The Silicon Valley Podcast

On today’s show, we interview Geoff Seyon. Geoff is the Founder & Managing Partner of STUDIO IXORA, a venture studio focused on applying Explainable AI to industries such as Finance & Healthcare. Geoff is an Entrepreneurial Technology Leader with 27 years of experience, inclusive of 15 years in Globally Distributed Software Delivery, Digital Health and 10 years of hands-on experience with various Artificial Intelligence approaches & technologies. Prior to assembling STUDIO IXORA, Geoff spent 15 years assembling, advising and leading multiple teams that have created 7 Digital Health and 10 AI New Ventures. Before that he also had spent 5 years at Sapient where he grew an office in India to 700 people and received the 2002 Sapient Founders’ Award.  Geoff holds Master and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering & Computer Science with a Concentration in Artificial Intelligence from MIT, as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School. In this episode, you’ll learn: How do overseas engineer programs match up with the top ones in the United States? Are there any skills that our engineers currently lack?  How hard is it to learn how the hardware and software interact in a computer?   What is the difference between Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning? What part of our mind is being replaced in the 4th industrial revolution? Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Connect with Guest: Connect with Geoff on LinkedIn   CONNECT WITH SHAWN: https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Change to Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

Doctor Jonathan Reichental is a multiple award-winning technology leader whose 30-year career has spanned both the private and public sectors. In 2017, he was named a top 100 chief information officer (CIO) in the world, and in 2016 was named one of the top 20 most influential CIOs in the United States. Jonathan is recognized as a global thought leader on a number of emerging trends including the fourth industrial revolution, urban innovation, the future of cities, and blockchain technology. In 2013, he was recognized as one of the 25 doers, dreamers, and drivers in government in America. His innovative work in government has also been recognized by the White House. In this episode, you’ll learn: What is a Smart City? Could cities be hacked and held for ransom?  With new technology, what new laws will be developed or needed to be implemented to keep up with it? How will designing whole cities change in the next 5 or 10 years? Where are the opportunities for startups in the cities of tomorrow? We also want to thank Wendy Xue, who introduced me to Jonathan two years ago on a delegation to Guiyang. Without Wendy, this interview could not have happened. Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!   Connect with Shawn: Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com    

On today’s show we are happy to chat with Conor Riley, who is a Principal at Global Capital Markets, Incorporated. This company is a full-service investment bank focused on facilitating transactions within the middle market. He has advised on a wide array of mergers and acquisitions across multiple industries. Conor has contributed to structuring growth capital, debt, and equity placements. He is also the current CEO of Luxie, Inc. a luxury cosmetics company, specializing in high-end, vegan, cruelty-free make up brushes. In this episode, you’ll learn: How does a company know when they are ready to raise capital? What happened within the capital market in 2018 with many of these IPOs? What are the roles of an investment banker for working with startups? What are the different types of capital and how some are better than others? Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Books and Resources Connect with Conor Riley on LinkedIn. Follow Conor Riley on Instagram. Find out more about Global Capital Markets. Check out Luxie Beauty.   Connect with Shawn:   https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

On today’s show, we have Scott Kriens, chairman and former CEO of Juniper Networks, who has been in the technology industry for more than 35 years. In 1996, he co-founded Juniper Networks, growing the company to $4 billion in global sales and more than 10,000 employees in 100+ countries. In 2010, Scott and his wife Joanie launched 1440 Foundation, an organization committed to the cultivation of truly real and connected relationships, with self and others, as a basis for living well. The work of the foundation led Scott and Joanie to launch 1440 Multiversity, a 21st century learning destination in the California redwoods of Santa Cruz County. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: What was it like to go through the dot.com bubble? What were the events that led up to Scott winning the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of The Year award? How did Silicon Valley Change over the years, from 1986 to when Scott left Juniper Networks in 2008? What is 1440 Multiversity? We would like to give a special thanks to Michael Balistreri, a Business Performance Advisor at Insperity. Michael made the introduction to Scott. Without Michael, we would not have been able to conduct this amazing interview. HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!  BOOKS AND RESOURCES 1440 Multiversity. Visit the website of Juniper Network. Connect with Scott Kriens on LinkedIn.   CONNECT WITH SHAWN:   https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com      

On today’s show, we chat with Brian Smith who is the Co-Founder and CEO of Redcrow. Alongside Jerry Harrison, Redcrow set off on a mission to democratize the investment process for people otherwise shut out of early stage investing opportunities. Prior to Redcrow, Brian was a Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, advising high net worth families. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: What is an accredited investor? What is the future like for crowdfunding? What is a Cap Table? What is the current process that founders might take to raise capital? HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!  BOOKS AND RESOURCES: Connect with Brian Smith Website of Redcrow Website of Redcrow Live   CONNECT WITH SHAWN:   https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com    

On today’s show, we have Marwan Forzley, an innovator and visionary who is passionate about building companies through disruptive technologies and global strategies. After founding and selling eBillme to Western Union, Marwan became the GM of eCommerce and Strategic Partnerships with Western Union. He’s now the co-founder and CEO of Veem, a global payments network helping small businesses transfer money internationally. He is also the author of “Small Business in a Big World: A Comprehensive Guide to Doing International Business.” which teaches small businesses everything they need to know about taking their operations to the international level, from business culture to negotiation tactics.   IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: How can cryptocurrency, the treasury and SWIFT be used in combination to transfer money globally? How is Veem able to beat well-established financial systems on price and convenience? What is the future for Fintech? How much change has really occurred in the banking system in the last 50 years?   We would like to give a special thanks to Alan Tien who made the introduction to Marwan. Without Alan “Money Never Sleeps,” we would not have been able to conduct this amazing interview. HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! BOOKS AND RESOURCES Official website of VEEM How to start getting paid with Veem Follow Veem on Twitter CONNECT WITH SHAWN: https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Change to Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

On today’s show, our guest is Osama Bedier. Osama is the founder and CEO of Poynt, the open commerce platform empowering merchants to transform and grow their businesses. Osama has spent the last two decades pioneering consumer internet, e-commerce and payments services. Prior to founding Poynt, Osama served as the Vice President of Payments at Google, and head of Google Wallet. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: How has Paypal influenced Fintech? What are the benefits of being “banked” versus not being “banked”? With the switch to digital currency, where are the opportunities and who will benefit? What should merchants be able to do with this kind of technology?   We would like to give a special thanks to Alan Tien who made the introduction to Osama. Without Alan “Money Never Sleeps,” we would not have been able to conduct this amazing interview. HELP US OUT: Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!    BOOKS AND RESOURCES Poynt website CONNECT WITH SHAWN Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account  

  On today’s show, we chat with Dr. Tom Coughlin, who is the Current President of IEEE-USA. IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology. He has many publications and six patents to his credit. Tom is also the author of Digital Storage in Consumer Electronics: The Essential Guide, which is now on its second edition with Springer. Coughlin Associates provides market and technology analysis as well as Data Storage Technical and Business Consulting services. Tom publishes the Digital Storage Technology Newsletter, the Media and Entertainment Storage Report, the Emerging Non-Volatile Memory Report and other industry reports. Tom is also a regular contributor on digital storage for Forbes.com and other blogs. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: What is IEEE and what is its role in advancing technology in the US and the world? What are Digital Twins? Where are the boundaries between human and machine? Where do ethics play in the advancement of technology? What should we as a society be thinking about in terms of these?   We would like to give a special thanks to Zahava Stroud who made the introduction to Tomas. Zahava is the founder of Angel Launch and we would not have been able to conduct this amazing interview without her help. Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Books and Resources IEEE website   Connect with Shawn Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

On today’s show, we have Jonathan Trent. His 20-year stint at NASA as a Senior Research Scientist has included research in marine science, microbiology and cell biology, medicine, nanotechnology, engineering, and environmental sciences. After doing 7 TED talks about his career in science, he is now leaving NASA to form his own startup which will pivot from the offshore system to an onshore design that he is calling UpCycle Systems. It will be the only patented technology that accepts wet waste as is, without initial treatment, and then converts it to renewable assets, clean water, steam, electricity, gas and minerals. In this episode, you’ll learn: Did the US ever land on the moon? What has changed at NASA over the last 20 years? How likely is it that we will soon go to Mars? What is the big picture of the environment? What are the United Nations Sustainability Goals? What is an economy based on waste? What is Bio-asset recovery? We would like to give a special thanks to Victor Wang who is the Founder and Chairman at China Silicon Valley hosting the delegation that led to connecting with Jonathan Trent. Without Victor this interview would not have been possible. Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Books and Resources Jonathan Trent’s LinkedIn  NASA AMES Research Center   Connect with Shawn: Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com      

On today’s show, we interview Sam Liang, the Founder and CEO of Otter.ai, a highly disruptive collaboration and productivity tool. Otter.ai has won many of the most prestigious awards in tech given by companies such as Google, FastCompany, PcMag, and more. Before founding his startup, Sam worked at Google where he led the location-based services unit, and won an award for the “Bluedot Mobile Location System.” Sam received a PhD at Stanford for Internet Distributed Systems, working under the professor who is known for being the first investor in Google. In this episode, you’ll learn: How big of a market there is for a program for translating and storing conversations How Otter works and how it continually keeps improving using Artificial Intelligence  What the next few years looks like for use of data and how programs will get more and more accurate in time  How a translation tool will revolutionize what we know about ourselves   We would like to give a special thanks to Rick Quan who made the introduction to the Sam Liang, which allowed this amazing interview to happen. Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!  Books and Resources Homepage of Otter.ai LinkedIn of Sam Liang Tutorials on how to use Otter.ai Review on Otter.ai from CNET Rick Quan NBC interview discussing the documentary about Ed Lee   Connect with Shawn:   https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com