Podcasts about harvard alumni association

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

Vanessa is a serial business builder and technology innovator with over 25 years of experience across SAP, Trigger Media and McKinsey. The businesses she has built and relaunched are leaders in their verticals. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sugarwork, an enterprise SaaS knowledge sharing platform empowering employers to own and maintain the tacit knowledge, skills, and relationships that drive their businesses using generative AI. She was most recently Vice President of SAP.iO, SAP's early-stage venture arm, where she oversaw SAP.iO's North American Foundries in New York and San Francisco, and recruited and accelerated 87enterprise software startups. Prior to SAP, Vanessa was Chief Operating Officer at Trigger Media Group, a $22MM digital media incubator. She co-founded and was the interim CEO of Trigger's portfolio companies: Inside Hook (digital media company &men's lifestyle brand; sold to private equity) and Fevo (SaaS technology for group experiences in sports and music; Series C, market leader). She began her career at McKinsey & Company and was an Associate Partner in the Firm's Media and Entertainment Practice, based in Amsterdam, London and New York. Sugarwork Vanessa currently serves as a Non-Executive director of Appen Ltd. (ASX: APX), a global AI data services company; and Goodman Group (ASX: GMG), a global industrial real estate company. She serves on the Audit Committee for Appen and the Sustainability& Innovation Committee for Goodman. Vanessa graduated magna cum laude with an AB in psychology from Harvard University and cum laude with a JD from Harvard Law School. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Universiteit Utrecht in the Netherlands where she conducted independent research on the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice. She serves as a member of Harvard University's Board of Overseers, and as a Past President Director of the Harvard Alumni Association (was President from July2021 - June 2022). She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Welcome to a very special episode of Regarding Consciousness. Today we welcome to the show Joshua Home Edwards, CEO of Emonance AI. The discussion explores the possibilities of AI-human collaboration, with a special focus on an AI developed by Joshua and his team. The AI, modeled after Ocean Robbins, engages in insightful dialogue on topics such as spirituality, inner child work, and the interconnectedness of life. Both Jennifer and Joshua share personal stories of overcoming adversity through prayer, meditation, and deep self-awareness. The episode highlights the potential of AI to foster global empathy, understanding, and collaboration, advocating for the ethical development of AI as a compassionate companion for humanity.And you'll get to hear the AI at work in a real-time conversation between Joshua and Jennifer!In this interview with Joshua Edwards, you'll discover:00:50 Meet Joshua Home Edwards and Emonance AI02:29 The Emotional Resonance of AI04:18 Introducing Ocean AI07:30 Exploring AI's Consciousness and Dreams13:27 Inner Child Work and AI24:59 The Power of Prayer and Connection28:36 Personal Stories of Overcoming Adversity32:45 The Future of AI and Humanity40:41 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsResources mentioned:Emonance AIAbout the guest:Joshua Home Edwards serves as the CEO of Emonance AI where their core question is: “What is the best case scenario for Human and AI collaboration?” He's produced online events with leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Barack and Michelle Obama, Denzel Washington, Alicia Keys, and Neale Donald Walsh along with organizations such as the Harvard Alumni Association, Habitat for Humanity and the National Science Foundation. He's also worked as an angel investor, executive coach, and funding facilitator for projects ranging from 5M to 1 billion dollars that support a world based on ethical empathy and healthy integrity one kind and strong choice at a time. Connect on LinkedInOptiMatchAre you ready to stop struggling with