Stephen is tackling a large-scale opportunity in local commerce: reinventing last-mile delivery using autonomous vehicles and robotics. 

With online delivery projected to hit $500B+ by 2030, NoTip replaces high fees and tipping with a flat $6 model for food, grocery, and local retail.

A serial entrepreneur with 30+ years of experience, Stephen previously founded Workhorse Group (NASDAQ: WKHS) and Lordstown Motors, and built Mobile Voice Control (acquired by Nuance). 

Now, alongside a team from Tesla, Honeywell, and Cypress Semiconductor, he’s building the autonomous infrastructure for the future of logistics.

In this episode, we cover:

• The economic breaking point of traditional delivery apps
• Combining autonomous cars and robots for the "last 100 feet"
• Lessons from scaling EV and tech ventures

Subscribe for more conversations with industry leaders!

Hubka dives into the latest Walmart Business Survey findings. She breaks down the mounting pressures today's small business owners face, from rising operational and labor costs to managing supply chain volatility with fewer resources.

Discover how Walmart Business solves critical purchasing pain points like supplier fragmentation and grocery friction. 

Learn how optimizing your vendor selection, delivery schedules, and business supplies can dramatically simplify your workflows and fuel growth.

She explains how Walmart Business solves critical pain points in small-business purchasing, enabling teams to focus on business growth.

Discover how their procurement portal helps companies simplify workflows and scale by streamlining vendor selection, delivery, and business supplies.

In this episode of Experienced Voices, Kevin A. Damoa, Founder of Glīd Technologies, breaks down the blueprint for building hard tech.

What we discuss:

• The Breakthrough: Solving the century-old road-to-rail problem with autonomous, dual-mode physical infrastructure and AI orchestration software.
• The Journey: From the first concept and clearing major hurdles to establishing proof of market and preparing for rigorous due diligence.
• The Blueprint: How Kevin marshaled his SpaceX and combat logistics experience to become venture-ready, leverage SDVOSB programs, and scale a lean team.
• The Payoff: Winning TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, maximizing social/environmental impact, and the #1 mistake first-time entrepreneurs must avoid.

About Kevin A. Damoa

Founder & CEO, Glīd Technologies

Kevin A. Damoa is a veteran logistics executive and systems engineer who has spent over two decades advancing mobility technology across aerospace, defense, and electric vehicles. 

Today, he is the Founder and CEO of Glīd Technologies, an autonomous road-to-rail freight company that won the prestigious 2025 TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield. Utilizing a patented dual-mode vehicle system and AI logistics orchestration software, Glīd bridges the century-old operational gap between road and rail for commercial freight and national defense.

Damoa’s operational discipline was forged during 12 years of military service. Enlisting in the U.S. Army at seventeen, he completed two combat tours in Iraq with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, managing high-stakes railhead logistics in theater.

 In 2012, he joined SpaceX as Flight Module Logistics Manager, where he designed and deployed the critical transport apparatus used to move rockets from production to the launch pad. Following a tenure at Northrop Grumman as an Integration Program Manager on the F-35 program, he held senior manufacturing, supply chain, and operating leadership roles across a generation of clean-mobility trailblazers, including Romeo Power, Xos Trucks, Canoo, and Serial 1 (a Harley-Davidson brand). 

 A certified Service-Disabled Veteran entrepreneur, Damoa holds an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an MBA in Project Management from Keller Graduate School of Management. 

Artificial intelligence has fundamentally rewritten the rules of engagement, blurring the lines between national security and global finance. They are no longer separate areas of concern—they are deeply interconnected.

In this episode of Experienced Voices, we sit down with former Intelligence Officer Dr. Anthony Vinci, the founder and CEO of VICO. VICO is a venture-backed AI company pioneering the groundbreaking field of 'Decision Intelligence.'

Using advanced mathematics and AI, VICO quantifies, simulates, and forecasts complex political, geopolitical, and economic event risks in real time. Dr. Vinci breaks down the massive implications this new capability has for our country's national security, global markets, and the future of global stability.

Tune in to hear a critical, must-listen message for the next generation of entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers on their vital role in protecting America's economic and national security in the AI era.

