The Look Back: A Free flowing interview with Innovators, Entrepreneurs & Top Tier Influencers

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. 

Welcome to The Look Back Alan Dershowitz, famous Harvard Law Professor and former member of the OJ’s Dream Team and defender of Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump, Mike Tyson, Patty Hearst, Julian Assange - and I’m leaving out a bunch…. Alan is working on a major case related to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and the Constitutional Rule of Law: U.S. vs Raniere (Hint: Remember the TV show “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult (HBO)”). Wild stuff - but important in this age of lacking confidence in our judicial/legal system  - give a listen and let me know what you think. 

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. 

What it takes to be successful launching a software startup? How do you build a culture of innovation (and still have a personality)?

One of the top Game Studios is run by the amazing Christina. Give this interview a listen and see if you don't agree with my bias assessment.

A real Ted Talk with the one and only Ted Schlein. Ted's excellent adventure was a 25 year roller coaster ride at Tier 1 VC firm Kleiner Perkins, by way of Symantec where he talked the company into entering the cybersecurity business. Now he turns full circle and has started Ballistic Ventures where he serves as Chairman and GP. Ted serves on the Board of Trustees and Board of Overseers of the Engineering School at the University of Pennsylvania, and also serves on the CISA, DHS and NSA Advisory Boards, IQT Board of Trustees, and is founder of the DoD-sponsored DeVenCI program. A few of his successful investments include AlienVault, ArcSight, CarbonBlack, Chegg, LifeLock, Mandiant, Phantom Security, and Shape Security.

Fred Davis is my guest on this latest episode of The Look Back. And what can I say about the former editor of a bunch of Ziff Davis mags (MacUser, A+, PC Mag) and my colleague at ZD during the amazing rollercoaster days. If you know, you know. The guy is an amazing font of knowledge and wisdom - in this episode he gives us his thoughts on everything from the impact of AI and VR on society to how we need to rebuild our cities infrastructure and services. Oh and a bit on guitars and what it was like to be mentored by the inventor of B2B media, Bill Ziff. 

This episode puts the spotlight on @Dina Moskowitz, the Founder and CEO of Partner Optimizer, formerly SaasMax. It was great fun exploring with Dina the catalyst for ‘the big pivot’ from a B2B marketplace for SaaS vendors and IT channel partners to Partner Optimizer, and getting behind the Partner led Growth momentum in the IT market. Partner Optimizer has become recognized by leading analysts as the premium tool for identifying, recruiting and managing partners - we also talked about developing great teams and building great products. 

Investing to maximize ROI is one thing, adding a social impact layer to your criteria is another and that's the Zecca Plan! Zeeca Lehn is the General Partner of Responsibly Ventures, based in California, backing U.S. PreSeed startups in both Social and Sustainable Tech—using multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guidepost per investment.

Over the past 15+ years, he has worked as an Environmental Economist, Data Scientist, Non-Profit Board Member, and Co-Founder. He grew up in an off-the-grid Japanese-style home, on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. Through his world travels and living in Scandinavia during his early 20’s, he discovered a deep love for people, planet, and diverse cultures.

Thinking about starting a Co? Alex says this is the best time. Find out why by tapping into our discussion around the DNA of an entrepreneur, and get questions answered like: how do you build entrepreneurial muscle? Also, discover the differences between angel investors, venture capital investors, and accredited investors and learn what sets them apart. Don't miss out on this valuable knowledge! Listen to this insightful episode with Alex Chompff, CEO of Evolution Accelerator -- hit play now!

I'm so mesmerized by what’s going on in robotics and industrial automation. Given that, I reached out to Mike O'Donnell to join us on The Look Back. From shrink-wrap software daze to Internet 1.0 to mega deals in the Enterprise Tech space into HealthTech specs, I catch up with the somewhat new CEO of blazing cool startup Relay Robotics. Give a listen (*and dont forget to like and SHARE).

A special Super Bowl episode of The Look Back with Thomas Turner, CEO & Founder of Relentless Beats!

Turner is the producer of many major Super Bowl events with huge stars like @Ludacris @SnoopDogg @TimMcgraw and @Shaq. He manages the venue, the music, the video, the tech - everything and he talks about what makes a great event, how its managed and where the LIVE EVENT industry is headed....

Let's get this party started!!!

