Podcasts about seyi fabode

On this episode of What About Water? an entrepreneur in Austin, Texas turns his dishwasher sensor into a tech startup that's feeding water utilities snapshots of their water quality in real time.   Jay sits down with Seyi Fabode, the CEO and co-founder of Varuna, to discuss how his company's cloud-based software is helping cities keep track of their drinking water quality by the minute, allowing them to respond to spills, contamination, and fluctuations before it's too late.    Jay and Seyi dream up a new tech idea together and trace Seyi's entrepreneurial roots from his childhood in Nigeria to his post-grad in the UK. They discuss the $100,000 investment from the Google for Startups Black Founder Fund that opened new doors for Varuna, and what needs to change to get more black-owned businesses like Seyi's off the ground.  At the end of the episode Jay answers a few questions about the Tri-State Water Wars and water privatization from our listener Mark, who's based in Atlanta, Georgia. Got a question for Jay? Write to him at ideas@whataboutwater.org and you may hear your question in an upcoming episode. Voice memos like Mark's are also welcome!

In this episode, Seyi Fabode discusses how relationship created a pathway to making the world's water cleaner. 

Varuna Co-founder and CEO Seyi Fabode has a filter for assessing people's ability to imagine a better future. In the early days of his first startup, he spoke at a VC conference hoping to raise awareness and build relationships. His filter led to only one relationship, but it would be one of his most important.

As a Black founder, Seyi Fabode, MBA '10, has experienced the challenge of investors taking him seriously.Fabode, an immigrant from Nigeria, recalls an investor calling him and his African-American partner in his first venture, Power2Switch, “boys.” It happened again 10 years later, after Fabode had founded the clean water company Varuna Tech.“I have two kids, I'm a grown man,” Fabode said. “And you can tell there's this, I'll say, discount and disregard and disrespect that is just embedded in some of these conversations that I can't imagine some of my White counterparts experience.”In this podcast episode, Fabode speaks about his entrepreneurship journey with Ellen Rudnick, a senior advisor on entrepreneurship at Chicago Booth and the first executive director of the Polsky Center.He took Power2Switch, an online marketplace to help people choose electricity suppliers, through the New Venture Challenge in 2009. And while it was not selected to advance to the finals, the experience was pivotal in helping to make the business a success, he said.The entrepreneurial peers Fabode met through the program continue to serve as mentors and investors. The early mistakes he made in his haste to assemble a team taught him the value of hiring slowly. And Michael Polsky himself, the namesake of the Polsky Center and CEO of Invenergy, served as chairman of his board.Power2Switch was acquired by Choose Energy in 2013, and five years later Fabode launched Varuna Tech, which uses sensors to measure water health in municipal water systems and alerts the proper authorities if something is wrong. The company is drawing interest as the world comes to grips with the dangers of water contamination.“I feel we've timed this right,” Fabode said.In his interview, Fabode discussed what makes a good hire, the need for more mental health support for entrepreneurs, and the challenges that continue to face minority and women founders.

Tim Male is Executive Director of the Environmental Policy Innovation Center and Seyi Fabode is CEO and Co-Founder of Varuna. In this episode Tim and Seyi discuss the need to reinvent the Consumer Confidence Reports that drinking water utilities are required to provide to customers. They explain that the public can't understand most reports because they are too technical, difficult to understand, and out of date, but could be positively overhauled by utilities with creative data visualization, a desire to build trust, and a customer service mindset. Tim says the Water Data Prize is a design competition to present new concepts for presenting drinking water information to consumers. Find all podcasts at https://www.waterloop.org The waterloop podcast is brought to you by High Sierra Showerheads, the smart and stylish way to save water, energy, and money while enjoying a powerful shower. Use promo code waterloop for 20 percent off at https://www.highsierrashowerheads.com/

In this episode, I interviewed Seyi Fabode, founder of Varuna Tech and former product and strategy leader at several tech companies. Seyi was recognized as LinkedIn Top Voice in Technology in 2016 and 2017. He is also an excellent writer and has had ~3 million views/shares/likes on his articles on IoT, AI, Power and technology strategy. I talked with him about several key elements that helped him build sustainable businesses. Seyi also shared his experience moving from Nigeria to the U.K. and then to the U.S., going to business school in Chicago, being an entrepreneur, and writing interesting articles.

Seyi Fabode is one of LinkedIn’s TopVoice in Technology. In this episode of Disruptive Conversations, we talk about many of his perspectives on disrupting sectors and systems.In my conversation with Seyi, he attributes a major part of his success to bringing his whole self into all that he does. In his experience, he found that by being honest with himself and in showing up completely and fully, he has greatly transformed his personal and professional life. He loves writing and has been able to use writing to transform his life and career.Seyi cut his teeth at the intersection of utilities, technology, and consumers. At one point he had a great interest in the automotive industry, but his first job out of school was within the power industry. This experience was surprisingly meaningful since he grew up in a country where it was not uncommon to lose power. So many of us take power for granted. Seyi has spent a considerable amount of thinking about how to ensure everyone in a city always has power.One of the things that stood out for me in our conversation was his approach to understanding the power sector. In my own experience, I have found that questions can greatly improve the quality of our interactions and perspectives. One of the questions that have helped to make Seyi one of LinkedIn’s ToVoices is: Are we really satisfying the folk on the other end of the switch? Although there are many fields that take a similar approach to understanding the end user. Seyi’s habit of putting the needs of the end consumer first changes his gaze. For example, a question that emerged from our conversation was, how is this product meeting a fundamental need of the end consumer? In the episode, he uses a personal example to illustrate his point. He has a fundamental need or desire for power but he wants that power to have as little impact on the planet as possible. Most of us have similar needs or desires and Elon Musk has used Tesla to make a beautiful package that plays toward this fundamental need or desire. In many ways, Elon Musk is not doing anything all the unique. Many other people in the industry have been doing this before Elon Musk, but Musk does better than most. His packaging appeals to our fundamental needs and desires. In doing so, Musk appeals to our emotions and is able to build a brand that so many covet.When I asked Seyi what sector or system he was trying to disrupt, he said consulting. Seyi argued that from his perspective, and I happen to agree, too many companies hire consultants to tell them what they want to hear. Additionally, many of these companies charge exorbitant rates for work that does can be done at a much lower cost. For him, the game in the consulting world is not about asking new beautiful questions or adding value, it is about keeping a client on billable hours for as long as possible.Seyi finds that he is good at hearing, listening, and responding to what is emerging. One of his frustrations is that many people take too long to act on the insights they receive. For example, when proposes new trends to a client, it is not uncommon for the client to return a few years later saying that he had warned them of these changes. For him, companies do not need validation for their existing beliefs, they need insight into future trends so they can align their business model to meet the demands of an emerging future.When something is working, it takes a huge leap of foolishness to change what we are doing.Seyi offers five very important pieces of advice for people who trying to disrupt sector and systems.Be open to being wrong.Discover the answer to the question, what are the drivers of the industry you are in?Context is king, but focus is best.Your innovation should be additive and not subtractive.Understand the drivers of your sector or industry.This last piece of advice is very informative. For many of us who work to disrupt a sector or system, our impatience or frustration leads us to skip the step of understanding why things are the way they are. When I ask the question, what is your least favourite word or phrase? The most common answer is “that’s just the way it is.” Seyi reminds us that it is important to ask why are things the way they are? His advice is to make sure you understand the drivers of your industry. It is a good reminder that sometimes we need to return to the basics. He reminds us that sometimes, things are the way they are because the core premises that the system was built upon greatly influence the dynamics of the system. If we try to change some of those things that were the foundations on which the system was built, we can actually erode the integrity of the system. There are some fundamental principles that if we violate, it compromises the entire system. At times, innovation should be additive and not subtractive.

Seyi Fabode is one of LinkedIn’s TopVoice in Technology. In this episode of Disruptive Conversations, we talk about many of his perspectives on disrupting sectors and systems.In my conversation with Seyi, he attributes a major part of his success to bringing his whole self into all that he does. In his experience, he found that by being honest with himself and in showing up completely and fully, he has greatly transformed his personal and professional life. He loves writing and has been able to use writing to transform his life and career.Seyi cut his teeth at the intersection of utilities, technology, and consumers. At one point he had a great interest in the automotive industry, but his first job out of school was within the power industry. This experience was surprisingly meaningful since he grew up in a country where it was not uncommon to lose power. So many of us take power for granted. Seyi has spent a considerable amount of thinking about how to ensure everyone in a city always has power.One of the things that stood out for me in our conversation was his approach to understanding the power sector. In my own experience, I have found that questions can greatly improve the quality of our interactions and perspectives. One of the questions that have helped to make Seyi one of LinkedIn’s ToVoices is: Are we really satisfying the folk on the other end of the switch? Although there are many fields that take a similar approach to understanding the end user. Seyi’s habit of putting the needs of the end consumer first changes his gaze. For example, a question that emerged from our conversation was, how is this product meeting a fundamental need of the end consumer? In the episode, he uses a personal example to illustrate his point. He has a fundamental need or desire for power but he wants that power to have as little impact on the planet as possible. Most of us have similar needs or desires and Elon Musk has used Tesla to make a beautiful package that plays toward this fundamental need or desire. In many ways, Elon Musk is not doing anything all the unique. Many other people in the industry have been doing this before Elon Musk, but Musk does better than most. His packaging appeals to our fundamental needs and desires. In doing so, Musk appeals to our emotions and is able to build a brand that so many covet.When I asked Seyi what sector or system he was trying to disrupt, he said consulting. Seyi argued that from his perspective, and I happen to agree, too many companies hire consultants to tell them what they want to hear. Additionally, many of these companies charge exorbitant rates for work that does can be done at a much lower cost. For him, the game in the consulting world is not about asking new beautiful questions or adding value, it is about keeping a client on billable hours for as long as possible.Seyi finds that he is good at hearing, listening, and responding to what is emerging. One of his frustrations is that many people take too long to act on the insights they receive. For example, when proposes new trends to a client, it is not uncommon for the client to return a few years later saying that he had warned them of these changes. For him, companies do not need validation for their existing beliefs, they need insight into future trends so they can align their business model to meet the demands of an emerging future.When something is working, it takes a huge leap of foolishness to change what we are doing.Seyi offers five very important pieces of advice for people who trying to disrupt sector and systems.Be open to being wrong.Discover the answer to the question, what are the drivers of the industry you are in?Context is king, but focus is best.Your innovation should be additive and not subtractive.Understand the drivers of your sector or industry.This last piece of advice is very informative. For many of us who work to disrupt a sector or system, our impatience or frustration leads us to skip the step of understanding why things are the way they are. When I ask the question, what is your least favourite word or phrase? The most common answer is “that’s just the way it is.” Seyi reminds us that it is important to ask why are things the way they are? His advice is to make sure you understand the drivers of your industry. It is a good reminder that sometimes we need to return to the basics. He reminds us that sometimes, things are the way they are because the core premises that the system was built upon greatly influence the dynamics of the system. If we try to change some of those things that were the foundations on which the system was built, we can actually erode the integrity of the system. There are some fundamental principles that if we violate, it compromises the entire system. At times, innovation should be additive and not subtractive.

Now that Puerto Rico has returned power to 99.9% of its residents, we take a look at what went wrong in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and what lessons we can learn about how we clean up disasters. We also discuss with our guest, Seyi Fabode, how utilities need to change their organizational structure so something like Puerto Rico won't happen again to any US grid system. Music by bensound.com

In the first full African Tech Roundup podcast of 2018, Andile Masuku mulls over Gefira Solutions Founder and CEO Bert Bruggeman's assertion that we can't just "app our way" to solving all of Africa's problems. Then, he ponders which hybrid investment approaches might prove successful in fueling African startups in 2018, and echoes the questions posed by Seyi Fabode’s blog post entitled: “Is It Time To Dump The ‘Lean Startup’ Approach?” Also, in this episode, Andile gives a quick update on the #NotOurManifesto dumpster fire that Co-Creation Hub Nigeria co-founder Femi Longe lit late last year and shares some encouraging news regarding the https://africamanifesto.com initiative that was subsequently launched. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Quite a few utility companies, particularly those privately-owned, seem to be dragging their feet when it comes to upgrading technology that runs their infrastructure. However, tropical storm Sandy and other major natural disasters in recent months reveal communities cannot allow these heads to stay buried in the sand.  Broadband has a lot of potential to impact smart grids’ ability to improve disaster preparation and response. Two industry experts present this case. Todd Q. Adams, an energy technology veteran and expert in sustainability, facilitates public awareness and community education forums for advanced energy and water management initiatives. Seyi Fabode is co-founder of Power2Switch, a website that educates consumers about retail electricity and enables electricity customers to comparison shop for electricity providers and save money on their electric bills.  Our guests help listeners understand in layperson’s terms what communities and their utility companies need to do influence useful changes. They address partnership strategies, infrastructure funding issues and overcoming the challenges of adopting new tactics.