Disruptive CEO Nation

Show NotesDisruptive CEO Nation Podcast with Allison K. SummersEpisode 145 Kate Westad, Founder, Palette by PakKate Westad is the inventor and founder of Palette by pak, a refillable, reusable, sustainable beauty system.  While packing for a trip after a long day at the office, she realized that there had to be a better way to bring, store, and reuse the many goops, glops & glam™️ she was taking with her on her vacation.  As an attorney by trade, Kate began the research process and soon learned that the beauty industry was fueling its sustainability crisis. With statistics including the ones below, Kate knew she had to change the beauty industry from disposable to sustainable.  She's a Forbes Next 1000 honoree, has been featured in Glossy, Martha Stewart, Travel + Leisure, Women's Health, Glamour, and more.In our conversation, Kate explains: Her packaging and inventory management with her products. The steps she took when inventing her product and creating her brand. How Kate balances her work life and home life as an entrepreneur. The tips and tricks Kate has created in order to keep organized and build her company. Be sure to check out Kate’s social links listed below.  Enjoy the show!Connect with Kate Westad:Website: https://palettebypak.com/pages/contactLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katewestad/ Connect with Allison:Website: allisonksummers.com #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you want to follow the innovations happening in the blockchain and NFT space then you need Manuela in your network. Manuela Seve is co-founder and CEO of Alpha’a & alphaa.io through which she is changing the way we think of asset ownership by connecting the physical and digital realms via blockchain certification, licensing, and dropshipping.  She has been in the tech and art sector for the past 8 years successfully raising funds from industry leaders such as: Metaprop vc, EOS VC, Chingona Ventures, and Gaingels among others funds. With a background in finance, Manuela worked as an equity analyst at GáveaInvestments, one of Brazil’s most reputable investment management firms. Alphaa.io gives brands verified proof of who their biggest fans are and provides special access to anything online or offline. Some great intelligence and insights shared with us:- How Alphaa.io is using blockchain for authenticity, resale tracking, and community building for sports teams, luxury brands, and companies.- How this technology allows for ongoing royalty tracking on the resale of products, memorabilia, autographs, and more leading to residual revenue, community tracking, and more. For example, 80% of athletes go bankrupt 18 months after they leave the courts but by putting a resale royalty for articles that they create during their careers they can continue to earn income.- How businesses such as Starbucks are using NFT loyalty programs, which is basically just the evolution of the punch card but on a much more massive scale that can also utilize geofencing and provide loyalty rewards in an entirely new way. These digital wallets are the way of the future.- Other unique aspects of NFTs allow for people to purchase NFTs as a pre-order on products which becomes production on demand and can significantly zero waste. - How the rise of the backend revolution and how it will upset power dynamics and what this could mean in terms of government organizations is massive. Connect with Manuela:Website: https://www.alphaa.io/home Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alphaaio/?hl=en  Connect with Allison:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: DisruptiveCEONation.comTwitter: @DisruptiveCEO   #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Przmek Szleter has built his business on the theme of ‘Changing ideas into digital products’. DAC.digital is a team of engineers & problem solvers who deliver value across areas of #IoT, hardware, embedded systems, #bigdata, #machinelearning, #blockchain, DevOps, and software engineering. Today, DAC.digital is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Europe. In our conversation we touch on:-      The differentiating factor of being a scientific-based tech company with Ph.D. thought leaders on staff to keep them on the leading edge.-      Some insights into current projects such as gaze estimation and eye tracking software on smartphones and the complexities of building IoT software and interfaces.-      The driving objectives for why he started the company and why he is passionate about showing the world that there are world-class tech professionals in Poland.-      Scaling lessons: paying others before yourself, “hiring smarter” than you, and when to bring in support at the top.-      The future vision of opening offices in Germany and the US.-      Not waiting for the world to show you what to do but being in the position to lead the world. Przmek holds over 14 years of professional experience as a Business & IT Executive and has MSc-level degrees in tech and business gained at universities in the UK and Poland.DAC.digital has delivered over 60 dedicated tech solutions for clients in a range of industries, including Fortune Global 500 companies in over 20 countries. They’ve worked with partners like Estee Lauder, Thales, and Infineon. They have received recognitions such as: Leading Service Provider 2020 by Clutch as one of the top IoT developers in Poland; PwC awarded the title “Polish Company – International Champion” in 2020; cited in the "Master of Innovative Transformation" competition organized by ICAN Institute; a special mention from the Editorial Board of MIT Sloan Management Review in "Technology and market" category; and more. Connect with Przmek: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/szleter/Website: https://dac.digital/ Connect with Allison:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/Website: DisruptiveCEONation.comTwitter: @DisruptiveCEO  #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #businesspodcast #podcast #fertility #femtech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is a known fact in today’s marketplace that businesses worldwide struggle to meet employee expectations and create authentic engagement. Equally, employees have experienced higher stress and lack of balanced well-being.Enter, Ally Fekaiki, a man on a mission to create positive change in #futureofwork with the founding of Juno.Branded as Juno: the life company®️, the Juno platform lets staff choose perks that chime with their definition of well-being, using credits allocated by their employer each month. Employees can choose from hundreds of options (from fitness classes to healthy meals, to mental health support) or use their points to reimburse things like cleaning and childcare. Juno's user base grew tenfold last year as employers looked for new ways to support hybrid teams, improve work-life balance and retain staff.In this episode, we discussed:- The motivation behind Juno and why it is so personal to Ally that employee benefits are not treated as a ‘one size fits all’.- The path from startup to scale-up to serving customers in 70+ countries with 400 global product solutions.- The imperative for businesses to care about employee wellness and benefit options and how employee choice leads to employee satisfaction.- What Juno points are and how they can be used to purchase a range of services and products for their wellbeing – from organic vegetable boxes to therapy sessions and language courses.- How Ally is harnessing marketing to be a category leader and build a globally recognized brand. Ally Fekaiki founded Juno at the start of 2019 to tackle what he believes to be a well-being crisis in the workplace. Ally is a Social Impact founder with a demonstrated history of growing early-stage businesses from Seed to Series A and beyond. Prior to Juno he held positions as head of growth and head of user engagement at Cleo, Yolt, and LOQBOX. Be sure to check out Ally’s links listed below. Enjoy the show!Connect with Ally:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allyfekaiki/Website: https://juno-7d66b1.webflow.io/Instagram: @with__juno Connect with Allison:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/Website: DisruptiveCEONation.comTwitter: @DisruptiveCEO  #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With pandemics and global health concerns in the headlines, it is good to know there are companies like Anima Biotech leveraging advanced technology to accelerate pharma solutions. Under the leadership of Co-founder and CEO Yochi Slonim, the team at Anima Biotech is advancing mRNA Lightning, a novel platform for the discovery of small molecule mRNA drugs and their mechanisms of action. If you do not understand what this means, take a listen as we promise you will be fascinated and learn something new.In this episode, we discussed:- How Yochi made the leap to founding a company that is at the leading edge of the intersection of technology and medical discovery.- How using AI and machine learning is a complete game changer in #medtech.- Why mRNA Lightening is so critical to the swift discovery and treatability process for existing and evolving diseases.- How their differentiated approach combines high-scale phenotypic screening that automates millions of experiments in live mRNA biology with MOAi technology using AI to elucidate the mechanism of action of active molecules.- Why the best people and best solutions require a global team to make up Anima and so their eye is on expansion and partner networks.Yochi Slonim is a serial entrepreneur in software and biotech who has built multiple companies through all phases of growth all the way to IPOs and large M&A exits. As a Co-founder and CEO of Anima Biotech, he is driving the company's vision and strategy, fundraising, and partnering.Prior to Anima, Yochi was a co-founder of Mercury Interactive. As CTO and VP R&D from the company's early days, he created product vision and strategy and led a multi-product organization of 200 developers. After going public and reaching revenues of over $1B annually, Mercury was acquired by HP for $4.5B.In 2000, Yochi was the founder and CEO of Identify. The company reached revenues of $50m in less than 5 years and was acquired by BMC in 2006 for $150m in cash. Yochi founded ffwd.me, a unique startup acceleration program where he led a team that worked with over 25 startups in diverse areas and technologies, developing strategy, products and go-to-market operations while raising multiple rounds of financing from VCs and private investors. Be sure to check out Yochi’s links listed below. Enjoy the show!Connect with Yochi:LinkedIn: https://www.animabiotech.com/Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yochislonim/?originalSubdomain=il Connect with Allison:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/Website: DisruptiveCEONation.comTwitter: @DisruptiveCEO  #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #construction #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices