When Down Means Up: Retooling the Oil Industry

The medium salary for U.S. Taxi drivers is only $33,034, according to salary.com. Under threat from Uber and driverless cars, the traditional taxi industry is facing a bleak future. In this episode, I will speak with Dr. Sheng-Tsung Hou, the Director at the Center for Service Innovation and Mobility Design (SIMD), who has spent years studying the taxi industry in Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. We will discuss the innovative system in Singapore which Uber emulated as well as the turnaround story of a Taiwanese taxi company that became the first ride-hailing firm in the world to go IPO. He will share his thoughts on Uber's next move and what taxi companies can do to compete in a world of increasing digitalization and monopolies.

U.S. students are improving in math and science, but are still lagging behind their counterparts in many other countries. One of the reasons for the poor performance is funding inequality. About half of our education funding for public schools comes from local property taxes, resulting in large disparities in funding between wealthy and impoverished communities. This is a sharp contrast to the situations in other developed countries where school districts typically receive equal funding on the basis of the number of students enrolled, regardless of local wealth. Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF) is pioneering new solutions to help students and teachers meet these challenges. The foundation has helped students achieve dramatic improvement in math and science. In this episode, Muhammed Chaudhry, President and CEO for SVEF, will discuss their approach to help students achieve their full potential in the critical areas.

The travel industry is the world’s largest employer. Several trends are reshaping the industry. The sharing economy for example, is blurring the line between hotels and short term rentals. As hotels and airlines take control of their own inventory, and turn away from third-party sites such as Expedia, will more travel search engines and other players look toward the home sharing market for growth? Please join me and Jen O’Neal, CEO and Founder of Tripping.com, to explore the changing face of the hospitality industry.

With the business environment becoming more competitive than ever, many companies are wrapped-up in the notion that if they don’t grow rapidly, they will not survive. Magazines are full of top 10 lists that measure success by size and wealth. In this episode, Inc’s editor at large, Bo Burlingham, will talk about his book, Small Giants, in which he discusses companies that strive to be great instead of big and define their own success. We will gain insight into how these companies thrive by creating a positive impact on the businesses and the lives of the people that they come in contact with.

Many technologies are designed to conquer nature or natural events. But now we’re seeing businesses in wide range of industries look to nature for innovative ideas. Biomimicry takes inspiration from nature to solve human problems, and has attracted the attention of companies such as Apple and IDEO. The number of innovations based on biomimicry design is on the rise. Chris Allen, CEO of Biomimicry 3.8, and Anthony Brennan, CTO of Sharklet, will provide insight into this emerging sector, its impact on innovation and its future.

Insurance has become a commodity for many people but that’s about to change with innovative startups entering the market. Executives in the industry are expecting digital technology to transform the marketplace within the next few years, according to a study by Accenture. This week, we will take a look at Metromile to get a glimpse of the innovations that are happening in the insurance business. Tina Wong, Director of Marketing at Metromile, will join me to discuss their business strategy and the future of the insurance industry.

Thanks to the growing Hispanic population, soccer’s popularity continues to climb in the US. In addition, it now ranks as the second favorite sport among Americans age 12-24, according to the new ESPN/Luker poll. David Kaval, President of San Jose Earthquakes, will join me to discuss the business strategies that have helped boost season ticket sales by 42%. We will also explore the new technologies that are helping to reinvent the in-stadium experience and innovate the business of sports entertainment.

How do the world’s savviest talent judges find superior talent? In this fast-changing global market, great talent is the key for companies maintaining competitiveness. George Anders, the Pulitzer Prize winner and top writer for The Wall Street Journal and Forbes, will share with us insight from his new book, “The Rare Find. We'll also hear from Joy McGovern, Head of Client Services of Global Mindset Institute at Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management. She'll discuss what some companies are doing to address the increasingly urgent need for global leaders who can manage the challenges in the new world environment.

How do you take a growing business serving a few markets, and scale it up to meet the increasing demand for you products while motivating your team to cope with change and limited resources? This is one of the biggest challenges for successful and fast-growing companies. In this episode, Nanette Miller, Partner at Marcum LLP, and Juli Betwee, Managing Partner of Pivot Point Partners, will offer their advice on how to overcome growing pains and take your business to the next level.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recently said that while mobile is the key platform of today, virtual reality will be one of the major platforms of tomorrow. He predicts that virtual reality technology can change the way we work, play and communicate. The technology had been associated mostly with gaming but new applications are being developed rapidly. Business Insider estimates shipments of VR headsets will grow at a 99% compound annual growth rate between 2015 and 2020, and the market could be as big as $2.8 billion by 2020. This week, Beck Besecker, CEO of MarxentLabs, and Aaron Hilton, Executive Chairman of Conquer Mobile, join me to discuss the reasons behind the new interest in VR technology and the key players’ race to build a dominating ecosystem.