Reimaginez Q&A: Therese Gedda, Founder

reimaginez

Welcome to Mob76 Outlook, Therese, please tell our readers about Reimaginez

Thank you so much! It’s an honor to spend this time with you.I would love to invite you to take a moment and imagine your company filled with thriving High Achievers, all striving towards greatness, lifting each other towards new heights, and scaling a culture of high performance and excellence. This is the reality of the work we do.

Reimaginez is an award-winning company specialising in successfully designing, redesigning and scaling culture. We help founders, CEOs, and leaders keep, attract, and lead High Achievers while living as High Achievers themselves. Areas we cover include One-on-One High-Performance Programs with Founder and Executive Coaching, Cultural Design and Cultural Transformation, and Cultural M&A Integrations.

Over the last 20 years, the Reimaginez team has served 1,000+ Founders and C-Suite clients and impacted 30,000+ company cultures globally.

I believe you are Swedish. Are you based in Europe or the US, and why?

I grew up in Sweden, and today my primary base is in the city that never sleeps – New York City. The city is a great hub to serve our US clients and close enough to work with our European clients. It’s an incredible place where I feel most inspired and grateful to be surrounded by so many people working hard to realize their visions.

For years, I lived out of my suitcase, and today I still spend a significant amount of time on the road since we work with clients all over the world.. A fun fact is that one of my longest trips included stops in Rome, Stockholm, London, New York, Toronto, San Francisco, Lisbon and back to New York.

You work with startup and high-growth companies’ CEOs. What value do you offer them and how long do you work with them for?

Working with amazing people on a mission to bring something empowering and innovative to the world is incredibly fulfilling. We specialize in aligning, designing, and scaling a high-performance culture. The essence of the delivery is centered around aligning your people around your vision, effectively championing your best people, removing toxicity, and amplifying your impact by designing and building a high-performing culture.

Reimaginez believes in championing High Achievers. Therefore, we have specific programs designed to develop and lead High Achievers, boost their performance, champion their future talents, and allow them to thrive through the leadership philosophies of tomorrow while attracting, recruiting, and onboarding High Achievers.

When you invest in yourself, your people, and your culture, magic happens. I’d love to share some examples of what we have achieved alongside our clients:

• 3x Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)
• 45% revenue increase during the height of the pandemic for an 18-year-old company
• 10x average deal sizes
• Saving a 9.7 million USD ARR subsidiary from collapsing
• Designing his best life after a successful company exit

For our cultural transformation programs, we typically become a long-term partner for the company, whether they are early-stage or approaching an exit, and follow them through the different stages of their development. We have seen many of our clients through many stages of their evolution.

Another sought-after initiative is our High-Performance executive coaching program for impact-driven and High Achieving Founders and CEOs. Over 20 years, I’ve personally had the pleasure of working directly with over 1,000 founders, CEOs, and C-level clients. And since Founders and CEOs are innovative, I’ve been given many creative titles over the years, including “Yoda,” “Master Teacher,” “Founder Therapist,” and “Stand-in Cofounder” by founders and CEOs.

Mental health is a huge issue since the start of the pandemic. How did your clients react?

One way of describing how it feels to be a founder is living on a rollercoaster in the mountains. I recently delivered a speech for a conference in Boston capturing it more in detail. The thing is, when we empower founders with a vision, on a mission, we empower change.

Let’s acknowledge their reality.vWe know how hard it is to stand alone. To sit there by yourself at 2 AM making a decision that can make or break your company. We know walking the path of the Founder often feels like driving a Formula One car while playing chess with ten different opponents whose only job is to focus on this game. On a road that is winding and full of unknowns,

We know the power of having someone to call, someone to text, someone to reach out to who knows your story and understands why you do what you do. Because just like there will be moments of darkness and doubt, there will also be moments of celebration and joy.

Moments where you will feel a deep sense of achievement of building something just from an idea, driven by the ambition of creating positive change, and you will stand strong in the clarity that you can be a force for good in the world. Having a Founder’s Tribe has never been more important. We believe that together, we can make a difference.

