Lay of The Land

Lay of the Land’s sixteenth conversation is with Brandon Bryant — co-founder and venture partner at Harlem Capital — on investing in companies started by people of color & women with the purpose of changing the face of entrepreneurship.Harlem Capital closed on its inaugural oversubscribed $40 million fund back in 2019 and is focused on investing in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 20 years.Brandon — who recently boomeranged from NYC back to Cleveland — is taking Harlem Capital’s mission and vision and applying it to Cleveland and the greater midwest opportunity.I’m incredibly excited Brandon is joining the Cleveland entrepreneurial ecosystem and to share his work, whose awesomeness and importance speaks for itself!We cover a lot in this conversation — from investing to content creation to storytelling (on the side, Brandon created and manages WallStreetPaper, a brand now harboring over 200,000 followers on instagram) — hope you all enjoy it! ————Follow Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wallstreetpaperFollow WallStreetPaper on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wallstreetpaper/Follow Harlem Capital on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlemCapital————Connect with Jeffrey on Linkedin or on TwitterFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter 

Lay of the Land’s fifteenth conversation is with Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland.We cover a lot in this conversation — through a lens of technology, entrepreneurship, and equity, we explore Justin’s vision for the city of Cleveland. Really enjoyed this conversation and hope you do too!————Justin Bibb is a proud Cleveland native who grew up in Mt. Pleasant on the southeast side of the city. He has dedicated his career to rebuilding neighborhoods and making cities safer, healthier, and more resilient. Justin currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer of Urbanova, a start-up focused on solving the unique challenges faced by mid-sized cities.Over the last 15 years, Justin has worked at the intersection of government, business, and the nonprofit sector as an executive and nonprofit leader. He interned for President Barack Obama when he was in the U.S. Senate and has served as Special Assistant for Cuyahoga County, Head of the Global Cities Practice at Gallup, and most recently, Vice President for KeyBank.He co-founded Hack Cleveland in 2014 following the death of Tamir Rice and launched Cleveland Can't-Wait in 2019, a nonprofit focused on advancing racial equity and economic opportunity in underserved neighborhoods across the city. Justin also serves on the boards of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, Teach for America – Ohio, Destination Cleveland, and LAND Studio Inc.————Learn more about Justin’s Platform: https://www.bibbforcle.com/Follow Justin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JustinMBibbFollow Justin’s Campaign on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BibbForCLE————Subscribe on Apple PodcastsConnect with Jeffrey on Linkedin or on TwitterFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter 

Our fourteenth conversation is with Matt Buder Shapiro — co-founder and chief marketing officer of MedPilot which was recently acquired by Vytalize Health in a big win for Cleveland startups!Matt is a Cleveland native and champion of the ecosystem here (he also has just been genuinely kind and giving of his time, supporting all of Lay of The Land’s progress so far). He has been responsible for developing MedPilot's brand and patient engagement strategy — to date, MedPilot’s helped over 1,000,000 patients and boasts a 97% patient satisfaction score.Matt also sits on the advisory board for Blue Star Families, the nation's largest chapter-based military family organization, and the Catamount Innovation Fund. Prior to MedPilot, Matt led the New York media team at Bully Pulpit Interactive, a political strategy firm created by the digital marketers of Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns. BPI's experience with leveraging data to target communication helped provide the foundation for MedPilot's engagement engine. Matt is also a political strategist and advisor for Dr. Tom Lee, the founder of One Medical, ePocrates, and Galileo. Most recently, Matt serves as a Technology Policy Advisor for Justin Bibb’s mayoral campaign.Please enjoy our conversation!Connect with Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattbudershapiroFollow Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbudershapiroConnect with Jeffrey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLand

Lay of the Land is about telling the stories of what people are building in Cleveland, and today we’re taking that literally! We’re talking about building buildings.Our (lucky) thirteenth conversation is with Dan Whalen — Harbor Bay’s vice president of design and development — and we’re covering INTRO: Cleveland’s first and America’s tallest mass timber project located at Market Square in the heart of Ohio City in the shadow of the historic West Side Market.Living in Ohio City, this was one of my favorite conversations so far. There is an incredible amount of innovation that has gone into INTRO and Dan’s vision for this building and community is inspiring. Please enjoy!Learn more about INTRO: https://introcleveland.com/Follow Dan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwhalen5Connect with Jeffrey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLand

Our twelfth conversation is with Bob Sopko. Bob is the director of Case Western’s LaunchNet focused on helping students and alumni build startups and supporting their entrepreneurial efforts. Bob is also an entrepreneur-in-residence at Youngstown Business Incubator where he mentors early-stage technology companies. Through this conversation, we map a whole breadth of the Cleveland entrepreneurial space and cover the impact of institutions like Case Western. Please enjoy!Learn more about LaunchNet: https://case.edu/launchnet/Connect with Bob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsopko/Connect with Jeffrey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLand

Our eleventh conversation is with Nicole Paolozzi  — founder & CEO of OndeCare based here in Cleveland!We cover the challenges of in-home healthcare for loved ones of all ages and needs — infant, childcare, special needs care, and eldercare — and how OndeCare meets this need by connecting credentialed care, safety, and education professionals with busy families that are juggling demanding jobs and care of loved ones. We also cover the challenges of being a first-time founder, iterating on business models, raising a seed round, and more.I really enjoyed this conversation with Nicole and I hope you all do too!Learn more about OndeCare: https://ondecare.com/Follow OndeCare on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ondecareConnect with Nicole: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-paolozzi/Connect with Jeffrey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLand

Our tenth episode is a conversation with  Taher Hassonjee — director of business development at RVshare (based on Akron, Ohio)  — exploring the world of recreational vehicles and why RVshare has been able to capitalize on it raising more than $100 million in capital and growing bookings over 650% in late 2020.As continentally confined Americans look for domestic vacation options that won’t expose them to too much risk of infection from the pandemic that’s still rampant across the country, the RV rental company RVshare has positioned itself as a market leader to meet the booming demand for RVs as we hit the road in unprecedented numbers.Taher is a wealth of knowledge and it’s no wonder RVshare has become one of the most well-capitalized companies and fast-growing companies in the MidWest.Please enjoy the conversation with Taher!Learn more about RVshare: https://rvshare.com/Follow Taher on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thassonjeeConnect with Taher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taherhassonjee/Connect with Jeffrey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLand

Our ninth episode is a conversation with  Steve Muszynski — founder & CEO of Splash Financial — exploring the student loan crisis and how Splash is helping people save on their student loan debtI met Steve back when Splash Financial was known as GradSchoolLoans and their growth and impact since then has been extraordinary. Splash has been recognized as the 8th fastest growing company in Ohio having raised $17 million in venture capital, and was named one of the top 250 private Fintech companies in the world by CB Insights. Even during the pandemic this last year, they’ve experienced tremendous growth on both the revenue and headcount side - employing over 70 people - and show no signs of slowing down. I'm excited to share the story of Steve and Splash because I think they've flown relatively under the radar for how much they've been able to accomplish in the past few years here in Cleveland. Please enjoy our conversation!Learn more about Splash Financial: https://www.splashfinancial.com/Follow Splash Financial on Twitter: https://twitter.com/splashfinancialConnect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-muszynski-16341b2b/Connect with Jeffrey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLand

Our eighth episode is a conversation with Joe DeLoss — founder of Hot Chicken Takeover — about service, entrepreneurship, chicken, and change for good.He’s spent the last decade building business creating employment opportunities for those who have experienced significant adversity in their lives. From incarceration to addiction to homelessness, Joe believes everyone deserves a fair chance to build a new story for themselves. Hot Chicken Takeover is a fast-casual restaurant chain taking over the Midwest. Joe’s dedication to fair-chance hiring and social entrepreneurship has allowed him to positively impact the lives of thousands of people and I’m incredibly excited to have him on the podcast to amplify his message encouraging change on an exponentially larger scale. I came away from this conversation truly inspired by Joe and craving some Hot Chicken Takeover. Hope you all enjoy it!Follow Hot Chicken Takeover on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChickenTakeoverLearn more about Hot Chicken Takeover: https://hotchickentakeover.com/Connect with Jeffrey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLand

On our seventh episode, we’re speaking with Lee ZapisLee Zapis is the former president of Zapis Communications which owned and operated WZAK along with other radio stations in Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown. Zapis Communications' stations received numerous national broadcast awards and were nominated eight times for the Marconi Award, the highest honor of the National Association of Broadcasters. After the sale of Zapis Communications' radio stations in 1999, at which point WZAK had become Cleveland’s #1 radio station, Lee continued his entrepreneurial journey founding a multitude of other successful Cleveland-based companies and in parallel, formed Zapis Capital Group in 2003, investing in the technology, healthcare, real estate and media industries across NorthEast Ohio.We cover a lot of ground in this interview and I hope you will enjoy it!Connect with Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leezapis/Follow Lee on Twitter: https://twitter.com/leezapisConnect with Jeffrey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodLayOfTheLand