Ideas at ND: Recent Episodes
The IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame
IDEAs at ND is the official podcast of the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame. It features conversations with some of Notre Dame's most creative entrepreneurs and inventors. In our episodes, we dive into the stories, ideas and people driving innovation at Notre Dame.
IDEAs at ND was founded by Patrick Hollander (Finance and Economics, Class of 2020).
One of the biggest obstacles to a startup's advancement is lack of funding. Early-stage startups that emerge from universities often face two problems in this regard: 1) the overwhelming majority of funding for startups is not for early-stage companies, and 2) startup funding is largely concentrated in only a few metro areas. This has made it difficult for universities, and particularly those not located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston and New York City, to advance their startups to a stage where they are ready for follow-on investment and the commercial market.
To overcome these obstacles, in 2018 the University of Notre Dame established the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, a separate $22 million investment fund, with a University subsidiary acting as general partner with private limited partners, to derisk and accelerate its promising early-stage technologies and startup ideas toward commercial viability.
In this four part podcast, we will discuss the reasons behind the creation of the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, how it is structured, learnings from its two years of existence, and how other institutions of higher education may be able to build something like it.
This podcasts feature Bryan Ritchie, the Vice President and Cathy and John Martin Associate Provost for Innovation at Notre Dame and a member of the Pit Road Fund's investment committee, and Tom Crotty, a senior advisor at Battery Ventures and Notre Dame alumnus.
One of the biggest obstacles to a startup's advancement is lack of funding. Early-stage startups that emerge from universities often face two problems in this regard: 1) the overwhelming majority of funding for startups is not for early-stage companies, and 2) startup funding is largely concentrated in only a few metro areas. This has made it difficult for universities, and particularly those not located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston and New York City, to advance their startups to a stage where they are ready for follow-on investment and the commercial market.
To overcome these obstacles, in 2018 the University of Notre Dame established the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, a separate $22 million investment fund, with a University subsidiary acting as general partner with private limited partners, to derisk and accelerate its promising early-stage technologies and startup ideas toward commercial viability.
In this four part podcast, we will discuss the reasons behind the creation of the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, how it is structured, learnings from its two years of existence, and how other institutions of higher education may be able to build something like it.
This podcasts feature Bryan Ritchie, the Vice President and Cathy and John Martin Associate Provost for Innovation at Notre Dame and a member of the Pit Road Fund's investment committee, and Tom Crotty, a senior advisor at Battery Ventures and Notre Dame alumnus.
One of the biggest obstacles to a startup's advancement is lack of funding. Early-stage startups that emerge from universities often face two problems in this regard: 1) the overwhelming majority of funding for startups is not for early-stage companies, and 2) startup funding is largely concentrated in only a few metro areas. This has made it difficult for universities, and particularly those not located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston and New York City, to advance their startups to a stage where they are ready for follow-on investment and the commercial market.
To overcome these obstacles, in 2018 the University of Notre Dame established the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, a separate $22 million investment fund, with a University subsidiary acting as general partner with private limited partners, to derisk and accelerate its promising early-stage technologies and startup ideas toward commercial viability.
In this four part podcast, we will discuss the reasons behind the creation of the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, how it is structured, learnings from its two years of existence, and how other institutions of higher education may be able to build something like it.
This podcasts feature Bryan Ritchie, the Vice President and Cathy and John Martin Associate Provost for Innovation at Notre Dame and a member of the Pit Road Fund's investment committee, and Tom Crotty, a senior advisor at Battery Ventures and Notre Dame alumnus.
One of the biggest obstacles to a startup's advancement is lack of funding. Early-stage startups that emerge from universities often face two problems in this regard: 1) the overwhelming majority of funding for startups is not for early-stage companies, and 2) startup funding is largely concentrated in only a few metro areas. This has made it difficult for universities, and particularly those not located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston and New York City, to advance their startups to a stage where they are ready for follow-on investment and the commercial market.
To overcome these obstacles, in 2018 the University of Notre Dame established the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, a separate $22 million investment fund, with a University subsidiary acting as general partner with private limited partners, to derisk and accelerate its promising early-stage technologies and startup ideas toward commercial viability.
In this four part podcast, we will discuss the reasons behind the creation of the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, how it is structured, learnings from its two years of existence, and how other institutions of higher education may be able to build something like it.
This podcasts feature Bryan Ritchie, the Vice President and Cathy and John Martin Associate Provost for Innovation at Notre Dame and a member of the Pit Road Fund's investment committee, and Tom Crotty, a senior advisor at Battery Ventures and Notre Dame alumnus.
In part 4 of this special episode, Tim Connors, founder of PivotNorth Capital, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, discusses what startups can do to survive the current recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, what mistakes they should avoid, and how to prepare their businesses for future growth.
This episode is moderated by Bryan Ritchie, Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame.
Rob McColgan graduated from Notre Dame in 2002 and majored in Finance and Film. Rob is currently the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Modern Market.
In part 3 of this special episode, Tim Connors, founder of PivotNorth Capital, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, discusses what startups can do to survive the current recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, what mistakes they should avoid, and how to prepare their businesses for future growth.
This episode if moderated by Bryan Ritchie, Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame.
Will McLeod graduated from Notre Dame in 2009 with a degree in Product Design and from the Notre Dame ESTEEM program in 2010. Will is the Founder of SmarterShade, a smart glass technology company. Since 2013, Will has served as the Chief of Product for Keen Home, a startup dedicated to creating connected devices for the home in the smart HVAC space. In 2015, Keen Home was featured on the popular TV show 'Shark Tank.'
