Magnetic Mobile’s Paul Militello tapped as IT leader

Dayton Startup Magnetic Mobile’s VP of IT Paul Militello was recently tapped as an IT leader by regional trade publication Technology First.

At Magnetic Mobile, employees across the organization are expected to “check their ego at the door,” he said. It’s important to succeed as a team, not work to “outshine each other.”

In practice, that means VP of IT Militello takes his turn at the “unglamorous tasks” — you might find him working maintenance after hours, same as anyone else on his team, he shared.

And of course, company culture improves with public shout-outs and celebrations of individual contributions and team milestones, he added.

The best career advice he ever received was to measure success, not by completed projects or products, but by the customer’s ability to use the product to shift the needle on their initiatives, he shared.

It would be very easy to sign a deal, deliver a product, and then walk away,” he said. “But you’ll have better results if you see yourself as a long-term partner in your customer’s success.”

We’re excited at the lineup of healthcare tech startups slated to pitch at our Dec. 7 Early Risers!

Ryan Jankord will pitch his health sensor data analytics company, Adyptation. Adyptation collects health data from wearable sensors to help patients dealing with chronic pain determine potential triggers.

Mick Hopkins will pitch syringe tech from his company, True Concepts Medical. He has patents for three different syringes designed to reduce false positive in drawing blood cultures, ease the delivery of powder vaccines, and speed delivery of vital cardiac medicines.

Jake Bryant will pitch his social network LifeCloud, designed with a focus on teenagers’ mental health.

The Dec. 7 Early Risers edition is sponsored by CBD Advisors, who will be bringing the coffee and donuts to kick off the 7:30-9am session.

Early Risers kicks off a whole day of open co-working and events @444 with Dayton Tech Guide, Nucleus, Wright Brothers Institute & The Entrepreneurs Center.

Hope to see you @444 on Dec. 7!

A Dayton area duo that has distributed more than 30,000 books throughout the Miami Valley in roughly three years have been named to Forbes’ 2019 “30 under 30” list for their work on childhood literacy.

Social entrepreneurs Karlos Marshall & Moses Mbeseha founded The Conscious Connect with the goal of ending book deserts — areas without access to high-quality and affordable books — in Ohio by 2020. The organization currently boasts more than 100 community partners including barbershops, beauty salons, libraries, community centers, daycare centers, churches and schools that serve as book distribution points throughout the Miami Valley. Recently, they also launched a partnership with Cincinnati Public Schools.

But eliminating book deserts is only the first step of the organization’s wider mission, Karlos said.

“We’re looking to spark a cultural renaissance at the intersection of urban education, neighborhood revitalization and community redevelopment,” he said.

They started with books because that’s what the community said it needed, Moses said.

“It was a lot of face-to-face conversations,” he said. “We actually went to the barbershops first. We spent countless hours talking to community stakeholders. They told us books.”

More than two dozen of those 100 book distribution points feature a physical “house of knowledge,” more commonly known as “little free libraries,” where individuals are welcome to take or swap books for free. These houses of knowledge are located in urban, low- to moderate-income neighborhoods.

Early childhood education, and literacy in particular, is critical to quality of life, Karlos said. It’s important to have access to books — and it’s important the stories in those books reflect the experiences of the communities reading them.

“We look at literacy as a vehicle to create windows, doors, mirrors for the children, youth and families that we serve,” he said. “Providing high-quality, culturally relevant, affordable books within walking access is how we provide those windows and doors for our community.”

The Conscious Connect is also slowly moving into a more traditional redevelopment space, working with city and county governments to acquire vacant lots and properties to pursue placemaking initiatives such as pocket and reading parks.

“We want to focus on all the structures hindering early-childhood success,” Moses said. “All the blight, abandoned properties, all these things that are catalysts for student failure — we want to revitalize and redevelop on a large scale to allow all our children spaces to succeed.”

Currently, The Conscious Connect is a side gig for both social entrepreneurs, who met while attending Wittenberg University in Springfield.

Moses is working a 9-5 while pursuing a master’s degree in business at University of Dayton with an eye on law school. Growing up in Cameroon, then Texas, then Pennsylvania, he always believed he had the potential to make a great impact in the world.

