Synopsis
Through the Angel Invest Boston Podcast we seek to learn more about the creation of world-changing startups. Bostons unique concentration of academic talent and entrepreneurial culture offer bountiful opportunities for conversations with people who have funded and built innovative companies. By recounting engaging stories, angels and founders convey lessons they have learned. These narratives illustrate the rewards of helping founders commercialize transformative technologies. We hope you too will find our dialogues entertaining and instructive. Im Sal Daher, host of the Angel Invest Boston Podcast. After immigrating to Boston as a child and attending Belmont High School, I studied engineering at MIT and Stanford. Decades of work in international finance followed. During that time, I invested in a handful of ventures founded by friends and acquaintances. Now, Im a member of Walnut Ventures and MIT Angels and spend most of my time as an angel investor taking stakes in about a dozen startups per year.
Episodes
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Joe Phoenix - Democratizing Philanthropy
03/08/2022 Duration: 54minAngel Scale Biotech: Learn More Joe Phoenix founded Givinga to democratize philanthropy. After a luminous career in investments, he is turning his fruitful energies and network to build a new space he calls philantech. A dynamic chat with a remarkable founder. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Joe Phoenix Givinga’s Mission How Givinga is Helping Portfolio Company Meenta Build its Non-Profit Effort, Curesology Givinga's Founding Story Joe’s Transition to Putnam “...Funds have been around for a long time, but it was like a breakthrough in financial technology that enabled the creation of mutual funds…” Cryptocurrency Versus Mutual Funds “...take your return, divide it into 72 and it tells you how many years it takes you to double your money…” Change in Money Value Over Time The Growing Biotech Industry Advice to the Audience Topics: founding story, discovering entrepreneurship
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Marco Salvalaggio - Fintech Angel
27/07/2022 Duration: 01h04minAngel Scale Biotech: Learn More A career in international finance gives Marco Salvalaggio an unusual perspective on angel investing. We discussed his favorite startups and pondered strategies founders and angels can use to build better companies. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Marco Salvalaggio HappyNest: An App-Based Laundry Service Cactivate: Ad Placing for Small Businesses Revizion: Software for Managing Customer Reviews The Difference Between California and New England Angel Investors “...You need the Puritanism of New England and you also need the can-do informality of California…” Marco's Background “...It was the convergence of my personal life with my professional life that got me to Angel investment because I met a very nice woman that eventually became my wife…” Advice to the Audience “...if you have perspective where you understand the whole technology cycle ... that means that you're goin
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Ryan Hess - Timely Data, Better Care
20/07/2022 Duration: 29minAngel Scale Biotech: Learn More Gathering scattered medical data about a patient and giving it to the doctor in time for a visit is Connective Health’s aim. Founder, Ryan Hess, updates us on the progress of his startup in improving care and lowering costs. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Ryan Hess Connective Health: The Problem It's Solving Patient Info Doctors Are Missing and Why It Matters "... it's something a provider wants to see because they want that short story..." Connective Health's Next Step "... if it is a provider that is about to deliver treatment and there is an entity that has your data, that entity, as long as it's under the realm of HIPAA, can provide that data to the provider..." Advice to the Audience Topics: discovering entrepreneurship, founding story
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David Fogel, CPA - Angel CPA
13/07/2022 Duration: 01h08minAngel Scale Biotech: Learn More David Fogel, CPA, is an angel investor who teaches entrepreneurship at Northeastern University. His company, Swifton CFOs, offers fractional chief financial officers to startups. We discussed strategies to help angel investors. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces David Fogel "Don't spend your time sweating the legal details" “...I've been involved in angel investing for maybe 10 or 12 years now between Mass Medical and TiE…” Inspiration for Success The Process of Angel Investing "Have a champion, have more than one champion, don't go into the room cold" Balancing the Budget "Tell me the truth. Don't candy-coat it" "To me, it's all about, do you have a great idea? Can you implement it?" Advice for the Audience Topics: angel investing strategies, discovering entrepreneurship
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Carter Williams, VC - The Future of Food
06/07/2022 Duration: 01h17minAngel-Scale Biotech: Learn More Carter Williams went from building fighter jets to building technology startups. A mind-expanding conversation with a VC who grapples with big ideas. Topics range from the future of food to how to get more people into the innovation economy. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Carter Williams, Aerospace Engineer Turned VC Portfolio Company Benson Hill Aims to Make Plant-Based Meats Affordable Portfolio Company Kula Bio Harnesses Micro-Organisms to Increase Nitrogen Fixation in Soil Gathering Scattered Data to Create Synthetic Control Arms for Clinical Trials Healthjump’s Role in the COVID Research Data Base How Carter Williams Went from Engineer to VC Carter Williams Greatly Respects the Risk Taking of Founders Savran’s Enabling Technology New Models of Startup Creation “I want to build the AWS of precision fermentation.” Carter Williams on Getting Capital Off the Sidelines and Into Innovation Topics: portfolio, venture capital, biotech Title: The Future of Food
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Orly Zeewy, Branding for Startups
29/06/2022 Duration: 39minAngel Scale Biotech: Learn More Orly Zeewy is a brand wiz with a focus on startups. Her book, Ready, Launch, Brand: The Lean Marketing Guide for Startups, offers success stories and actionable exercises which help founders build their brand. Great chat, learned tons. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Orly Zeewy Branding: Why Names Matter "You ask people what they want, you give them what they want, and ... they come because you give them what they want." Ugly Baby Syndrome The Impact of Social Media Advice From an Entrepreneur Social Media Algorithms: How They Affect Branding "Get clear on your story because people invest in stories" Finding the Right Target Audience Topics: selling, platform, discovering entrepreneurship
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Ben Littauer 4 - Backing Biotech
22/06/2022 Duration: 53minAngel Scale Biotech: Learn More Investing modest sums and copious energy, Ben Littauer helps tech companies sprout. His focus is startups that do the most good for the world. Founders and angel investors value Ben’s advice greatly. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patebt attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Ben Littauer Discovering Angel Groups Why Be an Angel Investor? Startups That Ben Littauer Has Invested In " It started off as being a soft robotic glove that allows a stroke survivor to move their hand ... measure how it's doing, and do multiple repetitions" The Importance of Coachability "The stuff that you and I invest in now are people inventing new things and there are no right answers" Sal's Angel Investing Journey "Jeff helped me realize that ... where I should be focusing all my energies is in these early-stage companies" "Aquaculture is the future of food" Advice for Potential Investors Topics: angel investing strategies, raising mone
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Enrico Palmerino, Founder - Botkeeper: Offload the Bookkeeping
15/06/2022 Duration: 39minAngel Scale Biotech: Learn More AI is coming for the pesky chores of bookkeeping. Enrico Palmerino, founder of VC-backed Botkeeper, relates how machine learning is helping accountants and their clients. Compelling founder with a great story. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Sal Daher Introduces Enrico Palmerino What Botkeeper Does Why Efficient Bookkeeping Matters What Sets Botkeeper Apart Growing Clientele “We're venture backed. We've raised a total of about 90 million to date. We just closed our C round...” The AI Revolution The Statistics of Bookkeeping Challenges and How They're Dealt With Adapting to New Technologies Enrico Palmerino Had a Lot of Entrepreneurship in His Family Advice for Starting a Startup Evolving with Your Environment Topics: robotics/Ai, founding story, product
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Maryam Soomro, Founder - Black Phosphorus Saves Lives
08/06/2022 Duration: 32minAngel-Scale Biotech: Learn More Bacterial growth in an IV caused a kid to lose his legs. Shocked by the tragedy, young physician Maryam Soomro began researching solutions. Her startup, TuCann, now uses black phosphorus tech from RMIT, Australia's MIT, to fight infection. Heartening! Sponsored by Purdue University entreprenuership and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Maryam Soomro The IV Issue Black Phosphorus: How it Works Using Reactive Oxygen Species to Eliminate Bacterial Infection Creating a Startup: Where to Begin Where Will TuCann be Based? Getting a License For Use of Materials How TuCann Came About From Research to Entrepreneurship Topics: biotech, techstars, discovering entrepreneurship
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Ed Goluch, PhD, Founder - Diagnosis in Minutes 2
01/06/2022 Duration: 38minOpportunities in angel-scale biotech: Learn More It can take days to identify the cause of a bacterial infection; Ed Goluch, PhD founded QSM Diagnostics to change that. QSM now has a device that can detect a bacteria of interest in minutes. Ed updates us on the headway QSM has made since his first interview, Diagnosis in Minutes. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish and Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Ed Goluch How QSM Diagnostics Came About Quorum Sensing Molecules: What Are They? Redirecting From Human To Animal Diagnostics Getting the Product Off the Ground Mail-in Test Kits Speeding Things Up at the Veterinary Offices Academic Founder to Founding CEO Persevering Through COVID Setbacks Animal Data Will Eventually Lead to Human Based Devices Greater Market in Animals Due to People Prioritizing Their Pets "The other interesting thing, lot of our sales are actually going to mobile vets" Getting the Word Out QSM Diagnostics Receives Prestigiou
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Jorge Jorgensen, Founder - Medicsen: Insulin Minus Pain
