Eric Hurst

We are social creatures that crave community. David Brain knows this and it is at the core of his developments. Over a decade ago he was presented with an opportunity that others questioned, but he knew that the human desire for community would make this opportunity a sensation: the megaplex movie theater. Obviously, he was right.

Brain has set his sights on other community hubs like state of the art co-working office buildings and the infrastructure for new community hubs; massive data centers.

In this episode Blake and David discuss:

• Growing investor interest in data centers.
• Community as an amenity.
• The next frontier of community hubs.

Learn more about David Brain and his latest venture, Enfinite Capital at https://www.enfinite.capital.

Find The Future of Living Podcast online at https://futureoflivingpodcast.com. Or on Twitter and Instagram: @FutureLivingPod.

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The debate over the next big platform is one we love to have on this podcast. Neto Marin (@netomarin) believes voice just might have the upper hand. Neto works at Google on Google Assistant, Google Home and other devices that rely on our voice. As Actions on Google Developer Advocate, he spends his time educating people on what is possible and thinking beyond what is current.

One fun fact, when Neto was growing up in Brazil, an iPhone cost as much as a used car. This only added to his love of open source programming languages and open ecosystems. 

In this conversation, Blake and Neto discuss:

• Reactive versus proactive AI assistant experiences.
• How to teach children to interact with AI politely.
• The potential for cultural education from AI.

Find Neto Marin online:

• Twitter – https://twitter.com/netomarin
• Website – http://netomarin.io

Find more of The Future of Living Podcast online at:

• https://futureoflivingpodcast.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FutureLivingPod
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/futurelivingpod

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In high school, two of Vignesh “Viggy” Ganapathy’s (@vigneshr4m, TW) friends were incarcerated and thus begun Viggy’s quest for social justice.  It’s a quest that’s taken him through law school at UC Santa Cruz, into politics, into community organization and now technology as the Sr. Government Relations Lead at Postmates. It’s a role that fits his personal mission to positively impact neighborhoods through community engagement and innovative technology solutions to combat complex, pervasive issues.

At Postmates, Viggy oversees the company’s legislative and regulatory program, focused on the future of work, privacy, robotics, innovation, and how tech intersects with our communities. This focus has lead to innovative initiatives at Postmates like registering delivery recipients to vote… along with a burrito.

In this conversation, Viggy and Blake cover a lot of ground including:

• The dangers of isolation posed by services such as Postmates and what they’re doing to combat that effect.
• Building social good and justice initiatives into experiences that consumers already love and regularly use.
• How property owners and developers can better equip their communities to leverage services like Postmates.

Find Viggy Ganapathy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/vigneshr4m.

Find more of The Future of Living Podcast online at:

• https://futureoflivingpodcast.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FutureLivingPod
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/futurelivingpod

Check out this episode!

Before Influencer Marketing was a thing Chris Detert (@ChrisDetert) was leveraging the power of celebrity to build brands like Petit Trésor, Von Dutch, Kasil Jeans and dozens more. These days Detert is the Chief Communications Officer at Influential and is mixing in the power of IBM Watson to build brands and influence consumer trends.

Influential, the only IBM Watson Developer Partner in the influencer technology and marketing space, is an A.I. influencer platform with enterprise technology and a patent-pending app in the hip pocket of more than 20,000 of the most highly engaged social media influencers on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat, that reaches over 5 billion followers.

In this conversation, Blake and Chris talk about:

• The future of retail experiences.
• Influentials unique ability to make things trend.
• What defines an influencer.

Find Chris Detert on all the social networks as @ChrisDetert. Learn more about Influential at https://influential.co.

Find more of The Future of Living Podcast online at:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FutureLivingPod
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/futurelivingpod

 

Austen Allred (@austenallred) believes higher education has it all backward. Students shouldn’t be investing in the school, the school should be investing in the students. With that core belief, he co-founded Lambda School to pioneer a new model for higher education and find untapped or underutilized talent and train them for the most in-demand jobs in the world: computer science. Lambda School strives to make entry into the computer science fields more accessible than ever.

