Somewhat Frank Established

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber), John Guidos (@JohnGuidos), and Jen Consalvo (@noreaster), all chat about New Year’s greetings, cool new gadgets at CES, new shows, and more…
Frank, Jen, and John also invite listeners to participate in the Startup of the Year Summit on Jan 25-27 https://summit.startupofyear.com/
Frank also celebrities Scot Chisholm on the merging of Classy with GoFundMe (https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/13/gofundme-acquires-classy)
The group talks about these new books/articles:
— Is it too late to say Happy New Year? Ok, either way. Shall we downplay NYE? (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/cancel-new-years-eve-forever)
—Best of CES 2022: 30 top gadgets you need to see (https://thegadgetflow.com/blog/best-of-ces-2022-30-top-gadgets-you-need-to-see/)
— Collectibles are back. Fanatics Bets Big On Trading Cards (https://www.axios.com/fanatics-bets-big-trading-cards-topps-d3590fd0-749a-4471-a0df-449c29db8a30.html)
— This is a huge deal! On Her Way Up: Yankees Tap Woman as Minor League Manager (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/10/sports/baseball/rachel-balkovec-yankees.amp.html)
— Wordle is having a moment, while I’m still doing mini crossword puzzles and playing the spelling game on NYTimes app (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/13/wordle-perfect-pandemic-game-together)
—Why “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” Is the Biggest Disney Hit Since “Let It Go” (https://slate.com/culture/2022/01/encanto-soundtrack-we-dont-talk-about-bruno-tiktok.html)
—The bees FTW! New research reveals that honeybee venom can cure breast cancer (https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/new-research-reveals-that-honeybee-venom-can-cure-breast-cancer)
— This is groundbreaking research and news! Epstein-Barr Virus a Likely Leading Cause of Multiple Sclerosis (https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/966604)
— The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday (https://amzn.to/3KstRN5)
— The Bomber Mafia by Malcom Gladwell (https://a.co/5Bi6AOB)
We are loving the following shows/movies:
— Yellowstone – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4236770/ - it’s like a cross between the Sopranos meets Lonesome Dove set in todays time on Peacock and I’ve been binge watching it while I work the second shift the last few months as we prep for our Startup of the Year Summit.
— Emily In Paris – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8962124 - Season Two is out on Netflix and it’s fun to escape to Paris through the show. It’s light and I’d call it the next generation Sex In The City.
— Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11852724/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk)
As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: somewhatfrank@est.us
Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/

On this special Holiday Edition of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) are joined by Jen Consalvo (@noreaster) and talk about holiday celebrations, being thankful for vaccines, getting back to nature, and more.
Frank, Jen, and John also also invite listeners to participate in the Startup of the Year Summit is happening Jan 25-27 https://summit.startupofyear.com/
The Consumer Technology Association Foundation (http://www.ctafoundation.tech/) is bringing our CES Pitch Competition (https://www.cta.tech/Who-We-Are/CTA-Foundation/Pitch-Competition) sponsored by AARP Innovation Labs back live to CES 2022!
The group talks about these new books/articles:
—Drops replace specs (https://flip.it/9BsG9-) - First FDA-approved eye drops to replace reading glasses go on sale
— Touch the sun! (https://flip.it/PIZ9D0) - For The First Time in History, a Spacecraft Has 'Touched' The Sun
—Glowing Covid Masks (https://flip.it/AFsgcl) - Scientists invent mask that glows when exposed to COVID-19 virus
—Bye Bye Biopsies (https://flip.it/-sOUQA) - Hebrew U. creates blood test that could eliminate painful biopsies
—Speed pass(port) (https://flip.it/GpXEGN) - Biden Signs Order That Will Allow Online U.S. Passport Renewal
—Drone mailboxes are coming (https://www.axios.com/mailboxes-drone-deliveries-428f2ff4-78ab-44c4-881c-a7da48efdf3a.html ) - The mailbox gets a makeover for drone deliveries
— Wim Hof Method by Wim Hof - Key takeaways from it is that a 30 seconds or longer of a cold shower after your warm shower helps
We are loving the following shows/movies:
—The Harry Potter Series
—Fred Claus As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: somewhatfrank@est.us
Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/ 

