[00:00:00] Speaker A: I think everyone's gonna have to turn into a manager.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: It's a way for us to honor New Jersey inventors.
[00:00:05] Speaker C: We develop technology that's Iot Internet of things.
[00:00:09] Speaker D: I'm Richard Gearhart.
[00:00:10] Speaker E: And I'm Elizabeth Gearhart. You just heard some snippets from our show. It was a great one. Stay tuned, especially if you want to start a new business.
[00:00:20] Speaker F: Ramping up your business.
[00:00:21] Speaker D: The time is near. You've given it heart, now get it in gear. It's Passage to Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart. I'm Richard Gear Gearhart, founder of Gearhart Law, a full service intellectual property law firm specializing in patents, trademarks and copyrights.
[00:00:38] Speaker E: And I'm Elizabeth Gearhart, not an attorney, but I do marketing for Gearhart Law and I have my own startups and podcasts.
[00:00:44] Speaker D: Welcome to Passage to Profit the Road to Entrepreneurship, where we talk with entrepreneurs and celebrities who tell their stories about their business journey and also share helpful insights about the successes that they've had.
[00:00:57] Speaker E: Did you know that 2 in 5Americans want to start a new business or are business owners? Well, we have lots of information to help them too.
[00:01:04] Speaker D: And we also talk a little about the intellectual property that helps them flourish. We have a really amazing guy, his name is Matt Wright. He's very much into AI. He's worked with Gaia, and we really look forward to hearing from him.
[00:01:17] Speaker E: And then we have two wonderful guests as well. Kim Case. She is executive Director of the Research and Development Council of New Jersey and also president of CN Communications. She has got some great entrepreneur stories to tell. And Jasna Ostich with Podular Us, an incredible inventor with just a very cool invention. So stay tuned.
[00:01:39] Speaker D: But before we get to our distinguished guests, it's time for your new business journey. Two in five Americans want to start a business or are already business owners. And we ask our panel every week a question that we think our listeners would like to hear the answer to. So this week we're going to ask, what are the common leadership mistakes that can cause your team to sink? So let's go to Matt. Tell us what are some mistakes that can screw up your team?
[00:02:07] Speaker A: I think the one common denominator that builds strong teams is having aligned goals and principles and making sure that everyone's on a mission. Peer to peer. Technology is where you do some form of work and you can get paid in any geography without some sort of friction.
[00:02:19] Speaker D: That's great. Kim, what are your thoughts? What could happen to sink a team?
[00:02:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I think from my perspective, it's really Hiring for the right fit at the end of the day. So I really think you have a gut feeling during the interview process whether or not somebody is a good fit. And I really don't think you should try to fit a circle in a square at the end of the day. So you really need to check your candidate well, maybe give a trial period and then make a decision moving forward that's really going to give your team the best outcome.
[00:02:46] Speaker D: Jasna, what are your thoughts?
[00:02:48] Speaker C: Conflict resolution. Team members get into disputes and they can sometimes hold feelings towards the project if you don't solve that problem as it arises.
[00:02:58] Speaker D: Elizabeth?
[00:02:59] Speaker E: I was going to say communication, that's a tightrope that business owners walk because you don't want to communicate too much. Like you're not going to tell everybody everyone's salaries. Right. But you want to communicate enough that people feel safe and that they feel motivated. So getting the communication right, I think if you don't get the communication right, that's a really difficult thing. But important.
[00:03:23] Speaker D: Yeah, communication is key. And if you don't do it right or enough of it, it really can sink your team. I think one of the things that can sink your team is just a lack of honesty. I've seen a lot of companies fail because their management just doesn't feel like they can be honest with their team members for one reason. So a lot of good input. Thank you very much. And now it's time for our first interviewee, Mr. Matt Wright. He's from Gaia and EVM Capital. He's really wrapped up into this artificial intelligence, crypto, blockchain stuff. So very much a guy of the future. Let's talk a little bit about the future of AI and the future of work. Tell us about what you do.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: We're building living knowledge systems right now. There's a lot of centralized or big AI companies that are taking your data and they're doing who knows what with it. It's not to say they're doing anything bad or dangerous, but we just don't know. It's hard to trust what is actually happening with your data. There's all kinds of IP problems happening. There's censorship of the AI by a small group of people in Silicon Valley or dc. What we're doing is creating more open systems where you can take your data, put that against AI and monetize it.
[00:04:31] Speaker E: Over time, it does seem like AI is taking over every nook and cranny of our lives. You're trying to help developers figure out how to use AI. What is that going to look like. So people have been programming. And it's funny because, like, I feel like with ChatGPT, for instance, I'm being trained to speak in the language of whomever program chatgpt, because I have to ask the question the right way to get the answer I want. I feel like if you're a developer today and you're not learning AI and knowing how to use it, you're not going to be a developer tomorrow. Right?
[00:05:04] Speaker A: This is a great question. So we are taking what centralized AI does in a giant box as their company and we're breaking apart in different components. So developers are having the opportunity to have a more modular experience where they can build this in a way that works better for their data sets or perhaps how they structure their compute. And then for end users, ultimately, you know, we will get to interact with AI in a way that is open and works in a way that we want to interact with it. It's a lot more of a collaborative experience. So we've deployed 195,000 of these AI agents in the past four months.
[00:05:37] Speaker D: So what is an AI agent?
[00:05:39] Speaker A: So imagine a ChatGPT that itself is an app, but imagine a bunch of different instances or versions of what you're interfacing with.
[00:05:46] Speaker D: You know, it's so interesting that we're talking about this because it's like with AI we need a whole new language.
[00:05:52] Speaker A: For us, we see a world where there will be workers who collaborate with AI agents that perhaps do all the busy work you don't want to do. You know, I think everyone's going to have to turn into a manager of sorts.
[00:06:02] Speaker D: I think in the legal profession it is going to eventually create a fair.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: Amount of change to say flat out that it would replace the job of a lawyer. You know, I don't think that's quite the case. I think it will make our jobs a lot easier. I think jobs will change dramatically.