“I always thought, if someone gave me $1 billion, I could probably do a lot of good with it,” he said.

Karlos, who also works a 9-5, was born and raised in Springfield, and launched The Conscious Connect while attending grad school at the University of Dayton. During grad school, as he reviewed his areas of interest — urban education, higher education, social justice — he realized there wasn’t going to be a single job that reached the community in all the ways he wanted.

“I realized I’d have to create my own outlet,” he said. “I put my passions and vocational purpose into The Conscious Connect.”

Forbes recognizes 30 individuals in 20 categories each year — about 4 percent of the roughly 15,000 people who apply worldwide. Making the Forbes “30 Under 30” list in the education category is a credit to the whole community, Karlos and Moses agree.

“It’s an honor and a privilege, and it’s exciting for the community we’ve been able to work with the last few years,” Moses said. “There’s a lot more work to be done, the needs are palpable, but do not be discouraged. If we work together, we can accomplish a lot more, so just keep working.”

Moses and Karlos are traveling to California this week to pitch at Early Futures, a first-of-its-kind gathering of investors, funders, industry experts and entrepreneurs who are pursuing innovative efforts to impact early childhood education.

Spend your Small Business Saturday with The Entrepreneurs Center’s Small Business Development Center, Saturday, Nov. 24, from 11a to 4p atDayton’s 444 building, 444 E. 2nd. St.

The Ohio State-Michigan game will be on, and food will be available to fuel you as you shop with local businesses including:

& Shiny Things ltd., jewelry artist & painter selling original works & fashion accessories.

Looking to support Dayton entrepreneurs? Buy from Dayton startups this holiday season! Dayton’s growing startup ecosystem offers something unique for everyone in your life, from lovers of coffee to lipstick to sports. Happy gift giving!

Mutt’s Sauce — Veteran Charlynda Scales was stationed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base when she inherited her grandfather’s secret sauce recipe in 2013. This tomato-based “sauce for every meal” comes in four flavors from original to ghost pepper to gluten-free. It will hit shelves in area Kroger and Dorothy Lane Markets in 2019, but for this holiday season, you can order online or snag a bottle in person at our Jingle & Co-Mingle Holiday Party and #StartupStockingStuffer market at 444 on Dec. 11!

tr3Designs — Trotwood native Trey Hope can whip you up a custom design, in addition to his line of 3D-printed home products and accessories. From earrings to phone cases to key chains to dishes, if you can dream it, he can make it. You can also shop his current inventory at our Dec. 11 Jingle & Co-Mingle holiday party.

Justmoderntees — Just Modern Tees was started by three freshmen at Wright State University who wanted to recognize & promote the urban culture that exists in the Midwest. The website features apparel from shirts to jackets to boots and accessories including hats & watches, many of which are manufactured from organic materials. Shop them online or at our Jingle & Co-Mingle #StartupStockingStuffer market.

The Wright Cup & Third Wave Water — The Wright Cup brings the best beans from Ohio roasters into a subscription box, while Third Wave Water — featured on Shark Tank — adds just the right combination of minerals to your water to help you brew the perfect cup of coffee. Purchase a one-time sample pack, or snag a monthly subscription for the coffee lover in your life. Available online or at 444 on Dec. 11!

RARE Active — Featuring a patented waistband, Patty Vanderburgh’s athletic outerwear pants are designed to be slipped on and off quickly — over shoes, boots & shorts — to quickly get you where you want to go. Perfect for the active woman in your life, the pants are crafted from a fleece-lined, moisture wicking, anti-microbial Italian fabric that will keep her warm — on her way to the gym during a Midwestern winter, on the flight between cold and warm climates, and on the hiking trail before the sun rises to raise the temp. Snag a pair online, at Centerville’s Up and Running store, or at our #StartupStockingStuffer market at 444, Dec. 11.

Edge Cycling Technologies — Physical Therapist Shane Page designed this bicycle seat with comfort in mind. The PhysioSaddle combines biomechanics and anatomical knowledge to create a bike seat that doesn’t hurt. It’s available online and at our Jingle & Co-Mingle holiday party.

Neet Seat — Slip this beauty over your stadium seat to store your coat or purse so you can watch the game or enjoy the concert unencumbered. Clap, cheer, eat, and drink in comfort while keeping your personal items clean and protected. Available online, or at our one-night-only #StartupStockingStuffer market.

Smooch Maquillage — For the lover of a vibrant, bold lip, snag a lipstick or gloss from Jordyn Calhoun’s independent cosmetic line, Smooch Maquillage. Colors ranges from pink and red to blue and purple to nude and gray, with finishes from matte to gloss to glitter. Order online, or shop our Jingle & Co-Mingle #StartupStockingStuffer market.

Airborne Outfitters — For the outdoorsman or outdoors woman in your life, consider veteran Jason Evatt’s Bitterroot, the world’s first three-in-one dry bag, that not only keeps gear dry, but also filters water and pumps up an air mattress. Snag one online.

Pig of the Month — For the BBQ lover in your life, you can’t do better than Pig of the Month. From crispy bacon and sausage, to savory pulled pork, to perfectly smoky, tender ribs, Pig of the Month offers it all. Order a one-time gift set or tasting platter, or gift someone a subscription to try a new meat each month. Shop online and remember founder Lea Richards’ secret ingredient — the best BBQ is made with love.

Galatune — For the gamer in your life who loves medieval fantasy and science fiction, snag a Galatune deck. Dreamt up by a 10-year-old Adam Wik, he launched the battle card game — think Super Smash Brothers and Overwatch — nearly two decades later as a student at Wright State. He raised more $20K via a Kickstarter campaign for the initial launch. Grab a copy online, or try it and buy it at our Jingle & Co-Mingle holiday market!

Do you skip your winter workout because it’s too cold outside when you’re running between home & the gym?

Then Patty Vanderburgh’s RARE Active athletic outerwear pants might be for you.

The patented design features legs that unzip all the way up, and a waistband that stretches so you can put them on and take them off easily, even over shoes and winter boots. Patty describes the outerwear pants as “a jacket for your legs.”

She officially launched RARE Active on Thursday, with a reveal party at fellow women-owned athletic company Up & Running in Centerville.

“Patty was my customer, then my co-worker, and that’s when it slipped out that she was researching the pants,” Up and Running owner Susie Stein said. “I wouldn’t be selling them if I didn’t believe in them.”

Patty began her entrepreneurial journey about five years ago, on a cold January morning in Dayton, OH.

“I was headed to a bootcamp class. I put on my shirt, my shorts, my shoes, grabbed a jacket, ran out to the car, got in the car, and realized it was five degrees,” she recalled. “Do I run back inside, take my shoes off, struggle getting a pair of sweatpants over my shorts, put my shoes back on, run back to the car and drive to the bootcamp, or do I just go and freeze?”

She opted for the freezing drive over the hassle, and after the workout, she decided there had to be a better way.

There are currently two types of outerwear pants on the market, Patty said — a basic sweatpant, that is challenging to get on and off over shoes, and a tear-away pant, circa 1990.

“They’re cumbersome and not very cute,” she said. “My grandmother taught me to sew, so I just started playing.”

Her first run — manufactured right here in the U.S. — produced 280 pairs across five sizes, extra small to extra large, and three colors, black, grey and blue. The pants are a cross between a jogger and a legging. The Italian material is fleece-lined, moisture-wicking, antimicrobial, lightweight and pill resistant. They also feature a deep back pocket to hold a cellphone.

“I was kind of an overweight little kid,” Patty recalled. “Fitness is not only for your your body, it’s really for your head. With these pants, I want to encourage people to keep moving, especially in the winter. These you can put on, take off, and get to where you want to go, and prevent you from making excuses.”

In addition to getting you to and from your workout during winter months in the Midwest, the pants are great for hiking where it might be cold in the morning but warm in the afternoon, and traveling between destinations in different climates.

Patty also hopes to pursue potential military applications of the patented waistband design.

Want a pair? Order online at rareactive.co or try them on in person at Up & Running, located off Far Hills Avenue in Centerville.

What if a soldier’s uniform could automatically tighten to create a tourniquet if wounded on the battlefield? Or what if emergency responders could inject a patient with a nanoparticle that would pinpoint hemorrhages or identify a type of stroke?

These two technology pitches were the winners of Wright State University’s second Innovation Weekend competition, held on campus Nov. 2-4. About 35 students, from freshman to senior, representing majors and colleges across the university’s offerings, participated in this second Innovation Weekend, as well as a few area high school students.

The November competition was sponsored by Leidos, a global leader in the integration of information technology, engineering and science. Leidos challenged the students to think of new applications for sensor garment technology that identifies internal injuries.

“We’re bringing forward real-world problems the students can solve,” Doug Leaman, Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, said. “The goal is for the teams to be interdisciplinary.”

The first Innovation Weekend was held in April and focused on the transportation of military medical information.

The programming is part of a wider push to expand experiential learning opportunities for students, not only on campus, but also via internships and co-ops off campus, said Leaman, who came to WSU two years ago. As he met with representatives from regional companies, their message was consistent — they want students trained in interdisciplinary innovative activities.

Innovation Weekend kicks off Friday night when students learn about the challenge. Saturday they brainstorm ideas and form teams. Sunday they finalize those ideas and pitch to a panel of judges featuring regional experts — this time from Leidos, Wright State University and the Wright State Research Institute.

“We enhance the experiential culture in the college by engaging regional companies, and we give students a head start to understand the importance of getting out into that commercial, private sector,” Leaman said. “Ultimately, we hope to help fill some of the workforce needs in the region’s STEM fields.”

Nearly 90 percent of students within his college have a life science focus, he said, presenting an opportunity to make a significant impact in the expanding healthcare industry.

Additionally, this type of innovation training is vital to growing the region’s startup economy.

“I have a short background in running a biotech company,” Leaman said. “I have intimate appreciation for what’s involved in startups, taking a risk on tech. This goes hand-in-hand with innovation in a lab. These are important things.”

The first place team comprised Jeremiah Penick, Nathaniel Mack, Nabaa Hmood, Ian Finch, Daniel Hutcherson, Joshua Ehlinger, Liam Garry, Skyler Golden and Colin Gnam, working on the application of the sensors to identify type of stroke, bleeding, lung or heart problem, so paramedics and emergency room doctors can begin treatment faster. They split a $500 cash prize.

The second place team comprised Christina Davis, Bobby Leeper, Ethan Holbrook, Andrea Poole and Ryan Elam, innovating the sensor suit to automatically tighten in response to blood loss as measured by monitoring the pulse at a soldier’s extremities. They split a $250 prize.

Leaman is looking to hold the next Innovation Weekend in February or April 2019. The next few programs will likely offer a physics, long-range sensor, or biotech focus.

He is recruiting corporate partners to present prompts — for more information, contact him at [email protected].

Jump into one of 15 slots open to Dayton-area entrepreneurs as SPARK Fairborn launches its first Mastermind cohort sessions next week.

The Mastermind sessions will be facilitated by Chu Oparah of World Financial Group, Roshawn Winburn of the Minority Business Center, and Donerik Black of Jasper Browne business advisors. Each cohort will include 5 to 7 people, each running a different type of business.

Individuals will share their pain points, and cohort members and facilitators will leverage their experience and business resources to help each individual address their needs and accelerate their business, Fairborn revitalization strategist Tonia Fish explained.

“This is open to the universe — if you’re growing a business, starting a business, any type of business, you are welcome,” she said. “Cohort members will help each other accelerate their business in a very bespoke way, supported by the deep resources of these wonderful facilitators.”

Frank “Buddy” Pitts, Jr., entrepreneur & co-founder of Texted Cards, was one of the driving forces behind getting these Mastermind cohorts going, Tonia said.

“Mastermind groups are a way to get ahead fast, by tackling obstacles that otherwise would take you away from major parts of your daily operations,” Buddy said. “As a designer and true artist, it’s easy for me to get lost in the world of design and shy away from the admin duties. A mastermind cohort is a small time commitment for a much larger gain.”

After an initial meeting at SPARK Fairborn, cohort members will determine the specifics of their bi-monthly meetings moving forward.

Dayton’s own Mutt’s Sauce is hitting the shelves of Dorothy Lane Markets next year, just in time for Super Bowl Sunday.

