Wealth Actually

It was a treat to talk to my friend, Robert A. George, about the political landscape washing over New York, Washington, and the rest of the country. We cover Donald Trump and his initial stumbles, the departure of Preet Bharara, the future of Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the re-election prospects of Mayor Bill DiBlasio among other topics. Lots of fun in the world of politics! Robert is an editorial writer for the New York Daily News (and formerly for the New York Post) and a conservative/libertarian blogger and pundit. He was born in Trinidad and lived in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States. A graduate of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, George worked for the Republican National Committee and, following the 1994 midterm elections, Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. In addition to his newspaper work, George also has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Fox and regularly appears on other political affairs programs. George has written for the conservative National Review, the libertarian Reason and the Huffington Post. He also sponsors his own group political/cultural blog, Ragged Thots. In addition, George occasionally moonlights as a stand-up comic and improviser. The Donald, Leader of the Free World Former US Attorney Preet Bharara looking skyward Governor Andrew Cuomo feeling good about the future Mayor Bill DiBlasio ponders the future https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I spoke on my podcast with noted psychotherapist, Will Meyerhofer. He deals with heavy hitters on Wall Street, the NYC legal world and entertainment professionals. He pulls no punches. While I have written before on the psychological perils of legal practice and Wall Street (The Death of a Profession: Law’s Long, Bitter Descent and Its Tragic Human Toll), there is nothing like speaking with someone who is in the trenches helping people deal with the modern (and misunderstood) strains of the professions. Will has been there and walks the walk. Will holds a BA, magna cum laude, from Harvard University, a JD from the New York University School of law and a Master of Social Work from the Hunter College School of Social Work. Since 2005, he has been operating his private practice, A Quiet Room, offering individual, couples and group psychotherapy from his home, a loft in TriBeCa, in Lower Manhattan. In late 2010 Will released his first book, Life is a Brief Opportunity for Joy, an introduction to the concepts and philosophy underlying psychotherapy.  During 2011, Will released a second book, Way Worse Than Being a Dentist: the Lawyer’s Quest for Meaning, based on material from his columns on law and psychotherapy from AboveTheLaw.com.  A former associate in the General Practice group at Sullivan & Cromwell LLC, Will is an acknowledged expert on psychotherapy and lawyers, Will writes a regular column for the popular legal website, AboveTheLaw.com, as well as a blog of his own, The People’s Therapist, reflecting a psychotherapist’s take on the world. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: Tell us a bit about your background . . . How did you go from working at a white shoe law firm in NYC to becoming a psychotherapist? A sizable part of your practice comes from the worlds of NYC lawyers, Wall Street and business. These are intense people, many of them unique in their own ways. Are there any universal traits that surround them? Why do they come to you? What are your clients struggling with? How do you discuss vulnerability for these types of clients. Do you have a process to help them open up? Are there times when they never open up? Long hours + “talent” should equal success, which should lead to money, prestige, fame. What happens when their progress doesn’t measure up to their expectation? How do you help clients who feel inadequate when their numbers don’t measure up to their neighbors? What happens when they feel behind, passed over or a sense of failure? What happens when the numbers and the trappings aren’t enough? Are they trapped by success?  Have they taken on more responsibility at work and at home and built golden cages? Do they feel Impostor syndrome?  I.e. How do they reconcile that luck can be involved with success? Do they belittle their own achievement? Do they have trouble appreciating the forces that are beyond their control? For the client that “feels unhappy” or “lost” and has trouble verbalizing their problems- how do you structure the conversation to get them to tell you their truth (even if they don’t quite know what that is)? The practice of law is far different than what is portrayed in the media (and even in law school). Do you notice clients that feel cheated or misled by that phenomenon? We know by conjecture the punishing hours involved and the litter of paradoxes and inequities. What else is it about the practice of law and finance that creates such hurt? What traits in your clients seem to be universal? How do you unwind depression and cognitive distortion issues from chemical issues?  For the uninitiated, does one drive the other? You deal with artists, writers and other creative types, is there anything about their endeavors that makes their problems different? Is the currency of their self-esteem different from the other professionals? Is financial hardship measured differently? And does it have more impact? For those that need help, what is the best thing for them to do? What is the best way to keep in touch with you? https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

With the excitement of Tiger Woods’ return in the Bahamas, it was time to do a podcast around golf. Welcome to Podcast #12, where I spoke with Eddy Lui. Eddy is a fellow golf fanatic who has founded a new golf platform called 18Birdies. We were able to get a round in this summer at Winged Foot and then record this interview about the company shortly afterward. 18Birdies can be downloaded on most mobile platforms and their website is www.18Birdies.com.   The “Live Engine for Golf”, 18Birdies is a mobile golf platform that enhances the experience between golfers & the courses they love to play. The platform incorporates cutting edge technology, social elements, and gaming to take golf into the next generation. A deeper discussion of the company can be found is his article in Golf Inc. Eddy began his career at the global consulting firm Bain & Company and then at Fairlook Capital. He spent 20 years successfully building and growing technology startups, Now Eddy is combining his business experience with his passion for golf with 18Birdies. I had a terrific time learning about his combination of golf, technology and entrepreneurism- three things that I enjoy.  We go into detail about the the challenges of driving the business and have some fun discussing the state of the game and the frontiers of the sport for ‘millennials” in an internet age. The format is below . . . Questions Golf- tell us how you fell in love with the game How did you become involved with technology and startups? Let’s talk about 18Birdies- How does the platform help the golfer increase enjoyment? Where does the technology come into play? How does the social component work? How does the gaming component work? Discussion of bringing high end tournament experience to the everyday player Multi-course tournaments/leagues, having the leaderboard in your pocket, expanding network of other golfers Based in San Francisco, one of the great golfing cities in this country- how does that help? How do you bring on brand ambassadors and get the word out? Lots written on the decline of golf-How does 18 Birdies address these issues? Steep learning curve in the sport: Too much time, Too expensive, Too hard to access (public/private; men/women, minorities )- how can 18Birdies address these issues? Talk about your association with Matty18UndaPar and growing the game. Bring social (and video) to a closed community- what are the challenges in breaking the “private course” code? What are some of the other trends that you are seeing? How do you intersect with the governing bodies? USGA, PGA, LPGA, MGA, AJGA Talk about some of the golf professionals like Darrell Kestner and Kris Tschetter that surround the brand Is 18Birdies something that can be incorporated into scholastic golf? What do the next few years look like for growth? How do you begin to bring in revenue? Favorite Golfer? Tiger Woods Who is your favorite of the Young Guns? Patrick Reed Best Round of golf ever? Best shot? Strengths and weaknesses of your game? Favorite Courses? Is Tiger coming back? Who is going to have a big year next year? How do we keep track of 18Birdies? 18Birdies.com and downloadable app on most platforms. For more on TIGER WOODS’ re-emergence . . . see his blistering 65 in the Bahamas below! https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I was thrilled to speak with election lawyer, Bryan Sells a week or so ahead of the big confrontation between Trump and Clinton. We talked about the process and importance of voting and the issues with the current election and future trends in our country’s voting. Based in Atlanta, Bryan is a civil rights lawyer specializing in voting rights, election law, and redistricting. He represents individual voters, civil rights organizations, political parties, candidates, and campaigns.  Before founding his own firm, Bryan was been a senior litigator at the Department of Justice and the ACLU. Bryan posts frequently on twitter at @SellsBryan and his firm’s website is www.BryanSellsLaw.com. INTERVIEW -How did the practice of voting law get your attention? -How did your background point you in the direction of election law? What were your other influences? -Explain why it’s important to have a full and fair representation in the political process Many people assume that voting is as easy as registering to vote and then showing up at a polling location and casting a ballot. However, many times it’s not that easy. -What is the actual process of voting? -How is it run at the federal, state, and local level? -How and why can that get distorted? -Where are the greatest injustices/blockades to access right now? -What about the notion of dead people voting and “pre-voted” voting machines -Redistricting and gerrymandering? -One of the great unintended consequences of our system- -How does it disenfranchise voters? -How do we rewrite the rule book on this? -Two party system continues to dominate- how do other parties and ideas begin to penetrate the system? -Term Limits- what are the arguments for and against? Is it time to have them at the federal -Finally, technology and voting? Are they the cause of or solution to voter fraud?  Or a little of both?  What should we be looking for when thinking about technology and the expense of voting? QUICK NOTES: With Trump’s shocking win, let’s see what I was thinking back BEFORE he took the nomination: Trump: The Yard Sale.  This was published 9/7/2015- well over a year ago and with no expectation that Donald Trump had a chance (at the nomination!) . . . boy, I was wrong.  but there was some interesting thinking in there. This podcast was the first done by telephone.  I liked the results and it opens the podcast to a bunch of interesting participants.  Look for more shortly. https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

