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Impact Michigan

Impact Michigan

By Leann Abad

Who's driving workforce and economic development in Michigan?

Tune in as Host Leann Abad interviews the movers and shakers of the Great Lakes State and dives deep into why the comeback of Michigan's economy is inevitable.

Presented by Intermitten.
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Currently playing episode

Marcus Collins, Chief Consumer Connections at Doner

Impact Michigan Sep 18, 2018

00:00
49:23
Andy Gutman, President The Farbman Group
Sep 15, 201925:51
Chris Lambert, CEO Life Remodeled
Sep 14, 201923:54
BONUS EPISODE: Pamela Moore, President/CEO DPSF
Jun 06, 201919:60
On Radical Inclusion
May 28, 201929:22
Marc Hudson, Rocket Fiber
May 23, 201927:31
Jim Tenzillo, Invest Michigan
May 21, 201926:56
Beth Kirsch, NETSCOUT
May 16, 201929:37
Jeff Epstein, Founder of Ambassador
May 14, 201947:12
Blake Robbins, Ludlow Ventures
May 09, 201901:00:53
Lia & Christopher, Human Inclusive
May 07, 201944:34
Laura Khalil, Force of Bada**ery
May 02, 201955:25
Rajiv Nathan, Startup Hypeman
Apr 30, 201930:00
Hunter Rosenblume, CEO Lunar Wireless
Mar 14, 201927:11
Melissa Butler, CEO The Lip Bar

Melissa Butler, CEO The Lip Bar

Mar 11, 201913:31
Henri Pierre-Jacques, Co-founder Harlem Capital
Mar 07, 201932:35
Steven Mazur, Cofounder Ash & Erie
Mar 04, 201922:23
James Chapman, Quicken Loans CIF

James Chapman, Quicken Loans CIF

James Chapman is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Quicken Loans Community Investment Fund. He’s a serial entrepreneur, nationally recognized speaker, and author of #TheHustle. He prides himself in being both revenue-driven, and socially conscious. His first company launched was an oil change delivery company in 2013, despite having never changed oil before in his life. He later founded a coworking space called Workaholics, described as a collision workspace in the evening hours for people wanting to collaborate and work on their ideas together. 

Intermitten is a grassroots, volunteer-operated organization that was founded in 2016. Our mission is to unite the Midwest tech community, thoughtfully nurture its development, and highlight it as a hub of and destination for entrepreneurial talent and innovation.

Links:

James Chapman - http://iwrotethehustle.com/

Intermitten - https://intermitten.org/

Partner Highlight: http://thenewfoundry.com/

Feb 28, 201947:57
Richard Sheridan, Chief Joy Officer of Menlo Innovations
Feb 25, 201937:05
Season 3 Announcement!

Season 3 Announcement!

Well, well, well... We're back friends :) 


Tune into this episode as I interview a special guest as part of our announcement for Season 3 and the future of this show. 

Feb 20, 201905:31
Stella Safari, gener8tor
Oct 11, 201828:08
Richard Grundy, JOURNi
Oct 09, 201831:42
David Uze, Trillium Secure
Sep 27, 201830:13
Chris Thomas, Detroit Mobility Lab
Sep 25, 201828:01
Nathan Labenz, CEO Waymark
Sep 20, 201836:35
Marcus Collins, Chief Consumer Connections at Doner
Sep 18, 201849:23
Dug Song, CEO Duo Security
Sep 13, 201825:08
Joe Malcoun, CEO Nutshell
Sep 11, 201846:19
Workit Health
Sep 08, 201844:57
Justin Mast, CEO Bloomscape

Justin Mast, CEO Bloomscape

Being both a creative and an entrepreneur can seem contradictory in some ways, but Justin Mast seems to have found the perfect way to combine the two.

Taking over his family business over in 2006, he began to learn the operational expertise needed by an entrepreneur and founder. Now, in his role as Founder and CEO of Bloomscape, he combines the creative design skills he learned at the Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning with the firsthand entrepreneurial experience he's gained over the years as a serial founder and entrepreneur.

Fittingly, he comes from over 5 generations of Dutch greenhouse growers and floral industry experts, so you could say he has Founder - Market - Fit.

Tune in as we chat about the business of design, the learning curve of a creative entrepreneur, and how Bloomscape is using the growth of their plants to help grow Detroit and Michigan's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Sep 04, 201819:60
Jason Raznick, CEO Benzinga

Jason Raznick, CEO Benzinga

Jason's approach to life is simple:
Get rid of Monarchy; Implement a Doerarchy.

As Founder and CEO of Benzinga.com, he lives and breathes this mentality all throughout his organization, and it shows up in their success.

Benzinga is a dynamic and innovative financial media outlet that empowers investors with high-quality, unique content that is coveted by Wall Street's top traders.

Seeing hundreds of investments a week is a difficult task to get right, but Jason seems to do it with ease.

Tune in as he explains what a "Doerarchy" is, how he, along with Mark Cuban, passed on investing in Twitch.tv, and how Benzinga's presence in the financial industry is creating Impact for the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan.
Sep 04, 201823:31
Josh Luber, CEO StockX

Josh Luber, CEO StockX

Dubbed the "Stock Market of Things," StockX is one of, if not the fastest growing startup in Detroit, and CEO Josh Luber is at the forefront of all that growth.

