• Record Number of Q3 Venture Deals Pushes Totals Above All of Last Year
• Industries Most Susceptible to Ransomware Due to COVID-19
• Remote-Working Jobs: "Disaster Looms as Managers Refuse to Listen"
• Gen Z Wants Jobs in Tech, But Retention Questions Linger
• Bipartisan Legislation Aims to Stop Tech Companies from Favoring Their Own Products
• New Drone Prototype Walks and Flies
• Best Buy Pushes Ahead with Healthcare Strategy by Acquiring Current Health

James L. Cunningham, Jr., the founder and lead attorney of the 12-office, estate, trust, and tax planning firm, CunninghamLegal, and author of Savvy Estate Planning, recently presented to ABL-Tech's West L.A. Round Table. His highly regarded presentation is now available to view on-demand by ABL Members.
To access it, go to abl.org, click on "Members Only" on the top far right, and then on "Presentations" in the red bar on the top left.
This presentation, and the others that are available on the Members Only website, were presented at ABL's confidential meetings and are meant to be viewed by ABL Members only.
The major takeaway for many of us from Jim's presentation was run don't walk to your "A-Team" of Estate Planner-Tax Accountant-Insurance agent to adjust your "Tax & Estate plans" ASAP, because with all the changes afoot in Washington, 12/31/21 will be too late.

Indoor cultivation of cannabis consumes tremendous amounts of electricity and causes high greenhouse gas emissions. But California Lightworks is committed to addressing climate change and the issues resulting from outdated technology, and the company's MegaDrive technology helps reduce the costs, increases the yields, and helps cultivators reduce the heat generated in their facilities. This advanced LED technology reduces fixture costs by up to 30% and installation costs by up to 80%. And the benefits come at a 50% lower operating cost than traditional high-pressure sodium lighting systems. (George Mekhtarian, SGV)

Remote Workplace Culture guru Chris Dyer, in addition to being CEO of PeopleG2, is now helping corporate leaders transition their teams to working remotely - and more productively - for the longer term. To take the next step beyond the DIY lessons shared in Chris's and Kim Shepherd's new book, Remote Work, Chris is now available as a fractional member of a select number of Executive Teams. Contact him directly to learn more about how to optimize your company's flow while saving your budget.
Meanwhile, on October 28, at 11 a.m., Chris will co-lead a free webinar - Dispelling the Myths of Hybrid Work.
Also, he recently published an article, How to Maximize Remote Productivity, and PeopleG2 published 6 Common Red Flags On A Pre-Employment Background Check. (Chris Dyer, SGV)

Clearlake Capital Group has completed its acquisition of Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc., a global leader in talent management software. As a result of the transaction, Cornerstone is now a privately held company and shares of Cornerstone common stock are no longer listed on the public market. The acquisition combines Cornerstone's product and industry leadership with Clearlake's proven software investment experience and operational improvement approach, O.P.S., to strengthen and accelerate the company's next phase of growth and innovation.
Meanwhile, Clovers, where Adam Miller is Co-Founder and Co-Chair, has raised $15 million in seed funding and recently launched its flagship product, an interview intelligence platform that uses human and conversational intelligence to accelerate hiring, uncover bias, and put the right people in the right roles. (Adam Miller, JD, WLA)

Three Electrosonic projects have been named as finalists for the AVIXA AV Experience Awards: Best Dynamic Art Experience - 110 High Street's Digital Media Band; Best Individualized Experience - International Spy Museum; and Best In-Person Experience - Grandscape.
Also, Electrosonic has been selected as one of the first companies to help bring to life the creative vision of the "London Resort," which aims to be one of the world's most sustainable destinations and first operationally carbon neutral theme park.
Meanwhile, at the current Expo 2020 Dubai, Electrosonic was the primary AV integrator in The Mobility, Opportunity, and Canada Pavilions, packed full of innovative experiential technologies that take visitors on a guided tour through time and space.
And, at Experience Chicago, Electrosonic collaborated with an ecosystem of partners to fuse technology and storytelling to create a unique experience within an iconic building. (Bryan Hinckley, SGV)

GIDEON Informatics, the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Online Network, is now the only resource for comprehensive global COVID-19 prevalence and seroprevalence data. The GIDEON database identifies COVID-19 prevalence and seroprevalence data in real-time and collates all studies into interactive tables. Users can easily sort these data by city, percentage of prevalence vs. seroprevalence, and population sectors (healthcare workers, students, dialysis patients, and others). GIDEON now contains 1,000 COVID prevalence and seroprevalence surveys, from all reporting countries. GIDEON updates this information daily, and there is no other source for this type of data. As an added convenience, the GIDEON database links these seroprevalence survey lists to their primary sources. (Uri Blackman, WLA)

On November 8-9, Intellect will present Intellect Innovate 2021 Virtual Conference: Empowering Your Compliance Journey, Your Way, an online experience, free for all attendees, which will give participants access to transformative business and compliance trends, engaging conversations, product innovations and roadmaps, and actionable takeaways to guide them along their compliance journeys. (Romeo Elias, WLA)

LookinLA has released reports on the state of both the B2B and eCommerce sphere, based on extensive market research, data analysis, and their own professional experience, LookinLA has pinpointed key industry trends and prospective changes to be aware of going into 2022.
Meanwhile, LookinLA has teamed up with Terminus, which provides the most complete marketing-centric attribution, reporting, and analytics on the market. Terminus gives LookinLA access to navigation channels that can help clients make conversions through Ads, Chat, Web Personalization, and Email.
And, CEO Ali Payani was among the 10 CEOs providing guidance on the decision-making process in the recent Forbes article: 10 Key Questions To Ask Before Making Any Business Decision. (Ali Payani, SGV)

Optimum Info is partnering with Polestar to launch AMOS Business Management and the PRISM Compliance Audit & Monitoring Solution for its global network of retail spaces. Polestar is already a customer in North America of AMOS and APEX Dealer Package Management solutions and is now extending the partnership across Optimum Info's suite of network solutions. Integrating together seamlessly, these solutions are tailored to OEMs to manage the entire spectrum of franchise network development, allowing Polestar to measure and track profitability and monitor standards compliance across all markets.
Meanwhile, CEO Arvind Verma has published Optimum Info's Network Development Solutions in Canada, which highlights some of the key requirements that help differentiate Optimum Info's value proposition. (Arvind Verma, OC)

Parasoft recently announced the launch and extension of its market-leading static application security testing (SAST) and API testing platform with penetration testing, shifting security testing into developer workflows. The platform integrates Parasoft SOAtest and the Smart API Test Generator with OWASP ZAP to build security into development workflows and address rising API security issues by identifying security vulnerabilities in APIs.
Also, the Parasoft C/C++test has been containerized and pre-approved for use by the Department of Defense and other key federal agencies.
And, Parasoft announced the 2021.2 release of Parasoft SOAtest, Virtualize, CTP, and DTP, core API testing components of the Parasoft Continuous Quality Platform. (Elizabeth Kolawa, Ph.D., SGV)

Grit Daily, the Startup News Hub recently published a feature article - Profi Aims to Be the New Office Space for Professional Service Providers, which spotlights the company's cloud-based, secure professional services operating platform for collaboration, billing, scheduling, reporting, client and team management, and more.
Also, recent blog posts from Profi include "Solve Your 3 Biggest Tech Frustrations Once and For All": Part 1 and Part 2.
Meanwhile, Profi will hold Q&A Webinars, at 10 a.m., on October 27, November 3, 10, and 17. (Alina Trigubenko & Adam Miller, WLA)

On the evenings of October 19 (click here) and on November 17 (click here), John Tanner, Ph.D., of Tanner Research, will present his free Nutrition Science Virtual Workshop, via Zoom, where he will relay to participants the scientific information they need to avoid heart disease and other leading killers with a proper diet. The group will discuss strategies for change and John will field questions, plus give a free book to participants. (John Tanner, Ph.D., SGV)

Vincit is a Finalist for "Best Tech Work Culture, Large Employer Southern California" in the Timmy Awards by Tech In Motion, which aim to celebrate regional tech communities and the companies and individuals leading the way to create the best places for tech professionals to work.
Meanwhile, the recording from the September Vincit Talks is available to watch here, featuring four experts who shared their thoughts on the topic of improving online customer experiences with modern technologies. (Rachel Valentine, OC)

At its recent Builders + Innovators Summit, Goldman Sachs recognized Aleksandr "Shurick" Agapitov, CEO of Xsolla, as one of the "100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2021." (Shurick Agapitov, WLA)

In Focus, Instead of Going Unconscious, Harrison Barnes, of BCG Attorney Search, urges, "Do not be affected by stress; instead, adopt a coping mechanism to either divert or dissipate stressful energy. The threat of stress and the desire to avoid it prevents many people from reaching their full potential in many areas of their lives. Rather than succumb to stress or the fear of stress, position yourself for success by doing the things that others are unwilling to do." (Harrison Barnes, JD, WLA)