Veteran entrepreneur and Mutt’s Sauce founder Charlynda Scales shared the news within a week of announcing that Mutt’s Sauce will also be hitting southwest Ohio Kroger shelves in spring 2019.

Two flavors of Mutt’s Sauce, original and sweet & spicy, will be available at all Dorothy Lane Market locations Jan. 6, 2019.

All four flavors of Mutt’s Sauce will hit shelves of about 60 Kroger stores in Dayton and Cincinnati in May 2019.

“It’s exciting, and definitely a testament to my team,” she said. “I’m happy to be able to finally provide a lot of locations for people to pick up their favorite sauce.”

Charlynda will be launching an online cooking show — Cooking with Mutt’s Sauce — on YouTube within the next month to help customers learn how to cook with “the sauce for every meal.” She filmed the first episode last week.

“People notice when you’re working hard to grow your company,” Charlynda said. “You try and try and try, and suddenly you get the email.”

The veteran entrepreneur was stationed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base when she received her late grandfather’s secret sauce recipe in 2013. Charlie “Mutt” Ferrell Jr., namesake of Charlynda’s company, was also a veteran, serving in the Korean & Vietnam wars.

Charlynda launched Mutt’s Sauce after connecting with a mentor through the Dayton chapter of SCORE, a nonprofit organization that provides free services to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

If your system for keeping track of articles and web links is a hot mess, then Dayton Entrepreneur Arielle Jordan’s new social media platform, Curafied, is for you.

Via Curafied, users can create galleries and/or search tags for articles they want to keep. The Curafied platform keeps these links organized by topic, as assigned by the curator, to make them quick to find.

Arielle originally built the platform as a way for influencers to monetize content by posting exclusive video, photo, art, articles, audio etc. behind a subscription-based paywall. She took the idea to Silicon Valley in March, participating in Women Startup Lab, a startup accelerator run out of Menlo Park, home of the late inventor Thomas Edison.

Curafied was one of 10 companies across the world — and the only from Ohio — selected for the program.

She came back to Ohio and launched her first beta version over the summer, when she discovered two key truths that helped shape the current pivot of Curafied.

“It’s hard to convince people who are used to giving away free content to ask people to pay for it,” Arielle shared over coffee.

Additionally, the folks who were interested in monetizing content didn’t feel the platform had enough bells & whistles, she said.

With no budget to build out the tech, Arielle started to ask friends to try out the platform in order to get more feedback.

At the end of the beta test, the numbers revealed that noninfluencers — those friends she asked to give it a whirl — who were using the platform to essentially store & organize web links in one place, were getting more hits than the influencers she originally targeted. When colleagues asked for resources, these curators were sending one link — to their collections on their Curafied pages.

Arielle Jordan and her Woman Startup Lab cohorts reunited last month in Silicon Valley. Here, they meet with Chris Yeh & Renata George.

Last month, she went back to Silicon Valley, disappointed with the initial results — until her mentor, Chris Yeh, co-founder of Wasabi Ventures, told her that her disappointing beta test was “actually a gold mine.”

“The beauty of Curafied in its current state is that it’s easy web-linked curation,” Arielle said. “And everyone, not just influencers, needs to easily save and send links.”

The platform pulls together the best aspects of Pinterest & Twitch, displaying both title and image for each link rather than just the string of characters you’d see on a list of links, and adds the capability to chat in real-time with people looking at your curated links — though this last feature remains subscription-based.

One of those childhood friends Arielle asked to test her platform turned out to be a former software developer for other high-tech startups including Cisco & Juicero. Over lunch in California, he agreed to help enhance the Curafied features — Arielle plans to unveil a new user interface at the top of 2019.

Arielle and her cohorts also pitched several venture capitalists on Sand Hill Road during the October trip. Though all the companies from the accelerator were too early-stage for the VCs, the introductions were important, Arielle said — now these 10 women-owned tech companies are on the Silicon Valley radar.

“The level and vision I have is for this platform to be a contender with Facebook, Instagram and others,” Arielle said. “When I say that in Silicon Valley, talking to Chris Yeh, people don’t think it’s crazy. If I can get that money, while working in Dayton, I can make that money go further, and that is attractive to investors.”

Get personalized news from Launch Dayton

Submit Your Event

Get my download link.