Upstate Venture Connect (UVC) Founders and Leaders

#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.

#7 - Michael 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.

#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.

#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.

#4 - Jeffrey Allan, Marine vet, startup founder, and AI leader at Nazareth University

Jeffrey Allen, Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology and AI at Nazareth University, joins host Patrick Bosek to share his journey from the Marines to international tech, startup ventures like Lottery.com and Echo Ridge, and ultimately academia. He discusses the ethics of AI, the societal impacts of emerging tech, and how Nazareth is building a unique interdisciplinary AI program. Jeffrey also explains how the university supports ambitious startups through STTR grants, aiming to turn upstate New York into a hub for responsible AI innovation.