Podcasts about complex networks

Episode 200: Join Ryan, Chris, and Courtney as they dive into a wide-ranging discussion with Rich Antoniello, the visionary Founder & Former CEO of Complex Networks. Rich, now the Executive Chairman at UPROXX Studios and Chairman of FORT NASH, shares his insights on the current state of the economy, the evolution of post-COVID office culture, the real efficiency of AI, and the dynamic media business landscape.   Under Rich's leadership, Complex Networks transformed into a leading youth culture media powerhouse, delivering groundbreaking content across multiple platforms and growing into a multi-brand media empire. Under Rich's guidance, Complex was acquired by Verizon/Hearst in 2016 and then to Buzzfeed in 2022.   Tune in for an engaging conversation that spans the intersection of business, technology, and culture, featuring one of the industry's most influential figures.

Hot Ones, the wildly popular YouTube interview show where celebrities tackle spicy chicken wings, has a new home. BuzzFeed recently sold the production company behind the hit series, First We Feast, to a group of investors led by an affiliate of George Soros's fund. Skip Montreux and Samantha Vega examine the financial pressures that led BuzzFeed to sell Hot Ones. They explore BuzzFeed's rise as a digital media pioneer, its decision to go public through a SPAC, and the acquisition of Complex Networks in 2021. They also explain how these moves impacted BuzzFeed's finances and led to the eventual sale of First We Feast. Their conversation is a great learning resource if you want to build your English listening comprehension skills and expand your business vocabulary. Key points of their discussion include: Learn the differences between a SPAC and an IPO, and why BuzzFeed opted for a SPAC in 2021. A breakdown of BuzzFeed's $300 million purchase of Complex Networks. How selling Hot Ones has helped BuzzFeed reduce its debt and pivot toward new revenue streams. Do you like what you hear? Become a D2B Member today for to access to our -- NEW!!!-- interactive audio scripts, PDF Audio Script Library, Bonus Vocabulary episodes, and D2B Member-only episodes. Visit d2benglish.com/membership for more information. Follow Down to Business English on Apple podcasts, rate the show, and leave a comment. Contact Skip, Dez, and Samantha at downtobusinessenglish@gmail.com Follow Skip & Dez Skip Montreux on Linkedin Skip Montreux on Instagram Skip Montreux on Twitter Skip Montreux on Facebook Dez Morgan on Twitter RSS Feed

La matematica raccontata da Caterina Fenu Caterina Fenu, nata a Cagliari nel 1983, si distingue come una figura emergente nel campo dell'analisi computazionale di reti complesse e problemi inversi di grandi dimensioni. Il suo percorso accademico è costellato di successi, a partire dalla laurea triennale e specialistica in Matematica conseguite presso l'Università di Cagliari, rispettivamente nel 2007 e nel 2011. Nel 2015, la sua dedizione agli studi culmina con il titolo di Dottore di Ricerca in Matematica e Calcolo Scientifico, ottenuto sotto la supervisione del Professor Giuseppe Rodriguez. La sua tesi, intitolata "Applications of low-rank approximation: Complex Networks and Inverse Problems", anticipa già il suo interesse per le tematiche che la porteranno alla ribalta. La sete di conoscenza di Caterina Fenu non si limita all'Italia. Durante il suo percorso formativo e di dottorato, ha trascorso periodi di ricerca all'estero, arricchendo il suo bagaglio di conoscenze e ampliando la sua visione. Una carriera ricca di successi Esperienze significative si concretizzano presso l'Università di Pisa, dove assume il ruolo di assegnista di ricerca dal 2015 al 2016, e presso l'Aachen Institute for Advanced Study in Computational Engineering Science della Rheinisch-Westfälischen Technischen Hochschule di Aachen, in Germania, dove opera come Postdoctoral Research Associate dal 2016 al 2017. Rientrata in Italia, Caterina Fenu prosegue la sua brillante carriera presso l'Università di Cagliari, ricoprendo il ruolo di borsista di ricerca dal 2017 al 2018 e di contrattista di ricerca presso il Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche di Napoli nel periodo gennaio-ottobre 2018. Dal 2018 al 2022, ottiene il titolo di Ricercatore a tempo determinato (tipologia A) presso il Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica dell'Università di Cagliari, posizione che ricopre tutt'oggi con la qualifica di Ricercatore a tempo determinato. L'attività di ricerca di Caterina Fenu si concentra su due filoni principali: lo sviluppo di metodi computazionali per l'analisi di reti complesse e la risoluzione di problemi inversi di grandi dimensioni. La sua passione per questi ambiti si traduce in un corpus di pubblicazioni scientifiche di alto livello, che la rendono un punto di riferimento emergente nella comunità scientifica. A coronamento dei suoi successi, Caterina Fenu entra a far parte del Gruppo Nazionale per il Calcolo Scientifico (GNCS) nel 2011, testimonianza tangibile del suo contributo significativo al panorama STEM italiano. La Fenu rappresenta una figura di spicco nel panorama della ricerca computazionale, con un futuro radioso all'orizzonte. La sua dedizione, il suo talento e la sua passione per l'analisi di reti complesse e problemi inversi la pongono come protagonista indiscussa nel panorama accademico italiano e internazionale.

In today's episode, we delve into Nvidia's staggering earnings driven by AI, Google's introduction of Gemma open models, and BuzzFeed's strategic sale of Complex Networks.Follow up questions:How does NVIDIAS's Q4 revenue compare to other tech companies?How can developers use Gemma models?What is NTWRK and what kind of content does it produce?Perplexity is the fastest and most powerful way to search the web. Perplexity crawls the web and curates the most relevant and up-to-date sources (from academic papers to Reddit threads) to create the perfect response to any question or topic you're interested in. Take the world's knowledge with you anywhere. Available on iOS and Android Join our growing Discord community for the latest updates and exclusive content. Follow us on: Instagram Threads X (Twitter) YouTube Linkedin

Dr. John Kress is a Distinguished Scientist and Curator of Botany at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. John's research involves exploring the natural world and all the organisms that make up the natural world. Since graduate school, he has been exploring different areas, particularly tropical areas, to determine what grows there now, what grew there in the past, and how the plants and animals there interact. Not only does John enjoy investigating the natural world at work, he also enjoys spending his free time outside exploring nature. John often goes on walks or hikes with his wife and dog to see nature in action. In addition, John is an avid gardener. Among the plants he cultivates in his own yard are some of the ginger and banana plants that he studies. John received his B.A. in biology from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in botany from Duke University. John formerly served as the Interim Undersecretary for Science for the Smithsonian Institution, Executive Director of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, and Director of the Consortium for Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet, which is one of the four grand challenges of the Smithsonian Institution's strategic plan. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) and an Affiliate Faculty member at George Mason University. He has previously served as an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Among John's awards and honors are receipt of the Parker-Gentry Award for Biodiversity and Conservation from the Field Museum of Natural History, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Heliconia Society International, and the Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Award for Co-Development of Leafsnap – the First Mobile App for Plant Identification. John is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an honorary Fellow of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. In this interview, he discusses his experiences in life and science.

This episode is brought to you by Herbal Face Food. Use promo code "Makini20" for 20% off ALL PLANT facial products. In this episode, Mari Carmen shares how she's embraced change and how you can too. Mari Carmen Lopez is a television producer with credits that include the successful Love & Hip Hop and Black Ink Crew franchises, weTV's Hustle & Soul and Complex Network's Good Looking Out.    As a Talent Manager, she's worked with Slick Rick (the most successful British rapper in history), Missy Elliott, and Jagged Edge. She has given a platform to artists, especially women in music, such as Cardi B, Amara La Negra and Trina.   MC Lopez founded MCL Media, an independent production company that captures incredible stories and characters that entertain and impact. Since the company's relaunch, MCL Media has produced hundreds of hours of cable programming and digital work for top networks and streaming giants including VH1, BET, MTV, weTV, Complex Networks, Peacock, Netflix and Facebook Watch.   Mari Carmen is focused on mentoring youth in television production and pushes to increase visibility for minorities and women in the industry. She is passionate about immigration reform and works to provide music therapy for the elderly in Miami alongside her mother's organization, the Algo Nuevo Foundation.    We discussed: Being raised in a family of performers and being free to express creativity Her mother starting her music career in her 40s and now part of a band in her 70s Working through self-doubt Knowing how to pivot And much more!   Stay connected with Mari Carmen online: Website Instagram Stay connected with us online: A Walk In My Stilettos Legacy Leavers Media Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube LinkedIn Books Subscribe to our newsletter if you love the value and free stuff!  Send feedback/questions to info@awalkinmystilettos.com Submit guest suggestions HERE

Are you interested in how walkability and quality of life are connected? Summary of the article titled Quantifying life quality as walkability on urban networks: The case of Budapest from 2019 by Luis Natera, David Deritei, Anna Vancso, and Orsolya Vasarhelyi, presented at the International Conference on Complex Networks and Their Applications. This is a great preparation to our next interviewee in episode 138, Luis Natera, who talks a lot about urban mobility systems in the interview as well. Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how we can quantify urban walkability. This article presents how to measure urban network walkability and its impact on quality of urban life, through the case of Budapest. As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects: Investigating urban walkability can highlight important factors to consider for urban decision-makers and designers for improving the quality of life. Since the walkability of a neighbourhood is highly correlated with its liveability, both long distances and the lack of amenities affects suburban habitat lives negatively. Designing compact, liveable neighbourhoods, considering also the upcoming environmental crises is the number one priority of many cities worldwide. You can find the article through this link. Abstract: Life quality in cities is deeply related to the mobility options, and how easily one can access different services and attractions. The pedestrian infrastructure network provides the backbone for social life in cities. While there are many approaches to quantify life quality, most do not take specifically into account the walkability of the city, and rather offer a city-wide measure. Here we develop a data-driven, network-based method to quantify the liveability of a city. We introduce a life quality index (LQI) based on pedestrian accessibility to amenities and services, safety and environmental variables. Our computational approach outlines novel ways to measure life quality in a more granular scale, that can become valuable for urban planners, city officials and stakeholders. We apply data-driven methods to Budapest, but as having an emphasis on the online and easily available quantitative data, the methods can be generalized and applied to any city. Connecting episodes you might be interested in: No.027 - Interview with Richard Manasseh about urban water management; No.047 - Interview Hussein Dia about urban transport; You can find the transcript through this link. What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available. I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in. Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Rich Antoniello is the founder and former CEO of Complex Networks, a youth culture brand and media company that was founded in 2002 and sold in 2015 to Hearst and Verizon and later in 2021 to BuzzFeed. Find Rich on Twitter and LinkedIn Mentioned in the episode: Collect'd XSET Popchew ⁠Female Founder World⁠

On this episode of The MinorityPlus1 Podcast

Join my free weekly newsletter to get 1 free audience growth tip to scale your online business: ⁠https://www.mattgray.xyz/newsletter⁠ Join the Founder OS Course to build a proven system for audience growth in 2 hours here: ⁠https://www.mattgray.xyz/courses⁠ In this one-hour interview, I had the pleasure of having a great conversation with the legend, Rich Antoniello. Rich Antoniello is a Founder and the Former CEO of Complex Networks, a global media company and one of the most influential voices in popular culture today. In 2016, Rich Antoniello oversaw the acquisition of Complex Media by Verizon and Hearst to become Complex Networks. The joint venture, led by Antoniello, develops and distributes original programming for its channels – Complex, First We Feast, Pigeons and Planes and Sole Collector – and through output deals with distributors including Netflix, Facebook, Fuse, MSG, Verizon and more. The company cultivates content that spans across popular culture and reaches the coveted 18-24-year-old male audience, from music to movies, sports to video games and fashion to food. Antoniello joined the company as CEO in 2003 and has transformed Complex from an influential print publication, known for delivering a sharp editorial blend of pop-culture and style trends, into a 360-degree media company reaching millions of hyper-engaged millennials every month. We discuss how to build a business during tough economic times, how he grew Complex Networks as CEO and other actionable advice that will change the trajectory of your founder journey! If you're interested in working together 1:1 join here: ⁠https://www.mattgray.xyz/coaching⁠ Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/matt_gray_⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/matthgray⁠ YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@realmattgray  ⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgray1

Jason Berger is a Director, a Producer, and the CEO & Founder of "KIDS AT PLAY". "KIDS AT PLAY has been on the forefront of storytelling in the digital age. Our office (known as “THE PLAYGROUND”) is an inspired place where we utilizetraditional narrative and comedy foundations to push mediums, connect with audiences, and define new creative spaces. KAP has a strong footprint in thekids and comedy space and an overarching sense of “youthfulness” in the projects they do.With writers, directors, producers, editors and graphic teams working under one roof, KAP has the ability to move projects from script to screen quickly, onbudget, and at the highest of quality standards.KAP collaborates with TV networks, writers, directors, producers, agencies, brands, and entertainment companies to produce world-class programming. Thisincludes partnerships with Facebook, YouTube, Disney, FX, Paramount Network, Comedy Central, The CW, TVLand, CMT, Warner Bros, Legendary, Viacom,Pepsi, Xbox, LG, Old Spice, Dunkin' Donuts, eHarmony, Ogilvy, Bud Light, VEVO, Purina, Intel, Smirnoff, IGN, Play Station, Listerine, StubHub, Freeform,Universal, Scripps Networks, Raycom, Yahoo!, AOL, Travel Channel, Food Network, and Cooking Channel, among others. We have unannounced projectswith Spyglass, Village Roadshow, Fox Studios, OWN, Comedy Central, YouTube Originals, Food Network, Twitch.Recently KIDS AT PLAY produced the Emmy Nominated & 2 Time NAACP winning series Tab Time with Tabitha Brown for Youtube Kids, Keke Palmer's latestcomedy series “Turnt Up With The Taylors” for Facebook (Keke won an Emmy for the series), Lightning Wolves for Comedy Central (Bobby Moynihan, TaranKillam, Cobie Smulders), The Me & You Show for Snap (over 50M views) , Daring Simone Biles for Snap, the hybrid scripted/docu pilot “Millennials Save TheWorld” for FX featuring Moses Storm and Chris Redd, “The Quinn Marcus Show” for PopTV, “Junketeers” for Comedy Central featuring Josh Duhamel, MarkWahlberg, Kristen Bell & Matt Bomer with an overall reach of 24.3 million, and the recent second seasons of comedies “Rhett & Link's Buddy System” forYouTube Originals and “Now We're Talking” for Warner Bros.In unscripted, talk and non-fiction, KAP produced 150 half-hour episodes of the hilarious daily syndicated talk show “Me Time with Frangela” for the Gray/Raycom station group, Eat Their Words for Food Network, “Oh My Josh!” For Freeform/Hulu, “Adult Ed with Jake & Amir” for Complex Networks, “Wild Food”for the Travel Channel, “Burrito Brothers” and “Snob vs. Slob” for Food Network/Cooking Channel, and “Shay Mitchell: Chapters” for Fullscreen.In the theatrical film space, we produced the thriller “The Thinning” for Legendary, which generated over 300 million social impressions reaching a totalof 135M+ fans, and the rowdy comedy feature “Beerfest: Thirst for Victory” for Warner Bros., and “The Toll Road” short film starring Lizzy Caplan andMartin Starr.KAP's ship is steered by award-winning director and producer Jason Berger and Forbes “30 Under 30” alumAmy Laslett. They are represented by UTA and Artists First."- Bio provided by "KIDS AT PLAY" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

歡迎留言告訴我們你對這一集的想法： https://open.firstory.me/user/cl81kivnk00dn01wffhwxdg2s/comments 每日英語跟讀 Ep.K568: Buzzfeed News to Close as Company Implements Workforce Reduction Buzzfeed, the digital media company known for its quizzes and viral content, has announced the closure of its news site and a reduction of its workforce by 15%, according to CEO Jonah Peretti. The decision comes as Buzzfeed faces financial challenges, including a decline in advertising spending. Mr. Peretti stated that the company cannot continue to invest in the unprofitable news site and will focus on delivering news through its acquisition, HuffPost. This decision, although deeply painful, is part of Buzzfeed's strategy to navigate the changing landscape of the media industry and ensure a brighter future. 據首席執行官Jonah Peretti稱，以發佈測驗和爆紅內容而聞名的數位媒體公司Buzzfeed宣布關閉其新聞網站，並將裁員15%。該決定是在Buzzfeed面臨財務挑戰（包括廣告收益下降）時做出的。Peretti先生表示，公司不能繼續投資於未盈利的新聞網站，爾後將通過收購來的HuffPost繼續提供新聞。這個決定雖然非常痛苦，卻是Buzzfeed應對變化迅速的媒體業制定邁向更光明未來的策略之一。 Buzzfeed, founded in 2006, was once a prominent name in online media, with a reputation for both entertainment and serious news content. However, the company has shifted away from news in recent years as generating ad revenue and audiences became more difficult. Other lines of business, such as producing custom content, grew more quickly. Despite listing on the stock exchange in 2021, Buzzfeed raised less funding than anticipated. Buzzfeed成立於2006年，曾經是網絡媒體中的知名品牌，以製作娛樂和嚴肅的新聞內容著稱。然而，隨著提升受眾和廣告收入變得更加困難，該公司近年來已經不再關注新聞。其他業務，例如製作客製內容，對業績成長更加迅速。儘管Buzzfeed於2021年在證券交易所上市，但籌集的資金卻少於預期。 Mr. Peretti acknowledged that the challenges faced by Buzzfeed were not solely external, but also internal. He admitted to being slow in accepting the difficulties of monetizing online news in an era dominated by big tech platforms. He also expressed regret at not managing the changes better as the CEO of the company. Peretti先生承認，Buzzfeed面臨的挑戰不僅僅是外部的，還有內部的。他承認，在由大型科技平台主導的時代，將線上新聞變現十分困難並且進展緩慢。他也對作為公司首席執行官沒有更好地掌握局勢表達歉意。 Buzzfeed News Editor-in-Chief, Karolina Waclawiak, also shared her thoughts on the closure in a memo to staff, stating that the company should have tried to build a business around its news site earlier, and describing the closure as "avoidable". She expressed concerns about the wider crisis in journalism and the potential consequences of subscription-based news models that may limit access to high-quality information for those who cannot afford to pay, leading to increased misinformation on social platforms. Buzzfeed新聞主編Karolina Waclawiak在給員工的筆記中也分享了她對網站關閉的看法，稱公司本應早些嘗試基於其新聞網站開展業務，並將關閉網站描述為“可避免的”。她對新聞業更廣泛的危機以及基於訂閱的新聞模式潛在後果表示擔憂，這些模式可能會限制那些無力支付的人獲得高品質資訊，從而導致社交平台上的錯誤信息增加。 The latest round of cuts will affect approximately 180 jobs, and Buzzfeed expects to incur charges of $7m - $11m in severance and related expenses. Despite these challenges, Buzzfeed will continue to operate other parts of its business, including HuffPost, its food brand Tasty, Complex Networks, and its namesake website. 最新一批裁員潮將影響大約180個工作崗位，Buzzfeed預計將產生700萬至1100萬美元的遣散費和相關費用。儘管面臨這些挑戰，Buzzfeed仍將繼續經營其他部分的業務，包括HuffPost、其食品品牌Tasty、Complex Networks及其同名網站。 Shares of Buzzfeed fell by 20% on the news, resulting in a market value of approximately $100m, a significant decrease from its reported valuation of over $1.5bn just two years ago. The company remains committed to navigating the changing media landscape and finding new ways to deliver content to its audiences. 受此消息影響Buzzfeed的股價下跌20%，市值約為1億美元，與兩年前報導的超過15億美元估值相比大幅下降。該公司仍然投入在不斷變化的媒體局勢，並尋找新的方式向其受眾提供內容。Reference article: https://www.bbc.com/news/65341450 Powered by Firstory Hosting

Josh, Dustin, and Raul discuss offseason developments with special guest Zion Olojede -- Sports Content Lead for Complex Networks and Social Media Coordinator for the Nigerian Men's Basketball Team. They get Zion's thoughts on Jon Scheyer's first season as coach before discussing a McDonald's All-American Game that saw standout performances from a few members of Duke's incoming recruiting class. They talk about Jared McCain's shooting, Sean Stewart's ability to play his role, and whether Mackenzie Mgbako's recent struggles are cause for concern. Lastly, they talk about Tyrese Proctor's and Mark Mitchell's decisions to return to Duke for a sophomore season and speculate about who else might decide to play another year in a Duke uniform. Note: this episode was recorded and uploaded before Dereck Lively, Kyle Filipowski, and Jeremy Roach had announced their plans for the 2023-24 season. Zion Olojede can be followed on Twitter at both https://twitter.com/DukeNBA and https://twitter.com/ZionOlojede. You can read his writing here: https://www.complex.com/search?q=zion%20olojede#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=zion%20olojede&gsc.page=1 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maximilian Schich, Isabel Meirelles, and Roger Malina discuss the contents and creation of the new article collection, Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks, which explores the application of the science of complex networks to art history, archeology, visual arts, the art market, and other areas of cultural importance. This conversation was recorded on April 26, 2012. Maximilian Schich, DFG fellow at László Barabási's Center for Complex Network Research in Boston. Isabel Meirelles, information designer and associate professor of graphic design at Northeastern University, Boston. Roger Malina, physicist, astronomer, editor-in-chief of Leonardo, distinguished professor at the University of Texas, Dallas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Maximilian Schich, Isabel Meirelles, and Roger Malina discuss the contents and creation of the new article collection, Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks, which explores the application of the science of complex networks to art history, archeology, visual arts, the art market, and other areas of cultural importance. This conversation was recorded on April 26, 2012. Maximilian Schich, DFG fellow at László Barabási's Center for Complex Network Research in Boston. Isabel Meirelles, information designer and associate professor of graphic design at Northeastern University, Boston. Roger Malina, physicist, astronomer, editor-in-chief of Leonardo, distinguished professor at the University of Texas, Dallas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/art

Vi er tilbage med lidt forsinkelse - og denne gang fokuserer vi på Mr. Likeable himself: Paul Rudd. En anden Mr. Likeable er i studiet i form af Christian Schmelling, der naturligvis også er Paul Rudd-fan, trods han blev lovet at dissekere Jaws! Det bliver et genbesøg med bl.a. 'I Love You, Man', 'Anchorman', 'This is 40', 'Ant-Man' og en serieafstikker til 'Friends' og 'Parks and Recreation'. Vi høres på åen. Forresten... Vi er på Twitter - og Instagram-mediet: @streamaaen Og også Facebook: www.facebook.com/streamaaen. Kontakt os gerne: streamaaen@gmail.com. Bag podcasten står Peter Vistisen, Tobias Iskov Thomsen og Anders Zimmer Hansen - alle tidligere 40-årige serbere. Yderligere informationer Citat fra film/serie: Friends (NBC, Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Television Distribution), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Columbia Pictures, Bron Creative, Ghost Corps, The Montecito Picture Company, Right of Way Films, Sony Pictures Releasing), Ant-Man (Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures), This is 40 (Apatow Productions, Universal Pictures), I Love You, Man (DreamWorks Pictures, De Line Pictures, Bernard Gayle Productions, The Montecito Picture Company, Paramount Pictures), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Apatow Productions, DreamWorks Pictures), Parks and Recreation (Open 4 Business Productions, Deedle-Dee Productions, Fremulon, 3 Arts Entertainment, Universal Television, NBCUniversal Television Distribution), Hot Ones (First We Feast, Complex Networks, Chris Schonberger)

