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Boston Speaks Up106: Diana DiZoglio, Massachusetts State AuditorGuest Diana DiZoglio has played a pivotal role in public service throughout her career, serving as an advocate, legislator, and now, Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In her role, DiZoglio is committed to increasing transparency and accountability in state government, ensuring that all residents receive equitable treatment, regardless of their background, financial status, or zip code. Her work as Auditor underscores her dedication to fostering a fair and inclusive government for all.
Being born and raised in Methuen, MA, Auditor DiZoglio is a product of Massachusetts public schools. After graduating from Methuen High School, DiZoglio attended Middlesex Community College...2024-10-281h 01
Boston Speaks Up105: Yvonne Hao, Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development for MassachusettsYvonne Hao, Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development for Massachusetts, joins the Boston Speaks Up podcast live on stage at Startup Boston Week 2024.2024-09-2324 minBoston Speaks Up104: Michelle De La Isla of Hack.DiversityHack.Diversity CEO Michelle De La Isla joins the Boston Speaks Up podcast live on stage at Startup Boston Week 2024.2024-09-2256 min
Boston Speaks UpBONUS: Explain Boston To Me: Dive Bars with Zach ServideoIn this special episode of "Boston Speaks Up," host Zach Servideo, founder of Value Creation Labs and a former doorman at the iconic Pour House, teams up with Lee Stabert from "Explain Boston to Me" to explore the ever-changing landscape of Boston’s dive bar culture. This conversation takes listeners deep into the heart of the city, reflecting on how these gritty, beloved spaces have managed to survive—and even thrive—amid Boston’s ongoing transformation.
The episode dives into some fascinating themes, from the history of Boston's dive bars as community hubs to their role in the face of gentrifi...2024-08-2344 min
Explain Boston to MeBoston's best dive bars with Zach ServideoThis week, we're grabbing a drink where everyone knows your name. Oops. Not that place — we'll save that for another day. Zach Servideo of Value Creation Labs is an entrepreneur and dude in the tech/innovation space, but he is also a former doorman at The Pour House (RIP). We talk about dive bar culture in Boston, how it's changing in this newly moneyed era, and why we still need these sacred spaces.
Here is Ben Affleck's new look.
Have feedback on this episode or ideas for upcoming topics? DM me on Instagram, email me, or...2024-08-0749 minBoston Speaks Up102: Mike Farber of GreenStoryGuest Mike Farber has played many roles throughout his career, serving as a brand builder, mentor, advisor, partner, and now, co-founder. In his latest career move, Farber has the world’s best interests in mind by co-founding GreenStory, an agency focused entirely on elevating the stories of organizations addressing the climate crisis. Farber is also an advisor at Greentown Labs, the country’s biggest climate tech accelerator based in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Before launching GreenStory, Farber began his career at Schwartz Communications, where he launched scores of companies, guided four clients through successful IPOs and helped many others become acquired. His expe...2024-06-2657 minBoston Speaks Up101: Kyle Wallack, Refined GraffitiGuest Kyle Wallack is an artist-entrepreneur and the founder of Refined Graffiti, and you can learn more about his work at his digital gallery The KW Gallery. After graduating from Endicott College in Beverly, MA, he lived in New York City for several years where his career took off before recently relocating to the Tampa Bay, Florida area. Wallack, inspired by the likes of Banksy and Basquiat among others, has now done work for global phenoms Missy Elliot and Cardi B. His work has inspired millions across the world.
Before becoming the esteemed American contemporary artist we know today, Wallack’s...2024-04-221h 25Boston Speaks Up100: Nick Cicero, Media Entrepreneur & AnalystGuest Nick Cicero is an analyst, entrepreneur and growth expert operating at the intersection of digital media and advertising. He made a name for himself in the 2010s when he founded Delmondo, a social video analytics company.
Founded in 2014, Cicero quickly established Delmondo alongside established media measurement companies by introducing numerous industry firsts, including the first enterprise analytics solutions for Snapchat, Instagram Stories, and Facebook Live used by clients such as ABC News, the NFL, WWE, Fox, UEFA, Paramount and more. He and Delmondo also co-produced the first Snapchat Branded Long-Form Ad Series with Marriott Rewards.
Raising only a single...2024-02-281h 29Boston Speaks Up099: Kristen Craft of Fidelity for StartupsGuest Kristen Craft is the new Vice President & Business Partner Manager at Fidelity for Startups, one of the largest brokerage firms in the United States, headquartered here in Boston. She’s a major catalyst supporting Fidelity in its efforts to help fill the startup banking void in Boston.
Craft is working closely with the team at Shoobx, a Cambridge-based fintech Fidelity acquired in January 2023. Shoobx helps companies with equity and board management, storing and sharing important business information, and bringing together startup leaders, lawyers, and investors in a single collaborative hub.
Similar to her previous roles, Craft’s role at Fide...2024-01-2950 minBoston Speaks Up098: Barbara Fortier of Girl Scouts of Eastern MassachusettsBarbara Fortier is the CEO of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts (GSEMA) where she has over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Before assuming this role, she served as Chief Operations Officer at GSEMA for an impressive 17 years.
Fortier's influence extends beyond her impressive tenure at GSEMA. She is a specialist in volunteer management, fundraising, and female empowerment, making her a sought-after expert in her field. As the CEO of the largest girl-serving organization in Massachusetts and the 10th largest Girl Scout council in the nation, Fortier's mission is to create girls of courage, confidence, and character who...2024-01-151h 09Boston Speaks Up097: Alice Pomponio of American Cancer Society’s BrightEdgeGuest Alice Pomponio is the Managing Director at BrightEdge, the venture capital and impact investment arm of the American Cancer Society, where her work is making waves in the fight against cancer. With a passion for economic and health equity, she has built a strong track record of bringing groundbreaking ideas to life, developing cutting-edge technologies, shaping markets, and creating value within these ecosystems.
Pomponio's journey through the biopharma industry has tracked alongside many of the industry’s defining moments, earning her the playful title of the ‘Forrest Gump’ of biotech. Through the many ups and downs of the economic cycle...2023-11-0256 minBoston Speaks Up096: Senofer Mendoza of Mendoza VenturesSenofer Mendoza is the Founder and General Partner at Mendoza Ventures, a woman-owned and the first Latinx-founded VC fund on the east coast. In the ever-evolving landscape of venture capital, Mendoza stands as an innovation economy trailblazer and an advocate for diversity and inclusion.
Mendoza has a creative background having previously worked as an interior designer for Parker Torres Design. During her stint at the design house, Mendoza was able to work on some exciting projects, most notable would be her design work for Boston’s beloved Fairmont Copley Plaza. Although Mendoza took pride in her creative abilities, she quickly re...2023-10-1355 minBoston Speaks Up095: Stanley Rameau of RenavestStanley Rameau is the Founder and CEO of Renavest, a financial education community for investors and individuals to connect, share and build wealth. He is poised to make an even greater impact with the imminent release of the Renavest app on both the App Store and Google Play Store this fall (Join the waitlist).
When Rameau isn’t guiding individuals from all walks of life along their journey to wealth building, he can be found building and growing his Boston-based fashion brand, Paul Rameau.
Rameau's journey is defined by a mosaic of diverse work experiences that have molded him into th...2023-10-101h 02Boston Speaks Up094: Gabriela Serret-Campos of ChronosphereGuest Gabriela Serret-Campos is the Global Head of People Strategy and Talent at Chronosphere, a cloud company that raised $200 million on a $1+ billion valuation in 2021. She is a seasoned professional with a rich background in shaping organizational strategies and fostering talent to drive success.