On this special episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) are joined by Jen Consalvo (@noreaster) and talk about drone tugboats, NFTs, alien origins, and more.”
The group also celebrate the following from their networks:
This week we had National Entrepreneurship Day on November 16, 2021. Global Entrepreneurship Week was recently celebrated Nov 8, 2021 – Nov 14, 2021 Huge win for the Established team and for the SBIR team at the SBA - we produced the inaugural Innovation Ecosystem Summit from the 15th - 17th. Speakers ranged from Kathryn Finney to Steve Case and Victor Hwang - over a 1K people attended and videos will be posted soon. Andrew Warner has a new book https://www.StopAskingQuestions.co @properties in Chicago goes global with Christie’s deal - https://www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-real-estate/christies-international-real-estate-selling-properties Jodie Howard & Lisa Lewis is starting a new business called “Togather” in Southern Maine We are very excited about this next step for Established Ventures portfolio company, SoLo Funds, and their SoLo Causes launch. Helping underserved communities has always been the SoLo mission, now users can also give back through partnerships with Habitat for Humanity International and United Way. See the People Magazine article here: https://people.com/human-interest/habitat-for-humanity-united-way-solo-funds-solo-causes-non-profit-rodney-williams/ Frank, Jen, and John also also invite listeners to participate in the following upcoming events:
Startup of the Year then join our community and if you’re one of the 100 startups selected you could be in the running. More info at http://soty.link/apply NASA iTech Cycle II Forum startup competition on Dec 8-9 - register at nasaitech.org Announced out Startup of the Year Summit is happening in Tampa on Jan 25-27 https://summit.startupofyear.com/ The Consumer Technology Association Foundation is bringing our CES Pitch Competition (https://www.cta.tech/Who-We-Are/CTA-Foundation/Pitch-Competition) sponsored by AARP Innovation Labs back live to CES 2022! The pitch event will take place Thursday, January 6th at 1:00 PM PT on the Startup Stage in Eureka Park. The group talks about these new books/articles:
Agree! There are more than one ways to fry an egg. - Founders, Stop Obsessing Over Venture Funding (https://news.crunchbase.com/news/founders-vc-david-kolodny-wilbur-labs/) A drone tugboat - A tugboat made a 1,000-mile voyage around Denmark. The pilot was in Boston. (https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/inno/stories/news/2021/10/15/seamachines_nelliebly_denmark.html) Were we created by aliens in a Lab? - Our universe was made by aliens in a lab, theorises Harvard scientist (https://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/54556/1/our-universe-was-made-by-aliens-in-a-lab-says-harvard-scientist) This is kind of bonkers - How Four NFT Novices Created a Billion-Dollar Ecosystem of Cartoon Apes (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/bayc-bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-interview-1250461/) So you’re saying they are priceless? - Science proves it: Most NFTs are worthless (https://www.fastcompany.com/90695605/science-proves-it-most-nfts-are-worthless) So true - Why It Feels Like This Year Is Going By Too Quickly, According to Experts | Apartment Therapy (https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/why-this-year-is-going-by-so-quickly-36947464) New laws forming around working from home in Portugal - The government in Portugal passes a law to help remote workers (https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054615000/the-government-in-portugal-passes-a-law-to-help-remote-workers) Beyond Happiness by Jenn Lim (https://jennlim.com/beyondhappiness) Beyond Diversity by Rohit Bhargava and Jennifer Brown (https://www.nonobviousdiversity.com/book/) We are also still watching the following shows/movies:
Succession on HBO Max Working Moms Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 11 The Morning Show We also w

