E731: Inside LAUNCH Incubator, PT2: Ready: Cross-platform programming for personal robotics; Keepster: Curating messages to keep what matters most; Genius Link: Fixing broken links for global brands; Poppins: Child care reimagined with invitation-based service

about this episode

It’s Part 2 of Inside LAUNCH Incubator. In this hour, we will meet 4 more innovative startups that have gone through the Incubator, learn about their products, give and receive candid feedback about the highly competitive Incubator, key takeaways, struggles, the funding process, and more. The first founder is David Bennahum and his startup Ready, which is a cross-platform programming environment for personal robotics that makes robotics accessible to all of us. Next is founder Jennifer Simchowitz of Keepster, which is a toolkit to curate your text messages and keep what matters most by turning them into books and cards. Then co-founder Jesse Lakes pitches Genius Link, which solves the geo-fragmentation challenge in a world of global e-commerce. The final founder is Dan Grueter and his startup Poppins, which is an invitation-based childcare service that uses a care algorithm to source the best caretaker in the Poppins network based on a family’s specific needs.

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Timestamps:

00:30: Jason introduces his co-host, Brian Alvey, CEO of Clipisode and serial entrepreneur

1:48: Founder David S. Bennahum pitches Ready, a cross-platform programming environment for personal robotics that makes robotics accessible to everyone

5:36: Brian’s thoughts on the growth of Ready during the past 12 weeks

8:33: David shares his prediction on when robots will be in daily lives/general purpose

11:46: Despite being based in NY, David wanted to build Ready as a Silicon Valley-based one

17:16: The next founder is Jennifer Simchowitz of Keepster, a new product in the exploding messaging landscape

19:05: Keepster pitch

23:27: Jennifer talks about how she dealt with feedback of people who couldn’t see themselves using her product

25:07: Brian’s thoughts on the growth of Keepster during the past 12 weeks

27:54: Early feedback for Keepster

30:25: Jennifer shares advice for how to get into the Incubator

33:42: The next founder is Jesse Lakes of Genius Link, which was one of the companies that had revenue coming into Incubator

34:00: Genius Link pitch

37:34: Jesse realized that they were looking for the “smart” part in “smart money” and that relationships with investors are essential

44:19: The next co-founder is Dan Grueter of Poppins, an invitation-based childcare service

47:42: Dan wanted a business model that is fair and equitable for all parties

52:45: Brian shares his predictions for what we’ll see in coming years from this cohort

53:30: Jason imparts advice that it is okay to fail as long as you take the work seriously