Key Takeaways From This Episode:

• The Shift in Global Conflict: Why data and decision speed have replaced traditional hardware on the front lines.
• What is Decision Intelligence?: How VICO uses advanced math to simulate and forecast geopolitical and economic risks in real time.
• The Intersection of Capital & Defense: Why global finance and national security are now deeply intertwined.
• A Call to Action: The critical role today’s innovators and investors play in protecting economic and national defense.

About the Guest:

Dr. Anthony Vinci is an Intelligence Officer, tech founder, and the CEO of VICO, a venture-backed AI company at the forefront of Decision Intelligence.

Love the show? Drop us a review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode with a colleague or friend who needs to hear it!

As a 4x-exited VC-backed Founder, he has led products from 0 to millions in users and revenue across consumer and SaaS domains. His broad technology and product background spans product monetization, product-led growth, go-to-market adoption, system roadmaps for scale, AI-native products for small and midsize businesses, and the building and scaling of SaaS products and organizations.

Raj turns ideas or early product momentum into repeatable growth, aligning product, growth, and GTM to drive adoption, retention, and revenue. 

Currently, he focuses on AI-native products for SMBs and how AI reshapes product development, growth, and teams.

We discuss:

• Trends driving the growth of women-owned businesses.
• How to prepare your company to borrow and access capital.
• The vital roles of mentorship, networking, and women-only business groups.
• Strategic tips for developing high-impact business relationships.

About Lydia Ramirez: A leader in the Sacramento ecosystem, Lydia serves on the boards of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber, Capital Black Chamber, and United Way. An MBA graduate and "Women Who Mean Business" honoree, she is a leading voice on community growth, the role of women business owners in the local community, and the fostering of inclusivity.

While working with large corporations such as Nike, Google, and Intel, he saw opportunities to pursue mobility ideas that those organizations were not interested in developing.

He had a particular interest in changing the performance and rider experience of electric bikes which led him launch ONYX Motors through a successful Indiegogo campaign.

Seward's bikes such as the RCR 80V are supported by a global community of riders who view ONYX electric motor bikes as both a long-term investment and a lifestyle.

In this conversation, Seward discusses designing for commercialization, when creative vision must adapt to market realities, and the mistakes product designers must avoid to build ideas that endure.

If you are developing a new product to market, don't miss a range of takeaways that give you greater insight in your innovation journey.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

• Leverage your natural problem-solving instincts. Early life challenges helped shape Seward’s ability to identify gaps and design solutions that translated into an entrepreneurial advantage.
• See innovation through an industrial designer’s lens. The discussion highlights how industrial designers balance form, function, usability, and emotional connection when building new products.
• Use crowdfunding as a launchpad, not just funding. Seward explains how a successful Indiegogo campaign provided market validation and accelerated his learning around production and scale.

Balint Pasztor is the co-founder and CEO of DiffuseDrive, a next-generation physical AI company transforming how Fortune 500 companies access real-world, high-volume data with unprecedented speed. 

Within a year of launching the physical AI startup, the company is disrupting a $124 billion market with a platform already adopted by Fortune 500 companies. It converts generative AI into high-throughput, synthetic data generation pipelines, replacing data chaos with clarity and data scarcity with abundance in days rather than years, providing safety-critical synthetic data for camera-first autonomy, robotics, and defense systems. 

Balint offers a compelling story of how innovative entrepreneurs seize opportunities when they see firsthand the technology challenges faced by large corporations.  

Hear how he and his co-founder put in their sweat equity and leveraged their relationships to move past a minimum viable product to end-user Fortune 500 clients, gaining timely funding to scale their startup. 

Jim shares his journey, driven by navigating intense entrepreneurial stress, to create Bright Mind drink mix, a plant-based brain health drink to help you achieve peak performance.

In this episode, we dive into:

• The origin story and development process of their proprietary nootropic formula.
• The strategy and key metrics of launching a consumer product online, conducting market testing, and achieving product market fit (PMF).
• Jim's insider strategy for targeting venture capital and completing a seed funding round.
• Invaluable advice for first-time entrepreneurs on avoiding common startup pitfalls.