As the modern workplace changes, Serret-Campos is an expert navigator of the evolving shifts and new challenges in recruiting and culture building. She possesses invaluable insights into how venture-backed companies can quickly scale a team with an emphasis on employee retention.
Prior to Chronosphere, Serret-Campos served as the SVP of People Operations at Drizly, where she...2023-10-041h 02Boston Speaks Up093: Stephanie Roulic, Startup Boston founder/CEOGuest Stephanie Roulic is the founder and CEO of Startup Boston where she’s become a driving force behind Boston's startup ecosystem. Through Startup Boston, Roulic is on a mission to bring networking opportunities that bridge connections between people from different industries and companies from all stages. She leads a team of dedicated volunteers who are all aligned in fulfilling Startup Boston’s vision to establish a more connected Boston business ecosystem.
Since co-founding the martech company nDash in 2016, she recognized the need for meaningful connections in the local startup community. This led her to also launch Startup Boston Week in 2...2023-09-0753 minBoston Speaks Up092: Dr. Jeff Sutherland, Scrum Co-creatorDr. Jeff Sutherland is the Founder and Chairman of Scrum Inc. He is credited with being one of the creators of Scrum, which is celebrating its 30 year anniversary in 2023, and is a framework for enabling business agility at scale across an entire organization.
Sutherland’s mission has always been to spread Scrum around the world to free people from what he calls “the incredible life-draining system they’re working under.” His teachings consistently expose the archaic systems that hinder productivity, and he’s at the forefront helping the world’s biggest organizations make the transition to Agile.
To further his efforts, Sut...2023-07-182h 06Boston Speaks Up091: Devan Sood of OrcaDevan Sood is the Co-Founder of Orca, a membership-based network of furnished month-to-month accommodations in dream destinations around the world. As working a 9-5 increasingly no longer requires a long commute to a 5’ x 5’ cubicle, Orca is designed for digital nomads who travel freely and work remotely around the globe. A digital nomad himself, Sood is currently traveling the world helping inspire others to ditch their 12-month lease and live in a myriad of their dream destinations, without breaking the bank.
Sood grew up in Los Angeles and jumped into his first venture at the ripe age of 14 when he star...2023-06-091h 08Boston Speaks Up090: George Deveney of Make-A-WishGeorge Deveney is the Chief Advancement Officer at Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island, headquartered in Boston, MA. Make-A-Wish is a non-profit organization on a mission to create life-changing wish experiences for children with critical illnesses. In 2023, Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island celebrate 40 years of providing life changing experiences to kids and families who deserve it the most.
Deveney has dedicated his life to helping others and he has no plans of taking his foot off the gas. Prior to joining Make-A-Wish, Deveney spent the majority of his career at City Year, an education-focused non-profit organization that unites young people from...2023-05-191h 15
Boston Speaks Up089: Kerty Levy of Techstars BostonGuest Kerty Levy is the Managing Director of Techstars Boston, the successful startup accelerator tied to a global network of Techstars programs. (Techstars Boston applications are open now and will close June 7, 2023. Don’t miss out!)
Levy replaced Greg Raiz, who stepped down as managing director at the end of October 2022. She brings a global perspective to her role having grown up all over the world. Born in Japan, Levy spent time in the Philippines, Belgium, Switzerland and Sweden before settling in the United States.
Levy is also the managing director of recently launched Techstars Crypto Boston, a crypto-focused accelerator in...2023-04-281h 05
Boston Speaks Up088: Alex Kantrowitz of Big TechnologyGuest Alex Kantrowitz is the founder of Big Technology, a combo newsletter-podcast news operation analyzing the systems in the tech world that drive what we see in the headlines. He launched Big Technology on the back of his wildly successful book Always Day One, which gives a behind-the-scenes view into how Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft have “stayed on top” by operating in Day One: Instead of hunkering down and protecting core advantages, they reinvent constantly.
Kantrowitz most recently served as senior technology reporter at Buzzfeed, and he regularly appears on CNBC to break down the news surrounding the tech gian...2023-03-311h 13
Boston Speaks Up087: Chris Cardoza of Doza VisualsGuest Chris Cardoza is the Founder & Director of Doza Visuals, a Boston-based media production company with experience filming and photographing across the globe. You may be familiar with Cardoza’s work locally via the artist documentaries he produces for ICA Boston.
Cardoza’s entrepreneurial journey was preceded by a childhood culminating as a multi-sport athlete in high school. Sports were everything to him, until injuries crept into his life and ripped away his first passion. This is when he discovered a new calling in photography and video and he brought that same energy, determination and dedication to his new craft. Alth...2023-02-081h 39Boston Speaks Up086: Smoov Founder Tucker CohenGuest Tucker Cohen is the Founder & CEO of Smoov, an app that makes it easy for couples to split their expenses automatically before they have a shared bank account. Smoov has enjoyed a popular beta period in Boston for its ability to save people time, money and headaches.
Cohen is an entrepreneur with a range of experience on the west and east coasts, and grew to become a very active member of the Boston startup community in recent years. He is also an Web3 maxi as an early investor in Acala and Polkadot, as well spending time as a VC...2023-01-201h 18Boston Speaks Up085: Underscore VC's Lily LymanGuest Lily Lyman is a General Partner at Underscore VC, a leading Boston venture capital firm known for its Underscore Core Community of proven business builders helping each other succeed. She is also a Board Director for the New England Venture Capital Association, MIT Sandbox Funding Board, and is a leader of the Boston All Raise chapter.
Lyman has a background as a founder, investor, and operator. She came to Underscore VC from Facebook, where she worked in product strategy focused on the international growth of core products including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
Prior to Facebook, Lyman held a...2023-01-071h 24Boston Speaks Up084: Miranda Perez of HBCU Founders InitiativeMiranda Perez is a cross-topic multimedia journalist on a mission to highlight and elevate marginalized voices. Evolving beyond the newsroom, she recently joined the team at HBCU Founders Initiative, a nonprofit organization that is engaging rising HBCU students and alumni interested in pursuing entrepreneurship.
For those unfamiliar with the term HBCU, it refers to any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans.
Perez is playing a critical role supporting entrepreneurs participating in HBCU Founder Initiative’s Pre-Accelerator, an 8-week program for early-stage founders who are past th...2022-11-181h 22Boston Speaks Up083: Scott Ernst, Drift CEOGuest Scott Ernst is an entrepreneur who’s been at the intersection of market research, commerce and technology for three decades. He was building startups on Newbury Street in Boston long before this recent wave of VCs and startups began moving into the Back Bay area.
After stints at multiple startups in the 1990s, Ernst was a founding management team member of Compete in the 2000s and helped the company grow to a $100 million revenue business resulting in the 2008 acquisition by MIllward Brown Digital/WPP’s Kantar.
In June 2022, he made headlines for his appointment as CEO of Boston-based Drift, a ma...2022-11-041h 15Boston Speaks Up082: Kristen Craft of Silicon Valley BankGuest Kristen Craft is a proven entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in enterprise software and digital marketing. In her role as Director of Early-Stage Startups at Silicon Valley Bank, she’s become well known around the Boston startup community for her passionate support of founders.
Craft has helped build several prominent brands in Boston and is committed to supporting companies with excellent cultures and strong values. Her past experience includes leadership roles at Animalz, Tettra, Ovia Health Wistia, and Transparent Language, as well as launching her own start-up, Brown Box Storage.
A life-long learner, Craft earned her BA fr...2022-10-211h 11Boston Speaks UpBONUS: Zach Servideo on The Repivot Project Podcast*Bonus Episode* Boston Speaks Up host Zach Servideo joins Deirdre Sartorelli on The Repivot Project podcast, which explores the art and science of change. Zach discusses: how Value Creation Labs is navigating the current economic downturn; how to select the right people to collaborate with; the value in consulting with different customer archetypes; his company's unique approach to brand development; and his silver linings playbook coming off his achilles tendon tear/surgery this year.2022-09-1745 min
The Repivot ProjectS1E6 Zach Servideo and Value Creation LabsZach Servideo of Value Creation Labs is known for helping early stage businesses find their voice and for helping established companies navigate digital transformation. "We get picked over marketing agencies that have ties to the biggest media holding companies in the world...that's because agility always wins in today's fast-paced world". If you want to your business, big or small, to be agile in today's market, Zach will give you actionable insights in this episode. Zach is also the host of the popular "Boston Speaks Up" podcast.2022-08-2746 minBoston Speaks Up080: Yvonne Castaneda, Mental Health Professional & Boston College Faculty MemberYvonne Castaneda is a licensed mental health professional and part-time faculty member at Boston College School of Social Work where she teaches courses such as Basic Skills in Clinical Social Work and Social Welfare Systems.
Born in Los Angeles, Castaneda spent much of her childhood in Miami. Her parents were immigrants to the United States – her father from Cuba and her mother from Mexico. Her parents never had formal schooling, but they emphasized the importance of education and work ethic.
Castaneda has never shied away from the challenge of a new job. Throughout her life, she has worked as a wa...2022-08-121h 17Boston Speaks Up079: Sara Mraish-Demeter, CEO/Founder of ARCKSara Mraish-Demeter is an artist, educator, mother of three, and founder/CEO of Art Resource Collaborative for Kids (ARCK), a nonprofit delivering creative programs with social justice themes in Boston Public Schools since 2012. Born in Jordan to Palestinian refugee parents, she came to the United States at age 15 and Boston was where she first experienced real support and opportunity.
In Boston, Mraish-Demeter quickly learned that none of her schooling transferred from Jordan, so she had to go back to school and get her GED. It was through this incredibly low point in her life that put her in an environment...2022-07-0851 minBoston Speaks Up078: Entrepreneur Frank SintonGuest Frank Sinton is an entrepreneur, investor and innovator from Concord, Massachusetts. A Tufts University graduate, Sinton is a life-long learner and engineer by trade with several patents under his belt. He has a growing interest in adapting his deep technology background and CEO experience to actively nurture the next generation of companies working to solve important challenges facing the world today.
Sinton made a name for himself in the entertainment industry helping legacy businesses through digital transformation. He spent the early 2000s in Los Angeles leading innovation and technology at Sony Pictures as the studio’s strategy shifted to di...2022-06-171h 06Boston Speaks Up077: Zach Servideo of Value Creation LabsGuest Zach Servideo is an entrepreneur and the founder of Value Creation Labs® (VCL), a brand studio-growth accelerator. The 15-year consulting veteran has spent time in Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Known for his boundless energy and storytelling prowess, Servideo is a sought out chief brand officer of sorts for companies looking to elevate their public presence and stoke growth. In 2021, he created VCL as a means to one day realize his vision to own and operate a venture studio. He’s currently building toward that goal helping provide flexible consulting services to a range of companies. He also has...2022-05-101h 20Boston Speaks Up076: Impact Biosystems CEO Bridget Hunter-JonesGuest Bridget Hunter-Jones is the co-founder and CEO of Impact Biosystems, a venture-backed startup in the Boston area developing adaptive hardware and software solutions in the health and fitness space.
Hunter-Jones leads a small, passionate, cross-functional team that wants to create a new personalized recovery market to support the at-home fitness phenomenon that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Impact Biosystems’ goal is to make athletes of all varieties prevent injuries, perform at their peak, and uniquely live and feel better.
The company’s soon-to-launch Pact, which aims to compete with the likes of Theragun and other at-home massage products, promises to b...2022-03-261h 02Boston Speaks Up075: Scroobious CEO Allison ByersAllison Byers is the founder and CEO of Scroobious, which is increasing diversity in the startup ecosystem by affordably helping founders create compelling pitch material and a platform to help investors easily find those founders.
Her earlier career includes over a decade of startup and tech operator roles. Prior to founding Scroobious, Byers launched and co-ran a medical device company spun out of MIT where she raised nearly $10 million and experienced first-hand the challenges that come with fundraising as a female founder.
Byers is also an angel investor, frequent startup mentor and advisor, speaker, and works with dozens of diversity-focused...2022-02-251h 23Boston Speaks Up074: Investor & Entrepreneur Dan RossignolGuest Dan Rossignol is an entrepreneur, investor and lifelong learner with a proven track record as a technology generalist who can drive revenue across business verticals. He currently serves as the Chief Growth Officer at Stonehenge Technology Labs, doing business as STOPWATCH, a Bentonville, Arkansas-based unified commerce software startup that provides real-time supply chain management for global CPG brands.
Rossignol is also a scout investor for Bonfire Ventures, a seed stage venture capital firm that leads Seed rounds for business software solutions company founders.
Prior to his current roles at STOPWATCH and Bonfire Ventures, Rossignol was in multiple leadership positions...2022-02-041h 20Boston Speaks Up073: Endicott College's Gina DeschampsGuest Gina Deschamps currently serves as the Director of the Angle Center for Entrepreneurship at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. She’s in a fascinating position with a role focused on embedding entrepreneurship into the DNA of a college campus.
Previously, Deschamps enjoyed a successful career as a senior sales and marketing leader while always remaining closely aligned with higher education. In 2020, she was the recipient of the Salem State University Alumni Association’s Elizabeth Williams Wade award for her years of dedicated service to her alma mater.
She has also served in leadership roles with organizations such as Montserrat Coll...2022-01-2153 minBoston Speaks Up072: Investor & Entrepreneur Raghav GuptaGuest Raghav “Rags” Gupta is an entrepreneur, operator, investor and author of the bestselling One to Ten: Finding Your Way from Startup to Scaleup. He currently serves as President of Butlr, a wireless motion sensing platform that generates privacy-compliant, anonymous data for physical space management. Corporate real estate, senior living and wellness facilities, and retail spaces use Butlr to detect occupancy, headcount and activity, and generate accurate, real-time and historical spatial insights.
Gupta is also a venture partner at Hyperplane.vc, and board member at Dvinci, in addition to being an active angel investor with TBD Angels.
Prior to Butlr, Gupt...2022-01-071h 12Boston Speaks Up071: Rick Grinnell of Glasswing VenturesGuest Rick Grinnell is the Founder and Managing Partner of Glasswing Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in pre-seed and seed-stage companies in AI and frontier software technologies. Grinnell is one of the most reputed cybersecurity investors in venture capital land. For the last 21 years, he’s been investing in the various evolutions of security, storage, and SaaS-based startups out of his home base in the Boston area. He’s become such a local staple in the Boston innovation ecosystem that if you’re in venture capital and ever make your way to Boston, it’s an absolute must that you...2021-12-041h 19Boston Speaks Up070: Silicon Valley Bank’s Russell FollansbeeGuest Russell Follansbee leads Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) enterprise software team in New England, which counts roughly 60 percent of VC-backed startups in the Greater Boston region as clients.
He and his team help enterprise software companies, typically post-series A funding, to more efficiently achieve scale. While his experience ranges across industries, Follansbee specializes in the cybersecurity industry, a technology cluster in Boston that is driving global innovation.
Since joining SVB in 2009, Follansbee has worked with high-growth innovators at all life stages, from pre-seed startups to billion dollar juggernauts. This experience has afforded him deep insights into patterns of success an...2021-11-061h 18Boston Speaks Up069: Get Burly CEO Michael CaronMichael Caron is the founder and CEO of Get Burly, which organizes and creates custom fitness programs and team building retreats. WIth more than 40 seasons of coaching under his belt, Caron fosters a team of elite level coaches that push individuals and groups to overcome adversity.
