Colors: Les Voiles Rouges III

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Les Voiles Rouges III

Les Voiles Rouges III | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Brush Pen | 9  x 12, On Paper

Featured Videos

Thought Leaders in Big Data: Jim Rebesco, CEO of Striveworks (Part 1)

This conversation deep dives into the nascent ML Ops industry.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself as well as to Striveworks.

Jim Rebesco: I’m one of the co-founders at Striveworks. We’re an ML Ops company that focuses on where we see analytics going in the future – a future where analytics would be cheap and ubiquitous; and the scaffolding that supports them disappears. We provide that as a platform to our customers.

Catching Up On Readings: Minecraft AI

This feature from MIT Technology Review by William Douglas Heaven looks in detail the breakthrough in imitation learning achieved by making a Minecraft-playing bot watch 70,000 hours of videos of people playing Minecraft. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

Video FAQs

Colors: Les Voiles Rouges II

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Les Voiles Rouges II

Les Voiles Rouges II | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Brush Pen | 9  x 12, On Paper

December 15 – 597th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 597th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, December 15, 2022, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/5 p.m. CET/9:30 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!

Best of Bootstrapping: Co-founders Bootstrapped with a Paycheck from Indiana

If you haven’t already, please study our 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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Building a Public FinTech Company From Scratch: OppFi CEO Todd Schwartz (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: What scale are you at right now?

Todd Schwartz: This year, we’re in the over $400 million range.

Sramana Mitra: When did you go public?

Todd Schwartz: In 2021 on the NYSE. When I walked up to the stock exchange, it was never about financial gain. It’s so funny to me to see OppFi on the banner. This was literally about helping people. I want to make that clear. If financial gain is the reason you’re doing it, your heart and soul won’t be in the business.

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

If you haven’t already, please study our 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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