Game Changers Silicon Valley

Connecting the dots: This conversation is about a unique type of dots, specifically Braille dots. Braille was invented over 200 years ago to provide a method for visually impaired people to read using combinations of six dots to represent letters and words. Books translated into Braille are available for the visually impaired.   According to the National Federation of the Blind, fewer than 10 perc...

Fascination and fear of missing out (FOMO) appear to be the most prevalent responses to the emergence of AI engines for the general public. While Chat-GPT has gained the lion's share of publicity, new AI engines are being announced weekly.  Public AI engines such as Chat-GPT, Google's Bard, and Copy.ai will address a broad range of requests, from writing a blog, writing code, writing a screenplay,...

Silicon Valley mythology would have you believe entrepreneurs live in a world where every day is an exciting and intellectually stimulating experience. However, before enjoying any of those positive outcomes, entrepreneurs go through several rites of passage. The first entrepreneur rite of passage is finding that seed funding round. It's often one of the first major stumbling blocks, engaging with...

You might recognize this personality in your social and dating relationships, the guy who wants to impress you, dominate the conversation, and make the decisions. You might be concerned about a long-term relationship or an intimate relationship.   The CDC published a study about homicide being the leading cause of death for women under the age of 44. The study included a grim statistic. Fifty-five...

The United States has two major political parties: Democratic and Republican. Ask an American voter which one she or he sides with, and the most likely answer is: "neither." Recent polls say at least 4 in 10 Americans identify as politically independent, even if they tend to "lean" Republican or Democratic on the issues. Only 3 in 10 identify as Democrats and the other 3 in 10 identify as Republic...

One much-overlooked area in intimate personal relationships is the destructive nature of narcissistic and controlling personalities. We see narcissistic, controlling behavior in politics, business, the media, and entertainment. According to articles in  Medical News Today, a controlling personality is a red flag in any relationship, especially in family relationships. Spouses or intimate partners...

California is leading the movement to reclassify felony crimes as misdemeanors.   Proposition 47 reclassified a wide range of theft and drug possession crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.   Proposition 47 did not spell out specific details on extenuating circumstances for prosecuting these crimes as misdemeanors. The legal system began to create definitions and sentencing guidelines for these re...

As of July 2022, drought conditions were most sever e in the States of California, Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico. In California. In California, 30% of the State's annual water supply comes from the snowpack in the Sierra Mountains. As of April 2022, the California Department of Water Resources measured the snowpack at only 38% of the long-term average.   Gary Kremen and Newsha Ajami...

Bad laws did not start out as "bad."   These laws started with reasonable assumptions, purpose, and intent. However, some laws end up creating severe and harmful adverse outcomes upon implementation. Our conversation with Ted Stroll focuses on the harm being created when the legislature does not respond to the unintended consequences.  

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics has reported an estimated 107,622 deaths from drug overdoses in the United States during 2021. In addition, several states have recorded unusually high drug overdoses among young people, such as West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.  As a country, we have not been able to slow the smuggling or address the growing use of Fentanyl.    This...

There is evidence of discontent among the voters in CA.  It comes from the growing disappointment with specific laws, regulations and policies passed by the California State legislature in recent years. The problem can be described as the Law of Unintended Consequences. Several Laws passed by the California legislature, created conditions that were not part of the sponsors' original intent.   Most...

We are in the midst of a perfect wildfire storm.   Warm temperatures, an ongoing drought, reduced snowpack, and reduced rainfall are contributing to a tinderbox potential for wildfires for this summer of 2022.  In 2021, California recorded 8,835 wildfires burning 2.5 million acres. The last seven years have seen a geometric increase in the frequency and destruction caused by wildfires. On November...

First-generation candidate Jon Elist for the U.S. Senate sits down in a Zoom call to discuss the top five issues in his bid to be the new Congressional Senator representing California.   Topics include inflation, immigration, homelessness, national security, and why he is willing to move from being the CEO of a healthcare company to a six-year term as a U.S. Senator.  

California will hold its primary election on June 7, 2022.   Effective January 1, 2011, California changed the way primary elections operate, with a law titled, The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act. Most of the offices that were previously known as "partisan" are now known as "voter-nominated" offices.   All candidates for voter-nominated offices are listed on one ballot and only the top two vo...

We admire the person who overcomes adversity to succeed in a chosen profession or line of work. Perseverance, tenacity, and passion create the drive to expand the horizons of the "possible".  This is the story about an individual who transformed his early life struggles into a desire to improve the opportunities in marginalized communities. Our conversation in this podcast is an eye-opener about t...

Revenue-based financing is gaining traction as an alternative to the traditional startup debt and equity structures. This structure, referred to as revenue-based financing, represents a third rail for entrepreneurs to obtain working capital and for investors to reduce the risk of loss in their investment.  

There is good news for startup companies.   Corporate acquirers are looking for niche products and technologies to fill a gap in their product line or simply grow through acquisition.  There are more opportunities than ever before to be viewed as an attractive company for acquisition.   But getting noticed by potential acquires requires research, a thorough internal review of valuation points, eng...

The buyer has qualified your startup as a potential candidate for acquisition and now the real work begins, defining how the assets of your startup will fit the needs of the acquiring company.   My guests,   Garry Guseinov and Mark Addison, provide insights into situations that resulted in successful outcomes for all parties or encountered setbacks and ofter failed to close.   The final part of th...

Speaking with a tech entrepreneur in eastern Slovakia, just 100 miles from the Ukrainian border, we get insights into the original Declaration of Ukrainian Independence, the gradual move toward the West, statements about joining NATO and joining the European community. Adding fuel to the conflict, the eastern provinces of Ukraine are Russian-speaking and appear to have cultural ties to Russia. But...

Never before have we had close-up access to personal stories, photographs, and videos showing the violence and destruction of war.   But I did sense that part of the story was being overlooked.   Ukraine has been transformed from the country it was 30 years ago when it gained independence from the Soviet Union.   The country has built an impressive technology sector providing application developme...

Today, the average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78 years.   It's a remarkable achievement in light of the fact that the average life expectancy during the 18th and 19th centuries was less than 50 years old.   Innovations in medical treatment, food production, and hygiene standards have all played a key role. However, the celebration of a longer average life span has been met with a sobering real...

Professional sports face a number of common challenges starting with developing a winning team as well as maintaining brand value within the community and with ticket buyers. While Loyalty, community support, and financial viability are easier with a winning team, in today's connected world, every venue is vying for the attention of the consumer. On a completely separate path, the Smart City movem...

The media spends most of their time in the "happy part of Silicon Valley", with stories about companies that were successfully funded, grew and acquired. The exit or sale of the company sounds like a naturally occurring event, but the effort to sell a startup company is incredibly demanding and the fact is:   there are very few public forums that talk about the challenges, strategies, and effort r...

All entrepreneurs need an exit plan, an opportunity to see their company, generally through an acquisition with an established corporation. The difficult question is knowing when to sell, the terms of the sale and finding the right acquisition partner.   This podcast challenges that assumption.   It's actually the buyer who is controlling the decision to acquire and the terms of the transaction. P...

Every city or metropolitan area desires to emulate the startup ecosystem using the Silicon Valley model. However, the success of Silicon Valley did not happen overnight.   Building out that ecosystem took a ramp of approximately 20 years along with the engagement and belief of many talented people.   Nonetheless, every major metropolitan area is facing the challenge of facilitating the development...