I recently had the chance this week to sit down with Congressman Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN) of Indiana’s 9th Congressional District. In his first term in Congress, having taken office in 2017 at age 33, at now age 34 he is one of Congress’ youngest members.

Prior to coming to Congress he was a successful businessman, founding a company that bought and revived former manufacturing locations as well as an aluminum remanufacturing company. In Congress he sits on the Committee on Financial Services.

He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a Masters of Public Policy from Georgetown University. Indiana’s 9th Congressional District is primarily in south-central Indiana and includes the city of Bloomington.

Trekking up to his 6th floor Washington, D.C. Congressional office and met by a staff of Hoosiers from America’s heartland, we chatted about how his prior business career informs his current work in Congress and the kind of change he hopes to bring to D.C. with his youthful and eclectic background.

Q: Thank you so much, Congressman Hollingsworth, for meeting with me today for Forbes. To start off, what is it like being the youngest member of Congress?

A: I try to convey to young people across the District and the country that really that no matter where the problem started or how long ago it did that we have to work to find solutions. We have to take the mantle and carry it forward so that we and all Americans get a better future.

What I’m excited about is bringing innovative, new and different ideas and solutions to the table so that we can begin to work on building the next American century and really ensuring that every American has the opportunity to live the American dream—that America, overall, continues to enjoy the safety and security but also the economic opportunity it has for the last 240 years.

Q: It’s certainly an exciting time in the country. And so, what inspired you to pursue public service and brought you to here in D.C.?

A: I feel like a lot of politicians have this inspiration story but mine was a frustration story: a deep frustration that America should be doing better than it was three to four years ago when the economy was growing at an anemic pace and when people were feeling unsafe from a world in which more and more threats were arising.

That deep feeling that we can do better as a country, that we should be doing better, and frankly that Americans from sea to shining sea deserved better than what we were getting is what pushed me to run for Congress—that feeling that we should protect and enable more Americans to create a better future for themselves.

We do that by building policies that create better economic outcomes. We need real and genuine business experience—I started my first business after college when I was 21 years old and built that into a multi-state enterprise. It culminated into a manufacturing business and that experience taught me that we need to have policies emanating from Washington that enable employees and employers to make better futures.

This country leads the world in innovation and it leads the world in new thinking. I want to make sure we apply that new thinking to Washington.

Q: About your business background–how does it inform your current work in Congress? How do you still use those perspectives and skills today as a Congressperson?

A: Great question. So I think two really important aspects—one, certainly in business there is an urgency to solve problems. Every day that you are not solving a problem is a day that you’re not keeping that customer, you’re not retaining that customer, you’re not getting that customer, and so we have to solve more problems here in D.C. We can’t just sit idly by, we can’t just bicker all the time, we can’t just pass political messaging bills…we have to solve problems for Americans and get government out of the way so Americans can push forward in their lives and make progress on their better futures.

That sense of urgency in genuinely working towards better solutions is the first thing. I think the second thing that informs me is…that there are people who haven’t been in business and have only been in public policy, or politicians who don’t understand how challenging it is to create opportunities.

For example, they just see the regulatory burden as something necessary instead of recognizing it in many cases as too burdensome on businesses. I think the Chamber estimates the regulatory burden in this country is over $1.8 trillion a year – and that’s $1.8 trillion in lost opportunity to be able to innovate, develop new products that make people’s lives better, for businesses to be able to serve customers in new and different ways, for the economy to be able to grow, for people to be able to start small businesses in their garages that become the “Apples” 20 years from now.

I mean that’s what America is really about—that anyone can start anywhere and go anywhere they want to go. I think having policy that is deeply rooted in genuine business experience can help us get to that better economy, more dynamic economy, and ultimately better opportunities for all Americans.

Q: Makes sense. And so in Congress what have been the policies that you’ve focused on?

A: Two big areas I’m focused on–number one, generating economic growth. How do we unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that has been in the bones of Americans for the last 240 years? How do we enable and empower that? How do we help people start those businesses? How do we help grow those businesses? How do we help existing businesses keep their competitive edge against global competitors?

I want to make sure our economy grows faster and more robustly and more fully for all Americans so we get to a brighter future for each American. We do that by unleashing capital, and I sit on Financial Services so I get the opportunity to help right-size the regulatory burden so that more people can get loans, more people can go public, more opportunities are created for new financial products.

And so the second piece of that economic growth category is generally ensuring that we are promoting our small and medium enterprises, that we are right-sizing the regulatory burden from all other aspects so that they are able to grow so they can focus on their customers, so they can focus on their employees and not have to focus on changing government policy and additional forms and paperwork for the bureaucracy.

I think it’s really about ensuring that they can do more of what they love to do and more of they want to do rather than what government tells them to do.

The second big piece is that we’ve had a Washington for a long-time that hasn’t served Americans very well, that’s been focused on its own priorities inside the beltway, and that certainly hasn’t solved problems.

I used to own this large aluminum remanufacturing business in Fort Wayne-among many things what that really taught me was that the process matters and the process is how you get the right outcomes or the wrong outcomes. You can have a great process and still a few bad widgets, while you could have a terrible process and still occasionally get a few good widgets.

But a great process over time will lead to a great number of great outcomes. I want to make sure that we have better process in Washington—a process where representatives truly focus on serving the needs of their constituents and are truly focused on solving problems. I push things like term limits, limiting the number of terms that a congressperson can run for office, because I want to make sure that they know that they'll have to get a new job again sometime because then they'll support creating a regulatory and tax environment that promotes job creation-because they know they’ll have to eventually get a new one.

I also have the strongest lobbying ban bill in Congress because I believe that we need to align our interests and make sure that members of Congress are not using their position to get a better career afterwards but instead are focused on doing what the American people want.

So those are the two big things—economic growth and changing the culture in Washington. We didn't come here for the small problems.

Q: A lot of young people nowadays are hoping to make an impact in their communities and on national policy. What kind of advice would you have for them as one of the youngest members of Congress?

A: There was an article a few months ago that I felt really encapsulated advice that I would want to give young people that want to get involved…it was really about helping them understand the desire to achieve scale in everything they do.

I think that it’s obvious that every business owner’s desire is to get results. We should think the same way about our personal lives, philanthropy and nonprofit work, etc. I love it when people want to get involved and they want to go volunteer for a few hours but I really want people to be able to think bigger and to try to help more people—in helping more people, by focusing on the crux of the problem.

It's great to volunteer. But wouldn’t it be more amazing if you were able to work to develop lower cost building materials so that all homes became cheaper and you could build homes at lower cost all the way around the globe? People are out there making this happen all over the place. For example, people are turning shipping containers into modular homes for those in the Third World.

I think there's just this deep misunderstanding that just doing something will help alleviate these problems, whereas focusing on what the right issues are and trying to ‘scale up’ in solving those problems is really important.

I'll give you an example: Alzheimer's is a very challenging disease and costly chronic disease, not only for the federal government but for families who are dealing with it. And I love the fact that so many young people are motivated to go provide care for those that are dealing with Alzheimer's and we should never malign that. At the same time I want to see more people go into STEM so they can research cures for Alzheimer's and research things that will push back the onset of Alzheimer's so fewer people have to deal with the disease overall because that's how you make the difference, not just for one person but for millions of people and literally trillions of dollars in the federal budget.

I think this is a really important aspect that young people occasionally miss. I want to see us go right to the crux of these problems and to genuinely work on things that will move the needle. What did Archimedes say? “Give me a lever long enough and I can move the Earth?” I think that's very true if you work on the leverage and find the right point you can truly move the lives of billions.

Q: What is an interesting fact about yourself or something people might find surprising?

A: My wife and I got married in 2014 and instead of taking a honeymoon I cycled from coast-to-coast—from the Santa Monica Pier to the pier in Charleston, South Carolina. It took me about 44 days.  

It was just such a profound experience to see parts of this country that are off the interstate. If you drive from coast-to-coast, or certainly if you fly from coast-to-coast, you don't get a feel for just how very different people are, how varied and different the climates and environments are. It's really amazing to me to look back on some of those areas and think about some of the people that I've met, some of the businesses and landmarks that I've visited.

I just encourage people all the way across the country to go visit places that they normally wouldn't, that aren't the tourist destinations or aren't frequently flown to, or aren’t frequently traveled to by interstate. This country has so many great people who are doing so many interesting things. It truly gives you a deep appreciation for how different we all are but how we together build that community that is a country.

Q: And lastly, in our modern internet age there's a lot of websites and media platforms out there now. What's your favorite website, social media platform or app?

A: So prior to running for Congress I never had a Facebook page or Instagram account—before running I've never had a Twitter, but I have been really amazed at what great opportunities these platforms have provided to really connect with people and hear what they are worried about, what they're hoping for, what they think we should be working on, and what they think we should stop working on it.

It's been great to see how many people want to engage, how many people want to talk about these issues and how many people want to discuss these issues. And I love that kind of public comment and that we can all engage in discussing the direction of government in our future.

This interview was originally published on Forbes.com.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4188596-executive-interview-series-square

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4181567-executive-interview-series-ibm

Summary

• Today I interviewed Tim Hwang, CEO and Founder of FiscalNote, a global data science company that provides analytical services to corporate and institutional clients for government and policy functions.
  
• The Executive Interview series provides you with firsthand insight into the technology industry through discussions with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts themselves.
  
• Since its founding in 2013, FiscalNote has grown to 300+ employees, over a thousand clients, and $60 million in venture funding, with original seed funding by Mark Cuban and others.
  
