In this episode of The Bear Roars, Dan Caruso sits down with telecom legend John Warta to explore his extraordinary career and the transformative role he played in shaping the fiber optic networks that revolutionized the industry. From his early days as a Vietnam veteran to working with Ross Perot at EDS, John’s journey into telecommunications was anything but conventional.
The Bear Roars
The Bear Roars is hosted by three-time decacorn entrepreneur and venture investor Dan Caruso. Colorado Innovators, the Bandwidth revolution (associated with Dan’s book), and DeepTech are areas of focus. The purpose is to celebrate innovators, inspire listeners, and spark conversations within the innovation community.
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Dan sits down with Natty Zola, Partner at Matchstick Ventures. Matchstick Ventures invests in early-stage technology companies in rapidly growing yet under-served startup ecosystems “between the coasts.” Before joining Matchstick, Natty co-founded Everlater, a travel startup backed by Techstars which eventually merged with Mapquest. Later he served as Managing Director of Techstars Boulder, guiding 63 companies through the accelerator, including transformative startups like Veho, Soona, and Tilt.
Dan sits down with Ron Garan, a former NASA Astronaut, author, keynote speaker, and businessman. Ron has had an extraordinary journey starting as a fighter pilot in Desert Shield and Desert Storm to becoming a NASA astronaut on the Space Shuttle Discovery and a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Ron’s published books include Railroad to the Moon, The Orbital Perspective, and Floating in Darkness.
Dan sits down with Nick Del Deo, who currently serves as the Managing Director at MoffettNathanson, a leading independent equity research publisher. Dan and Nick’s professional paths first crossed during the Zayo IPO roadshow in 2014, when Nick was a young talented analyst reporting on Dan’s company, Zayo. Nick has grown his career analyzing telecom companies, infrastructure investments, and market trends. Nick’s insights provide a deeper understanding of where the telecom sector is headed.
Dan sits down with Tamim Khalfa, Co-Founder and CEO of Toters. Toters is an on-demand delivery platform based in Lebanon that connects users with restaurants, grocery stores, and various retailers, providing fast and convenient delivery services. Tamim is also an Endeavor Entrepreneur and Board Member through Endeavor Lebanon. Prior to Toters, Tamim was a Management Consultant at Booz & Company and Oliver Wyman.
Dan sits down with Stephanie Copeland, Managing Partner at Four Points Funding. Dan and Stephanie relive the telecom era and their career journeys, including working together at Level 3 and Zayo group. This episode includes many great stories about the early bandwidth days and those influential in shaping the sector: from illegal stock swaps, accounting fraud, to larger than life characters that followed a strict ethical code.
