Episode Archive - Page 4 of 5 - Invent Penn State

Empowering Underserved Communities with Former NFL Player Garry Gilliam

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Empowering Underserved Communities with Former NFL Player Garry Gilliam

00:00 / 00:40:53

Garry Gilliam is the Founder and CEO of The Bridge Eco-Village, a sustainable, mixed-use community ecosystem in Harrisburg, PA. The Bridge Eco-Village will feature solutions to many of the problems facing underserved communities: housing, retail, co-working spaces, education opportunities, entrepreneurship incubators, urban agriculture, sports, and entertainment. Prior to launching the Bridge, Garry played in the NFL for five seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. He graduated from Penn State in 2013 with degrees in business development, psychology, and advertising.

Making Sustainability Convenient with Zander Isaacson

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Making Sustainability Convenient with Zander Isaacson

00:00 / 00:43:59

Zander Isaacson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Xeal, a technology-first electric vehicle (EV) charging company operating at the intersection of real estate, mobility, clean energy, and IoT.  The company secured $40M in Series B funding in November 2022 after closing an $11M series A in 2021 by leading proptech and climate tech VC funds, and has already partnered with 70+ of the largest real estate companies including Lincoln Property Company, Camden, Greystar, Related, UBS, and Brookfield.

Prior to starting Xeal in 2019, Zander worked as a S&T summer analyst at Citi Global Markets and then full-time in IB at Torreya Partners within the Mergers & Acquisitions division. Prior to investment banking, Zander was the founder & president of Happy Valley VC, the first student-run venture capital fund at Penn State, and was a portfolio manager for the Nittany Lion Fund, a $15M student-run hedge fund. He graduated from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business.

Winter Break Message and January Episode Preview

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Winter Break Message and January Episode Preview

00:00 / 00:01:51

We are taking a break this December, but we’ll be back in late January with an episode featuring Zander Isaacson, the co-founder of Xeal, a company that is disrupting the electric vehicle charging industry. Listen to this episode for a quick preview of the interview. Happy holidays!

Empowering Patients with Ro Founder Rob Schutz

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Empowering Patients with Ro Founder Rob Schutz

00:00 / 00:51:42

Rob Schutz is the Chief Growth Officer and Co-founder of Ro, a direct-to-patient healthcare company providing high-quality, affordable healthcare without the need for insurance. Rob guides Ro’s growth, marketing and communications functions to tell Ro’s story of putting patients in control of their health. He applies his extensive experience in consumer marketing to ensure Ro is resonating with patients by directly addressing their healthcare concerns. Under Rob’s leadership, these functions have helped propel Ro into one of the fastest growing companies in the country, achieving unicorn status in 2020. As of September ’22, Rob has stepped back from day-to-day at Ro while continuing to serve as an advisor and on Ro’s Board of Directors.

Prior to Ro, Rob was VP of Growth at Bark, the makers of BarkBox, where he joined as employee #7 and helped scale revenue from zero to $100 million. He also founded a Washington DC-based daily deals site that was acquired by kgbdeals in 2011. An expert in user acquisition, Rob has also served as a curriculum developer and instructor for General Assembly. He has been recognized by Business Insider as a 30 Under 40 leader in Healthcare. Rob earned his B.S. in Management Information Systems from Penn State University.

Rejecting the Label of Disabled with Susan Robinson

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Rejecting the Label of Disabled with Susan Robinson

00:00 / 00:54:27

Susan Robinson is a speaker, consultant and leader making an impact on the world in a truly unique way. Through her corporate and conference keynote, commencement addresses, workshops, client initiatives and writing, she masterfully blends over 25 years of multi-sector leadership with her experiences being legally blind to shift thinking, elevate potential and inspire action. She has worked with global firms and Fortune 500 companies, top not-for-profit organizations, leading universities and the United Nations. She presented a TED Talk in 2017 entitled “How I Fail at Being Disabled,” which has over 1.5M views.

She graduated from Penn State in 1994 with a degree in health policy and administration, and received her masters of public administration in health policy and management from New York University.

Innovating the Environmental Insurance Business with David Rosenberg

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Innovating the Environmental Insurance Business with David Rosenberg

00:00 / 00:35:07

David Rosenberg is the former Executive Vice President and Principal at Environmental Compliance Services (ECS). David and his two partners grew ECS from a small 12 person, $5 million in annual written premium agency to a 500 person, $200 million in annual written premium agency and a leader in the environmental insurance business. ECS was sold to XL Capital Inc., a publicly held company in 1999.

David received his bachelor’s degree in individual and family studies from Penn State.

On the Forefront of Digital Advertising with Infolinks Media CEO Robert Regular

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On the Forefront of Digital Advertising with Infolinks Media CEO Robert Regular

00:00 / 00:53:39

Robert is a serial technology and media entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in digital media and marketing. He has founded, grown and exited four digital media technology companies with teams and locations around the world. Robert’s current company, Infolinks Media, is an exclusive ad marketplace helping emerging publishers grow and succeed.

Robert received his bachelor’s degree in communications and business from Penn State.

Gaming your Health with Litesprite Founder Swatee Surve

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Gaming your Health with Litesprite Founder Swatee Surve

00:00 / 00:52:20

In 2013, Swatee launched Litesprite, a health tech startup developing award-winning digital therapeutic purpose-driven games for chronic conditions. Litesprite has the mission of destigmatizing mental health issues and removing barriers to the tools people need.

She received her MSME in Control Systems and Biomechanics from Penn State.

Revolutionizing the Real Estate Industry with Sean Black

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Revolutionizing the Real Estate Industry with Sean Black

00:00 / 00:49:40

Sean Black is the Co-founder & CEO of Knock.com, and he was part of the founding team for the online real estate marketplace site Trulia. He graduated from Penn State in 1996 with a degree in international business management.