Christina Fair has lots of titles: Founder of Reconnect, Co-founder of Hum, Entrepreneur in Residence at Ann Arbor SPARK, Executive Director of Detroit Executives Association, and board member of Bees in the D. She joins us this week to talk about her work across Detroit’s startup and community ecosystem, including Ann Arbor Spark, Michigan Founders Fund, and the Detroit Executives Association. Christina explains Bees in the D’s urban rooftop hives, Meijer honey distribution, and Detroit City Distillery collaborations. She describes common startup challenges—especially people and leadership gaps—contrasting Midwest “nice” with Silicon Valley’s fail-fast culture, and emphasizes finding complementary co-founders. They cover revenue vs exit-focused business models, AI-driven process automation in real estate, Hum’s pivot from move-event ISP strategy to an embedded internet-shopping widget, Detroit’s digital divide efforts, and the speed of AI-enabled prototyping.

Our guest this week is Pete Martin, Director of Portfolio Management at Michigan State University Research Foundation. We talk about Michigan technology startups, including pitching and funding. Pete talks about his origin and some of the startups he finds interesting. We also take a look at why companies and people leave or ignore Michigan. Of course, we had to touch on the impact AI is having on startups. Finally, if you’re looking for a new gig, check out the MSU Research Foundation job board.

Andrew Koper joins us this week to talk about Moregetsdone.com, his online collaborative task management tool. We talk about why he decided to build it, how it works, and the ways it can work for various types of organizations. We also brainstorm ideas for future improvements including AI-enhanced workflows.

This week’s guest is David Williams, CIO of Buztel, a large local law firm. He tells us about how lawyers are using AI, what’s allowed, what’s not allowed, and the implications thereof.

This week, we’re joined by David Baird, founder of Gloabi. Gloabi makes AI “organisms”—avatars that have phone numbers, email addresses, and can post on social networks. David tells us what your Gloabi AI can do for you, how it works (even without you sometimes!), and the story behind the project.

Our guest this week is Jeff Dwoskin, CEO of Stampede Social. We talk to him about social media management, touching on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube (and discuss some bizarre yet engaging YouTube trends). We get into the nuances of creating and scheduling content, the influence of algorithms, and the challenges of engaging audiences. Jeff shares experiences in social media campaigns and automated DM responses. We also talk about the dynamics of stand-up comedy, drawing from Jeff’s experience as a comic. The episode concludes with potential interest in comedy classes and the importance of staying relatable and original in content creation. Listen to Jeff’s podcast Classic Conversations where he interviews actors, comedians, and musicians.

On this podcast, we often talk about getting started in the IT field by applying for help desk gigs, and we talk to C-suite and business owners, but this week, we’re filling in the middle of the story. Brad Woessner (you’ll recognize him from our meetups!) joins us to talk about his IT career and what it’s like to crew the help desk.

In this episode Bob and Randy ‘welcome Mike Kennedy, Founder and Chief Security Officer at Ostra Security, and Mel Kolinski, Sales and Channel Chief at Ostra. They dive into an open discussion about cybersecurity, highlighting the issues with transparency and honesty in the industry. Mike shares his experiences of starting Ostra and his motivations behind it, emphasizing the need for honest relationships and better security practices. The conversation also touches on the impact of AI on security, the problems of selling fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD), and the importance of a community-driven approach to improve cybersecurity standards. The episode wraps up with insights into the Truth in Cyber initiative, advocating for more ethical practices in cybersecurity.