I have found that most founders are very resilient, but having a founder’s tribe can make all the difference, including for their mental health. I’m, therefore, grateful to be part of many tribes as a trusted advisor and champion.

Did you see any trends for the growth of companies in 2022?

Yes, Reimaginez has seen a greater level of awareness and investments in building and growing a thriving culture. We work with many companies in health (BioTech, HealthTech, Medtech, and Digital Health), impact (including ClimateTech), and tech more generally.

Prioritising initiatives for personal and professional development is in increasing demand, especially in areas connected to well-being (including meditation, workout routines, and mindfulness practices) as well as leadership and performance programs.

Some investors are also more focused on culture, even if they typically use language like ”we invest in the team/the founders” over the actual word ‘culture.’

Another trend is the rediscovery of face-to-face interactions that enable deeper opportunities for relationship building and serendipity, especially over dinners, walks, and more intimate events.

What are the biggest opportunities for Reimaginez in an uncertain world?

There is a shift in awareness and focus on the impact of a brilliant, mediocre, or even toxic company culture. This means that culture is now at the forefront of many high-performance individuals when they are looking for their next adventure. It also means that companies, especially in the US, are prioritising the investment in a brilliant culture where their High Achievers thrive.

Another opportunity for the next few years is in connection to M&As, which typically increase during uncertainty. However, there are certain things that are often forgotten in the M&A process. When two companies merge, attention and focus typically centre around the merger’s financial, legal, and IP aspects.

However, aligning culture and leadership is essential for the new environment’s successful future. Reimaginez’ proprietary methods and processes for facilitating the integration of different cultures work in parallel with our proven programs for establishing trust, focus, and a shared vision across all teams in order to achieve short- and long-term success and growth targets.

Outsized opportunities for consistent and dependable M&A performance reside within tightly focused and broadly-shared alignments of value, impact, and purpose throughout the organization. This dependable, and repeatable, journey begins with an impact and value-focused Cultural Due Diligence followed by the implementation of bespoke achievement-focused Cultural Integrations and ongoing support.

What are you looking forward to in 2023?

I am excited to continue my work empowering high achieving founders, CEOs, and leaders (we call them High Achieving Empathic Givers) who are making the world better by building, growing, and investing in great companies.

Any insights that you can share with our readers when it comes to growth and
building a successful company?

Invest in a well-designed culture. As the saying goes, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Culture is a way to drive behavior. Culture impacts everything from productivity, engagement, and customer loyalty to talent retention, speed of innovation, growth, and, of course, profitability.

Invest in your High Achievers. Remember that High Achievers thrive alongside fellow High Achievers, and they attract one another. It has been said that High Achievers outperform the average worker with 10% in productivity, 20% in sales, and 30% in profitability. By investing in your High Achievers you are more likely to keep a thriving culture that creates, and achieves, outstanding results.

Invest in alignment. The impact of bringing teams, whether the whole company or the management team, together for company retreats and offsites to align on vision, goals, and strategy on an ongoing basis can’t be overlooked.

When you bring people together and provide peak experiences where members of the team espouse deep alignment on the direction and key initiatives for the company, remarkable results will follow. The power of alignment strengthens creativity, connection, and growth and the importance of this cannot be overstated.

How can people contact you?

Visit the Reimanginez website to learn more about our work. Alternatively, feel free to reach out with a message on LinkedIn letting me know you found me here on LinkedIn.

Thank you for the interview. I am very excited to share the Reimaginez story with your readers.

Pathway Launches Manchester-Based Virtual Production Innovation Lab

pathway

Pathway has launched a Manchester-based LED VP Innovation Lab and Production Facility in Partnership with HP.

The company brings to market a 6,000 square foot offering dedicated to the development and production of in-camera visual effects that utilise real-time technology and includes moving image R&D and digital cinema production for filmmakers.

In partnership with HP, the new studio will also provide Virtual Production skills and training offerings that are designed to amplify knowledge transfer to filmmakers. HP will facilitate Pathway’s studio with the latest hardware such as Z-series workstations and scalable digital workspaces via the Engineering Emmy award winning HP Anyware.

“It’s been incredible to see how the film and media industry is moving towards virtual production, and the capabilities Pathway have to offer with the Z by HP suite of solutions for its clients means it’s exciting times ahead, both for commercial users and the young filmmakers of the Future,” said Richard McGuinness, Advanced Compute and Solutions Lead Workstations and Thin Clients, HP UK.

Pathway’s Trafford Park site consists of a 5k square foot soundstage, in-house Virtual Art Department, make-up, wardrobe and dailies room. The new studio’s LED stage technology is powered by ROE Visual Ruby LED panels, MoSys StarTracker, MegaPixel VR Helios processing platform and Unreal Engine.

Speaking about their launch, Pathway co-founder Nathan Newman said:

“It is a delight to have the innovative support of HP in our mission to make virtual production more accessible and an even greater creative experience for filmmakers.

We are also thrilled to welcome Amanda [Nevill] to our advisory board who bring’s to Pathway a wealth of hard earned experience from working at the very heart of the British film industry.”

Newman’s eclectic career spans two decades across the video games industry, viral marketing globe trotting, immersive technology and award-winning moving image production.

Former BFI Chief Executive, Amanda Nevill CBE said:

“Pathway’s contribution to the industry will make it possible for more filmmakers to produce content with the very latest technology and to chase down new ideas for LED wall produced cinematography. During this time of industry growth and change, Pathway’s plans will be a big win for Manchester.”

Nevill’s impressive background spans helming the British Film Institute as Chief Executive for 17 years and is currently a strategic advisor to the international screen business.

Pathway’s £1m facility has been invested in by business partners Neuron Audio Visual, a Manchester based AV solutions company with an international reputation for creating extraordinary experiences at events and through venue installations. Neuron’s impressive client list includes festivals such as Glastonbury and Parklife and brands such as Redbull and Beats.

Speaking about the direction of the new studio, co-founder Alex Wareham said, “Virtual Production isn’t just about recreating old ways of producing content, it is about discovering new heights to moving image product development for our clients.” Pathway’s clients include agency Collective, fashion photography house Chris Davis Studio and creative powerhouse Arrow International Media.

BOOK REVIEW – The Bitcoin Dilemma – Colin L. Read

dilemma

It’s disruptive to review The Bitcoin Dilemma when the author is called ‘READ’ because once that gets in your head then ‘read’ and ‘review’ merge into one portfolio word and all those old days of LSD come back with a swirly vengeance.

Even so, the aforesaid The Bitcoin Dilemma is not a book to be forgotten and while not an easy read, it’s very much worth the effort in doing so.

Instead of focusing on all the speculation and hyperbole about making profits and destroying Satoshi’s invention, this book delves into the maths of crypto.

Moreover, Colin L. Read really knows what he’s talking about. He has worn many hats, but his experience of being the mayor of a ‘crypto mining’ US city lays bare the real costs of bitcoin mining, not just for the local and global environment, but for the people who live where mining takes place.

Effectively they pay for the mining to take place and it takes a tough mayor to ensure that miners do not take the capacity, the piss, the biscuit.

In some places the book reads like a collection of essays and the gentle touch of a sub-editor to dispel the over-adjectives and the self-crusading would have been welcome, but those who know of maths and mining no less about reading and reviewing.

As somebody who is fairly well-versed in crypto, there was a lot in this book that was new and I learnt a lot. While proof-of-work protocols are clearly bad and proof-of-stake are much better for Planet Earth, those who don’t know the difference will know by the end of the book.

Apparently Ethereum’s recent ‘upgrade’ from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake took off a whopping 0.2% of the world’s total power supply and it is a move that bitcoin, alas, cannot replicate.

This book made me want to sell my bitcoin portfolio and move it a more sustainable currency. It made me think. I would suggest most readers will have a similar reaction.

That makes it a good book.

 

Q&A: Moojan Asghari – CEO, Thousand Faces

Moojan

Welcome to Mob76 Outlook, Moojan, what is Thousand Faces?

A pleasure to be here. Thousand Faces is the first exclusive investment club in the form of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) fund to finance female-led projects with carbon-negative art NFTs.

We are targeting women, diversity, the environment and NFTs; all important and hot topics at the moment.  Raising initial funds for impact projects and under-represented talents anywhere in the world without a middle man has never been easier.

How are you dealing with the transition to Web3?

Web3 is a great opportunity to create a new and real diverse environment and community in a world of severe climate change. Moreover, NFTs are new marketing tools that have considerable viral potential.

We use it as a membership token and the total NFT market is estimated to reach $212 billion by 2030. There is a lot of controversy around the climate effects of NFTs and crypto. Thousand Faces uses Polygon, which is a carbon-neutral network and we offset our CO2 up to 10X more.

Are you addressing the gender gap when it comes to funding companies?

Anyone regardless of gender and nationality should be able to get access to funds and educational resources for their projects. Female founders, immigrants and underrepresented minorities can’t do this due to the centralized organizations holding funds and making biased fund distribution decisions.

With a DAO we open up the opportunity of funding and education to a vast number of people, anyone anywhere in the world, to launch a project that serves humanity as a whole. The world needs to recover the lost feminine in order to create mindful and sustainable organizations.

How do you do this logistically?

With a DAO fund that community members buy an NFT and get access to various resources, right to apply for funding, and participate in fund allocation decision making. With our community fund we invest in female founders and environmental projects with a strong ESG.

Our NFTs are 10,000 randomly generated pictures that have been designed by hand, and have certain utilities and voting powers attached to them. The NFTs represent a membership for the holder.

We will also  release a utility token to give rights to our DAO. that token can be staked and spent in our universe. We have an educational program for women to learn about Web3 in order to remove the barriers to entry. We give grants to the selected companies.

What does this mean to a non-techy person?

We are an investment club and by buying a membership which is a digital card, you join the club and obtain access to benefits including the right to apply for funding for your project or access to various educational programs’ content.

If you become a board member you can decide with other board members across the globe to vote on projects with the most social and environmental impact. In return for your participation, you can get rewards and interest in a digital currency in your digital wallet, with which you can invest or spend on various platforms.

How big is the market for all of this, Moojan?

Women entrepreneurs? Well, women are 50% of the population. there is only 2.2% of the total VC funding going to female founders. So you can imagine how many talents are left without funding.

the NFT market in 2022 was at USD 20.44 billion and is estimated to grow to USD 211.72 billion in 2030. The climate innovation and the need to create new sustainable solutions is also at the heart of important topics.

What did you do before this, Moojan?

I am a serial entrepreneur, activist, technologist and community builder. I was born in Iran, and after industrial engineering, I moved to France to finish my studies in corporate finance and banking. But the capitalistic world was not for me.

I started my entrepreneurial journey and created various initiatives for female empowerment and diversity and inclusion. I am now a digital nomad, traveling the five continents, speaking at various conferences and giving lectures on diversity, inclusion, and the basics of AI for business.

That’s a fascinating story and one that our readers will love. Thanks, Moojan

My pleasure, thanks for inviting me.

SWEATCOIN – GAME ANALYSIS #1

Sweatcoin
Gamepay

Sweatcoin gameplay review and analysis from Gamepay – introduction

  1. Game Overview
  2. Getting Started with Sweatcoin
  3. How to Earn in Sweatcoin
  4. Conclusion

Sweatcoin is a mobile application that will literally reward you for sweating. They accomplish this by translating your outside steps into a currency that can be spent on goods and services. And you will be in a good company – since its inception in 2015 Sweatcoin has attracted more than 100 million users.

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Game Overview

Sweatcoin uses Google Fit. It’s a Google-created health-tracking platform for the Android operating system. Similar to a fitness monitoring app, it tracks your motions and steps. You may exchange your coins for NFTs, goods services, and experiences both free as well as heavily discounted.

