CV Podcast

Blake Gibson
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to the Cowles Ventures Podcast, the best podcast to learn about entrepreneurship and starting your own business!

  1. 4d ago

    Why 9 Out of 10 New Drugs Fail, and the Spokane Startup Fixing It

    Why do 93% of drug candidates fail once they reach clinical trials? Chandima Bandaranayaka, CEO of Precision Quantomics, explains the hidden data gap behind failed drugs, the $2 billion cost of bringing one to market, and how proteomics and AI could help close it. On Episode 43 of the Cowles Ventures Podcast, Blake Gibson sits down with Chandima to break down how his Spokane biotech company, spun out of WSU research, is building what he calls a Google Maps for drug development: a protein-level data layer that helps pharma companies predict how a drug will behave in humans before it ever reaches a clinical trial. In this episode: - Why 93% of drug candidates fail, and the translation gap between animal studies and humans - The 10-to-12-year, $2 billion road to bringing one drug to market - Why 92% of drugs used in children were never tested on children - How a database of 3.8 million protein data points helps predict drug behavior across different populations - How better data is reducing, not eliminating, animal testing - How AI changed their business model from data provider to end-to-end platform - Why "everything is a sale" for technical founders, and how to pitch deep tech to investors - Why Spokane could be the next Seattle for biotech If you work in biotech, pharma, drug development, healthcare innovation, or you're building a science company outside the big hubs, this one is packed with practical insights. Learn more about Precision Quantomics: https://precisionquantomics.com/ Subscribe for more conversations with founders, investors and operators building companies in Spokane and the Inland Northwest. #Biotech #DrugDevelopment #Pharma #AI #Spokane

  2. Sep 28

    AI Coding Is Getting Expensive. This Spokane Startup Is Fixing It | Code Lexica

    Why does your AI coding bill jump 5X overnight? Code Lexica co-founders Carter Bastian and Tristan Rees explain the hidden economics of AI coding tools like Claude Code, Codex and Cursor, and how their Spokane startup pivoted from codebase intelligence to cutting AI coding costs.On Episode 43 of the Cowles Ventures Podcast, Blake Gibson sits down with Carter and Tristan to unpack how a platform built to help engineers understand massive codebases turned into a tool that tracks and reduces runaway AI token spend for engineering teams.In this episode: How Carter started building Code Lexica right after GPT-3.5 launched, and met Tristan at a Spokane AI meetupWhy their first product, a tool for understanding any codebase, wasn't a painful enough problem to sellThe 3 things they got wrong about the AI coding market: how fast the tools improved, how fast adoption happened, and how much trust teams now give AI agentsWhy an Anthropic bill can jump 5X once a team crosses roughly 30 engineers and moves to enterprise pricingHow feeding AI coding agents the right code context cuts both errors and token costsWhy stealth mode is a mistake and shipping an imperfect product wins in the AI ageJevons paradox and whether AI will shrink engineering teams or create more demand for codeTheir long-term vision: a control plane for how companies govern AI coding tools across the whole orgIf you're an engineering leader, founder, or developer trying to understand AI coding costs, AI adoption, or building a SaaS startup outside Silicon Valley, this one is packed with practical takeaways.CHAPTERS0:00 Cold open: why your AI bill can 5X overnight0:43 Meet Carter Bastian and Tristan Rees of Code Lexica2:06 Building Code Lexica after GPT-3.53:50 Finding a co-founder at a Spokane AI event5:32 Big company vs startup: career advice for engineers6:45 What is codebase understanding?9:21 Why the first product wasn't a hair-on-fire problem11:22 3 things they got wrong about the AI coding market13:09 AI adoption trends and the governance problem14:06 The pivot to tracking and cutting AI coding spend14:55 The two mandates every engineering leader gets16:07 How code context cuts AI errors and token costs18:43 Built for developers: zero-friction setup19:35 Why your Anthropic bill jumps 5X at 30 engineers20:28 Becoming the control plane for AI coding21:54 Who Code Lexica sells to, from small teams to enterprise24:53 Model price hikes and the end of AI subsidies26:08 What drives AI prices up: regulation, energy and compute27:44 Will AI shrink engineering teams?30:00 Jevons paradox and the future demand for code31:57 Non-technical founders building real software33:11 Why stealth mode is a bad idea for startups35:24 Ship an imperfect product, fast37:58 Building an AI-first team40:16 Finding message-market fit42:54 "You'll get tired of your messaging first"44:48 Where Code Lexica is headed next48:21 Advice for founders: use 10X more AI49:15 Hot take: why founders need side projects50:17 Wrap-upLearn more about Code Lexica: https://app.codelexica.com/Watch Carter's first appearance on Episode 1:    • From Zero to Oversubscribed | How Code Lex...  Subscribe for more conversations with founders, investors and operators building companies in Spokane and the Inland Northwest.#AI #AICoding #Startups #SoftwareEngineering #Spokane