Allred is a prolific author, speaker, and YCombinator S17 alum. Prior to co-founding Lambda School he oversaw growth at LendUp, co-founded Grasswire, and lead social at Fit Marketing (now STRYDE).

In this conversation, Austen and Blake dive into 

• How Lambda School actually works.
• What this model might mean for traditional higher education institutions
• What real estate developers and city planners need to be thinking about when considering how to accommodate students and graduates of institutions like Lambda School.

Check out Lambda School at lambdaschool.com and find Austen on Twitter at @AustenAllred.

Find more of The Future of Living Podcast online at:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FutureLivingPod
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/futurelivingpod

 

When it comes to the Internet of Things, Daniel Herscovici (@DanHerscovici) believes consumers want integrated experiences rather than individual devices. It’s nice to have a Nest Thermostat or a Phillips Hue lightbulb or a smart security system, but if consumers have to manage each individually then they are no better than their analog forefathers. This isn’t a surprise from someone whose personal mission statement starts with Balancing vision and force of will with the ability to partner is what separates the good from the great. Herscovici is recognized as a leader in the Smart Home, IoT, and digital transformation.

Over the past 20 years, he served in leadership roles at Fortune 50 companies like Comcast and Motorola and spent much of his career focused on creating new businesses within large enterprises. An entrepreneur at heart, he founded and led several new to market business lines focused on consumer tech and tech services. He has a passion for consumer-centric design and is always looking for innovative ways to address unmet, unarticulated market needs.

In this episode, Daniel and Blake discuss Herscovici’s Five Pillars of the Smart Home Experience, the future of ISP product offerings and his thoughts on the biggest opportunities presenting themselves to large corporations in today’s digital landscape.

Learn more about Daniel and his current role with Edison Partners at https://www.edisonpartners.com.

Find Future of Living online at:

    • Twitter: https://twitter.com/FutureLivingPod

    • Instagram: https://instagram.com/futurelivingpod

Luke Norris (@norrisluke) believes that if leveraged properly, smart technology and data can be used by governments for more than reporting potholes. As Managing Director of Strategy and Government Relations for OpenCities (OpenCities.com), Norris works to facilitate better, more efficient communication between citizens and local government.

Over the past eight years, Norris has become a recognized thought leader in digital government through his work at PayIt (PayItGov.com) and Code for America (CodeForeAmerica.org) where he’s been tapped to address the nation’s Mayors and city/county managers.  Luke has 12 years of experience in executing growth strategies for start-ups, including not-for-profit and Fortune 500 companies and that work, in addition to his role at CWC-KC landed him on the Top Connectors list in the Kansas City education and entrepreneurship community.

In this conversation, Luke & Blake discuss the importance of local governments providing better data to citizens, providing smart technology to affordable housing, and why user-centered design must be used to build better cities and neighborhoods.

Find Future of Living online at:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FutureLivingPod
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/futurelivingpod

 

Rob Martens (@schlagefuturist) is a legit Futurist. He uses his in-depth knowledge of technology and how it works to look at the big picture and determine how that tech will most benefit people going about their day in the real world. He spends his days looking for patterns and associations in tech advancements, identifying trends and determining how they can be applied to everyday people to make their lives easier.

As the former Corporate Chief Information Officer for Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE: CRS), and CIO for Ingersoll Rand’s Security Technologies Sector (NYSE: IR), Martens is in tune with the challenges and opportunities that today’s technology executive faces.

Currently, Martens serves as Allegion Futurist and President of Allegion Ventures. He’s recognized as one of the 20 Most Influential People in IoT and published in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Twice, Venture Beat, The IoT Agenda and many more. In addition to his Twitter account linked above, you can learn more about Rob at http://allegionventures.com.

Find Future of Living online at:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FutureLivingPod
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/futurelivingpod