Mason, along with fellow Duke alumnus and candidate for Treasurer of North Carolina Ronnie Chatterji, Butterfly Network Chief Strategy Officer and and Chief Business Development Officer Darius Shahida, Perform Rx President Mesfin Tegenu and others explore:
What’s in the pipeline to reduce health care costs and improve delivery?
How will regulations and politics impact future innovation, entrepreneurship and investments in healthcare?
How are Duke alumni and others with North Carolina ties playing a role in healthcare transformation?
And much more.
Founder’s Friend
Caribbean Sluggers CEO Ali Knowles is the Bahamian Bat Man: Founder Series with Mason Plumlee
Mason reconnects with high school classmate Ali Knowles, founder of Caribbean Sluggers — a wood bat manufacturer based in Birmingham, AL. Caribbean Sluggers designs and handcrafts some of the most durable bats on the market from maple, ash and birch wood. A native of Grand Bahama, Ali came to the US for better educational and athletic opportunities and attended Christ School with Mason in North Carolina, where he was an All-American baseball player and earned a scholarship to Troy University. Mason and Ali reminisce about their high school days and discuss Ali's remarkable story of perseverance.
COVID SMART CEO Robert Tercek is Keeping Workers Safe: Founder Series with Mason Plumlee
Mason speaks with digital media pioneer, founder, and author Robert Tercek about his latest venture -- COVID SMART -- that is helping to bring workers back safely during the pandemic. COVID SMART is a comprehensive occupational training program in infection prevention for the workplace, the home and the community. Robert also discusses his career, which includes developing the largest live online learning programs in history for Oprah Winfrey, the first web-based multiplayer gaming service for Sony, the world’s first streaming video on mobile phones and authoring 2016 International Book of The Year, Vaporized. For more information visit https://gocovidsmart.com.
PopCom CEO Dawn Dickson on The Future of Retail, Crowdfunding | Founder Series with Mason Plumlee
Mason speaks with award-winning entrepreneur and founder Dawn Dickson about PopCom, a revolutionary automated retail technology platform for vending machines and kiosks. Dawn has been part of some of the nation’s top accelerator programs for entrepreneurs and was named one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 female founders. She also talks about her unique and extraordinarily successful approach to crowd-funding (the first black founder to raise $1M in a secure token offering) and the implications for future generations of black tech entrepreneurs.
NextPlay CEO Kyle Mumma is Keeping College Teams Connected | Founder Series with Mason Plumlee
Mason speaks with friend and former Duke Men’s Basketball manager Kyle Mumma about NextPlay — a platform for athletic departments that keeps teams and alumni communities connected and helps college athletes prepare for life after sports. Kyle also shares how NextPlay is supporting career development by creating a closed social network that allows for more targeted engagement in college alumni circles. PLUS: a few stories about Duke basketball...Kyle rebounded thousands of Mason’s shots (mostly makes) during his days at Duke.
Founder Series with Mason Plumlee, Ep. 21: Brendan Szulik, Founder & CEO of Silbo
Mason speaks with fellow Duke grad Brendan Szulik about a topic he knows a lot about: referees. Brendan is the founder of Silbo, a digital marketplace that connects amateur sports officials to sports games. It’s a referee management solution that simplifies the surprisingly complicated process of getting officials for a league’s athletic games. Silbo saves leagues time and resources, and results in better calls (OK, that might be a reach).
Founder Series with Mason Plumlee, Ep. 20: Marsh Skeele & Nic Mink, Sitka Salmon Shares
Mason speaks with Alaskan fisherman Marsh Skeele and Sitka Salmon Shares co-founder and CEO Nic Mink. Sitka Salmon Shares is a direct-to-consumer seafood company based in Sitka, Alaska that delivers responsibly-harvested, wild Alaskan seafood to home cooks through a monthly subscription service. An idea born out of protecting Southeast Alaska’s wild salmon populations and supporting sustainably sourced seafood and independent, family fisherman has spawned a community of artisan fishers, healthy eaters, foodies and Alaskan adventurers.
Founder Series with Mason Plumlee, Ep. 19: Sam McCracken, General Manager and Visionary, Nike N7
Mason speaks with Sam about his pioneering efforts around Nike’s Native American business, the development of the Nike Air Native N7 shoe, N7 retail collection and the N7 Fund which helps to create access to sport for Native American and Indigenous youth in the US and Canada. Learn how Sam and N7 are also working to address the Covid-19 crisis. Sam is a member of the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes in northeastern Montana on the Ft. Peck Indian Reservation.
Founder Series with Mason Plumlee, Ep. 18: Garrett and Harley Williamson, Founders of Allure Sleep
Mason speaks with the Williamson brothers about their journey in building a thriving "mattress in a box" brand, insights on manufacturing and operating during a pandemic, and what sparked Garrett (a ten-year pro basketball player), to begin preparing early for his post-playing career. www.alluresleep.com.
Founder Series with Mason Plumlee, Ep. 17: Jacob Zax, Founder/CEO of MusiQuest
Mason speaks with Jacob about MusiQuest, a new, engaging online music learning platform designed for kids that's helping to bridge divides in music education. Jacob (a huge Denver Nuggets fan) is working to ensure all kids can access the benefits of musical learning and expression. He discusses his personal journey as an entrepreneur, how the pandemic has impacted operations, and shares how a MusiQuest pilot in Jamaica is showing the potential to help kids in developing countries create music, express themselves, and learn. For more info visit MusiQuest.com.
Founder Series with Mason Plumlee, Ep. 16: Austin Barone, Founder of Just Play
Mason speaks with Austin about some of the latest trends in sports analytics and how Just Play's software (used by the Nuggets and Duke Blue Devils, among others) is helping teams across the country win. It's an effective way for teams to create content, integrate data, and share preparation content to players and their staff in one app. Mason and Austin offer some interesting insights from current use cases and Austin shares his journey from college athlete at Kansas to entrepreneur.
Founder Series with Mason Plumlee, Ep. 15: Tade Oyerinde, Founder/CEO of Campuswire
Mason speaks with Tade Oyerinde about Campuswire, a teaching tool professors use to manage Q&As, implement active learning, and host live video lectures and office hours. With so many schools preparing to create a more robust online college experience for next school year, Campuswire is becoming a platform of choice. Tade shares insights on the higher ed landscape, stories from his journey as an entrepreneur, and why flying (he has his pilot's license) took a backseat to starting a company.