The Jason Cavness Experience

How to Network with Successful and Busy Founders: the story of David Meltzer joining the CavnessHR Advisory Board

cavnessHR website: https://www.cavnessHR.com

Jason’s email: jasoncavness@cavnessHR.com

@cavnessHR across social media

@jasoncavnessHR across social media

On this short episode of The Jason Cavness I talk about how we convinced David Meltzer to join the CavnessHR Board of Advisors. I go over my plan for this and replay my pitch to David during his 2-minute pitch competition.

Below is our blog post that talks about how we accomplished this.

How We Convinced David Meltzer to Join the CavnessHR Board of Advisors

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On this episode of The Jason Cavness Experience I talk with McKeever (Mac) Conwell II of Rarebreed VC | BBJ Tech 10 | Investor | Founder | Disruptor

Jason’s email: jasoncavness@cavnessHR.com

@cavnessHR across social media

@jasoncavnessHR across social media

We talk about the following

His new Venture Capital firm, RareBreed VC.

His experience as an entrepreneur.

What are some misconceptions people have about being an entrepreneur?

Lack of diversity in tech and VC.

Mac’s Bio

Mckeever (Mac) Conwell, II is the Founder and Managing Director of RareBreed Ventures, a pre-seed stage venture fund based in Baltimore, MD. is a Pre-seed Fund that is investing in exceptional founders outside of the large tech eco-systems earlier than everyone else.With early meaningful cash upfront, wraparound services to increase capacity, and institutional knowledge from the additions of an executive RareBreed Ventures accelerates a companies' growth at the earliest stages

Before starting Rarebreed Mac worked at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) as the Portfolio manager. There his role was to find, help make investment decisions on, and help build Maryland-based startups. Mac works closely with many TEDCO portfolio companies to help them secure customers, partnerships, and funding. Mac also conducts extensive outreach to all of the tech communities and ecosystems in Maryland and does a lot of work supporting founders who consider themselves to be economically or socially disadvantaged. In 2017 Mac helped launch the Minority Business Pre-seed Fund and what was later transitioned to the Builder Fund which is the first state-backed pre-seed fund for women and minority-led startups.

Mac uses the knowledge he gained working in both public and private sectors as a software engineer and CEO to help startups be successful. A Baltimore native, Mac joined a co-op program with the Department of Defense in 2006 and obtained a top-secret security clearance. He went on to become a government contractor working in software development for several companies, including Northrop Grumman and Booz Allen Hamilton.

In October 2009, he co-founded his first tech startup, Given.to, which completed two accelerators, Accelerate Baltimore and NewMe Accelerator. Mac was later named entrepreneur-in-residence at NewMe. Mac and his team sold the technology in 2014. His next venture, RedBerry, was accepted into the Dreamit Ventures Accelerator in Philadelphia.

Mac has been a guest on Huffington Post Live several times and his companies have been featured in many media outlets such as USA Today, Washington Post, BET, CNN Headline News, and Black Enterprise. He attended Morgan State University, majoring in Computer Science.

Mac’s Social Media

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeever/

RareBreed VC Twitter: @RareBreedVC

Mac’s Twitter: @MacConwell

Mac’s Advice

Do your best to manage your own internal emotions. Ups and downs can happen in the span of minutes. Take the time to manage your own emotions. The hustle is real. I understand you're hustling and working hard to make this money. But take time to take care of yourself because this is not worth your health and your life.

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Jason’s email: jasoncavness@cavnessHR.com

@cavnessHR across social media

@jasoncavnessHR across social media

We talk about the following

His company Raika Technologies.

Thunder Puppy K9.

Advice for non-tech founders

Importance of Product Market fit and Idea Validation.

Cynthia’s Bio

I am a startup ninja.

I know how to dig into any idea and find the gold, the killer feature, the thing users absolutely cannot live without... And I know how to help entrepreneurs turn their idea into a business that will make real money.

I started coding when I was 8 years old, and over the past several decades have learned what great technology implementations look like from some of the smartest people in the industry. My first two companies were all about web design and development and finding ways to help companies come into the new era of promoting and doing business on the web, and it turns out, I have a natural knack for business.

