Taking Notes with NextGen

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, our new host and Managing Partner at NextGen Chris Keller interviews Austin Walters, Founder and CEO of IP Copilot. IP Copilot is on a mission to make it easier for companies to uncover the novel ideas within their organizations. Chris and Austin speak about what inspired Austin to start the company, how the company is working with clients today, how AI enables their product, and what the future holds. Disclaimers: The information contained in this podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Any performance or projections contained herein may be significantly affected by future events. Any opinions, assumptions, assessments, statements or the like regarding future events, or which are forward looking constitute only subjective views and beliefs should not be relied on and are subject to change due to a variety of factors including fluctuating market conditions and economic factors.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, our host Chris Keller (Managing Partner at NextGen) interviews Timothy Spong, Co-Founder and CEO of Vistapath Biosystems (Vistapath), where NextGen Venture Partners is a proud investor. Vistapath is a digital health company with a mission to modernize pathology labs to increase the quality of patient care. Tim and Chris talk about what inspired Tim to start the company, how the company is improving labs today, and what he is most excited about for the future. Disclaimers: The information contained in this podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Any performance or projections contained herein may be significantly affected by future events. Any opinions, assumptions, assessments, statements or the like regarding future events, or which are forward looking constitute only subjective views and beliefs should not be relied on and are subject to change due to a variety of factors including fluctuating market conditions and economic factors.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, our new host and existing Partner at NextGen Jon Bassett interviews Irfan Alam. Irfan is the Founder and CEO of Frontrow Health, where NextGen Venture Partners is a proud investor. Frontrow Health is a digital health company with a mission to increase access to healthcare at home by connecting consumers with trusted medical providers and the right health products. Jon asks Irfan about what inspired him to start Frontrow, how the company’s supporting patients today, and what he’s most excited about for the future. Disclaimers: The information contained in this podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Any performance or projections contained herein may be significantly affected by future events. Any opinions, assumptions, assessments, statements or the like regarding future events, or which are forward looking constitute only subjective views and beliefs should not be relied on and are subject to change due to a variety of factors including fluctuating market conditions and economic factors.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and Managing Partner Dan Mindus interviews Jero Beccar, Co-Founder and CEO of Hyka.io, where NextGen Venture Partners is a proud investor. Hyka offers a platform that helps healthcare providers connect their patients with vetted speciality psychiatry clinics. Jero and Dan speak about why these clinics are underutilized for depression and other conditions, and various types of specialty treatments such as brain stimulation and ketamine. Disclaimers: The information contained in this podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Any performance or projections contained herein may be significantly affected by future events. Any opinions, assumptions, assessments, statements or the like regarding future events, or which are forward looking constitute only subjective views and beliefs should not be relied on and are subject to change due to a variety of factors including fluctuating market conditions and economic factors. Private equity investments are characterized by a high degree of risk, volatility and illiquidity due, among other things, to the nature of the investments. A prospective investor should thoroughly review the confidential information contained herein and in the offering materials pertaining to any investment, and carefully consider whether such an investment is suitable to the investor’s financial situation and goals. Investors should have the financial ability and willingness to accept the risks and lack of liquidity that are characteristic of these types of investments. No assurance can be given that any such opportunity’s investment objectives will be achieved or that investors will receive a return of any of their capital. Investors should pay particular attention to the risk factors described in the Memorandum pertaining to an investment opportunity.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and Managing Partner Dan Mindus interviews Marissa Pittard & Chris Olmanson, Co-Founders of Beaming Health, where NextGen Venture Partners is a proud investor. Beaming Health helps families find appropriate, expert care for children with developmental issues. Today they focus on autism care, but Chris and Marissa have plans to expand beyond that. Disclaimers: The information contained in this podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Any performance or projections contained herein may be significantly affected by future events. Any opinions, assumptions, assessments, statements or the like regarding future events, or which are forward looking constitute only subjective views and beliefs should not be relied on and are subject to change due to a variety of factors including fluctuating market conditions and economic factors.

