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Are We Forgetting the Humans in B2B Marketing?In this episode of The Hard Corps Marketing Show, I sat down with Daniel Incandela, Consultant, Advisor, and Fractional Marketing Officer for several fast-growing companies. With a background in anthropology and a career built on the power of storytelling, Daniel offers a refreshing take on branding, creativity, and human connection in B2B marketing.Daniel challenges the obsession with performance metrics and argues that B2B brands must return to what truly moves people: stories, emotion, and authenticity. From crafting messaging frameworks to using AI to amplify impact, he shares how marketers can stay ahead without losing their humanity.In this episode, we cover:Why B2B marketers need to take branding seriously and break the “brand doesn't matter” mythThe messaging house framework Daniel uses to align teams and anchor a brand's narrativeHow B2C creativity can inspire B2B marketing strategiesThe danger of relying too heavily on sterile metrics like MQLs and SQLsHow thoughtful gift-giving and storytelling build better customer relationshipsIf you're looking to build a brand that's not just data-driven but human-centered, this episode is packed with ideas to elevate your strategy and inspire your team.

In this episode, I sat down with Peter Sack, CEO of Chicago Atlantic, a private credit powerhouse specializing in high-yield, alternative investments that most traditional institutions avoid. We went deep into the cannabis industry, why it's misunderstood, and how Peter's firm uses strategic lending to achieve equity-like returns while minimizing risk. He also broke down what real “downside protection” looks like and why being a focused expert in a niche beats dabbling in saturated markets. Whether you're an operator seeking growth capital or an investor looking for alpha, this episode is a masterclass in unconventional wealth building. -- Peter Sack is a Managing Partner at Chicago Atlantic and serves as CEO of Chicago Atlantic BDC, Inc., as well as Co-CEO of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ: REFI). With a robust background in credit investing and portfolio management across various capital structures, Peter has a keen focus on alternative investments, particularly in underserved sectors like the U.S. cannabis industry. Prior to his tenure at Chicago Atlantic, he was a Principal at BC Partners Credit, where he founded the firm's cannabis vertical and managed a portfolio exceeding $100 million in middle-market private loans. Peter also held the position of Associate at Atlas Holdings LLC, concentrating on distressed manufacturing and distribution companies globally. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Yale University. Additionally, Peter is multilingual, fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

Learn how accurate attribution tracking transforms marketing results Look, let's face it - guesswork is the cancer of all business. As I always tell my clients at Predictable Profits, you need to eliminate that guesswork with proper data. That's why I invited Michael Cooney, co-founder of WhatConverts, onto the podcast. I've had multiple agency clients rave about this tool that's helping them generate better results and higher ROAS for their clients. We dive deep into why native conversion pixels from Meta or Google fall short, how to properly value different types of leads, and why understanding the complete customer journey is critical for making smart marketing decisions. My guest today, Michael Cooney, built WhatConverts after running his own agency for over 20 years. He experienced firsthand the frustration of trying to prove marketing ROI to skeptical clients who couldn't see the full picture. When a client once said to him, "These leads seem like they're from existing customers, not marketing," Michael realized he needed a better solution - a truth-seeking tool that would reveal exactly which marketing efforts were driving valuable conversions. That's when WhatConverts was born, and it's now tracking over 4 million leads per month across industries. KEY TAKEAWAYS: The limitations of standard conversion tracking How dynamic number insertion works The complexity of modern buyer journeys Issues with standard cookie windows The importance of data-driven decision making WhatConverts' six-step process Proper troubleshooting for underperforming campaigns Value-based pricing for marketers Links: LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcooney/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/mc_cooney Email:michael.cooney@whatconverts.com Company Website:https://www.whatconverts.com/ Growing your business is hard, but it doesn't have to be. In this podcast, we will be discussing top level strategies for both growing and expanding your business beyond seven figures. The show will feature a mix of pure content and expert interviews to present key concepts and fundamental topics in a variety of different formats. We believe that this format will enable our listeners to learn the most from the show, implement more in their businesses, and get real value out of the podcast. Enjoy the show. Please remember to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss any future episodes. Your support and reviews are important and help us to grow and improve the show. Follow Charles Gaudet and Predictable Profits on Social Media: Facebook: facebook.com/PredictableProfits Instagram: instagram.com/predictableprofits Twitter: twitter.com/charlesgaudet LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlesgaudet Visit Charles Gaudet's Wesbites: www.PredictableProfits.com

In this episode, we interview Christina Campero, an entrepreneurial force behind Prosperia, a tech startup focused on AI in healthcare. Christina discusses her professional journey, moving from a background in bioscience and healthcare consulting to co-founding Prosperia. The startup uses AI to scan retina images for early detection of diabetic retinopathy and other eye diseases, a crucial service in Mexico due to a high prevalence of diabetes and limited access to ophthalmologists. The conversation covers the development process of their AI model, partnerships with primary healthcare touchpoints, and the advantages of operating in Mexico. They also explore the challenges and breakthroughs in fundraising for a Latin American AI healthcare startup, including securing a seed round from a Swedish fund. The episode ends with a look at Prosperia's future goals, including expanding their AI applications to detect other health conditions.   If your company is looking to scale its AI initiatives, head over to Tesoro AI (www.tesoroai.com). We are experts in AI strategy, staff augmentation, and AI product development.   Founder Bio:   Cristina Campero graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry of the UNAM with a Master's Degree in Bioscience Enterprise from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. She has dedicated her professional career to the transformation of ideas into commercial products with an impact on health, starting in her career as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and in start-ups, first as an Associate in business development and strategy at Wren Therapeutics (in Cambridge UK ) where she was in charge of portfolio prioritization and funding (£18M Series A in Dec. 2018), and now as CEO of PROSPERiA.      Time Stamps:   00:36 Christina's Professional Journey 04:00 Founding Prosperia and Developing Retinia 05:43 Addressing Diabetic Retinopathy with AI 07:10 Challenges in Diabetic Retinopathy Detection 09:32 AI's Role in Early Detection and Screening 13:33 How does the Retinia software diagnosis work 15:20 The role of AI versus human doctors 20:43 Building and Training AI Models 24:31 Balance between engineers and health care professionals 26:14 Creating a customer base that trusts AI diagnosis 32:53 Fundraising and Growth Strategies 40:45 Advantages of Fundraising in Latin America Compared to the U.S. 44:01 Future Plans and Innovations   Resources   Follow Darius Gant LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/m-darius-gant-cpa-44650aa/ Company Website - www.tesoroai.com     Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4uDVNgsK3iNeu7yU4Inu2n   Subscribe on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ae/podcast/the-darius-gant-show/id1527996104   Company website: https://www.prosperia.health/es LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prosperia/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristina-campero-peredo-a87a15115/  

Have you ever watched a viral video on social media and wondered how it captured millions of views? What magic formula did the creator use that made you hit the share button without hesitation? In today's episode of Insight Out, I'm thrilled to have ⁠Joel Lalgee⁠, a social media sage and content wizard, especially when it comes to making waves on platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok. In this episode, we discuss the craft behind viral content, the importance of developing a recognizably unique voice, and the strategies for keeping viewers hooked from the first second. Joel shares the invaluable insights he gained from his triumphs on TikTok and LinkedIn. We explore the world of social media algorithms, discover what makes posts attention-grabbing, and look into the effectiveness of niching down to create impactful, resonant messages. Joel opens up about the balance between entertaining and informative content, the value of engaging directly with your audience, and the relentless pursuit of improvement through content iteration. Tune in now, and gain the knowledge you need to make your content truly stand out. Here's what you can expect in this episode: Loving content creation means consuming and understanding it. - (06:01) Social media platforms focus on revenue through ads. - (13:30) The Power of Niching Down - (19:10) Joel covers LinkedIn credibility and text in videos for attention. (20:18) Simplify speech and writing for more impact.- (25:03) Competition for attention in content creation. - (30:06) Blocking time for priorities in calendar is key for building a brand. - (34:00) Using funny, entertaining content for marketing strategy. - (38:50) Monetizing meme accounts and TikTok challenges, preferring content monetization - (47:20) Building relationships through unique content is essential. - (57:07) Focus on real relationships, not just gaining followers.- (1:04:19) Key insights: Mastering the perfect hook, line, and sinker for your videos Riding the hashtag highway to get your content seen Time juggling like a boss between work, family, and content creation Real talk on the common facepalms content creators make Notable quotes: “At a certain point, you have to just do some of this stuff... you've got to do it as well and test it out.” (10:46) - Joel “After four years of just creating content, I just don't care... I'm just more interested in what works and what doesn't.” (11:10) - Joel “Once I get past that three to five-second mark... whatever I say after that doesn't matter as much... So that's what I think of with a good video.” (20:23) - Joel "You're not just competing against other people on LinkedIn, you're competing against Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, the news, the newspaper, every podcast in the world. Everybody's competing for that same thing." (39:29) - Joel “At the end of the day, if you just do trending stuff all the time, you're never gonna really create like something that people recognize because it's just they're following the trend. They're not following you.” (46:58) - Joel "having a point of view is so important. And whatever the point of view is, a point of view is what's going to get the conversation going." (48:45) - Joel Resources Joel: Joel's Company Website: ⁠https://www.therealestrecruiter.com/⁠ Social Media ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/joellalgee/⁠ ⁠The_realest_recruiter⁠ ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@Therealestrecruiter⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/the_realestrecruiter/⁠ ⁠https://twitter.com/Humanheadhunter⁠ Billy Samoa  https://www.instagram.com/billysamoa/ https://www.youtube.com/@BillySamoa https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/ This is an encore episode and was originally published on February 2, 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Dominic Rubino sits down with Chaz Wolfe — a successful entrepreneur and founder of Gathering The Kings — to discuss how construction business owners can adopt a strategic mindset that encourages growth without overextending themselves.

In this episode the host, Anca Platon Trifan, CMP, WMEP⁠ demystifies the incredible journey of Reina Herschdorfer, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for National Meetings and Events at Caesars Entertainment. Anca and the guest discuss Reina's international upbringing, her passion for inclusion, and how she has integrated decades of marketing experience to achieve groundbreaking success. Highlights include Reina's mentorship approach, her significant contributions to Caesars Entertainment's wellness initiatives, and insights on leadership and diversity. Tune in for a deep dive into transformational leadership, event wellness, and personal growth strategies.

How can empathy, curiosity, and belief transform your sales strategy in the age of AI?In this episode of The Hard Corps Marketing Show, I sat down with John Barrows, CEO of JB Sales. John shares his powerful perspective on what today's sales professionals need most, and why genuine belief in your product is the most underrated sales superpower.John breaks down why AI is a valuable assistant but can't replace the deeply human skills of empathy and curiosity. He unpacks how the classic predictable revenue model may be hurting customer experience, and why the future of sales belongs to reps who master emotional intelligence and meaningful connection.In this episode, we cover:Why belief in your product is the foundation for successful sellingHow AI can support — but not replace — human connection in salesWhy personalization must be rooted in empathy, not just dataThe importance of cross-functional learning and customer-centric sales cyclesIf you're ready to lead a sales team that thrives in a high-tech, human-first world, this episode is packed with insights you won't want to miss!

In this engaging episode of the Events: Demystified Podcast, host Anca Platon Trifan dives deep into the world of AI with special guest Noah Riley, founder of AI Genius Automations. They explore how AI is transforming the way we work, think, and create, and provide practical advice for businesses and individuals looking to implement AI. Key topics discussed include the right mindset for adopting AI, practical applications of AI tools, and ensuring privacy and security in AI implementation. Discover how to leverage AI to streamline processes, improve efficiency, and reclaim valuable time. Stay tuned for real-world examples and expert insights, and don't miss the closing advice on staying curious and prioritizing effectively.00:00 Introduction to AI and the Podcast02:11 Meet Noah Riley: AI Visionary03:48 A Humorous Encounter: How We Met07:56 The Chess and Jiu Jitsu Analogy12:11 Noah's Journey: From Graphic Design to AI17:18 The Neuroscience of Design and Events18:49 AI Implementation Challenges and Mindset25:00 Privacy, Security, and AI Risks42:07 Practical AI Strategies for Businesses44:04 Exploring AI Solutions for Businesses44:28 Taking Risks with New Technology44:54 Implementing AI in Your Company46:00 Diving Deep into GPT Capabilities49:16 Practical AI Examples for Business Owners51:49 Custom GPTs and Their Benefits01:01:55 Automation Tools: Zapier vs. Make01:13:38 Balancing Multiple Interests and Priorities01:20:17 Final Thoughts and Advice on AI ImplementationGUEST BIONoah Riley is the founder and visionary leader of AI Genius Automations. His passion for AI goes beyond his profession, he views it as a transformative technology with the potential to create time and improve people's lives. This belief drives his dedication and passion to understanding AI and making its benefits accessible to individuals and businesses alike. Noah's enthusiasm for AI is contagious, and his ability to explain complex concepts in an approachable manner makes AI understandable, accessible, and appealing to diverse audiences. His unique blend of expertise and charisma makes learning about AI both informative and enjoyable. Under Noah's leadership, AI Genius Automations is at the forefront of AI innovation and application, providing cutting-edge solutions that help clients harness the power of AI to achieve their goals.Connect with our Guest at the links below:Noah Riley's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahrileyaigeniusautomations/ Company Website https://aigeniusautomations.com/Company LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/aigeniusautomations/YouTube: www.youtube.com/@StaceyHankeTwitter: https://twitter.com/staceyhankeincInstagram: www.instagram.com/staceyhankeincConnect with your Podcast Host at the links below:Speaker website: https://ancaplatontrifan.me/LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/ancatrifan/⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/anca.platon.trifanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fit.mindful.maven/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eventsdemystifiedpodcast/

Ready to unlock your Property Investment game in 2025? Grab your FREE copy of our Buy-to-Let market guide today! https://bit.ly/buy-to-let-hotspots-guide-2025 —————————In this energizing episode, Nick Claydon sits down with entrepreneur and property investor Luke Turner, founder of T2Fit. Luke brings a unique perspective to the intersection of fitness and property, sharing how his background as a semi-professional footballer led him to build a thriving fitness business and how he leveraged that success to step into property investing. Key LearningsStart before you feel ready, action drives growth.Discipline beats motivation every time.Mentors and coaches fast-track your results.Curate your environment for inspiration and support.Better health habits lead to better business decisions.Timestamps[01:27] - Who is Luke Turner?[07:10] - Early property experiences.[16:27] - Property mindset and creativity.[25:21] - The link between health and entrepreneurship[35:04] - Fitness routines, apps, and tracking goals[50:00] - Wrap-up and how to connect with LukeThis Episode is Sponsored by: Visit thispropertylife.co.uk for more resources, networking events, and industry insights.Follow Luke Turner: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luketurner_official/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luketurnerofficial Company(Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/transform2fituk Company(LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/company/t2fit/ Company(X): https://twitter.com/transform2fituk Company(Website): https://t2fit.co.uk/ Follow This Property Life Podcast:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thispropertylife/# Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564457166712&locale=en_GB LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/this-property-life-podcast/about/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thispropertylife?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/propertylifepod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're a contractor or trades business owner struggling to find more hours in your day — this episode is your game-changer. Dominic Rubino sat down with Cameron Herold—Keynote Speaker, Entrepreneurial Mentor, and Founder of COO Alliance—to uncover the most effective time management strategies for contractors in 2025. Whether you run a cabinetry shop, an HVAC business, or you're a general contractor juggling too many hats — this episode will help you simplify, streamline, and take control. What you'll learn: 1️⃣ Why contractors MUST treat their calendar like a to-do list 2️⃣ The power of a 3-year "vivid vision" for business clarity 3️⃣ How to delegate, outsource, and protect your most valuable asset: time 4️⃣ Tips for avoiding burnout and growing a business that doesn't own you

In this episode of the Drop In CEO podcast, Chris Troka, founder and owner of Focus Biz, shares his transition from building an award-winning wedding DJ business to earning a degree in marketing and helping other businesses start and grow. They discuss the importance of building a personal brand, strategies for lead nurturing, and the use of automation and AI to enhance business processes. The conversation provides valuable insights into overcoming challenges, the significance of relationship-building, and staying ahead of industry trends. Chris also shares practical examples from his work, including automating client interactions and crafting effective marketing strategies. Episode Highlights: 03:50 The Wedding DJ Business Journey 08:43 Building a Personal Brand 12:56 Automation and AI in Business 21:38 Future Goals and Community Building Chris Troka is a driven entrepreneur with over a decade of experience creating and scaling businesses. As the founder of two successful ventures—including an award-winning wedding DJ and photo booth company—he blends creativity with cutting-edge marketing, automation, and AI technology to help other entrepreneurs thrive. With certifications from HubSpot and Google, and a Marketing Degree earned in 2021, Chris offers expert website, CRM, and social media services designed to build lasting relationships and generate leads. Known for exceptional service and communication, he’s passionate about helping business owners achieve goals they never thought possible. Connect with Chris Troka:LinkedIn::https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-troka-3a093058/Company Website: https://focused-biz.com/Chris’ Website: https://christroka.com/ For More Insights from The Drop In CEO:

In this episode of the 'Events Demystified' podcast, host Anca Platon Trifan dives deep into the topic of sustainable events with special guest Alycia Drube, founder of Positive Impact Event Consulting. They explore actionable insights and strategies for event planners to minimize environmental footprints while delivering impactful experiences. Alycia shares her expertise in eco-friendly event practices, offering tips on integrating sustainability into events, measuring impact, and creating emotional connections with attendees. This informative discussion also touches on the importance of transparency, collaboration with vendors, and the role of storytelling in promoting sustainability in the event industry.

