Technori Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Improving shift work everywhere with Deputy CEO Ashik Ahmed Aug 31, 2022

Show notes

Ashik Ahmed, co-founder and CEO of Deputy, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Deputy is a company focused around simplifying work life for the shift worker. As an employee management platform, Deputy specializes in timesheets, scheduling, tasks and workplace communication. Ashik shares the founding story starting with his own childhood growing up around shift workers in the family to working on the initial concept with his cofounder who ran an aviation ground handling business at the time. Seeing how many people airlines didn't employ themselves, but were in fact shift workers, sparked the idea of creating a platform that better serves the tens of millions of gig workers across the globe. Scott and Ashik dissect the concept of the gig economy, its pros and cons, and how to empower shift workers besides lip service.

S.I. Container Builds: Building ADUs with affordability and conservation in mind Aug 03, 2022

Show notes

Rory Rubin, co-founder and CEO of S.I. Container Builds, joins Scott Kitun on the show. S.I. Container Builds offer customizable ADUs (accessory dwelling units) using shipping containers that are affordable, simple and environmentally conscious. Rory shares with Scott the origin story for starting S.I. Container Builds. According to Rory, there are more than 23 million shipping containers that can be recycled as potential ADUs that are low-cost to build and be built quickly. Rory talks mission to address the housing crisis, why this opportunity left her switching careers and entering the construction space she grew up around with her family. They share stories about the various use-cases for ADUs, getting seed investment from Hyde Park Angels (and from previous guest Pete Wilkins) and starting a company from scratch.

Providing next-gen online safety through your router with Gryphon CEO John Wu Jul 28, 2022

Show notes

John Wu, CEO of Gryphon, joins the pod with Scott Kitun. Gryphon is a wireless router built around online safety, privacy and protecting the central point of your digital life at home. John first starting thinking about the idea for the router after watching his young daughter access the internet and come across NSFW (or children) content. Scott and John catch up about the essential role of data in our lives, why we should care where it goes and treating children's digital lives with equivalent protections and safeguards we use in the physical world. John also shares new features coming to Gryphon including password manager functionalities, VPN and other privacy protections using blockchain technology that transfer control away from third parties and into the hands of the user.

Gryphon is currently raising a CF round on Republic.

Digital estate plans and catching up with Trust & Will CEO Cody Barbo Jul 20, 2022

Show notes

Cody Barbo, founder and CEO of Trust & Will, comes back on the show with Scott Kitun. Cody catches up with Scott after three years of growing the Trust & Will business from a seed round CF raise on Republic to a $15 million Series B and recent venture round led by UBS. They talk about the journey Trust & Will has been on, how Cody first got the idea after trying to work through finances with his wife and identifying a very clear need for simple, easy to set up estate plans and wills. Scott and Cody lament on the state of fundraising and its challenges. They dig into the different type of rounds Trust & Will has endured, the highs and lows of their equity crowdfunding campaign, why venture is still best suited for later rounds and touching on the evolving mindset of the retail investor.

Ivee: Improving the car passenger experience Jun 29, 2022

Show notes

Alex Giannikoulis, founder of Ivee, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Ivee is a "mobility as a service (MaaS)" platform that adds a suite of apps and experiences that elevate your time as a passenger in commute. The Ivee dashboard connects your phone to a 10" tablet in the backseat to access services like Netflix, Spotify, Calm as well as physical experiences like surround sound and in-chair massage functionality. Alex and Scott go into the state of the auto industry, improving the in-car experience and why Tesla - despite its flaws - raised the bar by changing customer expectations. Ivee is currently raising on a CF round on Republic.

Bringing back at-home care with Tomorrow Health Jun 22, 2022

Show notes

Vijay Kedar, co-founder and CEO of Tomorrow Health, joins Scott Kitun on the show. Tomorrow Health is a health tech company that aims to restore at-home care as the primary & preferred destination for patients of all ages. Vijay dives into how Tomorrow Health streamlines healthcare processes and at-home service to enable patients to go home and spend less time at the hospital. He shares his founding story of taking time off from his job at Oscar Health to help his mom through her cancer treatments and noticing all the deficiencies from insurance to point of care. Scott and Vijay also talk about the problems of health care, how patients fall through the cracks, and creating businesses that serve providers, patients and companies equally well.

Addition Wealth CEO Ana Mahony creating tangible financial wellness Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

Ana Mahony, founder and CEO of Addition Wealth, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Addition Wealth is a fintech platform that offers a suite of tools, resources and financial advisors to help employees make better financial decisions. Ana shares how she decided to jump into entrepreneurship after struggling to help her mom figure out her finances and the complications she faced. Scott and Ana go back and forth over the lack of financial literacy employees have with their own contracts, how to understand their equity compensation and why that understanding doesn't exist across the wealth gap. They also talk about the inherent risks of joining a startup and why early employees carry the of that risk burden. They touch on Addition's B2B2C business model, how to offer personalized financial advice at scale and why learning about your money early makes many decisions down the road that much easier.

Navigating the early fundraising stages with Foundersuite CEO Nathan Beckord May 19, 2022

Show notes

Nathan Beckord, founder and CEO of Foundersuite, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Foundersuite offers a suite of software tools, templates and education to help founders and CEOs execute more efficiently. Nathan comes back on the pod to talk about the Foundersuite journey, lessons he's learned from working with thousands of founders and learning strategies to successfully get early stage projects off the ground. Scott and Nathan share investor stories, teaching founders the volume game when it comes to getting investments and why it's critical for founders up to Series A to lead the charge on fundraising rounds.

Building affordable tiny homes with Boxabl founder Galiano Tiramani May 09, 2022

Show notes

Galiano Tiramani, CEO and founder of Boxabl, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Boxabl makes ADUs (accessory dwelling units) that can ship anywhere as a giant box that unfolds onto your plot of land. Galiano dives into his entrepreneurial journey with startups in the trendy spaces such as Bitcoin and cannabis, as well as his years long pursuit of getting Boxabl up and running. Scott and Galiano talk about the the logistics behind mass production and Galiano's plan to get several manufacturing warehouses - essentially auto plants but houses - to meet demand and ship Boxabls around the country. Besides being famous for Elon Musk's rumor of living in a Boxabl, they are also taking investments on Start Engine with over $12 million raised to date.

Disclaimer: Anyone can buy shares in Boxabl for $0.80 at invest.boxabl.com and read the offering circular contract at boxabl.com/circular

Hadley Harris and the new era of VC Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

Hadley Harris, cofounder of Eniac Ventures, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Hadley humors Scott on one of his favorite topics - dealing with venture capitalists. Scott and Hadley dig into the rise of VC competition and why VCs can't afford to be as dismissive or authoritative in the new environment with a growing list of funding options for founders. They also talk about the power of Twitter in the start up world, VC trends, ideal companies and finding the right fit between founders and the problem they set out to solve.

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