If you're interested in cognitive function, startup fundraising strategy, or establishing and marketing a wellness venture, this episode is a must-listen. 

Learn how Jim Phillips is helping thousands of people achieve mental clarity and think clearer, naturally.

For those fortunate enough to reach the stage of considering going public or being acquired, the journey becomes even more complex, involving rigorous financial, regulatory, and strategic milestones.

Bal Bhullar, CFO and Board Member at NASDAQ-listed Damon Inc. and Independent Board Member at Lexaria BioScience, brings over 25 years of leadership experience across public and private companies in technology, manufacturing, automotive, e-commerce, blockchain, energy, and health and wellness.

Her expertise spans IPOs and reverse takeovers, capital raises and market-cap expansion, risk and operational discipline, investor relations and storytelling, and a steadfast commitment to governance, ESG, and diversity.

Don't miss hearing a CFO's firsthand insight about how to address funding needs from startup through exit. 

Miles shares why urgency matters in pioneering innovation, how the power of word-of-mouth can impact adoption, and the delicate process of finding true product-market fit when you’re building something entirely new.

We also dive into his belief that in entrepreneurship, the best idea wins—but only if you know how to execute fast, listen to your early users, and scale with purpose.

Tune in for a conversation about visionary AI that is enabling people to stay connected to loved ones across time. 

Hillary’s path is a powerful blend of entrepreneurship, expertise, and service. After building and acquiring her own small government contracting business, she led the award of numerous services-related contracts.

A U.S. Army veteran, Hillary began as an Engineer in the National Guard before serving in the active Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Her dedication and excellence have been recognized with the Emerging Star Award (2016) and the Stellar Award (2017) from the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce—both honoring top federal suppliers demonstrating exemplary growth and leadership.

Tune in as Hillary shares her unique insights on navigating the federal contracting landscape, growing as a business leader, and bringing the discipline of military service into the world of entrepreneurship.

In this HOW-TO segment Steven breaks down what owners need to know before they sell. With an MBA in finance and deep experience guiding business owners and executives through growth, sale, and IPOs, Steve answers the question he hears most often: Is now the right time to sell and how should I prepare?

From Mom & Pop shops to built-to-sell ventures and long-established companies, Steve shares:

• What makes a business valuable in today’s M&A market
• The “4 Ds” that can force or accelerate an exit
• Who’s involved at every stage of a sale—from planning to post-close
• How valuations are done and whether you can pre-screen your sale potential
• Why even a failing company’s database can be a hidden goldmine

If you’re a founder or executive contemplating an exit—or just want to maximize your company’s future value—don't miss Steve’s insights that make the sale of a business successful. 

Blending this passion for service with his expertise as a seasoned CTO, David launched Voxify in 2022. The company’s flagship product, Aurora Hub, is a turnkey AI voice assistant that integrates seamlessly with any phone system to ensure no customer is ever left unheard…no business opportunity missed.

Hear how David identified this pain point of small businesses and how Voxify is redefining how small and mid-sized businesses engage with customers. While meeting their many other challenges, Voxify strengthens trust by improving responsiveness that enables owners focus on growth.

With a background in cognitive science and data science, Marcus has driven innovation across sectors including AI, semiconductors, consumer electronics, transportation, and augmented reality. His multidisciplinary experience led to a breakthrough insight: AI isn’t just a tool for productivity—it can be a catalyst for invention itself.

Now, Marcus is on a mission to empower a new generation of inventors, entrepreneurs, and companies with the AI engine that could reshape the future of innovation.

In this episode of Experienced Voices, our “How To” segment features Eric Daugherty of Monterey Financial Services, who breaks down the fundamentals of consumer financing for small business owners.

From understanding how payment plans influence customer decisions to setting up programs that drive growth, Eric shares practical insights on how businesses can close more sales by making purchases more accessible through flexible financing options.

A bio-engineer by training, George began his career conducting research in robotics and brain-computer interfaces (BCI) which led to his passion for electrification and technology-driven solutions​. With over 15 years of experience in electric drives and EVs, George founded Voltu Moto to revolutionize the EV market with an integrated, proprietary power train solution. 