Ready to unlock your Property Investment game in 2025? Grab your FREE copy of the guide today and master the Buy-to-Let market https://bit.ly/buy-to-let-hotspots-guide2025——————————————————In this episode of This Property Life Podcast, host Sarah Blaney is joined by property expert Elaine Bailey to discuss the property market in the Wirral, a thriving region in the Northwest of England. Elaine, a seasoned letting and estate agent, shares her insights into the demand for different types of rentals, investment potential, and what makes the Wirral an attractive location for buy-to-let and HMO investors.What You'll Learn:Why the Wirral is a growing hotspot for property investmentThe demand for different types of rental properties in the regionKey factors to consider before investing in the WirralHow local estate and letting agents assess market trendsTips for property investors looking to expand their portfolioTimestamps:[01:51] – Meet Elaine Bailey: Lettings and estate agent in the Wirral [08:31] – Current room rental rates in the Wirral [18:51] – Is there still demand for HMOs in the Wirral? [19:49] – Expected yields for HMOs in the current market [33:55] – How to connect with Elaine Bailey for property advice This Episode is Kindly Sponsored by: Visit thispropertylife.co.uk for more resources, networking events, and industry insights.Follow Elaine Bailey Socials:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaine-bailey-85bb8213a Company(Linkedin): https://www.linkedin.com/company/bailey-and-staples-property-specialists/about/ Company(Website): https://baileyandstaples.co.uk/ Email: info@baileyandstaples.co.ukFollow This Property Life Podcast on Socials:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thispropertylife/# Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564457166712&locale=en_GB LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/this-property-life-podcast/about/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thispropertylife?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/propertylifepod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are Hidden Tariff Refunds Sitting in Your Company's Blind Spot? In this explosive episode of Simply Trade, host Annik and duty drawback expert Ariana Cox reveal a game-changing strategy that could save your business significant money amid escalating global trade tensions. With Trump's new 25% automobile tariffs and increasing trade fragmentation, businesses are searching for financial lifelines. Enter duty drawback - a powerful yet often overlooked mechanism for recovering import duties, taxes, and fees.

The Future of Sustainable Living Starts Here! What if the key to creating cleaner, healthier cities was already within our reach? In this episode of the No Labels, No Limits Podcast, we sit down with Mark McNally, Director of Sustainability at GreenTech Solutions, to discuss how green technology is transforming urban spaces and businesses.Mark's story is one of bold transitions, innovation, and sustainability-driven leadership. Originally from Ireland, he moved to the U.S. with just three suitcases and a dream. Since then, he has made a significant impact in air filtration, HVAC solutions, and sustainable urban planning. In this episode, we explore how eco-friendly technology is shaping the future, the biggest sustainability challenges we face today, and how businesses and individuals can take action toward a greener future.What You'll Learn in This Episode:The role of green technology in shaping sustainable citiesHow air filtration and HVAC solutions are improving energy efficiencyThe challenges of implementing sustainable practices in urban environmentsMark's personal journey from Ireland to becoming a leader in sustainabilityHow businesses can incorporate eco-friendly solutions into their operationsThe future of smart cities and the role of innovation in sustainabilityWhy mindset shifts are necessary for long-term environmental changeSpecial Offer for Listeners!Want to improve the air quality in your home or business? Mark is offering an exclusive discount! Use the code ECO50 to receive 50% off your first order at https://filtersdirectusa.com/Stay Connected & Never Miss an Episode!Subscribe for more inspiring conversations and like this videoConnect with Mark McNally:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mcnally-0993381a5/Company Website: https://filtersdirectusa.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FSIMechanical/Connect and Learn More with Sarah Boxx: https://sarahboxx.com/#sustainability #greentechnology #urbanplanning #ecofriendly #sustainableliving #MarkMcNally #smartcities #climateaction #environmentalinnovation #cleanenergy #sustainablebusiness #greensolutions #hvac #airfiltration #ecotech #futureofcities #nlnlpodcast #nonprofit Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

KG Charles-Harris is the Co-Founder and CEO of Quarrio, a software company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to make it easy for average business users to do advanced reporting and analytics without learning any new skills. In this episode, KJ and KG cover industry use cases, particularly in healthcare and manufacturing, the importance of information cycle time, and how Quarrio is revolutionizing decision-making with its innovative solutions. KG also touches on the benefits of having a diverse and talented team, maintaining work culture, and blending humanity with technology. Key Takeaways: 04:57 The Complexity of Data in Modern Enterprises 08:42 The Revolutionary Impact of Quarrio's Technology 14:46 Challenges and Successes in Implementing Quarrio Quote of the Show (18:00): “If it takes more than three minutes to learn, user adoption falls precipitously.”– KG Charles-Harris Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with KG Charles-Harris: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kgcharlesharris/ Company Website: https://quarrio.com/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ABOUT CHARLES LEON:CHARLES' LINKEDIN PAGE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chleon/COMPANY WEBSITE: charlesleon.uk CHARLES' BIO:Writer and Illustrator of Sketch Journals, including The Kew Sketch Journal. International Speaker and Trainer on the Creative Process and how Applied Innovation actually works. With more than 30 years experience in design, and an extensive knowledge of neuroscience and the working of the creative mind, I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to helping Organisations and Individuals overcome Innovation Stagnation and achieve Creative Breakthrough.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 77… and my conversation with Charles Leon. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    he NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org On this episode I connect with Charles Leon who has 30 years experience in design, and an extensive knowledge of neuroscience and the working of the creative mind.We'll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…                 *                                  *                                  *When I was nine years old my mom put me in a after school art program in a small little studio a few minutes walk from my school. Every Thursday afternoon, after my regular school classes were done, I would walk down the street, sit in an art studio and learn how to paint in oils. For the next 10 years this was a welcome change in my daily routine that became in some sense a safe place. A place where all the world's troubles or the typical challenges I was having as a teenager would disappear and I would spend a couple of hours focused on painting. My mom had recognized early on that I was pretty handy with a pencil and very interested in creative expression. She did her very best to make sure that I was continually engaged in creative processes whether it was doing Ukrainian Easter eggs or sketching and drawing or baking creative Christmas cookies.She was always there pushing the go button on creativity. As it turns out, she was actually a pretty good artist herself and later in her life she began doing decorative painting which she became exceptionally adept at and the house was full of wonderful pieces of her craftsmanship.My interest in art followed me through the first few years of high school and finally landing in a place where it was just time to decide where I was going to university and to which program I would go.My mom, recognized that I was firmly sitting on either side of the creative and scientific fence, 1 foot firmly in both worlds, and she suggested architecture since it seemed to combine both of my interests.While I was studying to be an architect I took every single drawing and painting course that I could possibly take, whether they were weekly freehand drawing studios or evening classes or sketching schools.These courses during my university years were a safe place there I had more confidence than in doing pretty much anything else.But it really wasn't until those years in university under the tutelage of a great art teacher Gerry Tondino that I really began to understand drawing and painting.It wasn't so much that I was learning technical aspects of drawing or painting but that I was more learning how to see rather than simply look at things.Gerry would say, ‘once you learn to see and draw what you actually se, rather than what ou think you see, the drawing takes care of itself.'I had deep respect for Gerry Tondino and I think I really finally learned how to deeply appreciate the world around me to see the color, texture and value relationships. To understand how objects exist within a context and it wasn't specifically the thing you   looking at but everything around it that helped to define its edge.In college I would continue to take afterschool watercolor courses thinking that it was more convenient than painting in oils since there was a technical challenge of oil painting taking much longer to dry.There was something about the immediacy of watercolor that I liked. You had to think fast and plan. Watercolor was the process of painting in the shade and shadows leaving the white of the paper as the light and highlights. In oils, or now acrylic which I use almost exclusively, you are starting from the dark tones and building in layers to bring out the light.In watercolor there was equally some unpredictability and a learned skill of being able to get certain effects like running a clean wash of graduated blue for a sky over a background or how some pigments we opaque and others transparent, or how colors would interact with each other as water spread across the paper.I was taking workshops once and the teacher said to me “well it's clear you can draw and you've got, you know, a good hand, but I guess the question really is what do you want to say with the work that you create”That was a whole different way of thinking that I'd never really spend time with prior to that moment. I painted and drew simply because it was fun.What did I want to say?...And so I began to think pretty significantly about what message I wanted to convey or rather what stories the things that I drew or painted I might want to share with other people.It was interesting when I began to study architecture and think about design of places and things that I was drawn to the same question about what the architecture meant and what stories it would hold over the years that people would use it.I was always fascinated with traveling and standing within old buildings and wondering what the people wore when they were visiting here hundreds of years ago.What would they talk about. What was the news of the day or the politics what secrets were being not told as people visited and who came and went from within a building's walls.As I moved along my career, thinking about the stories that buildings would hold, it's perhaps not surprising that I somehow serendipitously end up in the world of brand experience place making,that the places that I would create for retailers would be imbued with a brand narrative and that somehow the buildings, stores or hotels would need to be able to demonstrate that subplot about who the intended user was, what their story was and how the place was a physical expression of both the person and the brand.Another experience while an architecture school was with a visiting professor and while I don't remember the exact project we were working on, I do remember her saying a phrase including the word “hodological”Hodological refers to the study of pathways or connections. It's used in fields of neuroscience sometimes thinking about the pathway and connections between neurons and synapses how signals move from one place to the other how information is shared across brain functional areas – In psychology it talks about things like paths in a person's life space and in the world of philosophy it might be considered to take in things like the interconnection between ideas a pathway between thought exercises and where one thought leads to another and what conclusions we might draw from that that decision making treein terms of geography it's really is about actual paths, walking paths for example, connection paths between geographic locations thing like trade route pathsThe interesting thing about the word hodological is not just that all these years later I clearly recall that word but that it also seemed to me that the idea of ‘transition' - moving from one place to the other - was very much a part of experience - that we don't stand still in buildings or public squares or on streets, we move and as we move, we naturally have a different experience at every moment.Sure, there's a gestalt experience of being in Times Square for example but every time we take a step our perspectival view of the context around us ends up changing and every moment technically speaking is also new,We're are clearly taking in some constants in sensory input but our point of view within that context ends up changing.I love this idea of walking through space and experiencing it differently with every step. Every step is a different vantage point to learn something new to see something from a different angle. In a broader sense, my fascination with the nature of change totally aligns with the idea the early -learned term – hodological.Pathways of change. Change through experience or experience through change. We may think that buildings don't change, but they do, albeit in some cases slowly. And over their lifetime they may be experienced be multitudes each one leaving and taking away a story.Transitions are important. I might suggest that all the good stuff happens in the in betweenness of moments in time, places and things. Transitions are where learning lives.Transitions become important as experience makers. So, things like stairs become fascinating places for architectural study. It's not surprising that many of the great architects also spend time designing stairways so that transitions between floors were less about a practical matter of moving your body up to a different level, but could be seen as an opportunity to experience new things along the way. An experiential moment that requires the person's commitment, to willingly give them self over to the idea of change. Cities have memories and our bodies have memories of cities. Buildings have memories and our bodies have memories of buildings.I have expressed before that I believe that there's very much a ‘give and make' of experience - that we interact and share with the built environment around us and it affects us as well. We and the environments we spend time in are deeply connected and our experience lives within us, within our bodies, not just within our heads. Our experience of building leaves within us a body memory, a narrative residue of how we felt while in one place or another.If you look at buildings overtime and understand that they've been used for years, they too have held countless numbers of stories of people that used them. Where they came from. Where they would go back to. Maybe they were transitioning through for a moment. Maybe they were lost and ended up taking a wrong turn and discovering something new.Those stories of buildings are interesting because it gives a life to architecture beyond stone, steel and glass. And this is where my guest Charles Leon comes into the story. Charles is a writer and illustrator of Sketch Journals, including The Kew Sketch Journal. He is an international speaker and trainer on the Creative Process and how Applied Innovation actually works. With more than 30 years experience in design, and an extensive knowledge of neuroscience and the working of the creative mind, Charles brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to helping organizations and individuals overcome Innovation Stagnation to achieve Creative Breakthrough.During the COVID pandemic Charles had a challenge simply staying inside while all of us were held up in our homes for months. With sketchb  ook in hand, Charles saw London England as a hodological space – one to be experiences not in the scientific, objective and measurable sense of streets of a certain distance ad width, buildings of a certain height, pathways connecting purpose driven users or as seen from a 3d person sense but more in the Jean-Paul Satre sense aptly described in Satre's essay, "Sketch for a Theory of Emotions," where his city was to be experienced in a lived-existential subjective sense. One in which he would travel daily, which sketchbook in hand, not always sure about the destination but certain that the path would be one of discovery, connection, and collecting through drawing and painting the memories of the buildings he encountered along the way.The output of these wanderings yielded 5 volumes in drawings and paintings of learnings about the buildings, their architectural details as well as the stories they revealed from within their walls…                 *                                  *                                  *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Allison Byers is a trailblazer in the realm of equitable capital distribution. As the founder of Scroobious, her tech company is quickly driving innovation by removing barriers to partnership among diverse founders, investors, and service providers through scalable online education, community, and data-driven curation. Before founding Scroobious, she spearheaded a medical device startup, securing nearly $10M in funding before its acquisition, and encountered firsthand the gender bias prevalent in fundraising. With over 20 years of experience in startup and tech roles, Allison stands as a seasoned entrepreneur and a catalyst for change having co-authored California Senate Bill 54, signed into law, which requires venture funds to report diversity metrics. She is actively championing initiatives in other states including MA Senate Bill 978 and NY Senate Bill A09786. Beyond her entrepreneurial pursuits, she serves as an angel investor, Boston Co-Chair of the national non-profit All Raise, Executive in Residence at Merck Digital Sciences Studio, DEI task force member of the Angel Capital Association, and is a sought-after startup mentor and dynamic speaker. Key Takeaways: 01:17 The Vision of Equitable Access to Capital 07:08 The Stark Reality of Funding Disparities 10:47 Reframing Inequity as Opportunity 17:28 The Insanity of Expecting Change Without Action 22:43 Building Scalable Solutions Through Technology 32:13 Empowering Entrepreneurs to Forge Their Own Paths 33:00 Collaboration as the Key to Success Quote of the Show: 10:47 “Holy cow, what a business opportunity. Almost 100% of Black founders and 98% of women aren't being funded by venture capital.” Podcast Information Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Allison Byers: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-byers/ Company Website: https://www.scroobious.com/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

