Techonomics

Middle management often gets a bad rap. But for the managers who work in that space between their team and the boss, the importance of their role in the success of an organization cannot be overstated.

Here's my conversation with a 25-year veteran of management coaching, leadership and sales. Nathan Jamail is the author of Serve Up; Coach Down: Mastering the Middle and Both Sides of Leadership.

oday, many cannabis manufacturers and cultivators are having a hard time creating safe and trusted products for the state of California.

Since July 1st, nearly 20 percent of marijuana products have failed tests for potency and purity.

Another sign of the efficacy of the marijuana industry is just who the players are.

Big Alcohol, Big Pharma and Big Tobacco are all being disrupted. One example: Coca Cola recently announced it was researching new marijuana-based beverage lines.

Here's my interview with the CEO of a marijuana producer and dispenser looking to grow.

Banks change their goals, but how are borrowers supposed to know that. How do you choose a bank for a loan? Proximity to your home or work?

That seems arbitrary. A marketplace that matches borrowers with lenders who have similar goals -- that's a service.

Like Tinder, but for money. We have one such marketplace.

Iconic baseball writer Bill James, in 1987, frustrated with MLB’s labor stoppages and the decline of the minor leagues, wrote that the minors “were an abomination … if you’re selling a sport and the players don’t care about winning, that’s not a sport. That’s a fraud … an exhibition masquerading as a contest.”

Mr James imagined a better model and proposed that, as opposed to limiting the number of teams in MLB to protect parity, a free market was capable of sustaining many more franchises — hundreds, even — if we would just allow it to sort out the level at which those cities might best compete.

That is exactly how the soccer leagues in Europe are set up. Teams float between different leagues depending on their performance. Of course, the top leagues pay better, too.

And that's the a-ha moment for our next guest, the author of Cap in Hand: How Salary Caps are Killing Pro Sports and Why the Free Market Could Save Them.

One could forgive Change Research for titling its victory-lap email 'Nailed It!' Change Research was the only polling firm to correctly predict the winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary  in Florida, Andrew Gillum. Mike Greenfield, CEO and co-founder of Change Research, joins us this week to discuss his data research and polling company, that is based in Palo Alto.  Change is less expensive than traditional phone polling companies; it also delivers results much quicker. And, apparently, their data dives produce results that can help campaigns of all sizes and budgets.

The political weather outside is frightful. Navigating the storms, politically speaking, can be tough for startups -- as if they don't have enough moving parts to contend with, right?  Enter: Bradley Tusk. Mr Tusk is a political strategist with a pedigree. He helped Michael Bloomberg win an independent run for mayor of New York. He worked at the state level in Indiana. And now, he's brought his talents to the world of startups and venture capital.  Tusk's new book, 'The Fixer: My Adventures Saving Startups from Death by Politics,' is an accessible, informative and timely book for the innovating class.

The Department of Veterans Affairs gets a spotlight during every election cycle as part of many politicians’ platforms, but what is actually going on behind the scenes?  We talk to Dave McLenachen, Director of VA’s Appeals Management Office, about actual modernization and reforms that impact our Nation’s veterans today.

Biz, Business, Tech, Technology, Government, Politics, Veterans, Armed Forces, Reform

What if you could have skipped all the awkward social situations from school and just do the learning bit? Did you ever find the classes lasted so much longer because the teachers had to move at a pace slower to your liking?  Or that they didn’t move slowly enough?  We talk to Amar Kumar, a leader at Pearson Online and Blended Learnings Research, about grade schools implementing online education to help combat these things.

Biz, Business, Tech, Technology, Education, School, Internet, Students

Succumbing to advertising is common, even if we don’t recognize it as such.  So we brought in Dr. Kit Yarrow, a consumer phycologist to help analyze consumer manipulation and provide tips for fending it off.

Biz, Business, Tech, Technology, Economy, Consumers, Market, Retail, Money, Shopping

Technology is integrating it more and more in our lives, with smart devices, improved internet access on the go, and improvements in nearly everything we touch.  The jobs are also following the better tech format, and STEM education is the base for these jobs.  We talk to Hank Green, a YouTube celebrity and STEM advocate about how it’s beneficial to foster an interest at home.

Biz, Business, Tech, Technology, Education, STEM, Jobs, Economy, Future, Gender Gap