Miki Reynolds, CEO at Grid110

Erik  00:07

We want to welcome all of our listeners to another episode of Minority Report podcast with Erik and Kerel. Each episode we talk with leaders in business, tech and media. And today joining us is Miki Reynolds, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of Grid110. Let's jump in and get to know Miki. Miki, welcome. How are you?

Miki Reynolds  00:27

Hi, guys. I'm doing well. How are you both?

Erik  00:29

Yeah, Miki, happy and excited to talk with you and learn about everything you're doing and working on. First for our audience, can you tell us a little bit about what's going on at Grid110? First, what is Grid110? And what's happening there these days?

Miki Reynolds  00:46

Yeah, absolutely. So thanks for having me. I'm Miki. I'm the CEO and Co-Founder of Grid110. We are a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles. We provide free entrepreneurship programs to early stage founders - if you've heard the term accelerator before, so we provide cohort based programs that are typically about 12 weeks long. Working with founders anywhere from late idea stage, all the way through, they've launched their business, they have customers, they're generating revenue, they're trying to get to whatever that next milestone is for them. So we work with them really closely on helping them to either start or grow their business. The nature, kind of, business model that we work with is we don't charge our participants for being part of the program. So it's no cost, no equity, they receive all of this for free. We have a great partnership with the City of Los Angeles and the Mayor's office who have helped us in terms of grants for several years, as well as other philanthropic partners who've really supported the work that we do. We've worked with about 200. Actually, we're just heading upon 250 companies that we're just starting to work with. So 235, prior to this summer that we've worked with over the past seven years, providing these free programs to them. Seventy percent led by women, 74% led by founders of color, we just feel like it better reflects the city of Los Angeles, but also the startup ecosystem that we would like to see in the future of seeing this new majority minority really taking emergence, because they are the ones that are building businesses at a faster rate than anybody else.

Erik  02:15

That's fantastic. I have so many questions and I know Kerel does too about that. That's awesome to hear. And especially, I think, probably your own personal perspective, which brings you to this point, you know, in your career, and then being able to identify a little bit with some of the founders that you're working with. Tell us a little bit about your background, like tell us about your family. Where did you grow up? Where are you from? And tell us about your family and your background?

Miki Reynolds  02:44

Yeah, so I am California born and raised - West Coast. I'm originally from the Bay Area. So I grew up in a little town called Alameda, it's right next to Oakland, if you've ever been to the Bay Area. Funny story, it's actually an island. The only way that you can get onto it is through a bridge or a tunnel. And my mom's Japanese, my dad is Caucasian American. My mom actually grew up in Japan, my dad was in the Navy. He shipped off overseas as soon as he could enlist in something. He was born in Santa Barbara, was a surfer and really just wanted to go out and see the world and saw that the Navy had the opportunity to be able to do that. They met in Japan, came back and had me here. So I've grown up with this, you know, biracial multicultural identity, that, to be honest, like I really didn't explore, I don't think until college. I grew up in very diverse communities in terms of like the different kids that were in my class. But I think for me, like personally, I've always identified as being mixed. And it was really never like more Japanese or more Caucasian. I am ambiguously ethnic, you know, passing wise when it comes to physical features. And so people are always like, "What are you? Where are you from?" And I think it's, it's really given me the opportunity to see the world through a different type of lens of having these different cultures. I didn't grow up with a lot of Japanese influence outside of my mom. And it's really something that as I become an adult, wanting to explore a lot more of just tapping more into that culture and heritage.

Kerel  04:06

I'm curious to know, what was the driving force behind like, okay, you got to the point where, like you said, you grew up and then wanted to sort of now explore more about the culture. Was it just sort of becoming more sort of self aware and then wanting to sort of understand your entire story? I'm always interested in understanding like, what motivates someone to want to learn more about their history, their family's past, so on and so forth?

