How can universities and venture accelerators unlock the hidden potential of their professional networks? On this episode of The Scout Series, host Gabrielle Marquez speaks with Taylor Cordoba, Founder and CEO of Havilo, about bridging institutional network gaps, matching founders with critical industry resources through technology, and building long-term enterprise value.

Learn more about Havilo work at:

https://havilo.ai/

Connect with Taylor Cordoba on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorcordoba/

Think you'd be a great guest on the show?

Apply at https://finstratmgmt.com/innovators-investors-podcast/

Want to learn more about Kristian Marquez's work?

https://finstratmgmt.com

How do you scale an instant payment network to $9 billion in monthly volume while eliminating payment friction for regulated industries? In this episode of The Innovators & Investors Podcast, host Kristian Marquez speaks with Rodney Robinson, Co-Founder and President of TabaPay.

Rodney breaks down the architecture behind instant payment rails, how removing middlemen slashes merchant fees, and why cross-merchant velocity controls are key to mitigating real-time fraud. He also shares core leadership strategies from selling four companies, navigating economic downturns, and preparing TabaPay for an initial public offering.

Learn more about TabaPay work at: https://www.tabapay.com

Connect with Rodney Robinson on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinsonrodney/

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://finstratmgmt.com/innovators-investors-podcast/

Want to learn more about Kristian Marquez's work? https://finstratmgmt.com

In this episode of The Innovators & Investors Podcast, host Gabrielle Marquez connects with Adam Chen, Chief Revenue Officer at FinStrat Management, to break down the mechanics of modern corporate scale, revenue alignment, and strategic defense. Drawing from a diverse career that spans sales, technology infrastructure, corporate communications at NASA, and enterprise asset management, Adam delivers an operational playbook for founders navigating today's complex business landscape.

The conversation focuses on breaking down organizational walls to connect marketing pipelines directly to financial realities, navigating enterprise procurement systems, and building defensible positions in an era of commoditized software. Adam also shares valuable perspectives on the 2026 macroeconomic fundraising market, the realities of institutional capital allocation, and why operational focus remains the ultimate competitive advantage for early-stage companies.

Learn more about FinStrat Management's work at: https://finstratmgmt.com/

Connect with Adam Chen on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschen/

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://finstratmgmt.com/innovators-investors-podcast/

Shaun Modi, Founder and CEO of Capitol AI, joins Kristian Marquez to unpack how his company became the intelligence engine powering diligence, compliance, and national security workflows for organizations like EY. Drawing on a career that spans NASA, Google, and Airbnb, Modi shares the story behind Capitol AI's early pivot away from health insurance, why he believes no single AI model will dominate the market, and why human craftsmanship still holds a premium even as AI accelerates production. The conversation covers Capitol AI's go-to-market strategy across financial services, banking, private equity, and government, plus candid thoughts on enterprise sales, data sovereignty, and where AI governance is headed next.

Mentioned in this episode: A LEGO Brickumentary (also released as Beyond the Brick: A LEGO Brickumentary), a 2014 documentary exploring LEGO's history and global fan culture — referenced by Shaun around the 12-minute mark while discussing how companies evolve over time. Available to stream/rent on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and other platforms.

Learn more about Capitol AI's work at:

https://www.capitol.ai/

Connect with Shaun Modi on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunmodi/

Think you'd be a great guest on the show?

Apply at https://finstratmgmt.com/innovators-investors-podcast/

Want to learn more about Kristian Marquez's work?

https://finstratmgmt.com

In this episode of the Innovators & Investors Podcast: Accelerate Series, host Adam Chen interviews Temirlan Rakhmetzhanov, co-founder and CEO of Armeta. Temirlan shares how Armeta is digitizing legacy industrial process drawings across oil, gas, and chemical sectors to dramatically cut engineering hours and pave the way for generative plant design. He also discusses his unique founder journey alongside his father and brother, lessons learned from failed early startups, and strategies for navigating enterprise design partnerships globally.

