BRAIN FOOD vol. 7
2023 is off to the races, and already so much has changed.
For one, everything seems to be on sale (companies, talent, office space, Teslas) - and the market has reacted accordingly.
But what causes change????
???? Personal motivation People may change their behavior if they have a strong personal reason, such as health, financial, or emotional benefits
? Environmental factors Changes in the physical or social environment can influence behavior, like availability of resources, laws and regulations, or cultural attitudes
?? Cognitive & emotional factors Behavioral change can also be driven by changes in thought patterns, attitudes, beliefs, or emotions
?? Habits Habits can shape behavior over time, and changing established habits can be difficult
?? Conditioning Classical or operant conditioning can also lead to behavior change, where rewards or consequences shape behavior.
Speaking of change, let's mosey on to Ravi to explore #changemanagement!
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you crossed a philosopher/poet with a computer science visionary?
If so, look no further than episode 94, "The Data Detective" featuring Boardwalktech founder, Ravi Krishnan. He says, let not technology to lead you into some strange world, bogged down with security. Instead, we can think of
"...Information is a natural force; we name everything that is useful to us. We don't name every drop of water in the river, only the river itself."
-Ravi Krishnan
As an author, Ravi is passionate about teaching the correlation between everyday life and computer science. Math emerges from within, not externally imposed.
Imagine a bank teller, you queue in front of them when they are busy or
'locked'. This is just like a CPU - a critical resource that serves only
one application at a time.
Coming from the CAD world, Ravi explained how an inspector would sign off on designs thereby being certified. The same exists today, but on computers.
But if it's all computers, who own's the responsibility?
Ravi was pondering the same question while walking downtown Boston and came across a worker doing hotel construction, asking, "You have the CAD model, but how do you know if someone's changed it or not?" The short answer was, he could not. Instead of a 3D mockup, there existed only a print-out drawing that was then certified. But if excel could include not just rows and columns, but a 3rd invisible layer of time (where each change has a transaction ID), everything becomes relational - similar to how GitHub allows for forks, merges, and permissions.
?? Eureka!
Enter the Boardwalktech Digital Ledger. This humble epiphany has lead to landing customers like 苹果 , 可口可乐公司 , KPMG , Verizon , and others. The Boardwalk team has had remarkable success because of a commitment to...
Concepts not Technology
Just like how AT&T managed to stayed so dominant for so long, Ravi says the concept remains the north star. Companies are built on technologies, which are built on concepts. Technologies change, but concepts (in this case, communication) does not.
80% of all information is unstructured and comes in the form of disconnected emails, documents, images, videos, social media, and other digital assets. Unity Central (a division of Boardwalk, who just landed a contract with Meta to support their #supplychain) is all about neighborly relationships. This approach to #knowledgemanagement allows you to: Absorb, manage, and organize your information into Workspaces to derive valuable insights. As Ravi says, "When keyword = value, we have structure."
As Head of Community for Intel Corporation, Reinaldo Parreiras knows how to nurture relationships.
And rather than building a community from scratch, Rei shared, "go where your users are and bring value." Peter Wang (who reports directly to Rei) chimed in, "Part of how we implements structure across these ecosystems is to understand the dynamics of each channel." In short, build champions and create community within the community.
What's it like to work for someone genuinely passionate about community?
In late 2021, Peter hopped on a call for a 2nd interview with a pretty obscure company named 英特尔 . After a string of rejections, it's safe to say at this point his heart was brittle.?But Peter Wang was pleasantly?surprised to have been interviewed by the then director of community Reinaldo Parreiras . The call went 40 minutes over as they nerded out about all things community - from theory, to social platform strategies, to dealing with fires.?And fires do happen ??
He continues,
"Working with someone that really loves what they do makes me feel like I'm not just going to a 9 - 5, but am a part of something bigger...Like we are a small team making big changes, all through letting people be heard. This is the internal culture we have at work, and this is the community we try to build." - Peter Wang
The culture Reinaldo Parreiras is crafting, it's not by accident. As Bill Marklein puts it,
"Culture is how employees' hearts and stomachs feel about Monday morning on Sunday night." This kind of commitment permeates the whole organization, from top to bottom.
Community within a Community
By listening and leading with value (in a new community with your target market), you can create community within a community. Find the champions you are aligned with, and (if you have budget) compensate them.
Some best practices ??
Want to join the 英特尔 team? Reach out to Peter Wang . And catch the full episode here!
There are connectors, there are super-connectors, then there is Jimmy Ku ??