Miki Reynolds 04:35

Yeah, absolutely. I think growing up there were some insecurities around not being enough. So not being Asian enough, you know, I didn't have similar types of backgrounds or even look like some of my Asian friends did. And I think there was always this insecurity of even like, dating people that were Asian and their moms being super judgmental about that, because I'm half white. And I think it was in college, really, I think there was a club. I went to UCLA, so that's what brought me down to Los Angeles. I went to UCLA, there was a club on campus called the Hapa Club. And Hapa is a term in Hawaiian that typically refers to like half Hawaiian half other. But it's also a term that I think a lot of half Asian people have embraced as like, "What are you? Oh, you're Hapa. Okay, I figured because of the eyes or whatever." And it was a class, my very last class that I took was an Asian American Studies class on mixed or multicultural Asian identities. And so it was being in a class of other people that were similar to me had some sort of part Asian heritage, some sort of other and reading books by authors that had this similar background, and understanding what identity meant to them. And so it was really just the opportunity to explore that I had never been presented with before, because most people that I knew were kind of 100% one or the other, or something. And so to be around other people that even if they weren't half Japanese, half White like I was, I think there is this somewhat shared identity of being mixed or multicultural.

Erik  06:00

Thank you, thank you for sharing that personal experience and experiences and even some of the questions, one I can identify a lot with, and sort of “What are you," kind of question, you know, behind the question, right, because you can't quite figure it out right away. And I'm curious about some of the experiences maybe that your mom had here that maybe she passed along to you that you think about. Because as I think about the time period coming over here, that must have been a unique experience for her, so tell us a little bit about that.

Miki Reynolds  06:36

Yeah, I consider my mom the hardest working person that I know. She's definitely a hero and a role model of mine. I think as somebody who, she was living on her own at a very young age as a teenager and so really had to fend for herself. And so I grew up with a lot of, kind of, autonomy, because my mom was working all the time. My parents divorced when I was very little. So I spent weekends with my dad, and during the week with my mom. And I grew up in the 80s as a latchkey kid, so there was just you have a lot of autonomy, you got a lot of independence, you have to, you know, take care of yourself after school, snack, like do your homework, all of those things. And I think that that was something that she kind of was forced to do on her own, had to grow up with a lot of autonomy and independence, and just figure things out for herself. She put herself through, I think it was a couple of years of community college to get to a point where she could start, you know, working in different capacities. She worked at a photo studio, she got a certificate in hospitality, and then spent most of her career working in hotels. And so it was just this, the things that I've learned from her, she's kind of been able to, like, rebrand herself in terms of career, when one opportunity maybe wasn't working out, she figured out something else for herself. And she's been able to adapt really well in those ways. She's just always been incredibly self sufficient. So these are things that, from a learned behavior, I've seen my mom model it, have really adopted myself of being self sufficient, autonomous and independent.

Erik  08:01

That's great. Miki, you're really, really busy working with others. So if it's not through just Grid110, you're active on a lot of advisory boards and working through groups like you know, Women in STEM LA, and also the South by Southwest Advisory Board. Tell us a little bit about what's happening there and what kind of work you're doing there with others.

Miki Reynolds  08:25

Yep. So I think people always will ask me around kind of like work life balance. And I tend to have somewhat of a work life blend, because the blinds blur a lot, because what I do outside of work sometimes looks very similar to what I do inside of work. And it's just something that I've just always enjoyed, or have found that I've enjoyed even more as I got more involved in things. So I've worked in tech my entire career, and recognized pretty early on that tech is a very homogenous space, mostly white male. And so I found myself as a woman, oftentimes the only person of color and or woman on an executive team, and the challenges that we're faced with doing that, trying to bring in people underneath me. So if when I was hiring to try to make sure that we're giving more access points to people from non traditional backgrounds. If they didn't have a background specifically in tech, how could we get them into tech? I also spent some time working at General Assembly, which is a tech education school that was really meant to allow people to enable them to break into tech or level up into tech. And a lot of what I did producing different types of events was really around how can we showcase that there are diverse people that are working in tech, or at least to highlight who is so that people can be seeing them as a possibility model of "Oh, this person is a software engineer and they also happen to be a Latina woman or a black male." And so having really diverse representation, and the events that we were doing, it just became something that I felt like was really important to make sure that we were showing people and so if there are opportunities for me to get involved from a diversity, equity, inclusion perspective outside of the work that I'm doing. So whether it is with We STEM, which was a mentoring initiative, to help women who were already decided that they wanted to pursue a career in STEM in college, make sure that they stayed there because the dropout rate is so high. And they're not seeing, you know, professors, or even at the graduate level, they're not around other women like them that offer some sort of support. So we wanted to create a mentorship opportunity for them. With the South by Southwest Advisory, it's an advisory board for the pitch competition. So that's helping to recruit companies that are interested in pitching and being showcased on this huge platform that they have. And it's really trying to level the playing field to ensure that there are diverse founders that have access to this opportunity. So it really blends in terms of like my day work and what I do kind of I guess, as hobbies or as additional professional pursuits, that they kind of coincide in those ways.