Caron is an elite coach in every sense of the concept. He is a Spartan SGX certified coach. He earned the Navy Seal Inspired Sealfit Basic Training Certification. He is also a certified Unbeatable Mind Coach and through performance coaching services is able to collaborate with individuals from all walks of life in the...2021-10-221h 23Boston Speaks Up068: SmarterTravel CEO Jordan StaabGuest Jordan Staab is the CEO of SmarterTravel, an industry leader in online travel with a travel media portfolio including Airfarewatchdog, BookingBuddy, Family Vacation Critic, Oyster, SmarterTravel, and WhatToPack. As the story goes with most entrepreneurial ventures, Staab’s journey in building SmarterTravel endured various pivots, twists and turns to get to where it is today. The company is flourishing but Staab will be the first to tell you that this was not always the case.
With Staab at the helm, SmarterTravel empowers 7 million unique travelers each month through engaging content, innovative technology, and strategic partnerships to help them find th...2021-09-281h 27Boston Speaks Up067: KingFish CEO Cam BrownGuest Cam Brown is the founder and CEO of KingFish, a Boston-based marketing agency set to celebrate its 20-year anniversary in November 2021. Brown has developed a hybrid agency model which combines a full-time staff of strategists, account executives and designers with a database of hundreds of subject matter experts (SMEs) to create custom content solutions for its clients. Perhaps most impressively, Brown personally oversees the relationships with the majority of KingFish SMEs.
He brings over 30 years of marketing, digital, video, virtual & live events and advertising experience with industry leaders such as Ziff Davis Media, Arnold Advertising (Havas) and The Robb...2021-09-031h 12Boston Speaks Up066: ZoomInfo's Guy HudsonGuest Guy Hudson is a marketing programs manager in the Boston office of ZoomInfo (NASDAQ: ZI), a global go-to-market enterprise SaaS leader.
Hudson caught our attention on LinkedIn where he’s posted several inspiring messages, including an official ZoomInfo corporate video he recorded for Juneteenth. Unsurprisingly, ZoomInfo CEO Henry Schuck recently came in at number eight on Business Insider's list of the best CEOs of large companies ranked by BIPOC employees.
Hudson’s story is fascinating, and his journey is a worldly one. He was born in Liberia, and at the age of 7, he moved to Methuen, MA where he spen...2021-08-061h 34Boston Speaks Up065: Moment CEO Aisha ChottaniGuest Aisha Chottani is a former McKinsey consultant turned thriving entrepreneur. After a stint at Harvard Business School, and amidst a pandemic, Chottani founded her company Moment, a natural botanical and adaptogen beverage that aims to bottle the feeling of meditation in a can.
Chottani is a heart-driven leader on a mission to help people more easily achieve mindfulness. At no additional cost to consumers, Moment provides content and interactive programming to help people meditate more, gain mindfulness, and ultimately, improve their overall wellness. Moment also donates one percent of revenue to help at-risk youth.
We had an opportunity to...2021-07-2347 minBoston Speaks Up064: ButcherBox CEO Mike SalgueroGuest Mike Salguero is the founder and CEO of ButcherBox, a Boston-based meat brand that delivers high quality, humanely raised meat to consumers across the country. He founded ButcherBox in 2015 as a hobby, but quickly solved the need to increase access to high-quality, humanely raised protein.
Prior to ButcherBox, Salguero founded CustomMade, a marketplace for consumers to commission custom made items such as furniture and jewelry. His serial entrepreneurship gives him an interesting perspective to share on the different financing options for startups. For example, CustomMade was VC-backed whereas ButcherBox was bootstrapped and still has taken no outside capital.
ButcherBox...2021-07-081h 25Boston Speaks Up063: January Ventures Cofounder Jen NeundorferGuest Jennifer Neundorfer is cofounder and managing partner at January Ventures, an investment firm that is trying to address the unique challenges and biases faced by entrepreneurs often under-represented in business, including women and people of color.
Neundorfer believes the next generation of startup investment returns will be driven by a much broader and more diverse set of founders, and she co-founded January Ventures to be the fund of choice for these traditionally underrepresented founders at the earliest stage.
An operator turned investor, Neundorfer has been investing in early-stage startups for the last decade. And as a Latina GP, she...2021-05-011h 09Boston Speaks Up062: The Operators CEO Ryan DurkinGuest Ryan Durkin is a serial entrepreneur, operator and product guy who’s interwoven himself into the fabric of Boston’s elite tech talent. Following his latest successful stint serving as head of product at Drizly (sold to Uber for 1.1B), Durkin is now busy building a sports agency for tech professionals in Boston -- The Operators. Durkin’s goal is to represent the top percent of tech talent, and offer them everything that agents provide to professional athletes -- from opening doors and closing deals to creative contracts and fan ownership. Durkin negotiates on their behalf much like a sports...2021-04-191h 35Boston Speaks Up061: Aubry Founder Dominique AubryGuest Dominique Aubry is the founder of Aubry, an influencer-driven shopping app that uses computer vision, augmented reality and AI to help women build personalized wardrobes. This isn’t Aubry’s first foray into retail innovation. She previously founded All Yoga Pants to give curvy women better clothing options.
With more than 15 years of experience working within the government, non-profit, for-profit, and startup community, Aubry has enjoyed a fascinating journey from Philadelphia to Boston. She began her career working for the Mayor's Office of Philadelphia and Teach for America.
Aubry went on to become a Lean trainer for the Techstars comp...2021-04-051h 13Boston Speaks Up060: Urban Grape CEO TJ DouglasGuest TJ Douglas is the founder and CEO of The Urban Grape, a wine store in Boston’s South End neighborhood known for its proprietary Progressive Scale - a system of sorting wine by its body, instead of by varietal or region. Douglas has led The Urban Grape to becoming one of the most successful independently-owned wine stores in the country as a result.
Douglas’ list of accomplishments is nothing short of astonishing. The Urban Grape has won multiple accolades as Boston’s Best Wine store from both Boston Magazine and The Improper Bostonian, as well as a Small Business of the...2021-03-221h 09Boston Speaks UpBONUS: Zach Servideo on Endicott College's "Fuel Your Fire" PodcastEnjoy this bonus episode of Boston Speaks Up host Zach Servideo appearing on the Fuel Your Fire podcast from Endicott College's Angle Center for Entrepreneurship where Zach is a visiting Entrepreneur-in-Residence. In this episode, Zach speaks on the future of tech and innovation, tells his story of packing up and moving out west to LA and "Silicon Beach", and shares the heartwarming legacy he wants to leave behind for his daughter.2021-03-1544 minBoston Speaks Up059: The Leadership Consortium CEO Cara ShortsleeveGuest Cara Shortsleeve is the CEO at The Leadership Consortium (TLC), a leadership development platform designed to accelerate high potential and diverse leaders.
Shortsleeve joined TLC in 2018 to launch and scale the business which has since forged relationships with Google, IBM, HubSpot, P&G, WPP and dozens more. Under Shortleeve’s leadership, TLC has enabled more than 2,000 executives to lead stronger teams and bring broader strategic mindsets to their business.
Prior to joining TLC, Shortsleeve spent more than a decade in various leadership roles at Google and YouTube. Most recently, she served as a Global Director for GTM and commercialization at...2021-03-081h 10
FUEL Your FireEpisode #5 | Zach Servideo: Talking Tech, Innovation, & More!On today’s episode, our co-hosts, Deirdre Sartorelli and Josh Sousa interviewed guest, Zach Servideo, who is a professional communicator; tech startup advisor; relentless worker; and perpetual spreader of positive energy.
