SALT Talks

Lorenzo Thione is the Managing Director of Gaingels and a co-founding chairman of StartOut, two of the leading groups dedicated to supporting and elevating LGBTQ+ leaders in the venture startup ecosystem.

There is a negative business impact when a gay person is uncomfortable being open about their orientation. The time and attention dedicated to that issue takes away from time building out an idea or company without fear. Gaingels and StartOut help support that movement by increasing awareness and highlighting members of the LGBTQ+ community who hold top tech positions. As Apple CEO, Tim Cook famously came out publicly, after some hesitation, in support of this mission. “He came to the realization that the value of representation is the power of giving people an idea of what's possible for them and seeing themselves reflected as a source of strength and diversity as opposed to just a reason to be called other.”

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci. 

Arjun Sethi is the co-founder of Tribe Capital, a venture capital firm built by engineers and scientists. Arjun sits on the board of Carta, Relativity, and Bolt. As a founder and operator, he has also been an active angel investor in over 100 tech companies, including Lyft, Opendoor, Gusto, and Front.

Success is never a straight line and involves failure and unsuccessful attempts. Achieving success requires exposure to the people and community where you’re involved. Ultimately, it’s then about the arrival of an inflection point where you decide whether to push forward or stagnate. Silicon Valley offers exposure because of the vast community of like-minded individuals in close proximity. Lessons learned from previous unsuccessful start-ups can help create an even stronger team, where each member brings distilled ideas. “There was a set of folks that I would say, had shared DNA around thinking about iterating innovation and what could you build that's different around looking at technology companies.”

When considering whether to invest in start-up companies, it is important to recognize one’s own thought patterns and biases. Focusing on what is known about a company instead of a person’s background or network is important in avoiding those pitfalls. “We have a motto internally, which is, ‘how do we focus on what versus who you know?"

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci. 

Ric Edelman is the founder of the nation’s largest independent RIA, with 350 advisors in 170 offices nationwide, managing $230 billion for 1.2 million individuals and households. The firm is also the nation’s largest independent provider of advice to 401(k) plans, serving thousands of companies, including 150 of the Fortune 500.

Advisors are obligated to look into the future for opportunities and challenges. This now includes the emergence of crypto and digital asset, including Bitcoin. Bitcoin has been the top-performing asset class of the last 1-, 5- and 10-year period, but due to its newness, skepticism is understandable. RIA Digital Assets was set up to help advisors and consumers become more comfortable with this revolutionary technology. Ultimately, a 1% asset allocation of Bitcoin is recommended.

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci. 

Prior to COVID-19, digital transformation projects were at a pace of their own - slow and experimental. For the sixth installment of SALT Talks: Pandemic Venture Investment Series, presented in partnership with OurCrowd, foodtech startups are not just reimagining the future of agriculture and food, but also the sustainability of our planet. 2019 saw the sector grow to a $20 billion venture capital sector. Technology has proven to be crucial during this global pandemic and highlighted our dependence on a global functioning food chain. 

Featuring Laura Flanagan, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Ripple Foods; Lou Cooperhouse, President & Chief Executive Officer of BlueNalu; and Freddy Raitan, Chief Commercial Officer of Tevel.

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci. 

Dr. Saifedean Ammous is the author of The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking, the best-selling groundbreaking study of the economics of bitcoin. The book was a pioneer in explaining bitcoin's value proposition, and the implications of its unique properties.

As a peer-to-peer software for operating payment network, Bitcoin acts as the native currency. Bitcoin is totally protected from inflation because Bitcoin’s source code makes it mathematically impossible to exceed 21 million Bitcoins- a fixed monetary supply. The entire world was effectively on the gold standard, because it was the hardest money at the time, but more gold can continually be introduced into the supply. “Anything that gets held as a form of money, the value of it rises, and because the value rises, it gives people an incentive to make more of it.”

Bitcoin offers a way to remove the third-party intermediaries in the financial transaction. The decentralized nature of the blockchain, on which Bitcoin exists, creates security via transparency. There is no one single point of failure in the way that a third-party financial institution, entrusted with money, must secure itself from hackers or thieves.

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci. 

PlanB is a Dutch institutional investor with a legal and quantitative finance background. He created the Bitcoin Stock-to-Flow (S2F) model where he uses scarcity to quantify Bitcoin value. PlanB is currently working as an investment manager in a team managing a multi-billion-dollar balance sheet.

Bitcoin has been the best performing asset of the last one, five and ten years. It represents a very asymmetrical bet, meaning the return is much higher than its volatility. The Bitcoin white paper written by the cryptocurrency’s anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto served as the “Aha” moment, laying out the revolutionary technology in simple terms. “I liked the white paper so much. It's a very simple description, nine pages, very elegant, not that mathematical… from there you start your journey.”

It’s common among anyone considering Bitcoin to feel like they are late in getting involved. In reality, Bitcoin is still in the early innings. The asymmetric nature of Bitcoin and its growth potential could see its price go above $300k by the end of 2021.

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci. 

Phil Murphy is the 56th Governor of the State of New Jersey. He has signed legislation putting New Jersey on the path to a $15-an-hour minimum wage, enacted the nation’s strongest equal pay law to combat gender wage discrimination, ensured all workers have access to paid sick days, and expanded the state's Paid Family Leave provisions. From 2009-13, under President Obama, Murphy served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany.

New Jersey was among the states, along with New York and Connecticut, hit hardest by COVID-19 early in the pandemic. This forced a series of difficult decisions around restricting indoor sports, indoor dining, concerts etc. Consistent national messaging plays a critical role in getting state residents to understand the need for responsible behavior. The lack of leadership and messaging early on, when it has the most impact, continues to have negative downstream effects. This has required states like New Jersey to be aggressive in supporting small businesses hurt by the restrictions. “We have put grants, loans, capital into, I think at this point, 35,000 small businesses.” 

In order to avoid a massive economic fallout, a large federal stimulus is required. The moment calls for around $3 trillion in spending. State and local governments are facing budget shortfalls and federal support will allow these governments to continue employing frontline workers facing the pandemic head-on.

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci. 

Strauss Zelnick is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. In addition, he recently served as Interim Chairman of The CBS Corp. Board of Directors. 

Quitting a role as a film studio president in order to launch a video game company 25 years was a major risk, but this relatively new genre of entertainment showed signs similar to motion pictures in the 1920s. On top of the meteoric rise in video games and interactive entertainment of the last couple decades, the pandemic has accelerated its growth and adoption as people spend more time at home. The technological developments of video games have made human interaction central to its experience, offering a social element for many who wouldn’t have it during a stay-at-home period. “We like to consume entertainment with other people; we like to participate with other people; we like to watch with other people.”

Esports represents a new frontier in the video game space with over 250 million viewers. It even serves as the primary entertainment for 125 million. The industry will continue to grow and likely evolve into an ecosystem similar to the professional sports leagues.

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci. 

Szymon Idzikowski joined the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) in January 2015 to lead the 3rd party fund selection and co-manage discretionary client investment portfolios. He is a lead fund manager of ADCB Target Date Funds and ADCB Multi-Asset Funds.

There are three major factors driving the market and forecasts of future returns: demographics, globalization and global growth. We see aging demographics across the world which will serve as a drag on the economy. Globalization peaked around 2010 and its decline will ultimately moderate the pace of global growth. This portends lower investment yields in the coming decade. “If I look on the IMF forecast, growth is only going to continue to moderate [due to globalization and demographics] and debt that companies and governments have built.

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci. 

Prior to COVID-19, digital transformation projects were at a pace of their own - slow and experimental. For the fifth installment of SALT Talks: Pandemic Venture Investment Series, presented in partnership with OurCrowd, leading digital health startups provide a unique view into the revolution in artificial intelligence and how it’s shaping MedTech trends, and where investment opportunity lies. Hear from Zebra Medical providing automated, accurate AI imaging diagnosis, Diagnostic Robotics’s AI triage and clinical-predictions platform, and BrainQ, developing an AI-powered electromagnetic field therapy to reduce neuro disorders related disabilities.

Featuring Ohad Arazi, Chief Executive Officer of Zebra Medical Vision, Maya Orlicky, Vice President, Strategy of Diagnostic Robotics, and Yotam Drechsler, Chief Executive Officer of BrainQ.

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To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit salt.org/talks

Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci.