The O.H.I.O. Fund Report

With Cleveland poised to recognize October 13 as Bernie Kosar Day, we’re especially excited to share this episode of The O.H.I.O. Fund Report featuring Bernie Kosar — legendary Cleveland Browns quarterback, Youngstown native, entrepreneur, investor, and one of the most beloved figures in Cleveland sports history.

The timing feels especially meaningful. Cleveland City Council has introduced a resolution designating October 13 — 41 years to the day after Bernie’s first regular-season start for the Browns — as Bernie Kosar Day. We’re proud to share this conversation in advance of that recognition.

Growing up in Youngstown during the collapse of the region’s steel economy, Bernie developed an intense fear of failure and determination to find a way forward. That mentality ultimately carried him from an improbable childhood dream to quarterbacking the Cleveland Browns — but it would also be tested repeatedly long after his playing career ended.

In this vulnerable conversation, Bernie reflects openly on the highs and lows that followed: business and entrepreneurship, bankruptcy, addiction, mental and physical health challenges, and ultimately the liver transplant that gave him another chance at life.
Throughout our conversation, Bernie returns to a lesson he learned from Jimmy Johnson: somehow, someway, figure out a way to make a play.
It became more than a football philosophy. It became a way of approaching failure, recovery, business, health, and life itself.

We also discuss why Bernie has continued to choose Ohio throughout his life — from deliberately finding his way home to play for the Browns, to his optimism today about the state’s economic future and the opportunity to help raise Ohio’s collective ambition. That connection to place makes the city’s upcoming recognition of Bernie especially fitting.

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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LINKS:

https://x.com/BernieKosarQB?lang=en
https://www.instagram.com/berniekosarofficial/?hl=en

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The guest's participation is for informational purposes only and should not be considered an endorsement of the firm or any investment product. The guest has not been compensated for their participation.

What does it mean to actually bet on Ohio—not simply out of civic pride, but because the economics make it a compelling place to invest?

This episode of The O.H.I.O. Fund Report features our founding partner Jill Meyer in a conversation originally published on The Working Lunch with Jack Crumley.

Jill shares the thesis behind The O.H.I.O. Fund: bringing private Ohio capital together to invest in growing Ohio companies, real estate, and infrastructure—and helping more of the value created by that growth remain in the state. She also explains why The O.H.I.O. Fund takes a multi-asset approach, why the people behind a business matter as much as the idea itself, and how stronger connections among Ohio’s cities, investors, founders, and operators can compound the state’s economic growth.

The conversation ranges from Ohio 4.0 and the next chapter of the state’s economy to reshoring, advanced manufacturing, AI, and companies like 1872 and Remote Vans. Underneath it all is a simple challenge from Jill: stop apologizing for being in Ohio, recognize the world-class innovation already happening here, and find a way to lean in.

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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LINKS:

• Originally Aired: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xlm-dGbzOk

What does it take for AI to matter inside a real operating business? Not as a demo, not as a dashboard, and not as a generic productivity tool — but as something that answers calls, reduces clicks, quotes freight, improves service, and helps people spend more time doing the work that actually moves the business forward.

Today on The O.H.I.O. Fund Report, we’re setting the stage for a conversation led by Mark Kvamme — co-founder, CEO, and CIO of The O.H.I.O. Fund — with Peter Coratola., founder and CEO of EASE Logistics, and Andy Jenks, co-founder of JAKIB.ai.

Together, they unpack one of the clearest examples we’ve seen of applied AI in Ohio: a service-heavy logistics business navigating a difficult freight market, partnering with an AI company to start small, solve real operational bottlenecks, and eventually build Amy — an AI layer embedded directly into how EASE works.

They discuss track-and-trace calls, customer service, quoting, user adoption, CEO-level ownership, and why AI at its best may be less about replacing people and more about multiplying their output.

So please enjoy this conversation with Mark Kvamme, Peter Coratola, and Andy Jenks.

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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LINKS:

• https://easelogistics.com/
• https://www.jakib.ai/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-coratola-jr
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajenks/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/markkvamme/

This episode of The O.H.I.O. Fund Report features Anna Dey — a multi-unit, multi-brand franchise entrepreneur based in Northeast Ohio.

Anna has spent the past decade building a portfolio of franchise businesses across Ohio, operating across brands including Anytime Fitness, Clean Eatz, Smoothie King, The Vitamin Shoppe, Barrio Tacos + Tequila, and goGLOW. Along the way, she’s developed a unique perspective on franchising as a path to entrepreneurship and today works with aspiring entrepreneurs through The franSPOT, helping others navigate the process of becoming franchise owners.