[00:06:18] Speaker E: I do think you're right. I think it's. We're all going to turn into managers.
[00:06:21] Speaker D: Yeah, but you are right. We have always put a premium on singularity. Would a genius do something better on AI than, you know, normal person?
[00:06:32] Speaker A: And that's why we bring in the blockchain piece, because you can actually create finite provable works on a blockchain. And we have a project that's taking two artists historical works and using AI to build a new work, like a collaboration, and then that's creating a token, essentially. And so it's crazy, like new stuff will happen.
[00:06:50] Speaker E: So who owns that then?
[00:06:52] Speaker A: Probably like the family of Picasso, we'll get the royalties.
[00:06:57] Speaker E: I think in the medical industry, AI really can be valuable because it can read a chart or not a chart, but it can read like a scan, like an MRI or anything, and probably find things like the one you had six months ago to the one you had today. Find things that maybe the naked eye couldn't find. Right.
[00:07:15] Speaker D: You're listening to Passage to Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhardt. We have a really amazing guy, Matt Wright from Gaia and EVM Capital. He's very much into AI. Just to play devil's advocate, though, I've said this. There was a research group in Europe that used AI to generate individual medicinal compounds that were poisoned. And they used the AI software to generate over 40,000 compounds that would kill a human being. And many of them would not be detectable after the death of the person. So there is a downside to this too, right?
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Yeah, we're in a new paradigm. Like we work on open source AI models. So one of the biggest models we use is provided free by meta, like Facebook, it's called Llama. And there's a lot of folks in the space who kind of take two sides of the philosophy of is it good to have this open technology? Is it better to have it controlled by a small entity? Like Imagine OpenAI, they have a whole team that interfaces with different government organizations, top secret clearance, et cetera. It's really a philosophy of technology. Should it be open or closed? We've had similar challenges in the past with Linux and Bitcoin as open technologies. But I think back then it was like, could you use open software to build your own airplane or like, medical device? Less likely now it's like, can you build your own, you know, like Anthrax? It's. It's scary. It's scary. Like, yeah, that's how powerful the tech is.
[00:08:44] Speaker D: So do you believe that AI should be regulated?
[00:08:46] Speaker A: I do think it should be regulated at a certain level. I think the software itself should be open. But I do believe those that are using it, or perhaps, you know, those that are putting it into application, there should be some sort of oversight.
[00:09:01] Speaker E: I do think that some of the jobs that the AI community needs are psychologists and people that can help normal people that aren't programmers be able to use the AI and use the interfaces and have it make sense to them in some way. Because I think there's a big disconnect there. Like people that are really good at tech, they're like, oh, yeah, this means this. There are a Lot of people that don't even want to pick up a computer because it's like, I'm not really sure where to start. Right. I mean, there has to be this sort of user interface and I know they've done that in the past, but I think that this is going to be really important going forward.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: I think that's going to be a big boom is when I think there's this next evolution where folks need to onboard to new jobs. Yeah.
[00:09:43] Speaker D: Another impact area is social media. I mean, social media is almost like crack for so many people. It is like for me. But as AI becomes more integrated with some of the algorithms, it's going to be even more addictive, I think, and they're going to be better able to hit your hot buttons. Right. And keep you focused on these things. And so I wonder, is that really good for us in the long run?
[00:10:10] Speaker A: You know, I don't think so. And that's why, you know, X or Twitter, like, I'm not a fan of it these days. It is chaos. But. And I think if we have more open systems, there's going to be on the other side, perhaps AI that helps us filter out all that noise, you know, so it makes our lives a bit easier. I think there's a world where it can collaborate with us, it can kind of protect us from the air that's trying to, you know, come into our life.
[00:10:32] Speaker E: I think there do need to be some laws around it. I feel like it's like the financial industry. There's a lot of money in the AI industry. A lot. So I feel like the way the financial industry is regulated, I don't know that it needs to be that strict. Although it seems like it's very wild west right now in AI. I do think there need to be regulations around it from the government because AI has a lot of control over our lives and we did not elect any of these people that are controlling our lives. Right. So our representatives need to go put some safeguards in place for us.
[00:11:03] Speaker D: Yeah, I agree. And I mean for our audience, if you've never experienced AI or actually used it, I mean, I would encourage you to go to your computer and type in chatgpt and just play with it for a few minutes and see what it is all about and what happens. I mean, I was kind of a slow adopter of the Internet. It was out there for like five years before I even started looking at it, because I didn't think it was relevant to my life and I think that was a mistake. So you should really just give it a try and see what it's like.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: I've at least noticed there's this whole thing in the college world, perhaps even high school, where folks are getting in trouble for perhaps using AI to, like, fix their answer, their tests, do their papers. That was the same thing I was facing in high school, et cetera, on like, don't Google this thing. And then now it's like a core component of my work. So like, so like, and I know how to use Google like a, you know, like crazy. I know how to type, you know, and use apps. And so I think the next generation of folks entering the workforce, maybe that's negative in education space right now, but that may be a strength in like.
[00:12:07] Speaker E: The next workforce, kind of like these kids that are gamers that are suddenly making millions of dollars droning.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: And it's crazy.
[00:12:14] Speaker D: So anyway, we have to wrap up this segment. We'll be back with more from Matt Wright right after this commercial break. You're listening to Passage to Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhardt. Stay tuned for Secrets of the Entrepreneurial Mind, coming up. Later in the program.
[00:12:30] Speaker G: If you've turned 65 recently like me, it's important you find a Medicare Advantage plan that gives you the coverage you're looking for. But finding one can be difficult. The best thing I did, and I suggest you do the same, is call a licensed insurance agent and let them walk you through your Medicare Advantage plan options. There are so many benefits you have access to, so make the call now and let the representatives explain everything to you. Our licensed insurance agents can offer you a variety of Medicare Advantage plans, plus, the call is free, the information is free, and there's no obligation to enroll. Role we're here to make it easy for you to select a Medicare Advantage plan that may work for your needs. Finding a Medicare Advantage plan can be easy if you do what I did. Make a quick call right now to learn more. Thank you.