Ann Winblad has seen it all, except lately she can't find this little t-shirt her father the then high school basketball coach gave her, that brings her back to her pre-teen days when she would cheer and support the hoops team along with her 4 sisters and her brother. Oh well, no time to dwell. It turns out Ann actually was a high school basketball cheerleader (and as Ann points out the class valedictorian) to the Federal Reserve to founding and running a software company, Open Systems,  which she sold for a tidy profit, and then into Software focused VC firm #1.

As Founding Partner at Hummer Winblad, the first VC firm focused exclusively on software, formed in the late '80s she was turned down by hundreds of would-be LP investors at the time. Ann wound up funding many great co's including MuleSoft, Five9, Hyperion acquired by Oracle, Wind River and dozens others - now she's overseeing and coaching startups and investments in various markets including space and technology, while still cheerleading in her philanthropic adventures.

Today’s Look Back Podcast Guest is Joshua March, the Co-founder and CEO of SCiFi Foods, a Bay Area food tech company focused on making transformational meat alternatives first by combining plant-based and cultivated meat to make burgers that are drastically closer in taste to the real versions. Bring your entrepreneurial appetite and curiosity to our latest episode!

If you’re a budding entrepreneur,  venture capitalist or angel investor, you have to listen to this episode on The Look Back with the one and only Ben Narasin of TenacityVC (not to be confused with Tenacious D) who brings his secret recipes for investing and building successful startups. Ben’s a renowned entrepreneur with many amazing startups who went on to  connect with the venerable NEA before launching his own firm.

From his work with Steve Jobs in the early days of Apple and then NeXT,  then a stint at Microsoft, Dan’l has been training for his eventual role has as head of Silicon Valley’s @Computer History Museum. And this is not just your regular, run of the mill Museum - as one would expect -  this is a Museum on a mission!  Now we have The Look Back on the early days to today and how the Museum seeks to create the best experience for students of the game.

Mike Cassidy, aka Rocket (Thruster) Man -  has been CEO and Co-Founder of 5 high tech companies and is currently the head of Apollo Fusion, a high performance maker of satellite thrusters. This is his project following his role as Project Leader for Google's Project Loon. He’s also sold another co (Xfire) to MTV and Direct Hit to Ask Jeeves. If that’s not wild enough he attended the Berklee School of Music, Harvard and MIT. Quite a roll! I hope you enjoy this Look Back as much as I did. All systems go! Now strap it on and hit play! 

Gary Shapiro and CES! The two are seemingly inseparable as he’s been running the amazing trade show every January forever but underneath that linkage Gary is equally navigating innovation and fair trade. Technology and Sustainability and a host of geopolitical stuff. In short he’s seeking balance in a world out of whack and sharing it with the powerful industries he represents as CEO of CTA.

In this episode of The Look Back find out why Gary is more excited about this year’s CES than ever > share this share with friends and see you in Las Vegas in January. 

In this new series, Founder Fables, we talk with Martin Mao, the co-founder and CEO of cloud monitoring firm @Chronosphere. Here we talk with startups who have interesting business that deserves watching as well as interesting thoughts on building a successful venture during this unique time. 

Martin started the the business at the start of Covid and following engineering roles with @Uber, @AWS, @Microsoft and @Google (nice pedigree as one might say). In this Episode we dive into his view of big co experience and then rolling to a startup along with the challenges of raising funding and driving a startup in challenging economic times, competing with giants and leading a co from the engineering side of the house.

Regis is a legend in the world of tech marketing and had a unique role of building a hugely successful business and wrote the book on high tech marketing. (The Regis Touch and Marketing is Everything were just two of the groundbreak tech marketing books he authored).

Regis was coach and consultant at the PR/Marketing firm that bore his name and was coach and mentor to visionaries like Andy Grove and Steve Jobs, who he advised as they all took aim at expanding the use of chips, mips and computers. He is a legend and I’m a huge fan.

Listen to this episode of The Look Back and you will understand why! And feel free to share this episode with your tech marketing friends.

Todd is on a mission to train the next wave of tech workers and not just the developer/coding gigs (aka "geek" jobs) but HR, marketing and all of the other roles with an increasing tech focus. All of this effort to fuel the next level of growth in the IT industry as well as the growth of his leading non profit trade association, CompTIA, which he has been the CEO of for the last 17 years.

Find out all about Todd and his vision and plans and much more here on the latest edition of The Look Back.

