Posts by Christopher Lochhead
006 Jason DeFillippo Great Grumpy Stuff
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Today, podcast legend Jason DeFillippo once again joins Christopher Lochhead to get their grump on. They trade stories of flying robots sulking in space, health-food baby names, and why convenient use of facial recognition is both flabbergasting and questionable.
“I know that feeling that you get when you give up just a little bit of yourself to these people and you just don’t know where it’s gonna end up someday.” – Jason DeFillippo on fear of giving away ID for convenience
The Future is Here
Facial recognition for security checks is a very interesting concept that is bound to happen in the future. But using one’s face as a convenient way of logging into automated systems can be a bit tricky. The margin of error must be very slim, or else the technology could birth a mountain of challenges.
“Everybody’s doing facial recognition, face ID, and things like that. But, nobody’s doing it right.” – Jason DeFillippo
In Atlanta airport, the busiest airport in the world, Delta now allows the use of a passenger’s face as a boarding pass. It is said to be 98% accurate. But the question remains: is 98% good enough?
AI Robot Sulking in Space
The $6M flying robot CIMON was recently reported to be sulking in space. More than a colleague, the robot was to supposed to befriend the team of astronauts in the international space station. But then things have gone awry, like a Tinder date gone wrong.
One day, the robot started playing, “The Man-Machine” by Kraftwerk. One of the astronauts, Gerst, bobbed to the first 46 seconds of the song before giving up and asking the robot to stop. But CIMON hasn’t stopped playing the less pleasant playlist.
“They could’ve tested this on the ground first. You didn’t need to actually send the robot up there to do this.”
“Kale” is Now a Baby Name
There has been a slew of health-food baby names for a while now, like Saffron and Kiwi. But recently, Kale has risen up the ranks as well. It’s not much of a surprise, even if a bit distasteful.
To hear more grump stories, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Jason is a full-time podcast producer and editor for The Jordan Harbinger Show as well as the Creator and Co-host of the Grumpy Old Geeks Podcast.
Jason has been building websites since the early days in 1994 for clients that range from small businesses to million dollar websites for blockbuster films to his own start-ups.
In 1994 he created the groundbreaking website Spewww which was nominated for a Webby in the first year the awards were held in 1998. In 1995 a new media company in Santa Monica moved him out to Los Angeles to build the first website for Epson America. Since then Jason has launched over 250 websites for major corporations like Paramount Pictures, Sony, Warner Brothers, and Disney.
He also created the two time SXSW Weblog Award winning Blogrolling service as well as co-founded the global blog network Metroblogging. He has worked at several startups in San Francisco including Technorati and 8020 Media, the publishers of JPGMagazine.com, and statistical aggregator Metricly.
Links:
Some of the topics covered:
- US airport opens first fully biometric terminal
- There’s an AI robot sulking in the international space station
- “Kale” is a baby name now
- Marriott’s breach response is so bad, security experts are filling in the gaps — at their own expense
- AI News Anchor Makes Debut In China
- Dude uses drone to catch cheating wife, does play, by play on You Tube
We hope you enjoyed Jason DeFillippo on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
005 Dushka Zapata and Heather Clancy – Niche Down: The Power of Being Different
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Why is Niche Down, a book meant to be shared with everyone, so personal to its authors? On this episode, Dushka Zapata and Heather Clancy join Christopher to talk niching down, why being different is a superpower, and so much more.
Starting Out Differently While Young
Christopher, half the dynamic duo behind Niche Down, had to deal with what makes him different quite early. He knew he was smart in certain areas and not so much in some. Reconciling his weaknesses and strengths proved very difficult.
“My life has been one giant dichotomy, one giant bipolar adventure.” – Christopher Lochhead
He was highly talented in music and drama but got 4 out a 100 in math. It wasn’t until he was enrolled to a fine arts school that he finally gained his footing. Around the same time, he began to realize, in waves over time, that being himself was the way out of everything.
Looking at Different Things
Then there is Heather, the kid who was brought up to be a well-rounded student. She was amazing at math, in fact taking advanced classes on pre-calculus and physics. While she was programmed in different ways, she knew that she wanted to pursue the creative field.
Heather could have gone in so many directions she was shoved into. Her parents encouraged her to look at different things. But she was never one to jump off a cliff on her own accord.
A Natural Intersection
Heather and Christopher have known each other for 25 years. In their many interviews, Heather realized that Christopher did a lot of the pushing.
Their friendship bloomed from Heather’s penchant for asking questions that helped Christopher change his thesis on a lot of things. Other times, she helped him form a messaging of things that he wasn’t ready for just yet. Coupled with her fascination with entrepreneurship, they eventually became a team.
“I was always so interested in helping those people tell their stories… What makes you different? What did you choose to do that? So when he (Christopher) thought about this book, it just sort of was a natural intersection, I think.” – Heather Clancy
To hear more about the conception of Niche Down and Duska’s microscopic examination of Heather and Christopher’s team-up, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Heather Clancy
Heather is a long-time celebrated journalist and co-author of Niche Down.
Dushka Zapata
Dushka is one of the famous writers in the Q&A platform, Quora.