This podcast was recorded on February 24, 2020.
Brett Belock received his BA in Design from Notre Dame in 2008 and his MBA from Notre Dame in 2014. Brett is now a Product Manager at AC3. This episode was recorded on February 23, 2020.
In part 2 of this special episode, Tim Connors, founder of PivotNorth Capital, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, discusses what startups can do to survive the current recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, what mistakes they should avoid, and how to prepare their businesses for future growth.
This episode if moderated by Bryan Ritchie, Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame.
Caile Coughlan is a senior Science-Business major and Bioengineering minor from Massapequa, NY. This episode was recorded on April 11, 2020.
In this special episode, Tim Connors, founder of PivotNorth Capital, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, discusses what startups can do to survive the current recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, what mistakes they should avoid, and how to prepare their businesses for future growth.
This episode is moderated by Bryan Ritchie, Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame.
Tyler Hulett graduated from Notre Dame in 2010 and majored in Biochemistry and Anthropology. During his time at ND, Tyler competed in the McCloskey New Venture Competition and later served as a McCloskey judge. Tyler currently works for a startup called CDI Laboratories where he focuses on Immuno-Oncology and Biomarker Development.
This episode features guest host Bryan Ritchie, vice president and Cathy and John Martin associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame, interviewing Matt Leevy, Director of the IDEA Center Innovation Lab.
Matt Leevy previously appeared on IDEAs at ND on November 14, 2019.
Ashley Kalinauskas is the Founder and CEO of Torigen Inc, a company focused on veterinary cancer care.
To learn more about Torigen or to reach out to Ashley, visit https://www.torigen.com/
Reilly Lanigan is a senior Finance and ACMS major from Lake Forest, Illinois. Reilly is also a member of the Notre Dame Varsity Women's Swim Team.
Brendan Gallagher received his MBA from Notre Dame in 2012 and is now the Director of Business Development at Sentieon.
This podcast was recorded on March 18th, 2020 as part of the McCloskey 20th Anniversary Series.
Hey everyone! Just a quick intro here on a new series I'll be running on this podcast. April 2020 is the 20th Anniversary of the McCloskey New Venture Competition. In honor of McCloskey, I'll be having on a bunch of ND alumni who participated in McCloskey to talk about what the competition meant to them and what they're doing now. Thanks so much for listening!
Alice Reid is a senior finance and ACMS major from Naperville, Illinois. Alice is also an RA in McGlinn Hall.
Joe Witt is a senior International Economics major from St. Louis, MO. Joe is also the Senior Class President.
Mark Brinegar is a senior Mechanical Engineering major from Boise, Idaho. He is also an RA in Knott Hall.
Hey everyone! Just wanted to introduce a new series I'm going to be running through this podcast. Basically, I'll be having on members of the Class of 2020 to talk about what the coronavirus pandemic has meant to them with regard to having their senior years cut short. We'll also discuss best Notre Dame memories and takeaways. Hopefully this is a nice thing for people to listen to in a tough time. Thanks so much for listening and stay healthy!
Katie Uhler is a 2018 graduate of Notre Dame and a current ESTEEM student. Katie played Division I soccer at Notre Dame and is from San Antonio, Texas.
Keian Gatewood is a freshman at Notre Dame. Keian is the founder of Bee Brand, an online marketplace to buy and sell local honey.
To learn more about Bee Brand, visit: https://www.beebrandco.com/
Rian McDonnell is an ESTEEM student from Ireland. Rian runs two startups, one called Flowaste, which is a company looking to reduce food waste. The second is called Delive, a company striving to revolutionize emergency medical services with drone fly-ahead technology.
To learn more about Rian, visit https://esteem.nd.edu/our-students/records/rian-mc-donnell-2019-2020/
To learn more about Flowaste, visit http://flowaste.com/
To learn more about Delive, visit https://delivedrones.com/
John Henry is the Director of Student Startups at the IDEA Center.
To learn more about John and his work at the IDEA Center, visit: https://ideacenter.nd.edu/about/meet-our-staff/john-henry/
Edozie Ezeanolue is a sophomore at Notre Dame from Las Vegas. Edozie is the founder of NXSTEP, a startup looking to help high school students find the right college for them.
To learn more about NXSTEP, check out www.nxstep.co
David Thompson is a Notre Dame sophomore studying finance and economics. He is also a co-founder of Tropic Labs, a smart device startup looking to revolutionize the way we take care of our animals.
Bryan Ritchie is Notre Dame’s first vice president and associate provost for innovation.
Brock Gallagher is the founder and CEO of Xstudia. Brock is also a senior at Notre Dame.
To learn more about Xstudia, visit xstudia.com
Matt Leevy is the Director of the IDEA Center Innovation Lab and a Capstone Adviser and Mentor for The ESTEEM Program. Matt is also a retired Army Reserve Captain with 22 years of total service.
Learn more about the IDEA Center Innovation Lab at: https://ideacenter.nd.edu/innovation-park/about/facility/innovation-lab/
Evan Claudeanos is the founder and CEO of Amaforge, a company that builds data-driven solutions for universities to meet their funding and research goals.
You can learn more about Amaforge and get in touch with Evan at amaforge.com
Kyle Murphy is the CEO and Co-Founder of Enspice Nutrition. Enspice makes seasonings, spices, and other additives that contain a complete plant-based multivitamin in each serving.
To find out more about Enspice, visit enspicenutrition.com