It was a big episode of The Friday Nooner sponsored by Whitley Recruiting for those who had “Joe talking about his chickens” on your Friday Nooner bingo card. Surprisingly, the chicken talk made our guest feel nostalgic rather than run for the hills.

It turned out that today’s guest—Ardis Kadiu, the Founder and CEO of Raleigh-based Element451—grew up on a farm in Albania that included some chickens. Though he wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t a “chicken farm” per se.

Element451 is a CRM (customer relationship management) and engagement platform for higher education, helping colleges and universities market themselves to and communicate with prospective and current students.

You can watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or Facebook here.

Pete’s on vacation in Myrtle Beach this week, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t join the GrepBeat Godfather for this regularly scheduled episode of The Friday Nooner, sponsored by Whitley Recruiting. Pete’s mom even made a late cameo.

This week’s guest was Dr. Jared Pelo, a, ER doc by training and a serial entrepreneur with a successful exit under his belt from his previous startup, iScribes, which is what first brought him to the Triangle from Lynchburg, Va. He is now the Co-Founder of RTP-based Bionic Health alongside fellow serial entrepreneur (and Grep-a-palooza 3 panelist) Robbie Allen.

Bionic Health uses AI and other tech to help patients optimize their health, rather than just treat illness if it arises, like much of traditional health care. Of course, Dr. Pelo explains it much better than that, as you’ll see.

Watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or Facebook here.

Grammar nerds will especially enjoy this week’s episode of The Friday Nooner—sponsored by Whitley Recruiting—with its discussion of the difference between farther/further. (Pro tip: Think of the “far” in “farther” as indicating distance, as in “to run far.” That leaves “further” when you mean a difference of degree, not of literal distance.)

After the break, Joe and Pete welcomed guest Will Bowen, the CEO of Raleigh-based Givebacks, a platform for schools and nonprofits to manage fundraising and charitable giving. We first profiled the startup (under its previous name, MemberHub) in November, 2019, and named it to our inaugural Startups To Watch list in 2021.