Raja Ghawi is a Partner at Era Ventures, a venture capital firm he joined at inception in 2022 to drive transformational change in our physical world.

Prior to joining Era, Raja worked at Suffolk Construction. While there, he helped to found Suffolk’s venture arm, Suffolk Technologies, which invests in startups in the AEC industry and helps them to scale by leveraging Suffolk’s network and resources. At the end of 2020, he was named Suffolk Tech’s Investment Director. While at Suffolk, he founded and led Boost, Suffolk Technologies’ accelerator program, the leading AEC innovation accelerator, which has since graduated 30 companies.

Before joining Suffolk, Raja worked for McKinsey & Company in Boston and spent meaningful time at QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI/ML arm. A native of Syria and a Harvard graduate, Raja currently lives in Brooklyn. He’s an avid reader, a budding cyclist, and a big fan of Brooklyn’s underground art scene.

During this episode, we discuss:

• How Era Ventures invests in innovation in the physical world
• What got Raja really excited about VC
• How he joined Era at inception
• Some of his favorite portfolio companies throughout that time
• Types of industries that he works with in the physical world (real estate, construction, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, etc.)
• Where he sees the physical world going in 2026
• The impact of inflation and labor shortages on these industries
• Spending more time in robotics and physical AI
• The problems that come with go to market - how to prove your products work
• How robots can be used for growth in companies
• What Raja looks for when investing in startups
• The importance of having a trusted community/network who will try your product

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into investing in the physical world!

Lily Vittayarukskul, Waterlily's CEO and Co-Founder, was on the path to become an aerospace engineer at an exceptionally young age, a patented inventor, starting college at 14 and interning at NASA by 16. But her life took an unexpected turn when her Aunt, a cornerstone of her first-generation immigrant family, was diagnosed with terminal stage colon cancer.

Post chemotherapy her family was shocked to learn that health insurance doesn't cover long-term care costs, driving their family to provide care from the home, stepping away from work and school to take on the physically demanding tasks of daily caregiving.

This devastating event revealed the profound gaps in the healthcare preparedness of most families, leaving lasting impacts on her own. Determined to ensure a future where no one else would face the same hardships, Lily shifted her focus from aerospace engineering to healthcare innovation.

Graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in Genetics and Data Science, Lily led product and engineering teams at multiple startups before founding Waterlily, a company dedicated to making healthcare and its costs accessible, understandable, and empowering for all.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What she does at Waterlily
• How she got the idea for her startup
• The expense that goes into long-term care
• The solutions that Waterlily offers
• Why parents shouldn’t be paying for this
• How Lily never wanted to become a founder but what led her away from being an aerospace engineer
• Why she did a lot of things YC teaches you not to do
• What led her to bringing on a co-founder
• Her advice for anyone looking to fundraise

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things long-term care!

Sarah Mattina is a strategic communications consultant with nearly a decade of experience across startups, venture capital, and financial communications. She has held in-house roles leading communications at JetBlue Ventures, the National Venture Capital Association, and Southwest Airlines, and has advised founders and funds alike at Edelman Smithfield.

As founder of Mattina Media, Sarah partners with her clients on funding announcements, product launches, and executive visibility, with a specialty in translating complex offerings into compelling, media-ready narratives.

During this episode, we discuss:

• How Sarah started her career in aviation but how she wanted to pivot from an internal comms role to external comms role
• What led her to starting her own PR firm with two previous clients that saw her LinkedIn post and wanted her to do fractional work
• If you don’t ask, the answer is always no
• We’re all our own worst critics at the end of the day
• How VCs and startups benefit from working with a professional for PR & comms
• Why it’s important to have owned and earned media
• What the communications flywheel is and how you can repurpose media multiple times
• When to get started with bringing in an external PR & comms expert
• How VC firms become media engines

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things PR and media!

Phylicia Koh is a General Partner at Play Ventures a leading early-stage VC fund that invests globally in gaming, consumer apps and gaming-adjacent tech. Phylicia has led investments into Alter (avatar tech company acquired by Google, Arya (AI-driven couple intimacy platform), BibleChat (fastest growing AI-powered faith app, #4 US App Store). She most recently led Alinea's $10.4m Series A (personal financial investing app for Gen Z).

Before joining Play as Employee #1, Phylicia spent 9 years in marketing and growth, working with the likes of Mighty Bear Games, Voice Labs, Homage, Ethnicraft Online, as well as for the Singapore Economic Development Board.

