Dare to Disrupt
This podcast is about Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders, and the stories behind their success.
Tue, March 18, 2025
Bringing Research Lab Innovations to Your Toilet: The Story of spotLESS Materials
Birgitt Boschitsch is the co-founder and CEO of spotLESS Materials, an advanced materials company and Penn State spinoff commercializing highly repellent anti-fouling coatings. In this episode, Birgitt shares how her passion for helping others through research led to her co-founding spotLESS Materials. She discusses her formative experiences, academic challenges, and the pivotal moments that shaped her career path, including her time at Princeton and her decision to pursue graduate studies at Penn State. She discusses the original inspiration behind the idea for a toilet coating that repels sticky waste, as well as the challenges of transitioning from lab work to startup life. She shares the importance of community support and the impact of media exposure on sales.
Tue, February 18, 2025
Redefining Curly Haircare with the Sisters who Co-founded OCOA
Sisters Cory Varona-Corniel and Nicol Varona Cancelmo are the cofounders of OCOA, providing clean, natural, curly haircare products. In this episode, Nicol and Cory share their inspiring journey from the Dominican Republic to the United States. They detail how they were able to overcome language barriers, build a community at Penn State Berks, and launch into each of their professional careers. They discuss their close bond as sisters, the influence of their family, and how their family roots in the Dominican Republic inspired not only the name but also the ingredients and mission behind OCOA.
Tue, January 21, 2025
Electrifying Urban Mobility with Revel Co-founder Paul Suhey
Paul Suhey is the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Revel, where he drives the company’s mission to accelerate electric vehicle adoption in U.S. cities by focusing on fast-charging infrastructure. In this episode, Paul shares Revel's journey from its beginnings as an urban electric moped sharing startup to a company focused on building the EV charging infrastructure for the largest cities across the US. At the end of the episode, current Penn State student Michael Slesarevich joins the conversation. Michael is a first-year mechanical engineering student and the founder of Shade Shift, an electrically controlled variable tint film for vehicles. He recently participated in the Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank Idea TestLab, and is a member of the Penn State Car Club. Michael and Paul discuss overcoming the challenge of securing that first investment, as well as how Revel views would-be competitors as potential future customers.
Tue, December 10, 2024
LIVE from The Nittany Lion Inn: Scholar Hotels Founder Gary Brandeis
Gary Brandeis is the CEO and Co-Founder of Scholar Hotels, a hotel ownership and management group with a focus on properties close to major college and university campuses. Gary acquired his first hotel in 2006 and has since been directly involved in the hospitality business as an investor, developer, and manager. Scholar Hotels made its State College debut in March 2017, when it opened the 165-room Hyatt Place State College. Since then, the group has expanded its State College properties to include the Scholar Hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott, the Residence Inn by Marriott, The Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center, and, of course, The Nittany Lion Inn. Gary graduated from the Penn State Smeal College of Business with a degree in accounting. In this live episode recorded in the 1855 Lounge at The Nittany Lion Inn, Gary shares how his background in accounting prepared him for the real estate industry, the details of the Inn's renovation, as well as how he thinks about and manages risk.
Tue, November 19, 2024
Delivering Empathy at Scale Using AI and Data with Mario Ciabarra
Mario Ciabarra is the CEO and founder of Quantum Metric, a customer-centered digital analytics platform for today's leading enterprise organizations. Since its founding in 2015, Quantum Metric's approach to in-depth customer understanding has seen rapid adoption from Fortune 500 companies. The world's largest airline, telco, retailer, healthcare, bank, and more have adopted the Quantum Metric platform. In this episode, Mario shares valuable lessons on integrity and communication learned during his college years. He discusses launching and exiting his first startup in just 11 months, a success that allowed him to briefly retire and travel the world. Mario also explains how Quantum Metric enhances visibility into customer friction points for major industry leaders and how the company integrates generative AI into its solutions. Finally, he reflects on how he approaches building his legacy.
Tue, October 22, 2024
Simplifying Solar Investments with Enact Co-Founder Deep Chakraborty
Deep is the co-founder and CEO of Enact Systems, a leading software platform revolutionizing the solar and energy storage industry. Deep co-founded Enact in 2014, driven by the vision of creating a scalable and impactful solar solution. Deep has led Enact through exponential growth, nearly quadrupling its staff and expanding its reach to over 35 countries. In this episode, Deep discusses his journey in building a North American subsidiary of CentroSolar, a German solar company, from the ground up. He also explains how Enact serves diverse customer segments by providing innovative software solutions that streamline the solar implementation process. Additionally, Deep shares his predictions for the future of alternative energy sources and how Enact plans to adapt to industry shifts and trends.