[00:13:16] Speaker H: 8004-2548-0380-0425-4803,800-425-4803.
That's 800425 4803. Are you running a small business with two or more employees struggling to find affordable health insurance? Well, help is just a call away. Whether you're a restaurant owner, retail store manager or a gig worker with staff, we've got you covered. Get quality health insurance plans starting as low as $120 a month. Our custom comparison tool finds plans tailored specifically to your business. We know it can be tough to Find the right coverage. That's why we're here, to make the process seamless and stress free. Our plans include health, vision and dental coverage, all at unbeatable rates. Call the Small Business Health Insurance hotline now. We'll compare top providers to get you the best deal in one quick phone call. Don't wait. Secure the benefits you and your employees deserve today. Call now. Rates may vary based on location and coverage options. 8024-912084-80249-1208, 480-249120.
That's 802-491-2084.
[00:14:29] Speaker G: Now back to passage to profit once.
[00:14:32] Speaker E: Again, Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart and our special guest, Matt Wright. And we have been talking about AI, its impact on people and society and kind of what's going on in the field right now. Matt's an expert, so we're going to continue this conversation with Matt. One of our guests here had a very interesting question. Our policymakers really need to be involved to protect us from nefarious individuals or nefarious AI itself. How do we convince them or get them on board and get them to even understand what we're talking about?
[00:15:03] Speaker A: I think first you said that they got to download ChatGPT, see what it's about, maybe, but I think they'll realize pretty quick that they probably can't put a lot of their work in there because I think here, like it took us seven years to really have some progress in government, at least in the US on crypto. And so like AI is going to be this next challenge, which I think we're just getting started.
[00:15:25] Speaker D: So when we put information on the Internet and then chatgpt or one of these search engines finds it and uses it to answer a ChatGPT question from somebody else. When we put information on there, how does it find it? How does it know where to go? What's the likelihood that somebody's going to find it and share that with somebody else?
[00:15:46] Speaker A: Yeah, if it's on a, in public domain like the large language models, like the AIs, it depends what company you're talking about. But like most companies that have their own large language model are training these things on publicly available data, if your data is public, then yeah, it's, it's likely. We're really only seeing the tip of the iceberg of data that's accessed. But a lot of these large corporations, they're not willing to put that data out in public.
[00:16:10] Speaker D: In the legal profession, we have companies contacting us all the time saying, well, you can write your patent applications using AI, but then I have serious reservations of putting my clients inventions and technology into this mass database that anybody else could use. I mean, that's a violation of our confidentiality requirements. So it's going to be a while, I think, before you can use AI for anything that's really super sensitive.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: There needs to be a conversation with politicians, especially on how this technology is evolving so that when there comes to be regulation, it's not biased or uneducated.
[00:16:47] Speaker E: You really do need to take a look at AI now because it has been around for a while now. It's not going away and it's in aspects of your life you don't even know about. Even in jobs where, say you're a plumber, you're going to have instruments that will use an AI program to check the sewer lines or whatever and find out where the clog is or whatever it is. And then, yeah, you'll go fix it, but you're still going to have to use AI in your job.
[00:17:09] Speaker A: The guidance probably will be AI automated so this person can have more time to spend with their customer or perhaps, you know, just more time to focus on their work.
[00:17:17] Speaker D: That's great. This has been a great discussion. Matt Wright from Gaia and EVM Capital. Where can people find you?
[00:17:24] Speaker A: People can find me on LinkedIn or Twitter. Matt Wright, Gaia G A I A and you'll find me there.
[00:17:30] Speaker E: Great Passage to Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart.
[00:17:33] Speaker D: It's time now for Intellectual Property News. And guess what? We're going to be talking about AI, right?
[00:17:38] Speaker E: This one I find hilarious. This comes to us from China and it's a copyright infringement case involving an AI generated image. So the plaintiff used a text to image generative AI model, which generative just means it makes a picture out of AI, Right?
[00:17:53] Speaker D: Right.
[00:17:54] Speaker E: To generate a picture and then somebody else took the picture and used it without their permission. And so they're suing and saying, hey, you used my copyrighted content, but they got the content from AI.
It's kind of like do as I say, not as I do.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: Right?
[00:18:09] Speaker D: Do your own AI thing. Okay? Don't, don't, don't do my AI thing.
[00:18:14] Speaker E: Which is funny because you can generate AI images in Canva. You've probably done that, right Matt?
[00:18:18] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:18:19] Speaker E: And they come out different every time. So you have to kind of save them in your Canva account because you'll never see it again. Right.
[00:18:24] Speaker A: These poor lawyers, in the future they're going to be suing robots I know.
[00:18:28] Speaker D: My head is already swimming. There are so many AI controversies now. They're just. And there's so many different ways. You're going to need AI to keep track of all of the AI cases.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:18:38] Speaker E: AI is going to be writing all the bills in Congress.
[00:18:42] Speaker D: But anyway, the Chinese court, they had a valid copyright in this, even though it was created with AI. And they said the person who created the copyright or the AI image typed in their own special stuff. They created the prompt to create the logo, and they said this person has a copyright in it. You know, if somebody else wants to use it, they can't. It'd be very interesting to see how that shakes out in the United States. But I wanted to ask some of our guests what you think about this situation. So, Jasnah, what do you think about all of this stuff?
[00:19:15] Speaker C: I am actually excited about AI because it can be used in our food service industry. I wrote some technology and food service apps where you would place an order and pay and all the fulfillment. So the AI is actually enhancing the technology by predicting what you ordered last time and just building on that. So actually, in our industry, it's an exciting time. And we're also working with robots right now. There's these coffee robots, robots that can make your food. They can do all kinds of things. So I'm excited about that. I'm thinking of incorporating robots into my stands.
[00:19:54] Speaker E: We're going to have to talk about that.
[00:19:57] Speaker D: So, Kim, what are your thoughts?
