Going Deep with Aaron Watson

I’m fairly certain that Jordan is a human, but I’m not sure. He has traveled to 32 countries, lived in China for 18 months, trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is a private pilot, SCUBA dives, and speaks Mandarin Chinese. He’s also founded Debt Maven, a platform for middle market borrowers, lenders, and service providers to transact with each other for debt capital financings.   Jordan previously spent six years in cross-border investment banking advising global corporates and private equity firms on M&A deals up to $250 million. From pig farms to printers, and car components to cardboard boxes, Jordan worked on deals in a wide array of industries.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Jordan’s Challenge; Start something today. Speed is better than perfection.   Connect with Jordan LinkedIn Website jordan@debtmaven.com If you liked this interview, check out previous episodes with Larry Gioia where we discuss connecting the dots or Scott Rogerson where we discuss starting a search fund.

The world is a funny place. Every once in awhile, you run into someone cut from the same cloth as you. Whenever you find someone like that, i recommend recording a podcast together!   My guest, Li Jiang is a venture capital specialist, angel investor, and a co-owner of the San Francisco Flamethrowers. After leaving investment banking, he moved to Silicon Valley and has amassed a portfolio of angel investments and a family of entrepreneurs to support.   As a student, Li founded a student storage and shipping company and grew it into Northwestern University’s largest student company.   You’re gonna like this interview.   Resources AngelList Syndicates Bill Campbell   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh.    Li’s Challenge; Go and try to help someone without any way for them to repay you. Ask them to pay it forward.

Newspapers and other forms of old media are struggling to adapt to to this new world of digital media. In their stead, pioneering creators like Foo Conner are rising to report, document, and move our collective conscious.   In this interview, we cover Foo’s activism, how he’s gone about growing his massive social following (2 million readers a month, 115k Twitter followers, 500k YouTube subscribers, and more than 50k email subscribers), and his commitment to supporting cultural drivers like Thrival and Randyland.   In addition to serving as a cultural curator, Foo is a willing connector and intent on building bridges.   Say hi then next time you see this professional party crasher around Pittsburgh.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh.    Foo’s Challenge; Write to your heroes. You'll be shocked who responds.   Resources SEMrush BuzzSumo   Connect with Foo YouTube Twitter Instagram Jekko Randyland   If you liked this interview, check out previous interviews with Pittsburgh power players like mayor Bill Peduto and Heinz Endowment President Grant Oliphant. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

Amazon's HQ search, Reaction Videos on YouTube, and more.   Attend the GOING DEEP SUMMIT this January. Meet Pittsburgh influencers like Zak Slayback, Ed Latimore, Leah Lizarondo, Adam Haritan, and Dan Bull.

Iba Masood founded her first startup at 22 as a fresh college graduate in the United Arab Emirates. The initial goal was to connect recent grads in the Middle East to employers. Now, she and her team have evolved TARA into an Artificial Intelligence platform for recruitment and project management.   Iba was part of the Y Combinator Winter 2015 class and is a past winner of the MIT Global Business Plan competition, a finalist of MassChallenge and recipient of the Arabian Business “Young Achiever of the Year” award. Gulf Business named Iba one of the 30 most influential individuals under the age of 30 in the Middle East, and she’s the youngest person ever to receive a Cartier Women’s Initiative Award.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Iba’s Challenge; Read a book that is completely outside your area of expertise or comfort zone.   If you liked this interview, check out previous interviews with futurist Kevin Kelly on the technological trends shaping the future and virtual reality evangelist Robert Scoble. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

