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“The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.” — Keith Ferrazzi Guest Introduction: This is Exploring the Seasons of Life podcast episode 42. I’m Cindy MacMillan and today’s guest is Kathy Parks. Introduction: Welcome to Exploring the Seasons of Life, a podcast for women with a big heart on a spiritual journey. Each week, join Cindy MacMillan as she interviews coaches, spiritual explorers and celebrants from all walks of life about beginnings, endings and the messy bits in-between. Self-love, well-being, and mindset are at the heart of our conversations because once you change the inside, the outside will begin to change as well.   Welcome back to the Exploring the Seasons of Life podcast and thank you for being here. This is a really special episode and I can’t wait for you to meet my guest today.  Kathy has spent the last 30 years working in Corporate North America for one of the top 10 most admired companies in the world.  She has extensive experience in Sales Leadership, Planning & Training as well as developing, mentoring and coaching front line employees into leadership roles.    Since creating her Executive Coaching business, Kathy has worked with small business owners, solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, leaders at all levels of an organization, and especially women seeking to expand their career and pay aspirations.    Most recently, Kathy has been doing her best to help as many people as possible who have lost their jobs, to help jumpstart their job and career search. Here’s a glimpse of our conversation: 2:04 Yeah, that's a great question, Cindy, because you don't really realize when you're young, that there are so many different seasons in your life.  5:11 I was fortunate to be able to take advantage of some really great sort of cutting-edge leadership experience. And I had a lot of different teams in my career. And we were always very successful and it became more and more obvious to me what helps them be successful. And that was really sort of a good leader, helping them grow and learn and have good mentorship and having helped with their career and the work. So that was really the heart of my job that I loved the most was really to help my employees with their professional development, their career progression, and really be just more successful businesspeople.  7:59 I think the most important place to start with any job search, even if you still have a job that you want to pivot or you're thinking that you're not that happy. And what you're doing is to really take the opportunity and figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. It's kind of that “What do I do when I grow up?” thing that we're I think we're always asking ourselves no matter what season we're in. And so the question of, you know, are you happy with your career path with your profession?  12:45 Yeah, being prepared, practicing, having someone to practice with, practice in a mirror creating some, you know, understanding, again, back to understanding the value you bring to the table and what makes you unique, why are you going to be the best person for the job?  24:25 So first of all, to really try and enjoy each season for what it is and for what it's giving you in what you're learning and what you're experiencing. But also, that as you get older into sort of the later seasons – especially after retiring – it is not the end of your life. You're not so old that you can't enjoy, and you can't still learn, and you can't still be productive and also add value because you've been through all sorts of experiences that are of real value to people. So, it's just like the best is yet to come. Resources Mentioned:   Harvard Business Review Women at Work Race at Work You can find Kathy Parks at: Website Email If you enjoyed this conversation with Kathy Parks, you might also enjoy these other episodes: Connection and Building Friendships with Christy Pennison Menopause is a New Beginning with Lorraine Miano From Software Engineer to Clinical Hypnotherapist with Lori Burke Anxiety and Wholeness with Jennifer Kremer

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) in supporting their clients.   All views, information and opinions expressed during this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Family Enterprise Exchange or its employees.   Description Ruth Steverlynck sits down with author and advisor to business families, Melissa Mitchell-Blitch, to discuss her recently released book, In the Company of Family: How To Thrive When Business is Personal.   Guest bio Melissa is a former CPA and financial advisor who left the field of finance in 2003 to focus on the psychology of business and wealth. She has a Master’s in Accounting and a Master’s in Psychology. Melissa is a Certified Professional Coach, a GiANT Master Coach and a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Certified Practitioner.   You can find out more about Melissa Mitchell-Blitch here.   Key Takeaways [0:27] Ruth welcomes Melissa to the podcast and asks her to talk a little bit about what led her to pivot from finance to psychology.   [4:34] Melissa touches on some tools of psychology that quantitative advisors can add to their skillset to better serve their clients — helping clients check the limits of their own responsibility and ability.   [8:46] Melissa talks about the misconceptions surrounding the balance between good family relationships and successful business and wealth.   [11:30] Melissa touches on ways that advisors can help find the balance between good family relationships and success.   [14:06] Ruth offers a short synopsis of the discussion so far and opens up the discussion on how to use “the three R’s” to navigate family and business relationships.   [17:05] Melissa then introduces and talks about seeking a balance between “the three F’s.” Ruth and Melissa segue into how help is helpful until it’s not. Melissa offers an example.   [21:09] Melissa explains the difference between hurt and harm, and how advisors can help families avoid long-term damage with well-positioned questions.   [26:03] What if hurt or harm has already been caused? Melissa talks about the transformative power of an “apology session” and shares a powerful example.   [31:35] Melissa offers her advice to other advisors as well as a reading recommendation.   [34:20] Ruth thanks Melissa for coming onto the podcast to share so much of her experience and invites listeners to subscribe to the podcast.   Share your thoughts with us at fea@family-enterprise-xchange.com   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange.   Book: In the Company of Family: How to Thrive When Business Is Personal, by Melissa Mitchell-Blitch   Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life, by Henry Cloud and John Townsend   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) in supporting their clients. All views, information and opinions expressed during this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Family Enterprise Exchange or its employees.   Description Guest host Steve Legler speaks with Dr. Sharilyn Hale, President, Watermark Philanthropic Counsel, to learn ways that Canadian families are effectively using philanthropy to create meaningful multi-generational legacies.   Guest bio Dr. Sharilyn Hale helps those who give, give well. As President of Watermark Philanthropic Counsel, she enables philanthropists and their families to unearth and achieve their philanthropic goals, and helps social purpose organizations deepen their performance. She is a 21/64 advisor to support multi-generational philanthropic families, and in her recent doctoral research on family philanthropy governance in Canada she developed a framework that helps families approach their giving in a meaningful way that works. Find out more about Sharilyn here.   Key Takeaways [0:27] Guest host Steve Legler welcomes Dr. Sharilyn Hale, who shares a bit about her background and her doctoral work in family philanthropy. [3:43] Dr. Hale touches on how family philanthropy and governance intersect and how governance differs in corporate and family contexts. [6:03] Dr. Hale describes how philanthropy can serve as a bridge for discussion and a place for people to have a meaningful impact on the family operations. [8:24] Without cookie-cutter solutions, Dr. Hale shares some of her learning that advisors can put into practice to help families hone-in on what they hope to accomplish through their giving. She also touches on all of the different configurations a family can take and how it affects the discussions. [14:26] Dr. Hale talks about the aspects she observed in very successful family philanthropies, and it often begins with an eagerness by the head of the family to generate engagement from the people sitting around the table. [17:50] Dr. Hale shares a story of growing governance from one of the families in her doctoral research group, about how they engaged the children early on in philanthropic activities and the way it built a more sophisticated thought process on giving as the years passed. [22:00] Dr. Hale shares a personal experience about her daughter’s generosity and multi-generational giving. [24:13] Donor-advised funds are an emerging trend in Canada, Dr. Hale explains some of the different giving structures out there and why they could be chosen by a given family depending on what they can give and what objectives they set for their philanthropic venues. [28:00] Dr. Hale shares one of the key takeaways from her research with Canadian giving families. [28:47] Dr. Sharilyn Hale shares a book recommendation and her advice for advisors. [32:02] Steve thanks Dr. Hale for coming onto the podcast to share her experience and invites listeners to subscribe to the podcast. Share your thoughts with us at fea@family-enterprise-xchange.com   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange.   Watermark Philanthropy Counsel The Giving Governance of Multi-Generational Families Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling, by Edgar H. Schein   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts, and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors in supporting their clients.   All views, information, and opinions expressed during this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Family Enterprise Exchange or its employees.   Description There is nothing quite like a global pandemic to cause us to pause and think about what really matters in our lives. Ruth Steverlynck sits down with author, coach, world record-breaker, and global resource for CEOs and Family Enterprises, Dave Phillips (dphillips.com), to explore why achieving success in life may not, in and of itself, be enough and practical steps we can take to figure out our authentic life purpose.   Guest bio Dave Phillips, of Phillips Management Inc., is an experienced executive mentor and speaker for high-performance CEOs and business leaders across North America. His work covers topics ranging from the boardroom to the bedroom in some of the most challenging and even troubling areas of the leaders’ lives. Dave not only supports CEOs and business leaders but also their teams to make a greater impact and provide long-term solutions to business leaders. Along with leadership mentoring and speaking engagements, Dave and the Phillips Management team have developed a variety of team-building tools and courses to support corporate teams for a variety of businesses. Regardless of your business size and revenue, the tools and capacity building programs Phillips Management offers will improve business communication and, in the long run, the overall health of the business. For Dave’s full bio, click here.   Key Takeaways [0:27] Ruth introduces fellow Vancouverite Dave Phillips and works down the list for only part of his impressive resume. [5:00] Ruth quotes part of the foreword in Dave’s book, The Three Big Questions. She takes a moment to ask him why taking the time to know, understand and clearly define his overarching life purpose was more transformational than any of his personal or professional accomplishments. [6:00] They discuss the difference between "purposeful" versus "purpose for". Dave shares that the life purpose puzzle has three pieces. [9:28] There have been, since the beginning of humankind, overarching and common characteristics of what it means to be a person of substance and this is agreed upon, regardless of creed. Dave explains that these virtues are our greatest hope for legacy but hardly ever our primary focus. [11:50] Dave shares a story which starts when he broke the world record for the longest water-ski marathon (1300 miles). [20:11] Dave addresses the question, “What’s my purpose?” and the value of finding that deeper sense of self. [22:11] Dave talks about being intentional about who you want to be in life, which may lead to finding a purpose. [23:04] Dave addresses the second question, “What is my mission?” and touches on how we can find what we’re likely good at and may find satisfying. [24:11] Dave touches on the third question, “What is my vision?” [29:27] Dave shares some practical steps to get started if you’re interested in finding more purpose, mission and vision for your life. [34:22] Dave explains how having a clear understanding of what your top three values are may inform more decisions than you would believe. “If you don’t know who you are, you will become the sum of the expectations of those around you.” [36:20] The three categories of values are as follows: identity values, competency values and activity values. Dave breaks down and defines each category. [39:00] Ruth asks Dave to share his advice to advisors: “To be mindful of: The money is not the client.” He takes time to explain exactly what he means as well as how he goes about talking to his clients about it. [44:09] Ruth thanks Dave for coming on to the podcast to share so much of his wisdom and invites listeners to subscribe to the podcast.   Share your thoughts with us at fea@family-enterprise-xchange.com   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange.   Dave Phillips The Three Big Questions that Everyone Asks Sooner or Later, by Dave Phillips The Values Game will be made available in the Family Enterprise Exchange Monthly Digest. Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude, by Raymond M. Kethledge and Michael S. Erwin   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn

Introduction Welcome to Distilling Venture Capital.  I am your host, Bill Griesinger Distilling VC is a visionary podcast that provides an insightful and informed view of the key trends affecting the VC and tech startup world.  My mission is to cut through and go beyond the hype that tends to dominate the tech and VC landscape.  And provide you with information you can use.   Episode Introduction: Welcome back everyone.   In today’s Episode, I have the pleasure to be joined by Thomas Healy, Founder & CEO of Hyliion, creator and maker of high-tech drivetrain for traditional Class 8 long haul trucks powered by lithium-ion batteries and CNG Thank you Thomas for making the time to join me today…   First, congratulations on your public launch via the SPAC – Special Purpose Acq. Corp. which was official as of Sept. 28th.  It doesn’t seem all that long ago that we were getting introduced to Hyliion at the 2015 Rice Business Plan Competition – when you guys rolled into Houston – literally – from Carnegie Mellon with the big green Hyliion-branded truck…it was quite a prop!   In This Episode, Thomas Healy Covers Hyliion’s Journey to its Public Offering, Including: Background on the formation/launch of Hyliion Development of the “e-axle” electrified axle design; Lithium-ion/CNG design  Went public couple of weeks ago –  Came to Rice Bus. Plan Competition in 2015 – presented to over 500 people Brought prototype – goal of bringing electrification to the trucking space – virtually untapped market opportunity Semi-truck traffic is the backbone for moving cargo around the US and the globe Why did you choose a SPAC as avenue for going public?  Advantages, etc… Looked at all paths of private and going public Chose the SPAC path – a reverse merger into being a public co.    Merged with Tortoise Acquisition Corp.  Capital we brought in – Little over $500M Saw a great team in Tortoise in terms of similarities in outlook and key industry needs and characteristics Tortoise raised $235M over year ago – they pitched to their investors that they would go find a co. like Hyliion.   Their group looked at 100s of companies before selecting Hyliion – Tortoise is a big energy expertise player and particularly sustainable/efficiency drive Story behind the Hyliion name? Business Model & Business Model Characteristics Producing a fully electric truck – using an onboard natural gas generator to produce electricity and charge the battery Leverages Mega-trend toward renewable natural gas, as well Created very capital efficient business model – Hyliion is a powertrain co. working with existing OEMs like Volvo, Freightliner, Kenworth No need to reinvent the whole truck – solution and benefit is in the powertrain, leveraging great existing truck technology Infrastructure to recharge vehicles is one of the biggest hurdles and uses of capital to enter the market Our solution uses renewable and traditional natural gas to recharge the batteries Existing grid there – but hardly any recharging stations for electric trucks – so have to create the infrastructure, requiring billions of investor capital – just to set up the charging stations Two of the Tesla “Mega Chargers” actually uses massive amount of power to recharge trucks Go-to-Market Strategy…Incorporated design into the drivetrain of existing Class 8, long-haul truck Value of CNG and Lith.-ion combo Advantage of existing CNG fueling infrastructure around the US – big competitive advantage Discusses advantages over hydrogen as a fuel source How Hyliion defines your Addressable Market? Key Partner/Investor network (Sumitomo, Dana, Inc. – leading force in trucking industry – valuable partner on supply chain and also mfg.   Product is already shipped in low volume today:  Selected use-case partner/pilot examples; (Penske, Ryder, Wegmann, other trucking industry pilots & partnerships) Importance of your Partners and related network in delivering the offering; Capital Required to Grow? – It was announced you netted approx. > $500MM from the public offering via Tortoise Acq. Corp. –  Fully-funded plan with that capital – Capital to move tech to commercialization, volume manufacturing and production and scale the business.  Our capital efficient, capital light approach is leveraged via Dana, Inc. for our outsource manufacturer;  we don’t have to find or build a facility – great mfg. partner Dana, Inc. already a leader in producing product for trucking industry Discuss how you execute and get to breakeven and profitable on this capital? Competitive differentiation – Fleets care about cost savings.  Goal/bus. model is moving cargo from point A to B in most cost-effective manner possible to increase their margins. Hyliion is less expensive than diesel, certainly cheaper than hydrogen and significantly cheaper than building a completely new electric truck and the recharging infrastructure. So, Hyliion has a solution now that saves the trucking industry money and is environmentally friendly. Competitive Advantages Discussion competitive landscape, relative cost/pricing structure and how you leverage your expertise to bring a compelling value proposition Other competitive advantages, differentiation… View of Addressable Market Plans for International Expansion – Hyliion is a North American Co. for now right now with product already in Canada in addition to US traction.  Closing Remarks:Thomas, thank you very much for joining me today… Contact Information, Hyliion Thomas, how can those seeking additional information and wishing to learn more about Hyliion contact you or the firm?   [I guess referring listeners to the ticker, HYLN, would be best start, right?]    I’m typically interviewing companies that have not gone public yet – so this is new Website:   hyliion.com Thank you for joining me for this edition of DVC.  I hope you found today’s discussion with Thomas Healy and Hyliion interesting and it gave you some things to think about regarding developments in long-haul truck technologies.    Stay tuned for my next Episode.

Romans 12: Living Life Study 01: Introduction Welcome to our series “Living Life” as we investigate chapter 12 of that amazing book of the Bible, Romans!"In chapter 12, St. Paul teaches the true liturgy and makes all Christians priests, so that they may offer, not money or cattle, as priests do in the Law, but their own bodies, by putting their desires to death. Next he describes the outward conduct of Christians whose lives are governed by the Spirit; he tells how they teach, preach, rule, serve, give, suffer, love, live and act toward friend, foe and everyone. These are the works that a Christian does, for, as I have said, faith is not idle." Martin Luther in his book “Preface to the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans.” Paul is writing to a group or groups of Christians in Rome in about 45-50AD! Just a few years after Jesus Christ ascended back to God. In this letter the Apostle Paul presents God's plan of salvation, which is in Jesus Christ, and the effect this has upon all mankind. This gospel plan sees God's righteousness extended to all of humanity. How so? This Gospel plan, urges Paul, is based entirely on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is received by faith in Him, rather than the good works of a human. This letter of Paul’s investigates ideas such as guilt, faith, assurance, security and sanctification.We continue that idea of key themes in our next podcast before continuing into this amazing passage of Scripture!! Will you join me? Thanks for listening Right Mouse click or tap here to save this Episode as an audio mp3 file Click on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!

Introduction Welcome to Distilling Venture Capital.  I am your host, Bill Griesinger Distilling VC is a visionary podcast that provides an insightful and informed view of the key trends affecting the VC and tech startup world.  My mission is to cut through and go beyond the hype that tends to dominate the tech landscape.  And provide you with information you can use. Episode Introduction: Welcome back everyone.  Well, today I have the pleasure of welcoming back to the program JP Baric, CEO and Founder at Aurum Capital Ventures, which is engaged in the crypto-mining business.  JP thank you for coming back to join me on the show.    So, the last time we did a program was in mid-May, about 5 months ago, and I introduced Aurum Capital Ventures then as a technology/energy company directly involved in multiple aspects of the crypto-mining industry – and we delved into the many interesting aspects of your business model.  I have received a lot of positive feedback to that show – so glad you’re here to do this again… Crypto-currency Mining involves sourcing and utilizing the most advanced equipment, for sure, which you guys provide, but also one of the key components that has a huge impact on the cost and viability of crypto-mining itself – is the cost and amount of energy consumed – and, therefore, the energy component and its costs have a huge impact on the industry and its success Aurum has developed a truly innovative vision and approach to this aspect (Energy) of the business.  And I wanted to provide a platform here today for you to explore in-depth how you think about and approach the idea of generating, producing and sourcing energy at the core of   Please introduce and present this in the way you think would be most helpful and useful for our listeners to appreciate the impact of this vision Energy Utilization & Economics of Crypto-Mining: JP provides a deep-dive into the interrelated metrics and dynamics of Energy and Crypto-mining.  Here is what you will learn: Terahash Rate – core measure of energy usage in crypto-mining Can predict and model the Terahash rate for mining equipment.  USD per terahash – how much we make on a USD basis - the speed of how fast a mining machine runs.   Price per terahash dropped to 7.5 cents – when BTC crashed (March).  Was 13 cents per terahash.   Today, sitting at 8 cents per terahash with BTC at roughly $12,000 today.    Amount of new machines on the network has grown – at 8 cents per TH – betting that price of BTC will continue to rise… Miners all over the world are thus, searching for most cost-effective energy costs.   Cost/Mwh Rates in crypto-mining Old machines vs. New machines and economics Revisit the halving event from May 12, 2020 – when reward for mining was, by design, the reward went from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC – Impact? Inflation Rate of BTC (1.8% infl. Rate) compared to USD inflation…digital currency has a lower effective inflation rate than the fiat currency! BTC price may be volatile but depends on what you compare it to New equip. is coming online line as fast as the manufactures can produce them.  Most are made in Taiwan and China Coming into facilities that have power in the 4cent to 5 cent range Mining Machines: The S-9s are the older;  Newer are the Ant Miner S19 Pros are 30 Juuls per terahash.   Square Announces Purchase of $50MM BTC for its Balance Sheet Here’s a perhaps diversion from our main topic related to mining & energy, but it’s related to Bitcoin and the larger ecosystem.  So, here’s some industry news I wanted to get your opinion on re Square – We all know them as the POS payment company. not only does Square have the retail app and footprint now, but they’ve also got a lot of very granular, small business merchant data. They've turned that into Square Capital and the small business lending business.  And the data on the consumer side, the spending side, the merchant acquiring side, and visibility into SMB finances to drive the business forward, creates a pretty tight loop, closed ecosystem.  Square just recently announced – put out a press release actually – that they had purchased around $50MM of Bitcoin…Now other major financial services companies have bought substantial sums of BTC too, but didn’t necessarily announce it by press release – What’s going on here in your view? This from another podcast I listen to called ReBank.  Their comments regarding Square purchase of BTC Will Beeson (ReBank):  “It's like investing in treasury assets, and you use them to run your business.  It's about 1% of Square's assets.  And I think the bigger question is, is this Square, or is this a representation of broader investment theory?  Like is Bitcoin now something of an asset class that institutional investors and traditional institutional investors are taking more seriously and are viewing either as an inflation hedge or an option on potential future upside.” Lex Sokolin (ReBank/Consensys):  “All you have to do is look at venture investments and Andreessen Horowitz with hundreds of millions of dollars in dedicated crypto funds and that being true for the long tail of Silicon Valley players as well. And so when people who want to be like Square and want to have that same outcome, or like Twitter or venture funds that want to be like Andreessen, which is by the way, 100% of anyone who is an entrepreneurship, when they see these actions being taken, they're both symbolic, but they're also inspirational.” Then, if that weren’t innovative enough, Aurum Capital Ventures is also focused on leading efforts to bring much needed liquidity and financing to the mining and cryptocurrency markets themselves…Can you elaborate on why this is important and what you are doing to facilitate attracting mainstream forms of capital to the industry? Other Learnings from Today’s Episode: Define Cryptocurrency-Mining & How it Works   The Future of Crypto-Mining Crypto-Currency and Crypto-Mining are Fully Transparent Markets, by Design The Search for the Best Equipment and Cheapest Source of Energy  How Aurum Capital Ventures is Changing the Game and Mindset Regarding Crypto-Mining and the Production of Energy Aurum is Both a Buyer and Seller of Energy Aurum is Redefining How Energy is Consumed and Transmitted Aurum is Creating Unique Investment Vehicles to bring needed liquidity – both debt and equity capital – to the Crypto-Mining and Crypto-Currency  How Crypto-Miners are Rewarded What is a Halving Event and What does it Mean for Cryptocurrency Mining? And Much More… Business Model Characteristics Your Bus. Model has Multiple Revenue Sources: Turnkey Mining Equip Deployments & hosting services;  Speed & Efficiency through repeatable process of Power procurement, infrastructure deployment, and remote management Running your own Mining servers Managed Services Selling used equipment to established network Competitive Advantages Modular, mobile equipment deployment – more efficient Rapid Payback/Utilization of “Stranded Energy” - Aurum’s mobile mining deployments profitably monetize any type of stranded energy anywhere in the world Situation where the value of the underlying collateral (mining equipment) can increase in value during life of the equip. and related financing, due to a halving event of Bitcoin Allows you to build inventory of equipment for deployment now, in advance of halving event that you know occurs approx. every four years JP Baric explains Aurum’s business model advantages relative to competitors such as Genesis Mining Closing RemarksContact Information for Aurum Capital Ventures Those seeking additional information and wishing to learn more about Aurum Capital Ventures: JP’s Twitter Account – @JPBaric Email:  jp@aurumventures.com Sign up for Investor Newsletter at: Aurumcapitalventures.com Launching new podcast called “Digital Gold”   Thank you for joining me for this edition of DVC.  I hope you found our discussion today with JP Baric and Aurum Capital Ventures interesting and useful.   Stay tuned for my next Episode, where I will have a very special guest of a high-profile company getting lots of buzz, that just went public via a SPAC in just the last few weeks.  Think electric truck technology – like big, 18-wheeler truck – industry.   That’s all I’m giving you for now.  Stay tuned… Thank you again and I look forward to joining you for my next Episode of Distilling VC.

Introduction Welcome to Distilling Venture Capital.  I am your host, Bill Griesinger Distilling VC is a visionary podcast that provides an insightful and informed view of the key trends affecting the VC and tech startup world.  My mission is to cut through and go beyond the hype that tends to dominate the tech and VC landscape.  And provide you with information you can use. Episode Introduction: Welcome back everyone.  Today’s Episode is another in my Focus-on-Fintech Series where I bring you a close-up look into the companies in the Fintech Sector and the innovations they are bringing to financial services markets; And, based on the intro theme music for today’s Episode, (Aquarela do Brasil by Gal Costa) you may have guessed we are headed again to the land of Samba, Carnaval, Futebol and now, FINTECH - Brasil.  We’ll revisit why Brasil has become one of the hottest Fintech markets globally, attracting massive investor and consumer interest.   Today I highlight one of the fastest growing Fintech companies in Brasil, São Paulo-based REBEL, a leading consumer lending fintech I’ve been following for around a year or so now…(That’s REBEL.com.br) The REBEL Story To help me do all of that, I am super-excited and pleased to be joined today by André Bastos, a Co-Founder of REBEL and currently its COO, among other things;   André, thank you very much for joining me today. There are a lot of interesting and important characteristics of the REBEL bus. model I want to get into today but; To start things off, please give us some background, history on the formation of the company and what REBEL offers;  when and how you got started, and the motivations behind the creation the company.  What was the impetus, motivation? The REBEL Business Model & Business Model Characteristics REBEL services offering; Starting with a true Lending offering as opposed to credit card or payment services like many other fintech models Importance of developing your proprietary Credit Scoring Technology;  as a competitive advantage Talk about how REBEL drives client engagement and loyalty;  REBEL is taking a unique, dedicated approach when it comes to cust. Engagement – right?  With a hands-on, Human touch;    What is the role and strategy of the Financial Wellness offering? Is there a consumer finance education component to this initiative?  Why is that important? Discuss how blockchain and Machine Learning plays a critical role in REBEL’s offering and strategy…How do you utilize the capabilities of blockchain technology? Will REBEL consider secured lending in the future? Will you expand to other geographies in LatAm, elsewhere, in the future? Licensing opportunity for the credit score tech. in other geographies? Is there any unique or special story around the company name REBEL and your branding strategies? Other Brasil Fintech Companies that Have Raised Capital Recently: NuBank has raised over $800MM, starting with just a credit card offering, now valued at over $10B; Neon Pagamentos just raised a $300MM Series C round earlier this month and has raised over $420MM;  Klarna raised $650MM at a $10.6B valuation, double its prior; Offers a buy-now-pay-later in 4 installments bus. model – Mach. Learning approach Growth Prospects for REBEL? REBEL has had impressive growth:   Loan Originations nearly tripled 2H 2019 vs 1H 2019 How did 1H 2020 track? What’s growth expectation for 2020? When do you predict reaching breakeven and CF positive results? What is your addressable market?   $100B USD for unsecured consumer loans – huge! Brasil Credit Markets – Historical Perspective I wanted to discuss credit markets in Brasil historically and why the current environment is so much more Fintech-friendly than in the past – as regulators have become somewhat accommodative embracing digital solutions and competition in financial services. Provide a short historical perspective of the role of credit and equity in Brasil…Brasil has not historically had “deep” credit markets – and very expensived;  Condition of historically high interest rates… If you weren’t a large corporation with access to the public stock market, you really couldn’t raise capital or get credit/debt – you had to grow your business with cash – which means limiting and constraining your growth. Banco Central – Central Bank created a new class of financial services company in mid-2018 (sociedade de crédito direto – SCD  OR Society of Direct Credit).  What does it mean for consumers, businesses and new digital offerings? CVM – Comissão de Valores Mobiliários; Brazilian equivalent of the SEC Then, in May 2020, The Brazilian Central Bank and the National Monetary Council set out open banking regulations.  The data-sharing framework aims to foster financial inclusion, drive competition in financial services and increase security. Finally, O Banco Central is launching its own digital payment platform - PIX Regulatory Initiative Supported by Central Bank:  “The premise is that the personal data held by banks and other financial institutions do not belong to them, but to the respective holders, customers,” according to Marcelo Chiavassa, professor of digital law at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie Campinas Financial institutions must begin adhering to new rules stipulating that data belongs to individuals, says Maristela Martins, country manager for Brazil at Backbase.  How important are these regulations for Brasil credit and financial services markets, in your view?  Plans for Capital to Grow – discuss only what you care to disclose here;   Capital you’ve raised in the past and who your investor partners are; REBEL just raised a substantial securitization facility end of 2019 representing a validation of your business model, technology and customer engagement;   Importance of access to other liquidity facilities to grow loan portfolio with favorable cost of capital and generate profitability;   Importance of Diversity of capital sources; Capital needs to grow and scale the business;   Are there any plans to take your business model and credit tech to markets outside of Brasil? Closing Remarks: André, thank you very much for joining me today… I would love to do a follow up sometime as you make progress, to get an update on how things are going. Contact Information - REBEL André, how can those seeking additional information and wishing to learn more about REBEL contact you or the firm?  Website:  www.rebel.com.br   Thank you for joining me for this edition of DVC.  I hope you found today’s discussion with André Bastos and REBEL interesting and it gave you some things to think about regarding rapidly advancing growth and trends of Fintech services in Brasil.   Thank you again and I look forward to joining you for my next Episode of Distilling VC.

