We discussed a few things including:

1. Their career journeys

2. The mental health crisis

3. Jen's vision/promly

4. Danielle's research and vision for Thrive Genetics + The Child Code

5. Trends, challenges and opportunities in health

Jennifer Libby has been a psychotherapist for over 20 years treating at-risk adolescents. Jennifer has been sounding the alarm for many years about the rapidly emerging youth mental health crisis exacerbated by less than responsible social media platforms. Frustrated by the slow movement by the social media industry to “do better” for kids, and in response to her own family tragedy, Jennifer founded Promly as a healthier alternative to legacy social media. 

Jennifer’s advocacy for better treatment of youth by Big Tech was well received recently in Washington, D.C. where she spoke to a large group of U.S. House Representatives regarding her on-going efforts (informed by client experience and Promly’s Gen Z advisory board) to have YouTube remove and/or disrupt the algorithm for the “how to tie a noose” and “how to hang yourself” videos that provide step by step video instructions often created by teens themselves. Of note, suicide by hanging in children and teens has increased by exponential numbers in the last 10 years. It is examples like this that drive Promly to re-imagine how social media can “do better” for teens. 

Jennifer also speaks publicly on a variety of other mental health concerns impacting teens and has provided consultation with numerous agencies including Center for Humane Tech (producers of the “The Social Dilemma”) on best practices for teens and tech. 

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Danielle Dick, Ph.D. is the Greg Brown Endowed Chair of Neuroscience and a Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers University, where she directs the Rutgers Addiction Research Center. She is an internationally recognized and award-winning expert on genetic and environmental influences on addiction, child development, and human behavior. 

She has led and contributed to more than 20 grants from the National Institutes of Health, with grant funding totaling 55 million dollars. She has 450 peer-reviewed publications and has won numerous national and international awards for her work. She has been named one of the most highly cited researchers in the world across all fields of science. 

Her first book "The Child Code: Understanding Your Child’s Unique Nature for Happier, More Effective Parenting" was published by Penguin Random House in September 2021.

#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

On Jan 30, 2024 we discussed a few things including the latest  state of AI in #healthcare and #pharma. 

Panelists include:

Kash Patel is the Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Information Officer, Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey’s largest and most comprehensive health network. Mr. Patel has more than 25 years of experience in technology leadership, ranging from start-ups to multinational corporations and is a seasoned leader in health care with a strong focus on innovation and building great teams. Before HMH, Kash was the Vice President and Chief Digital Technology Officer at Penn Medicine.

Donna Conroy has 25 years’ pharmaceutical industry experience as both a Fortune 500 pharma executive and entrepreneur. Her career has focused on bringing science to patients. First as a microbiologist, then at Schering-Plough, where she led sales and marketing teams and built a $1.2B line of business.
Named one of NJ’s Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs, Donna led SciMar’s acceptance into the Merck Digital Science Studio 2023 cohort and 2021 acceptance into Microsoft for Startups. She is a graduate of Microsoft’s prestigious Women in Cloud Accelerator and was named 2021 Top 10 Most Successful Women in Cloud Entrepreneurs.

Rohit Vashisht is the co-founder and CEO of WhizAI, a generative AI-powered analytics platform purpose-built for Life Sciences and Healthcare. WhizAI was recently recognized by Inc Media as one of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the US. He has over 20 years of experience in enterprise software sales, product management, development, and strategy. As a tech entrepreneur, Rohit has built successful businesses and was CEO and co-founder of Sverve – an influencer marketplace that was acquired by Bloglovin and rebranded as Activate.

#lifesciences  #drugdiscovery #innovation 

#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

On Jan 31, 2024 we discussed a few things including the latest  state of #entrepreneurship, #funding and #acceleration. 

