The IBJ Podcast

Bill Oesterle's TMap is asking former Hoosiers to come back home

The former CEO of Angie's List is using big data and machine learning to try to solve an emerging problem in Indiana—a stagnate and soon-to-be shrinking workforce.

Bill Oesterle formed TMap, a startup that just raised $1 million in funding and is focused on finding people who went to school in Indiana but then left the state to pursue their careers. TMap is scouring the web to determine which of those people might be interested in coming back—maybe because they have family in the area or want to raise their kids in an affordable community.

Already, TMap has identified thousands of people it says are interested in returning to Indiana for the right opportunity—and the firm is trying to match them with jobs.

Podcast host Mason King talks with Oesterle about what motivated him to start the company (his former boss, Mitch Daniels, had a lot to do with it) and how the effort is going so far.

To learn more about TMap and hear from someone who was recruited back to Indiana, read Anthony Schoettle's story at IBJ.com. 

 

Lessonly's Max Yoder on teamwork, vulnerability and how they're connected

Max Yoder says his new book — “Do Better Work: Finding Clarity, Camaraderie, and Progress in Work and Life” — is not just another set of lessons about leadership.

It's actually just as much about teamwork and relationships — and it's chock full of examples to help readers better understand the concepts.

The Lessonly founder and CEO talks with IBJ Podcast host Mason King about why he wrote the book, why vulnerability is the overarching theme and what he learned along the way about his own leadership.

To learn more about the book, read IBJ's story here.

IndyGo's electric buses won't go as far on a charge as the manufacturer promised

BYD Ltd. won a contact to sell IndyGo electric buses for the Red Line—where service is scheduled begin on Labor Day—with a range of 275 miles on a single charge. That would have allowed the buses to operate for a full day and then charge overnight.

But IndyGo has been testing the buses since fall and found they are falling short—way short—of the 275-mile requirement.

IBJ reporter Susan Orr talks with host Mason King about how Indy's weather is contributing to the problem, what IndyGo wants BYD to do about it and what other city got so fed up it sent its buses back to the company.

Learn even more by reading Susan's story at IBJ.com.

How a local tech pioneer is trying to save a once-promising Indy startup

Just a few years ago, Fishers-based SteadyServ Technologies was among the most-ballyhooed startups in state history.

But the company — which sells data-analytics software for bars and restaurants — has burned through more than $30 million in capital and perennially underachieved, leading it to file for bankruptcy earlier this year.

So why is tech veteran David Becker — a serial entrepreneur who serves as CEO of Fishers-based First Internet Bancorp — stepping in to try to save it?

IBJ Editor Greg Andrews dives into the story, explaining what Becker sees in SteadyServ — where he's now the co-CEO — and why one of the company's biggest, long-term investors is skeptical about its new direction.

You can read more details in Andrew's story in this week's IBJ.

 

He grew up in Sahm's restaurants; now he's expanding the business

Eddie Sahm grew up in his family's restaurant business, but after graduating from college, he didn't want to work for his dad, whom he calls Ed. So Eddie borrowed the money to buy Sahm's Place and set out to prove he could improve and strengthen the eatery.

Then, when it was time for a new challenge, Eddie went into business with his father, launching a brew pub—Big Lug Canteen—that grew into a series of pubs and ale houses that all sell Big Lug beers.

Eddie talks to host Mason King about growing up in restaurants, his parents' expectations for his career and how his skills differ from his father's.

Read more about the father and son duo in Susan Orr's story at IBJ.com.

Pete the Planner on the vulnerable, upper middle class

Peter Dunn — who is bringing his Pete the Planner column to IBJ, starting March 15 — is worried about the upper middle class, a group he says makes good money but often lives beyond their means. 

The rising costs (and sizes) of homes, the expense of youth travel sports, car leases and loans parents take out to pay for their kids' college all contribute to a rocky financial picture that means even those with higher incomes might not be saving enough for retirement.

Dunn talks with IBJ Podcast host Mason King about how these concerns led him to start writing and broadcasting about money problems — and how finding solutions to those problems led to his current business model.

Look for the Pete the Planner column in IBJ and at IBJ.com.

Can Indy win a Major League Soccer franchise?

A bill passed by the Indiana Senate would require the Indy Eleven to become an MLS franchise within three years to unlock tax money to build a stadium dedicated to soccer. But is that realistic?

IBJ's Anthony Schoettle says it's an uphill climb — but by no means out of the question. He talks to IBJ Podcast host Mason King about the challenges facing Ersal Ozdemir, the local real estate developer who founded the team, and his ownership group.

Among them: Making sure that ownership group has enough money, finding a place to build the stadium (and an associated mixed-use development), winning strong support from city and state leaders and, of course, getting that legislation signed into law.

Anthony wrote about the issue in the March 1 issue of IBJ and expands on some of the key questions in the podcast.

 

 

 

Hate crimes, gambling, teacher pay at the Legislature's halfway point

As the Legislature nears the halfway point of the 2019 session, three Statehouse reporters join podcast host Lesley Weidenbener to talk about which issues are moving forward and which ones are fading away.

IBJ's Lindsey Erdody, The Journal Gazette's Niki Kelly and TheStatehouseFile.com columnist Mary Beth Schneider catch us up on hate crimes, teacher pay, stadium upgrades, cigarette taxes, gambling and more. And they share some insight about what might happen going forward.

Find out why Schneider says lawmakers acted like "lumps on a log" and what Kelly says is getting missed in the hate crimes debate. Plus Erdody details the latest in the debate about sports stadiums.

For up-to-the-minute news from the Statehouse, you can follow all three of these reporters on twitter at @lerdody, @nkellyatJG and @marybschneider.

 

Chef Hardesty's new SoBro project isn't a traditional restaurant but you can get a meal there

Renown local chef Greg Hardesty is set to open Studio C in in an out-of-the-way space at 1051 E. 54th St., just off the Monon Trail, with plans to offer private dining, a coffee bar, pop-up meals and more — even a service to supply home chefs with hard-to-find ingredients.

In other words, Hardesty plans to try a little of this and a little of that and see what sticks.

He talks with host Mason King about why he closed his last restaurant — the acclaimed Recess — two years ago and why he decided not to open another traditional restaurant. But this is no hobby. Studio C will be Hardesty's livelihood and he hopes to make it work for the long term.

To read more about the project, check out reporter Susan Orr's story at IBJ.com.

Former racer Derek Daly is suing WISH-TV for $25M, but can he prove defamation?

Just days after filing a defamation lawsuit seeking more than $25 million from WISH-TV, Derek Daly sits down with IBJ's Anthony Schoettle to discuss what he says the news station got wrong in a story that accused him of using a racial slur.

Daly tells IBJ what he wants most is an apology and a retraction from WISH, which fired Daly — its former racing analyst — and broadcast a story that connected him to the use of a racial slur that had led Colts play-by-play announcer Bob Lamey to retire.

It's a complicated situation, but Anthony draws out the details from Daly. And then he talks with Steve Key, the executive director of the Hoosier State Press Association, about whether Daly has a case.

You can get more details about the lawsuit from Anthony's Feb. 7 story.

Note: After this episode was recorded and posted, Daly amended his lawsuit and removed the $25 million figure. Read more about the change here.