Wealth Actually

It was a genuine pleasure to speak with Blake Morgan about the state of the music industry . . . we spoke for an hour and could have kept going for much longer!

Native New Yorker Blake Morgan is a recording artist, record producer, and the founder and owner of ECR Music Group, a global music company which operates under an elemental principle unprecedented in the music world: all of its artists and labels own one-hundred percent of their master recordings.

On the heels of his sold-out eight-month run at New York City's Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3, Blake Morgan now embarks on his first large-scale West Coast solo tour of the United States. The New York Times calls Morgan “Disarmingly unselfconscious, while Billboard Magazine writes, “Blake Morgan has a voice that was made to be heard on the radio-inspired songwriting and passionate performances.” The Washington Post adds, He's got killer pop-rock instincts, something that leaps out at you - a natural when it comes to fashioning sharp melodies and catchy choruses.” Blake Morgan's 2016 West Coast Tour will run from August 22nd until September 3rd, with Morgan performing ten concerts in nine cities. Morgan returns to Rockwood Music Hall's Stage 3 on September 14th, for Season Two of his ongoing artist-in-residence concert series in New York City.

We covered a lot of ground . . . Here is a framework of the topics covered.

What is the process of developing musicians now?

How do people access music in this day and age?

How do you reconcile the different definitions of success in your artists?

How do musicians get paid now? What is the difference between "songwriting" and "mechanicals"

What is the role of outside interests?  Sponsorships, merchandise, acting / books etc . . .

And how is that different from the past?

Regarding the impact of technology on the previous music industry business model, the dilemma it poses now for emerging musicians, and the impact of #irespectmusic . . .

How have the innovations of Napster on through to iTunes/ Pandora/ Spotify/ Youtube impacted artists

What are the positive and negative aspects?

How does this impact artists and their ability to earn?

How does the law protect artists currently? Is it outdated?

What have been your legislative efforts? Is this a chance for actual bipartisan work from Congress?

What is that political process like? How do you educate our leaders about the importance of music and protecting the artist's livelihood?

What can the artists do to help protect themselves?

Finally a little discussion on ECR and future plans

What is your vision for the modern record label - what is its role and how does it work in this day and age?

What are the signs of optimism for recording artists in the future?

Where do you see the future of music going?

How can people support #IRespectMusic?

WWW.BLAKEMORGAN.COM

Blake Morgan (Facebook)

Blake Morgan (Twitter)

IRESPECTMUSIC.ORG and via hashtag (#irespectmusic) on most social media platforms.

https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I recently spoke with Michael Devlin, adviser to Urban Seed (www.urbanseedvegas.com)

We covered a variety of topics related to agribusiness and food policy.

Urban Seed’s mission is to become the premier supplier of locally grown, low carbon impact, fruits, vegetables, and micro greens in the local market using proprietary and innovative technology & processes with modular, easily expandable structures which provide opportunities for unlimited growth. Their philosophy is to prioritize the “Made in the USA” concept.  Their proprietary modular system provides superior quality and larger volumes in the same footprint allowing Urban Seed to grow 30 to 50 times the amount of produce than that of traditional farming without use of chemicals or pesticides. Facilities will be as close to the customer base as possible to reduce cost of transportation & delivery which can run as much as 75% of total operating costs for traditional farm to market operations.

1) We went though a description of the traditional timeline from food to fork.  Most produce travels 1,500 miles from farm to fork.

- High carbon footprint

- Nutritional values falls over time

- Shorter shelf life = high food waste

- Lower freshness = bland taste

2) We laid out a broad gamut of food production challenges:

- Burgeoning world population,

- Water scarcity,

- Global warming,

- High pesticide use.

- Lack of access to fresh produce is highly correlated to rising BMI - especially in poor communities.

3) Opportunities

- Where are some of the investment opportunities in the food world?

- We spend time defining the concept of urban farming

4) Finally, we describe what Urban Seed does

- Farm to fork in 12 hrs

- No chemicals - herbicides or pesticides

- All non-GMO seeds (why is this important?)

- Grown under glass with no supplemental light - very power efficient.

- 30x crop yield vs traditional farming

- Uses 90% less water

- Extremely Profitable - Each 6,500sf greenhouse generates $1mln annual revenues and ~$500k EBITDA

- Tax benefits for buildings / urban settings?Jobs?

 

I recently spoke with Michael Devlin, adviser to Urban Seed (www.urbanseedvegas.com)

We covered a variety of topics related to agribusiness and food policy.

