Rust Belt Startup

Today on the podcast, Pastor Mike Ballman returns. It’s a follow-up conversation 3 years after our first conversation (which was one of my favorite episodes ever – listen at the link below). Mike is the founder and chief operator of the Morrow Warming Center – a low-barrier shelter in Utica, NY. 

What Mike has done has made the problem of homelessness visible – and the challenges that come with it. 

We talk about the founding of the Morrow Warming Center, homelessness in small cities, potential solutions, opposition to what he’s doing, being uncomfortable, and building community through connection as we come out of the pandemic. 

This is a heavy conversation but an important one. 

Learn more about The Morrow Warming Center via their Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/430038701543837

Donate or Support the Warming Center
http://morrowwarmingcenter.org

Mike Ballman – Invest, Commit, Dig In (Rust Belt Startup Podcast)

Today on the podcast I want to talk to you about data – specifically your data – well, specifically MY data…. but it just as well might be your data. We all know that tech giant and social networks collect TONS of our personal formation and that they have become intregral into so many parts of our lives. And they collect a LOT of data about you. But have you ever tried to take a look at just how much of your data you’re sharing? Have you ever tried to take any of it back?

Today I’ll tell you about some of the tools I’ve used (and that you can use) to view, download, digest and if you so choose – DELETE some of the data that is stored via social media and other tech giants. Specifically we’ll look at Google, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I’ll tell you what I’ve found and how easy (or impossible) it is to remove your data.

Resources:
Scott Galloway’s TED talk on The 4 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRL2vVAa47I

Google Takeout: Takeout.Google.com
TweetDelete: https://tweetdelete.net

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are reaching a fever pitch with some digital artwork selling for tens of millions of dollars. The landscape changes daily and so today I want to give you a brief primer on how you might think about NFTs, what they are, and what could be next in the space. 

In this podcast I reference a great interview with Kara Swisher of the New York Times and Beeple – whose recent NFT of a collection of his daily works sold at auction for over $60 million. It’s a fantastic interview and you can check it out here:

What do you think? Do you own any NFTs? If so, what made you decide to take the plunge?

Today I’m sharing a conversation I had with chef Tim Hardiman of The Tailor and the Cook. And we’re talking about his experience over the past 12 months.

What is it like to be in the restaurant business as everything collapsed around us?

Tim takes us through T&C’s core philosophies and what has made them successful over the years, but we also spend time talking about how he pivoted during the pandemic to create innovative virtual dining experiences, the difficult decisions he had to make as an entrepreneur and the lessons learned over 2020. We talk about the importance of service, detail, and stepping back to make better decisions.

Today’s conversation is one I’ve been really looking forward to sharing. I’m talking with Kat Vellos about UX, building (and maintaining) community and connection.

Kat is a UX (user experience) designer, the founder of the Bay Are Black Designers, Connection Club, a facilitator, coach, and someone who is obsessed with community and connection.

She’s also the author of two books – “We Should Get Together – The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships” and “Connected From Afar – A Guide For Staying Close When You’re Far Away.”

In our conversation we talk about User Experience – what makes good UX and how do you apply that to your app, business or city. We talk about building and maintaining healthy, resilient communities – and probably most important, we talk about connection.

We talk about “platonic longing” which probably encapsulates a feeling that many adults are feeling in this time of isolation, and the idea of ‘familiar strangers’ who gave our daily lives dynamism and rhythm.

You can learn more about Kat and her books at weshouldgettogether.com and katvellos.com

On today’s podcast I’m having a conversion with Mr. James Shomar. James is a partner at StartFast which is a venture accelerator program in Syracuse NY. 

I reached out to James after reading one of his LinkedIn posts about how he’s re-thinking startup funding and economic development as it relates to startups. 

In our wide ranging conversation he gives us a primer on angel and venture investment and the kinds of companies that this investment attracts. Ever wondered why your company isn’t attractive to angel or venture capital? We’ll talk about it. 

We also talk about leveling the playing field when it comes to opportunities for entrepreneurs of color, and much more.

You can learn more about James on LinkedIN.

On my end – I’m a partner in a new initiative called the Mohawk Valley Micro Seed Fund that’s looking for it’s first investment. You can learn more about that venture at our website.

Hey everyone – I was going to say Happy 2021 until things all went sideways last week. Regardless this the first episode of Season 3 of the Rust Belt Startup Podcast.

On today’s episode I’m actually reading a blog post in it’s entirety that I really enjoyed which was featured in Tim Ferriss’ newsletter ‘Five Bullet Friday‘.

It’s originally by Conner Barnes over at Ideopunk.com, and while I don’t agree with everything, lists like these I think are useful as we start a new year or if you’re looking for a change. They prompt questions, challenges, and might make you improve in some small way this year.

Today’s pod is a super-shorty episode (I’ll be experimenting with more of these) where we’re talking about the Trojan horse that is the Nike Run Club app. This app started as a sensor you’d put in your Nike shoes (Nike+) and evolved as smartphones entered the market to a full-fledged and full-featured digital community. And there’s key feature/Trojan horse methodology that we can all learn from that can use to grow your revenue as well. Let me explain…

Today on the podcast it’s a little lighter and I’m chatting with a colleague of mine – Bernie Freytag. He is the Creative Director at Romanelli Communications and he has a new book called ‘Find Wonder In The Ordinary’, which is sort of a memoir mashed-up with New Yorker cartoons.

So in this conversation we focus on creativity – how to harness your own creativity , how do you be creative when it’s also part of your job, how he thinks about creativity. And we also talk about the genesis of the book, how he decided to put it out into the universe and much more.

You can learn more about Bernie and the book project at Find Wonder In The Ordinary and on instagram at instagram.com/findwonderintheordinary and instagram.com/medraw

Today – a short reflection on the past several weeks and the role small towns and cities can have in meaningful change. Imperfect and incomplete.