In The coffee and wine school of innovation, Dave suggests that most innovation occurs when creative people are relaxed and thinking about other things, such as during coffee, wine, quiet time, showers. Given that we are looking for that flash of inspiration that starts us down the path of innovation through the hard work of R&D, maybe we should reengineer our thinking about allocation of time for our most creative resources, including ourselves. Think like we are agile to the extreme. Imagine no barriers to the creation of our dream. Wouldn't that be empowering and productive?
And, in Reward success and failure. Punish only inaction, Dave says that the culture of the company you grow is very much influenced by your actions in rewarding or punishing employees or whole departments. And the best companies seem to be those that are motivated from the top to push limits within reason to find better ways to do things, to create products, to expand the market. But the CEO must realize that most such efforts lead to a dead end or will fail outright. (Dave Berkus, SGV & WLA)

Coherent has made two recent webinars available to watch on-demand: Advanced Components to Enhance Laser System Performance, which showcases the role that critical supporting components such as pump diodes, optical fiber, crystals, and other design choices will have on laser system performance; and Laser Solutions For Demanding Battery Manufacturing Applications.
And, Coherent has also published an article, Medical Device Manufacturing: Saving Lives, Cutting Stents with Lasers. (Randy Heyler, SGV)

Jason Ciment, CEO of GetVisible, suggests the following resources:
>> Want to make it easy to schedule a meeting with multiple stakeholders? Check out whenisgood.net to find out when everyone is available.
>> Meet Writer For Hire Pat Kramer, who can jumpstart your LinkedIn profile and get you more noticed. >> Add animation effects to photos with pixaloopapp.com.
>> Jason participated in a recent Inspired Insiders podcast with famed comedian Elon Gold and host Dr. Jeremy Weisz, who said this is "one of the top 10 podcast interviews in his lifetime." (Jason Ciment, WLA)

In 4 Ways to Increase Conformance Readiness, Intellect CEO Romeo Elias discusses important measures that your organization can take to increase conformance readiness: the annual management review process; performing a ground level review and internal audit, and collecting and analyzing customer feedback.
Also, Intellect recently published The Best No-Code Platforms of 2021 that Serve Different Purposes. (Romeo Elias, WLA)

In Pivoting to a privacy-first model in the new era of data security, Pegasus One asks - and answers, "With data compliance such a hot button right now, how can brands continue to make the most of customer information while addressing privacy concerns?" Pegasus One offers a checklist to get you started on transforming your operations to a stronger data privacy model, including: Move to a strategy utilizing unified and persistent customer identifiers to effectively target and message customers without putting their data at risk; Target small customer cohorts, using algorithms to model unique personas that have numerous characteristics in common but aren't associated with individual customers; and more. (Tushar Puri, OC)

In this 3-minute video, The Joy Factory demonstrates its mobile AgileGo Tablet Cart, a solution customizable to the user's needs and goals, and designed and adaptable for multiple environments, including healthcare, telehealth, conference room, production line, self sign-in, hospitality, warehousing, logistics, and more.
Also, The Joy Factory has published a whitepaper: How to Select the Right Hazloc Tablet Case for Your Digital Transformation in Hazardous Environments. (Sampson Yang, OC & Miranda Su, SGV)

WorkDone CEO Joe Rogers, along with Kirsten Campbell of The Campbell Agency, continue to host online discussions - called WorkDoneLive, which focus on aspects of the Future of Work, and are available to watch on-demand:
>> Rights & Royalties, featuring Steve Stewart, serial entrepreneur and Grammy-winning manager.
>> Entrepreneurship & Investing, featuring Dave Berkus, renowned investor, speaker and author. (Joe Rogers, WLA)

Oli Thordarson's popular ransomware resource page on Alvaka Networks' website, contains the most common Q&A's victims of ransomware immediately ask. It also contains content researched by those researching ransomware, some of which is syndicated by Google in those little boxes as the top answer to popular searches, such as seen in the image below.
Also, read Alvaka's recent blog: How Much Cyber Breach Insurance Do I Need? (Oli Thordarson, OC)

Fast Company included Biospectal's OptiBP "software only" mobile blood pressure monitoring platform as one of only 29 winners out of 4000 applicants for its Innovation by Design in Health Award. (Eliott Jones, ABL-Health SV)

Competitive Health is partnering with eFamilyCare in order to connect family caregivers to expert Care Advisers who coach them on caring for their chronically ill loved ones, which in turn helps reduce costs associated with unnecessary hospitalizations. CEO Kim Darling adds: "Our Companion Care product has always focused on care for seniors - however, by adding caregiver support through eFamilyCare we have created a holistic offering. We can now offer an end-to-end package which encompasses both the patient and the caregiver." Competitive Health is offering this caregiver benefit to employer groups and associations through its digital healthcare marketplace. (Kim Darling, ABL-Health OC)

ECLAT Health Solutions, a leading provider of global and domestic revenue cycle management services, announced that Gabe Stein has been named its new Chief Executive Officer, to lead the payer business and also grow the provider practice. Gabe joins ECLAT with 20+ years of executive experience growing healthcare organizations and working to create innovative changes for companies seeking technology-enabled, SaaS solutions. Most recently, he was EVP of GeBBS Healthcare Solutions. (Gabe Stein, ABL-Health LA)

Elemeno Health and the Texas Hospital Association (THA) have announced a partnership to offer data-driven training and support tools to THA member hospitals, which represent 85% of Texas hospitals and healthcare systems. Through its Center for Technology Innovation, THA is a champion for novel and transformational technological solutions to healthcare challenges. Elemeno delivers key training and support materials in bite-sized form to encourage clarity and consistency of protocols and procedures, and effective implementation by staff. Their digital solution allows healthcare professionals access to current, data-based and hospital-specific best practices immediately at the point of care, which decreases the incidence of medical errors and results in life-saving patient benefits.
Also, Elemeno and CEO Arup Roy-Burman, MD, are profiled in a recent India-West newspaper feature article - Indian American-led Health Tech Startup Offers 'Expert at Your Fingertips' to Address Nursing, COVID-19 Crises.
And, Elemeno has been rated a top deal by KingsCrowd, which independently vets and analyzes startups across the entire online crowdfunding market and is used by 100,000+ investors. KingsCrowd places Elemeno among the most promising equity crowdfunding campaigns currently available for investment. Plus, the KingsCrowd podcast interviewed Arup, discussing what investors should look for in a startup founder.
Meanwhile, Elemeno has so far raised over $1.16 million in its StartEngine campaign. (Arup Roy-Burman, MD, ABL-Health OAK)

LigoLab Information System announced that its TestDirectly Direct-to-Consumer Portal now supports SMART Health Cards, digital versions of clinical information that can be immediately and easily displayed via a QR code to prove that a patient has been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. CEO Suren Avunjian said, "Now any patient with a TestDirectly account can access our platform and conveniently share his or her current health status to ensure a safe return back to work, school, travel, and other normal life activities." The SMART Health Card acts as a third-party verification tool that's not associated with any single organization, corporation, or government entity.
Also, LigoLab recently earned a "High Performer" badge from G2 in the LIMS category, representing high customer satisfaction scores. (Suren Avunjian, LA)

Select Data announced a breakthrough in improving coding accuracy and patient care planning: SmartCare, which leverages artificial intelligence to identify key diagnosis phrases immersed throughout large referral documents. By applying AI models that in seconds understand and summarize patient information important to home health admissions, SmartCare assists the full spectrum of the clinical team. Equipped with these insights, field staff have a more efficient approach to preparing for patient visits and completing patient documentation, while coders and clinical review staff have unprecedented functionality to a now highlighted and searchable referral document, providing efficiencies in workflow and driving better patient outcomes and more accurate reimbursement. (Ed Buckley, OC)

Venture deals are happening at such a rapid clip this year that U.S. totals have already surpassed the number of fundings and amount raised in all of last year. About $210.4 billion was raised in 8,869 deals in the first nine months of this year, according to a report from CB Insights. That's well above the $142.9 billion funding total for 2020 and on pace to top the 9,846 deals done last year. American founders raised about $72.3 billion between July and September, a 90% jump from the same period last year, according to CB Insights. Both the amount raised and the 3,210 deals done in the quarter are all-time highs. (https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2021/10/07/us-venture-deals-have-already-topped-2020-totals.html)

Alvaka Networks shares some information and this graphic from Datto's Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report. MSPs were asked what industries were most susceptible to ransomware attacks due to COVID-19. Healthcare was in the top spot at 59%. Finance/insurance was in the second slot (50%) and Government in the third (45%). (https://channeldailynews.com/news/if-ransomware-doesnt-kill-you-the-downtime-will-says-datto-report/72504)