My past experience building my own startups gave me a lens through which to examine what would work for other business types in tech and how to apply those processes and methodologies for other people who have great tech ideas.

I developed the curriculum for the Raika Technologies and GotAnAppIdea.com Startup Program based on what I've done in my own companies and those of our clients, all for one guiding purpose: to help new app and tech entrepreneurs spend as little time and money as possible evaluating their idea, helping them get to a go-no-go decision quickly and efficiently. I also developed a process to help stakeholders, Project Managers, Product Managers and IT professionals at all size companies test new ideas without impacting their teams, road maps and corporate priorities.

I help companies and entrepreneurs get things done!

Cynthia’s Social Media

Company Website: https://www.raikatech.com/

Company FB: https://www.facebook.com/raikatech/

Company Twitter: https://twitter.com/raikatech

Company Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raikatechnologies/

Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/raikatechnologies/

Cynthia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiadelaria/

Incubate This Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9nb3RhbmFwcGlkZWEuY29tL2luY3ViYXRlX3RoaXNfcG9kY2FzdC9pbmN1YmF0ZV90aGlzX2ZlZWQueG1s?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiO6MiptabrAhXYCc0KHTghDO4Q4aUDegQIARAC&hl=en

Cynthia’s Gift

On https://www.raikatech.com/cavness there will be an offer where you can book a one hour free consultation with me. If you own a startup and you're struggling with something. Bring the challenges that you're dealing with, and we can work through those and come up with some solutions. If you're somebody who has been thinking about an idea and you just want to bounce it off me. I'll make myself available, give you a free hour of my time to just chat and dig in and see how I can help. So that's

https://www.raikatech.com/cavness

Cynthia’s Advice

Know thyself. Listen to your heart, listen to your intuition. Trust, that if you are called to do a thing or something resonates with you. Trust that there's a reason why we're given visions and there's a reason why we're given dreams and goals. Trust that and don't be afraid to do something new or different to go after something that you really want.

Because like I said earlier, you own your future you own every dream that you have. It's up to you, whether you make it come true or not. Especially in this country, we're so incredibly lucky that we ...

Jason’s email: jasoncavness@cavnessHR.com

@cavnessHR across social media

@jasoncavnessHR across social media

We talk about the following

Her company UNMUTED.

Advice for new speakers.

What people get wrong about culture.

How to UNMUTE yourself and be heard.

Rachel’s Bio

As the Founder and CEO of Unmuted, Rachel is on a mission to humanize the workplace, ignite intentional leadership and empower people to use their voices for good. She is a nationally recognized thought leader and speaker with over a dozen years of experience in the field of workplace culture and wellbeing. She has guided numerous organizations to earn recognition as "top workplaces" and "healthy employers".

Through virtual and live events, Rachel speaks to leaders at organizations and associations and teaches them to strengthen their power skills, resilience and self-care, so they can thrive at work and at home. When leaders are thriving, performance increases, trust is strengthened, creativity flows, and people are more fulfilled, connected and get along with each other better.

In 2019, Rachel was recognized as a 40 Under 40 Game Changer by Workforce Magazine, and Employ Humanity named her one of "7 Wellness Leaders Making a Positive Impact" in 2018. She was named the #1 Health Promotion Professional in the United States in 2015 by WELCOA. Rachel is one of the founding members of the international nonprofit, Global Women 4 Wellbeing (GW4W), and speaks to women leaders about how to be more confident and courageous. She is also a Founding Member of the Baltimore Chapter of HackingHR, a global community of constructively disruptive leaders committed to rethinking HR.

Rachel has worked with and spoken at organizations and associations including Deloitte, Under Armour, the National Wellness Institute, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, and dozens of others.

She has a Master's Degree in Health Science and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Thriving Workplace Culture Consultant and Wellness Culture Coach. She was born and raised in Baltimore and lives there with her college sweetheart, Bill.