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts, and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors in supporting their clients.   Description Following the recent merger of the Business Families Foundation (BFF) with the FEX Foundation to form the new Family Enterprise Foundation (FEF), host Steve Legler speaks with Nan-b de Gaspe Beaubien(C.M) who, with her husband Philippe, co-founded BFF in 1990 and is the current Co-Chair and Founder of the de Gaspe Beaubien Foundation. Together, they discuss the historical impact of BFF on the global stage of family business and the significance of this merger in not only advancing the platform for FEX and FEF, but also perpetuating the legacy started by the de Gaspe Beaubien family.   Guest bio Nan-b de Gaspé Beaubien is co-chair of the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation and devotes her time to philanthropic endeavours that continue to break new ground supporting environmental causes, enterprising families, enterprising women, public health and education. An internationally renowned expert on the topic of family enterprise, she is a regular speaker at global conferences and top universities worldwide. Along with her husband, she has given conferences and workshops at diverse organizations such as the Davos Economic Forum, Young Presidents’ Organization, the Chief Executives Organization, Kellogg School at Northwestern University, Sauder at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School, amongst many others.   For Nan-b’s full bio, visit here     Key Takeaways [0:16] Steve introduces Nan-b de Gaspé Beaubien and asks her to talk about the foundation of BFF (Business Families Foundation).   [5:12] Nan-b shares the history of the first BFF events, hosting people from all over the world, as well as how they came about teaching family advisors — and the tools they built to effectively teach families and their advisors.   [9:39] Nan-b talks about how the roadmap program launched and how the family business centres evolved from a board initiative as well as customer demand.   [18:10] They discuss the recent announcement that BFF has merged with the FEX Foundation, as well as the importance of handing over the baton.   [22:06] Nan-b touches on the satisfaction of a well-cared-for legacy. She also answers the question of if she would have done anything differently had she known what she does today.   [27:30] It is important to bring experts from different fields together to advise families, using a common language.   [29:29] Nan-b’s book recommendation and advice from a seminal advisor to other advisors.   [32:10] Steve thanks Nan-b for coming on to share her expertise and invites listeners to subscribe to the podcast.   Share your thoughts with us at fea@family-enterprise-change.com   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange.   Family Enterprise Foundation Books/articles: 12 Rules for Life, by Jordan Peterson   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn

This is Exploring the Seasons of Life podcast episode 26. I’m Cindy MacMillan and today’s guest is Sally Bolinger. Introduction: Welcome to Exploring the Seasons of Life, a podcast for women with a big heart on a spiritual journey. Each week, join Cindy MacMillan as she interviews coaches, spiritual explorers and celebrants from all walks of life about beginnings, endings and the messy bits in-between. Self-love, well-being, and mindset are at the heart of our conversations because once you change the inside, the outside will begin to change as well.  If you are joining us for the first time, I am so happy you are here and thank you for listening.  Sally Bolinger is a Nutritionist, Health Coach and Functional Medicine Expert. She is currently living in Cologne, Germany but spend the last 20 years abroad in Europe, including the UK, Switzerland and Spain. She is passionate about food and its effect on health. In her practice she focuses on Women’s Health and Hormones and how food and lifestyle can influence our wellbeing. Guiding women through perimenopause and helping them age gracefully is her main focus and passion. Here’s a glimpse of our conversation: (03:03) I love that cycle of seasons because I feel they all kind of flow one into each other. I think we should live all of these seasons fully and with pleasure and we should never feel ashamed or hindered by anything that is going on in these seasons. I think it's quite powerful to be a woman actually, and have a chance to live through all these varieties of seasons as I may call them. (08:02) It is very individual. I mean, every woman will experience a unique experience of her transition, but, as I said earlier, it usually starts mid to late thirties. A lot of women, when they start referring to themselves as being in a hormonal roller coaster, then one might assume that they have started perimenopause. (09:41) I like to call it really, to balance your hormones, because they are such an Intricate system of players. I call it the hormone soup. I like to call it like an orchestra. There are so many bodily functions that can only function with the right hormone support. And we're not only talking sex hormones. You know, there is obviously the insulin, which is an important hormone. There is cortisol, which is an important hormone and all these hormones really need to work together in unison to make us feel alive and healthy and vibrant. (22:10) We need to change the way we live, the way we feed our body. If we don't do that, then, unfortunately, we won't feel well, but we will also gain weight definitely easier and won't be able to lose it. So again, addressing our diet is key. (26:31) Don't be scared, get ready, but enjoy it. And don't think that because you are 45, your life ends because it doesn't, actually quite the contrary, I find it becomes, you know, turning into a wise woman is a very exciting journey and I love it. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Exploring the Seasons of Life and my conversation with Sally Bolinger. I continue to be so grateful for your support and feedback, and I truly love hearing from you! You can reach me via the website CynthiaMacMillan.com or email me at Cindy@CynthiaMacMillan.com. Sign up for our monthly newsletter and we'll let you know what we're working on, as well as what we're reading and listening to in regards to beginnings, endings + the messy bits in-between. Until next time, live inspired! 

Episode 47 “The Dune Dudes”0:00 Introduction: Welcome to the Dune Dudes1:09 What We Done Watched5:00 When We Gon’ Get?!11:20 The Questions TimesIf you’re curious, the hot sauce Nick tried is ‘The End’ https://pepperpalace.com/products/the-end-hot-sauce19:32 The New New Trailers20:04 The Comeback Trail https://youtu.be/8gPSf97jI2w21:25 Wolfwalkers (Apple TV+) https://youtu.be/gj72cf3x5KM23:44 Friendsgiving https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an7YTh5LBIs24:58 My Zoe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nwNLi6Y3JI26:52 Rebecca https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFVhB54UqvQ29:29 Foster Boy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oggMNKj2J4I31:24 2067 https://youtu.be/qc1b9UGQQwE33:26 Monsterland https://youtu.be/-kgtaf-KxeA35:41 DUNE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9xhJrPXop446:39 Trailer Mailers57:34 Quick Mickey58:36 VidYOgames ¼ PortionMusic: EPIC Pokemon Remix by Ramstar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8vsP6JmnTg&list=PLqQ3D0iiUy9cpwiJU2sC0vAWb383G2-IE59:22 What we been playin’1:02:32 Xbox Series S (Official World Premier Console Trailer) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_GxlueMtus1:07:07 Doom Eternal running on RTX 3080 at 4k (world premier) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7nYy7ZucxM1:08:20 Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXqz2HUy9Uc1:09:47 Under https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkUJEBXgl8A1:11:10 Nick Recommends you play ‘Among Us’Email us @ TrailerBlazersPod@gmail.comInstagram us @TrailerBlazersPodcastTwitter @Trailer_Blazers Rate & Review us on Apple Podcasts please!

00:00:00 Introduction - Welcome back Matty!00:07:28 Game NightHigh SocietyImperial StruggleAnachronyFort00:12:58 Game NewsVersailles 1919Yahtzee Cup of NoodlesEric Lang leaves CMONRoll of the Galaxy on IOSMaracaibo AppUprising ExpansionGaia Project AppGame of Thrones Board Game AppMariposaHadrian's WallCity of CrownsAlma MaterBGG Thread00:39:07 Games on the BrainPendulumMicrosoft Flight Simulator 2020Imperial Struggle00:48:18 Game Review AnachronyEclipseMindclash GamesTrickerionPerseverance: Castaway Chronicles01:33:37 Co-host segment - Zen and the art of setting up a board game ( a desperate cry for help)Meeple RealtyFolded SpaceThe Broken TokenGo7gamingEtsyE-raptorPlanoRails on BoardsBGG Store02:02:50 Game SommelierCOIN seriesFrederickUndauntedHannibal: Rome vs. CarthageTriumph & TragedySekigahara

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors in supporting their clients.   Description Steve Legler sits down with industry thought leader, consultant and lauded author, Kirby Rosplock to explore the “what” and “why” of Family Offices, as well as the trends in the Family Office space that FEAs can benefit from paying attention to. Guest bio Kirby Rosplock, Ph.D., is a recognized consultant, researcher, innovator, advisor, author, facilitator and speaker in the family business and family office realms. As the founder of Tamarind Partners, Inc., a research and consultancy practice that works with families, advisors and institutions connected to the family office market, Kirby provides leading-edge insights and knowledge to the family office domain. Working with families of wealth and enterprise, Dr. Rosplock understands the unique nuances and needs of families starting a family office versus those transitioning or unwinding them.   To learn more about Dr. Rosplock visit Tamarind Partners or Rosplock.net   Key Takeaways [0:16] Steve introduces Kirby and asks her to give a little bit of background on how she ended up working in the family office space. [2:49] Kirby touches on the role that Tamarind Partners fills with family businesses. [4:32] Kirby and Steve discuss what families may require a family office. [6:30] Kirby touches on the two greatest differences she’s seen in the family office space in the past six years. [9:18] New wealth tends to happen earlier in a lifetime; Kirby touches on the differences in working in the mid-30s vs. 60s. [12:00] What does it take to operate a family office, and how does one prepare their children for it? [15:10] Kirby offers what advisors should be aware of and do since their range of skills can be broad and bump up against other people’s domains. [18:37] Steve offers tips on what advisors can do to help their clients find clarity and understanding of all the different choices they have in terms of service provisioning. [19:29] Kirby offers that disclosure of conflict of interest is critical when operating a family office, then shares an example. [24:32] Kirby touches on the impacts of cybersecurity, AI and data management on family offices. Advisors can help in that respect by learning which questions to ask; Kirby shares a few as well as an interesting tip on letting families talking to each other! [31:00] Kirby shares her book recommendation and a piece of advice to advisors. [34:32] Steve thanks Kirby for coming on the podcast and sharing so much of her expertise.   Subscribe to the podcast and share your thoughts with us at fea@family-enterprise-change.com   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange.   Tamarind Partners   Book: The Complete Family Office Handbook: A Guide for Affluent Families and the Advisors Who Serve Them, by Kirby Rosplock   Family Offices: The STEP Handbook for Advisors, by Barbara R. Hauser and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn

  Introduction Welcome to Distilling Venture Capital.  I am your host, Bill Griesinger Distilling VC is a visionary podcast that provides an insightful and informed view of the key trends affecting the VC and tech startup world.  My mission is to cut through and go beyond the hype that tends to dominate the tech landscape.  And provide you with information you can use   Opening Observations: Hello everyone, and welcome back.  I promised you in the prior Episode that I would devote this Episode to distilling down one of the most famous poster-kids for Unicorns-aren’t-real; WeWork Today, I am going to provide you the insights and analysis that the technology and financial press, investors and others have failed to deliver to you over the last few years regarding this tarnished unicorn. To set the stage though, let’s do a quick timeline review of WeWork leading up to and then after its failed IPO of Sept. of 2019:   WeWork valued itself at a cool $47B by early 2019 and, that in fact would be its valuation leading up to its announced IPO WeWork filed its S-1 and IPO paperwork in mid-Aug. 2019 After more than a few I-Banks and others scrutinized its financial condition and bus. model and “questioned” the proposed go-public valuation the Co. made some, shall we say, “adjustments” to its valuation  After some consideration, WeWork suggested it would now go public at, uh, $10B-$16B Bam!  A greater than 65% vaporization of its valuation in a matter days - amazing Cancelled its IPO in Sept. 2019 when support waned By Oct. 2019, Adam Nuemann asked to step down after discovering a few “corporate governance” problems.  He received a total $1.7B golden parachute to go away. Bloomberg opinion writer, Matt Levine, put it this way in a late Oct. 2019 piece, writing tongue-in-cheek suggested how the news was communicated to employees at the time:  It was explained, “We had to give him a billion dollars to go away because we couldn’t afford to have him stick around,”  So, his value to the Company was negative a billion dollars. Levine continues, in other words, “We can’t pay you for your good work because it was more urgent to pay your boss a billion dollars to stop doing his bad work.”  Sounds about right. By Oct. 2019, life support was needed.  The Co. accepted (as if it had a choice) a Softbank rescue pkg. where SB took control of the Co., valuing it at $8B (about $19/share, which, as it turns out, was still too high) More recently (April 2020), SoftBank pulled the plug on and backed out of a planned tender offer of an addl $3B to bail out, er, I mean plan to shore up, WeWorks shareholders. To a lawsuit; Following the termination of that agreement, WeWork Board voted to sue the only thing that was keeping it alive…SoftBank’s money.  Great strategy Then came the question;  Who should lead the Co. post-A. Nuemann?   After being led by such an irreplaceable visionary as Adam Nuemann (according to the S-1), surely a similarly disruptive, forward thinking genius would be required.  Or, you could hire this guy: in Feb. 2020 WeWork announced it had named Sandeep Mathrani, a senior executive with RE Company Brookfield Properties, as its new CEO. Wait, what?  An experienced RE executive from one of the top companies in the field? A sordid mess, I know…but this is what passes for reality now when you are dealing in the land of unicorns, right?  Things get a little distorted Let’s get back to reality and restore some meaning to this mess: I told you my main objective is to cut through the hype that tends to dominate… With a bit of cursory, basic diligence, I’ll point out and highlight a few of the basic risks of the WeWork bus. model.  Something one would have expected from the analysts, I-Banks, INVESTORS, lenders and, oh yeah, the tech and financial press, to have done – but they didn’t. It’s not really that complicated to determine what WeWork is and understand its key business model characteristics.   The First thing to point out is this; WeWork is not a tech company!  News Flash.  I know this may come as a rude surprise to many...and despite the narrative and musings of a truly voluminous S-1 to the contrary (> 350 pages), the WeWork vision and version of the co-working ofc. space business is not transforming our consciousness and vision on how we all work… What Adam Neumann and WeWork wanted you to believe, however, was that he and his firm were transforming the very way we all work and we’re “building community” fostering some new form of “collaboration,” and so on In other words, if you accept WeWork’s view of the world, it’s basically like saying your bus. model is the equivalent of “boiling the ocean.”  Doable?  How does that sound as an investment opportunity? In the real world, renters of commercial ofc. space desire functionality, convenience and flexibility at a reasonable price – All before this nebulous creating community nonsense.  It’s common sense and bottom line thinking in which any business must engage.  Again, not a new phenomenon or metric of the commercial ofc. space market, correct? The WeWork Business Model in About Two and a Half Minutes: What is the WeWork business model at its core?  How does the company actually derive/earn revenue?  Let’s examine the fundamentals. In short, WeWork creates a marketplace for commercial property that seeks to match the supply of commercial office space (from landlords, comm. Bldg. owners, prop. mgt. companies) with space users (those renting) in one place.   You know, like Regus, w/o the “cool factor” and Kambuca on tap – and, oh yeah, billions from SoftBank So, WeWork signs long term leases on properties and also purchased some properties outright, sometimes just a floor or two in an office building—and transformed it into smaller offices and workstations with common areas, other amenities and offered a basket of shared services.  Avg. initial lease term is 15 years, according to the S-1 Filing. It then rents offices and desks to individuals or groups on relatively short-term agreements, who want the benefits of a fully stocked office with some functional common areas, but without the expense of operating a full office.  Sounds reasonable.   WeWork calls it clients “Members” and sells Memberships Memberships can be On-Demand;  provide access to shared workstations or private spaces as needed, by the minute, by the hour or by the day.  “Space-as-a-Service platform. Enterprise Memberships are signed with organizations with 500 or more employees – As of June 2019, WeWork’s Enterprise Memberships accounted for 40% of all Memberships Capital expenditures relates to creating Workstation Capacity + other improvements   WeWork also has utilized the services of a few major third-party Com. RE management firms like JLL and CBRE to facilitate leasing of the space it owns or leases itself. Risk Assessment:   So, let’s step back for a moment and summarize:  WeWork incurs rent liabilities and payment liabilities for its properties that are fixed pmts. and long term.  Its revenue, on the other hand, is generated from the short-term contracts it signs with clients, many month-to-month. Let’s stop here and identify one of the major risks that becomes very obvious in the WeWork business model, has always existed, and is potentially huge?  The possibility for a significant C.F. timing mismatch between the long term, fixed payment liabilities WeWork carries on its balance sheet vs the short-term agreements with clients that represent its primary source of revenue and cash flow.   (to pay those property liabilities and cover bus. expenses) More specifically, the risk I have identified is renewal risk and/or non-payment risk.  I don’t know the avg. term that clients have signed up for;  i.e. renting monthly, for 6 months or a year (to obtain the flexibility they desire)?   SO, renewal rates are directly dependent upon a firm’s ability to provid great service, Completely independent of the mission of “transforming the way we all work, collaborate, etc.  Presents the classic CF squeeze that can occur if things do not go as planned  The rent or loan payments are due every month, fixed, for many years. (Avg. 15 years)      My diligence questions upon reviewing this business risk would include the following: What is the avg term of your rental agreements? i.e. – how long are clients signing up for space on avg? (allows one to see a schedule of lease renewal dates) What is the historical renewal rate experience?  (After all, WeWork has been operating under this model since 2014 – it’s not new – should be readily available data) Alternatively, What’s the churn or non-renewal rate?  This analysis, with the historical experience, provides one with a semblance of margins generated and whether there is EVER a path to profitability – and ability to service the lease/debt payment obligations.   So, that is the WeWork business model in a nutshell – Providing flexible ofc space with some common area, amenities and services...   How should such a company be valued?  Well, like most any company – by the cash flows that it generates from operations…right?   A basic “smell test,” that should have been a reality check, a wake-up call evident to anyone analyzing WeWork was presented by Professor Ilya Strebulav’s (Stanford valuation model creator and author) from his June 2016 presentation to the SVOD.   Again, please refer to the Show Notes for a link to the video.  I highly recommended you watch it.   Link to Video:   Presentation at SVOD (Sil. Valley Open Doors Conf.), June 19, 2016 by Ilya Strebulav, author of the Study and Professor, Stanford Univ. Grad. School of Business:   https://youtu.be/k4OtGWZ3iYI Link to Stanford University Study:   Squaring Venture Capital Valuations with Reality - Downloadable pdf found here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2955455 (Social Science Research Network – SSRN)   Here is what Professor Strebulav points out in his presentation regarding WeWork: On March 1, (2016) WeWork closed a $430MM round of capital at a post-money valuation of $16B.  That is the valuation that the WSJ and others printed and reported the next day as the “value” of the Company He notes that, At this valuation, WeWork would have represented the 3rd most valuable publicly traded ofc landlord (if it were publicly traded).   Even though it controlled only small fraction of the sq. footage compared to the leading companies in the sector.  Remember, by the time WeWork filed for its IPO, it represented that it was nearly triple that  ($47B) Such a valuation makes no financial or intuitive sense…based on what we know of the business model, as practiced by its “peers” in the sector  (Regus) – And, set against the sq. footage it operated.   This valuation it obviously what investors and some I-banks thought they could get leading up to Sept. 2019 when WeWork was indicating a $47B valuation go-public offering. A reading of WeWork’s S-1 filing, if you could stomach it, is mostly an exercise in fantasy-land thinking.   What are some of those “other” public firms that WeWork’s valuation mirrored or exceeded at the time of its S1? Brookfield Asset Management - CAN (> 152M retail s.f.;  300M s.f. ofc, hotel, apt.; Mtk Cap - $51B; highly profitable) As of June 1, 2019, WeWork’s location pipeline included approximately 40 million “usable” square feet, which it estimates could accommodate approximately 724,000 workstations.  Again, this is “Pipeline” of “Useable” s.f. not actual rented and under management square footage.   How VCs Make Final Investment Decisions: Ask any associate or partner at a VC firm to divulge one of the key criteria they evaluate before making a decision to invest in a tech company – The answer you will receive most often, if not unanimously, is;  Quality of the Management Team.  Can this team move this co. forward to success? I know this b/c I’ve been asking VCs this question as part of my investor diligence for more than 15 yrs – it’s required understanding before our venture debt group would approve making a loan to the companies we considered…VCs bet on management teams in the end… It seems this key tenet of the VC decision process was thrown to the wind in the case of WeWork…and many other unicorns.   Perhaps it was the lure of all the SoftBank dollars pouring in through a firehose?  Either way, the process was tainted and distorted.    Thus, we cannot lose sight of the unmistakable role of SoftBank in fueling this craziness – and the related poor VC decision making – in light of the bankrolling on steroids in which SB engaged – driving up the “on-paper-only” valuations of the companies in its portfolio.  While examining SoftBank’s Vision Fund activities is worthy of an episode of its own… one can certainly read all the commentary and articles on your own… Failure of the Tech Media: Yet, in May of 2019 only a few months before WeWork pulled its IPO, here was PitchBook, with another fawning piece expressing total amazement at the killer valuation growth of some of the most bad-ass unicorns, including WeWork.  They were so giddy they could hardly contain themselves.. In another Weekend Pitch edition, “When your valuation is growing by nearly $1 billion a month, you must be doing something right.”  [They were referring to DoorDash] “It calls to mind a stretch experienced a few years ago by WeWork.  Today, WeWork is reportedly worth $47 billion, making it the most valuable VC-backed company in the US.”   Amazing, isn’t it?  Again, no supporting analysis, no bus. model assessment, no risk assessment – just sheer amazement at valuation growth based upon a faulty measure of Value – the post-money valuation!   And from my last Episode, this is worth repeating - PitchBook Weekend Pitch from Nov. 3, 2019: “For a long while in and around Silicon Valley, unprofitability was what every startup hoped to achieve.  And if losing hundreds of millions of VC dollars was cool, then Adam Neumann was Miles Davis.” Really?  Are you kidding me?  This is post-IPO cancellation, post Andy Neumann is toast and post-SoftBank rescue package!   This is your expert analysis that PitchBook is charging for? PitchBook continues, “But these days, in the wake of WeWork’s sudden fall from grace, investors are feeling differently.  All those years of red ink are finally adding up.”   Again, the only redeeming thing I could take from such a ridiculous statement is that the writer even knows who Miles Davis is.  But then I realize, the whole thing is an insult to Miles Davis and our intelligence.  Miles Davis was a musical/jazz genius, a master artist.  Adam Neumann was a fraud.  And the VCs in the WeWork deal should have known this through their diligence.   Hey, I’ve got another survey question or two for the VC community that I would ask;     1) is losing 100’s of millions of VC dollars a cool thing?   2) Do you agree that every startup hopes to achieve this “unprofitability” status? That’s what PitchBook suggests…as recently at Q4 2019   e.g.  - CB Insights CEO, Anand Sanwal, opined in an August 2019 piece that it (unicorn status) is often used as a scheme to attract top talent in a very tight hiring market for key tech talent… Of course, Sanwal also said this in a June 25, 2019 presentation he gave to partners, investors, supporters:  “Blockchain is a buzzword looking for a problem…”   Another example of the disconnect… My Takeaways/Conclusions: What can we deduce and learn from all of this?   This is a bubble in private co. tech stocks – it’s an artificial inflation of valuations due primarily to a non-standard, faulty method of applying valuations – the Post Money valuation -  Bubbles can only be created and progress toward a bursting point if they are embellished and fueled by those perpetuating the non-market, non-fundamentals approach to value.  There is no more disconnected phenomenon today in private tech than the post-money valuation. Enter SoftBank Vision Fund:  They provided the fuel necessary Disappointments to share value after tech unicorns go public will be the norm, not the exception.   Luckily for investors in public companies – we don’t have to suffer through trail of tears on WeWork – they didn’t make it that far and with good reason…as outlined in this Episdoe. Not so lucky, however, for WeWork employees with worthless stock options…   My Recommendation/proposal:  All private tech company valuations should be run through the Stanford Univ. Valuation Model prior to any kind of exit – I believe it should be made an integral part of the S-1 filing process.  Or any time the value of a private tech company needs to be certified for audit or other purposes.  These companies owe it to their employees who are provided, in many cases, with near worthless Common stock or options for common.   Thank you for joining me for this edition of DVC.  I hope you found the topic interesting and useful.  I am currently working on the DVC website.  In the meantime, Please send questions and your comments regarding today’s episode to:      bill@ccs.capital   Again, check the links in the Show Notes for the Stanford Valuation Model Study and the video of Prof. Strebulav’s 2016 presentation to SVOD… Stanford University Study - Summary of the Findings – From Study Abstract: Developed a valuation model for venture capital-backed companies and applied it to 135 US unicorns - private tech companies with reported valuations above $1 billion. Valued unicorns using financial terms from legal filings, finding that reported unicorn post--money valuations average 48% above fair value, with 14 being more than 100% above.  Every Company reviewed and valued, (100% of the Sample) was overvalued to some degree – that means not one company came in at the post-money valuation utilized by the VC industry Values were calculated for each share class, which yields lower valuations because most unicorns gave recent investors major protections such as initial public offering (IPO) return guarantees (15%), vetoes over down-IPOs (24%), or seniority to all other investors (30%).  According to the authors, “Overvaluation arises b/c the reported valuations assume all of a company’s shares have the same price as the most recently issued shares.”  Even though each new round of funding effectively sucks the value out of prior rounds through seniority and superior rights, among other preferences. 