Learn more about Armeta's work at: https://www.armeta.ai/

Connect with Temirlan Rakhmetzhanov on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/temirlan-rakhmetzhanov/

Want to learn more about Finstrat Management?

https://finstratmgmt.com

In this episode of The Innovators & Investors Podcast, host Kristian Marquez speaks with Shaju Puthussery and Deepak Ramaswamy, Co-Founders of Lightspun. The conversation explores how Lightspun is reinventing insurance through AI, building next-generation operating platforms to automate credentialing, streamline claims adjudication, and modernize healthcare financial operations.

Learn more about Lightspun work at:

https://www.lightspun.com/

Connect with Shaju Puthussery on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shajuputhussery/

Connect with Deepak Ramaswamy on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepak-ramaswamy-0124032/

Think you'd be a great guest on the show?

Apply at https://finstratmgmt.com/innovators-investors-podcast/

Want to learn more about Kristian Marquez's work?

https://finstratmgmt.com

In this milestone face-to-face episode of The Innovators & Investors Podcast, host Kristian Marquez welcomes Gabrielle Marquez, Founder Solutions Lead at FinStrat Management (and the host's daughter). Recorded live on location in San Francisco, this episode dives deep into the realities of early-stage venture building, capital raising strategies, and the evolving dynamics of geographic startup hubs. Gabrielle shares her rigorous journey toward building technical financial expertise, her work managing relationships across major accelerator programs, and the vital structural frameworks founders must adopt to secure sustainable market growth.

Learn more about FinStrat Management work at: https://www.finstratmgmt.com

Connect with Gabrielle Marquez on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellekmarquez/

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://finstratmgmt.com/innovators-investors-podcast/

Want to learn more about Kristian Marquez's work? https://finstratmgmt.com

In this episode of The Innovators & Investors Podcast, host Kristian Marquez sits down with Dr. Ashley Blackington, founder and CEO of Dovetail. Discover how Ashley’s extensive background as an Occupational Therapist led her to architect a consumer-first healthtech platform designed to empower the 63 million family caregivers in the United States. They discuss the deep operational gaps in healthcare coordination, the strategy behind building direct-to-consumer software in a highly regulated industry, and how Dovetail leverages closed-loop AI to transform informal observations into clinical-grade reporting for physicians.

Learn more about Dovetail work at: https://dovetail.care/

Connect with Ashley Blackington on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://finstratmgmt.com/innovators-investors-podcast/

Want to learn more about Kristian Marquez's work? https://finstratmgmt.com

In this episode of the Accelerate Series, host Adam Chen sits down with Steven Amiel, the Co-Founder and CEO of Chronilogix, to explore how advanced automated frameworks are stepping in to remedy America's growing healthcare accessibility crisis. With millions of individuals left completely uninsured or dealing with compromised insurance plans, Chronilogix delivers therapeutic, contextually aware AI coaching models tailored for chronic illness care and mental wellness. Amiel highlights how their multi-layered system handles user interactions safely, ensures behavioral accountability via motivational interviewing, and integrates into corporate benefits packages to optimize patient outcomes efficiently.

Learn more about Chronilogix work at: https://chronilogix.com/

Connect with Steven Amiel on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenamiel/

How can decentralized networks rewrite the rules of real-world infrastructure mapping and spatial engineering? In this episode of The Innovators & Investors Podcast, host Kristian Marquez sits down with Bill Lakeland, Founder and CEO of Spexi. Bill shares his deep background moving from traditional, manned aerial photography to building a decentralized network of autonomous micro-drones that has successfully mapped over 300 cities across North America.

• How Spexi leverages consumer micro-drones to deliver automated, high-resolution urban data capture.
• The strategic positioning differences between satellite data, aircraft photogrammetry, and hyper-local drone networks.
• How embedded blockchain layers authenticate data provenance and secure real-time proof of capture.
• The business and operational variations between Canadian risk-based airspace rules and US intent-based licensing.
• How Spexi’s collaborative integration with Niantic Spatial transforms raw imagery into high-fidelity 3D models to fuel next-generation physical AI applications.

Discover more about their recent platform integration here: https://www.spexi.com/blog/niantic-spatial-and-spexi-partner-to-turn-drone-imagery-into-intelligence-for-physical-ai

Learn more about Spexi work at: https://www.spexi.com/

Connect with Bill Lakeland on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lakeland/

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://finstratmgmt.com/innovators-investors-podcast/

Want to learn more about Kristian Marquez's work? https://finstratmgmt.com