Rachel’s Social Media

Website: www.UnmutedLife.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelbdruckenmiller/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/unmutedlife

Facebook: www.facebook.com/UnmutedLLC

Twitter: https://twitter.com/unmutedlife

Rachel’s Gift

If you go to www.unmutedlife.com you can find a resilience resource guide that will pop up. I've got a list of my 10 to 12 strategies for boosting resilience and they're very practical and actionable. Then I have like a reading list in there. So my favorite books on those topics as well and how to like be more resilient. That's a place where you can immediately get a freebie after listening to this.

Rachel’s Advice

I would say if I were to leave you with one thing to walk away from this with, it would be to have a bit more grace and compassion for yourself. Then to have the courage to get curious about the things that you're doing well, and the things you could be doing better or differently. So that you can grow and to be committed to that journey.

Not just at work, but also your other relationships, as well. Because there's going to be crossover and there's going to be spillover benefit. So be willing to be curious, be courageous enough to be curious. Then, based on the feedback that you get, I would say be willing to take action. Be willing to take those courageous action steps because confidence is the byproduct of action. So stop thinking about whatever you are thinking about and take action and go do something about it.

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On this episode of the Jason Cavness Experience I talk to Quinton Morris – Violinist, Educator, Entrepreneur and Founder of Key to Change

cavnessHR website: https://www.cavnessHR.com

Jason’s email: jasoncavness@cavnessHR.com

@cavnessHR across social media

@jasoncavnessHR across social media

We talk about the following

Key to Change

Attending a HBCU

Why is it important to expose young people to the arts

Why is it important for him to give back.

Quinton’s Bio

Dr. Quinton Morris enjoys a multifaceted career as concert violinist, educator, entrepreneur and filmmaker. He is the founder of Key to Change, a nonprofit with the mission of inspiring underserved youth and students of color through world-class music instruction and supporting their development as self-aware leaders. Key to Change operates two violin and viola studios in South King County, Washington which serve middle and high school students who may not otherwise have access to classical music instruction.

Key to Change was born out of Dr. Morris’s BREAKTHROUGH World Tour, which paired recitals and concerto performances with lectures, master classes and educational outreach in over 25 cities across five continents. The tour also featured Dr. Morris’s short film The BREAKTHROUGH, which premiered at the Seattle Art Museum and the Louvre Museum in Paris, among other distinguished venues worldwide. He directed and starred in the film, which tells a modernized story of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges: a violinist of African origin who, against all odds, rose to become one of the most prolific and forgotten figures of the 18th century.

Dr. Morris received top prizes at the European Independent Film Awards and New York Film Awards; and was recognized as one of Musical America’s Top 30 Movers & Shapers and the Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. He is also the recipient of the Governor's Arts Award and the Seattle Mayor's Arts Award. Additional career highlights include concerto appearances with the Seattle Symphony, three consecutive years of sold-out recitals at Carnegie Hall, eleven years as Artistic Director of The Young Eight String Octet and a TEDxSeattle talk on “The Age of the Artist Entrepreneur.”

He has also presented master classes, clinics and workshops around the world at the University of Paris - Dauphine School of Business, American String Teachers Association National Conference (USA), Monash University (Australia), Dong-eui University (Korea), National Taiwan Normal University (Taiwan), Tumaini University Makumira (Tanzania), among many others.

Dr. Morris is a Renton native and began his studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, where he studied pre-law and music. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The North Carolina School of the Arts and Master of Music degree from the Boston Conservatory. He joined the Seattle University faculty in 2007 and is the Director of Chamber and Instrumental Music and an Associate Professor of Violin and Chamber Music.

He is the first tenured music professor at Seattle University in over 35 years and the second living African-American violinist in United States history to receive such a distinction. He is currently pursuing a professional certificate in business through an online program at Harvard Business School.

Quinton’s Social Media

Quinton’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinton-morris-8b8a21a/

Quinton’s FB: https://www.facebook.com/qimorris

Quinton’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/QuintonIMorris

Quinton’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keytochange/?hl=en

Quinton’s Advice

I would just say to your listeners and followers that we're in a great moment in our country and in the world, to create something that could be a value to lots of different people. I would say that I would encourage people not to give up, keep going and to persevere through these hard times. They are definitely challenging and, and tough. But this is something that we all can overcome and we can all be better for it.

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