Introduction Welcome to the Master Photography Roundtable part of the Master Photography Podcast Network!  You are joined by thousands of photographers listening to this show who are all on the same journey to master their photography.  I am Brent Bergherm, the host for this episode, and I am joined by Juan Pons! Juan, thank you for joining us, I’m very ... The post Sony A7s3 and other Sony tips with Juan Pons appeared first on Master Photography Podcast.

Introduction Welcome to Distilling Venture Capital.  I am your host, Bill Griesinger Distilling VC is a visionary podcast that provides an insightful and informed view of the key trends affecting the VC and tech startup world.  My mission is to cut through and go beyond the hype that tends to dominate the tech landscape.  And provide you with information you can use Opening Observations: In Today’s Episode I return to what I have termed Unicorn-mania, building on the subject of my first episode in March.  So, it will be a Unicorn-mania Redux. I’m returning to this topic b/c, well, we need to revisit it primarily b/c things seem to be sliding further toward the insane, literally with each passing week. And, I will talk about the continuation of this insanity in the context of some real-life examples:  The true poster-kids for “Unicorns are not real”…  Specifically, I’ll provide insights into WeWork and Uber, and the unmistakable role played by Softbank’s Vision Fund in helping to fuel the craziness. And, let me say from the outset, how disappointing it is to see the technology press and the data analytics firms like CB Insights and Pitchbook (a Morningstar Co.), continue to engage in this ridiculous charade.  I am going to get into some examples of that in a moment.  Suffice it to say, that if you have a subscription to one of these firms, my analysis may leave you questioning what value are getting for the money… To begin, let’s quickly review what I covered and highlight a few take-aways from Episode 1 of Unicorn-mania;   I outlined and highlighted the hype that characterizes VC and techland today with respect to overvalued, so-called Unicorns – companies alleged to be worth $1B+ I also highlighted the Stanford Univ. Study, Squaring Venture Capital Valuations with Reality, that reveals and proves that so-called Unicorn tech companies are substantially overvalued – and offers a valuation model that really works in valuing theses companies  The Study dissects and debunks the use of post-money valuation as nothing short of an illegitimate method for valuing any company, let alone VC-backed private tech companies. Before I go further into the topic, I am going to strongly encourage you to please refer to the Show Notes for this Episode to access links to the following: Link to Stanford University Study:   Squaring Venture Capital Valuations with Reality - Downloadable pdf found here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2955455 (Social Science Research Network – SSRN) Link to Video:   Presentation at SVOD (Sil. Valley Open Doors Conf.), June 2016 by Ilya Strebulav, author of the Study and Professor, Stanford Univ. Grad. School of Business:   https://youtu.be/k4OtGWZ3iYI Original Version of the Study was submitted and published April 19, 2017;  However, the findings were presented about a year earlier in June 2016 at SVOD Conf. (Silicon Valley Open Doors) Where Prof. Strebulav was the Keynote Speaker (I encourage you to got to the link and watch it.  It’s < 20 minutes) Summary of the Findings – From the Study Abstract: We develop a valuation model for venture capital--backed companies and apply it to 135 US unicorns, that is, private tech companies with reported valuations above $1 billion. We value unicorns using financial terms from legal filings and find that reported unicorn post--money valuations average 48% above fair value, with 14 being more than 100% above.  Every Company reviewed and valued, (100% of the Sample) was overvalued to some degree – that means not one company came in at the post-money valuation utilized by the VC industry Values were calculated for each share class, which yields lower valuations because most unicorns gave recent investors major protections such as initial public offering (IPO) return guarantees (15%), vetoes over down-IPOs (24%), or seniority to all other investors (30%).  According to the authors, “Overvaluation arises b/c the reported valuations assume all of a company’s shares have the same price as the most recently issued shares.”  Even though each new round of funding effectively sucks the value out of prior rounds through seniority and superior rights, among other preferences.  Common shares lack all such protections and are 56% overvalued. After adjusting for these valuation-inflating terms of the Preferred rounds, at the time of the Study, almost one-half (65 out of 135) of unicorns lose their unicorn status.   Stanford Study Pre-work:  In 2016, prior to publishing the Stanford Univ. Study, Strebulav and his team of researchers surveyed, as part of their work, more than 1,000 VCs regarding valuations.  It was the first survey of its kind:  Result; 92% of respondents of the VCs surveyed agreed unicorns are over-valued;  A whopping 75% believe unicorns are significantly over-valued AND, as I noted in Episode I, did you ever notice that the PE industry doesn’t have an equivalent designation (Unicorns) for its $1B+ value companies, even those that are in the tech category? Why this study’s findings are not a wake-up call to the industry is currently a mystery to me. Who Cares? To demonstrate that my concerns and the opinions I’ve expressed, that Unicorn-mania is a total distraction, a waste of time, as I stated in Episode I, are not just some overly-dramatic soap-box issue I am on… Turns out, I am in some pretty impressive company, actually – with respect to my criticisms of the mania.  Let’s take a look: All of the examples are from the 4th Quarter of 2015, when some rather prominent and accomplished investors and tech company leaders had begun calling BS on Unicorn valuations, even before the real Mania commenced in earnest over the last several years: Marc Benioff, Chmn and CEO of Salesforce, Dec. 2015 on Bloomberg TV stated,  “The unicorn mania that’s going on, that’s dangerous for our Silicon Valley economy,"   “this is just, you know, unheard of... It’s become a self-esteem issue for these entrepreneurs.”  Benioff states to the SF Bus. Times, also Dec. 2015:  “I’m not buying the unicorn theory…"  There's no reason [for] these companies who claim to be worth billions of dollars and making billions of dollars to stay in the private markets." Benioff asserted that some billion-dollar valuations are the result of "manipulation" of private tech markets and again called on founders to go public to "rationalize" their worth.   Suggesting, by implication, that these values are not rational! Legendary VC John Doerr, who joined Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield in 1980 – [did they even call it venture capital back then?]  – In the same 12/7/2015 SF Bus. Times article Doerr pointed out, “Google has acquired one company per week since 2010 but has only five times paid more than a billion dollars for a company,” Doerr said. “There are 150 companies considered unicorns, 93 are in the United States. How does that math work?”  Great Q indeed!  I suggest it doesn’t, b/c it’s not about the math but rather about the hype. Bill Gurley, another highly respected and accomplished VC veteran from the Valley and Founding partner of Benchmark Capital.  In Oct. 2015 at the WSJ Laguna Beach Tech Conf. stated,  "All these private valuations are fake. ... It's all on paper, it's all a myth,"    "Anyone that's raised $400 million is probably spending $100 million a year," he said. "Until you get liquid, you haven't really accomplished anything." And finally, Mark Suster, a voice I respect a lot in the industry.  He has been a Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures since 2007.  Suster puts out one of the better blogs in venture called “Both Sides of The Table” in which he dispenses and provides excellent, valuable, how-to and other advice for start-up entrepreneurs on a whole range of topics – you should check it out.    Well, back in a Sept. 2015 piece that he published on his blog, Mark does not hold back with his sentiments regarding Unicorns stating, “There’s no one sane I know any more who doesn’t privately say that things have gotten out of hand. Few like to say so publicly.    And I blame unicorns. Mark is very clear that he’s not referring to what he identifies as “successful” companies themselves but “the entire bullshit culture of swashbuckling startups who define themselves by hitting some magical $1 billion valuation number and the financiers who back them irrespective of metrics that justify it.  Unicorn has become part of our lexicon in a sickening way and will no doubt become part of the history we tell about how things got so out of control again. 10 years from now people will be embarrassed to say unicorn.” Well, we are about 5 years out from those highly critical assessments from some really smart people in the industry.  Unfortunately, the sane voices of these reputable tech titans from late 2015 have gone under-reported or unreported in recent years.  Which, I guess, is a primary symptom or characteristic of a “Mania” itself – delusional thinking…prone to exaggeration, denial and so on, but I’m no doctor…so I’ll leave that diagnosis for others to ascertain. I stated in Episode I in March, It Is a big distraction from what’s really important in evaluating and valuing venture-backed tech companies.  We’ve been completely DISTRACTED for nearly 5 consecutive years since the warnings and criticisms of this mania in 2015 by key, reputable industry players in VC and tech. And, that’s despite the publication and dissemination of the most conclusive, comprehensive accurate study ever regarding what the valuations of these companies really are. Here’s the central problem – The $1B+ valuations ascribed to so-called unicorn companies are not true market valuations at all.  They all utilize a metric called “post-money valuation” that inflates their value.  As stated, the Stanford Univ. Study found 100% of all unicorns are actually over-valued to some degree when applying proper market valuation metrics based upon the terms and conditions found in the Preferred Stock rounds The Post-money valuation methodology is like an alternative universe, or worse, when it comes to valuing private tech companies.  This should not be the case.   The multitude of preferences, IPO kickers, and other terms and conditions attached to these preferred rounds have no relationship to company fundamentals and performance. Again, I understand why many are being negotiated…b/c of the high risk and probability of failure in the VC model. So what Strebulav and Gornall had to do in building their model was to be able to identify and value all of the disparate Ts & Cs underlying all the different Preferred rounds, each with differing economics, rights and conditions by round.   This was a rigorous and complicated undertaking.  They have done the industry a great service the development of this model.  One of The Study’s major conclusions: “Our results show that equating post-money valuations and fair values is inappropriate.” AND, “Marking unicorns to their most recent round’s price leads some venture capitalists to overstate their funds unrealized value.  Unrealized asset values are an important determinant of future fund-raising.”   Most LPs revealed to the Study’s authors that most VC funds mark all of their investments to the most recent round’s price.   It might be understandable why an unsuspecting public might not get the full risk impact of this, one wonders why major, sophisticated LPs put up with this nonsense… Mutual Fund filings show that almost all of the major mutual funds tend to hold their private VC-backed assets at the post-money valuation. Where are the Real Journalists? On the Media side - There exists an almost a schizophrenic-like behavior exhibited by the technology press in its years-long coverage of unicorns; To be sure, at the beginning there were some real attempts by a handful of outlets to highlight the findings of the Stanford Study, which were astounding; e.g.  - CB Insights CEO, Anand Sanwal, opined in an August 2019 piece that it (unicorn status) is often used as a scheme to attract top talent in a very tight hiring market for key tech talent… PitchBook Weekend Pitch from Nov. 3, 2019: “For a long while in and around Silicon Valley, unprofitability was what every startup hoped to achieve.  And if losing hundreds of millions of VC dollars was cool, then Adam Neumann was Miles Davis.” Really?  Are you kidding me?  This is your expert analysis that PitchBook is charging for? PitchBook continues, “But these days, in the wake of WeWork’s sudden fall from grace, investors are feeling differently.  All those years of red ink are finally adding up.” The only redeeming thing I could take from such a ridiculous statement is that the writer even knows who Miles Davis is.  But then I realize, the whole thing is an insult to Miles Davis and our intelligence.  Miles Davis was a musical/jazz genius, a master artist.  Adam Neumann was a fraud.  And the VCs in the WeWork deal should have known this through their diligence. So, my criticism is reserved for the adults that allow this nonsense to continue, followed closely by some of the more youthful folks who are in senior roles at the data analytics companies (CB Insights, PitchBook) and write the articles for TechCrunch, Wired, Crunchbase, et. al. Whether you realize it or not, you are on a path to making yourselves irrelevant, in my opinion.  Your so-called analysis is not widely recognized as providing rigorous, meaningful, and dependable insights and analytics regarding what’s really going on in tech.  It’s more like click-bait tactics to get noticed and get “likes” than demonstrating some actual skill and expertise as to how firms should be evaluated and valued by those making the investment or managerial decisions…What are your subscribers actually paying for anyway? Further, as stated in Episode 1, It’s a Consumer Protection Issue:   Definitely NOT a soap box issue! A number of the largest US mutual fund companies (Fidelity, JH, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard) have invested directly in private co. unicorns In 2015, Fidelity > $1.3B into unicorns!  That’s more than any single US-based VC fund invested, in total, that year.  Including $235M in WeWork, $129M in Zenefits – A company that hired too many people, grew too fast, and the company culture spiraled out of control, and $118M in Blue Apron, the food delivery startup that IPO’d in June 2017 and is now looking for a buyer… The common thread on all these investments by major mutual fund companies?  Use of the meaningless post-money valuation to value these private tech company assets in their portfolios.  It’s Mind-boggling to think that this is the valuation methodology used… Incredibly, they have accepted and used these meaningless valuations to mark their holdings of these private tech companies w/o further analysis – a completely irresponsible methodology.  It surely doesn’t inspire confidence in their ability to perform proper valuation analytics  Where’s the adherence to the fiduciary responsibility of these investment firms to their clients?  There are real financial implications for any retail investor in a mutual fund (401k or directly) related to this high-risk category.  How about institutions?  Univ. endowments, public pension funds, etc.? Are mutual fund companies fully disclosing real risk of this asset class to their retail investors?  Accurately?  How so, if at all?  (e.g. – Fidelity had to recently write down its WeWork holdings to reflect the difficulties the company has “reported” after the cancelation of its IPO.) Where are the Regulators?  The SEC… Sagas of WeWork and Uber They represent some of the many Poster-Kids for, Unicorns aren’t real I want to take a look at Uber first then we’ll talk about WeWork. Uber went public in May of 2019, so a little over a year ago.   It priced its shares at $45 upon IPO The IPO was billed as the largest of 2019 as Uber sought to go out at greater than $100B with $120B even suggested by some of the I-Banks underwriting the deal. However, what’s intriguing is to evaluate, are the Uber valuations in the years leading up to its IPO –  In fact, Strebulav Stanford Study authors, posted to Linkedin in early 2018 that they extended their analysis to re-value Uber after a deal it closed at the time with SoftBank –  we are in Jan. of 2018, more than a year before Uber’s IPO. Basically, a consortium led by SoftBank and prior investors, they were purchasing about $8B worth of Uber Common and some early preferred shares in a tender offer for about $34/share AND; An additional $1.25B consideration for some Series G-1 shares for $49/share. Based on the deal terms and details analyzed, it was determined that the Series G-1 shares I just mentioned, being purchased at $49/share, had no special features or terms making them worth more than Common shares.   So, why the 42% mark-up as part of this transaction?  Conclusion:  My Recommendation/proposal:  All private tech company valuations should be run through the Stanford Univ. Study Model prior to any kind of exit or any time the value of a private tech company needs to be certified for audit or other purposes.  These companies owe it to their employees who are provided, in many cases, with near worthless Common stock or options for common. In the interest of time and also to provide a proper analysis, I prefer to save WeWork’s story and saga for my next Episode.     Thank you for joining me for this edition of DVC.  I hope you found the topic interesting and useful.  I am currently working on the DVC website.  In the meantime, Please send questions and your comments regarding today’s episode to: bill@ccs.capital Stay tuned for my next Episode, in a few days, where I will pick back up with discussing and analyzing WeWork’s saga, … Thank you for joining me for this episode of DVC…

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) in supporting their clients.   Description In this episode, Ruth Steverlynck sits down with Joan DiFuria, MFT and Stephen Goldbart, Ph.D, co-founders of the Money Meaning and Choices Institute. They discuss the psychological impact that life-altering wealth can have on individuals and families, and what families who are “getting it right” are doing that FEAs can meaningfully learn from to support and help the families they serve.   Guest bio Joan DiFuria Co-founder of MFCC, Joan DiFuria has had considerable experience in both business and psychology, giving her a unique ability to provide balanced guidance to senior leaders in organizations. She addresses the very sensitive issues of wealth, philanthropy, meaningful careers, and developing family legacies with sensitivity and insight. Ms. DiFuria completed the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development including a degree in education and psychology. She has 18 years of experience as Director of Long-term Strategic Operations and National Marketing Director for one of the largest multinational corporations in the industrial metals distribution and commodities industry.   Stephen Goldbart Co-Founder of MMCI, Stephen Goldbart has over 30 years of professional experience, is a licensed clinical psychologist, professor, author, public speaker, and organizational consultant. Dr. Goldbart also has a passion for working with complex family/organizational systems, helping to clarify purpose, make or remake structure, and find solution pathways.  He has consulted with individuals, families, and organizations to help develop the fulfilling and sustainable balance of personal, professional, and philanthropic goals.   Find out more about Stephen Goldbart and Joan DiFuria here.   Key Takeaways [0:16] Ruth introduces Joan and Stephen, then opens up the conversation by offering to define wealth. [4:09] Stephen talks about the research that exists around the psychological impacts of life-changing wealth. [6:11] Joan takes a moment to break down the insight from the research for the audience, from breaking down taboos to clear decision-making processes. She touches on how they coined the term “Sudden Wealth Syndrome” and the response that it garnered. [9:50] Joan explains why family advisors should think holistically, because coming into great wealth comes with its own set of particular challenges. [13:41] Stephen talks about what 21st-century comprehensive planning is and what it looks like. [15:40] Ruth summarizes the overarching aspects an advisor should cover: the financial wealth, the human wealth of the family and the social impact that the family wants to have. [16:27] Joan touches on the importance of honing the ability to listen as an advisor. [17:10] Stephen speaks about the framework he and Joan have been building to guide families in this kind of planning, from talking to the wealth holders to drafting a set of operational values and finally engaging the entire family in the process. [19:20] Joan mentions that once the values have been isolated, action plans are developed and channelled into governance. [20:40] Stephen and Joan list off a few of the questions they’ve heard from members of the next generation. [24:11] Joan and Stephen talk about giving the next generation the opportunity to ask questions and share ideas. [28:20] Stephen talks about learning to know when to bring in other experts if the situation requires it. Joan and Stephen offer their tips on managing this kind of situation. [31:22] Joan and Stephen share their one piece of advice and book recommendations. [35:00] Ruth thanks Joan and Stephen for sharing so much of their expertise and resources.   Share your thoughts with us at fea@family-enterprise-change.com   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange.   Money, Meaning & Choice Institute The Purposeful Planning Institute Rendezvous   Book recommendation: Family: The Compact Among Generations, by James E. Hughes, Jr.   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn

Introduction Welcome to Distilling Venture Capital.  I am your host, Bill Griesinger Distilling VC is a visionary podcast that provides an insightful and informed view of the key trends affecting the VC and tech startup world, including Fintech.  My mission is to cut through and go beyond the hype that tends to dominate the tech and VC landscape.  And provide you with information you can use. Episode Introduction: Today’s Episode is another in my Focus-on-Fintech Series where I bring you a close-up look into companies in the sector and the innovations they are bringing to the market Given that Fintech is global movement and phenomenon that is changing, for the better, the way we participate in and get finance done around the world, one of the hottest places on the globe for Fintech investment today is Brazil.   In today’s Episode, I delve into and distill down why Fintech is attracting such interest and investment in Brasil Fintech in Brasil: The Basement.io Story To help me do that, I am pleased to be joined today by Frederico Rizzo, Founder and CEO of Brazilian Fintech company, Basement, based in São Paulo, Brasil.  Basement is a fintech company leading the way in Brasil related to innovation in the investment sector, providing a platform for individuals to invest in SME private companies and other services.   Frederico, thank you very much for joining me today. Please tell us a bit about what Basement does, when and how you got started, and the reasons that motivated you to create the company.  What was the impetus, motivation for the formation of Basement? What is the story around the company name Basement? What is the opportunity or need for Basement to collaborate or partner with other major financial or investment institutions?  Is it necessary for success in your business model? Can you Provide a short history of the role of credit and equity in Brasil…Brasil has not historically had “deep” credit markets.  This access to financing is simply not available to well-managed SMEs.  You must be a big corporation and listed publicly to get access to credit at reasonable interest rates… Meaning, if you weren’t a large corporation with access to the public stock market, you really couldn’t raise capital – you had to grow your business with cash – which means limiting and constraining your growth. Fintech in Brasil, é Muito Quente (is super-hot) What is driving this?   One reason is a result of concerted effort by the key financial governmental regulatory bodies in Brasil over the last 1-2 years to move toward open, digital banking through open data sharing mandates… What does this mean? CVM – Comissão de Valores Mobiliários; Brazilian equivalent of the SEC The Brazilian Central Bank and the National Monetary Council set out open banking regulations earlier (May 2020).  The data-sharing framework aims to foster financial inclusion, drive competition in financial services and increase security. “The premise is that the personal data held by banks and other financial institutions do not belong to them, but to the respective holders, customers,” according to Marcelo Chiavassa, professor of digital law at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie Campinas Financial institutions must begin adhering to new rules stipulating that data belongs to individuals, says Maristela Martins, country manager for Brazil at Backbase. That means that clients’ journeys will need to include explicit, simple, quick and secure consent agreements. Other Comments on Brasil Credit Markets: In recent posts you written, you have noted some delays in certain key regulatory initiatives on the private investment front.  Can you describe what those are and what, in your view, needs to be done to move forward? How important are these regulations for Brasil, in your view?  The Basement Business Model & Business Model Characteristics You offer several services, please elaborate on the services offerings of Basement Cap table management and valuation services Ultimately an alternative exchange, but it’s the early days and that will take time Growth Prospects for the Basement Business? Huge addressable market; Two main things: 1st, Regulation changes that are already in motion have to move forward.  We work closely with the regulators in this regard. 2nd big challenge is the go-to-market.  Learning a lot along with the market.  Education, product-market fit, channels.  We are testing all of this After 6 years in the market we know a lot of intermediaries – funds, angel groups, accelerators, lawyers – so we are trying to build the channels and go-to-market. We knew early we couldn’t have the type of venture model where we scale fast so we’ve spent 6 years developing.  That’s been the best approach – almost boot-strapping model We’ve raised about 4 rounds; have over 300 investors, the huge majority with no control.  A very healthy cap table in our perspective.  It’s all about execution now. Now for us, the next 12-18 months, we have what we need to execute and develop a great go-to-market strategy. Competitive Advantages Describe the competitive landscape, relative cost/pricing structure and how you leverage your expertise to bring a compelling value proposition to clients Other competitive advantages, differentiation… Closing Remarks: Frederico, thank you very much for joining me today.  I would love to do a follow up sometime as you progress and things are going. We will ultimately become a Delaware co. eventually to get closer to a bigger market – in terms of capital structure. Contact Information, Basement Frederico, How can those seeking additional information and wishing to learn more about Basement contact the firm?  Website:   www. basement.io Frederico Twitter:  @Frederico.rizzo Linkend also as Frederico Rizzo Thank you for joining me for this edition of DVC.  I hope you found the topic interesting and it gave you some things to think about regarding how to implement successful Fintech services.  I am currently working on the DVC website.  In the meantime, Please send questions and your comments regarding today’s Episode to:    bill@ccs.capital Stay tuned for my upcoming Episodes in which I am going to provide a follow-up to Episode 001, Unicorn-Mania.  We’ll do a Unicorn-mania-II Redux where I will dig into and discuss the sagas of WeWork and Uber in the context of Unicorn-mania.  And, I’ll be bringing more episodes highlighting the Fintech sector in Brasil with other innovative companies that are changing the financial services landscape in Brasil.  Thank you again and I look forward to joining you for my next Episode of Distilling VC.

Introduction Welcome to Distilling Venture Capital.  I am your host, Bill Griesinger Distilling VC is a visionary podcast that provides an insightful and informed view of the key trends affecting the VC and tech startup world, including Fintech.  My mission is to cut through and go beyond the hype that tends to dominate the tech and VC landscape.  And provide you with information you can use. Episode Introduction: Today’s Episode is part of my Focus-on-Fintech Series As background, When we talk about Fintech, Financial Technology, many in the sector think of technologies being deployed by startups in the areas of payment solutions (Transferwise, Square, many international players), peer-to-peer lenders (Lending Club, FundingCircle, Prosper, SoFi), digital banking – neobanks (many by non-banks), wealth management – robo advisors (Robinhood), AND also insurance-tech and real estate-tech, where the processes in those industries are being automated with technology, blockchain, smart contracts, AI, etc.  There are many examples… I have the pleasure today to be joined by Federico Baradello, the Founder and CEO of Finalis.  Finalis is a visionary company that is revolutionizing the way private deal making and M&A gets done.  Thank you Federico for joining me today…   One of the things that intrigued me about your business model was when I read a post you published near the end of March I happened to see on Linkedin.  You brought into focus and pointed out statistics regarding the private M&A industry that I had not really paid attention to before as a huge Fintech opportunity… You drew the comparison and contrast of how there has been very little VC investment to bring technology and innovation to the enormous broker-dealer/M&A deal process, unlike what has occurred in Real Estate Tech and Insurance Tech, which are similar in size to private M&A from a commission/fee revenue perspective US Totals Invested in Fintech: 2019 US Fintech investment - $59.8B;  2018 was $58B 2019 Real Estate Tech ~ $15B 2019 InsureTech ~ $12.1B Federico explains and discusses the reasons why the Investment Banking-private M&A business has attracted so little investment dollars (< $50 million) compared to the large sums raised by InsureTech and Real Estate Tech. You’ve pointed out that private deal-making is broken, noting that $4T+ of M&A and private placements are transacted operating on 1990s technology I thought it would be useful for listeners, [in the context of this dearth of tech/innovation spending in priv. deal M&A,] to take a few minutes to talk about the idea for and creation of Finalis. The Finalis Business Model & Business Model Characteristics You’ve described the Finalis model as a “broker-in-a-box” solution… and, the first scalable BD that automates and brings together streamlined, efficient processes for Compliance (FINRA, SEC) as well as deal-flow technology solutions… Solution – “Lease a broker-dealer-instead” model Create technology to automate the process rails for priv. M&A transaction from beginning to end – Federico Explains… How did your prior experience as a Deal Attorney and your understanding of the existing incentives native to I-banking business provide you with the vision for creating Finalis? It’s an execution-driven business Paper the process – law firms get paid by the process I-Banks are in it for the commission %, so incentivized to reduce costs and get to the close Thus, not inclined, incentivized to leverage technology; there is a resistance to change that gets in way of the closing processes… In a prior conversation, you described Finalis’ Mission as, to “Empower Deal Makers” and your Vision as, to be the “world’s largest distributed I-bank.”   Also, to become the “first scalable broker-dealer” in the private M&A industry.  Can you elaborate on what this vision/mission means and how you arrived at it based on your direct experience doing and documenting deals? Growth Prospects for the Finalis Business? Huge addressable market;  How do you define the addressable portion you go after initially and strategies for executing? Private market deal-making was booming pre-pandemic and you’ve described the enormous size of the private deal M&A industry ($4T+).  Do you have a view or prediction regarding what is in store for this industry post-COVID19? Competitive Advantages Describe the competitive landscape, relative cost/pricing structure and how you leverage your expertise to bring a compelling value proposition to client firms Other competitive advantages, differentiation… Closing Remarks: Company Name, Finalis; Federico provides an interesting account and story around where the name Finalis originated. Contact Information, Finalis Those seeking additional information and wishing to learn more about Finalis can visit the firm’s website at, finalis.com Other ways to reach out and engage… Thank you for joining me for this edition of DVC.  I hope you found the topic interesting and it gave you things to think about.  I am currently working on the DVC website.  In the meantime, Please send questions and your comments regarding today’s Episode to:    bill@ccs.capital Stay tuned for my next Episode in the Focus-on-Fintech Series where I am going to provide insights and real examples of the extremely hot Fintech market in Brazil;  I’ll explore why it has been attracting record venture investment at a rapid pace.  I’ll be interviewing a São Paulo, Brasil-based Fintech company that is at the forefront of this rapid growth – that also happens to be focused on the private investment market.  Stay tuned.  Thank you again and I look forward to joining you for my next Episode of Distilling VC.