• We discussed the capital raising process for startups, the spread of data science the past few years, FiscalNote's bridging of policy and technology, regulatory attention towards data post-Cambridge Analytica, and data science's future impact on businesses and consumers.
  
• Stay tuned in the future for more exciting interviews!
  

The Executive Interview series will provide you with exclusive interviews with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts in the technology industry.

Interviews do not imply endorsement of the company, its products, or any associated securities. Rather, it is meant to provide you more information for your consideration from those currently directly in the industry itself.

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Tim Hwang, CEO and Founder of FiscalNote. FiscalNote is an information technology and data science company focusing on government relations management, which essentially means using data science to provide support and insights to lobbying, law, and other policy and government-related functions.

With offices in Washington DC, New York, Seoul, Brussels, and more, since its founding in 2013 it has now grown to over 300 employees and has as its clients thousands of trade associations, Fortune 500 corporations, law firms, government affairs companies, and more. It operates in over 40 countries.

Topics of discussion included:

• How startups and private companies raise capital through venture and series funding.
• Why data science has gone in just a few years from being a frontier technology to now every industry relying on it.
• How natural language processing data science works and its applications.
• FiscalNote's history and its merging of the two previously distant fields of government and technology.
• Increased regulatory attention towards data science and how it may affect the sector.
• The likely direction and impact of data science in businesses and to the consumer over the next few years, particularly in artificial intelligence.
• Which industries are still lagging behind in terms of data science and what industries are most likely to continue to be transformed in upcoming years.

• Recently I interviewed Matt Bartolini, CFA, Vice President and Head of Americas ETF Research at State Street Global Advisors.
• The Executive Interview series provides you with firsthand insight into the technology industry through discussions with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts themselves.
• State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), founded 1792, is the world's fourth largest asset management company with about $2.8 trillion assets under management and a market cap of $36.3 billion.
• We discussed the rapidly changing fundamentals affecting the market currently, how specifically the technology sector will transform itself and other industries in the near future, the rise of ETFs, and how State Street aims to succeed amidst this new environment.
• Stay tuned in the future for more exciting interviews!

The Executive Interview series will provide you with exclusive interviews with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts in the technology industry.

Interviews do not imply endorsement of the company, its products, or any associated securities. Rather, it is meant to provide you more information for your consideration from those currently directly in the industry itself.

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with Matt Bartolini, CFA, Vice President and Head of Americas ETF Research at State Street Global Advisors (STT).

State Street is the world's third largest asset management company at the moment with about $2.8 trillion in assets under management. The company traces its origins to 1792 and currently has a market capitalization of roughly $36.3 billion.

In 2017, the company brought in $11.170 billion in revenue for $2.177 billion of pre-adjustment net income. The company brings in revenue from a combination of servicing fees, management fees, trading services fees, processing fees, and net interest income. These are derived from a variety of financial advisory and management services, as well as investment products.

State Street's business segments include its Global Advisors, Global Markets, Global Services, and Global Exchange divisions.

The company runs some of the world's largest ETFs under the SPDR name. Most noteworthy among these is the very popular SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY), founded in 1993 as one of the world's first ETFs, and currently with assets of over $265 billion. There also is the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), with over $35 billion assets, and a large variety of other index and strategy-based funds.

Topics of discussion included:

• Why markets have been volatile and stagnant the past few months.
• What are the major risks to markets over the upcoming year.
• From a business and strategic perspective, how State Street has been able to accumulate roughly $2.8 trillion in assets under management and how it sees its future growth plans.
• The causes behind the "ETF Revolution" of recent years and the future of ETFs versus active management.
• What particular technology developments will be changing industries and paradigms, and how it will affect the market's trajectory in the upcoming few years.
• Tips and advice for investors amid this rapidly changing market environment.
  

This interview was originally published as a non-exclusive article of Tech Investment Insights on Seeking Alpha.

Summary

• Recently I interviewed Lew Piantedosi, Eaton Vance's Director of Growth Equity, where he oversees the company's growth equity buy/sell and manages several funds.
• The Executive Interview series provides you with firsthand insight into the technology industry through discussions with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts themselves.
• Eaton Vance is a publicly-traded investment management firm with over $432 billion assets under management as of year end 2017 and a market capitalization of about $6.8 billion.
• We discussed why the market has been volatile the past few months, future trends/expectations, disruptions in the technology sector worth watching, the return of active management versus index investing, and how investors can best succeed in the upcoming market environment.
• Stay tuned in the future for more exciting interviews!

The Executive Interview series will provide you with exclusive interviews with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts in the technology industry.

Interviews do not imply endorsement of the company, its products, or any associated securities. Rather, it is meant to provide you more information for your consideration from those currently directly in the industry itself.

