Podcast: Dare to Disrupt

This podcast is about Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders, and the stories behind their success.

Empowering Underserved Communities with Former NFL Player Garry Gilliam



Dare to Disrupt
Dare to Disrupt
Empowering Underserved Communities with Former NFL Player Garry Gilliam
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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. 




Pioneering Predictive Manufacturing Maintenance with Jeremy Frank



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Dare to Disrupt
Pioneering Predictive Manufacturing Maintenance with Jeremy Frank
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Jeremy is co-founder and CEO of KCF Technologies, a technology company based out of State College PA. KCF Technologies provides proprietary machine health optimization hardware, software, and services to industry and military clients. Under Jeremy’s leadership, KCF has pioneered advancements in wireless vibration sensing and machine health monitoring. Today, the company is a global leader in predictive maintenance, monitoring over 80,000 machines across numerous industries, driven by Jeremy’s vision of eradicating unplanned downtime and enhancing industrial safety. 

In this episode, Jeremy shares the evolution of KCF Technologies, from an imports/exports company to a consultancy to the thriving solutions software company it is today. He shares his background growing up in Pittsburgh helping with his father’s forensic engineering business. He also talks about the devastating realities of failure in business, juxtaposed with the allure of all the freedom entrepreneurship provides.

Episode Chapters

0:00 – 2:54 Intro/Jeremy’s background information

2:54 – 3:32 Formative years growing up in Pittsburgh, Pitt fan 

3:32 – 5:36 Decision to come to Penn State, studying mechanical engineering, unclear career path

5:36 – 6:11  Working at father’s forensic engineering business 

6:11 – 7:14 Never applied for a full-time job, but good at making money 

7:14 – 10:18 Crashing cars for science, acoustics and vibrations studies  

10:18 – 11:51 From Tokyo to business launch

11:51 – 14:35 First go-to-market business idea

14:35 – 19:04 Dad’s advice on failure  

19:04 – 21:17 What it means to be wired for entrepreneurship

21:17 – 24:32  The KCF business model today

24:32 – 31:21 Scaling and growing the business from 1 employee to 250 

31:21 – 35:03 The entrepreneurial environment in State College, then and now

35:03 – 36:28 Penn State Athletics, measuring vibrations at Beaver Stadium 

36:28 – 37:09 Intro for student guest Ankur Verma

37:09 – 38:20 Targeting mid-market companies  

38:20 – 41:59 – AI and industry 




Teaser: Dare to Disrupt



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Dare to Disrupt
Teaser: Dare to Disrupt
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Increasing Access to Substance Use Disorder Treatment with Doug Leech



Dare to Disrupt
Dare to Disrupt
Increasing Access to Substance Use Disorder Treatment with Doug Leech
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Doug Leech is the Founder and CEO of Ascension Recovery Services. Through his own struggles with addiction and subsequent recovery, Doug developed a passion for helping those suffering from the disease of addiction and set out to increase access to Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment across the country. The mission of Ascension RS is to expand access to care by opening fully integrated, comprehensive and person-centered SUD and co-occurring mental health disorder treatment centers across the country providing for all who need treatment, regardless of insurance type or ability to pay, advancing Behavioral Health Equity. Ascension RS has been recognized as one of the fastest growing healthcare companies in the country and is a leader in developing and managing behavioral health treatment centers. Doug graduated from Penn State with a degree in accounting.




Inventing Dazzle Dry Nail Polish with VB Cosmetics Founder Vivian Valenty



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Dare to Disrupt
Inventing Dazzle Dry Nail Polish with VB Cosmetics Founder Vivian Valenty
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Vivian is founder and president of VB Cosmetics, a fully integrated manufacturing company with global brands of clean, nature- and science-based, functional and proprietary beauty products. Its transformational product, Dazzle Dry, a quick-dry nail polish system, is revolutionizing the nail industry. After 17 years on the market, Dazzle Dry now still has no equal in performance. 

In this episode, Vivian shares stories about her upbringing in the Philippines, overcoming discrimination and harassment in the workplace, acquiring nine patents as an accomplished bio-organic chemist and inventor, and inventing the foundation for what would become Dazzle Dry.

