Refinery VC

Check out <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-leap-into-podcasting-refinery-ventures-abby/id1480302101?i=1000517158433" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Casted Podcast</a>, hosted by Casted CEO, Lindsay Tjepkema. Their sixth season started last week, including an episode recorded with Fast Frontiers. Please enjoy listening to: Making the Leap Into Podcasting with Refinery Ventures' Abby Fittes and Tim Schigel.

Lindsay Tjepkema

Co-founder and CEO of Casted

Cross Over Episode: Refinery Ventures on The Casted Podcast, Season 6

Check out <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-leap-into-podcasting-refinery-ventures-abby/id1480302101?i=1000517158433" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Casted Podcast</a>, hosted by Casted CEO, Lindsay Tjepkema. Their sixth season started last week, including an episode recorded with Fast Frontiers. Please enjoy listening to: Making the Leap Into Podcasting with Refinery Ventures' Abby Fittes and Tim Schigel.

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An exploration of how innovation frontiers are emerging in surprising places. Stay up to date with Fast Frontiers by <a href="http://eepurl.com/hbJORv" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subscribing</a> to our newsletter!

Fast Frontiers

Check out our friend, Mark Raffan's podcast, <a href="https://www.negotiations.ninja/podcast/inside-the-mind-of-venture-capitalist-tim-schigel-ep-197/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Negotiations Ninja</a>. Episode #197 is from our very own host at Fast Frontiers. Please enjoy listening to: Inside the mind of venture capitalist Tim Schigel

Mark Raffan is an entrepreneur, procurement veteran, podcast host, speaker and a recognized negotiation expert. Mark has led c-suite negotiations for many years for a variety of companies and industries. Now running his own practice, Mark utilizes his extensive speaking experience to deliver engaging, usable, and market relevant training to an under served market.

Mark Raffan

Host and Founder of Negotiations Ninja and Founder of Content Callout

Cross Over Episode - Tim Schigel on Negotiation Ninja with Mark Raffan

Jon Medved is a serial entrepreneur and leading high-tech venture capitalist. Jon is the founder and CEO of OurCrowd, the world's largest equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors, which has raised more than $1B for over 170 companies since its launch in February 2013. Thanks for listening to Fast Frontiers, Season 2 - We will be back with Season 3 soon!

Jonathan Medved is a serial entrepreneur and according to the Washington Post (2007) “one of Israel’s leading high-tech venture capitalists.” In the 2008 NY Times Supplement “Israel at 60" Medved was named one of the top 10 most influential Americans who have impacted Israel. Medved is the founder and CEO of OurCrowd, the world’s largest equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors which has raised more than $1B for over 170 companies since its launch in February 2013. Bloomberg Businessweek said that OurCrowd “has blown up the exclusivity around tech fundraising” and The Jerusalem Post added that “It has taken OurCrowd only a matter of months to become one of Israel’s most active funds.” TheStreet.com said that OurCrowd is “Crowdfunding for Real Investors.” Prior to OurCrowd, Medved was the co-founder and CEO of Vringo (Nasdaq:VRNG) and the co-founder and General Partner of Israel Seed Partners, with $262M under management.

Jon Medved

CEO at OurCrowd

S2 Ep 12: Jon Medved at OurCrowd

Today we're bringing you my conversation with Steve Santamaria, CEO of Folio Photonics in Cleveland. We dive into Steve's story and background as a boomerang, someone who moved back to Cleveland after working on the West Coast. We're also going to talk about how Steve manages the relationships with his board of directors using a Japanese concept called nemawashi. The biggest takeaway is the value of boomerangs to startups in our region. The experience of working in the coastal, hyper-growth environment along with the connections that come with it can have a huge impact.

Steve Santamaria is the Chief Executive Officer at Folio Photonics in Cleveland, Ohio. During his 14 year career at Intel Corporation, he led a wide variety of strategic projects and managed the relationship with Microsoft. Steve has a background in sales, business development, and other startup experience. He's a seasoned technology executive, entrepreneur, and student of disruptive technologies.

Steve Santamaria

CEO of Folio Photonics

S2 Ep 11: Steve Santamaria at Folio Photonics

Today we're bringing you my conversation with Niki Scevak, co-founder and partner of Blackbird Ventures in Melbourne, Australia. We're going to talk about the Australian tech ecosystem, which was virtually nonexistent in 2010 when Niki and his co-founder Rick Baker started raising Blackbird fund number one. And now today they have over $1.3 billion under management across four funds. Blackbird's investing thesis is that they value the relationship with the company first and often start by investing early before product and revenue and follow the company through every round of venture financing.

Niki Scevak is the co-founder and partner of Blackbird Ventures. After moving back to Sydney in 2010, Niki founded Startmate, one of Australia's preeminent incubators. Before investing, he also started two software companies and lived in New York City. Blackbird is a leading venture firm in Australia and New Zealand and has invested in companies like graphic design platform, Canva, and autonomous vehicle company, Zoox.

Niki Scevak

Partner at Blackbird Ventures

S2 Ep 10: Niki Scevak at Blackbird Ventures

Today we're bringing you my conversation with Bruce Vojak, researcher, author, and managing director of Breakthrough Innovation Advisors. We're going to dive into some of Bruce's learnings that came out of his writing, Serial Innovators. Bruce and his coauthors immerse themselves in the problems of a people view of innovation, rather than a process and structure or cultural view of innovation. We're also going to dive into the concept of VUCA, V-U-C-A, which stands for volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, a term that came out of the military. It's a concept that is invaluable to help you navigate and excel, even in the middle of chaos.

Bruce Vojak is an author researcher and consultant. He coauthored, Serial Innovators, How Individuals Create and Deliver Breakthrough Innovations in Mature Firms. Bruce also serves on the board of directors at Medtronics, the advisor board of JV Partners and on the board of Micron Industries. He consults with major corporations like Procter and Gamble, and is the founder of Breakthrough Innovation Advisors. Bruce has also served as associate dean and adjunct professor at the college of engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Early in his career he was director of advanced technology for Motorola's non-semiconductor component business, where he held research and business development positions. Bruce has a bachelor's of highest honors, master's, and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from University of Chicago.

Bruck Vojak 

Researcher, Author, and Managing Director of Breakthrough Innovation Advisors

S2 Ep 9: Bruce Vojak

Today we're bringing you my conversation with Kevin Maney, advisor of Category Design and co-author of Play Bigger. In this episode, we're going to dive into the learnings that came out of writing Play Bigger, a book that I recommend to all of our startups. Kevin talks about how to define and own a category, as well as the timeline of successful companies that ultimately go public. So what is category design? While most companies start out with a product idea, Kevin tells us successful companies start out by designing the need and the category. So this involves asking a really simple question. What problems do you really want to solve? Spend the time defining the problem, finding that category and defining it, and aligning your team to help drive the process. If you set that North Star early, you have a better chance of attracting customers and convincing others that your journey is worth it. Ultimately you can become a category king.

Kevin Maney is a journalist, author, and co-founder of Category Design Advisors. He has also been a contributor to Newsweek, Fortune, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Strategy and Business, Harvard Business Review, CNN, ABC News, and others.

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ABOUT THE SHOW

Tim Schigel

Managing Partner at Refinery Ventures