Jillian Manus is managing partner at Structure Capital, an early stage VC firm that focuses on Zero Waste Economy. Jillian has had an amazing journey and is an amazing fireball of energy and purpose. She has a podcast herself called The Pitch. She and I go back to when our kids shared a baseball field together and then discovered a similar passion for media, tech, and supporting the startup ecosystem where our paths crossed again @Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center. Bottom line: She has many great passions and insights and I’m glad she could join The Look Back and share some. Please have a listen.

From Super Tech Profit Investor to Author, anti-hate Advocate and Web Prophet with a focus on saving democracy, capitalism, innovation. All that and some soulful sounds #Moonalice #Zucked

Please listen to this! I rarely beg and plead but this Look Back is beyond interesting, its a critical wide eyed look at our current surveillance economy that both challenges our current startup ecosystem but moreover threatens democracy and capitalism. We take a close look at what we’re doing and supporting - and NOT doing and NOT supporting. Shine a light into some of the dark - but first listen to this pod.

I had questions: Web3 vs Web 1 and 2. How can we make it more equitable this time around? How does the Metaverse evolve and grow? Will Facebook get it right? Is it anarchy - Where will NFT's, Blockchain and Bitcoin fit in? Thankfully, my old friend had answers. He's just become CMO of an exciting Web3 tools company and has his hands in much more. Please give a listen and follow up as we continue to share insights on technology and leadership stories!

Follow him on Twitter: @jowyang

Fantastic conversation with Brad Smith, the former CEO of Intuit who recently took on the role of President of Marshall University. Hey, all he had to do was follow and surpass the success of Intuit Founder Scott Cook, Coach - Startup Whisperer Bill Campbell and a few others - and he did! Such an inspiring conversation and passionate leader. You can see why he has had so much success and why you can bet Marshall is going to be a University to watch. Give a listen > you won’t regret it.

Such a great time catching up with Mike Bell, CEO of Miso Robotics. We met when he was slinging software in the B2C consumer space (Encore Software) and then he transitioned his business management and leadership strength into a few enterprise tech companies but now Mike is running Miso - what an amazing new play in robotics - revolutionizing Restaurant/QSR space. Great chat, give a listen and pick up some great insights into leadership and a hot new market segment.

Dan is the CEO of Chegg and has become a huge advocate for reform of the education system and promoting school to be more affordable and relevant and inclusive in today’s tech-driven economy. His passion behind this cause in infectious. Crazy to think a few short decades ago we toiled in the world of ‘special interest publishing’ at the likes of Ziff-Davis but that turned into a treasure trove of learnings, contacts and more and led to even great heights for Dan as he went to run CNET, Yahoo and other businesses before turning to Chegg. I caught up with him a few weeks ago - he was in NY thinking about Springsteen and weekends @the shore, and I was transfixed on the pending Warriors playoff game. It was a blast to catch up. Give a listen here….

Randy has founded nine venture-backed technology companies including an autonomous vehicle insurance company, a digital avatar company, two software-publishing companies, two Internet technology companies, an e-commerce company, and two celebrity-based digital media companies. He has published more than 30 consumer software applications that collectively have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, raised more than $100MM in venture and has had five successful start-up exits returning more than $10B to investors. He is credited with the creation of PDF and Acrobat, the first eCommerce site on the web, the first web browser on a phone, co-founding Funny Or Die and the initial governance of Yahoo. Currently he is creating Metaverse venues in 25 world cities, including Paris, London, Barcelona, New York, Los Angeles, Sidney and Singapore.

It’s wonderful to bring to the podcast a veteran and friend my our days in media tech who has pivoted only to find challenge, change and a new path. Today, the amazing Debbie Gisonni is the Founder of SELF POWER NOW and is a best-selling author and life coach who inspires people to make simple changes that radically improve self-awareness and success. With over two decades in corporate leadership and a parallel career as a wellness entrepreneur, Debbie has been a role model and was one of the first female publishers in the tech market for Network Computing and Internet Week. The courses she offers today holistically address all realms of life – mental, physical, spiritual and emotional – and empower people to rise above the daily challenges of life and work. She is also the author of, The Goddess of Happiness: A Down-to-Earth Guide for Heavenly Balance and Bliss, Vita’s Will: Real Life Lessons about Life, Death & Moving On, Note to Self: Love, and a contributing author to, If Women Ruled the World. For More Info: www.selfpowernow.com

What a great chat with Christina who I’ve known for forever > as the leader at My Software Company,  then Maximum Games - and now she is CEO of Zordix AB, as well as founder and CEO of video game publishers Maximum Games and Modus Games, and development team Modus Studios. Maximum Games is an award-winning video game publisher with over 300 titles in its catalogue.

