Telling the stories of entrepreneurship and builders in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio. Every Thursday, Jeffrey Stern helps map the Cleveland/NEO business... more
Our conversation this week is with Tom Lix — founder & CEO of Cleveland Whiskey — on pushing the boundaries... more
Todd Goldstein — Founder & CEO of Whoa DoughIn 2008, Todd co-founded LaunchHouse with the mission to invest, develop, and... more
Gerald Hetrick (CEO of Bezlio & Professional EOS Implementer) Gerald has been on the show once before; those of you... more
Jack Greco, co-founder and former CFO and COO of ACV Auctions, a Buffalo-based wholesale online marketplace for cars (ACV Auctions... more
Tracy Strobel — CEO of the Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL)Tracy Strobel was appointed Chief Executive Officer of CCPL in... more
Ethan Karp — President and CEO of MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network which, founded in 1984, has been... more
Mike Maczuzak — a product designer, early-stage investor, and founder of SmartShape Design — an innovative product development and industrial... more
Adam Rakestraw — co-founder, chairman, general counsel, and chief business development officer of MediView XR, based here in Cleveland Ohio!... more
Michael Sirpilla, co-founder and CEO of Society Brands.Under Michael’s leadership as CEO, Society Brands has raised $205 million in capital... more
Umberto Fedeli — Founder, President, and CEO of the Fedeli group — one of the largest risk management and insurance... more
Andrew Wolfe, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Bloomfilter.Andrew is a software engineer turned entrepreneur who is passionate about improving the ways... more
Mike Schroeder, Founder & President of Roundstone.Mike founded Roundstone Insurance in 2003 — when they launched the first Group Medical... more
David Levine — Co-Founder/CEO @ Wireless Environment (Acquired by Ring, Acquired by Amazon) & Co-Founder/CEO @ My Home Park Having made... more
Stewart A. Kohl is Co-CEO of The Riverside Company — a $14 billion global private equity firm founded to invest... more
Bill Manby, Founding & Managing Partner at Interstate Fusion Ventures.An entrepreneur at heart, Bill grew up in NEO and has... more
John McKenna, CEO of Peachtree VA, a virtual assistant staffing organization & President of The Emerald Group, a premier mortgage... more
Mitch Kroll, co-founder & CEO of Findaway (acquired by Spotify).Mitch started Findaway back in 2004, a time when audiobooks were... more
Michael Crawford — Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO of the Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company, which... more
Michael Goldberg, Executive Director of the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship, as well as an Associate Professor of Design and Innovation... more
Angie Dianetti — President and driving force behind Radcom, a company specializing in performance improvement consulting, which she founded back... more
Andrew Spott — Founder & President of HR Signal, and the Founder & Chairman of the VividFront.Andrew founded VividFront back... more
Justin McLoughlin — Founder & CEO of airCFO — on building a bootstrapped company, scaling a professional services organization, the... more
Tory and Michael Waxman — the founders of Sundays (>$14 million raised, Cleveland-based) — on building Sundays for Dogs to... more
Dom Raban — Founder and CEO of Xploro®While originally founded in the UK, Xploro has recently established its headquarters here in... more
Mike Bruckman, CEO of Haima Therapeutics.With a PhD in organic chemistry and additional training in biomedical engineering and management, Mike... more
Brendan Anderson and Donnie Bedney on their work at ScaleCo — a Cleveland-based entrepreneurship-through-acquisition organization that has invested more than... more
Tanya Budler, Founder of Rise Together, on building an impact consulting firm based here in Cleveland that partners with civic,... more
Our conversation this week is with Lindsay Watson, CEO & Founder of Augment Therapy.Augment Therapy was founded in 2017 when... more
Dr. Onas Bolton — Founder and CEO of Octet Scientific, a specialty Cleveland-based chemical manufacturer unlocking the full power of... more
Anees Pretorius and Cono Onorato — co-founders of Bean ($1.7mm in funding) — on the pursuit of their vision to... more
Julia Solooki & Lior Shafir — the co-founders of Smart Soda, headquartered here in Cleveland — on revolutionizing the beverage... more
Adrian Bota — co-founder and CEO of ORIGIN Milk — on creating the superlative, regenerative A2 heritage milk company!Adrian’s roots... more
Ed Largent — President, CEO, and Board Chair of Westfield, one of the most enduring companies in Ohio.Very few companies... more
Matt Crowley and Bill Wichert, the co-founders of TonDone, have recently secured $1.5 million in funding and facilitated over $30... more
Dan Hampu and Daniel Isenberg on their collective work at the Burton D Morgan Foundation and Scalerator NEO — covering... more
Lay of The Land's conversation today is with Brian Folmer.Born and raised in Cleveland, Brian has boomeranged back to Cleveland... more
Afif Ghannoum, a biotech attorney by background and the CEO of BIOHM Health — which he co-founded with his father,... more
Adam Fleischer — President of Cleveland’s Entrepreneurs' Organization and founder & co-owner of The Wine Spot here in Cleveland Heights.A... more
Michael Murphy, on a mission to bring professional soccer to Cleveland as the Co-founder and CEO of the Cleveland Soccer... more
Aleksandra Brankov and Cole Worley — the co-founders of Cafilia, a Cleveland startup and network of curated local coffee shops... more
Jeremy Umansky, the renowned chef and owner of Larder!Larder Delicatessen and Bakery — as it’s known in full — is... more
Lay of The Land's conversation today is with Artur Grabowski — co-founder of Extendify.Artur emigrated from Poland to the Cleveland... more
Chuck Snider, Jamey Snider, and Jeff Snider — the family behind Snider Recreation — on building & growing a recreational and... more
Dr. Elad Granot — Dean of John Carroll University’s Boler College of Business, co-founder and managing member of an early-stage... more
Jan Jenson — Ph.D., CEO/CSO/Founder of Trailhead Biosystems — on the basics of cell differentiation and development biology, and the vast... more
Aaron George — Founder/CEO of SupplyNow — on building the on-demand wholesale grocery delivery market for foodservice and his journey as an... more
Jeffrey Stern — host of the Lay of The Land Podcast and co-founder at Axuall — reflecting on the... more
Steve Santamaria — CEO of Folio Photonics — on innovating storage media and the future of storage technology, the opportunity... more
Kris Snyder — founder of Vox Mobile and Impact Architects & Head of Finance and Partnerships at Ninety.io — on working... more
Raji Sankar — co-founder of Wholesome International & co-CEO of Choolaah — on building best-in-class restaurants, culture, and customer experiences after... more
Lukas Minkov & Logan Schouman — Co-Founders at afters.io & IDRA — on unlocking the value of instant local delivery services!
Ed Weinfurtner — Executive Chairman of Great Day Improvements (one of NEO's largest companies employing over 2,000 people) & Co-Founder at... more
Chef Douglas Katz — chef & owner of Amba, Chimi, Zhug — on creating fulfilling, transportive experiences that nurture and inspire... more
Michael Kubinski — Founder & CEO of Cleveland Clothing Company — on spreading Cleveland pride, one t-shirt at a time since... more
Leopoldo Peña — Co-Founder & CEO of Presta — on startups, his passion for expanding access to those who historically... more
Heather Lenz — Founder & CEO of Sangfroid Strategy — on her entrepreneurial journey, how data is currently used in... more
Pat Conway & Mark King — Co-founder & CEO respectively of Great Lakes Brewing Company — on building Ohio’s original craft... more
Lila Mills — founding editor-in-chief of Signal Cleveland — on starting a newsroom from scratch and building the trust required to... more
Anne Skoch — Founder and CEO of Anne Cate — on how to marry art and business, pursue your passion... more
Sherrill Paul Witt — founder of Lolly The Trolley — on running one of Cleveland's most beloved icons since 1985, covering... more
