Lay of The Land
Telling the stories of entrepreneurship, startups, and builders in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio.
Most Popular Episodes
New to the show? Check out some of Lay of The Land's most popular episodes.
Recent Episodes
Jan. 16, 2025
#196: Stephen McHale (Graici & Unify Labs) — Serial Entrepreneurship & the Pursuit of Inclusive Prosperity
Stephen McHale — a long-time Cleveland serial entrepreneur with a 40-year career founding, investing in, and building companies. Most notably, Steve served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Explorys, wh…
Jan. 9, 2025
[Bonus] Rust Belt Rundown featuring Jeffrey Stern of The O.H.I.O. Fund
Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Lay of The Land podcast. Today, we're doing something a bit different as I take on the role of guest on other podcasts to discuss recent developments in my journey and offer a glimps…
Dec. 19, 2024
#194: Hanna Kassis (Babylon Asset Management) — Business Financing, Private Credit, and Growth Capital
Hanna Kassis — founder @ Babylon Asset Management — who has deployed over $1.5 billion in capital throughout his career in alternative lending.
Starting with Tim Ryan's congressional campaign in Youngstown, Hanna went on …
Dec. 10, 2024
[In Honor Of] Bob Sopko
It is with a heavy heart that I honor Bob Sopko’s memory by revisiting Lay of The Land 's 12th episode . While no conversation could ever fully capture the breadth or depth of his legacy, I hope this episode relays an essenc…
Nov. 21, 2024
#193: Ryan Schreiber (Streamline) — The One-Stop Streaming Guide
Ryan Schreiber is a long-time Clevelander and major advocate for the city, as well as the founder and CEO of Streamline, an innovative mobile platform tackling one of the streaming industry's most pressing challenges—helping…
Nov. 14, 2024
#192: Jim Weisman (Ingine) — Revolutionizing Knowledge Generation for a Healthier Tomorrow
Jim Weisman, CEO of Ingine, exploring deep into the intersection of artificial intelligence and healthcare In our world where healthcare costs are soaring and drug development timelines stretch into decades, Ingine is revolu…
Nov. 7, 2024
#191: Lance Hill (Within3) — Raising >$100 Million to Breakdown Healthcare Communication Barriers
Lance Hill, CEO of Within3, has led one of Cleveland's most well-capitalized startups, raising over $100 million to transform how the healthcare and life sciences industries communicate. What began in 2007 as a secure peer-t…
Oct. 31, 2024
[Bonus] Marketing Moves — Investing in Ohio's Future: Ft. Jeffrey Stern
Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Lay of The Land podcast. Today, we're doing something a bit different as I take on the role of guest on other podcasts to discuss recent developments in my journey and offer a glimps…
Oct. 24, 2024
#189: Chas D. Withers (Dix & Eaton) — Running Towards the Fire
Chas Withers, chairman and CEO of Dix & Eaton, the storied Cleveland integrated communications firm, known for its specialization in marketing communications, Crisis management, and investor relations, which has partnered wi…
Oct. 17, 2024
#188: Joe Pulizzi (Tilt Publishing & Content Entrepreneur Expo) — Content Marketing, Community, and Cleveland
Joe Pulizzi is a serial entrepreneur and deeply passionate about all things content marketing and entrepreneurship — he is the bestselling author of seven books including Content Inc. , selling over 500,000 copies worldwide …
Oct. 10, 2024
#187: Aaron Hoffman & John Zinno (DeliverThat) — The Future of Catering Delivery
Aaron Hoffman and John Zinno — co-founders of DeliverThat, based in Canton Ohio. Friends for life, the two of them started this business out of Ohio University in 2016 off the bat of a viral tweet and have since proceeded to…
Oct. 3, 2024
#186: Andrew Rising (Encore Venture Labs) — Bridging Cleveland's Industrial Heritage To Its Industrial Future
Andrew Rising, CEO of Encore Ventures Labs. As someone who believes deeply in the opportunity for Cleveland’s future, I find Andrew’s journey to be an inspiring and optimisitc one… …Deeply rooted in the heart of Cleveland’s …
Sept. 26, 2024
#185: Franco Kraiselburd (Asclepii Inc.) — Building the Next Generation of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Cell Therapeutics to Improve Human Health
Franco Kraiselburd — Co-Founder and CEO of Asclepii — building the next generation of tissue engineering therapeutics for wound healing. I’ve recently heard a life’s work described as a lifelong quest to build something for …
Sept. 19, 2024
#184: John Vickers (Blue Abyss) — Building the World’s Foremost Extreme Environment R&D Facilities for Space and Deep Sea Exploration
John Vickers , Founder & CEO of Blue Abyss. John is building one of the most ambitious and inspiring projects I’ve encountered while exploring what people are building in Cleveland! After spending eight years in the British …
Sept. 12, 2024
#183: Laura Bennett & Alex Krooglik (Embrace Pet Insurance) — The Story of A Cleveland Unicorn
Laura Bennett and Alex Krooglik, co-founders of Embrace Pet Insurance, which was sold in 2023 for $1.5 billion to JAB Holding Company. The duo founded Embrace Pet Insurance after graduating from Penn’s Wharton School of Busi…
Sept. 5, 2024
#182: Dan Nitowsky (Tiger21) — Wealth Preservation, Legacy, and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Peer Support
Dan Nitowsky, Chair of TIGER 21 Cleveland. Dan, like me is a native New Yorker who has made Cleveland his home & has spent 30 years here in Cleveland as a highly accomplished executive with a proven history of success in dis…
Aug. 29, 2024
#181: Fred DiSanto (Ancora) — Connecting Dots, Activist Investing, Mentorship, and Deal Making
Fred DiSanto, Chairman and CEO of Ancora — the Cleveland-based investment firm with nearly $10B in assets under management and over 100 employees — which he’s led since 2006! Before Ancora, Fred had an expansive investing ca…
Aug. 22, 2024
#180: Taylor Evans (Rust Belt Recruiting) — Talent, Reindustrialization, and Manufacturing Recruiting
Taylor Evans — Founder and President of Rust Belt Recruiting, a leading local manufacturing recruiting agency, which also hosts a kindred-spirit podcast to Lay Of The Land, called Rust Belt Rundowns, where they are amplifyin…
Aug. 15, 2024
[Bonus] Weekly Impact: Craig Hassall (Playhouse Square), IoVs and, Innovation Summit
My guests this week are my friends and partners over at Impact Architects —who many of you will note are the longest-time supporters of Lay of The Land and the community building work we’re doing together — Kris Snyder and J…
Aug. 8, 2024
#178: Jared Anderson & Sandor Gyerman (Andor Creative) — 100M+ Organic Views, Gen Z Marketing, and Social Media Authenticity
Sandor Gyerman and Jared Anderson , the dynamic co-founders of Andor Creative. Founded in 2018 when they were Sophomores at Cleveland State University, Andor Creative was born to find more innovative ways to produce advertis…
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About the Host
Jeffrey Stern
Telling the stories of builders in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio. Jeffrey is a NYC transplant, principal and investor at The O.H.I.O. Fund, Co-founder @ Axuall, product manager, advisor at Signal Cleveland and Venture for America, and optimist who believes telling the stories of those most inspiring builders around us is one of the best ways to learn and to inspire more to build.
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