Liftoff with Keith Newman

The Look Back welcomes Mitch Kapor -- Founder of Lotus Development and CEO of the groundbreaking spreadsheet 1-2-3. Kapor converted his early software success into building the Kapor Center and Kapor Capital. Now, he is an advisor and investor to 150+ under-represented founders and rocking his mission of creating an Inclusive & Equitable Technology Sector. And while a successful venture fund isn't as easy as 1-2-3... Mitch, his wife, and team have built an impressive organization HQd in Oakland, California.

Taking Startup Shots with Lean and Mean Steve Blank.  Steve Blank is an Adjunct Professor @Stanford and co-founder @Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation. He’s also been described as the Father of Modern Entrepreneurship and Credited with launching the #Lean Startup movement, Blank has changed how startups are built; how entrepreneurship is taught; how science is commercialized, and how companies and the government innovate. We had an awesome convo covering the #History of Silicon Valley and lots of insights for Founders and Startup leaders.  Steve blogs at www.steveblank.com.

In the Startup Dictionary with the definition of "entrepreneur" is a picture of Mark Goldstein. An old friend who always cuts to the quick and tells it straight even if it hurts....An old friend who I met way back when post college Mark was at Apple and while there caught the startup bug - which manifested into RealityTech, BlueLight, Loyalty Lab and a slew of other businesses that took the bleeding edge and added a sales pitch and it was off to the races.....and he has been rolling out new ideas nearly non-stop with thoughtful breaks at real world - like now where he's Partner at  Builders Venture Capital  www.builders.vc and a super impressive 501c3 called the Digital Health Foundation. Check out his formal background at www.markgoldstein.com  Watch Digital Health Hub Foundation Awards Grand Finale @ HLTH https://youtu.be/0WicV5xO0_Q?si=EzwC7QGgEd6aqM7n

The Look Back welcomes the head of Plug and Play, Saeed Amidi, who takes us thru the 20+ year evolution and the new model @ PnP as an innovation platform. The VC firm-incubator with major companies and sponsors has touched 50,000 startups, 500+ world-leading corporations, and hundreds of venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies across multiple industries. Learn from the man himself how to climb aboard this rocket ship and leverage its power platform. 

David Strom is my go-to guy for all things Networking and Security -- the two hottest topics for the last 20 years. He's also an alumni friend who ran Network Computing, eWeek and has contributed or led many other tech-oriented media products. Strom was coerced to join me for a chat on The Look Back and in return I feel obliged to mention his must-read bylines on @SiliconAngle -->  one of the sharpest perspectives on internet and security issues. 

Tune in, strap in, and get ready to remix! We were somehow able to get the man who I consider to be the creator of multimedia and one of the coolest software geeks out there, Marc Canter, to sit down and do The Look Back podcast session with me. We hit on those early days of Apple, Mac, multimedia and head into Metaverse, VR and of course AI - he has a unique perspective and some kool drops. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed talking to Marc. 

Great discussion on the future of Transportation with none other than @AnnabelChang, Director of Public Policy @Waymo, who is trying to to make driverless cars a reality. Already a hit in Arizona and SF, Chang is a change agent who came to Waymo from @AlaskaAirlines and @Lyft where she ushered in the world of #RideShare #GigWork and disrupting the transportation world - clearly not one to shrink from challenge Annabel shares lots of insight in future of transportation along with major shortcuts for entrepreneurs and innovators. 

Tony Uphoff has media instincts in his DNA -- as a child born into a media active family, Tony was destined to a world of publishing -- but at the helm of eWeek and InformationWeek and many other well known brands, and is not lending his experience and energy to Media/Research disruptor, @Acceleration Economy. Tony also led the turnaround and successful sale of Thomasnet.com to Xometry for $300M - just a blast to catch up with an alumni brother and someone I’ve always learned from and admired. 

The Look Back gets into product mode after chatting with Product Marketing Guru SC Moatti, a Partner @Mighty Capital and President of Products That Count and Managing Partner of Mighty Capital and Board Chair of Products That Count. SC touches on her views on opportunity in AI (Are we having a Netscape moment?), the fallacy of Product Market Fit and what true product-led growth is created. I hope you enjoy and learn from this discussion as much as I did. 

Jenny is the Author of Future of Food is Female and Founder of the Vegan Women’s Summit and a passionate and compelling voice on changing the direction of food production and consumption to more environmentally conscious and secure. It's an important topic of conversation and one that The Look Back is happy to explore and promote. "I created VWS because I believe there is a better way to build an industry—and there is no more urgent need than the future of our food system". Bio: https://www.jenniferstojkovic.com/