Startup Corner: Juno

​Juno is pioneering a new category in insurance: child disability insurance, created specifically for working families. Their mission is simple but revolutionary, and it's to provide families with the financial stability and support they need when raising a child with a disability. In a deeply moving LinkedIn post, Juno’s Chief of Staff, Ashley Spiess, shares how her experience raising a son with a disability inspired her to help build what she wished had existed. Her story is a reminder that the best innovation often comes from lived experience.

Most recently, Juno partnered with global professional services firm Davies to offer its coverage to Davies' U.S. employees, marking the first time a solution like this has been made widely accessible within a corporate benefits package. It’s a major milestone that underscores how forward-thinking employers are embracing inclusive, family-centered benefits.

Connected Insights: Food, Health, and Deep Care; Investing for a More Resilient Future

​In episode 92, my guest was Maryanna Saenko, co-founder of Future Ventures. Maryanna shares her belief that investing should be grounded in deep care for the planet, for people, and for long-term wellbeing. Like Brian Frank, Maryanna sees food and health as fundamentally intertwined, and she urges investors to back companies that don’t just follow trends but solve real, systemic problems.

Maryanna discusses how nutrition and metabolomics can influence everything from immune health to cancer care. Her firm has backed startups rethinking agriculture, the microbiome, and even bee health. What ties these investments together isn’t just potential for scale, but impact. Like Brian, she prioritizes founders who are mission-driven and deeply curious.

What kind of world are we building through the companies we build and/or support?

Community Involvement: World Central Kitchen

Outside the venture capital world, Brian Frank is a passionate backer of World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit founded by Chef José Andrés that delivers meals to communities impacted by natural disasters, conflict, and emergencies. The organization combines rapid, on-the-ground responsiveness with a mission to nourish.

World Central Kitchen’s work is often referenced as a model for social entrepreneurship: fast, efficient, and deeply caring. Just as Brian’s VC firm applies first principles to rebuild our food system, World Central Kitchen applies heart and action to rebuild communities when they need it most. In Brian’s view, investing in impact, whether through capital or compassion, is central to making a more resilient global food ecosystem.