She’s also one of the  few female leaders of a software company, and even in more select company if you count the number of female CEO’s running a gaming company but she is absolutely a force of nature and you have to check this pod out to know why Im betting on her (and more female leaders) in the world of software and gaming.

They call him The SuperAngel. The Godfather of Silicon Valley - I think that’s a bit unfair since he’s not really that old - anyway, I just call him Ron. I’ve known him for years. Back when he was running a startup (Personal Training Systems) and not just investing in them (he’s run SV Angel since Internet 1.0). We had a great chat that covered all of this and much more. Please give a listen, share with a fellow entrepreneur or investor and subscribe: The Look Back with Ron Conway….

Jerry Colonna

CEO, Reboot.io

Check-in, Reboot > Grow Up

My former colleague Jerry Colonna is just a wonderful person to connect with for many reason including some insight and perspective - and a little grounding as it were. His words always land and his sharing is as challenging in tone as they are in revealing.

In this episode of The Look Back we revisit our time together as journalists (@CMP) and technology guys and traverse over to his successful run as  venture investor which  set him up for what is now his current focus as a personal coach (CEO Whisperer) and author….btw, Unbelievable read. Check this out! “Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up” and can't wait to read the next one already! 

Have a listen, share, enjoy! 

Technologist, Scientist and Mathematician and I met him and saw a swash-buckling entrepreneur. He had just left France with nothing but a few bucks in his pocket and a computer software program he brought to the West Coast Computer Faire in the early to mid 80s. He was essentially selling software from a table and demand started to grow. He couldn’t afford ads to promote his software, heck he even couch surfed at the home of former Byte (Magazine) Editor Jerry Pournelle and his Co (Borland) became a huge success as did his subsequent ventures and now he’s connecting AI with IOT and working on sensor data into apps. What a journey - a great Look Back for anyone around in those days or for aspiring entrepreneurs, technologists, and software programmers. Listen and Share.

From Private equity to the Pitch - is just a part of the entrepreneurial journey Brett Johnson has traveled. And what a ride its been since I met Brett thru my relationship with Targus, a huge player in the computer case/accessories space, which his father built with aplomb. Brett had a turn at the helm before pivoting to his role as a modern-day Ted Lasso (owner of a soccer team - and now several investments in the Great Game) while running his investment shop. We had a fun Look Back and interesting stories and valuable lessons shared - see if you agree!  - #BendItLikeBrett @Targus @PhoenixRising @Ipswich Maine Sports Commission Keith Newman Brett Johnson

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Nicola Corzine is the Executive Director of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center where thousands of entrepreneurs have come thru its doors to gain a fundamental understanding and insights into building the next generation of great companies. No charge, No Equity = Big Impact. But beyond the platform, Nicola has personally led the development of the curriculum and directed the conversation in important new directions, many before they became mainstream #DiversityAndInclusion #MinotrityAccess2VC #CEOMentalHealth - aided by her strong background as entrepreneur and investor. And they are always looking for more great mentors, leaders as well. Give a Listen and Share - #BuildingGreatLeaders #entrepreneurprograms #Entrepreneurship #MilestoneMakers #Nasdaq

@Nicola @Celena @Colin

Anita Gardyne is the better half of a husband and wife leadership team (sorry Bob) providing supplementary care services to companies as part of a competitive benefits offering. Think Child Daycare, Elderly Parent Care, etc. The product-market fit is innovative and solid, the pipeline deep and demand is strong. But everyday is a challenge, and its more difficult @Oneva than even a regular startup. But equally strong is Anita’s perseverance because the road for a female, African American run company still has added challenges to winning over the traditional VC, customers and partners. Is it getting better? Is her Company going to crack $10M and then $100M in sales and then have the last laugh of those who passed up investing in Oneva???? Listen Here: 

@IDG @Oneva @Anita @Bob @ChrisYeh

From Wall Street mover and shaker to fiction author, I was happy to track down former fund manager and friend Jeff Mathews, who closely watched the moving and shaking that was the PC industry from behind the lens of a stock trader and transitioned to a writer - an art he had been practicing as a blogger on financial matters but then took a stab at writing a book, first on legendary investor Warren Buffet and more recently (New Book Alert): "One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes.” Yup, its a unique path but follows a thread of logic and intentionality that makes for a fun chat. Please give a listen (and a follow, share, et al.).