Speaking & Bio
For podcasts, events, press, and classroom visits.
Topics I Speak About
AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship
How AI tools have dropped the barrier to starting a business by 90%, and what that means for non-technical founders. Practical frameworks for using AI to build MVPs, conduct customer research, and launch products without a technical co-founder.
The "Supposed To" Path
Why the traditional career path isn't working for many people, and how to get honest about what you actually want. Career pivots, lifestyle design, and building work that fits your life instead of consuming it.
X-Tech Mompreneurs
My framework for why moms in their late 30s who left corporate are uniquely positioned to start bootstrapped businesses. Based on interviews with women who left companies like Uber, Squarespace, and Apple.
From PhD to Founder
Lessons from years at Cornell Tech's Runway program helping scientists and technologists become entrepreneurs. How to translate complex technology into viable businesses, and the unique challenges of deep-tech startups.
Starting a Business on the Side
How to build something real while working a demanding day job and raising kids. The tradeoffs, the timelines, and what AI makes possible now that didn't exist two years ago.
Workshops I Run
Hands-on workshops I bring into accelerators, cohorts, and company off-sites.
How to Pitch
The pitch craft I teach to deep-tech founders at Techstars, Cornell, and Plug and Play. 60-minute talk or 2-hour hands-on workshop. Free one-pager available. Learn more →
Bio
Short Bio (100 words)
Carley Hart works in venture capital at Cornell Tech's Runway program, helping PhD founders launch deep-tech startups. She's also the founder of Brushing Buddies, a children's dental health company, and writes and speaks about AI-enabled entrepreneurship, career pivots, and why moms in their late 30s are perfectly positioned to start businesses. Earlier in her career, she worked at Techstars, Business Models Inc., Autodesk, and Instructables. She holds a BS in Computer Science and Math and an MBA in Design Thinking from California College of the Arts. She lives in Rockland County, NY with her husband and two daughters.
Long Bio (250 words)
Carley Hart works in venture capital at Cornell Tech's Runway program, where she helps PhD founders launch deep-tech startups. She trains scientists and technologists to become entrepreneurs and helps them raise funding for deep-tech and AI companies.
She's also the founder of Brushing Buddies, a children's dental health company she started when her kids refused to brush their teeth. It began with a musical toothbrushing book and has grown into a real business with pediatric dental office partnerships and new products in development.
Earlier in her career, Carley worked at Techstars, Business Models Inc. (one of the founding companies behind the Business Model Canvas), Autodesk, and Instructables, where she discovered her love for the Maker movement.
Carley writes and speaks about AI-enabled entrepreneurship, the "supposed to" path trap, and her X-Tech Mompreneur framework, a theory about why women who left corporate in their late 30s are perfectly positioned to start bootstrapped businesses.
She holds a BS in Computer Science and Math with Visual Arts and an MBA in Design Thinking and Design Strategy from California College of the Arts. She lives in Rockland County, NY with her husband and two daughters.
Headshots
Professional headshots available for download. Contact me for high-resolution images.
Book Me
Available for podcasts, panels, keynotes, workshops, and classroom visits. I especially love talking with audiences who are in transition, thinking about starting something, figuring out a career pivot, or exploring how AI can help them build.