[00:19:59] Speaker B: The first thing I thought of when you brought up that case was the property concept of adverse possession and really squatters rights. Right. So you can take somebody's property, it's not rightly yours, but there's a mechanism by which you can. Then it becomes your own property. So that really is the same concept. And look where that's played out, you know, forever. How long has that been a part of property law?
[00:20:18] Speaker E: So that's a super good point because there are stories all the time about squatters basically stealing houses from people. Right?
[00:20:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:24] Speaker D: Matt, what is your thought on this case?
[00:20:28] Speaker A: It's really hard to know where the intellectual property is coming from. It's hard to know what it's being used for.
[00:20:34] Speaker D: It's just really tough for IP in the news. I guess the moral of the story is watch your copyrights. You're listening to Passage to Profit. And we'll be back after this. Stay tuned for Secrets of the Entrepreneurial Mind.
[00:20:48] Speaker I: Learn how thousands of smart homeowners are investing about a dollar to avoid expensive home repair bills. John, a former Non customer said, my air conditioner broke and I had to spend nineteen hundred dollars to fix it. Jeff A customer wrote, my air conditioner broke and I got a new one at no out of pocket cost. Mary, a former non customer, wrote, my heating system stopped running. I had to spend $3,000 to get a new one. Lisa A customer wrote, my heater stopped working. I got it fixed at no out of pocket cost. For about $1 a day, you can have all the major appliances and systems in your home guaranteed fixed or replaced. Call now. If the lines are busy, please call back.
[00:21:30] Speaker H: Call the home warranty Hotline now at 8002-5549-4080-0255-4940 800-255-4940.
That's 800-255-4940.
[00:21:46] Speaker F: Are you looking for the cheapest prices on car insurance? Then call the cheap car insurance hotline right now. Hey, you're guaranteed to save money on your car insurance. Most car insurances can be canceled at any time. That means if you find a better deal, you can switch right away. We're not just one company. We offer most of the major brands of insurance. We're like a discount supermarket for car insurance. And it doesn't matter if you have a good record or a bad driving record. Our agents are experts at finding you the right car insurance for your needs. Our average customer saves hundreds of dollars a year when they call us to switch. So why don't you make this 100% free call right now and see how much you can save on Your car insurance?
[00:22:31] Speaker H: 8004-3067-2280-0430-6722, 430-6722.
That's 800-430-6722.
[00:22:46] Speaker D: Passage to Prophet continues with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart. Elizabeth, what have you been up to?
[00:22:52] Speaker E: I have a few projects going on, as always. I have a podcast I do with Danielle Woolley. It's about Cats. The Jersey Podcast. Podcast is still going strong. We're having fun with it. I've been learning a lot of new stuff about YouTube and podcasting. That's kind of what I'm doing these days, and so I think I can make it a lot better. And then also the studio and the meetup. So I started a meetup with Stacy Sherman called podcast and YouTube creators community to see if there was an interest in podcasting. So then we would remodel our studio. If there was, we wouldn't spend the money. If there wasn't so we've had a lot of people come to the meetup. We do it on Zoom and in person. So there's a lot of interest in this field if you're looking for a place to do something new. And then the studio, we've been remodeling it. It's coming along. We're hoping to have it done by the end of the year. We have people that come to the meetup every month just to see how the studio's doing. So we've been working really hard on that. But enough about my projects. We have two amazing guests left to interview. Kim Case, Esq. Is the executive director of the Research and Development Council of New Jersey and also the President of CN Communications. And you can find her
[email protected] Kim, you have a lot of great stories and a lot of good information about what's going on. So please tell us your story.
[00:24:13] Speaker B: Yeah. So we are in the month of celebration. We do the Thomas Edison Patton Awards program every year, and it's really exciting for us. It's a way for us to honor New Jersey inventors from across the state, the inventors and their organizations, and obviously the unique work that they're creating. We will be at Bellworks. We'll have about 300 attendees who will be there celebrating 14 interesting and exciting patents. And then we have five individual award winners who are very, very amazing. I think something that's really cool. We started to dig in some data. Over the last 10 years, we've honored 650 inventors. Exactly. So that's pretty cool. And then we also have raised almost $2 million in funds to support STEM education and workforce development initiatives.
[00:24:58] Speaker D: A celebration of patents. What could be better than that?
[00:25:02] Speaker E: How many patents did Thomas Edison have? Us? Over a thousand.
[00:25:05] Speaker B: 10? 93 is like the number that I'm seeing when you ask that question is.
[00:25:09] Speaker D: That I would have loved to been his patent person. Right. That was a gold mine there.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: I think he would have nickel and dimed you, though, so really efficiently.
[00:25:17] Speaker E: Yes. So he did most of his work in New Jersey or did he do all of it there?
[00:25:20] Speaker B: I mean, he did almost all of his work in New Jersey. The lab in West Orange actually is incredible. If you ever chance to go there. It's a national park. It's really a point of inspiration. And that's actually where we film tribute films for all of our inventors annually. So it's very exciting.
[00:25:36] Speaker D: It's interesting because of all of those patents. Thomas Edison had a lot of significant inventions, but I don't think he had like a thousand. Right. So the patents don't always protect something that actually makes it to the marketplace. But obviously a great inventor and the patents that protected the good stuff I think ended up being pretty valuable.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:58] Speaker B: And I mean, it dates back so far in New Jersey history. Like, there's so much research and development that has gone on here. Like, we really are the innovation state. I know people like to highlight Silicon Valley, but the transistor was invented in New Jersey at Bell Labs. And that's. The silicon part was also here. William Shockley's lab moved out there afterwards, but it really started here in New Jersey.
[00:26:18] Speaker E: Right. And I know Richard does work with Rutgers and the medical research going on at Rutgers is groundbreaking.
[00:26:25] Speaker B: It's incredible. I mean, really, when kids are thinking about where they want to pursue higher education, I mean, Rutgers really has to be top on their list. I say that as a two time graduate though, also of Rutgers. But we're actually honoring two patents from Rutgers this year at our patent awards program. And one of them is about a diagnostic for tuberculosis. And it really is an easy way to help diagnose tuberculosis in areas that are challenged in terms of their medical diagnostic capabilities.
