I am working with a group of brilliant entrepreneurs who built the technology, warehousing, distribution and a vast network of distilleries worldwide, and jumped through all the hoops of the complex requirements to allow a liquor Brand to be sold directly to a fan.

As you may remember (maybe not as well as me:-), liquor was deemed essential during COVID so the law changed to allow Distilleries/Producers to sell liquor directly to consumers.

We bypass the traditional, low-margin, 3-tiered alcohol distribution system and allow a celebrity, brand or influencer to create their own blend/brand of Whisky, Tequila or Vodka and we handle all the logistics from distillery to the fan’s door.

Thirsty yet?

Aesop’s core mission is to enhance both human and economic performance. The data indicates that both aspects are currently underperforming, which is negatively impacting real estate, corporations, and cities. Our client solutions utilize our software, tools, and services to address these challenges by enabling highly connected, productive, and creative “problem solving” communities. Our tools have been developed over a decade of learning and have been refined using the psychological principles of Appreciative Inquiry and corporate innovation strategies to align the interests of businesses and individuals. Corporations seek greater profits, while individuals desire a better quality of life. We design with both of these goals in mind.

Our solutions specifically have the power to address: 

Corporate:

• Return-to-Work Solutions
• Talent Retention and Activation Services
• Community Engagement and Talent Identification Tools

Real Estate:

• Building Repositioning
• Activation of Underutilized Spaces
• Assistance with Occupancy Issues to Support Tenant Return-to-Work Strategies and Lease Extensions

Community (Family Offices/Municipalities):

• Counteract Brain Drain
• Boost Tax Revenue
• Foster Innovation Clusters
• Stimulate Real Estate and Venture Capital Deal Flow

When viewed at a macro level, our stack of solutions and products are a “future of work” strategy. 

Founder of Back to Space, Danielle Roosa, is on a mission to inspire as many people as possible to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps, Apollo 14 Command Module Pilot, Stu Roosa.  Back to Space’s mixed-reality experiences allow space travelers to be immersed in the story of the Lunar Light, in an episodic unfolding that spans the Universe through multiple storytelling media.

Immersive experiences have captured the imagination, and the wallets, of consumers around the world, from the Van Gogh Experience selling over 5 million tickets by 2022, to Meow Wolf selling 2.7 million in 2022 alone. However, with increased competition and rising operations costs, creativity is only half the equation for success.

Gabriella Zielke, CEO, is an experienced operator, tech investor, and published sci-fi author. She created the world’s first B2B tech accelerator, which hit all the “top 10” lists, and spun out three additional programs, all on a shoestring budget from the 7 funds she raised. Back to Space’s COO, Matt Thompson, PhD, is a physicist, engineer, and 4x startup founder who enjoys designing and implementing systems that keep things moving smoothly.

In order to make this experience truly one of a kind, Back to Space has assembled a fantastic team of advisors and board members.

• Chief Technical Advisor – Eric Gradman – Two Bit Circus
• Technical Advisor – Jim Vaughn –  Meta, Magic Leap
• Finance – Maria Malavenda- Zoominfo, Kalypso
• Astronaut – Charlie Duke – Apollo 16
• Astronaut – Buzz Aldrin – Apollo 11
• Educational Partner – Andy Aldrin –  The Aldrin Foundation
• COO/Chief Counsel – David Anderman – Lucas Films, SpaceX, Jaunt
• COB – Michael Gorton – founded $3.8B NYSE Teladoc, serial entrepreneur, and author
• Board Member – Jack Roosa – Lt. Colonel in USAF, 20 years at Raytheon Missile Systems 

Fintech Built By Outsiders

The financial sector is enormous, accounting for roughly 20% of global GDP.

But it only works well for a tiny fraction of the population.

The big opportunity within fintech is not serving the top 10% that every fintech already caters to. It’s in creating economic opportunity for everyone else. Outside VC is creating the financial system the world deserves, betting on outsiders building fintech infrastructure and products that will lift up 100M people to the middle class over the next decade.

Mission Driven Outsiders are Welcome!

DataDome is an online fraud and bot management firm that provides a suite of tools to protect web applications from online fraud, web scraping, scalping, credential stuffing, account takeover, DDoS attacks, and card fraud.

They use machine learning algorithms and risk scores to analyze the request fingerprints and behavioral signals to detect and block bot attacks in real-time.

DataDome is one of the most sophisticated and hardest to bypass anti-scraping protection systems in use today.

Companies like AngelList use DataDome to try and prevent companies and developers from scraping data from their websites.

DataDome recently raised $42 Million in Series C Funding to advance the fight against bot-driven cyberattacks and fraud.  

• Eliminating fake account creation
• Mitigating credential stuffing
• Eliminating content scraping

I am working with a savvy and seasoned team on a unique project in Times Square at the intersection of entertainment and fine dining called Café Metronome: a 1930s-style supper club with gourmet dining, craft cocktails, gorgeous Art Deco décor, and a nightly floor-show Musical Revue featuring our 25 piece orchestra comprising some of the world’s finest specialists in the music of the Jazz Age and Swing Era, an 8-dancer chorus line with Broadway choreographers, and new guest performers each week from Broadway, Jazz, Cabaret, Acrobatics, Dance, and more.