Speakers included:

Kange Kaneene, is the Vice President of SAP.iO Foundries North and Latin America and Caribbean, SAP’s global network of no-equity ask external startup accelerators. SAP.iO Foundries provide technical and go-to-market support to help startups integrate into SAP’s portfolio and accelerate entry into SAP’s ecosystem to be easily accessed and deployed by SAP customers. In her role she has overseen sourcing for 6 cohorts and has accelerated 38 startups, 66% of which are led by underrepresented individuals. This has resulted in 1 exit and $570M+ raised by the startups collectively.

Gary Stewart is the Managing Director of the Techstars New York City Accelerator powered by J.P. Morgan. Born in Jamaica, he grew up in the Bronx, where he attended the Bronx High School of Science before attending Yale College and Yale Law School. He is a VC-backed, exited serial entrepreneur; an early-stage investor that managed a $1.6 billion start-up portfolio; a professor who has taught entrepreneurship at Yale Law School and IE Business School in Madrid, and been invited to speak at Cambridge, Oxford, Stanford and INSEAD; and a former contributor to Forbes Magazine. He is passionate about ensuring that underrepresented and overlooked founders get access to the social and financial capital that they need and deserve.

The co-founder of Cela Innovation, John Lynn is a globally recognized expert and industry leader in startup accelerators. John has spoken on the topic at the World Economic Forum in Davos as well as in multiple locations within China, throughout Japan, Haiti, Aruba, and the USA. His work has been published in Forbes, TechCrunch, Business Insider, and at the Nasdaq. Cela builds startup accelerators with the world’s most influential institutions. Corporations, universities, venture capital groups, and governments all work with John and his team to set up their innovation and entrepreneurship programs. Cela is a venture-backed company, with an active list of corporate, university, and government client partnerships.

#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:

1. Their career journeys  

2. Discuss Raja's vision/European market

3. Discuss the 1Huddle story and vision

4. Talk about how LinkedIn has helped your business/career  

5. Best practices for leaders leveraging LI and other social media

Sam is the CEO and Founder of 1Huddle, a workforce tech company that upskills, trains, and motivates employees through the use of science-backed, quick-burst mobile games. Sam has managed and coached sales and leadership teams for publicly held, private sector, and franchised companies across the globe for more than 15 years.

In 2015, Sam founded 1Huddle on the belief that every worker deserves access to the job training, support, and mentorship needed to win on the job. With a diverse array of clients across the globe, 1Huddle has impacted people in a wide range of sectors. Key clients include the U.S. Air Force, UEFA, vineyard vines, Loews Hotels, ESPN, Audible (an Amazon Company), Novartis, Madison Square Garden, the City of Newark, and more.  

With a mobile-first approach to preparing the modern worker, a mobile library of 3,000+ quick-burst employee skill games, an on-demand game marketplace that covers 16 unique workforce skill areas, and the option for

personalized content, 1Huddle is changing the way organizations think about their training – from a one-time boring onboarding experience to a continuous motivational tool. Put simply, 1Huddle is making training more fun, effective, equitable, and accessible for the entire workforce.

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Raja is a Moroccan-born entrepreneur who moved to Switzerland at the age of six. She secured her MBA degree and worked in banking for some time, but her heart was not in it. Raja wanted to feel passionate about the projects she worked on and explore her ideas in entrepreneurship. She began meeting other entrepreneurs in Geneva, but progress was slow due to her limited experience and network.

In 2015, Raja moved to Oslo, Norway, where her Norwegian husband had received a job offer. She decided to start her own company and has since launched multiple ventures. She was the CEO of TheFactory, one of the largest accelerators in Norway and launched thehub.io, the largest job platform for startups in the Nordics.

Raja is also an angel investor in 70+ startups and has advised thousands of founders since 2015. In 2020, she launched The Visionary Company to give founders access to the best practices and tools to accelerate their fundraising and scaling. Raja is a serial-entrepreneur, Head of Fintech at The Factory, Startup Advisor, and Speaker.

#linkedin #branding #entrepreneurship #investing #funding  

#podcast #afewthingspodcast 

We discussed a few things including:

1. Jordan's entrepreneurial journey

2. Everyday AI podcast + Newsletter

3. Opps and Challenges related to #AI

4. Forecast for 2024

5. Guidance for young and old

Jordan is an AI strategist and founder and host of Everyday AI. Everyday AI is a fast-growing media company helping everyday professionals grow their companies and careers with Generative AI through its daily livestream, podcast and newsletter.

Everyday AI is a Top 10 tech podcast on Spotify, and Jordan has taught prompt engineering basics to thousands of people, from entrepreneurs and small business owners to software engineers and Fortune 100 execs. He's been a featured keynote speaker on GenAI, as well as a Coursera instructor for GenAI.

Previously, Jordan was an award-winning multimedia journalist and also worked with companies like Nike and Jordan Brand before starting his own Chicago-based digital strategy company called Accelerant Agency.

#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including: 

1. Mark's entrepreneurial journey 
2. Creative Good timeline 
3. His radio show, Techtonic 
4. Forecast for 2024 - state of technology; CES; AI 
5. Future trends 

Mark is the founder of Creative Good, the New York-based consultancy and creative platform that he founded in 1997. He has spent his career writing, speaking, and advising teams about how to create better products and services. He has created a number of his own projects, too.

For over two decades, Mark Hurst and his team at Creative Good have advised a wide range of clients - in media, healthcare, technology, financial services, ecommerce, and more - about how to build better businesses by treating customers well.

Hurst is also the creator of the Good Todo mobile productivity platform, the world's first cross-platform todo list, which he described in his first book, Bit Literacy, which introduced the "empty inbox" method of managing email (now better known as Inbox Zero).

Since fall 2017 Hurst has hosted Techtonic - see techtonic.fm - a weekly FM radio show on WFMU. Here's the Techtonic podcast.

Also in 2017 Hurst ran two Skeptech events questioning today's digital technology, held at WFMU. Hurst is also the founder and host of the Gel conference, which featured the first stage presentations of Khan Academy, Wikipedia, and other world-changing projects.

In 2015 Hurst released the 2nd edition of his book Customers Included, which describes how teams and organizations can create successful products and strategies by including customers.

In 2013 Hurst's column The Google Glass feature no one is talking about went viral, gaining worldwide media attention (and translations into six languages) and starting a conversation about the privacy implications of Google Glass and wearable tech.

Brooklyn 1776, the educational mobile videogame by Hurst and the Creative Good team, won the 2016 Brooklyn Innovation Award for best indie video game.

Mark holds bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from MIT. He's also an Eagle Scout, a patented game designer (U.S. Patent #5048839), and studies Mandarin Chinese in his spare time. He lives in New York City with his wife and son.

#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:

1. Their impressive career journeys

2. The OpenAI/Sam Altman drama

3. Best practices for leaders of various size and types companies

4. For-profit versus non-profit boards

5. Differences between boards of directors and advisory boards

Benjy is an executive with broad experience incorporating strategy, finance, operations, organization design, executive coaching and leadership development with extensive investment experience in venture capital, private equity, public markets and investment banking. Have served on the boards of numerous public and private companies. 

Experiences have included working with both for profit and non profit enterprises and have crossed biotech, higher education, technology, health care services, media, Internet, digital, financial services, telecommunications, alternative energy, agriculture, aerospace, steel, energy, defense, industrial, consumer and China. 

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Brandon has a dynamic, 25-year leadership career spearheading several businesses with emphasis on growth, revenue, and sales performance. He has run many high-growth environments, including start-ups, turnarounds, and $1B+ dollar businesses. 

As a serial entrepreneur, he has a proven record of founding new businesses and advancing them through growth and acquisition, merger, or roll-up including ScripPoint, Veridian, and AviaraMD. He is the driving force for Xevant’s vision, new market strategy, revenue growth, technology development, and partner alliances.