Urban Seed's mission is to become the premier supplier of locally grown, low carbon impact, fruits, vegetables, and micro greens in the local market using proprietary and innovative technology & processes with modular, easily expandable structures which provide opportunities for unlimited growth. Their philosophy is to prioritize the "Made in the USA" concept. Their proprietary modular system provides superior quality and larger volumes in the same footprint allowing Urban Seed to grow 30 to 50 times the amount of produce than that of traditional farming without use of chemicals or pesticides. Facilities will be as close to the customer base as possible to reduce cost of transportation & delivery which can run as much as 75% of total operating costs for traditional farm to market operations.

1) We went though a description of the traditional timeline from food to fork. Most produce travels 1,500 miles from farm to fork.

- High carbon footprint

- Nutritional values falls over time

- Shorter shelf life = high food waste

- Lower freshness = bland taste

2) We laid out a broad gamut of food production challenges:

- Burgeoning world population,

- Water scarcity,

- Global warming,

- High pesticide use.

- Lack of access to fresh produce is highly correlated to rising BMI - especially in poor communities.

3) Opportunities

- Where are some of the investment opportunities in the food world?

- We spend time defining the concept of urban farming

4) Finally, we describe what Urban Seed does

- Farm to fork in 12 hrs

- No chemicals - herbicides or pesticides

- All non-GMO seeds (why is this important?)

- Grown under glass with no supplemental light - very power efficient.

- 30x crop yield vs traditional farming

- Uses 90% less water

- Extremely Profitable - Each 6,500sf greenhouse generates $1mm annual revenues and ~$500k EBITDA

- Tax benefits for buildings / urban settings?Jobs?

https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I spoke with director, William Wedig, who is starting to make a dent in the world of movies.

Having done work for brands such as PBS, MTV, Sports Illustrated, People Magazine and Time Magazine, his work has been shown on broadcast and cable television, in AMC and Clearview theaters, on Times Square billboards and in festivals such as Sundance and the Toronto Film Festival.

In 2012, William began his television-directing career. 145 shoot days, 550 script pages and 5,000 shots later, William completed directing 26 episodes of the half-hour action-comedy kids show, Team Toon, set for release winter 2013 on Cartoon Network.

Utilizing a mixed-format presentation, the show fuses live-action with animation to allow for the adventures of four friends whose imaginations tend to blur the line between reality and cartoon. Part Scooby-Doo-style mystery, part monster madness action, Team Toon was a technically challenging show as well as a lengthy and action-packed production.

Most recently, William co-directed and edited the show Exposure: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011. Starring Brooklyn Decker, Irina Shayk, Hillary Rhoda and 14 other supermodels, the show is available on the Playstation Network and DVD.

In 2011, Wedig’s feature film, Forged, was released theatrically. Forged won Best Film at the HBO New York Latino Film Festival and the Outstanding Film Award at the Providence Latin American Film Festival, and screened in the Los Angles Latino International Film. The film stars Manny Perez and Emmy award winner Margo Martindale. Variety’s Ronnie Scheib said that the film’s “powerful ending build kinetically” and that lead-actor Manny Perez is “frighteningly convincing as a man ruled by desperation.” For more,­ visit www.ForgedMovie.com.

He also post-supervised Josh Crook's La Soga, which is opened at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival and was released in theaters in August of 2010 through 7th Floor.

In the fall of 2008, he completed editing on a one hour documentary for This Old House and PBS, The Life a House Built: The 25th Anniversary of the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Work Project. The film details the experiences of volunteers and homeowners working to rebuild the Gulf Coast in connection with Habitat for Humanity in the summer of 2008.

William began his career with his thesis film from the School of Visual Arts, entitled Rise of the Dead. The film was released through Lions Gate Entertainment in November of 2007. The film has been described as a "smart and original take on an equally old genre" (Fangoria) and William's directing as "a breath of fresh air" (C.H.U.D.).

William was also post-production supervisor on Salvage, a horror-thriller, which premiered to a packed house at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The foreign distribution deal included a theatrical release and Echo Bridge Entertainment handled domestic distribution.

He graduated with a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and lives in Brooklyn.

We covered a lot of ground in this one!

William's background- where are you from and how did you get to NY,

How did you get bitten by the filmmaking bug?

Take us through what you have worked on . . .

When do you know you have a project you are interested in directing?  Are you writing it?

How do you read a screenplay and know if it’s good?  If it’s for you?

How do you interact with the writers, producers, talent?

