Byron Reese Believes Technology Will Bring About A New Golden Age Of Humanity
Fascinated about how things worked and technology from a young age, today’s guest, Byron Reese, makes you question, are you a machine?
Byron Reese, Gigaom
Fascinated about how things worked and technology from a young age, today’s guest, Byron Reese, makes you question, are you a machine? Today, he puts his fascination into good use as the CEO and publisher of Gigaom, an industry-leading technology research company. Bryon is also an award-winning public speaker and author of “The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity.”
Byron grew up in Austin, TX and became an entrepreneur at the young age of 12. He did not have entrepreneurship in his family background, but that wouldn’t stop Byron from becoming a great success today. As a futurist, a forward thinker, Byron helps you think about the good that artificial intelligence has to offer and where we are going in this age of technology. Listen in to hear more about Byron:
Growing up
Rice University
Starting his first company with a can of spray paint
Starting Knowingly
Santa Mail
Talking about Gigaom and AI
Are you a machine?
Ambition Today Question of the Day™ :
“450 businesses is a lot. How do you think about playing the long game vs a short one, when it comes to sticking with something for so long?”
The Single Greatest Piece of Advice:
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Quote Of The Episode:
“What are We in the end?”
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Thank you for listening!
Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
Transcript:
You can find the full transcript of this episode here.
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Matt Mandell Is Automating Businesses So They Can Focus On Higher Priorities
Starting out young, today’s guest, Matt Mandell, created his first company at the age of 12. Matt grew up with a supportive family full of entrepreneurs, so Matt was very comfortable with entrepreneurship from the start. He attended college in DC, where he spent the next several years developing multiple companies that were selective to college students.
Matt Mandell, GAM Payments
Starting out young, today’s guest, Matt Mandell, created his first company at the age of 12. Matt grew up with a supportive family full of entrepreneurs, so Matt was very comfortable with entrepreneurship from the start. He attended college in DC, where he spent the next several years developing multiple companies that were selective to college students.
Matt is well known for his serial entrepreneurship and has spoken all across the nation teaching students how to become entrepreneurs themselves. He has been publicized multiple times, including New York Times, has helped start up multiple companies, and now is a managing partner with GAM Payments, a payment solution provider for mid-market companies. Interviewing Matt showed that there are different ways to look at being a leader that really make you think. Tune in to hear more:
Growing up in an Entrepreneurial Family
Creating his first business at the age of 12
College experiences in DC
The many businesses Matt created while in College
Mentoring at Founder Institute
Automation and Efficiency
Investing in companies instead of creating them
Meaning and reasoning for GAM Payments
Ambition Today Question of the Day™ :
“How do you realize when automation is necessary or when you should just do the small task yourself?
The Single Greatest Piece of Advice:
Members of the "A-list" can listen to exclusive A-list bonus clips here! If you are not a member yet be sure to join the Ambition Today A-list!
Quote Of The Episode:
“If something goes wrong, it is my fault for not setting up the correct system and process for my team”
Links from this episode:
Listen to this episode now:
The A-List
Join the shows A-list backchannel for exclusive access to additional Ambition Today content, deeper guest insights, a community of fellow fans, and much more. Plus, Learn the single greatest piece of advice this guest has ever learned!
If you are already a member of the A-list then you can easily access your bonus content from right here!
Thank you for listening!
Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
Transcript:
You can find the full transcript of this episode here.
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Brian Pasalich Is Setting The Foundation For Financial Health And Wellbeing
Growing up in an immigrant family, Brian Pasalich lived in Chicago, Croatia and even a small town in Montana all by the age of 13, which has allowed Pasalich to have a deeper understanding of the different walks of life that people face. This combined with a passion for helping people led him to his career in financial planning. He is the founder of Foundational as well as the Vice President of MassMutual.