In the professional realm, Zach is currently the Executive Vice-President of Marketing Strategy for Fabric Media, Host of the podcast Boston Speaks Up, and Visiting Entrepreneur-in-Residence here in the Angle Center for Entrepreneurship.
Zach is a Boston University College of Communication graduate with 15 years consulting with b2b/b2c tech companies on business models, marketing strategy, go to market plans, fundraising decks, ad cr...2021-03-0143 minBoston Speaks Up058: Serial Entrepreneur & Angel Investor David ChangGuest David Chang is an entrepreneur and angel investor who has held product, marketing and operating roles at six startups and invested in 60 companies. He was most recently the CEO at student loan startup Gradifi, which was acquired by E*TRADE in December 2019. Previously, he was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School and Director of the Babson Summer Venture Program.
Chang has a successful track record in hands-on roles at both direct-to-consumer and enterprise companies, six of which were acquired or IPO’d. He previously led the PayPal Boston office and co-founded the Start Tank innovation space and the Where Angel Fu...2021-02-221h 19Boston Speaks Up057: MIT's Carly ChaseGuest Carly Chase is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. Her work is wide in scope and includes serving as the Founding Managing Director of the MIT NYC Startup Studio (part of the MIT delta v accelerator), running the StartMIT entrepreneurship bootcamp, overseeing the Trust Center’s Membership Program for Organizations and New Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Symposium, coaching students, in addition to serving as a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Chase has enjoyed an exciting and wide-ranging entrepreneurial journey. After beginning her career at Goldman Sachs, she joined the New...2021-02-071h 11Boston Speaks Up056: Author & Former Hollywood Assistant Kiel ServideoGuest Kiel Servideo is a former Hollywood assistant who’s always found comfort with a pen and a notebook. He moved out to Los Angeles a year after graduating from Boston University where he hustled various temp agency jobs before landing full-time gigs with Hollywood titans such as Jerry Bruckheimer and Shawn Levy. While living in LA, Servideo wrote his first novel -- The Preposterous Dreams of Tucker Adams -- a fiction documenting a modern tale of the pursuit of Manifest Destiny.
In the Fall of 2019, Servideo and his wife left their life in Los Angeles and each accepted jobs ab...2021-01-222h 23Boston Speaks Up055: Former Boston Celtics Attorney & 3Point Foundation Founder Neil JacobsGuest Neil Jacobs is the president and founder of the 3Point Foundation, a non-profit organization that offers free educational, sports and dance programming to under-served youth in Boston. Working closely with the Boston Celtics, Boston Public Schools, UMass Boston and additional partners, Jacobs and 3Point are on a mission to improve the lives of Boston’s youth through positive reinforcement in the classroom and through group athletics.
Prior to 3Point Foundation, Jacobs served as outside team counsel for the Boston Celtics for 30 years, making it no surprise that 3Point is a community partner of the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. In fa...2020-10-111h 08Boston Speaks Up054: Snapchat's Chris VailGuest Chris Vail is a Senior Account Executive for Political and Advocacy Partnerships at Snapchat. A former Amazon ad sales leader, Vail made the move to Snapchat to help onboard legislative, issue, and non-profit advertisers onto the Snapchat platform. His team recently launched an augmented reality lens for the Mark Kelly campaign in Arizona, which was the first Senate campaign to lean in on this new, experiential way of engaging voters. Snapchat has also made news waves recently for signing up more than 750,000 young voters via its Snapchat app (and now it’s crossed 1 million registered voters).
Prior to Snapchat, Va...2020-10-021h 15Boston Speaks Up053: NEVCA's Ari Fine GlantzGuest Ari Fine Glantz is the Director of Development & Strategic Initiatives at the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA), the regional trade association for the venture capital industry, with mission to foster a collaborative, inclusive, and prosperous innovation ecosystem. At NEVCA, Glantz leads the organization’s revenue generating activities, manages legislative strategy, and supports president Jody Rose on new program development. He has served as a coach and judge for a variety of accelerators and pitch competitions around Boston, and is an infrequent contributor to TechCrunch, BostInno, and TEDx.
Glantz recently launched a lighthearted fundraiser -- Fund.Razor -- to de...2020-09-181h 04Boston Speaks Up052: Isle de Nature CEO Veronica ArmstrongGuest Veronica Armstrong is the cofounder and CEO of Isle de Nature, a Boston-based home fragrance startup that recently placed runner-up at Roxbury Pitch Night, a virtual pitch night hosted by Venture Café New England’s Roxbury Innovation Center. Isle de Nature offers a line of home fragrance products starting with candles made from beeswax and soy. Armstrong is driven by the belief that "unspoiled nature is a luxury" as climate change threatens the islands she draws inspiration from. Isle de Nature's signature fragrance, Pagua Bay, is inspired by the bay leaves indigenous to Dominica.
Armstrong has deep expertise in e-c...2020-09-121h 25Boston Speaks Up051: Prism Editor Ashton LattimoreAshton Lattimore is the editor-in-chief at Prism, a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color)-led nonprofit news outlet. Prism formally launched in August 2020 with a focus on coverage of electoral justice, gender justice, workers’ rights, criminal justice, racial justice and immigration.
Lattimore is a longtime editor and writer whose work focuses on race, culture, and the law. Her writing has been published by the Washington Post, Slate, CNN, Essence, and other outlets.
Prior to joining Prism, Lattimore was senior writer and managing editor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and previously was the lead editor at NewsOne. Also a...2020-08-1559 minBoston Speaks Up050: Suffolk Country District Attorney Rachael RollinsGuest Rachael Rollins is the Suffolk County District Attorney, the chief law enforcement official for Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. She was elected by a landslide campaigning on a platform centered on criminal justice system reform. Taking office in January 2019 as Suffolk County’s 16th district attorney, Rollins is the first woman to be elected to that position in Suffolk County history, and the first woman of color ever to serve as a Massachusetts district attorney.
