Innovation with Mark Peter Davis

On this week’s episode I sit down with Noah Glass, Founder and CEO of Olo. Olo isn’t a household name, but that’s by design. They are a white label solution that powers most of the restaurant apps you have on your phone. These apps streamline ordering and specialize in supporting takeout. While I suspect that most people would correctly guess that the majority of the food ordered from restaurants is eaten off premise, I doubt that most folks would know that takeout is 13-times larger than delivery. Olo is supplying the software products to make that happen and have been on an upward trajectory for years. They just recently IPO'd this past March.Noah is clearly brilliant. I went a bit off my prepared questions in order to do some deep dives with him about how he operates Olo.He shares some incredibly valuable wisdom about how they use analytics to craft their products, how to leverage a product advisory council, navigating the IPO process, and much more.Follow us on Twitter: @nhglass / @olo / @mpdShow Notes: OloPodcast Links: Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

On this week’s episode I chat with Darius Monsef, Founder and CEO of Brave Care.Brave Care is creating a new, better healthcare system for kids by providing primary, urgent & remote care catered just for them, 365 days a year. By tech-enabling a system that’s been long overdue for an upgrade, Darius hopes to make Brave Care the premier children’s healthcare partner for parents.Interplay is lucky enough to be an early investor in the company and we absolutely love their mission.Darius is a serial entrepreneur with multiple successful exits. You might think that things get easier for entrepreneurs with each new company they start, but the journey is always an arduous one. Darius and I explore this topic (which includes a thoughtful and - IMO - very helpful discussion about wealth in the tech community), why he went through Ycombinator multiple times, the startup scene in Portland, and much more.It was a great conversation. I hope you enjoy it.Follow us on Twitter: @bubs / @BraveCare / @mpdShow Notes: Brave Care, Darius’ Non-Profits: Hands.org, Nalukai Foundation Podcast Links: Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

On today’s episode I sit down with Peter Sullivan, the Founder and CEO of Jackpocket. Jackpocket is digitizing the lottery - allowing everyone to play the lottery from their phone.Peter shares his epic entrepreneurial tale that I think will one day become startup folklore. He persevered through an extremely long development cycle - during which he put it all on the line - only to emerge with a company that is going to be a unicorn.I am an investor in Jackpocket so I’ve had the opportunity to watch this journey first hand. I think this is going to be one for the ages.The lottery industry is GIGANTIC and states heavily rely on the revenue generated from lottery ticket sales. Roughly 30-40% of every lottery ticket sold goes to state programs, such as education, job creation, veteran care, and outdoor recreation and preservation.As you might suspect, this means dealing with a TON of governmental red tape, which is both a challenge and a great way to create a competitive barrier.During our chat, Peter shares mind blowing stats about the lottery, teaches us how to think about partnering with governments, details his crazy entrepreneurial journey and much more.Follow us on Twitter: @pjsullivan3 / @Jackpocket / @mpdShow Notes: Jackpocket, Jackpocket CommercialPodcast Links: Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

On today’s show I chat with Jeff Bussgang, Co-Founder and General Partner of Flybridge Capital Partners, a Boston based VC fund with 700M under management.As you know from previous episodes, I’ve been interviewing different VCs on the show with the goal to highlight different geographies. Jeff’s on to represent Boston.Along with being a VC, Jeff is the author of “Mastering The VC Game” and a professor at Harvard Business School, which has helped him become a true expert on VC. He’s also a bit of a mentor to the current generation of VCs. A lot of people in the industry look to him for guidance, so I’m honored to have him on the show.As if Jeff already doesn’t do enough, he also actively invests in Harvard grads through a vehicle called the Graduate Syndicate and is a Co-Founder of Hack Diversity - a non-profit focused on helping Black and Latinx/e/a/o technologists find their way into tech companies.During the chat we talk about how Flybridge Capital operates, what’s going on in the Boston VC game, some of his favorite lessons that he teaches in class, and much more. Follow us on Twitter: @bussgang / @mpdShow Notes:Flybridge CapitalGraduate SyndicateHack.DiversityJeff’s Book - Mastering the VC GamePodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

On this week’s episode I have a great conversation with David S. Rose, a serial entrepreneur who’s current venture is US Real Estate Market, also known as USREM. US Real Estate Market is a startup developing a capital markets platform for fractional institutional investment in commercial real estate. David's path to this current venture has been a lifelong journey. He comes from one of the generational NY real estate families and has dedicated a significant portion of his life to modernizing and tech-enabling the industry. As you’ll hear him explain, he was amongst the early pioneers of proptech, which included using spreadsheets for real estate projects when a friend invented the spreadsheet! David shares some fascinating insights to the history of NY real estate and why the real estate industry in general has been slow to adopt tech.We also discuss Singularity University and Andrew Yang’s run for NYC Mayor. There’s a pattern here in that both groups are highly forward thinking. The thesis around Singularity University is that tech is advancing at an exponential pace - which is even faster than what people think. He talks about their theories and the potential impact on society. David is a supporter of Andrew Yang and he makes his case for Andrew’s candidacy.David is brilliant. His insights are unique and opinions well thought out. We cover a lot in this chat, and I think it’s an entertaining one. Enjoy.Follow us on Twitter: @davidsrose / @mpdShow Notes:US Real Estate MarketDavid’s Ted TalkPodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

On today’s show I chat with Jon Stein, the Founder and Chairman of Betterment. Betterment is an investing platform that helps people manage their money. Jon and I met at Columbia Business School way back in 2007, which is when he first told me about his idea for Betterment. I didn’t get it at the time, but Jon had a vision.After navigating the murky waters of a HIGHLY regulated sector, Jon launched Betterment in 2010, which was revolutionary at the time for being the first no-fee trading platform. Now they have $30b in AUM serving 600,000 customers. It’s officially a unicorn.After 13 years at the helm, Jon recently stepped down from being CEO and is now the Chairman of the Board. Here in the States it’s become strangely taboo for a CEO to step down, while in other countries it’s an obvious sign of growth and development. I view Jon’s move as a promotion. During our chat Jon was very candid about the transition which I think will be helpful to a lot of other founders.We also discuss Betterment’s founding story, how to navigate regulatory challenges as an entrepreneur, and much more.Follow us on Twitter: @jonstein / @Betterment / @mpdShow Notes: Betterment, Howard Marks MemosPodcast Links: Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

On today’s episode I catch up with Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures. New Stack is a VC firm based out of Chicago, IL that focuses on early seed stage investing. With a strong focus on investing in their own backyard, Nick and New Stack are on pace to build a brand name VC between the coasts that represents the Midwest on the national stage. It was great to hear about how things are going and what they have planned for the future.Along with being a big time VC, Nick is also a veteran podcaster. He hosts a podcast called The Full Ratchet where he interviews fellow venture capitalists and investor experts. It’s a great pod and I highly recommend checking it out. He was kind enough to have me on the show back in 2015. If you’d like to listen to those episodes, I’ve included links in the show notes below.During today’s chat you’ll hear some pretty honest, real talk about the world of venture capital and how it functions, what’s broken, and where it’s going.Enjoy.Follow us on Twitter: @TheFullRatchet / @NewStackVC / @mpdGuest Links:Twitter - Nick, The Full Ratchet (Nick’s podcast), New Stack Ventures Here’s a link to The Full Ratchet episodes with Mark as the guest: Part 1, Part 2Podcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

On today’s episode I catch up with David Cummings, an entrepreneur on a mission to put Atlanta on the map when it comes to tech and venture capital. He also happens to be an old friend of mine. David and I met during our undergraduate days at Duke where we were two of only a few entrepreneurs on campus. My endeavors fizzled out while David’s became massively successful. He sold one of them - Pardot - to Salesforce for $95m and another - Hannon Hill - is still active and continuing to scale.David’s current focus and passion is the Atlanta Tech Village, an innovation hub he’s created in a building located in the heart of Atlanta. As he puts it, by creating an ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurs he’s “engineering serendipity” with the goal to make sure Atlanta is reaching its full entrepreneurial potential. Out of it has come many successful companies, including Calendy of which David is an investor/board member.During our chat David breaks down how the Atlanta Tech Village operates, the VC fund he invests out of, and why companies should HEAVILY consider getting their start in Atlanta.Guest Links:Twitter - David, Twitter - Atlanta Tech VillagePodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

David Cohen is the Founder and Chairman of Techstars, one of the largest venture capital operations in the world. Since 2006 they’ve been on a mission to help entrepreneurs succeed and have invested in over 2,400 companies.What began in Boulder, CO is now a global network of entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, and cities. You know innovation isn’t far behind when Techstars comes to town! During our convo we discuss the inner workings of Techstars, tips for entrepreneurs on how to get admitted into their programs, and the most valuable entrepreneurial lessons David has learned along the way.Follow us on Twitter:@davidcohen / @techstars / @mpdGuest Links:Twitter - David, Twitter - TechstarsPodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

Samer Hamadeh is the Founder and CEO of Zeel. Zeel started by providing in-home massage therapy, but looks a bit different these days. As you might suspect, the pandemic crushed their business and overnight their revenue went to zero. But in a time of crisis Zeel was able to leverage the logistics network they had built over the years to start offering in-home COVID testing. They’ve now expanded their services to include in-home medical services and have positioned themselves to be a pioneer in the nascent in-home-medicine market.During our conversation we discuss the growth potential for the in-home healthcare industry that is quickly taking shape, the difficulties of a logistics based company, how companies can navigate crises, and much more. Follow us on Twitter:@samerham / @getzeel@mpdShow Notes:Book - The GoalGuest Links:Twitter - Samer, Twitter - ZeelPodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn