Somewhat Frank

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber), John Guidos (@JohnGuidos), and Jen Consalvo (@noreaster), all chat about New Year's greetings, cool new gadgets at CES, new shows, and more…

Frank, Jen, and John also invite listeners to participate in the Startup of the Year Summit on Jan 25-27 https://summit.startupofyear.com/

Frank also celebrates Scot Chisholm on the merging of Classy with GoFundMe (https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/13/gofundme-acquires-classy)

The group talks about these new books/articles:

— Is it too late to say Happy New Year? Ok, either way. Shall we downplay NYE? (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/cancel-new-years-eve-forever)

—Best of CES 2022: 30 top gadgets you need to see (https://thegadgetflow.com/blog/best-of-ces-2022-30-top-gadgets-you-need-to-see/)

— Collectibles are back. Fanatics Bets Big On Trading Cards (https://www.axios.com/fanatics-bets-big-trading-cards-topps-d3590fd0-749a-4471-a0df-449c29db8a30.html)

— This is a huge deal! On Her Way Up: Yankees Tap Woman as Minor League Manager (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/10/sports/baseball/rachel-balkovec-yankees.amp.html)

— Wordle is having a moment, while I'm still doing mini crossword puzzles and playing the spelling game on NYTimes app (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/13/wordle-perfect-pandemic-game-together)

—Why "We Don't Talk About Bruno" Is the Biggest Disney Hit Since "Let It Go" (https://slate.com/culture/2022/01/encanto-soundtrack-we-dont-talk-about-bruno-tiktok.html)

—The bees FTW! New research reveals that honeybee venom can cure breast cancer (https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/new-research-reveals-that-honeybee-venom-can-cure-breast-cancer)

— This is groundbreaking research and news! Epstein-Barr Virus a Likely Leading Cause of Multiple Sclerosis (https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/966604)

— The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday (https://amzn.to/3KstRN5)

— The Bomber Mafia by Malcom Gladwell (https://a.co/5Bi6AOB)

We are loving the following shows/movies:

— Yellowstone – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4236770/ - it's like a cross between the Sopranos meets Lonesome Dove set in todays time on Peacock and I've been binge watching it while I work the second shift the last few months as we prep for our Startup of the Year Summit.

— Emily In Paris – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8962124 - Season Two is out on Netflix and it's fun to escape to Paris through the show. It's light and I'd call it the next generation Sex In The City.

— Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11852724/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk)

As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: [email protected]

Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this special Holiday Edition of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) are joined by Jen Consalvo (@noreaster) and talk about holiday celebrations, being thankful for vaccines, getting back to nature, and more.

Frank, Jen, and John also also invite listeners to participate in the Startup of the Year Summit is happening Jan 25-27 https://summit.startupofyear.com/

The Consumer Technology Association Foundation (http://www.ctafoundation.tech/) is bringing our CES Pitch Competition (https://www.cta.tech/Who-We-Are/CTA-Foundation/Pitch-Competition) sponsored by AARP Innovation Labs back live to CES 2022!

The group talks about these new books/articles:

—Drops replace specs (https://flip.it/9BsG9-) - First FDA-approved eye drops to replace reading glasses go on sale

— Touch the sun! (https://flip.it/PIZ9D0) - For The First Time in History, a Spacecraft Has 'Touched' The Sun

—Glowing Covid Masks (https://flip.it/AFsgcl) - Scientists invent mask that glows when exposed to COVID-19 virus

—Bye Bye Biopsies (https://flip.it/-sOUQA) - Hebrew U. creates blood test that could eliminate painful biopsies

—Speed pass(port) (https://flip.it/GpXEGN) - Biden Signs Order That Will Allow Online U.S. Passport Renewal

—Drone mailboxes are coming (https://www.axios.com/mailboxes-drone-deliveries-428f2ff4-78ab-44c4-881c-a7da48efdf3a.html ) - The mailbox gets a makeover for drone deliveries

— Wim Hof Method by Wim Hof - Key takeaways from it is that a 30 seconds or longer of a cold shower after your warm shower helps

We are loving the following shows/movies:

—The Harry Potter Series

—Fred Claus As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: [email protected]

Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this special episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) are joined by Jen Consalvo (@noreaster) and talk about drone tugboats, NFTs, alien origins, and more."

The group also celebrate the following from their networks:

• This week we had National Entrepreneurship Day on November 16, 2021.
• Global Entrepreneurship Week was recently celebrated Nov 8, 2021 – Nov 14, 2021
• Huge win for the Established team and for the SBIR team at the SBA - we produced the inaugural Innovation Ecosystem Summit from the 15th - 17th. Speakers ranged from Kathryn Finney to Steve Case and Victor Hwang - over a 1K people attended and videos will be posted soon.
• Andrew Warner has a new book https://www.StopAskingQuestions.co
• @properties in Chicago goes global with Christie's deal - https://www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-real-estate/christies-international-real-estate-selling-properties
• Jodie Howard & Lisa Lewis is starting a new business called "Togather" in Southern Maine
• We are very excited about this next step for Established Ventures portfolio company, SoLo Funds, and their SoLo Causes launch. Helping underserved communities has always been the SoLo mission, now users can also give back through partnerships with Habitat for Humanity International and United Way. See the People Magazine article here: https://people.com/human-interest/habitat-for-humanity-united-way-solo-funds-solo-causes-non-profit-rodney-williams/

Frank, Jen, and John also also invite listeners to participate in the following upcoming events:

• Startup of the Year then join our community and if you're one of the 100 startups selected you could be in the running. More info at http://soty.link/apply
• NASA iTech Cycle II Forum startup competition on Dec 8-9 - register at nasaitech.org Announced out Startup of the Year Summit is happening in Tampa on Jan 25-27 https://summit.startupofyear.com/
• The Consumer Technology Association Foundation is bringing our CES Pitch Competition (https://www.cta.tech/Who-We-Are/CTA-Foundation/Pitch-Competition) sponsored by AARP Innovation Labs back live to CES 2022! The pitch event will take place Thursday, January 6th at 1:00 PM PT on the Startup Stage in Eureka Park.

The group talks about these new books/articles:

• Agree! There are more than one ways to fry an egg. - Founders, Stop Obsessing Over Venture Funding (https://news.crunchbase.com/news/founders-vc-david-kolodny-wilbur-labs/)
• A drone tugboat - A tugboat made a 1,000-mile voyage around Denmark. The pilot was in Boston. (https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/inno/stories/news/2021/10/15/seamachines_nelliebly_denmark.html)
• Were we created by aliens in a Lab? - Our universe was made by aliens in a lab, theorises Harvard scientist (https://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/54556/1/our-universe-was-made-by-aliens-in-a-lab-says-harvard-scientist)
• This is kind of bonkers - How Four NFT Novices Created a Billion-Dollar Ecosystem of Cartoon Apes (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/bayc-bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-interview-1250461/)
• So you're saying they are priceless? - Science proves it: Most NFTs are worthless (https://www.fastcompany.com/90695605/science-proves-it-most-nfts-are-worthless)
• So true - Why It Feels Like This Year Is Going By Too Quickly, According to Experts | Apartment Therapy (https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/why-this-year-is-going-by-so-quickly-36947464)
• New laws forming around working from home in Portugal - The government in Portugal passes a law to help remote workers (https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054615000/the-government-in-portugal-passes-a-law-to-help-remote-workers)
• Beyond Happiness by Jenn Lim (https://jennlim.com/beyondhappiness)
• Beyond Diversity by Rohit Bhargava and Jennifer Brown (https://www.nonobviousdiversity.com/book/)

We are also still watching the following shows/movies:

• Succession on HBO Max
• Working Moms Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 11
• The Morning Show

We also want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: [email protected]

Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) talk about Captain Kirk going to space, Zoolander's birthday, Beyond Happypalooza, and more.

Frank and John also celebrate the following people from their networks:

• Leslie Jump is joining Assure Analytics - https://differentfunds.com/strategies/different-funds-team-to-join-assure/
• Rohit Bhravaga's book Beyond Diversity: 12 Non-Obvious Ways To Build A More Inclusive World is coming out November 9th - https://amzn.to/3FEvmW9
• Jenn Lim has a new book out called Beyond Happiness is out this week - https://amzn.to/3ADdFST

Frank and John also also invite listeners to apply for the following upcoming events:

• Startup of the Year Awards Summit - If you're interested in an opportunity to be a part of those awards and for a shot at potential investment and bragging rights, if you're named Startup of the Year then join our community and if you're one of the 100 startups selected you could be in the running. More info at http://soty.link/apply
• NASA iTech Cycle II Forum startup competition - NASA is searching for non-government funded technologies. Apply here: http://est.us/NIT (the deadline is Friday, October 15th at 11:59 AM PDT)
• Frank is also hosting the upcoming Beyond Happypalooza festival on October 29th. Find out more about event here: https://est.us/beyondhappinesspalooza

The guys talk about these new books/articles:

• Paint it white. — https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/whitest-paint-in-the-world?utm_source=N2K%20-%20No%20Ad%20Template%20(Duplicate%20to%20use)&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=8537
• Don't kill Capt Kirk! — https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/04/william-shatner-to-fly-on-blue-origins-next-human-spaceflight-on-october-12/ Space travel is bad for your health — https://newatlas.com/space/brain-damage-biomarkers-cosmonauts-space-travel/
• Zoolander is 20! Only made $15M at box office but is a classic — https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a37762711/zoolander-20th-anniversary-ben-stiller-interview/
• Wow this is a game changer — https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/06/health/malaria-vaccine-who.html?referringSource=articleShare
• Are unvaccinated kids as safe from COVID as vaccinated grandparents? — https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/briefing/covid-age-risk-infection-vaccine.html
• There's no stealing first in baseball — MLB Is Testing Ways To Fix Baseball's Boredom Problem — https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-10-11/mlb-rule-changes-atlantic-league-tests-tweaks-meant-to-save-baseball

The guys are also still watching the following shows/movies:

• Ted Lasso - Season 2 (Apple TV)
• Only Murders In The Building (HULU)
• MLB Playoff Baseball

Lastly, Frank and John chat about testing out the new iOS 15 iPhone update.

As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: [email protected]

Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) talk about late-summer activities, entrepreneurs tackling civilian space exploration, cloning dinosaurs, and slowing hurricanes, and more.

Frank and John also celebrate the following people from their networks:

• Charlie O'Donnell has raised a third fund for Brooklyn Bridge Ventures - https://www.brooklynbridge.vc/bbv-raises-third-fund
• Jewel Burks Solomon and Collab Capital has raised its first fund to invest in black innovators - https://medium.com/capital-innovation/collab-capital-closes-50m-first-fund-to-invest-in-black-innovators-22896db11ae8
• Michael D Smith nominated for AmeriCorps - https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/06/15/politics/biden-michael-smith-americorps/index.html
• Katie Stanton raised her second fund - https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2021/07/19/moxxie-ventures-85-million-fund-katie-stanton-alex-roetter/
• Max Crowley has had his coffee delivery startup Bandit acquired by Gopuff - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bandit-now-part-gopuff-max-crowley
• Matt Galligan on the launch of his new company XMTP and securing $20M in funding - https://blog.xmtp.com/series-a/

Frank and John also also invite listeners to apply for the following upcoming events:

• Startup of the Year Awards Summit - If you're interested in an opportunity to be a part of those awards and for a shot at potential investment and bragging rights, if you're named Startup of the Year then join our community before Sept 30th and if you're one of the 100 startups selected you could be in the running. More info at http://soty.link/apply
• NASA iTech Cycle II Forum startup competition - NASA is searching for non-government funded technologies that are addressing the following focus areas: Enabling Technologies for Commercialization of Low-Earth Orbit Hybrid Electric Aircraft Technologies and Alternative Fuels Physics-Based Machine Learning for Artificial Intelligence Technologies Using NASA Data to Foster Climate Resilience X-Factor Innovations (anything so cool, NASA should know about it). Apply here: http://est.us/NIT (the deadline is Friday, October 15th at 11:59 AM PDT)

The guys talk about these new books/articles:

• Civilians in Space! --https://www.space.com/spacex-inspiration4-returns-to-earth?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email
• Real-Life Jurassic Park? - Colossal, this startup just raised $15M with the goal of bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction by 2027 using CRISPR, a revolutionary gene-editing technology. --https://www.cnet.com/news/woolly-mammoths-could-walk-the-earth-again-by-2027-if-crispr-startup-succeeds/
• Hurricane Killing Startup? --https://futurism.com/the-byte/startup-tech-kill-hurricanes Zoom brain is a thing. --https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/21/this-is-your-brain-on-zoom/amp/#click=https://t.co/1q2GPOILzx
• Chickens for rent -- Rent-a-chicken trend spikes during pandemic -- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/chicken-rentals-spike-during-pandemic
• Sears is closing last store in home state of Illinois --https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/sears-is-shutting-its-last-store-in-illinois-its-home-state.html
• Let's talk beef, Wagnu beef to be more specific… of the 3D variety… -- https://interestingengineering.com/scientists-reveal-worlds-first-3d-printed-marbled-wagyu-beef

The guys are also watching the following shows/movies:

• Ted Lasso - Season 2 (Apple TV)
• The Morning Show - Season 2 (Apple TV)
• Only Murders In The Building (HULU)

Lastly, the Frank and John chat about testing out some new gear:

• ITIWIT Inflatable Kayak - https://www.decathlon.com/collections/kayaks/products/kayak-touring-inflatable-high-pressure-dropstitch-floor-3-seat-x100-177376?variant=39473127751742
• DJI Mini 2 Drone - https://www.dji.com/mini-2

As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: [email protected]

Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) discuss whether NFTs are just a fad, or here to stay. Frank also chats about his recent NFT experience when he featured his newly minted NFT and the auction. See it here. Frank and John also celebrate the following people from their networks:

• Blake Hall & the team at ID.me on reaching unicorn status with a $1.5B valuation.
• Elizabeth Yin and Eric Bahn on raising their second fund.
• Mike Levins on raising $10M in funding for their insurance tech company, Counterpart.
• Suneel Gupta's book Backable is out and it's a best seller!
• Rick Klau on being appointed California's next Chief Technology Innovation Officer.
• Kevin Willer, Stuart Larkin, and the team at Chicago Ventures for raising a new $63M fund.
• Jenny Fielding on the launch of The Fund Midwest.
• Chester Ng and the Atomic team on a new $260M fund.
• Brian Luerssen on launching a new fund to invest in underrepresented founders in Chicago.
• Lisa Hellebo has launched a $10M rolling fashion fund.
• Zach Lipson on raising a Series C for Dutchie bringing the valuation to $1.7B.
• Brit Morin on being SF Magazine's cover story for her work on female entrepreneurship.
• Ellery Linder & Danielle Rushton, 2019 Top 5 Startup of the Year® Finalist, relaunch as Wherewithal.
• David Spinks on the launch of his book the Business of Belonging.
• Susan McPherson on the launch of her book, The Lost Art of Connecting.
• Cyrus Radfar on co-founding SPINE to supercharge existing spreadsheet tools.

Frank and John also talk about the following upcoming events:

• The Unvalley Conference is coming back on May 19th and 20th. Short link: https://est.us/UVPK
• NASA iTech is hosting an event on May 27th showcasing 10 companies with innovations that might help with future NASA missions - RSVP.

We also want to take a moment to invite all of our listeners to get involved with our program by visiting: established.us/programs. This is the best way to get notified of the various startup opportunities that we come across while working with various partner organizations and in a number of ecosystems across the country. The guys talk about these new books/articles:

• Is bringing your old photos of your grandparents to life with AI, creepy or cool? - New AI 'Deep Nostalgia' brings old photos, including very old ones, to life
• Space vacations are coming soon - World's first space hotel scheduled to open in 2027
• There are a lot of ways to get your workout in and stay healthy and active - How to Get a Peloton-Style Workout Without Splurging
• This is an unbelievable feat by an athlete at any level, let alone college, and should be celebrated! - A Softball Pitcher Struck Out Every Batter? She Hadn't Noticed
• This is a Wright Brothers moment for Mars! - NASA's Mars helicopter takes flight, 1st for another planet

The guys are also watching the following shows/movies:

• Made for Love (HBOMax) - This comedy, sci-fi series combines traits and trends being used by some of the tech leaders out there today to create a wild tech CEO aimed at leveraging technology to intertwine itself into the human mind for the sake of love, and profit of course.
• Seaspiracy (Netflix) - Supported by Leonardo DiCaprio, a filmmaker sets out to document the harm that humans do to marine species - and uncovers alarming global corruption. It may have you rethinking your consumption of seafood.
• Sasquatch (Hulu) - Follows investigative journalist David Holthouse as he attempts to solve a bizarre twenty-five year old triple homicide that was said to be the work of a mythical creature.

As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: [email protected]. Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) discuss their thoughts on Bitcoin, Super Bowl weekend, and the Clubhouse App (connect with them on the Clubhouse App - @FrankGruber and @JohnGuidos).

Frank and John also celebrate the following people from their networks:

—Jessica Ewing on her $40M raise for Literati https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2021/01/27/an-exclusive-look-at-book-club-service-literatis-new-chapter-a-40-million-series-b/?sh=534b25416499

—Erica Minnihan and Reign Ventures and the group of funds here that were invested in by Bank of America https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126005694/en/

—Mike Jones and Peter Pham on raising a $270M SPAC https://dot.la/science-inc-spac-2650147068.html?fbclid=IwAR1v0OvWHlwPTkknwzwGrONfv5nee6UL8aZuWQB19K306-z6d3TvlsKT0lE

https://medium.com/scienceinc/introducing-science-strategic-acquisition-corp-alpha-5fc0e80c3a6a

—Josh Williams is back Gowalla after 12 years and just raised funding from Spark Capital, GV, and others https://twitter.com/gowalla/status/1354836611347832836

—Sara Lawhead on the launch of the latest Jetboil stash - https://gearjunkie.com/jetboil-stash-backpacking-stove-review

—Jesse Draper on raising a $21M fund Jesse Draper of Halogen Ventures Closes $21 Million Fund to Invest in the Next Generation of Billion Dollar Businesses Run by Women | Business Wire

—Arlan Hamilton and Christie Pitts at BackStage Capital hit their fundraising goal of over a $1M on Republic in 9 hours! https://twitter.com/frankgruber/status/1357437559991922692?s=21

—Sarah Cone's venture capital firm, Social Impact Capital, exists to solve all the world's most difficult problems through the medium of venture capital and recently launched www.joincolumn.com.

Frank and John also talk about the following upcoming events:

— SXSW!!! - we're going to IT THIS YEAR FROM HOME AGAIN - haha --- to be doing some fun events during the week learn more by going to: est.us/sxsw21. The event will be March 16th - 20th (more info coming soon). Watch our fun promo video on our youtube channel: https://soty.link/ESTYouTube

— NASA iTech Ignite the Night Tampa event Do you like SPACE and NASA?

We're working with them on the NASA iTech Ignite the Night Tampa event on March 9th. Ten tech startups will fast-pitch their innovations to an audience and panel of judges - online. This high energy event connects brands and organizations to the movers and shakers of our space industry. RSVP to the NASA iTech Ignite the Night Tampa event at: https://est.us/NASAiTechTampa21. LEARN MORE HERE: https://www.established.us/nit

We also want to take a moment to invite all of our listeners to get involved with our program by visiting: established.us/programs. This is the best way to get notified of the various startup opportunities that we come across while working with various partner organizations and in a number of ecosystems across the country.

The guys talk about these new books/articles:

When Two Realities Collide

—https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/30/business/robinhood-wall-street-gamestop.html#click=https://t.co/drsWCxpKMH

Early to bed, early to seize the day

—The Best Time To Go To Bed Is 8:45

Clubhouse is now valued at $1B, do you use it?

—https://twitter.com/FrankGruber/status/1353821952515964929

NAVY has some wild UFO Patents

—U.S. Navy Has Patents on Tech It Says Will 'Engineer the Fabric of Reality'

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4adpv9/us-navy-has-patents-on-tech-it-says-will-engineer-the-fabric-of-reality

Tesla Buys Tons of Bitcoin

https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/08/tesla-buys-1-5b-in-bitcoin-may-accept-the-cryptocurrency-as-payment-in-the-future/

The guys are also watching the following shows/movies:

—WandaVision on Disney+ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9140560/

As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: [email protected].

Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) reflect on 2020 and talk about what excites them in 2021. Frank made some of the classic resolutions which included healthier eating habits and exercise routines but also started a new one, where he's been drawing a new thing every day. Some examples are on his Instagram or Facebook stories (http://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17885120833920189/). Frank also celebrates the following people from his network: ​—Natalie Buford-Young has become the new CEO of Springboard Enterprises (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/springboard-enterprises-appoints-natalie-buford-young-as-ceo-301192546.html). ​—Matt Van Horn on his startup June being acquired by Weber (https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/12/weber-acquires-smart-cooking-start-up-june/). ​—Andrew Yang is running for Mayor of NYC (https://gothamist.com/news/andrew-yang-enters-mayors-race-scaled-back-plan-universal-basic-income). ​ —Jen Consalvo, Cat Hernandez, Charles Hudson, Jenny Fielding, Lolita Taub, Mac Conwell, and more for being highlighted in Forbes for investing in underrepresented founders (https://www.forbes.com/sites/allysonkapin/2020/12/10/51-vcs-who-want-to-invest-in-women-black-and-latinx-and-lgbtq-founders/?sh=d8f13c8a6425). Frank and John also talk about the following upcoming events: ​—The Non-Obvious Diversity Summit (https://www.nonobviousdiversity.com/) is coming up January 26 - 29th and I'll be speaking about investing in diverse startups along with Courtney Caldwell of ShearShare, Travis Holloway of Solo Funds, Ash Kumra of Peak Mindful, Marlon Nichols of MaC Venture Capital, and Allyson Kapin of The W Fund. Register at the following link: https://www.nonobviousdiversity.com/. ​ —NASA iTech is looking for innovators who are interested in sharing their latest with NASA Chief Technologists. If you know anyone interested apply by 1/29, more details here: https://www.established.us/nit. The guys talk about these new books/articles: Where in the world is billionaire Jack Ma? —Jack Ma was China's most vocal billionaire. Then he vanished - https://www.wired.co.uk/article/jack-ma-disappear-ant-group-ipo Real-life Faceoff? —Wearing someone else's face: Hyper-realistic masks to go on sale in Japan - https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN28Q194 Llama inhaler for COVID relief —Asthma-style inhaler filled with powerful LLAMA antibodies could be used to treat patients with severe COVID-19 - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9079137/Asthma-style-inhaler-filled-powerful-LLAMA-antibodies-treat-COVID-19.html First-Night Effect = Half Your Brain Sleeps, While Other Stays Awake —Night Watch in One Brain Hemisphere during Sleep Associated with the First-Night Effect in Humans - https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)30174-9 Lobster technology —Ropeless fishing, called 'crazy' by some, could be real in five years - https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/ropeless-fishing-called-crazy-by-some-could-be-real-in-five-years Here's a rabbit hole if you're interested —UFOs: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Collection - https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/ufos-the-central-intelligence-agency-cia-collection/ This stuff is getting real —A Harvard professor says an alien visited in 2017 — and more are coming - https://nypost.com/2021/01/02/a-harvard-professor-says-an-alien-visited-in-2017/ Apple car is coming in 5 years —The Apple car, briefly explained​ - https://www.vox.com/recode/22197401/apple-car-explained Progress for gender equality in pro sports starting with basketball, thank you San Antonio Spurs —Spurs' Becky Hammon: Being first woman to serve as NBA head coach 'a substantial moment' - https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30627408/spurs-becky-hammon-becomes-first-woman-nba-regular-season-history-act-head-coach Followed by baseball, thank you Boston Red Sox. —Red Sox hire Smith, first Black female coach - https://www.mlb.com/news/red-sox-hire-bianca-smith-first-black-female-baseball-coach Thank you, big sis! —The Secret To Success? Having A Big Sister - https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/12/17/947566797/the-secret-to-success-having-a-big-sister —The TB12 Method (https://amzn.to/3so6lrr)- Whether you love Tom Brady or not, this book came out a few years ago and offers a unique approach to a longer, healthier life. It struck a chord, as the strength training I did as an athlete in high school and into college was very similar to what Brady encountered. He realized that pliability is just as important as strength training. I wish I would have had this book 20 years ago but it's never too late to become more pliable and make a change for the better. Please check out our other podcast: —On the Startup of the Year Podcast I interviewed Kara Goldin, the CEO and founder of Hint water and author of the bestselling book, Undaunted. Find the episode here: https://podcast.startupofyear.com/0042-startup-stories-with-kara-goldin-ceo-of-hint-and-bestselling-author-of-undaunted. Lastly, Frank has been testing out his new CamPark Trail Camera (https://amzn.to/3bNiRe2) - Jen gave me this trail camera for Christmas and I've added it to my regular morning routine. It shows we've had lots of visitors in the last couple of weeks as seen here: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18151245490107201/. As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: [email protected]. Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) talk about the new COVID-19 vaccine that is getting rolled out to address the ongoing pandemic that has taken 300,000+ lives in the US alone. To put that in perspective, WWII took over 400,000 lives, so this vaccine may go down as one of the most important medical breakthroughs in our lifetime. Frank and John also chat about a few ridiculously large IPOs in the tech sector and the trend of migration from big cities. Frank also shares some stories and remembers the life of his good friend, Tony Hsieh. You can read his article celebrating Tony's life at: https://tech.co/news/celebrating-tony-hsieh Frank also celebrates the following people from his network:

• Lou Mintzer https://twitter.com/mintzer/status/1330873819809144833
• Danica Kombol https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mwwpr-acquires-everywhere-agency-leading-influencer-marketing-firm-301190293.html?tc=eml_cleartime&fbclid=IwAR3ZquaI9FMezgAmN21I30x6aVWQhmY0WQOqQgI6ILW51dvcthZOUzP-3Ag

The guys talk briefly about the 8th annual Startup of the Year Summit that occurred in November. From the startup pitches, to the conversations with folks like Tim Draper, Kara Goldin, and Mike Evans, Lo Toney, and many many more. We also had AMAs with Marc Nager, Carolyn Rodz, Marlon Nichols, NASA, USAF. We also hosted 500+ Curated Office Hours during the summit, not to mention all the interactions and conversations that attendees set up on their own. We also had an amazing Top 100 semi-finalists this year! Here are a few fun stats:

• OVER half of our startups have a female on the founding team
• 74% of teams have a founder of color
• nearly 20% were Veteran-led companies

SoLo Funds was named the 2020 Startup of the Year and Jeenie won the .US Veteran Startup of the Year. The Top 5 finalists included SoLo Funds, Jeenie, Finmark, GLASS, and Hoy Health. We also named Grifin as the People's Choice Award winner. As always, remember to register for your free .us domain offer at est.us/SummitUS. We hope to see you in 2021! Sign up now to get notified about our 2021 application and upcoming events at: established.us/programs and startupofyear.com Up next, Established will be helping to host the Unvalley 2020 conference on December 17th and 18th. Our team at Established is the Production sponsor and some will be conducting the interviews at the event. This is not only an opportunity to see great speakers it is an opportunity for anyone looking to find a job that best fits their culture or vibe outside of the valley. Register for Unvalley at the following: https://est.us/unvalley20 Unvalley is a two day virtual conference to connect attendees with the biggest opportunities in tech between the coasts. Speakers include the following:

• Steve Case from Revolution and Rise of the Rest.
• Arlan Hamilton from BackStage Capital
• Rand Fishkin from Moz
• Mary Grove from Bread and Butter Ventures
• and many many more.

The guys also discuss the following things they are reading/watching:

• Do you know the origin story of Monopoly? Monopoly Was Designed to Teach the 99% About Income Inequality. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/monopoly-was-designed-teach-99-about-income-inequality-180953630/?fbclid=IwAR0Uzcy2c-GkxVwiLSmnBCirgo8lPp12YIh5wKJreyoHHd439G5czv2dtyw
• Movie night is going to be at home in 2021. Warner Bros. Smashes Box Office Windows, Will Send Entire 2021 Slate to HBO Max and Theaters. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warner-bros-smashes-box-office-windows-will-send-2021-slate-to-hbo-max-and-theaters
• Wonder Women on Merry Christmas!!! Wonder Woman 1984 will be released on HBO Max the same day it's in theaters for no extra cost. https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/18/21504152/wonder-woman-1984-release-delay-new-date-warner-bros-disney-black-widow-dune-tenet
• Aliens are helping us prevent war. Israel's Former Space Security Chief Says Aliens Have Prevented Nuclear War. https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgzg97/israels-former-space-security-chief-says-aliens-have-prevented-nuclear-war?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-motherboardvice&utm_content=later-12615309&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram
• Would you give up your treasure? Treasure hunter marks five years in jail for refusing to give up his gold. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/14/tommy-thompson-treasure-jail-ship-of-gold

Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) talk about Friday the 13th and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. They also talk about the following current trending topics:

• #WorldKindnessDay
• #FridayMotivation
• #Elon
• #PS5

Frank also celebrates the following people from his network:

• Ari Newman has launched a new seed fund, The Fund Rockies - https://arinewman.medium.com/launching-the-fund-rockies-54a575411ed9
• Josh Williams has relaunched the geo-location app, GoWalla - https://go.gowalla.com/
• Matt Van Horn has launched the Gen3 June Oven, just in time for the holidays. - http://juneoven.com/
• Matt Haggman joined the Beacon Council as EVP. - https://www.beaconcouncil.com/matt-haggman-joins-the-miami-dade-beacon-council/?fbclid=IwAR1bqk1ufKsR5s1Q2Di6Poh63XZrgh4Ja-iUuVFwHQxKNczxPX99eeLkx6E
• Kira M. Newman for editing the new book, The Gratitude Project (https://amzn.to/2Hs6KGA), the result of a multiyear collaboration between the Greater Good Science Center and Robert Emmons of the University of California, Davis.
• Courtney and Tye Caldwell of ShearShare have raised $2.3M more funding (Note: I've invested in ShearShare through Established Ventures). - https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/26/dallas-shearshare-has-a-marketplace-connecting-stylists-with-available-seats-at-salons-and-2-3-million-in-funding/
• Mac Conwell on the launch of RareBreed VC. - https://technical.ly/baltimore/2020/10/29/mckeever-conwell-rarebreed-vc/
• Susan McPherson on her book, The Lost Art of Connecting, due out next year. - https://amzn.to/3eWUiuI
• Ron Klain of Revolution on being named President-Elect Joe Biden's Chief of Staff. - https://twitter.com/FrankGruber/status/1327054751691894788

This weekend we'll be watching the first NASA launch of astronauts from US soil since 2011. They will be headed to the International Space Station. This launch will be in partnership with SpaceX and is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 14th at 7:49 PM ET from Florida. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/11/12/spacex-launch-scheduled-saturday-expected-draw-many-spectators/6268327002/ The guys once again chat about the 8th annual Startup of the Year Summit (https://startupofyearsummit2020.eventbrite.com/?aff=FrankVIP). We vetted thousands of startups down to the Top 100 that will compete at our 8th annual Startup of the Year Summit for a shot at a potential investment, prizes, and the championship. If you have a moment next week, please tune into this "Shark Tank" style pitch competition. We will stream this special event for free, online on November 16th - 18th. I'll also be conducting the following interviews:

• Tim Draper, venture capitalist and founder of Draper Associates;
• Kara Goldin co-founder and CEO of Hint Water and author of Undaunted (order the book today) - https://amzn.to/3lN5lsQ
• Mike Evans co-founder of GrubHub and Fixer.com, and author of forthcoming book Hangry
• Lo Toney venture capitalist and founder of Plexo Capital
• Rohit Bhargava author of Non-Obvious Mega Trends (https://amzn.to/3dB741t);
• Meredith Fineman author of Brag Better (https://amzn.to/3iVDh4E);
• Ximena Hartsock co-founder of Phone2Action
• Marc Nager, venture capitalist of Greater Colorado Venture Fund
• Sarah Evan, marketing & digital PR at Sevans Digital PR
• Whitney Johnson will teach you how to Disrupt Yourself (https://amzn.to/377g5xZ), and many more.

We invite you to join me next week by ​registering today at: http://startupofyearsummit2020.eventbrite.com/?aff=FrankVIP Frank also discuss the following things that he is reading/watching:

• Trendspotting: Zoom towns - https://www.fastcompany.com/90564796/zoom-towns-are-exploding-in-the-west 'Zoom towns'
• MTV is back! Kind of… - https://variety.com/2020/music/news/apple-music-tv-launch-videos-1234809088/
• Welcome to crypto, PayPal! - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-paypal-cryptocurrency-idUSKBN2761L6
• Facebook has more than just Farmville - https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/26/21528438/facebook-cloud-gaming-beta-android-web-jason-rubin-interview
• The Power of the Sun - https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a34372005/solar-cheapest-energy-ever/?fbclid=IwAR2oS6CxW1U2po-FHvHbKNox35gcviLnKHuZwN7K2F5nWr7a2s6l0rNfi3M
• There IS water on the Moon! - https://twitter.com/FrankGruber/status/1320811736862236673
• The Vegas Roadtrip is making a comeback! - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-28/las-vegas-vehicle-traffic-rises-for-first-time-since-pandemic
• Apple TV for the win - https://www.fastcompany.com/90570629/apple-tv-plus-secretly-won-the-streaming-war-of-2020-heres-why
• Maybe we should rethink the Electoral College - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/28/election-results-and-electoral-college-pick-next-president/4718619002/

Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/