[00:26:50] Speaker E: Does it use AI?
[00:26:51] Speaker B: It doesn't. I don't know if it uses AI.
[00:26:53] Speaker D: Yes, they'll work it in there somehow.
[00:26:55] Speaker E: You know, it'll get worse.
[00:26:56] Speaker D: So you have an event coming up. What is the date of the event?
[00:26:59] Speaker B: So it's November 21st at Bell Works in Holmdel, which is the former Bell Labs.
[00:27:04] Speaker D: Okay, tell us a little bit about some of the other people that you're going to be honoring and some of the other inventions.
[00:27:09] Speaker B: Of the five individual award winners, I really want to highlight the Visionary Award, which is going to Chris Paladino, who's the president of Devco in New Brunswick, and you mentioned Rutgers. And I think what's going on at the Helix and really that life sciences corridor that's happening there is pretty incredible. We're also honoring with the Science and Technology medal Brian Kernighan, who's a professor at Princeton University and also was a former bellworks person. And he really is a computer science entrepreneur, innovator, researcher. Really incredible story from him. Judith Sheff is the executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology. She's going to be honored as our Catalyst Award, which is the first year we're giving this award. And I don't think anybody could find somebody better than Judith in the state of New Jersey. So we have a lot of different inventors that we're honoring. We have a lot of different companies. Exxon Mobil, Bristol Myers, Squibbly, Rutgers, Princeton. There's a whole bunch of them. A lot of them are repeaters. And we really don't struggle to find patents to be nominated every year. And we're excited to see everybody again.
[00:28:13] Speaker D: That's great. So how long have you been doing this awards ceremony and how did it get started?
[00:28:18] Speaker B: So not me myself, but this is the 45th Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award ceremony. I myself have been doing this. This will be my 13th ceremony that we're doing. It really got started because of the Research and Development Council wanting to highlight what's going on in the state of New Jersey and really try to the state and really expose not only to the public about what's going on in innovation, but to the research industry amongst each other. Right. What is going on in industry, what is going on in academia, what is going on in government? Are they really talking to one another? And that's really the essence of why the Research and Development Council started. And this annual celebration really brings all of that to light.
[00:28:55] Speaker E: That's excellent. And I do want to just interject here a little bit. Even though this is all about New Jersey, which is a very innovative place. Patents are federal, so the work being done in New Jersey has an impact really around the world, honestly, with the new medicines, with the new technologies. But they do get a federal patent, so it's pretty good honor. How many do you start with? Like you have to call it down to 300, right?
[00:29:19] Speaker B: Yeah. So every year we do an open nomination process. We have a group of researchers who get together. We have a couple of areas that we look at. We look at the significance of the problem, the socioeconomic, the utility, the novelty, the commercial impact, and they take it very, very, very seriously. Looking at all of these different patent nominations and then do a grading system and then come up with the top runners. There usually is a clear line of who are the haves and sort of the have nots. It's really an incredible process. But to your point about New Jersey really being global when it comes to innovation. So our vision is growing stem advancing innovation, impacting the world. And really, when you think about dating back to when all of this innovation started, companies like Johnson and Johnson. Right. How far a reach is like the band aid. Right. Everybody knows that. So it's so incredible. Right? And it's so incredible that we have that here in New Jersey and really have to treasure it and amplify that.
[00:30:14] Speaker D: Message when we Talked before the show, you were talking about some of your favorite inventors.
[00:30:20] Speaker B: The one story that I had mentioned was John Mooney, who is the inventor of the three Way catalytic converter. So he is really a great Jersey story. Born in Patterson, lived in Wyckoff, worked at pseg, went to Seton hall, then went to njit. Right. These are all New Jersey places. And then went to Engelhard, which is now basf, to work in the emissions space. And he invented the three way catalytic converter. And I was very young in my career when we first honored him, and so I was really just doing my best to get as much information on our winners as possible. So when I called him up and told him he was going to be honored, he asked me to come to his house to look through his pictures, to pull things for a tribute film that we were doing. So I said, okay. I went to his house and I sat at the table with him, his wife, and one of his daughters. And so we go there, we pull these pictures out. But then they. The daughters are telling me of the story about how they used to be driving the car around the block so they could log enough miles so that they could have, like, a good product at the end of the day. Like, is this device working? Right? Is this invention working? Is it really capturing, you know, the bad things that are coming out of cars? And I thought that was just so incredible. But he also came to the ceremony with his whole family flanked around him, and they just adored him and his work. And we're so honored to have him as their father and doing this work in New Jersey. And he didn't stop there. I mean, he went. He worked with the U.N. he went all across the globe because he had to convince car dealers to use this device. Right. That it was good for them.
[00:31:46] Speaker E: So it removes toxins from the exhaustive vehicles, basically.
[00:31:49] Speaker B: Right, right, right.
[00:31:49] Speaker D: And there was a lot of pushback on that. I remember, like, why do we need these? It reduces gas mileage and all this other stuff. But you think about how much junk would be put into the air if somebody hadn't come up with something like that solved a real problem.
[00:32:04] Speaker B: And he actually perfected it so it improved gas mileage ultimately. So even though that was a problem to start, he actually resolved that. He also won the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, so that was also very exciting.
[00:32:15] Speaker D: Well, that's a very inspiring story and obviously a very smart person, but kind of maybe an ordinary person, too, in the sense that, you know, he used his engineering skills to make a Big.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: Impact and I would say just passionate and finding the right platform and place for himself to really drive what he was interested in. That's what I would say about him for sure.
[00:32:35] Speaker E: The whole idea of the patent is that people do get rewarded for doing something that benefits society and they get to support themselves and do more of that. Because if you couldn't protect your work and your ideas with a patent to block everybody from copying you and just selling it for, you know, a couple bucks cheaper, then you wouldn't have the money to go do the next project. Right, Right.
[00:32:56] Speaker B: And you're saying that almost from an individual perspective. Right. But it's the corporate perspective too, is right to protect that work so that you can continue to invest in research and development.
[00:33:05] Speaker D: Right. And the other part of it too is that as part of your patent you're writing up the invention and you're telling people how to do it. And so people can read this and they can learn from it and they can make the next iteration. Whereas in the past the concern was that people would keep the technology to themselves and that would slow the pace of innovation.
[00:33:29] Speaker B: So the system is working well, it seems to.
[00:33:31] Speaker D: The US has one of the most innovative economies in the world and it also has one of the strongest patent systems. So there could absolutely be a connection there.
[00:33:41] Speaker E: Kim Case, executive director of the Research and Development Council of New Jersey and also the president of CN Communications.
[00:33:48] Speaker D: Where can people find you, Kim?
[00:33:50] Speaker B: So you can go to rdnj.org, which is the Research and Development Council of New Jersey's website. We're also on Twitter. We're also on LinkedIn.
[00:33:57] Speaker D: Well, thank you very much for joining us.
[00:33:59] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:33:59] Speaker E: Right, and if you really are interested in innovation, great place to follow.
[00:34:03] Speaker D: And for all your intellectual property needs, patents, trademarks and copying rights, make sure you check out Gerhardt Law. Our website is readily available and you can book a consultation with one of our attorneys.
[00:34:14] Speaker E: You can go to learn more about.
[00:34:15] Speaker D: Patents.Com youm could do that and download.
[00:34:17] Speaker E: A white paper and download a white.
[00:34:19] Speaker D: Paper Passage to Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhardt.
[00:34:23] Speaker E: Now we are on to Yana Ostych. Full disclosure. She is a Gearhart Law client. She has a very cool modular system for events. It's called Podular P O D U L A R and the website is Podular us. So Yasna, please tell us all about it.
[00:34:40] Speaker C: My Podular system is a modular sectional 12 foot around bar. So it's like a little kitchen. It's a whole system that can serve as a Food service counter. But it can be a cooking demonstration system. It's made for urban spaces. So people have asked me, why not a food truck? Well, food trucks, you can't pull up to the 57th floor. And so this thing you can put in your elevator in sections, in quarter sections and take it up to wherever, even a rooftop, and set it up and then you can start your business. Like if you're selling beer, you can do under counter beer dispensers. If you're selling juice or smoothie bowls, we have systems that we put together with refrigeration stove top for cooking surface. You can set up a system within hours rather than months, which typically would take six months to build out a restaurant. And it would take you possibly a lot of money, quarter million to half a million to set up a restaurant. So that eliminates that startup cost to a small entrepreneur. Now if you want to set up two or three stands, this is also possible. Like a small food hall. You can put it all together and maybe you want to serve different items, sandwiches or juices or whatever, coffee. You can set it all up into a food hall system in a building lobby or a shopping center or a kiosk. Currently I'm working with the city of Chicago. One person wants to put it in the park. Like a concession stand.
[00:36:16] Speaker E: Yeah, they do that in Bryant Park. Here in New York you're selling to somebody that's in the food industry who wants to have a little pop up restaurant somewhere. Or even a restaurant that stays somewhere, right?
[00:36:26] Speaker C: Yeah, it could be permanent. It doesn't have to be a pop up, it's perfect for pop ups, but you could have it as a permanent fixture. That's your food service counter. Instead of having to order a build out by a carpenter or a whole team, we have UD walls which is patented by Gearhard law and these.
[00:36:47] Speaker D: I'm smiling. I can't help myself.
[00:36:51] Speaker C: All our systems are patented by Gerhard Law, a wonderful attorney, David Pussy Stolsky, who guided me through this step by step system because I didn't know how to go through that process. But we have a utility distribution wall that's hidden under this beautiful surface. And you don't actually see, but there's like wiring, there's plumbing, cold and hot water supply, gray water disposal. All these things are set up so you can have a little kitchen and go and sell your product.
[00:37:22] Speaker D: That sounds great. So where did you come up with the idea for this?
[00:37:26] Speaker C: Well, I was working in the real estate industry as a commercial industrial broker and I was representing clients in a small restaurant space. And I realized everybody was limited to like these huge leases, long term leases. You had to do 10 years, five year lease. And I thought, couldn't it be a little more flexible? Like if I'm starting up a small business, I don't want to be burdened with this huge lease and this huge build out. And I may not have the funds. So I want to start up small. Maybe I want to sell my homemade smoothie bowls or juice packs or whatever it is that I want to sell. How would I sign a 5,000amonth lease? How would I get the money to build all these systems? So I thought maybe I could put it into one system that you can buy and set it up anywhere. And if your business is slow, let's say in New York, you may want to move down to Florida and then sell your products in another location. And you're not obligated to your build out. You may have to renegotiate that lease with your landlord. But at least your build out is ready to go. Put it in a truck and move, right?
[00:38:33] Speaker E: Yes. Now your brain never quits working because you have developed other products since.
[00:38:38] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:38:38] Speaker E: And I want to hear about the robots in the food.
[00:38:43] Speaker C: So we developed technology that goes as an IoT Internet of Things where we have the tech is actually regulating your temperatures in your food service equipment. It's reading the temperatures currently, each individual owner has to go in or the manager with a thermometer. So our technology has built in systems that can read your temperatures, that warn you of failure, tell you when things are dropping, and it can intervene and fix your systems immediately. And you can do this remotely. You can do it on site. We also have order and pay systems. If you're, let's say in a building, your tenants can use this app to order food delivered or drinks or coffee delivered up to their unit. And they don't have to go to the local big chain to buy their coffee, but they can order from you and you can offer it as an amenity. I'm thinking about adding robots to my coffee stands. And that is because there's these cool robots just came out and they match my stands perfectly.
They look beautiful. They're like white and with blue lights.
[00:39:49] Speaker D: I think I've seen videos of them where they're like serving beer and they're talking with the patrons, Right? Like just like in a normal type of voice, right?
