WYFT or What’s Your Focus Today!

I go back with Dara now more than 6 years, when she was an early player, mover and shaker with all things related to the JOBS act and related crowdfunding issues. She continues to be a power in the space, and a big voice around the issue of small business, capital markets and formation, the rapidly changing landscape around exchanges, and most recently her interest in all things cryptofinance related.

My conversation with her at the time was before Bitcoin was a conversation starter, and DLT/Blockchain nowhere to be seen.

However, in our conversation, she's showing a keen understanding of many of the issues that are out there, need to be addressed, and what is keeping us from getting there.

It is now clear that she was and continues to be a visionary, and her latest focus on the cryptofinance space is only testament to that.

Check out her work at daraalbrightmedia.com, and be sure to tune into my update with her, I'm sure pretty soon.

From her bio:

Dara Albright is one of the earliest pioneers of the crowdfinance movement. Her leading-edge articles, white papers, webinars and acclaimed industry conferences helped birth and continue to cultivate the crowdfinance industry.

Dara writes and speaks about financial injustice; market bubbles; the rise, fall and resurrection of the small cap IPO; P2P investing; crowdfunding; investing red flags and how FinTech is changing the world – all in a style that is as appreciated by investing novices as it is by financial experts.

Dara’s ability to inject humor, emotion and edge not typically found in financial articles has made her one of the most revered writers in the industry.

Since the inception of the crowdfinance industry, Dara Albright has been a predominant resource for crowdfinance education and industry connections. She is regularly publishing trendsetting content and is most known for breaking new ground in the conference space with industry-leading programming and unparalleled networking.

Her body of work – that has helped shape and continues to set the direction of the crowdfinance and fintech industries – can be viewed by going to: Dara Albright is one of the earliest pioneers of the crowdfinance movement. Her leading-edge articles, white papers, webinars and acclaimed industry conferences helped birth and continue to cultivate the crowdfinance industry.

Dara writes and speaks about financial injustice; market bubbles; the rise, fall and resurrection of the small cap IPO; P2P investing; crowdfunding; investing red flags and how FinTech is changing the world – all in a style that is as appreciated by investing novices as it is by financial experts.

Dara’s ability to inject humor, emotion and edge not typically found in financial articles has made her one of the most revered writers in the industry.

Since the inception of the crowdfinance industry, Dara Albright has been a predominant resource for crowdfinance education and industry connections. She is regularly publishing trendsetting content and is most known for breaking new ground in the conference space with industry-leading programming and unparalleled networking.

Her body of work – that has helped shape and continues to set the direction of the crowdfinance and fintech industries – can be viewed by going to: https://daraalbrightmedia.com/about/

It's been a while, but last time we spoke, he was still at it, and building fiercely to get his baby from being a toddler to a full blown ... well ... to what it is today: Your Connection to Business Lending.

Connect Lending was created to bridge the gap between Businesses looking for loans and the Lenders that are actually lending money. The process of simply walking into "your bank" for a loan doesn't always work or isn't the best choice for the large number of businesses. Many banks have partnered with them because they recognize that no bank can give the best loan to every single client; it's just impossible.

Connect Lending understands that lenders have very specific lending criteria and usually focus on niche markets. ABC Lender might never lend money to retail businesses, but XYZ Lender specializes in lending to retailers. One man's trash is another man's treasure. They only connect business owners/borrowers to lenders that have a high likelihood of approving your loan. Their system is engineered to match lenders (based on their specific loan criteria) with borrowers (based on their answers to a short list of questions).

Connect Lending, with Rick Burgess at the helm, is there to offer a better alternative to all the other online and alternative lenders, and to increasing success.

Listen to his story so far and get inspired.

I've known Brett King from way back (in my Wall Street days), and was always beyond impressed to see what this man is capable of ... I was also fortunate enough to have briefly worked with him on a financing round (with Moven), and had him also present at one of my early Meetups at Belcham's Atelier. Anyway, as you will find during my conversation with him, it's all over the place, which is a good metaphor for the man himself.

From his LinkedIn profile, let me share with you his bio for proper color:

"Brett King is a world-renowned futurist and speaker, an International Bestselling Author, and a media personality who covers the future of business, technology and society. President Xi Jinping cited his book Augmented on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. He has spoken in over 50 countries, at TED conferences, given opening keynotes for Wired, Techsauce, Singularity University, Web Summit, The Economist, IBM's World of Watson, CES, SIBOS and many more. He has appeared as a commentator on CNBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, and Bloomberg. He previously advised the Obama administration on Fintech policy and advises regulators and bank boards around the world on technology transformation.

King hosts the world's first and #1 ranked radio show on FinTech called "Breaking Banks" (177 countries, 6.5 million listeners). He is the CEO and Founder of Moven, a successful mobile start-up, which has raised over US$47 million to date, with the world's first mobile, downloadable bank account, available in the United States, Canada, UK, Indonesia, Russia, and New Zealand.

