Byron Reese on Stories, Dice and Rocks That Think

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Byron Reese is a serial entrepreneur, technologist, and futurist. He has enjoyed a wide range of success over 30 years, including two NASDAQ IPOs as well as the sale of three companies he founded. Today Byron is the CEO of JJ Kent, a venture-backed company using AI to create new products. Reese is also the author of four books on technology and his newest title Stories, Dice and Rocks That Think launches in August.

During our 2-hour conversation with Byron Reese, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as why entrepreneurship is mostly failing and trying again; the power of habit and writing every day; the inception of Stories, Dice and Rocks That Think; Homo Erectus and the Acheulean Axe; Hellen Keller’s moving story; the birth of consciousness and “the Stoned Ape Theory;” dice, probability and the mathematization of everything; clocks, punctuality and the top-down creation of social virtues; why Byron is a techno-optimist but AI-skeptic; utopia, progress and messing things up.

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Who is Byron Reese?

Speaking across the globe, Byron brings great enthusiasm and talent for deciphering our common destiny and unlocking business opportunities within it. As a successful entrepreneur, bestselling author, and award-winning futurist, Byron employs his perspective as a historian, futurist, and technologist to illuminate how the technology of today can solve some of our most daunting global challenges.

As a futurist, he understands the unprecedented technological change upon us and explores the dramatic transformation of society it will bring. As a technologist and entrepreneur, he knows how to manage change and inspire innovation, while still meeting the immediate obligations and realities of operating a business.

Serial entrepreneur, technologist, and futurist – Byron has enjoyed a wide range of success over 30 years, including two NASDAQ IPOs as well as the sale of three companies he founded. Today Byron is the CEO of JJ Kent, a venture-backed technology company using proprietary AI tools to create new products that delight consumers. Byron has served on numerous public and private boards and presently resides on the board of directors for GigaOm, technology research and analysis firm focused on helping business leaders understand the implications of emerging technologies and their impacts on business, media, and society.

Byron has spoken around the world to both technical and non-technical audiences, and his keynotes and appearances include SXSW, TEDx Austin, Google, Nvidia, FedEx, and Fortune 1000 companies (Dell Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Oticon, Swisslog) and universities Rice (the University of Texas, Queen’s University, TWU) and futurist conferences (TimeMachine, PICNIC Festival in Amsterdam, Wolfram Data Summit, and the IEEE Conference) among others.

His newest book, “Stories, Dice and Rocks That Think” launches in August 2022 from Ben Bella, provides a new look at the history and destiny of humanity, wherein dice teach us about probability, which allows us to accurately predict the future; storytelling allows us to envision the future; and rocks that think – a reference to a computer’s CPU – enable us to build the future.