Links:
We hope you enjoyed Dushka Zapata and Heather Clancy on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
004 Andre Iguodala – NBA Legend
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What does it take to become an NBA World Champion with a team built on a culture of fun and dedication? Finals MVP Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors joins us today to give an insider’s view. How do you come up with a thoughtful life design?
Finding His Way to the Bay
Before he joined the Warriors, Andre had seen his fair share of rainy and muggy days. It was during that time that he chose to sit back and watch basketball a lot. Seeing his opponents and the certain kind of joy they had, he soon realized that he wanted to be in a place where he could enjoy basketball.
“I just paid attention and it’s kind of being aware of your surroundings. That’s what kind of brought me here.” – Andre Iguodala
Strengthening the Team’s Core
Warriors’ head coach, Steve Kerr understood the ups and downs of playing in the NBA. The environment and mood of the team ultimately affect performance on the court. As coach, he gave the players the freedom to enjoy what they do.
Everyone appreciates this mentality that the coach has. He’s all about supporting everyone and wanting them to succeed. This strong core enables them to build a culture that is key to their success as a team.
Success from Building Culture
A lot of people would say that in order to have success, you need to have the best talent. This is true. But Andre has seen other teams with strong individual talents that fall apart from the lack of a great match of personalities and well-founded culture.
“You can have all the talent in the world but if you don’t have the right culture, their personalities don’t fit, there’s just gonna be a lot of dysfunction.” – Andre Iguodala
There’s plenty of factors that come into play when aiming for success. And a team should act like a machine, with its members on the same page, on the same path, and moving at the same pace.
“What the team has been able to do here is find the right personalities to fit the culture that we have built here.” – Andre Iguodala on the Warriors
To hear more about the Warriors, Andre’s business sense, and his investment in Silicon Valley, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Andre Iguodala is a professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an NBA All-Star in 2012 and named to the NBA All-Defensive Team twice.
He won a championship with the Warriors in 2015. Andre was also named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player that year. He was also a member of the gold-winning national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2012 Summer Olympics. (Source: Andre Iguodala- Wikipedia)
Links:
We hope you enjoyed Andre Iguodala on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
003 Cameron Herold Free PR, Beige Companies More
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How do you make sure your company does not go “beige”? Cameron Herold tells us how and why simple is ultimately powerful.
Cameron Herold – Running with Simple
According to Cameron, some business persons may be likened to a fly hitting the window over and over in an attempt to get out instead of turning around and taking the door. This is something that’s not very advisable and in fact can result in ruin.
“Why would you try so hard when there’s already a system in place?” – Cameron Herold
All of Cameron’s techniques tend to be simple to execute. He grew up simple, an average guy in high school and college. He doesn’t run with complicated that he doesn’t understand.
No to the A-Player Only Mindset
Something that Cameron has been decidedly against is the belief that a company becomes successful by hiring A players. This is impossible. A company’s A players are its race horses and the B players, the work horses.
A company needs a bunch of people who will work hard. They need to be good and fit into the culture in order to grow into their roles. In short, companies have to be honest with themselves.
“I guess it’s like baseball. You just need a bunch of solid singles and doubles and you’ll win the game. You don’t need everybody getting home runs.” – Cameron Herold
A Diverse Team
Building a company with this line of thinking is based on three things. These include money a company is willing to pay, results needed from the person to be hired, and whether the hire has done what is expected of them before.
“Would you rather have someone who’s broken world records or someone who knows how to do it?” – Cameron Herold
It’s impossible to have a whole bunch of marathoners. But you can have a few marathoners, people who run 10Ks, and lastly, people who are at least not sitting in the couch smoking all day.
To hear more about companies and PR, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Cameron Herold is the founder of the COO Alliance as well as a serial entrepreneur, author and top-rated international speaker. His books include Double Double, Vivid Vision, Meetings Suck, and his latest, Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs.
He is known as a business growth guru and CEO Whisperer, and speaks around the world at CEO and COO events. Learn more and download Cameron’s personal Vivid Vision at CameronHerold.com.
Links:
We hope you enjoyed Cameron Herold on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
002 Downturn Coming?
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Is it wise to raise a round of funding now? On this episode of Follow Your Different™, Christopher Lochhead answers a question emailed by one of his listeners. Is there a downturn coming?
Possible Downturn
The CEO of a venture-backed startup has been hearing that venture capitalists are concerned about a downturn. Valuations are coming down and funding rounds are getting smaller. Because of this, they are wondering whether they should raise money when it’s supposedly going down.
Christopher is no stock expert and neither is he an economist. But indeed there have been ramblings about how the stock market is getting funky.
The State of the Market
Christopher had a conversation with the CEO of a company that he’s involved with from which he gained valuable insight. Venture capitalists are getting a little squirrely. The CEO has decided to raise money now since it’s unsure where things are going to be in six months.
Having been doing involved in all this for over 30 years, Christopher has made the observation that there is a correlation between the public and private markets. This is to say, the stock market affects venture capitalist behavior. In this same vein, it wouldn’t be surprising if valuations come down and the size of some funding raises come down heading into 2019.
