The Bell2Bell (B2B) Podcast

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features Mat Sorensen, CEO of Directed IRA and author of The Self Directed IRA Handbook, a practical and comprehensive guide to IRA planning. 

Throughout the interview, Sorensen discussed the types of alternative assets that can be included in an IRA and the kind of impact it could have on the investing world if retirement accounts started investing in alternative asset classes. 

“Alternative assets span the globe of non-publicly traded assets. Most people think of publicly traded assets – stocks, bonds and mutual funds. I’d say alternative assets include everything else,” Sorensen said. “We’ve had clients use their retirement accounts to buy Mexican soccer teams, cattle, crypto, rental properties, private equity fund startups and all kinds of things that you can’t buy on the stock market. People definitely have their niches, but there are a lot of assets that fall into the alternative category. 

“It all comes down to valuation. There are good alternative assets, like private equity and real estate, and there are bad ones, too. Even within the asset classes, you’ve got to pick carefully. Private equity has had a great run. There’s been a lot of analysis in private equity, and many more people are dedicating funds to private equity from an investment standpoint – the high-net-worth individuals, the big institutions, the endowment funds. They’ve been allocating large sums of their portfolio to it. Individual financial advisors doing 60/40 portfolios are also starting to get keen to private equity. 

“We’re seeing that with the advisors working with our clients. They’re not affiliated with us, but they’re coming to us because they’re wanting to allocate more and more of their clients’ assets into alternatives. I would say private equity is actually the most popular, but I would include in that, for us in particular, real estate private equity. In an inflationary environment, a lot of people like knowing that there’s a hard asset underlying a company. Real estate is just so tangible, and it’s had a great track record in our country.” 

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features Mat Sorensen, CEO of Directed IRA and author of The Self Directed IRA Handbook, a practical and comprehensive guide to IRA planning. 

Throughout the interview, Sorensen discussed the types of alternative assets that can be included in an IRA and the kind of impact it could have on the investing world if retirement accounts started investing in alternative asset classes. 

“Alternative assets span the globe of non-publicly traded assets. Most people think of publicly traded assets – stocks, bonds and mutual funds. I’d say alternative assets include everything else,” Sorensen said. “We’ve had clients use their retirement accounts to buy Mexican soccer teams, cattle, crypto, rental properties, private equity fund startups and all kinds of things that you can’t buy on the stock market. People definitely have their niches, but there are a lot of assets that fall into the alternative category. 

“It all comes down to valuation. There are good alternative assets, like private equity and real estate, and there are bad ones, too. Even within the asset classes, you’ve got to pick carefully. Private equity has had a great run. There’s been a lot of analysis in private equity, and many more people are dedicating funds to private equity from an investment standpoint – the high-net-worth individuals, the big institutions, the endowment funds. They’ve been allocating large sums of their portfolio to it. Individual financial advisors doing 60/40 portfolios are also starting to get keen to private equity. 

“We’re seeing that with the advisors working with our clients. They’re not affiliated with us, but they’re coming to us because they’re wanting to allocate more and more of their clients’ assets into alternatives. I would say private equity is actually the most popular, but I would include in that, for us in particular, real estate private equity. In an inflationary environment, a lot of people like knowing that there’s a hard asset underlying a company. Real estate is just so tangible, and it’s had a great track record in our country.” 

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features Stuart Gray, President of Utopia VR, one of the world’s first ‘Metaverse-As-A-Service’ solutions for business.

Before starting the interview, Stuart Gray and Bell2Bell host Jonathan Keim took a tour of one of Utopia VR’s 3D environments designed to help professionals collaborate and socialize. During the interview, Gray discussed his entry to the VR space and how the industry has evolved in recent years.

“I’ve been involved with immersive technology like this for nine years. I’m definitely a pioneer, along with my partners,” Gray said. “We were formerly involved in a disruptive company selling hemp products, and we used this type of technology as an internal way to communicate."

“Our technology that we’ve developed at Utopia VR works on all devices – PCs, mobile phones and VR headsets. It’s very disruptive technology. We’ve come in on our computers today, but we could also come in on VR headsets. A lot of our users also come in on mobile phones. As we started looking at the technologies that we were working with, we realized that software was not the solution. Really, what we were embarking on, two-and-a-half years ago, was the start of the metaverse. We were doing it even before Meta… We have lots of experience working with this technology. We just wanted to really expand upon the knowledge that we had and build metaverse technology for the future."

Gray also mentioned that Terry Woloszyn, VP of Sales and Marketing, has been invited to speak at the upcoming Future of Work Expo about the Business Metaverse Adoption Roadmap. The conference will take place later this month from February 14-17, 2023. Additionally, Woloszyn will be on a panel to discuss the Brave New World of Augmented and Virtual Reality.

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features Stuart Gray, President of Utopia VR, one of the world’s first ‘Metaverse-As-A-Service’ solutions for business.

Before starting the interview, Stuart Gray and Bell2Bell host Jonathan Keim took a tour of one of Utopia VR’s 3D environments designed to help professionals collaborate and socialize. During the interview, Gray discussed his entry to the VR space and how the industry has evolved in recent years.

“I’ve been involved with immersive technology like this for nine years. I’m definitely a pioneer, along with my partners,” Gray said. “We were formerly involved in a disruptive company selling hemp products, and we used this type of technology as an internal way to communicate."

“Our technology that we’ve developed at Utopia VR works on all devices – PCs, mobile phones and VR headsets. It’s very disruptive technology. We’ve come in on our computers today, but we could also come in on VR headsets. A lot of our users also come in on mobile phones. As we started looking at the technologies that we were working with, we realized that software was not the solution. Really, what we were embarking on, two-and-a-half years ago, was the start of the metaverse. We were doing it even before Meta… We have lots of experience working with this technology. We just wanted to really expand upon the knowledge that we had and build metaverse technology for the future."

Gray also mentioned that Terry Woloszyn, VP of Sales and Marketing, has been invited to speak at the upcoming Future of Work Expo about the Business Metaverse Adoption Roadmap. The conference will take place later this month from February 14-17, 2023. Additionally, Woloszyn will be on a panel to discuss the Brave New World of Augmented and Virtual Reality.

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features Brian Haugli, CEO of SideChannel Inc. (OTCQB: SDCH), a leading cybersecurity firm with a growing list of former enterprise level Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) delivering vCISO services to clients. 

Throughout the interview, Haugli discussed the company’s business model and operating markets. 

“SideChannel’s job is to make cybersecurity simple and accessible. We are a cybersecurity firm with products and services, and we bring a wealth of experience from our collective backgrounds,” Haugli said. “I have been a cybersecurity expert in the industry for a little over 20 years, within the Department of Defense and corporate America, along with my entire executive team… We’ve seen a real and obvious need to address cybersecurity at an operational level – from the top of the company – versus what it’s traditionally been, which is an IT issue. 

“Our focus is to bring real cybersecurity expertise, solid products and tech-enabled services into the types of companies that can’t usually afford the right types of full-time resources. We’re predominately focusing on the middle market and startups. Most people are chasing enterprises, but I like to joke that ‘There’re only 2,000 companies in the Fortune 2000, who’s helping the rest of them?’. It’s an underserved market looking for the right solutions. They are buying correctly, with the right advice. We’re really excited about focusing on an area with companies that genuinely want to do the right thing about securing their brands, customers and revenue.” 

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features Brian Haugli, CEO of SideChannel Inc. (OTCQB: SDCH), a leading cybersecurity firm with a growing list of former enterprise level Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) delivering vCISO services to clients. 

Throughout the interview, Haugli discussed the company’s business model and operating markets. 

“SideChannel’s job is to make cybersecurity simple and accessible. We are a cybersecurity firm with products and services, and we bring a wealth of experience from our collective backgrounds,” Haugli said. “I have been a cybersecurity expert in the industry for a little over 20 years, within the Department of Defense and corporate America, along with my entire executive team… We’ve seen a real and obvious need to address cybersecurity at an operational level – from the top of the company – versus what it’s traditionally been, which is an IT issue. 

“Our focus is to bring real cybersecurity expertise, solid products and tech-enabled services into the types of companies that can’t usually afford the right types of full-time resources. We’re predominately focusing on the middle market and startups. Most people are chasing enterprises, but I like to joke that ‘There’re only 2,000 companies in the Fortune 2000, who’s helping the rest of them?’. It’s an underserved market looking for the right solutions. They are buying correctly, with the right advice. We’re really excited about focusing on an area with companies that genuinely want to do the right thing about securing their brands, customers and revenue.” 