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors in supporting their clients.   Description Guest host Steve Legler speaks with FFI Fellow and family business consultant Ken McCracken about the importance of recognizing what our family business clients are doing right and avoiding jumping in with "best practices" and recommendations that don't fit the family or the business. Ken offers the idea of beginning any client intervention with "cautious observation" and then offers clients the benefit of those observations as a "reporter of sights" to the family. He then gives them some useful information that you, as an independent outsider, can reveal to them about their family and business systems. He also offers his views on family governance and whether or not everything needs to be formally documented for the family to succeed.   Guest bio Ken McCracken, FFI Fellow, is a family business consultant and founder of McCracken Family Business Consulting in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ken teaches a Family Business Module on the STEP Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Private Wealth Advising and in 2016, he was named the “Family Business Adviser of the Year” by the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners. He is a former member of the Research Applied Board for the Family Business Review and is a current member of the 2020-2021 UK/Europe Regional Advisory Committee. In 2018, Ken chaired the FFI Global Conference in London.   More information about Ken can be found here.   Key Takeaways [0:16] Steve introduces Ken McCracken, author of the article, “The Natural Advantage of Family Businesses,” and asks him to quickly explain what he means by advantage. [2:44] For a family business to have existed for a decade, they have to be doing something right, Ken invites advisors not to ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater.’ [4:17] Ken shares a mistake he made in his early days as an advisor. Which led him to humbly realize he had to come into every family with a learning mindset and give them the benefit of the doubt. [6:20] Ken and Steve touch on the role of advisors in helping families figure out exactly where they want to establish the boundaries between family and business. [9:04] Ken offers that cautious observation is a basic courtesy that should be extended to any new family an advisor would work with. [12:32] Steve talks revealing the system to itself and Ken follows with finding what ‘better’ means for each family. [14:50] Ken touches on adaptive incremental change — helping families get better at what they’re doing already while also keeping the pace of generationally-propelled change manageable. [20:44] When it comes to natural governance, when do you write things down, if ever? [25:31] Ken’s book recommendation and his advice as an advisor to another. [29:14] Steve thanks Ken for coming on to share his expertise and invites listeners to subscribe.   Share your thoughts with us at fea@family-enterprise-change.com   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange.   Books/articles: “The Natural Advantage of Family Businesses,” by Ken McCracken Process Consultation: Its role in organization development, by Edgar Shein   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn

Introduction Welcome to Distilling Venture Capital.  I am your host, Bill Griesinger Distilling VC is a visionary podcast that provides an insightful and informed view of the key trends affecting the VC and tech startup world.  My mission is to cut through and go beyond the hype that tends to dominate the tech landscape.  And provide you with information you can use. Episode Introduction: I would like to introduce Today’s Episode topic as follows;   We hear a great deal about cryptocurrencies, mostly Bitcoin, and the impact they are having on the financial services and investing landscape, with respect to how we define money, e-commerce, make investments, and even what Central Banks are doing to authorize/issue their own digital currency or stable currency, etc. On the other hand, we don’t hear much or may understand very little about the derivation and creation of cryptocurrencies themselves.  Where do they come from?  What is their intrinsic value and utility?  How is all of this accomplished? So, today We’re going to get into what I consider a very interesting segment of the crypto-currency world – Crypto-Mining - that we don’t often hear that much about but yet is vitally important to our ability to be able to utilize these digital currencies, digital assets to conduct financial transactions:  Crypto-currency Mining To answer these questions and distill down our understanding of the crypto-mining industry, I am joined by JP Baric who is the Founder and CEO of an technology/energy company directly involved in multiple aspects of the crypto-mining industry, operating as Aurum Capital Ventures   Aurum Capital Ventures is leading the way not only in the development and deployment of turnkey crypto-mining technology in the field…but also efforts to bring much needed liquidity and financing to the mining and cryptocurrency markets themselves… So, we’ll dig into those topics…   Welcome JP and thanks for joining me today.  To kick off today’s conversation, JP, perhaps you can provide a little background about the origins around the formation of your Company and identify its core goals and objectives.    What you Will Learn in Today’s Episode: Define Cryptocurrency-Mining & How it Works   The Future of Crypto-Mining Crypto-Currency and Crypto-Mining are Fully Transparent Markets, by Design The Search for the Best Equipment and Cheapest Source of Energy  How Aurum Capital Ventures is Changing the Game and Mindset Regarding Crypto-Mining and the Production of Energy Aurum is Both a Buyer and Seller of Energy Aurum is Redefining How Energy is Consumed and Transmitted Aurum is Creating Unique Investment Vehicles to bring needed liquidity – both debt and equity capital – to the Crypto-Mining and Crypto-Currency  How Crypto-Miners are Rewarded What is a Halving Event and What does it Mean for Cryptocurrency Mining? And Much More…   Cryptocurrency Mining Explained Miners are, in effect, getting paid for their work as auditors.  They are doing the work of verifying previous bitcoin transactions.  It is said that, miners are, in effect, "minting" digital currency… By verifying transactions, miners are helping to prevent the "double-spending problem," a scenario in which a bitcoin owner illicitly spends the same bitcoin twice  In addition to rewarding miners and supporting the bitcoin ecosystem, mining serves another vital purpose:  It is the only way to release new cryptocurrency into circulation.  In other words, miners are basically "minting" digital currency The primary draw for most Bitcoin miners is the prospect of being rewarded with valuable bitcoin tokens To earn bitcoins through mining, you need to meet two conditions.  One is a matter of effort; one is a matter of luck: 1) You have to verify ~1MB worth of transactions. This is the easy part. 2) You have to be the first miner to arrive at the right answer to a numeric problem. This process is also known as, proof of work The integrity and value of crypto is predicated upon the ability of miners to confirm, validate a 1MB block   We just had a pre-designed reduction in the reward that miners can earn when mining, referred to as a Halving Event:  On May 12, 2020, Yesterday, the reward for mining Bitcoin just dropped from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC, for validating a 1MB Block -   This is what crypto- miners face all over the world.  Block-halving is hardcoded into how Bitcoin operates.  Its business as usual and it means that Bitcoin is doing exactly what it is supposed to do according to the original design of Satoshi Nakamoto. Halving Event - So, when we talk about miners being motivated and incentivized by being rewarded with Bitcoin for successfully delivering a proof of work,  Describe what a “halving” event is and what it means – how it affects crypto-mining activity Why is There a Halving Event? There can only ever exist a maximum of 21 million bitcoins.  Therefore, the reward for making new ones needs to be reduced periodically in order to bring sustainability to its value.  That’s exactly what blockhalving accomplishes once every 210,000 blocks (roughly every four years). The creation of “mining pools” Business Problem that Aurum Capital Ventures is Solving Mining is a very capital and energy intensive business and is presently “oversupplied” globally Description of the main Business Problem Aurum solves – Its value proposition Where geographically are your major deployments? Discussion of Iowa, NY and other major installations Unique concept and approach to the energy component of operations Business Model Characteristics Your Bus. Model has Multiple Revenue Sources: Turnkey Mining Equip Deployments & hosting services;  Speed & Efficiency through repeatable process of Power procurement, infrastructure deployment, and remote management Running your own Mining servers Managed Services Selling used equipment to established network Defining and Solving the Capital Procurement Obstacles of the Crypto-Mining Industry: One of your firm’s stated GOALS: There exists a lack of liquidity in the space.  JP explains how Aurum is creating unique investment vehicles to enable institutional capital to enter the space to provide liquidity Launch Global Bitcoin Mining Fund to allow for better market liquidity and transparency in the sector;  JP Baric Explains Securitization of mining hash rate (hash rate tokens);  JP Baric Explains Launching vehicles like investment trusts and funds that offer investors exposure  Goal: Enables Liquidity Unique Financing Approach: Issuance of secured, insured bond to finance equipment and projects Attractive risk-adjusted return characteristics for investors Opportunities for arbitrage in power contracts Providing increase in credit and capital to Aurum and the entire market Providing investment banks Mining, b/c it’s an infrastructure investment is easier for institutions to get into to than Bitcoin purchasing Not currently in the prospectus of the major Energy Funds to invest in energy consumption products – they are only focused on energy generation - Bitcoin is not part of their investment thesis. Allows exposure to underlying Bitcoin asset and mine Bitcoins at a discount relative to the volatile Bitcoin market price itself.  JP Explains Competitive Advantages Modular, mobile equipment deployment – more efficient Rapid Payback/Utilization of “Stranded Energy” - Aurum’s mobile mining deployments profitably monetize any type of stranded energy anywhere in the world Situation where the value of the underlying collateral (mining equipment) can increase in value during life of the equip. and related financing, due to a halving event of Bitcoin Allows you to build inventory of equipment for deployment now, in advance of halving event that you know occurs approx. every four years JP Baric explains Aurum’s business model advantages relative to competitors such as Genesis Mining Closing Remarks JP provides an overview of where he sees things headed for crypto-mining industry in general… We’ve just had this Halving Event – what are some key things that happen next as it relates to Crypto-Mining? JP explains Aurum’s leverage, differentiation and its expertise to bring to market top equipment and energy sources required by Miners and the financial liquidity mechanism to make it happen – keeping with Aurum’s core mission Contact Information for Aurum Capital Ventures Those seeking additional information and wishing to learn more about Aurum Capital Ventures: JP’s Twitter Account – @JPBaric Sign up for Investor Newsletter at: Aurumcapitalventures.com Thank you for joining me for this edition of DVC.  I hope you found the topic interesting and useful.  I am currently working on the DVC website.  In the meantime, Please send questions and your comments regarding today’s episode to: bill@ccs.capital Stay tuned for my next Episode, coming very soon, where I will I am going to provide a follow-up to Episode 001, Unicorn-Mania, where I will dig into and discuss the sagas of WeWork and Uber in the context of Unicorn-mania.  Thank you again and I look forward to joining you for my next Episode of Distilling VC.

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors in supporting their clients.   Description In a time of crisis, as Family Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) we work hard to be the valuable and trusted resource to our client families. In his latest work, Borrowed from your Grandchildren, Dennis Jaffe reports on a research project where he interviewed family members from 100 global business families who had succeeded over more than three generations. The book shares their stories of continual reinvention and renewal, and how they responded to vast changes in their family and business worlds.   Guest host Steve Legler sits down with Dennis to discuss ways that FEAs can use the wisdom gleaned from this research in service of their family enterprise clients as they face the COVID-19 pandemic.   Guest bio For over 40 years, Dennis T. Jaffe has been one of the leading architects in the field of family enterprise consulting. As both an organizational consultant and clinical psychologist, he helps multi-generational families to develop governance practices that build the capability of next-generation leadership and ensure the ongoing capability of financial organizations and family offices to serve their family clients.   He is also a Family Business Scholar at the Smith Family Business Initiative at Cornell University, a faculty advisor at the Ultra High Net Worth Institute, a regular contributor to Forbes Leadership channel, reporting on family cross-generational family business and wealth, and a professional member of the Society for Trust and Estate Planners (STEP).   For 35 years, he was a Professor of Organizational Systems and Psychology at Saybrook University in San Francisco, where he is now Professor Emeritus. He received his B.A. in Philosophy, M.A. in Management and Ph.D. in Sociology from Yale University.   More about Dennis here.   Key Takeaways [0:16] Steve introduces Dennis Jaffe and asks his guest to explain the origin, nature and goal of his most recent book. [4:38] Dennis touches on the qualitative and narrative research used to build the theories and common themes covered in the book. [6:00] From facing a crisis head-on to having the ability to reinvent and redefine who you are as a family and as a business, Dennis shares some tips for family advisors derived from successful multi-generational family businesses. [10:04] Where does a family’s energy for change come from? [12:11] Dennis touches on the notion of a Family Bank to invest and foster the next generation’s ideas and creativity both for money-making and social impact ventures. [14:38] Advisors can be useful in ways that families may not ask or expect, Dennis shares a few examples of how this can manifest in the field. [19:06] “Which one of my kids is going to be the successor?” Dennis explains how and why, when looking at 100-year family businesses, this is the wrong question. He also explains the need to challenge the very questions people want help with. [22:40] First things first, coming out of this crisis: managing everyone’s expectations that are no longer true… Dennis offers examples. [29:19] Everything will change with COVID-19; make sure you adapt and evolve. [31:21] Dennis shares his last piece of advice from one advisor to another as well as a book recommendation. [34:00] Steve thanks Dennis for his time and experience and invites listeners to subscribe and tune in for the next episode.   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange.   Books: Borrowed From Your Grandchildren: The Evolution of 100-Year Family Enterprises, by Dennis T. Jaffe Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World, by Madeline Levine   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn   More about our guest Dennis T. Jaffe’s website

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors in supporting their clients.   Description At a time where uncertainty reigns for most of our clients, and ourselves, some things are certain. It is certainly true that we are all spending more times in our homes; it is certainly true that relationships are adapting to new realities and it is certainly true that we are experiencing far more anxiety than normal. Discussing how COVID-19 difficulties provide a significant opportunity for personal and professional development, Steve Legler, FEA, (shiftyourfamilybusiness.com) sits down with family therapist, Peter Vaughan, FEA, for some guidance with our own family circumstance, for our work as advisors and for the family enterprise clients we seek to help.   Guest bio Peter Vaughan is a designated Family Enterprise Advisor, Registered Clinical Counsellor in the province of British Columbia, Canada and a Certified Gottman Method Therapist. He is also a Principal and Co-founder of Your Family Enterprise Advisors, Inc. (familyenterprisetherapy.com). His role on YFEA’s multi-disciplinary team focuses on facilitation and analysis of interpersonal dynamics as applied to family enterprise governance, generational transitions of ownership, and management and interpersonal skills capacity building. Peter’s style is direct, reality-focused, and comprehensive in addressing the personal and interpersonal facets of your life which help or hinder your success in relationships and living. The therapy that he practices is grounded in sound theory and research about individuals, couples and families.   Key Takeaways [0:16] Steve introduces Peter Vaughan and launches the conversation with the interesting aspects of work and family balance especially as it pertains to FEAs during the COVID-19 pandemic. [5:10] Some of your clients may be more used to this jumbling of family and work together and this may be a great opportunity to learn. [8:41] Communication erodes when primary needs are triggered, Peter explains what this means in terms of security and significance and how these two primary needs are currently being triggered in different ways. [12:15] Peter and Steve talk about the differences between being overworked, or alternatively, having nothing significant to do — which is worse? [15:10] Peter discusses his thoughts about how some incompatibilities in this closed interaction with family members can be magnified. [19:21] If you sense defensiveness, you can be sure you’ve been perceived as criticizing. Peter touches on the skills required to defuse defensiveness and how this may be the best time to practice them. [21:20] What is positive affect? The first three minutes of an interaction can determine the emotional outcome of a conversation. [24:54] Peter offers some tips on how to start a difficult conversation and it can be as simple as an upfront declaration of goodwill and a show of honesty and love. [27:24] This crisis may just be the great equalizer in relationships and conversations; Peter explains how. [28:45] Peter raises a flag when it comes to the potential to over-engage in worry when control escapes us, especially when it comes to business leaders. [32:10] Learning is the key to coming out of this better and stronger than we came in as people and as advisors. Steve and Peter discuss the interesting aspects that can be discussed with families once the crisis has abated. [34:08] Peter shares his book recommendations and one piece of advice from an advisor to other advisors. [37:44] Steve thanks Peter for his time and experience and invites listeners to subscribe and tune in for the next episode.   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange   Books: The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships, by Joan DeClaire and John M. Gottman   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn   More about our guest Peter Vaughan on Your Family Enterprise Peter Vaughan on West Vancouver Therapy Peter Vaughan on Counselling BC

Introduction: Welcome to TIMEOUT WITH JOHNNYTHEFINEBOY

Introduction Welcome to Awareness for Everyone, an exploration of Conscious Reality Creation, and living the best lives we can for ourselves. I am MJ Blehart,... The post What happens after this? appeared first on Awareness for Everyone.

Show Notes for Episode 8 of Fit Phat Chat: In this Episode, we discuss lots of topics that seem to somehow always come back to sex. We will discuss and play back for you our part 2 of interview with musician Jamar Rogers, and do some Listener Love! You'll want to listen to the end for the blooper reel. Here is a basic outline of the episode: Introduction Welcome to Fit Phat Chat... we are a real talk podcast about body positivity, movement, mindfulness and joy. In this Episode Happy birthday to us! 1 year old. We introduce Jamar Rogers and play some clips of his music. Announcements Ayanna discusses her non profit launch party and her guest speaker: Laura McCowen... author of We are the Luckiest Interview with Jamar Rogers Jamar discusses his experience of his sexual identity, his political aspirations, his music, how he knows Katy Perry and his thoughts on chocolate. Find him on FB, Instagram, Twitter etc... google "Jamar Rogers" Listener Love In the theme of parenting ourselves, we asked people what kinds of advice would they give themselves or wish they had when they were younger. We appreciate input from our listeners! How to find us: Ayanna (B Free Coaching and Wellness) Christy (Zumba with Christy L. Ray) and Fit Phat Chat B Free Coaching and Wellness: www.bfreewell.com Zumba with Christy L. Ray: www.facebook.com/ZumbawithChristyLRay Fit Phat Chat email: fitphatchat@gmail.com FB: www.facebook.com/fitphatchaT Twitter: @fitphatchat Instagram: @FitPhatChat Youtube: Closing Comments Thank you for listening! "Sending peace, love, and light. Live Fit, Phat, and Free... bitches!" Bloopers Mentioned in this episode: Jamar Rogers Twitter: @jsquidward Facebook www.facebook.com/JamarRogers on Instagram @jamarrogersofficial original photo credit to Salty Broad Studio LLC... on FB: www.facebook.com/SaltyBroadStudios

Introduction Welcome to Distilling Venture Capital.  I am your host, Bill Griesinger Distilling VC is a visionary podcast that provides an insightful and informed view of the key trends affecting the VC and tech startup world.  My mission is to cut through and go beyond the hype and Silicon Valley pop-jargon that tends to dominate the tech landscape.  I seek to provide transparency and    Opening Observations: Given that this is my inaugural episode under the Distilling VC label, I thought it would be appropriate and useful to provide you with some brief background regarding the podcast and the type of content you can expect in the future and a little about me… First, the podcast;   The vast majority of episodes I will bring will take you inside the insights, challenges, successes and the journeys revealed and shared directly through the words and experiences of tech company entrepreneurs, sometimes from the VCs who back them and others in the tech and VC community…So, I’ll usually have very interesting guests.   Some brief background on me, your host:  I have spent a large part of my professional life (last 20 years) working in the Venture Finance business assisting VC-backed tech companies in procuring the capital they need to grow Over the years, I have had the opportunity and good fortune to meet and work with incredible, visionary management teams, many savvy investors and have had the privilege of underwriting and financing ground-breaking technology companies, many of which continue to have an impact on the technology landscape today (like Google; a $10M deal in 2001, for example).    With that as backdrop, today I want to focus on a topic that I believe signals something has gone awry in tech startup and VC land over the last 4-5 years.  And it concerns me greatly.   Have you noticed, Everyone seems to be fascinated with “unicorns?”  Venture capitalists, tech company founders and management teams, the tech press and the financial press and many others,   So, today’s episode will delve into and distill down, “Unicorn-mania” so we can make sense of what’s really going on. Let me state for the record, It Is a big distraction from what’s really important in evaluating and valuing venture-backed tech companies.  Furthermore, it really touches upon the issues of transparency and accuracy, and ultimately the credibility of the industry itself, in my view  The longer this mania continues, I believe it presents dangerous consequences for multiple players inside and outside the VC industry.     So, what am I talking about?   Let’s unpack this…  First, some definitional context:  What is a Unicorn company that we hear so much hype about today?  In tech and VC parlance, it is a private startup tech company that is valued at $1B or more, in theory, referred to as its “Post-money Valuation.”   Great, what does that mean?  Not what you may think it does, as I will explain… And for historical context, The term unicorn, in VC, originated…in late 2013 when Cowboy Ventures Partner, Aileen Lee, coined the term for what she described as a tech company with a $1B valuation – and noted it was a pretty rare thing, as she pointed out then – which was correct.  There were 39 companies identified then in the ‘Unicorn Club.’  27 of those were in the Bay Area!   So, it really was just a Silicon Valley phenomenon in the beginning…   Lee admitted the term probably wasn’t the best or most well-thought-out description but went with it nonetheless.   “Yes we know the term “unicorn” is not perfect – unicorns apparently don’t exist, and these companies do – but we like the term because to us, it means something extremely rare, and magical” Aileen Lee, Cowboy Ventures, Nov. 2013   The term was reinforced further in a 2015 interview with Crunchbase, and it has unfortunately, been with us ever since, to the detriment of the industry, in my view.   The Cowboy Ventures’ website, even contains, to this day, a link to what it calls its “Unicorn Handling Guide” or protocol insisting that anyone using the term give proper attribution to the firm.  No one actually adheres to this “guideline” today, of course – but there it is.        This is not to malign or denigrate Cowboy Ventures as a reputable VC firm in any way.  It is, by most measures, a successful venture firm boasting a number of impressive investments and it has had a substantial number of notable exits, which you can find on their website.  So, I’m sure their LPs and their portfolio companies alike are pleased… The real issue is not about Cowboy Ventures at all…but rather a group-think mentality that has gripped and permeated venture capital…with no discernable benefit…   How Many Unicorns Are There?  It depends on who you ask & upon whose data you rely: (Q2 2019), there were around 450 companies globally designated as ‘Unicorns’ Fast fwd to Feb. 2020 and it’s alleged to be 580! Valued at ~ $2T (From Recent Crunchbase Unicorn Leaderboard) Q4 2019 CB Insights states there are about 390  (CB Insights) Roughly 48% to 50% are in the US About 24%-25% are in China UK and India come in 3rd and 4th with roughly 5% each   Here’s the central problem – The $1B+ valuations ascribed to so-called unicorn companies are not true market valuations at all.  They all utilize a metric called “post-money valuation” that inflates their value.  In fact, based on a Stanford Univ. Study, which I will dig into in a moment, 100% of all unicorns are actually over-valued to some degree when applying proper market valuation metrics based upon the terms and conditions found in the Preferred Stock rounds.   There is both Good News and Bad News to report with respect to this phenomenon:   The Good News:  There is a solution, a remedy, if you will, for this self-inflicted malady of unicorn-mania.  It is The Stanford Graduate School of Business Study - And it has been readily available for several years.  Stanford GSB  (By Prof. Ilya Strebulaev and his colleague, Will Gornall) – which I’ll dig into in a moment Now, The Bad News:  Few are paying attention, and some are deliberately ignoring the solution that’s been made available.  Why?   The Study:  Squaring Venture Capital Valuations with Reality Downloadable pdf found here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2955455   So, let’s dig into the study.  The results are astounding and vitally important to EVERYONE connected to Venture Capital, tech startups, capital markets and even consumers – I’ll explain.    Released in April 2017 by the Stanford Univ. Graduate School of Business  The Authors:  Prof. Ilya Strebulaev, Prof. of Private Equity & Prof. of Finance, Graduate School of Bus., Stanford University Will Gornall, Sauder School of Bus., University of British Columbia, (Gornall earned his PhD from the Stanford Graduate School of Bus.)   Summary of Findings – From the Study Abstract: We develop a valuation model for venture capital--backed companies and apply it to 135 US unicorns, that is, private companies with reported valuations above $1 billion. We value unicorns using financial terms from legal filings and find that reported unicorn post--money valuations average 48% above fair value, with 14 being more than 100% above.  Reported valuations assume that all shares are as valuable as the most recently issued preferred shares.  We calculate values for each share class, which yields lower valuations because most unicorns gave recent investors major protections such as initial public offering (IPO) return guarantees (15%), vetoes over down-IPOs (24%), or seniority to all other investors (30%).  Common shares lack all such protections and are 56% overvalued. After adjusting for these valuation-inflating terms, almost one-half (65 out of 135) of unicorns lose their unicorn status.   Important takeaway regarding the findings of the Stanford Study:  The results and findings are not predicated upon some intricate mathematical or econometric model requiring reliance on multiple assumptions and conditions to arrive at its conclusions.  On the contrary, the Stanford Study valuations are derived directly from the legal, contractual terms and conditions negotiated between the venture investors and the companies.  Therefore, the study utilizes the actual economic terms of each Preferred round as it was negotiated – No assumptions or conjecture about the values in the Study are necessary.  This is a critical point.   It’s a Consumer Protection Issue: A number of the largest US mutual fund companies (Fidelity, JH, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard) have invested directly in private co. unicorns In 2015, Fidelity > $1.3B into unicorns!  That’s more than any US-based VC fund invested that year.  Including $235M in WeWork, $129M in Zenefits – A company that hired too many people, grew too fast, and the company culture spiraled out of control, and $118M in Blue Apron, the food delivery startup that IPOd in June 2017 and is now looking for a buyer… What is the common thread on all these investments by major mutual fund companies?  They all used the meaningless post-money valuation to value these private tech company assets in their portfolios.  Let that sink in for a moment.  It’s Mind-boggling Incredibly, they have accepted and used these meaningless valuations to mark their holdings of these private tech companies w/o further analysis – a completely irresponsible methodology.  It surely doesn’t inspire confidence in their ability to perform proper valuation analytics  Where’s the adherence to the fiduciary responsibility of these investment firms to their clients?  There are real financial implications for any retail investor in a mutual fund (401k or directly) related to this high-risk category.  How about institutions?  Univ. endowments, public pension funds, etc.? Are mutual fund companies fully disclosing real risk of this asset class to their retail investors?  Accurately?  How so, if at all?  (e.g. – Fidelity had to recently write down its WeWork holdings to reflect the difficulties the company has “reported” after the cancelation of its IPO.)   In addition, 3rd party equity market platforms, such as EquityZen, are providing average retail investors exposure to this class of priv. company unicorns…never before available.      Where are the Real Journalists? On the Media side - There exists an almost a schizophrenic-like behavior exhibited by the technology press in its years-long coverage of unicorns; To be sure, at the beginning there were some real attempts by a handful of outlets to highlight the findings of the Stanford Study, which were astounding; On the one hand, tech & financial media and the data analytics groups (CB Insights, Pitchbook) seem to recognize the lack of rigor and reality associated with over-valued unicorn companies.  They openly refer to it at times in their reporting e.g.  - CB Insights CEO, Anand Sanwal, recently opined in an August 2019 piece that it (unicorn status) is often used as a scheme to attract top talent in a very tight hiring market for key tech talent… At the same time, however, they ALL seem to vacillate between this recognition that something isn’t quite right about the valuations, yet still breathlessly, gleefully and even feeling duty-bound to report on the next stable, class, pack, leaderboard or club of unicorn companies, which have allegedly “achieved” unicorn status as a result of their last preferred stock financing round;   Some of which are even “born,” as has been reported!  Who knew?  Just a matter of being born into the unicorn aristocracy, I guess.   From my experience, a $1B tech company isn’t ‘born.’  They are built, nurtured and grown with talent, hard work and execution with a value proposition geared to solving real, identifiable needs and wants of customers.   Did you ever notice that the PE industry doesn’t have an equivalent designation (Unicorns) for its $1B+ value companies, even those that are in the tech category?     Let’s Summarize Where We Are:   So, The widely touted tech unicorn is a myth…So, why are so many tech and business news outlets breathlessly reporting about it as if there is some meaningful significance behind these widely hyped values?   We surely know that unicorns are mythical and not real – just like the post-money valuations touted and hyped by Silicon Valley and many others… How do we know that?  The Stanford Study proves it!  Again, we’ve had the empirical evidence showing exactly that since the Study was first published in 2017.    Keep in mind, that I don’t care or decry that Pref. equity investors desire, negotiate and receive such terms.  It’s a matter of proper disclosure…not economics.  The market will make its own determination of value associated with such economics. However, the economics must be disclosed…before an IPO or other exit.   Every claim that a tech firm has allegedly achieved what is fondly referred to in the Silicon Valley bubble of “Unicorn” status, a valuation of $1B+, should be required to apply an asterisk * next to that proclamation.   A footnote detailing and clearly explaining that “post-money valuation” is not market value nor market capitalization and explain how it’s derived.   However, there is no such reporting requirement for these private companies.  Should there be?  You know, in the interest of transparency and accuracy;  In other words, some real “truth-in-advertising” I believe it says a lot about the state of reality in tech-land today;  A loss of focus on business fundamentals, a willingness to kid ourselves, our LPs and the public about true value… In the long run, history will reflect upon this episode in tech history, as nothing more than a silly aberration…and hopefully a forgotten footnote    Conclusion:  It’s been fun and, and I will admit, even entertaining at times, but we need to put a stop to this game before it all gets out of hand…and someone gets hurt. The WeWork debacle, among other examples, indicates some have already been harmed…And major mutual funds are in on the game and failing to uphold their fiduciary responsibility to retail investors.     Caveat:  While unicorns are definitely mythical characters, there is an identifiable, measurable valuation of priv. tech companies – it just isn’t what has been used to arrive at the purported $1B+ valuations promulgated today that are masquerading as unicorns… What I am really hoping we can do is just move on, refocus on the important and relevant metrics in building and growing successful companies, and dismiss the unicorn-mania phase as nothing more than an idyllic aberration and distraction, to be forgotten, for good…because it has served no useful purpose in understanding VC and technology.  NONE!   [Also See:  Silicon Valley has a Media Problem and it’s Getting Worse – Yahoo Finance]  [Note:  It’s not a media problem. It is a credibility and transparency problem, which is creating negative coverage, that SV finds uncomfortable.]

