ICYMI: Our latest Friday Nooner guest was Daniel Summers of Wilmington-based (Electronic) Lab Logs, who was not only the perfect catalyst for our official launch into Wilmington, but was also a great guide on things to do there, like free diving for lobsters! That's not something I'd necessarily partake in, but good to know that there are options.
Listen to/watch the full interview with Daniel here.
Have you ever had a free weekend and knew exactly how you were going to fill it up? Me neither! That's why it's always helpful to have resources like Asheboro-based Nearby Nearbyto help fill up my days.
Founder and CEO Rhonda Jean originally incubated this idea as a website centered on finding events and businesses in Chatham County. Now seeing the demand from rural communities looking for more things to do and see, she has spent nearly four years aggregating data to create a new platform and budding startup to help users find local events and businesses where they might not otherwise be listed.
In this edition of me learning something new through a newsletter, ponzi schemes can happen anywhere, to anyone—including so-called friend Nayeem Choudhury, a former UNC-Chapel Hill project manager who, last year, pleaded guilty to orchestrating a $9.5 million ponzi scheme.
Now, TBJ reports that he has been sentenced to five years in federal prison, a fraction of the time he could have faced given that the maximum sentence for the fraud charge is 20 years.
Several of Choudhury's 80 victims had considered him a personal friend and have told the TBJ they’re struggling to move on.
16-Year Presidency
Brooks Raifordcelebrated his fourth term (if we're using government parlance) as President and CEO of the NC Technology Association by sitting down with WRAL's Chuck Hester in an exclusive interview to talk about NC TECH since Brooks' first day in 2008.
He talked all about the changes he has seen over the last two decades in not just NC TECH but also our ecosystem. He also broke down the past (the effects of COVID on businesses) and the future (the emergence of AI) as key drivers in the tech sector. Watch the full interview here.
And if you want to see some snippets of Brooks' 16 years in this ecosystem, we have a few tidbits of his time on our website.
In FOG News
Friend-of-GrepBeat (FOG, if you were to forget) John Starke and his company MyMatr were recently highlighted in a TBJ AI-centered feature series called "52 Shades of Success." MyMatr is also a portfolio company under our sister investment firm Primordial. Does that make them... a family-of-GrepBeat?
If you're unfamiliar with what John is doing, contributing writer Connie Gentrydescribed him perfectly: "Born from NC State roots, an AI robotics company that automatically sorts recyclables from waste begins to gain traction [and] add customers."
And if you want to know more about our family friend, check out our Friday Nooner episode with him, our feature on MyMatr or recall when he played bagpipes at our Pete farewell party!
More Relief Efforts
It's going to take an unfortunate number of months, maybe years, for devastated areas in Western NC to recover. That's why it's important to keep yourselves updated on the different ways that you can contribute to help.
Over the past week, we've seen an incredible outpour of support not just from our tech community, but also from the whole NC community. And there are more new ways to support emerging every day.
Raleigh-based Givefinity has a great list of every form of support you can participate in. NC TECH's recent Digital Drive brought in tons of recycled tech, some that will be refurbished into reliable computers for displaced people in need. Chapel Hill-based GnomeX is selling merch from which 100% of proceeds will be donated to organizations helping in WNC. It'd take a very long newsletter to list all the wonderful efforts, so instead, check out and share our running list of more resources.
SASsy
This past February, former SAS employees filed a lawsuit against the Cary-based analytics firm over the alleged mismanagement of employees 401(k) plans. The lawsuit not only claimed that SAS lost over $1 billion in the plans, but also alleged that their funds further suffered because they had to pay “unreasonable” fees to consultants SAS had tapped into.
Now, TBJ reports that SAS is pushing back on these claims. SAS lawyers argue that allegations of the company selecting underperforming investments “do not support an inference that the fiduciary process was flawed.” SAS declined to comment on the case outside of court filings.
Get Reading!
A gentle reminder that our next GrepBeat book club is in a little over two weeks, on Friday Oct. 25 starting at 8:30am. So that means if you haven't started reading this month's book "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin, you better get on it!
*A little hack, if you're more of an audible reader/want to get through a book faster, the audiobook is available on Spotify (with a premium subscription) or on Libby, an audiobook app that connects to your local library!
Stuck in development delays and poor communication, struggling to hit key milestones? You’re not alone—many companies lose time and opportunities battling inefficiency. Dualboot Partners helped flyExclusive, a local North Carolina company, accelerate mobile development and improve communication, hitting targets and driving strategic growth. Ready for your transformation? Read the full case study here and get in touch to work together.
Extra Bit
As most of us already know, the pandemic has created so many remote working options that most office spaces, specifically in the Triangle, have been left vacant for years. Some might say that we have too many offices.
Now a new report from Cushman and Wakefield argues the same in Raleigh, as it shows that walkable urban places (WalkUP) in this city have a higher average inventory of workplaces compared to live and play places. It's a really interesting report and TBJ story about what our ecosystem looks like and can do going forward for our WalkUp spaces.
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