Bright IDEAs: Recent Episodes
Ananya Shah
This is Bright IDEAs — a podcast where we speak to the best and brightest leaders and innovators within Northeastern University and beyond. Listen in on insightful conversations with successful global entrepreneurs, our community of student founders, faculty, and alumni, to learn about their journey and lessons while navigating the world of Entrepreneurship!
This podcast is brought to you by IDEA — Northeastern University's student-led venture accelerator. Learn more at northeastern.edu/idea.
Madison Rifkin is the CEO and founder of Mount. Her journey began at 15 when received her patent for a retracting bike lock. That same lock was the beginning of Mount’s story, and the inspiration for the IOT company that Mount is today. Mount leverages a smart lock data analytics platform to track mobility patterns, locate lost vehicles and provide a holistic approach to mobility asset management.
Learn about how a lock 🔒 becomes an IOT company💻 serving a niche industry by listening to this podcast where Madison takes us through her journey.
Madison has been featured in Colorado Inno’s “18 rising Colorado entrepreneurs and technologists 25 and younger.” Mount is a rising startup in the Micromobility and Security Field to learn more make sure to visit: https://mountlocks.com/
Exclusive announcement in the podcast 🤫😉
Join Rachna Lewis, President of The Entrepreneurs Club, as she walks us through her journey and experience with the Husky Startup Challenge. In this podcast, she tells us how to navigate through HSC, and succeed at Demo Day. Rachna manages a team of 29 members and a community of 2000+ members. Her team oversees ~50 events per year across 5 programs. She tells us about her journey through E-club, and all about being a student leader. Tune in to learn more about E-club, Rachna and all the cool things they are up to!
Learn more about them on their website or Instagram.
Introducing our new host - Ananya Shah!
We will be speaking to the best and brightest founders, innovators and leaders within the Northeastern community to learn from their journey.
Tune in to be inspired, influenced and educated.
New episodes weekly!
Join Neil Bhammar, President of Entrepreneurs Club, as he walks us through how he is able to manage a team of 23, a community of 1000+, and oversee ~50 events per year across 4 programs while being the Head of Ops for BusRight, a startup founded by a previous E-Club President, a Partner at Dorm Room Fund, and a busy college student. He dives into the topic of networking, as he is instrumental in organizing E-Club's Tuesday Speaker Series, where world-renowned CEOs and Founders come in to share their stories and invaluable advice.
A. Elizabeth Cavallo is the 11th Altschuler-Meyer CEO of IDEA Venture Accelerator for the 2020-2021 year. She's a senior at Northeastern University and has been heavily involved with the NU entrepreneurial ecosystem for several years.
This episode touches on Elizabeth's experiences of integrating into IDEA, ultimately taking charge, and leading our 50 member team during this virtual climate.
If you're an entrepreneur, finding a co-founder has probably crossed your mind at some point. On the show today, we have Josh Belinsky, who co-founded Slate Milk (one of IDEA's 80 launched ventures) with his partner in crime, Manny Lubin.
Josh and Manny, after attending Northeastern University, decided to come together to found Slate Chocolate Milk — a company that is revolutionizing chocolate milk as we know it by making it ultra-filtered, high in protein, lactose-free, low-sugar, and just generally better and healthier for you. Learn more about Slate Milk at www.slatemilk.com
To wrap up 2020, the Bright IDEAs podcast is proud to present: Rachel Domb! Rachel is the Founder of Rooted Living — a mission-driven, eco-friendly, plant-based snack company — and a young, award-winning Set Stage IDEA venture that is making waves in the Northeastern entrepreneurship community.
We interviewed Rachel about how she is building Rooted Living as a 19-year-old college student, how she overcame her limiting beliefs and created her own luck to become an entrepreneur, and why she is working towards creating a more sustainable world — providing foods that are better for you and the planet. Learn more about Rooted Living at: rootedliving.org
Eliana Berger is the Co-Founder & Director of Envision Accelerator — providing equal opportunity for underrepresented student founders and entrepreneurs. From founding a non-profit in high school, to creating WISE on campus, to building her own venture accelerator, Eliana is a rising star that proves that you're never too young to change the world — having just turned 20.
