Vantor, which you may have previously known as Maxar, is the world’s largest company of its kind. I was going to say the “space imaging” company – and stopped myself based on the conversation with Dan Smoot, its CEO. Vantor does capture “exquisite” photo data from space – and there’s so much more than I’d realized… Among many things we discussed, I was fascinated by these: 1) Multiple images of the same areas on earth, with tiny angular adjustments, allow Vantor to build accurate 3-D representations of the images it captures in space. 2) Vantor has packaged many of its services, essentially productizing them, to enable customers to more easily apply Vantor data to solve their problems. 3) Vantor technology is used to address complex problems impacting humanity including deforestation and human trafficking. Vantor is an important Colorado company that’s serving governments worldwide, massive commercial clients, and international non-profits – you’ll enjoy this episode!

This episode surprised me. I was already impressed with the FarmBox concept of vertical hydroponic growing in a controlled environment. FarmBox is more impressive than I’d imagined! Restauranteurs are buying them to source their own fresh ingredients. Prisons are installing them so that the incarcerated can learn farming while supplying produce. Schools, military bases, island communities… NASA even contracted to create a FarmBox for the MOON. Congratulations to FarmBox for winning the Colorado Chamber of Commerce’s “Coolest Thing Made in Colorado,” 2025!

I have seen camera-based technology sort things like potato chips, nuts and berries at mind-blowing speed using cameras to identify defects and puffs of air to reject them. Until I saw that, I’d have thought it was impossible. Using cameras and robots to sort, pick and route items in a solid stream of trash full of everything from what you’d expect to used diapers to chainsaws seems impossible! I was looking forward to exploring this with AMP’s founder and CTO Matanya Horowitz. I appreciated his massive leap of faith from seeing potential to creating an AI-enabled robotics company that’s changing the entire economics of recycling. I’m convinced this is the future and I think you’ll find Matanya fascinating.

Intrigued is what I felt entering this interview because so many things about the Tres Picosos business had me scratching my head. A non-Hispanic owner of a burrito business, selling high-quality products through convenience stores, and the burrito making is outsourced. Completely NOT what I would have thought to be the making of a successful burrito brand and Mexican food company. It was fun to pull that string and see how it unwound. I believe in Jane’s success, and remain a bit baffled as you’ll hear in the episode!

I was blown away by this interview!  Really, how many people can I possible speak with about the new Starlab (to replace the International Space Station), Alpha Centauri (the star that like our sun could have habitable planets), the impact of space on humanity... and Star Trek?  This episode with Dylan Taylor of Voyager Technologies was tremendously fun to record, and I think you’ll love it!

David Prichard, my friend and the CEO of Denver Ventures introduced me to Martin Dubin, author of the book, Blindspotting.  Marty has created an assessment, which combined with coaching based on a leader’s “blind spots,” can result in substantially better performance by a leader.  I’m intrigued by this approach and even wonder during this episode whether this system can be used to improve investment decisions in early-stage companies based on their leaders.  Listen in!

I’ll admit right now that I didn’t know what makes a cow produce milk that I drink. Well, I knew the basic biology, but I got a more instructive lesson in lactation from Tyler Holm, CEO of Horizon Organic Dairy. Beyond that unexpected bit of education, Tyler and I discussed building a brand in the growing and increasingly competitive environment of organic dairy products – including my curiosity about their branding. Who’d have thought that Colorado would be home to the top brand of organic dairy products? Tyler is an enthusiastic leader and this is an entertaining episode.

David Pritchard and the Denver Angels team invited three very successful entrepreneurs to join me for this episode with a live audience. They included: Kiley McKinnon, former Olympic freestyle skier and now co-founder of Halfdays. She created Halfdays to provide women with a better-fitting option for ski apparel, and to disrupt the male-dominated outdoor industry. Chris Petersen, co-founder of LogRhythm which, in 2021 was valued at $2.4 billion. Chris exited LogRhythm, and is now co-founder and CEO of RADICL – a company providing cybersecurity defense to small-and-medium sized businesses. Blake Scholl, Founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic – the company we’ve all heard about that’s working to bring back supersonic passenger air travel by 2029. They’ve raised an astounding $700 million to fund this endeavor. OK – so, an outdoor gear company for women, a cybersecurity company and a supersonic jet startup – what ties them together? A great origin story. This episode was a blast to record! Audience Q&A is part of the podcast.

3rd Shot Pickleball is a growing group of indoor facilities in Colorado. I’m a player and was eager for this episode because I’m tremendously curious about the business side of the sport with astounding mushroom-cloud growth. I wondered about the differentiation between facilities, the financial model, and most curiously about market saturation and the sport simply burning out. Surprising answers to all these topics, and an even bigger surprise about WHY the largest age demographic is 24-35 – it makes sense!

Peak Energy has created a niche that solves two problems… 1) storing power created by renewable sources that fluctuate (i.e. wind, solar) at an industrial scale, and 2) the expense and environmental detriments of lithium-ion battery technology for those applications. I really like this company, also for two reasons… 1) it has assembled a team of A-Team leaders with pedigrees from companies that successfully scaled businesses based on new innovation (Tesla and Apple for example), and 2) Peak Energy acknowledges that while sodium batteries are not quite as efficient as lithium-ion at storing energy, their solution and value is substantially superior to lithium-ion. Investors agree to the tune of $66 million so far.