high churn rates, decreased satisfaction, and financial losses due to poor matches in your business? See how the power of our SaaS algorithm delivers proven increases in satisfaction, higher retention rates, and increased revenue for businesses and marketplaces.OptiMatch is designed to be integrated into your existing recruitment process and used alongside your other tools.Our cutting-edge algorithms facilitate successful matches between employees and employers or customers and practitioners, resulting in proven increased satisfaction, effective sessions, higher retention rates, and increased revenue.Say goodbye to the friction, frustration, and inefficiency of poor matches, and hello to success with OptiMatch.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Co-Owner and CNO of Camp Negotiation Systems, Todd Camp.Todd Camp has revolutionized the approach to this crucial aspect of business. His system assists negotiators, from startup co-founders to CEOs, in preparing, executing, and debriefing negotiations and business relationships. According to Todd, negotiation is not just about making deals; it's about making decisions.When asked whether negotiation is more of an art or a science, Todd leans towards science, citing the role of emotion in decision-making as proven by neuroscience. However, he acknowledges that the way individuals communicate—their mannerisms, speech pace, body language, and choice of words—is where the artistry comes into play.Todd challenges the notion that negotiations with entities like the government are devoid of emotion. He argues that even in such scenarios, individuals are driven by emotional factors, such as how they are rewarded or graded for their performance.For service providers, Todd emphasizes the importance of understanding that decisions are made in the client's world, not ours. He advises spending time early in relationships to truly understand the client's challenges and how you can provide solutions that benefit them.Todd recommends asking open-ended questions that start with "what" and "how" to encourage clients to articulate their needs and vision. This approach helps uncover the true value you can provide, rather than pitching features and benefits prematurely.Key Points from the Episode:Overview of the work done by Camp Negotiation SystemsThe role of emotion in decision-making and negotiationThe importance of understanding the other party's perspectiveThe art and science of negotiationNegotiation in government contracts and procurementThe mindset and approach in sales conversationsThe value of asking good, open-ended questionsOvercoming discomfort in asking probing questionsThe work and approach of Camp Negotiation Systems todayAbout Todd Camp:Todd Camp is the influential owner and chief negotiation officer of Camp Systems, a Silicon Valley-based company widely recognized by major media outlets such as CNN, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Inc. In addition to his role at Camp Systems, Todd is the co-founder and partner of The Pareto Group, a renowned negotiation coaching firm catering to co-founders and executives in Silicon Valley and NYC-based venture-backed startups. Co-author of the book "No, The Only System of Negotiation You Need For Work and Home," Todd has conducted live coaching sessions across the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia. Notably, he recently contributed as a speaker and sponsor at the Negotiation Leadership Conference at Harvard University, organized by the Harvard Alumni Association.About Camp Negotiation Systems:Camp Negotiation Systems distinguishes itself by eliminating unnecessary compromise, aiming for more profitable agreements that bolster the bottom line and foster enduring business relationships. The system is designed to work confidentially with clients and their teams on real business deals. This strategic process enhances effectiveness in preparing for, executing, and managing critical conversations from inception to conclusion. By prioritizing tangible results and long-term partnerships, the Camp System of Negotiation stands out in its commitment to delivering financial gains and cultivating...

Anirudh Suri is a venture capitalist, technology entrepreneur and policy advisor. He is the managing partner of India Internet Fund, a US and India-based technology venture capital fund, and author of The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destinies of Nations (HarperCollins, 2022). Previously, he worked with the Government of India in Delhi, McKinsey and Co. in New York, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC, and Goldman Sachs in London. ​Anirudh completed his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. He studied Economics and International Relations at the London School of Economics and Haverford College. He has served on the global board of the Harvard Alumni Association and was the president of the Harvard Club of India from 2017–19.

Show Notes: Elaine Lum MacDonald and Will Bachman have a conversation about Elaine's journey since graduating from Harvard in 1992. Elaine started off her career in management consulting at the Monitor Company in Cambridge. After gaining experience in the field, after that she moved to Asia. She was based in Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Taiwan, and China for four years, gaining meaningful and memorable experiences. After this, she went to Harvard Business School and graduated in 1998. She then spent a decade working in technology roles with Microsoft and Amazon before launching her own company, the Knowledge Impact Network. This organization focuses on helping leaders and organizations build trust and increase their impact. Elaine also works as a consultant for other organizations that are looking to make a difference in the world. Working in Indonesia and California  Elaine shares her experiences working in Indonesia and Hong Kong in the 1990s. She describes how she had to take taxis to get around in rural communities and how the retail landscape was changing rapidly. She also shares some of the daunting and scary scenarios she encountered, such as being mistaken for a call girl or not knowing who to trust when taking a taxi. Despite the challenges, she found the experience interesting and eye-opening. She also enjoyed the experience of proving people wrong by breaking stereotypes of a young Asian woman. Elaine wanted to experience deeper operational management and decided to move to California in the late 1990s to work for Clorox doing brand management. There was a great exodus of people from the East Coast to Silicon Valley during this time, as it was a land of opportunity with startups. She met her husband and decided to stay in California where she currently lives with her family. Working as a Strategic Marketing Consultant  Elaine worked part time while her children were young, she and her colleague shared a job and a joint identity where they were known as Elady. Elaine left Clorox to become a strategic marketing consultant, allowing her more flexibility with her time and to do more volunteer work.  Elaine shares her story of finding her passion for volunteer consulting while studying at Harvard Business School. Through the Harvard Business School Community Partners program, she was able to provide pro bono volunteer consulting to local nonprofits. She enjoyed the experience of being able to think through challenges and help organizations, and eventually she took on the role of recruiting organizations and alumni to donate their time. For the following seven years, she worked at HBS Community Partners in Northern California with the goal of inspiring and empowering alumni to use their skills for social good. She found her niche in being a connector and bridge, finding people with bright minds and big hearts and matching them with organizations that could really use their help. Founder of the Knowledge Impact Network Elaine became the founder of the Knowledge Impact Network (KIN). KIN is an organization that connects alumni of Harvard Business School (HBS) to nonprofits who need assistance in a variety of areas. Elaine first got the idea for KIN from her experience of helping Bay Area nonprofits while she was working with the Harvard Alumni Association. After the pandemic hit, she noticed the need for more help from alumni and decided to create KIN to allow alumni to provide support to nonprofits virtually. KIN provides a bridge between alumni and nonprofits, allowing the alumni to help with a variety of issues, such as food supply chains, by connecting them to the right experts. Elaine hopes to continue to expand KIN and provide more assistance to nonprofits. KIN focuses on three areas of impact: core human needs (food, water, health, shelter); educating for workforce readiness; and protecting our planet. Elaine explains how she and the founders of KIN, who are YPO distinguished leaders, hit it off when they discussed how they could bring the power of CEO networks to share their knowledge with positive causes and accelerate impact. KIN is open to social impact organizations, social ventures, and experts from anywhere in the world. Organizations can apply through the KIN website, and experts can sign up to share their knowledge of a specific area. KIN then connects the organizations and experts and facilitates a 90-minute catalyst session to help the organization solve an issue. The Social Ventures Network Elaine then expanded the network with the Social Ventures Network, an organization which connects professionals with causes and social ventures they can get involved with. Elaine talks about how easy it is for professionals to leverage their skills for good and how the Social Ventures Network takes away the friction of getting involved. Elaine explains how the Network works with family offices who want to support a specific cause, as well as companies and individuals. The Network helps people figure out how to get involved with social ventures and learn about them, while also advancing a cause they feel passionate about.  Elaine talks about Impact circles and explains that they are a way to bring together a community of social innovators who want to take action in a certain area. An example of an Impact circle was formed when a knowledge partner met a renowned climatologist at UC Santa Barbara's Climate Hazard Center who spoke about the data available to help farmers adjust their crops and improve yields in the face of changing weather. The Impact circle brings together experts, companies, government, and academics to help figure out how to get this data to rural smallholder farmers in places like Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Meteorological Services Department agreed that this data would be extremely helpful. The team is now in the process of developing a site with the right type of data to get it into the hands of the farmers. Influential Professors and Courses at Harvard Elaine recounts her experience as a Harvard student, mentioning Nancy Kane, Marty Feldstein, and Michael Sandel as two of her most memorable and inspiring professors. Elaine was a history and science major, which was unusual at the time, and enjoyed the challenge and creativity of connecting the dots between different disciplines. Her current project is a great example of how people from different parts of the world can come together to make something happen. Timestamps: 05:17 Experiences Working in Indonesia and Hong Kong in the 1990s  10:26 From Consulting to Brand Management  13:23 Joint Identity and Strategic Marketing Consulting  17:54 Harvard Alumni Connecting Nonprofits with Expertise During the Pandemic  21:43 Exploring the Knowledge Impact Network: Leveraging Knowledge for Social Impact 26:35 Catalyzed Sessions for Social Ventures  30:05 Leveraging Skills for Social Good  34:00 Harvard Education and Global Development Projects  Links: Website: https://www.knowledgeimpactnetwork.org/ CONTACT INFO: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elainelmacdonald/  