They’ve created an innovative operational model which takes advantage of multiple revenue streams (F&B, ticketing, IP licensing for TV/Film, broadcasting, recording, streaming and more) and leverages a smorgasbord of influencer marketing with 200+ annual guest artists, building them into a programming format borrowed from successful TV shows like SNL and the Late Show and reapplied to a live entertainment context.

Pangea is building a series of integrations into the largest payment systems and commerce platforms so every Web2 business can become Web3 enabled overnight. By tying ownership to a phone number, we can integrate with any Web2 platform and drive KPIs for brands, eliminate friction for users, and unlock new commercial use cases that reward digital asset owners.

Problem:
Web3 applications are too convoluted for brands and mainstream consumers. Brands can’t integrate it into their tech-stacks or marketing campaigns and the consumer experience is clunky and full of friction. We believe changing user habits and replacing legacy systems is not a realistic approach; instead, we must meet customers and brands where they are today.

Solution:
By integrating our proof-of-ownership technology into the top payment and commerce platforms, we can create frictionless experiences native to these platforms that seamlessly serve businesses and customers alike. These rails will facilitate partnerships between Web2 and Web3, and unlock new commercial use cases.

Team:
We’ve spent the last five years building technology and selling to brands, so we are acutely aware of their needs, tech-stacks, and have deep relationships with key decision-makers. Each Pangea engineer has at least 10 years of experience and has been building in Web3 for the last three years.

WristCam is a unique dual-camera bracelet for Apple Watch, developed in close collaboration with Apple.

WristCam transforms Apple Watches into photo and video recording devices and brings live video chat straight from the wrist. It can take selfies and panoramic shots in high definition, even underwater and is perfect for running, action and water sports, or just to capture moments as they happen; record it all in real-time to the Cloud or broadcast it lives to one, or to dozens of contacts.  

• 15k units have been sold to date, mostly online by word of mouth
• Pro Surfer Noah Beschen uses his Wristcam + Apple Watch to capture amazing big waves and aerial content from around the world.
  • The forthcoming feature film “Noah” brought to you by RVCA, WristCam, and Lost Surfboards will be premiering on the WSL tour later this year.
• NBA Master Trainer and Jordan Brand Ambassador Chris Johnson uses WristCam every day in the gym while he is training elite players such as LeBron James, Chris Paul, Jaren Jackson Jr and Candice Parker.
  • The power of having live video and capture capabilities right from his Apple Watch in real time with WristCam is a game changer for Chris.  There is no place on the court for a phone.
• International superstar Bruno Mars uses his WristCam to capture moments from his tour while on the road and uses it to stay connected to his team and security detail while on the move.

Behind WristCam are a 25-strong team of engineers and entrepreneurs based in Silicon Valley and Israel and developed a full-stack computer vision platform built on multiple technology breakthroughs. With the hardware validated by a growing base of active users, WristCam is now a software development play. The software has evolved to make possible some very powerful personal protection features that are about to be released to the public, initiating a new phase of growth for the company.

• Protect, a standalone Personal Protection iPhone/Android App based on the Wristcam software engine, will be launched this quarter. Protect is expected to be both an independent revenue source from monthly App subscriptions and a driver for WristCam hardware sales. It taps into powerful use cases for women, children, people of color and LGBTQ that also resonates with major influencers, the press and the general public. The App leverages live video streaming and geolocation to prevent potential emergencies and stress situations before they happen and materially improves the 911 emergency response if an emergency actually ensues. 
  
• Protect Silver is shaping-up to be an even bigger opportunity, offering Active Seniors a game-changing personal safety product with a monthly subscription that includes a free Apple Watch, a free Wristcam, the Protect App, a cellular subscription and a safety operator service that can guide seniors through minor emergencies and call 911 on their behalf while improving 911 response times by the sharing of a distressed caller’s live sound, video and data environment. 

Wristcam has the potential to generate hundreds of millions in revenue with only minor penetration levels of the world’s expanding base of 150 million Apple Watches.

Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp was born out of the desire to give the public the experience of living the life of a Rock Star, with Rock Stars, for a few days, and gaining their knowledge along the way. The idea came to David Fishof after years of producing rock tours throughout the world. He’s been honored to work with veteran rockers, Roger Daltrey, Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Bill Wyman, Peter Frampton and so many more. David’s desire to share this experience gave him the inspiration to create the one-of-a-kind Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp. Over the past 20 years, our campers and counselors have become family. It’s become more than we ever dreamed of.

I am working with one of the top 10 AI scientists in the world Peter Voss, who, with his early partners, Ben Goertzel (Founder of Singularity NET) and Shane Legg (co-founder of DeepMind acquired by Google) are the ones that coined the phrase Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

I will be introducing an adaptive, contextual, conversational Artificial Intelligence based on cognitive architecture.  It remembers what is said, and it constantly learns; it’s so much more intuitive and intelligent than current chatbots (ML/DL), virtual assistants, Siri, Alexa, etc.

All of the Benefits, None of the Risks of ChatGPT for Your Business

Aigo is built on a mind-like integrated cognitive architecture. This is radically different from the other current chatbots and so-called ‘personal assistants’ and puts Aigo ‘Light Years’ ahead.

Aigo’s human-like cognition allows it to:

• • Listen and remember what was said and utilize this in future conversations
  • Understand context and complex sentences
  • Use Reasoning to disambiguate and answer questions
  • Learn new facts and skills interactively, in real-time
  • Have ongoing, meaningful conversations
  • Hyper-personalize experiences based on user’s history, preferences and goals