Beginning as a passion project outside his time at IBM, Luber started StockX (then known as Campless) off of his passion for sneakers. As a dedicated sneakerhead, he often found himself buying and reselling sneakers, and he found there was no price guidebook to reference. Think Kelley Blue Book for comparing car prices.

That's when he got started with Campless, and although they're relatively a huge company now, they grew slowly.

It wasn't until Luber was approached by billionaire Dan Gilbert (Chairman, Quicken Loans; Owner, Cleveland Cavs) to buy out Campless and pursue a joint venture that growth started to kick in.

Now, StockX is processing over $2M in sales...

DAILY.

We had the chance to interview Josh and chat about the growth of StockX and how it's creating Impact for Detroit, and more broadly, Michigan.
Sep 04, 201825:13
M2: Capital Appreciation Month; Doron York, Cityside Ventures

M2: Capital Appreciation Month; Doron York, Cityside Ventures

An Israeli Navy Seal, Doron spent the first part of his life in his native homeland of Haifa, Israel. After finishing his duty, he moved to the United States and settled down in Southeast Michigan. Actually, settled down is definitely NOT the right term, as he immersed himself into the startup scene here right away and has been here for just about 30 years. As the founder of multiple successful startups, some of which he’s taken to acquisition, he’s taken his skills and learnings to run an executive coaching firm, a private equity group, and a venture studio all focused on helping the comeback of Michigan’s economy happen.
This episode is part of Capital Appreciation Month. We’re interviewing Michigan’s venture capitalists and angel investors in an effort to highlight those who made the early investment (quite literally) in our community. Capital Appreciation Month is sponsored by the Michigan Venture Capital Association. The MVCA exists to increase the amount of capital and talent av
Jul 11, 201848:50
M2: Capital Appreciation Month; Jake Cohen, Detroit Venture Partners

M2: Capital Appreciation Month; Jake Cohen, Detroit Venture Partners

Jake is a 3-time University of Michigan graduate who got both his MBA and his JD at the same time! During his undergrad years, he started his first company called Ugrub, which provided college students with an easy‐to‐navigate listing of restaurant menus and weekly specials. After selling that company to a competitor in 2006, he became a consultant for Deloitte, where he focused on Strategy and Operations. Fast forward a few years to when he was one of the early cofounders of Detroit Venture Partners, where he currently manages Dan Gilbert’s venture capital investments.
This episode is part of Capital Appreciation Month. We’re interviewing Michigan’s venture capitalists and angel investors in an effort to highlight those who made the early investment (quite literally) in our community. Capital Appreciation Month is sponsored by the Michigan Venture Capital Association. The MVCA exists to increase the amount of capital and talent available to investors so they can fund Michigan’s most
Jun 27, 201834:53
M2: Capital Appreciation Month; Chris Rizik, CEO Renaissance VC
Jun 13, 201836:51
M2: Capital Appreciation Month; Doug Neal, Co-Founder, eLab Ventures

M2: Capital Appreciation Month; Doug Neal, Co-Founder, eLab Ventures

With 25+ years in the tech industry, it’s pretty safe to say Doug is a technology veteran. A graduate of Central Michigan University, he started his career at Hewlett-Packard as a Software Engineer and left after 4 years to become a Director at Symantec (Semantic). It was shortly after that when he started Mobile Automation, developing enterprise system management solutions for tech companies and service providers. After selling Mobile Automation to iPass for $20M in 2004, he wouldn’t get back to life as an entrepreneur until 2007 with Boomdash. Fast forward to 2012, he started eLab ventures in Ann Arbor and at the same time served as Executive Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan. Currently, he serves full-time as Co-Founder and Managing Director at eLab and as a board member for several tech startups in the area.
This episode is part of Capital Appreciation Month. We’re interviewing Michigan’s venture capitalists and angel investors in an effort
Jun 06, 201835:48
M2: Month of Mobility; Lisa Nuszkowski, Founder of MoGo Detroit
May 30, 201839:14
M2: Month of Mobility; Mark de la Vergne, Mobility Innovation, City of Detroit
May 23, 201833:08
M2: Month of Mobility; Jessica Robinson, Director of City Solutions at Ford Smart Mobility
May 16, 201832:36
M2: Month of Mobility; Lisa Seymour, Techstars Mobility
May 09, 201831:14
M2: Month of Mobility; Amanda Roraff, PlanetM
May 02, 201833:32
M2: Marketing and Advertising as a Superpower
Apr 25, 201835:47
M2: How A Writer Turned Entrepreneur Is Building Detroit's Startup Community

