026 Erik Rind - Blockchain, Owning Your Personal Data & Creating Educational, Inspirational and Informational Content

Erik Rind is the Founder and CEO of ImagineBC, a media company and a digital experience platform that keeps data private, compensates for content and gives back.

Today, Erik joins the show to talk about how blockchain technology has changed the overall landscape of Information Technology, creating meaningful content, and Erik’s vision for the future of data security technology.

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Key Takeaways

02:40 – Jeff introduces today’s guest, Erik Rind, who joins the show to discuss

05:27 – How blockchain technology has changed IT overall

08:09 – Taking control of your own data and the Privacy Paradox

14:05 – Differences between the international market and the U.S. market

16:51 – How Erik came up with the idea for a digital experience platform that keeps data private, compensates for content and gives back

22:31 – Content that is educational, inspirational and informational

25:59 – The biggest lessons Erik has learned from building four companies

30:20 – Mistakes Erik has made along the way and mentors who have impacted his success

36:29 – Erik speculates on the future of blockchain and online content

39:57 – Erik shares his vision for what a perfect future would look like

42:00 – Jeff thanks Erik for joining the show and lets listeners know where to learn more about ImagineBC

Tweetable Quotes

“It’s a fairly interesting thing and I’m not sure if other people are like this, but programming languages are almost like human languages in that, over the course of my life, I’ve programmed in many different languages. But I think in 4chan.” (04:59) (Erik)

“We’re focused in the advertising world. We believe that every individual believes a share of the money being produced from their data to advertise to them. We’re all walking Neilsen boxes now as I like to say. We’re always being prompted with ads based on Facebook or Google knowing, theoretically, more about us than we know about ourselves. So that’s the area where we’re really focused.” (08:16) (Erik)

“So, really, acceptance by the brands overseas is greater acceptance by the brands here in this country.” (15:52) (Erik)

“We focus on content that’s educational, inspirational or informational. We’re not just interested in videos of cats winding yarn or TikTok people dancing. There are other platforms for that. Our platform is about education, inspiration and information.” (22:47) (Erik)

“The answer to your question is you’ve got to stop when it stops being fun. And it stops being fun when you stop learning something.” (35:35) (Erik)

“When I started ImagineBC, I was just hoping that we could give a nudge in that direction. If we can get people saying, ‘Oh, it’s pretty cool that I control my data and I can make some money,’ then other people start to think what else can we do with owning our own data?” (38:23) (Erik)

“It’s an educational movement to get people to truly understand what security and control of one’s personal data is.” (39:32) (Erik)