Kerel  10:57

It makes it really easy to blend work life balance, when everything is a passion that you're doing, right? Yeah, and that's where, you know, Erik and I have asked that question a number of times to guests that we've had on the podcast. And the answers have been always pretty interesting, but that's always one thing that has stood out to me is like, when you're doing something that you're passionate about, then it doesn't really seem like work, right. So I'm curious to know, you're Co-Founder, CEO, I hear a lot of Co-Founders and CEOs say that it can be a challenging position to be in. Sometimes it feels a little lonely, because you're the ones making all the decisions, it can be a little bit of a roller coaster ride, you're the leader, it starts and begins with you, you make the decisions. I'm curious, from your perspective, what have you learned about yourself as being a Co-Founder and CEO of a company?

Miki Reynolds  11:55

Yeah, I learned that I can actually do this. Because never before did I ever think that this would be the type of opportunity that I would step into. I have always played more of a supporting role. So I never really thought about being an entrepreneur, I was always somebody else's right hand and I was really good at it. And it was just, I'm the logical operations minded, kind of, get shit done type of person to some more like maniacally crazy, visionary person. And I can, you know, bring people down to earth and be like, "Okay, here's a timeline that we can actually do this in and who's going to do it and when it will be done by," and saying no to a lot of things where somebody wants me to say yes. And it wasn't until this opportunity, so for a little bit of background context, I started this organization with six other people. And we kind of all connected through a couple of different ways, but it was really around fostering a sense of community that we felt was missing for entrepreneurs in a specific geography of Los Angeles, which was downtown LA. So we were hyper local focused on the downtown, kind of creating a downtown startup scene for entrepreneurs in the area. And we all lived or worked in the downtown area, came from different backgrounds. They're all entrepreneurs, I was the only person that was kind of like, I worked a day job my entire life. And we started this and I think about two years in, you know, my personal interest in it was wanting to see something that was in the downtown area supporting entrepreneurs, I played very much like a behind the scenes type of role on our like finances and marketing and things that I could. And it wasn't until we reached this inflection point where we actually came into some funding that could operationalize the organization. We did a pilot for a couple of years, worked with 10 companies total and then our partnership with the city kind of really took off because we'd had some outcomes from our pilots that really showed the efficacy of what we were doing in supporting these entrepreneurs through these programs. And so we became eligible for some city funding, which allowed us to hire our first executive director and basically leading the organization. And the co founders are like, "Well, we have our own companies, so it's not going to be any of us, but you're looking for something new right now and we would love for this to be somebody that started this organization with us, are you interested in doing it?" And I had helped put together the budget for this grant and I saw the line item for executive director had never really gave it any thought to myself, I was like, "Oh, we're gonna find somebody. That's great. I'm glad that we can finally hire somebody." And then it wasn't until I think, just like the convergence of I was looking for a new opportunity, I kind of hit a ceiling with where I was at before and this opportunity was presented. And it's one of those things where when you're presented with something that kind of moderately terrifies you a little bit, you know that that's something that you should probably lean into. And so I talked to my co founders, and I'm like, "I'm thinking about doing this" and they're like, "Yes! How can we support you? Like, we feel like you'll be such a good fit for this." So that was five years ago, and you know, moved from Executive Director into the CEO role about a year and a half ago as we've grown our team. And every day it's like "Am I the right person to do this?" I mean, massive impostor syndrome to start for sure, of not having been an entrepreneur, not having started a company before, not having started a nonprofit. So lots of questions in my head about what's the way to go about doing this. But I think like any entrepreneur, you just figure it out. And it's like it's been done before, right? Like, there are people that you can talk to, resources that are available, you just have to figure it out and take it day by day. So I think that's the biggest learning that I've taken away from this is, yeah, it can be incredibly lonely and isolating, we talk about this with our founders all the time, whether you're a solo founder, co founder, you have a team of two or 20, it's a tough role to fill and so I have a lot of empathy for the founders that we work with.