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features the return of Eileen Mockus, President and CEO of Coyuchi Inc., the gold standard in sustainable luxury home goods. 

Throughout the interview, Mockus discussed the company’s recent milestones as it continues to accept investment through its ongoing Regulation A+ offering. 

“Coyuchi is a lifestyle brand for luxury, sustainable living… The product that you want for a high-end home can be met with our amazing textiles,” Mockus said. “We started the year by sharing our impact report for 2020 and made some commitments around what we expect our future impact to be. That’s tied to things like our use of organic cotton and working with vendors who recycle all of their water. Textile processing requires a fair amount of water, so if we can do that in a way that reduces the amount of water needed, we want to make that happen. 

“We have interesting projects where we’re investing in regenerative agriculture as the source for our cotton. In 2022, we worked with a group called C4, the California Cotton & Climate Coalition, and grew some cotton on a farm in California. We had some great partners for that project – all looking for ways to increase biodiversity in the soil, add to the water retention for the soil and, generally speaking, protect the health of our soil with the way that we’re growing our cotton. We took the cotton from that project, and we’re launching two new Coyuchi products using that cotton.” 

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features the return of Eileen Mockus, President and CEO of Coyuchi Inc., the gold standard in sustainable luxury home goods. 

Throughout the interview, Mockus discussed the company’s recent milestones as it continues to accept investment through its ongoing Regulation A+ offering.

“Coyuchi is a lifestyle brand for luxury, sustainable living… The product that you want for a high-end home can be met with our amazing textiles,” Mockus said. “We started the year by sharing our impact report for 2020 and made some commitments around what we expect our future impact to be. That’s tied to things like our use of organic cotton and working with vendors who recycle all of their water. Textile processing requires a fair amount of water, so if we can do that in a way that reduces the amount of water needed, we want to make that happen. 

“We have interesting projects where we’re investing in regenerative agriculture as the source for our cotton. In 2022, we worked with a group called C4, the California Cotton & Climate Coalition, and grew some cotton on a farm in California. We had some great partners for that project – all looking for ways to increase biodiversity in the soil, add to the water retention for the soil and, generally speaking, protect the health of our soil with the way that we’re growing our cotton. We took the cotton from that project, and we’re launching two new Coyuchi products using that cotton.”

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features David Jemmett, CEO and Founder of Cerberus Cyber Sentinel Corp. (NASDAQ: CISO) (“CISO Global” or the “Company”), an industry leader in cybersecurity and compliance services.

Throughout the interview, Jemmett provided an introduction to Cerberus Sentinel and discussed its business model.

“This is my seventh organization, and, essentially, the business model was bringing really smart compliance and cyber professionals together,” Jemmett said. “When we started the organization, a lot of my friends (because I was retired) were asking me to look at their companies – their compliance and their cyber posture… We brought together different pillars of cybersecurity under one roof… When we decided to go public, we went out to my friends who ran these firms. Initially, six of them joined me, and we designed this company, from the executive team to the board to middle management, to go out and find the best talent worldwide to bring internally – either individuals or whole companies… The most important asset of the organization is the people.”

Join IBN’s Stuart Smith and David Jemmett to learn more about the company’s seasoned management team, as well as its recent milestones and goals for 2023.

Bell2Bell’s latest podcast features David Jemmett, CEO and Founder of Cerberus Cyber Sentinel Corp. (NASDAQ: CISO) (“CISO Global” or the “Company”), an industry leader in cybersecurity and compliance services.

Throughout the interview, Jemmett provided an introduction to Cerberus Sentinel and discussed its business model.

“This is my seventh organization, and, essentially, the business model was bringing really smart compliance and cyber professionals together,” Jemmett said. “When we started the organization, a lot of my friends (because I was retired) were asking me to look at their companies – their compliance and their cyber posture… We brought together different pillars of cybersecurity under one roof… When we decided to go public, we went out to my friends who ran these firms. Initially, six of them joined me, and we designed this company, from the executive team to the board to middle management, to go out and find the best talent worldwide to bring internally – either individuals or whole companies… The most important asset of the organization is the people.”

Join IBN’s Stuart Smith and David Jemmett to learn more about the company’s seasoned management team, as well as its recent milestones and goals for 2023.