Disruptive Ceo Nation

Evolving weather patterns are dramatically impacting our lives and businesses. To address this, we need insightful, forward looking leaders who can guide us safely forward. Well, Dena Prastos and the team at Indigo River are up for this challenge. Indigo River is a woman-owned, trans-transdisciplinary design firm focusing on progressive waterfront architecture built for resiliency and climate adaptation. The waterfront inherently is one of our most vulnerable zones subject to sea level rise, as well as floods and inundation but that should not be a barrier to proper utilization. In this episode we discuss: ·        How typical upland design and construction differs from considerations for structures located on or near the waterfront. ·        Dena's perspectives about being faced with inconvenient truths, climate change, hyper-urbanization, rising economy, and social challenges. ·        The types of projects Indigo River works on ranging from marinas, ports, and maritime infrastructure to waterfront parks an

Richard Newman is a world-renowned communication expert and the founder of Body Talk: the Science of Communication, and he has a new book coming out in 2023 called Lift Your Impact. In this episode, we headed over to London to hear how a trip to Katmandu and Tibetan monks shaped Richard’s future and influenced his work.  Cool things we talked about with Richard: -        How body language and tone of voice can be used at a deeper, richer level than most people generally think about, to really convey and communicate and connect with other people. -        What leaders are looking for today in terms of training for themselves and their teams and how this ranges from public speaking to one-to-one interactions to becoming an effective storyteller and being able to do it in 30 seconds, just like a brilliant TV commercial. -        Engaging the survival mind, the emotional mind, and then the logical mind…and if you do not, people get cognitive fatigue. -        His book Lift Your Impact elevates the focus that we a

Przmek Szleter has built his business on the theme of ‘Changing ideas into digital products’. DAC.digital is a team of engineers & problem solvers who deliver value across areas of #IoT, hardware, embedded systems, #bigdata, #machinelearning, #blockchain, DevOps, and software engineering. Today, DAC.digital is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Europe.  In our conversation we touch on: -      The differentiating factor of being a scientific-based tech company with Ph.D. thought leaders on staff to keep them on the leading edge. -      Some insights into current projects such as gaze estimation and eye tracking software on smartphones and the complexities of building IoT software and interfaces. -      The driving objectives for why he started the company and why he is passionate about showing the world that there are world-class tech professionals in Poland. -      Scaling lessons: paying others before yourself, “hiring smarter” than you, and when to bring in support at the top. -      The fut

Jenny Saft is CEO and co-founder at Apryl: a Berlin-based fertility benefits platform helping companies across Europe offer staff access to inclusive fertility and family-forming services - everything from egg freezing through to adoption and IVF. According to the World Health Organization, 15% of all reproductive aged couples worldwide are affected by infertility and in many countries additional barriers exist for single women, same-sex couples, or even individuals who are deemed to live in the wrong postal code zone. In this episode, we discussed the following: - The motivation for founding Apryl and insights into her startup story. - Why being on a mission to democratize fertility solutions is by lowering existing barriers is so important no matter the gender, sexual orientation, relationship status, or financial means. - How Apryl partners with companies to offer fertility support services as an employee benefit. - The benefit to companies and why supporting parenthood rights is the right thing to do. Je

We caught up with Matt Orlic, founder of Inspired Digital Group as he was working out of his Croatia location and the energy you see in the digital world rings true when you meet him in-person. Matt Orlic is the founder of Inspire Brands Group, which creates and develops brands worldwide by designing and manufacturing products in several industries, including consumer electronics, sports equipment, toys, sports apparel, and more. His brands are distributed globally through mass retailers. He is also engaged in licensing agreements with some of the world's biggest brands, including Angry Birds, Liverpool FC, Manchester United and UMBRO. Inspired Brands was born out of learning the tough lessons of business vulnerability and the need for diversification and growing expertise at social selling. Matt has had a hand in growing over 25 businesses and brands over the last 15 years. His firm has placed over 46 million on ad spend that has yielded 270 million in return. In this episode, we discussed: -The need for m

It is a known fact in today’s marketplace that businesses worldwide struggle to meet employee expectations and create authentic engagement. Equally, employees have experienced higher stress and lack of balanced well-being. Enter, Ally Fekaiki, a man on a mission to create positive change in #futureofwork with the founding of Juno. Branded as Juno: the life company®️, the Juno platform lets staff choose perks that chime with their definition of well-being, using credits allocated by their employer each month. Employees can choose from hundreds of options (from fitness classes to healthy meals, to mental health support) or use their points to reimburse things like cleaning and childcare. Juno's user base grew tenfold last year as employers looked for new ways to support hybrid teams, improve work-life balance and retain staff. In this episode, we discussed: - The motivation behind Juno and why it is so personal to Ally that employee benefits are not treated as a ‘one size fits all’. - The path from startup to

With pandemics and global health concerns in the headlines, it is good to know there are companies like Anima Biotech leveraging advanced technology to accelerate pharma solutions. Under the leadership of Co-founder and CEO Yochi Slonim, the team at Anima Biotech is advancing mRNA Lightning, a novel platform for the discovery of small molecule mRNA drugs and their mechanisms of action. If you do not understand what this means, take a listen as we promise you will be fascinated and learn something new. In this episode, we discussed: - How Yochi made the leap to founding a company that is at the leading edge of the intersection of technology and medical discovery. - How using AI and machine learning is a complete game changer in #medtech. - Why mRNA Lightening is so critical to the swift discovery and treatability process for existing and evolving diseases. - How their differentiated approach combines high-scale phenotypic screening that automates millions of experiments in live mRNA biology with MOAi technolo

Roger Krulak has over 35 years of bringing innovation to the construction and development sides of the real estate business. For twelve years, Roger served as SVP of Mixed Use and Residential Development at the Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC). During that time, he was responsible for entitling and planning over 1,000 residential apartment units integrated into many of FCRC’s retail projects. In our conversation, we discussed: - How Roger fell in love with modular construction and why he started his mission to be one of the global authorities on this form of urban development. - Construction represents 13% of the global economy, but how we build needs to change - How modular construction provides a high-quality product, delivers more predictability in the build time, is safer, uses less water, and reduces on-site time.  - The role Roger plays as a consultant to the world as others seek out his expertise and guidance. - The future vision for FullStack Modular in opening locations, franchises and strategic

Matt Fullbrook is a corporate governance speaker, researcher, advisor, and educator based in Toronto. For over 20 years, he led the Rotman School of Management’s governance research at the University of Toronto as the head of the David & Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation. Matt has worked in over 250 boardrooms in North America and Europe, supporting boards and executives to optimize their approaches to decision-making. Matt has dedicated his professional life to becoming a governance expert. In this session we 'nerd out' over what governance means and touch on: The definition of good governance - or as close as we can get. Why entrepreneurs should think about governance early in the life of their company. Observations made and lessons learned from years of working with boards. Why a founder should consider options when determining if an investor should or should not be invited to be a voting board member. Understanding aspects of power, authority, and accountability and why a fou

If Jennifer Smith is right, the way anyone shares how-to knowledge is about to change forever. A former VC and McKinsey consultant turned accidental CEO, she interviewed more than 1,200 business leaders on a quest to understand everything there is to know about processes, best practices, and productivity. Now with her startup Scribe, she’s empowering people to own their processes by building the world’s first operating system for know-how. In our conversation we touch on: How Scribe has grown from inception in 2019 to be used by hundreds of thousands of organizations in nearly every country. Why Scribe is so powerful. Research estimates that knowledge workers spend about 20% of their time just trying to figure out how to do their jobs. Scribe permits anyone to quickly make training materials and resource documents with little effort. How the strategy of running painfully lean in the early years paid off until they were finally ready to run a $30M funding round - made more challenging as Jennifer was 8 mont