Tue, September 17, 2024
Transforming the Real Estate Landscape with Peter Cocoziello
Peter Cocoziello is chairman, founder, and CEO of Advance Realty Investors, a company specializing in real estate development, construction, and property management. In this episode, Peter shares how he launched Advance with only $5,000, and then both entered and eventually dominated various real estate verticals in the northeast. He also discusses how the Penn State Cocoziello Institute of Real Estate Innovation is supporting cross-disciplinary collaboration, and what technological innovations mean for the future of the real estate industry.
Tue, August 20, 2024
Developing the Future of AI with poolside Co-founder Jason Warner
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.
Tue, July 23, 2024
Inventing Dazzle Dry Nail Polish with VB Cosmetics Founder Vivian Valenty
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 from 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.
Tue, June 18, 2024
Pioneering Predictive Manufacturing Maintenance with Jeremy Frank
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 […]
Tue, May 21, 2024
Building the Content Marketing Community with Joe Pulizzi
Joe Pulizzi is the founder of multiple startups, including content creator education site, The Tilt, Content Entrepreneur Expo, and the Content Marketing Institute, which he successfully exited in 2016. He is the bestselling author of seven books including Content Inc. and Epic Content Marketing, which was named a “Must-Read Business Book” by Fortune Magazine. Joe is a professional public speaker, having spoken over 400 times in 20 plus countries on content marketing, the creator economy, and entrepreneurship. He graduated from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s in communications in 1995, and from Penn State with a master's in communications in 1997. In this episode, Joe shares his experience building the Content Marketing Institute, the failures he endured along the way, his strong commitment to goal-setting, and his association with the color orange. He also talks about jumping into writing a thriller novel to challenge himself creatively. Joe also shares his insights around the difference between content creators and content entrepreneurs, and why he believes it's an important distinction. At the end of the episode, current Penn State student Riley Auer joins the conversation. Riley is the founder of Bootleg Boomerangs, which sells high-quality hand-made wooden boomerangs. Bootleg Boomerangs has a large focus on content creation, with over 31,000 subscribers on YouTube. Riley talks through some challenges he faces in growing his business with Joe, who gives advice regarding ad placement in video content, finding the true super fans through exclusive giveaways and experiences, and striking the balance between being a business and being a place for fun content. Episode Chapters 0:00 – 3:49 Intro and journey summary 3:49 – 4:43 Growing up next to Cedar Point Amusement Park 4:43 – 6:42 Undergrad at Bowling Green – Do I have to declare a major? 6:42 – 9:32 Graduate student at Penn State, teaching speech class 9:32 – 12:12 Struggling on the job search 12:12 – 15:16 The evolving business model of content marketing 15:16– 19:30 The inception of Content Marketing Institute 19:30 – 22:11 The moment he realized he had made it 22:11 – 24:34 What’s the deal with Joe’s orange self-branding? 24:34 – 28:36 Setting goals and exiting CMI 28:36 – 30:41 Taking a sabbatical 30:41 – 31:59 Becoming a thriller author 31:59 – 33:45 Launching the Tilt and Content Entrepreneur Expo 33:45 – 35:54 The difference between Content Creator vs. Content Entrepreneur 35:54 – 37:50 Defining the Tilt’s audience 37:50 – 38:32 How to get connected to Joe 38:32 – 40:01 The Orange Effect Foundation, providing access to speech and play therapy for autistic children 40:01 – 55:51 Student Questions – Joe gives actionable advice to Riley Auer, Bootleg Boomerangs founder
Mon, April 08, 2024
Exploring Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) with Former NFL Player Omar X. Easy
Omar Easy is the recently appointed director of the all-new Penn State Brand Academy, which is designed to support student-athletes to manage and leverage their personal brand, name, image and likeness (NIL), and support their entrepreneurial interests more successfully. In this episode, Omar shares lessons learned from his time as a student-athlete at Penn State as well as his time in the NFL, where he played as a running back for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. He then discusses his vision for The Brand Academy and how it will serve student-athletes in building and leveraging their personal brand.
Wed, March 27, 2024
LIVE from State College: honeygrow Founder Justin Rosenberg
Justin Rosenberg is Founder and CEO of honeygrow, a fast-casual stir-fry and salad concept founded in Philadelphia in 2012. With a mission to create a unique, spirited brand focused on simple, wholesome foods, Rosenberg has led the company's creation and growth, which currently has 41 locations. In this special LIVE episode recording, which took place during Penn State Startup Week powered by PNC on Wednesday, March 20, Justin shares his story of perseverance and eventual success with honeygrow. Justin first pitched honeygrow 93 times to investors before finally landing a deal and opening the first location in the Rittenhouse neighborhood of Philadelphia. Since then, the company has raised over $80 million in equity financing and has grown into the Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington DC and the New York City metro areas.