By being a consistently talented and generous growth expert/investor, Jimmy has cemented himself as an icon of the Bay Area ecosystem. And as Head of Growth at Flutterwave , he's changing how the world does business with Africa ??
It's worked like a charm
-He's helped founders raise over $500M in capital ??
-Advised startups such as MixerBox , ZenSports (a VIP Play, Inc. brand) (acquired by VIP Play, Inc. ), Bit2Me , SuperWorld , FlexClub , BuyHive , and more.
-Invested in startups like Reddit, Inc. , BitPay , Lenco (YC W22) , SMALLSMALLC LIMITED , Dogdrop , Addressable.io , @Smash.gg (acq by 微软 ), Reesio (acq. by Realtor.com ), and more.
-Scaled numerous companies, including Flutterwave (one of the most influential companies of 2021, Times Magazine)
"Take care of your character, and your reputation will take care of itself." -Dwight Moody
That reputation means bringing the right players together to get deals done. He says, "Valuations seem to be a bit lower than previous years, and are taking a bit longer. We still see a lot of people with a wait and see approach due to the uncertainty in the overall economy." But the future is bright ??
A Bull Market on the Horizon ??
As a Venture Partner for 10X Capital , Jimmy has his finger on the pulse of the Silicon Valley. "There is a large amount of capital that funds have raised that is still sitting on the sidelines and they need to deploy this capital soon (usually VC's have a 5 year horizon to start showing returns and they're not giving this money back to their LPs)."
He continues,
"I think the latter part of Q1 and Q2 2023 will see a flurry of activities. What we saw last year was a lot of deals that were already done (companies who were done with their fundraise) getting large amounts of money to pre-empt future rounds." -Jimmy Ku
What makes for an effective Fundraising Process?
The best fundraising results usually comes if you:
领英推荐
But founders often think an intro to investors is all they need ˉ\_(ツ)_/ˉ Come to find out, generally, not the case. Reviewing the pitch/narrative and create this 'runaway train' effect and create FOMO by having a lot of the right conversations. Push the FOMO and leverage milestones like a 'demo day.'
The longer an investor can look at the deal, the more they can de-risk. You essentially have to force them to write a check or not.
Things are exciting abroad, too, because...
African Growth is Through the Roof ??
8 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa (let that sink in). In fact, Africa is set to outperform the rest of the world in economic growth over the next few years, with real gross domestic product (GDP) averaging around 4% in 2023 and 2024.
Why such meteoric growth?
Angel investor, wonderful human, and guest co-host Steve Wymer agrees the potential is immense ??
"Africa is skipping the terrible American technology of antiquated wired communication infrastructure that was built in the 70's. Instead, they are going wireless. There are a lot of ways to think, 'how can we get there quicker? By doing it better based on what we know now?'
After holding VP roles at eBay , TiVo , and Nextdoor , Steve now serves as the CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley , a nonprofit that provides after school programs for at-risk youth and disadvantaged families. Not surprisingly, under his leadership the amount of kids they support has tripled.
"The reason this is the biggest thing nobody is talking about in emerging markets is because of how we think of product/market fit...how do you actually transact on an opportunity like a mobile ticketing system? You're not gonna move to Kampala, buy 60 busses and run up and down Uganda! You have to have a local contextualization." -Steve Wymer
Fortunately, cutting through bureaucracy and connecting with others is a specialty, having served as Communications Director at United States Senate and now a leader in the San Jose community.
How can you help Jimmy? Great question!
He's looking for merchants that want to tap into this monumental opportunity. Flutterwave is the payment infrastructure pipeline, solving the challenge of receiving money from their customers. Netflix , Uber , 微软 , and 微软 to name a few. If you are connected to a decision maker at a fortune 500 company looking to scale in emerging markets, be sure to reach out. Jimmy Ku also loves talking to talented founders ??
Troy Helming is building the plasma-powered tunnel-boring tech of tomorrow - Talk about a ground-breaking innovation! ??
#Cleantech industrialist, serial founder, and #ninjawarrior ?? comes from good roots - and by that we mean he's been managing a solar powered home since he was a kid. From the pool and hot tub to the domestic water system, it saved loads on the natural gas bill. But more importantly, it instilled a deep appreciation for sustainability in Troy. This was further cemented by the Oil Shocks in 1973, where the price of oil quadrupled due to an OAPEC embargo.
Nuclear Gets the Headlines, but Wind/Solar Works Great ??
A few months ago, the worlds largest lasers forced atoms of hydrogen to fuse together - the same reaction that powers the sun. After 6 decades, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory made a giant leap in harnessing near-limitless energy without fossil fuels and hazardous waste; except that exists now. Nuclear fusion has been long hailed as the "holy grail" of clean energy, but as Troy Helming shares, "It's been 10 years away for 50 years...and just can't compete on a cost-basis per kilowatt-hour with solar and wind."
The Grid...it's ALIVE!!
Our electrical grid has evolved from utilities from all over the country, almost like Frankenstein; and unfortunately, 80% of solar and wind farms are abandoned. The interconnection upgrade costs (trillions in total) kills the economics, and local utilities are mired in bureaucracy.
This patch-work approach has left us with archaic and dangerous network of spaghetti?? including rolling blackouts, an emergency procedure that grid operators use to balance the power supply in a specific region. Lucky for us, solar innovation and adoption is growing drastically, with the Solar Panel Recycling Market will hit $500M by 2030 (currently 50% is dominated by the Europeans).
?? Eureka
A friend and former Navy Seal was sharing how they'd practice entering enemy ships by going underwater cutting them open. Later that night, Troy awoke from his slumber, thinking, "I wonder if that would work for rock?" After building a prototype in 2018 (and successful testing), he realized he'd struck gold. Fast forward several years, and EarthGrid PBC is a regulated utility in over 26 states. TLDR: This is the future of power, fiber-optics, waste water, consumer goods, and transportation.
Digging Deeper on How it Works ??
Air passes through electric arc (lightning) and superheats into plasma (7,000 °C) which will vaporize anything in its way. Quartzite? easy. Basalt? no problem. Because Troy doesn't use mechanical means, drill bits don't need to be changed 10-15 times a day (and no chemicals). It's a robot, so minimal labor. Think 'cutting through the earth with a lightsaber, and a Mandalorian jetpack to blow everything out the back.' They lower costs by up to 98% and go 100x faster (1km per day).
Imagine beating Elon Musk with technology that's 100x faster and 98% more cost effective
Time for Bubbly ??
After recently competing against 4k+ early-stage companies, the EarthGrid team won The Most Fundable Company by Pepperdine Graziadio Business School . Want to invest or join the team that's revolutionizing the way to a National Super-Grid? Reach out to Troy Helming or learn more about EarthGrid here. Full Silicon Zombies Podcast episode here.
Founder of the Month???
This month we have the pleasure to honor Wendy Shew , who has served 24 years in her community as a youth advocate, international volunteer for orphanages in India and earthquake disaster relief in Nepal. Aside from being crowned #missnepal, Wendy started Building Education with the vision to help others transform tragedy to purpose in rising out of poverty.
She has been on numerous non-profit organization boards that include the largest service organization in the world. Building Education’s motto is 1,000 schools and 1,000,000 lives. In collaboration with local governments, schools and partner organizations, they aim to transform rural villages into prosperous, dignified communities. The focus is to revolutionize through sustainability; working in rural villages to create central hubs of schools, farmers’ markets, and healthcare. This provides rural communities better living through access to water and clean energy. Wendy and team create community leaders that stimulate economic growth to develop these villages.
learn more about this wonderful cause here.
Interesting AF
Like animals, plants can be bred for specific traits (via grafting, tissue culture, etc). To horticulturalists, they're known as Cultivar. It's how we have the red and gnarled Carolina Reaper pepper (the hottest according to the Guinness World Records, at over 2.2M SHU). It's also how we've gotten the exotic and lovely Osteospermum, aka African Daisy "Pink Whirls".
Need help building product??Check out our friends at?Necodex. They've done great work with founders in the SZ community like?Daniel Idzkowski?,?Matt Lentzner, and others. Looking for digital marketing professionals to help get you local customers? Look no further than the talented and trustworthy Primero Negocios team. Fortunate to be working with such a brilliant group.
"The best multidisciplinary teams at your fingertips"
"Build your presence with a team that knows what works"
That's all from us, catch ya next month. Until then be good to yourselves, and be good to each other ??
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1 年Nick, thanks for sharing!
BRAIN FOOD is packed with great insight. I look forward to every volume. Thanks Nick Larson for feeding our brain with knowledge??
Serial Entrepreneur and Founder with extensive experience as a Business Development Executive and Product Leader.
2 年Thank you Nick Larson for this incredible insight.
Incredible & insightful conversations with so many amazing guests! Thanks Nick Larson for sharing Brainfood for us on your weekly video podcast #SiliconZombies