Dallas Hogensen — CEO of Felux (>$24mm raised) — on marketplaces, importance of culture, and creating the world’s largest operating platform... more
Shawn Rech — Co-Founder/CEO/Director at Transition Studios, AGTV & TruBlu — on growing Cleveland's permanent media industry, the importance of... more
Graham Veysey & Fisk Biggar — founders of Graham+Fisk’s Wine-In-A-Can \\ Firehouse Can Co. — on building the first exclusive wine-in-a-can... more
Tom Tyrrell — founder and Chairman of Great Lakes Biomimicry & co-founder of Segmint — on the power of biomimicry... more
Baiju Shah — President and CEO of Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP) — on economic development in Cleveland and leading the... more
David Sylvan — president of UH Ventures, the innovation and commercialization division of University Hospitals, a Cleveland-based health system with... more
Dr. Colleen M. Lorber — Founder & CEO of Wraparound Experts — on the current state of our society’s mental... more
David Davis II — Founder & CEO of FBA Flip — on entrepenuership, the changing dynamics of the modern internet-first world we... more
William (Billy) Littlefield II — President & CTO of Wizest — on Wizest's (recently raised $1.7mm) vision to democratize access... more
Dr. Chelsea Monty-Bromer — founder & CEO of SweatID (aka RooSense) — on bridging the academic-entrepreneurial gap, the implications of... more
Mark D’Agostino — founder and president of ConnectedHR — on the changing macro-dynamics of employment, how the nature of... more
Chris Wentz — Founder and CEO of Everykey — on taking an idea at his Case Western entrepreneurship class to... more
Dennis Althar — Founder & CEO of Althar Audio and All-tronics Medical Systems — on everything from his prodigal expertise in electronics,... more
Dennis Althar — Founder & CEO of Althar Audio and All-tronics Medical Systems — on everything from his prodigal expertise in electronics,... more
John Wetzel, Alex Hilleary, Brooks Sime — Co-Founders of Gather — on building a company oriented around a future of work... more
Camille Heard — CEO & Co-Founder of FELOH — on building a beauty tech startup celebrating diversity in beauty through... more
Patrick M. Howard and Ben Kanelos — founding team of RustBit Studios and creators of the Grip of Madness game... more
Eugene Malinskiy — Co-Founder and CEO of Lazurite — on the future of the operating rooms, the path to get... more
Ray Leach (Founder/CEO) & Hardik Desai (Sr. Partner) on the history of JumpStart, the launch of JumpStart Ventures and its... more
Nolan Gallagher — Founder and CEO of Gravitas Ventures — on building a global all rights theatrical distribution company that... more
Dave Kennedy — Founder of Binary Defense and TrustedSec — on his journey to becoming a cybersecurity authority, building two of... more
Tony Pietrocola — Co-Founder & President of AgileBlue — on serial entrepreneurship, technology waves, and cybersecurity.
John Nottingham — Co-Founder & Co-President of Nottingham Spirk — on building the longest-standing design collaborative in the world (celebrating its... more
Rick Simmons — Co-Founder & CEO of the telos institute — on leadership, personal betterment, liminal spaces, embracing disruption, ultramarathons,... more
Drew Kraemer — CEO of Code3 & Founder of Marketplace Strategy — on building a digital performance marketing agency that... more
Jamie Van Doren — Founder & CEO of NeverEnding — on gaming, entertainment, entrepreneurship, pseudonymity, the future of storytelling,... more
Ryan Lambacher — Founder & CEO of Graffle — on unlocking the value of NFTs and solving the infrastructure layer... more
Cal Al-Dhubaib — Founder & CEO of Pandata - on the design and development of human-centered, trusted AI solutions that... more
Daniel Brown — Co-Founder of Rust Belt Riders and Tilth Soil — on providing people with a clean, timely, and... more
Ryan Young — Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of FlashHouse — on the real estate industry today, ins and outs... more
Daniel Brown — Co-Founder of Rust Belt Riders and Tilth Soil — on providing people with a clean, timely, and community benefiting... more