California, once renowned for its high-performing public schools, is experiencing significant changes that raise concerns about the future of academic excellence. Notably, many high schools have eliminated honors and Advanced Placement classes, while some middle schools have stopped teaching Algebra in the 8th grade. A new state law mandates that a…

Eli Steele's documentary, "Killing America," emerges from a profound silence into a loud, defining statement about the currents sweeping through American education. Born deaf, Steele transcends the boundaries of sound to explore the ideological framework shaping the narratives within schools across the nation. Through his lens, Steele investigates …

We share a highly visible, universal concern: the persistent cycle of crime, drug addiction, and recidivism. My interview with former San Jose Mayor and current Congressional candidate Sam Liccardo, provides a deeper insight into the pernicious nature of this cycle. Sam underscores the deep-seated connection between these elements, painting a pictu…

Everyone agrees: We are witnessing unprecedented political polarization and deep divides tearing our country's fabric. Since the current leadership in Congress cannot come to terms, the voters have little option but to send a message by electing new representatives and senators to Congress. I had an opportunity to interview a newcomer in the upcomi…

In the run-up to the 2024 elections, Anna Cheng Kramer, a candidate for California's 15th Congressional District, captures the quintessential American narrative of the underdog. The story of Anna Chang Kramer, who is vying for a congressional seat in California's 15th District, offers a unique insight into the immigrant experience. Kramer's narrati…

No one wants to admit they are being treated for depression, bi-polar disorder or having thoughts about suicide. The fact is, today's stressful lifestyles will overwhelm the coping mechanisms of many people. My guest believes it's time to remove the stigma and treat mental illness "just like any other disease." Homeless encampments in commercial di…

In today's blog, we delve into the critical role judges play in our justice system. We had the privilege of speaking with Johnene Stebbins, a seasoned deputy district attorney running for Judge in Santa Clara County. Join us as we explore the responsibilities and challenges judges face in maintaining fairness, integrity, and public safety. We discu…

In 2023, approximately 3,200 venture-backed firms in the U.S. went out of business, according to data from PitchBook. These startups had collectively raised about $27.2 billion. Since the failure of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, this situation has been described as the most difficult year for startups in at least a decade, with many companies …

Three Key Steps in Constructing the Startup Asset Class One fundamental building block to startup investing is defining the sectors and technologies that will fit your organization's definition of a startup asset class. A second critical step involves creating an education program to explain the purpose, risks, diversification, time horizon, and ex…

Universities face many challenges in their goal of educating students for engagement in the 21st century economy. In this podcast, we delve into this transformative shift in academia, where the traditional model of university education is being reimagined and revitalized. The University of Cincinnati is at the forefront of this educational revoluti…

A Crusade for Justice Imagine inheriting your family home, only to find a tax bill that forces you to sell. It's not fiction; it's the startling reality under California's Proposition 19. In this episode, we uncover how this law is upending lives and what's being done to challenge it. Meet Gina C. Louis, our advocate guest driving the charge agains…

In a candid conversation with our host, Jim Connor, Lydia Kou shares her journey from a reluctant council member drawn into politics by community demand to a passionate advocate for change in Sacramento. With a focus on common sense and fiscal responsibility, Lydia Kou aims to shake up the status quo, where party interests often overshadow the need…

My guest is Gus Mattammal, a congressional candidate representing the northern part of Silicon Valley in the upcoming 2024 election. Gus's story is a testament to the American dream, having risen from a tough neighborhood in St. Louis to become a successful entrepreneur and community leader. His deep love for California and concern about its recent…

In an era marked by political polarization and growing disillusionment, the erosion of trust in government has emerged as a pressing concern. Pew Research has documented a decline in public trust, which has plummeted from 75% in 1960 to a mere 20% today, as a trend that transcends political administrations and warrants urgent attention. This declin…

We have observed and, perhaps, suffered from the gridlock in Congress. In today's discussion, we unravel a growing concern within Congress—the increasing percentage of members over 70, many boasting 15 to 30 years of service. This demographic tends to align with their respective political parties, often sidelining the needs and voices of their cons…

AI-powered tools have revolutionized education, opening up a world of possibilities for students. With access to vast amounts of information and intelligent tutoring systems, students can delve deeper into complex topics, conduct comprehensive research, and gain valuable insights. Chat GPT, with its natural language processing capabilities, provide…

