This week on the Latitude Podcast we chat with Noa Simmons, Executive Director at Upstate Venture Association of New York. Noa has spent time in Boston and Shanghai in her business career, more recently settling into the startup & entrepreneurs

From Rwanda To Buffalo, The Refugee Centric News Startup

Jun 30th, 2017 33m 42s

Rubens Mukunzi arrived in Buffalo in 2013 after leaving Rwanda. As a journalist in a country without freedom of speech or freedom of the press, Rubens found himself at odds with the government. He grew up during one of the worst genocides in h

How to get the attention of a venture capitalist without really trying

Jun 23rd, 2017 34m 31s

Well, actually it requires a boatload of work, but who doesn't love a podcast title that plays on the title of a 1960's Broadway musical? Anyway, this week on the podcast we're talking with Somak Chattopadhyay, the managing partner at Armory S

Fighting Cancer In Space

Jun 16th, 2017 22m 35s

What is it like seeing your work launched into space? This week on the podcast we talk with 43North winning co-founder Sourav Sinha from Oncolinx, the $1 million winners. In May, Oncolinx's cancer treatment experiment was launched to the Inter

The Buffalo Startup Making An Impact In The Stanley Cup Finals

Jun 9th, 2017 33m 59s

The players on the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins are playing elite level hockey right now in the Stanley Cup Finals, and one could argue it's because of the platform that CoachMePlus has built. The Buffalo-based sports science sta

How to start a music festival

Sep 12th, 2019 30m 21s

Joining the podcast this week is John Cimperman, founder of the 42North Brewery and the incredibly popular Borderland Music Festival in East Aurora. We chat with John about his time with the Buffalo Sabres, staring a brewery and how Borderland

It's Good To Be (Wing) King

Aug 2nd, 2019 27m 41s

This week on the Latitude Podcast host Nate Benson is joined by royalty, well, chicken wing royalty. Drew Cerza, aka "The Wing King", joins the podcast to talk about the early days of the International Chicken Wing Festival, how he became a kin

Networking, Networking, Networking, and More Networking

Jul 12th, 2019 21m 45s

This week on Latitude we chat with John Hill, VP of Network at Techstars. John talks about his background in journalism and how that led him to a career of connecting people, why networking is so vital to the health of an emerging startup commu

The Virtues Of Helping War-Torn Countries

Jun 27th, 2019 31m 28s

Barb Stegemann’s entrepreneurial vision was formed after her best friend—a soldier—was severely wounded in Afghanistan. Understanding that supporting Afghanistan’s economy was key to building stability for its people, Stegemann created The 7 Vi

Latitude Live - Discovering Apollo GraphQL

Jun 21st, 2019 22m 40s

This week on the podcast we go live again from the inaugural Code Buffalo hackathon presented by 43North, Techstars, ACV Auctions, BNMC and more. We chat with Apollo GraphQL founder Geoff Schmidt about GraphQL, how it's becoming an important t

Latitude Live - Featuring Nadia Hamilton

Jun 7th, 2019 51m 35s

This week we take Latitude on the road for another live edition featuring 2018 43North winner Nadia Hamilton, founder of Magnusmode. Magnusmode is creating digital decks that guide those living with Autism through daily life. Nadia talks about

Water and Laughter Go A Long Way

May 31st, 2019 35m 28s

How do you do some good? There are many ways, and good comes in all shapes and sizes. For Kate and Joe Vacanti, their calling was to help people access water. One in seven people in the world lack access to clean water and 3.5 million people di

Investing In Upstate II: The Return Of Noa

May 24th, 2019 22m 27s

One of our most downloaded guests on the show returns to talk about all things upstate on this episode of Latitude. Noa Simons, Executive Director of the Upstate Capital Association, joins host Nate Benson to talk about all the various types of

Now Accepting Applications

May 17th, 2019 20m 31s

43North has kicked off the sixth year of the $5,000,000 startup competition and is now accepting applications. But should your startup apply? How long is it going to take? Why are you seeing 43North staff on the road at demo days? Is your star

Latitude 100 - Featuring Joe Neiman and Dan Magnuszewski

May 3rd, 2019 1h 13m

It's finally here, episode 100 of Latitude - The 43North Podcast. It's been a remarkable journey for this show and what better way to celebrate than with a live (to tape) edition of the podcast!? For Latitude 100 we were joined by 100(ish) of

Roadmaps Are A Train-Wreck

Apr 26th, 2019 31m 7s

When putting together your pitch deck, you probably have a slide or three about your future roadmap. Slides that show some sales milestones, hiring trajectory, or monumental fundraising goals. But Cody Simms, Partner at Techstars, is here on t

Peddling Through Buffalo

Apr 19th, 2019 18m 50s

This week on the podcast we explore a unique tourism attraction, peddle tours of Buffalo and how this entrepreneur has created a unique experience for those visiting the Queen City.

Investing In Upstate And Women

Apr 5th, 2019 26m 20s

After 20 years in the financial industry, Sharon Weinberg joined NY Ventures, the investment division of empire state development.After a couple of years as its managing director, Sharon moved on to found Blue Leaf Ventures with a colleague of

What To Do When The Cyber Bytes

Mar 28th, 2019 33m 31s

In the heart of the Dotcom boom, Jennifer Beckage founded Edgenet, a Buffalo-based internet company that provided cutting edge technology to companies and organizations like Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center, FAO SCHWARTZ, The Buffalo Bills and Buffa

The Chief Innovator At 640

Mar 22nd, 2019 29m 42s

Sam Marrazzo has had a lengthy career as a technologist. Getting his start in the US Navy, Sam worked for many tech companies across the United State but ultimately made his journey back to his hometown and is now the CIO of the Buffalo Niagara

Logic Behind Lending

Mar 8th, 2019 25m 1s

Even though we're well into the 21st century, Patrick O'Brien noticed a significant gap with mortgage lenders and efficiently writing loans. We all know the routine, by the time you as a home buyer are done haggling offers and counter-offers, y

Recruiting For Startups and The Cavalcade Of Jobs

Feb 22nd, 2019 21m 27s

Recruiting talent is a vital aspect of scaling a startup. This week on the podcast host Nate Benson talks with Jen Reed, Director of Talent Strategy at 43North, about recruiting for startups, what founders need to look out for, how to improve y

The Foundation Of A Community

Feb 15th, 2019 32m 55s

This week on Latitude hosts Nate Benson from 43North and professor Darren Treadway faculty expert from the UB Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness, talk with an internationally recognized leader in philanthropy, Clotilde Perez

Mentoring Startups In The New Era

Feb 8th, 2019 30m 6s

Pete Augustine spent much of his 25+ career at New Era. At the height of the sports licensing wars of the 90's and early 00's, Pete saw and eventually led New Era (as President) through a gambit of tough decisions that ultimately positioned New

The Best Innovations Happen At 3AM

Feb 5th, 2019 39m 51s

Being a firefighter is stressful in its own right, but imagine the stress of a commander trying to keep track of their crew with a whiteboard and some magnets - not as reliable as one would think. Patrick O'Connor, co-founder of 3AM Innovation