James Colgan is the Chief Product Officer at Envoy, the leading integrated workplace platform that connects people, spaces, and data to create a seamless, secure, and efficient workplace experience. In this episode, KJ and James explore the future of workplaces, the role of technology and economics in shaping them, and the significance of company culture. Key Takeaways: 01:39 Redefining Modern Workspaces 08:20 The Importance of Company Culture 16:33 Envoy's Role in Workplace Transformation 17:53 Success Stories: Tesla and Match.com 23:23 Future of Workplace Transformation Quote of the Show (28:00): "Humans do not like ambiguity. We strive to bring clarity to everything." – James Colgan Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with James Colgan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesacolgan Company Website: https://envoy.com/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've all heard Peter Drucker's famous quote, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." But what does it really take to build a workplace culture that drives both people and performance? In this episode of Mission First People Always, Dr. Mike Patterson sits down with culture expert Andrea Wanerstrand to uncover the key elements of creating a thriving, human-centric workplace. Dr. Mike welcomes Andrea Wanerstrand, Founder & CEO of A3 CultureLab, a leadership speaker, coach, and consultant who helps organizations—from startups to Fortune 500 companies—design extraordinary workplace cultures. With a background in global performance management at companies like Microsoft and T-Mobile, Andrea shares insights on fostering a workplace where people feel valued, autonomous, and accountable. Andrea breaks down what it means to have a human-centric workplace, emphasizing the importance of how work gets done, how leaders make others feel, and how trust is built. She explains that culture isn't just about perks or policies—it's about how people interact, communicate, and show up every day. Throughout the conversation, Andrea offers practical advice for leaders, including how to balance empathy with authority, create autonomous teams, and encourage a culture of accountability without fear. She also shares details about her upcoming coaching program, Mindset Maven, designed to help high-achievers develop mental and physical resilience. Key Takeaways: Culture is about the "how," not just the "what"—how work is done, how people feel, and how trust is built. Human-centric leadership requires balancing empathy with authority to foster both people and performance. Autonomous teams thrive on accountability—leaders must set expectations, provide trust, and encourage transparency. Accountability isn't a bad word—it's about taking ownership, getting credit for success, and learning from setbacks. Your energy affects your leadership—Andrea recommends an energy audit to identify when you're at your best and schedule key conversations accordingly. Andrea Wanerstrand's insights remind us that leadership is about creating environments where people can thrive. Whether you're a new manager or a seasoned executive, understanding and shaping culture is key to long-term success. Hit play to hear the full episode and learn how to build a workplace culture that supports both people and performance! Links for This Episode: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreawanerstrand Company Website: http://a3culturelab.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreawanerstrand Connect with Dr. Mike:  Website: https://www.drmikepatterson.com Book: https://www.missionfirstpeoplealwaysbook.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmichaellpatterson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealdrmikepatterson Twitter: https://twitter.com/drmikepatterson Buy The Book!: Mission First People Always Episode Minute By Minute: 00:00 - Welcome and Introduction to the Episode 02:00 - Why Culture is the Driving Force Behind Organizational Success 04:02 - Defining Workplace Culture: The “How” Behind Every Organization 06:00 - Why Leaders Struggle to Build Healthy Cultures 08:06 - The Role of Emotional Awareness in Leadership 10:34 - The Shift from Individual Contributor to Leadership: What Changes? 12:48 - How to Build an Autonomous Team and Why It Matters 15:17 - Balancing Empathy and Authority as a Leader 18:00 - Overcoming Barriers to Authenticity at Work 21:09 - Why Accountability is Not a Negative Word (And How to Use It Effectively) 24:36 - The Importance of Psychological Safety in Workplace Culture 26:00 - What It Means to Have a Human-Centric Workplace 28:25 - Introducing Mindset Maven: Andrea's New Leadership Coaching Program 30:14 - Andrea's One Key Piece of Advice for Leaders 32:00 - Final Thoughts and How to Connect with Andrea

ABOUT NATALIA OLSZEWSKA:NATALIA'S LINKEDIN PAGE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-olszewska/COMPANY WEBSITE: improntaspace.com EMAIL: gardener.natalia@gmail.comNATALIA'S BIO:Natalia is a versatile professional with a foundation in medicine and neuroscience, dedicated to applying neuroscientific principles to architectural design. She adeptly connects these two realms, striving to improve our built environment by making it more human-centered and conducive to well-being. Furthermore, Natalia is an accomplished researcher and practitioner in the field of neuroscience applied to architecture, specializing in evidence-based and neuroscience-informed design. She garnered invaluable experience during her tenure at Hume, a pioneering architectural and urban planning firm founded by Itai Palti, where she led the 'Human Metrics Lab.' Natalia lent her expertise to design projects for prestigious clients such as Arup, Skanska, HKS Architects, EDGE, the Association of Children's Museums, the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, Google, as well as numerous individual clients.Her interdisciplinary approach transcends boundaries, allowing her to craft built environments that foster individual well-being across various dimensions - social, psychological, and cognitive. Natalia's co-founding role at IMPRONTA, a consultancy specializing in health and well-being design, underscores her commitment to leveraging neuroscience and applied sciences in architecture. Since 2020, she has also been contributing to the NAAD (Neuroscience Applied to Architecture) course at IUAV University in Venice.Natalia's educational journey is characterized by a distinctive blend of backgrounds, encompassing medicine from Jagiellonian University and Tor Vergata, neuroscience from UCL, ENS, Sorbonne, and neuroscience applied to architectural design from Università IUAV.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 76… and my conversation with Natalia Olszewska. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgOn this episode I connect with Natalia Olszewska is a versatile professional with a foundation in medicine and neuroscience, dedicated to applying neuroscientific principles to architectural design. We'll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…                 *                                  *                                  *For a while now I have had a fascination with the connection between buildings and brains. While I loved psychology, and studied it before getting into architecture school, it occurred to me in the middle of the 20-teens that buildings, or the environments we design and build, have a direct effect on our psychology. There are places in which we feel good or bad or uneasy or exhilarated, or a sense of awe or agitation. There are places where we feel calm, and others that make me feel ill at ease. And all of those feelings have a body sense to them as well. Heart rises or decreases. I sweat more or less. My chest feels tight or relaxed.  Cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and other neurochemicals and hormones are released and coursing through my body as I experience places. And many of these hormones and neurochemicals being released into my blood stream I have little control over. My brain-body reacts to environmental stimuli and biochemistry does its thing.Buildings may make me feel certain way, induce certain emotions, that we may think are just about your thoughts, brain activity, but at the core, our body too is in a relationship with conditions in the environment.We feel architecture with our bodies, we don't just intellectually experience them in our heads. The experience of buildings, and our emotional reactions to them, is as much a ‘bottom-up process' - our body's sensory processes taking in stimuli from the environment - as a ‘top-down' process – our brains processing that sensory information and making decisions about who we should behave in response to them.Our bodies and brains are in continual dialogue with the world around us. In fact, through a process of neuro plasticity, our brains are wired partly in response to our experiences. Yes we are hard wired through our millions of years of evolution to have what we consider innate responses to the environment and then there are those neuronal connections that area direct result of experiences in the here and now. As you listen to this podcast, your brain is creating new wiring shaping the neural pathways that allow for learning and behaviors.And as we repeatedly experience something, those pathways are reinforced facilitating understanding. Those pathways recognize patterns in our experiences, and they are codified so that when we experience them again our brains are not continually trying to decipher every element anew. If it weren't for our brain's ability of recognize patterns and anomalies in them, we would live a life of extreme ground hog day and would likely be immobilized with the processing necessary to analyze every element we encounter every moment of every day. Over millions of years some of these patterns have become deeply ingrained in our neurobiology. They are part of our brain structures that allow us to react instinctually. You might say that some of them operate ‘below the radar' of our conscious awareness. But because they are not front row center in our awareness doesn't mean that they don't have an influence of our mindbody state.Colors, lighting, materials, geometries, visual patterns and spatial arrangements, to name of few, have an effect on us. We might not necessarily pay attention to these elements of our environment as we move through it, but they have an effect on us. We may not consciously feel the influence of these things, but the effects are there, nevertheless. Acute angles, loud sounds, bright fluorescent lights, certain colors and texture patterns, repetitive and banal patterns, things devoid of detail and out of scale with our human body all have an effect on our sense of well-being. University of Waterloo cognitive neuroscientist Colin Ellard has worked for more than three decades in the application of psychology and neuroscience to architectural and urban design. His work illustrates the impact of ‘boring buildings' on how we feel and our sense health and well-being. We humans, it turns out, function and feel better in environments of physical and visual intricacy. We seek our variety and complexity, layered environments that pique our curiosity and sense of intrigue. And yet…far too many of our built environments at simply banal.Ellard says the  - “The holy grail in urban design is to produce some kind of novelty or change every few seconds,” “Otherwise, we become cognitively disengaged.”Imagine for a moment what is happening inside our mind-bodies when we live 8 + hours in a sea of detail-less white cubicles under a blanked of fluorescent lights. We might think this is an efficient office space, but we are creating brain numbing environments and at the same time asking people to reach optimal performance in the workplace. We may wish hotels guests a good night sleep on a heavenly bed and then we fill the room with light that completely counteracts the production of melatonin telling our brain that it is still daytime and to stay alert.And… we have built city block after city block of repetitive, banality. Efficient to build, very economical yes, but a boredom inducer for the brain.Now this doesn't mean that every environment needs to be a rollercoaster for the senses nor be pristine and bucolic. In fact, some environments are better because they are well…messier. Charles Montgomery, author of Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design suggest that successful design is about “shaping emotional infrastructure.” Montgomery argues that some of the happier blocks in New York are “kind of ugly and messy.” The energy of New York can be both energizing and exhausting.It would be perhaps unfair to heap the responsibility for inhabitants' psychological and physical well-being entirely on buildings but given that we now spend the overwhelming proportion of our days enclosed in them, it stands to reason that they have a clear effect on how we feel. For whatever it's worth, Aarhus, Denmark is the world's happiest city, according to the London-based Institute for Quality of Life's 2024 Happy City Index. The Institute for the Quality of Life identified five categories it believes have the most direct impact on happiness, including citizens, governance, economy, mobility and environment.Based on these factors, Aarhus, Denmark, achieved the highest score, particularly excelling in governance and the environment. I think Copenhagen also held the title at some point I believe due to its building stock being human scale, detailed and varied engendering intrigue and visual delight.And this is where this episode's guest Natalia Olszewska comes into the story.Natalia went to medical school but always had a fascination with architecture. When on a trip to the Venice Biennale it clicked for her that she could combine both of these interests considering that neuroscience could be linked to how buildings make us feel.The rest as they say is history…Natalia adeptly connects these two realms, striving to improve our built environment by making it more human-centered and conducive to well-being. Natalia is an accomplished researcher and practitioner in the field of neuroscience applied to architecture, specializing in evidence-based and neuroscience-informed design.Her interdisciplinary approach transcends boundaries, allowing her to craft built environments that foster individual well-being across various dimensions - social, psychological, and cognitive. Natalia's co-founding role at IMPRONTA, a consultancy specializing in health and well-being design, underscores her commitment to leveraging neuroscience and applied sciences in architecture. Since 2020, she has also been contributing to the NAAD (Neuroscience Applied to Architecture) course at IUAV University in Venice a city that is most definitely not boring…                 *                                  *                                  *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com. The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too. The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Brian Glover is the Co-Founder and CEO of Previewed, a company that offers an immersive, streamlined, and intelligent job search and hiring solution, with AI employee/job matchmaking, and immersive day-in-the-life videos. In this episode, KJ and Brian discuss the increasing opportunities for women in the trades, the looming skilled labor shortage, and the urgent need for public and private initiatives to address the gap. Key Takeaways: 01:51 Meet Brian Glover: Empowering Job Seekers 03:17 The Looming Skilled Worker Crisis 07:56 High Demand Skilled Worker Industries 16:29 How Previewed is Revolutionzing Job Seeking Quote of the Show (18:00): “Our whole focus is to get you into blue-collar trades in high demand with huge pay." - Brian Glover Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Brian Glover: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-glover-startupfounder/ Company Website: https://www.previewed.careers/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Hatami is the Managing Director and Founder of EduPolicy.ai, a company empowering educational institutions to make data-driven decisions that enhance learning outcomes. In this episode, KJ and David discuss the current landscape of AI integration, highlighting the challenges and opportunities faced by educational institutions. Key Takeaways: 05:32 The Wild West of AI in Higher Education 07:52 Challenges and Solutions in AI Adoption 20:46 David Hatami's Journey and Expertise 23:55 EduPolicy.ai: Methodology and Vision Quote of the Show (10:00): "We are setting the bar for how the first generation of digital natives will teach subsequent generations to utilize technology." – David Hatami Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with David Hatami: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-h-b288114/ Company Website: https://edupolicy.ai/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Keyanna Ortiz-Cedeño speaks with Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell- tuning in from Sweden, about democratizing decision making for museums and other cultural institutions to elevate children's pespectives. Dive in and learn how re-priotitizing play, "dancing with the system" and expanding our idea of public participation to include children of all backgrounds can introduce groundbreaking new ideas into our cultural institutions and placemaking initiatives. Mr. Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell, Ph.D. is the Founder and CEO of Cultural Inquiry, a micellium company located in Switzerland that operates internationally. He is a professional with 26 years of experience in education, collective creativity, content co-creation, change-driven strategy, participation and community weaving with a passion for the democratization of minoritized and unrepresented cultural voices in the cultural arena. He founded Children's Boards in different Museums of the world like the City of Arts and Sciences, Norrbottens Museums, HOTA-House of the Arts, and more recently Historisches Museum Saar, Museo of Solutions in Mumbai, Museum of Communication Bern, or Swiss National Museum-Château des Prangins.  Learn more about Jose's work and connect: LinkedIn (personal) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-antonio-gordillo-martorell-28ab0727/ Company LinkedIn Profile https://ch.linkedin.com/company/cultural-inquiry  Company Website  https://www.cultural-inquiry.com/ Publication in MuseumNExt about the Children's Board Methodology https://www.museumnext.com/article/giving-youth-a-voice-in-your-museum-setting-up-a-childrens-board/ Phonetic Planet Interview https://phoneticplanet.org/jose-antonio-gordillo-martorell Articles in Medium https://medium.com/@joseantoniogordillo Publications  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Zg7OQOXro-zJlGmtv1lWXYtKn4h0AD1nSrFLNXjYhEs/edit Read Jose's article in Europeana about Diversity and Inclusion  https://pro.europeana.eu/post/everything-starts-with-a-question-diversity-and-inclusion-in-a-global-world Learn more about Jose's expertise as a Systems Thinking Changer https://collaboratiohelvetica.ch/catalysts/jose-antonio-gordillo-martorell --------------------------------------- Plan Dulce is a podcast by the ⁠⁠⁠Latinos and Planning Division⁠ of the American Planning Association⁠⁠.  Want to recommend our next great guests and stay updated on the latest episodes? We want to hear from you! Follow, rate, and subscribe! Your support and feedback helps us continue to amplify insightful and inspiring stories from our wonderfully culturally and professionally diverse community. Follow Latinos and Planning on Social Media:  Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/LatinosandPlanning/⁠⁠ Youtube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@laplatinosandplanningdivis2944⁠⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4294535/⁠⁠ X/ Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/latinosplanapa?lang=en⁠⁠

Steve Shapiro is the CEO of FineTune, a platform that encompasses the best practice workflow around much of the qualitative learning process, with a hybrid solution that includes human and AI working together. In this episode, KJ and Steve discuss the importance of addressing acute problems, why the best learning is still human-to-human, and the potential of AI to transform educational content. Steve offers practical advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and emphasizes a long-term perspective on the impact of new technologies. Key Takeaways: 03:39 Steve’s Journey into Entrepreneurship 06:07 Revolutionizing Education with AI 11:13 Challenges and Misconceptions in Education 14:11 Future of Education and Workforce Quote of the Show (27:00): “We often overestimate what technology is going to do for us in the next five years and underestimate what it's going to do in the next twenty." – Steve Shapiro Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Steve Shapiro: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveshapiro7/ Company Website: https://finetunelearning.com/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“How can we create behavior change as fast as possible?” In this clip, Kimberly shares her perspective on talent development trends, including microlearning and the rise of AI in the workplace. While acknowledging the value of these tools, she explains why Brown Leadership is leaning into a more “old school” approach—longer, in-person workshops and immersive learning experiences that drive meaningful behavior change. Kimberly discusses how she's optimizing her curriculum, focusing on what's most effective for clients, and leveraging data to guide her strategy. This counterintuitive approach challenges industry norms but delivers powerful results. Connect with Kimberly Personal Website: www.kimberlybonline.com Company Website: www.brownleadership.com/ Book: Next Move, Best Move: Transitioning into a Career You'll Love LinkedIn: Kimberly Brown Podcast: Your Next Move   Connect with Naomi Website: www.naomihaile.com LinkedIn: Naomi Haile Instagram: @naomiahaile Twitter: @naomiathaile YouTube: Naomi Haile

In this episode, Jeff Smith discusses his extensive career journey, including his work with unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) and his experiences starting his own business. Jeff shares his insights on building strong teams, the challenges and opportunities in undersea exploration, and the importance of mentors and trusted networks in achieving success. Additionally, Jeff delves into his personal passion for scuba diving and underwater treasure hunting. Episode Highlights: 00:57 How Jeff Became a Subsea and Seabed Warfare Consultant 02:14 Jeff Smith's Career Journey 05:21 The Leap of Faith: Starting a Business 13:44 Challenges and Opportunities in Undersea Exploration Jeff Smith is a Subsea and Seabed Warfare Consultant with Poroy Global Advisors. Prior to recently joining PGA, Jeff was the VP/GM for Autonomous and Undersea Systems at Saab, Inc. responsible for growing a new US division focused on UUVs, ROVs, USVs, and Autonomy. Jeff stood up the AUS Division securing over $300M in long term programs, building out multiple new facilities, and staffing an exceptional team in less than 3 years. Prior to joining Saab, Jeff was a Chief Scientist for UUV Systems for BAE Systems FAST Labs. Jeff was the president and founder of Riptide Autonomous Solutions, a major market disruptor in the unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) market and brought the company to acquisition by BAE Systems in 4 years. Jeff has spent 30 years supporting the US Navy through his industry roles at General Dynamics, Bluefin Robotics, Riptide, BAE Systems, and now Saab. Over the past several years, Jeff has been selected as a UUV subject matter expert to participate in numerous war games and study panels focused on the future of undersea warfare. Jeff also holds patents in robotics, electro-optical systems, rapid prototyping, subsea battery safety systems, biomedical devices, and in a counter- sniper system, with additional patents pending. Jeff was formerly an advisor for Open Water Power, prior to their acquisition by L-3 Technologies. Jeff is also a member of the Board of Directors for Aretê Associates and numerous non-profit boards for defense, innovation, and blue technology. Connect with Jeff: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsmithgdais/ Company Website: https://poroyglobal.com/ For more insights: Book a call: https://bit.ly/4cToGDs Follow me on my YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/47GgMdn Sign up for my Weekly Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3T09kVcSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“No one is ever going to share your skills and experience better than you.” In this clip, Kimberly explains why you must unapologetically own and share your skills, passions, and goals. She emphasizes that self-promotion isn't bragging—it's educating others about who you are and what you're capable of. Kimberly shares her advice for building a career that creates its own opportunities by actively connecting with people and organizations. Her insights challenge outdated stigmas around personal branding and highlight the power of confidently communicating your value. Connect with Kimberly Personal Website: www.kimberlybonline.com Company Website: www.brownleadership.com/ Book: Next Move, Best Move: Transitioning into a Career You'll Love LinkedIn: Kimberly Brown Podcast: Your Next Move   Connect with Naomi Website: www.naomihaile.com LinkedIn: Naomi Haile Instagram: @naomiahaile Twitter: @naomiathaile YouTube: Naomi Haile