What makes a good partnership?

How would you describe your working style?

When did you know you were good?  And could make a go of this?

How do you keep the business angle from overwhelming the creative process?

When do you compromise v. digging your heels in?

I spoke with director, William Wedig, who is starting to make a dent in the world of movies.

Having done work for brands such as PBS, MTV, Sports Illustrated, People Magazine and Time Magazine, his work has been shown on broadcast and cable television, in AMC and Clearview theaters, on Times Square billboards and in festivals such as Sundance and the Toronto Film Festival.

In 2012, William began his television-directing career. 145 shoot days, 550 script pages and 5,000 shots later, William completed directing 26 episodes of the half-hour action-comedy kids show, Team Toon, set for release winter 2013 on Cartoon Network.

Utilizing a mixed-format presentation, the show fuses live-action with animation to allow for the adventures of four friends whose imaginations tend to blur the line between reality and cartoon. Part Scooby-Doo-style mystery, part monster madness action, Team Toon was a technically challenging show as well as a lengthy and action-packed production.

Most recently, William co-directed and edited the show Exposure: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011. Starring Brooklyn Decker, Irina Shayk, Hillary Rhoda and 14 other supermodels, the show is available on the Playstation Network and DVD.

In 2011, Wedig's feature film, Forged, was released theatrically. Forged won Best Film at the HBO New York Latino Film Festival and the Outstanding Film Award at the Providence Latin American Film Festival, and screened in the Los Angles Latino International Film. The film stars Manny Perez and Emmy award winner Margo Martindale. Variety's Ronnie Scheib said that the film's powerful ending build kinetically and that lead-actor Manny Perez is frighteningly convincing as a man ruled by desperation. For more, visit www.ForgedMovie.com.

He also post-supervised Josh Crook's La Soga, which is opened at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival and was released in theaters in August of 2010 through 7th Floor.

In the fall of 2008, he completed editing on a one hour documentary for This Old House and PBS,The Life a House Built: The 25th Anniversary of the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Work Project. The film details the experiences of volunteers and homeowners working to rebuild the Gulf Coast in connection with Habitat for Humanity in the summer of 2008.

William began his career with his thesis film from the School of Visual Arts, entitled Rise of the Dead. The film was released through Lions Gate Entertainment in November of 2007. The film has been described as a "smart and original take on an equally old genre" (Fangoria) and William's directing as "a breath of fresh air" (C.H.U.D.).

William was also post-production supervisor on Salvage, a horror-thriller, which premiered to a packed house at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The foreign distribution deal included a theatrical release and Echo Bridge Entertainment handled domestic distribution.

He graduated with a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and lives in Brooklyn.

We covered a lot of ground in this one!

William's background- where are you from and how did you get to NY,

How did you get bitten by the filmmaking bug?

Take us through what you have worked on . . .

When do you know you have a project you are interested in directing? Are you writing it?

How do you read a screenplay and know if it's good? If it's for you?

How do you interact with the writers, producers, talent?

What makes a good partnership?

How would you describe your working style?

When did you know you were good? And could make a go of this?

How do you keep the business angle from overwhelming the creative process?

When do you compromise v. digging your heels in?

Impact of the Editing background- how does that help?

Surfing and SI Swimsuit work- what did you learn from those experiences?

Use of light, how do you make people or landscapes look good, how do you drive a story?

Animation- what makes that difficult or interesting? How do you interact with the artists and voice talent- is it harder or easier than live action?

Team Toon- working with kids- easier or harder than normal actors?

Horror- what were your influences in this genre?- what makes working in this space challenging?

What makes a William Wedig film? What features always stand out?

Who would you like to work with? Actors, other types of films?

https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I recently spoke with Scott Johnston about his transition from banking to entrepreneurism and two of his technology projects.

WAYIN is Scott's venture co-founded with Scott McNealey.  They help major companies aggregate and understand the date generated by consumers and their social media presence.  That data can then be used by the company to better focus their marketing efforts and sell more efficiently.

LiquidSky is Scott's venture that seeks to more efficiently allocate the world's computing power.  The company employs a subscription model and delivers computing and processing speeds on an "as-needed" basis.  Liquidsky hopes to help people, businesses, universities and governments accomplish their computing goals without making huge equipment investments that could quickly become obsolete.

Scott and I have known each other for years having interacted in the political arena and on the golf course.  In this episode we cover . . .

* The transition from Wall Street to technology entrepreneurism

* The genesis of Wayin- how does one take an idea and turn it into a business?

* What problems does Wayin solve for marketers and advertisers?

* Can Wayin apply to other arenas like politics?

* How did Scott find the idea for LiquidSky?

* How did he develop the talent to turn this idea from a twinkle in the eye to a viable business that could solve "Billion Person Problems?"

* What is the impact of the video gamer?  How big is that market?  What is the impact of their influence on media production?

* What are some tips and issues for investors to note if they are interested in investing or being involved in young companies?

Scott also collects his thoughts in his "Naked Dollar" Blog

Enjoy!

I recently spoke with Scott Johnston about his transition from banking to entrepreneurism and two of his technology projects.

WAYIN is Scott's venture co-founded with Scott McNealey. They help major companies aggregate and understand the date generated by consumers and their social media presence. That data can then be used by the company to better focus their marketing efforts and sell more efficiently.

LiquidSky is Scott's venture that seeks to more efficiently allocate the world's computing power. The company employs a subscription model and delivers computing and processing speeds on an "as-needed" basis. Liquidsky hopes to help people, businesses, universities and governments accomplish their computing goals without making huge equipment investments that could quickly become obsolete.

Scott and I have known each other for years having interacted in the political arena and on the golf course. In this episode we cover . . .

The transition from Wall Street to technology entrepreneurism

The genesis of Wayin- how does one take an idea and turn it into a business?

What problems does Wayin solve for marketers and advertisers?

Can Wayin apply to other arenas like politics?

How did Scott find the idea for LiquidSky?

How did he develop the talent to turn this idea from a twinkle in the eye to a viable business that could solve "Billion Person Problems?"

What is the impact of the video gamer? How big is that market? What is the impact of their influence on media production?

What are some tips and issues for investors to note if they are interested in investing or being involved in young companies?

Scott also collects his thoughts in his "Naked Dollar" Blog

Enjoy!

https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

Michael Monaghan, Co-Founder and CEO of Beartooth

What an exciting thing to watch the launch of a business.  It represents the beginning of a new, scary and wonderful challenge.  It also culminates years of innovation, planning, preparation and hard work.  Today, Beartooth launches officially for the public.  It is the brainchild of Michael Monaghan, a friend I have known for years.  An idea borne out Michael's experiences both as a financier at Goldman Sachs and as a devout skier and outdoorsman, Beartooth builds on the promise of handheld phone use off the typical cellular grid.  It is a tech company based in Bozeman, Montana!  I spoke to Michael recently on his experience starting the business, the challenges of being an entrepreneur and probed to hear his thought process on a variety of new business issues.  Below are some of the points that we covered:

An introduction into what the Beartooth radio does [How Beartooth Works]:

What does Beartooth do?

"Beartooth is a small device that works with an existing smartphone to communicate when you have no service. You can talk, text, use maps, and share location to Beartooth users within range when you have no cellular service. Beartooth also works as a backup battery for your smartphone.

Whether you are skiing fresh powder in the backcountry or dancing at Coachella, you can now reliably stay in contact with your group in ways that were previously unavailable. Beartooth allows for peer-to-peer communication between the devices, completely bypassing the Wi-Fi and cellular network."

What problems does Beartooth solve?

Where did you get the idea and develop the product/meet your co-founder?

How do you go from a Goldman Sachs background to an entrepreneur?

What is it like raising money?

What is it like having the responsibility of having employees?

How do you find and interact with investors?

How do you surround yourself with expertise?  When bombarded with advice- how do you pick who you listen to?

What is it like dealing with the government and how did you learn about the various approval processes involved with a media product?

What is it like living and working in Bozeman?  What are the pluses and challenges of Bozeman?  How does Bozeman impact the attraction of  talent/capital?

Beartooth sounds like it applies to rural and adventure settings- what are the uses for technology in urban environments?

What are the benefits of having "redundant" VHF/UHF benefits?

What are some of the technical features involved?

What are the applications to industry, leisure, military?

What are the real life experiences that could be enhanced with Beartooth? Festivals, skiing, hiking, lake, ocean, golf courses, vineyards?

Are there any potential information security benefits?  (texts that don’t go through a plan/stored through iCloud?  I.e. Device to device texting?)

Are there any battery life improvements that Beartooth adds?

How do you go about your marketing strategy?  What are your marketing ideas? What segments are you working on?

Mass retail application?

To learn more about Beartooth, check out their website here:  BEARTOOTH.COM

And check out more about their story below . . .