#boards #governance #leadership

#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:

1. Their career journeys  

2. Their unique leadership experiences

3. LEAP overview

4. Advice for young people

Micheline Nader, BSN, MPH, DESS is a serial healthcare entrepreneur, best-selling author of “Leap Beyond Success/ How leaders evolve” Amazon: https://a.co/d/apvf7td and “The Dolphin's Dance/ Discover your true self through five steps powerful journey into conscious awareness,” and the President of Jesra Foundation Inc. She also serves as a trustee of Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), chairs the Board of Advisors at Silberman College of Business, and serves on national boards and other nonprofit organizations.

As a healthcare entrepreneur, Micheline was the founder and CEO of the Blue Dolphin Healthcare group, a long-term care company that owned and managed a chain of skilled nursing homes facilities in the Midwest. After 15 years of operations, Micheline successfully sold her company to a public healthcare group.

As a best-selling author in the areas of self-development and leadership, Micheline creates value for individuals and organizations with a focus on personal development, leadership growth and cultural transformation though embracing a mindset and creating passionate and purposeful engagements.

Micheline is also an active philanthropist through her family’s Jesra Foundation, which focuses on education and health.

Prior, Micheline led a successful career in hospital administration where she held executive positions at the American University Hospital of Beirut and the American Hospital of Paris and co-founded Chateau Westmount, a long-term care facility in Montreal, Canada allied with McGill University

Micheline holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the American University of Beirut and a doctoral degree (DESS) in Healthcare Management from Paris-Dauphine University.

https://www.michelinenader.com/  

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Stephen Bozer is currently the Senior Vice President of Human Health at Flavine North America, a diversified global pharmaceutical company. He is leading the Sales & Marketing team in the U.S. office. He is an analytical chemist by training, and has held senior positions in Quality Control and Marketing & Sales during his career.

Stephen has over 25 years of global pharmaceutical experience at several companies, including Teva API, Berlex Laboratories (now Bayer) and Key International. He travels extensively in Europe and Asia and excels in a diverse multicultural business environment.  

Stephen has a BS in Biology from Binghamton University (SUNY) and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

#leadership

#podcast #afewthingspodcast 

We discussed a few things including the latest #AI trends, #ChatGPT, #GenerativeAI, ethical and #responsibleAI.

Speakers included:

Neha Shah is the Cofounder and President of GEP and a Certified AI faculty from the VJAL Institute. She has been a pivotal force in developing GEP from its beginnings into a globally recognized leader in digital supply chain and procurement transformation.  

A purpose-driven entrepreneur and executive, Neha steers the company's growth strategies, forging and managing strategic relationships at the C-level with clients and spearheading complex transformation engagements.  

A constant source of innovation and inspiration, Neha is the key driver of GEP’s AI, sustainability, DEI and social initiatives strategies. In 2023, she was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for New Jersey.

Bruce Molloy advises companies on AI, M&A, innovation, and technology. He helps the C-Suite and Board get “directionally correct,” is mentor to new companies and is also an investor.  

Bruce holds a patent for a “cognitive processor” and has built and run two AI companies, one which made it to IPO. He has 25 years of industry experience in artificial intelligence and machine learning and is considered a visionary.

#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:  

1. Your corporate and entrepreneurial journey

2. Investment banking lessons - Arcus insights

3. Y Combinator insights

4. State of the funding and accelerator markets

5. Future trends domestically and globally

Edrizio is a former Y Combinator visiting partner. A Dominican immigrant raised in Harlem, Edrizio dropped out of college and joined the U.S. Air Force, becoming an aircraft technician to make ends meet. He later returned to college, worked on Wall Street, and earned his MBA from the Wharton School.

In 2013, Edrizio co-founded Arcus, a fintech company that raised $20M from Y Combinator, Initialized, Citi Ventures, SoftBank, and a16z. In 2021, Arcus was sold to Mastercard, in its largest Latam acquisition ever.  

#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast