Caffe Genius Impressarios

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Las Vegas will not be the next Silicon Valley, most obviously because we do not make chips here (nor should we). How about Utah, how about Arizona? This is a seed episode to prompt some discussion the future about real comparison between places and what those places might become down the road. About the Silicon Silicon Valley got its name from actual silicon, and...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Municipal and Community Communication, those words sound so similar, could there be a reason why? Yes, but our Smart City does not do this well. Let´s change that. Communication, Discovery, Elevation Knowing what is happening and how each item might relate to any other, and to you, is critical in a noise-filled era where social media has taken over with their own...

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: communication and third party platforms, two different motivations diametrically opposed? As LinkedIn? When we speak of real communication, Facebook and TikTok got off the train a long way back. LinkedIn is often touted as the largest social media platform for business and professionals so we pick on them first When we consider city-scale communication and ecosys...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: Does the Greater Vegas area have a healthy and vibrant Entrepreneurial Innovation Ecosystem? Let us discussion which parts may be lacking, and more importantly, how we might address these missing pieces. Entrepreneurial Innovation - They are not necessarily a single thing, but they do go great together. - Entrepreneurialism is sometimes about starting a busin...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: It is important to examine where we have been to be better-prepared for where we are going. Or as many have already forgotten, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905. The Downtown Project - Dan Hugo was a spectator, always looking in and hanging out, but never lifting anything heavy. - Day...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: A follow-up to The Axis of Innovation, should we be building an Innovation Hub, or an Innovation Destination in Southern Nevada? Can we Conjure Innovation? Recapping The Axis - Does Southern Nevada Have a Culture of Innovation? - Does Southern Nevada have Innovation Infrastructure? - If we build it, do they come? Who are they, anyway? Clinics and Fusion Cente...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: The Axis Powers, or the Axis around which an Innovation Hub might rotate? A bit of both, perhaps. First a Story about Phoenix - Economic Diversification FTW! But which ways to go? - Electronics Assembly, Semiconductors, Government Contracting (and Tourism) - Strangely, the executives with stakes in existing foci, after traveling the world to study other place...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: We sometimes say or hear said, that one´s eyes are bigger than one´s stomach, especially when visiting a buffet. Might the same be said of regional innovation and entrepreneurialism? Innovative Entrepreneurialism - Two great tastes that go great together! - Need not be coincident, but they often are - Any one person might have this trait (or traits?) but is t...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: It takes more than headlines and likes to change an ecosystem What is Hacking? - Collaborative ideation, usually with a time limit - Open-ended or Blue Sky thinking drives creative outcomes - Sometimes called a Sprint, they are more and more common What is the Ecosystem? - An economic ecosystem is similar in many ways to a biological ecosystem - Four pillars...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: The second cohort of the Genius Roundtable is coming to an end this month, and so it is time to hack the table and see what we do next. How it started - A need to understand the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Greater Vegas by people who are on the ground, being entrepreneurs in situ. - A companion need, to determine what does and does not work as the ecosystem...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: There are no show notes today, just listen all the way through. (I misspelled this person´s name a couple of times, off by one letter, you will still find him if you look, with ease)

