Join Patrick Bosek in conversations with the dynamic people of the Upstate New York start-up ecosystem. Conversations will discuss what's happening around the region with all the dynamic businesses, capital providers, and other connectors working to make Upstate the best place to start a company.
#11 - Sean Assent -- Passion and profession begetting innovation
In this episode, Patrick Bosek talks with Sean Assent, co-founder of Empower, about his unconventional path from a 25-year healthcare career to becoming a software founder. Sean shares how years spent working with data, strategy, healthcare systems, nonprofit boards, and adaptive skiing ultimately converged into the idea for a platform that helps community-based organizations operate more effectively. The conversation explores what it really takes to become an entrepreneur later in your career, including the financial and family tradeoffs, the importance of learning the startup ecosystem, and the value of mission-driven teams. Sean also shares where Empower is today, what comes next for the company, and why better technology and data can help strengthen organizations serving some of our most vulnerable communities.
10 Oct 2026
#10 - Rebecca Brady -- Accidental American Dream
In this episode, Patrick Bosek talks with Rebecca Brady, founder of Top Seedz, about her journey from New Zealand to Buffalo and from stay-at-home mom to building a rapidly growing food company. Rebecca shares how she went from selling a handful of crackers at a farmers market to landing on shelves at Wegmans and Whole Foods and eventually scaling to 70+ employees, 3,500 stores, and roughly 10,000 boxes a day. The conversation explores the power of networking, product-market fit, disciplined scaling, and using competition and sports-inspired thinking to build an efficient, energetic culture. Rebecca also reflects on resilience, taking smart risks, and how winning 43North helped her step out of the day-to-day and start building Top Seedz for its next stage of growth.
2 Oct 2026
#9 - Peter Dean -- Culture as a competitive advantage
In this episode, Patrick speaks with Peter Dean a serial entrepreneur and longtime member of the Upstate New York startup community. Patrick and Peter trace his career shaped by experimentation, resilience, and a deep belief in people-first culture. Peter shares the lessons behind building three different start-ups in three very different industries.
Peter tells the stories behind Athletic Dynamics, scaling the outdoor e-commerce company Upside Over, surviving its collapse during the 2008 financial crisis, and ultimately growing RenderTribe into a successful agency that was acquired by Media Logic. Along the way, they dig into business-model innovation, the realities of cash flow and founder risk, and how culture can become a genuine competitive advantage when employees feel trusted, supported, and connected to a shared purpose.
4 Mar 2026
#8 - Lauren Washington -- Creating Progress through building communities
Patrick Bosek talks with Lauren Washington—serial entrepreneur, community builder, and Director of the University at Buffalo’s Cultivator Program—about her amazing journey through multiple ventures to helping shape Buffalo’s startup ecosystem. Lauren shares how winning the first-ever 43North with her social listening startup “Keep Up” taught her hard lessons about platform risk and building on someone else’s APIs. From there, she talks through founding a community, Black Women Talk Tech, before pivoting back to commercial start-ups by launching Funder. Finally, Lauren explains how UB’s Cultivator accelerator deploys first checks and provides mentorship to help Western New York founders compete on the global stage.
10 Jan 2026
#7 - Micheal Gursha -- Becoming a builder in the Upstate NY ecosystem
Patrick Bosek sits down with Michael Gursha (Point Curve CEO, UNY 50 member, and UVC board member) to explore how Upstate New York shaped his path as a builder. From launching Dream Water at Syracuse and experimenting with an early social recommendation startup, Michael shares what he learned about pitching, traction, and when quitting is the smartest move. He breaks down how founders can build a real support network—peers, advisors, and investors who want the hard truth, not just the highlights. The episode closes with Michael’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence journey at Syracuse and how that experience sparked the next chapter: co-founding Point Curve with his brother and leaning into the power of ecosystem-driven growth.
9 Sept 2025
#6 - Elisa Miller-Out -- Connecting and coaching for a better ecosystem
In this episode, I sit down with Elisa Miller-Out, Managing Partner at Chloe Capital, to unpack her journey from a Gilded Age lineage and a childhood on food stamps to serial founder and investor with 65+ portfolio companies and multiple M&A, including a $100M exit. We dig into how her theater-to-tech operating background shapes founder empathy, sales/storytelling, and practical company-building.
Elisa shares candid wins and stumbles, from a risky bridge round that became a marquee exit to hard-earned lessons on the perils of venture debt, and why “founders to funders” is the flywheel the ecosystem needs. We close on Chloe Capital’s mission of inclusive innovation, their accelerator work across NY (and beyond), and how Upstate’s growing network is opening real pathways to customers, capital, and community.
3 Aug 2025
#5 - Michael Ryzewic, Co-founder of Rosie
In this episode of the UVC Founders and Leaders Podcast, host Patrick Bosek sits down with Michael Ryzowick, technical co-founder of Rosie, the Ithaca-based grocery e-commerce platform acquired by Instacart in 2022. Michael shares the multi-generational roots of his entrepreneurial drive, the journey from scrappy upstate startup to successful exit, and the pivotal moments that shaped Rosie’s evolution. From dumpster-dived printers to negotiating an acquisition in the days before his wedding, this conversation dives deep into the grit, pivots, and lessons behind building a business in upstate New York.
8 Jul 2025
#4 - Jeffrey Allan, Marine vet, startup founder, and AI leader at Nazareth University
Jeffrey Allan, Director at Nazareth University, recounts his path from the Marines to AI leadership and discusses AI ethics, startup support, and Nazareth's interdisciplinary AI program in an interview with Patrick Bosek.
1 Jun 2025
#3 - Nasir Ali, Co-founder of UVC
Patrick Bosek interviews Nasir Ali, co-founder of Upstate Venture Connect, about constructing a successful startup environment in Upstate New York and how community fosters regional change.
5 May 2025
#1 - Olivia Goldstien, CEO of UVC
In the first episode of UVC Founders and Leaders we talk to the leader of UVC, Olivia Goldstien. Olivia and Patrick discuss Olivia's journey to this position, why Upstate NY, and where UVC is going.
5 May 2025
#2 - Rick Pereira, Co-founder Welcome
In episode 2 of UVC Founders and Leaders Patrick talks with Rick Pereira about his journey as a professional focused on the people at organizations. Rick tells the story of his time as Chief People Officer at Slice and co-founder of Welcome.
27 Apr 2025
Introducing UVC Founders and Leaders!
We're launching a new podcast called Upstate Venture Connect, Founders and Leaders. It's a monthly conversation with the members of the upstate New York region who are starting and leading amazing enterprises.
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