Listen to these 21 stories of Philly startup founders and execs

This year, Founding Philly published 21 podcast episodes featuring some of the most prominent founders and executives in the Philly startup community.

We kicked off the year with Justin Rosenberg, founder of the popular fast-casual chain Honeygrow, and received an insightful crash course in raising capital from Scott Nissenbaum, president and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania. We also had engaging discussions with repeat founders Ted Mann and Jake Stein about their latest ventures, CollX and Common Paper, respectively. As the year drew to a close, we gained invaluable insights on building companies from Rick Nucci as he celebrated 10 years of Guru, among many other enlightening conversations.

In 2023, we established relationships with professional advisors including Bridge Bank, Brinker Simpson, Insperity and Baker Tilly. These partnerships have been successful, and we eagerly anticipate more exciting collaborations in 2024. (If you’re interested in partnering with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out!)

We successfully deepened our collaboration with community partners PACT and Venture Café, contributing to the programming at the Capital Conference and hosting our first live recording and meetup at Venture Cafe, which turned out to be a resounding success.

We also had the opportunity to speak with underclassmen at Drexel University’s Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship, sharing key insights and perspectives on Philadelphia as an innovation ecosystem.

Most recently, we announced a media partnership with Technical.ly to further distribute the inspiring stories of local founders, VCs and advisors featured on Founding Philly.

Looking ahead to 2024, we’re thrilled to continue sharing more stories, starting with Audrey Greenberg from the Center for Breakthrough Medicine, Ben Williams of Exyn Technologies, and Jeff Stade and Will Sanderson from Jawnt, along with many others.

As we enter 2024, let’s take a quick look back at the 21 episodes we shared in the past year:

1. honeygrow, Founder & CEO Justin Rosenberg | Founding Philly Ep. 11

Honeygrow, a Philadelphia-based fast-casual restaurant chain, specializes in stir-fry and salads. With 31 locations (and counting) across Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, the DC Metro area, Baltimore, and, naturally, Philadelphia, honeygrow has established a significant presence.

Listen as Justin shares his journey building honeygrow, his motivation for introducing a fast-casual restaurant to Philly, the lessons he learned while scaling the business, and how he’s now giving back in his new role at Villanova Law School.

2. Ben Franklin Tech Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, President and CEO Scott Nissenbaum | Founding Philly Ep. 12

Ben Franklin Tech Partners stands as one of the nation’s leading technology-based economic development programs. Spanning the entire Commonwealth through four regional centers, BFTP plays a pivotal role in accelerating the growth of technology-based industries in Pennsylvania.

For over 30 years, Ben Franklin Technology Partners has been a premier seed stage capital provider for the region’s technology sectors. With an investment of over $175 million in more than 1,750 regional technology companies, many of which have become industry leaders, their impact is undeniable.

Tune in to hear Scott discuss his career journey as a venture capitalist and entrepreneur. Learn how he and Ben Franklin Tech Partners assist founders in the early stages, the advice he offers to aspiring entrepreneurs, and his insights on the current state of the Philadelphia startup ecosystem.

3. CollX, Cofounder and CEO Ted Mann | Founding Philly Ep. 13

CollX (pronounced “collects”) offers the fastest way to determine the value of your trading cards. Simply snap a picture, and you’ll instantly receive the current market price. You can add your cards to your collection to monitor your overall portfolio, and even buy, sell, or trade cards with other collectors.

Tune in to hear Ted discuss his journey in founding CollX, his experience with launching multiple companies focused on visual-search technology and the expansion into partnering with card dealers.

4. Lula Convenience, Cofounder & CEO Adit Gupta | Founding Philly Ep. 14

Lula Convenience is a software company revolutionizing delivery services from convenience stores. Their mission is to build the operating system for the convenience industry, aiming to empower retailers to modernize and thrive in today’s market.

Tune in to hear Adit recount his personal journey supporting his parents’ convenience store, his passion for business and startups and the challenges he and his cofounder faced in navigating the convenience store market.