• During this episode, we discuss:
• What Phyl does at Play and what they invest in
• How she started her career in growth and what led her to transition into VC instead
• Her career break with her “year of yes” and how that led her to try various opportunities
• How game companies are at the forefront of user acquisition
• The big adjustment getting into the gaming industry
• Her advice on how to beat the learning curve
• Why curiosity, initiative, and problem solving are good qualities to have
• How the stranger something sounds, the more excited she is about it
• The reality of the mindset of “there’s an app for that”
• What she looks for in startups before investing
• The attractiveness of how quickly you can get an MVP live due to AI
• Why founders need to be excited about what they’re building
• The normality of pivoting and change

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things gaming and VC!

Philip Toussaint is the founder of Ecopreneur, an EdTech company that helps schools and students manage, track, and fulfill community service hours. A Stonehill College graduate from the Class of 2019, Philip’s professional journey began at the age of 19 in sales and marketing, where he developed a deep passion for these fields. Outside of work, he enjoys being outdoors, volunteering, hitting the gym, and watching movies. Philip is committed to both personal growth and making a positive impact across the world.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What Ecopreneur is
• When Phil knew it was time to pivot
• How to understand when it is and isn’t the right time to roll out new features
• Why you need to do market research ahead of time
• How Phil built his advisory board
• His process for building his personal brand
• The importance of being involved as a founder
• Why you need to do what doesn’t scale
• The value in taking time off and having good habits
• What Phil’s day looks like as a founder
• Why having a co-founder is key
• His advice for getting into edtech

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things edtech!

Megan Kane is the founder of Rellia, a platform that connects early-stage digital health, medical device, wellness, and diagnostic companies with industry experts, healthcare practitioners, and engaged investors.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What she does at Rellia, an incubator
• How she got the idea for Rellia and the gaps she noticed for healthtech startups
• Why having a positive community is so important
• How Rellia has grown and changed throughout the past year
• What Rellia offers for anyone who’s in healthtech
• Her advice for building community and why it’s important
• How she went full-time with Rellia after building it on the side
• Why you can’t plan everything perfectly in tech
• What she does with consulting in addition to Rellia
• Her advice for healthtech founders for being successful
• How to ask someone for help
• What will be coming for Rellia in 2026
• Her favorite part of what she does at Rellia

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things healthtech!

Elliott Parker is CEO of Alloy Partners, a venture builder that co-creates advantaged startups with corporations and entrepreneurs. He previously launched dozens of startups at High Alpha, the pioneering venture studio, and helped Fortune 100 firms design and execute growth strategies at Clayton Christensen’s firm Innosight. Elliott is passionate about helping big organizations move fast and think boldly—and wrote The Illusion of Innovation to inspire transformation through bold experimentation.

During this episode, we discuss:

• How Elliott builds startups from corporations
• Why corporations may want to spin out an idea into a separate startup rather than keeping it within the corporation
• Examples of corporations he’s supported to help create startups from
• When corporations should NOT create separate startups
• Why “learning problems” are what become startups while “execution problems” stay within the corporation
• Elliott’s journey for starting Alloy
• The industries that he finds the most opportunities in
• How he can create companies in as quickly as 8-16 weeks
• Why right now is the best time to build a new company
• How there are $100 million companies coming with extremely small teams

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things VC!

Cory Borman is the co-founder and tech-savvy mind behind Swoon Learning. With a diverse background in software, design, and marketing, Cory has a proven track record of success in various industries. His experience spans from shipping over 200 educational products at Pearson Education to starting Communication Lab during the pandemic — a business working with children who are on the Autism spectrum. Cory's personal experience with ADD fuels his passion for creating effective learning solutions, especially for neurodivergent learners. His expertise in technology and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) complements Carla's educational vision, making Swoon Learning a unique and impactful force in the tutoring landscape.

From hardware design engineering to educational leadership, Carla Bayot's journey has been defined by innovation and a passion for learning. As co-founder of Swoon Learning, she brings a wealth of experience to her role, including years as a math tutor, while successfully working on hardware products for leading tech and consumer electronics companies including Apple, NASA, XBox, and Anova. Her experience working remotely between the US and Asia honed her skills in online tutoring, utilizing virtual classrooms and file-sharing techniques to effectively engage students. This experience fostered her collaborative approach and ability to connect with students from various backgrounds. Carla's dedication to student success drives Swoon Learning's mission to provide personalized and engaging educational experiences that empower every learner.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What led Carla and Cory to starting Swoon Learning together
• How their software is a supplement, not a replacement
• The challenge of getting schools to accept and adopt new technology
• Why you need solid vendor relationships
• The hedgehog concept
• What’s become known as the “Zoom Generation”
• How Swoon Learning plans to grow in the next year
• Their process for implementing feedback and requests
• How to balance activities and academics

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things learning!