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Somewhat Frank


Nov 6, 2019

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber and John “Johnny Goodtimes” Guidos discuss the Washington Nationals historic World Series victory and a brief recap of the 2019 Startup of the Year Summit which was held in Memphis, Tennessee. The discussion was loosely based on the latest newsletter which is shared below.

This past week I was in Washington, D.C. to take in their first World Series since 1933 and to attend the NextGen VP conference. What an electric week to be in the capital city! Congratulations to the Washington Nationals on bringing home the first World Series championship in franchise history as they “finished the fight” with their Game 7 victory last night. Also, congratulations to my regular sleep schedule as I will no longer need to burn the midnight oil to watch these intense games. More sleep is in my future!

We also wrapped the 2019 Startup of the Year program a couple of weeks ago in Memphis by hosting our annual Summit (check out the sizzle reel) where we narrowed thousands of startups to 100 and then to five and then named re:3D the Startup of the Year. Re:3D offers a 3D printer solution that recycles plastics to turn them into 3D printed products large and small. If this company sounds interesting to you, and you’d like to get involved in supporting startups like this one, please let me know.

Celebrating (Friends In My Network)

—Sarah Lacy on selling Pando to Todd Garland of BuySellAds.

—Steve Case, Anna Mason, David Hall, Mary Grove, and the rest of the Rise of the Rest team for their second $150M Rise of the Rest Fund.

—Amanda Slavin on the launch of her book, The Seventh Level: Transform Your Business Through Meaningful Engagement with Your Customers and Employees.

—Chris Cunningham on raising his $10 fund for investing in startups.

Inviting

I’m headed back to Chicago in a couple of weeks to speak at NASA iTech’s Ignite the Night CHICAGO event on November 14th. These events are to connect NASA with cutting edge startups and innovators who may have technologies that NASA could leverage in their missions. If you know of any, encourage them to apply by November 4th. And for everyone else, attendance is free.

Reading

We live in public.

How Photos of Your Kids Are Powering Surveillance Technology

Kids these days are incredible!

15-Year-Old Scientist Invents Gadget That Detects Pancreatic Cancer In Early Stages

Hugs and cuddles matter.

Babies Who Are Cuddled More Seem To Have Their Genetics Altered For Years Afterwards

A case for rural communities.

Why Life Is Better In Countries Economists Hate

Oh my…

Banks Are Not Able to Handle A Downturn

It’s happening.

Wing, A Google Affiliated Project Is Starting to Make Drone Deliveries

Historic computations.

Google Claims A Quantum Computer Breakthrough That Could Change The World

Keep moving!

Study: A surprisingly short period of inactivity can damage your health

Walkability.

What Happened When Oslo Decided To Make It’s Downtown Basically Car Free

Seventy degrees every day could help.

A Year-Long Roadtrip for 70-Degree Weather

These are delicious.

What’s in an Impossible Burger?

This is inspiring.

Female Architect Invents Refugee Tents That Collect Rainwater and Store Solar Energy

Fascinating projection maps show what will be underwater in 2050.

Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050, New Research Shows

Happy 50th birthday, Internet!

The internet was supposed to be a utopia. 50 years on, what happened?

And… Russia is signing off.

Russia Is About To Disconnect From The Internet: What That Means

We are ALL African!!!

The ancestral home of all human beings discovered by scientists

Watching

I finally got a chance to watch the film Long Shot with Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron, which premiered at SXSW this past year. I was on a flight somewhere when I saw it, and I laughed out loud to my row neighbors’ dissatisfaction.

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