Startups for Good (2025)

03/05/2021

Laura Kleiman, founder and CEO of RebootRx joins us today to discuss not only her founder story but the role perseverance plays in all realms of a startup. She shares with us her experiences with fundraising as well as some of the challenges and advantages of choosing to be a tech non-profit.

We also discussed
- How to know if you have chosen the right co-founder
- The implications of choosing tech non-profit status
- Lessons for other founders about fundraising
- The Mass Challenge incubator
- Misnomers of repurposing generic drugs
- Ways that clinical trials could be hastened

It's a really great episode. Don't miss it!
https://www.startupsforgood.com/laura-kleiman-founder-of-rebootrx

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

26/04/2021

"I think what blockchain also does for provoking us, for better and for worse, is it has a very developed imagination that a lot of folks, even in tech, find a bit illegible. But in cooperatives, in real life, and for many years before the internet even, there's so many very nuanced and sophisticated, but elegant ways of governing that include people's voice."

On this episode we speak with "Exit to Community" creators, Nathan Schneider and Danny Spitzberg.
We discussed:
- Examples of exit to community attempts
- Examples of successful co-ops
- Legal and other constraints to seeing more
- Is scale and growth compatible with a co-op model?
- What is the role of risk taking?

Settle in, this is a good one. Find it here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/nathan-schneider-danny-spitzberg-organizers-exit-to-community-project

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

19/04/2021

Max Nova of SilviaTerra joins me on the podcast to discuss his early start to becoming a founder and which came first: the mission or the technology.

We also discussed:

- How to find the right co-founder
- The benefits of having a co-founder
- A carbon exchange program
- What motivates major corporations to choose a carbon exchange program
- The use of the technology to reduce wildfire risk
- Building the team of a mission driven company
- The increasing workforce in mission driven companies

Listen in here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/max-nova-co-founder-of-silviaterra

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

12/04/2021

"I've always had a passion for speaking out for underserved communities, way before I was an entrepreneur. I'm very passionate about getting more women in diverse representation, and what we can do to fast track them into key executive decision-making positions."

Diane Yoo joins us on the podcast to discuss her diverse path to Venture Capitalist.

We also discussed:
- Advocating for diverse teams
- Starting your own venture capital firm
- Creating expanded opportunities for minorities in tech
- Why business relationships are so important

With more than 15+ years in the business, Diane has extensive experience in leading deals, sitting on boards and leading companies to successful exits.

Listen in to her inspiring story here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/diane-yoo

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

05/04/2021

Want to learn how to get 15 minutes with a Venture Capitalist? Then this is your episode! "Out Innovate" author, Alex Lazarow, shares his secret to getting that all important VC meeting and other invaluable advice for people seeking investment.

We also discuss:
- Alex's background in impact investing with the Omidyar group
- Financial ecosystems around the world and how they differ from the changing ecosystem in Silicon Valley

Hop on over to Startups For Good and check it out:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/alex-lazarow-author-of-out-innovate

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

29/03/2021

"That was one of the proudest moments from day one. We wanted to create good jobs for people. We always paid a living wage and gave benefits and stock options to all of our employees and it was something that was important to us. And so knowing that we had actually created jobs for people was one of the best feelings I could ever imagine."

Catch up with the Startups For Good Podcast as we chat with serial entrepreneur and Imperfect Foods Co-Founder, Ben Chesler.

We talked about:
- Starting a business while still in college
- How to hire the right people and how to know they are right
- Raising money from venture capitalists
- The differences from impact investors vs traditional investors
- Starting a company with a friend
- The highs and lows of starting a company
- Creating good jobs for the employees

Check out the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/ben-chesler-co-founder-of-imperfect-foods/

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

22/03/2021

It was great privilege to speak with David Goldberg, CEO of Founders Pledge.

We discussed some pretty important topics such as:
- The criticism of Donor Advised Funds being a tax shelter and the funds getting stagnant
- The challenges of being an international company.
- The funding environment of for startups and non-profits
- Founders Pledge goals of community, advising and gaining pledges

Check out the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/david-greenberg-founder-of-founders-pledge

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

15/03/2021

"One thing I think is critical that people just forget is to be nice. People like people who like them. Be genuinely interested in the people you're talking to."

It was a great pleasure speaking with Tara Viswanathan of Rupa Health.

We spent some time discussing
- How it feels when you reach market fit
- Selling your product when it isn’t quite ready
- Fundraising strategy
- The importance of momentum

Check out the episode on StartupsForGood.com.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

08/03/2021

"As academics, we have huge incentives to write academic papers, but not so much to influence policy. And that's not why a lot of us got into the kind of work we're doing, including myself. We got into it because of a humanitarian interest in seeing that there's problems in the world and the strong belief that more evidence can really help improve the way policy is done by governments by nonprofits. And so we want to see our research when appropriate change lives. But that's not you. That's not going to get done by just writing academic papers and then thinking the world's gonna download them and use them. That's just That's crazy. We need to work with people who are really committed to that policy process. And so that was the other motivation for creating IPA."

