The eForum

In this podcast, Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds Principal Tim Meagher talks with SweatWorks  Founder and CEO, Mohammed Iqbal. 

SweatWorks is a design development agency focused on delivering bespoke digital products to the fitness industry. When they first started in 2012 wearables were in their infancy (the pre-Apple Watch days), but the market for digital fitness products has exploded since. 

Tim and Mohammed cover a lot of things in this podcast; from the technology drivers for his company to how the COVID19 pandemic has changed the fitness market. Mohammed also provides this sage advice for other founders:

“You know what you know really well, but you really don’t know much about anything else. I learned that pretty quickly, but it took time. In fact, I think I’m still learning.”

For entrepreneurs who have to wear many hats early on, knowing the value of your time and where your capability limits are, especially as you scale up your business, is really important.

For more nuggets of entrepreneurial advice and to learn more about Mohammed’s startup story, have a listen below!

In this podcast, we chat with Kashif Hasnie, CEO of Air Traffic Awareness (ATA) along with Susan Gonzalez and Larry Hill, two of Kashif’s MIT Enterprise Forum Cambridge Mentors. 

Located in Kansas City, Missouri (home of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation), ATA is engineering the future of in-flight safety, their technology is helping pilots to make more efficient decisions to avoid midair collisions. Flying a private plane is nearly as deadly as driving a car. Collisions are among the top causes of aircraft accidents in the world. Under the Visual Flight Rules (VFR), a pilot only knows of other aircraft in their area by looking out the window. ATA’s patent-pending technology solution, SAGA, increases safety in the cockpit.

Some of the topics we cover in this podcast include:

* What makes Kansas City a great place for a startup? * What drew Susan and Larry to what Kashif was working on at Air Traffic Awareness?* What were the biggest challenges/issues the team identified when they first met and how did they address them?* What’s ATA’s biggest need currently? [Short answer - pilots to test the alpha! If you’re a pilot reach out to them!]* For people out there trying to find mentors – what makes a mentor/mentee relationship work?

If you’re thinking about applying to the MIT Enterprise Forum Cambridge Mentor program (applications are due November 16!) this podcast will give you an idea of the caliber of Mentors in our network as well as the startups we attract.  

Enjoy!

In this episode, we (once again) teamed up with our podcast partners at Failure - the Podcast to chat with Startup Spotlight 2020 Week #1 winners Cloud Agronomics.

Have you ever looked out over the Midwest farmlands while taking a cross country flight?  Just another pretty view, you ask? The guests of this podcast, Mark Tracy, CEO and Alex Zhuk, Co-Founder, think not.

A picture can be worth a whole lot and a cornfield from on high is the real money shot.  Imagine, if you could identify rows of maze ripening ahead of schedule or under siege by the infamous corn borer. (Yes, unlike earwigs, corn borers do really like corn).  Yields might go up and costs down.  And, while most city dwellers can size up a garden in seconds, gauging the health of a mega-acre factory farm is another matter entirely.

Cloud Agronomics is a geospatial imaging and analytics company creating a living map of global agriculture. They provide next-generation analytics on crop performance that changes the way the industry looks at crop yields, pricing, and other critical decisions related to food. Cloud Agronomics wants to enable the digital revolution towards sustainable food production.

Join us and the team from Failure - the Podcast in one of the few level-headed discussions they’ve had since college with the management and science gurus behind this very interesting startup.

Marc Filerman Is the CEO at the German Accelerator Life Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is a health tech entrepreneur and intrapreneur.

This means that he develops markets, gets involved in commercialization and accelerates innovation for technology-enabled healthcare products and services.

Marc has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he focused on product design as an undergraduate and on artificial intelligence for his graduate work. Marc also serves as a mentor here at MIT Enterprise Forum Cambridge (next cohort coming up soon, view info here).

During this podcast, brought to us by Susan Glovsky, principal at Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds, we learn a little bit more about Marc, the German Accelerator Life Sciences, important things non-US companies trying to enter the US Market should know, and much more.

Have a listen!

Hanan Lepek is the CEO of Senecio Robotics, an Israeli startup that’s using AI and robotics to help rid the world of disease-carrying mosquitos (or as our podcast partners at Failure the Podcast call them, "skeeters.")

Hanan was selected to present at our Week #2 Startup Spotlight 2020 virtual showcase and won the popular vote for his pitch for this innovative startup that addresses one of the key challenges in the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) (which, according to some reading I did over on the World Health Organization (WHO) website before the Spotlight event is a form of insect birth control).

The challenge with SIT is to develop the supporting technology to accelerate the sex sorting (so only non-biting males will be released) and to automate the packaging process and the large scale release capabilities.

So that's where Senecio Robotics focused its efforts. They've developed a multi-platform solution, utilizing deep learning for the sex classification together with robotics and automation for the sorting and packaging, to the controlled release.

In this well-timed podcast (given that Massachusetts is expecting a very high rate of mosquito-borne EEE cases), that according to our hosts, tested the limits of both Skype and Bluetooth, you'll learn more about Hanan and Senecio Robotics and the important work they're doing.

Enjoy!

