The Mid-Point

One America Works
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Conversations with the extraordinary people building the American innovation economy from the inside out. Hosted by Patrick McKenna, founder of One America Works.

  1. 08/30/2023

    Dietrich Stephan, Cyto Ventures

    Dietrich Stephan, general partner of Cyto Ventures, is a human geneticist and entrepreneur who works in personalized medicine.  Trained as part of the Human Genome Project through the National Institutes for Health (NIH), he spent part of his career in San Francisco helping build the national infrastructure through which to deliver genetic information to the medical industry.His insight on moving innovation into commercialization and licensing landed him an opportunity to work with the University of Pittsburgh.He launched CytoVentures to give biotech founders access to infrastructure, expertise and a network of equity investment.  Through its own fund and network of investors, Cyto has helped raise over $400 million for about a dozen startups.Listen in as he discussed the future of life sciences and biotech and his experience as both an operator and investor.Cyto Ventures is based in Pittsburgh, PA.

    19 min

  2. 08/30/2023

    Sankalp Arora, Gather AI

    Sankalp Arora is the CEO and Co-founder at Gather AI. A truly inspiring story - as a young man from Delhi, India, he always dreamed of making robots.  He was constantly enamored with aerial robotics and as he puts it “making drones curious”.  Sankulp earned his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University and leveraged the strength of the robotics ecosystem there to develop his company.Gather AI drones gather data with fully autonomous drones to optimize warehouse inventory processes.  The company is at the forefront of taking everyday hardware like a camera or a drone and optimizing it with incredible software and data.  The drones scan inventory, process data, find damages and more helping companies drastically improve productivity and efficiency.The company recently acquired a bay area startup, making Gather AI one of the world’s largest in the domain of providing autonomous warehouse data with drones processing thousands of palettes weekly.Gather AI is based in Pittsburgh, PA.

    10 min

  3. 08/30/2023

    Jordon Rooney, Jaster Athletes

    Jordan is no stranger to entrepreneurship.  With deep dive experience in sports marketing and branding, he leveraged his expertise into a new innovative concept - Jaster Athletes.  The company is building an impressive client roster with top notch athletes including Damar Hanlin.Jaster started as a simple sports marketing agency and has evolved into a scalable business model through the use of AI.  Not traditionally a techie, Jordan’s ability to see an opportunity and be ahead of the curve by applying technology to adapt his business model created a “win”.Listen in as Jordan discusses his perspective on building a service based business.

    16 min

  4. 07/10/2023

    Charles Robinson, 1888 Capital

    OneAmerica Works Founder Patrick McKenna chats with Charles Robinson from 1888 Capital. About Charles Charles Robinson is a serial entrepreneur and partner with 1888 Capital. He co-founded Teamworks and Forward Cities. Charles is a graduate from Duke University and his background is in investment banking, ad agencies and worked for several #TechStartups. He then built a successful career in real estate before becoming an angel investor. He is a partner in Teamworks, a sports tech company, a successful venture which has acquired other smaller companies. He is passionate about closing the wealth gap and helping underrepresented entrepreneurs find new pathways of discovery into the market. You’ll hear about his strong ability to build networks and discovery opportunities. Listen in on the episode as he describes himself as more of a “pirate” than an entrepreneur! He offers a unique twist and perspective to his approach on success and his ability to lead with empathy coupled with a strong demand for results. Charles shares his insight on what he looks for in budding entrepreneurs, the key upcoming hot upcoming verticals for the southwest and the power of maximizing and building “the network.” 1888 Capital is based in Atlanta, GA. #startups #startups #venturecapital #founderfriday #oneamericaworks

    26 min

  5. 07/10/2023

    Jeremy Keele, Catalyst Opportunity Funds

    OneAmerica Works Founder Patrick McKenna chats with Jeremy Keele. About Jeremy Jeremy Keele is a recognized leader in impact investing with a diverse range of professional experiences in the private and public sectors. Jeremy is currently Co-founder and Managing Partner of Catalyst Opportunity Funds, a real estate impact investment firm with ~$300 M under management and dozens of assets in strategic secondary / tertiary markets around the country. Prior to founding Catalyst in 2018, Jeremy was President & CEO of the Sorenson Impact Center, a university-based think-tank focused on social impact and innovation. During his time at Sorenson, Jeremy advised dozens of investors, government agencies, family offices, foundations and non-profits on strategies to align their funding, activities and measurement with their values. In partnership with the Obama Administration and the Sundance Film Festival, Jeremy created one of the premier social impact and innovation events, the annual Winter Innovation Summit. Under Jeremy’s leadership, the Center grew from two employees in 2013 to nearly 40 in 2018 with ~100 student fellows annually. Prior to Sorenson, Jeremy was senior advisor to the Mayor of his hometown of Salt Lake. Jeremy advised on the policy portfolio of Mayor Ben McAdams with a $1.2 billion annual budget, 4,000 + employees and 1.2 million residents. While in government, Jeremy helped launch the first social impact bond in the country focused on early childhood education for at-risk kids in the community. Prior to his time in government, Jeremy was a corporate attorney with the law firms of Cleary Gottlieb and Latham & Watkins in New York, London and Los Angeles. During his 7 years of practice Jeremy led numerous multibillion dollar, cross-border mergers & acquisitions and corporate financing transactions for large corporate clients around the world. Jeremy holds BS / BA degrees from Brigham Young University, a JD from New York University School of Law and an MPA from Harvard.

