Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its most popular subfield, Machine Learning (ML), are all the rage these days. Futurists predict that every facet of our lives and every line of business is going to be transformed by ML. In this talk, we will focus on some of the key insights that every business owner and practitioner … Continue reading Episode 55: 10 Things Every Business Owner Should Know About Machine Learning →

Over the past decade, three of Echo-Factory’s clients have achieved more than $250 million in growth. The agency’s founder and CEO, Mike Schaffer, will look at the role branding, marketing and advertising played in each company’s growth. Intuition suggests that what works in one marketplace won’t work in another. But while all three of these … Continue reading Episode 54: The First $250 Million – A Case Study in Branding, Failures & Self-Confidence →

This is the first episode of a new segment for the Friday Coffee Meet-Up Podcast. I’ll be interviewing tech start ups in Pasadena and around the Los Angeles area. In this inaugural episode I spoke with Pasadena start up Alpha Token about how they’re creating a brand new ecosystem for content creators powered by a … Continue reading Episode 53: Interview with Vince Major & Jorge Garcia of Alpha Token. →

In the world of advice giving, how do we know we are getting something valuable? Often, our ability to move forward or level-up professionally requires assistance, but we aren’t always sure what kind of help we need. Pressure, stress, new frontiers and blind-spots influence our judgment and ability to make distinctions among service providers. It … Continue reading Episode 52: Mentor, Advisor or Coach? What’s the Difference and Which One Is Right for You. →

As a twenty year veteran of the SoCal tech/start-up ecosystem, Andy brings a thoughtful perspective about SoCal’s journey to becoming a vibrant tech hub. In his new role as the first executive director of the Alliance for SoCal Innovation ( http://www.alliancesocal.org/ ) Andy is chartered with helping accelerate SoCal’s ascendancy to becoming the world’s next … Continue reading Episode 51: Stars Aligning: How Southern California Could Be the Next Great Tech Ecosystem →

Description: While Pasadena is consistently named one of the best cities to live year after year, City leaders also want to make it a great place to work. Mayor Terry Tornek and City Manager Steve Mermell will be stopping by on May 4th to check-in with Pasadena’s innovators and talk about the latest developments and … Continue reading Episode 50: Coffee with the Mayor →

Topic: 13 Questions to Help You Cut Out Small Talk and Build Genuine Connections Tom Amestoy, Founder & CEO of Focus Out, talks about the missed opportunities to genuinely connect with others when we engage in “small talk.” Scientific studies have revealed that the types of conversations we have truly impact our wellbeing. These findings … Continue reading Episode 49: 13 Questions to Help You Cut Out Small Talk and Build Genuine Connections →

Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One film portrays a future world in which VR is at the core of everything society does. While much of the venture funding for VR from a couple of years seems to be fading, a myriad of startups continue to push forward with incredible innovations in haptics, visual headsets, motion systems, … Continue reading Episode 48: The Future of Virtual Reality →

Alex will recount his exciting story about becoming one of the most talented young hardware developers in the world, and why his pursuing his passion for building hardware was more compelling than earning a degree from one of the finest universities in the world. He will share his perspective on the value of a degree … Continue reading Episode 47: Why hardware hacking is more compelling than a fancy Cambridge degree →

This is a must have talk for technology business leaders looking into the future of blockchain for your organization. We will go beyond the cryptocurrency use case and ICO’s to understand what’s current and next on the roadmap for blockchain. Features and properties of the blockchain ecosystem will be discussed by looking at various platforms. … Continue reading Episode 46: The Future of Blockchain Beyond Cryptocurrencies →