The acquisition of Twitter broke, well, Twitter. Around 90% of the workforce left the company leaving shells of former teams to handle the same responsibility. Today, we welcome two guests from Twitter's civic integrity team. We welcome new guest Rebecca Thein. Rebecca, was a senior engineering technical program manager for Twitter's Information Integrity team. She is also a Digital Sherlock for the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab).Theodora Skeadas is a returning guest from our previous episode! She managed public policy at Twitter and was recently elected as an Elected Director of the Harvard Alumni Association.We answer the following questions on today's episode:How much was the civic integrity team hurt by the acquisition?What are candidate labels?How did Twitter prioritize its elections?What did the org structure of Twitter look like pre and post acquisition?And finally, what is this famous Halloween party that all the ex-Twitter folks are talking about?

Michael Bervell is a Ghanaian-American angel-investor, entrepreneur, and author. His debut book “Unlocking Unicorns” was an Amazon best-selling new release that investigates the founders, philosophies, and strategies for building a unicorn company in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In 2007, Bervell co-founded “Hugs for” an international, student-run non-profit organization focused on using grassroots strategies to develop countries around the world. To date, "Hugs for" has fundraised over $500,000 of material and monetary donations and impacted over 300,000 youths around the world. Because of his work, Bervell was awarded the National Caring Award in 2015. Bervell is the youngest President of the Harvard Club of Seattle and a former board member of the Harvard Alumni Association (which he joined when he was 19). He also helped start Sigma Squared in the US (formerly the Kairos Society). He has experience working as a Venture Fellow at Harlem Capital, a Portfolio manager at Microsoft's Venture Fund, a Program Manager at Microsoft, and as a Software Engineer at Twitter, and has helped to found and lead a variety of organizations including the Enchiridion Corporation, a marketing consulting company, and Billion Dollar Startup Ideas, a media and innovation company. Read the show notes here: https://arcbound.com/podcasts/  Links: Homepage: Arcbound.com Services/Work with Us: https://arcbound.com/work-with-us/ About: https://arcbound.com/about/ Founders Corner: https://arcbound.com/category/founders-corner/ Connect: https://arcbound.com/connect/

Anirudh Suri is a venture capitalist, technology entrepreneur and policy advisor. He is the managing partner of India Internet Fund, a US and India-based technology venture capital fund, and author of The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destinies of Nations (HarperCollins, 2022). Previously, he worked with the Government of India in Delhi, McKinsey and Co. in New York, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC, and Goldman Sachs in London. ​Anirudh completed his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. He studied Economics and International Relations at the London School of Economics and Haverford College. He has served on the global board of the Harvard Alumni Association and was the president of the Harvard Club of India from 2017–19.

Album 4 Track 7 – Larry Kahn, Media Strategist and ForecasterHey Brand Nerds! We are joined by a friend, colleague, and data storytelling specialist in the virtual building, Larry Kahn. Formerly with NBC Sports, now a consultant for Datanautix. Larry is using AI and Big Data to analyze customers' own words after years of crunching numbers. including a fan feedback model unlike any you've heard of before. He is bringing us wisdom from his career journey through time spent in the radio industry, with Golf Channel, giving back to his local community through Harvard Alumni Association's Early College Awareness program, and more. Join our insightful conversation that is going to make you think, laugh, and reconsider the ways you can speak quickly and honestly with your target markets.Key Takeaways:  Research can be referred to as various things, but should be focused on data storytelling rooted in the purpose of monetizing content. There is a great benefit to listening more than always speaking Let's talk about the importance of silence.  As LK's wife Amy says, "Go find something you like to do with people you like to do it with."  NOTES:Learn more about DatanautixDatanautix provides instant fan feedback for The Harlem Globetrotters-----Oren Katzeff's Podcast, mentioned by DCStay Up-To-Date on All Things Brands, Beats, & Bytes on SocialInstagram | Twitter 