5. ImpactableX, Founder Catherine Griffin | Founding Philly Ep. 15

ImpactableX supports social entrepreneurs by helping them quantify and forecast their social and environmental impact, with the goal of steering capital towards the most beneficial outcomes.

Hear Catherine discuss her experience leading an accelerator fund in Philadelphia, explain the differences between “impact” and “ESG,” and share her mission to bring intelligence to the entire impact investing market.

6. Goodwin, Startup & VC Partner Abe Kwon | Founding Philly Ep. 16

Goodwin is a global law firm dedicated to serving innovators and investors in the fast-paced, technology-driven economy.

Tune in to hear Abe discuss how he assists founders in the early stages of their journey, the essential lessons every founder and entrepreneur should consider when building a company, and an analysis of the events surrounding Silicon Valley Bank.

7. GO, Founder and CEO Michael Beauchamp | Founding Philly Ep. 17

GO offers a more affordable and convenient alternative to traditional car ownership.

Tune in to hear Michael recount his journey as an entrepreneur, the challenges he faced during COVID, and how he and his team at GO are revolutionizing traditional car ownership for the everyday driver.

8. Employee Cycle, Cofounder & CEO Bruce Marable | Founding Philly Ep. 18

Employee Cycle transforms disconnected workforce data from various HR systems into a unified, user-friendly HR dashboard. This empowers HR leaders to view, track, and analyze all their people data in one place.

Tune in to hear Bruce discuss his entrepreneurial journey in building HR products, the importance of storytelling in conveying your company’s value, and how he and his team are on a mission to empower HR professionals to become more data-driven.

9. Carbon Reform, Cofounder & COO Nick Martin | Founding Philly Ep. 19

Carbon Reform is at the forefront of innovation with the Carbon Capsule, a modular carbon dioxide capture device designed to help building owners reduce CO2 and contaminant levels internally.

Tune in to hear Nick discuss his passion for renewable energy technology, the significance of integrating emerging technologies with social impact, and how he and his team are committed to democratizing access to carbon capture and carbon removal technology.

10. LLUNA, Cofounder & CEO Jess Podgajny | Founding Philly Ep. 20

LLUNA is building the new operating system for hybrid and remote teams.

Listen to Jess share her experience in building LLUNA, the significant pivot her company made during COVID, and how she and her team are fostering high-performing teams through meaningful connections and data-driven belonging.”

11. Juno Search Partners, Cofounder Mikal Harden | Founding Philly Ep. 21

Juno Search Partners, a women-founded and women-led talent solutions firm, is dedicated to connecting the right people with the right places every day.

After more than 12 years, Juno Search Partners recently announced their acquisition by NFP, a leading insurance broker specializing in benefits, wealth management, property and casualty, and retirement planning.

Tune in to hear Mikal discuss her passion for search and staffing, how she and her partners at Juno Capital are investing in Philadelphia entrepreneurs, and what’s next for her and the Philadelphia startup ecosystem that she has helped to build.

12. LifeBrand, Cofounder and CEO T.J. Colaiezzi and Cofounder and COO Jemma Barbarise-Kelley | Founding Philly Ep. 22

LifeBrand stands as the world leader in AI-driven social media detection. Their AI-powered software and user-friendly dashboard simplify the process of curating a powerful personal brand by highlighting potentially unprofessional or harmful posts to users.

Tune in to hear T.J. and Jemma share their journey in building LifeBrand, the story behind their game-changing marketing strategy, and how they are utilizing AI to help you maintain a meaningful digital presence.

13. CampusESP, Cofounder & CEO Dave Becker | Founding Philly Ep. 23

CampusESP is your comprehensive solution for college parent engagement, transforming parents into partners with a focus on student success.

Tune in to hear Dave recount his career journey in the edtech space, how he bootstrapped CampusESP into what it is today, and his mission to assist colleges and universities in engaging families and parents to support student success.

14. Mural Health, Cofounder & Co-CEO Sam Whitaker | Founding Philly Ep. 24

Mural Health is a clinical trials technology company committed to simplifying participation in clinical trials.