Tue, February 27, 2024
Windows of Opportunity: Navigating Growth with MITER Brands CEO Matt DeSoto
Matt DeSoto is the President and CEO of Harrisburg-based MITER Brands, a family of leading window and door brands designed for residential projects in the new construction and remodeling markets. In this episode, Matt talks about his experience working for Student Painters as a student at Penn State, enduring the Great Recession of 2008, how he and his team maintain top-quality products and service, as well as how he prioritizes giving back to the communities they work in through the MITER Foundation. Be sure to come to our upcoming LIVE podcast episode recording with honeygrow CEO & founder, Justin Rosenberg! Learn more and register: https://sched.co/1YQOk
Mon, January 29, 2024
Scaling a Stress-free Home Remodeling Business with West Shore Home Founder B.J. Werzyn
B.J. Werzyn is the founder and CEO of West Shore Home, one of the largest direct to consumer home remodelers in the nation. In this episode, B.J. talks about how he is revolutionizing a traditionally fragmented and tech averse industry. He talks through how West Shore Home mapped out the 67 processes of home remodeling, removed inefficiencies, and implemented streamlined processes empowered by technology to ultimately make the easiest, quickest, most stress-free customer experience.
Fri, December 15, 2023
Winter Break Message II and January Episode Preview – West Shore Home
We are taking a break this December, but we'll be back in late January with an episode featuring B.J. Werzyn, the founder and CEO of West Shore Home, one of the largest direct-to-consumer home remodelers in the nation. Listen to this episode for a quick preview of the interview. Happy holidays!
Thu, November 30, 2023
Putting the ‘Care’ in Home Care with Norm Potter
Norm Potter is the co-founder and co-owner of Allegiance Transportation, as well as the owner and Executive Director of the Winston Salem branch of Griswold Home Care. Allegiance Transportation is a non-emergency medical transportation provider, specializing in wheelchair and ambulatory transport services. Griswold Home Care provides non-medical home care to elderly adults by referring professional caregivers for personal care, homemaking, and companionship services. In this episode, Norm talks about why he decided to make a career switch from banking to higher education to now running two businesses in the non-medical home care and transportation industries. He also shares his journey battling cancer and how it has changed his outlook on life.
Mon, October 30, 2023
Special Commemorative Episode – Daring to Disrupt with Ryan Newman and James Delattre
This is a special crossover episode of Dare to Disrupt and Following the Gong, a show that features conversations with Penn State Schreyer Scholar Alumni sharing advice on how to make new connections with a strong network of Scholar Alumni that blazed the trail before you. Following The Gong host Sean Goheen interviews Goldman Sachs Managing Director and Dare to Disrupt host Ryan Newman, ’01 and Associate Vice President for Research and Director of the Office of Entrepreneurship & Commercialization James Delattre, ’97, both Scholar Alumni, about the entrepreneurial scene at Penn State. This episode commemorates Dare to Disrupt passing 50,000 total downloads.
Wed, September 27, 2023
Anticipating the Waves of Change with Google’s Global Director of Solution Sales Ash Ashutosh
Ash Ashutosh is a serial entrepreneur and the Global Director of Solution Sales at Google. His data management startup, Actifio, achieved a valuation of over $1B and was acquired by Google in 2020. In this episode, Ash talks about anticipating and advancing alongside what he calls the waves of change, in reference to the surges in innovation and technology that occur over time. His entrepreneurial journey reflects those technology surges - he started out in the silicon industry, then moved onto data storage software development. His most recent startup, Actifio, was in the business of managing and securing data.
Thu, August 31, 2023
Making a Deal on Shark Tank with FlexScreen Inventor Joe Altieri
Joe Altieri is the president, CEO, and inventor of FlexScreen, the world’s first and only flexible window screen, as seen on season 11 episode 10 of ABC’s Shark Tank. In this episode, Joe talks about how he started his career as an independent sales representative in the window industry and quickly became frustrated with the flimsy aluminum frames found in traditional screens. He shares his experience pitching FlexScreen on ABC's Shark Tank, and how he walked away with a deal with American television personality, inventor, and entrepreneur, Lori Greiner, "Queen of QVC”.
