Series A - The Podcast

While just one in 10 VC investments achieves a successful exit or next stage funding, a small team of upstarts has quietly come up with a way to significantly increase the odds of identifying whether a startup has a decent shot at succeeding. After two years of internal work, the Microsoft Startup Predictor has proven … Continue reading #23 – THE NEW AI-POWERED TOOL PREDICTING STARTUP SUCCESS →

What do you get when you combine a seasoned serial entrepreneur and technologist with a PhD and tenure track cancer researcher at the University of Chicago? One of the most promising startups disrupting the health care industry. In the latest of edition of Series A – The Podcast, we return to Chicago for a visit … Continue reading #22 – A DATING APP FOR THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY – JASON SMITH/rMARK BIO →

When Expedia founder Rich Barton was secretly building Zillow, it was Seattle tech news site Geekwire that first uncovered and broke the story. Same with the first tests of Amazon foray into the grocery business and numerous other big tech stories. That dogged reporting is why the Seattle-based enterprise has become the preeminent voice of … Continue reading #21 – INTERVIEWING THE INTERVIEWERS – GEEKWIRE/SEATTLE →

When it comes to representation and funding for minorities in the startup world, the numbers are sobering. Less than 3% of venture capital goes to female led startups, while just .02% (you read that right) goes to startups led by women of color. And there are so few Hispanics given the opportunity to lead a … Continue reading #21 – BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS AND BOOSTING DIVERSITY – QUEST MOFFAT/PROJECT UK →

How do you make watching sports and other events truly social, and build a successful business for major media companies at the same time? For Game On co-founder and CEO Alex Beckman, it’s all about the bots. The problem to solve for the San Francisco-based startup is figuring out how to get people to watch … Continue reading #20 – TRASH TALKING BOTS AND THE NEW MEDIA LANDSCAPE – ALEX BECKMAN/GAME ON →

For every deal, there’s a document. Actually, potentially hundreds of thousands or even millions of them. But thriving Chicago startup Heretik is leveraging AI to help the legal world search, sort through and analyze contracts, dramatically cutting the time and money spent in contract review. The work has always been done manually, with lawyers and … Continue reading #19 – AI, CONTRACTS AND A LEGAL DISRUPTION – ANDY ABBOTT/HERETIK →

If knowledge is power, then Chicago-based startup Packback is rocket fuel for college students blasting off into the future (excuse the cheesy analogy, but it’s apropos in this case.) In the latest edition of Series A – The Podcast, hosted by Jim Brisimitzis from the Microsoft for Startups team, we profile the dynamic startup changing … Continue reading #18-CURIOSITY+COMMUNITY=STARTUP SUCCESS – JESSICA TENUTA/PACKBACK →

Attending a conference, meetup or gathering and coming away without making valuable contacts is an all too common and frustrating occurrence for busy business people. But Chicago-based Proxfinity is shining a literal light on the problem – with a unique wearable and software solution. In this edition of Series A – The Podcast, meet Lisa … Continue reading #17 – MAKING CONNECTING SMARTER & BETTER – LISA CARREL/PROXFINITY →

From a smart city to smart apartments, Kansas City entrepreneur Blake Miller has been at the forefront of innovation on the Silicon Prairie. In the latest edition of Series A – The Podcast, we travel to Kansas City for an in-depth look at why America’s heartland is home to some of the nation’s top tech … Continue reading #16 – SMART APARTMENTS AND A SMARTER KC – BLAKE MILLER/HOMEBASE →

Plenty of people are called industry leaders, tech titans, ground breakers and pioneers. But few have earned the moniker like Chicago tech visionary Howard Tullman. The serial entrepreneur has helmed a variety of successful companies, written numerous influential books, and helped spawn hundreds of other companies through his groundbreaking startup collective 1871, the epicenter of … Continue reading #15 – EXCLUSIVE & IN-DEPTH: CHICAGO TECH TITAN HOWARD TULLMAN →

Many business people will tell you there are few things worse than attending a crowded trade show like CES or NRF in hopes of connecting with a potential customer, only to find it nearly impossible to find the needle in a haystack. It’s a problem veteran founders and marketing and sales guys John Corrigan and … Continue reading #14-FINDING NEEDLES IN A TRADE SHOW HAYSTACK – SUMMITSYNC →

When you think of business in LA, artificial intelligence isn’t likely to come to mind. But it turns out a number of leading entrepreneurs and academics have made the City of Angels an epicenter of AI. Some of those leading minds came together recently for Applied AI, an event hosted by LA-based startup Deep Current. … Continue reading #13 – AI IN LA – CITY OF ANGELS AT THE EPICENTER →

A tragic fatality involving an autonomous Uber vehicle in Arizona recently again underscored the challenges facing the burgeoning industry. But Atlanta-based startup Metrotech is at the forefront in developing solutions that could help make the future safer and help manage the ever increasing congestion throttling most of our major metropolitan areas. The lastest edition of … Continue reading #12 – SMARTER CITIES/AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES – PAUL VALCHEFF-METROTECH →

Why would anyone leave a highly successful sales career after a decade at Microsoft with all the benefits that come with it? “One day I just realized sometimes you have to step out of the picture to actually see the picture clearly,” says Piyush Saggi, the CEO and co-founder of Atlanta-based SalesTing. What Saggi repeatedly … Continue reading #11 – CONNECTING SALES AND MARKETING – PIYUSH SAGGI – SALESTING →

From the time he was a kid, John Dogru was always tinkering with electronics, taking them apart and trying to put them back together again. So it’s little surprise he would one day become CEO and co-founder of 3DPrinterOS, a company revolutionizing 3D printing. But it’s a journey over 30 years in the making. “I … Continue reading #10 – 3D PRINTING FOR THE MASSES – JOHN DOGRU – 3DPRINTEROS →

When it comes to the founding of insurance industry upstart Flyreel, there’s been nothing quick or easy. “Everyone reads the TechCrunch article about so and so raising $5 million and it just seems so effortless. And that just wasn’t our experience at all,” admits Cole Winans, the tenacious founder and CEO of the rising Denver-based … Continue reading #9 – OVERHAULING INSURANCE – COLE WINANS – FLYREEL →

When it comes to innovation, some old-school industries aren’t exactly the epitome of transformation. But thanks to a number of exciting new partnerships between Microsoft and some cutting edge startups, dramatic change is coming to the insurance industry and other traditionally staid finanical services sectors. It’s far more sexy than it sounds, according to Microsoft … Continue reading #8 – STARTUPS & MICROSOFT DISRUPTING INSURANCE INDUSTRY →

What do you do when a friend asks for help with her wedding? If you’re veteran Microsoft engineer Vishal Joshi, you hack an app. And before you know it, you’re CEO and co-founder of a burgeoning startup disrupting a $90 billion industry. In this edition of Series A-The Podcast, Joshi details the improbable rise of … Continue reading #7 – INTEGRATING ALL ASPECTS OF WEDDING PLANNING – VISHAL JOSHI – JOY →

Regardless of the business, artificial intelligence has become the holy grail for just about any startup. There’s been plenty of buzz but we’ve barely scratched the surface, according to Microsoft Applied Machine Learning Scientist Justin Bronder. In this edition of Series A-The Podcast, Justin joins host Jim Brisimitzis for a revealing and fascinating look at … Continue reading #6 – AI AND STARTUPS – JUSTIN BRONDER – MICROSOFT →

Harvard Business school. A former Associate Partner with McKinsey & Company. A financier at Societe Generale Investment Banking. By most measures, you’d call Germain Chastel a business success. But it wasn’t enough for the CEO and co-founder of New York-based startup Newton X. “I was very comfortable in corporate life,” Chastel tells host Jim Brisimitzis … Continue reading #5 – WORLD-CLASS CONSULTING FOR ALL – GERMAIN CHASTEL – NEWTONX →