[00:39:57] Speaker C: Yes, yes, that's what I wanted to incorporate. So I'm working with a company that builds the robots and they're Going to put them into our stands. So it took me a while to get this off the ground, but we're ready to sell. Anybody wants to order it, go to Podular us and we can talk about how to order this. Send me a message and we can take it from there.
[00:40:19] Speaker B: Do you think schools could do it?
[00:40:20] Speaker C: Yes. I had a program for like school lunches and that would be amazing. Especially the robots that make vegetables and bowls and things like that. You could put that into a school and use our technology apps to order the food, pre order it. So it would cut down your student wait lines because I don't know, I've been in high school and there's like hundreds of kids waiting to pick up their lunch.
[00:40:45] Speaker D: These things can be taken apart and put back together again pretty easily. Right?
[00:40:49] Speaker C: That's the big, big advantage of having something that you can take apart comes together in 12ft. So you can fit like four or five chefs inside the unit, but you can take it apart. I've tried to fit one into an elevator here in New York on fifth Avenue and it fits. One quarter section fits Seems amazing.
[00:41:08] Speaker A: Yeah, like talking to brands. Like I could imagine them wanting to get into those spaces like offices and events.
[00:41:13] Speaker E: So Yaz, are you using a marketing agency to get the word out on these?
[00:41:17] Speaker C: Not yet. I just started with I'm a low budget, self funded bootstrap, so everything, you know, I just started working with a company that outsources marketing to underrepresented countries to help women. So these college graduate women sign up and they do your marketing. It's called iWorker and they'll match you with a person that can help you. And I started doing that recently. So we started doing a little more social media, a little more presence, because.
[00:41:46] Speaker E: I feel like if you could put the pictures of these everywhere, everybody would want them. I just feel like it could be the next biggest thing. You just gotta find the right marketing.
[00:41:55] Speaker C: I think so too. I have not found the right marketing agency. I'm working on it. Maybe we can put one in Times Square.
[00:42:02] Speaker A: There's also these massive ghost kitchens in New York. Like if you're ordering food on like uber eats and like, oh, very beautiful pictures, like food comes, you know, that was not done in a small, like, you know, mom PA restaurant. It's like done at scale. I feel like they'd want more distribution. It's a really cool idea though.
[00:42:17] Speaker C: I would imagine. I saw they're doing a lot of things with Walmarts. I'd love to get into Walmarts. And have one of my beautiful pods in there serving coffee or whatever. I'm working on all channels. If anybody knows anyone and wants to help, we're open.
[00:42:34] Speaker E: Right. So if somebody was going to use it for a corporate event, though, they would probably not buy it direct from you. They would have somebody that bought one from you come and set it up and do their corporate event with this kitchen. Right.
[00:42:47] Speaker C: Right now, I am the only one selling it. So my manufacturing is in California. That took me a long time to get. So we try to get estimates from different countries and California came in as our best manufacturing company. So we're just starting to build them, we're just starting to sell them. So we're in the beginning of this whole process.
[00:43:10] Speaker E: So really, like an event planning company would buy one?
[00:43:14] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:43:14] Speaker D: Are you open to investors?
[00:43:17] Speaker C: We're open to investors. If somebody's interested in investing again, we can go to our website and send a note and then we can have a conversation.
[00:43:27] Speaker E: I would encourage everybody to go to the website and take a look at these things. They're amazing. It's P O D U L A R US. I see these popping up everywhere in 2025 and people are going to be like, wow, she was on that radio show. Passage to Profit.
[00:43:43] Speaker C: That would be amazing.
[00:43:45] Speaker E: Passage to Profit, the Road to Entrepreneurship with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart. Next we're going to do Secrets of the Entrepreneurial Mind where everybody gives that one little tidbit of wisdom that they don't normally talk about, but that's really helped them. We will be right back.
[00:43:58] Speaker J: I'm Jack, CEO and co
[email protected]. when I left my job as a Wall street banker back in my 20s, I felt completely lost trying to navigate the process of hiring a financial advisor. I thought it should be easy to find the right financial advisor. So I created a place where young families could feel understood and their unique needs would be met with empathy and expertise. That's why I started usehabits.com where we help you find your financial advisor free of charge. Use habits.com if you turn 65 recently.
[00:44:30] Speaker G: Like me, it's important you find a Medicare Advantage plan that gives you the coverage you're looking for. But finding one can be difficult. The best thing I did, and I suggest you do the same, is call a licensed insurance agent and let them walk you through your Medicine Advantage plan options. There are so many benefits you have access to, so make the call now and let the representatives explain everything to you. Our licensed insurance agents can offer you a variety of Medicare Advantage plans. Plus, the call is free, the information is free, and there's no obligation to enroll. We're here to make it easy for you to select a Medicare Advantage plan that may work for your needs. Finding a Medicare Advantage plan can be easy if you do what I did. Make a quick call right now to learn more. Thank you.
[00:45:14] Speaker H: 8004-2548-0380-0425-4803,800, 425-4803.
That's 800-425-4803.
[00:45:28] Speaker D: It's passage to Profit Alicia Morrissey is our programming director at Passage to Prophet, and she's also a fantastic jazz vocalist. You can scroll to the bottom of the passage profitshow.com website and check out her album. We have Matt Wright from Gaia and EVM Capital. He's really wrapped up into this artificial intelligence crypto blockchain stuff. So very much a Gaia.
[00:45:54] Speaker E: The Future it does seem like AI is taking over every nook and cranny of our lives. You're trying to help developers figure out how to use AI. What is that going to look like? So people have been programming and it's funny because, like, I feel like with ChatGPT, for instance, I'm being trained to speak in the language of whomever program chatgpt, because I have to ask the question the right way to get the answer I want. I feel like if you're a developer today and you're not learning AI and knowing how to use it, you're not going to be a developer tomorrow. Right?