M2: How A Writer Turned Entrepreneur Is Building Detroit's Startup Community

Amanda Lewan is an award-winning writer and entrepreneur. After getting her Bachelor's in professional writing from Michigan State University and her Masters in English from Wayne State, she launched into the marketing world as a content marketer at Sunny Media Group. Shortly after, she launched Michipreneur, Michigan's only statewide publication on entrepreneurship and innovation. Taking her passion for building entrepreneurial communities, she cofounded Bamboo Detroit, a coworking space for entrepreneurs of all backgrounds. She's a Crain's 20 in their 20's awardee, one of Corp! Magazine's Most Valuable Millennials, and recipient of the City of Detroit Spirit of Detroit & Community Service Award. Bamboo Website: http://bit.ly/2EWePwd (http://bit.ly/2EWePwd) Detroit Startup Week: http://bit.ly/DetroitStartupWeek18 (http://bit.ly/DetroitStartupWeek18) ASHE Media Website: http://bit.ly/ashemediawebsite (http://bit.ly/ashemediawebsite) ASHE FB Page: http://bit.ly/ashefacebook
Apr 18, 201830:26
M2: Jason Mendelson on Michigan's Startup Community
Apr 11, 201823:35
M2: How Medtech is Impacting Michigan's Economy and Focus

M2: How Medtech is Impacting Michigan's Economy and Focus

Paul Riser is a lifelong Detroit native. He started his career at Sun Microsystems at its peak and currently his main gig, among a litany of other commitments, is serving as TechTown Detroit's Managing Director of Tech-Based Entrepreneurship, a role fitting to his expertise of over 20 years in the tech industry. He's the chair of the board of BLAC Detroit, the premiere lifestyle magazine for African Americans in and around Detroit. He is also the Chief Information and Technology Officer of Innovative Health Technologies & Hi-Tech Research Labs. MedHealth Innovation Website: http://bit.ly/2Gxfq8R Detroit Startup Week: http://bit.ly/DetroitStartupWeek18 (http://bit.ly/DetroitStartupWeek18) ASHE Media Website: http://bit.ly/ashemediawebsite (http://bit.ly/ashemediawebsite) ASHE FB Page: http://bit.ly/ashefacebook (http://bit.ly/ashefacebook)
Apr 04, 201835:34
M2: Detroit Tours, Experiences, and Stories
Mar 28, 201834:17
M2: Venture School Part 2 - Redefining Student Success

M2: Venture School Part 2 - Redefining Student Success

This episode is a continuation of "How Venture School Is Reshaping Entrepreneurial Education in Detroit."
(From Venture School website) The mission of VentureSchool is to empower students to become capable, curious, and courageous leaders, innovators, and agents of change in their community through groundbreaking educational opportunities. Equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset, our students will be prepared to develop solutions to the complex challenges that affect our lives today and the world tomorrow.
Our vision is to create unrivaled, community-rooted learning experiences that leverage innovative design and student-centeredness through the lens of entrepreneurial education. Though our work is centered on Detroit's east side, we hope to cement a model that can be replicated across the city and eventually throughout the Midwest to create a region-wide network of young entrepreneurial thinkers ready to tackle the world's greatest challenges.

Marvin English is the Founding Hea
Mar 21, 201820:08
M2: How Venture School Is Reshaping Entrepreneurial Education in Detroit

M2: How Venture School Is Reshaping Entrepreneurial Education in Detroit

Venture School's mission is to empower students to become capable, curious, and courageous leaders, innovators, and agents of change in their community through groundbreaking educational opportunities. Equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset, their students will be prepared to develop solutions to the complex challenges that affect their lives today and the world tomorrow.

Marvin English is the Founding Head of School at VentureSchool Detroit. Prior to his role at VentureSchool, Marvin was the Founding School Principal at EAGLE College Prep Fox Park Charter School (https://eagleprep.org/fox-park) in St. Louis, Missouri and a founding leader of Brilla College Prep Charter School (http://www.brillacollegeprep.org/) in the South Bronx of New York City. Marvin also served as the Founding Director of Curriculum and Instruction for a nonprofit organization that worked in conjunction with Detroit Public Schools.

Drew Schantz is Founder and Executive Director of VentureSchool, and a f
Mar 14, 201826:11
M2: How To Attract Talent To A Growing Startup Ecosystem

M2: How To Attract Talent To A Growing Startup Ecosystem

Deirdre Groves is a self-identified social entrepreneur, having founded multiple nonprofits. A graduate of both Michigan State AND the University of Michigan, she has degrees in both Construction Management and Urban Planning. She’s a Crain’s 40 Under 40 awardee, recipient of the Detroit Young Professionals Vanguard Award, Honoree of the Women and Leadership in the Workplace Award, and she’s been recognized by Governing Magazine as one of the top 10 people that could save Detroit, a list that (for reference) also bears the name of billionaire Dan Gilbert, Cofounder of Quicken Loans and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even with all of those accomplishments, she remains cool to the touch and rooted in practicality, having attracted thousands of applicants to the program she currently executively directs - Challenge Detroit. In this episode, she’ll detail why Detroit is the place to move, and, if you’re a new grad or know of one, why Challenge Detroit is the perfect program for you to c
Mar 07, 201831:04
M2: From Life on the Run to Immigrant Entrepreneur
Feb 28, 201830:20
M2: How To Keep Your Entrepreneurial Dream Alive
Feb 21, 201834:50