Innovation Calling

Goldstar has been in business for over 18 years, selling tickets to live entertainment, including concerts, theater, sports, and comedy shows. Co-Founder Jim McCarthy discusses watching his industry go from basically being at the top of their game to nothing in a matter of, literally, 36 hours when the Coronavirus basically shut down the nation. We also talk about their platform Stellar and that although this may be the end of concerts as we know them, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s time to up the game of the virtual experience, and this technology will be critical long after we’re back to a post-COVID world. Discussion Breakdown: 3:22 - Jim discusses the background of Goldstar, and their footprint in the concert 10:49 - Jim talks more about what was happening in his business in that week when the world started to shut down, and how they were trying to plan for a future that wasn’t known at all. 14:15 - So as we go forward, will people turn back to in-person concerts, or will the landscape change as we know it. Will we always have to have a hybrid option going forward? 19:04 - As we enter into this new normal in the concert world, what makes a great online experience, and how does the online version maintain the connection that makes concerts so special. 21:45 - This is where we jump into what Goldstar is in addition to their product Stellar, and what makes it so different from other online event experiences. 24:15 - Does the need for screen exhaustion need to be considered, and how are they overcoming it by creating experiences vs just one more video to watch. 25:56 - What kind of technical requirements are there to make something like Stellar happen? Jim breaks down the technology and what it’s run on. 29:53 - What about massive hurdles that needed to be overcome to bring this product to life. Is everyone on board with this? Is there any pushback that they have to deal with? 33:20 - The biggest opportunity in entertainment right now and the mindset shift required to have everyone take advantage of it. 34:06 - Who has to be able to jump on this bandwagon to truly make it work? Is it the venues? Or is it the artists, or is it a combination of both? 38:03- When it comes to pushback, what’s causing it? Is it simply just a matter of logistics? 45:03 - What’s on the horizon for Stellar as the online concert experience continues to be the only thing we can look forward to for a while. You can find out more about Goldstar and Stellar visit: https://www.goldstar.com/ https://www.stellartickets.com/

Every podcaster has experienced the issue of recording online only to find that the audio quality is extremely lacking. Zach Moreno and Rock Felder, Co-Founders of SquadCast.fm saw this exact need and decided to do something about it. How did they go from start-up to having some of the brightest minds in podcasting refer to SquadCast.fm as “the industry standard” to record your show remotely? They share their story in this episode of Innovation Calling. From start-up to a huge increase in users thanks to the pandemic, these co-founders have continued to focus primarily on not just filling a need, but making sure their quality is the industry standard. Join us as these co-founders discuss their mission to empower creatives to continue to engage in meaningful conversations without having to think twice about technology. 5:00 - Where the idea for SquadCast came from, and why it was so important to find a higher quality option for remote recording 10:10 - The ultimate question of when you see a gap, that’s great, but where do you begin to figure out how the gap can be filled, and how you find the right people to actually fill that gap. 11:47 - Why it’s not just about finding an unmet need but focusing to become the absolute best in the world at it. 12:24 - When it comes to creating a new product, how did the feature list get created, and how did you determine what was absolutely non-negotiable for features? 14:04 - Even though the technology is important, what goes into the customer service side? Erin shares a story of how SquadCast.fm came to the rescue after a first time recording disappeared. 15:47 - When it came to launching, what type of MVP did you release, and what were the hiccups/issues that you had to overcome? 20:40 - With the pandemic hitting, there were businesses that thrived, SquadCast.fm being one of them. How were they able to handle the sudden uptick in usage, and was this something they were ready for in their business? 23:31 - When adding something like video capability, what does it take from a technology side to make that happen? How much infrastructure needs to be added? 26:18 - Comparing here you are now, to where you want to go, what are some of the obstacles you’re having to overcome in order to get there? 31:52 - With podcasting being typically a straight audio format, what is SquadCast.fm seeing in terms of the demand for video? 33:33 - With many people thinking they need video, is the return on investment really there or is it many times where great audio production is enough? 35:15 - When it comes to podcasting, what are some of the more unusual podcasts the team at SquadCast.fm has come across? 39:27 - Are more and more businesses using podcasting as a way to grow their audience and customer base? 41:53 - Exploring the standard startup conversation about to get investors or not. SquadCast.fm chose the later, and what as the reason behind that decision? As they grow their company is this a decision that they still feel solid in? Want to learn more about SquadCast? Visit SquadCast.fm You can also listen to their podcast Between 2 Mics here: https://between2mics.simplecast.com/episodes/

In a world where we freely give our basic data way, it's hard to know if we truly understand the impact of giving away so much will one day have on our lives. In this episode of Innovation Calling, we sat down with Digital Identity Expert, Max Kirby. Max helps breakdown this extremely complex topic and helps the every day person understand how technology is changing and how that could directly impact our principals. In this episode we discussed how policy could change as more data is collected, the value of data to other companies, what data we should and shouldn't be giving away, and is it possible to delete our digital footprint forever. We hope you enjoy this episode. Here is the full breakdown: 5:20 - Are data privacy issues based on the lack of laws that are currently around them, or are they driven by something else? 8:35 - Are we at a place where Big Brother is already watching us, or do we still have a ways to go before we get ‘there.’ 10:19 - Is it just over social media where we’re willing to give up our rights to our data just so we can feel connected to those around us. 15:18 - How dangerous do these issues become when we’re willing to give up even more privacy for the sake of ‘safety’ - as in sharing our medical data, sharing our locations, etc, so people know who are in certain places, and how healthy they are. 19:12 - Are we leading down a path where robots can actually have free will? 25:14 - When data is becoming an even more valuable currency, how do we begin to slow down the collection of data when it’s become more valuable than ever? 29:31 - When we give data to other humans, they forget, and the problem is that computers don’t forget. However, can we ever get computers to forget? Can we ever wipe our data from the internet? 32:50 - When it comes to data, can we ever be more specific of what goes out to the world, but yet be okay with other data? What’s the data that you should be most worried about? 35:18 - When it comes to the fact that we give away our data, should we be getting paid for it since the companies are using it to their advantage? 38:16 - If our identity does become our currency, what does our future look like, and how does Max guide is clients to stay ahead of the curve? 42:17 - What does Max do to protect himself? Want to learn more about Max? Visit: https://www.publicissapient.com/ MaxAbstracts.com

We’re watching the need for IoT devices change right in front of our eyes as new use cases for this technology come up due to COVID, and it’s more important now more than ever to allow IoT applications to become easier to build and deploy. Plus it must also be available in areas where cellular networks aren’t as prevalent. In this episode of Innovation Calling, we had the opportunity to sit down with Alistair Fulton, VP and GM, Wireless & Sensing Products of Semtech. Semtech’s LoRa Technology helps IoT devices by connecting the sensors to the cloud and allowing the opportunity for real-time communication fo data and analytics. These statics can be utilized to enhance efficiency and productivity. In this discussion, we talked about the basics of IoT, and how Semtech’s LoRa Technology fits within the IoT ecosystem. We also talked about what makes Semtech unique, and how their ability to connect within rural markets is a game-changer. In addition, we covered lots of various use cases and examples of IoT solutions, in addition to what will be on the horizon in the post-COVID world. Here is the official episode breakdown: 6:49 - We’re starting it basic and defining IoT, in addition to why it’s become such a complicated definition. 8:57 - How does a semiconductor business become such a big player in the IoT community, and why it was so important to make IoT applications and technology easier to use? 13:00 - Why location is one of the most crucial components of IoT. 16:44 - What is it that really makes Semtech unique? Is it just about connecting gadgets or allowing the software on top easier to build? 18:00 - When it comes to the rural market, how does Lora help create a game-changing service for IoT products, and does the introduction of 5G change any of the advantages that they have? 25:21 - How does the cost factor in a product like Lora, is it a cheaper solution because of a lower user of bandwidth? Then we discuss the three types of cost with IoT, the physical cost, the power cost, and the cost of operation. 27:55 - With IoT being such a huge component in Smart Cities, has the need for IoT, and the use cases for IoT changed at all because people are now staying at home more with quarantine? 30:30 - The interesting use cases of IoT in a post COVID rule and how standard procedures used to be okay, will no longer be acceptable when trying to navigate this new world. 34:31- Another great use of body temperature sensors, being able to monitor temperatures and statuses in real-time. 38:07 - What fine lines are we crossing, and where does the liability lie if we begin to monitor the health of people who enter buildings, etc? And why solutions that anonymize data will be crucial. 45:21 - Do Telco companies look at this service as a competitor or an ally? You can learn more about Semtech by visiting Semtech.com.

In times of crisis, you'll see the rise of amazing companies, and Xenex, a company that is the world leader in UV technology-based infection prevention strategies and solutions, is one of them. You may not have heard of Xenex, but the next time you visit a hospital, there's a good chance a Xenex robot will have cleaned your room before you checked-in. Xenex's Robots are making the world a better place by destroying the microorganisms that cause hospital acquired infections, and have seen a huge increase in demand since COVID-19 became an everyday word in the United States. In this episode of Innovation Calling, we talked with Xenex's Co-Founder, Mark Stibich to talk about this amazing technology, and what makes it so unique and effective, in addition to learning more about what's changed for this business since this pandemic struck, and where we can see their robots outside of hospitals, plus so much more. Here's the official episode breakdown: 5:36 - Understanding Xenex’s background, and where the idea was first born. 8:14 - Digging deeper into the technology, and why this product is so amazing. Who was able to determine that this type of light could actually kill bacteria at a deeper level? 11:35 - When it comes to understanding a higher frequency, is that the wavelength is lower, which allows it to penetrate smaller organisms, or what is it exactly that makes it so much more successful? 13:09 - With the emergence of COVID, how has demand changed, and what’s been one of the biggest obstacles that Xenex has had to overcome to keep up? 17:49 - When it came to supply chain issues and part issues suddenly not becoming available, how were they able to overcome with the new issues? 19:10 - Does this then change the trajectory of the business, and when you’re in the midst of a pandemic with a product that can make such a huge difference, how do future products change? 21:19 - With the main product using light at such a high frequency does it cause harm to humans? 23:47 - Are Xenex’s robots meant to replace the cleaning staff, or is this something that simply enhances the cleaning experience? 28:47 - What makes Xenex’s disinfection techniques so unique, and what kind of rate can they clean rooms in addition to the quality of the cleanliness? 31:42 - Is it possible technology like this will go past the hospital especially as we see companies taking sanitizing more seriously? 34:25 - What kind of lifespans do the robots have? 36:03 - As the light bursts out, is there a limit on the efface over distance or is it like a lightwave where it can go miles and miles? 36:47 - Can something like this be used in sports stadiums? 40:17 - Xenex was actually invited to participate in an incubation program at the Houston Technology Center. What was that experience like for starting and growth? 42:30 - How important was it for someone to find the partners who understood the technology and could grow with it? 43:08 - When first growing, what kind of objections were hospitals providing as they were trying to implement the product? 47:08 - The great story about how all of the robots get named, and how some people get creative with the names. Want to learn more about Xenex? Visit xenex.com or contact Mark directly at mark@xenex {dot} com.

The good and bad news is that no perfect leader exists. So as much as every leader wants to strive for greatness, the reality is that they’re going to hit some obstacles and make messes along the way. Failure isn’t the end, though, and it’s crucial to understand the qualities that the great leaders possess that help them endure through the difficult times. How do they stand after a failure? How can they learn to not just lead through crises like pandemics and recessions, but how can elevate a team and a company through them? This is just some of what we discussed in this episode of Innovation Calling with Franklin Covey’s Executive Vice President of Thought Leadership, Scott J. Miller. Scott is a 20+ year veteran in the Leadership Space, Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author, and Podcast Host. We dug deep into understanding what makes great leaders great (and it’s not a 100% success rate), how to have the hard conversations in times like this, yet still confidently lead your team. Plus stay til the end where Scott provides two important pieces of advice. Learn what ‘friending-up’ means, in addition to one simple thing co-founders/partners can do to create a lasting business. Interested in learning more about Scott’s Book, Management Mess to Leadership Success: 30 Challenges to Become the Leader You Would Follow, click here to grab your copy. Here’s The Full Episode Breakdown: 5:26 - Learning more about Scott, and the start of his career at Disney, and how that shaped him into who he is today 7:21 - What’s the difference between being fearless and being reckless, and how can leaders embrace that things might be messy, yet harness fearlessness without being reckless? How does vulnerability play a role in leadership? 10:29 - Why leaders shouldn’t focus on being a genius, but should instead focus on being a genius maker, and why this is crucial to leading great teams. Plus what it means to be an active listener. 16:11 - Why great leaders must possess empathy and a high EQ 19:02 - Can leaders actually learn to be empathetic? 22:04 - In times like we’re living in today, how can leaders learn to approach hard conversations with grace. Plus why it’s important to show as leaders that we don’t have all the answers, and why we can ask permission to have real conversations, which we may get wrong. 27:57 - Why every leader should learn to declare their intent before any conversation begins, and how it can help to diffuse any situation. 31:10 - How does having a strong personality hinder or help people in leadership roles? 33:34 - How to find the balance of family of business, and do we live in a world where there is no longer a separation of personal and professional lives? 37:29 - When it comes to creating a vision, what can leaders do to not just bring a vision to life, but can actually build a legacy where the vision can continue long after the creator is gone. 41:16 - Why leaders must be able to disrupt themselves, detach their egos, and empathic listen, and ask one of the most important questions ‘Am I in the right role.’ 44:33 - Why friending up is such an important concept, and why Scott believes this is one of the best pieces of advice he can give. 49:38 - What one of the most important things partners can do to help their business thrive?

Many people can come up with a business idea and start something, but to build and maintain large companies, leadership is the true key to success. We had the opportunity to sit down with former Chairman of JetBlue Airways, Joel Person. Joel also is a Consulting Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Chairman and Founder of Peterson Partners, and the former CEO of Trammell Crow Company. Joel talks about his experience as a leader in various roles from being a CEO of a large company to Chairman of a publicly-traded company, and as an investor of 200+ companies. We discussed his five key types of leadership, what it takes for companies to teach their workforce to embrace failure, some of the biggest lessons he has learned during his amazing career, and so much more! Make sure to grab your copy of Entrepreneurial Leadership here: Entrepreneurial Leadership: The Art of Launching New Ventures, Inspiring Others, and Running Stuff Official Episode Breakdown: 5:05 - The age-old question of entrepreneurship, are they made or born. Plus we discuss Joel’s perspective of being a professor at Stanford, and what his students discover 6:10 - At what point in Joel’s career did he move from being an entrepreneur to a business leader? 8:40 - Why Joel believes it's so important for aspiring leaders to take on service jobs at a young age, and how they can teach perseverance. 10:10 - When it comes to perseverance, Joel shares a moment where he was knocked down, and the lessons he learned by a mentor who taught him how to move forward 13:20 - The importance of optimism as a leader, and why that is crucial now more than ever 14:20 - The five different types of leaders (5-Tool Leader) that Joel defined in his book, and the specific traits are more important now, in times of a pandemic and a looming recession 18:10 - There are people who are lucky and have those five naturally but is it possible for someone to have a few, but the others are impossible to get to? 20:50 - Is it typical for the MBA students at Stanford to have experience under their belt, or are they usually coming fresh out of undergrad? 23:30 - Talking more about his experience at Harvard Business School with business powerhouses like Ray Dalio. 25:00 - Joel’s strategy has been to invest in people over the business concepts and has had a lot of success by investing this way. He discusses what he looks for when deciding what kind of company he wants to invest in. 29:10 - When it comes to investing, is there a typical strategy to knowing when to invest vs bootstrapping your way to the top? 31:50 - When it comes to failing forward, what’s important for leaders to understand that as they transition away from a start-up that they keep that mentality? 34:00 - How can you find the happy medium of being able to ask for feedback from your team without losing your ‘power’ as a leader? 36:30 - How important are mentors when building a career, and when did Joel recognize that he needed to make sure he should always have a mentor? 37:50 - When it comes to being a great leader, quick decision making is a must. Joel discusses his decision-making process. 40:20 - Once a decision is made, how do you know when to change strategy vs letting more time gather results? 41:30 - Understanding the difference between instincts and emotions 44:12 - As a leader, are you hindered if you’re not an introvert by nature? 44:35 - Has the curriculum of the MBA changed drastically in the past 30 years, or are the core values still the same? 46:25 - Where is the future of leadership going?  

When it comes to technology, it honestly doesn't matter what industry you're in, technology is a life thread to the company. In order to build something great, you have to be able to embrace and be agile in technology. We had the honor of sitting down with Gerry Mecca, CIO of DATASCAN, and former VP of IT at Keurig Dr. Pepper to discuss how important it is for organizations to learn how to take chances and be comfortable failing forward in the world of technology. We also discussed how our work methods will change in the wake of COVID-19, and how working remotely will be adapted by a huge part of the workforce. Plus are we seeing the death of email as we know it? If you would like to learn more and connect with Gerry, make sure you check out his podcast, The Mecca Minute at https://marketscale.com/industries/podcast-network/the-mecca-minute/ and connect with Gerry on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerrymecca/ 6:24 - Getting inside the mind of Gerry Mecca and understanding his straight shooter leadership style 9:24 - When Gerry started to break out from a technical role to taking on a role that put him on the path to the C-Suite 10:56 - When it comes to passion and getting excited about a job, is that something that we can learn or is just an innate quality? Plus what's one small thing you can do that can accelerate your career path. 13:04 - When it comes to technology, leaders many times don’t cultivate a culture of being okay with failure. How as a technology leader can you encourage that and build a team that’s focused on innovating vs. not failing? 20:14 - The story of RFID and when Gerry watched peers jump into technology that wasn’t quite necessary (or were still testing out) 22:46 - The importance of technology in any company, even if they’re technically not a technology company (and how Dr. Pepper took risks) 24:55 - How will COVID impact technology teams within companies and the way we work and communicate with each other? 28:40 - How much should we be advocating for remote work, and how will roles be impacted by this new shift? 32:45 - Does working remotely impact the ability to be promoted? 35:00 - Is email as a communication method dying, and what should we be looking at instead? 39:45 - Where does the business environment go in the next five years?

When it comes to companies researching emerging technology and innovation, it can be tempting to innovate for the sake of innovating rather than for the sake of what your users may actually want and need. We are also living in a world where the leadership of companies is dominated by left-brain thinkers, who will sacrifice creativity for the sake of numbers, and not failing for the sake of continuing to do what's worked in the past. Between these two issues, many companies are missing the mark on how to thrive. Now more than ever, it's important for companies to understand that what has worked in the past isn't going to get them very far. They must put innovation and user-centered designs first if they want to wow their customers and create a long-lasting company. Robert Niemiec joined us on this episode of Innovation Calling, and we talked in-depth about how his company Twisthink helps companies to create a different narrative when it comes to implementing technology and how to create a team of creative thinkers, who are also focused on wowing your customers. You can find out more and connect with Robert at Twisthink.com Here is the official episode breakdown: 5:25 - When it comes to Twisthink, what does it mean by implementing a human element within their design process? 7:26 - The three lenses that should be used for every project, and how those lend themselves into true innovation 8:34 - What are some of the projects that Twisthink has worked on to implement the three lenses, and how exactly it all comes together 15:34 - Knowing that people can sometimes be set in their ways, how hard is it to persuade teams when they are sold on something, yet the data is pointing to create a pivot? 18:30 - Are we doomed as humans to be stuck in our ways, and is left-brain dominated leaders hurting our ability to innovate? 21:30 - When it comes to technology and implementing new things, how can a company like Twisthink help to convince their clients of the impact and importance of usability and designing for the user and not just to add new technology? 25:35 - Are there specific industries that are embracing human design over others? (And why the response might surprise you.) 28:35 - How do companies start to think differently and foster creativity and risk within your workforce? 30:45 - If the bridge of innovation can’t be gapped quickly, is there a way to begin to get leaders seeing the opportunities they might be missing, even at a small scale? 33:58 - How much does psychology apply when having these human design centered discussions? 37:10 - The shock of how companies can be successful in spite of themselves, but how truly great leaders must learn how to fear easy 39:42 - The metaphor of a shed, and how having a separate space can help inspire a team to continue to innovate through their core, yet look at others areas of growth

In tales about the future, we hear of the world where robots take over the workforce, but the truth is a world with ‘robots’ isn’t just for science fiction readers. In fact, it’s here now. We sat down with some folks at Blue Prism, a company focused on creating Robotic Process Automation, and we had the opportunity to break down use cases for RPA and some of the amazing ways this technology is making a huge difference within companies. Gone are the days where work forces are solely made of humans, but we are now adding digital labor to take over mundane tasks. There’s so much more to this technology than a straight-forward ROI, as it’s about not just creating a faster work force, but a happier one. If you’d like to learn more about Blue Prism, Visit: https://www.blueprism.com/ Also, in this episode, we talked about the upcoming event Blue Prism World 2020, which has been moved to a virtual event. Visit https://home.blueprismworld.com/ for up-to-date information. The Official Episode Breakdown: 4:56 - Learning more about what Blue Prism is and exploring the area of digital labor 6:39 - When it comes to working with companies, how is the ROI case made, and is there a general ‘sweet spot’ that companies can see where RPA could really pay off? This also isn’t necessarily a black and white answer, where numbers are the sole decision maker, and we discuss the other factors where RPA can have a huge impact on a company. 9:38 - Are digital workers and human workers mutually exclusive, or should companies consider looking at them from a different perspective? 12:04 - If you’re replicating a top talent, and you’re not replacing the top talent, then where does that talent go, and how exactly can a company consider utilizing them 17:18 - Does Robotic Process Automation take away from some of the human experience if information is getting handed to us as we need it, versus us having to work for it. 19:04 - What makes Blue Prism true A.I., and how does Machine Learning play into making applications smarter and faster? 21:46 - Is there a line that Blue Prism draws in what kind of companies they help, and how they can actually help them? 24:40 - We explore the new career paths and opportunities RPA can actually create for others versus solely taking away jobs. 28:04 - How large does a company have to be before they can truly utilize RPA technology, and what are some cool use cases for this technology? 31:05 - Can RPA technology actually be more accurate than a human, and what are the use cases that prove that? 33:20 - How useful is RPA if the data you’re working with is delayed? 35:10 - Is RPA’s main job to ‘tell people what to do’ or is it about providing the data to make the right decision? 36:22 - How does RPA change liability for things like the medical field? Should a digital worker be in charge of making decisions?

We’ve heard the stories that we should fear A.I, and that it’s going to take away all of our jobs, but what does a future with A.I. truly look like? In this episode we were joined by Neil Sahota, IBM Master Inventor, UnitedNations A.I. Subject Matter Expert, and Author of Own the A.I. Revolution. We dove deep into the future of A.I., and what we really need to be concerned about as this data starts to make important decisions. We also talked about the limitations of those decisions, and what we need to consider as this technology advances, and we talked about Emerging Technology and education through a standard university model. Is that really the right path to take for those who want to take on a career in these fields? Here is the official episode breakdown: 5:10 - We jump into Neil’s experience speaking in front of the UN along with hanging with Mike Tyson on his podcast to discuss which one was a scarier experience, and the misconceptions that the UN had about A.I. and what our future looked like. 6:24 - When it comes to working with these worldwide leaders, what level of education are they requiring to understand what the future looks like? 9:04 - People are fearful of A.I., and is that fear justified? 10:36 - We dive deeper into the applications of A.I. How exactly can we allow A.I. to make more in-depth decisions that would require a massive effort in coding? 13:58 - What’s the demand for data science as A.I. becomes better at making its own decision? Will data scientists eventually go away? Or will their roles become more important as A.I. advances? 16:28 - As we implement larger scale efforts to analyze data, are there other initiatives to actually baseline the data? 18:08 - As a society that tends to be on the lazier side, how do we take initiative as a human race to work smarter than the robots? 23:40 - Teaching A.I. to grad students and applying it in the legal field and on the business side, including the future of work, how will that impact business moving forward? 24:02 - What is the definition of the future of work? What are jobs of the future going to be, and what are the skills that will be required to fulfill those jobs? 26:38 - How will the role of standard jobs change if A.I. is taking away some of the time that it takes the newbies to catch up to speed, almost like the grunt work (i.e. researchers in a law firm)? 28:30 - Is the curriculum for these Emerging Technology Courses advancing fast enough to align with the speed of change of the actual technology. 31:06 - Do we even need the training for these Emerging Technologies to happen in the standard university level? 36:15 - Is A.I. so advanced that they actually were able to get it to write Shakespeare? 38:23 - When it comes to A.I. and Social Media, is A.I. advanced enough to predict when posts may even go viral? How can companies use this data for the future? 40:25 - How do we protect ourselves from things like deep-fake when it comes to helping to make important decisions, for example voting? 46:03 - We go back to the UN to discuss the new initiative that they have to help use A.I. for good. Want to learn more about Neil Twitter - https://twitter.com/neil_sahota LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilsahota/ Visit https://www.neilsahota.com/

What does it truly take for a company to thrive in the digital age? It’s much more than just buying and implementing the latest technology. This is one of our favorite subjects to discuss and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author of The Digital Helix, Michael Gale, did not disappoint as we dove deep into this topic. We explored how companies need to think about innovation (and the first step has nothing to do with technology). We also talked about how innovation doesn’t just help a company do better, it can sometimes even cause a company to entirely pivot. We also discussed generational differences, and what companies need to think about from an innovation perspective as they build their workforce. If you would love to hear more about Michael, you can visit https://www.inc.digital/learn to download his audiobook or head over to Forbes to listen to his podcast, Futures in Focus. The Official Episode Breakdown 4:00 - Michael Gale discusses bras? Yes, this is relevant, and we talk about why he decided to do a podcast about it 8:35 - Diving deeper into Michael’s podcast Futures In Focus 12:10 - How can companies learn to focus on the right technology and innovate without innovating strictly for the sake of innovating. Want to buy Michael’s book? Click Here 15:10 - Can technology really transform a company, or what has to happen first for technology to really make a difference? 18:02 - How much are companies losing by buying the wrong technology, and why it’s so important to set the company up to thrive with the new technology. 19:00 - How many companies actually have their processes down that allow them to take advantage of technology 22:20 - Discussing some organizations that took huge pivots because of innovating 23:40 - How should companies treat data, and how high should they prioritize it 25:20 - Stories of how companies can actually transform based on the data they’re collecting 26:40 - The important role of generations and why Gen Xers will soon take over the world (we may have made that last part up) 29:10 - If companies aren’t willing to invest in their workforce how much is it hurting their ability to hire? 31:10 - Did Gen X fail as a generation 33:00 - Are Millennials actually right in their work ethic and how they’re approaching how they accomplish work? 36:20 - When it comes to technology and political races, is technology one of the biggest factors when determining who will win 39:15 - As a society what can we be aware of, and how can we combat the manipulation of data, news, etc 42:20 - Will we become lazy as a society if we’re not seeking out our own data vs sitting back and letting it be fed to us

We know that data has changed organizations, and the way we do business. However, how has emerging technology and data had an effect on the marketing world? How has focusing on data allowed companies to be more precise in customer targeting, make better correlations between marketing and sales, and impacted the way companies attract customers? Data actually plays a huge role, and that’s why we were excited to have this conversation with Marketing Technologist, Brandee Sanders. We discussed the role of data within marketing, how corporations can use this data correctly, and where it makes sense for data analytics to fit within a company, plus much more. We also talked about the role data has within politics, and questioned if data is taking away our ability to make our own decisions. The official episode breakdown: 4:10 - What is a Marketing Technologist and what makes them unique in the marketing field? 7:13 - How has focusing on technology been able to change the landscape of marketing? 10:47 - Is our data capable of measuring things like viral posts, likes, comments, etc, and align it with KPI’s of a business? 14:02 - In a world of data overload how can companies effectively gather and analyze it to be able to make better decisions? 16:10 - What kind of disadvantages do smaller businesses have in comparison to larger organizations because of the lack of access to data? (Or is there a disadvantage?) 20:05 - Has data changed the way larger organizations have to align their marketing teams? Is it making marketing less silo’d? 23:48 - When it comes to aligning sales with marketing efforts is the data better aligned with the results? 29:10 - Has technology helped to build a bridge between sales and marketing? And how can sales stop looking long-term vs. what’s happening immediately? 34:28 - When it comes to gathering this data, is this an IT dependent thing? Or who is responsible to pulling and analyzing this data? 36:10 - Where does data science fit within an organization, and where within an organization best fit? Does it belong near or within a marketing department? 40:10 - How are organizations working to develop these departments and determining where the data analytics best fit? 45:12 - Can this same data analytics be applied to politics? And will we see much more of this in future elections? 50:03 - Is technology actually passing the human capability of handling the data? Are we seeing data in a place where it twists facts to prove data? 55:17 - Is standard human nature going to make our ability to make our own decisions, almost impossible? Want to learn more about Brandee? Visit https://www.brandeesanders.com/

We know Artificial Intelligence can help with decision making, but can it help in a crisis that we’ve never seen before like what we’re experiencing with COVID-19? In this episode, we talked to Gary Saarenvirta of Daisy Intelligence, which uses machine intelligence to help retailers and insurance companies use data to make better and smarter business decisions. We talked about how companies can still use data when random events like COVID-19 happen. We also talked about what innovation means in the retail space, and how companies can make changes now that will set them up for a long term future, plus so much more. Here is the official breakdown: 8:10 - We learn what Daisy Intelligence does, and how their technology is transforming the retail industry 13:10 - How does AI work when it comes to a black swan event like what we’re currently seeing in our current economy? Can this be predicted, and can companies utilize data to actually thrive in a moment like this? 11:15 - Are data modeling and AI the same thing (as they are many times interchanged terms) and if not, understanding the difference between the two? 15:58 - What’s the competitive edge for Daisy Intelligence customer’s when it comes to utilizing predictive analytics, and what kind of return can they see by being able to pivot based on this data? 17:30 - As we see a world-wide spread of changes, can this same data be used to not just optimize results, but predict results. 18:50 - As things begin to settle out of this increase in retail sales, what can companies do to make sure the fall of sales isn’t so drastic? 23:40 - When it comes to being able to implement a high-tech solution like Daisy’s, can small companies consider being able to add something like this to their work flow? 25:50 - In addition to cost, what kind of man power does it take to implement something like this? 28:30 - Are un-organized companies doomed in being able to take advantage of machine intelligence? 31:50 - Is Moore’s Law dead? Can this level of power continue to grow at the rate we’ve become used to? 31:36 - Many people fear AI because they feel that it will take away jobs. Is this true? And if not, how does AI actually benefit a workforce? 35:10 - What are the risks for a company when they’re just focusing on profitability? 37:58 - How can retailers actually focus on innovating, and how can AI intelligence help them  get there? 40:20 - When it comes to AI, why is 95% accuracy not a very impressive number? 45:10 - Will events like we’ve recently seen help retailers finally wake-up to the fact that they must invest in technology?

As Esports approaches a billion dollars in annual revenue, we know we’re only seeing the beginning of this industry. As you see more and more players striving to become professional, and more money being injected into these teams, how do we first ensure the right path for these players. Plus, how do we create the optimal training regimen? Well, these are all questions that the Esports Performance Academy is working to answer. Founded by Andrew Cooley and Andrew English, EPA helps to develop future esports athletes. They sat down to talk to us about the future of Esports, and more about their company. We discussed how they’re finding and developing the talent, obstacles Esports is currently facing, and more about this booming industry. The Official Episode Breakdown: 5:55 - Meeting the two Andrews and discussing what Esports Performance Academy is, and where the idea came from 7:50 - When it comes to going pro in the Esports world, we discuss some of the misconceptions about actually making it to that level. 9:30 - How the history of playing games led to getting involved in the professional world to eventually starting this company. 12:10 - How does EPA begin to find the talent that they’re going to work with? 14:05 - How does one actually get good enough to get to a professional level? Is it simply just playing all day, or are there fundamentals involved that someone can work on to continue to get better? 16:55 - How do they begin to scout and find those right people who should be joining their teams 17:55 - How accepting and warm are these elite players at being approached and wanting to work with Esports Performance Academy? 18:30 - We learn all kinds of new terms - FPS - First Person Shooter - MPOBA - Multi Player Online Battle Arena 20:10 - We then circle back to their history, and why players are attracted to EPA 20:34 - Do the professional teams look at EPA as an ally or a competitor? 21:59 - When it comes to playing, can it be expected that you do need to play 8-10 hours every day in order to complete at this level, and what’s currently being done to make sure player’s mental health is always considered? 23:17 - Are there tools or software being used to help asses the players? 23:39 - When it comes to mental health, how much can actually be done, and how are studies being done to make sure there’s not a lot of long-term repercussions? 26:15 - Discussing the TILT stress-reliever, and can people overcome some of their issues by learning mindfulness? 28:10 - How can understanding emotions and being more mindful bring longevity to the player’s careers? 30:50 - Explaining the difference between a professional player and a streamer/entertainer 32:32 - What has to change in the Esports industry in order to really be able to handle the growth and being in the mainstream, and what’s really important to understand for those who are trying to get in. 37:20 - What’s happening in Vegas when it comes to Esports, and they are embracing this sport? 38:40 - As you see school districts embracing Esports and creating their own leagues, will that be something EPA can work with to help these kids to get on the right path? 41:20 - When it comes to parents how does EPA work with them as they’re developing players? 43:20 - When it comes to going pro what are the real odds of actually making it to the top? 46:15 - How times have changed where kids can actually grow up in this industry 47:23 - What is the lifespan of a typical pro player,

In a world completely run by data, we may feel like we have no more choice in the matter, and that we just have to except it is what it is. However, Dean Shapero thought there had to be a better way. It wasn’t about blocking our data, but realizing that if someone was going to take it, we may as well get paid for it. With that idea, Loginhood was born. Loginhood is a Chrome Extension that allows you to get paid for the data that companies are already taking. We talked to Dean in this episode about where the idea came from, the ins and outs of the extension, and what we need to know when it comes to giving up our data. Official Episode Breakdown: 2:38 - Where the concept of Loginhood came from and why it was important for Dean to create. 3:22 - How exactly does the whole process, and more importantly, the payment part of Loginhood work 4:32 - How exactly is the data transferred to know how to pay you 6:14 - Does Loginhood actually take the place of the websites who are already taking my data, or do they work in tandem with them? 8:32 - What kind of dollars can someone expect from something like this, and who is the person paying for it 14:35 - How much data should companies be taking, and where is that line drawn? 16:00 - How does Loginhood work with other  countries (and even California), and their data protection laws? 17:18 - Breaking down what GDPR and CPPA mean and the intent of these when it comes to protecting your data 21:05 - Could Loginhood be blocked through various software? 22:45 - Continuing to breakdown the details of the Chrome extension, and how data can eventually be blocked 25:10 - Does Loginhood really protect your data, and would they have a chance when it comes to hackers and those trying to access your data? 27:10 - How did Dean’s background in data lead him to this idea? 28:50 - How Dean started building the business model 31:15 - Should we just be excepting that we are giving up our data, and this is just something we should understand now that it’s what happening when we’re online Ready to learn more, head over to www.Loginhood.io

About This Discussion: When it comes to application development, the industry can be a bit saturated. Between a plethora of overseas developers and a large community of developers in the US, it can be hard to determine where to go and who to trust with your company’s ideas and needs. We had the opportunity to sit down with Cratebind, a company putting a different spin to the mundane world of app development, by approaching it as a partnership vs. a vendor/customer relationship. This incredible company, first conceived by enterprising siblings, Jon Harlan and Brittany Harlan-Graft and their respective spouses, Connie and Jordan, has a great story about finding ways to pivot and provide the greatest impact for their clients through their own product development journey. Cratebind's diverse expertise between strategy consulting and technical expertise help guide clients to stay above the emerging technology trends (and when to say no on technology for the sake of technology). Relationships are critically important to Cratebind and it shows with the John, Connie and Brittany’s camaraderie and great rapport! We hope you enjoy this chat with Cratebind! Here's Our Official Breakdown: 5:20 - The history of Cratebind and what makes them so unique 6:00 - Their first venture wasn’t about app development, but it lead them down a new path 7:20 - How their technical talent developed 9:20 - When it comes to apps, what makes Cratebind different? 11:10 - Why avoiding using a development team from overseas might be in your best interest when building an application 13:04 - How they built their technical expertise to build their first company, and then leveraged that into a new business 14:47 - How they turned the obstacles from their first business into doing something amazing with their second business 16:03 - What was the foundation for building such an incredible business with family 17:15 - How perseverance and overcoming challenges have made them so successful, and how they developed their leadership roles 19:15 - How priorities are determined and set (and how they keep the family side in tact) 20:21 - How has app development shifted, and what trends are on the horizon 23:52 - Setting expectations - how does a company like Cratebind set the correct expectations when helping companies 25:30 - The sweet spot of community 28:34 - What are some cool things companies are now able to do because of the acceleration of app development 33:07 - How have the skill sets changed in app development in trying to keep up with emerging technology 35:17 - How does one keep up with the larger marketplace of apps, and how to stand out and be different 36:11 - What startup applications have done something amazing to stand out 39:10 - What does it truly mean to be an app development shop, is it just simply about building games 41:27 - How does a company determine whether or not they truly need an application (and another thing that makes Cratebind unique) 42:37 - How has Cratebind addressed when determining the right relationship 46:02 - Want to connect with Cratebind, visit cratebind.com to see more about what they do.

About this Episode: In this episode, we had the honor of speaking with Brett Velicovich, the Strategic Advisor for WhiteFox Defense Technologies at CES 2020. Brett gives us the rundown on the need for drone safety and security measures. WhiteFox invented the counter-drone solution and develops products to securely manage drones in airspaces worldwide. Listen in as we learn more about what counter-drone is and why Brett says that without it we cannot realize the full potential of drone technology. More and more drones are used every day, by hobbyists, the military, and companies such as Amazon, Google, and UPS for deliveries. How can we ensure that they seamlessly and safely blend into our lives? About Brett Velicovich: Brett Velicovich is a U.S. Army Veteran, National Security Analyst, Author, and Business Executive. Brett served as an intelligence analyst (MOS 35F) for the U.S. Army, in both Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom(OEF). After he received an MBA from Duke University and focused his post-Army career on the commercial drone technology sector. He is the Strategic Advisor for WhiteFox Defense Technologies. Twitter: @TheDroneWarrior LinkedIn: Brett Velicovich Notes: 0:15 CES 2020, Brett Velicovich WhiteFox Defense Technologies. 1:39 Drone expert, military and private sector. 1:48 WhiteFox Defense and drone security, dangers, maintenance, safety as a society. 2:55 What is White Fox Defense? 3:30 Virtual Geofence, systems that counter threats from drones. 4:14 What are the capabilities and ranges for a Geofence? 4:59 Larger range for big facilities and FAA regulations. 5:56 How drone technology has evolved. 6:40 Drones in the public and commercial sectors. 7:00 Drones evolving, stabilizers and WiFi capabilities. 7:46 Drones are not only about what you can see in photos but they are about gathering data. 8:00 Drones and how they are used has changed. 8:28 Counter-drone fields are having to evolve with drone technology. 8:48 What is jamming, or mitigating? 9:09 Counter-droning is security. 10:21 Remote ID, the digital license. 11:17 WISDM, WhiteFox’s remote ID system also addresses personal security. 11:48 Precision in the WISDM system. 12:23 Safety system in drones to return them home. 13:12 Many home-built drones are not up to regulation. 13:42 Is drone tech regulated? Regulations are not keeping pace with new technology. 15:21 Different regulations between the private and public sectors. 15:58 Regulations hindering mitigation. 17:01 Drones: from flying over stadiums to regulations, and nuances. 17:40 The dangers of not having regulations in place to mitigate. 18:20 Study of drones in LA airspace over six months showed surprising results. 19:19 Careless users are a concern. 20:40 What is WhiteFox showcasing at CES? 20:49 WhiteFox is the first counter-drone company at CES. 21:20 Scorpion 2, handheld devices detecting drones. 22:00 Waiting on FAA to approve the Remote ID system. 22:57 What are the security measures and mechanisms in drones today in general? 23:25 FAA Regulations and education for the consumer. 25:00 Strategic Advisor for WhiteFox. 26:29 Drone technology benefits from cell technology. 26:39 How long drones can be in the air, refueling in air,

About This Discussion: What a great night at the latest recording of our Women In Tech series. This time we were able to sit down with Jodie Brinkerhoff, Vice president of Innovation at DFW Airport. Our main theme was choices and how they affect our careers. The considerations to take when making big career moves, and how these choices get us to our end goal. We also discuss the importance of cultivating relationships with people. DFW Airport may be a city where Jodie and her Innovation teamwork to implement new products and solutions to keep things running smoothly but the people and doing what is right for the customer is at the core. The customers that fly in and out, the employees, and partnering with those that work within DFW Airport. Forming lasting professional relationships and demonstrating that you care about people makes a lasting impact. We hope you’ll enjoy this episode, we had so much fun recording it. About Jodie Brinkerhoff: Jodie Brinkerhoff is Vice President of Innovation at DFW Airport and leads the Innovation team’s efforts to investigate, ideate, incubate and implement new products and solutions for the airport. Her team works across the enterprise, partnering with core business units and bringing new, emerging technologies as enablers to critical problem solving. She is also responsible for working to develop innovation skill building and culture initiatives for employees. Jodie is passionate about understanding new trends and emerging technologies, inspiring transformational corporate culture, and building what’s right for the customer using insights, design thinking, and other innovation techniques. She has a love of work with both start-up ventures and corporate enterprises — her favorite depends on the day. Jodie is an entrepreneurial self-starter with a keen ability to lead through ambiguity and disrupt the status quo. Prior to joining DFW, Jodie was the North American regional lead for Mastercard’s Labs Unit where she worked with internal product teams and top brands in the retail, banking, and hospitality verticals to deliver new business and consumer solutions. Jodie also spent part of her career as a start up executive with responsibility for sales, client success and marketing. Jodie holds a BA in Communications from Loyola University in Maryland and a master’s degree in business from the University of San Francisco. Here’s The Official Breakdown: 0:00 Glo, introduction. 2:41 Women in Tech series with Jodie Brinkerhoff, VP Innovation at DFW Airport. 3:20 Innovation and cross-functional collaboration. 4:20 Introduction Jodie and guests. 5:37 The theme of the evening, choices. 6:06 Describe yourself in six words. 6:58 Getting people to think outside the box and beyond their title, team building. 8:14 The power of relationships. 10:09 What is your check-in policy to cultivate connections and relationships? 10:51 It is a practice and demonstrating that you care about people and how they are doing. 12:30 Is there a difference in how you approach personal and professional relationships? 13:40 How do you approach the team dynamic relationship? 14:26 What is your best tip for building a cohesive team? 15:18 Building a diverse team by design. 16:08 There is tremendous opportunity in our space to be innovative. 17:00 Often times opportunities are a manifestation of the choices you’ve made to get there. 17:50 What do challenges present to you in terms of learning and building a portfolio of skills?

About This Discussion: The internet is not an infinite resource, bandwidth is limited. What are the plans for the future, what can we expect to see to help us navigate this reality? We were able to meet up with Kazuhiro Gomi of NTT and learn about IOWN (Innovation Optical and Wireless Network) a beyond internet concept that addresses future concerns such as bandwidth, energy consumption, and sustainability. We discuss some ways this optical wireless network can work for us in the future from medical standpoints to manufacturing plants, to Indy race cars. Listen in to this fascinating episode that is part of our CES 2020 series. About Kazuhiro Gomi: Kazuhiro Gomi, is leading NTT Research, a research center in the heart of Silicon Valley that carries out advanced research for some of the world’s most important and impactful technologies, including quantum computing, cryptography, and information security, and medical and health informatics. Mr. Gomi was appointed President and CEO of NTT Research when it was founded in July 2019. NTT Research draws upon the strength and heritage of applied research and innovation from the massive NTT R&D in Japan. With more than 6,000 researchers and investing USD $3.6 billion annually, NTT R&D is one of the largest and most respected research groups globally. NTT Research is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Group, number 55 on the Fortune Global 500 for 2018. Mr. Gomi began his career at NTT R&D and has been an NTT employee for more than 20 years. Here’s The Official Breakdown: 0:00 NTT at CES. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. 1:23 IOWN Innovation Optical and Wireless Network. 2:00 Technology and growth at CES. 2:38 Addressing the yellow and red flags of the future such as energy consumption and sustainability. 3:18 Privacy challenges. 3:40 The need for more bandwidth. 4:09 “Beyond Internet”. IOWN an overarching concept. 4:52 How does IOWN plan to address issues such as bandwidth, privacy, etc. 5:30 IOWN, all-optical computers. 7:25 Vision to bring everything under an optical basis. 7:59 We have to improve further, from 5G. 8:23 Photonic technology. 9:38 What does it take to implement IOWN once we are able? 10:06 Visions of what can be done once IOWN is in place. 10:28 Digital Twin computing concept. 11:25 Medical application of a Digital Twin. 13:10 A different application of the Digital Twin technology: manufacturing plants. 13:46 NTT and other companies to partner and collaborate, IOWN forums. 14:43 What kind of companies fit this membership profile. 15:50 The consumer drives the demand. 16:18 Unsustainable data centers. 16:46 VR and smart cities. 17:42 NTT and the Indy Car sponsorship. 18:39 NTT is a part of everyday life and technology. 19:04 Crossroad of IOWN and mechanics, concept Indy Cars. 19:59 What is the timeframe we can expect to be using IOWN. 20:30 Securitym cryptology technology is a small part of IOWN that we could be using earlier. 21:35 IOWNgf.org and global.NTT

You don’t really expect to see a big green John Deere in the middle of the 2019 CES (Consumers Electronics Show) floor where companies from around the world gather to see next-generation innovations. What does farming equipment have to do with technology? We met up with Sona Raziabeegum with John Deere for a fascinating conversation on how John Deere uses technology and innovation to solve real-world problems that affect us all. Throughout the history of the company John Deere has been innovative and we got a glimpse at just how technologically advanced farming and farming equipment truly is. This equipment helps farmers do so much more for a population that is growing. The efficiency and precision of the tech in this equipment are mind-blowing and results in less energy and other resources wasted. Sona gives us a picture of how John Deere uses technology and innovation to not only meet the current food and farming needs of the world but how they are looking towards the future with sustainability in mind. Connect with Sona on LinkedIn. Here’s the Official Breakdown: 00:00 February 5th Women in Tech Leadership Series. 1:38 CES with John Deere. 2:30 Introduction. 3:10 John Deere’s history at CES. 3:45 Building awareness of how technologically advanced farming is. Being the voice of the farmers and of the agricultural industry. 4:23 To make tech companies aware that John Deere has utilized AI, machine learning, etc for decades. 4:45 Innovation Calling highlighting cutting edge companies. 5:23 Self-propelled John Deere Sprayer. 6:00 What are you doing at CES? 6:33 Taking mainstream technologies and showing a real-world application that impacts everybody. 6:56 Helping farmers do a lot more with a lot less. Using technology to provide as efficiently as possible for a growing population. 7:10 Can you tell us about advancements inside the machine? 7:31 Internet of Things, predictive maintenance. 8:01 Remote management. 8:20 Connectivity in equipment. 8:47 IoT and the Self-propelled Sprayer. An ensemble with the latest and greatest tech coming together. 9:53 The result is a machine that delivers precise amounts of fertilizer, herbicide, etc. 10:32 Optimizing the energy makes farming more efficient and less wasteful. 11:14 Harnessing and leveraging technology to help the farmers do more with less. 11:40 A farmer’s economics. With the precision of the equipment that farmers are using their profitability, their margins are improving. 12:13 Sustainability and preserving the land. 12:32 Technology that solves real-world problems that affect all of us. 13:02 Crops are cleaner, less waste, less runoff into the water supply. 14:00 A look into the future, precision that reduces herbicide use by 90%. 16:14 How does John Deere overcome the challenge of rural coverage and utilize 5G and IoT in rural communities? 17:30 Building the computing power onto the machines themselves. Models are adjusted to be workable. 18:18 Other ways of connectivity. Global positioning system, one of five companies in the world that has it’s own satellite connection system. 19:00 Even with limited connection, farmers have choices in what they can use and data is collected off the equipment every 30 seconds. 19:17 Security of the data that is being collected. 20:15 From family farms to corporations,

When it comes to emerging technology, you may not think about the self-care industry as one who is pushing the envelope in innovation. However, if there’s anything we have learned over and over again is that if you’re a company of any kind, you have to embrace technology in order to not just thrive, but even survive. truMedic is a market leader for high quality massage and self-care tools. They adhere to a core value for constant exploration of cutting edge technologies to enhance the customer experience. This drive to consistently innovate with each generation product is why they’ve been lauded by Oprah Winfrey for two years in a row. truMedic is truly bringing state of the art technology to homes. Outside of greatly enjoying demonstrations of their exciting product line, we grabbed a few moments with Darren Lisiten, truMedic’s CMIO at CES 2020, and learned about their innovation strategy, which includes how they’re using data and AI to augment their products. There are a lot of great and unique products on the horizon for this amazing company. Learn More About truMedic Here: https://trumedic.com/ Episode Breakdown: 5:15 - As TruMedic grows, how innovation is important to their business 7:40 - How creating a next level experience is so crucial to something as ‘basic’ as a massager 8:00 - What sets TruMedic apart from other self-care product companies 8:55 - What does the future of product development look like for TruMedic 12:55 - How can a company drive far beyond just products to truly build a large brand 14:15 - Why data is such a large component to their brand

We’ve all heard the saying, “it’s lonely at the top.” For many female C-suite executives, rising Vice Presidents, and entrepreneurs this isolation is compounded because these positions are traditionally held by men. Women working in these positions find themselves mentoring and serving others but they do not have a place where they can receive that same support. We had the honor of sitting down with Lindsay Kaplan Co-founder of Chief, a New York-based private women’s network that provides a place for C-suite executives to connect, network, and grow. In this episode, we discuss what a Chief woman/person looks like. We talk about the need and benefits of having mentoring available to women and what that kind of support looks like at Chief. Join us as we learn more about Chief and the services they offer. We hope you enjoy this episode, we are thrilled to learn more about Chief and are excited to see them grow. Episode Breakdown: 5:09 Introductions, Chief the beginning. The need for a place for women climbing the ladder to find support. 5:27 Lack of women in leadership. 5:46 Chief exists to provide a service to women, not ask for service from them. 6:03 What is YPO? 7:18 Building something inspired by this idea for the woman sitting at the boardroom table. 8:20 Founding members, this is a place for you. 10:04 The waitlist and plans for expansion internationally. 11:09 Criteria. Who makes up the women of Chief? 13:10 Finding powerful women/people who want to learn, meet, and support others. 13:27 Bringing cognitive diversity to the table. 14:03 White feminism, diversity, and goals. 14:20 Bringing in underrepresented women. 17:08 Hard balance, naysayers, and accountability. 18:20 What are core groups and do the topics covered have a spin towards women? 1910 Facilitators are trained to guide groups, groups are not member lead. 20:45 The exercise-driven approach and key events members attend. 21:30 Members attend meetings in person. 21:44 Topics do not have a bend towards women but are designed with women in mind first. 22:49 Is self-care for women only? 25:06 Keeping women in power is harder than getting them there. 25:14 Expectations on working women. 25:33 Mindfulness is an important part of being a leader. 27:03 Optionality and variety within what Chief has to offer. 27:29 The Clubhouse design, inspired by greenrooms. 31:09 The Clubhouse is not meant to be a coworking space. 32:10 Plan of growth. 34:18 Speakers at Chief events. 35:58 Member run conversations and Q&A. 36:17 Off the record, private organization with no social media. 38:10 Confidentiality is something that is important to members and speakers. 39:12 Funding, investors, and the journey of finding funding. 42:09 Investors that know branding, membership, and diversity. 43:32 Who are you selling to, who is your competitor, what is your product? 46:33 Farewells. Getting women to a place of power and keeping them there.

It’s time for our highlights from CES 2020! Over the  next few weeks, we’ll be highlighting our interviews throughout our visit to this year’s CES. This interview was a perfect start as we had the honor of sitting down with CNET.com to discuss some of the biggest features and trends of CES. We talked rolling screens, folding laptops, IoT, Smart Cities, and some of the most real computer generated people that you’ve ever seen.

Although the North Texas Tollway Association is in the Dallas area, it’s an organization impacted by the entire nation. We had the honor of sitting down with James Hofmann, Executive Director and CEO for NTTA, to learn about this organization that we all use every day. It was amazing to learn all of the touch points and huge topics that are on the road map for organizations like NTTA. It’s not just about how to build roads and collect tolls, but they’re thinking about and planning for some of emerging technology’s biggest issues including IoT, AI, Autonomous Cars and so much more. We dove deep into their organization, how they’re addressing some of these large issues we’re going to see as technology advances, and what are some of the things that consumers should know about this organization. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we loved recording it because it was truly eye opening to learn about everything this organization does to keep the roads flowing and a top-notch user experience. 4:30 - What exactly is NTTA.org - is it a government entity, or is it privately owned? Plus the history of the toll roads and the organization. 8:00 - How exactly are new routes chosen, and how do this cities work with the organization to plan more roads. 8:58 - How much more demand is there for roads with the growth of DFW exploding? (This answer may surprise you.) 12:31 - Why is it that tolls are no longer an ‘in-vogue’ thing? 13:39 - Why was I-30 is no longer a tollroad, and will we see that in the future with the other toll roads? 17:06 - Why isn’t NTTA part of the new dual toll roads? 19:10 - The reason why we have one streamlined tag and bill when it comes to the tolls. 21:15 - How do all of the operations work when we have one integrated billing 23:06 - Going more into the agreements and the requirements to work with these other regions with their tolling. 24:02 - What technology is required to make all three different tagging systems work together. 26:54 - Is there a revenue sharing program set-up with the different regions? 27:48 - Smart cities is a huge topic, and what NTTA is considering and planning when it comes to this initiative. 31:40 - What kind of technology including application requirements are on the horizon for NTTA and connected vehicles? 33:20 - What type of safety features are on the toll way, that we, as drivers aren’t even aware of? 35:10 - Are cameras used for any other purposes? 36:40 - When new projects come up with non-toll roads how does responsibility of building and payment get determined? 37:56 - What will the introduction of Autonomous Vehicles change the tollway as we know it? 40:20 - Does NTTA need to adjust for the increased use of ride-sharing programs and upcoming generations not valuing having their own car as much? 45:00 - What kind of integration opportunities are companies like NTTA looking at when it comes to toll tags? 46:10 - Should companies like NTTA even care about ride sharing apps and trying to accommodate them? 49:46 - What part did NTTA having in helping in trying to bring Amazon HQ to Dallas? Want to reach out to NTTA - NTTA.org - you can also register your business here —> https://www.ntta.org/procurement/Pages/default.aspx

In a world of Millennial Mindsets and #okayboomer hashtags, we are divided when it comes to beliefs and expectations of life. There is no place that sees this more than the workforce, but companies like TrenData are working to make sure it’s not just a matter of opinion, but that the data is speaking for itself and helping to drive decisions. TrenData’s VP of Product Management, Andrew Davis, joined us for a conversation where we discussed some of the biggest issues companies are facing today when it comes to hiring and building a workforce. It’s no longer a matter of whose thinking is right or wrong, but what the data is showing us when it comes to expectations in hiring and building a long-lasting and effective workforce. 4:00 - We jump into Andrew’s background in studying psychology to working within data 6:05 - What are some of the biggest shifts within the past decade in data analysis and how companies are using it 8:15 - Has user behavior changed in terms of trolling and how we treat others in business based on what we see with just the average usage on social media? 12:00 - How accurate is our data from older collection models vs. how we need to collect it currently, i.e. are Gallop polls worth watching and understanding? 14:38 - How social norms are affecting employment and other areas within society as a whole #okayboomer 17:00 - What things have shifted in mindset when it comes to job searching and what’s important to the current generation 18:34 - What TrenData does around people analytics (what’s happening and why it’s happening) 20:58 - How hiring has had to shift with the change in the new generation’s way of thinking (which is more transient) 26:10 - Will we see a difference in the millennial mindset because we are seeing this generation shift from young and little commitments to ‘growing up’ and having more responsibilities 30:50 - The shift in demand and need in terms of more in-person required work 32:10 - What are some of the biggest problems companies are seeing when hiring workforce and actually keeping the workforce (one being 50% of people leaving within year 1!) 36:10 - With the difference in how the workforce stays at jobs, how are companies looking at these resumes and hiring 38:15 - Is innovation inhibited because we’ve become this transient society, and what are we seeing on this topic from a global scale? 41:05 - Should accountability be brought back, and if so, how do we do that? 42:30 - When it comes to Gen X, why have we been overlooked, and are we truly the generation who has meshed with the other generations 48:25 - The pivot we’ve seen in society because of the Millennial Mindset and the companies they’ve started Want to connect with Andrew - www.trendata.com - adavis {at} trendata.com

Creating a Workforce Driven To Learn and Grow About this Discussion: The future of work and culture in companies is evolving. Companies need to adapt to the changing demands from their clients, employees and society at large, particularly around learning and development. As has often been noted, technology improvements is changing the skills needed to operate a successful and modern organization. It’s not just about throwing instructional modules up at an employee base and hope they learn something new. It’s about understanding the needs of the individual, culture of the organization and fostering a supporting environment so employees want to learn and evolve. Vidya Krishnan, Chief Learning Officer, Head of Global Learning & Development at Ericsson joins for the last Women in Tech Leadership of 2019. With over 20+ years in the Telecom+IT industry, she knows firsthand that operational excellence comes from having an entrepreneurial start-up culture where speed, agility, and creativity are combined with the experience, caliber, expertise, and know-how of an established organization. You can reach Vidya on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vkrishnan73/ Here’s the Official Breakdown: 1:00 Vidya discusses her background in engineering, and how her curiosity got her to where she is today 3:15 - How Vidya’s personality has helped her to rise to the top from an engineer to her current role as a CLO 6:05 - What is a Chief Learning Officer, and what is Vidya’s role with Ericsson 9:10 - What is the Learning Industry all about? What are the goals of it, and how has it changed over the past few years? 12:15 - The importance of culture and how it’s interwoven within a company. Plus, Vidya’s role with culture. 14:43 - When it comes to purpose, is Vidya’s main goal to help guide people into new roles and challenges, or is she there to help just support those who are seeking that in their careers 17:23 - When it comes to learning, where on the spectrum of change and innovation does Ericsson stand 20:22 - What are some of Vidya’s biggest challenges to get to where they want to be 21:55 - Vidya’s been with Ericsson for 20+ years, and what were some of her most memorable mistakes as she rose in her career 25:30 - When it comes to women in leadership roles and the inability to decouple failure and shame, how does it affect our ability to grow in new roles 27:04 - How does one begin to teach a workforce not just to accept change, but to drive towards it 29:15 -  When it comes to weakness, with women being okay to show vulnerability and men not being as willing, does it help women grow in leadership roles. Is showing vulnerability a weakness? 32:10 - Is there a line between showing vulnerability vs. too much over sharing 34:20 - How do you promote a workforce to keep failing (in a good way — failing forward)? 36:40 - The millennial mindset, and what does this generation know about finding great work and purpose 42:16 - Wonder Woman - what made her so amazing and a Heroic Leader 46:06 - When it comes to the next generation of women leaders, how do we keep certain generations from falling behind?

What are we going to do when machines can do our jobs more efficiently, cheaper, and make our jobs redundant? There is no denying that we are living in a world of automation and the exponential growth and value of data. While some may argue that automation, AI, Machine Learning and many other technology innovations will ring the death knell for many jobs, our guest, Dr. Angel Durr sees a way to keep the workforce relevant and employable through Data Science. After earning her PhD at the University of North Texas, Dr. Durr quickly saw the gap and potential for a new generation of Data Scientists. The result is the only nonprofit organization in the U.S. that focuses on a life cycle approach to providing data science support: DataReady DFW.  The mission of DataReady is to expand data and data science knowledge among DFW area residents, especially minorities, women, and low-income individuals and eventually spread to cities globally. Her program is making waves and helping those who would normally be left behind, to carve their own path to answer the high demand need for Data Scientists. 4:20        Introductions 5:40        Dr. Durr's Political Science and transition into Data Science 8:05        Data Science's influence on politics and considerations around ethics 9:40        Two sides of ethics: Presention of Data vs. How the Data is Being Used 10:17     Can data be pure? Or is there always bias? 11:24     Statistics without context is meaningless 12:23     Data used in Marketing to prime consumers for a product/solution, not just recognizing customer preference 14:41     Definition of Data Science 17:37     Future of Data will be simplified with easier platforms 18:20     Will Data Scientists become obsolete as AI becomes more sophisticated? 20:47     What is DataReady DFW? 21:00     The two areas of focus: At Risk Communities and K-12 education 24:47     The many different Data Science Disciplines examples: Data Visualization, Data Mining, Data Governance, Data Integrity, Data Analytics 25:45     DataReady DFW Partnerships with Dallas ISD and Girls Scout of North Texas 27:24     Jobs will go away with automation, but DataReady DFW is preparing to train the underprivileged for a skillset that will survive automation 28:11     Dr. Durr's consulting and strategy conversations with businesses, particularly around CRMs 30:37     Biggest challenge is the financials to meet the demand on how to fund the efforts through partnering with both profits and non-profits 33:33     The great potential for corporations to leverage DataReady DFW for projects and in return, giving the students real world experience 35:37     Calling all recruiters to partner with DataReady DFW students as compelling Data Scientists into the city 37:03     Dr. Durr shares that although she is dyslexic and disgraphic, anyone who has an interest and abstract thinking skills can be a Data Scientist 40:13     Why are Data Scientists not IT? 41:33     Should Data Science fall under the Business and not CTO/CIO organization? 42:47     Dr. Durr argues that Data needs to fall under it's own organization because it overlays so many different aspects of business, a Chief "Data or Digital" Officer. 47:30     Diversity and Inclusion in Data Science and business in general You can reach Dr. Angel Durr at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drangeldurr/ Website: https://datareadydfw.org/

Have you ever wondered how military units can basically, send out young kids into major missions and sleep well the night before? This is especially important, when most CEO’s of newer companies can’t sleep leaving some of the more minimal tasks in their business to someone else? Well, Jim Murphy, Founder & Chairman of Afterburner, asked the same question after becoming an F-15 Pilot in the Air Force. He began to dissect the process and after leaving the service, determined this was something corporations needed to be able to incorporate to have more success. Since then, his company Afterburner has helped thousands of companies including those within the Fortune 50 and even the Super Bowl-Winning, New York Giants, incorporate his Flawless Execution Framework. We had the honor of sitting down with Jim to talk about his framework, along with some of the biggest issues he sees today’s companies are dealing with. We also talked how companies can stay ahead of innovation, and how to create a team who are centered around one mission. 5:30 - Jim tells us about his background, and how he went from a farmer to an F15 Fighter Pilot Instructor, and the important traits he learned from his parents that shaped him. 9:20 - What were the differences that Jim saw when he started breaking down the process of how he was able to climb the ranks so quickly within the Air Force, and what led him down that path 11:50 - When it comes to the fundamental problem, what’s the issue Jim sees companies make that causes them to need his help 13:05 - What preference of job level does Jim typically work with when trying to tech his decision making tactics 14:00 - One of the key pieces to the framework, that most companies miss as an opportunity when debriefing with team members 15:00 - What are other tools leaders can use (or does Jim teach) to maintain a safe space for all employees to allow these debriefings to truly stay effective 17:21 - Jim’s opportunity to work with a Super Bowl team, and what was most important to them (and helped them to win the Super Bowl) 20:20 - When it comes to innovation staying one step ahead of your competition is crucial, and we discuss how Jim helps his clients learn to stay ahead of their competition without losing site on over innovating 24:25 - Although this can make sense for Enterprise companies, do the SMB’s have the resources to be able to go in-depth on this framework to help their company? 27:05 - What other areas do companies struggle in when it comes to executing and learning from each of their execution tactics

About this Discussion: It's a fact that as we become more dependent on technology for customer experience, traditional brick and mortar retail businesses must align for evolving expectations. It is simply not enough to have product available to touch, taste, experience. Consumers are very interested in better products at better prices and better experiences. Even now, retailers are still challenged with managing  omnichannels in an effective way where both the online business is truly integrated with the traditional shopping experience. Julian Fisher, CEO of Jisp, saw this big gap between the messaging and experience and service between online and brick and mortar businesses. By merging the operations for the retailers, Jisp is redefining the proposition of how products at the quickest possible time are delivered at the best possible price. About Julian Fisher: Julian Fisher is the founder and CEO of jisp, a lifestyle app that digitises physical products and experiences to bring the best of online into physical spaces. He’s enjoyed a varied background in technology, payments and new media that saw him launching the UK’s first internet exhibition in 1994. The expo showcased companies providing internet-connecting services, and the first question Julian got asked when approached by BBC Breakfast journalist was “what is this thing called the world wide web?” Since then Julian’s work has remained inexorably linked to technology, improving sales and payments and tackling compliance issues for a wide group of blue-chip companies. The passion to provide innovative solutions fuels Julian and his team to constantly push the boundaries in unifying on and offline platforms and bring the best customer experience across retail, hospitality and entertainment industries. Julian can be reached at: Linkedin and Twitter Learn More about Jisp: https://www.jisp.com/ Here’s the Official Breakdown: 0:00        Introductions and Daylight Savings Time Change 1:30        Advocating for the internet in 1994 3:53        Selling an event business to IDG 4:30        Differences between the US convention booths vs. GB open based stands 5:51        Julian the entrepreneur, selling soda at school 6:10        Evolution from publishing to the exhibition and conferences business, industries and online publishing 6:40        Challenge of Wireless Basic protocols and speed for mobile phones 7:17        Do you fancy a Kwickie? 7:56        The formation of Jisp and the problem with retail between online shoppers and in store   shoppers and addressing omnichannel 10:55     The value of jisp 12:48     Realtime adjustments of pricing online 14:03     What is the pushback from retail stores? 14:39     The most important difference between online and in person is the shopper 16:26     The revenue comparison between ecommerce versus traditional retail 17:52     Evolution of Black Friday and Cyber Monday 20:17     Is jisp killing jobs in retail? 22:40     The difference between jispGO and AmazonGo 23:07     Importance of the consumer and the customer experience 24:45     Difference between US and Great Britain in retail innovation 26:29     Development of emerging technology in retail like AR, AI, Machine Learning in the US and Israel 29:05     Jisp will be at the NRF Event in NYC in Jan. 2020 https://nrfbigshow.nrf.

We’ve become a society that’s tied to our devices, and it’s becoming a bigger issue generation by generation. Kids spend less time playing outside and more time sitting in front of a gaming console. Queue Stephen Dodds to do something about it. Ever since Stephen was a kid, he had a dream of finding an opportunity to enhance the traditional air-soft gun games with his friends (or especially how to play if his friends weren’t available). That dream grew to using augmented reality to bring gaming to life. With Juuk, now kids have the opportunity to experience video games while still getting the daily activity that parents love to see (and honestly, is necessary for development). Stephen joined us to discuss where Juuk was born, and why it became so important to him to follow this dream and make it a reality. He discusses his entrepreneurial journey from living in a tent to Silicon Valley to living in China full-time, and the challenges along the way. 2:48 - Stephen breaks down Juuk, and the why it was created 4:23 - How the inspiration for Juuk came when Stephen was a kid, and why he was on a mission to change the way kids played 7:40 - How Juuk uses the mixed use of reality and augmented reality to create a really incredible gaming experience 8:28 - How Stephen’s background in Electrical Engineer brought him to the path of entrepreneurship 14:08 - How Stephen got the encouragement and idea to move forward with learning about startups and then  moving into his idea 16:15 - How he got the opportunity to travel and build his company in China and discusses the reasons behind the transitions in his company 18:12 - How active were the investors in helping Stephen go beyond just the beginning and helping him take this to market 19:49 - The tent discussion - we had to go there to figure out the timeline 25:20 - The discussion of self sacrifice, and what it truly is worth to you to follow your dreams, and what Stephen’s parents thought of his entrepreneurial endeavors 27:38 - Where the zombie game idea was born, and why Stephen decided to add that to his business 29:58 - The obstacles Stephen had to overcome to creating and building such a complicated technology 32:45 - The dilemma of setting value, and determining what technology to focus on when money is getting thrown at various different technologies. 34:45 - What else is in the future for Juuk? Stephen {at} juuk.co Or visit juuk.co

What is America’s greatest national security threat? Our guest, (Ret) Brigadier General Robert Spalding shares his thoughts on the real threat to the United States: Increasing dependency and infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party into US technology and society, particularly around the 5G race. As devices are increasingly interconnected and social media has seeped its way into all aspect of Western society, General Spalding shares his dire warning that the US elites on both political spectrums are complicit in the dominance of the Chinese economy. Intellectual Property, no matter how much we innovate, is up for theft. The fight for US supremacy, is at a critical mass and no technology in the future is safe if the US does not mitigate the already global Chinese influence in 5G deployment. This is probably our heaviest episode, but the most relevant to all of our conversations on how we see the future of innovative emerging technologies and businesses. If you’re interested in getting your own copy of General Spalding’s Book, ‘Stealth War: How China Took Over While America’s Elite Slept’, click here —> https://amzn.to/32c6ShV Here is the official breakdown. 5:50 -  General Spalding’s career path, and how he went from studying agriculture to the service (and his inspiration may surprise you) 9:30 - How his journey took him from working on his Doctorate in the US (and almost being done with the Air Force) to China. 10:17 - The opportunity in China, and why he put in his name for it (The Homestead Scholar) 13:50 - The disclaimer about China 15:30 - The rumors that have been swirling about China for years now. We discuss the firewall of China, and how China is using it to their advantage in how they educate their citizens in addition to what stays out of China 22:20 - Understanding the Cybersecurity risk that we face because of China, and why you (yes, YOU) need to be careful with how you share your data and what you click 25:30 - Why startups need to be careful of the funding they take to build their companies 27:15 - Should the US consider building a 6th service branch that focuses on protecting the country on a Cybersecurity basis. 33:10 - Why we believe we’re not the problem, yet we’re very much helping with the problem. 35:00 - What you need to know about security and your phone (Samsung or Apple) 36:30 - Why you think you may have a choice in sharing your data with 4G, and why this is going to completely go out the door with the roll out with 5G 38:15 - Does GDPR really work and the details of why or why not 41:10 - Are we too far gone to undo what’s already been done 45:10 - The easy solutions that the United States can do to start investing in itself and making a difference 47:40 - As an ‘average’ person (i.e. not a corporation) what can we do to start making a difference 50:10 - What we need to know about what’s truly happening with the US government and China and what we need to be careful of when it comes

When it comes to building startups, especially on the emerging technology side, founders often think the technology will sell itself. If that doesn’t work, their next step is throwing on a few key words, like Artificial Intelligence or Blockchain to try to seal the deal. However, when it comes to growing and scaling a company of any type, it truly goes back to the basics, and Amos Schwartzfarb breaks down a process in Sell More Faster that any company can use to understand their client better, focus their sales team on the right things, and scale their company for growth. Here is the official breakdown of our talk: 3:00 - Introducing Amos’ book and discussing who it really is for (and the answer may surprise you) 5:47 - The motivation and reason behind Amos’ book, and what was important for him in order to write the book 7:23 - Introducing the W3 model, and why it’s crucial that every business understands it before starting to sell their product. It’s all about understanding the Who, What, and Why of your customer and your sales process. 8:32 - Why 90% is your most important number in making the match of who your customer is 9:00 - Why the ‘what’ isn’t the question about what you’re selling to the customer, and how you need to approach this question instead 13:05 - Why understanding what happens with your customer beyond the sale is crucial to your sales process 13:45 - How you begin to measure the success of your customer if you’re just in the beginning part of your business 15:45 - Understanding the difference between the customer sales process and the customer development process 18:30 - Why the sales person’s job isn’t about customer development 20:59 - When a startup isn’t getting the right feedback, it may be time for a pivot, but what is the moment when that a business should understand when it truly is time for a pivot. Or are you just not talking to the right customer? 24:20 - How you actually use the data you’re gathering from your customer and sales 26:29 - When you’re trying to get to the scaling part of your business, what are the most important questions you should be asking 28:32 - What disservice that we’re doing for companies when it comes to understanding the type of business we’re building, and why we should be building it 30:32 - Understanding why the focus of your sales should be about long term vs just one sale at a time 34:53 - Changing the mindset of the sales cycle, and how to change the view of a sales cycle 38:02 - How to understand the different ‘customers’ within your sales process if you’re selling to a larger company 40:40 - Why doing your due diligence in the beginning vs. rushing for the sales can end up benefiting you in the long run 42:11 - What are the biggest mistakes companies make when developing a sales process Interested in buying the book, you can find it here —> https://amzn.to/2pUIfZK Want to get in touch with Amos? Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amosschwartzfarb/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/avatureamos

Syya and Erin take a moment to celebrate Innovation Calling’s First Anniversary. In this episode we discuss some of our biggest lessons learned, what we loved most about doing the show, along with what you can expect for next year. We would love to hear from you! After a year, what were some of your favorite episodes.

Although, we’ve all probably heard the terms gaming and Esports, there’s still a lot of unknown about the industries, and the true impact they have on our modern day culture. John Davidson, of PRG, joins us for this conversation about the current state of Esports, along with the opportunities that are awaiting this billion dollar industry. Although you may think of them as interchangeable, Esports only accounts for about 6% of the gaming industry, but this number is about to take off as you see more and more traditional sports team begin to take note and create their own leagues. The future is extremely bright for this industry, and John helps us to understand the landscape, along with what will be next as they continue to attract big brands and move further and further into the main stream. 4:00 - John shares his story into Esports from skateboarding to where he is today 9:25 - How an office job in an accounting firm, actually made him excited about business (and one of the keys he learned about the importance of culture) 13:15 - The concept of a company like GameStop, who sells video games, with the business of Esports 14:14 - What took GameStop so long to get into the Esports world (and the logic behind it) 15:18 - The definition and difference between Gaming and Esports 16:57- The power of Esports versus gaming 18:15 - What was the landscape that allowed Esports to really take off? 21:00 - How the popularity of the games (not just with kids), and our older generations now growing up with gaming, has allowed us to accept gaming as a pastime 22:42 - Understanding the difference between a streamer and gamer 24:00 - Advise for those who are encouraging their kids to become professional gamers 26:32 - The mainstream of Esports, where traditional sports teams are jumping in on this trend 29:45 - Does the traditional sports world transition well into Esports tourneys 34:10 - Breaking down the gaming event experience, and the advantage that Esports compared to tradition sporting events 37:29 - Moving into PRG, the history, and what they’re planning on doing in the Esports world 39:40 - What opportunities are there in the event side of Esports? 46:10 - Does the Esports world have an initiative to bring more diversity to the community 47:47 - The fastest growing segment in Esports 50:14 - The advantage that Esports has against traditional sports in being able to be innovative 51:45 - Where does the responsibility lie in attracting diversity? Is it the game creators, or the event producers? 54:20 - An interesting fact about Fortnite (and why you should never give up) 55:10 - How do you even begin to attempt to understanding the potential of a game to take off 58:30 - What do brands need to know before they jump into sponsorships and partnerships for Esports Visit John at @J0hnDavids0n LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-davidson-42953846/

In a world where gaming is not just a past-time, but a way of life, Robert Atkins of Balanced Media Technology, wanted to find a way to utilize the time and effort people put into video games for good. A veteran in the gaming space, Robert has been part of some of today’s most popular games. The team at Balanced Media wanted more than just another gaming company, though. They wanted to drive real change, and that’s when their company was born. By connecting communities of developers, researchers, and foundations, Balanced Media Technology, allows them to create tools, and gathers data to help solve extremely complex problems (think cancer research). Robert shares his history of gaming, what brought him to be part of this amazing company, and what’s in the future for an idea that feels like it has endless possibilities. 6:00- We meet Robert Atkins and learn his background 8:50 - The landscape of gaming, and how it’s changed 11:15 - Who gaming is for, is it really just the kid in the basement, or who is actually picking up the controllers to play 12:40 - How has the advancement in the technology changed the gaming experience? 14:20 - How has technology advancements helped mot merge Hollywood with gaming 18:20 - Talking more about Balanced and the need they discovered, and how they intend to fulfill that 20:58 - We start diving into the details of this incredible technology, and Robert describes the ins and outs of how this actually not only entertains people, but does social good 23:20 - How we can use the data from ‘Citizen Science’ (and some examples) of how this has impacted change within 24:52 - The challenges with training the system for AI 26:20 - With the rise of gaming popularity, more specifically around the common play among friends, what makes their games attractive - more acceptance means more chance of growth 29:22 - As they open up a who new platform, and therefore revenue stream potential for developers, what’s their objection to building on this platform? 31:42 - With the massive shit in the way we have to think to accept these use cases, what is the current approach for Balanced as they start attracting businesses to their product 34:32 - With the Generation Z’ers growing up on gaming, how quickly will they adapt to something like this? 39:50 - We dig into the two year development cycle of this project and what were the things they discovered while building it, that they weren’t expecting 43:42 - With the struggle of finding the right message, have they discovered they may be a bit before their time, or is the technology space ready for this forward-thinking concept? 46:10 - Robert gives amazing advice for those looking to get into this industry Want to learn more Visit http://www.balancedmediatechnology.com/

Overall, does technology actually help us or hurt us? More importantly how does it specifically affect our brains? It may seem like an impossible task to answer, or something that we will have to wait and see as we wait for this generation to grow older. However, thanks to companies like Marketing Brainology, we can see first hand the consequences of stress, multi-tasking, and the use of excessive technology has on our brains. Marketing Brainology focuses on helping companies connect to their consumers and shoppers by helping them to understand the art and science of the decision-making process. Their state of the art technology is used to study the brain as decisions are being made, and it also helps to understand how outside factors truly affect our brain. We had the honor of sitting down with President Dr. Michelle Adams to find out how their technology works, studies that they have done, along with the results, and the future for their innovative technology (because this can go way beyond marketing). Here is the official episode breakdown: 1:20 - We meet Michelle and learn more about her company, and how she got into this interesting field of Brain Science 5:20 - Michelle gives some great examples of some of the studies they’re currently working on, and the results the they have seen from their studies. Plus there’s one really great tip about how to get better engagement from Instagram Ads 6:30 - How they can tell what’s happening in the brain when things like auditory triggers happen, and what exactly they’re looking for in these studies 8:40 - The difference between highly emotional people vs. people who aren’t as emotional, and why it’s important to understand the different personality types when marketing 11:52 - With all of the opportunity of this technology, how is Brainology staying focused on the main studies that they’re doing? 14:10 - How can leaders utilize this technology to understand their workforce and how to better lead their teams? 15:10 - The future of brain monitoring, and the intricate details we can learn and monitor. 16:50 - How good is the data if there is so much variability in our brains, i.e., if simple, every day things like coffee and stress have such a huge impact on our brain productivity? 18:24 - With so many different personality types and so many different varying degrees of the brain, how do companies begin to make more general decisions in their advertising based on the feedback they’re getting from these studies? 21:10 - We dig deeper into the findings of men centered ads vs. women centered ads. 23:00 - Their partnership with Brain Scientific, and who they purchase their technology from 27:15 - The importance of messaging in ads, and how certain ones resonate with people 30:10 - How are companies embracing the whole Neuro-Science side to marketing, and how exactly are they using these tools as a whole within their strategy 32:30 - Are they truly understanding the caliber of these advanced studies? 34:30 - How does seasonality affect these studies and marketing, and does this cause the marketing and the messaging to change? 40:05 - The importance of rituals and memories when it comes to memory and remembering 42:30 - As much as we understanding the importance of nostalgia, when does a company know it’s time to pull a plug and move on to something new vs. hold on to the old. 44:30 - What are the trends generationally for marketing? 47:50 - With the evolution of the brain among generations, does the term multi-tasking still remain a myth?

Many of us have embraced ride-sharing as a preferred mode of transportation, but we can also probably agree there’s room for improvement in the experience. Although you would define the ride-sharing companies as disruptors, it’s now time for disruption to happen to them. Will Coleman saw an opportunity to improve this experience when he found that his wife wasn’t willing to participate in the ride-sharing world because of safety concerns. Plus he saw that ride-sharing wasn’t actually helping with the over congestion of roads, it was actually making it worse. Although there were many who were hesitant when he first starting talking about his idea, in just a short time they saw his vision for an overall better experience and Alto was born. Will shares his journey with us, along with what makes Alto so different from the other options in the ride-sharing community. 3:52 - Will tells the story of Alto, and how they differentiate themselves 4:40 - What opportunity they found in the ride-sharing industry, and how they felt they could make it better 5:32 - What was Will’s background, and what made him want to jump into the ride-sharing game 8:42 - What were some of the challenges when starting out, and what did Alto do to overcome those 12:10 - Why experience is such a crucial component for Alto 13:50 - How the employee model for Alto sets them apart 15:15 - With the gig economy disrupting employment, how has that shaped Alto’s ability to find great staff 17:35 - Digging deeper into the specific technology in the car, and how they use that to better the experience 21:15 - With all of the amazing technology they’re currently using, what is on the roadmap for their company 22:34 - Where is self driving on their roadmap, and what else are they looking into in order to be able to optimize not just the experience, but their services 26:08 - Does ride sharing actually add to the congestion problem or reduce it? 29:55 - What opportunities are there to work with the cities to help in the smart cities initiatives 31:58 - What are the plans of expansion in addition to the potential challenges of expanding to other markets 34:25 -Why proving a model in Dallas is crucial to other cities 37:30 - What’s Will philosophy on trying to find balance 41:32 - What is Will’s philosophy on culture for his company and how does he foster that? 43:10 - Does remote and work based performance encourage or discourage the right environment for employees 47:10 - What are the biggest needs of Alto currently? Want to use Alto? Visit ridealto.com Want to drive for Alto? Vsiit: drivealto.com

What makes women hold back when it comes to not just starting out in STEM roles, but sticking with them? What do women need to know when entering a career in technology? How can women learn to support each other and being each other advocates vs. the opposite? These are just some of the things that we addressed in this month’s Women in Technology Leadership Live Recording. We welcomed Dr. Dawn Owners, Director of the BS ITS Program at the Jindal School of Management at University of Texas - Dallas, and we had a completely candid conversation about the landscape of women in technology, and what can be done to help bring more women in, support them, and guide them to leadership roles. There was a lot of discussion about what makes women different, which was so refreshing, considering we may feel like we’re going on this career journey alone. Plus this is a great listen for men because it can help to understand the differences, and if you see a rockstar woman on your team, what you can do to support her career. 1:35 - Dr. Owens shares her journey from tech into teaching 3:10 - Why she stayed in a role for over 13 years, the keys to the job that kept her engaged and going 5:20 - How she finally got the courage to start applying for new jobs and getting outside of her comfort zone 7:25 - How have the students change since when she first started teaching until now 8:10 - Dr. Owens advice for kids who are thinking about college early on in high school 8:50 - How do we get over the barrier of the myth that IT just means programming (because programming is what can detour women from joining technology roles) 11:50 - Now that we’re getting more women into technical programs, but how do we now avoid the drop-off in technology roles 13:10 - One of the biggest reasons why women stay out of engineering 15:30 - What advice would Dr. Owens give to a student who is getting encouraged to take on roles that they’re great at, but maybe not something that they want to do 15:50 - Why women make better leaders in STEM roles 17:25 - What would Dr. Owens recommend to people are more like introverts but want to move into a leadership role 19:10 - The discussion of women not having each other’s back - and how we are our own worst enemy, and how do we begin to change that? 22:30 - Has social media made women helping other women better or has it made it worse? 23:55 - What we can do to be the solution vs. add to the problem 26:45 - What are some other routes that women can take in technology that fit a more extroverted personality 28:35 - Should women approach roles to fit into a man’s world vs. understanding women’s needs and working toward fulfilling those. And yes, in this conversation we talk balance 33:05 - Was there ever a challenge when trying to find a balance in work/life? 36:10 - How do we get more women to step into leadership roles within technology 38:55 - Confidence and knowing where you want to go is great, but what happens if you’re not quite sure where exactly you want to go? 40:35 - What are the differences in the generations in how they see gender or is it still similar? 43:10 - Is awareness fragility, and how should this be addressed in technical roles

When it comes to hospitals and healthcare the areas where technology can be implemented can feel endless. As a CIO, it can be a challenging job understanding where to best focus time and efforts to create the best possible experience for their patients. In this discussion, Jonathan Goldberg is the CIO of Arkansas Children’s Hospital joined us to discuss the state of technology and healthcare, what his hospital is doing to make sure they’re constantly enhancing the patient experience, without incorporating too much technology, and some of the challenges they face when trying to offer healthcare, not just at a hospital level, but a state-wide level. 5:20 - Jonathan talks about his career and his journey, and how he moved into the CIO position, and how he ended up in Arkansas 7:45 - How does a CIO begin to understand all of the emerging technology, and where, as a hospital, you should begin to implement 9:47 - Understanding the structure of Arkansas Children’s Hospital 10:35 - How hard is it to get doctors on board to embrace new technology, and some tips and tricks to getting doctors to adapt to what is coming 12:30 - Are doctors in a research facility more adaptive to technology or is there still pushback? 13:20 - Instead of will they use it, making the question how can we make it as easy as possible for them to use? 14:50 - How does the role work with other members of the hospital’s C-Suite to make sure the technology is the right one. 16:16 - What is the current state of health care when it comes to technology? 19:58 - How to avoid chasing the new shiny technologies vs. understanding what is truly necessary. 22:48 - What is the current vision for Arkansas Children’s Hospital along with their goals? 24:40 - The importance of virtual care, and why, in Arkansas, it’s crucial 27:38 - Understanding the adoption of technology in rural areas or Medicaid patients vs. standard insurance patients 29:20 - Is there a push for technology with a younger generation of parents in charge of care? 32:20 - When it comes to telemedicine what are the gaps from where we currently are vs. where we want to be? 35:30 -Does Malpractice Insurance change when it comes to telemedicine? 37:12 - How much is emerging technology getting adopted in the healthcare space vs. just talk? 40:12 - As a teach hospital what other emerging technologies are they incorporating into their business? 44:39 - The genomics project that they embarked on and the status of that Want to learn more about Arkansas Children’s Hospital - Twitter —> @mrcio and LinkedIn —> https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangoldbergcio/

This conversation with Karen Rhodes is nothing short of fascinating as we several different conversations. Karen's role has changed dramatically from starting out in the call center to now being an Account Chief Technologist with HPE. We discussed the change in technology and security as IoT, along with other technology is being introduced at a rate that feels almost impossible to keep up with. We talked about corporate responsibilities in not just gathering data, but gathering the right information from it. We then talked about how corporations can make smarter decisions in adopting new technology, and actually bringing in the right technology. There were a ton of nuggets from this one! 2:00 - Where are new technologies coming from, and how does technology within the data center sit today? We learn a lot about what’s changing in how we gather data, and how the security landscape has changed. 4:10 - As technology and security have changed, where does a company begin to even fend off the new risks that are continually being introduced? (And hint, it’s not about the technology, it’s about the humans!) 6:20 - Why AI isn’t a bad thing, and in fact, it can be a really good thing, and how businesses need to approach introducing the technology to make sure their employees are excited about this vs. fearful of it. 7:35 - Taking a step back to truly understand the definition of AI, and why it’s not just a matter of robots, but what it really looks like to implement AI technology. 9:25 - As much as we want to create more thought-proving work for people and remove the mundane tasks from their workload, is this really a welcomed changed? And how does the motivation to help make these changes come to play? 11:41 - Breaking down the public sector industry. How innovative are they, and are they truly on the edge of cutting technology? And the big problem that’s been born with Big Data and IoT - Is the data really saying what it’s saying. 15:20  - The other big issue with Big Data in Public Sector is how can people work together when it comes to gathering so much data from various resources 22:30 - Do politics have a play in data and what we do with the information we’re gathering? 23:10 - Does in-house vs. the cloud truly matter any more? And then Karen is kind enough to define AI vs. Machine Learning 26:40 - The problem in the corporate world where people are making huge decisions in technology spaces, but truly don’t understand the technology. And there’s a lot of wasted money being spent because of our current buzz word craze. And the ONE question they simply need to stop and ask. 29:40 - Karen’s advice for business leaders to attempt to stay on top of all of this technology 33:55 - The questions decision-makers should learn to ask to vendors before making huge decisions 35:05 - What’s the best way from high school into the technology career 37:20 - Why constantly learning is crucial for your career and business growth. 39:40 - The one thing the older generations sell themselves short on when it comes to learning new technology Karen Rhodes - on LinkedIn --> https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhodeskaren/

We gathered around the Unofficial Innovation Council and put a new all-women spin on it to talk about, what we feel is the greatest generation. Why? Well, we are part of some amazing innovation, taking on huge leadership roles, but are stuck in this middle ground, where we think like Baby Boomers in many ways, but also have the tech-savviness of Millennials. In this episode we discuss what makes Gen X so great, and how we've helped shape the world to what it is today, and why we are often overlooked. There were lots of laughs, lots of Mike Rowe talk (just listen it will make sense), and lots of discussion around a topic we had to bring to light! 3:00 We’re talking Gen X - They’re known as the forgotten generation, but are they the greatest generation? 5:00 - What makes GenX so amazing 6:30 - Are Gen X’ers missing out on leadership opportunities, and how does access to all of our knowledge help them do that 9:05 - Where to entrepreneurship come into play of Gen X in Corporate Leaderships? 10:50 - Does the ability to create platforms give Millennials the leg up in getting what they want from life? 14:22 - How has learning and creating the ability to pivot helped the Gen Xer’s 16:49 - Does time and experience make for great leaders? 21:38 - Is education adapting quickly enough to match up what we are creating and how fast things are moving? 25:20 - How much will education change as Millennials raise children, and what will we expect them to pursue? 27:10 - Gen X has the money, so why is no one marketing to us? And should we care about this? 31:24 - We trail off and start talking make-up, hair, and how we use YouTube 33:10 - How much does Gen X’ers voting matter 36:33 - Going back to the marketing issue, do we really not care that we’re not getting targeted? 41:20 - Where are Millennials spending their money?

Ellen Sundra has an interesting background of paring her love technology with the ability to teach it, to now lead a team of engineers at Forescout. Her path wasn't linear, and at first, she had no idea what a Sales Engineer was, let along that she had the perfect set of skills to excel in this career. Now, leading a team of 80, Ellen shares so much with us in this latest Women in Tech Leadership Series episode. Just some of what she discusses is: - The pivotal moments in her career, and how she didn't even realize she should have been offended by some of them - How Ellen had to review her hiring process to be more inclusive to women and encourage more diverse applicants - The important traits Ellen looks for when hiring (and her impressive attrition rate) - How we can encourage more young women to explore other tech positions other than just coding - The current state of Cybersecurity - Plus so much more! Here is the official breakdown: 5:35 - Ellen discusses her background and her interests as a child that led her down this path 8:10 - How Ellen found her way into sales and systems engineering because there is no actual degree in sales engineering 9:40 - The pivotal moments of Ellen’s career, where she was put into roles because of her gender, but realized what she didn’t want to do 13:10 - The ah-ha moments that Ellen had growing up that really helped set her on her path 13:50 - How did Ellen get on the Cyber Security path from training 16:30 - Ellen’s team structure (and the shocking balance of men to women) 20:15 - The impressive number of women on Forescout’s leadership team 21:70 - The issues within sales engineering and how more people can get in this field 23:50 - How can we begin to solve the problem of developing and educating women at an earlier level 25:30 - The awesome program that Ellen has developed at Forescout to help interns get exposure to all kinds of different aspects of a technology company 29:05 - Are four-year degrees no longer required for various roles within Forescout, and Ellen’s view of leadership and hiring 31:15 - Ellen’s view of leadership and being imperfect 32:55 - The secret sauce of hiring a great team 36:10 - The view of ‘balance’ and how Ellen has a leader encourages finding that for those who work for her 41:50 - Agency and women in leadership, and where we are perceived as lacking 52:00 - How technology is having an impact on our lives, but the new threats it causes 53:10 - GenX and leadership and Ellen’s viewpoint of the role of this generation The article that they were talking about: https://qz.com/work/1670468/women-seen-to-be-as-smart-as-men-but-not-ready-to-lead/

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Katherine Dollar is a storytelling expert, working with tech companies to help them convey their message. Even though storytelling has been around forever, many companies don't utilize this tool well. In fact, by actually learning how to do this,

There are few companies in our lifetime that truly have huge impacts on our life, that change the way we interact with people, the way we do business, and the way we live our every day lives. Facebook happens to be one of those, and for most of us,

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Disruptor - Did I get your attention? Either you were excited or rolled your eyes because I think we can all agree that this buzz word might be just a tad overused. -   - However, when it comes to today’s guest, this is truly a word to describe her.

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