Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture for America Podcast

Jeremy sends off the podcast after its final episode. You can follow Jeremy @JeremyShinewald and keep up with Venture For America at http://ventureforamerica.org 

Since we last talked with Nadia, Dia&Co has quadrupled in size, raised $25 million, and moved into a new massive warehouse! Dia&Co is as dedicated as ever to connecting with an underserved market and challenging fashion designers to create for the plus size consumer. Check out our follow up interview with Nadia Boujarwah. and hear more about the #movefashionfoward campaign!

Adam Grossman started a business right out of his Stern MBA, with no intention to work for anyone from the start. After several iterations of his business he created B6A, a platform that analyzes the value of ads bringing advertisers new insight into the value of their placements. Listen to our interview with Adam to learn more about B6A and his book, The Sports Strategist, which was given to all attendees of the famed MIT-Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

Kate Ryder grew up surrounded by entrepreneurs - her father and grandparents on both sides of the family started their own businesses and set the stage for Kate's future career. When she graduated from college, Kate dreamed of becoming a writer. She made her way through the journalism network, landing jobs at the New Yorker, writing for Hank Paulson, and eventually at the Economist, where she spent 2.5 years traveling and reporting for the prestigious magazine. With the goal of eventually launching her own venture, Kate moved on to become an early stage investor at Index Ventures. Recognizing that the women's healthcare market is incredibly underserved, Kate started Maven, a digital clinic for women that connects patients with healthcare practitioners anywhere, anytime. Kate has been building Maven since April 2015 and has expanded to same day prescription services and Maven Maternity, which helps and supports women from pregnancy through childbirth, postpartum, and returning to the workplace. We're proud to celebrate all that Kate and Maven are doing for women on International Women's Day. Show your support by listening to this incredible story and sharing the interview with all of the women (and men) you admire and respect!

Greg Behrman kicked off his career with a stint at Goldman Sachs before penning the book, The Invisible People, about the global AIDS pandemic. His early success as an author led him to an opportunity to work at the State Department with General David Petraeus in Iraq, advising on strategy to advance American relations with the Muslim world. When Greg returned from Iraq he started NationSwell, a digital media company focused on American innovation and renewal — identifying and profiling social innovators who are developing impactful ways to solve America’s most critical issues. Listen to this week's episode to learn more about how Greg and the NationSwell team (of only 20!) are working hard to do justice to stories that will inform and inspire action.

When Dan Bloom found himself on the wait list for the fellowship in VFA's early days, he set his calendar to remind him to email the COO every week to express his passion for the program. Dan's persistence paid off when he was invited to join the first class of 2012 and got a job at a startup in Cincinnati. In the two years+ that he spent in the city, Dan saw Cincinnati transform and thrive, solidifying his love for his second home. One day Dan received a call from a fellow Fellow, Brian Bosche, who approached him with a business idea that would bring them into the video space. Their original model, which involved renting GoPro cameras to customers and creating their videos, morphed into Slope, a collaboration, workflow, and review and approval tool for producing business content. Dan and Brian were accepted into the Microsoft Ventures accelerator and have been on quite the journey as new founders. Listen to this week's episode to hear more about a VFA Fellow founded business and how they are going from the little league to the big leagues of software.

You might recognize Megan from the interview she did last year about her startup studio, Human Ventures. The very model Megan created for the studio worked for her own idea and today she is working with Sam Gimbel on Clark, an AI assistant for tutors. Megan and Sam were introduced by a mutual friend who realized they were both working on similar projects in the education space. Sam had a tech background but no market for his idea. Megan had the market but was working on her idea through very manual work. Together they made the perfect team. Today they are building a tool for tutors to help them do their jobs sustainably without the headache of administrative work. Whether it's handling payment, scheduling, or communication with clients, Megan and Sam have spent the last year serving as personal assistants to educators in order to understand the market and grow their product. Check out this week's episode to learn more about how Clark is poised to transform the private tutoring space and help educators celebrate their side hustles.

A few months ago we heard from Charlie Kroll about his career and his new venture. This week he joins us again with his co-founder, Sallie Krawcheck, to talk about Ellevest, a company that is redefining investing for women. When Sallie first conceived of the idea for Ellevest she had no desire to bring on a co-founder. When a few people in her network encouraged Sallie to meet with Charlie, she was doubtful that the connection would be fruitful. What she found in Charlie was someone who understood the fintech and startup space and, in her own words, is a stress absorber. Operating with the understanding that the lack of appropriate product offerings are the reason women invest less than men, Sallie and Charlie have set out to have an impact on women and their families by trying to level the financial playing field. Download this week's episode to learn more about this dynamic duo and why the gender investing gap costs everyone, not just women.

Andrew Lowenthal began his career in government with the New York Department of Education, where he learned the vital importance of teaching young people about morality and ethics as early in their education as possible. His passion for social change brought him to Out in Tech, the non-profit that unites the LGBTQ and tech communities. As Executive Director, Andrew’s overseen the election of Out in Tech’s first female president, innovative initiatives to give voices to voiceless LGBTQ people in developing countries, and much more. Tune into this week’s episode to hear how Andrew and Out in Tech are helping LGBTQ students visualize themselves as the tech leaders of tomorrow.

Toby graduated from Georgetown University with plans to work in government and, one day, become Secretary of State. After a change of heart, and as a very audacious 22 year old, Toby landed himself an internship at Gilt by knocking on doors and requesting coffee meetings with anyone who would give him their time. At the end of his internship, with no permanent spot of the Gilt team available, Toby took a job in the warehouse cataloguing every item sold by Gilt Man. Eventually he made a jump over to the Gilt City team and made his way up the ladder to become the Manager of Strategy & Business Development. After leaving Gilt, Toby spent some time at other startups before joining the Pager, an on-demand service that connects patients with healthcare in their home, office or hotel. Today Pager is growing rapidly and attempting to transform our healthcare system for the better. Listen to this week's interview to hear all about Toby's career and how Pager is investing in AI to streamline the way we consume healthcare.