  3. Sep 17

    Why Data Centers and Labs Have the Same Energy Problem, and How to Fix Both | James Connelly

    In this episode of the Cowles Ventures Podcast, Blake sits down with James Connelly, CEO of My Green Lab, to break down why laboratories are some of the most energy intensive spaces in the world, more than data centers by some measures, and how his company built a certification standard now used by 43 of the top 50 biotech and pharma companies. We talk about: - Why a single fume hood can use as much energy as three American homes, and an ultra-low temperature freezer as much as two - The study finding that 2.2% of global plastic waste comes from academic research alone - Why My Green Lab split into a nonprofit and a for-profit subsidiary in 2023, and how that structure accelerated its mission instead of compromising it - How AstraZeneca's labs saw a 5X return on investment and a real jump in employee engagement scores after certifying - Why the certification intentionally avoided being the easiest or cheapest option, and chose rigor instead - Operating in 5,500 labs across 62 countries, and where the next wave of growth is coming from - Where AI genuinely helps scale sustainability audits, and the harder conversation about data center efficiency itself James shares tactical insight into building a nonprofit-for-profit hybrid, scaling a certification standard globally, and making corporate sustainability goals tangible for the people actually doing the work. If you're interested in sustainability, biotech, healthcare, entrepreneurship, or building a company with global reach out of Spokane, this conversation is packed with practical insights. Subscribe for more conversations with founders, investors, and operators building the next generation of companies. #sustainability #biotech #healthcare #climate #entrepreneurship #Spokane #podcast #startups

  4. Sep 9

    Nurse Turnover Costs $60,000 a Head. This Spokane Company Built the Fix

    In this episode of the Cowles Ventures Podcast, Blake sits down with David Heath, founder of Lighthouse, to break down why hospitals still run nurse staffing off a shared Excel spreadsheet with 12 tabs, why turnover costs a hospital about $60,000 per nurse, and how AI is finally starting to fix a system that's stayed broken because too many vested interests benefit from it staying that way. We talk about: • Why the US spends double per capita on healthcare compared to any other nation and still gets worse outcomes • How hospitals hire travel nurses 13 weeks in advance with almost no way to predict actual demand • The staffing grid problem, why an accounting tool built for spreadsheets became the backbone of nurse scheduling nationwide • Why Lighthouse 1.0, "Uber for nurses," failed and what building 2.0 with an industry insider taught them • How predictive modeling using weather, air quality, and news events forecasts ED volume up to 12 months out • Why meal and break compliance violations have cost Washington hospitals millions, and how software closes that gap • Why no country's healthcare model gets copied, and how politics keeps the US system from being fixed David shares tactical insight into healthcare operations, workforce technology, AI-driven forecasting, and building a company that solves a problem hospitals didn't know how to explain, let alone fix. If you're interested in healthcare technology, AI, workforce management, hospital operations, or building a company in Spokane, this conversation is packed with practical insights. Subscribe for more conversations with founders, investors, and operators building the next generation of companies.

  5. Aug 27

    A Signature Page Swap Cost Him His Company. Then He Got Stage Four Cancer | Jacob Godak

    In this episode of the Cowles Ventures Podcast, Blake sits down with Jacob Godak, founder of Apisem, to break down how a prosthetics and orthotics clinician built a device out of two cut-up Nordic Tracks and a mountain bike to get a double amputee patient walking again, and how a business partner used a swapped signature page to remove him from the company he invented. We talk about: How Primus Excursio was built to help a patient who lost both legs to diabetes get moving againWhy the device hits 98% voluntary muscle activation, more than a rowing machine, with zero impactGetting frozen out of his own company after a business partner altered the operating agreement following their first trade showThe backyard study with 20 seniors that proved the concept worked beyond just amputees and elite athletesMoving from Montana back to Idaho, working construction, and rebuilding after losing the businessBeing diagnosed with stage four colon cancer and what that changed about how he approaches building againJacob shares tactical insight into medical device development, patient care, protecting your IP in a business partnership, and rebuilding after losing everything to a bad deal. If you're interested in medical devices, entrepreneurship, prosthetics and orthotics, product development, or building a company in the Inland Northwest, this conversation is packed with practical insights. Subscribe for more conversations with founders, investors, and operators building the next generation of companies.

