This week, we’re revisiting another one of my favorite conversations with a Houston innovator. Last fall, I spoke with Tim Crain, the co-founder and CTO at Intuitive Machines, and he shared a bit about the evolution of the company from a think tank to a scaling space exploration enterprise. Since we spoke, Intuitive Machines has made history by successfully completing its mission of sending the first commercial lunar lander to the moon. The company was also selected by NASA to create a lunar rover, and this week, Intuitive Machines announced a major milestone for the engine its developing on t ..read more

Matthew Costello is the CEO and co-founder of Voyager Portal, a maritime shipping and logistics software as a service company. Matthew joins the show for the first time in a few years to provide an update on how he’s grown the platform to profitability and to solving some of the industry’s biggest and most expensive problems.  ..read more

On this summer holiday week, we’re revisiting a conversation from last year with Ramanan Krishnamoorti, the vice president of energy and innovation at the University of Houston. UH recently announced a new partnership with the Houston Angel Network to activate more investors with deep connections to UH. Read about that news story on InnovationMap.com, and listen to this episode for more context into how the university is looking at growing its role in Houston’s innovation ecosystem, including building a new central campus innovation hub. Episode’s original run date: May 23rd, 2023 ..read more

Taylor Anne Adams is the head of venture acceleration at Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a part of Rice University that supports student entrepreneurs with classes, events, and other programming. Taylor Anne is leading the second year of the Summer Venture Studio, which just recently named its cohort of eight innovative companies. She shares a bit about the program’s process and why she’s bullish on Houston’s innovation ecosystem on the episode today ..read more

Prabhdeep Singh Sekhon is the newly named CEO of Gold H2, a spin-off company of Houston-based Cemvita. Gold H2 has seen some early success for its biotechnology that uses microbes to turn the uneconomic oil leftover in a well into gold hydrogen. The process is unique and very promising for the energy transition, and Prab shares how the company is gearing up to meet the anticipated demand for its tech ..read more

Carlos Estrada is the head of Venture Acceleration at BioWell, a new bioindustrial startup accelerator founded by First Bight Ventures. Carlos and his team are working to select the inaugural cohort, which will launch this summer. On the show today, he explains the mission of BioWell, how its $700,000 “Build to Scale” grant is fueling its development, and the unique challenges biotech startups are facing ..read more

Tim Latimer is the CEO and co-founder of Fervo Energy, a fast-growing geothermal energy company that raised $244 million earlier this year to scale its 24/7 clean energy model. Tim shares about his mission-driven path to entrepreneurship and the momentum Fervo is seeing with its ongoing projects. Tim also weighs in on the history and hype of geothermal energy, along with the challenges and opportunities it’s come with ..read more

Zach Ellis is the founder and managing partner of South Loop Ventures, a Houston-based venture capital firm that’s investing in diverse founders from Houston and beyond and leveraging the city’s resources to grow and scale its portfolio companies. Zach shares more about the investment thesis and mission of the firm, as well as why Houston is the best place for this business opportunity ..read more

Jon Lambert is the CEO of The Cannon, which just announced its ninth location in the greater Houston area. Jon shares a bit about the history of The Cannon as well as the future growth opportunities — both in and outside of the Bayou City.  ..read more

Rushi Patel is the co-founder and COO of Homebase, a software company providing HR tech tools to small businesses across the country. Rushi joins me on the podcast during National Small Business Week to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities of small businesses, as well as how key the city of Houston has been to Homebase’s growth.  ..read more