Brian Pasalich, Founder of Foundational
Growing up in an immigrant family, Brian Pasalich lived in Chicago, Croatia and even a small town in Montana all by the age of 13, which allowed him to have a deeper understanding of the different walks of life that people face. This combined with a passion for helping people led him to his career in financial planning. He is now the founder of Foundational, a consumer-mindset driven platform for financial health and wellbeing
Since a young age, Brian’s passion has been helping others. In his career, he has been a volunteer EMT, a flight paramedic with the Army Reserve, serving on two SWAT teams, and a civilian flight paramedic for a trauma center. He majored in Microbiology at the University of Montana before finding his passion for helping people through financial planning and serving as a Mentor with Founder Institute. Listen in to find out about Brian’s unique experiences and how it has helped him help others:
- Being a SWAT flight paramedic
- Majoring in Microbiology at University of MT
- How his failing business was the best thing that happened to him
- Creating Foundational.co
- Being a part of MassMutual team
- Mentoring at Founder Institute New York
- Being on the board for Marriage Equality
- Staying active in the LGBT community
- How health and fitness is a major part of his life
Ambition Today Question of the Day™ :
“Why does family matter, and how do you balance your personal life with your work life?
The Single Greatest Piece of Advice:
Members of the "A-list" can listen to exclusive A-list bonus clips here! If you are not a member yet be sure to join the Ambition Today A-list!
Quote Of The Episode:
“Name one goal you can accomplish without money”
Links from this episode:
Listen to this episode now:
The A-List
Join the shows A-list backchannel for exclusive access to additional Ambition Today content, deeper guest insights, a community of fellow fans, and much more. Plus, Learn the single greatest piece of advice this guest has ever learned!
If you are already a member of the A-list then you can easily access your bonus content from right here!
Thank you for listening!
Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
Transcript:
You can find the full transcript of this episode here.
Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:
Why I Mentor by Jeff Wald
This is a guest post from Founder Institute New York Mentor Jeff Wald titled "Why I Mentor" as was originally published in Huffington Post. Jeff has asked me to share the post and it contains some incredibly valuable insight on the Mentor / Mentee relationship.
Jeff Wald
This is a guest post from Founder Institute New York mentor Jeff Wald titled "Why I Mentor" as was originally published in Huffington Post. Jeff has asked me to share the post and it contains some incredibly valuable insight on the Mentor / Mentee relationship. My favorite quote from it is:
"I believe we have an obligation to help fellow travelers."
Jeff Wald is Co-Founder and President of Work Market, the leading enterprise-class platform for the management of contract and freelance talent. Jeff has a long track record as a successful entrepreneur across the technology and services landscape. He has successfully built and sold multiple tech companies, including SpinBack to Buddy Media, which was subsequently purchased by Salesforce.com for $800 million.
Why I Mentor
by Jeff Wald
A startup founder recently asked me a simple, yet startling, question during our monthly meetings. We have been working together for nearly two years, and as with all startups she has had her ups and downs. We have had all manner of conversations over the years and yet, in this one instance, her simple question floored me - "When I asked if you would be my mentor, why did you say yes?"
The first thing that surprised me was that she said "mentor" and not "adviser". I have the pleasure of advising many companies. This means that I meet with them every now and again to offer some thoughts on a discrete problem, or I make an introduction or two. However, my relationship here was different. I was more than an adviser. I was a mentor to her. We meet once a month and I know a tremendous amount about her business, where she has been and where she hopes to go. I am proud to be her mentor so I wanted to provide an honest answer.
After collecting myself, I explained that there were three reasons why I said yes, in no particular order of importance:
- She was the first to ask.
- Mentoring helps reinforce the lessons I'm learning at my own company.
- I believe we have an obligation to help fellow travelers.
She was the first to ask. She and I met at The Founders Institute (FI), an organization where I have been teaching for some years. The FI is the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program with chapters across 50 countries. In each chapter "experienced" founders teach a series of classes to aspiring founders.