Alongside her for-profit work, Anna is also the founder of 24 in 24 — an endurance running event that has raised over $3 million for children battling life-threatening illnesses across Ohio.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• Anna’s path from first-time franchisee to multi-brand operator 
• How the franchise model actually works — and why it’s often misunderstood 
• The tradeoffs of scaling across multiple brands vs. focusing on one 
• What separates strong franchise operators from the rest 
• Building teams, delegating, and evolving as an entrepreneur 
• The story behind 24 in 24 — and how it became a community institution 

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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LINKS:

• https://thefranspot.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamdey/

Ken Sobel — Co-founder and CEO of Hyperframe.

Ken is a repeat founder and engineer whose path into construction followed an earlier startup journey through Y Combinator and an acquisition by Visa. With Hyperframe, he’s taken a first-principles approach to one of the most fundamental components of construction — steel framing — reimagining a process that’s been slow, manual, and largely unchanged for decades, and redesigning it into a snap-together framing system that’s faster, safer, and far more efficient.

After years of development and real-world validation, the company has achieved strong product-market fit and is now scaling manufacturing. That journey led Ken and his team to relocate Hyperframe from California to Ohio, where they are building their first large-scale production facility.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• Ken’s path from startup founder to construction entrepreneur 
• Why construction remains slow, manual, and resistant to change 
• The insight behind Hyperframe — redesigning building products themselves 
• What it actually looks like to use Hyperframe on a job site 
• The challenge of scaling a hard tech company 
• Why credibility is everything in construction adoption 
• The decision to move to Ohio — and what it enables 

This is a conversation about reindustrialization in practice — and what it takes to rebuild physical industries from the ground up.

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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LINKS:

• linkedin.com/in/ken-sobel
• https://www.hyperframe.com/

Will Zell — Founder and Managing Partner of Vessel, founding CEO and now Executive Chair of AssetWatch, and a leading voice in rethinking how venture capital works across Ohio.

Will’s path into technology and venture isn’t conventional. He grew up — and still lives — in Bellefontaine, Ohio. At 17, he ran for city council under the slogan “A Voice for the Future.” He spent time in ministry, built a real estate portfolio during the financial crisis, and ultimately found his way into technology startups — learning firsthand what it means to raise capital in a state that consistently punches below its weight in venture investment. After early startup failures, Will co-founded what became AssetWatch, a predictive maintenance platform serving global manufacturers. The company has since raised more than $100 million in venture capital and scaled into a high-growth industrial technology business employing hundreds.

But perhaps more interesting than breaking through Ohio’s capital gap is Will’s effort to redesign it. In 2020, he founded Vessel — a diversified venture platform focused on investing in and building category-defining companies in Middle America. Through Vessel and the Ohio Angel Collective, Will is working to expand access to early-stage capital, grow the top of Ohio’s innovation funnel, and shift the ecosystem from scarcity to abundance.

In our conversation, we unpack:

• The structural capital gap facing Ohio founders
• What it took to navigate AssetWatch through near-zero runway moments
• Why democratizing venture access matters
• How to build a multi-stage venture platform outside the coasts
• And what it would mean for Ohio to invest in innovation proportionally to the size of its economy

This is a conversation about capital formation, ecosystem design, and the long-term work required to build a venture-backed innovation economy in Ohio.

00:00:00 Introduction & Show Disclaimer
00:00:58 Will Zell’s Background & Early Influences
00:04:26 Path to Entrepreneurship & Community Impact
00:11:11 Transition from Curiosity to Entrepreneurship
00:13:03 Early Business Ventures & Real Estate
00:20:01 Entry into Technology Startups
00:22:01First Tech Swings & Lessons Learned
00:25:58 The Ohio Capital Gap
00:31:08 Breaking Through with AssetWatch
00:36:59 AssetWatch Product & Impact
00:40:22 Transition to Vessel & Venture Capital Access
00:45:34 Vessel’s Mission & Structure
00:49:07 Goals for Success & Midwest Venture Landscape
00:55:16 Power of Community & Culture Change
01:00:25 What's Next: Curiosity and Culture Change
01:04:35 Founders, Opportunity, and Encouragement
01:06:08 Bellefontaine Highlights & Closing
01:08:39 Farewell & Closing Credits

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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LINKS:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/willzell/
https://www.ohioangelcollective.com/
https://buildvessel.com/
https://spiltsocial.com/

Chad Delligatti — CEO of InnoSource, the Dublin, Ohio–headquartered workforce solutions company that has quietly grown into a national platform serving Fortune 500 and midsized organizations across the country.