District Attorney Rollins has been consistently outspoken in her pledge to effect meaningful, substantive reform to the criminal legal system as she prefers to ca...2020-08-0157 minBoston Speaks Up049: Soko Founder Martel MetellusGuest Martel Metellus is the founder of Soko, a discovery network for the Black community to connect, collaborate, and find new opportunities. Founded in September 2019, Soko began as a freelance marketplace for Black skillworkers. Like many great startups, Soko was created to satisfy the founder’s own pain points. Metellus developed Soko to solve his need of wanting to hire Black people to work on his various entrepreneurial ventures, including several fitness endeavors. Metellus moved from Arizona to Boston in 2015 to attend Babson College and play basketball. The budding entrepreneur also has aspirations to become a Venture Capitalist. He possesses a...2020-07-261h 07Boston Speaks Up048: Hack.Diversity's Angela LiuAngela Liu is the Director of Hack.Diversity, the workforce development division of the New England Venture Capital Association. Launched in 2017, Hack.Diversity partners with Boston’s fast growing tech teams to not only increase the representation of Black and Latinx technologists in the innovation economy, but also evolve organizational practices to support retention and promotion of that talent. By the end of 2020, Liu will have scaled operations, community, and curriculum to support a network of 150+ Hack Fellows to contribute to 25+ companies including Drift, Rapid7, Liberty Mutual, Tamr, and Vertex. Prior to joining NEVCA and Hack.Diversity, Liu spent three ye...2020-07-111h 21Boston Speaks Up047: Black Tech Pipeline Founder Pariss ChandlerGuest Pariss Chandler is a former aesthetician turned front-end developer. She transitioned into tech in 2017 after participating in Resilient Coders, a coding bootcamp for people of color. Chandler is the creator of the hashtag and movement #BlackTechTwitter, bringing awareness and exposure to the Black community in the tech industry. She is also founder of Black Tech Pipeline, a service-based platform focused on recruitment and retention of Black technologists and connecting them to jobs. Chandler runs a popular Slack and Discord community for #BlackTechTwitter, as well as a newsletter dedicated to shining a light on influencers within the community. Discover more...2020-06-191h 31Boston Speaks Up046: Entrepreneur-Coach AK IkwuakorGuest AK Ikwuakor, also known as “Coach AK”, is an entrepreneur, educator, consultant, strategist, storyteller, and former Top 10 world-ranked athlete from the University of Oregon (hurdles; 400 meter). He’s founded several companies including Empower2Play, a sports diplomacy project working with the US Government; as well as ELETE Styles, a made to measure clothing provider for athletes and working professionals. He’s traveled to more than 30 countries working with students, athletes, coaches, governmental agencies, celebrities, victims of terrorism, and CEOs. Originally from Colorado, Ikwuakor has made Boston his home for the past decade. Much of his work aims to foster cross-cu...2020-06-131h 10Boston Speaks Up045: Venture Lane Founder Christian MagelGuest Christian Magel is the founder of Boston-based Venture Lane, a curated startup hub which houses up to 25 early-stage tech companies between two and 15 employees. Magel is an international startup veteran, business angel and go-to-market expert who cut his entrepreneurial teeth in Europe and Australia. He was the cofounder of amaysim, an Australian telecommunication company in which he served as CMO and Executive Director. Magel helped grow amaysim to and beyond IPO, and the company became Australia’s largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). Prior to amaysim, Magel was cofounder and CMO of simyo, a customer-centric challenger brand in the Eu...2020-05-291h 04Boston Speaks Up044: WorkAround CEO Wafaa ArbashWafaa Arbash is a Syrian immigrant who’s determined to restore dignity to refugees globally through her Boston-based startup WorkAround. The co-founder and CEO of WorkAround is working around the barriers to employment for refugees by providing them with an online microwork platform that helps AI and machine learning companies with human intelligence tasks. Arbash started WorkAround while working on her master’s thesis in Sustainable International Development and Conflict Resolution from Brandeis University. Prior to WorkAround, Wafaa served as a program manager for Startup Institute and refugee education in Jordan. She worked in Syria for more than five years in s...2020-05-161h 01Boston Speaks Up043: SVB Boston's Jesse BardoGuest Jesse Bardo is a director in Early Stage Practice for Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in Boston, which banks upwards of 70 percent of Boston venture-backed companies. Bardo is active in the Boston innovation community and a proven entrepreneur turned angel investor and startup mentor. He was one of the founders of higher education SaaS company EverTrue (Techstars Boston 2011), which won the MassChallenge. After gaining Series A funding with Bain Capital Ventures, Bardo and his team grew EverTrue to 400-plus customers and 50 employees in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood. Bardo joined SVB in 2018. His role is to connect entrepreneurs with Boston’s acce...2020-05-041h 17Boston Speaks Up042: Goodpath CEO Bill GianoukosGuest Bill Gianoukos is the co-founder and CEO of Goodpath, which emerged from stealth in April 2020 to launch its digital integrative TeleHealth portal. Goodpath accelerated its launch timeline to support health care practitioners (HCPs) who are struggling to manage the chronic care needs of patients during the COVID19 crisis. Goodpath can step in as an appropriate alternative to office visits by offering patients plans which include virtual meetings with a dietician, personalized physical therapy, yoga classes, cognitive-behavioral therapy, meditation, nutrition and supplements, and symptom relief products. To help provide people with access to care during the pandemic, Goodpath has discounted...2020-04-2347 minBoston Speaks Up041: Pistol Lake CEO Ryan LightGuest Ryan Light is the CEO of Pistol Lake, a clothing brand where everything is ethically made in the U.S. The Boston Speaks Up community may recognize Ryan Light from his time in Boston in prominent executive and marketing roles at Kinvey and CoachUp. After seven years in Boston, Light moved to Los Angeles in 2018 to run Pistol Lake. In March 2020, Pistol Lake stopped manufacturing clothes at its Los Angeles headquarters, in favor of making masks for hospitals and urgent care workers treating patients with COVID-19. Well known for his creative marketing skills, Light’s creative business decision to he...2020-04-101h 04Boston Speaks Up040: Wistia CEO Chris SavageGuest Chris Savage is the CEO and co-founder of Wistia, a video software company based in Cambridge, MA. Wistia is the software behind original video initiatives from brands across industries. Wistia also has its own slate of original video series, which includes Brandwagon, One, Ten, One Hundred, and Low Views High Impact. Savage and his co-founder, Brendan Schwartz, started Wistia in Schwartz’s living room in 2006. Wistia has since grown into a multi-million dollar business with more than 100 employees. Before Wistia, Savage helped produce an Emmy Award-winning feature-length documentary and was named a Top Young Entrepreneur by BusinessWeek. He graduated fr...2020-03-2957 minBoston Speaks Up039: Greentown Labs CEO Dr. Emily ReichertGuest Dr. Emily Reichert is CEO of Greentown Labs, the largest clean technology startup incubator in North America. As the company’s first employee, Reichert has spearheaded the rapid growth of Greentown Labs into a global hub for climatetech and cleantech innovation, attracting visitors and partners from around the world. She started her career at the international management consulting firm Arthur D. Little as a Ph.D. scientist and progressed into R&D, business development and general management roles. Prior to Greentown Labs, she was the Director of Business Operations at the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry where she he...2020-03-141h 06Boston Speaks Up038: SYRG CEO Rahkeem MorrisGuest Rahkeem Morris is the cofounder and CEO of SYRG, a service for employers to hire former workers for shifts and projects on-demand. Morris’ long-term vision for SYRG is to empower a flexible, liquid, universal workforce of hourly workers where any person can work for any place at any time. Morris took an unusual journey into entrepreneurship and has unique gig economy experience having dropped out of high school at 14 years old to help support his family, working 13 jobs over nine years. He then journeyed into academia and tech. He graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University, worked at GE an...2020-02-2358 minBoston Speaks Up037: Volition Capital Managing Partner Sean CantwellGuest Sean Cantwell is a founding team member and Managing Partner with Boston-based Volition Capital, a technology-oriented growth equity and venture capital firm that raised $600 million in separate funds for new investments in 2019. While Volition invests in companies across America, Cantwell has distinguished himself as a growth equity professional dedicated to Boston’s startup community where he focuses on software, technology-enabled services and Internet investments. Cantwell and Volition have invested growth capital in a wide range of Boston-based companies including GRAX, TraceLink, JazzHR, and VisualIQ, among others. Prior to joining Volition Capital, Cantwell was an investor at Fidelity Ventures and wo...2020-02-081h 06Boston Speaks Up036: The Bowdoin Group CEO Dave MelvilleGuest Dave Melville, the founder and CEO of The Bowdoin Group, has built his company into one of the largest executive search firms in Massachusetts. For 25 years, local VCs and PE firms, growth-stage startups, and large enterprises have relied on The Bowdoin Group to meet their executive search and hiring needs. Melville leads The Bowdoin Group’s BioPharma practice along with overseeing general strategic initiatives, and is involved as a key resource for the firm’s growing client base. His expertise includes executive and strategic searches within the Clinical/Scientific, Medical Affairs, Commercial roles, Finance and HR fields, in addition to l...2020-01-2659 minBoston Speaks Up035: BC Law Professor and M&A Lawyer Larry GennariGuest Larry Gennari is general counsel for a wide range of Boston-based businesses. He has a reputation throughout New England as a trusted and beloved business advisor to public companies, venture-backed companies, early-stage ventures, entrepreneurs, investors and board members. Many in the Boston innovation community rely on Gennari for expert legal counsel on financing strategies, partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions. He is a founding partner of Gennari Aronson Law Partners, which has consistently been named a New England Super Lawyer for mergers & acquisitions, securities and corporate finance. Having served as a corporate and transactional lawyer for more than two decades...2020-01-1357 minBoston Speaks Up034: CropShop Cofounder A.J. MarcinekGuest A.J. Marcinek co-founded CropShop while attending Endicott College and hasn’t looked back since graduating in Spring 2019. The young entrepreneur’s hot startup is already thriving at fulfilling its mission to bridge the gap between chefs and local sustainable sources of food in the Boston area. As the CEO of CropShop, Marcinek is responsible for the business and customer facing roles -- including personally picking up and delivering products from farms to kitchens -- while cofounder Cam Bleck is responsible for software engineering with an operational knack. While at Endicott, Marcinek competed in the college’s Spark Tank, a star...2019-12-1544 minBoston Speaks Up033: Jebbit CMO Pam ErlichmanGuest Pam Erlichman is the Chief Marketing Officer at Jebbit, a first party data company that facilitates volunteered, declared data exchange between consumers and brands. She has more than 20 years of marketing experience, most recently serving as the VP of marketing at Oracle Data Cloud, a role she assumed following the Datalogix acquisition. Prior to Datalogix, Erlichman worked at Digitas, leading relationships with world class brands including Delta Air Lines, AT&T, FedEx, Ahold USA, Celebrity Cruise Lines and Progressive Insurance. The mother of three (13, 11, 3) still finds time to mentor working new moms and other female professionals on advancing their...2019-12-011h 01Boston Speaks Up032: Underscore VC Cofounder Michael SkokGuest Michael Skok started his first software business as a teenager, spent 21 years as an entrepreneur and then the past 15 years as a venture investor. The Underscore VC cofounder has founded, worked with and invested in startups, and created thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of value. Along the way, he also mentored and taught for 4 years at Harvard University, and created the Startup Secrets series. As an entrepreneur and an investor, Skok has focused on breakthrough technologies and disruptive business models including Open Source, Cloud, IoT, and emerging domains such as Blockchain, Virtual/Augmented Reality, and Artificial Intelligence...2019-11-1658 minBoston Speaks Up031: Janeiro Digital CTO Justin BinghamGuest Justin Bingham is the co-founder and chief technology officer at Janeiro Digital. The engineering and business design savant has worked at technology companies since he was 16 years old, foregoing college in favor of pursuing a career in Boston’s innovation economy straight out of high school. Bingham’s background includes nearly two decades of experience building sophisticated technology solutions and bringing them to market. He is fluent in numerous programming languages, has extensive knowledge of enterprise application architecture, network infrastructure and protocols, distributed systems, and large-scale data processing. Bingham invented one of the first systems to passively detect and iden...2019-10-271h 28Boston Speaks Up030: Miracle Olatunji, Student, Author & Social Impact EntrepreneurGuest Miracle Olatunji is the youngest person to appear on Boston Speaks Up, only 19 years old at the time of recording. Olatunji embodies the aspiration of Boston to nurture a more diverse, mission-driven class of social impact entrepreneurs. Currently a student at Northeastern University, Olatunji works as the Director of Innovation of the student organization Thrive, whose mission is to empower students through financial literacy programs and support student-led entrepreneurial projects and ventures. While in high school, Olatunji founded OpportuniMe, an award-winning education organization which democratized access to summer learning opportunities for high school youth, enabling them to develop lifelong...2019-10-1944 minBoston Speaks Up029: Resilient Coders Founder David Delmar SentíesGuest David Delmar Sentíes is the Founder and Executive Director of Resilient Coders, a highly competitive, free, nonprofit coding bootcamp that trains people of color for high growth careers as software engineers, and connects them with full-time jobs. He's a workforce equity activist, passionate about democratizing access to the high growth careers that are automation resilient. Delmar Senties looks forward to a day when Boston's innovation landscape is led, not by the smartest among the luckiest, but by the smartest, full stop. A graduate of Boston University's College of Fine Arts, he’s also an artist that combines his lov...2019-10-1247 minBoston Speaks Up028: Ciprun Global Chief Intellectual Property Officer Katie HallGuest Katie Hall graduated from Wellesley College in 1984 as one of only five physics majors in her class. She has since spent her career championing women in technology and bringing diversity to the C-suite. Currently, she is the Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Ciprun Global, a company that makes it efficient and cost-effective for U.S. organizations to secure IP protection in the Chinese market. Simultaneously, Katie is a Distinguished Lecturer of Physics at her Alma Mater, Wellesley College. Katie is passionate about showing the value of mentorship by mentoring students in and out of the classroom. Katie is set...2019-10-051h 21Boston Speaks Up027: Angel Investor & Lola.com CEO Mike VolpeGuest Mike Volpe is the CEO of Lola.com, the fast-growing corporate travel SaaS platform that raised $37 million earlier this year with aims to dominate the $1.6 trillion global travel market. HubSpot’s third founder and former marketing chief, Volpe was offered the position of Lola.com CEO while still the CMO at Cybereason, a cybersecurity SaaS company where he led marketing and sales development. He’s also a member of the Board of Directors at sales and marketing SaaS Validity Inc. Volpe is well known in the Boston startup community, and an angel investor in more than 30 startups, including Desktop Meta...2019-09-281h 11Boston Speaks Up026: Snapchat Lens Creator & Tech4Hood Cofounder Roman JaquezGuest Roman Jaquez is a software engineer at Philips Health Systems. He's also a Snapchat Official Lens Creator. Originally from Dominican Republic, Jaquez moved to New York when he was 17 years old, and graduated from college in The Bronx with a BA in Computer Science. Now a Methuen, MA resident, Jaquez devotes his free time to helping children in the Merrimack Valley learn computer science through tools like Snapchat's Lens Studio as a co-founder of the local organization Tech4Hood. He also provides consulting services through his own software consulting company called DRCoderz. Additionally, Jaquez is a 3D Modeler, AR...2019-09-2158 minBoston Speaks Up025: Sam Thompson From Progress VenturesGuest Sam Thompson is one of the founding partners of Progress Ventures, the venture capital arm of Progress Partners, a boutique M&A advisory firm in which he serves as senior managing director. His main focus is on the marketing and media technology marketplace, where he has built a strong network of contacts that can help early and growth-stage businesses. Thompson has a reputation for developing strategy for retail, digital media, and marketing technology clients. He offers unique perspectives having previously worked for IGN Entertainment, Proctor & Gamble, and the Phoenix Media/Communications Group. He is also one of the orchestrators...2019-09-141h 04Boston Speaks Up024: IBM Engineer Turned Food Entrepreneur John PiermariniGuest John Piermarini is a software developer, a cookie delivery entrepreneur (yes, you read that correctly) and a restauranteur. In 2017, he leaped when he opened up Fare Well, a restaurant out of a shipping container in Boston’s Seaport district. This wasn’t the first leap he took in his career. After finding out he didn’t love being a software engineer at IBM, Piermarini took his