S4E17 | Modern heirloom: The secret to building a product that lasts forever

S4E17 | Modern heirloom: The secret to building a product that lasts forever

In this episode of #DAREwithDarwoft, Ned Hayes sits down with Ron Khormaei, PhD, Founder & CEO of STEELPORT Knife, a Portland-based company redefining what American-made manufacturing can look like.Ron shares how a gap in the market, no U.S.-made kitchen knives in retail stores, sparked a mission to build heirloom-quality cutlery designed to last a lifetime. Drawing on his background at HP and Logitech, he brings a tech executive's precision to an ancient craft. This is a conversation about quality over speed, community over competition, and building products that people pass down, not throw away.🎙️ Watch and listen to the full episode on all platforms.Instagram/@darwoftLinkedIn/@DarwoftCompanyTikTok/@darwoft

S4E16 | The VC truth about AI, SaaS Valuations & why most startups won't survive

In this episode of #DAREwithDarwoft, Ned Hayes sits down with Jim Ferry, Partner at Volition Capital, to get the unfiltered VC perspective on AI, SaaS valuations, and what it really takes to survive the current funding landscape.Jim shares why every company today is either AI-native or at risk, why inflated AI valuations worry experienced investors, and what founders must bring to the table before walking into a Series A or B conversation. This isn't just an investor story — it's a reality check for anyone building in 2026.🎙️ Watch and listen to the full episode on all platforms.TikTok/@darwoftInstagram/@darwoftLinkedIn/@DarwoftCompany

S4E15 Charity Andrews | Your team doesn't need more tools, it needs better workflows

In this episode of #DAREwithDarwoft, Ned Hayes sits down with Charity Andrews, CEO & Founder of Stellify, a company that helps growing organizations turn operational chaos into structured, scalable workflows. This conversation dives into the gap between buying tools and actually making them work: the behavior change, the process design, and the human elements most teams overlook. Charity shares why the real problem is rarely the software,  and what it takes to build systems where technology handles the manual work, so people can focus on what actually matters. 🎙️ Watch and listen to the full episode on all platforms. TikTok/@darwoft Instagram/@darwoft LinkedIn/@DarwoftCompany

S4E14 | The Safest Battery in Data Centers? Zinc Five's CEO on powering the AI revolution

In this episode of #DAREwithDarwoft, Ned Hayes sits down with Tim Hysell, Co-Founder & CEO of Zinc Five Inc., the world leader in nickel-zinc battery technology with over 80 patents and nearly 2 gigawatts deployed globally. This conversation dives into the infrastructure behind AI: the batteries that power data centers through outages, millisecond spikes, and the growing demands of machine intelligence. Tim shares the company's journey from backup power for traffic stoplights to becoming a critical piece of the AI revolution, and why safety, sustainability, and speed are not trade-offs. They're the product. 🎙️ Watch and listen to the full episode on all platforms. TikTok/@darwoft Instagram/@darwoft LinkedIn/@DarwoftCompany

S4E13 | Silicon Forest: The Plan to Keep Oregon Ahead in Semiconductors

What does it take to keep a tech ecosystem alive when the rules of the industry are changing? 🤔💭 In this episode of #DAREwithDarwoft, Ned Hayes sits down with Soley Azer, Executive Director of Silicon Forest Partnership and former Intel leader, to explore what’s really at stake in the future of semiconductors. This conversation dives into the real challenges behind the chip industry—from Moore’s Law hitting physical limits to the fragmentation of talent and resources—and what it takes to build something resilient in response. Because the future of technology doesn’t just depend on chips. It depends on the ecosystems that make them possible. 🎙️ Watch and listen to the full episode on all platforms. Social Media. TikTok/@darwoft  Instagram/@darwoft  LinkedIn/@DarwoftCompany