Technori Podcast With Scott Kitun

Panoskin and LCP360 CEO Wojciech Kalembasa is taking visual tours, like Google street view, to the next level. When Google wanted to get off the streets and indoors, Kalembasa saw an opportunity. He sold his car and decided to get into the 360 visual business. The first client was Merchandise Mart and other Chicago landmarks soon followed while on boarding thousands of photographers across the globe.

Rajiv Nathan... aka Raj Nathan... aka RajNation joins Scott Kitun and Beth Bond in-studio at WGN Radio to talk about his many career hats, his thoughts on social media, and why STEAM seems like it's just school!

Kin is a fast-growing, tech-first, property insurance company co-founded by Sean Harper. Harper goes into the weeds when it comes to finding what impacts the cost of your home insurance. For example, clean your gutters more. He’s a multi-time founder who has learned how practicality can be your friend and your enemy. Where do you draw the line when you consider how much capital you should raise?

Mediafly is not the company it was day one. CEO Carson Conant and VP of Marketing Isabelle Papoulias are now offering up evolved selling with Mediafly. Delusional optimism was the original driving force, but after time passed, he found himself doing work for Disney. It’s a wild ride going from the early days of Mediafly, podcasting, to the pivot toward enhancing sales engagement for Fortune 1000 organizations. Quick tip: facts do better than anecdotes.

Uplift President Suzanne EL-Moursi is taking companies to the skies. Using drones, Uplift collects data for enterprise businesses who need hard-to-get data. Construction companies can get a look at worksites, for example. Getting this data helps companies scale. What are some of the barriers to building a drone company? How much can drones change the game?

Co-founders Adam Hengels and Brian Ahmes built a company that thinks like a developer and designs like an architect. Say hello to Parafin. The Parafin tools help real-estate developers automate design. This saves massive amounts of time and money. The founders matches an expertise in finance and architecture. How do these co-founders share leadership?

After the success of SMS assist, Alex Rothman started fielding questions about how he did it. That’s where Theron Technology Solutions was founded alongside his father, Mike Rothman. The Co-Founders teach other startups how to scale. The Theron story shows how one business can be flipped into an entirely new one. Every company has distinct needs, why isn’t the market meeting them?

VentureSCALE Co-Founders Jeff Rosset and Matt Green join Scott in-studio at WGN Radio to talk about building sales organizations with Sales Assembly. The Chicago tech community raised $1.7 billion in 2017 but many startups struggle with getting access because they don’t understand sales.

50 million American adults suffer from severe, chronic pain according to the NIH. Meanwhile, the US is caught in an opioid epidemic. Startups are finding healthier solutions to chronic pain. Curable CEO John Gribbin also suffered from years of lower-back pain. He found success in cognitive behavioral therapy. The solution to chronic pain may not be physical, but perception based.

Dr. Rajan Sharma emigrated to the United States 30 years ago to become a dentist. He later entered the startup business to create state-of-the-art dental care clinics. Eon Clinics specialize in dental implants. Sharma has adopted new tech that has made for huge advancements.

Caleb Gardner joins Scott Kitun for a bonus interview to discuss the ramifications of the FCC possibly changing net neutrality. How could this impact your internet experience? And what can you do to have your voice heard? Gardner was an organizer for the Obama campaign and is currently co-founder of 18 Coffees digital consultancy.

FarmLogix CEO Linda Mallers is on a mission to make food commerce more transparent. Mallers is following the consumer-driven change in the food industry and helping distributors meet it. It was challenging to find interest in her startup at the get go, but Mallers found a way to break through.

GMass Founder Ajay Goel turns your email inbox into a marketing platform. That makes things easier, doesn’t it? Goel realized he was “living” inside Gmail and wanted to find a way to drive more value for marketers and beyond within Google’s staple service. According to Goel, email is thriving more than ever.

Desiree Vargas Wrigley continues to build her startup Pearachute and is entering new fundraising after a recent Shark Tank appearance. Pearachute helps parents find classes to sign their kids up for. Appearing on Shark Tank wasn’t all a fairy tale, but Vargas Wrigley is a multitime founder and has lessons for any founder that’ll help them along their path.

Gesture CEO Jim Alvarez is updating the charity auction process. His company puts the pen and paper into your smartphone in order to incentivize donations and keeps people involved with text updates. Alvarez thought it was wrong to make people wait to donate money. Gesture is involved with thousands of charity events. How do they make it work?

Do you want to pour your own beer at the bar? Enter Josh Goodman, CEO of PourMyBeer. This startup turns dispenser systems at bars and restaurants into a self-serving tap. Currently the system is set up in Logan Square and Wicker Park and measures drinks by ounce. Hear Goodman’s early struggles and how that led him to where he is today.

Is commercial real estate finally getting a modern makeover? Vishu Ramanathan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Buildout. His startup is cutting away complexities in order to automate a giant market with lagging technology.

Do you ever worry that you won’t make your flight? Hit the gas! Modobag is the first rideable suitcase. It also charges your phone! Kevin O’Donnell is the Co-Founder of Modobag. The bag is decked out with features that’ll make any flyer swoon. Why would you walk at the airport?

JB Pritzker, running for governor of Illinois, joins Scott in-studio to talk about the campaign and what he's going to do for tech.

TopStep Trader founder and CVO Michael Patak joins the show with host Scott Kitun.