Russel Karim is a serial entrepreneur, programmer, and fashion supply chain, enthusiast. He launched Dhakai in 2021 and is building it to be the number-one platform for sustainable and ethical sourcing. Russel founded many companies while in college and beyond. In 2018 Russel was recognized as 20 under 40 by the Courier newspaper for his leadership, community work, and business. He has received the 2019 Outstanding Immigrant Business Award from the National Immigrant Entrepreneurs Summit. He has received the GOLD and Bold award from the University of Northern Iowa. In our conversation we touch on: Russel's journey as a serial entrepreneur who has gone from building his first tech platforms out of his dorm room to two successful exits and now onto tackling the supply chain in the apparel industry - 1 2 trillion dollar marketplace. Why Dhaka is first connecting the world to manufacturers in Bangladesh - did you know it's the second largest clothing manufacturer in the world with 4.5 million people sewing ever

Kathy, an inventor, is the Founder, CEO, and President of Femasys and has served as a senior executive in the medical technologies industry for nearly three decades and holds over 100 patents globally for Femasys’ products and product candidates. As a first-generation born American, Kathy’s immigrant parents instilled in her a strong work ethic that influenced her professional journey and led her to start her own company, specifically focused on breaking into the historically male-dominated medical device industry. Kathy is a global leader in women's health tech with a brilliant founder story. In our conversation we touch on: Where her passion for women's health comes from. The fact that Kathy is a patent ninja as she holds over 100 patents globally for Femasys’ products and product candidates. Her founder's journey included choosing to take her company from private to public and what that means to her today - On Nasdaq as FEMY. How businesses focused on #femtech are dramatically underfunded. Since found

Dr. Nayan Kalnad has over 20 years of experience in healthcare. He began his career as a practicing medic, before transitioning into the world of pharma to work at the forefront of digital health innovation at Janssen. He is now CEO and co-founder at Avegen: a technology company that helps health organizations build digital health products that empower patients to manage long-term health conditions. We caught up with Dr. Nayan about digital health products and improving patient experience. In our conversation, he explains:  Improving Outcomes for Individuals with Long-term Conditions. As many as 1 in 4 patients are living with long-term conditions and the cost of caring for those patients is increasing. Digital health products (DHPs) are the answer but an ever-changing deployment landscape is holding innovators back. Nayan is motivated by the needs of the patient, can empathize with the challenges facing clinicians, and is energized by how Avegen’s work enables data to impact lives. Avegen's products have

Steve Kahan is a marketing strategist, TEDx speaker, start-up guru, and author of Be a Start-Up Superstar and High-Velocity Digital Marketing. He has used his unique marketing skills to help grow 7 start-ups from the early stages of development to going public or being sold, resulting in a total value of over $5 billion. We caught up with Steve to talk about his book High-Velocity Digital Marketing. In our conversation, Steve explains: Insights into how companies can increase their revenue in brutally competitive markets online by building relevant content and writing with SEO in mind. How buyers today rely nearly 100% on digital marketing and a brand's digital presence for decision-making and so the content must be developed to capture the imagination of the buyer at all stages of the experience.  How his passion about economic development coming from the startup community has led him to work with the American University of Kiev to mentor entrepreneurs intent on rebuilding Ukraine. Steve currently provid

Navid Alipour is the Chief Executive Officer at AI Med Global, a company focused on Artificial Intelligence Technology that improves healthcare and helps save lives. AI Med Global is a roll-up of two companies Navid co-founded, CureMetrix and CureMatch. He is also a founder of an AI-focused VC fund, Analytics Ventures.   In our conversation, Navid explains:   The critical way that CureMetrix harnesses AI to address women’s health releated to mamograms and inidicators for heart health.   The use of intelligent data interpretation as a predictor for the best personalized cancer treatment care.   His founders journey from being in the investment world to leading cutting edge medical companies.   Insights as a business leader learned and what it means to him now as a partner at Analytics Ventures.   Be sure to check out Ronan’s links listed below. Enjoy the show!   Through the founding of multiple Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies, Navid is a long-time entrepreneur in the AI space with an emphasis on t