25/05/2022 Duration: 38minDiscover angel-scale biotech: Learn More Eduardo Jorgensen founded Medicsen to improve the care of people with diabetes. Witnessing the struggles of patients taking insulin inspired Eduardo to leave medicine and build a device and an app to simplify the control of blood sugar by patients. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish & Richardson Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Eduardo Jorgensen, Founder of Medicsen What Medicsen is all About The Suggin App and What it Does Making an Insulin Device That Does Not Require Needle Injection Discussing Product Patents Sonophoresis: Sound Based Drug Delivery Raising the Funds for the Company The Role Models Behind the Startup "Even if you're comfortable getting out of your comfort zone, doing that as a dad, it's a hard thing to do." Funding for Angel Investors Making Medicsen Profitable Deep Dive into the Suggin App How the Product Works With the App Perseverance Regardless of Low Funds and No Business Experience
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Senan Ebrahim, MD and Priyanka Vaidya - Delfina: Safer Pregnancies
18/05/2022 Duration: 56minAngel-scale biotech: Learn More While at Harvard Medical School, Senan Ebrahim was deeply affected by witnessing a still birth. Convinced better data could have avoided the tragedy, he founded Delfina Care with Priyanka Vaidya from EMOTIV, the EEG platform, and his brother Ali Ebrahim, PhD, a former Tech Lead at Google. Senan and Priyanka joined me for a great chat about the exciting things happening in digital health. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Senan Ebrahim and Priyanka Vaidya of Delfina Senan Ebrahim Was Interviewed in a Prior Episode Titled “Hikma Health” Obstetricians Are Flooded with Data from Pregnant Patients Leading to Poor Outcomes Priyanka Vaidya’s Experience with Gestational Diabetes Highlighted the Need to Coordinate Care “...I realized discontinuity of care is a major problem.” “Delfina wants to be that one place that integrates all of these discrete sources of data so that the mom stays in the center of the care...” Integrating Health Data Shows Up in Interviews with Jeremy Wiygul,
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Sean Kevlahan, PhD - Polymers, Pivots and Exits
11/05/2022 Duration: 39minAngels helping biotech startups: Learn More Exited founder Sean Kevlahan, PhD tells the story of Quad Technologies and how an interesting polymer contributed to the explosion of cell therapies in the last decade. Sean gives great advice for biotech founders and investors, and joins Armon Sharei in my pantheon of chemical engineers who are gifted communicators. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patents attorney at Fish & Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Welcomes Sean Kevlahan, PhD, Founder of Quad Technologies “...how do you release a cell from a substrate [underlying substance] without killing a cell?” “Magnetic beads have been around for a while. Researchers use them to separate cells.” How Do You remove the Magnetic Beads without Killing the Cell? Quad Technologies’ Polymer Made It Possible to Remove the Magnetic Beads “When we first started out Quad, we focused on the academic markets.” The Success of CAR T-cell Therapies Opened Up an Opportunity for Quad -Help Multipl
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Justin Real, Founder - Realplay After COVID
04/05/2022 Duration: 48minOpportunities in Angel-Scale Biotech: Learn More Founder Justin Real tells us how Realplay Sports survived the COVID pause and set itself up to serve booming customer demand in 2022 and 2023. In the 2-year hiatus, Realplay expanded the type customers it can address and brought in partners to enrich its product offering. An inspiring chat with a compelling founder. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneuship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish & Richardson. Highlights: Sal Daher Welcomes Back Justin Real, Founder of Portfolio Company Realplay Sports Justin Real Diplomatically Notices That There’s a Lot Less Sal “...Realplay is a technology company with a goal of solving a problem for the amateur sports ecosystem.” Realplay Serves Mainly the 14 to 18-year-old Players Being Recruited. Younger Players Who Aspire to Be Recruited Also Forms a Significant Clientele “When they're watching the kid playing in the tournament venue, they can just enjoy the game instead of being there with the camera, taking
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Aaron Michel, Founder and VC - 1984 Ventures
27/04/2022 Duration: 48minThe promise of angel-scale biotech: Learn More Founder & VC Aaron Michel of 1984.vc on portfolio companies, Reggora, Faimarkit and Relevize and how they exemplify the firm’s approach to seed-stage investing. Aaron also gives Sal a mind-expanding suggestion on angel-scale biotech. Compelling & jargon-free! Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish & Richardson Sal Daher, CFA Introduces Aaron Michel, Venture Capitalist at 1984.VC Reggora: “...they're just enabling the lenders to do an appraisal almost in an Uberized fashion, in a much faster and much more efficient way than it used to be.” Brian & Will of Reggora Sold $5 Million of Real Estate in their Senior Year at Boston University A Dorm Room Business Helped the Founders of Reggora Discover a Scalable Business Opportunity Fairmarkit Is Automating the Enterprise Procurement Process Relevize – Helps Companies Sell Better via Channel Partners Relevize Gives Channel Partners Digital Advertising Co
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Qiuyan Xu, PhD, Entrepreneur and Angel Investor- Gravitate AI