I think it’s interesting to see the path chosen by successful multigenerational family businesses, particularly as its successor owners balance “how it’s always been done” to adapt as needed to continue to succeed in a changed competitive environment. Polidori Sausage is FOURTH generation, and thriving based on a combination of commitment to traditional recipes, expansion via new distribution methods and partnerships, and shared 4th-gen goals for the future. See: https://www.instagram.com/polidorisausage/ https://www.facebook.com/polidorisausage https://x.com/PolidoriSausage

Pretred converts discarded tires – you’ve seen the massive unsightly piles – and converts them into highway barriers. I became aware of Pretred a few years ago and thought they had a very cool product, but I wondered, “Will this become something? Will old-school concrete barrier users switch to something made of rubber?” I decided to wait and see. What I didn’t realize is that Pretred’s offering is based on the #1 Rule for displacing an established product. Now I have a new lens through which to predict how a new product can get traction (yes, it’s a pun). Thanks to Denver Angels for reconnecting me to Pretred!

I’m active on LinkedIn and a while back started seeing tons of postings celebrating executives becoming “Titans” in the Titan 100 program. I was fascinated by the energy around the program – and super curious about how a new executive recognition program could take off so quickly when others exist – I mean come on, business groups and publications seem to have a ”(Blank) of the Year” recognition edition or celebration program almost every week. Titan 100 has grown to include peer groups and executive retreats – also services offered by more established organizations. And yet... Titan CEO, the front-facing Titan 100 program, and Titan CEO extensions, are growing like crazy. Starting in Denver, it’s now in 8 markets and moving to more. Titan CEO is attracting the who’s who from business communities across the country. What’s Jaime’s secret sauce? What’s the untapped opportunity she’s addressing? Listen to the episode!

When the Caruso Ventures team reached out to me to talk with Dan Caruso, I was really pleased. Dan started and grew Zayo Group, taking it public in 2014, he did so by seeing an opportunity to discover and acquire “Fiber Orphans.” These were independent fiber companies offering bandwidth access within a targeted geographic area. Dan created Zayo to roll these up with massive synergy. It worked. He tells that story, and many others about the rise (and “Ambition, Deception and Innovation”) of the internet industry. Great perspective!

Who in Colorado hasn’t had Santiago’s breakfast burritos? It’s an iconic brand built on reputation and customer loyalty, not marketing. Carmen’s is a tremendous story… why she opened a restaurant, the impetus for the 2nd, how’s she’s reached 27 locations, her operating philosophy… and how about an order for 5,000 burritos?

It was with significant cynicism that I began my research into Virta Health. I mean, come on, its mission is to reverse diabetes and obesity in one billion people. In my mind, the epidemic of diabetes and obesity is intractable. All I can see is the stats on the morbidly obese tracking UP, and along with that, Type II diabetes. As a nation, we eat more and more foods that are both nutritionally lacking and addictive, and the cost to manage these conditions is astounding. That’s what makes this episode so compelling. Virta Health has demonstrated with over 100,000 patients and relationships with government and Fortune 500 clients, that this can change. Investors have piled over $300 MILLION into the company to speed its growth. A fascinating episode!

The business of college sports is fascinating these days. No other program is more illustrative of the dynamic changes than the University of Colorado, where the hiring of Coach Deion Sanders has propelled CU into the national spotlight. As always, I’m focused on the business side of these developments and was excited to host Rick George on ProCO360 to discuss the economics, leadership, name-image-likeness (NIL) impacts, and more.  If you, like I, have been scratching your head about how all this works, you’ll love this episode!  Special thanks to Steve Hurlburt, Director of Athletics Strategic Communications, for orchestrating my session with Rick George.

Denver International Airport served 78 million customers last year. Aside from what I know about the logistics of getting to and through DIA, I was curious about how the “business” runs. I learned DIA is actually an enterprise with its own financials (which I’d assumed) and with complex pricing and operating relationships with the FAA and TSA, with elected officials in Denver, Colorado and Washington, D.C., and with airlines, concessionaires, maintenance vendors, contractors – and travelers. This fascinating conversation ran long because there was so much to explore, and Phil let me keep doing that. Curious about the top two revenue streams? One surprised me. And yes, I asked Phil about “Bluecifer!”

This was a scary episode for me write and record – and even scarier to release. Our world is SO divided that people might choose not like one another (or me) because of our political views. I’m not sharing my thoughts on who to vote for in this 10-minute episode – I’m sharing how I think about voting in the context of what I think makes sense to foster a Colorado business climate that is good for entrepreneurial growth. Thanks in advance for considering this episode with that in mind. And for listeners outside of Colorado, I think you’ll still find this interesting in the context of your state.

Probably like you, I’ve watched the phoenix-like rebirth of the famous Casa Bonita restaurant by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.  Of course, we were all glad to hear that their plan was for the food to be great!  Their plan was to ask Dana Rodriguez, well-established chef and restaurateur, to be their executive chef.  That’s how I came to find Dana.    Dana’s restaurants you may know include Super Mega Bien, Work & Class, and her newest, Carne.  We talk about how Dana worked her way up as a Mexican immigrant who knew almost no English to a collaborator in new restaurants, to a successful (not always) owner.  And yes, we talk about Casa Bonita too. What a blast!