Named "King of the Disruptors" by Banking Exchange magazine, King was voted American Banker's Innovator of the Year, voted the world's #1 Financial Services Influencer by The Financial Brand and was nominated by Bank Innovation as one of the top 10 "coolest brands in banking". He was shortlisted for the 2015 Advance Global Australian of the Year Award for being one of the most influential Australians living offshore. His books have been released in over a dozen languages and he has achieved bestseller status in 20 countries. His fifth book Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane is an international bestseller, top 10 in North America and has remained in the top-10 on Amazon for over 18 months. Bank 4.0 is his latest bestseller.

You wanna talk disruption? Talk to Brett!

Enjoy (and apologies for the "outside" background at the start, as I was taping on his porch, which was not a good idea, clearly).

Better late than never they say, and that's very accurate on my end here. I interviewed Jorge now more than 2 years ago in Chicago, and I had a ball. His story (personal and business) is very inspiring, and his earlier book (Burn Zones) is one for the ages - and most definitely highly recommended.

He's an entrepreneur at heart, has failed and come back, and went on to bigger things, all to the benefit of not only himself and his investors, but primarily to the cause. And what a cause it is indeed.

I'm looking forward to have an updated conversation with Jorge soon, but in the meantime, enjoy my conversation with him, now nearly 2 years ago.

From his bio:

Jorge P. Newbery is a successful entrepreneur, distressed debt and real estate investor, endurance athlete, and author. He turned around some of the country's most troubled housing complexes in amassing a portfolio of 4,000 apartments across the USA from 1992 - 2005. However, a natural disaster triggered a financial collapse in which he lost everything and emerged over $26 million in debt. He never filed bankruptcy. Instead he developed strategies to gain leverage over creditors to settle debts at huge discounts, or simply did not pay them at all. He is a veteran of dozens of court battles, once fighting a creditor to the Missouri Court of Appeals. The entire debt (over $5,800,000) was inadvertently extinguished due to sloppy legal work.

As an athlete, Newbery raced bicycles for a living from 1986 - 1990 as a Category 1. He competed in the 1988 Olympic Trials and was 4th in the Spenco 500, a nonstop 500-mile bike race televised on ESPN. He also raced for the Costa Rican National Team in the Tour of Mexico, was 2nd in the 1987 Southern California State Championship Road Race, plus held the Green Jersey in the 1987 Vulcan Tour. Newbery also runs and has completed over 70 marathons and ultramarathons. In 2012, he was the overall winner of the Chicago Lakefront 50K. At 46-years-old, he was double the age of the 24-year-old second-place finisher.

Today, Newbery helps others crushed by unaffordable debts rebuild their lives. Jorge is Founder and CEO of American Homeowner Preservation (AHP), a socially responsible hedge fund which purchases nonperforming mortgages from banks at big discounts, then shares the discounts with families to settle their mortgages at terms many borrowers find "too good to be true." Jorge's response to the nation's mortgage crisis creates meaningful social and financial returns for investors, while keeping families in their homes. AHP's mission is to facilitate win-win-win solutions for homeowners, investors and lenders.

"Burn Zones: Playing Life's Bad Hands" is Jorge's autobiographical account of how he was pushed to his physical and mental limits during his time of strife, and how he overcame the challenges he faced. Jorge's latest book is: "Debt Cleanse: How To Settle Your Unaffordable Debts For Pennies On The Dollar (And Not Pay Some At All)," which provides step-by-step help for families overwhelmed by debt.

Jorge is a regular contributor to Huffington Post and other publications, and speaks regularly on debt, investing, finance and housing issues.

Connect with Jorge at:

https://www.debtcleanse.com/

https://ahpinvest.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorge-newbery/

https://twitter.com/JorgePNewbery

I have worked with and for Geoff Miller for a period of time, primarily during his successful tenure as CEO of GLI Finance, a London listed fintech company. This is a conversation I've had with him now a while back, focused on corporate governance and other issues that we both care about deeply.

Geoff Miller now is an investor in and consultant to a variety of principally early stage technology and finance companies, a Director of various businesses across a number of sectors globally drawing on his 20 years of listed company Board experience and a mentor to a variety of entrepreneurs.

At the heart of his approach to business are good corporate governance, equality and diversity. He does not believe that these are words to be thrown around but rather they are fundamental to the core of any great organisation. Where a company does not agree with this, he will not work with them.

Outside of his work with corporates he is managing the creation of a food forest in Guernsey and he is involved in encouraging the introduction of more permaculture principles to the unique and precious environment on the island. Latest updates on this can be viewed on Instagram @larameefarmhouse.