Voltu’s innovations—such as the patented immersive cooling battery technology and the bidirectional inverter that enables the industry-first onboard fast charging—are a testament to his technical ingenuity and determination to eliminate barriers to EV adoption​.

Hear George's journey as he discusses how he began his startup in Argentina  and moved Voltu Motor to California where it will soon be introducing full production of its Class 3 EV pickup truck.

The HF-11 is being honed to be the ultimate street-legal vehicle. Only 25 limited edition cars will be available worldwide.

Hear how Nikita and his twin brother Iliya executed their strategy to launch a capital-intensive automotive startup.

As a seasoned growth strategist and having led two previous companies with revenue over $400M, sold to publicly traded companies, listeners hear firsthand how a business leader navigates past challenges, hits milestones, and brings together the talent to succeed.  

Hear how he gathered his team, went from concept to prototype to production---protected his IP, and learned the ropes to engage with investors. 

Tim offers a designer’s approach to navigating the path from career product innovator to risk-taking entrepreneur following a dream. 

Colin shares how he used his mechanical engineering background to transfer his professional experience and passion for motorsports into a new product---that he believes will attract more dirt bike enthusiasts and expand the sport. He describes his team’s process of product innovation that resulted in a new bike design with features that significantly enhance user experience.

In our discussion, Josh shares how he moved from product idea to market testing to Kickstarter success through manufacturing to market introduction. He shares his entrepreneurial and product design approach, offering insight to others pursuing product innovation. 

Helpr now serves Fortune 500 companies such as Clorox and Snap through its enterprise platform and is in 45 countries. 

Hear how Kasey and her partner saw the opportunity offered by digital technology to grow their model and the steps they took to become a global technology company.

NobleReach Foundation’s CEO Arun Gupta is taking on those challenges, heading a nonprofit startup with half a billion dollars in endowment. Founded as a spinoff of LMI, NobleReach offers a new and ambitious model to drive American innovation through the collaboration of academia, and the private and public sectors.

Arun is a highly successful venture capitalist, a best-selling author of Venture Meets Mission, a Faculty Lecturer at Stanford University, and an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Georgetown University. 

He is marshaling the U.S.’s brightest entrepreneurs to drive this innovation model.

From his time-consuming experience of preparing options data, fintech entrepreneur David Hait saw an unmet need for it to be better organized, cleaned, and made easier to use by portfolio managers, investors, and academic researchers worldwide. 

In 1999 he founded New York-based OptionMetrics when options trading was less common than it is today, with a record 10.38B U.S. option contracts cleared in 2022. 

David shares his startup challenges and how he grew his firm to 60+ employees, which led to its acquisition by Leeds Equity Partners. 

Amy is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and her previous experience includes sales, marketing, and training positions in technology and telecom companies.

Mysty discusses how the San Diego Angel Conference has grown since its founding five years ago that includes annually awarding a sizeable investment of hundreds of thousands to the top selected venture. She describes the experiences and takeaways that each accepted applicant enjoys. She offers insights to all who are seeking angel funding.

Jeff discusses the role that university research has within the entrepreneurial ecosystem, specifically the people and resources that make up this network. Jeff also describes the pathways that entrepreneurs may take as they explore starting a company or commercializing their research.

What makes a "good deal" for an Angel Investor? 

In this episode of the Experienced Voices podcast, host Jeanne Gray sits down with Howard Lubert—Co-founder of Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic & SouthEast and Fund Manager of Accelerator Venture Partners. 

With a career spanning over 10,000 pitch reviews across every business sector, Howard shares his "vantage point" on what it takes to get funded in today’s market.

As the leader of the fastest-growing regions within the world’s largest accredited investor network, Howard pulls back the curtain on the Keiretsu Forum application process, how to avoid funding dealbreakers, and the secret to determining a fair startup valuation.

Whether you are a first-time founder or a serial entrepreneur, this deep dive will help you understand the mindset of an angel group and how to build a win-win relationship with your investors.

Key Takeaways from This Episode:

• The specific criteria angel investors use to write a check.
• How to determine if your startup is "fundable."
• How to navigate the vetting and qualification process for entrepreneurs.
• Strategies for building long-term investor relationships that go beyond the pitch.