Episodes
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#177 – Wendell Dallas | Powering Illinois: Leadership, Strategy & the Future of Energy
Wendell Dallas serves as president and CEO of Nicor Gas, one of America’s leading natural gas distributors and the largest distribution company of Southern Company Gas. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring that natural gas reaches more than 2.3 million homes and businesses in over 650 northe...
#176 – Varvara Alva | What Great CFOs Actually Do: Leadership, Teams & the C-Suite
Varvara Alva is a finance, strategy, and operations executive with 25+ years of experience scaling high-growth technology companies and leading successful public and private exits. She is an active investor and advisor to Chicago-based startups, deeply involved in the local startup ecosystem through...
#175 – Tyrone Thomas | Inside the Mind of a General Counsel: Leadership, Risk & Decision-Making
Tyrone Thomas is the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Doral Renewables, a leading developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy assets across the United States, with a portfolio exceeding 13 GW and more than $2.5 billion in long-term power purchase agreements. Over his career, Ty...
#174 – Nick Moran | Why Outsider Founders Win and How New Stack Picks the Best Early-Stage Teams
Nick Moran is a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and the Founder & General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a Chicago-based fund backing early-stage, often first-time founders building in emerging markets and overlooked categories. He’s also the creator and host of The Full Ratchet, one of the in...
#173 – Michael Roytman | How AI Is Changing Cyber Risk And What Most Companies Get Wrong
Michael Roytman is a cybersecurity data scientist and entrepreneur. Born in East Germany and raised between Ukraine and Russia, he immigrated to the U.S. and studied industrial engineering at UIUC and operations research at Georgia Tech. A lifelong builder, he founded TruckSpotting and Dharma Platfo...
#172 – Betsy Fore | From First Indigenous Founder to Raise a Series A to Becoming a VC Leader
Betsy Fore is the first Native American (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) woman to raise a Series A and is now the Founding Partner of Velveteen Ventures, investing in children and the planet for the next seven generations. A three-time founder, she built two multi-million dollar brands — including Tiny Or...
#171 – Rola Dagher | Rising from War to the Global Boardroom: Leadership with Purpose
Rola Dagher is one of the most influential leaders in global technology — having served as Global Channel Chief at Dell Technologies and President & CEO of Cisco Canada. Born in war-torn Lebanon, Rola’s journey from rebuilding her life in Canada to leading multibillion-dollar organizations is a ...
#170 – Terry Graunke | From Founder to Family Office: Lessons on Building Businesses That Last
In this episode of the Let’s Grab Coffee Podcast, George Khalife sits down with Terry Graunke, Founder and Chairman of Erie Street Growth Partners, to unpack lessons from more than 30 years of building, leading, and investing in high-growth companies.From founding and selling his first company to ta...
#169 – Brian Wolfe | Private Equity in Chicago: Lessons on Building and Backing Startups
Brian Wolfe is Managing Partner at Funded Ventures, a private investment firm, and is a retired partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. In addition to his teaching at Booth, Wolfe also teaches courses on private equity and entrepreneurship at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Washington Universi...