The Innovation Podcast

On the latest episode, Garnet and our guest host Lane Jost chat grit, behavior change and personal finance with Nav.it CMO and co-founder Maia Monell. The Nav.it app is an early stage product designed to coach users into financial wellness through an array of innovative tools designed to stimulate improved habits. We also hear about Maia's own founder story and how she connects sports to leadership and empathy. 

Key read: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

On the latest episode, Garnet and Mark talk with Oralia Alvarez, director of business development at Founders First Capital Partners. We find out about the unique approach Founders First Capital Partners takes in investing in post-revenue companies, learn about revenue-based funding (RBF)--a type of funding that used to only be available to companies that had already raised VC funding. We also cover the state of funding amid the pandemic, the importance of building relationships with investors early on, and Oralia’s top advice for founders. 

Plus, we all shared our favorite animal-related charities:

• Oralia: San Diego Humane Society
• Garnet: Silver Muzzle Cottage
• Mark: Baypath Humane Society of Hopkinton

On this episode, Garnet and Mark are joined by Jacqueline Bouvier Copeland, the Founder of The WISE Fund, an impact enterprise devoted to equitable funding for grassroots innovators using technology and other tools for economic and environmental justice, especially Black or Indigenous women-led or benefitting organizations in Africa, Australia, Brazil and the USA. The discussion focuses on a wide variety of subjects, including how anthropology is so applicable to today’s business world. 

We’ve talked to a lot of people on this podcast. But we’ve never talked to a fellow podcaster. Today we’re changing that with Dan Kihanya, host of the Founders Unfound podcast, which explores exceptional founders of African descent. Dan’s specialties include early-stage start-up strategies, fundraising, lean startup process, product-market fit, and customer growth. Among a long list of accomplishments, he’s the co-founder and Managing Director of Impact Hub Bellevue, and is the co-founder of MyPoints.com. In our chat, we learn about his background, get the inside story on his podcast, and what we can all do to change venture capital to see the possibilities presented by black entrepreneurs. In addition, we discuss the drive for the corporations to move capital into Black-owned banks and other community-based financial institutions. Of course, we also look into the future. 

Links to a couple of things we discussed:

• The Humanity over Calamity t-shirt 
• “Black founders are often over-mentored and under-invested,” says Monique Woodard, co-founder of Black Founders. 

On the latest episode of #theipod, Garnet and Mark are joined by Keith Cartwright, who founded his agency Cartwright in February 2020. He’s also the co-founder of Saturday Morning, an organization that helps build awareness, promote change and shift the overall perception that black lives are in some way not as important as others. In our discussion, we talk about Keith’s background, how he came to co-found Saturday Morning, and the important work they’re doing. We also dig into the Multicultural Mainstream, the impact Keith hopes to have, and the source for his optimism.

On the latest episode of #theipod, Garnet and Mark are joined by William Crowder, entrepreneur in residence at Morgan Stanley, for a discussion about investing in diverse founders. William has a background that includes originating Comcast Catalyst, that company’s diversity fund, which was the first of its kind. He also runs Aperture VC, which is building a corporate partner network that invests in diverse founders and companies that are defining the new multicultural mainstream. At Morgan Stanley, William helped architect the multicultural innovation lab. This was a great discussion with a diversity investing pioneer.

On Episode 62, Garnet and Mark are back from hiatus with a very important episode. Frederik Groce, Principal at Storm Ventures and Co-Founder and Board Member at BLCK VC, joins us to discuss what led to the founding of BLCK VC, how Black Lives Matter started to impact conversations in tech and corporate America. And we dig deeper to see if that discussion will affect civil rights. Plus we talk about the state of investing in the pandemic, what his investment focus is and lots more.

Allies in Action™, a new web forum created from a strategic partnership between Aperture VC and Impact ROI LLC, held its inaugural event on July 8. The Zoom-based event featured a prestigious group of speakers from the venture capital, real estate, healthcare, management consulting and media/publishing industries. Read the full press release here.

July 8 Forum

In the wake of the death of George Floyd, advocates for racial and economic equity have called for companies to take leadership. This means going beyond supportive press releases and new CSR programs, to the commitment for strong diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, measurable DEI personnel growth, supportive public policy advocacy, and strategic investment in new innovation models for the emerging “Multicultural Mainstream.” 

Speakers

Steve Rochlin, CEO, IMPACT ROI

Bryan Greene, Director of Fair Housing Policy at National Association of REALTORS®

Jacqueline Bouvier Copeland, CEO, The WISE Fund

Ritse Erumi, Technology Fellow, Future of Work(ers), The Ford Foundation

Melissa Potter, Head of Social Impact and Communications, Odyssey Impact

William Crowder, Founder, Aperture Venture Capital

Lane Jost, Environment and Americas Leader for PwC and a well-known impact investing expert, continues his takeover of #theipod and he’s back with Rory Mitchell on the use cases for VR and how the technology can create immersive experiences for customers to better understand sustainability. 

Links of Interest

• Lane Jost on LinkedIn
• Rory Mitchell on Twitter

On this episode, we hand things over to Lane Jost,  Environment and America's Leader for PwC and a well-known impact investing expert. In the first of two parts, Lane talks to Rory Mitchell, a producer and documentary filmmaker, about the role VR can play in better communicating complex consumer sustainability stories from cereal to climate change. This time, Rory explains the various use cases for VR in brand marketing and how brands can better engage with their audience. 

Links of Interest

• Lane Jost on LinkedIn
• Cascadian Farms YouTube VR spot
• Rory Mitchell on Twitter