Babson Built

Babson alumni and Hio CEO and Co-Founder Jason Craparo shares why relationships are core to Hio's value proposition as an event platform, how he saw the potential of virtual events well before COVID-19, and how he leveraged the business model canvas to build an app that you won't want to delete.Learn more about Jason Craparo and Hio: https://hiosocial.com/

Think food trucks, but for retail. With  Flexetail modern mobile spaces, Babson alumni Joel Kamm is changing how brands connect and interact with their customers. Plus, we talk with Joel about landing major customers, leveraging your MBA, co-founding a business with your significant other, and much more. Learn more about Joel Kamm and Flexetail: https://flexetail.com/

Babson alumni Rich Palmer joins us on this episode to share the "why" behind Gravyty, the first and leading artificial intelligence company focused solely on social good, which he co-founded and leads as CTO. Plus, he gives us his advice: how to overcome your fears, how to pick a co-founder, when to start raising money, why you should always be pitching, and more. Learn more about Rich Palmer and Gravyty: https://www.gravyty.com/

Babson alumni Gautam Gupta joins us to share his journey, from his start as an early-stage investor at General Catalyst to NatureBox, which he co-founded and grew to a leading brand in the snacking market. Plus, hear how Gautam is now bringing his startup operations experience and perspective to the world of venture capital as a partner at M13.Learn more about Gautam Gupta: https://www.gautamg.com/

Founded in 2018, Busy Beauty delivers waste-free, U.S. made and naturally focused wipes. The brand has experienced remarkable growth. Its current partners include Kohl's, Macy's, and JetBlue. Co-founder Jamie Steenbakkers graduated from Babson in 2018 and talks about her journey as an entrepreneur. Learn more about Busy Beauty: https://busybeauty.com/

Hear from the founders of The Grommet, a “makers” marketplace that highlights the stories and people behind the products. One of those people is David Zamarin, who is founder and CEO of DetraPel, Shark Tank deal-maker and Babson alum. David chats with The Grommet founders Jules Pieri and Joanne Domeniconi, as well as host Alex Kennedy, about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship and making products with purpose.Learn more about The Grommet: https://www.thegrommet.com/Learn more about Detrapel: https://www.detrapel.com/

Parlor makes custom skis and snowboards that are hand-built in New England by skiers and are 100% American made. Parlor has been featured in Ski Magazine, Bloomberg, and the Boston Herald. Founder Mark Wallace got his MBA from Babson in 2014, and was a BETA Challenge finalist. Hear how Parlor became the largest ski manufacturer in New England without sacrificing an unmatched focus on the customer.Learn More: https://parlorskis.com/?utm_campaign=babsonbuiltpodcast

Jamie Kent, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and Babson alum, has been called an “artist you need to know” by Rolling Stone magazine and a “must watch artist” by the Huffington Post. His songs have been heard on major national television programs like “The Today Show,” and his 2016 album, All American Mutt, debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart. And he’s done this without a major label, management, or a PR team. Hear how he fuses music and entrepreneurship into “artrepreneurship.”Learn more: http://jamiekent.com/

Ring Inc is a home security and smart home company owned by Amazon. Ring manages a range of home security products that incorporate outdoor motion-detecting cameras, such as the Ring video doorbell. Founder Jamie Siminoff graduated from Babson in 1999 and appeared on ABC's Shark Tank in late 2013. He returned to Shark Tank in October 2018, this time as a guest shark. Hear about his journey from Doorbot to Ring and how Amazon acquired Ring for a staggering $1 billion. Learn more: https://ring.com/

Bombas is a comfort focused apparel brand with a mission to help those in need. Similar to other “one-for-one” model brands like Toms Shoes and Warby Parker, Bombas donates a pair of socks for every pair it sells. Founder David Heath graduated from Babson in 2005, and appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2014. Hear about his journey and how he’s taking his business to the next level. Learn more: https://bombas.com/

Yad manufactures unique home decor items that showcases the artwork of people with disabilities. Founder Debi Cohen won the 2019 BETA challenge, went on to participate in the Babson Summer Venture Program as well as Mass Challenge. Listen to find out how she's done it all!Learn more: https://yad-art.org/en/yad_en/

Find out what's ahead on Season 3 of Babson Built. Hear brand new interviews with Babson founders. Subscribe now so you don't miss out!

Nectar CBD has combined the elements of a superdrink with the benefits of CBD, a recently FDA approved and Federally legal extract from hemp plants. In this episode, Nectar founder Trevor Grode shares about how his team have grown the company from a concept to a legitimate business sold in over thirty stores in New England. 

Co-founder Ryan Lupberger shares the fascinating story of Cleancult, which started out when Lupberger tried to read the ingredients on a a bottle of detergent and couldn't find any! Since that time, the company has raised funding and grown like crazy, starting out at Babson on kickstarter and now being one of the best selling eco/skin friendly cleaning brands on Amazon. Listen to find out what it's really like starting a business!

Think Board makes state of the art, hyper-useful dry erase boards. Their products sit in a highly accessible price point for customers. In this episode, Gabriella Bourdon interviews Think Board founder Hanson Grant about how he went from making dry erase boards for his own usage to selling them to friends, and ultimately becoming an extremely successful product sold in thousands of stores throughout the United States.

In this episode we chat with Enrico Palmerino, founder of BotKeeper, an automated bookkeeping software powered by artificial intelligence (AI).  At the time of recording, BotKeeper had recently raised an $18 million round from Greycroft and Gradient Ventures, Google's investment arm!  David Finger and Palmerino chat about serial entrepreneurship, leadership, effective sleep, and creating a platform around Palmerino's least favorite topic, accounting.

Mighty Well has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneurship, and the Boston Globe. The company has also won Babson's prestigious Beta Challenge, as well as the Breakaway Challenge. In this episode Emily Levy, Babson class of 2016, tells of her experience building Mighty Well, which has a growing line of medical accessories that put strength, confidence, and mobility back into the toolkit for spoonies and anyone else coping with a health setback.

Anup Gosavi's passion for starting a business has taken him to many places. After building his last startup to hundreds of thousands of daily active users, he decided to pivot the platform to create Spext. Spext is audio production for the next generation; it allows users to upload their audio files and rapidly edit them with advanced speech-to-text functionality. The platform has already received extremely postive responses from the market, and received investments from a number of reputable sources. Hear the story of how Spext rose to its current level of success, and about the exciting plans for the future of audio production!

Ravish Majithia is a “materials scientist by training, a chemist at heart and an entrepreneur in the works.” He was named as one of Poets and Quants Top 100 MBA's in 2018, and his startup Magnomer won Gold in the 2018 MassChallenge after also winning Babson’s B.E.T.A. Challenge. Check out this interview to hear how Ravish is tackling the complicated quandary of plastics recycling.

Taylor Custom Rings was founded by a husband & wife team who are raising four kids, two dogs, as well as growing their jewelry business. The company uses lab grown diamonds to craft beautiful rings that are custom made to the specifications of the customer, and each of the rings is an expression of creativity and love.