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) in supporting their clients.   Description Family enterprise clients rarely want to fail at wealth transition, yet the research finds that most do. Host Ruth Steverlynck sits down with Courtney Pullen, author of Intentional Wealth: How Families Build Legacies of Stewardship and Financial Health to take a deep dive on those families—the ten percent—that manage to build lasting patterns of emotional and financial health to see the common attributes that we as advisors can learn from to help our family enterprise clients with similar aspirations for a successful transition of their wealth.   Guest bio Courtney Pullen, M.A., is the President of The Pullen Consulting Group. He has more than 25 years of experience in individual and family coaching, business and management consulting, leadership development, communication and team building. Pullen has lectured frequently, conducted numerous workshops and been published in the areas of individual and organizational change, behavioural finance, communication and family wealth dynamics. He is a former contributing editor to the Journal of Financial Planning and the Journal of Practical Estate Planning and is a faculty member of the Sudden Money Institute. He is also a graduate of the Newfield coaching program. His primary focus is as a consultant to financial services firms and affluent families. He recently published the best-selling book, Intentional Wealth: How Families Build Legacies of Stewardship and Financial Health.   Key Takeaways [0:16] Ruth introduces Courtney Pullen and this episode’s theme, the 10 percent, before a brief discussion about affluent families that fail. [3:16] Courtney touches on the difference that wealth actually makes in a family, as well as the importance of keeping in mind that all families have “stuff.” [5:50] Ruth and Courtney discuss challenges that wealthy families face, such as material limits and boundaries, and societal treatment. Courtney also shares examples of value-based boundaries as well as some issues arising from being born into affluent families. [9:54] Courtney talks about some common themes that the interviews from his book highlighted regarding the creation of wealth versus receiving wealth. [11:09] Courtney shares a story of hope as well as some practical advice for advisors about “optimal frustration.” [17:19] Courtney discusses how intentionality is the common denominator in G3+ families. [18:14] Courtney shares other common attributes that have a big impact on the successful transition of wealth, such as investing in the next generation, focusing on healthy communications and investing in the family as much as you do in the business. [22:54] How do you prepare people for receiving wealth they haven’t earned? Courtney explains the delicate balance between denial vs. entitlement. [25:32] Courtney explains how everything he has mentioned is not yet common practice and wonders if this could be the cause of the dire 10 percent success statistics. [26:52] Individual pursuits and family businesses often do not align; Ruth and Courtney speak to the importance of building empowered family relationships. [28:40] There is no recipe, but change occurs in the direction of our attention and intention. [31:13] Ruth takes a moment to recap the important points that Courtney has brought to the podcast and asks him for a last piece of advice. [35:37] Courtney shares his reading suggestions. [37:14] Ruth thanks Courtney for his time and experience and invites listeners to subscribe and tune in for the next episode.   Mentioned in this episode The Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange   Pullen Consulting Intentional Wealth: How Families Build Legacies of Stewardship and Financial Health, by Courtney Pullen Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dwek   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn   More about our guest Courtney Pullen’s website

Show Notes for Episode 7 of Fit Phat Chat: In this Episode, we discuss Valentine's Day, lead you through a meditation, review the movie "CATS," give a shoutout to the band @ozwaldmusic , interview musician Jamar Rogers, and update you on the BFreeRetreat! You'll want to listen to the end for the blooper reel. Here is a basic outline of the episode: Introduction Welcome to Fit Phat Chat... we are a real talk podcast about body positivity, movement, mindfulness and joy. In this Episode We introduce Jamar Rogers. Ayanna leads us through a brief guided meditation and we discuss being grateful and praying. We wish everyone a very happy Valentine's Day and discuss how the media influences how we view ourselves. Announcements We announce our interview with the FABULOUS singer and human being Jamar Rogers and we give a shout out to Ozwald for their song "Call off the Doctor" which is a song about body positivity and love. Great job! How to find us: Ayanna (B Free Coaching and Wellness) Christy (Zumba with Christy L. Ray) and Fit Phat Chat B Free Coaching and Wellness: www.bfreewell.com Zumba with Christy L. Ray: www.facebook.com/ZumbawithChristyLRay Fit Phat Chat email: fitphatchat@gmail.com FB: www.facebook.com/fitphatchaT Twitter: @fitphatchat Instagram: @FitPhatChat Youtube: Closing Comments Thank you for listening! "Sending peace, love, and light. Live Fit, Phat, and Free... bitches!" Bloopers Mentioned in this episode: Jamar Rogers Twitter: @jsquidward Facebook www.facebook.com/JamarRogers on Instagram @jamarrogersofficial ... Ozwald on twitter: @ozwaldmusic on Facebook www.facebook.com/Ozwald on Instagram @ozwaldmusic original photo credit to Salty Broad Studio LLC... on FB: www.facebook.com/SaltyBroadStudios

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors in supporting their clients.   Description Steve Legler is our guest host today and he welcomes Mary Duke, Independent Family Advisor based in New York City to talk about human capital and the emergence of the Chief Learning Officer role for families.   Guest bio Mary Duke is an internationally recognized advisor to families navigating the complexities of substantial wealth. Her work is anchored in the facilitation of family meetings, strategic planning for owned businesses, private trust companies and family offices and the education and mentoring of family members around the world. She is known for her deep expertise on the impact of trusts on families and her work in generational transition in family enterprises, and she is a licensed attorney and accountant. She has served in private client law and business consulting.   Key Takeaways [0:16] Steve introduces Mary Duke and invites her to share a little background on the work she does as an advisor to families. [3:20] Mary touches on the predictable, but more importantly the less easy to anticipate events that may arise — especially in light of the fundamental change some economists are calling the intangible/4th/experience economy. [5:33] Mary talks about the underlying qualities one has to hone for long term success and helps family members practice them through experiential learning. [8:55] It’s easy for families to grow apart, so Mary works at creating patterns of behaviour and helps families work better and make better decisions together. [10:20] On the challenges of getting the quiet voices in a family to be heard, as well as how to evolve in your role when advising a family. [12:45] Steve and Mary discuss when it may be time to bring in an outside person. [13:33] Mary explains what she means by human capital — but first, she talks about what a Chief Learning Officer (CLO) is and why it’s a growing position, as well as some of the lessons we can apply to our families. [19:20] You have to invest both time and money in your human capital. [20:18] Mary’s tips on how to grow and measure the individual human capital. [22:53] Mary’s tips on how to effectively and soundly grow collectively. [25:36] Mary shares her thoughts on governance, what it is and how it can be used. [26:50] Steve asks what the Chief Learning Officer’s job is. [29:08] Mary’s parting thoughts. [30:06] Steve thanks Mary for her time and experience, then invites listeners to subscribe and tune in for the next episode.   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange   “Growing your Family’s Human Capital: Ten Lessons from the Emergence of the CLO”   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn   More about our guest Mary Duke on LinkedIn

0:00:00 - Introduction: Welcome the Analytical Gamer, Jesse.0:01:33 - This Week’s Game NightFood Chain Magnate Ketchup ExpansionOn the Underground (0:02:03)Tokyo MetroFood Chain Magnate Modules (0:04:32)New Milestones, Coffee, Rural Area, Apartment Buildings, Night Manager, Lobbyist, NoodlesMarketer versus Recruiting Girl with Night Manager Strategies (0:07:07)Luxuries Manager (0:09:30)Caylus 1303 (0:11:20)Blood on the Clocktower (0:13:54)Werewolf0:16:04 - This Week’s NewsNo Pun Included Games of the YearSidereal Confluence, 2017Now Boarding, 2018Burgle BrosSabotage2019 No Pun Included Game of the Year Pipeline (0:17:50)Barrage, Crystal Palace, Marvel ChampionsAsmodee Acquisition of Repos Productions (0:20:19)Times up, Just One, Seven WondersMariposas (0:22:03)WingspanReturn to Dark Tower (0:23:52)Foundations of Rome Kickstarter (0:27:39)Century Road, Specter OpsOath (0:29:53)Cosmic Encounter Duel (0:33:03)Today Show’s Ten Board Games for Adults (0:36:06)Do You Know Me, Flying Sushi Kitchen, Twister Scrabble, Monopoly Speed, Candyland MashupMost played Board Games on BGG (0:39:27)Catan, Agricola Top 5: carcasson, Code Names, Magic the Gathering, Race for the Galaxy, Dominion0:41:27 - Games on the BrainTeen Fight Tactics Auto ChessTwilight Struggle1862, Food Chain Magnate (0:46:55)0:49:48 - Weight Loss Challenge0:59:00 - Blood on the Clocktower Review1:47:55 - Immersiveness in Game Mechanisms Matching ThemeTwilight Struggle, Star Wars Rebellion, War of the RingEl Grande (1:51:10)Diplomacy (1:53:43)Sidereal Confluence, GenoaXComm (1:55:30)Dead of Winter, Battlestar Galactica, DuneGodfather Corleone (1:58:30)High Society (2:01:39)Detective (2:02:10)Space Alert (02:04:33)Captain Sonar, Arms (02:05:24)Santiago (02:05:54)Dune, Marco PoloGloomhavenTerraforming MarsDie Macher2:13:28 - Sign Off

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) in supporting their clients.   Description Steve Legler is our guest host today and he welcomes Dr. Dawn Gross and Nancy Belza in order to learn how to better talk about death with clients.   Guest bios Dr. Dawn Gross and Nancy Belza co-founded Dyalogues, along with their partner, Paul Puccinelli.   Dawn Gross, MD. PhD. is a palliative medicine physician dedicated to transforming end-of-life conversations. Considered a national thought leader on end-of-life care, her work has been featured in Science, JAMA and The New York Times.   Nancy Belza is a Relationship Manager, Business Development Consultant, Training Specialist and planning activist. She combines natural compassion and innate storytelling abilities with over 25 years of financial services industry experience and 15 years of mental health advocacy to help people face end-of-life planning prepared and empowered.   Key Takeaways [0:16] Steve introduces Dr. Dawn Gross and Nancy Belza, and asks them why Family Enterprise Advisors should have an interest in learning how to talk about death, as well as some of the cultural barriers to those conversations. [5:35] Dawn and Nancy’s work has a lot to do with the normalization of the discussions around death; they explain what that actually entails, from the knowledge vacuum to the semantic field. [9:45] Dyalogues was born out of personal experiences with death that Nancy wished to avoid for as many others as possible; she touches on how this personal story affected her view and how it shaped Dyalogues’ mission. [12:40] Nancy highlights the privileged position Family Enterprise Advisors find themselves in and the crucial role they can play in helping the flow of communication in a family. She shares some advice on how to word your support and guidance. [15:30] Steve recaps the opportunities Nancy underlined, as well as the steps that were laid out for an advisor to follow. [16:30] Dawn invites people who are less comfortable, or do not wish to develop fluency in this field, to identify and reach out to experts in this area. [18:40] Steve shares how this resonates with him on a professional level and some surprising statistics he has heard before asking if the Dyalogues co-founders have some insight to share about them. [20:42] Nancy shares her thoughts on the recent conference she participated in with Millennials and how it should help shape discussions we begin about death or dying. [22:00] Steve asks if Nancy can share some background on “The Elephant in the Room” talk she gave at the Purposeful Planning Institute Conference in Denver. [23:59] Creating permission to start a conversation is the key to breaking down the taboos and building meaningful plans around death that grow and change with the individuals. [27:00] Nancy and Dawn share what services are offered by Dyalogues, including the ones specifically tailored to advisors. [29:40] While macroscopic cultural differences exist when it comes to engaging or avoiding death and the conversations around it, the necessity for preparation remains the same since each relationship is its own cultural ecosystem. [31:40] Nancy and Dawn share their parting tips. [33:18] Steve thanks Dawn and Nancy for their time and experience and invites listeners to subscribe and tune in for the next episode.   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange   Dyalogues Purposeful Planning Institute   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn   More about our guest Dr. Dawn M. Gross, M.D. at Dyalogues Nancy Belza at Dyalogues

Number 1 in our Best of 2019 Countdown is Episode #11:Steve Jones, Trends Transforming Construction & the Impact on Our People.  Steve’s episode is filled with insights he’s gained from his years in the industry and the research he has been involved with.  He has such a unique perspective!  In this episode, Steve shares what he sees as the strategic trends in the industry.  As you listen to this episode, think about what you or your company can do to use these trends to improve your project and maybe even your competitive advantage in 2020.  3 Emerging Construction Trends & Their Impact on Our People from Steve Jones 1) Industrialization. Projects and job sites will optimize towards the assembly of well-designed and pre-assembled components and less about construction. Expect an increase in modularization, prefabrication, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated decision making 2) Emerging Technology. Laser scanning, modeling technology, integrated IT solutions, etc. will become the new way business is done and it is important to embrace early rather than looking only at short-term ROI. 3) Hiring & Retention. There is a talent war taking place making hiring and retention top priorities for leaders and organizations pursuing success in the coming years. Train staff appropriately, provide them with the tools they need to succeed, communicate the mission, and consider making technology competency training a part of the formal job evaluation process. Introduction Welcome to Episode 11 of the Construction Dream Team Podcast with your host Sue Dyer! This episode features guest Steve Jones, Senior Director of Industry Insights Research at Dodge Data & Analytics, where he focuses on emerging economic practice and technology trends that are transforming the global design and construction industry. Steve has given hundreds of speeches and writes many articles for industry publications including the popular Dodge Data & Analytics SmartMarket Reports. Steve is an expert in construction trends and has a unique vantage point towards the future of construction and how teams will continue evolving. Steve Jones’ Career Journey Steve’s career started in design in the mid-70s. By the mid-80s he was VP of a firm in Philadelphia and decided to attend the Executive MBA program at Wharton School of Business. Design was not known typically for its business acumen, but since everyone was working fulltime in the program, Steve appreciated the hard nose practical concepts as opposed to mere theory. This transformed his approach to dealing with prospects and clients and made him a knowledgeable advisor rather than treating projects as mere additions to his design portfolio. He asked important questions about what design meant for clients’ businesses – an exercise in constrained optimization which helped clients better understand design. Jump forward to 1999, Steve was principal of a big AE firm when a buddy from Wharton called to inform Steve that he had taken a job at a software company called Primavera. Primavera’s headquarters were 8 minutes from Steve’s house and it was the perfect time to make a big change in the middle of the dot com boom. Primavera had some of the largest customers in the industry, quality control, exceptional developers, and a developed sales channel which made it an appealing fit. In 2001, they launched the first cloud collaboration platform for construction, which is now used by almost all large construction projects. Steve now works for Dodge Data & Analytics where he focuses on emerging areas throughout the segmented and fragmented industry to glean valuable insights for optimization and forward momentum. His work tracks the work companies, projects, and teams are performing that reliably generates scalable, reliable, consistent benefits. Strategic Trends in the Industry Steve breaks strategic trends into two categories: projects, and the people/processes that support those projects. Industrialization is expected to continue ramping up as job sites become more about the assembly of well-designed and pre-assembled components and less about construction. Expect an increase in modularization, prefabrication, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated decision making. There will be big business opportunities as product manufacturers and software companies explore tools and systems that help people make better decisions. Construction will begin to catch up with the other big capital industries out there such as aviation. The Impact of Strategic Trends on Industry People Strategic trends will move focus to integration and collaboration as teams pull together and take a fresh look at who ought to do something instead of who has always been doing it; shifting to partnership and teamwork over adversarial relationships. How can we as a team make the process better instead of players safeguarding process components at the expense of overall team success? Bringing more LEAN processes into construction will assist this new team paradigm. Technology skills will continue to be important, although human communication will still be necessary for understanding critical nuances. Machines can replace some manual human efforts which optimistically enhance the use of wisdom, experience, etc. When the computer replaced the typewriter, many feared they would lose their jobs, but jobs actually increased, just in new applications. One important human element to focus on is the idea of emotional intelligence so that we are empowered to make smart decisions while creating new cultural norms for collaboration; moving away from the traditional adversarial approach which inherently reduces trust, issue resolution, and decision making effectiveness. Emotional intelligence is a skill that can be learned and important as industrialization replaces antiquated methodologies. Defining Trends that will Impact How Teams Work together over the next Decade How teams take advantage of amazing emerging resources to focus on how groups can better deal with the unavoidable and inherent risk/uncertainty of design and construction will be a huge deciding factor. Teams should consider strategies of risk mitigation that move away from the typical avoid-and-transfer approach to one of understand, embrace, and manage risk/uncertainty. Predictive analytics will help teams make important decisions towards safety, risk, and development practices. There will be enough integration between technology solutions to support integrated IT workflows that take advantage of AI and machine learning to provide insightful input for decisions and process tweaks at the right times. Teams will become collaborative units rather than groups of self-interested individuals. The basic tenants of LEAN can be used to articulate project goals leading to a shared culture and what is best for the project. Examples of How Processes Might Play Out Three studies came out about the best practices for managing risks; what contractors are doing in the field that helps. One of the top methods of identifying risk in advance, as demonstrated by the studies, is by hosting a specific-focused meeting with all key players to kick off a project that addresses risk. Individuals at this meeting have built projects before and come to the meeting with the top five things that they believe will create the most risk on the project. All people are heard, commonality and unique risks are shared, and after the meeting is over the team makes a commitment to addressing the risk elements brought to light and revisit their progress throughout the course of the entire project. This takes advantage of human interaction and collective knowledge; together we know more than any single individual. Another study went out to 81 major owners (healthcare systems, corporations, government agencies) and asked them to look back over the last five years and identify the best project along with the most average project that took place. Questions such as how they contracted, organized teams, operated teams, etc., helped researched discover common threads. High team chemistry as a component on the project appeared in 72% of best projects but only 9% of typical projects. Team members committed to all of the same goals appeared on 83% of the best projects and only 16% of typical projects. Integration amongst team members (sharing information in a structured way) appeared on 59% of the best projects but only 9% on average ones. Timeliness of decision making appeared on 34% of the best projects and only 9% on typical ones. These are specific areas that can be implemented on every project. On a company level, it is important not to hire anybody on the team that is not willing to collaborate or who can’t keep up technologically. Advice for how teams can be more effective in the next decade Become familiar with the principles of LEAN construction and how they apply. Host risk meetings and facilitate clear communication and concerns communicated across team members to understand diverse ideas/needs. Set a clear vision from owners of what success looks like; do not assume that on-time, on-budget is enough to make a project successful. One study asked owners separate of delivery teams: how frequently are you satisfied with the performance of your team? Conversely, architects and contractors were asked: how frequently will your clients tell us they are satisfied? There was a 3x factor between percentages that said owners were satisfied vs. teams delivering satisfaction. This demonstrates the disparity between perceptions and highlights the importance of defining what success is going to look like for a project upfront. Do not assume that success is equal across all stakeholders. What can a leader (owner, designer, and contractor) do today to be ready for the trends coming? Be ready to keep investing in technology. Laser scanning, modeling technology, etc. will become the new way business is done and it is important to embrace early rather than looking only at short-term ROI. Actively and consciously invest in your people. There is a talent war going on that, in four different studies, shows the difficulty of hiring and retaining exceptional people. Hire well and invest to retain. Train staff appropriately, provide them with the tools they need to succeed, and consider making technology competency training a part of the formal job evaluation process. It is important to hold employees accountable for being able to function in our increasingly digital savvy universe. Adopt a leadership culture that allows the organization to “fail successfully.” Create an environment where it is okay to take reasonably educated risks that can tolerate failure. Practice LEAN principles: plan, do, check, adjust. “Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it.” – John Henry Newman. Go ugly early and try things, especially with young employees. As a leader, set a clear mission. This is the best motivator for younger people. What makes your organization unique? What connects people to your organization and mission? Leaders must show this as a priority. How is your mission making the world a better place and how are your employees contributing and appreciating that mission in order to get to a deeper level of engagement? Steve’s Biggest Challenge Earlier in Steve’s career, he was recruited to Burt Hill, a large AE firm, to make the office profitable. Three associates jointly ran the office and didn’t know about his hiring until he walked through the door. Each had been independently lobbying for his new position which created a hostile work environment because they wanted the job. Steve needed to make his presence work with the team, or somehow get rid of them (called “driving out the ambivalence” at Wharton). He committed to making it work, participated in various team building exercises, and worked with each of the individuals to let them know that he admired them, was not there to tell them what to do, reinforced the fact the firm had great projects and capabilities, and that his job was to make each of them successful. This tactic worked and the office grew within 3 years, hiring great new employees and earning excellent new projects. Best Advice Steve’s first job in an architectural firm, H2L2, encountered a conflict where he wasn’t sure how to handle it. He asked the project manager what to do and she responded “This is a people business. Pick up the phone.” Within 10 minutes the situation was resolved and the client was thrilled. Never forget the importance of people in this industry. Resource for Listeners Steve has an amazing free resource for all listeners that focused on Managing Uncertainty and Expectations in Building Design and Construction. This project planning guide will help owners and project teams think about risks as they begin building projects and plan to mitigate the uncertainties that are part of the design and construction process. The guide is based on original industry research by Dodge Data & Analytics about the sources of uncertainty, recommendations for managing uncertainty and improvement strategies in building design and construction. It provides expert advice from owners, architects and contractors based on real data about their experiences. It includes a link to a Contingency Calculator that project teams can use to appropriately budget for risks throughout the project lifecycle. Download the Project Planning Guide for Owners and Project Teams PDF Additional resources are the SmartMarket Reports on Construction.com. Contact Steve Jones LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevejones9/ Steve loves to connect people that can help each other. Parting advice Quoting Norbert Young, Steve’s employer at McGraw Hill earlier in his career, “The ideal is the enemy of the good.” Just keep trying things. It is okay if it doesn’t work out perfectly. If it is better than yesterday and is a good thing to do, do it, and make it better the next day. Relentlessly keep moving forward. Your ability to manifest this is reliant on you and your connections with other people. Get more of Construction Dream Team Remember Construction Nation, dream teams don’t just happen; they are built one step at a time. Why not send out this episode to your entire team so they can learn with you? The more people you have helping, the faster you can build your construction dream team. New episodes drop every Monday morning at 4 a.m. PST. If you want updates on the latest Construction Dream Team episodes, please subscribe to our newsletter, iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

Introduction Welcome to Let’s Talk Family Enterprise, a podcast that explores the ideas, concepts and models that best serve Family Enterprise Advisors in supporting their clients.   Description Today we are very lucky to hear from Thayer Willis, author, speaker and practicing psychotherapist, who gives her unique understanding of the pressures of joining the family business.   Thayer was born into the Georgia-Pacific Corporation founding family and brings an insider perspective to helping family members grappling with the decision: do I join the family business or not?   Guest bio Thayer Willis is an internationally-recognized author and expert in the area of wealth counseling. Since 1990, she has specialized in helping people of all ages handle the psychological challenges of wealth. A member of the founding family of the multibillion-dollar Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Thayer offers an insider's perspective on the challenges that wealthy families face on a regular basis.   Thayer has been interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America and 20/20. Her programs are tailored to individuals and families of affluence, financial professionals, family office advisors and estate planning attorneys.   Key Takeaways [0:16] Ruth introduces Thayer Willis, her background and publications, and invites her to speak about her own story growing up in a wealthy family. [7:00] Thayer speaks to the advantages of family businesses, but she also speaks to the pressures of joining them and some of the disadvantages younger generations face. [12:52] In order to help families grapple with whether or not to join the family business, Thayer lays out a few important steps that advisors can follow. [16:06] Thayer shares five to six pertinent questions to ask young family members — starting at about 12 years old. [17:46] Assessments can also be of great use; Thayer lists a few of the ones she has in her tool bag — links below. [19:28] Going into a family business should never be a default position, everyone has the right to consider what it is they want to do for themselves. [20:55] Thayer agrees that going to work outside the family business is a very useful step towards deciding if and when they do come into the family business. [22:23] Ruth takes a moment to summarize Thayer’s recommendations, and Thayer shares a personal story. [26:29] Thayer shares some books that have made an impact on her. [28:30] Thayer offers up tips on how to have a stress free holiday. [32:10] Ruth thanks Thayer for her time and experience and invites listeners to subscribe and tune in for the next episode.   Mentioned in this episode Let’s Talk Family Enterprise podcast is brought to you by Family Enterprise Xchange   Book: Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth: A Life Guide for Inheritors, by Thayer Cheatham Willis Book: Beyond Gold: True Wealth for Inheritors, by Thayer Cheatham Willis   Assessments: DISC Enneagram StrengthsFinder Johnson O’Connor   Thayer’s book suggestions: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel   More about Family Enterprise Xchange Family Enterprise Xchange FEX on Facebook FEX on Twitter FEX on LinkedIn   More about our guest Thayer Willis’ website

Introduction: Welcome to the Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage Podcast series, “Army Medicine History”. The opinions and statements of the speakers featured on this podcast are not necessarily the views of the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Center of Excellence (MEDCoE), or the U.S. Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage. The goal of this podcast is to share the story of Army Medicine History with soldiers, military, civilians, teachers, researchers, and the general public. Overview: Our job is to provide historical documentation of U.S. Army Medicine and attempt to preserve that history for future generations. Our social media campaigns have been a great resource and have allowed us the opportunity to engage directly with our visitors. We have the diversity within our organization to share not only our history, but the perspectives of today's soldiers and the current status of Army Medicine. Technology has been an important tool that helps bridge the gap between history and the future of Army Medicine. Topics Covered: U.S. Army Medicine, Jonathan Letterman, Antietam, Civil War, Military Medicine, Medical History, U.S. Army, History Speakers: Scott Woodard, Historian U.S. Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage George Wunderlich, Museum Director U.S. Army Medical Department Museum VIRIN: 190923-A-VG084-002

Introduction Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about the vocabulary project. Topic 1 Explain how it works We had 10 terms and 9 different choices to choose from to show our learning The only requirement was you had to explain the 10 terms Here are the different projects FlipBook Foldable Dictionary Sort IT Crossword Puzzle Create a connection Free Space Illustrations Acrostic Poem The same and opposite Riddle me this? Topic 2 What’s our favorite project and how it works Topic 3 how this helped us and how it could help others How did you feel about that? Did you need teacher help Also, did you have to learn the tool by yourself? Conclusion Thank you Link to Student Examples and/or Teacher directions Example 1 https://zachariahduschik66.wixsite.com/vocabulary

Introduction -Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about how to prepare for the air test. Topic 1 Our first way to prepare for the AIR test is having Good study habits- study the recommended amount of time. When you study make sure that you are understanding what your studying you welcome study vocab.com, study your ELA journal literacy terms. , study flashcard Topic 2 How to prepare at home, eat a good breakfast, go to bed at a reasonable hour. The night before you can study and go over everything so you are ready the next day. And if you had any recent tests you can study the questions you missed. Topic 3 How to prepare at school, pay attention, follow directions, good mindset, ask questions, and if you need to you can go over some things with a teacher/buddy. Conclusion There are many ways to prepare for the air test and those were a few of them. In conclusion, it's a great idea to have good study habits, prepare at home, and prepare at school. Thank you for listening to the PLSD middle school CHATS.