We interviewed Eliana about effectively managing various projects, getting involved & exploring different disciplines as a college student, and the importance of building a support system that pushes you towards your goals — tapping into how she overcame imposter syndrome to become the leader that she is today. Learn more about Envision at: envisionaccelerator.com
Kyle Dolce is an Investment Analyst at Glasswing Ventures, as well as our Venture Director at IDEA — leading a team of 12 analysts and 4 coordinators to support our entrepreneurs in taking their ventures from concept to launch.
With nearly 4 years at IDEA, we interviewed Kyle about his experience in the Management Team, how he climbed the ladder from Rotational Associate to Venture Director, and how he discovered his passions for tech, entrepreneurship, and startups. Coming into college as a Computer Science student and leaving with a prospering career in Venture Capital, we round off the episode with what's next for him as he prepares to graduate from Northeastern and takes the next step towards his bright future ahead. Learn more about Kyle at: kyledolce.com
Mahesh Shahdadpuri is the Founder & CEO of TASC Outsourcing — one of the largest and fastest growing talent management companies in the Middle East, headquartered in Dubai and with global operations. Jenny sat down with Mahesh to talk about his early life, his path to entrepreneurship, and how he built TASC Outsourcing. We then dove into how TASC is currently dealing with the global pandemic, what Mahesh's schedule looks like, and we rounded off the episode with his advice for budding entrepreneurs. Touching on themes such as adaptability, finding your why, and playing to your strengths, Mahesh reveals the values that he holds ever so dearly — the same values that have led him to where he is today. This is an episode you can't miss! Learn more about TASC Outsourcing: https://www.tascoutsourcing.com/
Welcome back to the Bright IDEAs podcast, and to IDEA's 11th Year! In this podcast, we'll dive into the best and brightest leaders and innovators, both within the Northeastern community and beyond. We'll be having insightful conversations with successful global entrepreneurs, our own community of student founders, faculty, and alumni, and the people that make IDEA possible — our Management Team! Look out for new episodes coming soon.
Much has changed in the world, but Bright IDEAs is still here with one last episode before graduation. Just as we began, we will end with talking to Abhi, the CEO of IDEA. How has IDEA adapted to the current global business climate, what has he learned, and what's the next step for all of us seniors in this new world? Jake gets the answers and says good bye in his final episode.
Kyle Lin's SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/stationary-cycle
Danny loved the outdoors and knew he wanted to start something that would help him give back to the natural world. Eventually that led him to co-founding Peak State, a coffee company that brews the traditional high energy drink with functional mushrooms that provide numerous health benefits while lowering the coffee’s acidity levels. Across our conversation, Danny talks about rebranding to a new name, running his small but passionate team, and how all business can help build a more sustainable world. Check out there Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/peakstatecoffee/peak-state-functional-coffee/build
Kyle Lin's SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/stationary-cycle
Aubrey Bynoe had spent much of his life in the Caribbean, and after travellign the world he knew he wanted to come back to the island of Dominca. He and his cofounder Lubitza returned to find the island devastated by a recent hurricane, and the two dedicated themselves to building a sustanbility ariculture model founding in the methods of permaculture. One year after the opening their fields, Free Up Farm is growing at an exceptional rate with the IDEA Gap Fund whilt attracting tourists and giving back to their local community. Learn more at their website: http://freeupfarm.com/
Kyle Lin's SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/stationary-cycle
Sophie Gechijian was looking for a snack that would help her get through days of trading and investing to no avail. With nothing more than a desire to create a snack focused on fueling the brain with the best ingredients, Sophie set about baking and testing flavors with her co-workers. Today, f(x) foods is giving everyone the power they need to acomplish their goals using the simplest ingredients. Check out her website to learn more: https://fx-foods.com/
Kyle Lin's SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/stationary-cycle
Annika Morgan was thinking she would be a photographer while studying at Northeastern University when she was introduced to a new idea to get fresh food to people in need. Between converting a school bus to a food delivery truck, classes, and eventually running IDEA, Annika became leader in building non-profits. AboutFresh is an amazing example of social enterprise. Learn more and consider volunteering if you live in the Boston area! https://www.aboutfresh.org/
Bright IDEAs is back with a new season for the new year! Our first interview is with Sailaja Joshi of Bharat Babies, who tells of her journey of developing a publishing house to help diversify the world of children's literature, while also giving us some insight into working with authors and illustrators. If you'd like to flip through of of Bharat Babies pages yourself, check out their website: https://bharatbabies.com/
Sailaja's Interview with Al-Jazeera (Skip to 9:24): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cITre6USwqg
Kyle Lin's SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/stationary-cycle
Chris Wolfel has played a huge role in helping build IDEA into what it is today. He served as CEO when he was a Northeastern student, and is now a member fo the IDEA board. When's he's not helping IDEA ventures, Chris is giving other entrepreneurs the tools and advice they need to grow their business. He and Jake talked about the his journey through IDEA, Chris's new business, and the future of startups.
