Sam Talks Technology

SPEAKER SUMMARY Katz Kiely’s is the CEO and founder of Beep, a behavioural empowerment platform. She’s also responsible to kickstarting and bootstrapping a marvellous initiative called Frontline.Live. Frontline.Live is the first national open data rapid response platform - designed to get health care workers the PPE they need when they need it. It collects, aggregates and visualises live data so suppliers can respond to their needs quickly. How to help with Frontline.Live 1. - For health care workers Tweet a selfie with the three hashtags: #frontlinemap #workpostcode #PPEneed and they’ll be put on the map. 2. - For suppliers Suppliers of PPE sign up by completing the PPE suppliers’ form at frontline.live.

We talk about Hopin:- becoming a double unicorn worth $2.1bn in less than 18 months- hiring 800 people at 40 new people per week- the StreamYard acquisition and integration- the potential threat of Clubhouse if any?On 3rd February Johnny Boufarhat and Geige Vandentop will host a Hopin event for free to discuss the acquisition and their plans for Hopin 2021.Join here: https://hopin.com/events/hopin-2021-kickoff

Give Back Box® was founded in 2012 by Monika Wiela, who at the time was running an online shoe store. The idea was inspired by a homeless man she encountered in Chicago, who was holding up a sign saying he needed a pair of shoes. Wiela returned later that day with shoes for him, but he was gone. She spent that night thinking about what she could do with all the empty boxes in her warehouse and also help people like that man, and a new social enterprise was born. As Wiela researched further, she learned that, an estimated 11 million tons of clothing, footwear, towels, bedding, drapery, and other textiles end up in U.S. landfills every year. In addition, online shopping is now the preferred method for much of the buying public. Corrugated boxes are the dominant packaging method for e-commerce. With this knowledge, Wiela’s mission crystallized. If online retailers would use Give Back Box, shipping boxes and other items could be used a second time prior to being recycled. The impact would be remarkable. Give B

There is a need for a new kind of leadership; one that bleeds personality and rings true to employees and customers alike who crave authenticity. You Lead argues that business leaders deliver superior results, communities of engagement both inside and outside of the company and true values-driven success when they are themselves and come across as genuine. Bestselling author, Minter Dial, shows readers how embracing your whole self at work encourages people to also be themselves, seek true fulfilment at work and merge the personal and professional to become true examples of what you stand for. You Lead is a call to arms to leaders to stop pretending to be who they are not, and play on their uniqueness and strengths, to allow people to do the same and develop a culture of authenticity and purpose. With practical advice, real-life stories and a simple framework, this book shows you how you can: - Be yourself, lead by example and merge the professional and personal - Stand for something and allow people to dev

Sam and Bhushan talked about the future of work and how PwC along with their clients have managed through the covid crisis and more importantly what they plan to do in 2021.We talked about how Bhushan sees 2021 as a more hybrid workplace with employees returning back to the office cautiously but only a few days a week. We also talked about how schools and universities will also adopt more online technologies for distance learning and offer hybrid schooling.Finally we ended up talking about our shared experiences of growing up in 1980’s Britain which was racist, sexist and homophobic but how much that has changed through BLM albeit Brexit and Trump have emboldened those racists once again.

Charlie Cadbury is the Chief Executive Officer of Say It Now, the award-winning voice technology company, who have teamed up with digital advertising exchange DAX to enable people to respond directly to radio advertisements using their smart speaker and only voice commands to donate to their chosen charity.

Sam and Faisal talked about his recent tenure as CEO of Blippar. Why now is the right time for an Augmented Reality (AR) rebirth and what are his expansion plans globally for Blippar.We also talked about his amazing career from the early days in Ofcom and his role in the Premier League football rights. Working with Niklas Zennström and a young Daniel Elk at Skype on their proprietary Peer to Peer platform called Jolted, before he joined Daniel at Spotify as International .Faisal also gave a surprise answer to my suggestion that Spotify and Netflix need to merge to compete with Apple and Amazon.UPDATEShortly after this interview Blippar’s AR platform was used to deliver the world’s first product launch event entirely in AR for OnePlus; the latest smartphone from premium technology brand OnePlus.

Sam talked with Mukul about how this very early beta project fits into the wider BBC strategy across multiple services to act as a trusted public service voice assistant to the vast array of content on TV, Radio and Sounds (podcasts), be it local, national or international.Mukul also talks about why Beeb today is a northern male and like Dr Who is genderless and could regenerate into a female voice in the future.We also talked about why Beeb is not going to compete with Alexa or Google but how the BBC plan to partner with a wide variety of companies to extend the role and reach of Beeb.

Sam Sethi had the pleasure to interview Martin Steers the station manager at NLive Radio and Chair of Community Radio Awards.We talked about how NLive is continuing to run their station through COVID and what software Martin is using to enable remote broadcasting.We talked. about the upcoming Community Radio Awards and what has changed and whether there will be an awards ceremony later this year.We also talked about the newly formed UK Community Radio Network that Martin has formed with a number of station managers across the UK to lobby government on our collective behalf.We ended up talking about some of the hot topics in radio. Bauer making 260 presenters redundant this September and what that means for local radio. Will DAB+ ever come to community radio and finally are podcasting and streaming services a challenge to radio audiences?

Sam talks with Nigel Eccles about his new company Flick. A companion app for sports fans who want to watch a game while chatting online with likeminded fans and friends.Nigel talks about how Flick has raised £4m and was growing nicely until Covid-19 put a stop to all live sports. He believes Flick will return to growth once live sports like football return. In fact with stadium bans it could see ever greater demand for Flick as fans try to recreate the stadium atmosphere while at home.Prior to Flick, Nigel, his wife and three engineers started Hubdub that soon pivoted into FanDuel. Nigel recalls how a WebMission to Silicon Valley in 2008 helped Fanduel grow. Some of the other companies that joined them included edocr, huddle, skimlinks, mydeo, WAYN and TrustedPlaces.Nigel talks about how FanDuel went on to raise $450m+ and experienced hyper-growth in customer acquisition. Sadly the story did not end up with Nigel and his wife growing a Unicorn, selling it and riding off into the sunset. Nigel talks at length

Sam talks with Jay LeBoeuf about Descript’s latest version 3.4 which now includes live transcription, overdub and publishing to the web.  This is on top of its already powerful realtime audio and text synchronised editing.

Sam Sethi talks with Tommy Nagra about the BBC Big Night In and how in less than three weeks it managed to put on a live show that raised £70m. We talk about how Tommy started in the BBC and how he helped discover comedians like Sanjeev Bhaskar. Both Tommy and I are Liverpool FC “Superfans” and we talk about our passion for the reds and why so many Asians and people of colour support Liverpool more than any other team. Tommy was also at Hillsborough and we touch on the events of that momentous day. We finally discussed the modern day role of the BBC in term sof its diversity and in light of the competition from Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Sam Sethi talks with James Minter about the story of his club, Adam Street in London which not been told.James is as self-effacing as he is charming, recounting with warmth the role it played in the dotcom boom.“Adam Street was absolutely amazing,” he recalls. “It was a first, unique, and I met the most wonderful bunch of people there. No one has ever directly copied it.”Now sadly defunct, the venue off The Strand – with its bar, restaurant, library, gallery, and event space – became the go-to place for London’s tech entrepreneurs as they rallied after the bubble burst.Originally established as serviced offices by James after a career in the navy, Adam Street became a magnet for dotcom start-ups with few assets and little capital. The club itself opened in 2001 in an old watering hole for actors propping up the building.What would become the first entrepreneurs’ club in London was seeded when James noted the then itinerant nature of Julie Meyer’s First Tuesday networking club.“Back in those days it was still

Gustaf is the 'Inventor of the Vagus ECG Test'. He describes himself as a curious, open-minded brain-explorer, engineer and serial entrepreneur. For more than 25 years he has successfully started, run and exited more than ten companies globally. After the 2008 financial crisis, he had a burn-out. He says that Vagus stimulation and Vipassana meditation 'saved' his brain from self-destruction. Gustaf’s passion is to help others with his inventions for biodata collection and vagus stimulation. “I want to help people to better deal with bad stress, balance the autonomic nervous system and improve the immune response. We use my inventions - the Vagus ECG smartwatch and vagus stimulation devices to diagnose and treat immune system dysfunctions, stress and anxiety. In 2020 his company started selling our Vagus ECG smartwatch and now it is expanding research to Coronavirus early detection and disease progress. In 2021 they will launch a wellness Vagus Stimulation Device.

Formed as a Slack group on March 16th by a couple of ex-colleagues, the code4covid community now counts over 700 tech volunteers: and with other groups joining in, it keeps growing! The team's mission is to find technology solutions to help people during the COVID-19 crisis: we believe that technology can minimise the disruption caused by the pandemic and ultimately save lives.

Sam Sethi talks with Sarah Frier about why she wrote the book, how Kevin Systrom and Mark Zuckerberg clashed from the start and eventually what led to Kevin leaving instagram.  We also talk about the threats to Facebook from Snapchat, Tiktok and Instagram. 

Minter Dial serves as a keynote speaker, conference animator and consultant on branding, leadership and transformation for blue-chip companies, conferences and events around the world. Minter is an author and filmmaker of award-winning "The Last Ring Home" (Nov 2016). Co-author of the award-winning "Futureproof, How to get your Business Ready for the Next Disruption" (Pearson, Sep 2017). His latest book is “Heartificial Empathy, Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence” (Dec 2018) won the Book Excellence Award 2019 in the category of Technology and was a finalist for the Business Book Awards 2019. ---- Andrew Grill is a commercially focussed Digital Leader and trusted Board Technology Advisor, who delivers strategic digital transformation programs and has delivered $100M+ of new business across multiple industries globally. Over a 4-year period, Andrew influenced around $100M of sales via his external eminence and thought leadership with key IBM clients. He is recognised by his peers an

Nick Dalton is the Executive Vice President, HR for Unilever. He has been in HR for over 30 years, working globally, regionally, and locally. He has also worked in all areas of HR, from leading international negotiations with trade unions to managing senior leadership development and enabling organisational change.

Sam Sethi talks with Rory Sutherland 

Sam Sethi talks with James Mulvany about how to get started quickly with podcasting.  We then talk about some of the challenges of recording, distributing and discovering a new podcast before we finally look into the future of podcasting. Google have started to auto-transcribe and index podcasts making them easier to discover.  The next challenge could well be Podcast SEO.  We also talked about the different ways podcasts can be monetised.