Tue, August 01, 2023
Diving into Fintech with Denim Social CEO Doug Wilber
Doug Wilber is the CEO of Denim Social, a leading provider of social media management software that empowers marketers in regulated industries to manage organic social media content and paid social media advertising on one platform. A financial services veteran, Doug served in leadership roles with Assembly Payments, PYMNTS.com, Discover Financial Services and Market Platform Dynamics.
Wed, July 05, 2023
Rapidly Failing, Scaling, and Succeeding with Serial Entrepreneur Bill Seibel
Bill Seibel is a serial entrepreneur, and has played a role in 14 startups: five as founder and CEO, five as CEO, and another four as an operating executive. He is currently the Founder and CEO of Gumball, an advisory firm that has helped more than 80 CEOs scale their company rapidly by ensuring that their strategy, customer value proposition and go-to-market model are aligned to achieve their growth goals.
Tue, May 23, 2023
Cheering On Women Warriors with Haley McClain Hill
Haley McClain Hill is the CEO and Founder of TORCH Warriorwear, a subscription, direct to consumer military apparel and lifestyle brand that celebrates, empowers, and serves current and future women warriors. She shares her experiences leading a 300-person Air Force squadron during the pandemic, cheering in the NFL, and launching her apparel company.
Wed, April 19, 2023
From Wall Street Trader to Facial Authentication Innovator with Ryan Owen
Ryan Owen 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.
Tue, March 28, 2023
Increasing Access to Substance Use Disorder Treatment with Doug Leech
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.
Mon, February 20, 2023
Empowering Underserved Communities with Former NFL Player Garry Gilliam
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. Prior to founding The Bridge, Garry played in the NFL for five seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers.
Wed, January 18, 2023
Making Sustainability Convenient with Zander Isaacson
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 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. Zander graduated from Penn State's Smeal College of Business.
Wed, November 30, 2022
Winter Break Message and January Episode Preview
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!
Mon, October 24, 2022
Empowering Patients with Ro Founder Rob Schutz
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. Rob earned his B.S. in Management Information Systems from Penn State University.
Thu, September 22, 2022
Rejecting the Label of Disabled with Susan Robinson
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.
Thu, August 25, 2022
Innovating the Environmental Insurance Business with David Rosenberg
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.
Tue, July 26, 2022
On the Forefront of Digital Advertising with Infolinks Media CEO Robert Regular
Robert is a serial technology and media entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in digital media and marketing. Robert received his bachelor's degree in communications and business from Penn State.
Mon, June 27, 2022
Gaming your Health with Litesprite Founder Swatee Surve
Swatee Surve is the founder of Litesprite. She received her MSME in Control Systems and Biomechanics from Penn State.
Tue, May 31, 2022
Revolutionizing the Real Estate Industry with Sean Black
In this episode of Dare to Disrupt, we speak with Sean Black, the Co-founder & CEO of Knock.com, and part of the founding team for the online real estate marketplace site Trulia.
Mon, April 25, 2022
Disrupting the Mattress Industry with JT Marino
In this episode of Dare to Disrupt, JT Marino describes how he and his co-founder determined all the pain points of buying a mattress to create their customer-first, mattress-in-a-box solution called Tuft & Needle, which they grew to over $250M in sales.
Mon, March 28, 2022
Building Weebly with Founder David Rusenko
In this episode of Dare to Disrupt, we speak with David Rusenko, the Head of eCommerce at Square and founder of Weebly, which was acquired by Square in 2018 for $365M. He graduated from Penn State in 2007 with a degree in Information Sciences & Technology.
Mon, March 07, 2022
Connecting Consumers and Local Businesses with Bruce Aronow
In this episode of the Dare to Disrupt podcast, Penn State Smeal College of Business alum Bruce Aronow shares how he built eLocal, a leading performance-based advertising company.
Mon, November 29, 2021
Shaping Cultural Change with Jess Weiner
Jess Weiner is a cultural expert and creative who has spent 26 years researching and educating on cultural trends in order to help people feel seen, heard + understood. She is a bestselling author, podcast host and speaker who has connected with audiences from the White House to Wall Street. In this episode, Jess discusses […]
Wed, October 27, 2021
A Pioneer in Tech: Building the Interviewing Cloud with Mo Bhende
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 […]
Wed, September 29, 2021
Riding the Founder’s Wave with Matt Brezina
Matt Brezina, a 2003 Schreyer and College of Engineering grad, shares the stories behind starting software company Xobni and greeting card company Sincerely.
Tue, September 14, 2021
Teaser: Dare to Disrupt
This podcast is about Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders, and the stories behind their success.
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