  6. Aug 19

    He Was $37,863 in Debt at 22, Now His Company Sells 100 Houses a Year | Project Spokane

    In this episode of the Cowles Ventures Podcast, Blake sits down with Matt, founder of Project Spokane, and Isaac, who joined the team after selling his restaurant, to break down how a guy who was $37,863 in debt at 22 and failed his real estate exam three times built a company that helps investors find fix and flip and rental properties across Spokane. We talk about: How a poorly Photoshopped "Matt and Ted's Excellent Home Buying Adventure" ad campaign landed Matt his first deal in 30 daysWhy Matt walked away from running a multi-market investing franchise in New York to start over in SpokaneThe hardest day of his career, shutting down every business he had built at onceWhy real estate almost always beats stocks for control, but stocks may beat real estate for actual returnsThe truth about rental cash flow in Washington, and why $200 a month per door is considered a winHow Project Spokane's free bootcamp builds investors a full team, contractor, lender, property manager, bookkeeper, before they buy a single houseWhy 62% of their deals last year came from just 9 clients, and why that's by design Matt and Isaac share tactical insight into real estate investing, the BRRRR method, building a niche client base, and what it actually takes to walk away from stability and start something of your own. If you're interested in real estate investing, entrepreneurship, house flipping, rental properties, or building a company in Spokane, this conversation is packed with practical insights. Subscribe for more conversations with founders, investors, and operators building the next generation of companies.

  7. Aug 12

    Why He Left a Successful Tech Sales Career to Start From Zero | Joel Robnett

    In this episode of the Cowles Ventures Podcast, Blake sits down with Joel Robnett, Founding Partner at North by Northwest Technologies, to break down his path from law school plans and a first day of work on 9/11, through two decades in tech sales at companies like Data Domain and Nimble Storage before their acquisitions by EMC and HP, to co-founding his own company. We talk about: Why he walked away from a successful sales and management career to start something from zeroWhat it actually felt like to make that jump, and the mindset shift from "what am I giving up" to "do I have what it takes"How North by Northwest Technologies helps mid-market, multi-site organizations navigate complex IT decisionsThe most common issue businesses run into when they ask for help, and why it's rarely just a tool problemAI fatigue, where AI is genuinely underrated versus overrated, and how it's already built into the tools companies use every dayHow leaders should think about governance, risk, and getting a team aligned around new technologyJoel shares tactical insight into IT consulting, sales leadership, entrepreneurship, and where AI is actually moving the needle for businesses right now, along with the personal decision-making that led him to start his own company. If you're interested in entrepreneurship, IT services, technology consulting, AI adoption, or building a company in Spokane, this conversation is packed with practical insights. Subscribe for more conversations with founders, investors, and operators building the next generation of companies.

  8. Jul 29

    She Turned 90,000 Followers Into a Social Media Agency | Lauren Trivison

    Lauren Trivison built an audience of more than 90,000, got featured in InStyle as a midsize fashion expert, and partnered with brands from Sephora to McDonald's to Abercrombie. Then she turned all of it into a real business. In this episode, Lauren joins the Cowles Ventures Podcast to talk about the seven-year road from freelance creator to founder of Get Lo Socials, her Spokane-based social media agency now serving clients across the West Coast. We get into why she bet on organic strategy over paid ads, what most business owners get wrong about social media, how she prices and packages something as subjective as creativity, and why she still gives away a free monthly marketing class to local owners. A candid look at the actual business behind "being an influencer." CHAPTERS 00:00 [to fill from transcript] CONNECT WITH LAUREN Instagram: @laurentrivison TikTok: @lauren.trivison Get Lo Socials: laurentrivison.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-trivison/ The Cowles Ventures Podcast features founders and operators across the Inland Northwest on how they actually built, funded, and grew their companies. Hosted in Spokane by Blake Gibson. #Spokane #SocialMediaMarketing #Influencer #ContentCreation #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #InlandNorthwest

See All (44)

About

Welcome to the Cowles Ventures Podcast, the best podcast to learn about entrepreneurship and starting your own business!

Information

  • Creator
    Blake Gibson
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    44
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Blake Gibson
  • Show Website
    CV Podcast