Somewhat Frank

On this Episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber and John Guidos talk about the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. They also chat about the recent rise in RV sales and the benefits of the vagabond lifestyle during the pandemic. Frank also celebrates the following people in his network: It's About Damn TimeThe Startup Community WayBrag BetterSummit Partners as an Executive In Residence.the growth and fresh $15M in funding to Bevy.launch...

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber and John Guidos talk about the recent release of confirmed UFO footage by the Pentagon. The guys also celebrate Logan LaHive for building something new for the last year called Frank (catchy name). Sarah Cooper has been blowing up on TikTok and every other social channel for her comedic videos. Alex Iskold launched 1kproject.org to help families in need by giving them $1k per month for 3 months. Josh Constine for leaving...

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank podcast, Frank Gruber is again joined by Johnny “Goodtimes” Guidos as they talk about the "new normal" that is a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with such things as possible temperature checks at Disney World, and much more. Frank celebrates his first boss after graduating college, Dave Giordano, who had his consulting firm TSG which he built for 23 years acquired by Alfresco. He also celebrates Mark Cuban's foundation is partnering with A.I....

In this episode of the podcast, Frank Gruber is joined by Johnny “Goodtimes” Guidos as they discuss the current state of the Coronavirus Pandemic which is currently at 133,000 confirmed cases in the US and 700,000 cases globally. They discuss the 8 strains of the virus while also talking about how they are passing the time while hunkering down. One thing to remember is to be kind out there, especially the group that decided to show up as not such good neighbors to enforce a quarantine. But...

This episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber talks with John Guidos about the current state of affairs with the recent Coronavirus pandemic. The guys also chat about how to stay positive during times of isolation and suggest to listeners that sometimes it is best to remember to breathe. The discussion was loosely based on the latest newsletter which is shared below. March has come in like a lion. I don’t think anyone expected to see what’s happened in the last few weeks across...

On this episode of the Somewhat podcast, Frank Gruber and co-host John Guidos talk about their quest for better health and longevity. Frank and John discuss some of the thing happening in his network as well his recent readings and upcoming events. The discussion was loosely based on the latest newsletter which is shared below. Celebrating (People In My Network) —Katie Stanton for launching Moxie Ventures a $25M Fund to invest in startups. —Trey Bowles launches InnoCity Partners a...

Frank Gruber and co-host John Guidos talk about whether they could live without email and how society is changing with the elimination of the landline and a “home phone.” The discussion was loosely based on the latest newsletter which is shared below. I saw a story recently about Away Luggage and how they recently ousted their co-founder and CEO Steph Korey over her use of the communication tool Slack to intimidate employees. Away Luggage employees don’t use email, limiting communications...

Frank Gruber catches up with John Guidos and the two discuss Frank’s recent trip to Chicago where he was the keynote speaker at the NASA iTech event and his reconnecting with Jonathan Ozeran at Tempus. There’s a lot to celebrate this time around, so they discuss some of those latest happenings. The discussion was loosely based on the latest newsletter which is shared below. I was in sweet home Chicago last week to speak at the NASA iTech event. It was great to be back in my hometown to...

On this episode of the Somewhat Frank Podcast, Frank Gruber and John “Johnny Goodtimes” Guidos discuss the Washington Nationals historic World Series victory and a brief recap of the 2019 Startup of the Year Summit which was held in Memphis, Tennessee. The discussion was loosely based on the latest newsletter which is shared below. This past week I was in Washington, D.C. to take in their first World Series since 1933 and to attend the NextGen VP conference. What an electric week to be in...

Over the past year, electric scooter startups have erupted as the next set of startups with billion-dollar valuations and unicorn status. Companies like Bird, Spin, Lime, and others have taken on large investments from Alphabet, Uber, Lyft and more. The problem that electric scooters are solving is very clear, they are helping ridesharing companies to cut down on the short two to three block trips which cost more to take on with an automobile. They are also providing rideshare companies with...

Accomplishing the things you want to in life and ultimately being happy can sometimes seem overwhelming. Many people overcomplicate things and end up chasing the wrong things. How do you simplify the pursuit to make sure you accomplish your goals? How do you know you’re taking the right approach? Serial entrepreneur and author Miki Agrawal has a few tips and ideas on how accomplishing your goals as she explained in her first book, Do Cool Sh*t: Quit Your Day Job, Start Your Own Business,...

Innovating at a large corporation or at a government agency can be difficult. It means doing things differently, introducing new concepts and embracing failure. The larger you are, the harder it can be to change the way you do things – even if it’s for the better. To combat that, the U.S. Air Force decided to create a new program dedicated to solving some of the toughest problems it faces via collaborations between the nation’s top intrapreneurs, industry experts, academic professionals,...

When you travel, especially by air, you have to make some tough packing choices. Usually, my hardest decisions come down to which shoes I’ll bring – because you can’t bring them all, and they take up a ton of space in my carry on bag. When picking the perfect shoe (or shoes) for travel you have to weigh such factors as weather, length of trip, the purpose of the trip, and travel destination. Not to mention if you are doing anything that might require a special type of shoe, like golfing,...

Over the past couple weeks (and I’m sure many others) I have had to fight the urge to send out tweets expressing my opinions on the latest happenings. While I support “freedom of speech” some of these tweets may have been offensive, so I went with the age-old saying: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” I’ll be sure to make an impact in other ways (e.g., November elections are coming). That said, I’m sure we’ve all sent tweets we’ve had second thoughts...

As a kid growing up in the rural Midwest surrounded by cornfields, I was well supplied with lumber and the tools necessary to create things with that lumber. So, as soon as I saw Marty McFly in Back to the Future turn a handmade wooden scooter into a skateboard, I was hell-bent on creating my own skateboard by hand. I spent countless weekends carving a 1×6 board into the right shape for a skateboard and hours searching for the right rollerskate to disassemble and add to the bottom of my...

Sometimes I feel like we are living in a Neal Stephenson novel with companies like Amazon making it’s so darn easy to flip through their app on your phone, ordering whatever you need and having it arrive almost instantly (or at least within a few hours). It’s amazing. Remember, it was not too long ago that you’d have to run from store to store searching for an item! Now your “wild goose chases” can happen right from your glowing 4 inch screen. That said, when I’m shopping and there are a...

Sunshine and beaches might be first thing you think of when you think of the Tampa Bay, Florida region. And rightly so, it’s gorgeous and has a handful of the top beaches in the country if not the world. But there’s more than crystal clear ocean water in the upcoming startup community. Tampa is a rising city for starting and running a business but is coupled with a solid work, live, and play lifestyle. On this episode of Somewhat Frank, I talk with Lakshmi Shenoy the CEO of innovation hub...

Have you ever asked Apple’s Siri for a hand with something only to find yourself doing more work to try to get what you’re looking for? We’ve all have been there. Artificial intelligence is not quite as intelligent as a scene from the popular HBO series Westworld yet. I recently had a situation where I asked Siri to call my “Gym” via my Apple Watch and AirPods. Siri kept trying to call “Jim Bankoff” the CEO from Vox Media and could not figure out how to find the “Gym”. Finding my way to the...