The team from Cambridge Blockchain has been dedicated to giving control of personal data back to users while delivering the benefits of trusted, distributed identity to both consumers and organizations. They first focused their efforts on blockchain-based Enterprise Data Management software; but now they’re pivoting a bit in order to help employers get people back to work during the COVID-19 pandemic with Tracelinks Monitor, a workforce safety product that allows companies to follow reopening procedures to privately and securely track employee attendance, daily symptoms screening, and body temperature.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Alok Bhargara, CEO and Co-Founder at Cambridge Blockchain (and friend I met while working out of the CiC in Cambridge) for a podcast to discuss their latest effort with Tracelinks Monitor and how they ensure trust, one of the most critical components in the social contract between consumers and providers of digital solutions. 

As we all know, data is currency to many tech companies and consumers are wary. However, in the absence of sophisticated but yet-to-mature solutions for full digital privacy, Alok believes that companies must:

Be open and transparent and use layman terms to describe what they do with the consumer’s data

Put easy and full control of their data in the hands of the consumer

Provide trade-offs to the consumer – if the consumer doesn't want some data to be used by the provider of a digital service but they still want the service, they should offer them the ability to pay for that service

Listen below to the full podcast and if you’re an employer challenged with trying to get back to business while keeping your employees safe, happy and healthy, feel free to try their new service at https://www.tracelinks.co/monitor.

What does it take to bring a product, like a medical device, from prototype to production?  For many companies, especially startups, figuring out manufacturing and supply chain issues is a big hurdle and there are often important considerations that are overlooked if they choose to go it alone. An Electronics Manufacturing Service (EMS) can be a helpful partner, but many companies may be reluctant to outsource manufacturing because of IP or other concerns.

In this podcast, brought to us by Susan Glovsky, Principal at Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds, we meet and chat with Matthias Brem, Senior Global Program Manager (MSGP), Marketing & Sales at Zollner Elektronik AG.

As a mechatronic systems service provider, Zollner supports clients across the entire value chain: from customer-specific development and design at the beginning of the product lifecycle through the sample and serial production, including supply chain management and materials management, and all the way to after-sales service.

As an experienced Program Manager, Matthias knows first hand what it takes to bring a product to market.

“Often a project fails not because of technical issues, but because of communication issues. A very high level of alignment and visibility for all people within the project is key to finishing a project and transferring over success.”

If you’re thinking about taking a medical device (or any hardware project) from prototype to production, have a listen!

Avener Halperin is a veteran high tech executive. He has served in several senior management positions including CEO of Emmunet, VP Marketing at Radcom (NASDAQ: RDCM), and VP of Business Development at Lenslet. He also led the R&D team at Eldat Communications (acquired by Pricer) and was the Department Head of an R&D Unit in the IDF Intelligence Corps where he won the Intelligence Innovation Award.

He was part of EarlySense’s founding team in 2004 and served as CEO of the company until 2019. EarlySense developed breakthrough medical sensing and AI platform, that saves tens of thousands of lives every year.

Originally intended to help overcome the Asthma of the co-founders' kids, EarlySense has already been used to improve the care of patients, including COVID-19 patients.

In this podcast, Avner shares the exciting story of inventing and continuously pivoting a digital health startup until success is found. He also shares some takeaways on diversity, sustainability, and the future of medical AI.

We were thrilled to collaborate with our friends at the MIT Enterprise Forum Israel to bring this conversation with Avner to you, moderated by Ayla Matalon. As a member of the Israeli Advisory Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum, Avner provides a fresh perspective on innovation and entrepreneurship in Israel.

The best-laid plans often go awry...as they say. Today is March 23, 2020, the day we were SUPPOSED to be at the MIT Media Lab hosting 100’s of people at our annual Connected Things 2020 Conference. But instead of having a cocktail ? at the networking reception right now, I'm drinking at my kitchen table (just kidding) writing this post about our latest podcast, a quick chat I had with Mark Thirman, chair of the Connected Things Conference committee about how we plan on using this "extra time" between the original date (today) and the new date (September 14) to expand the conversation around the conference theme of IoT, AI, and ML as it relates to our new reality in the time of COVID-19.

Mark and I are so thankful for our panelists, volunteers, keynotes Jonathan Ballon, Vice President, Internet of Things Group, Intel, Michael Ellenbogen, Founder & Head of Advanced Technology, Evolv Technology, Dr. Shane Rooney, Executive Director, IoT Networks, GSMA, and Gabi Zijderveld, Chief Marketing Officer, Affectiva our sponsors and partners, American Tower, Davis Malm, Nutter, Verizon, Very, ISM Connect, the Industrial Internet Consortium, and AWS...who are all still joining us for the rescheduled September 14 event.

We look forward to raising a glass with everyone when we can see you in person, but right now, we hope you're all staying healthy (and sane) and we look forward to continuing the Connected Things conversation with you digitally for now!

Evolv Technology adds a layer of physical security for venues using connected AI and edge processing methods. In this Connected Things 2020 preview podcast, we chat with Michael Ellenbogen, Founder & Head of Advanced Technology, Evolv Technology, about safety as a basic human right.

Evolv’s vision is to create a layer of unobtrusive physical security to keep the “bad guys” out of public places without slowing people down. As Mike put it, keeping people safe “at the pace of life.” In keeping with our "insight-driven computing" conference theme, Evolv leverages connectivity, processing at the edge, analytics and a variety of sensors to collect and immediately process tons of data.

“At one level, I don’t want parents to worry about their kids when they drop them off at a concert or ballgame.”

We are very excited about Mike’s Fireside Chat (and Evolv's live demo) on March 23!