People My Dog Would Like

This week I had the chance to sit down and have a chat with Jan Owen, CEO of the Foundation for Young Australians. We talk the future of work, education, dogs, cats, and have a laugh. A remarkable woman, doing pioneering work with youth in Australia and globally.

We talk about her lifelong passion for young people and their vast potential and creativity and her desire to tinker with the current education system and economy so we can pivot into a smarter, sustainable world with better social outcomes - a generative, compassionate and fulfilling world that young people want and need and ultimately what society needs too.

FYA has the largest platform for young australian's to advocate for their needs in the country. 150,000 members.

We talk about her background in social enterprise and the future of work - how the it’s the WAY of learning that will change. She talks of the future and that there will be a new arrangement between employers, employees and educational institutions. Powerful stuff. 

Loved hearing about the FYA program $20 Boss - in schools now - providing a new way of learning which is so needed - “You may do a digital platform one year, a service provision into the community in another year. You might do an online advocacy campaign the next year. You learn A LOT of skills. A school in Christmas Island set up 25 businesses in one term.” Seriously cool. 

So whether its young people interested in social entrepreneurship to solve local problems (including naming a few bright sparks, although admittedly she said they are all pretty amazing) or young people setting up business through the $20 Boss program, FYA’s work and the platforms and programs they are building to support our next generation of learners, scientists and entrepreneurs are gaining huge momentum and will have an impact on education and young people’s relationship with work and how they engage with their learning. 

She encourages our youth to get their degree or diploma, get into a 'cluster' they are interested in and start working a way through that. FYA's research has found there’s up to 13 other jobs available in front of them that have the same skills and capabilities needed for the job they have gone into. A liberating thought.

Jan Owen is relentlessly optimistic about our youth, but more than anything, deeply committed to work out what society can do to support, assist, and GET OUT OF THEIR WAY (regulation can you hear us?) -  to actually enable them to create the world THEY want to live in. Because all their thinking, all their smarts and all the skills and capabilities they have in spades will be for naught if we don’t support them by rethinking learning to create more opportunity for them to succeed.  And when they succeed, we all succeed. 

We talk about so much, this is just a smattering of our chat. Enjoy!

Show Notes

Lifeline

International Women's Development Agency

Inspire Foundation

School for Social Entrepreneurs

Social Ventures Australia

CREATE Foundation

Young Social Pioneers

Lucinda Hartley

UN - Habitat Advisory Board

Chris Raine

Hello Sunday Morning

Jordan O'Reilly

Hireup

NDIS

YLab

The New Work Order

Annita Roddick

$20 Boss

If you have any questions or want to touch base about someone you would like to hear as a guest on the show just contact me through twitter at @lizziemettam or via email on [email protected].

This week I had the chance to speak with Dr Jemma Green, Co-Founder and Chair of Power Ledger, a Perth based blockchain energy trading company. It was really interesting to hear Jemma's journey from Perth to London and back to Perth to ultimately form the company which I believe is a welcome disrupter to the energy ecosystem space.

Power Ledger launched Australia's first home grown Initial Coin Offering (a cryptocurrency IPO) where they raised $US27 million in funding in October last year. The funding is being used to make the Power Ledger platform globally accessible in their provision of a resilient, carbon free and sustainable Peer to Peer energy trading platform. It's been getting a lot of attention from the likes of Sir Richard Branson who is the subject of a sweet anecdote she shares with us. Jemma is back again to Necker Island this year as Power Ledger is one of three finalists in the Richard Branson's 2018 Extreme Tech Challenge. which Branson himself is judging.

So far they've been busy with number of trials to test and validate the platform in Australia and are undergoing others globally. It's latest deal with US non-profit Helpanswers will lead to hundreds of clean energy trading projects in US states including California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including stretching to it's capital, Washington DC. Both companies' mission is about generating opportunities to make low carbon, low cost energy universally available.

In Asia Power Ledger have signed up partnerships with Tech Mahendra to build microgrids in India and with a major state owned utility provider in Thailand which will lead to a significant uptake of clean energy trading in the Asia region.

We talk about the rollercoaster ride that is the cryptocurrency market and the trend of social media companies banning their advertising, and the cryptocurrency and blockchain space in general.

Jemma was a real gem to agree to being a guest on People My Dog Would Like, as she's soon to have baby number two, so I was really grateful she took time out of her busy schedule and along with wishing her all the best for the birth, will be rooting for her in the upcoming competition. That woman has winner written all over her.

I hope you can excuse the change in audio quality towards the end of the interview, we had a tech hiccup in our first recording so finished the conversation on an alternative recording channel the following day.

This week I had the opportunity to post my conversation with Greg Bernarda, co-author of Value Proposition Design, where I would go so far as to say there is a copy of on every successful company's desk.

Greg now works with individuals, teams and organizations on strategy, creativity and innovation. His call is to work collaboratively to design a future that employees, customers, and communities can all recognize as their own. He has a very human approach to work, to business and to relationships. I loved what he had to say about the future of work, collective collaboration and being centred or grounded which is so important to him to be successful.

Before setting up his own practice, Greg worked at the World Economic Forum from 2000 to 2008, engaging members into initiatives to address global and industry issues. He is a leading thought leader in design thinking theory, it was a pleasure to have him on and talk through his recent trip to Australia, his current ventures and the what he feels the future holds for us in the space we call work.

Show notes

World Economic Forum

Programme Noé

LiftGlobal

Nick Grossman

Eckhart Tollé

This week the world celebrates International Women’s Day and I wanted to use the opportunity to speak to a friend and associate who I admire and have wanted to have on for some time. Michel Hogan is an author, communicator and serious thinker who’s alternative perspective on life and big, sticky issues regularly gets my attention – she’s a great chick, having successfully run her own business since the age of 25. It was a real treat to have her as my guest and share some of her wisdom and also share a laugh.

“The only things that are in your control are your thoughts and your actions, nothing else should disquiet you.”

We talk about her professional life and the work she does with individuals and organisations, helping them deliver on the promises they make to their customers and clients and in doing so helps them build relationships lasting a lifetime. The stuff we both care about, authenticity, integrity and saying what you mean and doing what you say. Her lovely five practices each day are my favourite take away.

We talk about what International Women’s Day means to her and her take on the worldwide campaign for equality which still has a long way to achieve its goals and what she sees organisations are doing in the space to #pressforprogress.

Michel is a student of stoicism, a philosophy I also love and yet struggle to maintain. Or should I say practice. We talk about how this plays out in her life and how she draws on it to lead a more accepting, peaceful life.

Enjoy the show!

Show Notes

Michel can be reached through her website, on twitter @michelhogan and here at LinkedIn – shoot her an message through any of these links.

Between Making Money and World Peace

Patagonia

In Love and War

Admiral Jim Stockdale

Sybil Stockdale

Epictetus

Seneca

Ryan Holiday

Ego Is the Enemy

The Obstacle is the Way

The Daily Stoic

Tim Ferris

Jocko Willink

Derek Sivers

Sam Harris

Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

Tara Brach

This week I had the chance to speak with Dr Jane Thomason, a global leader driving the application of

 for positive social impact. Global Ambassador for the British Blockchain Association and CEO of ABT Associates, a global consultancy of “bold thinkers driving real-world impact”, Dr Thomason is working with the UN and other organisations to drive economic and social inclusion for the world’s most vulnerable. 

Dr Thomason’s focus is on last mile populations and emerging economies. We talk about how the use of blockchain technology has the potential to create life changing micro economies in locations where people are not connected to the internet – which effectively will facilitate access to a global economy. She believes that the cryptocurrency conversation often gets in the way of more important societal conversations she would prefer to be having with policy makers globally. Too true.

There’s a huge amount of education needed for people to understand the importance of new and emerging technologies and what we can achieve as a society with their acceptance and uptake. So we talk about education and the disruption to come.

We talk about crypto philanthropy –  a new kind of impact investing – where the new wealthy wanting to invest ethically, wanting to see the world as a better place.

We touch on the potential of a new societal structure – organised into decentralised autonomous communities – that are emerging using blockchain and tokens serving to connect people around a project or issue. It could bring on major social restructuring allowing people to move beyond the boundaries of our traditional sovereign state governments. Where people are aligned on values and beliefs. Projects that focus on mitigating climate change – it’s pretty inspiring.

Dr Thomason is an advocate for women getting into STEM – in both schools, college and through working collaborations, and she shares the advice she wished she had when she had her own kids at school. It’s clear and education revolution needed and soon.

I hope you enjoy the chat, she’s a remarkable woman, I can’t wait to have her back on the show to discuss her inspiring projects changing the lives of people who really need the help. Just brilliant.

This week I had a chat with Adam Jacoby, Entrepreneur, Activist, Co-Founder and Chief Steward of the global democracy movement, MiVote. MiVote at its heart is a community decision making and voting platform where everybody has a say on the decisions that get made on your behalf in parliament. It’s bringing the will of the people back into politics. And you can do it from your phone.

Adam and the MiVote team just returned from Davos, Switzerland, where they were met with keen interest by heads of state. This has led to the scheduling of follow up meetings with national leaders keen to work with the MiVote platform in their respective countries. Charlie Caruso has recently joined the team as MiVote’s Head of Global Growth, a reflection on the significant traction the movement is gaining globally. There’s a lot going on, and further announcements will be coming soon.

Adam, like many of us, continues to remain concerned about the quality of leadership in Australia and the world – leadership that is meant to be guiding us on important decisions and broader challenges both here and globally. Money, status, ideology and power have corrupted our political system and our politicians. It’s time for a change.

MiVote is a unique, smart and robust answer, or antidote, to this legacy system.

Through the use of blockchain technology embedded in the MiVote platform, Adam and his Co-Founder, Hamish Hughes, have created a model and mechanism to drive greater transparency and legitimacy to drive better public engagement and participation which will change the face of democracy.

” Democracy is about the voice of the people and politics is about power. There’s too much politics in our democracy and nowhere near enough democracy in our politics. ”

If you are interested in learning more about the organisation you can get in touch with them directly through MiVote’s website. They are about to announce the appointment of a CEO and are looking for people interested in getting involved in a movement about to take off globally.

MiVote are searching for good candidates. If you are interested in becoming a candidate or advocating on their behalf Adam would love to hear from you. Get in touch with them!

Adam’s twitter handle is @adamajacoby where you will also find him tweeting about everything from politics to sport, puppies and family. 

A wonderful chat with an extraordinary individual, I hope you enjoy our chat.

This week I had a chat with Alex Lubinsky, co-founder and CEO of Rentberry, a decentralized long-term rental platform that has been disrupting the rental industry since 2015. Rentberry’s platform has been a game changer through automating steps within the renting process, from signing contracts to paying rent online. The feedback from users of the service – now in 300 cities scattered throughout the United States – has been positive, saving both tenants and landlords time and money, while speeding up the legal contracts between parties.

The biggest standout for me however is Rentberry’s application of blockchain and smart contracts technology offering tenants the ability to save thousands of dollars in rental security deposits, by using a crowdfunding mechanism which is due to start rolling out in March/April 2018.

Rentberry CEO Alex Lubinsky says, “$500 billion dollars are frozen in rental security deposits. Rentberry is the first international solution to help quality renters unlock billions of dollars, while streamlining the process of finding apartments, paying rent, and everything in between.” Love the crowdsourced nature of funding tenants’ deposits returning significant return on investment for those willing to participate in the ecosystem.

During our conversation we talked about their current ICO which is hoping to raise $30M and due to finish by February – to fund the investment required to grow the business. Their sights are high this year to expand to Australia and NZ, with other countries to follow soon after including the UK. They are receiving a huge amount of positive press and I’d imagine the sky is the limit for where this company will be headed.

Last year they picked up a couple of global awards for their business model, and their partners and investors are the real deal. One worth watching, and participating in if you are so inclined. Hope you enjoy our chat, was an absolute pleasure having Alex on.

Disclaimer – The author has personally participated in the Rentberry ICO and owns tokens.