Before founding Mural Health, Sam established Greenphire, a leading provider of clinical payment and communication solutions. Over 13 years, Greenphire grew to a valuation of over a billion dollars, achieving this with only $2.2 million raised from investors.

Listen to Sam share his career journey revolutionizing the payments and clinical trial space, why he built Greenphire and now Mural Health, and his mission to modernize the way research sites handle transactions and the participant experience.

15. Stimulus, Founder & CEO Tiffanie Stanard | Founding Philly Ep. 25

Stimulus leverages data and analytics to assist companies in making more diverse, equitable, and inclusive purchasing decisions. The platform is dedicated to transforming businesses into efficient decision-makers, with a strong emphasis on nurturing and growing supplier ecosystems.

Tune in to hear Tiffanie discuss her journey in building Stimulus, the valuable insights she gained from her experiences in vendor management, and how she and her team are aiding businesses in building relationships that lead to improved business outcomes.

16. Chain.io, Founder & CEO Brian Glick | Founding Philly Ep. 26

Chain.io is connecting the software that moves supply chains. Their platform connects systems so businesses have better control over the information they need to manage their supply chain.

Hear Brian recount his experience in building Chain.io, the insights he gained from years in the supply chain and logistics sector, and how he and his team are revolutionizing integrations to facilitate smoother and more efficient business processes for all stakeholders.

17. Common Paper, Cofounder & CEO Jake Stein | Founding Philly Ep. 27

Common Paper streamlines the contract creation and signing process. Their structured contract platform enables you to build trusted templates using standard agreements, and then negotiate, sign, and manage contracts all within a single workflow. Before establishing Common Paper, Jake cofounded two successful Philadelphia-based companies: RJMetrics, which was acquired by Magento, and Stitch, acquired by Talend.

Tune in to hear Jake discuss his journey in building Common Paper, his experiences in creating multiple successful companies within the Philadelphia startup ecosystem, and how he and his team are enhancing the way businesses build, negotiate, and sign contracts.

18. PACT, President & CEO Dean Miller | Founding Philly Ep. 28

PACT provides its members with valuable connectivity to capital, talent, and customers, fostering growth acceleration and success.

Listen to Dean share his journey of leading PACT, the valuable insights he’s gained from venture capital and community building, and how he and his team are nurturing connections and innovation within the Philadelphia startup ecosystem.

19. Guru, Cofounder and CEO Rick Nucci | Founding Philly Ep. 29

Guru is the all-in-one tool that keeps your team connected and puts all the information they need in one place.

Before Guru, Rick founded Boomi, a cloud-based integration platform that became increasingly vital as companies adopted Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions requiring effective integration with existing systems. Boomi was acquired by Dell in 2010.

Listen to Rick recount his entrepreneurial journey with Boomi and Guru, the lessons learned, the challenges faced, and how his team at Guru is leading the charge in AI advancements to revolutionize how companies access and utilize knowledge across teams.

20. Fashionkind, Cofounder & CEO Nina Farran & Rego, Co-Founder & CEO Josh Mastromatto | 2023 PACT’s Lion’s Den | Founding Philly Ep. 30

I recently interviewed Nina Farran, Co-Founder and CEO of Fashionkind, and Josh Mastromatto, Co-Founder and CEO of Rego, following their participation in the Lion’s Den event at the 2023 Capital Conference hosted by PACT (Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies).

Tune in to hear Nina and Josh discuss their preparation for the pitch, how they handled the pressure from investors on stage, and their advice for other founders seeking investment.

21. Soom Foods, CEO and Cofounder Amy Zitelman | Founding Philly Ep. 31

Soom Foods, a sister-owned company, is renowned for its tahini and related products. Known for its silky-smooth texture, Soom Tahini is crafted from sesame seeds and has become a versatile ingredient in both Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, enhancing a variety of savory and sweet dishes.

Listen as Amy shares her journey of co-founding and leading Soom Foods over the past decade, the invaluable lessons learned in developing a leading tahini brand, and her commitment to revolutionizing the culinary world by introducing high-quality, versatile tahini to kitchens everywhere.