Have a great end of the year folks! See you all in 2020!
It's time for Jake to show off his mastery of the electronic arts as he talks with Jack Michaud, an engineer and member of the three person team at MetaScouter. MetaScouter is a tool that gives esports tournaments (professionally played video games) access to data to create intricate statsheets for viewers. They talk about how much the field has grown over the last decade and the value MetaScouter can bring to tournament organizers.
Learn more about MetaScouter at their website: https://metascouter.gg/
What is the IDEA Community Team? Why does a venture accelerator need one? What does it do? To partly answer that last one, it produces this podcast, but Jordan Lin came into answer the rest of these questions and many more in this great episode of Bright IDEAs. Jordan is IDEA's Community Director and resident psychologist who has helped form numerous connections between different ventures and teams, whether they know it or not. Always looking for new ways to help and inspire others, she’s leading a series of catalyst classes, which you can register for below! Strap yourselves in for another epic episode.
Class 1: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/catalyst-classes-social-impact-tickets-78188537019?aff=ebapi
Class 2:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/catalyst-classes-mental-health-tickets-78184611277
Class 3:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/catalyst-classes-soft-skills-tickets-78246929673?aff=ebapi
Starting a business is a stressful venture, as most people in IDEA can tell you. Even if you’re not an entrepreneur, life has a nasty habit of burning people out. That’s what was happening to Josh Gershon when he decided to team up with his longtime friend Brian Helfman to found Startup Island, giving young people a chance to discover themselves and take control of their own business and life. Having gone on this year’s Spring Break program, Jake talked to Josh about the meaning behind the activities and the commons struggles we all go through to find meaning in what we do.
Our first Venture interview has arrived! Vidhan Bhaiya, a fourth year student at Northeastern University and founder of Dr. Brinsley, shares with Jake the story that inspired him to design a fashionable and functional shoe to help diabetes patients move around easily. We discussed the sleeping habits that come with working along a cross-Pacific team, and how IDEA is helping him expand the Brinsley brand even further. Stay tuned for some recruiting opportunities and an amazing conversation!
After getting through the Ready stage, IDEA Ventures enter the realm of Set. Here, the rough edges need to be ironed out and would-be entrepreneurs have to finalize the core pillars of their venture. IDEA's Set Stage Coordinator, Tyler Fohrman, talked to me out what the stage is like and his own adventure into the world of entrepreneurship at Northeastern.
EDIT: All entrepreneurs (even outside of IDEA) have access to the Prototype fund. It comes in $1500 chunks but you don’t necessarily get 2. This was small mistake Tyler made around 9 minutes in.
Episode 2 sees Jake talking with Northeastern University's Stephen Golden, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and a major asset in the Ready Stage, the first phase of the IDEA venture process.
We discussed how the Professor got involved with IDEA, his history with entrepreneurship, how to create powerful pitches, and how to avoid the pitfalls the swallow many early stage start-ups.
Welcome to the first episode of IDEA's podcast, Bright IDEAs! Exploring the intersection of entrepreneurship and student life, we'll be examining the people and ventures that are making campus vibrant with a start-up attitude. For this first episode, Host Jake Willis sat down with IDEA's CEO, Abhishek Balakrishnan, to discuss what IDEA is, where it's headed, and when’s the best time to start a business.