Ronan Burke is the co-founder and CEO of Inscribe, the leading fintech solution for fraud detection and risk management. He and his twin brother, Conor Burke, co-founded Inscribe in 2017 with the goal of creating a more fair and efficient financial services ecosystem.  In our conversation, Ronan explains: The mission to reduce fraud in the #Fintech space, for example, first-party and third-party application fraud that costs the industry countless dollars lost each year. How smarter tech can lead to more fair and equitable practices for access to loans for more people. The journey from Ireland to the US and why the relationship with his co-founder works. Experiences with Y Combinator and how it changed the trajectory for the organization. His philosophy of giving people autonomy and setting up the right environment for people to really flourish and do their best work. Be sure to check out Ronan’s links listed below. Enjoy the show! A 2020 Forbes “30 Under 30 Europe” honoree, Ronan is a frequent guest on

Ross Maguire, CEO and co-founder of Azure Printed Homes, the first-to-market construction company to utilize 3D printing technology and recycled materials to create modern prefab units 70% faster and 30% less expensive than ever before, while making a positive impact on the environment. Ross holds an MS in Civil Engineering and has 13 years in construction, design and project management. He grew his London-based construction company for 8 years, and co-founded Azure in 2019. Azure initially bootstrapped its growth and raised a pre-seed angel earlier this year. The company generates $400K/mo in revenue and has $11.5MM in pre-orders. Mass production of the units will begin before the end of this year. Ross holds over a decade of front-line construction experience - committed to ensuring client gratification, guiding design development to achieve & surpass client desires whilst always keeping two eyes on live & anticipated costs, two hands on swift & precise delivery whilst maintaining two feet on the ground - p

STILRIDE is a Sweden-based startup pioneering industrial origami – a cutting edge sheet metal shaping procedure using origami folding techniques, laser cutting and industrial robotics. Bringing innovation and disruption to the personal transport space, their products are built from sheet metal that has been folded to perfection by artisanal robots to deliver sustainably conscious electro-mobility machines that are designed for the future. We caught up with, CEO Jonas Nyvang in the semi-secrete lair to hear about their startup story. In this interview he explains: - How two friends decided to build a multi-national corporation building bikes with green metal - The importance of doing market research before charging forward with a product - Designing a manufacturing company that can be set up anywhere in the world - Using origami as a construction method, first as small paper, then as larger sheet metal - Creating local production hubs to satisfy local demand, reducing the need for transportation and shipping  

Kazuki “Kaz” Ohta is the CEO at Treasure Data, a leading customer data platform and InfoWorld's 2022 Technology of the Year Award winner. Previously, he was the founding Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the company. Prior to that, in 2009, Kaz co-founded the world’s largest Hadoop User Group. In our conversation, Kaz explains: - The drive that took him from Japan to arrive as an unknown underdog in Silicon Valley. - Success principles for building a solid business. - The importance of a Customer Data Platform (CDP) when 70% of today's customer journey takes place online. - How in a demanding market, businesses must be more efficient and they can do that if they know their data. - The value of being a multi-company founder and how that has shaped his outlook on his business life.   Kaz moved to America without even knowing how to speak English, where he overcame this obstacle and majored in computer science. During that time, his professor built the world’s faster supercomputer (essentially 500K computers com

Christopher Colbert is the CEO and Founder of DCP Entertainment, a media platform for underrepresented voices, including people of color, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and other overlooked communities. DCP provides branded content services and hosts a network for podcast creators. Speaking to us from his studio in Times Square, Chris explains: - Having the confidence to start his own business after years of successfully building brands for others. - The importance of providing a platform and vehicles for underrepresented voices to have a space to build authority and grow. - The future of content creation and how brands need to rise above self-interest and noise to achieve meaningful engagement. - Tips for success in the age of on-demand ecosystems. - Common challenges facing entrepreneurs from decision fatigue to the stress of caring for people. Chris began his career at SiriusXM helping create Jamie Foxx’s comedy & music channel, The Foxxhole, before going on to create two new comedy channels and becoming the