Disruptive CEO Nation

Latest Episodes:

Episode 174 Kathy Lee-Sepsick, Founder, CEO, and President of Femasys - Georgia, USA Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

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 founding Femasys in 2004, Kathy has spearheaded FDA-clearance of multiple products while taking the company from private to public (NASDAQ: FEMY). Under her leadership, Femasys is now a commercial-stage company and continues to advance clinical-stage products.

Be sure to check out Kathy’s links listed below. Enjoy the show!

Connect with Kathy:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-lee-sepsick-6b680b7/
Website: https://femasys.com/

Connect with Allison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/
Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com
Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO

#CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast

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Episode 173 Dr Nayan Kalnad, CEO and co-founder at Avegen, London, England, UK and Pune, India Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

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 been used by over 1 million people globally and include maternity monitoring tools, cardiac rehab apps, and digital HIV care programs.

Be sure to check out Dr. Nayan’s links listed below. Enjoy the show!

Connect with Dr. Nayan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nkalnad/
Website: https://avegenhealth.com/

Connect with Allison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/
Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com
Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO

#CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast

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Episode 172 Steve Kahan, High-Velocity Digital Marketing, Texas, USA Nov 23, 2022

Show notes

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 provides marketing advisory services to startup businesses including several Insight Partners portfolio companies. In his previous position as Thycotic’s CMO and Chief of Staff, he has helped guide the company through incredible growth and a successful exit at $1.4B. It’s been a similar story with the other companies where he’s brought his talents over the past three decades, including KnowledgeWare, PentaSafe, Postini, Quest Software, and The Planet. A previous board member of Target Hunger in Houston, Steve is passionate about making the world a better place by helping those who need it most.

Be sure to check out Steven’s links listed below. Enjoy the show!

Connect with Steven:

Website: www.stevenmarkkahan.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevekahan/
TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/n0FRyqF7e0w

Connect with Allison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/
Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com
Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO

#CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast

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Episode 171 Navid Alipour, Founder and CEO, AI Med Global, San Diego, CA, USA Nov 16, 2022

Show notes

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 the convergence of AI and the life sciences, which is also called Wellness Science. He seeks to identify scientists and domain experts in their respective fields that are solving massive pain problems to take to market, by building companies from inception. While he is a VC and part of the founding of Analytics Ventures, he considers himself an entrepreneur at heart.

Connect with Navid:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navid-alipour-a295777/
Website: https://aimedglobal.com/
Twitter: @aimedglobal

Connect with Allison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/
Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com
Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO

#CEO # medtech #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast

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Episode 170 Ronan Burke, CEO and Co-Founder of Inscribe, San Fran USA and Dublin, Ireland Nov 09, 2022

Show notes

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 industry podcasts and has been featured in Fast Company, VentureBeat, and The Irish Times. He graduated from the University College Dublin with a Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering and later completed the Y Combinator startup accelerator program. An Ireland native, Ronan currently splits his time between Inscribe’s San Francisco and Europe offices.

Connect with Ronan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rnnbrk
Inscribe: https://www.inscribe.ai/

Connect with Allison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/
Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com
Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO

#CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast

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Episode 169 Ross Maguire, CEO and co-founder of Azure Printed Homes, Culver City, CA Nov 02, 2022

Show notes

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 - providing open and honest communication from beginning to end with every benefactor of the process.

In our conversation, Ross explains:

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure: the importance of recycling during the homebuilding process
Factory-made homes bring a level of consistency not found during the traditional homebuilding process
Word-of-mouth advertising is sometimes all you need to grow a business, as long as you have a product that sells itself
Using crowdfunding as a seed money source to maintain independence
Your family is your refuge; finding strength in loved ones

Be sure to check out Ross and Azure Printed Homes listed below. Enjoy the show!