    30 min

  6. 07/10/2023

    Jared Glover, CapSen Robotics

    OneAmerica Works Founder Patrick McKenna talks automation and robots with Jared Glover. About Jared Jared Glover is the CEO and co-founder of CapSen Robotics--a company that makes software to give robots more spatial intelligence. Jared received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT in 2014, where he developed and applied new theoretical tools for processing 3D orientation information to applications in computer vision and robot manipulation. Prior to that, he completed his B.S. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, where he led a team developing robotic walkers. He has 20 years of research experience in robotics and computer vision and over 500 paper citations. He is also on the boards of Catalyst Connection, a private non-profit that provides consulting and training services to small manufacturers in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the Pittsburgh Robotics Network.

    21 min

  7. 07/10/2023

    Ilya Preston, PAXAFE

    OneAmerica Works Founder Patrick McKenna has a conversation with PAXAFE CEO Ilya Preston. About Ilya Ilya Preston is the co-founder and CEO of PAXAFE, a company that specializes in smart packaging technology for temperature-sensitive products. Prior to PAXAFE, Preston was the CEO of Thaddeus Medical Systems, Inc., a company that builds smart packaging technology to improve global shipment outcomes by protecting sensitive specimens through the entirety of the supply chain. Preston has always been interested in improving healthcare and logistics. Ilya was motivated to start Thaddeus Medical Systems after learning about the billions of dollars wasted each year in the healthcare supply chain specifically due to temperature excursions and lost products. Ilya saw an opportunity to create a more dependable solution that would simplify and automate the packaging process and reduce exposure to human error, improve quality, reduce the total cost of ownership, and enable customers to consolidate their logistics supply base. Under Preston's leadership, Thaddeus Medical Systems developed the iQ+-ler, a smart, all-in-one, hardware and software packaging IoT solution that integrates three key features: active temperature control, tracking and communication, and documentation automation. The iQ+-ler was well-received in the market and helped put Thaddeus Medical Systems on the map as a leading healthcare and logistics company. Preston's experience with Thaddeus Medical Systems made him a natural fit to lead PAXAFE. With PAXAFE, Preston is continuing their mission to improve global shipment outcomes by developing even more innovative packaging solutions that protect sensitive products throughout the entire supply chain. Ilya Preston's educational career began at Indiana University Bloomington, where they earned a Bachelor of Science degree Cum Laude in International Business, Economics, and Spanish. Ilya then went on to earn their Masters in Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis - School of Business. PAXAFE is the OS for visibility control towers. PAXAFE's B2B SaaS platform — CONTXT — is an AI-enabled, device-agnostic risk-management platform that reduces product loss, improves operational efficiency and optimizes decision making for perishable shippers and service providers. PAXAFE contextualizes active and passive visibility data, quantifies risk and predicts OTIF adverse events.Unlike sensor-enabled visibility providers that leave enterprises as ‘data rich but insights poor’, PAXAFE understands that operationalizing visibility is not a human problem -- it’s a machine problem. PAXAFE exists to unleash the value of visibility program data.

    28 min

  8. 07/10/2023

    JJ Xu, Talk Me Up

    OneAmerica Works Founder Patrick McKenna talks to JJ Xu of Talk Me Up. About JJ JJ Xu is the founder of Talk Me Up, an AI powered software company focused on workforce training. Originally from China, JJ left her full time job in China to migrate to the U.S. She always wanted to be an entrepreneur from a young age and came to Carnegie Mellon University in 2016 to pursue her MBA. She also participated in the university’s 2018 pitch competition. After doing some soul searching and interviewing many of her classmates and colleagues, it led her to dig deeper into the market and discover how she could create this innovative AI training tool. JJ talks about her approach to productivity and getting bottom line results. TalkMeUp has gained notable clients including Yale, ESP and Hearst. She demonstrates a strong commitment to constant customer discovery and describes her tenacity in building her business. In this episode, she also shares her approach on finding her early stage founding team and building a network in the U.S. #startups #founderfriday #venturecapital #techstartups #oneamericaworks #startupfounder #CarnegieMellon #ai #artificialintelligence

    19 min
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About

Conversations with the extraordinary people building the American innovation economy from the inside out. Hosted by Patrick McKenna, founder of One America Works.

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  • Creator
    One America Works
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © One America Works
  • Show Website
    The Mid-Point