A survey of 10,500+ knowledge workers found that many company executives continue to view the office as the nerve center of work, despite a growing preference for flexible-working policies among employees. The Future Forum Pulse survey, which quizzed knowledge workers in the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, and Japan between July and August 2021, also found that workers were largely being left out of the planning of post-pandemic working policies - suggesting that these plans are being designed around the working preferences of senior leadership. Organizations risk losing talent if they fail to recognize "an inflection point in the workforce" brought about by the recent pivot to remote working, the report said, as well as damaging gains in workplace equality.
Of those surveyed, 44% of executives said they wanted to work from the office every day, compared to just 17% of employees. 75% of executives said they wanted to work from the office 3-5 days a week, versus 34% of employees. 66% of executives reported they were designing post-pandemic workforce plans with little to no direct input from employees - and yet 94% said they were "moderately confident" that the policies they had created matched employee expectations. (https://www.zdnet.com/article/remote-working-jobs-disaster-looms-as-managers-refuse-to-listen/)

Meanwhile, Amazon will allow many tech and corporate workers to continue working remotely indefinitely, as long as they are able to commute to the office when necessary, according to a recently posted blog. That's a change from Amazon's previous expectation that most employees would need to be in the office at least three days a week once offices reopen in January. Amazon's update to its return-to-work policy follows similar moves from other tech giants. Microsoft announced last month that it had postponed reopening its offices indefinitely; Google has said it anticipates roughly 20% of its workforce will continue to telecommute full-time. (https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-will-allow-many-employees-to-work-remotely-indefinitely/ )

With unemployment levels historically low in tech professions, and the cycle for filling technical roles stretching longer, leaders are hoping the incoming generation of technologists can backfill attrition driven by the Great Resignation. Gen Z, or those born after 1997, according to Pew Research, represents a pool of largely untapped, incoming talent. Three in every 10 members of Gen Z say software developer is the role they are most interested in after graduating college, according to a survey of 1,000 people between the ages of 19-24 conducted by CloudBees. A sizable percentage of "Zoomers" (another moniker for Gen Z) plan to pursue a career in technology. But to attract and retain the incoming wave of technologists into their ranks, companies must be able to compete in three critical areas: company culture, compensation, and career growth. (https://www.ciodive.com/news/gen-z-tech-talent-retention/607859/)

Legislation to bar internet companies from favoring their own products on their platforms is gaining more support, in what could be a potential threat to the business models of tech giants like Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. Bipartisan Senate legislation announced last week would prohibit dominant platforms from favoring their own products or services, a practice known as self-preferencing. It would also bar these dominant platforms from discriminating among business users in a way that materially harms competition.
In particular, the bill would prohibit a range of practices that are harmful to businesses and consumers, such as requiring a business to buy a dominant platform's goods or services in exchange for preferred placement; misusing a business's data in order to compete against it; biasing search results in favor of the dominant firm; and unfairly preventing another business's product from inter-operating with the dominant platform. The House Judiciary Committee passed a similar bill earlier this year, although in some respects the Senate bill would be somewhat tougher. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/effort-to-bar-tech-companies-from-self-preferencing-gains-traction-11634202000)

A newly developed bipedal robot can seamlessly switch between walking and flying, and it's the combination of these two skills that really sets this futuristic machine apart. LEONARDO, or LEO for short, is still a Caltech prototype - a kind of proof-of-concept to see if a bipedal flying robot can perform tasks that would otherwise be difficult or impossible for ground robots or aerial drones to accomplish on their own. In the future, a full-fledged version could be tasked with difficult or dangerous jobs, such as inspecting and repairing damaged infrastructure, installing new equipment in hard-to-reach places, or attending to natural disasters and industrial accidents. (https://gizmodo.com/creepy-new-drone-that-walks-and-flies-is-a-robopocalyps-1847809268)

Best Buy has agreed to acquire Current Health, a U.K. tech company that helps with remote patient monitoring and telehealth. With the move, Best Buy is pushing further into healthcare - a sector that CEO Corie Barry frequently describes as a growth opportunity. She has pointed to several trends that work in the retailer's favor, such as the desire of many baby boomers to age at home, the healthcare industry's need to manage costs and the popularity of watches and other tech that tracks people's health. (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/12/best-buy-is-acquiring-british-health-care-company-current-health.html)

207 East Memory Lane
Santa Ana, CA 92705

Phone: 714-245-2400 | Fax: (714) 245-1428
Email: [email protected]