Toward Zero-Energy Buildings: Kevin Surace, Serious Materials (Part 1)

Kevin Surace is on a mission to significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels and their effect on the environment. As CEO of Serious Materials, Kevin leads the company in its mission to reduce energy use and CO2 generation of the world’s largest contributor, our buildings. SM: Take us back to where your personal story

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Your Personal Assistant: Rearden Commerce CEO Patrick Grady (Part 7)

SM: Whom do you view as your competition? PG: If you disaggregate Rearden Commerce into all of its parts, we theoretically compete with everyone. Nobody has pulled it together as a composite application besides us.

Your Personal Assistant: Rearden Commerce CEO Patrick Grady (Part 6)

SM: At that point, who was helping you to get the company established? PG: Around that time I did start to create my technology advisory team. There is a saying that you can see further if you stand on the shoulders of giants.

Your Personal Assistant: Rearden Commerce CEO Patrick Grady (Part 5)

SM: When did you actually get Rearden started? PG: I wrote the business plan at the end of 1999 and hired my first employee in March of 2000. One year later, to the day, Microsoft unveiled their version of this.

Your Personal Assistant: Rearden Commerce CEO Patrick Grady (Part 4)

SM: How long did your efforts to revamp venture capital go on? PG: I did it for almost a decade. In 1988 I sat down with Burt and told him I was tired and despondent, which was completely against my nature. I was not helping my companies or doing anything I set out to do.

Your Personal Assistant: Rearden Commerce CEO Patrick Grady (Part 3)

SM: Where did you gain traction? What types of investors were willing to support you? PG: I started working with other investment banks and high net worth private client groups. We started scaling up and investing in companies.

Your Personal Assistant: Rearden Commerce CEO Patrick Grady (Part 2)

SM: Valuations seldom work out in favor of the entrepreneur. I have written extensively about this. PG: There is a book called “Venture Capital at the Crossroads” which documents a lot of these issues. The book has case studies which showed that the average entrepreneur wound up with 3% of their own company at the

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Your Personal Assistant: Rearden Commerce CEO Patrick Grady (Part 1)

Imagine the scenario of a senior executive on a business trip. Before the executive heads out to dinner a restaurant selection is in order. Enter Rearden Commerce and their virtual personal assistant. The executive simply opens the platform and receives restaurant recommendations. How? The platform already knows meal preferences, price ranges (per diem rate) which

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