first venture into the food industry by opening Sweet Idea, a late night cookie delivery business which operated from 2012 to 2015. After Sweet Idea, Piermarini was recruited by Mei Mei to manage their new Boston...2019-09-071h 05Boston Speaks Up023: BostInno Staff Writer Rowan WalrathGuest Rowan Walrath joined BostInno in April 2019 as a staff writer covering innovation in Massachusetts, bringing a unique perspective to Boston from her time as a freelance journalist in San Francisco. Walrath has an impressive journalism background, having spent time writing and fact-checking for WIRED, Mother Jones, Eater, HuffPost and more. While known for her ability to cover an expansive range of topics, Walrath has spent dedicated time on the future of transportation beat at WIRED; and during her editorial fellowship at Mother Jones, she reported on health, science, climate and related policy. Her new role at BostInno is a...2019-08-311h 09Boston Speaks Up022: clypd CSO, Angel Investor & Startup Mentor Jason BurkeGuest Jason Burke is the Chief Strategy Officer of clypd, a Davis Square, Somerville-based startup providing an audience-based sales platform for television advertising. Burke possesses a unique skillset as both a product engineer and business designer. Prior to clypd, Burke built optimization products for Boston-based ScanScout which was acquired by Tremor Video in 2010. A graduate of Tufts University, Burke has also made a name for himself locally as an angel investor and startup advisor. In May 2019, Burke joined Underscore.vc's UFirst accelerator program, serving as a mentor to first-time founders. Outside his activity within the entrepreneurial landscape, Burke's recreational sanity...2019-08-251h 03Boston Speaks Up021: Fabric Media CEO Jason DamataFabric Media founder and CEO Jason Damata is difficult to describe in words. He’s a poet and a philosopher. He’s a cunning marketer and chief executive. He’s a business consultant and media analyst. He’s made Advertising Age’s prestigious '40 Under 40' list. He spent time touring the country for CSPAN educating the public about media. Damata’s unique characteristics and impressive accomplishments goes on and on. Above all else, Damata is a family man in the most altruistic sense imaginable. He’s a modern day Godfather to an ever-growing list of collaborators and partners working with Fabric Me...2019-08-191h 24Boston Speaks Up020: CEO Of World T.E.A.M Sports Jon BrideauGuest Jon Brideau is a social impact entrepreneur currently serving as President and CEO of World T.E.A.M Sports, an organization that brings adaptive and able-bodied athletes together through inclusive athletic programs. He joined the organization in 2017 with aims of increasing sponsorship and partner support for some of World T.E.A.M’s events, which includes an Amazing Race-style competition in western Colorado. Previous to World T.E.A.M, Brideau worked for Best Buddies International, an organization dedicated to helping people with intellectual or developmental disabilities form one-on-one friendships and leadership development. He eventually led the po...2019-08-091h 01Boston Speaks Up019: Endicott College’s Entrepreneurship Director Deirdre SartorelliGuest Deirdre Sartorelli is the Director of the Angle Center for Entrepreneurship at Endicott College, where she also serves as Assistant Dean. In her role, Sartorelli’s focus is connecting and facilitating Endicott’s entrepreneurial network of students, alumni, and the greater North Shore community. Previously, she worked as a Managing Principal for Rogue Wave Advisors where she specialized in lean startup consulting. She was also a partner in New Ventures, a small real estate development company. Her background is in technology and she has held a variety of senior sales executive roles with communications companies like Verizon, Avaya and Cisc...2019-08-0556 minBoston Speaks Up018: Fresh Truck Founder Josh TrautweinGuest Josh Trautwein represents the soul of Boston, a city that looks out for its own with unconditional love and unwavering support. Trautwein was working as a health educator at the MGH Charlestown Healthcare Center when he kept hearing from his families that it was difficult to shop for healthy food. At that time, the only grocery store in the neighborhood was set to be shut down for a year-long renovation. It was this experience and some in-depth research that inspired Trautwein to cofound Fresh Truck, rethinking the traditional grocery store model, making it mobile and providing fresh food access...2019-07-301h 19Boston Speaks Up017: Tech-Science Journalist Wade RoushGuest Wade Roush has been covering technology and science for almost 25 years. BostInno readers may recognize Roush from his time serving as staff editor at Xconomy (2007-2014). He’s also written a lot for print magazines, notably Scientific American, MIT Technology Review, and Science. In 2014-15, Roush was acting director of MIT's Knight Science Journalism fellowship program and the producer of the ScienceWriters2015 conference. He recently edited Twelve Tomorrows, a science fiction anthology published by the MIT Press, and recently finished another book for MIT Press, due out spring 2020. Roush’s latest career move piqued our interest as he’s plunge...2019-07-081h 31Boston Speaks Up016: Techstars Boston Managing Director Clement CazalotGuest Clement Cazalot is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, now Managing Director of Techstars Boston, which is the #1 Global Tech Accelerator with $80 Billion in value created. His latest company, docTrackr, recognized as one of the most innovative cybersecurity players, was acquired by Intralinks (NYSE:IL), and deployed to 99% of the Fortune 1000 within a couple of years, securing some of the world’s most sensitive data. A Boston resident, Cazalot is originally from the south of France. He’s now become one of Boston’s most prominent startup mentors. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: https://www.am...2019-06-1844 minBoston Speaks Up015: North Shore InnoVentures CEO Chris IlsleyGuest Chris Ilsley is the chief executive at life science and technology incubator North Shore InnoVentures (NSIV) in Beverly, MA. He’s also a board member of both the North Shore Chamber of Commerce and North Shore Technology Council. Ilsley stands out for his role fostering an innovation community outside of Boston. He serves as NSIV’s representative to a variety of local, regional, state, and industry organizations. Ilsley has spent a career driving innovation and entrepreneurship in areas ranging from biotech and cleantech to big data, and has previously connected the New England region with the United Kingdom as the...2019-06-101h 06Boston Speaks Up014: Artist-Entrepreneur Markus SebastianoGuest Markus Sebastiano is an artist-entrepreneur like no other. He made waves at SXSW 2019 for his “PowHERful” piece for SAP promoting gender equality. And while he’s the epitome of a modern-day thriving creative -- working with major brands like Coca-Cola -- don’t let his success fool you, because he’s fought for his achievements. The now highly coveted mixed media artist has popular installations across the country, and he curates art locally at popular destinations such as the W Hotel in Boston. In fact, if you’ve gone to a hotel or restaurant in Boston recently, there’s a good chance...2019-06-031h 24Boston Speaks Up013: Salem, Mass. Mayor Kim DriscollGuest Kim Driscoll has been the mayor of Salem, Massachusetts since 2006. She’s responsible for several economic initiatives that have transformed Salem into a popular Greater Boston destination. As a result of Driscoll’s leadership, Salem became one of 110 cities and towns in the state of Massachusetts designated as Commonwealth “Green Communities.” Driscoll is also spearheading innonorth, a free membership-based program offering a unique blend of events, services, and perks with the singular goal of building and fostering an active innovation hub north of Boston. Additionally, Driscoll is a big supporter of local artists via Salem’s popular Artists’ Row, a seasonal p...2019-05-1342 minBoston Speaks Up012: Crypto Asset Analyst Galen MooreGuest Galen Moore is an entrepreneur, consultant and independent analyst with experience in media, research and customer development. BostInno readers will recognize Galen from his days serving as Editor-in-Chief of American Inno, and before that writing about VC and startups at Mass High Tech and Boston Business Journal. In 2017, Galen founded Token Report, a financial data infrastructure for an emerging crypto asset class, which was acquired in 2018. Galen has continued his focus on crypto assets and blockchain technology, having recently founded Canary Data, an open project to research and analyze use cases and user metrics in crypto assets, blockchain-based systems...2019-04-211h 13Boston Speaks Up004: JP Servideo Of Future Fortune BuildersToday's guest is J.P. Servideo an internationally recognized teen motivator. A highly successful individual who did not attend college, J.P. is the best-selling author of "The High Schooler’s Guide To Money," which he cowrote with Than Merrill, the star of A&E’s Flip This House. Additionally, J.P. created the Future Fortune Builders Teen Development Camp to teach high school students valuable life skills not featured in standard curriculum. J.P. is known for giving authentic and motivating speeches at assemblies and events. He also spends a lot of time with parents helping them to better unde...2019-01-0954 min