[00:46:26] Speaker A: This is a great question. So we are taking what centralized AI does in a giant box as their company, and we're breaking apart in different components. So developers are having the opportunity to have a more modular experience where they can build this in a way that works better for their data sets or perhaps how they structure their compute. It's a lot more of a collaborative experience. So we've deployed 195,000 of these AI agents in the past four months.
[00:46:51] Speaker D: So what is an AI agent?
[00:46:53] Speaker A: So imagine a ChatGPT that itself is an app, but imagine a bunch of different instances or versions of what you're interfacing with.
[00:47:00] Speaker D: You know, it's so interesting that we're talking about this because it's like with AI, we need a whole new language.
[00:47:06] Speaker A: For us, we see a world where there will be workers who collaborate with AI agents that perhaps do all the busy work you don't want to do. You know, I think everyone's going to have to turn into A manager of sorts.
[00:47:16] Speaker D: I think in the legal profession it is going to eventually create a fair.
[00:47:21] Speaker A: Amount of change to say flat out that it would replace the job of a lawyer. You know, I don't think that's quite the case. I think it will make our jobs a lot easier. I think jobs will change dramatically.
[00:47:32] Speaker E: I do think you're right. I think it's. We're all going to turn into managers.
[00:47:36] Speaker D: Yeah, but you are right. We have always put a premium on singularity. Would a genius do something better on AI than, you know, normal person?
[00:47:47] Speaker A: And that's why we bring in the blockchain piece, because you can actually create finite provable works on a blockchain. And we have a project that's taking two artists historical works and using AI to build a new work, like a collaboration, and then that's creating a token, essentially. And so it's crazy, like new stuff will happen.
[00:48:05] Speaker E: So who owns that then?
[00:48:07] Speaker A: Probably like the family of Picasso. We'll get the royalties.
[00:48:12] Speaker E: I think in the medical industry, AI really can be valuable because it can read a chart or not a chart, but it can read like a scan, like an MRI or anything and probably find things like the one you had six months ago to the one you had today. Find things that maybe the naked eye couldn't find. Right. Yeah.
[00:48:29] Speaker A: We're in a new paradigm. We work on open source AI models. So one of the biggest models we use is provided free by meta, like Facebook. It's called Llama. And there's a lot of folks in the space who kind of take two sides of the philosophy of is it good to have this open technology? Is it better to have it controlled by a small entity? Like imagine OpenAI. Like they have a whole team that interfaces with different government organizations, top secret clearance, et cetera. It's really a philosophy of technology. Should it be open or closed? You know, we've had similar challenges in the past with Linux and Bitcoin as open technologies. That's how powerful the tech is.
[00:49:06] Speaker D: Matt Wright from Gaia and EVM Capital. Where can people find you?
[00:49:10] Speaker A: People can Find me on LinkedIn or Twitter. Matt Wright, Gaia G A I A and you'll find me there.
[00:49:16] Speaker E: Great Passage to Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart. And now it is time for Secrets of the Entrepreneurial Mind. And I am going to go to Matt first. It's Matthew Wright. M A T T H E W W R I G h t on LinkedIn. I just wanted to spell his name because there might be more than one. But Matt, you're the AI expert. Cryptocurrency, all of it. Do you have a secret you can share with our audience?
[00:49:43] Speaker A: Be curious. And for me, that's what Benoit's been Be curious, be passionate. If it's not interesting to you, maybe don't go down that rabbit hole. But at some point, technology is all around us. I think for me it's always been, you know, how do we use it to make more impact? How do we make it improve our lives? So for me, that curiosity and that passion just drove me.
[00:50:04] Speaker E: Excellent. Kim case with rdnj.org the research and Development Council of New Jersey. Is there a secret you can share?
[00:50:12] Speaker B: Yeah, kind of similar to Matt. Don't just follow your passion aimlessly. Right. Because that's probably not going to get you there. But if you direct that passion and you have purpose, I think that you're probably going to get pretty far with that.
[00:50:23] Speaker E: Great advice. Yasma Ostrich with Podular P O D U L A R us do you have a secret you can share?
[00:50:32] Speaker C: Yes, I do. I have several. One of them is not to be afraid of failure. If you fail, you just have to get up and keep trying. Persistence. Never take anything like a negative for a determining factor.
[00:50:46] Speaker E: That's great advice. Yes. Now, Richard Gearhart, Gearhart Law G A R H A R T L A W Com what is your secret?
[00:50:55] Speaker D: I was going to take a slightly different track here. I always like to talk about financial things and the numbers because I think that's something that entrepreneurs really need to pay attention to into. And I've been learning a lot about what makes companies profitable. And one of the things is pricing. If you want to improve your profitability, improve your pricing, even 1%. So a 1% increase or improvement in prices usually can Translate into almost 10% increase in profitability. If you try to cut costs like by 1%, that will improve your profitability by 6%. And if you try to improve the volume, that is the amount of stuff that you're selling by 1%, it only improves profitability in general by 4%. So if you're trying to make your business better, the best way to do it is to look at your prices and try to improve things there.
[00:51:53] Speaker E: And my secret this time is be flexible so that you don't get stuck. If you're trying something and it's new and it doesn't work, be flexible so you can get yourself unstuck and find a way to make it work or maybe do something different.
[00:52:08] Speaker D: Yeah, I hate being stuck.
Well, that's it. For us this week. Passage to Profit is a nationally syndicated radio show appearing in 38 markets across the United States. In addition, Passage to Profit has also been recently selected by Feedspot Podcasters Database as a top 10 entrepreneur interview podcast. Thank you to the P2P team, our producer Noah Fleischman and our program coordinator Alicia Morrissey, and our studio assistant Rishiket Busari. Look for our podcast tomorrow anywhere you get your podcasts. Our podcast is ranked in the top 3% globally. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram X and on our YouTube channel. And remember, while the information on this program is believed to be correct, never take a legal step without check checking with your legal professional first. Gearhart Law is here for your patent, trademark and copyright needs. You can find
[email protected] and contact us for a free consultation. Take care everybody. Thanks for listening and we'll be back next week.
