THE Q FACTOR

Many see the freedom in free trade as a sacred American value. But in their groundbreaking new book, INDUSTRIAL POLICY FOR THE UNITED STATES, Marc Fasteau and Ian Fletcher make the case that there is simply no such thing as free trade. They present overwhelming research arguing for a formal and forceful US industrial policy. Fasteau and Fletcher join host Gregg Fisher for a fascinating conversation about the ever-tricky marriage between government and big business.

"Nothing about biology makes sense unless it is seen in the light of evolution." 

In this episode, host Gregg Fisher of Quent Capital speaks with Dan-Avi Landau, one of the leading cancer researchers and data scientists in the world.  In this fascinating conversation, Landau zeros in on cancer's anarchic role in the story of human evolution, and describes the extraordinary leaps forward he and his colleagues are making in the mapping of the human genome. There may be no more urgent territory for big data to be taking on than health care and cancer treatment, and Dan-Avi's work represents the bleeding edge of what is, and what will be, possible.

On the opposite coast from Silicon Valley, New York is making their own massive investment in artificial intelligence. The Empire A.I. Consortium is a $400M public-private initiative designed to transform Buffalo into a global center for A.I. research. My guests are two of the project’s architects, UB Professors Venu Govindaraju and JinJun Xiong, who illuminate the critical difference between how A.I. is being designed in Buffalo, versus the A.I. systems being built in parts of Silicon Valley, and around the world. 

HOST: Gregg Fisher

Welcome to the most impactful season yet of THE Q FACTOR, the award-winning podcast series hosted by Gregg S. Fisher of Quent Capital. As A.I. roars into the foreground of our lives, it's never been more important to see every aspect of our lives through a data-driven lens. The world is changing rapidly; but the pattern is there.

How do successful businesses value their people? In today's data-driven world, this isn't a question that competitive business leaders can afford to leave un-quantified. Today's guest is one of the world's leading thinkers on the subject. Harvard Business School professor Ethan Rouen has just published a game-changing paper called "The Stock Market Valuation of Human Capital." Host Gregg Fisher of Quent Capital digs in with Rouen on this increasingly vital question: exactly how do the best companies invest in their people that leads to quantitative returns?

If you're running out of earthly investment ideas, perhaps you're simply not aiming high enough. Look to the Low Earth Orbit, says Dr. Ariel Ekblaw, Founder and CEO of the Aurelia Institute, and one of the most brilliant young thinkers we've ever had on THE Q FACTOR. Ekblaw joins host Gregg Fisher for a mindblowing conversation about the extraordinary steps being taken to transform humanity into a "spacefaring species."

NOTE: THE Q FACTOR has had our eye on the "investment space in space" for some time now - check out our previous episodes with Dylan Taylor and Carolyn Porco if you're curious about other explorations we've made above Earth's atmosphere.

The future may be dreamed in leaps and bounds, but it's built in  small, well-considered steps. Today's guest is AJ Meyer, CEO of the delightfully-named Pickle Robot. They have one product: a robot that unloads trucks. And by focusing on one small slice of the supply-chain problem, Meyer and his team have built the foundation for the future, one in which human beings command the robots, and not the other way around. As always, Gregg Fisher of Quent Capital is your host.

The pandemic didn't change everything, but it certainly hit the accelerator. The future of work has arrived. Or has it? What are the trends worth paying attention to, and investing in, as we navigate this once-in-a-generation, or perhaps, once-in-a-century transition, to a fully-automated, work-from-home, semi-virtual, wholly-digital work life? Quent Capital's Gregg Fisher hosts an illuminating conversation with Dr. Joseph Fuller, Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School, and leader of the Managing the Future of Work Initiative.

Thanks to the application of data and scientific rigor, remarkable gains are being made against one of mankind’s most formidable foes: aging. Today's guest is Dr. Nir Barzilai, the founding director for the Institute of Aging Research. In his conversation with host Gregg Fisher, Barzilai breaks down the latest insights in our treatment of the human aging process. Dr. Barzilai distinguishes biological age from chronological age, sharing that the actual number of years healthy human beings are designed to spend on earth is much greater than you think.

Farms. They may seem old-fashioned. But the technological marvel known as the farm remains the centerpiece of human food consumption, and the $1 trillion category that is agriculture.  How is agri-business adapting to the massive changes coming down the pike, from automation to global warming? How is artificial intelligence changing the way you and your family eat, shop, and think about food? Eric Adamson, Founder of Tortuga AgTech, sits down with Gregg Fisher to talk about the remarkable ways the farming & food service sector is evolving to fit the future.