PROCO360 | Best Podcast for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners Dave Tabor, PROCO360

I had a blast recording this episode with Toby Kraus! We were sitting in the first version of the Lightship L1, and I could sense what it would be like to camp in one. Toby and his co-founder Ben Parker brought tremendous innovation experience to Lightship, helping them raise $60 million before they’d even built a prototype – amazing! Listen to this episode to better understand the startup world of creating a large and complex physical product in a world in which most startups are software/tech related.

Each year ProCO360 looks forward to featuring 2-3 non-profit organizations that are doing what I feel is important work, and work that connects with the theme of ProCO360: world-class entrepreneurs who choose Colorado. ActivateWork is discovering untapped talent and providing training that’s effective at delivering qualified tech workers to Colorado employers.  Helen is a well-known leader in the Colorado business community and this episode will help you understand and appreciate why.

It took me a while in fascinated deliberation to appreciate how Biodesix’s lung cancer test “Nodify Lung” works. The reason I struggled is that up to this point I’d understood that a blood test tells one YES or NO about a particular condition – pregnant or not, COVID or not. I had to get my head around a test that provides physicians and patients with the probability that there’s lung cancer. What does one DO, what treatment decisions should one make, what should insurance pay for, what should a physician do to manage risk of malpractice... with a 15% probability that one has lung cancer? 85% probability? Scott helped me understand how what I’d thought was impossibly frustrating vagueness, is actually helpful in treatment decisions. We also talked about running a public biotech company that is losing millions of dollars as the key product is developed and comes to market. A great episode!

Ian says it well when he describes “consumer guilt.”  I know I create way too much trash that goes in landfills.  I also have a sense of hopelessness when I don’t have a (convenient, admittedly) way to discard used packaging – I’ll scan for proper receptacles and often wonder, “Is this compostable or trash?”   I’ve never been a food composter because to me there’s a terrible imbalance in the hassle+yuk-to-benefit ratio.  Ian described new products and closed systems that created hope for me!

Wow, in this episode you’ll feel the passion and intensity of a startup founder whose company raised $83 million in venture funding by creating a simpler cybersecurity platform for small and mid-sized companies, and which delivers results that rival products sold to large companies. A lot has to do with culture, including Todyl’s #1 value: Security First. That led to an interesting conversation that will have you thinking about priorities.

I’m in an ongoing pursuit of understanding the fast evolution of AI, and of course looking in Colorado – I came across LIMINAL – a company that adds a dimension to artificial intelligence that I’d never even thought of – SECURITY. I didn’t even CONSIDER that as employees use AI, they’re entering prompts and data into an AI tool, and that Ai tool is connected to the outside – so company secrets or customer privacy could be compromised. And in the GLOBAL EXPLOSION of Ai use, LIMINAL protects against that. I learned so much in this episode!