Many of the students I have taught over the years will email and ask if they can discuss their businesses. I am always happy to help, so I'll meet with them and offer candid feedback on their ideas. These aspiring founders frequently end our time together by asking to return when their plans have progressed. I would always say yes, but few have ever returned. Some never make any progress; some don't like the very direct feedback I am prone to give; some presumably just forget to follow up. So when asked why I agreed to mentor her, part of the answer was simply that she asked. I had time and she asked, so I said yes. If someone had asked before her, then I really would not have had the time.
Mentoring helps reinforce the lessons I am learning at my own company. I have learned a great many things on my entrepreneurial journey at Work Market: mistakes I hopefully won't repeat, important lessons to refer back to and valuable insights from colleagues. Mentoring this founder and hearing about her own struggles and breakthroughs has forced me to reflect on when we were at a similar stage as a company. Offering her advice and describing the opportunities we missed (we all miss many) helps to codify these hard-won lessons and prepares me for my next adventure.
We have an obligation to help fellow travelers. I have walked this tumultuous, crazy, startup path three times. It's one of the hardest journeys you will ever take. It will test limits you never knew you had and then demand you to push beyond them. So, when the journey ends, regardless of the outcome, you have gained invaluable experience. Pass it along. I can promise you this: whatever outcome you had, you didn't get there alone. You had co-founders, colleagues, investors, mentors, advisers, customers, and of course friends and family that all helped in sometimes small, but many times, immeasurable ways. You owe it to them, as well as to yourself, to help others who are embarking upon that similar difficult path. No one can make it alone.
If you have made it to the end of a startup journey, and if you have the time, stretch out your hand and help the next traveler. They will be grateful and you will greatly benefit as well.
And in the meantime, check out what Beatriz and her team at DADA have built.
Investing In Moonshots
There is a reason that the header image on this site is a scene from the movie Tomorrowland. I believe thats startups can work to build a better tomorrow. I believe when that work is applied to tremendous goals, like moonshots, it can result in incredible outcomes for a better world.
There is a reason that the header image on this site is a scene from the movie Tomorrowland. I believe thats startups can work to build a better tomorrow. I believe when that work is applied to tremendous goals, like moonshots, it can result in incredible outcomes for a better world.
Moonshots focus on a huge problem, a radical solution and breakthrough technology. It usually takes a particular type of fresh, audacious thinking to even conceive of a moonshot, and then an amazing team with passionate leaders to pursue it.
Urban Enhancement
Human Enhancement
One of the best new ways to think about moonshots is the concept of 10x thinking or thinking exponentially. This weekend I mentored a Team X event in New York City which had 2 challenges. The Urban Enhancement challenge was to focus on a 10x improvement to resolve safety, security and health challenges through Robotics, AI and Biotech. The other challenge was to figure out a Moonshot solution for Human Enhancement, to resolve accessibility and mobility challenges through Robotics, AI and Biotech. Teams for both challenges had some BIG solutions that could change the lives of billions of people on earth.
It is always interesting to encourage people to think bigger. Exponential thinking is a mindset and when applied it can result in 10x or even 100x results. A great example explored this weekend was of what Tesla did with the electric motor and vehicle. Tesla committed to the moonshot. Their mission statement was to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible. Tesla is now the premier luxury vehicle. Recently it broke consumer reports rating system scoring the car 103 out of 100.
Meanwhile competitor Fiskar built a hybrid gas and electric vehicle. Many investors played it safe and invested in Fiskar as it seemed like a smoother and safer transition to an electric motor future. However, Fiskar failed and went into bankruptcy.
"If you invest in a bridge technology you are likely to be left behind, think 10x" - @jackhidary pic.twitter.com/G5a61dDCl0
— Kevin Siskar (@TheSiskar) November 7, 2015A trend is happening where moonshots are increasing in their success rate over less ambitious ventures. This is enabled by the rapid growth in access to new and emerging technologies. If you invest in a bridge technology you are likely to be left behind. So if you are going to do something, it is time you start thinking bigger about it. Think exponential. Think 10x.