Since joining InnoSource in 2000 as one of its earliest employees, Chad has devoted his entire professional career to building the company — helping it evolve from a regional staffing firm into a leading human resources, recruiting, onsite outsourcing, and data solutions partner employing more than 2,000 associates across North America.

In our conversation, Chad reflects on his entrepreneurial beginnings — from lawn mowing businesses in Granville to flipping Beanie Babies in college — and the pivotal decision to join a then-fledgling company called InnoSource instead of pursuing a corporate career. That decision shaped the next 25 years of his life.

We unpack how the staffing and outsourcing industry has evolved — from classified ads and fax machines, to job boards and Indeed, to today’s AI-driven recruiting workflows — and how InnoSource is entering its next chapter powered by technology.

Chad shares how their proprietary AI tools are dramatically accelerating hiring cycles, increasing recruiter efficiency, improving candidate engagement, and raising quality-of-hire — all while maintaining the “human touch” that remains central to InnoSource’s culture and differentiation.

At its core, this is a conversation about earned wisdom, resilience through change, and building something durable in Ohio.

00:00 [Welcome & Introduction: Chad Delagatti’s Entrepreneurial Journey]
01:34 [Core Values & Early Experiences: From Sweeping Floors to Lawn Care]
04:14 [Building Loyalty: Lessons from Early Business Ventures]
08:42 [Choosing InnoSource: The Entrepreneurial Fork in the Road]
13:34 [InnoSource Today: Workforce Solutions & Company Overview]
15:56 [AI Transformation: The Pivot to Technology-Driven Recruiting]
18:06 [Evolution of Staffing: From Newspaper Ads to AI-Powered Hiring]
24:22 [AI’s Impact: Changing the Recruitment Experience & Company Mindset]
30:56 [Culture & Consistency: Preserving the Human Touch Amid Change]
34:31 [Leadership Lessons: Growth, Delegation & Building a Passionate Team]

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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LINKS:
https://innosource.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-delligatti-621bba2/

This episode of The O.H.I.O. Fund Report features Michael and Tory Waxman — the founders of Sundays for Dogs, the Cleveland-based company designed to make dog parents’ lives easy.

What began with their own dog, Mabel, and a simple but powerful question — why does feeding dogs well have to be so difficult? — has grown into one of the most exciting consumer companies to emerge from Ohio. Led by loving dog parents Dr. Tory Waxman, a veterinarian, and Michael Waxman, a serial entrepreneur, Sundays pioneered human-grade, air-dried, zero-synthetics dog food designed to be healthier than kibble and easier than refrigerated alternatives.

Since our last recorded conversation in 2023, Sundays has scaled dramatically. Having raised more than $55 million in capital and built out a Cleveland-based R&D Test Kitchen — where our conversation today took place — Sundays has grown from a direct-to-consumer upstart into a nationally recognized brand preparing for omni-channel distribution, creating a product that dogs love while positioning themselves at the forefront of the booming pet food market and the emerging ambient fresh movement.

In our conversation, Michael and Tory share how they’ve navigated multiple chapters of scaling — including customer acquisition and brand evolution, balancing supply and demand, investing deeply in product innovation, and building a senior leadership team — while staying grounded in the mission that inspired Sundays from the start: making it easier to be an awesome dog parent. They also discuss what excites them most about the future and what comes next for Sundays as the company continues to grow.

00:00:00 - "The World's Best Dog Food is Made in Cleveland"
00:00:25 - Introduction: Sundays for Dogs
00:05:20 - Building an In-House R&D Test Kitchen in Cleveland
00:10:06 - Most Dogs Still Eat Kibble (And Why That's Changing)
00:15:09 - Marketing Evolution: How Does Sundays for Dogs Stand Out?
00:20:18 - New Recipe Launch Preview (From the Test Kitchen!)
00:21:33 - Ohio: The Surprising Dog Food Capital of America
00:25:36 - Supply Chain Stories & Lessons Learned
00:30:39 - When Demand Outpaces Supply: A Good Problem?
00:32:59 - Beyond DTC: Omnichannel Distribution Strategy
00:38:21 - How AI Will Transform How People Buy Dog Food
00:41:34 - Dogs as Family: Where Is Society Headed?
00:46:44 - Building Company Culture at Sundays
00:52:13 - The Vision: Making Sundays a Household Name
00:55:18 - Where to Find Sundays for Dogs

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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LINKS:
https://sundaysfordogs.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelewaxman
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tory-waxman-87781b176/

This episode of The O.H.I.O. Fund Report features Brad DeHays — Founder and CEO of Connect Real Estate and Connect Housing Blocks.
Brad’s journey spans from buying small distressed properties while still in college to leading one of the most ambitious housing manufacturing platforms in the country. Through Connect Real Estate, Brad has revitalized some of Ohio’s most overlooked landmarks — transforming abandoned power plants, trolley barns, and historic buildings into vibrant new community anchors.