Introduction: Welcome to the Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage Podcast series, “Army Medicine History”. The opinions and statements of the speakers featured on this podcast are not necessarily the views of the U.S. Army or the U.S. Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage. The goal of this podcast is to share the story of Army Medicine History with soldiers, military, civilians, teachers, researchers, and the general public. Overview: Our job is to provide historical documentation of U.S. Army Medicine and attempt to preserve that history for future generations. Our social media campaigns have been a great resource and have allowed us the opportunity to engage directly with our visitors. We have the diversity within our organization to share not only our history, but the perspectives of today's soldiers and the current status of Army Medicine. Technology has been an important tool that helps bridge the gap between history and the future of Army Medicine. Topics Covered: U.S. Army Medicine, Early Medicine, Military Medicine, Medical History, Diseases, Inoculations, Vaccinations, George Washington, U.S. Army, History Speakers: Scott Woodard, Historian U.S. Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage George Wunderlich, Museum Director U.S. Army Medical Department Museum VIRIN: 190717-A-VG084-001

Introduction Welcome to the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast, hosted on Grokshare.com and streamed on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.   You are listening to Episode #EAFH-12 featuring Richard Kasperowski. On May 11, 2019, Richard beamed into Tucson AZ from Boston MA via a webinar cast to share his topic High-Performance Teams: Core Protocols for Psychological… The post EAFH-12: Richard Kasperowski Shares High Performance Teams – Agile for Humanity Tucson Meetup appeared first on Leaders share how-to practices - KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast on GrokShare.com.

Introduction Welcome to the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast, hosted on Grokshare.com and streamed on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.   You are listening to Episode #EAFH-11 with Dr. Dave Cornelius, founder of the 5 Saturdays STEAM program with Zach Yentzer, host of the Creative City Radio show in Tucson, AZ on KVOI 1030 AM. The… The post EAFH-11: Dr Dave Cornelius & Zach Yentzer Talks 5 Saturdays STEAM Program on Creative City Radio Show appeared first on Leaders share how-to practices - KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast on GrokShare.com.

00:00:00 - Introduction: Welcome to Game Brain! http://gamebrainpod.com/00:04:56 - Co-host Introductions http://gamebrainpod.com/about-the-group/00:22:40 - 8x8 Challenge http://gamebrainpod.com/about-the-show/00:27:37 - Round 1, Turn 1 TOM - The Game Masterhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232776/00:45:36 - The News https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eaglegryphon/age-of-steam-deluxe-edition01:01:41 - Games on the Brain18xx BGG link https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/18xx#Railways and Robber Barrons https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/421/1830-railways-robber-barons1846 https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17405/1846-race-midwest18xx website Rails on Boards https://www.railsonboards.com/Pipeline https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256730/pipelineFood Chain Magnate Ketchup Expansion https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/261526/food-chain-magnate-ketchup-mechanism-other-ideas01:11:38 - Wingspan Review wingspan01:27:27 - Co-Host Segment "Games that Time Forgot"sherlock-holmes-consulting-detectivetichudie-macherdunecivilizationrepublic-romediplomacykremlinbreakout-normandyscotland-yardclassic-warlord01:50:32 - Game Sommelier battlestar-galacticashadows-over-camelot

3 Emerging Construction Trends & Their Impact on Our People from Steve Jones 1) Industrialization. Projects and job sites will optimize towards the assembly of well-designed and pre-assembled components and less about construction. Expect an increase in modularization, prefabrication, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated decision making 2) Emerging Technology. Laser scanning, modeling technology, integrated IT solutions, etc. will become the new way business is done and it is important to embrace early rather than looking only at short-term ROI. 3) Hiring & Retention. There is a talent war taking place making hiring and retention top priorities for leaders and organizations pursuing success in the coming years. Train staff appropriately, provide them with the tools they need to succeed, communicate the mission, and consider making technology competency training a part of the formal job evaluation process. Introduction Welcome to Episode 11 of the Construction Dream Team Podcast with your host Sue Dyer! This episode features guest Steve Jones, Senior Director of Industry Insights Research at Dodge Data & Analytics, where he focuses on emerging economic practice and technology trends that are transforming the global design and construction industry. Steve has given hundreds of speeches and writes many articles for industry publications including the popular Dodge Data & Analytics SmartMarket Reports. Steve is an expert in construction trends and has a unique vantage point towards the future of construction and how teams will continue evolving. The following show notes are a transcription from the audio interview that took place between Sue and Steve. If you want updates on the latest Construction Dream Team episodes, please subscribe to our newsletter, iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform. If you like Construction Dream Team, we would LOVE a 5-star review to help us rank higher in the search engines so more of Construction Nation can learn from industry leaders and experts weekly! Now, onto the show… Steve Jones’ Career Journey Steve’s career started in design in the mid-70s. By the mid-80s he was VP of a firm in Philadelphia and decided to attend the Executive MBA program at Wharton School of Business. Design was not known typically for its business acumen, but since everyone was working fulltime in the program, Steve appreciated the hard nose practical concepts as opposed to mere theory. This transformed his approach to dealing with prospects and clients and made him a knowledgeable advisor rather than treating projects as mere additions to his design portfolio. He asked important questions about what design meant for clients’ businesses – an exercise in constrained optimization which helped clients better understand design. Jump forward to 1999, Steve was principal of a big AE firm when a buddy from Wharton called to inform Steve that he had taken a job at a software company called Primavera. Primavera’s headquarters were 8 minutes from Steve’s house and it was the perfect time to make a big change in the middle of the dot com boom. Primavera had some of the largest customers in the industry, quality control, exceptional developers, and a developed sales channel which made it an appealing fit. In 2001, they launched the first cloud collaboration platform for construction, which is now used by almost all large construction projects. Steve now works for Dodge Data & Analytics where he focuses on emerging areas throughout the segmented and fragmented industry to glean valuable insights for optimization and forward momentum. His work tracks the work companies, projects, and teams are performing that reliably generates scalable, reliable, consistent benefits. Strategic Trends in the Industry Steve breaks strategic trends into two categories: projects, and the people/processes that support those projects. Industrialization is expected to continue ramping up as job sites become more about the assembly of well-designed and pre-assembled components and less about construction. Expect an increase in modularization, prefabrication, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated decision making. There will be big business opportunities as product manufacturers and software companies explore tools and systems that help people make better decisions. Construction will begin to catch up with the other big capital industries out there such as aviation. The Impact of Strategic Trends on Industry People Strategic trends will move focus to integration and collaboration as teams pull together and take a fresh look at who ought to do something instead of who has always been doing it; shifting to partnership and teamwork over adversarial relationships. How can we as a team make the process better instead of players safeguarding process components at the expense of overall team success? Bringing more LEAN processes into construction will assist this new team paradigm. Technology skills will continue to be important, although human communication will still be necessary for understanding critical nuances. Machines can replace some manual human efforts which optimistically enhance the use of wisdom, experience, etc. When the computer replaced the typewriter, many feared they would lose their jobs, but jobs actually increased, just in new applications. One important human element to focus on is the idea of emotional intelligence so that we are empowered to make smart decisions while creating new cultural norms for collaboration; moving away from the traditional adversarial approach which inherently reduces trust, issue resolution, and decision making effectiveness. Emotional intelligence is a skill that can be learned and important as industrialization replaces antiquated methodologies. Defining Trends that will Impact How Teams Work together over the next Decade How teams take advantage of amazing emerging resources to focus on how groups can better deal with the unavoidable and inherent risk/uncertainty of design and construction will be a huge deciding factor. Teams should consider strategies of risk mitigation that move away from the typical avoid-and-transfer approach to one of understand, embrace, and manage risk/uncertainty. Predictive analytics will help teams make important decisions towards safety, risk, and development practices. There will be enough integration between technology solutions to support integrated IT workflows that take advantage of AI and machine learning to provide insightful input for decisions and process tweaks at the right times. Teams will become collaborative units rather than groups of self-interested individuals. The basic tenants of LEAN can be used to articulate project goals leading to a shared culture and what is best for the project. Examples of How Processes Might Play Out Three studies came out about the best practices for managing risks; what contractors are doing in the field that helps. One of the top methods of identifying risk in advance, as demonstrated by the studies, is by hosting a specific-focused meeting with all key players to kick off a project that addresses risk. Individuals at this meeting have built projects before and come to the meeting with the top five things that they believe will create the most risk on the project. All people are heard, commonality and unique risks are shared, and after the meeting is over the team makes a commitment to addressing the risk elements brought to light and revisit their progress throughout the course of the entire project. This takes advantage of human interaction and collective knowledge; together we know more than any single individual. Another study went out to 81 major owners (healthcare systems, corporations, government agencies) and asked them to look back over the last five years and identify the best project along with the most average project that took place. Questions such as how they contracted, organized teams, operated teams, etc., helped researched discover common threads. High team chemistry as a component on the project appeared in 72% of best projects but only 9% of typical projects. Team members committed to all of the same goals appeared on 83% of the best projects and only 16% of typical projects. Integration amongst team members (sharing information in a structured way) appeared on 59% of the best projects but only 9% on average ones. Timeliness of decision making appeared on 34% of the best projects and only 9% on typical ones. These are specific areas that can be implemented on every project. On a company level, it is important not to hire anybody on the team that is not willing to collaborate or who can’t keep up technologically. Advice for how teams can be more effective in the next decade Become familiar with the principles of LEAN construction and how they apply. Host risk meetings and facilitate clear communication and concerns communicated across team members to understand diverse ideas/needs. Set a clear vision from owners of what success looks like; do not assume that on-time, on-budget is enough to make a project successful. One study asked owners separate of delivery teams: how frequently are you satisfied with the performance of your team? Conversely, architects and contractors were asked: how frequently will your clients tell us they are satisfied? There was a 3x factor between percentages that said owners were satisfied vs. teams delivering satisfaction. This demonstrates the disparity between perceptions and highlights the importance of defining what success is going to look like for a project upfront. Do not assume that success is equal across all stakeholders. What can a leader (owner, design, and contract) do today to be ready for the trends coming? Be ready to keep investing in technology. Laser scanning, modeling technology, etc. will become the new way business is done and it is important to embrace early rather than looking only at short-term ROI. Actively and consciously invest in your people. There is a talent war going on that, in four different studies, shows the difficulty of hiring and retaining exceptional people. Hire well and invest to retain. Train staff appropriately, provide them with the tools they need to succeed, and consider making technology competency training a part of the formal job evaluation process. It is important to hold employees accountable for being able to function in our increasingly digital savvy universe. Adopt a leadership culture that allows the organization to “fail successfully.” Create an environment where it is okay to take reasonably educated risks that can tolerate failure. Practice LEAN principles: plan, do, check, adjust. "Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it." - John Henry Newman. Go ugly early and try things, especially with young employees. As a leader, set a clear mission. This is the best motivator for younger people. What makes your organization unique? What connects people to your organization and mission? Leaders must show this as a priority. How is your mission making the world a better place and how are your employees contributing and appreciating that mission in order to get to a deeper level of engagement? Steve’s Biggest Challenge Earlier in Steve’s career, he was recruited to Burt Hill, a large AE firm, to make the office profitable. Three associates jointly ran the office and didn’t know about his hiring until he walked through the door. Each had been independently lobbying for his new position which created a hostile work environment because they wanted the job. Steve needed to make his presence work with the team, or somehow get rid of them (called “driving out the ambivalence” at Wharton). He committed to making it work, participated in various team building exercises, and worked with each of the individuals to let them know that he admired them, was not there to tell them what to do, reinforced the fact the firm had great projects and capabilities, and that his job was to make each of them successful. This tactic worked and the office grew within 3 years, hiring great new employees and earning excellent new projects. Best Advice Steve’s first job in an architectural firm, H2L2, encountered a conflict where he wasn’t sure how to handle it. He asked the project manager what to do and she responded “This is a people business. Pick up the phone.” Within 10 minutes the situation was resolved and the client was thrilled. Never forget the importance of people in this industry. Resource for Listeners Steve has an amazing free resource for all listeners that focused on Managing Uncertainty and Expectations in Building Design and Construction. This project planning guide will help owners and project teams think about risks as they begin building projects and plan to mitigate the uncertainties that are part of the design and construction process. The guide is based on original industry research by Dodge Data & Analytics about the sources of uncertainty, recommendations for managing uncertainty and improvement strategies in building design and construction. It provides expert advice from owners, architects and contractors based on real data about their experiences. It includes a link to a Contingency Calculator that project teams can use to appropriately budget for risks throughout the project lifecycle. Download the Project Planning Guide for Owners and Project Teams PDF Additional resources are the SmartMarket Reports on Construction.com. Contact Steve Jones LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevejones9/ Steve loves to connect people that can help each other. Parting advice Quoting Norbert Young, Steve’s employer at McGraw Hill earlier in his career, “The ideal is the enemy of the good.” Just keep trying things. It is okay if it doesn’t work out perfectly. If it is better than yesterday and is a good thing to do, do it, and make it better the next day. Relentlessly keep moving forward. Your ability to manifest this is reliant on you and your connections with other people. Get more of Construction Dream Team Remember Construction Nation, dream teams don’t just happen; they are built one step at a time. Why not send out this episode to your entire team so they can learn with you? The more people you have helping, the faster you can build your construction dream team. New episodes drop every Monday morning at 4 a.m. PST. If you want updates on the latest Construction Dream Team episodes, please subscribe to our newsletter, iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform. Enter our Photo Contest and Win a Free Team Lunch If you and your team want to win a free lunch, visit https://constructiondreamteam.com/posters, download and print a poster, take a photo of it with your team, and email the photo to sue@constructiondreamteam.com to be entered to win! Thank you Steve and Construction Nation, we will catch you next time!

Season 1 – Episode 4 – How we built mPact Pro: Developing Wide-Scale (Part 3 of 3)Discussion Outline:1. Introduction – Welcome to Part 3 of 3 -- How we proceeded from a Closed and Open Beta into a Commercially Viable Product (CVP) and the implications of distributing/implementing/support a mass-market, Podio-based product.2. Topic: What were the steps to from Closed/Open Beta to a CVP? What did we learn from that experience?3. 1st Discussion: Closed & Open Beta selection and its impact on the CVP4. Hot Topic: Customer Acquisition & Pricing/Marketing Strategies5. 2nd Discussion: Distribution Model (technical-side) and Other Considerations of Wide Scale, Podio-based Solutions6. Real Talk: Limitations of Podio App Marketplace and GlobiFlow Auto Copying7. Deep Dive: Controlling the Implementation Process -- Deployment, Training and Support Considerations8. Next Episode: Interview with Jordan Fleming of Gamechangers: His new podcast and a spotlight on smrtPhone.9. Audience Engagement: Solving Podio Gaps – Podio Developers and Power users – Submit your gaps!10. Outro: SUBSCRIBE and Thank you.Follow us on social media (@PodcastPodio) to stay up to date on all Podio Podcast news.Support the show (http://www.brickbridgeconsulting.com/podcast)