Today I had the opportunity to interview Lew Piantedosi, Vice President and Director of Growth Equity at the investment management firm Eaton Vance (EV).

Eaton Vance is an investment management firm founded in 1924 that, as of the end of the 2017 calendar year, has over $432 billion in assets under management. It provides a variety of investment product and advisory services to individuals, finance professionals, and institutions.

Topics of discussion included:

• Why the overall markets (SPY) the past few months have been so turbulent, particularly as compared with 2017's peaceful and steady rise.
• The likely direction markets will be heading in over the near future.
• Eaton Vance's history, strategy, products, and expectations, and how it stands out among investment management companies.
• Particularly disruptive and high-potential developments in the technology sector in upcoming years as well as sub-sectors worth watching.
• The potential decline of passive index fund investing and the return of active management as a market-beating strategy.
• How investors can best brace themselves in this new market environment, particularly in terms of tuning out the noise and focusing on the important fundamental trends.

Eaton Vance was founded in 1924 and went public in 1978. Through its various affiliates and subsidiaries, such as Eaton Vance Management, Parametric, Atlanta Capital, Hexavest, and Calvert, it offers a variety of investment management and advisory services to individuals, finance professionals, and institutional clients.

Eaton Vance has a wide selection of mutual funds, closed-end funds, separately managed accounts, and other services. It is diversified in equity, fixed income, and more, and utilizes both quantitative science and qualitative analysis. The voting stock is held in a voting trust. The public common stock is non-voting.

This interview was originally published as a non-exclusive interview as part of Tech Investment Insights on Seeking Alpha.

Summary

• Today I interviewed Sarah Jones Simmer, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Bumble, an online dating and interpersonal relationship mobile app that is driven by women's empowerment.
• The Executive Interview series provides you with firsthand insight into the technology industry through discussions with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts themselves.
  
• Bumble, still a private company, in less than four years now has over 30 million users, particularly among Millennials, and is estimated to be valued at least at $1 billion.
  
• We discussed what Bumble's mission is, what inspired its creation, how the company functions both mechanically and revenue-wise, and both its future as well as that of the online dating space.
  
• Stay tuned in the future for more exciting interviews!
  

The Executive Interview series will provide you with exclusive interviews with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts in the technology industry.

Interviews do not imply endorsement of the company, its products, or any associated securities. Rather, it is meant to provide you more information for your consideration from those currently directly in the industry itself.

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Jones Simmer, Chief Operating Officer of Bumble, an online dating and interpersonal relationship mobile app that focuses on empowering women and fighting misogyny by having women make the first move. Topics of discussion included:

• What is Bumble's mission and what led to its creation.
• How Bumble works in terms of its swiping and connecting functions.
• With Bumble now valued at over $1 billion, how the company makes revenue through its subscription fees and if it might ever go public.
• What is behind Bumble's rapid success and in particular with Millennials.
• Bumble's growth plans, particularly it's expansion to interpersonal connections for friendships and business networking.
• How Bumble aims to continue to compete in the online dating space, which is filled with many apps and Match Group (MTCH), with its Tinder app, that has a large market share, as well as the recent entrance of Facebook (FB).

Bumble was founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd and the app launched in December 2014.

Originally non-exclusively published on Seeking Alpha as part of Tech Investment Insights.

Summary

• I recently interviewed Jack Gavigan, COO of the cryptocurrency "Zcash," on Blockchain technology, current trends in the cryptocurrency industry, and what makes Zcash in particular distinct.
  
• The Executive Interview series provides you with firsthand insight into the technology industry through discussions with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts themselves.
  
• Zcash, currently ranked #28 among cryptocurrencies in market capitalization at $1.056 billion, aims to stand out with cryptography and increased privacy protections.
  
• We also discussed regulation, popular misconceptions of cryptocurrency, and how cryptocurrencies will affect the lives of ordinary consumers in upcoming years.
  
• Stay tuned in the future for more exciting interviews!
  

The Executive Interview series will provide you with exclusive interviews with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts in the technology industry.

Interviews do not imply endorsement of the company, its products, or any associated securities. Rather, it is meant to provide you more information for your consideration from those currently directly in the industry itself.

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Jack Gavigan, Chief Operating Officer of Zcash (ZEC-USD), which is a cryptocurrency that distinguishes itself through cryptography and increased privacy protection. Topics of discussion included:

• What makes Blockchain such a new technology and different from mere "store credit."
• What makes Zcash distinct and what the goals of the cryptocurrency are.
• The likely effect of impending regulation on cryptocurrency development.
• Popular misconceptions of cryptocurrencies.
• How cryptocurrency will affect the ordinary retail consumer within the next few years.

On CoinMarketCap Zcash is currently ranked #28 among cryptocurrency market capitalizations in the world, at $1.056 billion.

Originally published non-exclusively on Seeking Alpha as part of Tech Investment Insights.