The Innovation Podcast

We're back with our final session chatting with Larry Frank, president of LA Trade-Tech College. This time, we discuss the connection between workforce development and economic development, the kinds of training partnerships that LATTC has forged, and a look at the future. Subscribe to us on your favorite podcast service (we're on most of them).

Cover and header image from Flickr, public domain.

We're back with part two of our chat with Larry Frank, president of LA Trade-Tech College. In this episode, we discuss the similarity in nomenclature between LATTC and incubators and accelerators in the early stage venture world. Larry also shares what it means to train students for the workforce, plus, a lot more about the role of community colleges.

Cover and header image from Flickr, public domain.

We are honored to kickoff three episodes with a very special guest--Larry Frank, president of Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, part of the largest community college district in the country. Larry notes that LATTC, with innovative pathways and programs, is at the center of lifting students into the middle class. Larry has a storied career in business, politics, law, and education. We have a broad-ranging discussion about the role of education, innovation, and business. This is essential listening.

Cover and header image from Flickr, public domain.

Kai Stinchcombe is back with us to delve more into elder tech. We hear about the True Link business model, how True Link also helps people with disabilities, the size of the market, and lots more.

Kai Stinchcombe, founder and CEO of True Link Financial, joins us to discuss elder tech, blockchain and surviving in Silicon Valley. He came to our attention because of the focus of True Link--mainly helping older adults remain independent while protecting them from scams, then people with special needs, and those recovering from addiction. We had a great, wide-ranging discussion, covered (or uncovered) stupid venture capitalists, and might have dissed companies and VCs that are chasing millennials.

We're talking with Francesca Gino, the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. She has been honored as one of the world’s top 40 business professors under 40 by Poets and Quants. And she has a new book out called Rebel Talent—Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and In Life. What do rebels have to do with innovation? Lots! From the dust jacket of Rebel Talent: "Instead of clinging to what is safe and familiar, and falling back on routines and tradition, rebels defy the status quo. They are masters of innovation and reinvention, and they have a lot to teach us.” Francesca is one of the most engaging people we know, so listen and learn.

How do you create, bootstrap, innovate and keep going at a startup based in Kaliningrad, Russia? We were curious, so we talked with Daniel Ray, director of the innovation labs at Ultimate Guitar and MuseScore. Daniel has a fascinating background in music that led him from playing bassoon and contra bassoon in symphonies, to rocking out with bands, then into the tech world, and finally combining his love of tech and music at Ultimate Guitar. Join Garnet and Mark to hear the story behind it all, and where UG is headed.

Back with Lane Jost of PwC’s national Responsible Business Leadership team. Garnet and Mark probe more about the investment possibilities in opportunity zones, and the political, social and economic effects. Plus, we confuse litigation and legislation, which might have been subconscious.

We're focused again on Opportunity Zones--this time with Lane Jost. Lane is an expert in both corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability, having held leadership roles over the last 10 years in the consulting, financial services and food service sectors. He currently serves as part of PwC’s national Responsible Business Leadership team, helping the firm and its clients leverage human capital capacity to drive social and environmental impact. This is the first of two-parts, as we zero in on Opportunity Zones. Plus, we discuss redlining--the systematic denial of services in racially diverse neighborhoods and communities.

This week, Garnet and I continue our chat with Peter Stuart of Outlier Capital about Opportunity Zones -- we learn the three most important things to know about them, how Peter is capitalizing on them at Outlier Capital, some common mistakes, and we get a broader understanding of opportunity zones in general.