The nest guest is on board - Michael Bervell. MIchael is a Ghanaian-American angel-investor, entrepreneur, and author. He's the author of "Unlocking Unicorns", a book about the stories and habits of leading entrepreneurs in Asia, Africa and the Middle East (e.g. he personally interviewed Jack Ma for the book). In 2007, he co-founded the non-profit "Hugs for" where he funraised over 500,000 $ in materials and monetary donations and impacted over 300,000 youths around the world. Because of his work, Bervell was awarded the National Caring Award in 2015 (alongside Pope Francis, Dikembe Mutombo, and 7 others). He became the youngest President of the Harvard Club of Seattle and a former member of the Harvard Alumni Association after he studied in Harvard himself. His various efforts led to a diverse set of awards, such as the GE-Lloyd Trotter Scholar (2018), World Internet Conference Wuzhen Scholar (2017), Walter C. Klein Scholar (2017), United Health Foundation Scholar (2016), Deutsche Bank Rise Into Success Scholar (2016), Blacks at Microsoft Scholar (2016) and many more. We talked about this new book "Unlocking Unicorns", African's tech ecosystem, angel investing and many more topics. Michael's Website Unlocking Unicorns Book Source: Michael's Website

Action Steps: Keep the main thing the main thing. In other words, determine what feeds your soul (e.g., family, friends, prayer) and keep that central in all you do. Check in with yourself quarterly. Schedule time every three months to ensure the things you are doing line up with your purpose for that season of your life. Put your first self-check on your calendar today. Value your relationships. Invest in the ones that matter because they are the ones that will provide you with your “mirror moments.”  Create spaces to celebrate others. Even a small space to acknowledge another's commitment to positive change will help you learn to find the ways we all connect to each other. About Natosha Reid RiceNatosha Reid Rice is Habitat for Humanity International's first Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and is leading the development and the execution of Habitat's global strategy for diversity, equity, and inclusion.In her previous role as Associate General Counsel, Natosha initiated and managed financing programs and strategies to generate sources of capital to enable Habitat affiliates to build affordable housing with families throughout the U.S. In addition to her work at Habitat, Natosha served as an Associate Pastor at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia for 11 years before joining All Saints' Episcopal Church as Minister for Public Life.  Prior to joining Habitat, she practiced law in the commercial real estate practices of Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, Georgia and of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York City.  Natosha is passionate about providing a voice to the voiceless and opportunities to communities that have been historically disadvantaged. She serves on the boards of the global Harvard Alumni Association's Executive Committee, Atlanta Community Food Bank, Goodwill of North Georgia, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, and Westminster Schools. She has also been actively involved in efforts to pass legislation and policies to protect victims of human sex trafficking in Georgia, such as the passage of the Safe Harbor/Rachel's Law in 2015.   Additionally, she is a highly regarded keynote speaker and workshop facilitator and delivered her talk “If We Are More Alike Than Unalike . . .” for TEDx CentennialParkWomen.Natosha received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. in government with honors from Harvard/Radcliffe College. Natosha is married to Corey Rice, and they are the proud parents of Kayla, Malachi, and Caleb.  For more information on Dr. Carmen Mohan and HelloHealth's services or to browse our free downloads, visit hellohealthtoday.com/hh-downloads.Follow Dr. Mohan on Instagram: @mohancarmenFollow HelloHealth on Instagram: @hellohealthtodayPlease feel free to reach out directly for more information about HelloHealth's services by contacting pr@hellohealthclinic.com.

