The RnDAO Podcast

Max Pog, a three-time entrepreneur, is the founder of POGUMAX (a projection technologies company) and HYLS (an online courses platform). He conducted a 7-month research study on venture studios which have doubled in number over the past 5 years, reaching a total of 877+. 

The venture studio model has garnered both criticism and enthusiasm due to the remarkable traction achieved by studio startups and Max's talk with RnDAO covers the "excitement and criticism of venture studios".

Modern Slavery and the Private Sector with Matt Friedman Hosted by Daniel Ospina - RnDAO Fri, Aug 26, 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM PDT ​

Every four seconds, another person enters a human trafficking situation somewhere in the world. It is estimated that there are over 40 million people in modern-day slavery today – more than any other time in history. ​In the effort to design organisations to empower individuals and "liberate them" it feels important to understand the big issue of slavery in corporations as it will probably give us interesting insights and considerations for DAO design. ​

To make sense of this important issue and its relevance to today’s organizations, Matt Friedman will offer a comprehensive update on this topic. His talk will explore the following:
 ​- The changing human trafficking paradigm;
 ​- The relationship between human trafficking and modern slavery;
 ​- A comprehensive summary of global trends and patterns;
 ​- An update on emerging legislation;
 ​- A description of the relationship between modern slavery and ESG.
 ​- A detailed description of the relationship between human trafficking and business risk; and
 ​- A description of tangible, practical tools and approaches used by corporations throughout the world to help identify and address this potential problem. ​

Matt Friedman is an international human trafficking expert with more than 30 years’ experience. He is CEO of The Mekong Club, an organization of Hong Kong’s leading businesses which have joined forces to help end all forms of modern slavery. Mr. Friedman previously worked for USAID and the United Nations in over 30 countries. Mr. Friedman offers technical advice to numerous governments, banks and corporations working to eliminate all forms of modern slavery and is the author of twelve books. In 2017, Mr. Friedman won Asia’s prestigious “Communicator of the Year” Gold Award.

​Matt's new Penguin book, WHERE WERE YOU?: A PROFILE OF MODERN SLAVERY, has been published and is available worldwide. In this memoir, he explores the early days of meeting modern slavery survivors and recounts true stories of enslavement in Asia. He recalls painful moments that literally changed his life, reflect back on the different approaches to fighting human trafficking over the last 35 years and give an account of the early beginnings of the fight against modern slavery before the phrase “human trafficking” was adopted. As he reflects on the deeply personal lessons learned, his first and foremost goal for this book is to motivate more people to join him in helping to fight this global crime. ​Here is a short fireside chat (9 minutes) to describe why he wrote the book. Note the proceeds from this book will go to fighting human trafficking. ​

This is an enlightening talk on "Applications of Organizational Network Analysis" with Maya Townsend, the founder and lead consultant of Partnering Resources.

With over 15 years of experience as an organization network practitioner, Maya collaborated with a diverse range of clients in biopharma, agriculture, technology, and non-profit sectors across North America, South America, and Europe. Her work bridges the gap between theory and practice, enabling clients to grasp the value of network analysis and apply it to enhance organizational strategy and collaboration. She authored the chapter on organization networks in The NTL Handbook of Organization Development and Change (Pfeiffer, 2014) and contributed network articles to strategy + business and People & Strategy. 

In this presentation, Maya shared field examples, illustrating how companies had utilized ONA for strategic planning, organizational assessment, and mentoring purposes, while exploring the implications for RnDAO's work...

Embark on a captivating journey into the heart of online swarms with community architect and crypto-native explorer, Rafa Fernandez.

In this thought-provoking session, Rafa unraveled the dynamic world of digital collectives, their inherent ability for spontaneous coordination, and the contrasting nature of online formations with explicit protocols. Drawing from his rich investigative experience, including the communal response to Hurricane María, he invited us to delve deeper into understanding these networked tempests of humans and information. 

As we traversed through the realms of mutual aid, misinformation, and public representation that swarms embodied, a lingering question unfolded: How could we steer these minimally protocolized entities towards collective good?

Joshua Davila, the writer/podcaster known as "The Blockchain Socialist" and author of the recent book "Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It," spoke with us on September 29th. 

Over the last decade, blockchains and crypto have opened up a new terrain for radical action. It is not surprising, however, that the crypto space has also become overrun by unscrupulous marketing, theft, and scams. The problem is real, but it wasn't a new one. 

One of the major reasons was the way in which blockchain/crypto were framed through representational models of old models imposed on a new medium. This had been detrimental to the development of the technology and made it easily co-opted by nefarious forces.

In this talk, Joshua talked about how this had happened, how to recognize it, and how to think radically differently about blockchain.

Diving into Network Neuroscience: Exploring Brain Organoids & Information Processing. PhD Insights with "Tjitse van der Molen"

Dr. Joshua Becker, a renowned researcher who specialized in "collective intelligence," discussed "Three vignettes on decentralization, distribution, and collective intelligence." Becker, with a background in mediation and communication, shared insights into these topics.

A PhD graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Becker's research was published in top journals like Science and Harvard Business Review, where he investigated how group dynamics could affect decision-making and forecasting, often leading to surprisingly counterintuitive results.

In his talk, Dr. Becker guided the audience through an exploration of decentralization, distribution, and collective intelligence. This event provided a valuable opportunity for anyone interested in the complexities of group dynamics and their broader implications in our interconnected world.

RnDAO's virtual event featured Michel Bauwens, President of the Foundation for P2P Alternatives and a key member of the P2P Cooperative. Michel Bauwens is a renowned researcher and has advocated for P2P-based social processes. He connected people interested in researching and promoting P2P-based social processes, including peer production, peer governance, and new modes of universal common access regimes, or 'peer property'.
During the event, Michel shared his wealth of knowledge and provided insights on P2P ecosystems, delving deep into their past, present, and future. The discussion encompassed concepts such as Cosmo-localism and provided a historical framework for civilizational transitions. Michel emphasized the impact and potential of P2P models in shaping our societies.

RnDAO's virtual event featured Lee Bryant, a specialist in 21st-century organizational operating systems and co-founder of Post*Shift, a consulting and software firm dedicated to digital transformation and organizational agility. Lee has successfully guided organizations towards greater efficiency, agility, and cost-effectiveness by leveraging social and digital principles. With his experience as an educator at Duke Corporate Education and Faculty at Emeritus, Lee brings a wealth of expertise to the table.
During the event, Lee shared his insights on comparing traditional organizations and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) from an organizational design perspective. He highlighted the crucial role of social and digital principles in developing efficient, agile, and cost-effective operating systems across different organizational structures.