If Not Now Wen Podcast Wen Zhang

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest Steve Schaffer, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor, as he shares his entrepreneurial journey, starting from his early days in the magic business to venturing into Silicon Valley's tech scene. With a focus on continuous improvement, Steve reflects on the lessons learned from his ventures like mysterynet.com and offers.com, emphasizing the importance of metrics-driven decision-making and strategic adaptation in the dynamic world of business. Through anecdotes and insights, Steve's passion for entrepreneurship shines, offering practical wisdom and inspiration for both aspiring and established entrepreneurs.



Our conversation delves into the significance of understanding key metrics in business, such as contribution margin, and how we drive sustainable growth. Steve shares insights from his own experiences, including a pivotal moment where a marketing campaign failure led to a re-evaluation of metrics and experimentation processes within his company.



Steve reminds us of the transformative power of perseverance, adaptability, and strategic thinking in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of entrepreneurship. With a renewed sense of empowerment, you'll be inspired to embark on your own entrepreneurial journey with confidence and purpose.



In this episode we talk about:

🔹 Steve’s entrepreneurial journey and commitment to supporting startups.

🔹 Steve emphasizes the importance of learning from failures and adapting to challenges in entrepreneurship.

🔹 Discussion on the significance of understanding key metrics in business, illustrated with examples from Steve's experiences.

🔹 Emphasis on the need for a culture of metrics-based decision-making and clear objective setting for sustainable growth.

🔹 Steve shares personal insights and experiences, highlighting the importance of metrics-driven strategies, timing in walking away from ventures, and having a clear plan before raising funds.



Steve is such an inspiration, and he has so much wisdom to share. Tune in to the full episode to hear more of his amazing story.

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest Christian Drapeau. Christian is a stem cell scientist, author and creator of the first stem cell supplement. He holds a graduate degree in Neurophysiology and has been involved in medical research for 30+ years, the last 20 specifically dedicated to stem cell research.

 

The author of 5 books, including the best-selling "Cracking the Stem Cell Code,” Christian has published dozens of scientific papers on brain research and a biological process he coined called “Endogenous Stem Cell Mobilization”. Having lectured in 50+ countries on stem cell research, he is known by scientists, physicians and biohackers alike as an expert and pioneer of his field.

 

Christian is a scientific advisor to many companies and is currently the CEO and Founder of Kalyagen where he developed the most potent stem cell mobilizer, STEMREGEN.

 

In this episode we talk about:

🔹 The power of meditation and the pursuit of truth and self-discovery

🔹 The exciting new science of stem cells

🔹 Removing stress and fear from your life

🔹 How you can be your own “Blue Zone” for health and vitality

🔹 Secrets for successful meditation

 

Christian has such an incredible journey to share. He is a true scientist devoted to finding the truth and sharing it with the world. I know you are going to love this episode and get so many amazing take-aways.

In this episode of If Not Now Wen, we are so excited to welcome special guest, Grant Newlin. Grant is a founder and general partner of Newlin Ventures, investing at Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A across both North and South America.

 

Grant began his career as a process improvement / strategy Consultant for Ernst & Young where he aided the nation’s largest financial institutions in the post-financial crisis, Dodd-Frank world. He then worked in M&A sell-side and buy-side transactions for Waller Helms Advisors in Chicago, leading middle-market deals often as the sole junior banker. During the merger of Kraft Foods and Heinz, Grant worked with 3G Capital as the Lead, Senior Finance Manager to spearhead the finance and operations post-merger integration; he reported directly to the CFO and President of the US. And before Newlin Ventures, Grant was Head of Dealflow at New Stack Ventures, leading inbound and outbound dealflow strategies, owning all phases of diligence, and supporting LP engagement.

 

Grant is also a staunch supporter of non-profit Surge for Water where he manages the US endowment. He was Chair of the Minnesota chapter and has served on both the Governing and Associate Boards. Grant also plays Advisor / Mentor to Techstars, Gener8tor, the University of Virgina iLab, and several other leading innovation hubs across the country.

 

In this episode we talk about:

🔹 The key things investors are looking for from founders seeking funding

🔹 Secrets for a performing fund

🔹 Why South America is the next frontier for venture

🔹 Bridging the gap between the Americas

🔹 Advice for the early-stage entrepreneur who may be feeling stuck

 

Grant is such an inspiration, connecting and uniting the Americas and helping all the amazing dreamers live their global dream. He has so much insight to share, and I know you will enjoy this episode as much as I do. 

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest Josh Chodniewicz. Not just an entrepreneur, but a leading expert in regulations in crowdfunding, entrepreneurship and investing in startups, Josh has consistently been at the forefront of industry evolution.

 

From humble beginnings selling chicken eggs in his neighborhood to navigating the complexities of the digital art world, every step has been marked by perseverance, vision, and an innate entrepreneurial drive.

 

Today Josh is the founder of Fundify, democratizing startup investing and empowering both accredited and non-accredited investors, allowing investments starting from just $1. Fundify embodies Josh's unwavering commitment to innovation and his ambition to empower every potential entrepreneur and investor.

 

In this episode we talk about:

🔹 Recognizing the potential of the internet in 1994 and having the vision to see it as the vehicle for endless possibility

🔹 Overcoming hardships and setbacks

🔹 The challenges that come with a merger and the impact it has for founders

🔹 Equity crowdfunding and how Fundify is democratizing the process

🔹 Avoiding fatal decisions as you grow your business

 

Josh is such an inspiration, and he has so much wisdom to share. Tune in to the full episode to hear more of his amazing story.

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest Lucas Mitchell. Lucas is the founder and managing partner of Infinite Ranges, a company that drives digital adoption by connecting the global integrator and resellers with the outcomes and people needed to deliver solutions. They help clients activate, deploy, and optimize their software securely.

Lucas has over 25 years in the tech sector with expertise ranging from cybersecurity, devops, app modernization, and human capacity scalability. He also serves as an advisory council member at VMware Tanzu, where his teams collaborate with senior executives from channel partner organizations to explore and validate Tanzu's vision and direction.

Lucas is passionate about creating outcomes that matter and empowering teams to achieve their goals, vision, and direction.

In this episode we talk about:
🔹 Setting goals and pushing limits
🔹 How solving that one problem can lead to big things
🔹 The many hats that entrepreneurs wear and navigating those transitions as your business scales
🔹 Lucas’s biggest lesson and most expensive mistake
🔹 The morning routine that lays the foundation for success

Living life with such resiliency, Lucas runs towards what scares him the most and faces things head on with discipline and determination. He is such an inspiration, and I know you're going to love this episode and get so many amazing takeaways.

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest Rima Chakrabarti. Rima is a partner at KdT Ventures, the standard for early-stage frontier science investing, where she partners with scientific founders engineering the world at the molecular level.



Rima studied biology and neuroscience at Brown University and earned her MD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. While in medical school, she was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) research fellow in the lab of Dr. Helen Hobbs, where she created bio-tools for measuring lipid activity in the body. She attended the University of Pennsylvania for her clinical residency in neurology, after which she jumped to the Fannin Innovation Studio, a human-health focused venture creation firm in Houston, TX, where she directed the development of a portfolio of preclinical assets, three of which are now in clinical trials.



Since joining KdT in 2020, Rima’s investments to date span the fields of material science, cell immunotherapy, cancer metabolism, and surgical robotics. She currently sits on the boards of Dimension Inx, Cypris Materials, and Modulus Therapeutics.



Rima is truly an inspiring example and model for technical founders who are on a path and looking for a way to change the world, and she is doing amazing things on this planet. I know you are going to love this episode as much as I do and get so many amazing takeaways.



We talk about:

🔹 Discovering a passion for building with biology and exploring the “why” of disease

🔹 Uncovering the steps for the commercialization process in the biotech space

🔹 What you need to know about the investor/founder partnership

🔹 Determining if Venture Capital funding is right for your biotech company

🔹 What to focus on in your pitch to get a seed investor excited to partner with you



Rima has such a love for technology, innovation, and creating an impact which is truly making the world a better place. Tune in to the full episode to hear more of her inspiring story.