John West, a serial entrepreneur across multiple businesses before getting into the exciting world of Sports content, influencers and social media platforms.  Started Team Whistle in 2009 after several years of figuring out his next move.  Recently partnered and merged with Eleven Sports.  Learn about his entrepreneurial journey and amazing stories of how he build a company that now has over 4 billion impressions per months across over 1,600 “Channels” of influencers and online personalities.     Key Highlights Early days as entrepreneur in environmental engineering business in his early 20s – company still around till today Getting a Harvard MBA while working and sold the business Next stop, New York City – Mitchell Madison, new Consulting group – fast growing business Silver Oak Solutions – 2nd entrepreneurial company in “spend management”, software to automate spending patterns of private equity firm's assets – sold successfully as well How he got “back” into sports and learning from his kids habits on how they consumed content (media). A group of people who made the difference in getting Team Whistle started (Geraldine Laybourne, Don Tapscott's book “Growing up Digital”  and Mark Lazor) Researched topic for four years, personal learning curve and getting the product right – GenZ focus – first few ideas didn't work well Focus on UGC (User generated content) across social media platforms – now managing over 1,600 channels and platforms Big hit with “Dude Perfect” , help them with wider distribution, content creation and bring advertisers to them Now over 500 “partners” (influencers) and over 200 Whistle owned channels Not going Negative – Content focused on being “positive, fun and entertaining”, focus on 13-15 year old's Raising Money for growth – total raise over US$ 110 mil by now Revenue share model with partners and influencers - don't need to own all the content, key is owning the data behind it and finding ways to monetize it “Brother”  big show on Snap – one great example with a social media platform 4 billion monthly views, 600 million followers globally across all channels. Currently focused on US and Europe. Expanding globally Further growth by acquisition, getting high profile investors into the business (lots of miles travelled) and partnership with Eleven Sports (Andrea Radizzani). Logic behind the deal with Eleven and the synergies between the companies – merged stock deal – combined US$ 300 mil in revenue Esports & Gaming – 25 Pro-Gamers as partners, lifestyle, etc Harvard Business School connections and his involvement as the President of the Harvard Alumni network   About John West John West is the Executive Chairman of Team Whistle, which he founded in 2008.  Prior to that, he was the CEO and Chairman of Silver Oak Solutions, which he founded in 1999, and sold to CGI in 2005.  Prior to that he was a Partner at Michell Management Group, and also Founder and CEO of Enstrat from 1989 until he sold it in 1996. John has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  He has served on several Boards at Harvard, and is currently the volunteer President of the Harvard Alumni Association.  John lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.   Follow us on our social sites for the latest updates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsentrepreneurs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusluerpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-entrepreneurs Website: https://marcusluer.com Podcast: https://marcusluer.com/podcast To get in touch, please email us at podcast@marcusluer.com   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

Startups strategies can be real estate strategies too. In today's episode, we're going to dive into them!  Vanessa Liu is the Vice President of SAP.iO, a global organization responsible for building ecosystem startups around SAP.  In her role, she is overseeing SAP.iO's North American Foundries in New York and San Francisco including programs devoted to women and diverse-led B2B enterprise tech companies.  Vanessa was most recently the CEO at Trigger Media Group, a $22 million dollar digital media incubator founded in 2011 where she founded and built two portfolio companies from inception to fully operational businesses.  She's a Fulbright scholar at the Utrecht University where she conducted independent research on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice.  She also served as first Vice President of the Harvard Alumni Association.  [00:01 - 03:47] Opening SegmentLet's get to know today's guest, Vanessa LiuVanessa shares the story of SAP[03:48 - 10:49] Venture Capital and StartupsNew industries, new customersShepherding StartupsVanessa talks about startupsHow to Get to the Next Level in BusinessZero EquityVanessa discusses partner companies that leftVenture Partners and Capitals[10:50 - 17:48] Startups and Real EstatesReal Estate Needs Assessment Vanessa talks about having intrinsic assetsCoachability, Experience, and InsightWhat Do You Stand For?[17:49 - 20:23] Final Four SegmentVanessa's advice to aspiring investors“Really get to know your end customer backwards and forwards and just have that different type of perspective that no one else can have.” How Vanessa stays on top of her gameCall upon her personal group of advisorsVanessa's way to make the world a better placeMaking technology a representative of everyone out thereReach out to our guest - see links below Final wordsTweetable Quotes“We can open up a lot of doors but you have to be at a majority level work where you can absorb those opportunities and take advantage of them.” - Vanessa Liu“It's really a question of access to capital… it is harder for these companies to raise money because they don't have the access.” - Vanessa Liu-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Connect with Vanessa Liu through: Twitter and LinkedIn.  Check out https://sap.io/ and build your own startup business!Connect with me:I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns.  FacebookLinkedInLike, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on.  Thank you for tuning in!Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com

Startups strategies can be real estate strategies too. In today's episode, we're going to dive into them!  Vanessa Liu is the Vice President of SAP.iO, a global organization responsible for building ecosystem startups around SAP.  In her role, she is overseeing SAP.iO's North American Foundries in New York and San Francisco including programs devoted to women and diverse-led B2B enterprise tech companies.  Vanessa was most recently the CEO at Trigger Media Group, a $22 million dollar digital media incubator founded in 2011 where she founded and built two portfolio companies from inception to fully operational businesses.  She's a Fulbright scholar at the Utrecht University where she conducted independent research on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice.  She also served as first Vice President of the Harvard Alumni Association.  [00:01 - 03:47] Opening SegmentLet's get to know today's guest, Vanessa LiuVanessa shares the story of SAP[03:48 - 10:49] Venture Capital and StartupsNew industries, new customersShepherding StartupsVanessa talks about startupsHow to Get to the Next Level in BusinessZero EquityVanessa discusses partner companies that leftVenture Partners and Capitals[10:50 - 17:48] Startups and Real EstatesReal Estate Needs Assessment Vanessa talks about having intrinsic assetsCoachability, Experience, and InsightWhat Do You Stand For?[17:49 - 20:23] Final Four SegmentVanessa's advice to aspiring investors“Really get to know your end customer backwards and forwards and just have that different type of perspective that no one else can have.” How Vanessa stays on top of her gameCall upon her personal group of advisorsVanessa's way to make the world a better placeMaking technology a representative of everyone out thereReach out to our guest - see links below Final wordsTweetable Quotes“We can open up a lot of doors but you have to be at a majority level work where you can absorb those opportunities and take advantage of them.” - Vanessa Liu“It's really a question of access to capital… it is harder for these companies to raise money because they don't have the access.” - Vanessa Liu-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Connect with Vanessa Liu through: Twitter and LinkedIn.  Check out https://sap.io/ and build your own startup business!Connect with me:I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns.  FacebookLinkedInLike, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on.  Thank you for tuning in!Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com

In episode 6 of Harvard Torah, Rabbi Jonah Steinberg sits down with Rob Shapiro '72, JD '78, former president of both the Harvard Alumni Association and the Harvard Law School Alumni Association, leader on Harvard's Board of Overseers, and expert in the field of trust and estate laws, along with Jonathan Katzman '22. This week's discussion focuses on legacy as relates to the story of Isaac's blessing of his and Rebecca's twin children, Jacob and Esau.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you grow up thinking that you wanted to become an astronaut and then go off in a completely different direction? Well, in this episode, Vanessa Liu shares with us her career journey that took her from dreams of being an astronaut to becoming a Harvard lawyer to becoming a senior executive in digital media and technology innovation. No matter what her role has been, Vanessa has always been at the forefront of innovation.  Vanessa is the VP of SAP.iO, a global organization responsible for building an ecosystem of startups around SAP. In her role, she is overseeing SAP.iO’s North American Foundries in New York and San Francisco, including programs devoted to women and diverse-led B2B enterprise tech companies.   Highlights: [02:13] Vanessa’s story [08:57] Overcoming fears [10:55] Vanessa’s superpower [13:25] Awareness of identity [17:07] What holds women back [22:10] Advocacy from mentors and sponsors [23:57] Approaching a potential mentor [26:26] Showcase your capabilities [30:38] Vanessa’s role at SAP.iO [33:58] Advice for founders [38:34] Challenges women face in raising capital [42:43] Post-pandemic world [46:18] Juggling competing priorities   Quotes: “If something feels right from an impact perspective, and you are in a state of flow, because you know that your contributions are making a difference, you can then enjoy the journey, which takes a lot of the fear away.” – Vanessa Liu “When building your network, make sure you give to the relationship so that it is just as fulfilling for the other person as it is for you.” – Vanessa Liu “Understanding what your superpower is and matching that with organizations that also value that is essential.” – Vanessa Liu "You need to be able to tell your story so that other people can understand it.” – Vanessa Liu “We all have the same asset, which is 24 hours a day. And it's about how do you spend it? And how can you spend it wisely.” – Vanessa Liu “Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It means that you know yourself well and that you know where you need help.” - Vanessa Liu   About Vanessa Liu: Vanessa is the VP of SAP.iO, a global organization responsible for building an ecosystem of startups around SAP. In her role, she is overseeing SAP.iO’s North American Foundries in New York and San Francisco, including programs devoted to women and diverse-led B2B enterprise tech companies. Vanessa was most recently the Chief Operating Officer at Trigger Media Group, a $22MM digital media incubator. In her role, she co-founded, incubated and oversaw business operations and strategic initiatives of Trigger’s portfolio companies: InsideHook (the essential digital lifestyle guide for adventurous and discerning men) and Fevo (SaaS technology bringing friends and networks together for group experiences at live events). Vanessa currently serves as a board observer of Fevo and is an advisor or investor in start-ups including Bounce Exchange, Grata Data, GroundSignal, Knotel and Narrativ. She mentors female founders through Declare’s Lead Program. Previously, Vanessa was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company’s Media and Entertainment Practice, based in Amsterdam, London and New York. In this role, Vanessa was responsible for serving clients in a variety of media and high tech sectors including online advertising, magazine and newspaper publishing, television, video content production, and information services, particularly on issues of digital media strategy, emerging market strategy, growth and innovation. Vanessa graduated magna cum laude with an AB in psychology from Harvard University and cum laude with a JD from Harvard Law School. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Universiteit Utrecht in the Netherlands where she conducted independent research on the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice. She serves as Vice President, College Alumni Affairs, of the Harvard Alumni Association.   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessawliu/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanessawliu  

What was originally called Harvard College held its first Commencement in September 1642, when nine degrees were conferred. Today some 1700 undergraduate degrees, and 5000 advanced degrees from the university's various graduate and professional schools, are conferred each Commencement Day. 最初的哈佛学院在1642年9月举行了第一次毕业典礼，颁发了9个学位证书。如今，每逢毕业典礼日，哈佛大学的各个研究生院和职业院校都会颁发出大约1700个本科学位和5000个高阶学位（硕士和博士学位）。 Each degree candidate attends three ceremonies: the Morning Exercises, at which degrees are conferred verbally en masse; a smaller midday ceremony during which actual diplomas are given in hand; and in the afternoon the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association's, at which Harvard's President and the day's featured speaker deliver their addresses. The ceremonies shifted from late summer to late June in the nineteenth century, and are now held at the end of May. 在毕业典礼日，每个毕业生都会参加三个仪...

Learn English with Steven Spielberg. Spielberg speaks to the Harvard Alumni Association and members of the Class of 2016 during his Commencement address. Steven Spielberg encourages you to listen to your internal voice and to show empathy for others around the world. For more, visit: https://www.englishspeecheschannel.com

Mr. Van Keuren currently works for a Family Office who has over 30 years of experience in contrarian and distressed real estate investing producing a gross IRR of 32% on over 200 deals since 1998. Individually, Mr. Van Keuren has over 25 years' experience in finance, investment banking, and real estate. Among DJ's experience includes; Raising and securing over $350MM in capital from Institutional Investors, Private Equity Funds, Family Offices, and Direct Capital Sources. Mr. Van Keuren has been a Director of capital markets (equity & debt) for both a domestic and international real estate development company with a focus on luxury condominiums, luxury multifamily apartments, active adult communities & hotels. Additional experience includes acting Director at a boutique investment banking firm where he focused on real estate and energy, COO for ONYX Capital, an alternative asset, real estate due diligence and capital markets group and Managing Director for the Horison Management Group where he acted as the Fund Manager for the American Dream Real Estate Fund.Mr. Van Keuren is a member of the Harvard Alumni Association, past President and Board Member for the Harvard Real Estate Alumni Organization (HREAO) and a Board Member for the Alumni Advisory Board at the Real Estate Academic Initiative at Harvard (REAI). Mr. Van Keuren is also the founder of www.usfamilyofficerealestate.com. DJ received his B.A. from Ball State University, attended graduate studies in Real Estate from the NYU Schack Real Estate Institute, and received his Masters Degree from Harvard University in Management and Finance.​

In 1977, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan from Texas spoke to the Harvard Alumni Association.

On the afternoon of June 14, 1956, Senator John F. Kennedy addressed the Harvard Alumni Association in Harvard Yard.