Nitzan Shaer is the CEO and Co-founder of WEVO, a user research platform that leverages AI to deliver reliable insights in a fraction of the time traditional tools require. In this episode, KJ and Nitzan explore the impact of AI and simulated audiences in the design phase, discussing how companies can now predict user responses and save significant costs. With insights on the rising expectations of digital experiences and the necessity of early feedback, the episode highlights WEVO's role in optimizing products before launch, ensuring high-quality customer interactions. Key Takeaways: 01:35 The Importance of Customer Experience 08:31 The Shift in Business Paradigms 09:06 MasterCard's Approach to Customer Experience 13:42 The Role of AI in Digital Experiences 17:09 The Future of Marketing and Product Design Quote of the Show (16:00): “A/B testing is not about taking a bad product and A/B testing your way to success. It's a polishing tool." – Nitzan Shaer Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Nitzan Shaer: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nshaer/ Company Website: http://www.wevoconversion.com How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, James Bates discusses his journey from the technology sector to healthcare, and the development of AdviNow’s AI-driven platform designed to improve medical practice efficiency. James shares the challenges and benefits of implementing AI in healthcare, emphasizing how it reduces clerical burdens for doctors, enhances patient care, and boosts profitability through efficient processes. James also highlights the difficulties faced by large healthcare systems in adopting new technologies and relates personal experiences that inspired his work. The conversation touches on various professional achievements and innovations, presenting a forward-looking vision for AI in healthcare. Episode Highlights: 00:00 Introduction to the Drop In CEO Podcast 03:12 Challenges in the Healthcare Industry 06:26 The Role of AI in Healthcare 31:31 Future of AI in Healthcare James Bates is a visionary CEO, entrepreneur, and investor with a track record of leading high-growth technology companies. As CEO and Founder of AdviNow Medical, he pioneered the world’s first AI and AR-driven automated medical visit platform, securing $20M in funding and launching the company. He is also a general partner in a Fintech hedge fund and managing partner of A Big Capital, LLC, investing in technology startups, real estate, and FinTech. James has driven $1B in revenues at Freescale (NXP) and led Silicon Labs’ Asia Pacific growth to $500M. A board member and holder of nine patents, James holds a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from BYU and resides in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Connect with James: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamessbates/ Company Website: www.advinow.com For more insights: Book a call: https://bit.ly/4cToGDs Follow me on my YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/47GgMdn Sign up for my Weekly Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3T09kVcSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Todd shares his unique career journey from sales in the funeral industry to leading a company specializing in cleaning and testing equipment for the electronics industry. They discuss the importance of customer service, continuous technology advancements, and Todd's strategic decisions during COVID-19 that have positioned the company for growth. The episode also covers the recent acquisition of a competitor, the challenges of merging companies, and Todd's advice for aspiring leaders. Episode Highlights: 04:20 Lessons from the Funeral Industry 05:28 The Importance of Customer Service 07:28 Challenges and Strategies in Leadership 26:14 Acquisition and Future Plans Todd is the President & CEO of Austin American Technology Corporation since 2016. Austin American Technology is a 38-year-old company specializing in cleaning and testing equipment development and manufacturing. Austin American Technology is headquartered in Burnet, Texas.Todd has co-authored papers and articles in the areas of cleaning and microelectronic assembly processes. Todd has a BS in Business Administration from the College of Central Florida. Todd is a member of IPC, SMTA, and the Central Texas Electronics Association. Previous to joining at Austin American Technology, Todd worked in sales and distribution management. Connect with Todd: LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/todd-rountree, Company LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/austinamericantechnology Company Website: www.aat-corp.com For more insights: Book a call: https://bit.ly/4cToGDs Follow me on my YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/47GgMdn Sign up for my Weekly Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3T09kVcSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Industrial Talk is onsite at IoT Solutions World Congress and talking to Maria Mateo Pardo and Andres Mallada Artigas with Integra Tecnologia about "Solutions for smart cities and smart resorts". Finally, get your exclusive free access to the Industrial Academy and a series on “Why You Need To Podcast” for Greater Success in 2023. All links designed for keeping you current in this rapidly changing Industrial Market. Learn! Grow! Enjoy! MARIA MATEO PARDO'S CONTACT INFORMATION: Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-mateo/ Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/integra-estrategia-tecnologia/ Company Website: https://www.integrainnovation.com/ ANDRES MALLADA ARTIGAS' CONTACT INFORMATION: Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andresmallada/ PODCAST VIDEO: https://youtu.be/CykPcCi-GXk THE STRATEGIC REASON "WHY YOU NEED TO PODCAST": OTHER GREAT INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES: NEOM: https://www.neom.com/en-us Hexagon: https://hexagon.com/ Arduino: https://www.arduino.cc/ Fictiv: https://www.fictiv.com/ Hitachi Vantara: https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/home.html Industrial Marketing Solutions:  https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-marketing/ Industrial Academy: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-academy/ Industrial Dojo: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial_dojo/ We the 15: https://www.wethe15.org/ YOUR INDUSTRIAL DIGITAL TOOLBOX: LifterLMS: Get One Month Free for $1 – https://lifterlms.com/ Active Campaign: Active Campaign Link Social Jukebox: https://www.socialjukebox.com/ Industrial Academy (One Month Free Access And One Free License For Future Industrial Leader):

Are you struggling to get media attention for your cybersecurity startup? Wondering how to make your PR strategy stand out in a crowded market? Curious about the secrets behind successful media campaigns in cybersecurity?In this conversation we discuss:

In this episode of the Build Tech Stack Equity Podcast, we sit with Claudio Barahona, a venture capitalist with Alaya Capital, to explore his journey from an eSports entrepreneur to a prominent VC in Latin America. Claudio shares his background, including growing up in Germany and Chile, building a successful eSports company, and transitioning to the venture capital scene. He reflects on the unique challenges and opportunities in the Latin American startup ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of having an upside in one's career. Claudio discusses Alaya Capital's investment thesis, focusing on digital startups with proven market fit in Latin America. The episode also highlights trends and success factors for startups in the region, the importance of U.S. education and connections, as well as practical advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.   If your company is looking to scale its AI initiatives, head over to Tesoro AI (www.tesoroai.com). We are experts in AI strategy, staff augmentation, and AI product development.   Founder Bio:   Claudio founded his first startup at 18 years old, which he sold six years later. He is a Civil Industrial Engineer from the Universidad de Chile and has devoted a large part of his career to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in Chile. In addition, he was director of the Chilean Venture Capital Association from 2018 to 2019. Diario Financiero, one of the main business media in his country, recognized him as one of the "Young Influencers 2017" for his outstanding career in the national innovation ecosystem. From 2011 to 2019 he was the Open Innovation Manager of Movistar Chile and leader of Wayra, the initiative of Telefónica that connects the company with startups and innovation ecosystems and invests as corporate venture capital in innovative technology companies with global scalability. In 2019 he founded the initiative Corporate Venturing Latam, which seeks to map and incentivize CVC in LatAm. In 2021 he founded ComoLevantarCapital.com to teach founders how to fundraise VC. He is currently a Managing Partner of Alaya Capital, a Latin American Venture Capital fund, and dedicates some of his time to promoting and teaching Venture Capital in LatAm and making angel investments in startups.   Time Stamps:   00:25 Claudio's Early Life and Career  06:06 Transition to Angel Investing and Corporate Venture Capital  08:38 Corporate Venture Capital Journey  13:53 Difference between the two types of VCs  15:58 Joining Alaya Capital  20:45 Alaya Investment Philosophy and Criteria  24:49 Fund Sizes and Investment Strategies  27:15 Advantages of Delaware C Corps for Latin American Startups  30:00 Opportunities in the Latin American Market  33:36 Successful Business Models in Latin America  39:14 Challenges and Success Profiles of Latin American Founders  46:09 Challenges and Opportunities for New Founders  49:31 Encouragement and Final Thoughts    Resources    Follow Darius Gant  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/m-darius-gant-cpa-44650aa/  Company Website - www.tesoroai.com    Subscribe on Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/4uDVNgsK3iNeu7yU4Inu2n    Subscribe on Apple Podcast:  https://podcasts.apple.com/ae/podcast/the-darius-gant-show/id1527996104    Company website: https://alaya-capital.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alaya-capital/  Twitter (X): https://x.com/AlayaCapital

Abhishek Jha is the Co-Founder and CEO of Elucidata, a trailblazing biotech company transforming biological discovery by leveraging data-centric approaches and cutting-edge AI and ML innovations. In this episode, KJ and Abhishek delve into future perspectives, including the potential of spatial biology and the importance of integrating diverse data sources for precision medicine, aiming to revolutionize the healthcare landscape over the next decade. Key Takeaways: 03:11 The Journey of a Trailblazer 05:58 Understanding Computational Biology 12:47 The Importance of Clean Data 22:02 The Challenge of Data Preparation for AI 23:45 Understanding the Complexity of Cancer 26:29 The Future of Spatial Biology Quote of the Show (23:00): “The AI paradigm that worked for tech will not carry over to life sciences...it's time for data-centric AI.” - Abhishek Jha Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Abhishek Jha: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishek-jha-ba20a821/ Company Website: https://www.elucidata.io/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of the Build Tech Stack Equity Podcast, Eduardo Kupper, the founder of Airborne Ventures, shares his unique professional journey from an Air Force pilot in Brazil to a Wharton MBA graduate and successful venture capitalist. The conversation delves into his diverse experiences in management consulting at McKinsey, tech entrepreneurship through Rocket Internet, and leading a venture capital arm in one of Brazil's biggest banks. Eduardo outlines the challenges and strategies in raising a $5 million fund in Brazil, emphasizing the importance of adding value to others. He discusses the focus of his first fund and plans for raising a $10 million second fund, highlighting the importance of investing in FinTech, healthcare, and B2B companies in Brazil. Eduardo also elaborates on the VC landscape in Brazil, the significance of productivity and efficiency, and the potential for Brazilian startups to compete on a global scale. Finally, Eduardo provides valuable insights for potential LPs and founders on navigating the Brasilian venture capital market.   If your company is looking to scale its AI initiatives, head over to Tesoro AI (www.tesoroai.com). We are experts in AI strategy, staff augmentation, and AI product development.     Founder Bio:   Eduardo is a seasoned VC with 17+ years of experience across various industries and sectors, including entrepreneurship, venture capital, management consulting, private equity, and investment banking. Previously, he served as the Head of VC at Bradesco Venture Capital arm, where he successfully managed two funds totaling R$ 800mm of invested capital and R$ 1.7 billion AUM. As an experienced VC investor, he has made 70+ deals across several stages and industries over the last decade, with successful exits, including a +1bi BRL sale and a Nasdaq IPO, and sat on the boards of several companies in different sectors and stages. As an entrepreneur, he founded and co-founded a few companies, including Remessa Online, Finpass, MAR Ventures, and the Wharton Alumni Angels. As an investor with a track record of successful deals, he has made marquee investments in companies including Beep Saúde, D1, Conexa, Jeitto, Asaas, and Skyone. Highly connected and well-networked within the venture capital industry, with close relationships and co-investments with several VC funds, angel investors, and internet & tech startups. He brings a wealth of expertise and strategic guidance and an eye for promising opportunities, helping to identify and invest in promising startups and drive returns for our investors on ESG-compliant/target companies, reflecting his commitment to responsible and sustainable investing.   Time Stamps:   00:49 Eduardo's Unconventional Path to Venture Capital 05:44 Insights on Venture Building and Finding Founders 08:21 Corporate Venture Capital Experience 10:00 Launching Airborne Ventures 14:06 Investment Strategies and Fund Management 17:34 Reflections on Fund Performance 24:08 Navigating Investment Strategies 26:04 Investment Stages and Requirements 28:21 Leading vs. Following in Investments 30:07 Investment Structures in Brasil 34:18 B2B vs. B2C in Brasil 41:08 Challenges and Strategies for B2B Startups 47:15 Looking Ahead to 2025   Resources   Follow Darius Gant LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/m-darius-gant-cpa-44650aa/ Company Website - www.tesoroai.com   Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4uDVNgsK3iNeu7yU4Inu2n   Subscribe on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ae/podcast/the-darius-gant-show/id1527996104   Company website: https://airborne.ventures/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/airborne-ventures  

In this episode of the Bringing the Human back to Human Resources podcast, Traci speaks with Kristen Brun Sharkey about building a culture of innovation and effective leadership strategies. Guest: Kristen Brun Sharkey Kristen Brun Sharkey is the Founder and CEO of Emboldify, an executive coach, facilitator, and speaker with 15 years of experience leading teams in advertising, tech, and marketing at companies from early-stage startups to Fortune 100s. She helps leaders advance their careers, make better decisions, execute change effectively, develop innovative solutions, and successfully engage their teams. Her unique approach combines evidence-based business and leadership frameworks with principles from improv theater. She holds a master's degree in management strategy and leadership from Michigan State University and has spoken at notable conferences including the California Conference for Women and the Chief in Tech Summit. Key Topics Discussed: 1. (00:00) Introduction and welcome 2. (02:09) Defining innovation and its importance in business 3. (02:35) Model for building a culture of innovation 4. (05:36) Incorporating improv principles into leadership 5. (10:18) Separating idea generation from evaluation 6. (14:50) Case studies in innovation failure (Blockbuster example) 7. (15:22) The role of humility in leadership 8. (22:31) Strategies for influencing resistant leaders 9. (26:55) Behaviors that support innovative culture Highlights: * Innovation requires both high commitment and openness to new ideas * Psychological safety and destigmatizing failure are crucial for fostering innovation * The "Yes, and" principle from improv theater can transform team dynamics and idea generation * Great leaders create more leaders by elevating others' ideas and solutions * Separating divergent thinking (idea generation) from convergent thinking (evaluation) is essential * Feedback, especially through third parties like coaches, can help leaders develop self-awareness * Successful innovative cultures celebrate failure and embrace play * Leaders must balance humility with the ability to guide their teams effectively Connect with Kristen Brun Sharkey: *LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenbsharkey/ *Company Website: https://www.emboldify.com/ *Podcast: https://www.loveandleadershippod.com/ Connect with Traci: * https://linktr.ee/HRTraci * Visit our website: https://HRTraci.com If you found our conversation valuable, please take a moment to rate our podcast. Your feedback helps us grow and reach more listeners who are passionate about human resources and leadership. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a comment, and give this episode a