Our guest for this podcast is Mike Hanlon, Founder and CEO of Abett. Abett helps employers, who pay about a trillion dollars a year for healthcare on behalf of employees, to gain control over their healthcare data and become more savvy consumers of healthcare. Abett works with some of the biggest employers in the country and this helps them dramatically reduce healthcare expenses. NextGen Venture Partners is a proud investor in Abett.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and Managing Partner Dan Mindus interviews David Lokshin, Co-Founder and CEO of Trace, where NextGen Venture Partners is a proud investor. Trace is in the business of memories. More specifically, Trace places cameras at youth sports games and then automatically sends each player a personalized video with heir key moments in the game. Over time, Trace plans to capture video from vacations and other memorable times/places to again, automatically send individuals their personalized video. David and Dan touch on several topics, including the culture David has built at Trace over the years.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and Managing Partner Dan Mindus interviews Frances Zelazny, Co-Founder and CEO of Anonybit, where NextGen Venture Partners is a proud investor. Anonybit keeps biometrics information secure. So that fingerprint that helps unlock your phone? Anonybit can help prevent that from being hacked. Frances and Dan discuss the state of the biometrics industry and the very big vision Anonybit has to secure personal information against hacking.

Michael Staton is an EdTech (education technology) entrepreneur and the Co-Founder and CEO of CoLearn. As a former EdTech venture capitalist, Michael asked himself the question, “What should school school look like in an era of remote work for adults, and with an explosion of digital learning resources for kids?” His answer is CoLearn. NextGen is a proud investor in CoLearn, and we’re excited by Michael’s vision for the future and it’s impact on how students learn.

Join Taking Notes with NextGen host, and NextGen Managing Partner, Dan Mindus and Obi Omile, Co-Founder and CEO at theCut, for a illuminating conversation. theCut is a platform for people to find barbers, and for barbers to manage their business with bookings, payments, CRM and more. Obi and Dan discuss the business of the barbershop, the culture of barbershops in communities of color, and the benefits of bringing a new technology solution into the equation.

Andrew Platt is a NextGen Venture Partner, and the Co-Founder and CEO of Statt. NextGen is an investor in Statt, which is a tool that automates the gathering and analysis of public policy information. In this episode, Andrew sits down with NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus to discuss his time as a state legislator, a congressional staffer and the head of policy at a venture-backed startup. Andrew and Dan also discuss the challenges Andrew faced by not having a tool like Statt.

Ben Doherty is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sunroom Rentals, which helps renters lease apartments without brokers and assist real estate owners and investors to better manage leasing their properties. NextGen Venture Partners is a recent investor in the company. Ben sits down with NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus to discuss his journey from starting and selling food delivery company Favor to shifting into tech-enabling the process of renting a home. They also cover the growth of the real estate tech space broadly.

In the latest episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and Managing Partner Dan Mindus is joined by sisters Itziar Diez-Canedo and Maite Diez-Canedo who are the co-founders of Via.work. NextGen is a recent investor. Via helps remove the risk and complexity for employers setting up satellite offices abroad. Itziar and Maite share more about both the history and future of the company, why employers are increasingly setting up offices overseas and the virtues of moving towards a more global labor market.

Join Taking Notes with NextGen host, and NextGen Managing Partner, Dan Mindus and Joy Bhosai for a conversation about Joy’s company, Pluto Health (smart health assistant). NextGen is a recent investor. Pluto has built a mobile app that seeks to help patients with tasks such as storing health records, paying healthcare bills, tracking medications and sharing health data with providers. Dan and Joy discuss challenges around collecting patient health records, and the possibilities for personal and public health with improved information.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, managing partner Dan Mindus speaks with Venture Partner Prabhdeep (Prabh) Singh, who is the EVP, Global Head of Marketplace at WeWork. Prabh launched an on-demand offering that allows people to book WeWork space by the day or hour. Dan and Prabh discuss more the new offering, and how it aligns with the future of office space, where WeWork is going and what it is like working at a company that has received significant attention.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and managing partner Dan Mindus chats with Mike Hanlon, Founder and CEO of Abett (HR and healthcare data). Abett empowers employers with the information they need to be more savvy consumers of healthcare. Employers are the largest payers for healthcare in the country, but the data they receive from their vendors often leaves them without the info and tools they need to be smart purchasers. Dan and Mike discuss Abett’s mission to change that.

