The Silicon Valley Insider Show with Keith Koo

On this week’s Silicon Valley Insider (#SVIN), Keith Koo’s guest is Emrah Gultekin, Co-Founder and CEO of Chooch A.I. a company innovating visual artificial intelligence on the edge and in the cloud. Emrah discusses why Chooch is trying to solve a fundamental problem for visual A.I. to acquire visual expertise in a structured way similar to how human knowledge. By making this achievement, the technology can be used in preventing fraud, decreasing medical mistakes and increasing manufacturing quality. Emrah gives several examples of how Chooch A.I. is solving for these use cases. On this week’s Cyber-Tip Keith discusses how ransomware victims who pay the ransoms to cyber criminals can sometimes cause greater legal and criminal issues for themselves and their service providers, lawyers and bankers. On the Pivot, Keith and Emrah discusses the future of A.I. and the importance of addressing algorithmic biases. More about Emrah Gultekin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emrah_Gultekin More about Chooch A.I.. https://chooch.ai/ For more information email: info@svin.biz Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz

On this week’s Silicon Valley Insider (#SVIN), Keith Koo’s guest is serial entrepreneur Dirk Lueth, Co-Founder of Upland a Monopoly-like mobile game built on blockchain that connects virtual worlds (called metaverses) to their corresponding physical world addresses. Dirk explains how in Upland, a game powered by blockchain, the player doesn’t need to know anything about cryptocurrency or crypto wallets to play and interact with the game. The app is available on IOS and Android platforms. During the show you will find out: What does Monopoly and the Netflix show “Stranger Things” have to do with the creation of Upland? The similarities and differences between gaming concepts like Minecraft, Fortnite and Second Life (and how Upland has a strategic partnership with Second Life in order to provide “fiat out” services for extracting the value of cryptocurrency from the Upland metaverse. Want to try the game? Sign up using this link to get a sign-up bonus of 6,000 UPX (Upland’s in-app currency a ~$6.00 USD value) https://discover.upland.me/siliconvalleyinsider On this week’s Cyber-Tip Keith discusses the recently announced Robinhood trading platform’s hack that affected over 2,000 people and how their two-factor authentication was also being compromised. On the Pivot, Dirk and Keith discuss what the future may look like when virtual worlds and physical worlds further blend together. Dirk envisions a future that incorporates our virtual lives with our real lives. More about Dirk Lueth Dirk is a serial entrepreneur and an early adopter of Blockchain and related technologies, based in Silicon Valley. He co-founded European and US-based companies in the FinTech and digital media spaces, including the Financial Times Deutschland and Forbatec, which has been acquired by SunGard (today NYSE:FIS). Dirk mentored over 30 startups through his work at the German and Swiss startup accelerators in Silicon Valley and is a frequent speaker/panelist about Blockchain and platform economics. He has studied Business Administration in Frankfurt and Paris and received a Ph.D. from the European Business School in Germany where he wrote his doctoral thesis about private and state-controlled currencies.   More about Upland.   Upland (https://upland.me/) is a metaverse that combines real and virtual worlds, allowing users to buy, sell, and trade virtual properties that are mapped to actual addresses. Upland follows the principles of an open market economy, using blockchain technology to ensure true ownership of digital assets. Available on iOS, Android, and desktop devices, Upland is a top-five gaming Dapp according to DappRadar. Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz

On this week’s Silicon Valley Insider (#SVIN), Keith Koo’s special guest is Cathy Trinh. Cathy is a seasoned executive recruiter with Logic Consulting group and focuses on filling executive roles in finance and accounting. Cathy is also a personal coach and the author. Cathy discusses a number of topics on the show: Self-care for professionals during COVID-19 – Cathy’s advice for avoiding burnout and keeping yourself mentally and spiritually fit. Cathy’s recently released book: “The Journey: Mastering the Art of Slowing Down into a Beautiful Existence” a guide based on the struggles and triumphs in Cathy’s life including battling workaholism and other stress. Job Search Advice – as an executive recruiter, Cathy shares her advice and encouragement for those who are seeking new roles. “Man and Woman of the Year” – Cathy’s nomination with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society On this week’s Cyber-Tip, Keith talks a newly discovered malware that does not get removed even when the operating system is reinstalled. Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz For more information on Cathy Trinh, you can find her here: https://www.cathytrinh.com/ To read Cathy’s Book, you can find it here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Mastering-Slowing-Beautiful-Existence-ebook/dp/B089MYPJS2/

On this week’s Silicon Valley Insider (#SVIN), Keith Koo’s returning guests are Eric Clark, Chief Digital Officer and Kris Fitzgerald, Chief Technology Officer of NTT Data. Eric and Kris discuss how companies have been adapting to work in the “new normal” by embracing new procedures and technologies to safely come back to work. Digital Transformation is the adoption of digital technology to transform services or businesses, through replacing non-digital or manual processes with digital processes or replacing older digital technology with newer digital technology. It is estimated that companies have accelerated adoption of digital transformation by at least 5 years due to COVID-19. Return to Work is an issue for many companies. Learn about some of the steps NTT Data’s clients and partners have taken to safeguard their employees and customers incorporating artificial intelligence, IoT, mobile and other technologies. On this week’s Cyber-Tip, Keith talks about how a well-known cyber-security firm tested their ability to hack a coffee-maker and how the results reveal how insecure our IoT devices really are from cyber-attacks. Listen to find out more on whether your devices are safe. On the Pivot, Kris, Eric and Keith talk about “Open Innovation 11” which is NTT DATA’s annual startup innovation contest. This year’s the contest is completely virtual and the deadline for submissions is October 31st, 2020. Here is the link to apply: https://oi.nttdata.com/en/contest/11th/locations/c05/   Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz

Title: ICON Foundation - Public & Private Partnerships on a Decentralized Network On this week’s Silicon Valley Insider (#SVIN), Keith Koo’s guest is Min Kim, Co-Founder of the ICON Foundation, a decentralized network of private and public blockchains. Min discusses the latest developments with the ICON Foundation and ICONLOOP and some of their recent successes and use cases including: Jeju Island off the coast of South Korea using ICON and ICONLOOP’s blockchain technology for private and secure COVID-19 contact tracing. Shinhan, Korea’s second largest bank is using ICON / ICONLOOP’s blockchain-based decentralized identities (DID) for secure digital identities for KYC compliance. How ICON and ICONLOOP are competing to become the replacement provider of South Korea’s national identity platform. On this week’s Cyber-Tip, Keith reminds everyone about the need for vigilance from “Insider Threats” by sharing the recent case of two employees at. Shopify sharing sensitive information about some of their customers. Shopify is an ecommerce platform with over 1 million users and these insiders targeted specific customers for their information. On the Pivot, Keith Koo and Min Kim discuss a possible future of building communities using DAOs (Digital Autonomous Organizations). The hypothesis is that you can create a “trustless” society, company, community using technologies such as blockchain. Min gives current world examples to parallel in a digital world. Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz

On this episode of Silicon Valley Insider, Host Keith Koo’s special guest is Mike McDerment, Founder and CEO of FreshBooks the billing and invoicing software used by millions in over 100+ countries. The show begins with Mike and Keith reminiscing about Mike starting in his parent’s basement. Since Mike is from Toronto, it was a basement, not a garage. Mike discusses how he kicked himself for making a simple accounting error which led to his creation in 2003 of FreshBooks one of the world’s leading “All-In-One Invoicing+Payments App” for self-employed, small, and medium businesses. Keith and Mike also discuss what it’s like to become a SaaS company taking on the “800 Pound Gorilla” in the existing market and how using lean development principles really helped shape the company. Mike gives plenty of examples and advice on how to stay to your core vision to create great products. On this week’s Cyber-Tip – Keith retells an interesting story of how a guy riding his bicycle became the leading suspect in a crime near his home thanks to geo-location technology. On the Pivot, Mike and Keith discuss on the Pivot what it’s like to “re-platform” or re-write the core software to your company. It’s a very interesting story is how Mike and the leadership team decided that they needed to create a competitive platform in order to stay on top of innovation and even created a secret parallel company that almost no one at FreshBooks knew about. Tune in to hear how that all turned out.   Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz   For questions or comments, email: info@svin.biz

In this episode of Silicon Valley Insider, Host Keith Koo very special guest is his friend, Steve Cadigan, Talent Hacker, and advisor. Steve and Keith have known each other for decades and reminisce about their time working together during Cisco’s dotcom era working in Cisco’s famed M&A Integration team. They even mention a time when they had to work on seven acquisitions all at the same time! Since then, Steve went on to bigger and better things becoming LinkedIn’s first Head of HR and credited with creating the awesome corporate culture that LinkedIn is so famous for. Today, Steve runs Cadigan Talent Ventures and can be found at www.stevecadigan.com where he is a trusted advisor, coach and soon to be author. Steve is currently finishing his book on the future of work.  During the show, Keith and Steve discuss how employees and employers are coping during the pandemic and what steps innovative companies are taking to stay engaged during the “new normal”. Steve gives out much practical advice and thought leadership on how companies can be supportive of their #1 asset, their people. Steve and Keith also discuss examples of how companies implemented new and innovative ways to stay connected and engaged with their people. On this week’s Cyber-Tip – Keith does a deep dive into “Cybersquatting” and its alternate forms. On the Pivot, Keith and Steve discuss what the future of work will look like and how employees and employers no longer must think of talent as being “locked-in” to a career track. Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz

On this week’s Silicon Valley Insider (#SVIN), Keith Koo’s guest is Jacques Voorhees, CEO of Icecap Diamonds a company that is creating a two-way marketplace for investment-grade diamonds using Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Jacques is very well known in the diamond industry, but not so well known in the blockchain/cryptocurrency world (however you need to listen to the end of the show to hear how Jacques got into blockchain via a well-respected member of the cryptocurrency ecosystem). Jacques discusses how he originally envisioned a two-way marketplace for investment-grade diamonds over 40 years ago but did not have the tools necessary to create a platform that instilled confidence by the investor community. Jacques explains how a trading platform based on NFTs became the answer to his 40-year quest to create this trading platform. During the show, Jacques provides his professional insight on the difference between consumer-grade and investment grade diamonds and why there are over 100 different attributes beyond the 4 “Cs” of diamonds that investors look for. On this week’s Cyber-Tip, Keith explains your options when being asked for a facial recognition scan at the airport when departing the United States for USA citizens and non-citizens. On the Pivot, Keith Koo and Jacques Voorhees discuss the future of using tokenization and NFTs.  For more information on Icecap Diamonds, got to their website at icecap.diamonds  Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz

Did you know that there are currently over 70,000 open and unfilled Cyber Security jobs in California? The market salaries for these jobs can range from $100,000 to $150,000. The volume of traditional four-year college graduates has not been able to fulfill the demand. This is also true for other technology related jobs. On this episode of Silicon Valley Insider, Host Keith Koo discusses his passion to empower people pursuing technology related jobs without traditional four-year college degrees. Keith Koo’s guests are Kelly Mackey, Regional Director of Strategic Partnerships for the State of California’s Division of Apprenticeship Standards and returning guest Dr. Keith Clement, professor of Criminology at Fresno State University and the primary author of the California Cybersecurity Workforce Development and Education Strategy (2020-2030): Framework and Recommendations for the California Cybersecurity Career Education Pipeline and Pathway Project (CCCEPPP). Keith Koo serves on the Interagency Advisory Committee for Apprenticeships (IACA) – Information Technology Subcommittee and is a contributor to Dr. Clement’s curriculum and in developing industry partnerships with Regional Director Mackey’s group. In the beginning of the show, Regional Director Kelly Mackey discuss the history of California’s registered apprenticeship program and the state’s focus on engaging with industry partners in providing employers a pool of talent via an alternative workforce. In the second segment, Kelly answers the question on whether small and medium businesses can take advantage of the registered apprentice program and how to go about doing that. Later in the segment, Keith and Kelly are joined by Dr. Keith Clement who gives an update on the Cybersecurity Framework and Recommendations and the “deep hole” in filling the 70,000 unfilled Cyber Security jobs by meeting the needs of employers. In the third segment, Kelly gives a deep dive on the benefits to an employer to adopt a registered apprenticeship program and how to engage with California’s Division of Apprenticeships in order to implement the program within their organizations. On this week’s Cyber-Tip, Keith gives discusses how Google and Amazon have now overtaken Apple as a primary vector for phishing, vishing and malware attacks and why that is the case. Keith also gives a special segment on funding programs for small businesses and startups. On the Pivot, Keith Koo, Kelly Mackey and Dr. Keith Clement discuss how California’s Registered Apprenticeship program is a model for the future of work.  For more information on California Registered Apprenticeships, follow this link: https://www.dir.ca.gov/das/DAS_IACAMeetings.html or email info@svin.biz  Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz

Would you be willing to sell your data for ice cream? Sadly, many people do not realize they do this daily when given a free offer of a product in exchange for their personal information. In this episode of Silicon Valley Insider, Keith Koo’s guest is technology industry veteran Kevin Coppins, CEO of Data Protection company, Spirion. www.spirion.com In the beginning of the episode, Kevin talks about how his interest in the data protection industry started during his Novell days. Along the way, his career spanned senior roles in supply chain and the telecom industry. Kevin explains the differences between data protection, data security and data privacy and why it’s important to understand the nuances as business owners and corporate executives work to keep their companies safe and comply with new data privacy regulations such as GDPR (General Data Protection of the European Union) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) which is considered to be the two most stringent data regulations in the world. Keith discusses the potential fines and reputational risk for companies that do not comply with these regulations and have a data breach. Later in the show, Keith and Kevin give several examples of recent data breaches at major companies and the negative fallout for those companies. Also, Kevin and Keith answer the question of whether you should sell your data for ice cream. On this week’s Cyber-Tip, Keith gives a detailed explanation of a “vishing” attack. Vishing is a combination of phishing and social engineering through a phone call. On the Pivot, Kevin Coppins comes back to discuss the future of data protection, data privacy, and data security and what it means for companies. Subscribe and Download to “Silicon Valley Insider” to find out more: www.svin.biz