Robin Nguyen is the Founder and CEO of IBI Global, a company he envisioned and brought to life. Sponsor The Jason Cavness Experience is sponsored by CavnessHR. CavnessHR provides HR to companies with 49 or fewer people. CavnessHR provides a tech platform that automates HR while providing access to a dedicated HR Business Partner. www.CavnessHR.com Go to www.thejasoncavnessexperience.com for the podcast on your favorite platforms Powered By Earth VC is on a mission to unf@#k the earth. They are doing this by supporting breakthrough scientific research, empowering outlier founders to build enduring climate businesses and investing in high-growth startups that decarbonize the world. Earth VC empowers founders who are Ambitious, Breakthrough and are Committed Earth VC invests in the pre seed to Series A round.  If you think you might be a match reach out to them at rebuild@earth.vc  Robin's Bio As an EdTech entrepreneur, Robin has leveraged his business management expertise and deep passion for education and training to establish IBI Global as a disruptive and sustainable force in the EdTech industry. IBI Global was established based on the idea that eLearning, through innovative methods, can replace traditional classroom training and that educational technology, when used correctly, can have a significant impact on society. Since 2013, Robin has led IBI Global to achieve significant milestones: In 2022, IBI Global was recognized as a finalist in the category of Language Training Solution by The EdTech Awards, one of the largest and most competitive award programs in the field of education technology worldwide. In 2021, IBI Global was recognized as a finalist in the category of Corporate Training Solution by The EdTech Awards. In 2020, IBI Global was recognized as a finalist in the category of eLearning, Blended learning or Flipped Solution by The EdTech Awards. In 2019, Robin co-founded IBI School to revolutionize how children and teenagers learn English by integrating his innovative flipped learning approach into the educational process.  As an educator, he understands that if young people worldwide were equipped with excellent language and soft skills or innovation skills, this world would change drastically. Language promotes understanding, while innovation drives evolution. In 2023, IBI School was recognized as a finalist in the category of eLearning, Blended Learning, or Flipped Solution by The EdTech Awards. Since 2018, IBI Global has successfully established partnerships in various markets, including Ireland, Australia, Singapore, Austria, Israel, and several other countries.  Robin has also made a significant impact and positively contributed to the global education industry: Robin Nguyen was selected by SuperCharger Ventures as a contributing author for the EdTech Book, the first comprehensive book on the field which includes the voices of some of the most influential educators, EdTech entrepreneurs, and other professionals working in EdTech to provide a 360-degree view of Education Technology. Robin Nguyen was featured as one of 100 Admired Education People in 2021 across the globe by The Excelligent, a Global Educational Platform which is available worldwide. With his exceptional expertise in education, educational technology, and innovations, Robin is frequently invited as a guest speaker at international seminars and conferences on topics related to EdTech, innovation, and cultural diversity and inclusion. He has also been a regular panelist at Horasis Meetings. Robin and his team have been consulting on many of the largest M and A deals in the education sector in Vietnam.  We talked about the following and other items Robin's Self-Care Routine Challenges and Benefits of Learning Languages Education Technology (EdTech) and Its Impact Teacher Training and Education Methodologies Impact of COVID-19 on Education Robin's Personal and Professional Journey Robin talks about his vision for the future of education Robin's Approach to Parenting and Child Development Robin's Thoughts on Intelligence and Potential Robin's Business Model and Sales Process Robin's Recommendations for Visitors to Vietnam IBI Global  Robin's Social Media  Robin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinnguyen1122/ Robin's Email: robin#ibi_global.com Company Website: https://ibi-global.com/

In this episode Michael Johnson, a senior leader with over 20 years of experience in global engineering management and product development, explores the importance of leadership in various organizational contexts, and insights on mentoring and team building. The discussion delves into Michael's experiences with startups, his approach to solving engineering problems, and his thoughts on effective leadership. Michael also shares personal stories about balancing professional demands with family life and emphasizes the value of continuous learning and coaching. Episode Highlights: 04:34 Challenges and Rewards of Startup Life 10:09 Effective Leadership in Modern Organizations 12:57 Supporting Clients Beyond Engineering 27:12 Personal Insights and Family Leadership Michael Johnson is a visionary leader with over 20 years of expertise in global engineering management and product development across medical devices and life sciences. As Managing Principal of Stress Engineering Services' Medical Practice and founder of Force-4, Michael has driven innovation in engineering and regulatory consulting. Previously, he led manufacturing and supply chain at Mammotome and spearheaded IoT advancements at Otto Tech Systems. A U.S. Navy veteran and University of Dayton graduate, Michael excels at aligning strategy with execution, fostering innovation, and achieving operational excellence. Join him to explore engineering breakthroughs, leadership insights, and transformative industry strategies. Connect with Michael: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michael-johnson-014b3131 Company Website: https://sesforce4.com/ For more insights: Follow me on my YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/47GgMdn Sign up for my Weekly Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3T09kVc Sign up for my LinkedIn Newsletter: https://bit.ly/49SmRV3 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I met Michael Bervell through a mutual acquaintance some two months ago. Since then he and I have talked a few times and found that we have many interests in common.   Michael grew up near Seattle where he stayed through high school. He then went across the country to study at Harvard. He received a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy. He then returned to Seattle and began working at Microsoft where he held some pretty intense and interesting jobs he will tell us about.   At a young age and then in college Michael's entrepreneurial spirit was present and flourished. His story about all that he has done as an entrepreneur is quite impressive. Today he is back at Harvard working toward getting his Master's degree in Business.   Michael has developed a keen interest in digital accessibility and inclusion. We spend time discussing internet access, the various options for making inclusive websites and how to help educate more people about the need for complete inclusion.       About the Guest:   Michael Bervell is a Ghanaian-American angel-investor, entrepreneur, and best-selling author. He is currently the founder of TestParty, an industry-leading and cutting edge digital accessibility platform.   In 2007, Bervell co-founded “Hugs for” an international, student-run non-profit organization focused on using grassroots strategies to develop countries around the world. To date, "Hugs for" has fundraised over $500,000 of material and monetary donations; impacted over 300,000 youth around the world; and expanded operations to 6 countries (Tanzania, Ghana, United States, Uganda, Kenya, and Sierra Leone). Because of his work, Bervell was awarded the National Caring Award in 2015 (alongside Pope Francis, Dikembe Mutombo, and 7 others).   Bervell is the youngest Elected Director of the Harvard Alumni Association and was the youngest President of the Harvard Club of Seattle. He has helped to found and lead a variety of organizations including the WednesdAI Collective (a Harvard & MIT AI incubation lab), Enchiridion Corporation (a marketing consulting company), Sigma Squared (formerly the Kairos Society), and Billion Dollar Startup Ideas (a media and innovation company). He has experience working as a Chief of Staff at Databook, Venture Fellow at Harlem Capital, Portfolio Development Manager at Microsoft's Venture Fund, Program Manager at Microsoft, and Software Engineer at Twitter.   His various efforts have earned him recognition as a Samvid Scholar (2022), Warnick Fellow (2021), Jonathan Hart Prize Winner (2019), GE-Lloyd Trotter Scholar (2018), World Internet Conference Wuzhen Scholar (2017), Walter C. Klein Scholar (2017), United Health Foundation Scholar (2016), Deutsche Bank Rise Into Success Scholar (2016), Blacks at Microsoft Scholar (2016), Three Dot Dash Global Teen Leader (2015), Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholar (2015), National Achievement Scholar (2015), Coca-cola Scholar (2015), Elks Scholar (2015), AXA Achievement Community Scholar (2015), Build-a-bear Workshop Huggable Hero (2014), and more.   Ways to connect with Michael:   Personal Website: https://www.michaelbervell.com/ LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelbervell/ Company Website: https://www.testparty.ai/ Company LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/testparty/     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hello, everyone. I am Michael Hinkson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Our guest today is Michael Bervell, who is a Ghanaian American angel investor. He is a published author, and he is also an entrepreneur and a scholar by any standards. And if he wants to brag about all that and all the the different kinds of accolades and awards he's gotten, he's welcome to do that. And I will just take a nap. No, I won't. I won't take a nap. I'll listen to him. I've read it all, but I'll listen to it again. Michael, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Michael Bervell ** 01:58 Thanks so much for having me. It's a great name. You have too, both the podcast and your own name, another Mike.   Michael Hingson ** 02:04 You know, I think it's a great name. People have asked me, why I say Michael, and do I prefer Michael to Mike? And as I tell people, it took a master's degree in 10 years, a master's degree in physics in 10 years, to figure this out. But I used to always say Mike Kingston on the phone, and people always said Mr. Kingston. And I couldn't figure out, why are they saying Kingston when it's Kingston, and I introduced myself as Mike Kingston. And finally, one day, it hit me in the head. They're getting the mike the K part with the Kingston, and they're calling it Kingston. If I start saying Michael hingson, will that change it? I started saying Michael hingson, and immediately everybody got it right. They said Mr. Hingson or Michael, or whatever. I don't really care, Mike or Michael is fine, but the last name is hingson, so there.   Michael Bervell ** 02:50 It's so funny. Yeah, I'm glad no one's calling you Mr. Links and or something like, yeah, yell and adding it. They   Michael Hingson ** 02:55 do. They do. Sometimes do Hingston, which isn't right, yeah, which shows you sometimes how well people listen. But you know, what   03:03 do you do? Exactly, exactly? Tell   Michael Hingson ** 03:07 us a little bit, if you would, about the early Michael bervell Growing up in and where, and all that sort of stuff. And you know, then we can get into all sorts of fun stuff, because I know you've been very interested in accessibility and disabilities and all that, we'll get to that. But tell me about you growing up. Yeah. I mean,   Michael Bervell ** 03:24 for me home, home for me was in Seattle, and I actually lived and went to school in a place that was about 30 minutes apart. So my parents would drop me off at school in the morning. I go through the day, meet all my friends, and then come back home. They would pick me up, take me back home in the evening. So I had a lot of time in the day after school, you know, school ends at two, and my parents picked up a five to do all this other stuff. So I used to always be part of every student, student club. I did every sports team, you know, I was in high school, you know, on the captain of all these, all these teams and such. And of course, I would go home and my parents picked me up. And in that in that in between time, I spent a lot of time in the library, so I probably every day in middle and high school, spent three hours a day at the library, just in that in between time, waiting for your parents, waiting for my parents. So that for me, was a lot of time that I just used to incubate projects. I taught myself how to code and took some CS classes when I was, you know, in high school at the library, I became friends with all the librarians and joined the student library advisory board when I was in eighth grade at the library, and did a bunch of other things. But I think probably the most impactful library project that I had was actually a nonprofit that my family and I started, and it was memory of my grandmother, who born in Ghana. She used to always go back there in the winter times, because, you know, it's cold in Seattle, warm in West Africa in the winter   Michael Hingson ** 04:48 as well. Yeah,   Michael Bervell ** 04:49 yeah, it was super warm there. I mean, it's always, you know, 80 plus degrees, wow. Yeah, it's lovely. And so she would always go home. And whenever she went back to Ghana. She would, you know, come into our bedroom and tip doe at night and go into the bed and take a teddy bear or take some of her old school supplies. And whenever she visited, she would give that to kids in hospitals and schools and North pages. So, you know, when she, when we, when she passed away, we ended up going back to Ghana for her funeral. And, you know, all the burial ceremonies, and there were just so many people from the community there expressing their love for her and what she had done. And we realized that, you know, while it was small for us, you know, as a six year old or sixth grade kid, her taking a teddy bear had such a big impact, and it had these ripple effects that went far beyond her, so that that was, like one of my biggest projects I did at, you know, in sixth grade and beyond. It's an organization, a nonprofit called hugs for Ghana, which we've been running for the last 15 years, 15 plus years, and now is operating in six different countries. And we do the same thing. We get teddy bears and school supplies and all these things, and pick them up and hand deliver them to kids in developing countries. But that, for me, was one of my most fundamental parts of my childhood. When you ask me, you know, was it like as a child? I can't separate my growing up from, you know, those long drives to school, that time at the library and eventually the nonprofit made in honor of my grandmother,   Michael Hingson ** 06:10 and giving back,   Michael Bervell ** 06:13 yeah, and giving back exactly how   Michael Hingson ** 06:16 I talked fairly recently on this podcast to someone who formed. Her name is Wendy Steele. She formed an organization called Impact 100 and impact 100 is really primarily an organization of women, although in Australia, there are men who are part of it. But basically what Wendy realized along the way was that, in fact, people are always looking for, what can they do? And at the same time, they don't have a lot of time. So with impact 100 she said, and the way the organization works, the only thing that she requires that anyone who joins the organization must do is donate a check for $1,000 that's it. If you don't want to do any work, that's great. If you want to be part of it and all that. It's fine. If the organization is primarily composed of volunteers. I think they have now like 73 or 77 chapters in mostly in the United States, but they're also when Australia and a couple of other countries, and they have given out in the 20 years since the organization was formed, all told, close to $148 million what they do is they take the money that comes in, and they for every $100,000 that a Chapter raises, they give a $100,000 grant to someone no administrative costs, unless those are donated on top of the $1,000 so all the money goes back to the community. I think the first grant they ever gave was to a dental clinic to help with low income people and so on. But it's a fascinating organization, as I said, it's called Impact 100 and she started it because as a child, she was very much involved in giving back, and for a while she she didn't. And then it started again when her father passed away, and she realized how many people from the community supported her and the rest of her family because they didn't have the tools or the resources to do it all alone. Yeah, so I'm not surprised that you have the story of giving back and that you continue to do that, which is really pretty cool.   Michael Bervell ** 08:36 Well, I think I actually heard a statistic that I think they tried to track how early childhood development, or just early adulthood, affected later adulthood. I think one of the findings was that people who volunteered when they were in middle and high school or significantly more likely to volunteer later in life than those who never did. And so there is a certain level of kind of you know, how you experience the world in your early ages and your early days affects your potential to want to make a change, especially as it relates to giving back or giving time or money or whatever effort, whatever it might be, I think is a really interesting concept. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 09:14 it makes sort of perfect sense, because as you're growing up and you're forming your life, if you see that you're doing things like giving back or being involved in supporting other people, and that is a very positive thing, it makes sense that you would want to continue that in some way.   Michael Bervell ** 09:33 Yeah, yeah. I mean, it reminds me also of just like habits. You know, you build your habits over time, and it starts from super young ages not to say that you can't change habits. There's a bunch of research about the science of habit change and how to break a habit loop, and Charles Duhigg is a great author in that space, but it's also just really interesting just to think through that. But yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 09:54 and habits can be hard to break, or they can be easy if you're really committed. Into doing it. But I know a lot of people say it, it's fairly challenging to change or break a habit.   Michael Bervell ** 10:06 Exactly, yeah, exactly.   Michael Hingson ** 10:09 Unfortunately, sometimes it's all too easy to make a habit. But anyway, there you go. Yeah,   Michael Bervell ** 10:14 my one of my it's, it's funny, because after you know one of my habits I made when I was in high school that, to my mom's chagrin, was I used to always love just doing work on my bed. The positive thing about the habit was I was always comfortable. The negative thing is I would sometimes fall asleep. So many times I mid paper, you know, mid take home exam, fall asleep. I have to wake up and scramble to finish. But that doesn't show me a faster writer. If anything   Michael Hingson ** 10:41 I remember, when I was in graduate school at UC Irvine, I had an office of my own, and I was in it one day, and I was looking at some material. Fortunately, I was able to get most of the physics texts in Braille, so I was studying one, and the next thing I knew, I woke up and my finger was on the page, and I had just fallen asleep, and my finger for reading braille, was right where I left off. Always thought that was funny,   Michael Bervell ** 11:14 yeah, just a just a quick, just a quick pause. You just pause for a second, even   Michael Hingson ** 11:18 though it was about 45 minutes, but whatever. But my figure didn't move.   Michael Bervell ** 11:24 You really focused, you know, just That's it. That's it.   Michael Hingson ** 11:27 The advantage of Braille, exactly. But, you know, I do think that it's great to have those kinds of habits, and I really wish more people would learn the value of giving back and sharing, because it will come back to benefit you so many times over.   Michael Bervell ** 11:48 Yeah, yeah. I mean, what's even what influences me, like now and even throughout, you know, post high school, like when I went into college, I knew I wanted to be in some sort of service and giving back type of industry, but I didn't really know what that was, right, like, I didn't want to do want to do philanthropy full time, because I found it difficult, right? Like, I found it hard to have to go back to investors, and I found it difficult to sometimes sell the vision. And my question was, is there a way to make this more sustainable? And so I spent a lot of my time in school and college just learning about social impact, which, at the time was just coming up, like a lot of those impact investment funds, impact bonds, the idea that you can tie finance to impact, and you can have carbon offsets that people buy and sell, that has some sort of social good, that you can somehow transact. All these kind of new and interesting ideas were coming around, and it started, it just got me interested, right? It's, you know, can I make a habit of creating an impact, but also habits somehow work within, you know, this capitalist system that the world operates in. It's something I've been wrestling with, you know, even in all my my future business and kind of current business, work and practices.   Michael Hingson ** 12:58 What do you do when you propose an idea or have a thought, and you discuss with people and they object to it. How do you handle objections?   Michael Bervell ** 13:05 Yeah, I mean, I think, I think for me, I'm always interested in the root cause, right? I think I'm one who tries to understand first before trying to persuade. So I could give you an example, I think very early in my, very early my college career, I realized that my parents would be able to pay for college for me. That was the youngest of three. And, you know, they'd use a lot of their savings on my siblings, about the who ended up going to med school, which is very expensive, yeah, college, which was also very expensive. And being immigrants from Ghana, of course, they hadn't saved up an infinite amount of money. So my mom sat me down and told me, Hey, you have to pay your own tuition. And so, you know, the person I had to convince to kind of help me here was actually funny enough, restaurants are in Harvard Square, and the reason why is I decided to make a business that did restaurant consulting. So I went door to door, and I would ask people and like, hey, you know, do you need 20 Harvard students to come and help you understand how you can get more foot traffic in the door. You know, sell more pizzas or sell more burritos. I think I heard 20 or 30 knows. And finally, one woman said, Well, you know, if, if, if, if you think that you can do it, then, you know, show me. Show me the numbers, right? And that was, that was really interesting. And so I think it realized, you know, when I when she initially said, No, I said, Well, why not? She said, I just don't know if you can do it. And when I said, Oh, we can actually show you the proof, she's like, Okay, well, then if you can run a pilot and show me the proof, then I'll do it. And so understanding the why, I think, is more important than getting the rejection and, you know, getting the setback. But that's try to, that's how I try to deal with it.   Michael Hingson ** 14:38 One of the things that I learned fairly early on, when I was put in a position of starting to sell for a living, actually, in Cambridge, working for Kurzweil Computer Products and taking a Dale Carnegie sales course was stay away from asking closed ended or. Yes, no questions. And so most of the time, I wouldn't say, you know, can we do this? Or would you do this? I would say, I'd like to hear your thoughts about or we've got this idea, tell me what you think, and doing other things to get people to talk. And when I started using that in my career, it was easy to get people to talk because they they want to talk. Or, as I like to say, people love to teach, and most of the time, if you establish a relationship with people and they know you're listening, they're welcome, or they're willing to give you wisdom. And so there are so many examples I have of asking open ended questions like that, or I went into a sales meeting with one of my employees, and there were a bunch of people there, and I said, Tell me to the first person I talked with, tell me why we're here. And it totally caught him off guard. Of course. The other thing is that they didn't realize that the sales manager who was coming, that the the guy who had set up the appointment was was told to bring his manager, and they didn't realize that the sales manager was blind, which also was a great addition to help. But again, I didn't ask, so you want to take backup system, but rather tell me why we're here. Tell me what you're looking for. Why are you looking for that? What do you want it to be? And I actually realized by the time I went around the room that our product wasn't going to work, but we still did the PowerPoint presentation. And then I said, if case you haven't figured it out, our system won't work, and here's why, but here's what will work. And that eventually led to a much larger order, as it turns out, because they called back later and they said, We got another project, and we're not even putting it out for bid. Just tell us what we pay you, and we'll order it. And it's it's all about. The objections are really mostly, I think, from people who maybe have some concerns that you didn't learn about because you didn't ask an open ended up or the right question, which is something that only comes with time.   Michael Bervell ** 17:15 Yeah. I mean, I think it also sounds very similar to like, what journalists are are trained to do, like a great journalist. And I took a journalism class a few years ago, maybe five years ago, with Joe Abramson, who was one of the first female executive, executive editors of the New York Times. And this was kind of her exact lesson. Is that everyone has some story to teach, some wisdom to share, and the difficulty, or really the challenge on you as an interlocutor, as a journalist, as someone whose job it is to uncover the story, is to ask the right questions, yeah, to allow that person the space to teach.   Michael Hingson ** 17:51 And if you and if you don't know the right questions, you ask something open ended, enough that maybe you'll get to it.   Michael Bervell ** 17:57 Yeah, exactly, exactly. And then the flip side, right, because there's, of course, you can't put all the burden on the person, no, right? You have to be an active listener. You have to listen to know, and then you have to prod and even say something like, Tell me more. Yeah, exactly right. Questions like, Tell me more, her second favorite question was, and then what happened? Yeah, right. Those are two such simple things, you know? And then what? Yeah. And it's just such an opening to really evolve and to grow.   Michael Hingson ** 18:23 And if they really think you're listening and that you want to know and understand, people will talk to you exactly which is, which is really what it's about. Well, so you did all of your so you went to high school in Seattle, correct? Yeah. And, and then what did you do?   Michael Bervell ** 18:43 Yeah. So High School in Seattle Graduated, went off to Boston for college, where, you know, of course, had to figure out a way to pay for school. And that was my first, I guess, for profit business. Was this restaurant consulting company. And of course, like I said, everything I want to do in my in my life, was focused on social impact. So the impacts there was that we only hired students to work for us who needed to pay tuition. There was this program called federal work study where, if you get trade, you have to, you know, work as part of a federal mandate for some amount of hours per week, and that was the book study requirement. And for the most part, students would do on campus jobs that would pay 10, $15 an hour to do this work study. Well, I'd spent up this consulting business as a sophomore that I then ran for all three years, and on an hourly basis, we were making significantly more than that, right? So I was able to go find students who traditionally had been working their whole life, right? Harvard has such a, you know, vast background of individuals. I knew, people who were homeless, people who were billionaires and everyone in between, who ended up coming to the school and so to find people who you know had been working 40 hours a week since they were in middle school, and give them a job where they could work less and actually have more free time to invest in their community or invest back into developing new skills, was, for me, super, super impactful. On the surface, it was a restaurant. A consulting business, but behind the scenes, what we were doing with our staffing and with our culture was was around that social impact. So I stayed out in in Cambridge for for four years, studied philosophy. I got a minor in computer science, and eventually went off to Microsoft back in in Seattle, where I eventually then, you know, was product manager and was a venture capital investor, and met a bunch of really phenomenal and interesting people who were pushing technology forward.   Michael Hingson ** 20:27 Now, why Harvard, which is all the way across the country?   Michael Bervell ** 20:33 Yeah, I mean, well, I think I love traveling. I loved, I loved, you know, being out and about, and I think growing up as the youngest of three, and also as the child of African immigrants, they'd always told me, you know, we moved here for you, like we moved 3000 miles away to a country where you don't speak the language, where you don't know anybody for you. And what they meant for that is, you know, we want you to really thrive. And even you know, now I'm at the age when my parents had first moved right to the US, and I can't imagine moving to a country where I don't know the language, don't know the people, and don't know a soul for my potential future children. And their children, that's what they did, and they invested a lot of time and energy and effort into me. And they always told me, you want you to be really successful. And so I remember when I was when I was in middle school, my sister got into Harvard, which was unheard of, right? No one in our high school had gone to Harvard in the past, especially not for, you know, a black family in a primarily white neighborhood, for one of us to go to Harvard was was a big deal. And so I knew that, you know, at the very least, for my parents, for my sister, for my family, I wanted to kind of match up to that   Michael Hingson ** 21:43 well, and it certainly sounds like you've, you've done a lot of that. Oh, here's a an off the wall question, having been around Cambridge and worked in Cambridge and all that is cheapo records still in Harvard Square.   Michael Bervell ** 21:57 Oh, man. You know what's so funny, I got a record player. I got a record player last semester, and I don't remember if cheaper records, that's the one that's like, I think I've is that the one that's in like, the actual, like, it's by, like, Kendall, take by Kendall, Kendall Square.   Michael Hingson ** 22:15 No, I thought it was in Harvard Square. Okay,   Michael Bervell ** 22:19 I think, I think it still exists. If I'm not mistaken, I think it still exists. I think I got a lot, got a lot of records from cheapo over the years record stores in Cambridge. And because I got a record player as a gift, I've been, I've been collecting a lot more,   Michael Hingson ** 22:31 ah, yeah, um, I've gotten a lot of records from cheapo and over the years. And of course, not so much now, since I'm out here. But next time I get back to mass, I'll have to go check,   Michael Bervell ** 22:43 oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah. We can do a cheapo records hanging how tactile It is, yeah, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 22:52 There used to be one in New York that I would go to. They were more expensive as New York tends to be colony records, and they're not there anymore, which is sort of sad, but cheapo. Cheap just seemed to be one of those places that people liked. I don't want to say it was like a cult, although it sort of is all the dedicated people to to real vinyl, but I hope it's still   Michael Bervell ** 23:16 there. Is it? It's a chain of record stores, or is it just,   Michael Hingson ** 23:18 no, I think it's a one. Oh, yeah. If there's more than one, I'm not aware of it, I'd   Michael Bervell ** 23:23 probably say I'm 80% certain it still exists. Well there,   Michael Hingson ** 23:27 yeah, so have to come back to mass. And yeah, I'll have to go to cheaper records and Legal Seafood.   Michael Bervell ** 23:32 Oh yeah, Legal Seafood. That was, yeah, I love Legal Seafood musical all the time with my roommates from college. And, yeah, we used to order the crab cakes and eat lobster rolls. It's a great time.   Michael Hingson ** 23:44 Yeah, and then their little chocolate desserts, which are great yeah, and the chowder. Oh, well, yeah, yep, gotta, gotta get back to mass. Okay. Now whoever   Michael Bervell ** 23:53 you're listening is probably getting hungry. Well, you know,   Michael Hingson ** 23:57 as as they should, you know, you know why they call it Legal Seafood. I actually don't know nothing is frozen. It's all fresh. It's legal. Oh, I love that. I love that, at least that's what I was told. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Well, so you, you went to college and went then back to Seattle and worked for Microsoft and so on. So clearly, you're also interested in the whole idea of investing and the whole life of being an entrepreneur in various ways. And so you brought entrepreneurialism to everything that you did.   Michael Bervell ** 24:35 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that was my first job at Microsoft. I was, you know, managing what's called Windows IoT. So we were putting software on everything that wasn't a phone or a laptop. So think, you know, smart screens in airports, or screens in Times Square, or, you know, the type of software that your Amazon Echo, you know, maybe not Amazon in particular. But what that would run on that was working on IoT all these. They called it headless devices, yeah, devices with no screens. And that was my team for a little bit. I worked there for about year and a half. It was phenomenal. You know, we were managing multiple billions of dollars in revenue, and there was only, you know, 4050 people on my team. So you do the math, we're all managing hundreds, 10s to hundreds of millions of dollars in our products. And while I loved it, I realized that my my true passion was in was in meeting people, talking to people, and giving them the resources to succeed, versus giving them the actual technology itself. I loved being able to connect an engineer, you know, with the right supplier to work on a hard problem that could then be built for Microsoft to eventually get to a customer. And that sort of connection role, connector role is kind of the role of a venture capitalist. Yeah, right. You're connecting your limited partners who have invested in this fund to entrepreneurs who are trying to build some sort of idea from the ground up. And, you know, once you invest in the entrepreneur, then connecting the entrepreneur to mentors, to advisors, to potential employees, to potential customers. And so there's this value in being someone who's a listener, a journalist, right, like we had been talking about someone who has a habit of trying to make a broader impact. And it kind of all aligned with what I had been building up until that point. So I worked at M 12, it's Microsoft's venture capital fund, and invested in in a bunch of companies from Kahoot, which is like an education startup, to obviously open AI was a Microsoft investment as well, to other things like that. And so it was cool, because, you know, the fund was, was really, we had the mandate of just find cool companies, and because we were Microsoft, we could reach out to any founder and have a conversation. So it was, it really was a few years of just intense and deep learning and thoughtfulness that I wouldn't, I wouldn't trade for anything. What got   Michael Hingson ** 26:58 you started in the whole arena of thinking about and then being involved with digital accessibility, because we've talked about that a lot. I know that's a passion. So how did you get started down that road?   Michael Bervell ** 27:11 Yeah, I mean, it came partially through working at Microsoft, right? I mean, as I was at Microsoft, Satya Nadella, who was the CEO, he was making big, big investments into digital accessibility, primarily because his son, now, his late son, had cerebral palsy, and a lot of the technology at Microsoft, his son couldn't use, and so he had this kind of mission and vision to want to make more accessible technologies. But my first exposure to it even before then, like I said, in college, I had to work all these, all these jobs to pay tuition, and I built my own business, but one of the clients we consulted for was a large search engine. I'm sure you can imagine which one it was, and it wasn't Microsoft, and that were search engine. I helped them devise their ability strategy.   Michael Hingson ** 27:56 You mean the G word, something like that? Yeah.   Michael Bervell ** 28:00 Yeah. Duck, duck, go, yeah. No, that's it. Yeah, exactly. And so it was really cool to work with them and to see like at scale, at 200,000 employee scale, at 1000 product scale, how do you create systems and guardrails such that accessibility, in this case, digital accessibility, will be something that that actually ends up happening. Ends up happening. And so that was my first exposure to it. And then again at Microsoft. And then finally, a third time, while I was in business school, you know, working on various projects with friends. And one friend told me, you know, all I did at work this week was have to fix accessibility bugs because my company got sued. And that was and just all those moments combined with the idea that I wanted to impact the deep empathy that comes through learning and knowing and understanding people's backgrounds and histories, all of it came to a head with what I now work on at test party.   Michael Hingson ** 28:57 So now, how long has test party been around? And we'll get to that up. But, but how long have you had that?   Michael Bervell ** 29:03 Yeah, we started. We started about a year ago. Okay, so it's pretty recent,   Michael Hingson ** 29:07 so yeah, definitely want to get to that. But, so the whole issue of accessibility, of course, is a is a thing that most people don't tend to know a lot about. So so let's start this way. Why should people worry about making products and places like websites accessible? And I know websites, in a lot of ways, are a lot easier than going off and making physical products accessible, especially if they're already out, because redesign is a very expensive thing to do, and is not something that a lot of people are going to do, whereas, when you're dealing with websites, it's all about coding, and it's a lot easier. Yeah,   Michael Bervell ** 29:48 yeah. I mean, I think, I think fundamentally, it comes down to, you know, a set of core beliefs. And I think we could all agree, and I think we would all believe that, like everyone has the right to. You a decent, fulfilling and enjoyable life. I think regardless of where you fall on, you know, belief spectrums or anything, that's something that we all fundamentally believe. You know, you should live well. You should try to live a good life. It's what people talked about in writing for years. And I think when you think of the good life in today's terms, in the 21st century, it's almost inseparable from a life that also engages with technology, whether it's cell phones or computers or whatever it might be, technology has become so fundamental into how we live that it now has also become part of how we live well and how we live a good life. And I'll give you a clear example, right? Let's suppose you really believe that voting is part of living the good life. There is a time, 100 years ago, you know, you didn't need to really have a car. You could get a rehearsing buggy. Maybe you could even walk to a voting station and cast your vote in today's world, especially, let's suppose a COVID world, and even a post COVID world, computers, technology, websites, are fundamental in living that good life, if that's your belief system. And you can play this game with any belief that you have, and once you extrapolate into what does it take for you to do that thing in the best way possible? It almost inevitably, inevitably, you know, engages with technology. Yeah, so why do I think having accessible websites are important? Well, it's because pretty much 195 people has a disability of some sort, and so to live the good life, they have to engage technology. And if that technology is not working for them for whatever reason, then that needs to be fixed. That needs to be changed. And of course, there's the guardrails of laws, you know, ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, EAA European Accessibility Act and others that try to mandate this. And of course, there's the goodwill of companies who try to do this proactively. I think Apple is a really good example, and Microsoft as well. But fundamentally, the question is, you know, what is a good life? How do you enable people to live that? And I think through technology, people should be able to live a better life, and should not have any barriers to access.   Michael Hingson ** 32:02 The thing is, though, take apple, for example. For the longest time, Apple wouldn't do anything about making their products accessible. Steve Jobs, jobs basically told people to pound sand when they said, iTunes, you wasn't even accessible, much less the iPod and the iPhone and the Mac. And it wasn't until two things happened that they changed really. One was target.com target had been sued because they wouldn't make their website accessible, and eventually too many things went against target in the courtroom, where they finally said, Okay, we'll settle and make this work. When they settled, it cost them $8 million to settle, whereas if they had just fixed it up front, the estimate is that it would have been about $40,000 in time and person hours, but because of where the lawsuit was filed and so on, it was $8 million to settle the case. And so that was one thing, and the other was it had been made very clear that Apple was the next company on the target list because they weren't doing anything to make their product successful. Well, Apple suddenly said, Okay, we'll take care of it. We will deal with it. And I think they had already started, but they and so as not to get sued, they said, We will do it. Well, probably the first thing that happened was the iPhone 3g well, maybe it wasn't the three, it was earlier, but the iPhone became accessible. The iPod became accessible. Pretty much all of them, iTunes, you the Mac. So by 2009 last when I got my iPhone 3g Apple was well known for making their products accessible, and they did it in a very clever way. It was accessible right from the outset. You didn't have to buy other stuff to make their products work. No need to buy a new screen reader or any of those kinds of things. So they spread the cost over every product that they sold, whoever bought it, so anyone who buys an iPhone can invoke accessibility today, which, which was cool, yeah,   Michael Bervell ** 34:09 yeah. And I think through Apple, I mean, I think the initial argument I made for why is it import to make websites accessible was an ethical argument, right? I think in Apple's case, they, they probably did the business case analysis and understood this actually does make economic sense. And I think what you see today is there is even more economic sense because of the expanding market size. Right? Think the aging population that will develop some sort of disability or impairment, right? That's really growing larger, right? Think about, you know, individuals who may have what people call temporary disabilities that are not permanent, but last for some period of time, whether it's, you know, nine months, 10 months, two years, three years, and those types of things. So I think there is, there's also a business case for it. I think that's what Apple as a case study has shown. What you bring up, though, is, does it matter? Does it really matter? Like, why companies start doing this, right? And I think that's a question, you know, to grapple with. You know, if Apple did it out of the goodness of their heart versus because they didn't want to get sued, but the downstream effects are the same, you know, does that matter? And, you know, question, Do the ends justify the means? In this case, the ends are good, at least just by the start, perhaps, but sure that interesting question so, but I do think that they have done really good work   Michael Hingson ** 35:27 well. And you and you brought up something which, you know we talked about, which is that you talked about one company that dealt with some of because they got sued. And litigation is all around us. Unfortunately, we're a very litigious society and in our world today. So so like with accessibe, that that I work with, and work for that company, and a lot of what I do, some people have said, well, accessibe shouldn't always use the idea that, well, if you don't make your website accessible, you're going to get sued. That's a bad marketing decision, and I think there are limits, but the reality is that there are lawyers who are out there who still haven't been muzzled yet, who will file 5060, 100 complaints just to and they get a blind person to sign off and say, Yeah, we support this, because they'll get paid something for it. But they're not looking to make the companies deal with accessibility. They just want to earn money, 10,015 $20,000 per company. But the reality is, part of the market is educating people that litigation is a possibility because of the fact that the internet is a place of business under the Americans with Disabilities Act.   Michael Bervell ** 36:54 Yeah, exactly. I think when you think of like, you know, what is the purpose of litigation? Again, I, as a philosophy guy, I always think back to first principles, and it really is a deterrent, right? Obviously, no one wants to get sued. And, of course, no one wants to pay damages, punitive or reparative. And so in this case, these are all examples of punitive damages that people are paying for not having done the right thing. Right? In in, in the best case, you do the right thing to begin with. But I think it's, you know, the consequence of not doing the right thing. I think, of course, there's the question of you described, kind of these lawyers, or what people call as kind of the trolls who are just kind of suing and, you know, reaping the benefits from this. And I think it's an unfortunate side effect. I do wish that there was a world where these trolls wouldn't even need to exist, because things are working perfectly, right, well,   Michael Hingson ** 37:45 and the reality is that it goes back far earlier than the internet. I mean, there are places, there are people who would drive around and make people in wheelchairs who might find the smallest by violation wasn't even necessarily a legitimate violation, and they would sue and so and so. It isn't anything new that is just with the internet. Yeah, it's been going on for years. Yeah,   Michael Bervell ** 38:11 those are the drive by lawsuits. I remember I heard about those, and I think it's, this is the digital equivalent of that,   Michael Hingson ** 38:16 right? Yeah, right. And it is an issue, and it is something that that needs to be dealt with, but you also talk about doing the right thing, and that's really the better reason for doing it. If you do, you really want to exclude up to 20% of your potential business by not making your website accessible. Or better yet, if you make your website inclusive for all, what is going to happen when somebody comes to your website looking for a product and then they buy it because they were able to are they going to come back to that website? Are they going to go looking elsewhere? And there are so many studies like Nielsen did studies, and others have done studies that show absolutely people appreciate brand loyalty, and when they feel that they're they're valued and included, they're going to stick with that company.   Michael Bervell ** 39:12 Yeah? But even with that said, right, there's so this conflict of we all logically know it's the right thing to do, there's business purpose for doing it, and yet people don't do it. Yeah, 97% of the internet is still not accessible, if you look at this correct right? And so our hypothesis release, what we take, and what I take as a business is that sometimes, if it's too hard to do the right thing, people won't do the right thing, but that's what they want to do. And so how do you make it easier to do the right thing? And that's hopefully what, what we're what we're hoping to change in the industry, is just making it easier and also letting people know that this is an issue. One   Michael Hingson ** 39:48 of the one of the criticisms, oh, go ahead. Go ahead. A lot of people   Michael Bervell ** 39:52 don't, don't do the right thing, because just don't know that there is a right thing to do. You know   Michael Hingson ** 39:56 right well. And one of the criticisms I've heard over the. Years, especially dealing with the products like accessibe is, well, the problem is, you just slap this AI thing on their site, you're not teaching them anything, and that's not a good thing. And with manual coders, they're going to teach people. Well, that's not true either, but, but this whole argument of, well, you just put it on there, and then you go away, which isn't true, but again, that's one of the criticisms that I've heard any number of times, and that you're not really educating people about accessibility. You're not really educating them much about it. And the answer is, look, the company that wants to do business came to you in the first place. So they obviously knew they had to do something.   Michael Bervell ** 40:44 Yeah, yeah. And I think when I think through it, it's like, how do you make sure that the downstream effects of whatever you do is just positive and beneficial, right? And the ideal, as we all agree, I think, would be just to build it right the first time. Whether it's physical buildings, build a building right the first time. Or, if it's websites, build the website correctly the first time. Whatever helps people to get to that stage and that level of thinking and habits I think are, are ideal   Michael Hingson ** 41:13 coming from your background and so on. You know now that there are two basic ways that people can work to make websites accessible. One is the traditional way where you have someone who goes in and codes in the access and puts it right on the website. And now, over the past several years, the other way that has come into existence is the whole concept of using as accessibe does AI and although AI won't necessarily do everything that needs to be done, it will do most of what needs to be done, and maybe everything, depending on how complex the website is. But what do you think about the whole fact that now AI has entered into the accessibility world and people are using it?   Michael Bervell ** 42:02 Yeah, I think AI is interesting. And I think AI is a tool. I think it's it's a tool that's been developed, obviously, over a long history, right? Like the first artificial intelligent computers were in the 60s and 70s, being able to predict things, and of course, you heard of AlphaGo and computers that could pay chess and all these different things. So I think we'll definitely be surprised by what AI can do as a tool, right? And the question is, it will be, you know, the panacea, the thing to cure it all. Well, we all love for that to be the case. Who knows? You know, if it'll be AI, maybe functionally, AI could do that. But in terms of compute power, you know, it won't be able to until we have quantum computing or something right, in which case maybe it'll leapfrog this whole type of technology, and maybe web page will be obsolete in a decade, and then this whole idea of even needing to use AI to fix web pages will be replaced something else, like, like Be My Eyes, or something like that. That's even more advanced. But I think, as I see it, it's a tool that can be used to make it easier. And whether it's ease of use in terms of physical effort, ease of cost, in terms of bringing down costs to you know, to make a website compliant or a digital asset compliant, or just ease of understanding, right? Someone can explain to you what these really complicated rules mean, and so you can actually think about it from day one. So I think AI as a tool can lead to ease, which can then furthermore lead to hopefully more accessible products.   Michael Hingson ** 43:30 Well, the first time I ran into real AI was working with Ray Kurzweil back in the late 70s. He developed a machine that would read print out loud to blind people. But one of the things that was unique about them, well, vinyl, whether it's totally unique, but certainly was unique for blind people and for most of us, was the fact that the more the machine read, the better the reading got. It actually learned, and it learned how to to understand and analyze its confidence. And so it would get better the more that it read. Chris. The only problem with that is, back in those days, the software was on a cassette that went into a player that was part of a Data General, Nova two. And so it had to learn all over again every time you rebooted the machine and loaded the program. But that's okay. It learned based on on what you were reading, but it really dramatically got better the more you read. And I think that today, the reality is that a lot of people really need to. And I would say this is true of manual coders. And I know a few who have adopted this, they'll use accessibe to do what it can do, and then they, in turn, then go and address the issues that access a B's widget doesn't do. And for me, my. My learning that lesson actually goes back to the mid 1980s when I couldn't get a job, and I started my own company selling computer aided design systems to architects. And a lot of architects would come in and say, well, we can't buy your system. Yeah, great. It works, but if we use it, we'll develop our drawings in a fraction of the time, and we can't charge what we did, because now we're not spending as much time, and I said you're missing the whole point. You change your model. You're not charging for your time. You're charging for your expertise. You don't need to charge less. And what you do is then you go off and you get more projects, but you can also do more for each individual customer that you bring in. We had access to a system that was a one of the early PC based three dimensional solid metal modeling CAD systems, so people could come into our office, or anybody who bought the product could could invite their customers in, and they could do actual walk throughs and fly throughs of buildings. They had light sources or Windows to look out. You could even see what was going on outside. It wasn't renderings. You actually saw everything right on the computer. Those are so many things that revolutionize the industry. Now, of course, CAD is everywhere as it should be, and the reality is that that I think that any manual programmer who is programming a website could use accessibe to do a lot of the work, and then an accessibe also has some tools using a product called Access flow, where they can analyze and even tell you exactly what you need to do with the things that aren't accessible, and then you can do it, but you can use accessibe to do most of the stuff, and it continuously monitors it's a scalability issue, and you don't get any scalability with manual coding at all. So again, it's the whole, as you point out, the whole tool of artificial intelligence really can make a big difference in what we're doing to create accessibility on in the internet and in so many other ways as we go forward.   Michael Bervell ** 47:06 Yeah, and already we're running right up on time with a minute or two left. But I think even fundamentally, what you're what you're describing, back to first principles is, is, if we make it easier, either in time or in effort or in understanding, to make things accessible. Will people do it right? Whether you're using, you know, an access to be or whether you're using another tool, there's this question, How will it help? And will it help? And I think in evaluating any tool, and really I can apply in so many cases, that's the core question task.   Michael Hingson ** 47:37 Since we started late, it's up to you, but time wise, we're fine. It's up to you, but I realize that we want to end fairly soon here, but I think you're right, and that gets back to the whole education issue. People really need to learn and understand the value of accessibility, why it's a good thing, and it's kind of hard to argue with losing 20% of your business because your website's not accessible. And accessible, and the reputation that you gain by not doing it can go beyond that 20% when people tell their own friends about the issues they're facing. Yeah, exactly, exactly. But it goes the other way. You make it accessible, and you get all sorts of accolades. That's going to help too. But it is a conversation that we need to have, and it's part of the whole big conversation about disabilities. In general, we don't really see disabilities as much in the conversation. When we hear about people talking and discussing diversity, they talk about race, gender, sexual orientation, so on, but they don't talk about disabilities, and disabilities tend to be left out of the conversation for the most part, which is extremely unfortunate. Why do you think that is?   Michael Bervell ** 48:46 Yeah, I think, I think it comes down to, I'm not, I'm not sure why it is. I'm not sure. But I think even though I'm not sure why it is, I do know what I hope. And I think what I hope is for, you know, a world where every, every part of society reflects what it's made up of, right? So you look and it's representative of of all the constituents, people with disabilities, people of different genders and races and and so on and so forth, so, so I think that's what I hope for. I think it's difficult, right? It's difficult based on the systems that have been made people's biases and more to get there, but I do think, I do think that's ultimately the hope. But I   Michael Hingson ** 49:30 think that a lot of it comes down to fear people. Fear people with disabilities. I think that the whole fear factor, and even with race or gender or sexual orientation, so on, some of the comments, if you listen to them, all they're doing is promoting fear which which doesn't help at all. But in the case of disabilities, oh my gosh, I could become blind or paralyzed in a second, and that fear is something that we really don't tend to you. Do nearly as much about as we should. Now I know you and I earlier talked about fear, and the reality is that that we can learn to control fear. I would never tell people don't be afraid. No such thing as not being afraid, but you can certainly learn to control fear so that you can use it again as a very powerful tool to guide you and help you, and that's what the best aspects of fear are all about. I think, yeah,   Michael Bervell ** 50:26 I totally agree. I totally agree. Well, speaking of fear, I would be afraid of what might go I'm a president for Section G, which is one of the sections here, HBS, and we have to go select our Class Day speaker. So I'd be afraid if I, if I missed too much of the well, if they,   Michael Hingson ** 50:43 if they want to hire a speaker, I'm just saying I know Mike was, I was like, Man, I wish I had met you, like, back when you're doing our, our, like alumni and friend speakers. On the other hand, we can certainly talk about next year, and I would love to do that. Well, I want to really thank you for being here. I think we'll just have to have another discussion about all of this in the future. But I really appreciate you being here a lot and chatting very, very frequently, and you're going to go off and play drums later too, right? Oh, yeah,   Michael Bervell ** 51:11 it's a busy I'm in my, you know, Shirley retirement era, you know, yeah, right. Go back into, back into the workforce.   Michael Hingson ** 51:19 So, real quick, though, you wrote a book. What's it called?   Michael Bervell ** 51:23 It's called unlocking unicorns. I'll send you a copy of the book, and so you can put in the show notes and everything else. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 51:29 that would be great. And if people want to reach out to you, how do they do that? Yeah,   Michael Bervell ** 51:34 but just my name, Michael purvell, M, I, C, H, A, E, L, B, E, R, V, E, L, l.com, contact my website. Is there? My bio, and this podcast will be there eventually   Michael Hingson ** 51:46 as well it will, and you'll get all the info. Well, thanks very much, and I want to thank you all for listening. Really appreciate you listening to us today. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please email me at Michael, h, i, m, I, C, H, A, E, L, C, we spell our names the same. H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I b, e.com, or go to our podcast page, www dot Michael hingson, H, I N, G, s, o, n.com/podcast, and would love to to hear your thoughts. Love it. If you would give us a five star review wherever you're listening. If you know anyone else who ought to be a guest, please introduce us. We're always looking for it. And I would also say if anybody needs a speaker, it is what I've been doing ever since September 11, and I'm always looking for speaking opportunities. So please reach out and let's see if we can chat and and one of these days, maybe we'll get Michael to bring us up to Harvard we can go visit the coupe. But thanks so much for listening, everyone. Thanks once more for thanks. Once more Michael, for being here. Thanks.   Michael Hingson ** 52:52 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Shaun Savage is the CEO of GoShare, a delivery and moving company that quickly connects you with background checked delivery professionals on demand for help with last mile delivery, middle mile delivery and moving services. In this episode, KJ and Shaun discuss the impact of tech-driven delivery solutions on the logistics industry and the empowerment of gig economy entrepreneurs. Shaun also delves into the unique use cases and future trends in the supply chain, including the potential role of autonomous vehicles. Key Takeaways: 10:29 Challenges and Solutions in Delivery 27:07 Reflecting on the First Delivery Experience 28:35 Transitioning to a B2B Model 40:15 Future Trends in the Supply Chain Quote of the Show (23:00): "For a business to be successful, they have to be able to move goods around quickly. We're not just reinventing the wheel; we're making a better wheel." – Shaun Savage Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Shaun Savage: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunsavage/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/shaunsavage19 Company Website: https://goshare.co/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Keith Beardne, CEO of Alter Eco Foods, to discuss his extensive career in management, private equity, and the food and beverage industry. Keith shares his journey from growing up on a family farm to holding CEO positions at multiple companies, including Yogi Tea and Alter Eco. He emphasizes the importance of regenerative farming, conscious capitalism, and building value-driven business partnerships. Keith explains how he turned around Alter Eco Foods into a profitable enterprise while staying true to its mission of ecological sustainability. Listeners will learn about the challenges and rewards of being a turnaround CEO, the significance of strategic partnerships, and the principles of regenerative agriculture and sustainability in business. Episode Highlights: 04:57 The Role of a CIO and Transition to CEO 06:37 Private Equity and the Turnaround Journey 10:01 Understanding Organic Regenerative Farming 13:52 Insights on Leadership and Consulting 14:55 The CEO's Compass: Navigating Challenges 26:07 The Mission-Driven Approach of Alter Eco Keith Bearden is the CEO of Alter Eco Foods. Alter Eco makes “The Cleanest, Greenest Snacks on Earth" by adhering to three main principles – Restoring Ecosystems, Improving Livelihoods and Reducing Waste. Throughout Keith’s career, he has been a partner in Private Equity and has served as the CEO and on numerous boards of food and beverage companies in the US and Europe. Keith has been married to his wife, Amy, for thirty-four years and they have two successful daughters and three amazing grandchildren. Connect with Keith: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/altereco_foods/ Company Website: https://www.alterecofoods.com For more insights: Follow me on my YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/47GgMdn Sign up for my Weekly Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3T09kVc Sign up for my LinkedIn Newsletter: https://bit.ly/49SmRV3See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Discover how CEOs can lead their teams to secure larger corporate deals, transition upmarket, and build strategies for landing transformative accounts with expert insights from Jamal Reimer.About GuestJamal Reimer is an experienced coach, best-selling author, product developer, and ambitious multi-million-dollar Enterprise Seller with more than 2 decades of experience in the field. After closing three 50-million-dollar deals at Oracle, he found his passion in helping others achieve the same. He's coached hundreds of B2B sellers, teaching them the art of closing mega deals. Jamal has also cultivated a thriving community of more than 600 sellers, all dedicated to supporting and elevating each other's success.About Guest CompanyEnterprise Sellers is a company that is dedicated to helping sales professionals close mega deals. This company offers training and mentorship to B2B SaaS sellers. They aim to help sales professionals navigate and understand the best strategies to secure large deals with potential customers. The Enterprise Sellers focuses on strategies that have been tested and proven to be effective by experienced industry professionals.Outboundless, where Jamal is a co-founder, focuses on helping companies scale their sales operations. By offering services like on-demand sales teams and tailor-made growth plans to suit each client.Social Links Episode Social LinksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamal-reimer/Company Website: https://www.enterprisesellers.com/https://jamalreimer.com/Company LinkedIn (Enterprise Sellers): https://www.linkedin.com/company/enterprise-sellers/Company LinkedIn (Outboundless): https://www.linkedin.com/company/outboundless/Link to Mega Deal Secrets: https://www.megadealsecretsbook.com/order-587089631679443322419Book recommended by Jamal: https://heathbrothers.com/books/the-power-of-moments/Podcast recommended by Jamal: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510318/up-firstConnect with Alice HeimanLinkedIn Profile:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/Alice's Website: https://aliceheiman.com/

In this eye-opening interview, Mark Brandau, CMO of Brightmine, shares his expert insights into the rapidly evolving world of marketing. Mark breaks down the "vending machine myth"—the outdated notion that marketing can be a simple, transactional process—and introduces a more dynamic, "buffet-style" approach that better aligns with today's business strategies.Mark dives deep into modern marketing techniques and explains how businesses can move beyond traditional, siloed tactics. He challenges the overreliance on attribution modeling and promotes a more holistic, portfolio-based marketing strategy that drives sustainable growth and long-term results.In addition to his marketing expertise, Mark shares his personal journey from growing up in Baltimore to becoming a successful marketing executive. He discusses how hard work, resilience, and the power of asking for promotions played a crucial role in his rise to the top. Mark also highlights the importance of contrast in marketing positioning, offering valuable frameworks and real-world examples to guide marketers in creating more effective campaigns.This episode is a masterclass in modern marketing, providing actionable insights, practical tips, and inspiring advice for anyone looking to level up their marketing game. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just starting out, Mark's wisdom will help you rethink your approach to strategy, growth, and career development.Tune in now to learn how to move from outdated marketing practices to more strategic, impactful methods that deliver real business results!Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more expert marketing insights from top industry leaders!Connect with Mark:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbrandau/ Company Website: https://www.brightmine.com/us/ Shoutouts:Thank you to freepik for helping with the thumbnail design! You can learn about freepik and their stock images here: www.freepik.comWays to Tune In:Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hard-corps-marketing-show/id1338838763Amazon Music/Audible: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0f4497c6-b402-4cad-9018-1e41b7e8f2bb/the-hard-corps-marketing-showSpotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/1vVLpNI1LssMTiL6KdsamnStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-hard-corps-marketing-showGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL3RoZS1oYXJkLWNvcnBzLW1hcmtldGluZy1zaG93Hard Corps Marketing is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/ 