Martin Babinec is a Venture Partner with NextGen and the Founder of TriNet, a $4B outsourced Human Resources company based in the Bay Area. After building TriNet for 20 years, Martin returned to his hometown in upstate New York and focused his energy on revitalizing the regional innovation economy. Martin’s new book, More Good Jobs, reads like a memo on how to boost a local entrepreneurial ecosystem and bring high paying jobs to a region. He discusses with NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus. Learn more about Martin's book at https://www.moregoodjobs.org/.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and managing partner Dan Mindus chats with Roman Pedan, Founder and CEO of Kasa Living (Kasa). Kasa is similar to Airbnb in offering short-term accommodations but offers a layer of reliability by ensuring things like consistent cleaning, internet, and check-in/out. Dan and Roman discuss the present and future of short-term housing, the value of Kasa to both homeowners and guests, as well as increasing the accessibility of an itinerant lifestyle. NextGen recently invested in Kasa.

Kyle Garman is a Venture Partner with NextGen, SVP, Global Business Development at SAP, and most recently the author of The Entrepreneurial Mindset. In this episode of Taking Notes, Kyle chats with Dan Mindus (Managing Partner, NextGen Venture Partners) about how to prepare today's kids for the future job market through ideas outlined in his new book. All proceeds of The Entrepreneurial Mindset support the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) where Kyle is on the board.

NextGen portfolio company Aceable is working to help people with life’s certification challenges. The company’s first mobile app offers accredited driver’s education courses and it is now expanding into other verticals such as real estate continuing education. NextGen invested in Aceable in 2015, and Blake and his team prioritized building a diverse and inclusive culture from the company’s early days. Today, the Aceable team counts 200 employees and over 1.5 million users, and this priority continues. In this episode of Taking Notes, Dan Mindus (Managing Partner, NextGen VP) and Blake discuss the how around diversity and inclusion at a growing tech company.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Tom Griffiths, CEO and Co-Founder of Hone. Hone was launched based on Tom's experience as a Co-Founder and executive of FanDuel. As the company grew, he needed to bring managers up to speed quickly, but couldn’t find any good products to do so. Tom created Hone to solve this problem, leveraging video conferencing for a new approach to management training. Dan and Tom discuss the Hone founding story, thoughts on leadership during COVID-19 and the future of leadership training.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Nick Bonfiglio and Neelesh Shastry, Co-Founders of NextGen portfolio company Syncari. Syncari is building a distributed data management (DDM) software platform to help businesses solve data inconsistencies. Syncari uses data synchronization to coordinate the quality, availability and governance of data across applications.

In this episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, host and Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Dan Abdinoor, the Co-Founder and CEO of NextGen portfolio company Fritz AI (Fritz). Fritz has created a platform that makes it easy for mobile developers to create applications that leverage machine learning. Over time, Fritz also plans to support the full internet of things. The Dans discuss how Fritz helps developers, the kind of apps it enables and where AI/ML is going.

In this episode of Taking Notes, NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Diane Strutner, Founder and CEO of one of NextGen's portfolio companies. When someone streaming a video on the internet experiences a failure, the provider of that video often doesn't know that the failure has happened, how often, or if the viewer is leaving because of this issue. Datazoom provides tools for companies to monitor these issues, and think bout them from a business perspective.