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Guest: Hayden Smith, Esq. - Summary: So you say you want to start a business in Southern Nevada? What next? The beginning of the story with an attorney who know the way. Who is Hayden Smith? - Education, The Bar, The Firm (Marquis Aurbach Chtd.) - Specialties - Ever been an entrepreneur? Where to begin? - Nevada, Secretary of State, Silverflume - Structure, Chapters,...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: Ideation and Innovation, two great tastes! What is Ideation? - Funny word, great ideas! - Dry Erase Boards are Your Friends - Do it with a friend… What is Innovation? - Ideas that get Honed! - The steps between the idea and the implementation, focused creativity! - Where Pivots Happen, sometimes The Hackathon Myth - Hackathons are about pizza, redbull, stayin...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Guest: Dylan Bathurst - Summary: Very early a part of the Downtown Project, an early entrepreneur, founder, and early to get acquired when eBay found and wanted Rumgr. Let´s talk about it ! Who is Dylan Bathurst? - So many Dylans - The path the Downtown Las Vegas - What goes on lately? The Rumgr Story - The idea - The VTF/DTP interaction - The Move The Downtown Projec...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: Many individuals, groups, and even communities in the Greater Vegas Entrepreneurial Ecosystem share not only concerns and challenges, but skills and ideas, except that the sharing is done at a distance. Can a Community of Practice approach bridge the gaps? What is a Community of Practice? - Proposed by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger circa 2015 - “Communities of...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Guest: Joshua Stacy - Summary: Joshua is an enabler in our Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, driving toward a goal to enable 1000 startups and their tech needs through his company Big Technology Builders, and some other cool stuff that we talk about in this episode! Who is Joshua Stacy? - Can we call you Josh? - How did you get to Vegas? - How did you and Jack reach Big Tech...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Guest: Mo Collins - Summary: The recently-released report, Empowering Entrepreneurship | Nevada Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Assessment and Strategy provides an interesting overview of the state and regional ecosystem as-is and some ideas for the near term, let´s meet its author! Who is Mo Collins? - How did Mo get to Entrepreneurial Communities, LLC? - Life in Iowa - No...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Guest: None this time - Summary: The second cohort of the Genius Roundtable has launched with our Implementation goals, the retrospective shall commence 1 May, and many other things… Genius Roundtable Cohort II - Ideation, Innovation, Implementation - Cohort I was all about Ideation - Cohort II is Innovation and Implementation! - Emerging Projects - Newsletter - Start...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Guest: Jamie Schwartz - Summary: You have been asked many times in your travels through the Greater Vegas Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, “Do you know Jamie Schwartz?” Who is Jamie Schwartz? - More than 21 years in Las Vegas! - Before UNLV, UNLV, After UNLV, Back to UNLV - Business Development, Tech Transfer, and More! Ecology - Entrepreneurial Ecosystem + What is it (a si...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Guest: Tyler Williams - Summary: Recenly-retired and the Interim Executive Director of the Downtown Vegas Alliance, Tyler has been there, done that, and has the t-shirt, and a beard to be rekoned with! Who is Tyler? - Zappos - Downtown Project - Interim at Downtown Vegas Alliance - Family, friends, life in general - Retired, sort of How has Downtown Changed - Since Za...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: A quick rundown on why calendars are important in an entrepreneurial ecosystem. It is just a calendar. Or is it? It is just a calendar - Many people have a connected calendar in the pocket right now - There is another one on at least one computer near them - Some of us synchronize our own calendars, and calendars of others - Why not use that? FACE - Focused A...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: A rundown of the first 3 meetups of the first cohort of the Genius Roundtable and the almost-ready Downtown Project Retrospective. What is the Genius Roundtable? - Why genius? Why roundtable? - Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurial People in and around the Greater Las Vegas area - Stakeholders in the health and well-being of our Entrepreneurial Ecosystem - We hav...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Guest: Della Rucker, AICP, CEcD - Summary: We talk about Della Rucker, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Projects forward and back… Who is Della Rucker, AICP, CEcD and What does she Do? - A proper rundown on all of those letters! - How did we meet ? - Wise Economy Workshop - Trep House - Author! + Everybody Innovates Here + The Local Economy Revolution Has Arrived - That ti...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Guest: Josh Leavitt - Summary: Who is Joshua Leavitt and what is this Tech Alley thing he is working on? - ** Audio Improved 22 March, Josh is louder but the microphone fade can still be heard. Hmm. ** Josh Leaves Town - How often? - Where do you like to go when you aren´t in the Vegas area? - Where are you from (hint: Nevada…) Tech Alley Origin Story - What brought t...

Show Notes - Host: Dan Hugo - Summary: Failure is always an option, despite what you may have heard about Apollo 13, but it is not always something people consider as they begin a journey down the road of entrepreneurialism. Ideas and Pitches - Having ideas is critical, whether you are an entrepreneur starting a business or merely entrepreneurial tackling pain points - Describing your idea is a fi...