May 14, 2025 – Contract Entrepreneur Praful Saklani and Portland Crazy Rick Turoczy

School for Startups Radio

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Praful Saklani – Founder and CEO of Pramata

Praful Saklani has deep expertise in the artificial intelligence technologies core to Pramata, and experience in delivering enterprise process solutions. Prior to co-founding Pramata, he founded and served as CEO of Yatra Corporation, which leveraged artificial intelligence and Internet technologies to optimize travel management processes. Previously, he was co-founder and managing partner of consulting firm, Invotech Systems, and a key executive of Waterhealth International, a social start up focused on bringing affordable drinking water purification solutions to developing countries. He graduated from Swarthmore College, where he received High Honors in economics and political science. Praful sold his first startup at the age of 25. The idea for Pramata came as he was going through due diligence; as the attorneys started rifling through contracts in a legal banker’s box. It illuminated a fundamental problem: most companies don’t know where their contracts are and what is in them.
Rick Turoczy – Founder and Editor of Silicon Florist and Co-founder of PIE

Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland startup community for 30 years. As founder and editor of Silicon Florist, he has written about Portland startups for nearly 20 years. In 2009, Rick cofounded PIE, an ongoing experiment that creates mutually beneficial collaborations between the Portland startup community and more well-established entities like corporations, government organizations, and educational institutions. Partners in the experiment have included Autodesk, Coca-Cola, Daimler, Google, Intel, Nike, Prosper Portland, Puppet, the State of Oregon, Stoel Rives, Target, and Wieden+Kennedy, among others. Karina, Media Relations Manager for Rick Turoczy, co-founder and general manager of PIE (Portland Incubator Experiment). Rick has spent the last 30 years deeply embedded in Portland’s startup ecosystem, exploring how startups and established organizations—corporations, educational institutions, and government—can work together to drive innovation and mutual success. Through PIE, Rick has fostered partnerships with major players like Nike, Google, Intel, Autodesk, Coca-Cola, and Wieden+Kennedy, to name a few, and has helped shape a unique model for collaboration between startups and large entities. Rick has a wealth of experience in building vibrant startup communities and fostering collaboration with established organizations, and he has a unique perspective on the myths and realities of the startup world. His approachable and “chill” demeanor makes him a great conversationalist, and he’s always eager to share insights about how to cultivate healthy ecosystems that benefit everyone involved.

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