In this episode of Taking Notes, NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with David Sullivan, Founder and CEO of Till, one of NextGen's portfolio companies. To date, the home rental space has been poor in data, analytics and tools to help renters pay rent, stay in their homes and create value for landlords. David discusses how Till is addressing all of these problems, creating a win-win scenario for landlords and tenants.

In this special episode of Taking Notes, NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Taylor Graff, Head of Asset Allocation Research at Brown Advisory. NextGen combined with Brown Advisory two years ago. Dan and Taylor discuss the impact of the novel coronavirus on economic trends and financial markets, and how this relates to investing.

In this episode of Taking Notes, NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Joe Saunders, Founder and CEO of RunSafe Security. NextGen recently invested in RunSafe, which sells a patented “cyberhardening” tool that is designed to help immunize software that runs on embedded systems and devices. RunSafe focuses on protecting technology across critical infrastructure, including automotive, data centers, energy, health care, manufacturing, military systems and suppliers. Joe offers a great introduction to the cybersecurity world, as well as RunSafe's novel approach within the space.

In this episode of Taking Notes, NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Tessa Lau, Co-Founder and CEO of Dusty Robotics. NextGen recently invested in Dusty Robotics which is building robots to help bring digital transformation of the construction industry. The company's first product automates the high-value and currently manual task of layout.

In this episode of Taking Notes, NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Vinayak Ranade, CEO of Drafted. NextGen recently invested in Drafted which offers software to human resources departments to help them fill open positions by empowering their employee base to find referrals via their own networks. NextGen is excited about the good Drafted can do under Vinayak's leadership including helping companies source great talent, improving diversity at companies, helping job hunters find great roles and more.

Dan Mindus (Managing Partner at NextGen) and Immad Akhund (Co-Founder and CEO of Mercury) discuss building a bank from scratch that is specifically built for tech startup entrepreneurs. Immad shares why he started Mercury, and how it is benefitting his large and growing client base.

In this episode of Taking Notes, Dan Mindus (co-founder and managing partner of NGVP) speaks with Venture Partner John Duncan (Principal at Meridian Research Group and Capital Point). Capital Point provides analysis to institutional investors and corporate executives with a heavy focus on the technology industry. The two discuss the potential impact of new policies out of Washington, D.C. on big technology companies, with John drawing from his expertise in both worlds at Microsoft, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Commerce and elsewhere.

In this episode of Taking Notes, NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Carter McJunkin. Carter is a Venture Partner with NextGen and was the COO at Grindr for nearly 8 years, from employee # 1 to exit. Grindr describes itself as the largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans and queer people. Dan and Carter discuss growth at Grindr to millions of daily active users, and the company's recent news on the global stage.

In this episode, Dan Mindus (managing partner at Nextgen) chats with Jason Yeh (co-founder at Tape - video tool for sales/NextGen portfolio company) about pursuing the opportunity to productize innovations in mobile video for the enterprise. "Mobile video has given the consumer world a lot in terms of a natural way to communicate, a way to present human contact between friends and family, and we started thinking about the ways that could be applied to the business world...we stumbled across a huge pain point in the area of B2B leads."

In this episode of Taking notes, Dan Mindus (managing partner at NextGen) and Ajay Kori (co-founder and chairman at UrbanStems) discuss the broken flower industry and Ajay's motivations for entering the space, why Amazon is unlikely to compete here and why he handed off his position as UrbanStems' chief executive officer.

In this episode of Taking Notes, NextGen Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Andrew Yang. Andrew founded Venture for America (VFA), a fellowship program for recent college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs. VFA trains its fellows then sends them to work at early-stage growth companies and startups in Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland and other cities with the goal of generating job growth in cities across the country. After seeing the impact of increasingly automated jobs on cities, Andrew realized that startup job growth was akin to tossing water into a leaky bucket. He stepped down as VFA's CEO and launched his 2020 presidential campaign with Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a central pillar.

In this episode, product guru Ben Foster shares the (sometimes counterintuitive) lessons he has learned. Ben was the vice president of marketing at Opower, now a publicly traded company. He has also advised over 50 startups on product over the years, including four currently. Today, Ben is the chief product officer of GoCanvas, a startup with a team of over 200.

Cherian Thomas is the co-founder and CEO of NextGen portfolio company Play Octopus, the premiere rideshare entertainment platform. Cherian discusses the company's value proposition to its three key stakeholders, fostering team buy-in after a major pivot, and its traction to date.

Ben Sardella is the co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer of OutboundWorks, which is an automated sales development platform that deliver customers ~1.5x the average output of the best performing sales development reps at ~65% of the cost. Ben shares how his experience as a sales leader as VP of Sales at Kissmetrics and co-founder of Datanyze helped him build OutboundWorks, a NextGen portfolio company.

In this week's episode of Taking Notes with NextGen, Managing Partner Dan Mindus speaks with Venture Partners Angela Han and Jamey Jeff in a conversation surrounding Customer Success. Both Angela and Jamey have deep customer success experience. Angela held customer success roles in a number of different technology companies prior to her most recent position as the Vice President of Customer Success and Professional Services with SendGrid. Jamey has led customer success at two different startups and is now Managing Director - Customer Success with Coastal Cloud, a consulting firm that helps their clients build world class customer success organizations.

Christy Wyskiel discusses her efforts to drive the startup ecosystem at Johns Hopkins, from encouraging student education about entrepreneurship to getting funding for tech companies founded by academics.

Max Wessel, former VC at Sapphire Ventures, leads the effort to create new startups from within the ranks of SAP employees. Max discusses how SAP creates startups from scratch, and compares and contrasts the startup studio model to traditional venture capital.

Fran Hauser, angel investor in 20 companies, and recent author of the book, The Myth of the Nice Girl, discusses what she sees as the false tradeoff between kindness and strength in the workplace, and how she incorporates her background from book keeper for her immigrant parents' businesses at age six to President of Time Digital into her startup investing.

Ray Pawlikowski is the CEO of OPTii Solutions. In this podcast, Ray shares how OPTii Solutions is revolutionizing housekeeping functions across global hotels and resort, delivering greater profitability and enhanced guest experience. Ray explains how his experience founding and leading HotSchedules led him to see a big opportunity for OPTii, and discusses how he transitioned to the role of CEO for an existing company.

Matt Alexander is the founder and CEO of Neighborhood Goods. In this podcast, Matt shares his vision for Neighborhood Goods, what he describes the "App Store for retail," which is creating a compelling offline shopping experience. Matt explains why digitally native brands are investing in offline channels and shares why, despite the headlines, he believes there's a future for physical retail in the age of Amazon.

Randy Altschuler is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded three successful companies, including Office Tiger in 1999, CloudBlue in 2001, and mostly recently Xometry in 2013. Randy is currently CEO of Xometry, an advanced manufacturing company with investors including Highland Capital Partners. In this episode, Randy discusses how he transitioned from a traditional finance background to entrepreneurship. He also discusses his insights into the most important parts of building a company.

Christian Seale is the Founder and GP of Startupbootcamp Miami. In this episode, Christian discusses the opportunities presented by the US healthcare industry for startups leveraging emerging technology from other industries to shift the paradigm in how we deal with care. He also explores how Startupbootcamp positions itself to provide value to its companies.

Ken Nguyen is the co-Founder and CEO of Republic. In this podcast, Ken discusses how Republic is at the center of emerging trends around inclusive innovation and startup funding, and the company's vision for a more mission-driven and people-driven economy. Ken explains the benefits for an early stage company to leverage the crowdfunding model. He also shares his view on how blockchain is moving crowdfunding forward at a faster pace.

Michael B. Horn, a thought leader in education, discusses the future of the edtech space and how emerging trends and existing realities are shaping the potential impact that companies can have.