Beartooth profiled in OUTSIDE

Beartooth cover...

Michael Monaghan, Co-Founder and CEO of Beartooth

What an exciting thing to watch the launch of a business. It represents the beginning of a new, scary and wonderful challenge. It also culminates years of innovation, planning, preparation and hard work.  Today, Beartooth launches officially for the public. It is the brainchild of Michael Monaghan, a friend I have known for years. An idea borne out Michael's experiences both as a financier at Goldman Sachs and as a devout skier and outdoorsman, Beartooth builds on the promise of handheld phone use off the typical cellular grid. It is a tech company based in Bozeman, Montana! I spoke to Michael recently on his experience starting the business, the challenges of being an entrepreneur and probed to hear his thought process on a variety of new business issues. Below are some of the points that we covered:

An introduction into what the Beartooth radio does [How Beartooth Works]:

What does Beartooth do?

"Beartooth is a small device that works with an existing smartphone to communicate when you have no service. You can talk, text, use maps, and share location to Beartooth users within range when you have no cellular service. Beartooth also works as a backup battery for your smartphone.

Whether you are skiing fresh powder in the backcountry or dancing at Coachella, you can now reliably stay in contact with your group in ways that were previously unavailable. Beartooth allows for peer-to-peer communication between the devices, completely bypassing the Wi-Fi and cellular network."

What problems does Beartooth solve?

Where did you get the idea and develop the product/meet your co-founder?

How do you go from a Goldman Sachs background to an entrepreneur?

What is it like raising money?

What is it like having the responsibility of having employees?

How do you find and interact with investors?

How do you surround yourself with expertise? When bombarded with advice- how do you pick who you listen to?

What is it like dealing with the government and how did you learn about the various approval processes involved with a media product?

What is it like living and working in Bozeman? What are the pluses and challenges of Bozeman?  How does Bozeman impact the attraction of talent/capital?

Beartooth sounds like it applies to rural and adventure settings- what are the uses for technology in urban environments?

What are the benefits of having "redundant" VHF/UHF benefits?

What are some of the technical features involved?

What are the applications to industry, leisure, military?

What are the real life experiences that could be enhanced with Beartooth? Festivals, skiing, hiking, lake, ocean, golf courses, vineyards?

Are there any potential information security benefits? (texts that don't go through a plan/stored through iCloud? I.e. Device to device texting?)

Are there any battery life improvements that Beartooth adds?

How do you go about your marketing strategy? What are your marketing ideas? What segments are you working on?

Mass retail application?

To learn more about Beartooth, check out their website here: BEARTOOTH.COM

And check out more about their story below . . .

Beartooth profiled in OUTSIDE

Beartooth covered by TECHCRUNCH

https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

John Williams, Principal of the Williams Law Group and President of IncNow.com

I sat down with my colleague and fellow Emory Law graduate, John Williams, to talk about the differences and challenges of driving both a law firm and an online incorporation business. We spoke about trends in the legal industry and peered into our respective crystal balls about the direction of Delaware corporate law and the opportunities and issues that entrepreneurs face.

What percentage of the day is spent lawyering and what percentage is spent running Incnow?

What is does your law practice look like?

Delaware Corporate law; we hear about other jurisdictions -what is still advantageous about incorporating in Delaware?

Corp v. LLC v. Partnership- what steps should people go through in deciding which entity to use?

If I’m from New York or any other state, why would I have my business entity incorporated in Delaware?

Talk about the formation of your business Incnow- what need does your your business fulfill?

Having a law firm to deal with nuance associated with Incnow makes a lot of sense . . . Does that component get used a lot?

Technological hurdles?

Staffing hurdles?

Compliance issues?

Challenges of running law firm v. start-up business?  Benefits and challenges of being located in Delaware?

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg using LLC instead of a foundation for his charitable arm?  Will we see that more? http://charitylawyerblog.com/2015/12/15/llcs-as-philanthropic-vehicles/

In addition to traditional S and C Corps, What about B-Corps also known as “Public Benefit Corps” that are chartered to have a broader purpose beyond shareholders- emerging trend or fad?

Increased scrutiny of entities and shell companies; increased banking laws and Treasury scrutinizing property purchases - what are you seeing in your business?  What appears to be on the horizon on this front?  (See some of my commentary on the subject from a past article here- Anonymity and Real Estate)

Delaware has always had a competent and efficient judiciary which is one of the attractions for many companies locating their corporate situs there . . .What else is Delaware doing to innovate?