589th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Sramana Mitra, Man and Superman: Part 1

In this talk from 2019, I speak about Man and Superman – the impact of how AI-driven augmentation of the human species will render one part of civilization – MAN – extinct. The other part, the part that becomes enhanced by AI, will thrive. This enhanced Superman will compose music like Beethoven, write poetry like Tagore, make scientific discoveries like Einstein, etc. Do we still consider this AI-enhanced species Mankind? Maybe not. But that’s beside the point. This enhanced organism is the direction in which evolution is taking us. This is the future of Artificial Intelligence. There will be Superman in the not too distant future.

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Featured Videos

Best of Bootstrapping: Co-founders Bootstrapped with a Paycheck to Exit

If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

One Click Ventures Co-founders Angie Stocklin and her husband built a portfolio of e-commerce businesses using a very unusual strategy. I had a lot of fun learning about their journey back in 2016, and hope you will as well. One Click Internet Ventures was acquired by Foster Grant, International in July of 2018.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your personal journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Angie Stocklin: I was born in a small town called Paisley in Indiana. It’s a town of about 2,500. My mom was a teacher and my dad is a farmer and somewhat of an entrepreneur in the fact that farming is a self-employed type of business. My dad and his brothers owned an implement dealership. They sold tractors. I grew up with a little bit of an entrepreneurial spirit. I went to college at the University of Evansville and started studying Psychology. I went on to get my Masters and my educational specialist degree in School Psychology. I worked as a school psychologist for three years before starting One Click.

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A Serial Entrepreneur’s Journey into FinTech: Felix Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of finally (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: So until this point, what you are doing has been more the SaaS business. The FinTech business is just starting to come into play.

Felix Rodriguez: Yes, but we spent most of our time and engineering resources in building an expense management platform, a card connecting with banks, handling repayments, dealing with fraud, building underwriting, getting the team, and being able to report to our credit provider.

Video FAQs

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped to $100 Million from The Netherlands

If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Pierre and Fred Guelen bootstrapped Planon, a very significant company from The Netherlands, using the bootstrapping using services principle. Read this conversation from 2016 to learn more.

Sramana Mitra: We’re going to start at the very beginning of your personal journeys. One of you please start by telling us where you’re from, where you were born, and in what kind of background, and then we’ll do the same thing with the other person.

Pierre Guelen: I’m the CEO of Planon group. Fred is my brother. We were born in The Netherlands in a small town near the German border. We were raised in an entrepreneurial family. My father owned a large building company. He was already the fourth generation in that building company.

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Thursday, May 9 – 639th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 639th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, May 9, 2024, at 8 a.m. PDT / 11 a.m. EDT / 5 p.m. CEST / 8:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to “pitch” and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to “attend” to watch, learn, and interact through the online chat.

You can learn more here and REGISTER TO PITCH OR ATTEND HERE. Register and you will receive the recording by email, even if you are unable to attend. Please share with any entrepreneurs in your circle who may be interested. All are welcome!

590th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Sramana Mitra, The Future of Capitalism

When I gave this talk in 2016, I spoke on the Future of Capitalism. I discussed how mass-scale automation engineered by Artificial Intelligence stands to render human beings useless. With nothing to do. With no mechanism to earn a livelihood. The Economic impact of AI on society was my primary concern. My general conclusion was that we need Universal Basic Income – a form of economic redistribution – to keep society from spinning out of control. This conclusion is now, by and large, an accepted remedy in a world that is about to go through extensive automation. However, it is likely to take a couple of decades to fully infiltrate society. So we’re not quite going to a post-work world immediately.

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Cloud Stocks: Analysis of IBM’s AI Platform Strategy

IBM (NYSE: IBM) recently announced results for its first quarter and its plans to acquire cloud software maker Hashicorp for $6.4 billion.

A Serial Entrepreneur’s Journey into FinTech: Felix Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of finally (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: When you raised the credit capital, you got four term sheets from the credit capital side. How many customers or SMBs were on your platform?

Felix Rodriguez: A little over 500.

Sramana Mitra: And what was the total amount of transactions that you were seeing on that?

Felix Rodriguez: Half a billion a year in transactions.