Mikhail Bortnik rose to notoriety in the 2000's by co-creating MISHKA NYC--a streetwear brand with global popularity amongst the weirdos, subverts, and celebrities. Today, he works behind the scenes at Complex Networks, delivering ideas that push culture forward. In this episode we discuss his collection of vintage comic book t-shirts, how a Dr. Strange shirt can sell for $5000 and why he will never wear a pre-distressed Marvel Comics shirt from Target. Selected pieces from Mikhail's collection can be seen at the Running Out Of Space Instagram account:@runningoutofspacepodcastFollow Mikhail Bortnik on Instagram: @mypalthecrook

Quizmasters Lee and Marc meet for a trivia quiz with topics including Botany, Logos, Astronomy, Cars, Movies, Periodic Table, Engineering, Symbols and more! Round One BOTANY - What type of plant will only bear fruit after digesting the corpse of a female wasp? LOGOS - What color is the 'l' in the Google logo? HOT ONES - The popular hot sauce challenge web series Hot Ones by Complex Networks is filmed in which U.S. state? ASTRONOMY - ‘Oceanus' and ‘Janus' were suggested names for what planet? CARS - What high-performance sports car by Dodge debuted in the 90's and was inspired by the Shelby Cobra in name and appearance? 2010's MOVIES - Slowmo is a drug that appears in what 2012 action adaptation of a comic book character? Round Two PERIODIC TABLE - Which common seven letter element has the atomic number 20? FIREARMS - Founded in the 16th Century, what Italian firearms manufacturer is the oldest active manufacturer of firearm components in the world? THE BIBLE - What is the fifth book of the New Testament? STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING - In structural engineering, what is the term for a structure's connection points or nodes? SYMBOLS - The international symbol of lb. for pound is an abbreviation for what latin word? NASA - What "lucky snack" is present at every mission event controlled from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (due to its presence at a successful landing of Ranger 7 on the moon)? Rate My Question JURASSIC PARK - The dilophosaurus is famously but inaccurately portrayed in Jurassic Park spitting venom. What does "dilophosaurus" mean in Greek? Final Questions 70's MOVIES - What 1979 comedy film sees its protagonist headed to Hollywood to become a star and features cameos by Milton Berle, Mel Brooks, Bob Hope, Elliott Gould, Carol Kane, Cloris Leachman, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor and Orson Welles, among others? CELEBRITY FAMILIES - What actor from Cheers is the maternal actor of Jason Sudeikis? HORROR MOVIES - In which Friday the 13th movie does Jason first don his iconic hockey mask? Upcoming LIVE Know Nonsense Trivia Challenges September 14th, 2022 - Know Nonsense Challenge - Point Ybel Brewing Co. - 7:30 pm EST September 15th, 2022 - Know Nonsense Trivia Challenge - Ollie's Pub Records and Beer - 7:30 pm EST September 17th, 2022 - UPSIDE DOWN TRIVIA: STRANGER THINGS PUB QUIZ - Ollie's Pub Records and Beer - 7:30 pm EST You can find out more information about that and all of our live events online at KnowNonsenseTrivia.com All of the Know Nonsense events are free to play and you can win prizes after every round. Thank you Thanks to our supporters on Patreon. Thank you, Quizdaddies – Gil, Tim, Tommy, Adam, Brandon, Blake Thank you, Team Captains – Kristin & Fletcher, Aaron, Matthew, David Holbrook, Mo, Lydia, Rick G, Skyler Thank you, Proverbial Lightkeepers – Elyse, Kaitlynn, Frank, Trent, Nina, Justin, Katie, Ryan, Robb, Captain Nick, Grant, Ian, Tim Gomez, Rachael, Moo, Rikki, Nabeel, Jon Lewis, Adam, Lisa, Spencer, Luc, Hank, Justin P., Cooper, Sarah, Karly, Lucas, Mike K., Cole, Adam Thank you, Rumplesnailtskins – Mike J., Mike C., Efren, Steven, Kenya, Dallas, Issa, Paige, Allison, Kevin & Sara, Alex, Loren, MJ, HBomb, Aaron, Laurel, FoxenV, Sarah, Edsicalz, Megan, brandon, Chris, Alec, Sai, Nathan, Tim, Andrea, Ian If you'd like to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content, please visit http://theknowno.com and click "Support."

Today on the Pod we are lucky to have Laura Alessandretti (1) visiting us.Laura is an Assistant Professor in Modelling of Human Dynamics at the Technical University of Denmark. She is interested in Computational Social Science, Data Science and Complex Networks. She studies aspects of human behavior combining analysis of large-scale datasets, analytical models and numerical simulations. Previously, she was a PostDoctoral researcher at the Copenhagen Centre for Social Data Science and at DTU Compute. Before that, Laura got her PhD in Mathematics at City, University of London, and her Master's in Physics of Complex Systems at École normale supérieure de Lyon. She's also doing many things to serve the scientific community, for example Laura will be the general chair (with Luca Aiello) of the IC2S2 conference in Copenhagen.Laura is a close collaborator and a good friend of mine, so today's podcast is a little bit different than many others. We discuss the long and winding road leading to our joint paper “The Scales of Human Mobility” (2).The sound is a little less perfect than sometimes, but the content is top-notch, so I hope you'll stick with it in spite of that.References(1) https://laura.alessandretti.com(2) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2909-1

BuzzFeed Inc. chief revenue officer Edgar Hernandez and his team have been preparing for a potential recession since May. “We did some recession planning and presented that to senior leadership back in June. And so we've been playing the game as if we are in a recession,” he said in the latest episode of the Digiday Podcast. That recession planning boils down to two focuses with respect to BuzzFeed's advertising business: “efficiency and innovation,” said Hernandez, who was CRO of Complex Networks before BuzzFeed acquired the media company last year as the latter company went public. “Efficiency” effectively means making it easy for advertisers to spend money with BuzzFeed and to see returns on that investment. “Innovation” means pitching them ad opportunities -- such as a new video programming slate that BuzzFeed's sales team started pitching advertisers on in recent weeks -- that will help brands to stand out and capture audiences' attention at a time when consumer confidence has ebbed. While BuzzFeed has seen the economic downturn's impacts, as evinced by its most recent quarterly earnings report, the media company is also starting to see signs of an advertising recovery. The volume of pitch requests -- or RFPs -- for fourth-quarter ad opportunities that BuzzFeed is currently receiving is comparable to last year. That includes RFPs from advertiser categories such as consumer electronics and retail that have been soft throughout 2022. “There is a good signal in market right now that there's increased opportunity going into Q4 and that especially some challenged categories like consumer electronics are being more active than they've been the other three quarters,” Hernandez said.

Rich Antoniello, Founder and Former CEO of Complex Networks, joins Matt Briton on the latest episode of The Speed of Culture podcast. They discuss the rise of Complex Networks, the transition to digital space, and how to build a unique brand that appeals to your target audience.Follow Suzy on Twitter: @AskSuzyBizSubscribe to The Speed of Culture on your favorite podcast platform.And if you have a question or suggestions for the show, send us an email at suzy@suzy.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Wayne Kimmel interviewed the Founder and former CEO of Complex Networks, Rich Antoniello, on the SeventySix Capital Sports Leadership Show. Complex Networks is a media and entertainment company for youth culture, which reports on emerging trends in style, sneakers, food, music, sports, and pop culture. Antoniello became CEO of Complex in 2003 and established a media powerhouse known for delivering a sharp editorial blend of pop culture and style trends. Complex was acquired by Buzzfeed in 2021. Tune in to find out more!

How to Fall in Love with EBITDAIf you have ever been confused by the financial information in your business, this is the show for you. In this episode of The Inside BS Show, Dave Lorenzo interviews financial expert, fractional CFO, bookkeeping company owner, and entrepreneur, Jennifer Yousem. 00:00 How to Fall in Love with EBITDA01:21 The story behind Jennifer's website's unique name02:16 What does Jennifer do to help people?02:54 What can a client do to get connected with Jennifer and her firm?05:37 When should a company need Jennifer's services?13:08 When should a controller or a CFO be hired?15:46 What areas of business can a fractional CFO's work significantly impact?21:36 How you should book income for work in progress?23:22 What is the significance of cash versus accrual in business?24:42 How can Jennifer prevent a potential problem with financial statements?27:54 Who should we connect with Jennifer?30:12 What causes most business owners to be confused about their financial statements?Jennifer Yousem(310) 991-4298jennifer@iheartebitda.comwww.iheartebitda.comAbout Jennifer YousemJennifer started her career in equity research but pivoted into corporate finance for media companies after business school and for 15 years led teams in business development and strategic and operational finance at Sony, Paramount, Viacom, Clear Channel & Daily Mail. She helped launch Verizon Hearst Media Partners in 2016 and as their CFO, led the merger with Complex to form Complex Networks, a multi-platform digital lifestyle brand owned by Verizon and Hearst. Jennifer founded I Heart EBITDA in 2019 to bring her enterprise-level finance and operational expertise to the mid-market through fractional CFO services and purchased Supporting Strategies Queens to service the entire finance function by providing outsourced bookkeeping and controller services

Join us in our conversation with Andrea Keeble. Andrea is currently the Art Director at Complex Networks. She has 10+ years experience in the world of creative direction, and has used her talents to work with the likes of Christian Dior, Gucci, Moncler, Puma, Nordstrom, Reebok, First We Feast (Hot Ones), Hard Music Festivals, ESPN (NBA), Alienware, Lexus and more. Andrea also owns and runs her own creative company, The State of Green, that acts as, “a fresh perspective keeping culture and mother nature at the forefront.” In today's episode, we highlight Andrea's journey from the very beginnings, to traveling around the world doing freelance, to what she does now with Complex. We speak about what it takes to work at the highest level and how Andrea has navigated her way into spaces where she can thrive. CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 INTRO 00:00:43 EARLY INFLUENCES 00:05:26 EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY 00:09:41 EARLY CAREER LESSONS 00:13:27 MENTORSHIPS 00:14:51 HOW ANDREA GOT TO COMPLEX 00:16:27 WIDENING PERSPECTIVES THROUGH TRAVEL 00:18:25 TRANSITIONING INTO COMPLEX 00:22:39 WHAT MAKES BIG PROJECTS SUCCESSFUL? 00:24:54 HARMONIZING TEAMS 00:26:51 SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY WORKING AT COMPLEX 00:28:00 WORKING WITH CELEBRITIES AND BRANDS 00:29:00 FAVORITE PROJECT AT COMPLEX 00:29:56 FAVORITE PART OF THE JOB 00:30:30 THE STATE OF GREEN - ANDREA'S COMPANY 00:34:44 FREELANCE VS. CORPORATE WORK 00:42:08 ADVICE FOR YOUNG CREATIVES 00:47:10 SPECIFIC SKILLS YOUNG CREATIVES NEED 00:48:41 SOFT SKILLS EVERYBODY COULD USE 00:52:40 BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS 00:53:18 MORE SOFT SKILLS FOR SUCCESS 00:58:01 WHAT DOES DYFRENT MEAN TO YOU? 00:59:02 3 TRUTHS 00:59:49 WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR LEGACY TO BE? 01:00:56 OUTRO Check out Andrea: Website: thestateofgreen.com LinkedIn: Andrea Keeble Instagram: @thestateofgreen Find the video clips from this episode and more episodes on IGTV and YouTube @DYFRENT D Y F R E N T: ENTER IMAGINATION WITH GRACE THE STORE: http://dyfrentny.com THE CREATIVE AGENCY: http://dyfrentconsulting.com INSTAGRAM: @dyfrent // @dyfrentconsulting LINKEDIN: DYFRENT CONSULTING

Rich Antoniello is the founder and former CEO of Complex Networks, a media and entertainment company for youth culture that reports on popular and emerging trends in style, sneakers, food, music, sports, and pop culture. Complex was originally started as a bi-monthly magazine by fashion designer Marc Eckō. Rich joined forces with Marc several years in and helped transform the company into a multi-media conglomerate of brands which includes First We Feast, ComplexCon, Pigeons & Planes, and Sole Collector.The company was first acquired in 2016 through a joint venture by Verizon and Hearst, and went through a second acquisition in 2021 by Buzzfeed via a SPAC merger valued at around $300 million. Rich served as CEO of Complex for 18 years, starting in 2003 until stepping down last year following the Buzzfeed acquisition.SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com

Rich Antoniello is the Founder and long-time CEO of Complex Networks, the culture-defining media brand he took from humble beginnings to global icon. In 2021, Complex went public in a merger with Buzzfeed. In today's episode, Jon and Rich talk about the early days of Complex, creating culture instead of following it, and building a brand that actually resonates with millions of people.   Rich Antoniello: LinkedIn | Twitter   Visit JonDavids.com for more info. And follow Jon across social: Twitter - @realjondavids (twitter.com/realjondavids) Instagram - @jon_davids (instagram.com/jon_davids) LinkedIn - @jondavids (linkedin.com/in/jondavids)

Adam chats with Anthony Conway, Talent Producer at Complex Networks. They discuss, budgeting for sneakers, the growth of sneaker media and why you should wear whatever you want! #upongame See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam chats with Anthony Conway, Talent Producer at Complex Networks. They discuss, budgeting for sneakers, the growth of sneaker media and why you should wear whatever you want! #upongame See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shi Zhou; University College London 23 May 2007 – 16:00 to 17:00

Drew Barrymore invites Sean Evans, host of Complex Networks' hit First We Feast series "Hot Ones" and "Hot Ones: The Game Show" on truTV, to discuss the art of conversation, what motivates the spicy wing interview king, and hosts they most admire.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rich Antoniello is the Founder & CEO of Complex (now Complex Networks). They recently sold the business for approximately $300 million to BuzzFeed.    In this conversation, we discuss media, entrepreneurship, capital markets, bitcoin, NFTs, and some of the CRAZY stories from over the years.  ======================= My friends at Coin Cloud will give you $50 in FREE Bitcoin when you buy $200 or more at any of their 4,000+ machines. Use promo code POMP to get your free Bitcoin. For details or to find your nearest Coin Cloud machine, visit www.Coin.Cloud/Pomp Coin Cloud has been serving customers since 2014 and has established itself as the world's leading digital currency machine (DCM) operator. More than just a Bitcoin ATM, Coin Cloud machines make it easy to buy and sell Bitcoin and 30+ other digital assets with cash. To get your $50 in free Bitcoin, visit www.Coin.Cloud/Pomp ======================= Compass Mining is the world's first online marketplace for bitcoin mining hardware and hosting. Compass was founded with the goal of making it easy for everyone to mine bitcoin. Visit compassmining.io to start mining bitcoin today! ======================= AG1 by Athletic Greens, the category-leading superfood product, brings comprehensive and convenient daily nutrition to everybody. Keeping up with the research, knowing what to do, and taking a bunch of pills and capsules is hard on the stomach and hard to keep up with. To help each of us be at our best, they simplify the path to better nutrition by giving you the one thing with all the best things.                                                                                                   ONE scoop of AG1 contains 75 vitamins, minerals and whole food-sourced ingredients, including a multivitamin, multimineral, probiotic, greens superfood blend and more in one convenient daily serving. The special blend of high-quality, bioavailable ingredients in a scoop of AG1 work together to fill the nutritional gaps in your diet, support energy and focus, aid with gut health and digestion, and support a healthy immune system, - effectively replacing multiple products or pills with one healthy, delicious drink.                  To make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you an immune supporting FREE 1 year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 free travel packs with your first purchase if you visit athleticgreens.com/pomp today. Again, simply visit athleticgreens.com/pomp to take control of your health and give AG1 a try. =======================

Joining us this week is John Kelly, founder and CEO of Graphika, a software as a service platform for contextual influence mapping, social media marketing, advertising and analytics. He shares his career journey toward the formation of Graphika, and explains the foundational principles behind mapping complex online social networks, the challenges it presents, and what it means for a world faced with ever-increasing levels of disinformation and influence operations.

Joining us this week is John Kelly, founder and CEO of Graphika, a software as a service platform for contextual influence mapping, social media marketing, advertising and analytics. He shares his career journey toward the formation of Graphika, and explains the foundational principles behind mapping complex online social networks, the challenges it presents, and what it means for a world faced with ever-increasing levels of disinformation and influence operations.

In dieser Folge zu Gast: Christian Baesler – ursprünglich ist er für die deutsche Bauer Media Group als Anfang 20-jähriger in die USA gegangen, mittlerweile hält er als President bei Complex die Fäden in der Hand. Complex war ursprünglich ein kleines HipHop-Printmagazin aus New York. Mittlerweile hat das digitale Portal eine Audience, die zumindest auf sozialen Kanälen etwa doppelt so groß ist wie die von Vice und nahezu profitabel. Vor allem ist Complex ein Paradebeispiel dafür, wie man für digitale Inhalte eine starke, loyale Community und ein diversifiziertes Business-Modell aufbaut. Mit etwas mehr als 300 MitarbeiterInnen und über 30 Millionen Followern auf Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, TikTok und Twitter sind die Umsatzkanäle divers verwoben über Sponsorengeschäfte, Lizenzdeals für ihre TV-Shows, eigene Produktlinien (sie vertreiben etwa ihre eigene Chilisauce), ein großes Event-Geschäft mit einer großen digitalen und virtuellen jährlichen Konferenz und E-Learning Programmen. Christian Baesler auf Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbaesler Complex auf Instagram https://www.instagram.com/complex/?hl=en

Millennials and Gen Z want different experiences, different content, different opportunities. But catering to those distinct needs wasn't enough, says BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti; the digital-media outfit also needed to create a flywheel for value. When the pandemic trimmed tens of millions in revenue, Peretti cut back on costs – but kept the flywheel spinning. By the end of 2020 his team had engineered a rebound, finishing the year with record profitability. Now, the company has announced plans to go public via SPAC at a $1.5 billion valuation. With the acquisitions of HuffPost and Complex Networks, Peretti has shown that his ambitions are just beginning.Read a transcript of this interview at: mastersofscale.comSubscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dlirtXSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Millennials and Gen-Z want different experiences, different content, different opportunities. But catering to those distinct needs wasn't enough, says BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti; the digital-media outfit also needed to create a flywheel for value. When the pandemic trimmed tens of millions in revenue, Peretti cut back on costs – but kept the flywheel spinning. By the end of 2020 his team had engineered a rebound, finishing the year with record profitability. Now, the company has announced plans to go public via SPAC at a $1.5 billion valuation. With the acquisitions of HuffPost and Complex Networks, Peretti has shown that his ambitions are just beginning.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The wave of media consolidation is cresting again. The latest example is BuzzFeed's acquisition of Complex Networks. BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti and Complex Networks CEO Rich Antoniello joined the Digiday Podcast to talk about the deal. The conversation with Peretti and Antoniello ranged from how Complex Networks will fit inside BuzzFeed to how BuzzFeed's brands could cross over into Complex's properties like ComplexCon and vice versa. What came through in the interview is how the two executives see their respective companies as being in a better position together rather than going it alone in an industry dominated by giant tech platforms and other major media companies that continue to merge. “In this day and age, how difficult it is being an independent publisher, I think it's only gotten more and more difficult and the pandemic heightened that,” Antoniello said. Becoming a media conglomerate comes with complexities, though. “You can tell in companies that merge everything together and have some chief content officer who makes every piece of content the same -- I mean, it just doesn't work,” said Peretti. “You need editorial independence and that flows through even to the business and to the partnerships you do and brand licensing deals and native advertising and branded content.”

Science and tech headlines: Google's internet browser, Chrome, will block cookies starting in early 2022. John and Rebecca discuss the implications. Cuba's three-jab Soberana 2 vaccine has qualified for approval from the WHO, giving the world one more tool in the fight against COVID-19. News items:BuzzFeed is negotiating the purchase of Complex Networks, and it has plans to merge with a SPAC and go public soon. But it might all be for naught – John explains why he thinks most digital media companies are doomed. According to The New York Times media reporter Ben Smith, Tucker Carlson has been leaking stories about Trump and Fox News to the mainstream press for years. John explains why the news is underwhelming.Supply chain woes will probably lead to inflation faster than experts expected. Rebecca says she's sticking with Fed chair Jay Powell. Economic historian Adam Tooze is out with a timeline of the Biden administration's evolution from dovish to hawkish vis-à-vis China. Rebecca and John discuss what role the strategic consulting firm WestExec might have played in that evolution, and how Trump can make hay of it in 2024. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Matthias Matternich is the co-founder and CEO of Art of Sport. We discuss growing up as the son of a German ambassador, starting his first company at 14, when Brexit devalued his investment capital, selling women's smimwear, pitching Kobe Bryant, his 500 mile trek in the Alps, and redefining body and skincare for athletes. Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com---EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up. A podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders. Matthias Metternich:I remember Brian and I thinking, well, who represents the kind of tenacity, and focus, and mental and physical commitment to being the best version of yourself possible. Done so successfully that they've transcended their sport. And it really took us almost no time to say, well, that's Kobe Bryant. And we asked ourselves, "Do we think we could get him involved?" And our path took us to his door. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Matthias Metternich, the co-founder and CEO of Art of Sport. Matthias was born in Germany. And because his father was an ambassador, he had lived in nearly 10 different countries by his teens. And he began coding at age seven, and began pursuing it seriously a couple of years later while living in Mongolia, as it helped him pass the time during the harsh winters. Soon after Matthias' entrepreneurial streak kicked off. He started his first company at 14, and since then started over five businesses, ranging from women's swimwear and enterprise software to his current company, Art of Sport, where he's redefining body and skincare products for athletes. Chris Erwin:So this interview is a bit on the long side and covers more topics than most. It's because Matthias' intellect and passion is far reaching. We discuss why he's not a good video game developer. How the founder of MySpace became his mentor during undergrad, how Brexit devalued one of his companies, and what it was like to recruit basketball legend Kobe Bryant as a co-founder. All right, let's get into it. Let's rewind a bit. You had told me that you originally grew up in Germany. Tell me about that and your household. Matthias Metternich:I grew up in Germany until about the age of eight months. So it wasn't my whole life. It was a very short moment. I was born there and then my dad was in the foreign service. So every three years we would get posted somewhere else. And so, from the age of eight months onward until really, I mean, even to this point, I've been moving around the world every two to three years. So we moved to the Soviet Union and I lived in Leningrad, then we moved to Los Angeles, then we moved to Mongolia, then we moved to the Middle East. And so there's been a lot of transition in my life. So that was a very interesting experience, that was quite formative for me. Matthias Metternich:But went back to Germany for high school for about two or three years for boarding school. And then I continue to... I went back for college for a very brief period, and then always go back whenever I have time to see friends and family, but I'm a bit of a nomad. Chris Erwin:What was your father doing in the foreign service? Matthias Metternich:My dad was an ambassador. He represented the German government in different countries. So that meant that he would often be the man in charge to present German interests, build relationships politically, economically, drive through cultural agendas. And it was an interesting time because that was really... His formative years in the service were deep within the cold war era. So there was a lot of really exciting espionage, nuclear proliferation, all kinds of stuff like that is what I grew up with. And I do remember it was even a period where if your listeners remember their history, there was an east and west Germany for about 40 years. Matthias Metternich:And so east Germany had embassies in countries that west Germany didn't. But when the wall fell and east and west Germany came back together, my dad was responsible for actually going to these places in these countries that west Germany didn't have a political presence and taking over those embassies. So I remember a lot of the places I lived was right next to the "access of evil" types of Eastern Soviet bloc embassies, like North Korea and whatnot. And if I kicked the ball over the fence in the wrong way, there would be a military procession where they'd pass the soccer ball back to us. Chris Erwin:What a unique childhood. Now, did that peak your interest, and did you think about going into government or the foreign service? Matthias Metternich:So my family has been in the political arena for several hundred years, and there's a lot of tradition there that I think my father [inaudible 00:04:25] spouse. But I think he was actually quite remarkably aware of how the role was changing in a more and more connected world. And what does a public servant, government figure head do in a foreign country where now you have video conferencing, you're on a jet, you're there in a couple hours. So there's diminishing opportunities over time as we become more and more connected. And because of his role, he was also always interfacing with and exposing me to really remarkable walks of life, business people who are sometimes coming to China for the first time, like large industrialists, well-known household names who would be coming and stopping through the house and having dinner with us. Matthias Metternich:And you'd hear their stories about this global world that was changing and forming. And in that context of the diplomats role diminishing over time or sunsetting a little bit on golden era of what that diplomat would do. And I don't want to take anything away from those folks doing that. It's still a very important part of the civil society and political arena. But with that sunsetting and this coming online of this connected industrial world, for me as a kid, I saw very clearly the writing on the wall that committing my time to something that was sunsetting versus something I was actually passionate about, which was shaping the planet or trying to shape the planet in some way, that's where my future was. Chris Erwin:And so speaking to that theme, which I think also relates to the compression and changing of information cycles and dynamics, you mentioned that at a pretty early age you had bought your first computer or connected to the internet and you were coding very young? Matthias Metternich:Yes. Chris Erwin:When did that first happen? Did that start in Mongolia or another country? Matthias Metternich:It started in Los Angeles. My parents bought it, and I was about seven but really I appropriated it fully when I was nine. And we moved to Mongolia, and Mongolia as a really pretty horrible.... Really beautiful country, but it has a very harsh winter, which can last upwards of six months. And so when you're in a place like that, there's only so much your parents are willing to entertain you. I found a lot of entertainment from the computer, and folks in the embassy who knew their way around this. And there was one guy in particular who was a bit of a hacker gadgets guy. And so, he gave me a running start at it, but I taught myself how to code because I wanted to make games for myself. I had exhausted the two games that I had. Matthias Metternich:And that took me on a journey into figuring out how to connect to the internet, talking to people all over the world at a time when very few adults knew how to do this. I felt incredibly empowered. And then I had the tools to come up with ideas and articulate those using code and using design. And I realized very quickly that my video games were pretty shitty because I was actually not a very good storyteller, but I was good at some of the code. And that's where I started to lose myself in the world of storytelling, and design, and empathy, and understanding what connects with people and why people get inspired or sad or happy or excited. And I tried to weave that into my games. Matthias Metternich:So in a way it was a little bit of a workshop for me. I was a craftsman honing my own craft at my own pace with the world's information, gradually coming online and being available online for me to learn from other people. It was a really powerful period for me. Chris Erwin:This reminds me of another interview that we did on the show with Christian Baesler, who is the president of Complex Networks. He was born, I think, in the late '80s in Germany. So there must be something in the water there, because he also began coding at a very young age himself, or his uncle had bought him a computer. I think he was born within a month of the Berlin Wall coming down. And he was in a small town, and he felt the need that through his computer he can express himself through coding, developing games, and also through the internet, connecting with people that were outside of his community, craving that need for connection and new information and exposure. Matthias Metternich:Yeah. Very similar stories. Chris Erwin:After this, you then go and you do your undergrad, and that's at... Did you say UCLA? Matthias Metternich:Yes, that's right. Chris Erwin:You do your undergrad at UCLA. And what's going through your mind while you're there in terms of fast forward, you clearly have a very impressive entrepreneurial career, which leads to founding Art of Sport a few years back. Was this in your mindset when you were going through undergrad as well? Matthias Metternich:Yeah. So I started my first company when I was about 14 years old, and it was out of necessity. It was really not necessarily... I mean, I always had an entrepreneurial bent. I was intrigued by money, but it wasn't a means to an end for me. But the idea of having something that someone wanted and being able to charge for it, was an interesting idea to me. And I remember, I mean, my first businesses were trying to sell my video games, and then it was actually building out a bigger video game library, where back in the day, it was fairly easy to just copy CD ROMs and sell those. And that was illegal obviously. But buying a video game for $35 and then selling a piecemeal for $5 a pop to a 100 kids was pretty lucrative. Matthias Metternich:It then snowballed into my first formal business, where I refurbished and sold computers in bulk to schools and to small businesses. And I would have ongoing service contracts where I would keep them updated, and fix those computers. And it was a really, actually pretty easy job for a kid in high school. And the pocket money was really good. Chris Erwin:Wait, so I have to pause there. So did you have a team that was helping you to do this or was it all by yourself? Matthias Metternich:It was all by myself. I didn't have a driver's license. So I would have to ask older friend in high school if they could drive the computers around in bands and stuff like that to get places. But I never employed anybody. It was just myself. And then I was part of the Computer Lab Society and whatnot. And there were folks there that were just excited to help. And I also was on the basketball team. So I sold these computers to the schools I was playing against. And so, sometimes I'll try to put the computers on the team basketball bus and transport them that way. But no, it was a great to work. It was a great way to learn. And then that's snowballed into one day walking down to my local staples and I needed business cards. Matthias Metternich:I realized I needed to have some way for people to call me. And so my parents were kind enough to have set up a dedicated line in my room. And so I went down to staples and had these business cards printed, and I didn't have that much money. And there was this offer, I think, for small businesses for 10,000 business cards or whatever for $100. It was a special or something like that. But you had to let them put the staples logo on the back of the card. And it was essentially their version of us know co-marketing that day. And I took it because it was the cheaper route. But then when I started putting those through mailboxes and small businesses to help them build websites and stuff, people thought I worked for staples and they actually called me back. They called me back probably at a higher rate than if I didn't have the staples logo on the card. Chris Erwin:That logo gave you legitimacy. Matthias Metternich:Gave me a legitimacy. And because I was doing so much of this remotely, they very rarely... Fortunately puberty hit me when I was about 14. So I had a voice that occasionally cracked, but sounded a little older, and they had no idea who they were working with. So I then started building websites. And by the time I got to college long way of telling you... Long story here, but by the time I got to college, I had a few businesses under my belt that I was running. I felt it was the most empowering and exhilarating experience. I had done lots of mixed media things, where I tried to make music, and produce music, and made websites, and build computers, and tried build apps. Matthias Metternich:And so, for me, it was very strange to think of studying something to go within into a function, into a single domain, or expertise, or functional expertise, or focus, when I was already relatively fluent. I'll be amateurish across all these different buckets that I felt were... When you paired my experience back to how that manifested within academia, those were all separate degrees and people were studying those things separately. So, I fell out of water. I felt weird about what I was doing in college. I felt like a complete fish out of water also just culturally. It was tough for me to connect with kids who had probably mostly grown up in the same town or same city, and were going to college in their same city. And I started another company while I was in college. So to answer your question, yeah, the intention was always to build businesses, but never just to build businesses. It was because I loved the process of making things and seeing opportunities, and asking myself questions about where the world was going, and then try and articulate those. Chris Erwin:Wow! So when you say that you had fluency in a lot of different, call it the capacities and how you build a business and how you run a business, and that you felt that those were modularized when you were in undergrad and that's not how you looked at it. What did you perceive as those core competencies that you had already figured out by your undergrad years? Matthias Metternich:I don't want to overstate it. I mean, I still knew nothing about very much of anything, and probably still don't know anything about anything. Chris Erwin:Beginner's mind is a good place to be. Matthias Metternich:Yeah, absolutely. But look, this was still a time in an era where somebody who could use Photoshop fluently and design something leaks ahead of entire digital agencies that were just starting to become proficient in digital stuff. I mean, this was 2004. And so, I don't want to overstate my skills, but by that point I was fluent in Excel, and basic financial modeling, building up PnL, and managing that, and forecasting and that sort of stuff, pretty rudimentary arithmetic. I was fluent in designing things, both physical and not structural design, but physical media billboards, or postcards, or whatever else. I was packaging and so on. Matthias Metternich:I was pretty fluent in designing digital products, whether those were app style products or just informational websites. I've had experience copywriting and telling stories that I thought could lead to consumers clicking on things, and seeing things. So I had some proximity to search and search optimization. I was fluent a little bit in having talked to people who were open to putting some money into my projects, which at the time I wasn't really familiar with institutional capital, institutional investors, or even angel investors, but I understood what that- Chris Erwin:You had bootstrapped everything yourself to dig, right? Matthias Metternich:... totally. Yeah. Bootstrapped, but also with the luxury of safety net for my parents. I wasn't paying rent. So, it was the best time to be trying things, because I still was fed at the end of the day. And so, when I looked at college, it was a case of saying, okay. Well, there's, there's an accounting degree, there's an economics degree, there's a bit poly-psy, which I felt like I had from home. There's the design school. Okay. That seems pretty limited. And where does that lead from a career perspective? And then none of those things had really tentacles that led out of the institution into the real world. Matthias Metternich:So all these kids were studying this thing within this echo chamber and then going to a job fair. And I just thought that seems so backwards. You'd want to accelerate your craft and accelerate your learning into something actually relevant in the real world. Those things shouldn't be distinct, where there's a learning center and then there's the real world. Those things are probably the same space. And there's no reason why you can't learn on the job. Chris Erwin:And speaking of reaching your tentacles out into the real world, is this around the same time when you sneak into, I think a speaking event of the founder of MySpace, Brett Brewer? Matthias Metternich:Yeah, it was. It was actually my... I want to say it was my sophomore year. And UCLA business school, these are young executives or corporate leaders coming back to get their MBAs. And here is this 19 year old kid who's loitering around their departments and walking into the buildings, and just walking into different classes. And there was a business plan competition for its students. I think the best business plan was going to get $10,000 or something like that. And I went around asking different MBA students if they'd be willing to let me join their team, because I personally couldn't really apply myself to this. I wasn't a bit in the business school. So I could be part of a team, but I couldn't be leading it. And two guys were kind enough to take me on. Matthias Metternich:And basically then I worked with them to come up with a business plan and design the deck, and do the financials, and do it all with them. And during one of the mentor classes, Brett Brewer was speaking. I'd snuck in to attend this. Again, I'm never really allowed to be present in these spaces as an undergrad. And Brett Brewer was standing on stage and he was being interviewed, and he went to UCLA as an undergrad. And the moderator said, "Tell us about your college experience." And he said, "I snuck into the business school as an undergrad. I met somebody who was talking on stage and that person was able to help me enter into the internet space as I was running a company from my dorm room." And of course that spoke to me perfectly, because that was me. Matthias Metternich:And I felt almost like he was talking to me and inviting me to come talk to him, which I did afterwards. And I walked up to him and I told him this, and he was incredibly gracious. And I bumped into him since a few times and I never let him forget it. But he was my first real person that had built internet companies, built successful internet companies, embodied in a person, and was willing to talk about the inner workings of the tech industry. And at a time when very few people were trying to be tech entrepreneurs. Now every day there's a new startup. But then it was really hard to get an understanding of, how do I enter this space? Who are the players? What are the rules of the game? How does it actually work? Matthias Metternich:And at least what he did was, he looked at my business plan and I showed him the products, and he saw talent and he made introductions. And he made some introductions to some very interesting people who have become tech Titans and were tech Titans then, and have continued to be tech Titans now. But that was one of the most formative moments for me, where it was really a validation of, okay, someone great things that I can play ball. And I felt like I had been basically recruited onto a team. I wasn't a starter, but I had at least made it into the NBA. And the question was like, what do I do with this? Chris Erwin:My next question is, so you graduate from UCLA. And in terms of your next step, was it directly inspired or related to your relationship with Brett or something else? Matthias Metternich:I wouldn't say it was directly inspired. What I was doing in college, my company was essentially a creative digital agency. But I only did that so that it could cash flow into my real passion, which was to incubate our own products. And I did that because I didn't really want to be dependent on outside capital and raising capital. And I wanted to actually have good bread and butter work coming in, people getting paid, and then use whatever leftover cash to come up with our own products that we owned entirely and can scale maybe into an internet company. And that was the real business model. And in a way, because of my proximity or at least my exposure to Brett and his way of thinking, and then all these other folks. I don't want to overstate the relationship at the time, but definitely he was an inspiring figure locally. I continued to build this agency with an aim to try and launch new products. Matthias Metternich:And right at the time I was graduating, there was an opportune time for me to exit the agency and sell it to my partners. But also I had heard of a couple of agencies in London that were really remarkable working with really big clients, and were the ideas of the digital arena. These think tanks that were also creative. They knew about marketing, but they were also about creating valuable products and services. And these were bigger agencies. And I hadn't really realized there were big agencies doing this. And so I decided to move to London and joined those firms, and then start firms like that with them. And so that gave me exposure to a ton of global brands and really big brands and exciting big projects that I would have never ever done in my small studio. But I was serving global clients very quickly at a young age, working on some very challenging and complicated platforms and services and products across insurance, across consumer goods, across whatever it was. And so I had some really remarkable opportunities in that context. Chris Erwin:I think that your agency/incubator was called Popsicle Vision. Matthias Metternich:That's right. Chris Erwin:And so did you end up selling it to a London-based incubator? Matthias Metternich:No, I didn't. I sold it to my local partners in California, and then I moved to London to join this firm. Chris Erwin:You move to London, you kick off this journey. Is this your first career moment where you're actually working for someone else? Matthias Metternich:Yeah. Chris Erwin:It's not a business that you had founded? Matthias Metternich:Yes. That was the first time working for someone else. And I had the opportunity to sit down with the partners of this firm, and they had no idea what to do with me. And I had no idea what I was going to do there. And credit to them they said, "Well, why don't you just hop a board and see what happens? And you can help us with the business and help us think about building the business because we're also stuck serving all these clients. Maybe you can pull out to [inaudible 00:21:24] and help us understand what services we're offering, what should we should be doing more of, whether it's intellectual property that we could maybe build out." And I was thinking very much from Silicon valley startups, building tech companies, building products and services. And these guys didn't really have proximity to that in London. Matthias Metternich:I was put in a role that was very fluid and they gave me a lot of runway to do whatever I wanted. To the extent that one day I got a call, and I could barely understand. It was a very thick accent. And I hung up a few times, and they kept calling back, until they finally said, "Hey, we're a publicly listed $10 plus billion telecoms company based in Istanbul. And we'd like to fly you out to Istanbul." And I looked over at one of the partners and I said, "I think I'm going to go down in Istanbul and talk to these guys. I have no idea who they are, what they want, but it sounds fun." And I got on a plane and I went down there. And sure enough, it was the biggest company in Turkey, 90 million plus subscribers. Matthias Metternich:It's Turkcell, it's the largest telco company down there, huge offices, beautiful offices, huge budgets, massive projects, total desire to transform their organization, build all these new products and services, and no real domestic talents, no real Turkey based agencies, able to pull any of this stuff off. And so there I was feeling like a kid in a candy shop, and also feeling really comfortable in that environment, having lived in all these different countries, where I basically called the partners back in London and I said, "I'd like to build the agency here. We'll share the business. And I'll drive business back into London. I'll use the portfolio and we'll see where it takes us." That was a chapter that moved me from London to Istanbul. Chris Erwin:So I have to ask Matthias, if I'm following your timeline right, you're right out of undergrad call in your early 20s, maybe mid 20s max? Matthias Metternich:Yeah. Chris Erwin:I assume that in the London office, looking around the different cubicles, you have people that are right out of undergrad analysts, junior level, and you're getting calls from major executives in Turkey that are then flying you out. So it feels like your role is more like that of a partner. Is that what it felt like to you and did that felt natural? Matthias Metternich:100%. Totally felt national. It wasn't pretentious on my part. It was just that I also wasn't... In some cases I was noticing these junior staffers or mid-level staffers were vastly more proficient in the one skill they'd been honing for years. So I wasn't going to compete with them. And also I didn't want to compete with them because I wasn't wanting to work within that silo. And I didn't see myself progressing from a junior level person to a mid-level person, to a senior level person within that function. And then maybe get into graduate into the executive suite that never really made sense for me, because I was perfectly proficient by that point to speak relatively fluently with partners about some of the actual business challenges and some of the business logic, and what we should be going after or not going after. Matthias Metternich:And so, when you're in that growth mindset of making things and creating things that isn't limited by the bread and butter of what you already do, then you'd just by definition, get to live at a more fluid state. And by the way, it wasn't just me being exceptional or anything like that. Consultants have the same privilege. There are a lot of second or third year analysts out of college who work at McKinsey or Boston Consulting Group who have exactly the same experience. Because that's what they do. They get to parachute into an organization and work with the senior leadership on what the future should look like. So it was unique to me, but I was doing it within a function that wasn't necessarily the big four cost and consulting or McKinsey type places. Chris Erwin:I think you assumed this consultant advisory role for around five years after undergrad, before you returned to the US. Is it true that you bounced around to a few different companies? And I'm probably pronouncing this wrong, but Poke MEA and a global partner at Aqua. Matthias Metternich:Yeah. AKQA. Chris Erwin:Okay. AKQA. Matthias Metternich:Yeah. So these are two of the sort of leading digital transformation agencies. And I worked with clients across the gamut of industries. But when I was sort of tired of doing that because we sold the agency to publicists and then AKQA had been sold to WPP, I wanted to go back to building products cause that's what I was doing, advising clients, that's what I was helping them think about. So I wanted to go back to building my own company. So I started an enterprise software company that was backed by a bunch of venture capital funds in London, and spent three years building that. And that was an enterprise software business in the FinTech and marketing automation space. Chris Erwin:And what was the name of that company? Was that Believe.in? Matthias Metternich:Yeah, that's Believe.in. Chris Erwin:I look at what you're doing now at Art of Sport, which is you're disrupting the body and skincare industry. And there's also a major intersection of media around the talent network that you're building out, very different from enterprise software. So was your heart in this product that you had created back then or, hey, you perceived opportunity, you had a unique set of skills. There was a moment in time.? Or was it something that you were generally very passionate and interested in as well? Matthias Metternich:I can be very quick to fall in love with opportunities that don't exist in the white space. And so because I think the world of having built different things in the fluid nature of digital businesses and products and servicing all these different clients, and some might have been banks, or insurance companies, or race teams, or Skype, or [inaudible 00:26:37], seeing all these different types of companies, I think you come away with an appreciation for different types of businesses, at least a fidelity of understanding what the rules of the game are within those different verticals. Matthias Metternich:So when you see, hey, I can bring this design thinking, or this distribution differentiation, or this ability to scale to something that hasn't been done before, I tend to fall madly in love with those. So I love B2B businesses, I love B2C businesses. But with Art of Sport, it was a very clear white space to go after, creating the first sports brand to define application what you put on your skin every day. And so I took inspiration from Nike, and Nike did that for decades with what you wear. Gatorade did that for decades with what you drink and defined what that should look like. And really built a team that was focused on the athlete and creating real cultural residence, but no one had ever done it in the skincare space. Matthias Metternich:And I felt that was a huge opportunity having played sports my whole life, and knowing the category, knowing very well that consumer who chooses a brand tends to stick with that brand for decades. And that to me, was a very powerful opportunity to not just define what the Nike of skincare should look like, but also have that proximity to a consumer who applies this to their skin every day for the rest of their lives. Chris Erwin:And before we go deeper into art of sport, actually want to go back to when I think it was the early days when you were actually really interested in the intersection of culture and commerce. You had founded, I think a digitally native brand called COCODUNE back in 2014. What's the story behind that? Because I felt like that kicked off your artist sport journey in a way. Matthias Metternich:It did. I mean, it transitioned me back to the United States and I saw an opportunity where I want him to get in on the e-commerce game. And what I liked about e-commerce compared to software was, I liked the idea of a physical asset. And I liked understanding the balance sheet from the perspective of future earnings and lifetime value of consumers to individual one-off orders, where you're selling a product, and you're making it for X and you're selling it for Y, and you have the potential to scale that business off of that model. And so I was very intrigued by the fundamentals of e-commerce. I was very intrigued by what I was seeing in the social media space. And I was interested about every product having its own set of variables that expresses what I call the physics of that opportunity. Matthias Metternich:So certain products weigh a certain amount, certain products you can sell for a certain amount, because there's ambiguity about the actual cost of making them. Certain products are hard to shop for in the real world, therefore they're more suited to online. Certain products haven't seen a lot of innovation. So there's a lot of really interesting questions to be asked about a category. And I honed in on what I thought was a very interesting one, which was swimwear for women. And it sounds crazy. And I certainly had a lot of people in my world who thought I was crazy going from all the things I was doing before to bikini's. But there was something really interesting in the fact that, okay, this is a product that weighs almost nothing. It's a product that sold for 350, sometimes, dollars. It costs about between six and $10 to make. Matthias Metternich:And paradoxically, the less fabric there is the more expensive these products are. There were all these friction points that I saw, plus all of these variables within swimwear that I thought, "Hey, this might lend itself very well to be commerce, especially if we can predict the integrate, especially if we can create a really seamless experience for the consumer trying this product on at home, free shipping and free returns. Maybe we send them a several sizes so that they can find their size without friction, and they could send back what they don't like, because there's that lower weight." And so therefore the shipping rates aren't going to necessarily be arbitrarily that much higher or lower, depending on if we send them actually more inventory, we can always bill them retroactively. In some cases. Chris Erwin:That's like the Warby Parker model in a bit. Matthias Metternich:Exactly like the Warby Parker model, except with eyewear you choose one model and you stick with that. You don't really explore things. But with fashion, you might go with the polka dot one, you might want the black top, and you might also want the striped one, and you might want this color, and so on. So there was a lot of opportunity for cross and lateral selling. We also were making silhouettes that were sometimes very fashioned bourbon. And then sometimes we were making them a little bit more sporty. And people who are swimming or going on holiday, in some cases, were buying four or five, six, seven, eight, nine pairs of swimwear, and then those fade, and then you buy them again for the next season. Matthias Metternich:And so, there was a very rationalized construct behind why I did this. And one thing that I had learned from that business that was so interesting was, one, people buying things online and what triggers them. But two, we had a, surprisingly, very successful offline business through wholesale. And I remembered we had these two young women who were hosting a pop-up in Nantucket of all places. And they have this tiny little store, and they asked if we could send some product. We sent product, and the next day it was gone, sold out. And then we sold more and it sold out. We sold more, it sold out. And we were doing tens of thousands of dollars for this one, tiny little pop-up in Nantucket. Matthias Metternich:And I remember thinking to myself, this is actually putting some burden on our inventories, it's annoying actually. I mean, it's great that we're getting this revenue, but we're trying to build an e-commerce business. And I remember ignoring the wholesale business. And I remember thinking to myself, the offline business is not what I want to be building because I was buying into this mantra that it was all about pixels and not bricks. And have everything centralized in the warehouse, low cost of operations, warehouse vertically integrated and ship it. Have those DTC metrics really prove out because you can scale it into a unicorn. Matthias Metternich:And I was never delusional enough to think that I was going to be as big as Warby Parker, but I did remember hearing that Victoria secret had a $500 million swimsuit business, and they were discontinuing swimwear. And I thought to myself, there's a big of an opportunity to get something like this to 100 or 200 million revenue, except I can't get distracted by wholesale. And so I remember as we started to try and rationalize the business and figure this business out, we neglected the wholesale business. We also found that the cost of acquisition was creeping up because social channels are really saturated and becoming more and more saturated. And so we ended up leaving that business where we were selling it for... We sold it for parts. We had different types of attributes and assets that were interesting to a different parties in different ways. Matthias Metternich:And that's how we moved off of that business. And it was also an interesting time not to get too lost in the weeds here, but I raised a bunch of capital from fashion and tech investors in London because I had been in London and I was operating out of California. And my capital was partly held up in pounds, in British pounds, Sterling. And when Brexit happened, the pound massively devalued against the dollar. Part of the reason we ended up selling it for parts is because we were in a position where an enormous amount of our runway basically disappeared overnight with the de-valuing of the British pound when Brexit happened. Chris Erwin:It's one of those things that you can never anticipate. Matthias Metternich:Never anticipate. Chris Erwin:It's like you're building a startup. You know you're going to have many headwinds. And this is, as they say, the unknown unknowns. Matthias Metternich:I've always said this, everything that could possibly go wrong doesn't help describe enough how many things can go wrong when you're building a startup. And that was one of them where I just was thinking to myself, "This just can't be possible. How are we going to position where the future of the business is dependent on currency exchange?" That's insane. Chris Erwin:So I'm curious, because looking back when you were growing up, Matthias, you had bootstrapped companies that were cashflow positive, recurring revenues through these amazing service contracts with the schools that you had structured in your teen years, which is very impressive. Then you go into raising capital from other investors for enterprise software at Believe.in, and then for COCODUNE. And then you have... These aren't material exits for you they're challenges. And so does this start to dissuade you from, "Hey, the next company I built, I'm going to do differently?" What was going through your head? Matthias Metternich:That's a great question. Because I think that that's really fundamental to, I think, of a lot of entrepreneurs journey is when they think about the venture capital versus self-funding and profitability. And I had this conversation just last night with someone, where... I mean, look, it depends partially on your risk profile and what you're in the game for. I'm motivated by money. No question. I mean, we all are in some ways. But I'm also motivated to make something of my time and I want to make sure that I'm doing stuff that's exciting to me. And as much as I can. And the idea of spending 15 years building a cashflow positive business slowly, but surely it doesn't necessarily appeal to me. Matthias Metternich:I mean, I like the idea, but that's slow going. That's a lot of risk that you're taking on yourself. And this is the really, the big point of discussion me, is if you look back historically... And I like to think of myself as somebody who studies this a little bit and you look back to the 17th century, 16th century around businesses, most of these were family run, small operations that had a really tough time getting loans, really tough time having any liquidity whatsoever, really tough time being able to fund inventory. Matthias Metternich:And so we've migrated over hundreds of years to a place where access to capital is not only available in the form of these really great debt instruments, but we're also talking about a new frontier in asset class, which is called venture capital. And venture capital provides capital to entrepreneurs with ideas at stages of their development, where they have no idea how it's going to shake out. And it's right at the beginning. And not only that, the capital's available at prices that are very, very effective and accommodating for entrepreneurs to own. Most of their intellectual property that in into itself is an enormous privilege, that we live in an era where theoretically, you could raise a million dollars or more for 20% of your business. And there you are with 80% of your business and a million dollars, and hopefully a good plan to go and execute this, but you have the whole world ahead of you to go after. Matthias Metternich:And depending on the type of business, it might be 5 million, it might be 100 million, it might be a billion dollars. But we are in this very unique period in our world, in our lives, where we get to articulate ideas, we get to get funding for them, and we get to own meaningful stakes in those endeavors. And typically, you get to do that with relatively limited downside of personal risk in the way of liability. And that, to me, fundamentally from just a historical perspective, the time that we live in a generational perspective is one of the greatest, most remarkable things that I'm privileged to experience in this era. And so, to that end, it's a case of all... I mean, excuse my French, and you might have to bleep this out, but why wouldn't I fuck with that? Why wouldn't I go after that? Even if the risks are such that you lose everything at least on paper. You fail the endeavor. Okay, fine. Get up again and try it again. Chris Erwin:I'll poke one part of that, because this has come up something that I think about for myself and also from some of my peers is, Matthias, the argument that you just made in terms of the financial opportunity, the risk profile and ownership is very compelling. A potential counterpoint though, is that if you're doing, say, a 15 year cashflow business versus a venture funded business, the pressure from investors, the feeling of a bit of lack of control, and that you have to grind, and this word hustle, which is increasingly going out of fashion, could be very unappealing to entrepreneurs that are like, "Look, I want to work hard, but the classic venture hustle maybe is not and I don't want to burn out early." Matthias Metternich:100%. Chris Erwin:There's certain operators, maybe like you who have more grit resilience, and are actually better at finding the balance with a venture business. Matthias Metternich:Yeah. I think those are valid points. I don't think those things are mutually exclusive. And I think you have to ask yourself, who am I, and what do I want? I think that if you're going to take venture capital, then you can't delude yourself to think that you can somehow not play the game. You're entering into a contract that is just like any pro athlete. The expectation is that, "Okay. If I'm going to go sign for the NFL and play for a franchise team, or the NBA, or MLB, then I'm expected to put my life into this thing," because it's an opportunity. That's an enormous privilege. But it also in the case of the startup world, the upside could potentially be enormous. Matthias Metternich:And so from that perspective, I think it's a mindset. And I think it's really about asking oneself, "Am I that person," or does that just really sound cool and sound fun? Because you'll very quickly realize that, "Hey, if you're not willing to put that time in and willing to orchestrate or structure your life to prioritize that as the number one, because you've entered into this contract, then maybe you shouldn't play in the professional sports," at least if venture is... We're calling professional sports for this analogy sake. I 100% here you. Look, I think amongst entrepreneurs and most of my friends are entrepreneurs and they're venture backed, and many of them are also self-funded, there's always that discussion. Matthias Metternich:And I think some of them that are funding it themselves can really stand there and point to having built something slowly, being able to control their own destiny, being able to pay themselves what they want to pay. And they've gone through that ringer in the wars in ways that venture capital folks or venture funded people might not have gone through. And I think a lot of venture-funded startup entrepreneurs look at people who own their whole businesses and are, let's say cashflowing positively with massive admiration, because they know what tip to get there. But the stresses within venture capital are very different, and turning something from zero value into 100 plus million valuation in three or four years is also extraordinary. Matthias Metternich:From my perspective, it's all good. But still it's a privilege and it's an opportunity, and it's a flexibility that the entrepreneur, the operator has never had historically. All of those instruments that are available to us, all come with different conditions, different expectations. And I think one thing that I think entrepreneurs also get wrong is they point often at venture funded businesses and look at those boards. And they say, "By definition, the pressures are going to be crazy. Expectations are going to be out of saying, everyone's going to expect to make a shit load of money really quickly. I don't want to do that." But that is a trope. Matthias Metternich:Because I've only had experiences where my board is aligned, where my investors understand the business we're in, they understand the challenges, they understand not exerting too much pressure onto something and doing something that's super inorganic or unhealthy. And so, I think it's on the entrepreneur and on the partners to all find alignment and understand the physics of the game that they're in. And that alignment will create solid expectations and solid foundations for running something that is hot pressure cooker, but it's within reason and it's within rationale. Chris Erwin:In a way to sum it up, I think it's important to know thyself. Know who you are and also know the people around you that you're getting into business with. Hey, listeners. This is Chris Erwin, your host of the Come Up. I have a quick ask for you. If you dig what we're putting down, if you like the show, if you like our guests, it would really mean a lot if you can give us a rating wherever you listen to our show. It helps other people discover our work. And it also really supports what we do here. All right, that's it, everybody. Let's get back to the interview. So look, speaking of sports analogies, I think this is a great transition point to talk about the founding of Art of Sport. After COCODUNE, you ended up founding Art of Sport. How did that come to be? Matthias Metternich:Well, it came to be because I was coming out of that pressure cooker, and I was looking for my next one. But I also was looking to roll my experience, building products into something where I would avoid the same pitfalls. I'd be able to do certain things a little bit better. And really, it was just a matter of time before landing on a big idea that I saw real passion for and excitement for. Only this one, Art of Sport, was one that was very, very deep to my heart. I was introduced to Brian Lee, who's my co-founder in Art of Sport. And he's had an incredible career and someone I really look up to. He founded LegalZoom in his 20s. The defacto online legal platform in the country, is just remarkable. Chris Erwin:The trademark for RockWater I think was done through LegalZoom. Matthias Metternich:Very good. And then he went on to found on his company with Jessica Alba, which was the first player probably since Pampers to go into the children's baby early family stage arena with products that were better for you, made more natural, under the banner of trying to create a safe, happy world for children and young families. And it was a very exciting trajectory that he, took going from a D to C to an omni-channel brand. And I think north of a billion valuation. And so Brian and I have over the years, shared a number of venture capital investors who've invested in our businesses respectively. And there was a lot of good connective tissue there that facilitated our meeting and facilitated, our both as entrepreneurs, just rolling our sleeves up and starting to share notes on what we've learned in the past and what we want to do in the future. Matthias Metternich:And we landed on the very early innings of a rough idea around Artist of Sport when Brian visited Target and saw a bunch of copper tones sport sunscreens on the end of the aisle, and just, I think, probably being in the Headspace of having looked at brands and looked at formulas and wondering what makes a good formula [inaudible 00:44:54]. I think he asked himself, "Well, why is this sport formula? What makes it sport?" When he shared that idea with me, we walked the aisles together. We looked at the sunscreen aisle, and then we walked over to the deodorant aisle, and then we walked into the body wash aisle, and then we walked into all the other aisles of application and products and formulas. And we saw sport being used by a number of these legacy brands. And we asked ourselves, well, do we think of Coppertone or [inaudible 00:45:21] when we think of a sports brand? Matthias Metternich:Do we think of a sports brand when you see Axe sport blast or Old Spice, [inaudible 00:45:30], probably not. You really think of the Nike's, the Addidases, the Gatorades, the Powerades, brands that were born on the field with the athlete, and developed by athletes and made for athletes, and that's your north star. And everyone in the organization is serving that one unique mission. And we thought to ourselves, no one has touched the application. Nike, and Adidas, and Puma, and Under Armour, and you name it, they've touched what we wear, [inaudible 00:45:57]. We've got the Gatorades of this world and the Powerades, and the body armors, and the Vegas, and the RX Stars and whatever it is, and power bars that touch nutrition, and you put in your body. How is it possible that no one's touched what you put on your skin? Matthias Metternich:And we intuitively knew that that was a huge market. And we intuitively also knew that application spans a lot of different types of categories and a lot of different types of products, and then there's a lot of really interesting connective tissue into that athletic world through sunscreen. But there's also interesting applications in pain and recovery, showering when you've been taking multiple showers in a week or a day, even because you work out so much and dry skin. The way you smell, the way you feel in your skin, feeling confident, feeling fresh, feeling ready to go challenge the day. We knew in our bones that there was something very big here if it could be executed correctly, and that was the Genesis of Arts of Sports family. Chris Erwin:And it's interesting to hear you describe the story. So personally as a surfer, I look at different types of skincare and sunscreen. I would go down to the aisle like the CVS, and I would look at, okay, Neutrogena skincare and the Neutrogena sport, and then other brands are regular and then sport. And then I would look at the ingredients on the back and then be like, wait a minute, literally the exact same ingredients, it's just branded differently. And I've found that very frustrating and also very confusing. What am I missing here? And then I think about, I use right guard deodorants. The one that I ended up using is Right Guard Surf. Now, is there anything related to surf? Not at all. It's just the branding that I like, but it does resonate with me. Matthias Metternich:Yeah. Well, I remember when we were exploring the idea, we happened, I think quite serendipitously, to meet the guy who at Gillette, was the guy who created Gillette sport. And he was describing that he had no budget for any innovation. And there was nothing that was new about the product. It was the same product. And he had to figure out a path to creating something meaningful. So he slapped sport on the label. And I think it three X the business, and he was chuckling at that. And I was, on the one hand amused by it, and the other one, I was completely agas, that this is a proxy for that entire arena where sports been used as a marketing device, less as an actual purpose, and mission, and focus, and design with intention, and the same way that these other sports brands that we love have devoted all their resources to doing this. Matthias Metternich:And so, when we started the business, we knew we needed to be as authentic to the process and deliberate the process as Adi Dassler, who was literally cobbling shoes together for Jesse Owens at the Olympics, and Phil Knight at the University of Oregon, with people on the track and field. And we knew we needed to have deep proximity to the athletic community and have them deeply involved in our business. And I remember Brian and I thinking, well, who represents the kind of tenacity, and focus, and mental, and physical commitment to being the best version of yourself possible in the sports space, that has done so successfully that they've transcended their sports? And it really took us almost no time to say, "Well, that's Kobe Bryant." Matthias Metternich:And we asked ourselves, well, what would that look like if we got him involved? Do we think we could get him involved? And our paths took us to his door and we presented what we had, which was very rough at the time. Chris Erwin:How did you actually get to Kobe, did you go through his management or an agency? Matthias Metternich:Brian, had some, I think distant connective tissue there. They'd come across each other, of course, over the years. Brian's been an entrepreneur in LA for 25 plus years. So, he's made a name for himself. He has a great reputation. He's got the Midas touch. And so doors open whenever Brian wants to talk to folks. But we also had really one of Brian's old friends and somebody who was deeply involved with LegalZoom as well later in the business, was a guy named Jeff Stibel. And Jeff Stibel founded the Bryant Stibel fund when Kobe retired. And it was essentially one of his investment arms. And so we went to Jeff and we spoke to Jeff about the opportunity, and Jeff facilitated a conversation. And we went down to Newport and that's how we ended up sharing the idea with Kobe. Chris Erwin:What was his reaction in the room? Did he immediately get it, or did it take a few sessions to explain how big this could be? Matthias Metternich:I mean, he just had this incredible beaming, natural charisma, incredibly handsome, charismatic, sharp, fun person, and walked into the meeting room and instantly commands the space he's in, and sat down. And I had a bunch of samples from my factories that I'd been working with for several months on early iterations, new fragrances, and oils, information about the ingredients and why things were being constructed. We'd been working with some scientists that were some of the leading skincare scientists in the world to really cement the innovation and cement the formula standards around athletes. We have tested some of these with young athletes. So we had a body of work. It was really not a sketch on a napkin, hoping that he'd see the vision. We showed him the vision and we showed him our focus on how we would execute it. Matthias Metternich:And he sat there very quietly. You could tell he was very absorbed in the information. Instantly grabbed all the samples and played with them, and smelled them, and looked at them from all different angles. And then the first thing he said was, "How does this not exist yet?" That was a relief. Chris Erwin:It's exactly what you'd want to hear. Matthias Metternich:That's exactly what you want. That's exactly what you want. But it was almost like this is too obvious. Am I missing something here? This is so obvious that maybe it's not even an idea. Or is it such a big idea that it's... It's so obvious that it's such a big idea. And fortunately for us, I think he had gone through the experience of building Body Armor. And Body Armor massively successful competitor in the drinks space, going after Gatorade, $6 billion business. Matthias Metternich:And he always had lots of proximity to that in the early stages, was an investor in the business. And they had, I think, just sold part of it for a billion plus to Coca-Cola. I mean, the timing was quite fortuitous, in that, you have to remember Kobe helped build the Nike brand, so what you wear, for 20 plus years. He was involved with them in China and everywhere else. Then he was involved in a beverage player and what you put in your body. And so it was only natural for him to see that sequence, and say, "Hey, I think I have a role to play in defining what applications look like." Chris Erwin:Did he challenged you in any areas where he said, "Hey, this about the product design, the packaging, the ingredients, the perfume," anything like that, where he had a pretty strong differing opinion from the start? Matthias Metternich:Immediately. So one of the areas that is always an interesting talking point is how do you design a sports brand that doesn't just appeal to gym rats and hardcore athletes? How do you build one that transcends time? How do you build one that connects with all walks of life? How do you build a culturally resonant brand in the same way that Nike has done it, or Adidas has done it, because these are brands that people are wearing. Nine times out of 10 they're not going for a run. Nine times out of 10, they're wearing it because they connect with the lifestyle. They like the brand, they like the vibe, they like the aesthetics, and they feel it represents them and their values. And it's cool. And so you have to have a very careful balance between those two things. And one of the areas that he was very adamant on and wanting to speak about in detail was, how do you stay resolutely focused on performance? Matthias Metternich:How do you stay resolutely committed to the athlete, and how do you not get too caught up in trends? And how do you not get too caught up with what Adidas is doing with all of its fashion labs, the stuff that takes it out of the lane of sport, versus Nike that remains deeply wedded to sport constantly and stays focused on that and still manages to create a cultural halo around it? So we were operating, I think, at quite a high level when it came to just general strategy and brands. That was an area he had a lot of passion for. And then he wanted to go away with the products and use those products a lot and pass them around to his network of athletes so that he could gather his own data rather than just assume that our data was accurate. Chris Erwin:And it feels like everything that we read about and that we talk about with our clients is, when you look at the chance to partner up with talent, that could have not only just incredible insights into unique product or unique audience, but the exposure, the audience that they can bring, their brand awareness. But if you solely rely on the latter of that relationship, you're not getting the full force of everything they could bring to that company, that startup, that idea, that vision. And so it seems that you approach this with Kobe from the start thinking in a much broader way. Does this conversation happen... Because I think the company was founded around 2018 when you first had your seed. When was the Kobe conversation? Matthias Metternich:The conversation with Kobe was in 2018, and we launched the business in 2019. Chris Erwin:Fast forwarding a bit here, but him being a key integral thought partner to the business and an ambassador, and then the unfortunate circumstances and Kobe's passing in early 2020, how did you manage around that? What was the direct impact of the business? Matthias Metternich:Obviously an enormous loss. And I think we were just shellshocked for months, and just trying to process the information was hard enough. We didn't rush to just define the business, and define the impact on the business, and define what it would do to our bottom line, and these sorts of things. I think we were pretty deliberate. Not even deliberate knowingly, but just really prioritizing the loss of a partner and a friend, and someone we respected deeply. So that's where our hearts were for a long time. And then when we started to come up for air, what we saw were athletes rushing to us. We saw the community come to us. We didn't see people running away. And we saw people wanting to support us more, then we saw that the permanence, let's say of his legacy, was even deeper in a way that is unfortunate when you see brilliant people, brilliant minds, brilliant artists, brilliant athletes pass away in their prime, they pass away too prematurely. Matthias Metternich:And so, the outpouring of love and support that we saw was enormous. We were a couple of weeks away from launching the biggest partnership of its kind with Target nationally in the skincare space. It was a huge, huge partnership. We'd spent over a year, quietly and carefully crafting. And Kobe and I were going to do a media tour to promote the brands. And, of course, the first folks that we ended up calling to let them know what had transpired and what we were going to be doing, and how things were going to continue to work was with Target. And Target were very supportive. Matthias Metternich:They were very keen to make sure that we didn't actually heavily promote the brand when we launched, because we were all cautious of not wanting to be commercializing the passing of one of our founders, which was a pro and a con, because we were doing the right thing and we all felt very good about it. But it was also launching a new brand at that scale nationally and not being able to talk about it was a scary idea, because that's the moment you really want to be talking about it. Matthias Metternich:And then we rolled from that into peak lockdown with COVID, which was also incredibly challenging for everyone. And so, a really tough time to launch a consumer brand offline, especially for us. That was one of the sort of unfortunate sequences of events that had the potential to put a really dark cloud over the organization, a really dark cloud over the team. But we came together as a team and just like in sports, you have to overcome some pretty devastating losses. And I think we really banded together to try and continue on with our mission, and things were looking very bright now. That was a testing time for everyone. Chris Erwin:So it raises the question in that moment where you had this outpouring of love and support for the passing of one of your co-founders. Did that also cause you to think about the business and say, "Wow, look at all these different relationships, personalities, potential partners that we can maybe think differently about how we're building off of this magnetism and this energy that Kobe had created around his whole life. And there's a way to actually take that energy and propel it forward in thinking about your talent network differently?" Matthias Metternich:Yeah. I think what we did was, when we started the business, we started with Kobe and we had seven other athletes. So we had a round table of athletes that we felt represented a cross section of America. We did that very purposely and intentionally because we believe sport is one of the great equalizers in this world. It's one of the great ways for everyone to access it and participate. It's inclusive by design and it's diverse by design. And so, there's something really special in that. So when we brought seven of the athletes around the table, we chose people from different sports, different ages, different ethnicities, different genders. And we gave them all platforms to participate in communicating what our brand represents, and why their followers should care. So my point is this, we were always believing that the brand and the story was never going to be told by one athlete alone. Matthias Metternich:It was going to be told by, and was going to incorporate lots of different perspectives. So our storytelling was as it was before. And to an extent, because we looked at Kobe as our business partner, only as our business partner, rather than an endorser of our deodorant sticks, we captured the mantras, we captured the guidance that he's given us over the years, we captured that north star, we codify that mission and that purpose even more. We've retained, I think, the spirit of why we started this

