After more than 20 years of active public service in the community as a volunteer (including as a co-founder of Innovate Pasadena) earlier this year, Andy Wilson ran for elected office for the first time. Disconnects between expectation and reality were much greater than anticipated (fake news transpires at the local level!). Was it naivety? … Continue reading Episode26: “My First Rodeo”: Campaign Reflections & Insights →

Red is great for lipstick and the sole of your stilettos  – not so much for your balance sheets and bank accounts. The path to profitability can often be seemingly endless, snarled, and plagued with fender-benders and traffic jams – but it doesn’t have to be mysterious or lonely. And while every brand forges its … Continue reading Episode 24: 5 Hi-Profit Secrets from a Hi-Profit Guy →

We will take a look at how twitter has evolved over the last 11 years, from 140 Characters to a Live Streaming Platform. Bio: Alexa is based in Los Angeles and serves as an Account Executive to Media & Entertainment clients at Twitter. In her 5 years at the social media company, she has worked … Continue reading Episode 22: The Evolution of Twitter →

Optimizing your tech stack with key products is essential for business operations and productivity. This talk will cover essential elements and tips for success: 1. Expect Google to lead on computing, storage, and network. 2. Don’t build a configuration server, instead use Google sheets. 3. Not sure who is gonna win the cloud war? Remember … Continue reading Episode 23: How to Future Proof your Tech Stack →

An honest discussion of the realities of a journey of a of a 5 time successful entrepreneur whose company – Ranker – now reaches 40 million people monthly and is solidly profitable with over 60 employees. Benson will take us through his self-funded beginnings to early angel rounds (partly secured in Pasadena), and funding from “name” VCs … Continue reading Episode 21: The Roller Coaster Ride to 40 Million Monthly Users →

This talk explores new ways of looking at failure in the World of Startups. Failure is being presented not as a possible outcome, but rather as a mile-marker that all Startups go through. Specifically it covers a concept of “unfail” or “unfailure”, where Startups try to “unfail” every element of their business on their way … Continue reading Episode 19: Startup Failure Is Not What You Think →

A few years ago, most of us would have thought of “sensory deprivation” as some kind of unique torture experience. But Jim Hefner saw an opportunity for both personal, and business growth, all sans pantalon. Jim will share his experience discovering floating, and turning that discovery into creating the world’s largest sensory depravation center in Pasadena. After a lifetime … Continue reading Episode 20: Business, Risk and Pants-Free Mindfulness →

Our technology, business models, geo-politics and a not too distant inter-planetary (inter-reality) life are all growing in complexity and uncertainty. The age old profit-wage correlation is one of the many lagging indicators that most of our ways of economically and socially operating no longer hold as they did. Volatility creeps up in most facets of … Continue reading Episode18: Doing Business in the Face of Growing Uncertainty →

As a copywriting and translation agency, Supertext has helped many startups go global by localizing websites, software, apps, and more. A decade after starting up in Europe, it decided to eat its own dog food – Supertext USA, Inc. launched in Silicon Valley in 2016. Kristy Sakai, CEO, talks about the challenges companies face when … Continue reading Episode 17: Going Global: Localizing a Localization Startup →

The Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine will offer more than a conventional medical education. It offers the unique opportunity to be taught by the physicians of the Permanente Medical Groups, recognized as one of the premier medical groups in the nation, and surrounded by the people, data and technology of Kaiser Permanente, one of the … Continue reading Episode 15: Patient Care & Community Engagement in 2030 & Beyond (Kaiser School of Medicine) →