An Interview with Arun Sood, CEO of SCIT LabsCyber Security Dispatch: Season 3, Episode 2Show Notes:Welcome back to the Cyber Security Dispatch. This is the first in the new series of interviews focused on innovative technology in cyber security where we talk about new solutions to protect our data and systems. Today on the show we welcome Arun Sood, CEO of Self Cleansing Intrusion Tolerance (SCIT) Labs. He is the co-inventor of all six SCIT technology patents that are based on the research undertaken at his research center. In this episode, we are setting the clock on why controlling time matters. Arun is an expert on moving target defense and building resilience systems. He offers a refreshing perspective on how controlling time can give security teams a key advantage in stopping attacks and limiting the impact of those attacks. It is a really fascinating perspective and one that can help you see things differently. For all this and much more be sure to tune in!Key Points From This Episode:Understanding moving target defense.The resilience requirement: continuity of operations.Providing higher levels of security through diversity and redundancy.How redundancy can be used to achieve a dual goal. Understanding the concept of diversity.How complexities affect cost: the additional expense.Why you can’t change the implementation in a redundancy based approach.Dwell time: a measure of how the server is performing.Steps of a cyber-kill chain. Understanding the SCIT system. Thinking of data in three different ways. Recovery systems in the cyber security space.How to think about measuring success: what does it mean?Two principle things to start with as a small user. Choosing your throttle time.And much more!Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Arun Sood — http://scitlabs.com/about-us/teamArun on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/arunsood/SCIT Labs — http://scitlabs.com/George Mason University — https://www2.gmu.edu/Drupal — https://www.drupal.org/WordPress — https://wordpress.com/Introduction:Welcome back to the Cyber Security Dispatch. This is the first in the new series of interviews focused on innovative technology in cyber security where we talk about new solutions to protect our data and systems. Today on the show we welcome Arun Sood, CEO of Self Cleansing Intrusion Tolerance (SCIT) Labs. He is the co-inventor of all six SCIT technology patents that are based on the research undertaken at his research center. In this episode, we are setting the clock on why controlling time matters. Arun is an expert on moving target defense and building resilience systems. He offers a refreshing perspective on how controlling time can give security teams a key advantage in stopping attacks and limiting the impact of those attacks. It is a really fascinating perspective and one that can help you see things differently. For all this and much more be sure to tune in!TRANSCRIPT[0:01:05.5] AS: I am Arun Sood and I am a professor at George Mason University but currently, research at George Mason has led to six packets and at one stage, we decided to start a university startup, we are a group affiliated to George Mason has equity shares in the company so there is a close relationship between the two things. I’m the founder of this and currently in the CEO but I see we have a chief architect, we have lots of people who are helping with us and how this is going to evolve is only time will tell.[0:01:46.7] AA: Yeah, I think, you know, one of the things that was so interesting about what you got up to is you’re sort of focusing, you’re focused on moving target defense so that’s a concept we’ve talked a lot about on this show but for those who kind of aren't familiar with moving target defense, you just want to kind of talk about what it is and how you kind of how you kind of got involved in it.[0:02:07.3] AS: Right. There are many ways to look at this but I’m going to try something slightly different based on my experience recently at a conference in Tampa. Think of the following issue. Server security is something which everybody needs for their systems but it is becoming more and more clear that people also need resilience. Server security means the bad guys, when they come in you make sure they don’t stay in so you may have to shut the system down but that is not good enough for people who have to have continuity of operations. The resilience requirement is that you have to have continuity of operations. Now, if the two systems if you design your systems to be static, now you have a problem. If the system is static and you shut it down, it loses all the continuity of operations. We need a potentially need a dynamic solution and the moving target defense as we see it, as we have used it, as a mechanism, which it creates balance between these two things.[0:03:16.9] AA: Yeah, I think if I understand you correctly, there’s that this sort of opposition between two things, right? If you imagine, what a lot of systems are measured on is all the time, right? We are continuously to make it simple like deploying popper, right? We need to have the five nine’s right? 99.999% of the time where the system is on and then the classic way of thinking about cyber security is to actually shut things off because there’s problem there.How do you sort of square that circle? Is that, am I understanding it correctly?[0:03:48.7] AS: That’s exactly right and I think we got to make sure that we understand a resilience system is not only, has to operate continuously but it Is expected to perform even in the presence of an attack. Many of our systems are, which are operational, they may have bad guys sitting in them but they keep operating. Because of the read me generation and so on and because of the importance of the system, their continuity of operation is critical, you’re actually right.This provides a challenge, the challenge is, if you have a static system, that system is not changing and you, somebody comes and sits on it, if you shut it down, you’re in trouble, you don’t get continued service.[0:04:32.3] AA: Yeah, I’ve seen some interesting kind of models, different graphics where you’re, when you’re thinking about system design. You know, thinking about essentially redundant pathways, you know, multiple methodologies for delivering a service or allowing whatever is information travel and then essentially as you look at that design, understanding essentially assessing it based on how much of the system could be compromised and you can still essentially still deliver service or accomplish the mission, the task, et cetera. You know, I’m not a systems engineer, that’s not my background but that seems like not a concept that the majority of systems or at least many systems are built with at the offset.[0:05:20.0] AS: You're right. Many systems I see, they don’t have security as one of their requirements, it’s sort of bolted in at the end of the process, which is, makes it a challenging situation. But the idea is quite straight forward, less designer systems in such a fashion that you realize it is going to be compromised, because it is going to be compromised, we have to do something to handle the compromise and yet maintain continuity of service. There are in my view, there are two basic ways by which people provide higher levels of security and one is through diversity and the second one is through this whole idea of redundancy. The redundancy idea enables you to actually maybe can help you achieve both things that you’re able to switch things around so it’s not static. If you make the system none static, there’s a higher probability that you can achieve security as well as redundancy.[0:06:31.2] AA: Yeah, I think. Walk us through on a simple, how individuals are doing that? If you think about either together, diversity and redundancy or one and then the next. How, when a person kind of understands that those are beneficial qualities. How can you add those two a, to a system?[0:06:52.9] AS: Right. I’m going to talk a little bit how redundancy can be used in the case of diversity, we have a particular challenge and I’ll come to that in a second. Let’s talk about redundancy. The idea basically is if you want to get high availability, what do you do, you use redundancy, you want high availability, you have to serve the customer in sort of just relying on one box you may have two boxes or three boxes or let’s say you’ll have multiple servers or even if they are on the cloud, you can have multiple servers and those servers, if one of them goes down, the other one takes over the load and you are not having continuity of service all the time.That’s one paradigm. If you do redundancy now and from the view point of security, you have this redundancy, you can do continuous checking and say okay, is one of these boxes busted? If it is busted, they’re basically, you can take it offline and you can have continuative service. Fair enough?[0:08:05.5] AA: Yeah. [0:08:06.5] AS: Okay, now, let’s go to the other one to the whole idea of diversity. Diversity, you can apply at lots of levels, all the way from the application to the operating system, down to the hardware and that is in my experience, talking to CSO’s if you try to do diversity at a high level, they look at this as a very expensive proposition, there have been people who have tried to do this to elegant mechanisms but this has been a constraint so far. There are ways by which for example, is a large kind of approaches, which can provide diversity at a lower level and it is not as effective as if you were to do a diversity to higher level but it may be good enough for many situations. Is that a reasonable explanation?[0:09:06.6] AA: Yeah. I think you’re hitting upon the challenge that I think a lot of people encounter when they start thinking about adding diversity and redundancy, they’re concerned about perhaps certainly the additional cost, probably in dollars but also in kind of in investment in knowledge and expertise that their people need to have, they’re worried about, I barely – I think if behind closed doors, when you talk with a lot of sort of senior leaders in the security space, they’re like, “We’re barely kind of treading water trying to keep up with what we’ve got, adding additional complexity, you know, only scares me. I feel like I definitely be drowning that.” How do you kind of think through that, that additional expense or complexity? [0:09:58.1] AS: Yeah, I think that’s a very good question. The question is that you can have different types of complexity. As you increased some complexity then the cost is higher and some of the kind of complexities the cost may not be so high.As I gave you this example, if you’re in your shop, you decide to use four different operating systems then you have to train everybody on those four operating systems, this can become a very costly operation.[0:10:28.4] AA: Yeah.[0:10:28.9] AS: On the other hand, If you were to look at diversity, you have to then balance the question of what level of security are you seeking? The way we have tried to post this thing more recently is to talk about this whole idea of dwell time. You're asked a question, how much dwell time can you tolerate? If you can allow for higher dwell time, the cost that is the level of redundancy you require goes down and the cost will go down.If you want very good systems and hence you want, you have a – your risk profile is very high, in that case, you may want to have a lower exposure and that will increase the cost. The after I translate some of these ideas into cost of implementation so that a user can make adjustment. “Okay, I think I probably have four hours before the bad guys can do much damage. Let us change things every two hours.” You see the logic of what I’m trying to get at this. Use that logic to decide on how you’re going to do this but there is one thing that is very important in my view point.If you do a redundancy based approach, you have to make sure that you do not change the implementation, you do not go on changing the things like the application, things like the operating systems. You don’t go on changing these things for each implementation because that increases the cost.That’s what we have focused on is trying to see if you have – if you are using something, do you want to be able to use that same platform over and over again?[0:12:19.9] AA: Yeah, let’s take in a little bit on SO, for those listeners who kind of don’t think about or as familiar with the idea of dwell time, that’s basically just the time that an individual is connected or inside a system. Now, that can be just so we’re quite pointed is dwell time measured for every user or we measuring it for only users that were perhaps concerned are negative or a threat.[0:12:49.4] AS: Okay, the dwell time is really a measure of how the server is performing., what we are doing is reducing the dwell time on the server. Maybe, let me sort of conceptualize this from a higher level. f[0:13:05.9] AA: Yeah, I think they’d be helpful.[0:13:08.3] AS: Okay, if you think about this, a cyber-kill chain has basically got three steps of it. You can divide them further and more detail but the three steps are easy to understand and easy to explain. The three steps, the fourth step is somebody has to get it. This is usually done through a phishing attack. They get into somebody goes to their desktop and they click on something and the phishing attacks starts. That’s the first thing, get it.The second step is, once you get in, you have to do a lateral move to get to where the data is. If you got into some user’s laptop, that’s okay but it’s not – that’s not, we have the damage is going to be done, the damage has got to be done inside the, on the place where the data is, which is usually a server.After you get in, you go through what is called a stay in step. The stay in step means that you will do migrate to where lateral moves and so on and migrate to where you want to do damage. The last step is the whole step of act. In act, for example, if you’re entrusted in stealing data, you want to do data exfiltration so the action is data exfiltration.There’s some rules about data exfiltration. If you try to do the exfiltration of the highest speed, you’ll get detected very quickly. When you do this data exfiltration, you have to do this at a fairly low speed so that means it takes more time but you have the time because you are resting there and you're sitting in there. And you can take days, weeks and months to do your complete exfiltration. Get in, stay in and act.If we can manage to reduce the amount of time, somebody stays in and the time for act, we are going to make sure that the losses are significantly minimized. That is what we call the dwell tech, that’s the amount of time you are giving the attacker to stay in the system.[0:15:23.2] AA: Yeah, I think kind of like rough industry statistics are like the average dwell time that people realize after they’ve had an incident is kind of somewhere in the neighborhood of six months, right? Someone is in there has been at work for quite a long time, right? This isn’t like, I was in for two or three hours, right?The ability to kind of reduce dwell time to a few hours, a few minutes, it look like your goal was to take it as low as like 90 seconds. Am I understanding that correctly? [0:15:58.2] AS: One of implementations we have got it down to 90 seconds but you're absolutely correct I think in many cases, something like a dual time of two hours maybe adequate. The point is that the lower the dwell time, there’s a cost impact on the whole thing. We basically recommend a dwell time, which is consistent with your need.We had something called tellos, which is some testing for DOD insulations, we have them attack our system, which is an ecommerce system and which – they have complete access, we took a three couple time, put it on a system and basically told them, “Look, this is the name of the file, this is its location, there is no firewall, there’s no IDS, no IPPPS, no DLP, none of this is there, go get it. “When they try to get that file, the discovered that they could get in the system in less than five minutes but extraction of the file was a problem because we were doing rotations every 90 seconds and they can just complete the process in that time. They called up and said, “Look, this rotation is making it more difficult for us,” by the way, this is on their website and n our website described here, this project is describing.[0:17:18.5] AA: Yeah, I was reading this assessment, it’s really interesting. I will make sure that we link to it in the notice for this podcast so listeners can grab that right on our website. [0:17:27.5] AS: The point was, if I may just complete the story, they asked us to do an – allowed them to do an automated test. They did the automated test and they came with the same problem because it is way difficult and the second part of this issue is to, want to look as evolving. If somebody attacks us once, it may be difficult to find them but if somebody is forced to attack us twice, three times, four times, five times, it becomes easier and easier to find them.It is basically if they come in once and do the damage, you may have given another notice there. But if we are forcing them to do this thing multiple times, then our parameter defense systems will know that something is going on. In that sense, that’s an example of how getting stay and act, works with the parameter defense systems, which are really preventing the get in stage itself.[0:18:27.2] AA: Yeah, we were talking about this before we sort of recording the episode. You know, looking for a single solution is kind of, you’re not going to find a single solution that sort of solves all your problems but when you start to layer different potential approaches on each other, that becomes really interesting, there’s very positive inter play. Yeah, I can imagine if you are an administrator at an organization and you see, right, the top person connecting is probably like one of your busiest employees but then there’s this other item that keeps connecting, right? What is that? Essentially, by reducing 12 time you were making someone attack constantly, they’re going to quickly bubble up to the top of being a very active account or process. Is that how I’m understanding?[0:19:19.4] AS: yes, you’re right. We basically use a redundancy operation, a redundancy based system and our system is called SCIT. We use SCIT and we have recently added a component, which examines the system regularly so that we can actually say, “Hey, we don’t know how it happened but you have something, which have changed in your system.”That has been our approach. Try to find out what has changed, try to establish rules on, which the data should be infiltrated at a particular rate and all this kind of stuff so the thing is, when we are in this process, we are trying to add components, which solves specific problems to give a whole overall solution to the system.[0:20:15.1] AA: Yeah, is this what you – we were trying to throttling, you're sort of throttling connections, is that potential? Yeah, I think that those are very complimentary. Essentially, you re connecting it now, it limits someone from exfiltration more than a certain amount in a certain period of time. For those kind of more technical listeners, walk us through a little bit of how the system works. If you’ve got a server and you install SCIT on top of it, how does it actually do what it’s doing?[0:20:43.0] AS: It’s relatively straightforward. All our implementations are based on the whole concept of virtualization and that is broadly accepted now so we are done of virtualization or VMware kind of stuff as well as we have done it on the cloud. So rationalization has become a bread and butter if you like that’s what most of our installations are based on. So what we are basically saying is that we are going to spend more VM’s than you need and what is going to happen is that at regular intervals we are going to take some of the VM’s off, examine them and see if they have a comprise, send out an alarm and go so on. So that’s how our system works and we try to keep the number of standby VM’s to a minimum and how is that minimum defined? If I am going to have for one hour then maybe I need to have a standby VM only for five minutes. So we try to reduce the amount of resources required to complete our process. [0:21:54.7] AA: Got you, so essentially you may, if I am running a server but to use your example for an hour, I then maybe in the last five minutes you are going to spin up and additional VM and then there will be some sort of an handoff between the two virtual machines at the end of that hour to assure continuous…[0:22:15.9] AS: That’s right. [0:22:16.9] AA: Right, okay and then how do you handle and that is all happening at the application layer, what layer is that happening? I mean I know data, how do you think about where the data lives and as you think about spinning up a system and destroying the old one, how do you think about data living longer? [0:22:41.4] AS: So effectively, you can think of data and do it three different ways. There is a distinct, which ever called persistent data and persistent data is stored somewhere. We strongly recommend that you have a backup mechanism and our approach actually will enable you to have a backup mechanism and ultimate test that what the backup is actually works. So there is this persistent data and then there are also things where after all in today’s world SSD’s are very common. So you can get very faster performance but if you want even faster performance, then you have a shared memory approach. So any one of these works with our system. [0:23:26.9] AA: Got you, so essentially data is kept in this. You have a backup system in place but then also essentially as I understood, the files are not necessarily refreshing. It is more of the application operating system. The file structures get separately. [0:23:45.4] AS: Correct, we are basically focused on making sure that there is our systems are operating in a pristine state and where we don’t have the bad guys resident in our system from more than the authorized dual time. [0:24:03.4] AA: Got you and you know, when you create these environments are you – is it essentially where can you deploy something like this? Does it have to be application by application when you’re doing an implementation? Is there additional sort of custom engineering that happens there or what needs to happen to actually deploy? [0:24:23.9] AS: So to just give you an example, we have started down this road off of building system that are very specialized to the requirements of the Navy, they asked us for some things we built and showed them how this worked. Then we basically said, “Hey what we’ve done right now is we have looked at things like Drupal and WordPress and there are a lot of users there so we have actually built sample systems using Drupal and WordPress as a demonstration of what we are able to do with these kind of systems, which are very widely used,” and hopefully we are going to work with some people to adopt them in their systems. [0:25:02.5] AA: Got you, what happens if you are like in the middle of a number of users are in a middle of a session and the VM’s need to flip, right? Let’s say we’re streaming video or we are in a middle of a conference call or we’re a trader where there’s this continuous flow of data back and forth. How do you handle that? =[0:25:26.0] AS: So we just have to make sure that there is no loss of data, that’s all and our system is built to make sure of that. [0:25:32.2] AA: Got you, so there is some sort of buffering that happens.[0:25:34.9] AS: Yeah, we do a bunch of stuff to make sure. It is a challenge but we have demonstrated that it works.[0:25:41.9] AA: Yeah, let’s switch gears a little bit from the technology to sort of the environment overall. I mean I think I have been surprised by sort of the resistance or the lack of awareness about resiliency as a framework or a paradigm to think through. What if you encounter it in the space also what do you think sort of potentially stopping things from moving more quickly in that direction? [0:26:08.6] AS: Well I would say that until about two years ago or something, tables of general feeling, “Hey guys, we know how to do detection. You’ve got at all these fancy ways of doing detection. Detection is going to work why do all this stuff,” you know? I think people are now beginning to feel that it is not working. I mean it works some of the time but not all the time and when it doesn’t work then we have a problem. So there was that kind of reluctance but there is a problem that people do have built in infrastructure. So somebody is having 10 layers of or 20 layers of detection working. Now they basically say, “Hey listen, these are things. Why am I going to do a new level of complexity or a different layer of complexity?” so there is that reluctance. It is for us to come forward with solutions and demonstrations and proof of concepts and be able to do and we are trying to do all this stuff. To basically convince people that we can actually provide this in a cost effective fashion. I submit to you that if you have several layers of defense, many of these layers may be actually contradictory to each other. If you use our approach, you may be able to drop some of these layers and hence, all our cost will actually go down. So there is this kind of – it is an ongoing effort.[0:27:32.2] AA: Yeah and I think you know, I certainly feel from a lot of individuals they do feel that complexity is just their drowning, right? But I think you are right where if you accept that you do have that water shed moment where you realize, “You know what? We can’t keep doing what we are doing” that is the definition of insanity, right? We have been trying this for a while and it’s not working. Well, let us try something else. And then when you start to unpack what the potential for that moving target or refreshing systems allow you to do, you realize that it is actually the idea of just starting a fresh every day makes things a lot simpler, right? Every day or every hour or whatever that dwell time target that you are shooting for, right? [0:28:20.6] AS: Right and so many times in their presentation, I ask a simple question. “How often do you restart your servers?” because one sure way of getting rid out of malware without having to do detection is to restart the server. So I ask the question, “How often do you do this?” and invariably the answer is very infrequently. [0:28:42.6] AA: Yeah, never would be mine. [0:28:44.7] AS: Yeah and the reason for that is there is a cost of back store and there is a legacy issue attached to it. If you look at this 10, 15 years ago, you brought up a server, you never knew what state the server is going to come up in. So starting, restarting a server is a big deal but it is not unusual though. So those kind of things have to be able to grow out of it. So now basically, we start the server with fairly high level of reliability. So those are the kind of things, which have stood in the way but you’re not do decline with this, developing and there is going to be more people doing this kind of stuff and they are actually five or six companies now, which are based on moving target defense and you seemed to have talked to some of them also so. [0:29:26.7] AA: Yeah, definitely. Yeah and I think in the world of cyber security and we’re often used the terms around disease a lot. We talk about viruses and malware and infections and compromise and all of these sorts of things that helps of systems and I think we are advancing in the business, in the industry and I think the more we move towards the complexity of systems and the approaches that you see effectively in medicine and in nature itself, right? I mean I think the idea of – I mean certainly a hospital, a cornerstone of their approach to battling disease is disposable stuff. I mean gloves and needles and surgical instruments, they realize that to keep things clean the easiest thing to do is not to try and figure out where all the diseases or viruses are but just to throw a lot of stuff away, which perhaps environmental issues with waste and whatnot but certainly has been very effective. And the more that they do that, the better they do from an infection perspective and it actually becomes quite a bit simpler, right? If you don’t have to think about scrubbing everything to the Nth degree. You should just use it once and toss it, right? [0:30:50.0] AS: I agree, this is a very good example. Many times, it is not worthwhile to do a complete diagnosis. I mean the way I look at it is suppose you are driving a boat. You are in a boat and you spring a leak, what do you think you want to do? Try to find out and do an in depth analysis of the leak or try to plug the damn thing? [0:31:09.8] AA: Yeah. [0:31:10.5] AS: So that you are trying to recover from it, recover from it and so only after you have had a chance to get back to shore will you do a deep analysis. That’s what we are recommending. [0:31:21.6] AA: Right and I think to six frame on that analogy right? I think this is a little bit like working in the tech space, right? It’s like you’re out on a lake in some sort of canoe. If you don’t, you don’t know when your canoe is going to spring a leak but as long as you know that you got a lot of friends in other canoes that you can jump into, you’re probably going to be okay, right?[0:31:43.8] AS: That’s right. [0:31:45.1] AA: And so yeah, the most important thing is to either have a lot of friends or own a canoe factory, right? [0:31:52.3] AS: That’s right but this is an example of we use these ideas. It is not that we go into with this ideas but we have to translate them to this cyber security space is what we need to do. [0:32:03.8] AA: Yeah, definitely. You know to sort of build on the advancement of this sector overall and I think one of the things that I am stunned by is the lack of really clear measurements for success of any of the approaches that have been up there. I mean I think if you think about detection, when you think about blocking attacks, you actually ask a lot of practitioners like, “What are you measuring when you get a huge amount of diversity of answers?”And in many cases, the answer is nothing really very precisely or accurately or things that are meaningful. I think one of the interesting things of how you approach is that you are focused on dwell time is something that is quite measurable. Talk me through how you think about measuring success and whatnot. [0:32:59.2] AS: Yeah, that’s a very good question. The point basically is many of the detection approaches, the point is you have to take a lot of things on freight and by the way, this is okay. We do this on a regular basis but the point is, if you are going to use AI techniques there is a problematic character to them and that problematic character many times you are not able to quantify them adequately. I have been driven by the notion that we should be able to say quite explicitly what we are doing not making it fuzzy. And that is the reason we have talked about all of these idea. We are being very explicit. “Okay, your dwell time is going to be so much. Your throttling time, the time it’s going to take, the throttle will take based on such and such way." So all these are deterministic ideas but they have pretty low value and if we can combine them with ideas, which are more problemistic, I think we’ll have a good joint effort in this case.[0:34:01.6] AA: Yeah and I think being so explicit about what are we trying to improve here and what are we giving you here. You know, whenever someone says that they’re meeting 10 I mean gosh, seven, eight, nine things right? Let alone like you when you start thinking about we’re aligning to 23 different things. It is sort of like more than I can count on maybe one hand and maybe not even using all the fingers there that seems reasonable, right? If you have so many things that you are trying to focus on typically you are not doing – you are not really moving the needle on most of them, potentially all of them. [0:34:41.4] AS: Yeah but it is acting, that is a valid part but have on the justice, yes. The complexity is even more of a problem. So if you are the US Government, you can go around having 20 layers of defense. Okay, then what about this guy who runs a company, which has got $10 million of revenue a year? He can have these levels of defenses right? [0:35:04.3] AA: Right. [0:35:04.9] AS: So what are we going to do? Are we going to protect these guys or what? So I am suggesting is and that is why many of these have migrated into the cloud. So that is why the rationalization and what SCIT does should be helpful. So we have actually tried to do some of these, we are talking to a few people who have several who’s customers are small and they have Drupal websites or they have WordPress websites. And so we think that that maybe some place, which we want to explore. We can be doing much more for the bigger customers but we also want to support the guys who are smaller and are growing. Does that make sense? [0:35:45.5] AA: Yeah and so just to be really clear, if someone is undertaking this approach, what would you point to as saying, “Okay here is where you were now. Essentially your dwell time is potentially unlimited” or whatever you’re going back to kind of your – should you ask how often are you restarting these servers, right? Your restart with this force in a reconnection from everyone, right? You are saying, “Okay I am going to move your dwell time to whatever the refresh cycle is that you have chosen.” A day, a few hours, whatever that target is potentially as low as 90 seconds and then also you can throttle the flow of data to whatever you think is reasonable for those business. Those are the main measures that you would say these are the things that we are targeting to a brew or are there others outside of this? [0:36:39.8] AS: I think especially for small customers, small users I think those are the two principle things, which we would still recommend that you start with. So as we learn about these things more, we will act to these set of things but that’s where we think we should start.[0:36:56.8] AA: And let’s talk about what it takes to undertake this approach. So your technology is just at the software layer, right? Does it necessarily require any additional hardware? [0:37:07.5] AS: Correct. [0:37:08.4] AA: And we have talked a little bit, you had mentioned the level of use of the different servers like how much utilization they were seeking. [0:37:15.6] AS: You’re right, so if you want to talk about end premise systems and let’s say you are using VMware, which is utilized and stuffed and let’s say that you’re utilization of the server is less than 60% then you will not require any more hardware to implement what we do but if your utilization is more than 80%, then you may need additional hardware. But most places, which we have talked to they don’t have – they are closer to 50, 60% rather than to 80% that’s actual. [0:37:54.6] AA: Got you and then from a throttle perspective, you are just choosing that throttle based on what typical usage is, right? Or whatever the – [0:38:03.2] AS: Yes. [0:38:03.7] AA: Got you.[0:38:04.4] AS: So you’ll effectively – you are user, the guy who designed the system knows that you will be getting to a separate website, that is going to tell you how much of data is going to be downloaded on any query from there, you can tell how much of bandwidth you need and then you can choose your throttle time in consultation with the customer. [0:38:25.2] AA: Got you and then you think that there are certainly they’re like the normal patterns that you see in organizations okay, right? Most of the time where we’re just doing 10 megabits per second or whatever it is but maybe let’s say you are holding a big event and so suddenly you’ve posted a lot of materials on your website that people are downloading. How do you think about assist and then now people need to download this much larger files so that traffic is really spiking? [0:38:56.9] AS: Yes. I think what you are basically saying is that you may need multiple parts into the system, one part for the conventional user but then there could be some people who are doing their additional work and because they are doing additional work, they may need to lure download bigger files and you need to get them another part and on that part, your throttle times will be different. [0:39:20.9] AA: Yeah, exactly or just the experience is not normally distributed, right? If you think of a retailer where all of the activity happens in the holiday Christmas season, right? So bandwidth is just exploding, usage is exploding in a certain few or like Amazon day, I forgot what it is, Prime day right? You think through that. How do you think through that, is this designed in the system in that way? Can you just as simple to toggle of the volumes on a certain day or are there other options? =[0:39:54.4] AS: Well, I think this one idea of a throttle has to accommodate what the user requirements are. So you may have a bunch of users, you may be able to do something by which you tell them the throttle to the user. A user comes in, “You know that this was going to go to this website, this website, this website.” So the throttle would be different then somebody has to go to another website. So you can do all of that. Our implementation currently is a single throttle time but these are the kind of things which we need to extend our system to.[0:40:35.1] AA: Yeah, well Arun, I want to be thoughtful about time because you have been great in terms of walking through a lot of different questions about how your technology works and the application of it really enjoyed you doing that. If people want to learn more about what you’ve been up to and other resources about resiliency and moving target defense, anything that you’d recommend we can put links to stuff on the show notes. [0:41:00.4] AS: So you can go to scitlabs.com is our website and this is scitlabs.com is a website, which you can go to. We have links to several whitepapers. We have analyzed for example the worst breaches in the last decade and tried to show how our approach would have worked in those cases. There is a lot of stuff there and of course, you could always get hold of me and I can answer more questions. [0:41:29.7] AA: Cool. Well, Arun thank you so much. I really enjoyed this. Yeah we’ll check back in and see how things are going over the coming months and years too. Thank you so much. [0:41:38.5] AS: Very good, thanks very much. I surely enjoyed this. This is fun. [END]

Introduction: Welcome back my friends to Real Estate REality Check. Today we have with us the legendary Bob Knakal, a man who has turned his relentless passion and once stellar pitching career at the University of Pennsylvania - along with two mistakes, one regarding a job interview for his freshman summer internship and the other, asking a real estate owner back when there was no such thing as Google Maps or Waze where 52 Vanderbilt in New York City was - to have formed the groundbreaking Massey Knakal Realty Services. In the earlier part of the decade, he and Paul Massey later sold Massey Knakal to Cushman and Wakefield, where Bob became Chairman of New York Investment Sales. In the fall of 2018, Bob took his talents, along with the vast majority of his team, to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), where he is the Chairman of New York Investment Sales.   Episode Notes: At 1:53, Bob Knakal shares what he learned from his early days in the real estate industry, and admits that he made many mistakes along the way, but fortunately did not make them more than once. At 2:58, Knakal notes that his move to JLL has been great and could not be happier, but calls it difficult and challenging in the same breath. At 3:57, he reveals his “oh my” moment, the second deal that Paul Massey, CEO of B6 Real Estate Advisors, and Bob closed when they were “kids.” At 6:29, Knakal believes that the best way to be a hustler is to get to sleep early. Bob speaks highly of his relationship with broker coach Rod Santomassimo (listen to Podcast Episode 016). At 8:57, he advises that there are 165,000 investment properties in New York City, and talks about the territory system he and Paul implemented at Massey Knakal (and how they learned early on that they were in “the information business, not the real estate business”). At 10:34, Knakal describes his goals and aspirations for the JLL investment sales platform. At 11:24, he mentions that doing the right thing, along with possessing integrity and honesty, forms the backbone of both business and life. At 13:09, Knakal talks about the importance of goal setting – writing goals down, focusing on the goals all the time, and having the discipline to achieve them. At 14:01, he touches upon discipline once again, and remaining true to your core values. At 15:46, Knakal notes that when hiring, Massey Knakal looked for “PHDs” (i.e., those that were poor, hungry and driven individuals who were motivated and hungry to succeed). At 18:08, he provides a brief synopsis on the state of the investment sales market in NYC. At 21:19, Knakal discusses employee mentoring and business coaching, and said that “helping people you work with should be a part of any platform.” At 22:48, he shares that he turned down a private office at JLL, and instead sits in the middle of the bullpen with the “troops.” At 23:19, Knakal compares the world with and without social media and technology, and believes that the brokerage business will fundamentally change within the next 20 years (or sooner). At 26:22, he provides some negotiating pointers, and notes that brokers need to realize that they are the intermediary in a real estate deal. At 27:55, Knakal talks about finding the balance between family, community and work. At 33:21, he explains doing by trial and error early on in his career, and not having the foresight to ask people who have been there and done that for advice. At 35:32, Bob Knakal closes the door on the podcast with a message on learning how to be likeable, as people in business tend to work with people that they like. He strongly believes that courses on likeability, selling and persuasion should be taught formally in an educational setting.

Introduction Welcome to the Master Photography Roundtable part of the Master Photography Podcast Network!  You are joined by thousands of photographers listening to this show who are all on the same journey to master their photography.  I am Brent Bergherm, the host for this episode and today I’m joined by Levi Sim Levi, welcome to the show. So today’s topic… ... The post Best 9 and Portfolios with Levi Sim appeared first on Master Photography Podcast.

Call In Show You’re listening to the Master Photography Podcast.  {pause 10 seconds} Introduction Welcome to the Master Photography Roundtable part of the Master Photography Podcast Network!  You are joined by thousands of photographers listening to this show who are all on the same journey to master their photography.  I am Brent Bergherm, the host for this episode, and this ... The post Call-in Show: Listeners Join with their questions appeared first on Master Photography Podcast.

Brent, Jeff, and Connor talk about some personal projects that keep them going and help them continue to master their photography Resources: Brent’s Original Post on the topic: https://brentbergherm.com/special-project-protea-chop/ https://brentbergherm.com/special-project-2-oblivion/ https://brentbergherm.com/the-poplars/ Connor’s links: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/553200fae4b097f308057f35/565208cfe4b0280166988ab6/5bca1d7f7817f79f2a8dd63a/1539972483895/Tiffany+Composite+Final-WEB+1.jpg https://static1.squarespace.com/static/553200fae4b097f308057f35/565208cfe4b0280166988ab6/59c012732278e7f0d66a54cc/1517846567308/Composite+Final+WEB-1.jpg https://static1.squarespace.com/static/553200fae4b097f308057f35/565208cfe4b0280166988ab6/5a25eac324a694db5acc59af/1512434393035/Hanna+D+Session+High+Res-3.jpg http://www.connorhibbs.photography/product-personalwork https://static1.squarespace.com/static/553200fae4b097f308057f35/565208cfe4b0280166988ab6/5a788112e4966bf9cea84077/1517847106624/Caitlin+Badinger-WEB-08.jpg Jeff’s Link: https://www.jsharmonphotos.com/gameday Introduction Welcome to the Master Photography Roundtable part of the Master Photography Podcast Network!  You are joined by thousands ... The post Personal Projects to push creativity and learning appeared first on Master Photography Podcast.

INTRODUCTION Welcome, once again, to Grace Church’s annual missions week. Let’s take a moment to thank the entire missions team for working so hard to put this together for us. And let’s take a moment to thank Kyle in particular for the countless hours of prayer and leadership that he put in to make this Read more about Missions Within the Greatest Story[…]

Canon EOS R System in-depth Resources: Canon produced videos introducing the system and giving tons of detail. https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/explore/product-showcases/cameras-and-lenses/full-frame-mirrorless-system/videos?cm_sp=full-frame-mirrorless-_-overview-spot-_-videos Introduction Welcome to the Master Photography Roundtable part of the Master Photography Podcast Network!  You are joined by thousands of photographers listening to this show who are all on the same journey to master their photography.  I am Brent Bergherm, the host ... The post Canon EOS R System in-depth appeared first on Master Photography Podcast.

This episode is full of great tips and golden nuggets for students and parents as they head back to school. Show Notes: 00:01 - Introduction/Welcome 2:00 Get to know our guest, Nkenge Bergan 13:15 - Sometimes impacting youth is impacting adults 15:40 - Great Back to School Tips mtzionkalamazoo.org

Introduction: Welcome to the second episode of our 2018 mini-series, “Victorian Adaptations / Adapting the Victorians”! Today, we’re going to talk about Victorian Medievalism, focusing on poetry. As mentioned in the first episode of the mini-series, the Victorians adapted all sorts of things, from Greek …

Introduction: Welcome to the second episode of our 2018 mini-series, “Victorian Adaptations / Adapting the Victorians”! Today, we’re going to talk about Victorian Medievalism, focusing on poetry. As mentioned in the first episode of the mini-series, the Victorians adapted all sorts of things, from Greek…

Jeff hosts with Connor at the roundtable to talk about 3 point lighting.  They cover key/fill/hair lighting, how they should be positioned, how they should be powered, and why a photographer would want to use a 3 point lighting setup. Introduction Welcome to the Master Photography Roundtable part of the Master Photography Podcast Network!  You are joined by thousands of ... The post 3 Point Lighting Explained! appeared first on Master Photography Podcast.

Introduction – Welcome to Furious Fridays Imagine you are a child North Korea - After school (which is mostly propaganda to solidify your ruler), 10 years mandatory military service No option to accumulate anything No way to start a business No way to buy your home Never own a car, telephone, or travel overseas Constantly looking over your shoulder, similar to Soviet Russia, 1 in 10 were government informants South Korea - Whatever you want – get a degree, buy a home South Korea out produces North Korea’s economic output by 37 times - $33,400 vs $1,800 GDP per capita (that is, per person) Live 10 years longer in south, infant mortality is almost 7 times lower So, what makes them so different? Capitalism!   Let’s look at the history: Korea WW2 – Japanese colony, then split North/South with Russia and America Korean War – June 25, 1950 North invaded south with Russian aid, America stepped in, demolished north with firebombs, they surrendered North – history – state run economy – founded by Kim Jung-il’s grandfather South – History – adopted capitalist ideas Capitalism is characterized in the following ways: It is a market-based economy made up of buyers (eg. People) and sellers (eg. Companies). The goods and services that are produced are intended to make a profit, and this profit is reinvested into the economy. The market (people buying & selling) determines investments, production, distribution and decisions the forces of supply and demand There is a need for continual production and purchase for a capitalistic economy to operate efficiently.   Capitalism provides a system that create incentives and efficiencies What are incentives? – Rewards for your effort Not a zero-sum game – earn more, keep it, and use it as you want If someone can take your stuff, why bother? What capitalism provides: Inclusive system FREEDOM! - Why is it important? Allows improvement, and people to dream of betterment. Protection! - Why start a business, or take risk, if it can be taken or taxed away from you? The easier it is, the safer, the more you trust the system, and others trust you in the system, then easy! The political System - Inclusive Vs Extractive systems Needs to be Inclusive - Equality of opportunity – everyone has the same rights Inclusive - Opportunity providing Lack of interference – restrictions (regulations) Reduced barriers to entry, freedoms/opportunity - laws Non-exploitive (Extractive) – shouldn’t take from some to give to others What inclusive systems have– what incentivises should be available Property rights - keep what you own Ownership of what you own and purchase, Patents and intellectual property Legal system - protect what you have, you know deals will be honoured Contracts and Borrowing capabilities = TRUST in the system – Economy is built on confidence Public services – Well functioning state Infrastructure – Roads, transport, water, power, etc Legal system enforced All are needed simultaneously! What doesn’t work – Extractive systems – Socialism   Extraction from the productive is a race to the bottom – history repeatedly shows this. Extractive – the more it is, more people will fight over it. Dictatorships and democracy are both fought over Example - Proof – Christianity hasn’t had a major war since churches power was separated from the state. Other parts of the world where Government and Religion are one and the same aren’t as peaceful. Dictatorships – violent overthrows, for power state has. At least they are public about it, as there is little the public can do to get them out beyond another violent overthrow – rinse and repeat Democracy – trash talk about the opponents, depending on conspiracy level – shady behind the scenes like “House of Cards”. Incentives – They are the thing that makes you want to do things. Example – state run systems – ‘they pretend to pay us, so we pretend to work’ Property rights – providing people of China with property rights If profits are the purpose of capitalism, is this immoral? Capitalism is painted as heartless, but nobody wants to see the poor suffer. Those that want to provide for the poor through taking what the wealthy have, stand on a moral position of wishes….and theft Example - You bring bubble-gum to the class – you better have enough for everyone? But why? What if you worked mowing lawns as a kid to buy gum, when others in the class didn’t? Renee (shout out!) – her niece is 8, and makes shirts, and sells them to earn her money for roller skates, rather than asking her parents. Now makes and sells healthy muffins each afternoon after school. That is what kids need to learn, as she will likely be successful! Ask yourself – What is greedier – Keeping what you have earned, or demanding someone else provide for you with what they earn? Importantly, what has been proven to reduce poverty? Capitalism The more capitalism produces = more things, the more things we have, the lower prices are and easier they are to get! The more things being made, the more people need to be employed, so lower unemployment. These two together is what reduces poverty in the long term – but takes time Not as easy as the Venezuela model of reducing poverty by 50% - by stealing But no further redistributions – as all the wealth is gone What is better? One that provides lower costs for things, more welfare (as more tax to redistribute), and greater employment opportunities through freedom of opportunity? Society is a sum of all the individuals in it – If everyone is doing better, then so does society! Need for Inclusive System – Thankfully we have one of those, some extractive elements, but not enough. System that allows for individual choice, and incentives to the individual to increase their wealth. Inclusive - Equality of opportunity – everyone has access, same rights, no preferences - Property rights – Legal system - Public services Next part we will run through how to prosper in this system – if you understand demand and how to create this for yourself, or something you produce, you will increase your wealth! Thanks for listening! Head to https://financeandfury.com.au/contact/ to leave a question, or send in some feedback

Introduction Welcome back to the AIB show notes! I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. If you get that reference, you’re doing better than James, who isn’t what I’d call a “Potterhead.” As you have probably guessed already, Jeremy is missing again this week. It turns out that Thanos is a comic book character created for Marvel Comics, so what he does in the Infinity War was just for pretend. I guess those rumours of my death were greatly exaggerated. This episode is all about un-business, the things that the hosts do to relax. The Show Since this is an episode about hobbies, you can bet that Kevin talks about his hobby-horse, woodworking. James has recently discovered his own hobbies of close-up magic and card collecting. Rob and James go down a very weird rabbit trail of David Blaine conspiracy theories. Well, just one theory, really, the one that says Mr. Blaine has been possessed by a Satan. Apparently his wizardry is such that Rob feels the only possible explanation is demonic possession. When he’s not pivoting, Rob loves to fly fish. He suggests that fly fishing is so multi-faceted that you’ll enjoy it even if you don’t like murdering fish. Do you like making things? You can tie flies. Do you like drinking while operating a boat? You can drink and float down a river. Do you like to be out in nature? Where do you think they fish? Kevin tries not to get teary-eyed while discussing his new hobby of gardening, and Rob tries to help him explain why growing vegetables that are probably going to be chucked anyway is so meaningful. Perhaps in order to connect with Rob and Kevin on a natural level, James makes up a story about growing up in the country. Of course he insists that it’s completely true, but, like Kevin and Rob, I have my doubts. Finally, Kevin and Rob try to decide which Harry Potter wizard house James belongs to. Rob is pretty insistent that James would be Ravenclaw, while Kevin maintains that he would be Gryffindor. This is the kind of hard-hitting journalism and discussion that I’ve come to expect from this show. Our Recommendations Do you want to get into woodworking? Yeah, me neither, but if you DID want to risk cutting off useful appendages just to make Christmas gifts that family members are probably going throw away, Kevin has a recommendation; buy a jigsaw. For less than $50 at most home improvement stores, you get a saw that can make most of the cuts you need for small-scale projects. Jigsaws are also handheld tools, and so they take up very little space in your garage or other workspace. If you’re a playing card nut like James, you might like his recommendation, playingcarddecks.com. Specifically, he likes their Pip Box Subscription, which is a fancy way of saying Deck of the Month club. Every month a curated number of playing card decks will be sent to your door. Talk about convenience! I’m just kidding, that sounds awful. I can’t wait till we hit the cultural backlash against subscription services. You can get a subscription service for literally anything you consume. It’s a bit ridiculous. I’ve saved the best recommendation for last. AIB’s very own Rob Alderman has offered to take our five listeners fly fishing. All you have to do is make your way to South Eastern Tennessee and reach out to him. Of course, this recommendation would be a lot better if Rob were willing to pay your travel expenses. Now that I think about it, Rob may just be a lonely fly fisher. Maybe this is just a sad man’s cry for friends.

Introduction Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about the book One for the Murphy's Topic 1 What would change if Carley told the social worker the truth? Topic 2 Do you think that you can make a connection to this book? Topic 3 If Lynda Mullaly hunt was to make a part two to this book what would be in it? What was your favorite part with no spoilers? What part did you dislike about this book? What were your first impressions on Carley? Conclusion Thanks for listening 

Introduction Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about the vocabulary project. Topic 1 Explain how it works We had 10 terms and 9 different choices to choose from to show our learning The only requirement was you had to explain the 10 terms Here are the different projects FlipBook Foldable Dictionary Sort IT Crossword Puzzle Create a connection Free Space Illustrations Acrostic Poem The same and opposite Riddle me this? Topic 2 What’s our favorite project and how it works Topic 3  how this helped us and how it could help others How did you feel about that? Did you need teacher help Also, did you have to learn the tool by yourself? Conclusion Thank you   Link to Student Examples and/or Teacher directions   Example 1 https://zachariahduschik66.wixsite.com/vocabulary

Who are you in your industry? Prospector. Defender. Analyzer. Reactor. Introduction: Welcome to the DAC Podcast! If you are listening, then I know you are an ambitious business owner who wants to grow her business and learn more about how business works. Thank you for joining me today! DAC Happenings: If you are new around here, I wanted to let you know about a few things. First, if you aren’t following me on social media, please do! I mainly post on Instagram and on insta stories, so you can find me @dac_balance_llc. Also, please come and join our community! It is a group of female business owners who are looking to grow professionally and personally and are there to learn from each other. Feel free to join. You can join by going to my website at lydiagmiller.com and on the right hand side click ‘Join the DAC Community.’ We would love to have you! Now let’s get into the content. Content: In episode 7, we talked about different ways to create a strategy. Those ways were just the generic strategies and some were strategies that we don’t want to have. Today, we are going to answer the question ‘Who are you in your industry?’ I really do think that everyone has a place in their industry and a client to serve, but I think thbat people don’t know what lane they should be in or how to stay there. The comparison game is strong, and that only hurts you in business. I put on the dac Instagram the other day this quote which I think is so true ‘The fastest way to fail in business is to be just like someone else.’ Today we are going to look through 4 different types of business owners and business personalities, and then decide which one that your business is. The four types are Prospector. Defender. Analyzer. Reactor. First, the prospect. According to Google, the definition of a prospector is ‘the possibility or likelihood of some future event occurring.” So a prospector is someone who is always looking at the possibility or the likelihood of a future event happening. I’m sure you can think of a company like this. A company that is always changing, they are highly committed to researching and developing new ideas. They are at the cutting edge. You look to them to see where the industry is going. And they spend a whole lot of money on it. Some of the big companies in this industry are pharmeseutical companies. They’re trying to be on the cutting edge of medicine, creating new treatments and putting current technology out of date. You read about them in magazines and online about all the crazy things they are doing. If you want your business to be a prospector, then hear me out, you don’t always win if this is the role you want to take on. A few of the down sides is that to be on the cutting edge, it takes money and time. Even in my industry, if I want to stay on top of or create new tool for bookkeepers to use, that is going to take time and resources. The payoff isn’t always there, which is the hard reality behind this. Second, we have the Defender. This company has a mature product or they are in a mature industry. Like the name sounds, they are just trying to defend the market position that they have and their customers that are loyal to them. They will often do this through having a low cost or having something about them that’s different and that no one else can copy. If you are in a mature market or industry, don’t try to copy another company and think that you are going to take enough market share from them to sustain your company. It’s not going to happen, customers are going to see through that and will know if you copied someone else’s idea. Part of the defender strategy is that you might be consolidating other businesses. Bookkeeping would fall into this category. A good strategy for a bookkeeper who is looking for more clients, is to approach a business with an owner looking to retire and see if they are ready to give up any of their current clients. Most businesses won’t change bookkeepers on their own, but their bookkeeper might be ready to retire. The third type is the Analyzer. This type of company is not going to be the industry leader like the prospector company is. This type of company is looking to differentiate itself by some way. Think about restaurants. You can get a burger at almost any restaurant you go to. It’s how they market and what position they take is the difference. You can go to a fast food place and get a burger, and even among those companies, you can have differences. Wendy’s serves fresh burgers, Mcdonald’s are super fast, Crystal’s has the sliders. Then you can go to a sit down restaurant. We have a place here in Pensacola called The Tin Cow and you can create your own burger, there’s another place we like called Union Public House and you can get a boar’s burger. All different restaurants, and none of them are going to be the industry leader in hamburgers. But, they are all analyzers and they have taken a different angle on creating a burger. They all have a market share because of that. If this is where your business is, think about the strengths and what people buy most from you. That’s your golden egg. Perfect that and you will have your ideal customer flocking to you. Fourth, is the Reactor. This is just what it sounds like, a company that reacts to what the industry is doing instead of trying to be ahead or different. This company does not want to be number one in their industry, they just want to survive. This company will sit back, relax and let other companies do the research and watch and see what works and what doesn’t work. Then, once they find that out, they will also move into that industry. This would be like most cell phone companies are now. Apple and Samsung are leading the way, and now you can get off brand type phones because Apple and Samsung have already proven that the market wants it and that they can be profitable on it. Store brands typically start out this way and generic items do as well. If you own a retail store, this is a great position to hold. If you see new products coming through that you aren’t sure about, wait and see what the market does with it. If it picks up and sustains, that might be a great opportunity to create a similar product without imposing on their trademarks or patents.   Action Steps: So who are you in your industry? Have you been spending your time on one area that you shouldn’t be spending time on? Have you been spending time being a prospector instead of a defender? Or should you be a reactor and let other companies absorb the high costs of r&d? If you are in the facebook group, I want to hear from you! Comment on the post and tell me about your business and what position you are taking. Call to Action-DAC. If you are listening to this when it releases, I am about 3 weeks out from finishing another semester. I am taking economics and finance right now and am ready to move onto my summer classes and graduation in December. I hope you heard something here today to help you focus in on what you should be doing in  your business and have heard something that will help you move forward in your business this week. Don’t forget, that I would love to work with you. I offer strategy sessions for business owners who are looking to grow, but need a second set of eyes on their business to help them see the big picture. If you are interested, please email me at lydia@dacbalance.com I hope you have a productive week.

“Introduction: Welcome to our Podcast. Subscribe & Enjoy!

Introduction Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about stop-motion videos. Topic 1 Pick an object (suggested whiteboards, play-do, posable figures) Take a series of photos moving the object slightly between each picture. The more pictures the better! Topic 2 Upload the photos to WeVideo, put them in the order you want by dragging them to one of the video lines on the bottom of the page.   Make them shorter by grabbing the end of each clip and sliding it backward. This is the step that makes it look like the object is moving on its own. Topic 3 You can add an intro, music, or an ending for effect Conclusion If you follow these simple steps, you will get a great stop motion video. The samples attached show you a variety of methods and objects. Opinions about the project   Link to Student Examples and/or Teacher directions   Example 1 https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=PD0-vmHrXZ4 Example 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AryVpwPJDTo Example 3 https://youtu.be/U06Nw_v91tM

Introduction -Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about how to prepare for the air test.  Topic 1 Our first way to prepare for the AIR test is having Good study habits- study the recommended amount of time. When you study make sure that you are understanding  what your studying you welcome study vocab.com, study your ELA journal literacy terms. , study flashcard Topic 2 How to prepare at home, eat a good breakfast, go to bed at a reasonable hour. The night before you can study and go over everything so you are ready the next day. And if you had any recent tests you can study the questions you missed. Topic 3 How to prepare at school, pay attention, follow directions, good mindset, ask questions, and if you need to you can go over some things with a teacher/buddy. Conclusion There are many ways to prepare for the air test and those were a few of them.   In conclusion, it's a great idea to have good study habits, prepare at home, and prepare at school. Thank you for listening to the PLSD middle school CHATS.

Introduction Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about what our class and school did with the Olympics. Topic 1 Door decorating contest Flags Torch    Ceremony Topic 2 What did you do in your own classroom? Blizzard Bag Slideshow Debate Video Chat with an athlete Topic 3 Hockey and Speed skating competition Conclusion Ending Ceremony- Everyone got medals for placing in competitions Opinions  

Introduction Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about what our class and school did with the Olympics. Topic 1 Door decorating contest Flags Torch    Ceremony Topic 2 What did you do in your own classroom? Blizzard Bag Slideshow Debate Video Class From an athlete  Topic 3 Hockey and Speed skating competition Conclusion Ending Ceremony- Everyone got medals for placing in competitions Opinions  

Introduction Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about the I teach Lesson. Topic 1 How subjects were picked, didn’t have to be academic, planning of the lesson Topic 2 Lessons were in the gym, presented to small groups of students who chose to learn about that topic Topic 3 presentations could be slides, posters, hands-on, informative Conclusion Our opinions of Teaching the Class   Link to Student Examples and/or Teacher directions Directions https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L8vufNreC59OAifX1GCLYi6qPvSe6Z8D/view?usp=sharing Google Form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KN6ETtM6F6WQEIMmfFdGBs2ZX9aSQ_y_WizH9Y2h1uw/copy Student Example 1 https://youtu.be/jHhWbrDd0DA Student Example 2 https://youtu.be/wX6vmAImq9k Student Example 3 https://youtu.be/dgMgm8i9QtA Student Example 4 https://youtu.be/euXgZQNDAo0 Student Example 5 https://youtu.be/r1lA8X4e5n0

Introduction Welcome! We’re glad you're listening to PLSD Middle School Chats. Today we will be talking about our mood assignment using Docutube . Topic 1 Mood is the overall feeling or atmosphere of a text.   Our teacher wants us to think of emojis when reminded of mood. Topic 2 Some examples are angry, sad, funny, serious, happy and terrified Topic 3 Our assignment was to create a document using a movie clip and song from youtube and determined the mood of the video.   Docutube is an add-on that shows the videos you linked in the document and it shows the videos on the right side. Conclusion This has been Karleigh, Aubrey, and Annie.  Thanks for listening.   Link to Student Examples and/or Teacher directions   Directions and Examples https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f2vsqa2gqihc1Tm02ndTOnFomgBlcHW7k4d9NlxuLhY/edit?usp=sharing

INTRODUCTION: Welcome to what I consider to be the hardest portion in 1 and 2 Samuel to interpret. What might have been a fairly straight forward chapter in ancient times is to us a glaring affront of human rights violations. Our sensibilities are assaulted as we hear about the children and grandchildren of Saul being killed for Saul’s sin. We are horrified as we hear about David allowing the Gibeonites to impale/hang 7 of Saul’s descendants as an act of justice. Our pity is stirred to anger at the mourning of Rizpah, and we are finally bamboozled when we see God accepts this act and responds by sending rain, v14. Let me say to you now that we will not find all the answers we would like as we look at this portion. I will attempt to help us see why some of these things were necessary but it seems that the chapter has been written for the point of disturbing us. The seriousness of sin and the goriness of atonement must inevitably be the lingering impressions from this portion. A quick word about context before we look at Saul’s sin, David’s payment, and Rizpah’s mourning. These last chapters of second Samuel have a very deliberate structure to them. They have an ABCCBA pattern. They begin with a judgement upon Saul’s sin that gets atonement, and they end with a judgement on David’s sin which gets atonement. Then we have two reports on David’s mighty men and in the middle are two of David’s songs. It is important to note that the story of this portion is not intended to be read chronologically after the putting down of the rebellion of Sheba. Verse 1 begins talking about ‘a famine in the days of David.’ Apart from the fact that we... Read More Source

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Introduction • Welcome

Episode 1: Introduction & Welcome

Introduction Welcome to Week #5 Not your typical interview with a money manager Quick tip 1/3rd of semester is done already! Check your grades! Midterms a comin’ Start the dialogue now with Profs if you... The post Episode 50: John Pugliano on Investing, Apprenticeship, and the Millionaire Next Door appeared first on College Student Success Podcast.

Introduction Welcome to Week #4 The lifelong learner concept Quick tip It’s all about the professor. Don’t just sign up for a course with a professor you’ve never heard of if at all possible. How... The post Episode #49: Online Learning for College Students, What Sucks, What Can Be Done appeared first on College Student Success Podcast.

CIP S1E28 | Steven Meurrens. http://wp.me/p6wMQg-nq Introduction: Welcome to Steven Meurrens. Well respected immigration lawyer practicing with the law firm of Larlee Rosenberg in Vancouver, British Columbia. The firm focuses on all areas of Canadian immigration law. Advising local and multinational corporations on the movement of key employees, and individuals and families who dream of building a future in Canada. Steven is a Partner in the firm with significant experience representing corporate and individual clients in obtaining visas and permits for many business-related purposes. In addition to his business immigration practice, Steven has extensive experience in family-based immigration matters AND a very active practice assisting people who have been denied entry to Canada and to those whom have had visa applications refused. He has appeared before the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Federal Court. Steven is the Chair of the Canadian Bar Association of British Columbia’s Immigration Subsection. He is a published columnist, a regular panelist at immigration law conferences, and is the author of a very widely read blog on Canadian immigration law called Meurrens on Immigration which we will talk about in a little bit. QUESTION: How did you get into immigration? QUESTION: Can you tell us a little about your Blog? I am also delighted to hear that you are also wading into the wonderful world of Podcasting. QUESTION: Can you tell us a little bit about your Podcast? Focus on the legal side of immigration  and delve into the wonderful world of administrative law in the context of Canadian immigration applications. . If you recall, one of Steven’s specific focuses within his practice is assisting people who have been denied entry to Canada or to those who have had visa applications refused. Challenging an officer’s decision is not always an easy thing. Sometimes, there are clear pathways with fairly well defined appeal mechanisms. However, in many cases, the only recourse is to seek redress through Federal Court. When challenging an officer’s decision in Federal Court, administrative law principles are triggered.  Today I have invited Steven to join me to help clear up, if possible this very confusion area of immigration law……..in essence this is really the core of what immigration “law” is all about. Why is it so dang hard to challenge an officer’s decision? 1)      The discretion that visa officers have when assessing applications, including: ∙         Immigration law is a subset of administrative law; ∙         Visa officers, port of entry officers, and even summer students are administrative tribunals; ∙         They have a wide range of discretion; and ∙         There is often not a right answer to a case. Rather, there is a range of possible answers. 2)      Fettering discretion. ∙         That officers cannot fetter their discretion by relying on manuals as if they are law.   ∙         The tension that this produces between courts who view visa officers essentially the same as they view the Immigration and Refugee Board vs. program officers who view themselves as implementing and administering departmental programs. 3)      Standard of Review ∙         Questions of fact. ∙         Questions of law. ∙         My Gupta as an example. ∙         The Koo example of where there can be problems if officers have discretion in the interpretation of law.  4)      Tran ∙         The FCA decision in Tran. ∙         A review of the problems with the Tran decision as identified by Paul Daly http://www.administrativelawmatters.com/blog/2015/11/13/a-snapshot-of-whats-wrong-with-canadian-administrative-law-mpsep-v-tran-2015-fca-237/ ∙         Plug that I’ll be back on when Tran is released. QUESTION: how can people reach you? Thanks for being on the Podcast Steven. Helpful Links: How you can reach Steven Meurrens: steven.meurrens@larlee.com Larlee Rosenberg: http://www.larlee.com/ Steven’s Blog – “Meurrens on Immigration”: http://meurrensonimmigration.com/ Important Case Discussed in this Episode: MPSEP v. Tran (2015 FCA 237): http://bit.ly/2ajifyo One of Steven’s Successful cases at the Federal Court: Gupta v. Canada (2015 FC 1086): http://bit.ly/2authy4

  Welcome to Episode 1: Introduction Welcome to my Podcast. As a professional Naturopath and Nutritional Therapist I have a wide variety of natural tools I use in my sessions with clients. I love to share my recipes, insights and knowledge here on loulantural.com. Evolving to also recording a podcast has always been on the … Continue reading Episode 1 Introduction Loula Natural Health Connections → The post Episode 1 Introduction Loula Natural Health Connections appeared first on Loula Natural.

  Welcome to Episode 1: Introduction Welcome to my Podcast. As a professional Naturopath and Nutritional Therapist I have a wide variety of natural tools I use in my sessions with clients. I love to share my recipes, insights and knowledge here on loulantural.com. Evolving to also recording a podcast has always been on the … Continue reading Episode 1 Introduction Loula Natural Health Connections → The post Episode 1 Introduction Loula Natural Health Connections appeared first on Loula Natural.

Chadwick Ginther is back this week to drink The Last Strawberry witbier from Fuggles & Warlock. We chatted about the perks of going on a book tour (scotch) and the cons (suitcases full of books), comics, lightsaber battles and much more. Show Notes 00:00 – Introduction – Welcome to Bruv Chat 01:15 – The Last […] The post Episode 150: That Author Life with Chadwick Ginther appeared first on Pub Chat.

American Ninja Warrior’s Wolfpack Ninjas: an Introduction Welcome to the first episode of our Wolfpack...

You’re in the right place if you’re open to seeing things a bit differently and also experiencing life fully through all your senses, especially your intuition. Sarah and I will walk you through an audio experience of Martha Beck’s Finding Your Way in a Wild New World: Reclaim Your True Nature to Create The Life you Want. I believe that our new revolution is Evolution. You can create your wild new world; we’ll show you how to begin. The future of our work provides daily meaning. We can work with a greater sense of purpose. So reduce the head noise, get some space and resonate instead. We’ll be with you the entire ride. Wishing you well now and all ways, Vivian   Week 1: Introduction Welcome, welcome! Today’s recording introduces you to us, explains how we ‘met’ Martha Beck and also gives you a glimpse at our personal rhinoceros stories. Have you contemplated your own rhinoceros story? Try not to trick yourself into thinking you don’t have one. Perhaps it may be beneficial to journal about it or share it with a friend. Xx, Sarah Learn more about Sarah here: www.sarahdietman.com or reach out to her at sarah@sarahdietman.com   Learn more about Vivian here: www.viviancarrasco.com Or reach out to her at vivian@viviancarrasco.com

Introduction Welcome to Consciously Healthy from Balanced Wellness. We are thrilled to be offering you regular tips and recommendations to support you on your journey to living a consciously healthy and fulfilled life. The post Podcast Introduction appeared first on Balanced Wellness - The Alternative Health Experts.

Introduction - Welcome to Episode 10 of the show! Rachel is the Acting Director and Host for this episode, joined in the studio by The Star Swordsman as Co-Host. Thomas is also part of the Radio Pixar team, and we welcome our new Editor, Brad. General Pixar news - Up preview screenings, Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek! roller-coaster opens in Tokyo Disneyland, Disney-Pixar's Greatest Hits CD release, Pixar goes to Germany and more! Trivia Question - We hope you've watched Toy Story lately! Forum Talk and Pixar Planet news - TSS and Rachel discuss a couple of topics that have gotten people talking over at the forums, as well as highlight an outstanding thread and fan creation. Plus an update on the news surrounding "the Planet". Happy birthday to our forum members! Round Table discussion (Part 2) - Last episode two special guests joined us to talk about all things Pixar, so here's the second half of the roundtable. Hosted by Thomas. Song request - Want to hear a song from any Pixar feature or short? Send us a line. 'Up Tour 2009' project - Hog-Hug had a chat with Radio Pixar about her fan project to give thanks to Pixar Animation Studios. Upcoming Pixar events and Pixarian birthdays - get ready to jot down information of the best events for Pixar fans to know about. And a "happy birthday" to the Pixarians who recently celebrated their special day. Contest winner announcement - Last episode we held a contest to kick off our hiatus-ending episode. Listen out to hear who is the winner of The Art of Pixar Short films book. Trivia answer - We know you're dying to know if you got the question correct... WALL-E "The Axiom" - A very talented Pixar Planet member let us play his piano performance of this song. Thanks a lot, theowne! Outro - We hope you enjoyed Episode 10 - let us know what you thought of it: pixarplanet.com/forums or radiopixar [at] pixarplanet [dot] com.

Introduction & Welcome and Agenda & Scene Setting

Introduction & Welcome and Agenda & Scene Setting