Since the end of World War II, the U.S. dollar has reigned supreme as the world's reserve currency, facilitating international trade and acting as a safe haven for global financial transactions. However, the landscape is shifting, and various factors are challenging the dollar's dominance. We see several threats faced by the U.S. dollar as a reserv…

Connecting the dots: This conversation is about a unique type of dots, specifically Braille dots. Braille was invented over 200 years ago to provide a method for visually impaired people to read using combinations of six dots to represent letters and words. Books translated into Braille are available for the visually impaired. According to the Nati…

Fascination and fear of missing out (FOMO) appear to be the most prevalent responses to the emergence of AI engines for the general public. While Chat-GPT has gained the lion’s share of publicity, new AI engines are being announced weekly. Public AI engines such as Chat-GPT, Google’s Bard, and Copy.ai will address a broad range of requests, from wr…

Silicon Valley mythology would have you believe entrepreneurs live in a world where every day is an exciting and intellectually stimulating experience. However, before enjoying any of those positive outcomes, entrepreneurs go through several rites of passage. The first entrepreneur rite of passage is finding that seed funding round. It's often one …

You might recognize this personality in your social and dating relationships, the guy who wants to impress you, dominate the conversation, and make the decisions. You might be concerned about a long-term relationship or an intimate relationship. The CDC published a study about homicide being the leading cause of death for women under the age of 44.…

The United States has two major political parties: Democratic and Republican. Ask an American voter which one she or he sides with, and the most likely answer is: “neither.” Recent polls say at least 4 in 10 Americans identify as politically independent, even if they tend to “lean” Republican or Democratic on the issues. Only 3 in 10 identify as De…

One much-overlooked area in intimate personal relationships is the destructive nature of narcissistic and controlling personalities. We see narcissistic, controlling behavior in politics, business, the media, and entertainment. According to articles in Medical News Today, a controlling personality is a red flag in any relationship, especially in fa…

California is leading the movement to reclassify felony crimes as misdemeanors. Proposition 47 reclassified a wide range of theft and drug possession crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. Proposition 47 did not spell out specific details on extenuating circumstances for prosecuting these crimes as misdemeanors. The legal system began to create defi…

As of July 2022, drought conditions were most severe in the States of California, Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico. In California. In California, 30% of the State’s annual water supply comes from the snowpack in the Sierra Mountains. As of April 2022, the California Department of Water Resources measured the snowpack at only 38% of the l…

Bad laws did not start out as "bad." These laws started with reasonable assumptions, purpose, and intent. However, some laws end up creating severe and harmful adverse outcomes upon implementation. Our conversation with Ted Stroll focuses on the harm being created when the legislature does not respond to the unintended consequences.…

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics has reported an estimated 107,622 deaths from drug overdoses in the United States during 2021. In addition, several states have recorded unusually high drug overdoses among young people, such as West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. As a country, we have not been able to slow the smuggling…

There is evidence of discontent among the voters in CA. It comes from the growing disappointment with specific laws, regulations and policies passed by the California State legislature in recent years. The problem can be described as the Law of Unintended Consequences. Several Laws passed by the California legislature, created conditions that were …

We are in the midst of a perfect wildfire storm. Warm temperatures, an ongoing drought, reduced snowpack, and reduced rainfall are contributing to a tinderbox potential for wildfires for this summer of 2022. In 2021, California recorded 8,835 wildfires burning 2.5 million acres. The last seven years have seen a geometric increase in the frequency a…

First-generation candidate Jon Elist for the U.S. Senate sits down in a Zoom call to discuss the top five issues in his bid to be the new Congressional Senator representing California. Topics include inflation, immigration, homelessness, national security, and why he is willing to move from being the CEO of a healthcare company to a six-year term a…

California will hold its primary election on June 7, 2022. Effective January 1, 2011, California changed the way primary elections operate, with a law titled, The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act. Most of the offices that were previously known as "partisan" are now known as "voter-nominated" offices. All candidates for voter-nominated offices ar…

We admire the person who overcomes adversity to succeed in a chosen profession or line of work. Perseverance, tenacity, and passion create the drive to expand the horizons of the “possible”. This is the story about an individual who transformed his early life struggles into a desire to improve the opportunities in marginalized communities. Our conv…

Revenue-based financing is gaining traction as an alternative to the traditional startup debt and equity structures. This structure, referred to as revenue-based financing, represents a third rail for entrepreneurs to obtain working capital and for investors to reduce the risk of loss in their investment.…