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SweatCo Ltd. was the firm that launched it. It was an instant success since it was new and claimed to transform your outside walks into “money.” The earned amount can be used to purchase different products, services, discounts, and other items that are available.

You’ll be earning Sweatcoins, SWC when you clock in your steps on a daily basis. For every 1000 steps clocked, you will get approximately 0.95 SWC. The coins earned will accumulate in your Sweatcoin account. Please note that only verified steps are converted into sweatcoins. The company has developed its own proprietary movement verification model to ensure that dishwasher shakes, cradle swings, dogs’ run in a park are not counted to sweatcoin generation.

Getting Started with Sweatcoin

The Sweatcoin app does not show the distance you have walked or the route you have traveled during your current session. It just shows the steps, so if you’re serious about monitoring and charting your path, we recommend using another free activity tracker that includes these functions.

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Once you download the Sweatcoin application and sign up, you will be asked to sign in to the app, and the first thing you will see is a step counter. This is the screen where you will be able to view how many steps you have taken for the day and how much you’ve earned. You will have to provide access to your fitness tracker application in order for Sweatcoin to track your steps.

There are 2 types of Subscriptions mode in Sweatcoin, Free and Premium.

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The Free mode gives you the standard earning feature which allows you to clock 10,000 steps per day and get access to the standard marketplace and auctions where you can view and purchase the offers and discounts listed with earned Sweatcoins, SWC.

The Premium mode gives you unlimited 2x Earning with no limitations to how many steps you can clock in per day, Premium marketplace and auctions which gives you early access to offers and discounts available, Donations given to organizations by Premium users will be doubled, and get exclusive access to upcoming latest features.

They provide a 1 week free trial for a Premium subscription for everyone.

sweat coin
sweat coin

You can get free Sweatcoins daily by opening the gifts available. These gifts will give you a random amount of Sweatcoins depending on how lucky you are. Everyday Sweatcoin enables you to utilize 2x Boost for free for 20 minutes. Make the most out of these 20 minutes by activating at your active time of the day.

How to Earn in Sweatcoin

sweat coin

The most basic approach to earn via Sweatcoins will be to clock in steps on a daily basis to earn as many Sweatcoin points SWC as possible by either utilizing the Free membership or Premium membership depending on how active you are and using the acquired points to purchase deals and discounts from their marketplace.

sweatcoin

Another way to earn will be through the referral program. By inviting your friends and family onboard to Sweatcoin will instantly get you five Sweatcoins, even though it’s not much it’s still a method you can utilize to accumulate more points while also sharing the offers and moments with your friends and family.

And if you are lucky enough to be located outside of the US and China (a few other countries are excluded too) you can opt-in to start earning their upcoming crypto token called SWEAT. Create your crypto wallet by clicking on this banner in the app:

sweat coin

And on September 13th at 12:00pm UTC you will receive an amount of SWEAT equal to your sweatcoin balance at 12:00pm UTC on September 12th. Install Sweat Wallet App to manage your future SWEAT holdings – buy NFTs, earn interest, trade, etc: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sweatwallet

Conclusion

Sweatcoin is a legitimate smartphone software that allows you to earn “money” (and soon crypto token) by walking about while the program runs in the background. It has several appealing characteristics as well as some obvious shortcomings.

Appealing characteristics:

  • Now the steps your take on a daily basis has some form of reward
  • The application is fairly easy to use
  • Available in most regions
  • Sharing offers and discounts with your friends and family
  • Ability to walk into crypto – no need to part with your hard-earned cash to start learning web3 world

Shortcomings:

  • If you want to make a lot of money from it, this is not the application for you
  • Limited offers and discounts
  • As the program operates in the background, the device’s battery life may suffer
sweatcoin

SWEATCOIN breakdown:

Ratings: 4.5/5

Potential Daily Earnings: 10 Sweatcoins

Starting Cost: Free

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