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) talk about Captain Kirk going to space, Zoolander’s birthday, Beyond Happypalooza, and more.
Frank and John also celebrate the following people from their networks:
Leslie Jump is joining Assure Analytics - https://differentfunds.com/strategies/different-funds-team-to-join-assure/ Rohit Bhravaga’s book Beyond Diversity: 12 Non-Obvious Ways To Build A More Inclusive World is coming out November 9th - https://amzn.to/3FEvmW9 Jenn Lim has a new book out called Beyond Happiness is out this week - https://amzn.to/3ADdFST Frank and John also also invite listeners to apply for the following upcoming events:
Startup of the Year Awards Summit - If you’re interested in an opportunity to be a part of those awards and for a shot at potential investment and bragging rights, if you’re named Startup of the Year then join our community and if you’re one of the 100 startups selected you could be in the running. More info at http://soty.link/apply NASA iTech Cycle II Forum startup competition - NASA is searching for non-government funded technologies. Apply here: http://est.us/NIT (the deadline is Friday, October 15th at 11:59 AM PDT) Frank is also hosting the upcoming Beyond Happypalooza festival on October 29th. Find out more about event here: https://est.us/beyondhappinesspalooza The guys talk about these new books/articles:
Paint it white. — https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/whitest-paint-in-the-world?utm_source=N2K%20-%20No%20Ad%20Template%20(Duplicate%20to%20use)&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=8537 Don’t kill Capt Kirk! — https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/04/william-shatner-to-fly-on-blue-origins-next-human-spaceflight-on-october-12/ Space travel is bad for your health — https://newatlas.com/space/brain-damage-biomarkers-cosmonauts-space-travel/ Zoolander is 20! Only made $15M at box office but is a classic — https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a37762711/zoolander-20th-anniversary-ben-stiller-interview/ Wow this is a game changer — https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/06/health/malaria-vaccine-who.html?referringSource=articleShare Are unvaccinated kids as safe from COVID as vaccinated grandparents? — https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/briefing/covid-age-risk-infection-vaccine.html There’s no stealing first in baseball — MLB Is Testing Ways To Fix Baseball’s Boredom Problem — https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-10-11/mlb-rule-changes-atlantic-league-tests-tweaks-meant-to-save-baseball The guys are also still watching the following shows/movies:
Ted Lasso - Season 2 (Apple TV) Only Murders In The Building (HULU) MLB Playoff Baseball Lastly, Frank and John chat about testing out the new iOS 15 iPhone update.
As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: somewhatfrank@est.us
Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/ 

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) talk about late-summer activities, entrepreneurs tackling civilian space exploration, cloning dinosaurs, and slowing hurricanes, and more.
Frank and John also celebrate the following people from their networks:
Charlie O’Donnell has raised a third fund for Brooklyn Bridge Ventures - https://www.brooklynbridge.vc/bbv-raises-third-fund Jewel Burks Solomon and Collab Capital has raised its first fund to invest in black innovators - https://medium.com/capital-innovation/collab-capital-closes-50m-first-fund-to-invest-in-black-innovators-22896db11ae8 Michael D Smith nominated for AmeriCorps - https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/06/15/politics/biden-michael-smith-americorps/index.html Katie Stanton raised her second fund - https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2021/07/19/moxxie-ventures-85-million-fund-katie-stanton-alex-roetter/ Max Crowley has had his coffee delivery startup Bandit acquired by Gopuff - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bandit-now-part-gopuff-max-crowley Matt Galligan on the launch of his new company XMTP and securing $20M in funding - https://blog.xmtp.com/series-a/ Frank and John also also invite listeners to apply for the following upcoming events:
Startup of the Year Awards Summit - If you’re interested in an opportunity to be a part of those awards and for a shot at potential investment and bragging rights, if you’re named Startup of the Year then join our community before Sept 30th and if you’re one of the 100 startups selected you could be in the running. More info at http://soty.link/apply NASA iTech Cycle II Forum startup competition - NASA is searching for non-government funded technologies that are addressing the following focus areas: Enabling Technologies for Commercialization of Low-Earth Orbit Hybrid Electric Aircraft Technologies and Alternative Fuels Physics-Based Machine Learning for Artificial Intelligence Technologies Using NASA Data to Foster Climate Resilience X-Factor Innovations (anything so cool, NASA should know about it). Apply here: http://est.us/NIT (the deadline is Friday, October 15th at 11:59 AM PDT) The guys talk about these new books/articles:
Civilians in Space! --https://www.space.com/spacex-inspiration4-returns-to-earth?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email  Real-Life Jurassic Park? - Colossal, this startup just raised $15M with the goal of bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction by 2027 using CRISPR, a revolutionary gene-editing technology. --https://www.cnet.com/news/woolly-mammoths-could-walk-the-earth-again-by-2027-if-crispr-startup-succeeds/ Hurricane Killing Startup? --https://futurism.com/the-byte/startup-tech-kill-hurricanes Zoom brain is a thing. --https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/21/this-is-your-brain-on-zoom/amp/#click=https://t.co/1q2GPOILzx Chickens for rent -- Rent-a-chicken trend spikes during pandemic -- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/chicken-rentals-spike-during-pandemic Sears is closing last store in home state of Illinois --https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/sears-is-shutting-its-last-store-in-illinois-its-home-state.html Let’s talk beef, Wagnu beef to be more specific… of the 3D variety… -- https://interestingengineering.com/scientists-reveal-worlds-first-3d-printed-marbled-wagyu-beef The guys are also watching the following shows/movies:
Ted Lasso - Season 2 (Apple TV) The Morning Show - Season 2 (Apple TV) Only Murders In The Building (HULU) Lastly, the Frank and John chat about testing out some new gear:
ITIWIT Inflatable Kayak - https://www.decathlon.com/collections/kayaks/products/kayak-touring-inflatable-high-pressure-dropstitch-floor-3-seat-x100-177376?variant=39473127751742 DJI Mini 2 Drone - https://www.dji.com/mini-2 As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: somewhatfrank@est.us
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On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) and John Guidos (@JohnGuidos) discuss whether NFTs are just a fad, or here to stay. Frank also chats about his recent NFT experience when he featured his newly minted NFT and the auction. See it here. 
 
