Why He Walked Away From $14 Million to Protect User Data

Every investor wanted the same thing from John Cavanaugh's student networking platform — sell ads, harvest the data, print money. When he said no, they told him he wasn't fit to run the company. He walked away from $14 million in buyout offers and shut it down rather than hand vulnerable college students' mental health data to the highest bidder. That decision became the foundation for everything he's building now.John is the Executive Director and Privacy Evangelist at The Plunk Foundation — a Cincinnati-based nonprofit that started by helping underfunded organizations build real data privacy programs and is now building open-source tools to help social service agencies coordinate without putting the people they serve at risk. Domestic violence survivors, human trafficking victims, people hiding from abusers — these are the people who pay the highest price when privacy fails. And right now, most nonprofits have no idea how exposed they are.The conversation goes deep on why the US is a decade behind Europe on data rights, how investors think about your users' data (it's not the way you'd hope), how fuzzy logic and explainable AI might be the answer to the black-box AI accountability problem, and what entrepreneurs need to do right now to stop collecting data they don't need. If your business touches customer data — and every business does — this episode will change how you think about it.Links and Resources:- Connect with John Cavanaugh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/privacy-evangelist/====================Subscribe & Listen to more content here:Web: https://www.cincinnatibusinesspodcast.comYouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGtiiP79wCZ2ALPztpr-7XWMl7uQUFRvBApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unconventional-leadership-podcast/id1378659047Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6tNE9H2cuWba5Ovnum8C====================Connect with Brian:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/u/bwericksonInstagram: instagram.com/cincybizpod/TikTok: tiktok.com/@cincybizpodFacebook: facebook.com/people/Cincinnati-Business-Podcast/Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/50kMVlyZokuoLwzE2fwAmt?si=pk87NyzsQJGY6iE7OKpzmQ====================Produced by the Cincinnati Podcast StudioCreating high-quality a DIY video podcast is complicated. Cincinnati Podcast Studio simplifiesvideo podcast production so you can just show up and share your message, creating true fanswhile establishing your authority and building trust.Are you in the Greater Cincinnati area and interested in starting your own podcast?Book a Tour Today http://cincinnatipodcaststudio.com/Learn more about the Cincinnati Podcast Studio: https://cincinnatipodcaststudio.com=== TAGS ===data privacy, digital privacy rights, nonprofit technology, Plunk Foundation, Cincinnati entrepreneur, startup ethics, data brokers, GDPR, data minimization, explainable AI, fuzzy logic, investor pressure, social services technology, privacy evangelist, John Cavanaugh