Podcast #10 was a fun and intense conversation with Foreign Policy and International Relations Expert, Andrew Peek. Andrew is the Director of the Washington Program at Claremont McKenna and an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine. He is also a former Captain in the US Army and Strategic Advisor to General Joe Allen. He has written and appeared widely in the media and can be found on Twitter at @AndrewLPeek. We conducted a brief primer on Foreign policy and the Election starting with a quick summary of what we know about the candidates’ viewpoints and approach to working with foreign countries We started with Hillary Clinton and the evolution of her foreign policy approach. What do we need to know about Hillary’s world view? What is the impact of her vast experience and relationships? What is the impact of Bill’s presence if she wins office? Our next line of discussion analyzed what we know about Donald Trump- what informs his world view? How would he go about staffing his foreign policy apparatus? How does the volatility and inconsistency of message  play out on the world stage? How would he relate to the military? Finally we embarked on a quick tour around the world . . . Terrorism in France and Germany – Nice, Normandy, Paris, Orlando, etc Germany and Syrian refugee policy Vlad Putin and Syria/Ukraine/East Europe/Trump Cybersecurity Middle East / ISIS Israel Europe (NATO) China South America/Mexico It is a wide ranging discussion with terrific analysis from an expert who lives and breathes these issues and has helped form and implement foreign policy at the highest levels. https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

It was a genuine pleasure to speak with Blake Morgan about the state of the music industry . . . we spoke for an hour and could have kept going for much longer! Native New Yorker Blake Morgan is a recording artist, record producer, and the founder and owner of ECR Music Group, a global music company which operates under an elemental principle unprecedented in the music world: all of its artists and labels own one-hundred percent of their master recordings. On the heels of his sold-out eight-month run at New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3, Blake Morgan now embarks on his first large-scale West Coast solo tour of the United States. The New York Times calls Morgan “Disarmingly unselfconscious, while Billboard Magazine writes, “Blake Morgan has a voice that was made to be heard on the radio-inspired songwriting and passionate performances.” The Washington Post adds, He’s got killer pop-rock instincts, something that leaps out at you – a natural when it comes to fashioning sharp melodies and catchy choruses.” Blake Morgan’s 2016 West Coast Tour will run from August 22nd until September 3rd, with Morgan performing ten concerts in nine cities. Morgan returns to Rockwood Music Hall’s Stage 3 on September 14th, for Season Two of his ongoing artist-in-residence concert series in New York City. We covered a lot of ground . . . Here is a framework of the topics covered. What is the process of developing musicians now? How do people access music in this day and age? How do you reconcile the different definitions of success in your artists? How do musicians get paid now? What is the difference between “songwriting” and “mechanicals” What is the role of outside interests?  Sponsorships, merchandise, acting / books etc . . . And how is that different from the past? Regarding the impact of technology on the previous music industry business model, the dilemma it poses now for emerging musicians, and the impact of #irespectmusic . . . How have the innovations of Napster on through to iTunes/ Pandora/ Spotify/ Youtube impacted artists What are the positive and negative aspects? How does this impact artists and their ability to earn? How does the law protect artists currently? Is it outdated? What have been your legislative efforts? Is this a chance for actual bipartisan work from Congress? What is that political process like? How do you educate our leaders about the importance of music and protecting the artist’s livelihood? What can the artists do to help protect themselves? Finally a little discussion on ECR and future plans What is your vision for the modern record label – what is its role and how does it work in this day and age? What are the signs of optimism for recording artists in the future? Where do you see the future of music going? How can people support #IRespectMusic? WWW.BLAKEMORGAN.COM Blake Morgan (Facebook) Blake Morgan (Twitter) IRESPECTMUSIC.ORG and via hashtag (#irespectmusic) on most social media platforms. https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I recently spoke with Michael Devlin, adviser to Urban Seed (www.urbanseedvegas.com) We covered a variety of topics related to agribusiness and food policy. Urban Seed’s mission is to become the premier supplier of locally grown, low carbon impact, fruits, vegetables, and micro greens in the local market using proprietary and innovative technology & processes with modular, easily expandable structures which provide opportunities for unlimited growth. Their philosophy is to prioritize the “Made in the USA” concept. Their proprietary modular system provides superior quality and larger volumes in the same footprint allowing Urban Seed to grow 30 to 50 times the amount of produce than that of traditional farming without use of chemicals or pesticides. Facilities will be as close to the customer base as possible to reduce cost of transportation & delivery which can run as much as 75% of total operating costs for traditional farm to market operations. 1) We went though a description of the traditional timeline from food to fork. Most produce travels 1,500 miles from farm to fork. – High carbon footprint – Nutritional values falls over time – Shorter shelf life = high food waste – Lower freshness = bland taste 2) We laid out a broad gamut of food production challenges: – Burgeoning world population, – Water scarcity, – Global warming, – High pesticide use. – Lack of access to fresh produce is highly correlated to rising BMI – especially in poor communities. 3) Opportunities – Where are some of the investment opportunities in the food world? – We spend time defining the concept of urban farming 4) Finally, we describe what Urban Seed does – Farm to fork in 12 hrs – No chemicals – herbicides or pesticides – All non-GMO seeds (why is this important?) – Grown under glass with no supplemental light – very power efficient. – 30x crop yield vs traditional farming – Uses 90% less water – Extremely Profitable – Each 6,500sf greenhouse generates $1mm annual revenues and ~$500k EBITDA – Tax benefits for buildings / urban settings?Jobs? https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I spoke with director, William Wedig, who is starting to make a dent in the world of movies. Having done work for brands such as PBS, MTV, Sports Illustrated, People Magazine and Time Magazine, his work has been shown on broadcast and cable television, in AMC and Clearview theaters, on Times Square billboards and in festivals such as Sundance and the Toronto Film Festival. In 2012, William began his television-directing career. 145 shoot days, 550 script pages and 5,000 shots later, William completed directing 26 episodes of the half-hour action-comedy kids show, Team Toon, set for release winter 2013 on Cartoon Network. Utilizing a mixed-format presentation, the show fuses live-action with animation to allow for the adventures of four friends whose imaginations tend to blur the line between reality and cartoon. Part Scooby-Doo-style mystery, part monster madness action, Team Toon was a technically challenging show as well as a lengthy and action-packed production. Most recently, William co-directed and edited the show Exposure: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011. Starring Brooklyn Decker, Irina Shayk, Hillary Rhoda and 14 other supermodels, the show is available on the Playstation Network and DVD. In 2011, Wedig’s feature film, Forged, was released theatrically. Forged won Best Film at the HBO New York Latino Film Festival and the Outstanding Film Award at the Providence Latin American Film Festival, and screened in the Los Angles Latino International Film. The film stars Manny Perez and Emmy award winner Margo Martindale. Variety’s Ronnie Scheib said that the film’s powerful ending build kinetically and that lead-actor Manny Perez is frighteningly convincing as a man ruled by desperation. For more, visit www.ForgedMovie.com. He also post-supervised Josh Crook’s La Soga, which is opened at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival and was released in theaters in August of 2010 through 7th Floor. In the fall of 2008, he completed editing on a one hour documentary for This Old House and PBS,The Life a House Built: The 25th Anniversary of the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Work Project. The film details the experiences of volunteers and homeowners working to rebuild the Gulf Coast in connection with Habitat for Humanity in the summer of 2008. William began his career with his thesis film from the School of Visual Arts, entitled Rise of the Dead. The film was released through Lions Gate Entertainment in November of 2007. The film has been described as a “smart and original take on an equally old genre” (Fangoria) and William’s directing as “a breath of fresh air” (C.H.U.D.). William was also post-production supervisor on Salvage, a horror-thriller, which premiered to a packed house at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The foreign distribution deal included a theatrical release and Echo Bridge Entertainment handled domestic distribution. He graduated with a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and lives in Brooklyn. We covered a lot of ground in this one! William’s background- where are you from and how did you get to NY, How did you get bitten by the filmmaking bug? Take us through what you have worked on . . . When do you know you have a project you are interested in directing? Are you writing it? How do you read a screenplay and know if it’s good? If it’s for you? How do you interact with the writers, producers, talent? What makes a good partnership? How would you describe your working style? When did you know you were good? And could make a go of this? How do you keep the business angle from overwhelming the creative process? When do you compromise v. digging your heels in? Impact of the Editing background- how does that help? Surfing and SI Swimsuit work- what did you learn from those experiences? Use of light, how do you make people or landscapes look good, how do you drive a story? Animation- what makes that difficult or interesting? How do you interact with the artists and voice talent- is it harder or easier than live action? Team Toon- working with kids- easier or harder than normal actors? Horror- what were your influences in this genre?- what makes working in this space challenging? What makes a William Wedig film? What features always stand out? Who would you like to work with? Actors, other types of films? https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I recently spoke with Scott Johnston about his transition from banking to entrepreneurism and two of his technology projects. WAYIN is Scott’s venture co-founded with Scott McNealey. They help major companies aggregate and understand the date generated by consumers and their social media presence. That data can then be used by the company to better focus their marketing efforts and sell more efficiently. LiquidSky is Scott’s venture that seeks to more efficiently allocate the world’s computing power. The company employs a subscription model and delivers computing and processing speeds on an “as-needed” basis. Liquidsky hopes to help people, businesses, universities and governments accomplish their computing goals without making huge equipment investments that could quickly become obsolete. Scott and I have known each other for years having interacted in the political arena and on the golf course. In this episode we cover . . . The transition from Wall Street to technology entrepreneurism The genesis of Wayin- how does one take an idea and turn it into a business? What problems does Wayin solve for marketers and advertisers? Can Wayin apply to other arenas like politics? How did Scott find the idea for LiquidSky? How did he develop the talent to turn this idea from a twinkle in the eye to a viable business that could solve “Billion Person Problems?” What is the impact of the video gamer? How big is that market? What is the impact of their influence on media production? What are some tips and issues for investors to note if they are interested in investing or being involved in young companies? Scott also collects his thoughts in his “Naked Dollar” Blog Enjoy! https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

Michael Monaghan, Co-Founder and CEO of Beartooth What an exciting thing to watch the launch of a business. It represents the beginning of a new, scary and wonderful challenge. It also culminates years of innovation, planning, preparation and hard work.  Today, Beartooth launches officially for the public. It is the brainchild of Michael Monaghan, a friend I have known for years. An idea borne out Michael’s experiences both as a financier at Goldman Sachs and as a devout skier and outdoorsman, Beartooth builds on the promise of handheld phone use off the typical cellular grid. It is a tech company based in Bozeman, Montana! I spoke to Michael recently on his experience starting the business, the challenges of being an entrepreneur and probed to hear his thought process on a variety of new business issues. Below are some of the points that we covered: An introduction into what the Beartooth radio does [How Beartooth Works]: What does Beartooth do? “Beartooth is a small device that works with an existing smartphone to communicate when you have no service. You can talk, text, use maps, and share location to Beartooth users within range when you have no cellular service. Beartooth also works as a backup battery for your smartphone. Whether you are skiing fresh powder in the backcountry or dancing at Coachella, you can now reliably stay in contact with your group in ways that were previously unavailable. Beartooth allows for peer-to-peer communication between the devices, completely bypassing the Wi-Fi and cellular network.” What problems does Beartooth solve? Where did you get the idea and develop the product/meet your co-founder? How do you go from a Goldman Sachs background to an entrepreneur? What is it like raising money? What is it like having the responsibility of having employees? How do you find and interact with investors? How do you surround yourself with expertise? When bombarded with advice- how do you pick who you listen to? What is it like dealing with the government and how did you learn about the various approval processes involved with a media product? What is it like living and working in Bozeman? What are the pluses and challenges of Bozeman?  How does Bozeman impact the attraction of talent/capital? Beartooth sounds like it applies to rural and adventure settings- what are the uses for technology in urban environments? What are the benefits of having “redundant” VHF/UHF benefits? What are some of the technical features involved? What are the applications to industry, leisure, military? What are the real life experiences that could be enhanced with Beartooth? Festivals, skiing, hiking, lake, ocean, golf courses, vineyards? Are there any potential information security benefits? (texts that don’t go through a plan/stored through iCloud? I.e. Device to device texting?) Are there any battery life improvements that Beartooth adds? How do you go about your marketing strategy? What are your marketing ideas? What segments are you working on? Mass retail application? To learn more about Beartooth, check out their website here: BEARTOOTH.COM And check out more about their story below . . . Beartooth profiled in OUTSIDE Beartooth covered by TECHCRUNCH https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/