Interesting People for 20: Recent Episodes
Eric Cohen
Wonderful People. Surprising Stories. All in 20 minutes. Award winning inventor and entrepreneur, Eric Cohen captures the backstories in Business and Technology- with some cycling on the side.
I’ve been following Pittsburgh based Adrich and its founder Adhithi Aji for a few years, and when we finally had a chance to record this podcast, I decided to let the conversation take its course. We had a blast talking about her story, the company’s journey, and recorded over 50 minutes. Feeling the content was too rich to cut down to 20, we broke this into 2 chapters for easy listening. This conversation is like a master class on start-ups, consumer products and perseverance. Hear the story of the famous Tic Tac box, and how Adhithi went from a Carnegie Mellon Masters student to technology CEO in the fast-paced, low-margin world of consumer products, where loyalty and data are the new table stakes for growth. Learn more about Adrich here.
Almost everyone loves a smoothie. Some like it as a treat and some as a health drink. For years there has been various approaches to commercializing this popular yet elusive combination of ingredients blended into a cocktail of flavors ranging from fruity to grassy. What I loved about this interview with the two founders of smoodi, was that it’s like a masterclass in scrappy start-ups that are worried more about consumer learning than writing business plans. Let’s hear how Pascal Kriesche and Morgan Abraham met and how this relationship turned into something we can all love and enjoy. I met Morgan and Pascal in 2019 through my work at Harvard, and have followed their journey ever since. For more information about the company, go to https://www.getsmoodi.com/
If you're a competitive athlete or weekend warrior in your later years, you might want to read Haywire Heart- a very clear and understandable book about the endurance athlete and who too much of a good thing can hurt you. I know I wish I had read it sooner, but truth be told, very little information about hearth health and the endurance athlete exists. Co-author Chris Case and I met in 2019 cycling in the Alps when I first learned about his book. Please join me for a conversation with Chris to hear about the book, and a quest for answers I know many of us seek. Here's a link to the book we discuss- Haywire Heart.
Harvard Law student and Fashion founder, Logan Brown wants women to change the way they think about fashion. A candid conversation about being both a full-time student and business owner in and industry that hasn't yet caught up with the new way of working. For more information, go to https://spencerjane.com/
Training for a world record isn’t easy, but neither is starting a new company. Angella Goran, a retired pro cyclist, is doing both at the same time. Hear how Angella’s training for the UCI one-hour record is going while she’s building and fundraising for a new consumer financial app to change the way athletes shop. For more information, go to https://athleticarewards.com/
For many of us, running a marathon is a dream. We might train for one or two 26.2 mile marathon in our lifetime. In todays podcast, I speak with Davis Cutter, the Boston native, who in 2021, ran not one or two, but 52- yes- that’s one every week. In addition to his daily training runs of 6-8 miles and his marathon length runs, he also ran a number of longer runs, some up to 50 or 100 miles.
And yes, that’s straight, and not over the course of days or a week. According the Strava- the fitness app, the average running distance for 27million users is about 4 miles per day. If you look at Davis’s statistics on Strava, he averaged over 55 miles per week, for every week of the year. Let’s hear more from Davis about how he managed to keep on pace with this challenge he created form himself. He joins us from Amsterdam.
For more information about Davis's running, go to www.daviscutter.com.
Hi everyone- I thought I’d give you a quick update on the IPfor20 podcast and what to expect in the upcoming months. So far, we’ve heard from Susan Conover about her skin AI company and from Ed Warren, the nuclear weapons officer turned entrepreneur.
Coming soon, I chat with an expert on climate change, what we can do about it, and the technologies he hopes will both save the planet and a turn a profit. I’ll chat with an AI guru- first a bit about technology, and then a bit more about dating and her quest to find JUST the right guy. We’ll hear from a Canadian cyclist and her training to break the UCI one-hour record in July 2022. We hear from founders in footwear, smoothie machines, and as part of my Harvard series, student founders I’ve mentored over the years. May is Mental health month, and I’m producing a series of podcasts to address this important topic- discussing real-life events, new technologies, and visions of a better future. I really hope you’ll join me for this important series.
As a reminder, you can go to ipfor20.com, or find me on all the usual places like Apple podcast, Spotify, and Audible. thanks for listening!
Climate change is real, and Dan Goldman is doing something about it. Hear how this venture capitalist is focusing on companies developing clean technologies, and as individuals, how simple changes can make a big impact. For more information on Dan and his Venture Capital firm, go to https://cleanenergyventures.com , and for information about the personal Netzero app Dan mentioned, go to https://www.joro.app//.
In today’s podcast I welcome Dr. Rana el Kaliouby, an AI pioneer who in received her PhD at Cambridge university, started a company called Affectiva, and has been developing technology for high tech applications like automobiles and healthcare. Behind every entrepreneur and success story is a person, a real live person who has needs and desires like everyone else. When Rana and I chatted about what she wanted to talk about, we decided on dating, and she wanted the conversation to be open, and honest.
You can learn more about Rana here on her website at www.ranaelkaliouby.com, or find her on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Meta.
After a diagnosis of skin cancer when she was only 22, Susan Conover, an MIT trained engineer, saw multiple doctors before she got the right diagnosis and treatment. Using her own experience as inspiration, Susan shares how she set out to create a new company to help physicians properly diagnose and treat common skin conditions right the first time. To learn more, go to https://www.pictionhealth.com/
When Covid hit, it changed everything, especially how, and where we worked. Ed Warren was in the thick of building Zippity, a mobile car repair service that would fix your car while it sat in your company parking lot, whwn this new normal changed his company. With a quick pivot, Ed transformed Zippity into a software business and is now reaping the rewards. Hear how his military background kept him moving forward. To learn more about Zippity, go to https://www.getzippity.com/
Coming soon:) I hope you’ll join me when I meet some some truly amazing people in business, technology, and sport.