Seeding the Magic Beanstalk

Kai-hsin Wang
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  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • EVERY TWO MONTHS

A podcast where we discuss all things early stage startups and provide a platform for early stage and aspiring entrepreneurs to seed, nurture, and promote the next magic beanstalk. Hosted by Kai-hsin Wang, a product manager at Google who is inspired by the stories of new ideas and hopes to share these stories and advice to all.

Episodes

  1. 25/10/2023

    Ep12-Adam Steinle-Hona-Supercharging healthcare providers with AI

    Why should healthcare providers waste hours upon hours each week sifting through patient records rather than providing care to their patients? They shouldn't, and that's where Hona comes in. Hona is a HIPAA compliant AI that searches and converts 1000s of health records into one simple, data-driven, and relevant patient overview. I speak with Adam Steinle, co-founder of Hona, on how Hona works, how they are differentiated, and how they've designed with user privacy in mind. We also dive into Hona's founding story of how 3 pre-med biomedical engineers from Google, Facebook, and the startup world ended up banding together to merge their respective expertise in AI with their original passion for healthcare.  Adam delves into his personal journey and what went through his mind at each stage of life before finally taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. He also provides his experiences on the similarities between product management and entrepreneurship and tips for fundraising.  Check out hona.ai for more details!

    47 min

  2. 14/09/2023

    Ep11- Paul-Miki Akpablie- Akos - Modernizing B2B transactions for Consumer Brands

    In the age of AI, several consumer brands are still forced to use manual excel and PDFs to manage orders with retailers - sounds like an area ripe for disruption! Paul-Miki Akpablie, CEO of Akos is doing jus that by building a modern OS to help CPG brands effortlessly and digitally manage orders, payments, and gain access to financing.  Paul-Miki is a two-time founder and Stanford University graduate with an MBA/MS in Energy & Resources. Inspired by his entrepreneurial mother and grandmother, Paul-Miki embarked on his own entrepreneurial journey where at the age of 20 he founded Kadi Energy to deliver energy storage solutions in Ghana. Tune in to hear how Paul-Miki continued his journey across to America and what his vision is for Akos as a B2B SaaS solution(www.tryakos.com)

    46 min

  3. 23/08/2023

    Ep10-Irina Leca- Nooka Space- Work from wherever it works

    Irina Leca is a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded VectorWatch, a smartwatch startup acquired by Fitbit and later Google. Today, Irina is on a mission as the CEO & Co-founder of Nooka Space to redefine the concept of the workspace and help build smart, accessible, and environmentally friendly offices of the future.  Listen to Irina talk about why she started Nooka Space, an idea born of the pandemic, where she realized what people hated about the office was not the office space itself, but rather the commute. Nooka Space is the first global network of proximity office spaces that brings the office closer to workers – improving work-life balance and reducing both commute time and CO2 emissions.  In the episode Irina also dives into how her parents inspired her onto her entrepreneurship path and how she carefully considered different factors when the exit opportunity came for VectorWatch.

    45 min

  4. 09/08/2023

    Ep09-Silvia de Denaro Vieira - Coexist - Simplify living together

    Why is home management so archaic? Why do we resort to grocery lists on iphones or pen & paper? This is where Coexist comes in, an all-in-one platform that simplifies home management for busy households.  Silvia de Denaro Vieira the CEO and Co-founder shares how her company is on a mission to eliminate the mental load by making housework more visible, collaborative, and automated. Silvia also shares her tips and tricks of getting the working relationship right between co-founders. As co-founders of a home management and organization platform, Silvia and her co-founders did the homework and organization to ensure they were 100% aligned, knew their roles and responsibilities, and set forth ways to resolve conflict well before jumping in! Try Coexist today on Android or iOS anywhere in the world - learn more at getcoexist.com.

    41 min

  5. 26/07/2023

    Ep08 Anna Fuller- Halo- Exclusive deals for new moms!

    Being a new mom is hard! Especially first time moms who are shopping in the baby category for the first time, worried about the safety of each product, and feeling the financial pinch of parenthood. Well, this is exactly what Anna Fuller, a new mom herself, is solving for with Halo . Each week on Halo users can access exclusive deals on maternity and baby products reviewed and trusted by a community of moms, sign-up now at shoponhalo.com. Anna is a serial entrepreneur who's had a wealth of experience in e-commerce. Prior to founding her first startup, Sightseek, Anna led a product team at Google shopping and was Director of product for a top mobile commerce platform that powered $1B+ in annual transactions.  Listen in to Anna's advice on founding a company, running the funding process, and the raw sacrifices you have to consider when becoming an entrepreneur.

    44 min

  6. 12/07/2023

    Ep07 Misa Ilkhechi - Formic - democratizing robotics and automation

    You've heard of SaaS, but what's RaaS? Misa Ilkhechi, Co-founder of Formic walks us through the the company's pioneering Robots-as-a-Service business model and how it democratizes CapEx intensive industrial automation projects for small & medium manufacturers in the U.S.  The pandemic was a catalyst for many things in our world today, including sparking the journey of Formic's two co-founders to tackle a deeply felt pain point – supply chain shortages and lack of local manufacturing capabilities. Having spoken to several small manufacturers during his time at Universal Robots, Misa understood the pain point all too well and was determined to address it.  Misa also gives us his sage advice for aspiring entrepreneurs to identify a problem you're deeply passionate, test it with an audience, and how to 'do the math' to ensure it's a worthy problem to tackle. Formic has deployed over 500 systems and successfully raised Series A in 2022. Check out formic.co

    43 min

  7. 29/06/2023

    Ep06 Chandrika Maheshwari - Pull - Get your future salary today!

    Did you know 50% of 6-figure earners live paycheck-to-paycheck? Listen in to Chandrika Maheshwari, CEO & Founder of Pull, describe how her mission-driven company is helping HENRYs (High Earners Not Rich Yet) build generational wealth.  This episode we dive into Pull's current closed beta product allowing you to pull-forward your future earnings & put money to use today, and the future vision of being a financial benefits platform for employees.  Chandrika details her diverse professional journey from management consulting, to product marketing, to product management, and how each has prepared her for today. She gives practical advice on securing funding and selling your story to investors. We also hear Chandrika's take on the benefits of being a solo founder and the personal determination required in all aspects of life to purse building a lasting company  Visit www.pullnow.com and check it out!

    39 min

  8. 11/06/2023

    Ep05 Kari Klein - Rumission - Precision measurement of climate impact

    Kari Klein, CTO and Co-founder of Rumission walks us through her journey with this mission-driven climate-tech company. Methane emissions from Cattle account for ~6% of global GHG emissions, and while technologies have developed to reduce these emissions, the lack of accurate and certifiable methodologies to measure impact has limited their adoption. This is where Rumission comes in! Kari has applied her background in science, math, and machine learning to enable adopters of argicultural methane reducing technologies to accurately quantify and certify their impact. Kari has a background in science and math, including a post-graduate degree in Atmospheric Sciences from CU - Boulder where she modeled atmospheric processes. She then went into industry as a software engineer, and most recently worked at Google and X doing Computer Vision (machine learning on imagery) and air quality research on air pollution measurements taken from Street View cars. Kari left X in September, 2022 and started Rumission in early October to utilize her science, machine learning, and software engineering background and apply her skills to greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.

    39 min

  9. 24/05/2023

    Ep04 Annette Azan - Nuudii Systems - Boob freedom without going braless

    This episode I speak with Annette Azan of Nuudii Systems, boobwear thats works for your comfort rather than try to reshape your natural form. Annette details Nuudii's journey sparking from an idea during her wedding, launching Nuudii on kickstarter, initial challenges with manufacturing and raising funds, and ultimately seeing the sudden hockey stick run up in sales. Annette gives us her sage advice to aspiring entrepreneurs -- there's no one way! There's are so many different routes to success and VC funding is not the only way.

    36 min

  10. 10/05/2023

    Ep03 Youmie Jean-Francois - Flex-N-Fly

    This episode I interview Youmie Jean-Francois of Flex-N-Fly. Flex-N-Fly is a travel wellness company that provides stretching, yoga and relaxation classes to travelers before they board their flights.  Youmie details to us how she had to quickly pivot to Flex Bags and Yoga Mats during the pandemic and ultimately turned them into award winning products. Youmie also shares how her personal story is ultimately one of an immigrant, filled with hardwork, self-discovery, and endless strive for American dream.

    44 min

  11. 27/04/2023

    Ep02 Josh Goldstein-TempoPay-Helping you manage healthcare costs

    In this episode I speak with Josh Goldstein, co-founder and Chief of Staff at TempoPay. TempoPay is a zero interest, fee free, flexible payment solution to help people get the care they need when they need it. TempoPay partners with employers, allowing employees access financing that is paid back over time.  In this episode Josh details the journey of becoming a co-founder at TempoPay, a company born out of the Redesign corporate venture arm. He provides insight into how this pathway could be a consideration for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to limit their downside risks of starting a business while still gaining the entrepreneurship experience.

    38 min

  12. 10/04/2023

    Ep01 Shante Frazier-WellCapped-wig rental made simple

    Today I interview Shante Frazier, the founder and CEO of WellCapped, a wig rental subscription startup (think Rent the Runway for Wigs). In this episode we dive into the story of WellCapped and how it addresses a problem Shante often experienced in her life as an African American woman using wigs. Turns out this is a widespread problem in a fragmented and antiquated market – ripe for disruption!  Shante then shares with us her personal journey with WellCapped. She shares the raw challenges of being a black woman founder who was literally told to not seem like "two black women trying to sell weave", and how she overcomes these challenges with both personal grit and strategic brilliance.  [0:30] Shante introduces us to Wellcapped and how the company and business model solves for major frustrations in terms of both time and cost for women who wear wigs and extensions.  [9:10] Shante takes us through the Wellcapped journey, from inception at a venture studio to bringing on her cofounder, and preparing for the next funding round. [20:00] Shante discussed Wellcapped's vision on segment expansion outside the African American race and building Machine Learning models and AR to better customize and serve their customers [25:00] Shante details her personal struggle to leave corporate and jump all-in on startup life, and all the peaks and valleys that come with it. [36:00] Shante shares the real and raw challenges of being a minority founder where she was once literally told to not seem like "two black women trying to sell weave". She details how her natural grit of never taking no for an answer propels her forward and she gives tactical advice on how to navigate the entrepreneurship path as a black woman.

    44 min
  • 12 Episodes

About

A podcast where we discuss all things early stage startups and provide a platform for early stage and aspiring entrepreneurs to seed, nurture, and promote the next magic beanstalk. Hosted by Kai-hsin Wang, a product manager at Google who is inspired by the stories of new ideas and hopes to share these stories and advice to all.

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