Episode Chapters

0:00 – 5:24 Growing up in a one-room hut in the Philippines 

5:24 – 6:27 Studying chemistry at the MIT of the Philippines 

6:27 – 9:18 Acquiring a travel grant to get to Penn State 

9:18 –11:22 studying enzymes at Penn State 

11:22 – 14:49 Overcoming discrimination and harassment in the workplace 

14:49– 16:32 Discovering a replacement for phosphates when no one else could 

16:32 – 20:05 300 formulations to innovate the nail polish industry

20:05 – 21:22 Creating the final formulation on a deadline 

21:22 – 22:46 Pivoting away from UVA when newly deemed carcinogenic 

22:46 – 24:24 10 years of inventions and patents 

24:24 – 25:14 Why she doesn’t believe patents are for small businesses 

25:14 – 27:15 Inventing the foundation of Dazzle Dry 

27:15– 30:33 Overcoming the recession and building a business plan  

30:33– 32:08 Leaving a legacy of helping others, preserving the planet 

32:08 – 41:50 Student section 

32:08 – 33:48 Securing funding 

33:48 – 36:31 Building a team of experts

36:31– 38:30 Continuing to innovate based on customer feedback 

38:30 –41:22  The complexities of scaling up for manufacturers  




Riding the Founder’s Wave with Matt Brezina



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Dare to Disrupt
Riding the Founder's Wave with Matt Brezina
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Matt Brezina, a 2003 Schreyer and College of Engineering grad, shares the stories behind starting software company Xobni and greeting card company Sincerely.




From Wall Street Trader to Facial Authentication Innovator with Ryan Owen



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Dare to Disrupt
From Wall Street Trader to Facial Authentication Innovator with Ryan Owen
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Ryan Owen is the co-founder and president of Wicket, as well as the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Cast Iron Media. In this episode, Ryan shares his experiences as a Wall Street trader, the unique internship opportunities Penn State connected him to as a student, as well as his experience being in the World Trade Center on 9/11. He then shares the twists and turns that led him to founding his two current startups: Wicket, a software company that specializes in facial authentication solutions for venue operators and facility managers, and Cast Iron Media, a premier sports and entertainment streaming solutions company.

Ryan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems from Penn State and an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. 




Developing the Future of AI with poolside Co-founder Jason Warner



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Dare to Disrupt
Developing the Future of AI with poolside Co-founder Jason Warner
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Jason Warner is co-founder and CEO of poolside, a generative AI company building the world’s most capable AI for software development & the applications to unlock the potential of developers. Prior to founding poolside, Jason was the Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures. He also served as the CTO at GitHub, where he was responsible for bringing products like GitHub Actions, Packages, Advanced Security, Connect, and Codespaces to market.

In this episode, Jason discusses the business challenges and successes he experienced as GitHub’s CTO and delves into the unique hurdles faced by a generative AI company. He also shares his philosophy on the future of AI and its potential impact on various aspects of our lives.

Episode Chapters

0:00 – 8:34 Penn State experience, learning coding 

8:34 – 16:03 Experience as CTO of GitHub 

16:03 – 30:18 poolside, how AI is going to transform the world 

30:18 – 42:17 Student section 




A Pioneer in Tech: Building the Interviewing Cloud with Mo Bhende



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Dare to Disrupt
A Pioneer in Tech: Building the Interviewing Cloud with Mo Bhende
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Inspired by his love of hiring, Mo Bhende built Karat to unlock opportunities and transform the interviewing process by conducting highly predictive technical interviews for clients. In this episode, Bhende talks about his international travels, how he took advantage of Penn State resources, lessons learned while working for Microsoft Xbox, and how all those experiences led him to creating a business that would turn the agonizing interview process into an enjoyable one. 

At the end of this episode, Bubune Owusu, a senior in the College of Engineering and founder of Be Your Best Clothing, a clothing brand made to inspire others to look within themselves and to make use of their maximum potential, joins us to talk to Bhende about how to lead with both courage and confidence while also managing your priorities as a founder. 

About Mo Bhende 

Mo Bhende graduated from Penn State with honors in 2001 with degrees in math and economics.