Artificial intelligence and deep machine learning are here

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NBC Universal, Hallmark, Facebook and other large enterprise companies are creating new personalized offerings that resonate with customers on a deep emotional level with artificial intelligence and deep machine learning.

They are working with GlimpzIt, a San Francisco based company to host conversations where customers and other audiences can express their opinions and share pictures and videos to illustrate their views. Parry Bedi is the Co-Founder and CEO of GlimpzIt and talks about his company and how they do it in this interview on Bay Area Ventures From SiriusXM Channel 111 Business Radio Powered by the Wharton School recorded November 14, 2016.

Update 2/12/2023 – GlippzIt was acquired by Forrester Research.  For more information go to Forrester’s website

M&A Moment December 2016 – Golden Gate Capital and Neustar Merger

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In this, the final M&A Moment for 2016 Rick Climan of www.weil.com joins me to talk about the recent Golden Gate Capital acquisition of Neustar Inc. (NYSE: NSR) signaling a continued resurgence of private equity firms making financial acquisitions in 2016. This deal is interesting because of some of the foreign capital involved in the deal, as well, which will mandate careful review by US’ Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS also comes into play as Rick discusses President Obama’s veto of a proposed merger of the German semiconductor company Aixtron by a Chinese company Fujian Grand Chip based on national security concerns. It an unusual reach for a US president to get involved in a CFIUS matter.

We also take a brief look at 2016 as a whole but will be doing a full review of M&A Activity for 2016 and will be taking a look ahead at trends and prospects for 2017 on our next episode which will be an extend addition.

Here is a direct link to Rick Climan

Why entrepreneurs must understand the sales function

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My latest podcast of Bay Area Ventures is an interview with Jim Fowler, Founder and CEO of Owler.com. Jim is a serial entrepreneur who launched Jigsaw.com in 2003 and sold it to Salesforce.com in 2010 for $175M.

Jim Fowler - Founder and CEO of Owler

Jim’s leadership skills have evolved over time and build on his experience as a Naval officer, Co-Owner of a ski resort, a VP of Sales and two-time tech entrepreneur.

The Owler team includes several of Jim’s friends and colleagues who have worked with him before which is a testament to his ability to foster and congeal teams. In this interview he shares his experiences in building and running companies, discusses some mistakes he’s made along the way and explains why he thinks the most important skill for an entrepreneur is to fully understand the sales process including how and why customers are going to pay for your company’s products or services.

Jim’s motivation for working and speaking is to help others. He is not drawing a salary from Owler and plans to donate his profits to charity. He is most concerned with setting a good example as a father rather than to sit back and live off of his prior gains.

I guarantee this podcast will be a great use of your time.