That same entrepreneurial vision inspired him to launch Connect Housing Blocks (CHB), a 630,000-square-foot modular housing facility anchored in Ohio, now one of the largest modular housing factories in the world. Using state-of-the-art equipment and prefabrication methods, CHB produces high-quality apartments from start to finish, eliminating nearly all measuring, cutting, and heavy lifting—the result: faster, more consistent, and more affordable housing production at scale.

In our conversation, which took place on site at CHB, Brad shares how he’s navigated multiple chapters of starting and scaling Connect, the founding insight that drove him to take on industrial-scale modular housing, how he engages communities and leverages public–private partnerships, his unique approach to talent and culture, and his vision for solving the housing crisis by massively scaling up production capability.

00:00:00 - The Birth of an Innovative Solution
00:03:50 - Understanding the Housing Crisis
00:08:56 - Reinventing Construction Processes
00:14:58 - Scaling Modular Housing Production
00:20:54 - Transforming the Construction Timeline
00:31:45 - Vision for the Future of Housing
00:35:42 - Scaling Modular Construction: A Game Changer
00:41:33 - The Future of Modular Housing: Opportunities and Challenges
00:46:16 - Design and Aesthetics in Modular Construction
00:51:55 - Labor Challenges in the Construction Industry
00:55:15 - Cultural Dynamics and Employee Empowerment
01:00:04 - Looking Ahead: Growth and Future Prospects

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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Perry Stancato is the founder and CEO of Signature Sauces and a third-generation operator of the beloved Cleveland institution, Stancato’s Italian Restaurant.

This conversation with Perry explores the entrepreneurial journey of someone who grew up in the family restaurant — from standing on a milk crate as a kid making waffles for Sunday brunch to running Stancato’s today while simultaneously building Signature Sauces into a premier national food manufacturing partner.

Signature Sauces began in 2005 with a simple idea: to bottle his family’s legendary red sauce after customers kept asking for it. What started as a way to serve Stancato’s loyal patrons quickly evolved into something much larger. Perry discovered that while retail was cutthroat and unforgiving, his passion and true product-market fit lay in foodservice — helping other restaurants scale their “secret sauces.” Today, Signature Sauces has grown into a company that helps make the products that make others famous, serving clients from local Ohio favorites to national brands like Bob Evans, Momofuku, Benihana, Barrio, and many more.

Alongside that manufacturing growth, Perry continues to steward Stancato’s — the restaurant that has been a Cleveland staple for decades. He reflects on the delicate balance of honoring a community legacy while making small, thoughtful changes to stay relevant across generations.

In our conversation, Perry shares the challenges of taking nearly ten years to get Signature Sauces off the ground, the resilience it took to keep going, the lessons learned from retail versus foodservice, and what he’s most proud of: seeing team members who started as dishwashers grow into leaders, and knowing his work helps thousands of diners enjoy meals every day. We also dive into his Ohio pride, from the region’s food scene to partnerships like the Ohio State Buckeye Tailgate sauces, and his perspective on what it takes to build a legacy business in Cleveland.

00:00:00 - The Legacy of Stancatos: A Family Business Journey
00:09:03 - From Family Recipes to Signature Sauces
00:12:49 - Navigating the Food Industry: Retail vs. Food Service
00:17:15 - Scaling Up: The Art and Science of Sauce Production
00:20:39 - The Future of Signature Sauces: Expanding Partnerships
00:21:55 - The Entrepreneurial Journey Begins
00:23:33 - Vision and Growth of Signature Sauces
00:26:10 - Lessons from the Restaurant Industry
00:29:10 - Balancing Time and Responsibilities
00:31:40 - Building a Legacy in Ohio
00:34:30 - Innovation and Technology in Food Production
00:37:08 - Trends in the Culinary World
00:39:44 - Understanding Risk and Success
00:42:22 - Navigating Customer Relationships
00:45:20 - Insights for Aspiring Food Entrepreneurs
00:45:35 - Reflections on the Journey

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For more on The O.H.I.O. Fund: check out & subscribe to future content @ www.theohiofund.com
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