“I’m not sounding the alarm, it hasn’t gone to that level, but be cautious.” – Christopher Lochhead
What to Do
It’s smart to get on a little earlier and get ready for valuations coming down, because this is likely going to happen. Entrepreneurs need not pull back too much but they have to be more thoughtful about hires, spending and expansion. It is also important to evangelize your point of view and offer to solve a problem.
“The bigger and more urgent and more strategic the problem, the more time, money and energy people will apply to it and spend on solving that problem.” – Christopher Lochhead
To hear more about getting ready for the possible downturn, download and listen to the episode.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
001 TJ Welch – How Heroes Fight Wild Fires
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How do you mobilize thousands of firefighters to tame a terror that could ravage lives and billions? On this episode of Follow Your Different™, Retired Battalion Chief TJ Welch tells us how. He shares a riveting story of leadership applicable to real life, how preparation is key to saving thousands, and so much more.
TJ Welch – Starting Out in the City
TJ spent the first years of his career dealing with brush fires and structural fires. He also had his fair share of wildland fires as a chief officer. But he and other city firefighters pretty much only stood guard in front of the houses.
It wasn’t until the late ‘90s when they made full use of city firefighters. They went to timber and brush areas to stop fires and perform other operations.
“This was my moment where it kind of changed my perspective of my role as a chief officer.” – TJ Welch
Wildland Fire in Numbers
Back in the day, the biggest of wildland fires reached up to 160 thousand acres, which is equal to the same number of football fields. This number has been expanding in recent years, reaching up to 200 thousand acres of wildland catching fire.
The terrifying numbers make sense when taken in the context of the number of residences, the timber that is involved, how exposed the wood is, and how quickly it burns. These wildland fires burn a couple of football fields per second. They are impossible to outrun and risk many lives.
There’s a lot of reasons as to why wildland fires catch so quickly. On the other hand, timber could take a while to dry and get moisture back. With the drought that has gone on for so many years along with other forest products left out in the open, the wildland fires have become more gigantic.
A Turning Point
There was one fire that forever changed TJ. This gave way to a collective effort to train firefighters in the art of effective mobilization when tempering these massive fires.
“When I left that fire, I said I’m not gonna be so ignorant when I come to another wildland fire.” – TJ Welch
To hear more about how California firefighters move as a unit and how TJ dealt with the massive responsibility of being a leader, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
TJ Welch is a 32 year veteran of the fire service. Throughout the course of his career he served in volunteer, industrial and municipal fire departments.
TJ was a member of CAL Fire ICT 3 from 1997-2005 and a founding member of CICCS. He was a qualified Type OSC2, OPBD, DIVS and STEN.
TJ retired in 2014 as Battalion Chief with Alameda County Fire Department. He currently teaches and writes Officer courses for OSFM, and is an Firefighter Safety Specialist for California Department of Public Health and NIOSH where he investigates firefighter line of duty deaths.
Links:
How to donate to victims of the Butte/Camp Fires in California:
Northern California fire victims
Survivors of Butte County’s Camp Fire
Background on the Butte aka the “camp fire”:
The deadliest, most destructive wildfire in California’s history has finally been contained
Paradise lost: the town incinerated by California’s deadliest wildfire – video
After a Wildfire, Rebuilding Life Can Be Hardest for the Oldest
We hope you enjoyed TJ Welch on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
000 Welcome to the Follow Your Different™ Podcast
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From unfolding legends and losery, Christopher Lochhead moves on to unpack stories of how people embrace what makes them different. On this episode, he sits with his dear friend Jaime Jay to share the story behind the show and what people should expect from Follow Your Different™.
“The number one question that I have for myself is why would you change something that isn’t broken?” – Christopher Lochhead
Product of Evolution
Starting a new show is both exciting and scary. But according to Christopher, Follow Your Different™ is a representation of what Legends and Losers, his previous podcast, has become.
For a long time, Christopher stuck to the theme he started with when he first launched Legends and Losers. But he also began to feel a little straitjacketed by how people viewed the show as a life and business podcast.
“When I took a hard look at it, the theme that really seemed to run through the podcast was the… celebration of different, if you will.” – Christopher Lochhead
Celebrating Different
People readily embrace the mantra of following your different. According to Jaime, when Christopher first talked about the idea of the podcast, he didn’t know what to expect.
Legends and Losers requires some explanation, and that is something that Christopher hopes to do away with in Follow Your Different™. The new podcast itself actually has a double meaning. The diversity of Legends and Losers inspired this.
Firstly, the podcast is a celebration of different things, of people and companies with different ideas that may not be exposed in mainstream media. These make for very gripping stories for this very reason. Secondly, every episode is different.
“We’ve been called the Internet’s box full of chocolates.” – Christopher Lochhead
Different in a Lot of Ways
With the theme so deeply embedded in Legends and Losers, you never know what you’re going to get. Sometimes it’s a top-tier venture capitalist, sometimes a CEO, sometimes a doctor who’s designing a legendary death. Other times, a convicted killer turned motivational speaker.
These two kinds of different should resonate with the audience of the brand new podcast. To hear more about how Christopher turns over a new leaf and launches Follow Your Different™, download and listen to the episode.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
