Innovate Pasadena | Chris Aldrich

📅 Changing the Conservation Conversation! | Innovate Pasadena, Friday Coffee Meetup

RSVPed Attending Innovate Pasadena, Friday Coffee Meetup: Changing the Conservation Conversation!

Friday, January 18, 2019
8:15 AM to 9:45 AM
at Cross Campus, 85 N. Raymond Avenue · Pasadena, CA

Less than 1% of the earth’s water is potable and suitable for our survival. Today, we are using up those resources faster than they are naturally replenished. By the year 2050 we will see the world population grow by 50%. Compound that growth with increased standards of living and increased per capita usage and there is a disaster in the making. As agriculture and residential water consumers battle over water rights, residential consumers will win in the short term. Will they really win in the end?

If we do nothing, our grandchildren will be faced with famine and lack of water on a global scale. Droughts like we are experiencing in the 9 western states give us a glimpse of what a future with limited potable water would be like. In a recent 5-year period, water prices increased 41%. Energy prices are rising at a similar rate. Fines for “bad behavior” are more common, but ineffective.

The only way to truly solve this dilemma is to make water conservation second nature. What are the characteristics of such a solution? Can we access the solution on a personal level? Come to the Friday MeetUp at Cross Campus on 1/18/19 to learn what you can do to join the movement toward intelligent water and energy solutions.

Bio:
Kerry Austin-Dunkijacobs - Disruptor for Good l Inventor l Water Conservation Advocate l Co-Founder l CEO
Epiphany Shower US l Intelligent Green Products
www.epiphanyshower.com

Kerry Austin-Dunkijacobs is a problem-solving visionary that creates solutions that are unique, simple to use, and provide uncompromising performance. A “conscious capitalist,” I listen to the spoken and unspoken needs of all the stakeholders that impact the products and companies that I envision and bring to life.

By focusing on Disruptive Innovation that creates widespread product adoption and continued enthusiastic use by consumers, I envision products that are so effective and aesthetically pleasing that they become the standard by which competitive products are measured.

My most recent product, the Epiphany!™ 1000 Digital Flow Optimizer, brings this philosophy to the Bath and Shower space. Saving a typical 50-60% in water and energy use, this device delivers Conservation without Compromise™, Benefits without Sacrifice™ and Savings without Effort™.

Vision must be complemented by the ability to execute. The most critical component of execution is the ability to identify the right talent to move a project along from the earliest concept stages through product development and on to marketing, manufacturing, distribution and customer service. The team we assembled at Intelligent Green Products and Epiphany Shower US brings together a unique blend of product development, business development, marketing, and finance needed to create successful products in today’s rapidly evolving markets.

Checked into Cross Campus Old Pasadena

Attending the Friday Morning Coffee Meetup. This week Space to Startup featuring Erin Beck.

Erin was a Dragon Mission Director for SpaceX. Then she took off around the world for a year, had a baby, and started her own business. What did she learn from her years working for Elon Musk? How did she take the leap from stable corporate employment to being self-employed and mobile? And where is Wana now, one year after Erin took the big bet on her free babysitting tech startup? Join us for an inside look at the GO from space engineer to social entrepreneur.

Erin Beck is an aerospace engineer, scuba instructor, theatre director, and round-the-world backpacker turned mompreneur at the birth of her first child two years ago. She is the Founder and CEO of Wana, an online marketplace for family-to-family babysitting exchange. Before that, she was a SpaceX Dragon Mission Director, designing and operating the spacecraft bound for the International Space Station. She believes skills are cumulative and transferable across disciplines. She believes being a parent tops them all.

Update: Video for the event has been uploaded to YouTube

📅 RSVP Raising VC for “Deep Tech” Startups in Southern California | Innovate Pasadena | Friday Coffee Meetup

RSVPed Interested in Attending https://www.meetup.com/Innovation-friday-coffee-meetup/events/255836761/

