This Week in Startups

In 2013, entrepreneur Max Ventilla decided to design a new school that would provide the kind of education he wanted for his own kids: a school that would not follow the usual "one size fits all" model but one that prioritized individualized study, infused with technology, to empower teachers and maximize the potential of each child. In just one year, the demand for such high quality learning has catapulted AltSchool's expansion from one to ten classrooms, and from early childhood to middle-school grades. This week Jason sits down with CEO and Founder Max Ventilla to talk about the state of education, the advantages of becoming a "B Corp" (benefit corporation), and lessons learned from this marriage of mission and startup tech savvy.

In the second show of our safety arc, Jason talks with Doug Simpson, CEO/Founder of Navdy, a "head-up" in-car display that allows you to use your apps while driving without taking your eyes off the road. Greater connectivity, better navigation, zero distractions. Doug is in the studio to show Jason the Navdy prototype, share his experiences at Highway 1 accelerator, and explain how he got the idea for the device (hint: one too many "oh, &%#!" moments while driving).

This episode of Startup Basics will handle one of the most difficult decisions you'll make as an entrepreneur. At some point the going will most definitely get tough -- but when do you persevere and when do you pivot?? Jason shows us some surefire signals and red flags.

Today Jason tackles street safety with two companies taking different, albeit critical and complementary, approaches. First up is Yardarm that tracks the geolocation of officers’ firearms in real time and alerts central command if a weapon has been un-holstered and where it is pointing. Second is ShotSpotter, used in over 80 cities around the world, whose sensors monitor and analyze gunshots. SpotShotter examines thousands of explosive incidents per day, and recently verified the shots from a recording in Ferguson, MO, that occurred when Michael Brown died. Jim Schaff from Yardarm and James Beldock from ShotSpotter walk Jason through demos of their incredible systems and discuss the challenges and opportunities of implementing technology for community safety.

Jason and guests Josh Williams (Founder, @Lastguide) & Eric Newcomer (Tech reporter @TheInformation) take a bite out of Apple. They dish in-depth on Watch, Pay & iPhone 6 (+plus!) and debate which of these products is the most groundbreaking, really. But wait -- there's (a lot) more! In this old school 90-minute episode, the riveting discussion captures venture capital, homelessness, citizen arrests, Y Combinator, BING Launch of the Week, and why clean hands are a good thing.

This week Jason talks to two pioneers in the future of food. First up is Megan Miller, CEO and Founder of Bitty Foods, who bakes mouthwatering cookies from cricket flour. In the studio and at her kitchen, Megan shows us how insects, the most efficient forms of protein on earth, could very well be the key to global food sustainability. Second is Sterling Tougas, CEO and Founder of Katapult, who feeds Jason his delicious energy chips made from super foods, and talks about his journey as an entrepreneur in this critical culinary space.

Finding home care for your elderly loved ones is a challenging, time-consuming, and often heart-wrenching process. Agencies can be prohibitively expensive, and yet you're rolling the dice with high stakes indeed if you rely on Craigslist. Finally, there's a solution. HomeHero is an online marketplace that closely vets caregivers, matches them with clients, and then manages their relationships with ongoing support. CEO and Co-Founder Kyle Hill sits down with Jason to share his thoughts on the home care conundrum, his vision for the product, and his advice to young entrepreneurs of color.

In this "Startup Basics," Jason sits down with special guests, WSGR attorneys Rachel Proffitt and Todd Carpenter, who give us in-depth advice on the legal aspects of getting your startup off the ground. In this episode Todd and Rachel address the following critical question: How do I negotiate a term sheet? Tune in to find out!

It's Part 2 of Jason's far out, mind-bending conversation with Austen Heinz, inventor of a DNA laser printer and scientist extraordinaire. On location at Cambrian Genomics, we see the laser printer in action, and Jason and Austen go deep into the dark sides of this technology. The ability to create creatures is fast becoming available and affordable, which begs the question -- what could possibly go wrong??

Austen Heinz invented a DNA laser printer, and now our wildest science fantasies are a reality. With this incredible technology, the creation of brand-new creatures is not only possible, but affordable. On location at Cambrian Genomics, sitting between plants glowing with firefly DNA, Jason and Austen discuss this brave new world. Stay tuned next week for Part 2!

After a summer hiatus, our News Roundtable is back! For this special Tuesday edition, Ryan Block (AOL) and Declan McCullagh (Recent.io) sit down with Jason to tackle today's timeliest topics. On deck: Amazon's purchase of Twitch, the banning and hacking of Secret, how Twitter affected and enhanced the events in Ferguson, MI, all things Uber -- and much more. Plus BING Launch of the Week, featuring three recent Y Combinator alums: Edyn (the connected garden), LocalLift (crowdsourcing for local businesses), and Gingko Bioworks (engineering new organisms).

Catapult Sports is an athlete analytics powerhouse, combining cutting-edge hardware & SaaS platform to promote peak player performance and drastically reduce injuries. Based in Australia, Catapult partners with over 500 professional sports teams around the world, with business growing exponentially in the U.S. (Just ask Florida State football coach, Jimbo Fisher, who directly credits Catapult for his team's championship win last year.) This week Jason sits down with Catapult Executive Chairman, Adir Shiffman.

In this "Startup Basics," Jason sits down with special guests, WSGR attorneys Rachel Proffitt and Todd Carpenter, who give us in-depth advice on the legal aspects of getting your startup off the ground. In this episode Todd and Rachel address the following critical question: If I'm starting a tech company, what type of corporation should I make -- an LLC, S-, or C-corp? Tune in to find out!

This week Jason sits down with two successful entrepreneurs innovating in challenging areas: finance and health care. First up is Bo Lu, CEO & Co-founder of FutureAdvisor, which automates portfolio management, making it affordable and accessible to the wider population. Next is Alexander Borve, CEO & Founder of iDoc24, whose app FirstDerm allows users anonymously to text photos and receive quick but comprehensive consultations from dermatologists. Tune in to hear about their great products and progress.

This week, Jason talks to a pioneer in the Wild West of cryptocurrency. Eight months ago Josh Mohland created DogeTipBot, a tool for tipping with dogecoin on the internet. Since then, 70k users (and climbing) have gone to town gifting -- to each other for fun in fractions of pennies, and en masse for charity, building wells in Africa and sending the Jamaican bobsled team to the Olympics for $25k. You don't want to miss this conversation!