All in Economy
It seems like every day we see headlines about some public company behaving badly. Whether it is environmental disasters, abuse of workers, or just plain theft, companies often don’t have an overarching mission to do good. This shouldn’t be a surprise, because the main job description for the CEO of a public company is to maximize shareholder profits.
Those of you who know me know I like a good turn around story and I have a great one for you today. When the pandemic struck, it hit the events industry particularly hard. Our partner for the eMERGE 2020 Chicago event, Echelon Design felt the impact immediately, seeing a drastic reduction in engagements with no clear end in sight.
These days, everyone is feeling the stress of their jobs and of the industry. With so many people just dreaming of starting over, I always hear, I am going to just quit and go work in the Cannabis industry. It is the modern equivalent of saying I am going to run off and join the circus.
But the reality is more challenging. It is a highly regulated and complex industry, it is illegal on the federal level so you are at the mercy of state regulations and an ever changing political environment. Then you have to be able to produce and sell a fairly technical and complex product that requires a high level of service to the customer. Making money in the business is not as straight forward as you might think.
In 2008, Veritas employees Jaspreet Singh and Milind Borate got together to create the data protection company Druva. Fun Fact: In Sanskrit, "Druva" translates to "North Star".
For years they built the business around endpoint data protection, but the product evolved over into a more enterprise focused cloud data management company. Last year they completed a series E for $130M with a valuation north of a billion dollars.
Sports has been an unfortunate victim of this global pandemic. Sports junkies all over the country are really hurting. We always say that in chaos there is opportunity, and one company standing ready to step in and help bring the fun back to sports is HotMic. HotMic gives you the opportunity to choose your watch party with your favorite sports personality, celebrity or just host your own watching parties with your friends. It is like a tailgate party in your own home. Today we have HotMic Founder, CEO and startup veteran Sean Longworth with us to talk about what it is like to build a startup in the midst of a pandemic, and how to remain agile to adjust and pivot in a market turned upside down.
Welcome back to another FutureTech Video Podcast. In part 2 we talk to Sandee Kastrul about her organization, i.c.stars.
I have know Sandee since 2000 when I was first introduced to I.c.stars. Sandee is a force of nature, and she seems to be at the center of tech in Chicago and around the country as she expands into new markets.
Welcome back to another FutureTech Video Podcast. Today we have with us Sandee Kastrul. I have know Sandee since 2000 when I was first introduced to I.c.stars. Sandee is a force of nature, and she seems to be at the center of tech in Chicago and around the country as she expands into new markets.
Welcome back to another FUTRtech video podcast. In Part 2 we dig into more on China and Talk with Andrew about his Big Daddy Dough Rap career that helps educated people about China.
There has been a significant rise in the influence of Asian countries on the global stage, and some of it is hard to make sense of. We have a very special guest today who can help us make sense of all that is going on. Andrew Dougherty describes himself as a China Economist-Rapper, making sense of the Riddle Kingdom one Rhyme at a Time. Andrew is a China based economist polymath, who is smart as hell and has a huge wealth of knowledge about Asia, and he raps on top of that. Andrew uses rap to help educate people around the world about China.
