthy: TJ and his team also built the COVID Mapping Project, a tool that curates and provides analysis of a broad range of state and local COVID data sources across the U.S.

💡 Where to find TJ: LinkedIn

Want to bring a SaaS product to market, quickly?
Book a consultation: https://tyrannosaurustech.com/contact/

Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin

We all know that  getting out in the sunshine can boost our mood when we're feeling down, but it turns out that exposure to nature is more broadly impactful and beneficial than we previously understood. The science to back this up is mounting and indisputable. Nature exposure provides profound mental and physical health improvements. Access to nature, however, is not equitably distributed throughout our communities.

In this episode of The Digital Footprint, we sit down with Jared Hanley,  Founder and CEO of NatureQuant. NatureQuant focuses on delivering technology to assess and promote nature exposure.

By synthesizing multiple nature quantification data-sources through a machine-learning process, Jared and his team are able to deliver a “NatureScore” that helps qualify and quantify the natural elements for a given location. With their NatureDose mobile application, NatureQuant also offers a personalized nature prescription tracker that helps users optimize the benefits of time outdoors.

Join us as Jared shares more about the far reaching impacts of exposure to nature and the challenges that stem from inequitable access to nature throughout the U.S. Jared also shares the challenges and wins he and his team have experienced as they've grown their vision and impact with NatureQuant.

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Jared Hanley

💡 What he does: Jared is the CEO and Founder of NatureQuant

💡 Company: NatureQuant

💡 Noteworthy: Although he has a rich background in financial services and data science, the the great outdoors has always been one of Jared's true passions. That analytical background has helped Jared craft a vision for quantifying nature exposure, making it easier to measure and promote more equitably. 

💡 Where to find Jared: LinkedIn

Want to bring a SaaS product to market, quickly?
Book a consultation: https://tyrannosaurustech.com/contact/

Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin

With the global pandemic pushing students of all ages into remote learning, tech-fueled innovation in education is more important and impactful than ever.

In this episode of The Digital Footprint, we sit down with Junior Bernadin, Dean of Students and Director of IT at The Ron Clark Academy. The Ron Clark Academy has a global reputation for leadership in education through their unique teaching methodologies, professional development, school culture, and more. During the pandemic, they've stepped up in a big way with the RCA House Points App, enabling schools around the globe to drive engagement and create a transformative school culture.

In our discussion, Junior shares more about RCA's House System, how it evolved, and how he and his team have leveraged technology to bring this innovative approach to school culture into schools all over the world.

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Junior Bernadin

💡 What he does: Dean of Students and Director of IT at The Ron Clark Academy

💡 Company/Project: The Ron Clark Academy. The Ron Clark Academy (RCA) is a highly-acclaimed, nonprofit middle school located in Southeast Atlanta. The Academy has received both national and international recognition for its success in educating students with academic rigor, passion, and creativity. Schools from around the world send teachers to RCA to be trained on their innovative teaching methodologies. 

💡 Noteworthy: One of the most unique aspects of RCA is The RCA House System, in which students are sorted into one of four houses (Altruismo, Amistad, Isibindi, or Reveur) and earn
points throughout the year for demonstrating honesty, hard work, outstanding effort, and dedication. The system has been proven to foster a positive culture for students, parents, and staff and to build character, relationships and school spirit. 

💡 Where to find Junior: www.juniorbernadin.com

Want to bring a SaaS product to market, quickly?
Book a consultation: https://tyrannosaurustech.com/contact/

Connect with our cohosts Richard Simms & Carlos Gonzalez on Linkedin