Making Moves

Antonio Roddy, aka Tone the Movemaker, was born original and is making moves to stay that way. This is an entertaining episode that celebrates lasting initiative. Along with fresh fashion from Designed by the Streets, Tone, Dao, and the team keep turning knobs to stay ahead of the innovation curve. Together, we scratch through origin stories, his creative approach to leveling up, and how mentoring keeps us all moving forward.

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By Ben McDougal, ago

Let’s Get Phygital

Sachin Sehgal found lasting purpose by starting his first business at the University of Iowa. Along with all that is multimedia marketing, Sachin is building Elevate and Bond Branding as he continues to explore connections between our physical and digital worlds.

You’ll love these shared wavelengths on customer discovery, content creation, value-based sales, balancing personal brands, activating phygital concepts, when to quit, spirit animals, truth-based prompt engineering with AI, collectability with web3 technologies, and playing long-term games with long-term people. As Sachin reminds us, when life gives us stories, tell them.

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By Ben McDougal, ago

Fourteeners

Jeff Reed is a problem solver who uses the art of connection to design the future. Awarded 2023 innovation ENTREPRENEUR of the Year, Jeff is a caring leader who is fueled by the unmatched energy of accelerating others. This elevated episode will make you feel like you’re on top of a mountain as we discuss idea navigation, design thinking, mentor madness, long-term content creation, and hiking the finite journey of life.

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By Ben McDougal, ago

Sustainable Swagger

Russel Karim is a technologist building on the frontiers of sustainable fashion. Refill your mug and enjoy this caffeinated conversation with the CEO of Dhakai. We dance with topics like phygital apparel, being entrepreneurial as a college student, designing swag to make an impact, this founder’s Techstars Iowa experience, and how we can stitch together the fabric of a global supply chain.

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By Ben McDougal, ago

Phygital

Blending a physical reality with digital depth is something humanity has carried out for decades.

Catchy names, memorable phone numbers, short URLs, and QR codes are simple methods that guide a physical interaction to details online. Augmented Reality (AR), Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), biotech, and smart materials all take it up a notch. Each technology paves a path to provide phygital experiences.

To spin some yarn, let’s stitch this nerdy good term into the world of fashion. Phygital clothing now has passive chips embedded behind a patch or hidden in the garment. When tapped by a phone, the tiny washable chip is given enough electricity to pass data. This prompts a notification that links to digital destinations. The destination may be a website just for fun, but for brands with dollowers who like to collect stuff, the criterion for loyalty is given all new levels. Imagine the status game of a global fan base that unlocks digital assets by working together. An elbow bump from someone wearing your favorite brand can now highlight ownership and unlock gamified layers.

With ownership determined by code and real-time incentives connected to the owner, this nerdy good phygital term quickly becomes a part of the web3 taxonomy. That said, the flex is not about being high-tech. It’s about introducing a remarkability factor.

When remarkability matters, as it often does, phygital twists offer an edge. There are endless examples of digital depth revolutionizing every industry. Computers and smartphones link a physical device to digital experiences, and the first smart vending machine in 1982 would lead to an entire microcosm we call the Internet of Things (IoT).

Today’s chips are cute, but nanotech (think, a computer on every cell) and neurotech (think, brain-computer interfacing) represent a direct line where input and output will require no physical movement. Edges dull as new becomes commonplace, so the time to get phygital is now.

As industries continue to be phygitized, more physical products will be mirrored by digital counterparts, ownership will be obvious, and augmented experiences will be increasingly invisible as our perceived reality is reinforced by the phygital world all around us.

Brewed From Within
#79 📖 Technology

By Ben McDougal, ago