Joe Bender, Decentralization Engineer - ConsenSys Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Joseph Bender is a decentralization engineer, solidity developer, blockchain evangelist, Ethereum aficionado, and all-around CryptoNerd. After graduating, he moved to New York to follow his passion for blockchain and began employment at ConsenSys. ConsenSys is a venture production studio building decentralized applications (dApps) and various developer and end-user tools for blockchain ecosystems, primarily focused on Ethereum. At ConsenSys, Joe is technical lead in the alignment circle working directly with Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin. He oversees development of a full stack product including various decentralized applications, developer tools, and protocol layer frameworks.   Tom Marnik, Director, Worldwide Consulting - ANSYS Over 25 years experience in all aspects of the enterprise software business including product strategy and development, marketing, business development, pre and post sales support, and implementation.   Chris Wilmer, Founder & Co-Managing Editor - Ledger Christopher E. Wilmer is the co-founder and managing editor of Ledger, the first peer-reviewed journal for scholarly research on blockchain technologies. He is also a professor in the Chemical & Petroleum Engineering Department at the University of Pittsburgh, whose research group focuses on computational materials discovery. He has published 25 peer-reviewed articles has co-authored a book on Bitcoin called “Bitcoin for the Befuddled,” which is published by No Starch Press. Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   If you liked this interview, check out my other blockchain interviews. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz has used data from the internet -- particularly Google searches -- to get new insights into the human psyche.   Seth has used Google searches to measure racism, self-induced abortion, depression, child abuse, hateful mobs, the science of humor, sexual preference, anxiety, son preference, and sexual insecurity, among many other topics.   His book, Everybody Lies, describes his research and argues for social scientists to make greater use of internet data. It was a New York Times bestseller and received widespread media attention.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Seth’s Challenge; Read a book per week for the next year. If you liked this interview, check out my most popular episodes.

Scot MacTaggart is the creator and host of The Pitchwerks Podcast.  Having logged more than 20 years in sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship, Scot has built a diverse portfolio of experiences helping businesses of all sizes to get to the next level.     If you're in sales, biz dev, marketing, product management or politics, The Pitchwerks Podcast is a fast, easy way to sharpen your tools each week.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Scot’s Challenges; 1. Find the reason why you can unleash your creativity. 2. Determine the reason you’re doing what you’re doing.   Connect with Scot Facebook Twitter Instagram Website   If you liked this interview, check out previous episodes with Pittsburgh podcasters Marta Mazzoni and the Drinking Partners Ed Bailey & Day Bracey. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

Joe Calloway has no time for BS real estate gurus standing in front of Ferraris.   Instead, he’d prefer to offer his perspective. He’s built a $40,000,000 real estate portfolio through hard work, persistence, and patience. Being raised by a single parent in a two bedroom, low income apartment in Mt. Oliver doesn’t usually breed success, but Joe Calloway’s story is anything but usual. Joe went from those unfortunate circumstances to being the largest single family home buyer in Pittsburgh.   With little direction in life and few marketable skills, Joe enlisted in the US Navy in 1997. Using his military reenlistment bonus, Joe bought his first property in 2004. For his early projects he served as investor, contractor, designer, and property manager, giving him first-hand experience which proved to be invaluable.   Joe formed RE360 in 2009 and has grown the company’s rental portfolio to 270 units with a monthly gross rental income of $229,000. 2014 alone saw the rags-to-riches Calloway invest $5 million and purchase 72 homes, making him the largest housing buyer in Pittsburgh for the second year in a row. Not bad for the poor kid from Mt. Oliver.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Joe’s Challenge; Don’t rely on traditional sources if you are unhappy with your current position. If you want something great, you have to make it yourself and get creative.   Connect with Joe Facebook Twitter Website   If you liked this interview, check out my other interviews with people making moves in the city of Pittsburgh, like Bill Peduto and Grant Oliphant. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

When you are on a mobile device that does not use blockers against ads and trackers, YOU ARE PAYING $23 per month just to load the tracking and targeting scripts for ads. It’s a payday for both advertisers and your telecommunications provider.   This was part two. Don't miss part one!   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Brendan’s Two Challenges; 1. Adopt an good ad blocker like uBlock or Disconnect Me. 2. Read a real physical book in the sunlight.   Resources NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking (Washington Post) Mobile Ads Cost you $23 per month (Medium) Basic Attention Token Raises $35 Million in 30 Seconds (CoinDesk)