This week I chatted with Toni Lane Casserly, Co-Founder of CoinTelegraph and more recently of the virtual blockchain nation movement, Culture.re. A fab conversation, I didn’t realise Toni was a singer so having her on next time with a cool tune in mind. We talked about blockchain technology, and about the challenges we face today that can be addressed through some of the fast moving startups and the crypto community that are turning the world around. One token at a time.

Toni is an artrepreneur in the Digital Currency and Blockchain Industry. She is an empath, investor, artist, advisory board member, transformational evangelist and founder who has been affectionately entitled “The Joan of Arc of Blockchain” by her peers and various publications.

When I asked if she thought we were in a bitcoin bubble, as is talked about ALL THE TIME IN CRYPTOLAND, she let me know pretty clearly, that bitcoin was not the bubble.

Bitcoin is the pin.

Really loved our conversation, so full of hope for the future, and love that women like Toni are kicking arse in the blockchain world. I hope you do to, and if you want to get in touch with Toni you can do with with the links here.

And a big happy new year listeners, love that you are listening, hope you are learning and loving the pods and keeping it real.

This week I spoke with John Lyotier, co-founder of Left, and it’s recent offshoot, Rightmesh. The tagline for Left is We do things right. For Rightmesh, Changing the way the world connects. And they will. Without hooking into the internet. My conversation with John was a reminder to me that there are serious game changers out there in the tech start up space who will CHANGE THE WORLD.

He chatted to me from their office in Bangladesh, where they employ a dedicated team of doctors, scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers and business strategists to solve one of the world’s biggest problems – ensuring the unbanked two billion people get access to an economy that they could not enter before now. They do this by engaging citizens into the mesh.

Rightmesh is a decentralized mobile mesh for smart phones and IoT devices and their mission is to connect the next billion users. He’s got an incredible team working for them, specialists in working with mesh technology, and well….. I was so blown away by the sheer breadth of what could be achieved through the tech for the unbanked and world’s poor that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.

If John is anything he’s a wonderful storyteller. He talks about how he met his co-founder Chris Jensen, and how the companies formed – one seemingly accidentally morphed into the beginning of the other. But there’s no coincidence really. He’s got a big heart and his northstar is doing good in the world. Getting things right. And the company and its culture epitomises just that. And lifting people in countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia out of poverty. And god damn it it looks like he’ll go a long way in getting there.

We talk about how the tech works, the wonder of blockchain underpinning it and how it will have huge economic and social repercussions for those living in urban centres in developing countries.

I hope you get a chance to have a listen.

Can’t wait to watch where Rightmesh go. To infinity and beyond. Incredible.

“Disrupt or Be Disrupted”

 

This week I had the opportunity to speak with Lance Rubin, Founder of Model Citizn and CFO of Banjo. He’s one of the best financial modellers out there, but what he talks about is strategy. Smart financial modelling for any business is strategic for the future of any business, whether its a sole operator or startup, through to an SME or even large organisation – to stay relevant…..to ensure you don’t get left behind. And let’s be honest, cashflow keeps that concept very real. So we talk about this a bit. But we talked at length about banks, and why the culture inside them make a tsunami moment for our economy inevitable.

I wanted to get Lance on having had a conversation with him a few months ago about his time working for one of the big four banks in Australia, that we all know have a choking hold on the financial system here. I asked him what it was like to work in the system, what the mood was like in the bank, what the culture felt like, what made him leave and what he’s been doing since. It was illuminating.

Needless to say it was refreshing to know there is hope for many in the sector who are looking at inevitable unemployment if they remain in the ‘system’: disrupt or be disrupted. It was great to hear how Lance turned what was a pretty tough situation to his benefit. You could do this too, some great tips, and a genuine guy keen to help others who are interested in moving into their own area of financial consulting, or indeed, a startup of some kind.

Lance is from South Africa, he doesn’t pull punches, he’s a no-BS kinda guy. I liked my conversation with him a lot. He’s big on a generative mindset, staying open and positive, and jogging. Loves his LinkedIn time, where he gets to engage with his ever growing number of followers, and encourages any of you to reach out and connect if you want to have a chat about “where to from here”. You can reach him through any of the links in the above text and of course through me if you want an introduction.