Sponsor The Jason Cavness Experience is sponsored by CavnessHR.  CavnessHR provides HR to companies with 49 or fewer people. CavnessHR provides a tech platform that automates HR while providing access to a dedicated HR Business Partner.  www.CavnessHR.com Go to www.thejasoncavnessexperience.com for the podcast on your favorite platforms  Powered By Earth VC is on a mission to unf@#k the earth. They are doing this by supporting breakthrough scientific research, empowering outlier founders to build enduring climate businesses and investing in high-growth startups that decarbonize the world. Earth VC empowers founders who are Ambitious, Breakthrough and are Committed Earth VC invests in the pre seed to Series A round. If you think you might be a match reach out to them at rebuild@earth.vc Van's Bio Van is an experienced executive with more than 20 years of experience in product development, sales, and operations. He was in management roles for both large MNC and start-ups.  He describes himself as a passionate entrepreneur, corporate innovator, and avid learner. His life mission is to help young talents to reach their full potential and maximize human capital for businesses. After many years of living and working in the U.S., Van returned to Vietnam and founded SmartR, an Ed/HR Tech company. SmartR offers data-driven solutions to help businesses to plan, implement, and track their talent development program. Before starting SmartR, Van was in many different leadership roles in marketing, strategy, and operations for NOV, a leading worldwide provider of oil and gas equipment and technology.  Van also co-founded other tech start-ups such as iamViet Social Network for overseas Vietnamese and Dreamer Land Virtual Reality Arcade. We talked about the following and other items Van Van's Background and College Experience Early Career and First Jobs Career Development and Company Culture Vietnam as a Business Hub Google for Startups and Entrepreneurial Journey Building a Learning Culture in a Company  Daily Routine and Personal Growth Navigating Challenges and Building Resilience  Future Goals and Vision for the Company Working Hours and Team Management Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs Commitment and Impact of Being a Founder Customer Acquisition and Market Strategy  Enterprise vs. SaaS Solutions  Pricing Model and Market Adaptation AI in HR and Future Vision Company Origin and Future Goals Balancing Work and Family Life Tet Holiday and Cultural Insights Product Development and Future Plans Recruitment and Team Building AI Ethics and Regulation Multiverse and Dreams Religious and Philosophical Insights  Aliens as God and Religious Perspectives  Alien Disclosure and UFO Theories Advanced Civilizations and Human Origins Reincarnation and Consciousness  Humanity and Technology Inherent Goodness and Business Advice Van's Social Media Van's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vandn/ Company Website: https://smartr.co/ Van's Advice  For the people that want to do business in Vietnam, it's a great market, a lot of potential and a young market. Make sure that you set the right expectations when you come to Vietnam and manage the Vietnamese teams. For people interested in Vietnam, a great country, great food, I recommend people come here. For the startup founder out there. Try to find a good reason to start your business. Find your passion. Because if you don't, when the money doesn't come, when the traction is not there. When things don't happen the way you want it. You might become depressed and disappointed. So find a good reason to keep fighting the fight.

Cedric Le Quellec Co-Founder & CEO @ OOOLAB OOOLAB is a leading education technology company based in Vietnam and Singapore that has developed LearningOS (www.thelearningos.com) -- the #1 Enterprise LMS for enrichment and training. LearningOS is used in over 21 countries with over 200,000 paying users. Sponsor  The Jason Cavness Experience is sponsored by CavnessHR. CavnessHR provides HR to companies with 49 or fewer people.  CavnessHR provides a tech platform that automates HR while providing access to a dedicated HR Business Partner. www.CavnessHR.com Go to www.thejasoncavnessexperience.com for the podcast on your favorite platforms Powered By Earth VC is on a mission to unf@#k the earth. They are doing this by supporting breakthrough scientific research, empowering outlier founders to build enduring climate businesses and investing in high-growth startups that decarbonize the world. Earth VC empowers founders who are Ambitious, Breakthrough and are Committed Earth VC invests in the pre seed to Series A round. If you think you might be a match reach out to them at rebuild@earth.vc Cedric's Bio Cedric is a French founder adopted from Vietnam currently living in Ho Chi Minh City. Cedric is the Co-Founder and CEO of OOOLAB — an enterprise SAAS hybrid training platform used by over 200,000 learners in 21 countries. Previously, Cedric worked in the education field and studied at Northwestern University in the US. We talked about the following and other items Cedric's Adoption Story Cultural Experiences and Adoption in Vietnam Entrepreneurial Culture in Vietnam Customer Service Importance Skills Quotient Co-Founder Relationship Expansion and Market Strategy Ed Tech and Ideal Customer Profile Challenges and Future of AI in Education Lifelong Learning and Education System Improvements Advice for Entrepreneurs Mission and Vision for the Future Hobbies and Self-Care Dealing with Rejection and Prioritizing Time Challenges and Growth in Leadership Networking and Recommendations Company Origin and Vision Customer Retention Advice for Early-Stage Entrepreneurs Handling Vendor Emails  Sales Tools Challenges with Sales Tools  Fundraising in Vietnam  Cedric's Social Media Cedric's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cedriclq/ Company Website: https://www.thelearningos.com/  

In this episode, Adrian Mendoza, co-founder of Mendoza Ventures, shares his journey from getting started in web design in the early 90s, to founding startups, and eventually transitioning into venture capital. He details his career progression, his experiences in the tech and design intersection, and his work at companies like Disney and startups during the dot-com boom. Adrian delves into the firm's focus on AI, fintech, and cybersecurity, emphasizing the importance of investing in sectors they know well. He also touches on the challenges and strategies of raising a fund, the importance of a strong network, thematic focus, and the unique approach of supporting diverse and underrepresented founders. Additionally, they discuss the current and future landscape of AI startups, focusing on the challenges and opportunities in the sector. Adrian provides insights into how Mendoza Ventures supports both founders and LPs, fostering a community of investors and innovators.   If your company is looking to scale its AI initiatives, head over to Tesoro AI (www.tesoroai.com). We are experts in AI strategy, staff augmentation, and AI product development.   Founder Bio:   Adrian is the founder and General Partner at Mendoza Ventures which is both Latinx and woman-owned and the first Latinx-founded VC fund on the East Coast based in Boston. With 20 years of experience in building technology products and teams, Adrian is an experienced entrepreneur, operator, and veteran of the Boston startup ecosystem. Adrian founded Mendoza Ventures to take an in-depth-focused approach to venture capital, looking for founders who demonstrate domain expertise in one of his three focus areas across fintech, AI, and cybersecurity. Adrian prides himself on being a hands-on investor by setting up companies for success beyond just writing a check, creating strong funding syndicates, making customer introductions, and assisting with partnership conversations.   His firm Mendoza Ventures focuses on investments in Fintech, AI, and Cybersecurity, with diversity playing an important role in their investment decisions—about 90% of their portfolio consists of startups led by people of color, and women. Since its founding seven years ago, Mendoza Ventures has raised two funds and had four successful exits. The firm is currently raising its third fund, a $100M fintech fund anchored by Bank of America.   Time Stamps:   00:38 Adrian's Early Career and First Ventures 06:18 Transition from Founder to Investor 10:13 Investment Strategy and Success Stories 13:31 Engaging with Founders and Investors 18:21 Raising Fund 3 and Engaging LPs 28:36 Fund Size Considerations: Building and Managing a Fund 32:45 Challenges and Lessons in Fund Management 34:59 Understanding Pro Rata Rights 36:47 Investment Strategies at Mendoza Ventures 38:37 Scaling and Institutionalizing Startups 42:34 The Role of AI in Venture Capital 50:40 Distinction between AI native Startup and not Native AI Startups 54:31 Connecting with Mendoza Ventures    Resources   Company website: https://mendoza-ventures.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mendoza-ventures/ Twitter: https://x.com/MendozaVentures   Follow Darius Gant LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/m-darius-gant-cpa-44650aa/ Company Website: www.tesoroai.com    

Rafael Masters - CEO and Cofounder at Vulcan Augmetics (Techstars 21)  Sponsor  The Jason Cavness Experience is sponsored by CavnessHR. CavnessHR provides HR to companies with 49 or fewer people. CavnessHR provides a tech platform that automates HR while providing access to a dedicated HR Business Partner. www.CavnessHR.com Go to www.thejasoncavnessexperience.com for the podcast on your favorite platforms  Powered By Earth VC is on a mission to unf@#k the earth. They are doing this by supporting breakthrough scientific research, empowering outlier founders to build enduring climate businesses and investing in high-growth startups that decarbonize the world. Earth VC empowers founders who are Ambitious, Breakthrough and are Committed Earth VC invests in the pre seed to Series A round. If you think you might be a match reach out to them at rebuild@earth.vc Rafael's Bio Rafael is the CEO and co-founder of Vulcan Augmetics. He holds an MBA in international business strategy from Maastricht University, has lectured and mentored on entrepreneurship at several universities, and is on the Industry Advisory board of RMIT Vietnam. At Vulcan he ensures that the company is moving in the right direction with a clear plan, managing tech development, finance and business strategy. Vulcan products are designed with accessibility for the end user clearly in mind, and he makes sure that this is considered at every stage of the development process, and that Vulcan is always aware of the user experience before they commit pen to paper. Rafael was raised in a village in the south of the UK, just down the road from Lord Mayor Treloars College, the largest disabled college in the country. Many of his friends as a teenager were wheelchair-bound, or heavily dependent on technology to live full lives, and their resilience and pragmatism were a deep influence. After graduating from University with a degree in Philosophy, he went to Vietnam to travel and work, teaching English for a year before returning to the UK. While in Vietnam however, he came to love the country, the culture and the career, and decided to stay.  He progressed from teaching to academic development and management, but decided after 8 years it was time to build something that would make a difference on a much larger scale. He had seen that Vietnam was a country of tremendous potential, with people who were creative, pragmatic and ambitious, but didn't yet know enough about business to do the opportunity justice, so he took an MBA. During this time he also started learning more about 3d printing and design, and becoming involved with the local maker community which opened his eyes to the technological possibilities becoming available. Shortly after graduating he met Akshay, a representative of a venture studio called Alley51, at a networking event. After talking about 3d printing, maker spaces, and entrepreneurship for several hours, Rafael was invited to pitch Alley51 his startup idea and Vulcan Augmetics was born. In the years since Vulcan was founded Rafael has continued to learn and adapt, incorporating new technology in the most efficient way, and ensuring that the company has built a brand and product that is aligned with real user requirements. His mantra is “Make what the user needs, not what you wish they needed”.  We talked about the following and other items Educational Background and Philosophy Experiences with the Disabled Community Role at RMIT University Entrepreneurial Culture in Vietnam Vietnamese Culture and Business Environment Scientific and Engineering Interests User-Centric Design Engineering Challenges Business Model and Market Strategy Global Reach and Market Expansion Future Vision and Metrics for Success Vulcan Prosthetics and AI Excitement AI Dangers and Singularity Building a Tech Startup in Vietnam Fundraising and Market Strategy Future Plans and Market Expansion Challenges in War Zones Market Differentiation Customization and User Experience L iving in Vietnam and Safety E xploring Vietnam and Local Culture Future Plans and Technology Integration  Rafael's Social Media Rafael's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-masters-81276678/ Company Website: https://www.wearevulcan.com/ Company YouTube” https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9ycoxSCAc7ZOF-3XvDpzw Company Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vulcan_augmetics/ Company TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vulcanaugmetics  Company FB: https://www.facebook.com/vulcanaugmeticsglobal Rafael's Email: Rafael@wearevulcan.com  

Bridger (Waleed) Ammar has been leading top-tier, high-impact data-modeling projects since 2006 in research, education, engineering and product. Sponsor The Jason Cavness Experience is sponsored by CavnessHR. CavnessHR provides HR to companies with 49 or fewer people. CavnessHR provides a tech platform that automates HR while providing access to a dedicated HR Business Partner. www.CavnessHR.com Go to www.thejasoncavnessexperience.com for the podcast on your favorite platforms  Bridger's Bio Bridger (Waleed) Ammar has been leading top-tier, high-impact data-modeling projects since 2006 in research, education, engineering and product. A few experiences which particularly helped shape his thinking: - Co-founded the ACM chapter at Alexandria University. Defended his PhD in Language-Universal Large Models (L-ULM), in 2016, with Tom Mitchell and Kuzman Ganchev as examiners. - Taught at Alexandria University, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of Washington. Published at Nature, JAMA, NeurIPS, ACL, EMNLP among other top-tier venues. Advised mission-critical organizations on AI strategy, including the NSF (USA), SDAIA (KSA), a leading gaming platform (USA), a leading freight forwarding platform (KSA). At King Saud university, he learned the holistic power of safely integrating different cultures for global good. - At Alexandria University, he contributed to a digital model for historical artifacts, in collaboration with the Alexandria Library. At P&G, he learned the holistic power of mapping the manufacturing process in a data model. - At IBM, he contributed to the state of the art (SOTA) in using statistics to model biological sequences, in collaboration with DARPA. - At eSpace, he learned the basics of building sustainable businesses, in collaboration with Alexandria University. - At Microsoft, he contributed to the then-SOTA in statistical machine translation models, in collaboration with the Cairo Microsoft Innovation Center. At Carnegie Mellon University, as a Google PhD fellow, he developed the SOTA in language-universal models (L-UMs). At Google Shopping, he contributed to the SOTA in mixing random forests with neural networks. - At the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, he learned the SOTA in managing science from his mentor Oren Etzioni, then developed the SOTA in modeling science. At Google Health, he contributed to the SOTA in building the digital manifestation of living cells in species-agnostic models. - At Google Research, he learned the SOTA in cost-effective scaling of LLM inference to a Billion users. - At Google Assistant, he learned the SOTA in scalable distribution of data products. At Burning Man, he learned how to safely integrate freedom and self expression. We talked about the following and other items Burning Man Experience and Philosophy Scientific Progress and Its Impact  Ethics in Science and Peer Review Purpose of Science and Future Discoveries Encouraging Young Scientists and Scientific Discoveries Future of AI and Its Impact on Various Industries Global AI Development and Personal Background  Is Singularity coming Paddle boarding and dancing AI/ML How were the pyramids built Are humans becoming smarter AI ethics Bridger's Social Media  Bridger's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/waleedammar/  Bridger's Email: wammar@higg.world Company Website: https://higg.world/ Company Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holistic_intelligence/