20/04/2022 Duration: 52minWhy angel-scale biotech is so promising: Learn More Qiuyan Xu, PhD is a statistician, an entrepreneur and a colleague at Walnut. We talked about the startups she has invested in, her immigrant journey and the work she does at Gravitate AI (https://www.gravitate.ai) Sponsors: Purdue University entrepreneurship & Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish & Richardson Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Qiuyan Xu, PhD, Statistician, Entrepreneur and Angel Investor Qiuyan Xu Talks About Her Investment in AOA Diagnostics Qiuyan Xu Talks About Her Investment in Octagon Therapeutics What Sal Daher Looks for in an Academic Founder Qiuyan Xu Wonders About the Long Holds in Life Science Investments “It's an important thing to remember now that the early-stage, angel-scale life science investing is really, really just beginning to take off.” “There are some angels who have done very successfully, with just a handful of companies.” “Weeding out the obvious losers. I think it makes a lot of sense.” We Still Know Surpris
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Slater Victoroff, Founder - Indico Data
13/04/2022 Duration: 52minAngel-scale biotech is hot: Learn More Slater Victoroff founded Indico Data in his dorm room at Olin in 2012. Two years later Indico had gone through Techstars and was VC-backed. Hear the story of how making deep learning accessible to enterprise customers led to massive growth. Sponsored by Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish & Richardson Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Slater Victoroff, Founder and CTO of Indico Data Indico Was Founded in a Dorm Room in 2012, Two Years Later They Raised $3 million in an Oversubscribed Round Machine Learning Is Programming with Data Rather than Code Deep Learning Is Characterized by a Focus on Unstructured Data i.e., Text, Audio and Images Indico’s Original Aim Was to Make Deep Learning Accessible to Software Developers Slater Victoroff Founded Indico Because Most Innovation in Deep learning Was Driven by Industry Indico’s Experience at Techstars Semyon Dukach Saw Promise in Indico Others Did Not “...Techstars really helped us u
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Jeremy Wiygul, MD - Pelvic Floor Connected Health
06/04/2022 Duration: 32minAngel-scale biotech is exploding: Learn More Practicing urologist and founder Jeremy Wiygul, MD believes millions of people are suffering needlessly due to the inadequate delivery of effective treatment, among these his own wife. Pelex aims to use new technology to integrate existing resources and greatly enhance patient outcomes for people with pelvic floor problems such as incontinence. A fun chat with a compelling founder. Sponsors: Purdue University entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish & Richardson Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Jeremy Wiygul, MD Founder of Pelex “...up to 60 million Americans are affected by one form or another of pelvic floor disorders.” Pelex Combines a Connected Device and a Telehealth Platform to Provide Effective Care Pelex Intends to Bring Together the Right Provider, the Right Treatment and the Right Delivery of Care Consumer-Grade Pelvic Floor Devices Are Hit or Miss Parallels to Imago Rehab Which Delivers Physical Therapy Remotely via a Connected Dev
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Erik Bullen - Founder, Angel and Listener
30/03/2022 Duration: 01h07minErik Bullen, founder, angel and listener, gives us an overview of his startups and how his life has changed since exiting his last company. Highlights: Sal Daher Introduces Erik Bullen, Angel, Founder & Listener Erik Bullen Is Excited About Focal Point, a SaaS Solution in the Procurement Space “It's one of those stories where he could not find a solution to actually solve this problem so... I'm going to create my own solution and build my own company.” Anders Lillevik of Focal Point Was on the Fence About Joining Techstars Atlanta; It Turned Out Well “What Focal Point does is it integrates a lot of the other silos that are out there.” How Erik Bullen Reshaped His Work Life After Selling His Company “...Guidely is targeting...alternate methods of mental health and personal development and using techniques, not clinical techniques...” Cyberthentic: “...a very novel way to prevent email business compromise...” “It's actually complementary to some of the other cybersecurity solutions out there.” Meenta Grew
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Susan Conover, AI for Skin 2
23/03/2022 Duration: 26minAngel-scale biotech is taking off: Learn More Susan Conover of Piction Health, is building an AI to improve results and reduce costs in the treatment of skin conditions. Piction has amassed 500,000 diagnosed images and is already helping primary care physicians interpret skin problems in patients. A great chat with an inspiring founder. Highlights: Sal Daher Thanks Sponsors Purdue University Entrepreneurship and Peter Fasse, Patent Attorney at Fish & Richardson Sal Daher Introduces Susan Conover of Piction Health Susan Conover’s History with Melanoma and the Scarcity of Dermatologists "What are opportunities for identifying skin diseases and how can technology help?" “...we help elevate every doctor to have that visual expertise of a dermatologist...” Piction Health’s Data Set Includes 500,000 Diagnosed Images with a Variety of Skin Tones “We're, right now, focused on rashes.” “...what makes the most sense to start with is a buyer who's realizing the value of our product now.” “We estimate we can sa