Marc MacLeod is the founder and CEO of Stoplight, which provides a suite of products that cover the entire pre-production API lifecycle and is a NextGen portfolio company. Marc discusses how he initially developed Stoplight to serve his consulting clients, and why he decided to build Stoplight full-time.

Ivan Zhou is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mayhem (https://www.mayhem.gg/), the world's first platform for synced real-time gameplay reviews. Ivan discusses where the idea for Mayhem originated and how they knew they were onto something. Ivan also explains how Mayhem supports a global user base, how the eSports industry has evolved, and what's next for the gaming industry.

Kara Weber and Lizzie Francis, Founding Partners of Brilliant Ventures and Venture Partners with NextGen, discuss how years of experience working as marketing leaders at growth stage companies informed their firm's investment thesis. They also share why they believe that their efforts to invest in founders with diverse backgrounds will lead to better returns.

Jerry Brito is the Executive Director of Coin Center, a non-profit research and advocacy center focused on cryptocurrency technologies. Jerry discusses how he got involved in currencies as well as the functionality behind them. Additionally he describes the legal issues surrounding aspects such as taxation and potential pitfalls with the technology.

Tom Adams, Co-Founder and CEO of Smartly discusses how his experiences in the interactive education space helped lead him to create a free online MBA course for top candidates. Tom also explains how active engagement is key to increasing outcomes in online education and how other top business school programs compare.

Martin Babinec is the Founder and longtime CEO of TriNet Group, a cloud-based professional employer organization for small and medium-sized businesses. He is also the founder and chairman of Upstate Venture Connect, a non-profit seeking to grow the startup ecosystem in Upstate New York. Martin discusses why he became an entrepreneur, how cross-country commuting for a decade led him to establish Upstate Venture Connect, and his advice to build or strengthen your local startup ecosystem.

Over $1 trillion in independent contractor income annually in the U.S. is locked in a 30, 60 or 90 day invoicing cycle. Johnny Reinsch, co-founder and CEO of Qwil, founded the company to offer financial products to individual contractors, freelancers, and small businesses. Qwil participated in the 500 Startups Fintech Accelerator in 2016, as well as the Silicon Valley Bank and First Data Accelerator, Commerce.Innovated.

Jacob Hodes is the Head of Private Equity at Brown Advisory, a 55 billion dollar asset management firm and investor in NextGen's fund. Jacob discusses what limited partners look for in their venture capital investments and discusses the challenges and opportunities of working over the lifespan of a fund.

Julia Cheek is Founder and CEO of Everlywell, a NextGen Venture Partners portfolio company. By increasing access to at home testing kits, Everlywell is reducing costs and expediting results. In our conversation, Julia shared Everlywell's mission, and how they are combating the effects of regulations, insurance, and consumer attitude in the current health testing system. Julia also discusses her process for engaging with investors and the idea of work-life balance.

Robin Heffernan is Founder and CEO of Circulation, a NextGen portfolio company. By reducing barriers to care, Circulation is improving the patient experience and reducing costs for the entire healthcare system. In our conversation, Robin shared Circulation's founding story and how the team identified a bigger opportunity after working with Uber to deliver vaccines on-demand. Robin also elaborates on how Circulation will become the platform to coordinate all patient care logistics.

Avizia partners with healthcare providers to design, deploy and power system-wide telehealth programs. To do this, Avizia combines a collaborative approach with market-leading telehealth solutions that scale across the continuum of care.

Alexis Juneja is VP of People and Culture at Vox, a NextGen Venture Partner, and the co-founder of media company Curbed Network, which was acquired by Vox Media in 2013. In this podcast, Alexis speaks to the origins of Curbed Networks as an “aggressive hobby,” Vox’s acquisition, transitioning into her role at Vox and scaling the media company, and building the framework for a diverse and inclusive culture. "Our CEO, our early founders, our early employees, managers across the board - I think all employees have an impact on culture.”