Fri, Nov 2, 2018, 8:15 AM at Cross Campus Pasadena Embark Ventures is a pre-seed and seed stage fund focused on “deep tech” - companies with proprietary and highly defensible technology that is a strong competitive barrier. Particularly interested in cyber-security, robotics, advanced manufacturing, materials, and bio/med tech but open to other opportunities that have a highly technical/proprietary core. We invest early (generally first institutional round) with check sizes between $250k and $1M typically. Most of our companies are pre-product, and our goal is to get them to first customer/revenue on our round of financing. Will discuss the Southern California eco-system for “deep tech” startups and bridging the gap between R&D and engineering Peter Lee is the Founding Managing Partner at Embark Ventures, a seed stage venture capital fund based in Los Angeles focused on “deep tech” companies in industries such as robotics, advanced manufacturing, and cybersecurity. Prior to entering venture capital, he was the VP of Product at a venture backed startup in the digital media space. Peter was a manager with McKinsey and also worked as a product manager at Microsoft. Peter earned his BS and MS at MIT, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

📺 Workplace Happiness is Your Best Business Strategy | Valerie Alexander | Innovate Pasadena | YouTube

Bookmarked Workplace Happiness is Your Best Business Strategy by

Valerie Alexander (YouTube)

According to Gallup, American employers lose $450-550 billion a year by failing to create positive corporate cultures that foster accomplishment, autonomy, and appreciation in the workplace.

Employee Unhappiness leads to:
• Higher turnover
• Excessive absenteeism
• Poor customer service
• Theft
• Workplace bullying and violence
• Increased workers compensation claims
• More on-the-job injuries

…and a myriad of outcomes that have no line item in the budget, but still reduce productivity throughout the workplace. Engagement, job satisfaction and worker happiness matter to the bottom line.

This talk will give employees and managers the skills to create a positive work environment through simple adjustments and practices anyone can do, no matter the workplace. Whether in an office, a hospital, a restaurant, classroom or construction site, these techniques work!

In the U.S., the average loss due to unhappiness and disengagement is $3,500 per employee per year. When it comes to happiness, is your workplace above or below average? Can you afford to let it stay that way? Make happiness a priority in your workplace today, and reap the rewards tomorrow.

I remember quite enjoying this talk at Innovate Pasadena by Valerie Alexander about two months ago. They’ve kindly taped it and released it on YouTube for everyone who missed it. If you’re an executive or leader within your company, it’s highly worth your time to absorb these ideas and implement them into your company culture. I’d also submit that it’s worth your personal time as well.

Perhaps not surprisingly, happiness is worth it’s weight in gold in the workplace.

📅 RSVP for Innovate Pasadena Friday Morning Coffee Meetup: From Intrapreneur to Entrepreneur

RSVPed Attending Innovate Pasadena Friday Morning Coffee Meetup: From Intrapreneur to Entrepreneur

Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 8:15 AM at Cross Campus Pasadena

Jeff Keltner began his career at IBM. After 3 uneventful years, he moved to Google to help launch the Google Apps (now GSuite) business. After running the Education team for 4 years and growing the business to 70% market share, he transitioned to help launch the Chromebook product line and drove the go-to-market strategy.

But 6 years and 2 major launches were at Google was enough. Following this 6-year stint helping launch new businesses at Google, he joined other Xooglers to help launch Upstart the first lending platform to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to price credit and automate the borrowing process. He is now leading Powered by Upstart, Upstart’s new white label offering for banks.

The transition from employee to intrapreneur to entrepreneur may seem daunting - but it’s easier than you think. Come hear about Jeff’s story and the lessons you can take away from his experiences.

Jeff joined Upstart after spending 6 years at Google. He launched and built the Google Apps for Education business, growing market share from zero to almost 70% in its first four years. Jeff spearheaded marketing efforts for Google Apps in Global 2000 accounts and led sales, business development, and go-to-market strategy for the launch of Chrome devices in the education and enterprise sectors. He spent several years in direct sales at IBM, always exceeding quota, and was a founding engineer and led UI developer at SSB Technologies. Jeff holds a BS in Computer Systems Engineering from Stanford University.

Checked into Cross Campus Old Pasadena

Attending the weekly Innovate Pasadena Friday Coffee Meetup to hear about The Future of Healthcare: Digital Health Becomes Personal.

Update after the talk
The presentation was interesting, but awfully dull. There was nothing I wasn’t aware of and nothing truly groundbreaking on the tech side. It’s actually a bit more of the same from the perspective of someone trying to use an app to improve public health. The futility of the process reminds me a lot of the issues that the edtech sector faces with people trying to innovate in education. Everyone seems to be falling into the same old traps and ultimately not making the massive difference they’re looking to effect.

It rarely, if ever, happens, but the presenters literally jammed out of the room before the event was completely over. Many were shocked by it.