Advertise on podcast: Startup Cornell

The October Startup Cornell podcast features Amy Lewis Sweetman ‘08, artist and owner of Agrisculpture. Sweetman creates metalwork sculptures that use antique farm equipment and are informed by nature. She’s the artist behind the Apple sculpture on the Ithaca Commons and recently created a piece as a memorial to the fallen heroes of Ukraine. An architecture major at Cornell, Sweetman started her own design firm in 2011 after creating an installation at Burning Man 2010 and being featured in a Japanese documentary that same year. Over the years, she’s created hundreds of projects and found many Cornell connections along the way.

Cornell jumped two spots to #4 in the new Pitchbook rankings of entrepreneurial universities, an honor based on the number of founders who have raised venture capital in the last 10 years. It also ranked #4 for female founders. “Cornell is known to be a place where students come to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors and it shows in these rankings,” said Zach Shulman ’87 J.D. ‘90, director of Entrepreneurship at Cornell. “These rankings are based on outputs not inputs, factors like founders and venture capital raised, and they’re very thorough.” In honor of that milestone and the creation of a new position: vice provost for entrepreneurship, innovation and external engagement, the Startup Cornell podcast this month features a conversation with Shulman and Matt Marx, the Bruce F. Failing, Sr. Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, who was recently named to the new vice provost position. The pair talk about the growing ecosystem of entrepreneurship across the campus and some exciting plans they have for the future.

Our August podcast features Doris Xu and Katrina Davis, two founders who were part of a summer Prototyping Hardware Accelerator at Rev: Ithaca Startup Works, a business incubator and startup workspace in downtown Ithaca. The 10-week program helps early-stage product teams transform initial “back of the napkin” ideas into functional, feasible prototypes ready to take to market. Xu has created a drone-based solution that runs overnight to update the inventory in warehouses and Davis’ company is building an affordable robot to help small-scale and lifestyle farmers manage weed control issues.

Our new podcast features Ali Hussain ’11 and Deepak Bapat ’11 MEng ‘12, cofounders of Tabs, a company that offers products and platforms that use AI to power modern finance and accounting functions. Their product helps B2B companies save time analyzing contracts, improves cash flow and avoids billing errors.

Our new podcast features a chat with Caroline Feldmeier MBA ‘26, founder of Grow the Earth, a food company producing high-end charcuterie and other locally sourced meats. Feldmeier’s products were featured at the April Celebration Ezra event on campus . In this episode, we talk about her commitment to responsible farming, humane stewardship and regenerative practices.

Our April podcast features a chat with Dan Cane ’98, this year’s Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year and the co-founder of Blackboard Inc. and Modernizing Medicine. Cane will be honored on campus April 9-10 at the Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration Erza conference. Modernizing Medicine, founded in 2010, is a medical technology company that offers specialty-specific electronic health records, practice management software and patient engagement solutions. Blackboard (initially named CourseInfo) was started by Cane and friends as Cornell undergraduates as a tool for faculty to share course notes, readings and other information.

Bruce Clemens ’72 left Cornell after graduation with a one-way ticket to Guatemala and a desire to “cure poverty,” a mindset he says wasn’t unusual among classmates of that time. Fast forward 54 years and the non-profit that Clemens helped to found there, Aqua del Pueblo, has completed more than 500 water, sanitation and community development projects in the country, covering 1,000 towns and benefitting 500,000 people. Clemens tells his story as the guest for the March Startup Cornell podcast,

Our February podcast features a chat with Terrence Liverpool ’02 and Jeffrey Chery, founders of SWYM, a dating app that allows users to meet and match with people at events such as concerts, music festivals, conferences or sporting events, or even everyday locations such as supermarkets, gyms, parks or bookstores. The duo founded the company right before the pandemic, which was a tricky time for this idea, but had a launch party in November 2025 and have connected with organizers of key events in New York City, who are using their platform. They say meeting in real life at events, with the use of technology, helps people connect with others who have similar interests.

With more than 10 million users, Nour Gajial ’26 and Yanni Kouloumbis ’26 have found a pain point among high school and college students and answered it with their startup MathGPT. The founders are featured on the January episode of the Startup Cornell podcast. The duo founded the company in 2023 to help students struggling with math understand how to approach problems step-by-step using AI-powered learning tools and video explanations. Now, the platform has expanded beyond math to include a number of STEM-related topics.

Our new episode features Hauwa Otori ‘08, creator of the Founders International Network and host of the Building Black podcast, which shares stories about the experiences of under-resourced entrepreneurs from around the globe. Otori has a degree in communications from Cornell and a law degree from American University. She is also an independent producer for Fast Company, KCRW and Marketplace and her writing has appeared in Elle and Forbes.

This special episode features speakers and attendees recorded live during the 2025 Eclectic Convergence Conference at Cornell Tech in New York City. Listen in as they share advice for new founders, traps to avoid and the stories that motivate them every day. Hear from Javed Singha MBA ’09, co-founder and president, Fieldwire; Marissa Alden ’06, general manager of recreation, DaySmart; Chris Kirby ’15, founder and CEO, Ithaca Hummus; Erica Belsky ’04, co-founder, Good Inside; Scott Belsky ’02, former Adobe EVP and Behance founder, and others!

Listen in as Tim Chi ‘98, former CEO and co-founder of WeddingWire, which became The Knot Worldwide, talks about forming the ultimate wedding planning company. And find out how his own wedding inspired the idea. The company serves millions of engaged couples across 15 countries, helping them plan and celebrate their big day by providing an all-in-one digital wedding planning app and website.

Our new episode features John Hui MBA ‘15, former CEO and co-founder of Twiage, a digital health company that provides communication technology solutions connecting hospitals and ambulances. Twiage was acquired by Tiger Connect in November 2024. Hui is also a co-founder of Rendr, a multi-specialty Chinese physician group serving the medically underserved Asian patient population in New York City. He’s also an active angel investor and founding member of Red Bear Angels, a Cornell alumni-run investor group.

Our newest episode features Jonathan Lowenhar ‘96, founder and one of two managing partners of Enjoy The Work, a company that has worked with more than 200 company CEOs on leadership. He talks to us about the most common mistakes CEOs make and how to avoid them.

Our newest episode features Meredith Oppenheim ‘95, founder of Vitality Society and now a strategic advisor in the senior housing space. Oppenheim, who graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences, worked for 25 years in senior housing and care before starting Vitality Society, a platform offering programming and communuity for people 60 and older. During the podcast, she talks about the trajectory of her career and offers some advice for others whose careers span several lanes.