There is good news for startup companies. Corporate acquirers are looking for niche products and technologies to fill a gap in their product line or simply grow through acquisition. There are more opportunities than ever before to be viewed as an attractive company for acquisition. But getting noticed by potential acquires requires research, a thor…

The buyer has qualified your startup as a potential candidate for acquisition and now the real work begins, defining how the assets of your startup will fit the needs of the acquiring company. My guests, Garry Guseinov and Mark Addison, provide insights into situations that resulted in successful outcomes for all parties or encountered setbacks and…

Speaking with a tech entrepreneur in eastern Slovakia, just 100 miles from the Ukrainian border, we get insights into the original Declaration of Ukrainian Independence, the gradual move toward the West, statements about joining NATO and joining the European community. Adding fuel to the conflict, the eastern provinces of Ukraine are Russian-speaki…

Never before have we had close-up access to personal stories, photographs, and videos showing the violence and destruction of war. But I did sense that part of the story was being overlooked. Ukraine has been transformed from the country it was 30 years ago when it gained independence from the Soviet Union. The country has built an impressive techn…

Today, the average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78 years. It’s a remarkable achievement in light of the fact that the average life expectancy during the 18th and 19th centuries was less than 50 years old. Innovations in medical treatment, food production, and hygiene standards have all played a key role. However, the celebration of a longer avera…

Professional sports face a number of common challenges starting with developing a winning team as well as maintaining brand value within the community and with ticket buyers. While Loyalty, community support, and financial viability are easier with a winning team, in today's connected world, every venue is vying for the attention of the consumer. O…

The media spends most of their time in the “happy part of Silicon Valley”, with stories about companies that were successfully funded, grew and acquired. The exit or sale of the company sounds like a naturally occurring event, but the effort to sell a startup company is incredibly demanding and the fact is: there are very few public forums that tal…

All entrepreneurs need an exit plan, an opportunity to see their company, generally through an acquisition with an established corporation. The difficult question is knowing when to sell, the terms of the sale and finding the right acquisition partner. This podcast challenges that assumption. It’s actually the buyer who is controlling the decision …

Every city or metropolitan area desires to emulate the startup ecosystem using the Silicon Valley model. However, the success of Silicon Valley did not happen overnight. Building out that ecosystem took a ramp of approximately 20 years along with the engagement and belief of many talented people. Nonetheless, every major metropolitan area is facing…

The depth and breadth of the Agtech movement are transforming many agriculture sectors. The dairy industry is a well-established industry that has received some productivity enhancements over the years. such as automated milking machines. Otherwise, the products and methods have remained the same over the decades and centuries. The dairy sector is …

The startup ecosystem continues to create new products and services that contribute to our productivity and quality of life. The participating parties including research and intellectual property from universities, programs for entrepreneurs, technologists and an established set of service providers from startup accelerators to a range of outsourci…

On Monday of last week, Capital One announced a data breach affecting an estimated 106 million Credit card customers and applicants. This is one of the largest Data breaches experienced by a large bank. One noteworthy point is that this cyber theft was conducted against data stored in the cloud-hosted by Amazon Web Services. In the past, most cyber…

This conversation is with Jamie Rhodes, founder of the Central Texas Angel Network, an active angel investor group, based in Austin, TX. The startup story begins with an accelerator hosted by Texas State University and supported by a group of local mentors and advisors. One of the companies gaining traction in the accelerator was SioTeX. The compan…

According to a United Nations study by the year 2050, the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion which is 34 percent higher than today. In order to feed this larger, more urban, and richer population, food production must increase by 70 percent. So the question is given the limits of available farmland and water resources, how are we going to me…

We hear a great deal of discussion about protecting access to our digital assets, bank accounts, travel services, retail sites and even government agencies like the IRS and State Tax Authorities. The recommendations focus on creating a secure name and password, two-factor authentication and possibly a biometric verification such as a fingerprint or…

What are your options if you have a real business but there is a lack of engagement from venture capital? In 2015, Congress implemented Title IV of the Jobs Act, which was intended to provide a process for startup companies to sell stock to the general public while remaining a private company. Why haven’t you hear about this process, knows as a Reg…

Many of the best entrepreneurs have leveraged their corporate experience, contacts, and resources to create new products and deploy a business strategy that was verified while they were corporate managers. Despite having that extensive background in product development and innovation, the life of the founders in any startup is a never-ending roller…