Connect with Ross Maguire

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-maguire-77093b40/

Azure Printed Homes: https://azureprintedhomes.com/

Azure LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/azure-printed-homes/

Connect with Allison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/

Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com

Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO

#CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast

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Episode 168 Jonas Nyvang, CEO & co-founder of STILRIDE, Stockholm, Sweden Oct 26, 2022

Show notes

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

Jonas brings over two decades of fashion, marketing and business development experience to STILRIDE. He is the founder of several successful companies, including software engineering and digital product agency Ape Group. He has also been instrumental in developing the marketing, sales and business development at Fox Interactive Media, Starcom MediaVest and the Björn Borg group. STILRIDE officially launched in 2019 and has quickly made its presence known.

Be sure to check out Jonas’ links listed below. Enjoy the show!

Connect with Jonas Nyvang:

Website: https://www.stilride.com/

Jonas’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonasnyvang/

Stilride’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stilride

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stilride/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stilride/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stilride

Connect with Allison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/

Website: www.DisruptiveCEONation.com

Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO

#CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast

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Episode 167 Kazuki "Kaz" Ohta, Co-Founder and CEO at Treasure Data, Palo Alto, California, USA Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

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 combined into one), and Kaz was part of the team that built the file system.

A long-time open-source advocate, Kaz has made numerous contributions to open source software and was instrumental in developing the open-source applications Fluentd, Embulk, and Messagepack.

Be sure to check out Kaz’s links listed below. Enjoy the show!

Connect with Kaz Ohta:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kazukiohta/

Twitter: @kzk_mover

Website: https://www.treasuredata.com/

Forbes: https://profiles.forbes.com/members/tech/profile/Kazuki-Ohta-Founder-CEO-Treasure-Data/9fcb6c9e-d7af-44f1-b6a4-2b1344bc09df

Connect with Allison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/

Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com

Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO

#CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast

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Episode 166 Chris Colbert, CEO and Founder of DCP Entertainment, New York, NY Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

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 Director of Urban Talk & Comedy. Just before starting DCP, Chris served as the VP of Programming for the podcast company, Cadence13. Chris is an award-winning documentary host, producer, and writer of the podcast series, Say Their Name, and his passion for conversations surrounding mental health have led him to create the fireside series, Entrepreneur Struggle, where Chris talks about the various mental and emotional challenges that particularly impact business owners and executives.

Be sure to check out Christopher’s links listed below. Enjoy the show!

Connect with Chris:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-colbert-dcp/

Website: https://www.dcpofficial.com/

Twitter: @DCPofficial

YouTube: DCP Entertainment

IG: dcpofficial

Connect with Allison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/

Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com

Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO

#CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast

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Episode 165 Dorian Selz, Co-Founder & CEO of Squirro, Zurich, Switzerland Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

Dorian founded Squirro ten years ago, a company that focuses on building insight engines for financial institutions, to aid them in the process of analyzing and working with unstructured data. In the past ten years Squirro has established itself as a successful competitor in the industry and has been recognised by Gartner as a Visionary in their Magic Quadrant report. Apart from winning numerous awards such as; the Big Innovation AI Excellence Award, the SEF4KMU Label by the Swiss Economic Forum and many more, Squirro is also proud to count the likes of Bank of England, European Central Bank and Standard Chartered to its clients.

Dorian himself has been selected among the top 100 Digital Shapers in Switzerland for the past three years and therefore was inducted into the “Hall of Fame'' by Bilanz & Le Temps. Dorian has also been named among the top 30 Digital Leaders in Switzerland. For his entire professional career Dorian has looked for ways to innovate industries and has done this fortuitously with other companies he has founded such as, Local.ch and Memonic.

In our conversation, Dorian Selz explains:

- Dorian’s marketing strategy for Squirro

- Dorian’s best advice for a startup leader or business builder.

- How one can invest in sustainable development funds

Be sure to check out Dorian’s listed below. Enjoy the show!

Connect with Dorian:

Website- https://squirro.com/about/

LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dselz/

Connect with Allison:

Website: allisonksummers.com

#tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork

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