Frank and John also celebrate the following people from their networks:
Blake Hall & the team at ID.me on reaching unicorn status with a $1.5B valuation. Elizabeth Yin and Eric Bahn on raising their second fund. Mike Levins on raising $10M in funding for their insurance tech company, Counterpart. Suneel Gupta's book Backable is out and it’s a best seller! Rick Klau on being appointed California's next Chief Technology Innovation Officer. Kevin Willer, Stuart Larkin, and the team at Chicago Ventures for raising a new $63M fund. Jenny Fielding on the launch of The Fund Midwest. Chester Ng and the Atomic team on a new $260M fund. Brian Luerssen on launching a new fund to invest in underrepresented founders in Chicago. Lisa Hellebo has launched a $10M rolling fashion fund. Zach Lipson on raising a Series C for Dutchie bringing the valuation to $1.7B. Brit Morin on being SF Magazine's cover story for her work on female entrepreneurship. Ellery Linder & Danielle Rushton, 2019 Top 5 Startup of the Year® Finalist, relaunch as Wherewithal.   David Spinks on the launch of his book the Business of Belonging. Susan McPherson on the launch of her book, The Lost Art of Connecting. Cyrus Radfar on co-founding SPINE to supercharge existing spreadsheet tools.    
Frank and John also talk about the following upcoming events: 
The Unvalley Conference is coming back on May 19th and 20th. Short link: https://est.us/UVPK NASA iTech is hosting an event on May 27th showcasing 10 companies with innovations that might help with future NASA missions - RSVP.  
We also want to take a moment to invite all of our listeners to get involved with our program by visiting: established.us/programs. This is the best way to get notified of the various startup opportunities that we come across while working with various partner organizations and in a number of ecosystems across the country.
 
The guys talk about these new books/articles: 
Is bringing your old photos of your grandparents to life with AI, creepy or cool? - New AI ‘Deep Nostalgia’ brings old photos, including very old ones, to life Space vacations are coming soon - World's first space hotel scheduled to open in 2027  There are a lot of ways to get your workout in and stay healthy and active - How to Get a Peloton-Style Workout Without Splurging This is an unbelievable feat by an athlete at any level, let alone college, and should be celebrated! - A Softball Pitcher Struck Out Every Batter? She Hadn’t Noticed   This is a Wright Brothers moment for Mars! - NASA’s Mars helicopter takes flight, 1st for another planet  
The guys are also watching the following shows/movies:
Made for Love (HBOMax) - This comedy, sci-fi series combines traits and trends being used by some of the tech leaders out there today to create a wild tech CEO aimed at leveraging technology to intertwine itself into the human mind for the sake of love, and profit of course.  Seaspiracy (Netflix) - Supported by Leonardo DiCaprio, a filmmaker sets out to document the harm that humans do to marine species - and uncovers alarming global corruption. It may have you rethinking your consumption of seafood.  Sasquatch (Hulu) - Follows investigative journalist David Holthouse as he attempts to solve a bizarre twenty-five year old triple homicide that was said to be the work of a mythical creature.  
As always, thank you for listening and feel free to reach out and let us know what you think at: somewhatfrank@est.us.

Get updates like this in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://frankgruber.me/newsletter/