Fil is a Professor of Informatics and Computer Science, and the former director at the Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research – a research unit of the Indiana University School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering. He joins the show to explore what he has learnt from accessing platform data, from his current role as Director of The Observatory on Social Media.Things are changing fast so in this interview I take stock with Fil to review the impact of regulation. Through community reviews, accessing platform data and social bots – we explore what all stakeholders need to be doing.Links Mentioned Twitter @bluesky The Observatory on Social Media

I've got a treat for you today. Today's author's are Gourab Ghoshal and Petter Holme, who are here to talk about a classic paper. A paper they co-authored and published in PRL in 2006. The paper has a fantastic title, which is basically also a mini abstract. It is called “Dynamics of Networking Agents Competing for High Centrality and Low Degree” (1). In the podcast we get into it!Gourab is at at Rochester University, where he is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy with joint appointments at the departments of Computer Science and Mathematics. He works in the field of Complex Systems. His research interests are in the theory and applications of Complex Networks as well as Non-equilibrium Statistical Physics, Game theory, Econophysics, Dynamical Systems and the Origins of Life.Petter is Swedish scientist living and working in Japan, where he is a Specially Appointed Professor at the Institute of Innovative Research at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. His research focuses on large-scale structures in society, technology and biology; mostly trying to understand them as networks.# Timestamps[0:00:00] Intro and friendly banter[0:04:00] Gourab's dream of becoming Richard Feynman[0:10:10] Petter becomes a network scientist by accident[0:17:45] We dive into the paper! (+ discuss complex systems in general)# References(1) https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.098701

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWkGvLsk55c Buckle Up is a series of interviews "On The Go" so, Buckle Up & join us for a drive. My 97th Guest is Suhel Nafar whois currently the Vice President of Strategy & Market Development- WANA at EMPIRE, the leading independent label, distributor, and publisher in the US and the first label to open a division in the US to help grow the local scene in West Asia & North Africa and its diaspora. Most recently, Nafar worked at Spotify as the Global Lead of Arab Music & Culture helping to build and launch in West Asia and North Africa, including an initiative of international curation for the largest cultures in the world. Nafar also built Spotify's Arab Culture Hub and its international programming strategy, curating more than 120 playlists including flagship playlists such as Yalla Today's Top Hits, Arab X, Shisha Lounge and Global X. Additionally, in 2016 he helped launch Complex Snapchat Discover channel, the fastest growing platform in the history of Complex Networks. In the 90s Nafar co-founded the Hip Hop crew, DAM, the first Arab Hip-Hop group out of West Asia. He’s also worked in film and in 2016 was an artist-in-residence at New York University. ---------------- Follow HIM @ https://www.instagram.com/suhelnafar/​ Follow Empire WANA:- https://www.instagram.com/empire.wana/​ Follow Me on https://www.instagram.com/big_hass/​​​​ Reach Out By Email buckleupdxb@gmail.com

Meagan Dexter is a Los Angelas-based brand and cultural strategist who works with Complex Networks to help brands stand out by fitting into Complex's toybox of shows, talent & activations. We learn the squiggly career path that makes up a modern cultural strategist, how trend-spotting works, tips & tricks for moving across the country during a pandemic, and how Complex has all growns up from the early days of toys, sneakers & skateboards (well, it's still all those things, but more now)Meagan Dexter: http://www.meagandexter.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/meagandexter/https://twitter.com/megdexhttps://open.spotify.com/user/129337998?si=BXWaLlFAStaG6sw4Q_wV_g&nd=1Connect w/ Pop-Marketer:https://www.pop-marketer.com/https://twitter.com/joenormalhttps://www.instagram.com/popmarketer/

On this episode, I'm joined by my buddy Joseph from Complex to talk about adjusting to the COVID-Times, We've been in the pandemic for about a year now, what's changed from a creative and mindset standpoint, dealing with social media, the 2021 Mets upside, giving LeBron James his flowers now and a fascinating debate on what makes a rivalry, is it the players or the teams that make the rivalry what it is APPLE https://apple.co/2R494FfPATREON https://bit.ly/2F2RdvgTWITCH https://bit.ly/31TN7P3SPOTIFY https://spoti.fi/3bn9QGxVM YOUTUBE https://bit.ly/336DWdBTWITTER http://www.twitter.com/VeteransMinimumINSTAGRAM  http://www.instagram.com/VeteransMinimumFACEBOOK Facebook.com/veteransminimumLINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/company/52152267LAMB'S TWITTER https://bit.ly/3l0mQoJLAMB'S IG https://bit.ly/33ddtMtMERCH STORE http://bit.ly/3qxPQr7 GUEST instagram.com/thatguyjt

Aaron Braxton, Vice President, Head of Business Intelligence at Complex Networks talks about how even as his company is eyeing industry-wide attempts at replacing the cookie, such as the Trade Desk's Unified ID initiative, publishers need to start taking audience intelligence into their own hands. In Complex's case, that's included recruiting a 30,000 member digital panel of enthusiasts, which helps inform the company's editorial team while helping bring in more brand partnerships. But, as Braxton discusses, it's going to take a lot more investment in data science for publishers to maintain their ability to track the impact of ad spending long term.Guest: Aaron BraxtonHost: Mike ShieldsProducer: Kenya Hayes

Rich Antoniello is the man. He is also a very successful founder and entrepreneur! Hope you enjoy our conversation!Some more info: (via wikipedia)"Complex Networks has been named by business insider as one of the Most Valuable Startups in New York, and Most Valuable Private Companies in the World. Complex Networks CEO Rich Antoniello was named among the Silicon Alley 100. In 2012, the company launched Complex TV, an online broadcasting platform; in 2016, it became a joint venture subsidiary of Verizon and Hearst."

Today on Too Opinionated we are visited by TV/Radio Host Hannah Rad! Hannah Rad is breaking down barriers as a popular TV/Radio Host, DJ and Mental Health Advocate. Based in Los Angeles, Hannah (a member of the LGBTQ+ community) has been making a waves of change throughout all types of streaming platforms. Most recently, Hannah signed on as a Co-Host (along with Tino Cochino) for Complex Network’s new pop-culture Twitch series “The Daily Drift” – airing Tuesday through Friday from 3-5PM EST. The digital talk show is designed to catch viewers up on the pop-culture news they missed earlier in the week, while allowing them to weigh in on topics and trends through Twitch Chat. The show is one of only three of Complex Networks’ first interactive series on the live streaming service.   In addition to this digital live-streaming series, Hannah launched her own Mental Health focused digital series on YouTube entitled “Sorry to Keep You Waiting”. Released throughout the course of the pandemic, the series shines a spotlight on Hannah and her own personal Mental Health journey as she takes a solo road trip throughout California. Hannah calls the series a ‘self-love letter’ in which she shares authentically vulnerable stories and rediscovers herself. The series was recently greenlit for Season 2.   Previously, Hannah has made notable accomplishments as a music and lifestyle Host on ESPN X Games, Twitch x Grammy’s “Sessions” Series, E! Daily Pop, LiveXLive’s Festival Livestream, and as a Producer/Host of REVOLT’s LVTR (for 5 years). Hannah has also hosted Red Bull’s BC One World Final - Switzerland (2018), Red Bull Bracket Reel (2018), Fashion Nova Cardi B launch (2018), the MTV game show, 'Crash Karaoke' (2018), Red Bull TV's 'Summer of Festivals' (2016-2018) and the inaugural Electronic Music Awards (2017). She attributes aspects of success to her dedicated fitness regimen, and was featured in Reebok's 2018 Fusion Flexweave campaign as well as Red Bull's 2017 Fitness Machine.    As a DJ, Hannah has been heard on ‘Total Radness’ at Red Bull Studios NY and as a guest DJ/Host on SiriusXM's HipHopNation. She has appeared on BBC Radio 1 and spun events for Apple Music, Beats By Dre, True Religion, Topshop, Ultra Music Festival, Art Basel Miami and The Global Spin Awards. Hannah additionally worked for the long-running East Village Radio’s ‘Belly of the Beast’ program, while also serving as Content & Programming Director.   SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram (18K) | Twitter | Facebook | www.hannahrad.com Want to watch: YouTube: Meisterkhan Pod (Please Subscribe)

Christian Baesler is the President of Complex Networks. Christian is a young media savant, who in his 20's had more media experience than most executives have in a lifetime. We discuss his humble German childhood, how he launched Bauer Media's digital business at just 21 years old, being a touring DJ, and Complex's international growth plans for 2021.  Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com--EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up, a podcast that interviews, entrepreneurs and leaders. Christian Baesler:I was there first as the student, still at my program. And I basically took the initiative to say, "Well, you say there is no opportunity here, why don't I just build a case study for you?" And so I programmed a website, plugged in the programmatic ads. And at first, I was also creating some of the content myself. There was, like, celebrity news on In Touch's websites. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Christian Baesler, the president of Complex Networks. Christian is a young media savant who in his 20s had more media experience than most executives have in a lifetime. And he's a “get your hands dirty”-type builder. Like when he was tapped to be the head of digital at Bauer Media, right out of college and programmed the company's first website himself. And today Christian runs day to day operations of one of the world's largest digital companies, which includes hot sauces, a sneaker marketplace, live and virtual events, and so much more. And oh yeah, he even finds time to be a performing DJ throughout Europe. So yes, Christian is a rockstar, but as you'll quickly learn is also extremely humble. I'm pumped to tell you his story. All right, let's get into it. So Christian, let's jump back a few years. Let's start with where you grew up in Germany. Christian Baesler:Yeah. Where I grew up in Germany is, even for Germany I would say, not as popular place or as well regarded place, at least back then when I grew up there, it was heart of the GDR, the German democratic Republic or Eastern Germany, that only merged with Western Germany in 1990. And fun fact, I was actually born on the day that the German Wall fell. So November 9, '89. So my mother's always joking that's that one might have caused the other, I don't know which one caused what, but. Chris Erwin:Yeah, the whole like causality correlation thing. Christian Baesler:Probably the Wall falling was the cause for her giving birth that day. But I grew up in that area, that in terms of the economic environment had been very depressed. And for the next 10, 20 years after was integrating into Western Germany, but still there weren't that many of the same opportunities like there was in Western Germany. And in addition to that, I grew up most of the time of my childhood in small villages of like a few 100 people. I think the biggest place I lived in was like 1,000 people and everything was very rural. You had a lot of agriculture around and you would have to go 15, 20 minutes to the next nearest town at least, or to see other friends living out of town. So it felt very small and it wasn't the most progressive place, especially with the businesses that were there. Chris Erwin:And growing up, what was your household like? What did your parents do? Were they in a similar field that you are in now or totally different? Christian Baesler:Again, they grew up both in the GDR where it was mostly working class in general, in the GDR with the kind of jobs that people had especially living in villages. After the GDR became one Germany, my father, who was a plumber, started his own company doing plumbing. And so he was entrepreneurial, which previously in the GDR, you couldn't have your own business. There was no concept of privatizing where post he started his own local company. And so my mother was for the most part, a secretary in his company. Before that's in the GDR times, she was a waitress in restaurants. And I don't think I've said that in other podcasts or interviews before, my father passed away when I was 12 of cancer and so that was definitely a big moments of just unexpected big change and also something that was definitely a very difficult, but also important experience for me looking like now? Chris Erwin:Your memories of your father, is it that he was an entrepreneur and he ran his own plumbing business from what you recollect? Christian Baesler:Yes. Chris Erwin:Interesting. A lot of people think about entrepreneurship in the US or in the modern economy as go raise a bunch of money from Silicon Valley and have a big technology startup, but entrepreneurship takes many different forms; small businesses, blue collar businesses. Growing up in small communities of like a few 100 people, did that make you very curious of, "Hey, what else is out there? What else could I get into?" Or was there a level of comfort, which is, "This feels right. I could live like this with these type of people for the rest of my life." What was an early feeling, or if there's tension in your life? Christian Baesler:It was definitely, there must be more than this village life, which was comfortable and people knew each other around the village. So that was nice that sense of community, which I think is somewhat missing today in life in general, that it was more of a feeling of togetherness rather than everyone for themselves. So that was a plus, but I somewhat got lucky in terms of the time I was born on the exposure had early on in my childhood, because that was all pretty much at the development of the internet was just growing and computers were just growing, the personal computers were growing. Christian Baesler:That plus just overall TV getting bigger really gave me a window into what's out there in the world, which if you just live on the village and you read the local newspapers or some magazines, you have no idea what other lifestyles or what other cultures are outside of that bubble. And so I was quite early fascinated with computers in general, but then more importantly the internet, which was just a huge opportunity to learn about different things that otherwise I wouldn't have any exposure to. And that really showed me that there's more outside of this world I live in that I'd like to learn or immerse myself in. Chris Erwin:I understand that you began programming at a pretty early age, I think in your teens, early teens around 13. But your first exposure to the internet and computers, was it at home where your family purchased a computer for you or there was a shared computer or was it through local library or school? Because what I'm hearing from you is there were simple means growing up, like working class people in the community. So what was that first exposure to internet and technology? Christian Baesler:Yeah. My family as you mentioned, just in general by the nature of the environment and the jobs they had, they weren't wealthy by any means. So it was definitely not something that was readily available. We didn't have any computers at home, so that was not like an environment that I could benefit from, but I did have an uncle in my family that was very much into computers at the time. He assembled his own computers; buying all the parts and assembling all of them themselves. And so that was the first time I truly had an exposure to computers. Christian Baesler:And I was very fascinated by this concept of combining different things that if you plug them in, in the right way, it turns out to be this interactive device that then you can manipulate something on a screen with. That was very fascinating. And I would say the curiosity that I developed in this to begin with was probably within computer games. Just the idea that you can play on a device and again, influence what's happening on the screen was what sparked the initial interest and curiosity and computers then allowed me to create something myself that I can interact with manipulate like the games were previously. Chris Erwin:With the internet, what were you consuming? So games was a big part of that. And then did you start developing your own games as well? Christian Baesler:I started building games at the time, but what I was more fascinated with was programming languages around the internet itself. Early on, I think the first thing I started playing with, there was no big systems like Squarespace, back then you have to do a lot of the things manual yourself. And so early on, I remember being very interested in message boards, which was like this exchange platform for a lot of the communities and subcultures that might be on Reddit or other places today. But back then message boards were huge. And oftentimes message boards also got recorded by us for how to program. Like if you were stuck figuring out how to solve a specific programming problem, you could ask someone in the message board and this kind community would just take the time and help you. Christian Baesler:And so early on, for example, I discovered phpBB, I think it was called. It was like one of those WordPress like message board platforms that someone already built and you can create your own message board. But back then you had to host, you have to have your own hosting space and server and then you could style it. And so I took something that was existing like that and figure out how to do the hosting part and then started to manipulate it. Christian Baesler:And then over time it made me more and more curious to create websites on my own, which ultimately when I was probably 13, I started doing it. I made available as a service for companies and organizations in the local village at first, but then in the area. And so I developed websites for a fee for the local companies as probably the first big income source early on. Chris Erwin:When people think about the success formula, it's the power of curiosity and wonder coupled with serendipity and the right connections, and that you had this curiosity about you and then with your uncle who also had curiosity and access to the hardware and the software and interesting computers and intention to share that, what a powerful combination that puts you on a unique path. Christian Baesler:Absolutely. Chris Erwin:So then what is that transition where, okay, you're in high school, you're working these jobs and then I think there's a transition into interest in journalism before you go to university, tell me about like right before university some of the work that you were doing. Christian Baesler:Yeah. Some of the other work I did outside of the developing the website was I developed an interest in photography as well. And I bought myself, at least for that time, quite a good, I think it was called DLSR camera, which at the time was taking the best photos you could take. Maybe these days, all you need is an iPhone but back then, that's what you needed. So I was really interested in the idea of creating something in general, either websites or things for people to consume, which also could be images like photography and text. And so after playing around with the camera, I ended up also working for companies and for weddings as a photographer at first. And so some people trust- Chris Erwin:How old were you when you're doing wedding photography? Christian Baesler:Probably 15, 16, I would say. And so that made me interested in media, which is basically also creating something that people consume around photos and texts. And there was this local newspaper, which is basically one of those weekly things that you get delivered to your house often times for free and covered by ads, so they can monetize through advertising, but it was like the local newspaper and they had a freelance position at first to basically be a local reporter. I applied for it. And for whatever reason, I don't know why now looking back, my boss there eventually gave me a shot and trusted me to be this local reporter even though I was only 16 at the time. Chris Erwin:So the youngest reporter of the paper, probably? Christian Baesler:Probably, Yeah. I mean, I didn't see anyone else there in my age at the time and I wasn't paying too much attention to who the reporters are previous to me, but I would assume so. And basically with that job, I had to go around to different events and two different things happening in the region and interview people undocumented, both with texts, like articles that I wrote, but also with the photos because the budgets were so small, you basically had to do everything yourself as a local reporter. Christian Baesler:That was a hugely transformative experience for me because outside of just exposing them more to medium previously in my childhood and early teens, I was a very shy person. I wouldn't want to talk to people that I don't know. And it was very difficult for me to make conversations and this job required me. It was part of the job description to get information out of people. And ultimately this further, the desire to find out information with people. Chris Erwin:A theme that we'll get into later is this notion of subtle or soft power, which I believe that you embody. And so I was curious to where those roots are and hearing about your early age shyness, but clearly you wanted to express yourself, but maybe just differently relative to social norms. So that was the internet expressing yourself in gaming, and programming and building websites. And then as you said this desire to create and you're creating these stories and photography at the paper, a very interesting theme that takes you to where you are today, that we'll touch on a bit more. So you're creating and expressing in unique ways and then it's time to apply to college or university. And I believe that you ended up going to Nordakademie in Hamburg. When you went to university, what did you want to get out of it? Christian Baesler:Again, coming from a difficult economic environment where my family didn't have a lot of money even going to the government university wasn't as good of an option because they couldn't support me financially to like pay rent and to have the basic income to go through that school. And so there's one other interesting concepts which might be somewhat unique to Germany and it's called an integrated study where after high school, you apply at a company that is partnering with specific private universities and private for the reason that they basically create specific programs with these companies to give you a bachelor degree, you get a salary and you work half the time at the company. So it's a 10 weeks at the partner school, which in my case was Nordakademie. And then you had two to three months at the company where you're basically a trainee rotating them through different parts of the organization from marketing, to sales, to finance, they pay your tuition and pay your salary. Christian Baesler:And so that to me, as a concept integrated study in general was something that seemed like a solution. Like I could basically get an income and study at the same time. And so I was very focused on finding a place to get an integrated study. And originally I wasn't as singularly focused on media. I applied at Diamler, the car company. I applied at Lufthansa, actually the airline to become a pilot, which was something I was fascinated by early on. So it was different paths that could be going down. Chris Erwin:Wait, let me pause you right there. You said interest in being a pilot, had you flown, where did that interest come from? Christian Baesler:It was maybe another symbol of just going places and the freedom that had represented. And so I was always fascinated just by flying and pilots and airplanes in general. And again, growing up I played quite a lot of, I think it was Microsoft Flight Simulator, which I saw they just brought back as a new version the last month, but that was like one of my favorite games. And so I was fascinated by just the art of flying. And so I was seriously considering becoming an airline pilots at the time, applying at Lufthansa. Chris Erwin:It's Lufthansa and Daimler and you end up at Bauer in their integrated study program. And so how did it feel when you got Bauer? Were you excited? Christian Baesler:The Bauer one was one of the first that I got confirmation from. So the other ones weren't as quick in the process. And so it was the first option that was available, but then also in the moment thinking through what would it mean to go to the different companies that also felt like the most exciting, because it would allow me to do more of the things that I was already doing, meaning it was in the media industry, which again, as a local reporter had already worked in as a photographer and digital media was still nascent, but the concepts to build websites to then express the content on was something that they were very focused on at the time. Christian Baesler:So it felt like the best option based on my passion so far, but also they have like 100 magazines or so in Germany and some of them were my favorite from my childhood time. So I also had this excitement about now being at the company that makes the things that I consumed when I grew up. Chris Erwin:Got it. You were busy during your university years, you were at school and you were working a part-time job, but on a pretty serious rotation program. What else did you do in between then? We're going to get into your career trajectory very soon, which clearly you started early. What were other things that you were into? Christian Baesler:During that time, as you mentioned, it wasn't like a normal study where you have a three months summer break or few courses during the day and otherwise not much to do. So the three and a half years then was probably among the most intense time of my life. Maybe for the last few years career wise were more intense, but just up until then, it was the most intense time because it was classes from 9:00 until 6:00 and it was only a 10 week semester, which we had six big exams and there was no break, you had to then go to the company and work for three more months, different departments. And so there wasn't really that normal student life where you just travel the world or you just have this time to pursue other passion projects. Christian Baesler:But the one other passion project I developed quite early as well, going back to the idea of creating something is music, where I was really fascinated by how music is created and how if arrange sounds in a certain way, it could make people feel something just by nature of how it's arranged. And so pretty early on, I, again, thanks to the internet, found out what the tools are, which at the time already were software based. It wasn't that you had to have this big physical hardware environments. So I was quite early on playing around with different softwares for music creation and went deeper and deeper into that. Chris Erwin:And did you also perform as a DJ as well? Christian Baesler:Not in that time during my studies, but afterwards where I did both on the music production side, teach myself how to create my own music, but then I also learned how to be a DJ, which has different meanings. There's like the DJ that's basically just has a playlist of prearranged things like at weddings or other things. They have their purpose and that's definitely one component, but for me it was more the how do I create this experience that shows people music that they've never heard before and it sounds like a two hour long song or track rather than a clear difference actually three to five minutes? And so then I ended up performing multiple times in Germany, which I still did pre-COVID. So I'm still doing it now, if we wouldn't be in the current situation. Chris Erwin:Another unique form of expression. And I've never seen you perform and I know that your SoundCloud handle maybe as a current mystery, I wonder onstage when you perform, is it a more subdued presence and you let the music speak for itself or do you look at that? Is there a unique release there or maybe you enter a form that's unique to your professional leadership or character? Christian Baesler:It's definitely highly therapeutic I would say, because it's a different way of expression and also communication with the audience. And again, that the music I play is not like what you would hear in charts. It's for the most part electronic music, mostly techno music which for people that aren't familiar with, it might sound like jazz sounds. For people that don't understand or don't like jazz, it's just like this random sounds that are just being played. But for the audience that does appreciate it and know it, it's this very reflective experience. Christian Baesler:And for me, I get more instant gratification and joy out of doing this for 90 minutes and seeing the audience react to the music I'm making than doubling revenues or having some other usual measurement of success that feels more indirect. Like you see numbers in spreadsheets, but you don't really know what it means what's happening on the other side. And this is a much more direct feedback loop that is much more rewarding. Chris Erwin:And to be specific, your identity, your behavior on stage, would you say it's very different from your day-to-day life or is it similar? Christian Baesler:I would say it's similar. It's very reserved. With the techno music as a category, the DJ is in the backgrounds like the audience is not even meant to realize that there is a person there doing things, which is very different to when you go to festivals and they're all on big stages and have all these big lights. So that's kind of the opposite of what the electronic music culture or the underground electronic music culture would be about. So I'm basically the shaman in the background playing music for people to be in trance. That's kind of the goal of that experience. Chris Erwin:You're like that master of ceremonies pulling the puppet strings, little do they know that Christian or your DJ name is making that all happen? That's a cool thing. Christian Baesler:The best example would be just like it's a form of meditation where you can influence the behaviors of a big group of people just by playing certain sounds and everything happens in a synchronized way, which is incredibly fascinating that's possible with music as a human species, you can just align everyone through these quite simple ways. Chris Erwin:A unique form of leadership in a way. So let's transition now as you go from university and integrated study into full-time at Bauer. So I think this happens around 2008, there's some like various roles in the company. What's your transition into full-time? What does that look like? Christian Baesler:It was actually 2012 into full-time. So 2008, I started integrated study that went until 2012. And so that study started 2008. I was 18 turning 19. So right after high school, straight into this college integrated study program. And so when I finished in 2012, I was 22 turning 23. Normally you stay within that company for two years after. That's kind of part of the deal, which is great for the student because you have a guaranteed job. And it's great for the company because they get someone at an entry level rate, relatively speaking, that already knows the company for the last three years of having worked there. So it's a great mutual partnership. But usually you're supposed to stay in that location, which for me, was in Germany. I was in Hamburg, which is where the company is headquartered. And so there was kind of a role carved out for me in a certain team or division and everything is kind of pre-planned. Christian Baesler:As part of the integrated study, so during those first three, four years, there were two opportunities to go abroad. One was to study a semester abroad, which I ended up doing at Boston University. And then there was the opportunity to work abroad for one of those practical semesters. And I ended up going to the US office of Bauer Media, the company I was working with. And when I got there during the study part of the three, four years. First of all, I was very fascinated by the US studying at BU and the overall energy and culture and approach here seemed very different to everything I grew up. Christian Baesler:And so it felt very different in a positive way. And then working at the office in New York for Bauer right after, the energy in the office was also totally different. Everyone was much more focused, much more passionate to just do the best work. And more importantly, for my role there specifically, and again, I was still like a 20, 21 year old student at the time, the big opportunity I saw coming here was that there wasn't really a digital business yet that was already built out. There were print magazines and actually at the time, Bauer was the biggest magazine publisher selling at newsstands in the US. So like supermarket checkouts, at airports, all the usual places where you would buy a physical magazine. And so they were the biggest magazine publisher at the time with multiple magazines. The most well-known ones are probably In Touch Weekly, Life & Style Weekly, Woman's World and First for Women. Christian Baesler:And it wasn't like an oversight that they didn't have a digital strategy or the digital business yet, it was by the nature of their print business model. Traditionally, all the media companies in the US, the magazine media companies in the US are build on discounting subscriptions to lock you in for a period of time as an audience and then they monetize it through advertising. So it's basically getting scale in subscriptions, which often a loss leader to then make money through ads. So when all these other companies expanded to digital in the early 2000s, they followed the same model for the online business which is giving away content for free, which is basically giving away subscriptions or discounting subscriptions and then monetizing the reach through ads. Christian Baesler:And so Bauer made the majority of its revenues through actually selling a single magazine to the reader. They didn't discount any subscriptions. The ads was a small part of the business. And so that made them very profitable and very successful, but it didn't really lend itself to just be scaled online because people just weren't used to paying for that kind of content online. Chris Erwin:And a totally new muscle to flex in terms of trying to try a new business model, hire the right team against that new mandate, manage it. So enter Christian, right? Christian Baesler:Yeah. I got there, again, as a student at first in 2011, it was. And so again, that was kind of the context that were the successful print magazines that make most of their revenue through consumers. And there was no way to make revenue through consumers as easily online. And the usual business model is to get most audience possible and directly to a sales team, sell ads into it, which the company wasn't set up for to do both in terms of the people and the kind of focus that was there, but also it might've disrupted the print business more rapidly if we would have pursued a different approach online. And so the timing there, again, was very unique and very much in my favor, which are really like two things. Christian Baesler:One, there was not the emergence of more standardized technologies like WordPress for example, and other systems that were already pre-built were more readily available. You didn't have to completely invent everything from scratch. And the other big opportunity at the time that was developing was programmatic advertising, which means you don't need an expensive sales team to have human conversations with potential clients and convinced him that they should not spend this money with you which in our position at the time, we were one of the smallest in terms of online reach and probably not as differentiated to some of our competitors. Christian Baesler:So it was a lot of upfront risk to spend all this money on the team that might then sell something where with programmatic advertising, every page impression that we generates has a certain amount of ads on them. And they automatically monetize through Google or other partners without question. And so it became very predictable. If we have more traffic, we can make more money without having an upfront risk of hiring a team to sell that space. Chris Erwin:What I want to understand is when you come in, you rise to transform this company into digital and to lead an innovation of their business model. And you are tapped to do this at a pretty young age. So when you are tapped to lead this initiative, some interesting things happen. One, I believe that you probably to really diverged from your peers in a meaningful way that are the same age and two, you get your hands dirty and in the weeds more than I think, I've heard about a lot of other executives, you're building their digital websites and their tech stack yourself, not hiring another team yourself. So first talk about when you were tapped to lead this, what did that feel like? Were you excited? Were you scared? Was it like, "No, of course I'm going to do this." What was in your head? Christian Baesler:It sounded surreal at first. And just again, the context at the US company was what I described and so I was there first as a student still on my program and I basically took the initiative to say, "Well, you say there is no opportunity here, why don't I just build a case study for you?" And so I programmed a website, plugged in the programmatic ads. And at first, I was also creating some of the contents myself for the website to be published there. Chris Erwin:You were writing what type of content? Christian Baesler:There was celebrity news on In Touch's websites. After the first few ones, we ended up hiring some freelancers and relied on some additional support. But yes, in the beginning it was basically, let me show you that there's potential opportunity here while I was still a student there. And I was there for three months, and in that three months I could showcase that there's a probable business. We basically build the website and monetize it, and it was profitable just within that trial period of the time I was there as an assignment. Christian Baesler:At the end of that assignment, when I received the job offer to go back full-time to the US business and join at the time director of new media. And I was still like 21, 22-year-old student in university and I still had one more year to go, I still had to finish my school. And so that was hugely flattering and surprising to be getting that level of trust and also that kind of offer even before I graduated and it was actually frustrating and I still had to basically finish my school for another year before I could take that opportunity. Christian Baesler:So I did go back to Germany and finish the degree and ended up moving to the US in 2012 for this job. And at first I was very scared and concerned I would say, because there were two differences I would say that I was facing to anyone else coming into this role. One was just, I was highly inexperienced in a traditional sense because I never managed people before and I never had one singular boss before I rotated through the whole company but I wasn't part of a traditional team. So now, having to lead a department or in this case it was just me in the beginning but the agreement or the goal was to build it up. It felt very scary because I hadn't done it before and I didn't see it before. Chris Erwin:That's a lot of responsibility at a young age. You're already going through a lot of change when you graduate university, and now this is adding in... It's a lot of change that happens in your career in your 20s is now happening to you all at 21. Christian Baesler:Totally. And also in a different country. While I just had spent six months in the US to study semester here and to work for the company here, it was still now being in a different country with a different culture in a leadership position at relatively young age. And so that was definitely a period of me not feeling sure or confident if I'm ready for this, if I can accomplish the goals that are set or if I'm able to meet the expectations. But in terms of how I felt just about being given the opportunity, it was very, again, flattering. Christian Baesler:But also, just I was very positively surprised to receive that level of trust that someone took a chance on me so early on in my career, which I would say is a constant theme that goes back to people back then trusting me to build their websites, later to work for the local newspaper at a relatively early age. And so having people that trusted me, was probably the single most important way for me to progress with these opportunities. Chris Erwin:Well, and putting in the work to be rewarded with that trust. But also just again the serendipity, Bauer a traditional media business that could really be empowered by transforming to digital and with your background and skills it was like right place, right time. Christian Baesler:Also, it's right place, right time but also I think in general when I talk to other friends about it, it's making sure that you are available for opportunities. You put yourself out there and you put in the hard work, but then when they arise that you go for them. It was definitely a difficult decision for me to say, "Okay. I'm not going to move by myself to the US and take this role and go into this uncertainty." And actually at the time, Bauer in Germany was against me going to the US even though the US part of the company wanted to hire me because they said, "We're educating for the German market and we have this path set out for you here," which was a more traditional progression. Christian Baesler:It was like, "You're going to be this junior project manager on this thing over here." And so that was ultimately decided against, as in they didn't want me to go to the US. And so I basically advocated and lobbied and showed what the potential benefit is or the risks of me not going for a few months to ultimately convince them otherwise. If I would've given up at the time, I would probably not be here where I am today. Chris Erwin:As we like to say, you stood in your power. You had a point of view and you put your foot down and said, "There's a major opportunity in the US, it's where I want to be and I'm going to make this a mutual win." And I like how you said, availability for opportunities. When people talk about success, there's luck that comes into it but it's increasing the likelihood of luck. I'm reading a book called, The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. And he talks about setting up your life, your finances, your health, so that when that opportunity comes along you can pounce and you are in a situation where you very much could and could very much make the case. Look, there is a lot more that we could talk about with Bauer. I know we're probably going to rush through the next five to six years there but I want to make sure we have time to talk about Complex, because there's a lot there too. Christian Baesler:Of course. Chris Erwin:A big question that I have is, I look at your next years at Bauer; you're navigating profitability in unprofitable times and you look a lot of digital peers in the US. And I was part of this world, the MCNs and all the digital studios that emerge out of Google original channels program, a lot of companies that did not succeed. And then you end up running two businesses at once, a UK media business and a digital business. I'm curious, high level, how did your leadership evolve during that period of coming in as a newbie leader at 21, 22, to the type of leader you were at the end of this incredible experience? And we'll save another podcast again, to the details there. Christian Baesler:I would say it evolved from not being sure what it means to be a manager and how to lead people, let alone different culture. When I first started to having to figure out how to do a lot in the weeds with other people in the US part, to then hiring a more senior team that then I was working with on a much higher level being less in the weeds. So in the end of my US time, we actually separated out the digital business into its own company called Bauer Xcel Media with standalone content creation technology, everything you can imagine having in a traditional visual media company. And so we had C-level executives, we had vice presidents, senior presidents for different functions. Christian Baesler:And so I transitioned from being the person that creates the content or writes the website to managing senior people at all times really, were older than I was. And so figuring out how to motivate and mentor people in their day-to-day work with me having had less work experience, was definitely one challenge. And it was the startup nature I would say in the US, when I ended up going to the UK as well. Where Bauer is the largest magazine company and Europe's largest radio company, it was kind of the opposite situation. There were already hundreds of brands and hundreds of people across all those brands that worked on digital, and I joined to oversee the digital business. And so I inherited an existing business with existing practices and that was mostly I would say big learning on change management, how do I build partnerships throughout the organization of other functions that don't report into me? How do I get alignments as I think about restructuring and making large scale changes of how we work and who was in certain roles? Chris Erwin:This is interesting. So let me ask you specifically, mentoring people and hiring people that are older than you in senior roles that you're the ultimate leader, what worked well for you to be able to do that? Christian Baesler:There were two parts, there's making sure I convinced people to join the company I was with from other jobs that were companies maybe they were more established to what we're trying to build. And so at that part, I was worried about what was the vision and can I show enough confidence and enough support to make them feel like they can truly build something here. So that was really the big opportunity to co-create or co-build something, but then in turns out actually working with them is finding the right people and then letting them do their work without interfere. So I was seeing myself more as a mediator or almost like the role of a therapist, of making sure they have the tools to work towards achieving their goals without me necessarily telling them what to do in there functions. Chris Erwin:I like that a lot. One of the greatest lessons that I learned was from the old founder and CEO of Big Frame, Steve Raymond, who said, "Hire great people and get out of the way and empower them." Beautiful, simple words and it works. Christian Baesler:Absolutely. And I think that's also what makes people feel like they're trusted and they have the freedom to truly make an impact. Chris Erwin:So Christian, we just took a break. We were talking about change management at Bauer and one of your proudest moments, why don't you tell us about that moment there? Christian Baesler:So looking back throughout my career the proudest moment I had is, at first in the US we were able to separate the digital business that I was tasked with creating into its own division, into its own company. The overall company is called Bauer Media Group, it's one of the largest media companies in the world, a couple of billion in revenue and more than 10,000 staff and one in a thousand radio, TV and magazine brands. It actually might be the biggest magazine company globally in terms of circulation. And so it's a huge organization. Christian Baesler:And so in the US when I was busy, at first the only person doing a digital business in the end we were roughly 50 to 60 people just for the US digital business and spun it off into its own company. The inspiration for me for that was the innovator's dilemma book which is basically, why do big companies that are successful in one industry fail when they're not seeing kind of the innovations around the corner and where things are going? And I thought that in general with print media and specifically at Bauer that was on the horizon and really the only way to solve for it is to create a separate company that in the context of the new market is big relatively speaking, because at Bauer the problem was always printed, so profitable and it's so big, why do we care so much about the small digital dollars? We don't want to cannibalize ourselves. Christian Baesler:And realizing that it's inevitable that digital would be bigger than prints and if we don't cannibalize ourselves our competitors will cannibalize us. And so ultimately, I got them to spin off in a separate company in the US at first called Bauer Xcel Media, which I then became the president of. And because we have been profitable every year since the beginning and scaled other 50 people and we're still highly profitable, which as you mentioned at this time was unusual with a lot of venture-backed companies raising hundreds of millions. I ultimately convinced the ownership, it's a family owned company in the fourth generation, to roll out that model globally. Chris Erwin:How did you convince them? Was it you just call up the family owner, the patriarch, and say, "I want to do some change?" Was it scheduled big board meeting? What was that process? Christian Baesler:I only really learned about what board meetings are after joining Complex now, because back then in a family owned business the board is the owner and so in this case is one person that owns more than 90% of the company. And so we would have monthly or quarterly check-ins with her and some of the other management team she has, just talking about business progress. And at the time they were super fascinated that we were able to build such a profitable business with no investment upfront and relatively little resources. And so they were really curious how we did it and why we were succeeding. And the business grew even more and was even more profitable after we spun off to be a separate business. Ultimately, it led to a conversation of, why are we not doing this in every country? Chris Erwin:When you have management saying, "Why are we not doing more of this?" That's a great place for you to be. Christian Baesler:Exactly. And ultimately, they rolled out Bauer Xcel Media as a concept of separating the digital business from the traditional magazine or radio business in every other major markets. And ultimately, the goal was to have one global platform. So one content management system, one ad tech stack, all the things you would imagine having locally and that's what enabled me then to also take on the UK business operationally to basically do the same business expansion there. Chris Erwin:Last question on Bauer, Christian, did you say that you came up with the name Xcel Media, the digital unit? Christian Baesler:Yes. Chris Erwin:What was the inspiration for that? And was that a proud moment to say, "This is my name, my stamp on the company." Christian Baesler:It was definitely the proudest moment and I think they still even use it now, every company and every country now that does digital is still called Bauer Xcel Media. So it's kind of my legacy now within the company that they're still adopting my name and the logo we created and everything. The name, it's difficult to find a good name in general and it doesn't always have to be super prescriptive of what it is that you're making, best example the Apple that sells computers. The name I think is completely arbitrary just to make sure it's not something negative. Christian Baesler:Traditionally, any kind of digital team within the company was called 'New Media,' which was my title actually. Director of New Media, which what does that mean in the context of everything or 'Digital Media,' which eventually everything will be digital at some point. And so we wanted to find something that wasn't so limiting in what it could mean or it would be out of date a few years later. And Excel just as a name, like the spreadsheet software, just thinking of doing something better and that's more progressive than what we've done so far was the inspiration. I think we just decided to leave out the E like the software, it's spelled X-C-E-L just to make it sound a bit more fancy. But that was the goal to find something lasting that sounds more inspiring. Chris Erwin:Yet another creative fingerprint from Christian that touches audiences, people in society in a unique way. All right. So speaking of interesting names, we now transition to the Complex part of the story. So you're at Bauer for about 10 years, a decade, maybe you're on the path to be the CEO, but something causes you to rethink where you want to be. And I'm curious, were you seeking out change or did change come to you or a mix of both? Christian Baesler:Actually, the change I was seeking at the time after 10 years at Bauer was a break and time to reflect. My plan was to take at least a year off and do a world trip in a way that I think was only possible at that time and maybe still now, meaning I didn't want to plan anything upfront. If I wanted to stay a certain place I like it, I might stay longer or not. Where I feel like you can take a vacation or even a sabbatical you're still at work, you're still thinking about work, you're still checking emails. Christian Baesler:And so I truly wanted to be completely disconnected from everything and if I hate it, then I can stop after two months and if not I would go longer and so that was my goal. And after 10 years in Bauer and the end of it living between London and New York, which was fun but also very tiring as we would fly every week or every two weeks between the two cities; I slept like four hours a night, I felt like I needed a break. So I resigned actually my roles at Bauer for that reason. So I wasn't actually planning to work again right after this. Chris Erwin:How much time was there? Did you get a reprieve? Did you get a vacation? What was the gap before you went to Complex? Christian Baesler:Probably a month I would say. Chris Erwin:A month, okay. Christian Baesler:Not what I had hoped for. Chris Erwin:I was thinking about this notion of sabbatical or time off recently. And I think it is one of the healthiest things that you can do, but I also feel that young up and comers feel well, "I'm going to get out of my groove. I got relationships, people like my work," and they don't want to change that. But I actually think spaces' transformative. So what was the special moment? Was it a conversation with Rich that made you change this whole big plan that you had been formulating for a while? Christian Baesler:Exactly. So Rich and I reached the founder and CEO of Complex, we've known each other since I think 2014. We met at a Digiday conference that we were both speaking at and we stayed in touch, maybe every three months or so we would have breakfast or lunch just to talk about what's happening in industry and what we're seeing in our businesses. I've always enjoyed my conversations with Rich. I was always very impressed by what Complex was doing and how fast it was growing. Christian Baesler:And so I would just meet him on ongoing basis, including when I just had resigned my role at Bauer and basically mentioned to him that I left or I'm actually leaving. After a six months' notice, I had to serve out which is a very European thing that even after you give notice you still have to work for at least three if not six more months, but I already had resigned but I was still there for six months. And I told him I planned to do a world trip and from that moment on he basically pitched me into join Complex instead. And so the one month was basically the compromise to still have some time off in between. Chris Erwin:So it's Rich's fault, he blew up this once in a lifetime chance for an amazing vacay. What did he tell you or show you that caused you to just totally change your thinking and come on board? Christian Baesler:Two things, the ability to focus on fewer brands and go deeper. At Bauer in the US we had 15 brands, in the UK when I was still in UK business it was more than 100 brands. So you never really focused on a brand in the role that I had there, it was always systems and processes and people and so it was very abstract, where this was truly a brand business. Christian Baesler:And then the second part which was the most exciting for me as well, it's just the diversity of the business in terms of the business models. Everything I had done previously was traditional digital media of building websites and optimizing the monetization of those websites for the most part, where at Complex it was also a huge TV, video business, a huge events business, a huge actual commerce business not just affiliate. So I also felt like I would learn a lot and get a lot of experience in areas of media and entertainment that I hadn't had exposure to previously. Chris Erwin:So Rich recruits you, what is your mandate on day one? "All right Christian, you like our vision, here's what we need you to do." What was that? Christian Baesler:I would say my main mandate was to optimize the operations of the company, that the company had been through a lot of growth previously and was acquired in 2016 by Verizon and by Hearst. And so I joined two years later. And so now it reached this point of maturity as an organization in terms of much bigger staff now and many more goals and so my role was created to help create focus and reorganize what we do and how we do it, but also to continue to scale it to the next stage of growth. Chris Erwin:I'm thinking back to your 21-year-old moment being tapped as the director of a department at Bauer. You were scared then. You were excited about the responsibility but natural anxiety. Now you're entering an exciting, well-lauded company in digital media and entertainment at a very senior level. What were your feelings at that point? Christian Baesler:I think at the beginning it was also a question of to some degree anxiety, because there were two unknowns or two uncertainties. One, at Bauer I was there for 10 years and even if I switched between countries or switched between roles I already had established myself, people internally knew me and I already had trust of the people around me. When I went to the UK, people already knew I did something successful in the US office so there was an established relationship or awareness, where here I felt like I was the new person coming in and I had to prove myself all over again. Christian Baesler:So that was definitely a big unknown or a big source of anxiety in the beginning of, can I do it again? Can I prove myself again? And then the second part was just around as I mentioned it, I was very excited about the opportunity because of the expansion to other areas of media entertainment that I hadn't done previously but now it was also my job to work in those areas not having had done them previously in such a way. And so there was also the question of, how quickly can I get up to speed to make sure we're doing better as a business as a whole, including those areas. Chris Erwin:How did you prove yourself? How did you gain trust with this new team right off the bat? What was your immediate approach? Christian Baesler:And with that it was very helpful to just have been at the UK part of Bauer which was established team, established company, everything was already there and I was brought on to optimize it in the UK. It was an incredible learning experience in my most recent role prior to apply here. And so the big learning was, to build trust first and to truly understand what's working and not working is to take the time. Christian Baesler:So the first three months of joining, I would not make any changes. I would not introduce anything new unless it was obvious or easy just so there's time to build relationships and to basically go on the listening tour and hear from everyone throughout the company what's working, what's not working and through basically creating a list of opportunities and issues I would get buy-in from each of the established people throughout the company to then collaborate on solving all the various issues or optimizing all the various opportunities. Chris Erwin:I love that. You're a big new executive, people might expect you're going to come in and mandate all this big change, new culture, the best leaders don't do that. There's an existing culture. There's a lot of smart, great people, listen to them, process that and then you start to add your flair to the business over time. So you joined Complex, this is back in 2018, this is two to three years ago? Christian Baesler:Right. Chris Erwin:Now, you know our team and I write about and I tweet about, why I think Complex is so special, that you guys have built this very impressive, diverse business across media, ads sales, commerce, E-learning events, virtual events, the gamut and which I'll let you talk about. I want to hear, why do you think Complex is so special? Talk about the business of what it is and why it is so unique to its peers and just in the overall media market place. Christian Baesler:I think the three reasons or answers why we are so successful or why we are different to some of our peers, the first one is just; which is the biggest one is, passion for the things that we're covering and creating. We don't cover certain contents or create certain content because it's popular in Google or Facebook right now and we think there's a revenue opportunity, if we were to cover it. All the things that we're creating which historically was mostly in the hip hop and sneakers and streetwear space, we've been pants off from the beginning when they were all still niches and subcultures early in 2001, 2002 when the company was started. And so it's that deep passion that leads to authenticity, like are people actually care about what we're creating which then resonates differently with the audience. Christian Baesler:And so we have benefited as a company from those content categories now being as big as they are with hip hop being the biggest music category and sneakers and streetwear is the biggest in fashion. And we expanded to other verticals since then, but it's really finding people that are truly passionate about the content that you're creating. From a business model perspective, I would say the second big difference is that we think about everything in a 360 connected way. We don't create a product that's a website and then separately we think, "There might be some revenue in events, let's create a completely different event just so we have an event." Everything is connected. Christian Baesler:And so one good comparison I could give is Marc Ecko, who's the co-founder of Complex together with Rich who was also a fashion designer, he compared it to us not trying to be like another print magazine at the time like The Source or XXL [inaudible 00:50:27] or from a TV perspective not like MTV but a youth cultured Disney. Disney, meaning like they think about each of their shows and movies as IP that then translates to all these different revenue streams across events and commerce rather than afterthought and that's really how we're approaching a lot of our businesses. Christian Baesler:And then the third one which I would say is helping us especially in these times today and I was very impressed by as well when I was talking to Rich before joining, it's just the responsibility from a financial perspective that the business has had and has been taken for for years now. We, as the company now, didn't raise a crazy amount of money like some of our peers did, which made us much more focused on running a sustainable business from the beginning. And so with that, we've been running a business that's been profitable for years now which allowed us to be much more dynamic and much more flexible in how we make decisions. Chris Erwin:I think to that last point because you probably won't say it yourself Christian due to your humility, but from personal experience in digital media and modern media there is a lot of founders that are great visionaries, have an idea of where they want to build to but don't know how to build sustainably towards that end. And you exhibited in your career from early days of wanting to build and create, having the lean resources that you had access to, it's like you had your uncle's computer hardware do what you can with that. Then going into Bauer and learning how to do that at a company, I feel like this was ingrained to you not only very early on in your childhood but also in your early career. Chris Erwin:And I think that you are a special leader that a lot of other companies lack that don't bring this discipline nor this focus. And it speaks to another sentiment which is at a lot of media companies studios, is usually a complimentary leadership, like a great business mind and a great visionary. And I think that you and Rich can serve as both, but you're optimizing the day-to-day being in the weeds with the team and also having incredible passion yourself for these brands and where you want this business to go. It feels like a very exciting setup for where Complex can go next. But I don't like to overly editorialize in these interviews, but I do want to call that out for the listeners because I think it's special and worth hearing. Christian Baesler:Totally. Thank you so much. I very much appreciate the kind words. Chris Erwin:Of course. Christian Baesler:I think the overall theme is definitely resourcefulness of just trying to figure out how to make things from very little, where in my case growing up that was just the environment I came from as I mentioned. But also as a company, I think if you have too much funding available it leads you down wrong decisions more easily and you don't realize that you made wrong decisions until you run out of money, so that's a very dangerous path. I do think there is still value in raising money if you have highly scalable business models, let's say if you have subscriptions with a proven cost per acquisition and other things. But for where media is today, it's not as beneficial as people thought it would be five or 10 years ago. Chris Erwin:So with all of those nice things being said, let's talk about something that you and I have chatted in coffee shops before and with Rich, that you feel a lack of industry recognition by your peers, by the press, Complex doesn't get the attention or the notoriety that it deserves. Why don't you expand on that a little bit. Christian Baesler:In general, there's still I would say in the traditional B2B world but also just in a general consumer perspective of people that might not be of our audience and non awareness of either who we are in general or how big we are and how diversified we are, all the things we're doing as a business. But just I think the most simple fact would just be that we, based on Comscore which is the standard measurement for digital media in the US, reached to most 18 to 34 year old males in the US more than any other media company and more than double to Vice and still most people know Vice or think of Vice as the biggest youth culture brand. Christian Baesler:And I give them a lot of credit for having done great marketing and they raised a lot of money for being able to do so over the years. But there's also another prejudice which is, the things that we do and the things that we cover like sneakers or hip hop both as a music as well as culture are niche. Meaning there are small, passion groups of small audiences. But actually, hip hop by far now is the biggest music category in the US and sneakers are a huge growing business, that's the fastest and biggest in fashion now. Christian Baesler:And so those industries are now mass and today's youth, meaning 13 to 40 probably, are incredibly passionate about them. So we're dealing with kind of a prejudice or to some degree ignorance about the markets with those things being perceived as niche, as well as our role in that overall market that we've been working through for the last few years of changing that awareness holistically. Chris Erwin:That sense about the prejudice of being niche focused and I think you've also talked about even the stigma around streetwear culture and hip hop can impact you. I never thought about that before, but it's interesting to think about. All right. So at Complex, you guys have a lot of different brands, a lot of different businesses. Let's talk about some of your favorite children, which I don't know if you often do but we've learned your passions in this interview. What do you kind of love the most working on there, some of the content that you have? Christian Baesler:I think the most obvious one to mention now that maybe most of the listeners know as well is Hot Ones; our interview show where celebrities eat chicken wings while they get interviewed and those chicken wings gets spicier and spicier. And so it's highly entertaining to watch but also to work with the team on and it's been an amazing experience to help them diversify their business beyond advertising into hot sauce, into a game show, into a board game. So that has been an incredible experience. Christian Baesler:But then we also have shows like sneaker shopping, where we have a host go into sneaker stores, interview celebrities in context of sneakers that we diversified into education programs, basically learning how to get into the sneaker industry as a student. But also, up and coming shows like Full Size Run which is a weekly show where we interview celebrities, talk to celebrities as a talk show talking about the sneakers of the week that were released. That's kind of the show that's on the next level coming up. Chris Erwin:And what's the name of that again, Christian? Christian Baesler:Full Size Run. Chris Erwin:Full Size Run. Got it. Christian Baesler:And so that's on the more entertainment side, we also have programming that's more investigative, more serious news journalism with our biggest show there called Complex World which looks at different issues throughout the country, especially in the upcoming election cycle. So it's a balance between the entertainment part of it that's more fun and more casual, to the more serious journalism as well. Chris Erwin:And what you talked about, which I want to make clear for the listeners is you talked about E-learning classes for how to launch streetwear products and businesses. And I think a very cool new theme that Complex has spearheaded in our industry is, we're not just hip hop, streetwear culture and news and reporting, we are expertise in understanding of this space. And that allows you to expand your business in many different ways and to sell that expertise to other businesses, advertiser clients or even youth who are in undergrad programs at Parsons or FIT for example, and to make them better entrepreneurs in your verticals, that is just an awesome thing. Christian Baesler:Absolutely. Chris Erwin:All that being said Christian, you love DJing music. So is it Pigeons and Planes? What's one of the brands that you do a lot but what for you that really resonates with your heart? Christian Baesler:I think Pigeons and Planes resonates because of my passion with music because the focus of Pigeons and Planes is to give emerging artists a platform before they are big enough to be covered by the more traditional music publications or even by Complex and that to me is the most important part of the ecosystem. Everyone that has great talent has the same struggle in the beginning which is, how do I get awareness for what I'm doing? And having a brand within our portfolio does just that, not just through social media and articles, but we do events where we bring emerging artists onto the stage in different cities, has been a big passion of mine for sure to work with. Chris Erwin:All right. So a couple more questions on Complex and then we're going to get into the rapid fire and we'll close this out, how's that sound good? Christian Baesler:It sounds good. Chris Erwin:I don't think I've fully exhausted Christian yet, but maybe getting close in this marathon. Where do you want complex to be in 2021 that you're not right now? Christian Baesler:The main goal that we still have ahead of us that got somehow paused this year is internationalization or globalization. Right now, we are the biggest youth culture company or collection of brands in the US. And what's quite unique right now is that the passion points and the topics that we are the experts on here, are also the biggest in many other markets internationally. So again, hip hop music as a culture and sneakers and streetwear, but there isn't a b

He started out as a local newspaper reporter in small-town Eastern Germany – today, he presides over Complex Networks, a global media company headquartered at Times Square in the heart of New York City. As president, Christian Baesler leads the daily operations of the company and its roughly 300 employees.

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.09.08.287755v1?rss=1 Authors: Zangeneh Soroush, M. Abstract: Artifact elimination has become an inseparable part while processing electroencephalogram (EEG) in most brain computer interface (BCI) applications. Scientists have tried to introduce effective and efficient methods which can remove artifacts and also reserve desire information pertaining to brain activity. Blind source separation (BSS) methods have been receiving a great deal of attention in recent decades since they are considered routine and standard signal processing tools and are commonly used to eliminate artifacts and noise. Most studies, mainly EEG-related ones, apply BSS methods in preprocessing sections to achieve better results. On the other hand, BSS methods should be followed by a classifier in order to identify artifactual sources and remove them in next steps. Therefore, artifact identification is always a challenging problem while employing BSS methods. Additionally, removing all detected artifactual components leads to loss of information since some desire information related to neural activity leaks to these sources. So, an approach should be employed to suppress the artifacts and reserve neural activity. In this study, a new hybrid method is proposed to automatically separate and identify electroencephalogram (EEG) sources with the aim of classifying and removing artifacts. Automated source identification is still a challenge. Researchers have always made efforts to propose precise, fast and automated source verification methods. Reliable source identification has always been of great importance. This paper addresses blind source separation based on second order blind identification (SOBI) as it is reportedly one of the most effective methods in EEG source separation problems. Then a new method for source verification is introduced which takes advantage of components phase spaces and their dynamics. A new state space called angle space (AS) is introduced and features are extracted based on the angle plot (AP) and Poincare planes. Identified artifactual sources are eliminated using stationary wavelet transform (SWT). Simulated, semi-simulated and real EEG signals are employed to evaluate the proposed method. Different simulations are performed and performance indices are reported. Results show that the proposed method outperforms most recent studies in this subject. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info

From aspiring Music DJ, turned Music Executives working with some of the biggest labels and artist to Chief Digital Officer at the PFL (Professional Fighters League).  Learning from the music industry and how platforms evolved and disrupted the industry and how that relates to sports now and how the PFL is leveraging the new trends to its advantage by launching its own OTT.       Key Highlights From Liquid Audio, to Napster to EMI Music – the first decade in the music industry operations Early learning, the power of data, if it's not collected and recorded properly, no revenue from it EMI Music – growth of ring-tones for Mobile devices globally – platforms starting to emerge Katy Perry story,  Last Friday Night release on Facebook through a “fake” profile Calvin Harris, how he became a big EDM star, new way of promoting an artist Beyonce, launch of Lemonade Album (Parkwood Entertainment), from Super Bowl Half time show to other creative “drops”, giving fans access to content before it goes out officially Complex Networks,  learning creative content creation and distribution there Professional Fighters League (PFL) – the difference to other Fight sports Leagues (League format) How to become a clear #2 in the space behind the UFC PFL's OTT play and the reason why – best place for fans to consume the content Key learning from his career, be flexible and solutions oriented, turn challenges into new opportunities Cancelling the 2020 season for health and safety reasons first International Qualifiers, starting overseas early next year and then the US season  Future of digital,  anytime, anywhere, any device.  NBA leading with innovations Final thoughts on piracy      About Dan Ghosh-Roy joined the PFL from Complex Networks, where he served as SVP, Marketing and Audience Development. During his tenure, he created and curated engaging content, reaching millions of fans with varied passion points, developed customer acquisition campaigns and oversaw year-over-year growth across Complex's social and web properties. Prior to Complex, he served as Head of Digital for Parkwood Entertainment, responsible for the strategy and execution of Beyoncé's digital business. Dan previously held senior leadership roles at Ultra Music and EMI Music, working with the likes of Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg, Coldplay, Calvin Harris, Steve Aoki and others.   ----------------------------------------------- If you are enjoying the Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast (SEP) series, check out our Virtual Sports Entrepreneurs University (SEU) too. The Sports Entrepreneurs University is a natural extension of the Podcast series. It's a deep dive into the world of Sports & Esports. Marcus will be sharing his 25 years of experience and learning as a Sports Entrepreneur and connecting the dots. It's a 6 weeks course with an opportunity to join an Affiliate Partnership program after. Check out for more details HERE ----------------------------------------------- Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://lnkd.in/ferKA6N Facebook: https://lnkd.in/fw7Z_9h LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/fVQzNj5 Website: https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com https://marcusluer.com/university ----------------------------------------------- Feel Good by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_feel-good Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/bvgIqqRStcQ

Stampede Digital Systems and the Know Like Trust podcast presents: Jennifer Youssem: I Heart EBITDA Jennifer is the founder of I Heart EBITDA, a fractional CFO firm and the owner of Supporting Strategies | Queens, which provides outsourced bookkeeping and controller services for small and medium sized businesses, bringing order to chaos and making finance accessible & headache-free. Jennifer started her career in equity research but pivoted into corporate finance for media/entertainment companies after business school. For the past 20 years. She's led finance departments at Sony, Paramount, iHeart & Daily Mail and finished her corporate career as the CFO for Complex Networks, a digital lifestyle brand owned by Verizon and Hearst. Listen to her story and just like us, here at Stampede, you will come to know, like, and trust her. Jennifer Youssem: I Heart EBITDA https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferyousem/ https://www.supportingstrategies.com/queens-ny http://iheartebitda.com/

This week we discuss the latest story of allegations against Complex Networks, we discuss Kim Kardashian getting her new podcast and we talk about how this is a smart move for Spotify. We dive deeper into this topic and share our thoughts. Enjoy!

Imagine first stepping into a prospective employer and have the head of HR go, “Where my boy sheckii at?!” That's how Jay Salim and I met in NYC, and since then I've kept in touch with now the EVP of People and Culture at Complex Networks. Jay shared his story about coming back after serving in the military and how that has shaped his career. He shares a story about how he got into the advertising industry after being a doorman and doing multiple hustles to get the right experience. My man dropped some serious knowledge on the second episode during my birthday week, and I'm glad y'all get to know the amazing guy Jay is on sheckiiville. Text me at (213) 214-0970 if you want to chat about this personally! (Not a joke this is really my number.) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sheckii/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sheckii/support

Happy Father’s Day! This show is a short one. I spent my weekend enjoying my Father’s Day but I’m giving a short show just to talk about some thoughts on the strange situation with fireworks going off every night in NY, the private security company I’m thinking about and a woman who is suing Complex Networks. No music this time. Just laying back on the mic. Next week we'll have a full show.

El pasado miércoles, 22 de abril, en "El Que Avisa No Es Traidor". Nuestra colaboradora, Marta Gil de Pablo, nuestra experta en #fisioterapia, nos contó algunos de sus consejos sobre #estiramientos. Entrevistamos a Santiago Moral Rubio, Director del Technological Institute for Data, Complex Networks & Cybersecurity Sciences de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, que nos habló sobre el estudio matemático de propagación del Covid-19 que está realizando el Instituto. Programa presentado y dirigido por Luis Vega con la producción de Conchi Burgos. De lunes a jueves en directo de 10.30 a 12.30 y en #redifusion de 19.30 a 21.30.

El pasado miércoles, 22 de abril, en "El Que Avisa No Es Traidor". Nuestra colaboradora, Marta Gil de Pablo, nuestra experta en #fisioterapia, nos contó algunos de sus consejos sobre #estiramientos. Entrevistamos a Santiago Moral Rubio, Director del Technological Institute for Data, Complex Networks & Cybersecurity Sciences de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, que nos habló sobre el estudio matemático de propagación del Covid-19 que está realizando el Instituto. Programa presentado y dirigido por Luis Vega con la producción de Conchi Burgos. De lunes a jueves en directo de 10.30 a 12.30 y en #redifusion de 19.30 a 21.30.

Rich Antoniello is the CEO and Founder of Complex Networks, which runs video-first brands that cater to young Millennials and the Gen-Z market. He talks with John about the challenges and opportunities the coronavirus poses for businesses and gives some surprising predictions of what’s to come next. 

Welcome to Episode 8 of "OK, So ...". This week, I sat down with Jessica Boiardi, Senior Director, Revenue Operation at Complex Networks. Jess and I spoke about why she's ride or die for Queens, the Knicks and Complex. And your mind will be blown when you hear what she did to help our COVID-19 frontline responders. As always, feel free to rate us on iTunes and follow us on Twitter @podcastokso

Die US-Digital-Medienbranche hat in den vergangenen Monaten eher mit Entlassungen, geschrumpften Unternehmensbewertungen und Konsolidierungen von sich Reden gemacht. Doch einer US-Medienmarke, die in der deutschen Branche noch eher unter dem Radar fliegt, gelingt es offensichtlich, weiterhin beständig zu wachsen: Complex Networks. Das Unternehmen wird seit 2018 von dem deutschen Christian Baesler operativ geführt. In der neusten Folge des OMR Podcasts erklärt der 30-Jährige, wie Complex zwischen 100 und 500 Millionen US-Dollar im Jahr umsetzt und Gewinn erwirtschaftet. Alle Themen des Podcasts mit Christian Baesler im Überblick: Wie kam Christian als Ostdeutscher zu einer der hippsten US-Medienmarken? (ab 3:15) Was macht Complex? (ab 7:58) Wie hat sich das Unternehmen über den Lauf der Zeit gewandelt? (ab 13:21) Was ist die ComplexCon? (ab 15:07) Wie macht Complex mit der ComplexCon Geld? (ab 19:05) Wer ist die Zielgruppe von Complex? (ab 24:50) Wie groß ist Complex und wie viel Umsatz macht das Unternehmen? (ab 28:48) Warum steigen in den USA Telko-Firmen wie Complex-Mitinhaber Verizon ins Content-Geschäft ein? (ab 32:03) Wie leicht fiel ihm der Einstieg in das US-Lifestyle-Business? (ab 36:33) Was kostet der Besuch der ComplexCon und wie viel Umsatz generiert das Event? (ab 40:52) Was machen die erfolgreichen, jungen Streetwear-Marken richtig? (ab 45:00)

Complex Networks is reportedly on track for $200 million in revenue this year. In this episode, Baesler provides a deep dive on the company and its portfolio of media brands and events focused on sneaker culture, hip hop and food.

Nicole Russell is a leading advocate for mental health and well being of children. She was Glamour’s everyday Hero of the Year, Walmart’s Community Playmaker of the Year, and one of Observer’s Top 20 Heroes Under 40. She is the co-founder of Precious Dreams Foundation which is a nonprofit organization that helps young homeless people and children in foster care. She also is a best selling author and entrepreneur. This year she created Complex Networks first philanthropic division titled Complex Community. In episode 30 we cover everything you need to know about starting and running a successful non-profit/charity organization. We also discussed mental health, the art of negotiating, grant writing, fundraising, and marketing. Guest IG: @nicolerussell Book Tip: Everything A Band-Aid Can’t Fix --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app · Trainual: Trainual is a software that helps you document what you do, so you can easily delegate and train others. https://trainual.com/freemonth/ Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/earnyourleisure/support

This week T. talks with Driadonna Roland, Development Producer at Complex Networks, over a glass of cabernet sauvignon. She breaks down her winding path to hip-hop journalism, from the West side of Detroit (shout out to Renaissance!) to J-school at Florida A&M University, to working for the Detroit Lions, Buzzfeed, Revolt TV, and now developing content at Complex. She has some great stories about editing people who can't spell and what it takes to be great in the ever-shifting journalism industry. Also she has some really spicy takes on Detroit rap. Check it out!

In this episode, we talked with professor, systems thinker, and aging researcher, Alan Cohen. Cohen described how controlled experiments continue to dominate the way biologist learn and think, he suggested “this paradigm of complex systems thinking is what can guide us to understand when those controlled experiments are formative or not. The more complex the system the more a lot of factors might be interacting and the more we have to doubt how generalizable our experimental results will be.” During our conversation, Cohen also shared some of the complex questions he is researching in his lab like, “can we integrate biomarkers (Cholesterol, Albumin, Hemoglobin, Glucose) together to get a good idea of what’s happening with the aging process? And what happens if, instead of looking at them [biomarkers] one at a time, we try to integrate their signal and look at what might be happening in terms of underlying processes?” He explained that people who have “high dis-regulation levels” are at greater risk of health complications and that his research on holistic physiology is uncovering fundamental processes in the biology of aging.  

Lots of companies copy what’s cool and relevant in youth culture. But what about the ones defining it? The brands that are starting -- and owning -- the conversation. Since the mid-2000s, Complex Networks has driven the cultural ethos behind hip hop, style, sneakers, music, sports, food, art, and design. With a catalogue of original content that includes shows like Hot Ones and Sneaker Shopping, licensing deals, live events, and a distribution strategy that reaches millions of loyal fans, Complex Networks is an entirely different type of media brand. CEO Rich Antoniello joins the podcast to explain just how the company does it and how Complex has an unapologetically “inside out” influence on what’s cool now...and what’s cool next. Listen to this episode to learn: • The story behind ComplexCon and how it changed the perspective of the Complex brand • Why segmentation and fragmentation are permanent cultural shifts -- so you better embrace constant iteration! • What building a dock can teach us about increasing reach without losing credibility and authenticity • Will expertise and the “magic” of creativity suffer at the expense of speed? • Why we’re about to experience the biggest shift in media and advertising we’ve ever seen -- and why most aren’t prepared for it • Advice for those willing to “attack the white space”

The following should not be construed as legal advice — just good advice. On this week's episode, Mr. Michael Golland, Senior Counsel at Complex Media,  sat down with Staff Writer, Jeanine Botwe to drop some gems, as part of our continued effort to facilitate exposure to careers within Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law. After graduating from The George Washington University in 1989 with a degree in Finance, Michael moved to San Diego where he began his career as an analyst for commercial real estate investors and eventually became an investor himself.  In 1994, Michael earned his JD from Whittier Law School in Los Angeles and began his career as a business attorney.  For the first seven years of his career as an attorney, Michael handled transactional and dispute resolution matters for his clients.  In this capacity, Michael would form and advise entities on matters related to the operation of their business such as employment issues, commercial leasing, asset acquisition and sale, intellectual property protection, general business strategy and represent his clients in litigation.  Michael began his career as an entertainment attorney in the music business where he represented artists and composers in both the entertainment and gaming industries.  Eventually, Michael began to represent other players in entertainment, media and licensing such as actors, writers, directors and producers. Michael has acted as production counsel for many feature films (including feature length documentaries) as well as scripted and unscripted television and new media productions.  In 2016, Michael relocated to New York to begin his career as in-house counsel for Complex Networks, a leading digital publisher where he oversees all of the company’s content production and distribution as well as events such as ComplexCon. IP of the Week: Geico Hump Day Commercial Our theme song is Roller Blades by Otis McDonald. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Website: www.fordhamiplj.org Twitter: @FordhamIPLJ Instagram: @Fordhamiplj Facebook: www.facebook.com/FordhamIPLJ Patreon: www.patreon.com/fordhamiplj

Episode 112, "New Age Agency" brings us to the end of 2018, with a look back at how much things have changed since the Mad Men era of advertising. Brett Schneider gives us some insight on what it's like to be a millennial building a successful career in 2018. Robb High is also very candid with us as he talks about where he thinks the industry is moving. With all of the changes happening in the last few years, what is the best way to get ahead? Listen in to find out.

Brett Schneider, Director of Brand Partnerships at Complex Networks, worked in account management at agencies like Translation and 72andSunny (among others) before shifting into brand partnerships on the publisher's side. Hear about how publishers like Complex are changing the industry landscape and how he works with brands in his role, struggling with account managers not being seen as creative, and how his mindfulness practice affects him professionally. Subscribe & leave us a review on iTunes to help others discover the podcast! For more guidance from the industry, subscribe to our Weekly email—it's a small dose of advice, delivered Mondays. Or search for a specific topic in our ever-growing Stash of Advice.

I first met David Vogler during the early, heady days of the Web, when we worked together to craft Nickelodeon’s first online presence. David went on to lead creative teams at Disney, Hearst, NBC Universal, and other leading brands. He’s now the Head of Design for Complex Networks, a joint venture between Hearst and Verizon. David has a knack for creating innovative media experiences that still manage to connect with basic user needs. Listen in and discover how this long-time insider navigates the dynamic landscape of online video and big media brand-building.

Complex is a media platform and an online community that publishes the best, most diverse and most relevant voices in pop culture. It was co-founded by Rich Antoniello and Marc Ecko in 2002. Complex Networks’ stable of brands, now owned 50/50 by Verizon and Hearst, generate over 810 million videos views a month and have a combined social following of more than 194 million users. Their millennial-driven authentic voice strives to defy the stale conversations of the past, and shift the world’s attention to the movements within convergence culture. They were born in American Pop Culture – a business built on telling the stories of subcultures and communities, and have now reshaped who the faces of mainstream are.  On the show, Rich Antoniello and I discuss media trends, how to build an online community, how to monetize your network, some of the darkest challenges facing an entrepreneur, where the long-tail opportunity in sports is, the sneakerhead boom during the launch of the Air Jordan’s, and why he thinks Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete of all-time.  Suiting Up is a show that explores the psychology, playbook of tools, and strategies of the most influential people in sports, entrepreneurship, and entertainment. 

On the eve of wrestling's equivalent of Super Bowl Weekend, we had a chance to catch up with Andrew Goldstein (former WWE writer; producer, "Open Late with Peter Rosenberg"; co-host, "Sorry I've Been So Busy" podcast) to discuss #Wrestlemania 34, the best cheesesteaks in Philly, and his new show coming to Complex Networks.

Maximilian Schich, Isabel Meirelles, and Roger Malina discuss the contents and creation of the new article collection, Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks, which explores the application of the science of complex networks to art history, archeology, visual arts, the art market, and other areas of cultural importance. This conversation was recorded on April 26, 2012. Contributors: Maximilian Schich, DFG fellow at László Barabási's Center for Complex Network Research in Boston. Isabel Meirelles, information designer and associate professor of graphic design at Northeastern University, Boston. Roger Malina, physicist, astronomer, editor-in-chief of Leonardo, distinguished professor at the University of Texas, Dallas.

Brought to you by Axonista, VideoInk's video podcast series -- Over the Top -- discusses state of the video, streaming and OTT industry. This week's guest is Rich Antoniello, who led Complex's sales team in its infancy, ultimately running revenue and serving as CEO through an accelerated growth phase for the brand as it shifted from magazine, to digital, to live events and to operating multiple brands across all platforms. In this episode we discuss the future of media companies and content distribution and the revenue models for video and entertainment-based media companies.

House prices are a popular topic of conversation in the UK. Less popular is the rate the prices are increasing. The UK average house price has increased 30% since the 2008 crash, and London house prices have gone up 75%, according to the Land Registry House price index from September 2008 to September 2017. In London, price increases are often blamed on empty homes bought as investments by rich foreigners. Areas such as Cornwall and the Lake District blame price increases on holiday homes bought by rich Londoners. However, there is very little data supporting or against these beliefs. Jonathan Bourne spent a year sending Freedom of Information requests to gather a dataset from over 100 local authorities. He was interested in data on 'low use properties', which are domestic properties that contain no full-time resident. The data covers 22 million people and 330,000 low-use properties. The data shows a clear relationship between price and low-use properties. In this talk, Jonathan will discuss his findings, showing how London is affected in the same way as the rest of the country and that building more houses may not help solve the problem of high prices. He will also describe how he got the data and what he learned about the Freedom of Information Act. Jonathan Bourne is a data scientist who previously worked in the energy industry and is currently studying for a PhD in Complex Networks at University College London. When he has the time, he blogs on SomeSquaredError.

Dr. John Kress is a Distinguished Scientist and Curator of Botany at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Not only does John enjoy investigating the natural world at work, he also enjoys spending his free time outside exploring nature. John often goes on walks or hikes with his wife and dog to see nature in action. In addition, John is an avid gardener. Among the plants he cultivates in his own yard are some of the ginger and banana plants that he studies. John’s research involves exploring the natural world and all the organisms that make up the natural world. Since graduate school, he has been exploring different areas, particularly tropical areas, to determine what grows there now, what grew there in the past, and how the plants and animals there interact. John received his B.A. in biology from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in botany from Duke University. John formerly served as the Interim Undersecretary for Science for the Smithsonian Institution, Executive Director of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, and Director of the Consortium for Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet, which is one of the four grand challenges of the Smithsonian Institution’s strategic plan. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) and an Affiliate Faculty member at George Mason University. He has previously served as an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Among John’s awards and honors are receipt of the Parker-Gentry Award for Biodiversity and Conservation from the Field Museum of Natural History, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Heliconia Society International, and the Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Award for Co-Development of Leafsnap - the First Mobile App for Plant Identification. John is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an honorary Fellow of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. He joined us in this interview to discuss his experiences in life and science.

James and Lawrence discuss all the rapper violence that's poppin' off, but only so they can reminisce about their own personal frat battles and drug-fueled Canadian royal rumbles in a new segment called "Glory Hole." Then, Chief Content Officer of Complex Networks and bonafide clout god Noah Callahan-Bever joins the pod to detail how terrible James and Lawrence were as his employees, a never-before-told Kanye West breastfeeding story, and why ComplexCon is a can't miss event. Plus, "Captain's Log/Letters to Home" gets luxe as fuck as the FU gang pulls off the bank heist of the goddamn century.

Cynthia Hill is a filmmaker from North Carolina and the head of Markay Media. Her TV series “A Chef's Life,” which is now in its fifth season, the HBO documentary, “Private Violence,” and a PBS documentary, “Tobacco Money Feeds My Family.”  Her current project is the 8-part docu-series Road to Race Day which follows Hendricks Motorsports the winningest team in professional stock car racing during the 2017 Nascar race year.  She later teamed up with Peter Berg's Film45 to sell the project to Complex Networks. Pre Show Notes-- I'll be a guest on Alex Ferrari's Indie Film Hustle. Alex has one of the best indie film podcasts around!-- First Glance Film Festival Oct 6th - 8th 2017 here in Philadelphia.  Show Notes- Private Violence - HBO Documentary - Private Violence is a feature-length documentary film and audience engagement campaign that explores a simple, but deeply disturbing fact of American life: the most dangerous place for a woman in America is her own home.- A Chef's Life on PBS - A Chef's Life is a Peabody and Emmy award-winning docu-series that plunges audiences into the kitchen of a high-end restaurant located in the low country of eastern North Carolina- Road to Race Day - Road To Race Day journeys deep inside the sophistication and heart that makes stock car racing as American as apple pie. We're not just talking NASCAR. We're talking Hendrick Motorsports, the winningest team in professional stock car racing. Whether you're a diehard fan or just trying out your training wheels, this 8-part docu-series shares an unprecedented view of the grit and glory behind the drivers whose names are familiar to us all. Rookie driver Chase Elliott, heir apparent to the car formerly driven by racing legend Jeff Gordon, begins his reign while veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns his crown as one of the best. Jimmie Johnson, now in his prime, is inching towards the top of NASCAR's ‘most wins' list, and Kasey Kahne struggles his way back to racing prominence. From North Carolina to Northern California, brace yourself for a wild ride as NASCAR's most competitive drivers, their crew chiefs, and pit crews confront ever-changing rules and unrivaled skill at speeds close to 200 mph. ContactCynthia HillOfficial SiteIMDBDave Bullis— Official Site— Youtube— Twitter— Instagram— FacebookSupport the Podcast1. Sign Up for Dave's email list2. Rate the Podcast on iTunes3. Buy on Amazon.com using my affiliate link Subscribe to the Podcast— Podbean — iTunes — Stitcher— Google Play Podcas

Internets! This is a VERY special episode of The Premium Pete Show - We Celebrate Father's. Joined by Rapper Casanova, Aaron (@a_the_emperor), the Editor in Chief of Complex Networks, Noah Callahan-Bever, and Head of Artist Relations at Genius, Rob Markman, Pete delves into everything from their upbringing, kids & technology, to police brutality and the guilt that comes along with having a busy career. Later they are joined by Prodigy, he gets in on the conversation and details his relationships with his kids. This is a great one. Be sure to rate and subscribe! CHEA, CHEA!

Watch the lecture here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plMJR4I0uyk When data points are linked to one another, the whole generates more intelligence than the sum of its parts. From the social graph to the knowledge graph, the interest graph to the transactions graph, proprietary data networks drive the generation of new power and capital. Such graphs are used to make algorithmic predictions and optimisations about our future activities. Only those who can aggregate and hedge raw data emerge as the new power players. This situation creates a new imbalance of power, which can be understood with the concept of data asymmetry. In fact, mapping and analysing data networks provide immense opportunities to civil society. In this talk, Burak Arıkan will present the Graph Commons platform and how individuals and small organisations use it to transform their data into interactive maps and untangle complex relations that impact them and their communities. About Burak Arikan Burak Arikan is a New York and Istanbul-based artist working with complex networks. He takes the obvious social, economical and political issues as input and runs through an abstract machinery, which generates network maps and algorithmic interfaces, results in performances and procreates predictions to render inherent power relationships visible and discussable. Arikan’s software, prints, installations, and performances have been featured in numerous exhibitions internationally. Arikan is the founder of Graph Commons, a collaborative platform for network mapping, analysis and publishing.

Privacy has been a hot issue since early 2000s, in particular with the rise of social network and data outsourcing. Data privacy is a big concern in data outsourcing because it involves sharing personal data with third parties. In this talk, I will give an introduction to data privacy on topics such as privacy standards, data anonymization techniques, and data anonymization usage in data outsourcing and data mining. Then, I will present our work in data mining using anonymized data. We propose a data publisher-third party decision tree learning method for outsourced private data. The privacy model is anatomization/fragmentation: the third party sees data values, but the link between sensitive and identifying information is encrypted with a key known only to data publisher. Data publishers have limited processing and storage capability. Both sensitive and identifying information thus are stored on the third parties. The approach presented also retains most processing at the third parties, and data publisher-side processing is amortized over predictions made by the data publishers. Experiments on various datasets show that the method produces decision trees approaching the accuracy of a non-private decision tree, while substantially reducing the data publisher's computing resource requirements. About the speaker: Koray is a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University. He is currently a member of the privacy preserving data mining lab under the supervision of Chris Clifton. His research elaborates the data mining models from the anonymized data. The challenge in his research is the injected uncertainty into data because of anonymization methods. In most cases, uncertainty slows down the data mining models and require special mechanisms to exploit noisy data. His work includes learning algorithms such as k-NN classification, SVM classification, decision tree classification and frequent itemset mining.Koray received his masters degree in Computer Science from Purdue University and his undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from Galatasaray University. Throughout his masters degree, he studied on data mining and social fairness, and authored papers in this topic. Before joining to Purdue CS, he did his research in semantic web area. He was a former member of Complex Networks lab in Galatasaray University where he worked in developing a new automatic web service annotation tool.

The Punaha Matatini is a new Centre of Research Excellence focusing on complex systems and networks.

The Punaha Matatini is a new Centre of Research Excellence focusing on complex systems and networks.

L'explosion de la taille des réseaux tels qu'Internet, Facebook ou Wikipédia offre de nouvelles opportunités d'établir de nouveaux contacts et de partager de l'information et des savoir. Cependant, l'excès d'information pose également problème : sur Facebook, à quels contacts envoyer un message sachant que la plupart des utilisateurs ont plusieurs centaines d'amis ? Quelles pages Wikipédia faut-il lire en priorité pour en apprendre le plus possible sur un sujet donné ? Comment prévenir la propagation d'un virus informatique ? Dans tous ces contextes, acquérir de l'information sur les relations entre entités (pages web, comptes Facebook, ordinateurs ou téléphones reliés à internet) et sur l'évolution de ces relations permet de mieux appréhender le fonctionnement global des systèmes sous-jacents et par la suite de proposer des outils méthodologiques ou algorithmiques adaptés aux problèmes rencontrés. La science des réseaux (networks science) tient ses origines en sociologie (SNA ou Social Networks Analysis) avec des travaux datant du début du 20e siècle mais a pris un essor nouveau ces quinze dernières années et impacte la plupart des disciplines. Je présenterai dans cet exposé un bref historique des problématiques liées au SNA en montrant comment elles ont pu évoluer pour continuer à se situer au coeur des recherches actuelles. Je mettrai en évidence certaines propriétés essentielles des réseaux réels, telles que l'identification des individus les plus centraux dans un réseau, ou l'identification (automatique) de groupes d'individus pertinents. Plus qu'une présentation sur les questions ouvertes ou les réponses en pointe de la recherche en « science des réseaux », cet exposé se veut une introduction à un ensemble de questions très actuelles. Jean-Loup Guillaume est professeur au Laboratoire Informatique, Image et Interaction à l'Université de la Rochelle depuis 2014. Il était précédemment membre de l'équipe "Complex Networks" du LIP6 à l'Université Pierre et Marie Curie". Ses travaux de recherche sont centrés sur de l'étude des graphes de terrain (ou complex networks) et plus particulièrement de leur dynamique avec un intérêt fort pour l'étude d'algorithmes de décomposition de grands graphes (dynamiques) en communautés. Il a participé à de nombreux projets de recherche et travaille en relation avec plusieurs industriels (Thalès, Orange, Linkfluence...) sur des thématiques liées à la cyber-sécurité, la lutte contre le cybercrime et la fouille de données massives de manière plus large.

Ein Graph ist eine Menge von Knoten und Kanten zwischen diesen Knoten. Man unterscheidet zwischen gerichteten Graphen, wo Einbahnstraßen darstellbar sind, oder den ungerichteten Graphen, wo Beziehungen zwischen zwei Knoten immer beidseitig sind. Beispiele sind die graphische Darstellung von Beziehungen in einem sozialen Netz oder Straßennetze, für deren Verarbeitung das Forschungsgebiet von Christian Schulz immer bedeutender wird, wie wir in seinem Gespräch mit Gudrun Thäter erfahren.Eine wichtige Aufgabe im Umgang mit Graphen ist die Aufteilung (oder fachsprachlich Partitionierung), von Graphen in kleinere Teile. Dies kommt z.B. der Parallelisierung der Arbeit auf den Graphen zugute, und ist unumgänglich, wenn Graphen eine Größe haben, die nicht mehr von einem Prozessor bearbeitet werden kann. Ein wichtiges Merkmal ist hier, die Aufteilung möglichst gleichmäßig vorzunehmen, damit die Aufteilung von z.B. Rechenzeit gleichmäßig erfolgt, und gleichzeitig wenig Kommunikation zwischen der Bearbeitung der Einzelteile erforderlich ist. Es geht um eine möglichst gute Skalierbarkeit der Graphverarbeitung.Ein wichtiges Anwendungsproblem ist die Routenplanung, bei der zwischen zwei Punkten auf der Erde die zeitlich kürzeste Verbindung berechnet werden soll. In der Informatik ist der Dijkstra-Algorithmus der passende Basis-Algorithmus für diese Aufgabe, doch er ist für große Graphen in seiner ursprünglichen Form sehr ineffizient. In Kombination mit einer passenden Graphpartitionierung und Algorithmen kann man das Verfahren deutlich effizienter ausführen und beschleunigen.Ein klassisches Verfahren zur Aufteilung ist das Mehrschichtverfahren über die Laplace-Matrix, wo ausgenutzt wird, dass zwischen den Eigenwerten der Matrix und der Schnittstruktur des Graphen enge Zusammenhänge bestehen. Dieses Verfahren wurde zum Mehrschichtverfahren für Graphen weiterentwickelt, bei dem in einer sogenannten Kontraktion benachbarte Knoten und parallele Kanten jeweils zusammengeführt werden, und der Graph zu einem kleinen und kantengewichteten Graph vereinfacht wird. Schließlich wird das Problem auf einem vereinfachten, groben Gitter gelöst, und dann jeweils mit lokalen Suchen auf feinere Graphen erweitert. Für die Kontraktion werden Heuristiken und Kantenbewertungsfunktionen verwendet.Ein weiterer Ansatz sind auch evolutionäre Algorithmen. Dabei wurde eine allgemeinere Umgebung geschaffen, die auf eine weite Klasse von Optimierungsproblemen angewendet werden kann.Die Graphentheorie ist natürlich auch Teil der diskreten Mathematik, und besonders berühmt ist auch das Traveling Salesperson Problem. Gleichzeitig ist das Thema aber auch in der Theoretischen Informatik, im Algorithm Engineering und in der Software-Entwicklung beheimatet.Literatur und Zusatzinformationen C. Schulz: High Quality Graph Partitioning, PhD thesis. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 2013. P. Sanders, C. Schulz: Distributed Evolutionary Graph Partitioning, Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Algorithm Engineering and Experimentation (ALENEX'12), pages 16--19, 2012. P. Sanders, C. Schulz: High Quality Graph Partitioning, Proceedings of the 10th DIMACS Implementation Challenge Workshop: Graph Partitioning and Graph Clustering, pages 1--17, AMS, 2013. P. Sanders, C. Schulz: Think Locally, Act Globally: Highly Balanced Graph Partitioning, proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA'13), volume 7933 of LNCS, pages 164--175, 2013. R. Glantz, H. Meyerhenke, C. Schulz: Tree-based Coarsening and Partitioning of Complex Networks, Technical Report, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 2014. KaHIP Homepage KaHIP auf Twitter Christian Schulz auf Twitter Podcast: Death of a traveling salesman

Maximilian Schich, Isabel Meirelles, and Roger Malina discuss the contents and creation of the new article collection, Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks, which explores the application of the science of complex networks to art history, archeology, visual arts, the art market, and other areas of cultural importance.

Kurths, J (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)) Thursday 31 October 2013, 16:25-17:00

Speaker: Dr. A. Hackett Abstract: A cascade or avalanche is observed when interactions between the components of a system allow an initially localized effect to propagate globally. For example, the malfunction of technological systems like email networks or electrical power grids is often attributable to a cascade of failures triggered by some isolated event. Similarly, the transmission of infectious diseases and the adoption of innovations or cultural fads may induce cascades among people in society. It has been extensively demonstrated that such dynamics depend sensitively on the patterns of interaction laid out in the underlying network of the system. One of the primary goals of the study of complex networks is to provide a sound theoretical basis for this dependence. In this seminar we discuss some recent progress in modelling the interaction between network structure and dynamics. Focusing on the phenomenon of high clustering, we present two recently proposed classes of random graphs that achieve non­ zero clustering coefficients. We provide an analytically tractable framework for modeling cascades in both of these classes. This framework is then used to calculate the mean cascade size and the cascade threshold for a broad class of binary­state dynamics.

Speaker: Dr. A. Hackett Abstract: A cascade or avalanche is observed when interactions between the components of a system allow an initially localized effect to propagate globally. For example, the malfunction of technological systems like email networks or electrical power grids is often attributable to a cascade of failures triggered by some isolated event. Similarly, the transmission of infectious diseases and the adoption of innovations or cultural fads may induce cascades among people in society. It has been extensively demonstrated that such dynamics depend sensitively on the patterns of interaction laid out in the underlying network of the system. One of the primary goals of the study of complex networks is to provide a sound theoretical basis for this dependence. In this seminar we discuss some recent progress in modelling the interaction between network structure and dynamics. Focusing on the phenomenon of high clustering, we present two recently proposed classes of random graphs that achieve non­ zero clustering coefficients. We provide an analytically tractable framework for modeling cascades in both of these classes. This framework is then used to calculate the mean cascade size and the cascade threshold for a broad class of binary­state dynamics.

Prof. Roger GUIMERA & Prof. Marta SALES, Biochimics, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain. Cells, the brain, ecosystems and economies are complex systems. In complex systems, individual components interact with each other, usually in nonlinear ways, giving rise to complex networks of interactions that are neither totally regular nor totally random. Partly because of the interactions themselves and partly because of the interaction topology, complex systems cannot be properly understood by just analyzing their constituent parts. For example, one cannot properly understand consciousness by studying isolated neurons, or economic crises by studying isolated individuals. The reason why complex networks of interactions are non-trivial is that any bias, however small, in the way components establish connections gives rise to structural correlations. This makes understanding complex systems challenging but, at the same time, it means that each network contains, hidden within its structure, important clues about how the system operates and evolves. Recent technological developments have made it possible to gather unprecedented amounts of data on a variety of complex systems from social to biological. However, our knowledge on these systems has not increased proportionally due to the lack of tools to extract information from large pools of data and to assess data reliability. In this talk we will discuss recent developments on complex networks theory that tackle the aforementioned challenges and what are the implications for systems biology and social problems.

Prof. Roger GUIMERA & Prof. Marta SALES, Biochimics, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain. Cells, the brain, ecosystems and economies are complex systems. In complex systems, individual components interact with each other, usually in nonlinear ways, giving rise to complex networks of interactions that are neither totally regular nor totally random. Partly because of the interactions themselves and partly because of the interaction topology, complex systems cannot be properly understood by just analyzing their constituent parts. For example, one cannot properly understand consciousness by studying isolated neurons, or economic crises by studying isolated individuals. The reason why complex networks of interactions are non-trivial is that any bias, however small, in the way components establish connections gives rise to structural correlations. This makes understanding complex systems challenging but, at the same time, it means that each network contains, hidden within its structure, important clues about how the system operates and evolves. Recent technological developments have made it possible to gather unprecedented amounts of data on a variety of complex systems from social to biological. However, our knowledge on these systems has not increased proportionally due to the lack of tools to extract information from large pools of data and to assess data reliability. In this talk we will discuss recent developments on complex networks theory that tackle the aforementioned challenges and what are the implications for systems biology and social problems.

On this week's episode, we're joined by Rich Antoniello CEO and founder of Complex Networks.Antoniello founded Complex in 2002 after several years in print and digital media at National Geographic and Men's Journal following his start as a media planner at Saatchi & Saatchi in 1993.Antoniello sat down to discuss the value of organic growth, what teams and leagues can learn from media companies, the importance of good brands and good businesses, and what it takes to be a good entrepreneur.4:04-4:39: The value of organic growth. 9:01-9:58: On creating content vs. reporting14:44-15:50: Monetization in college athletics28:33-30:06: What teams and leagues can learn from media companies41:12- 41:47: The importance of good brands and good business43:53-45:25: The sacrifices necessary to be an entrepreneur