Venture Capital & Private Equity Episodes

Oct. 31, 2024

[Bonus] Marketing Moves — Investing in Ohio's Future: Ft. Jeffrey Ste…

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 …

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Oct. 3, 2024

#186: Andrew Rising (Encore Venture Labs) — Bridging Cleveland's Indu…

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 w...

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Sept. 12, 2024

#183: Laura Bennett & Alex Krooglik (Embrace Pet Insurance) — The Sto…

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 Busin...

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Aug. 29, 2024

#181: Fred DiSanto (Ancora) — Connecting Dots, Activist Investing, Me…

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 car...

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Nov. 2, 2023

[Bonus] Jack Greco (ACV Auctions) — building a multi-billion-dollar c…

Jack Greco, co-founder and former CFO and COO of ACV Auctions, a Buffalo-based wholesale online marketplace for cars (ACV Auctions went public in 2021 and is currently valued at approximately $3 billion dollars) Now an active...

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Sept. 28, 2023

#136: Michael Sirpilla (Society Brands)

Michael Sirpilla, co-founder and CEO of Society Brands. Under Michael’s leadership as CEO, Society Brands has raised $205 million in capital to continue their rapid consolidation in the e-commerce sector with many completed a...

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Aug. 24, 2023

#131: Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company)

Stewart A. Kohl is Co-CEO of The Riverside Company — a $14 billion global private equity firm founded to invest in premier companies at the smaller end of the middle market, with headquarters in Terminal Tower in Tower City h...

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Aug. 17, 2023

#130: Bill Manby (Interstate Fusion Ventures)

Bill Manby, Founding & Managing Partner at Interstate Fusion Ventures. An entrepreneur at heart, Bill grew up in NEO and has always been passionate about working every day to make his home better through investments, philanth...

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July 20, 2023

#126: Michael Goldberg (Case Western Reserve University & CWRU Alumn…

Michael Goldberg, Executive Director of the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship, as well as an Associate Professor of Design and Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management at CWRU where he teaches courses on entrepre...

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June 1, 2023

#120: Brendan Anderson & Donnie Bedney (ScaleCo)

Brendan Anderson and Donnie Bedney on their work at ScaleCo — a Cleveland-based entrepreneurship-through-acquisition organization that has invested more than $165 million in over 20 regional companies. In our conversation tod...

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March 23, 2023

#111: Brian Folmer (FirstLook VC)

Lay of The Land's conversation today is with Brian Folmer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Brian has boomeranged back to Cleveland after 6 years in NYC and starting his own company. Brian is the founder of FirstLook.vc and Dist...

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Jan. 26, 2023

#103: Dr. Elad Granot (John Carroll University, Boler College of Busi…

Dr. Elad Granot — Dean of John Carroll University’s Boler College of Business, co-founder and managing member of an early-stage technology Venture Capital fund, and advisor to a $450mm VC fund — on what Cleveland can learn from Startup Nation …

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Nov. 17, 2022

#95: Ed Weinfurtner (Great Day Improvements & Blue Olive Partners)

Ed Weinfurtner — Executive Chairman of Great Day Improvements (one of NEO's largest companies employing over 2,000 people) & Co-Founder at Blue Olive Partners — on growing Great Day Improvements from $44M to $922M in sales in just 7 years …

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Aug. 25, 2022

#83: Tom Tyrrell (Great Lakes Biomimicry)

Tom Tyrrell — founder and Chairman of Great Lakes Biomimicry & co-founder of Segmint — on the power of biomimicry and harnessing the intelligence found in nature’s 3.8 billion years of R&D (asking questions nature has already found the answers …

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Aug. 11, 2022

#81: David Sylvan (UH Ventures)

David Sylvan — president of UH Ventures, the innovation and commercialization division of University Hospitals, a Cleveland-based health system with two dozen hospitals, more than 50 health centers, and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices located throughout 16 counties.

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