On this episode we catch up with Dean Karlan, Professor at Northwestern University as well as Founder of Innovations for Poverty Action.

We discussed:

- How Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) works
- Randomized Controlled Trials - the needs and criticism that comes with them
- The size and scale of IPA today and some of the challenges they have faced
- Methodology of a lean startup
- The acquisition of IPA by Charity Navigator
- How to measure impact of a charity
- Lessons learned from being a founder

You can catch Professor Karlan's engaging episode here:
www.StartupsForGood.com

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

01/03/2021

Josh Clemente, a real life rocket scientist, is tackling what he believes is a bigger challenge: Metabolic fitness.

On this episode we discuss:
- The product and mission of Levels
- How they successfully raised a Series A from big name VCs during a time of Covid without ever meeting in person
- Transparency
- Work/life balance

You can catch the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/josh-clemente-founder-of-levels/

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

22/02/2021

"Being mission oriented has a ton of advantages. It might be great to make money, but ultimately that doesn't give you a reason to wake up in the morning. But in addition, there are actually all these auxiliary side benefits. It's easier to recruit because you can actually get people legitimately excited about the mission."

Spark Wave CEO, Spencer Greenberg came onto the podcast and we had a great time talking about:

- What an effective altruist is
- How to recruit a CEO or co-founder to pair with an idea
- Spencer’s new podcast - "Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg"

Don't miss out! You can catch the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/spencer-greenberg-founder-of-smart-wave/

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

15/02/2021

"It's just so exciting in terms of what kind of long term impact we can have, both in business creation and just in innovation as a whole. And I really do believe that we are in a unique position to help feed the diversity pipeline that goes into innovation and entrepreneurship, and including computer science."

On this episode, Pearachute and Give Forward founder, Desiree Vargas Wrigley joins us to discuss:

-Knowing when to start on a company
-Crowdfunding landscape before Kickstarter and GoFundMe
-Understanding the differences between the venture capitalists and the customer
-Knowing when to scale the business and when to sale
-The experience of a Shark Tank pitch, deal and the aftermath
-Mentoring and enriching the lives of young entrepreneurs

You can catch the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/desiree-vargas-wrigley-founder-of-pearachute/

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

08/02/2021

"That's the impact you're really making is that sort of financial safety net there to let people who get hurt from these, acts of God, whether it's a hurricane or a fire, which, like I said, sadly, or there's only more and more of that they're protected, and that our communities are protected.”

On this episode, Kettle Founder, Nat Manning joins us to discuss:

-How Ushahidi fostered creativity amongst the employees
-The challenges of running a big tech non-profit
-Building business development teams
-Dealing with misconduct in leadership as a CEO

You can catch the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/nathaniel-manning-ceo-of-kettle

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

01/02/2021

"The beautiful thing about going public is that, all that layered cake gets smashed into one thing called 'common'. We're all aligned together: management, every single investor, both the previous private investors, as well as the new public market investors, we're all 'common' now. So we all have this shared lens to look at success or failure."

On today's podcast, Shotspotter CEO, Ralph Clark joins us to discuss:

- The moment when he adjusted the business model against cultural resistance
- The decision to go public and some advice during the IPO process
- What net promoter score is and how valuable it is to a company

You can catch the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/ralph-clark-ceo-of-shotspotter/

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

25/01/2021

"I think economic mobility is very much something I'm a huge believer in. Both my parents were immigrants and education was the reason they really were able to progress in their careers and their journey to America."

Welcome Tess Michaels of Stride Funding to the show as we discuss ISAs vs traditional loans.

You can catch the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/tess-michaels-founder-and-ceo-stride-funding/

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

18/01/2021

"But every venture I've worked on has had at least two or three moments where we were very close to failing and going under. Whether it's some combination of luck or fate or hard work that there is some success bias in our sector."

On this episode with Adam Rein we talk
- The various investing opportunities that CapShift offers
- The three key metrics that investors are looking for
- What is driving the increase in impact investing
- Adam shares what can be learned from failure
- How purpose driven ventures should communicate to their investors

You can catch the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/episode-9/

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

11/01/2021

"Can you get up and go to work every day with a group of colleges who care as deeply about the same things that you do?"

Can you say the same about your company?

What a great episode with Tiffany Chu, Founder of Remix.

We discussed
- almost instant product/market fit
- her career from designer to CEO
- working with investors
- alignment of company mission and personal passion.

You can catch the episode here:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/tiffany-chu-ceo-and-co-founder-of-remix/

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

04/01/2021

"You live and die by the quality of your people. You live and die by how hard your people push."

On this exciting episode, Seth Sternberg dives into the story of how he became an entrepreneur, the creation of , and how things have changed over the years.

Startups For Good podcast:
https://www.startupsforgood.com/seth-sternberg-founder-of-meebo-honor/

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram or connect with your host, Miles Lasater on LinkedIn.

Startups for Good