Kerel  15:45

Right. What's been the most rewarding part of the job?

Miki Reynolds  15:50

I'll say that there are two things, I think, one is just seeing the companies. So seeing somebody start as a solo founder and get a co founder and actually launch a business. Seeing the pivots that have happened, seeing the people that have survived the pandemic. And you know, complete business models have changed, and customers have gone away, and then they found new ones. So I think just the resilience and grit that these entrepreneurs showcase on a daily basis is incredibly inspiring and something that I'm super proud of. We work with a wide range of entrepreneurs. So whether they are building a venture backed business and trying to quickly scale a software business, or they're running an e commerce store, or they have a brick and mortar bookstore or a coffee shop, so we work with a variety of different businesses. And access to capital is a problem for all of them. So we want to showcase like, what are the different types of capital that makes sense for you as a business? And how can we help you get prepped for them and make sure that you have what you need to go after if it's the right avenue for you. And those that have gone on to raise money, outside funding, it's totaling about $82 million now, in the past, like five or so years. And so when you think about the numbers of the sheer mere percentage of funding that actually go to women and people of color, in the startup space, it's less than 3%. And we're talking about billions of dollars every year. And I just tweeted something today, specifically for women founders that studies have shown, it's proven that women founders generate more revenue than their male counterparts and have a 2x return on investment to their investors. And so there are studies out there that show that diverse teams are stronger teams than white male led companies, yet white male led companies are getting all of the funding. And so what I see as successful is that I hope that we'll be able to change the industry, and that these small percentages will start to grow into double digits, and more significantly, but we're doing what we can, at least with the founders that we're working with. And then I think on the other side, I will say a personal success is just like the team that we've been able to build. We have an incredible, mostly women led team, mostly women of color. And many of them come from non traditional backgrounds as well. And this is, you know, a first foray into tech and startups and entrepreneurship for them. But they bring different skills and abilities and perspectives. And I think most of all, it's just like being so heart led in what they're doing. And truly having a shared passion for supporting entrepreneurs, and the community that we've built. It's been really incredible to see them grow in the positions that they have, and to help build what we have today.

Kerel  18:32

Gotcha. And while you were talking, I went into Twitter, logged in found your tweet and I just retweeted you.

Miki Reynolds  18:39

Awesome, thank you. (laughs)

Kerel  18:46

I'm also curious to know, you work with founders, folks trying to get money, folks trying to launch their own business, is there like specific criteria that you look for in the companies or founders that you work with?

Miki Reynolds  19:01

Yeah, so we have kind of an application vetting process. And some of the things that we look at in terms of criteria for the application are, do you understand the problem that you're solving? I mean, entrepreneurship is ultimately about solving people's problems, and ultimately getting them to pay for you to solve their problem for you. And so it's being able to productize that or put together a service that somebody needs, it's a pain point in their life, whether it's, we call a painkiller level, where it's something that's so excruciating, you will pay anybody to solve this problem for you. Or maybe it's a nice to have, it just, it helps make your day a little bit nicer, what we call a vitamin. And so it's really, do you understand the problem that you're solving? Why this thing needs to exist? Do you understand who has this problem? So have you done some diligence in terms of talking to potential customers? Or do you have customers and do you understand who they are, down to kind of the specificity of how would you get more of those customers? And so do you know how to market to them? So that's kind of the first thing that we look for. We look at the team. Why are you kind of uniquely positioned to be the team that will bring this to life and make it successful? Do you have some sort of background in the space that you're building? And do you have a personal connection to the problem that you're solving? And so I think that those that are able to really clearly articulate the problem that they're solving, how they're uniquely positioned to do this, how they're different, maybe from any competitors that are out there, or how they're doing it differently in terms of execution. So those are the kind of like the high level things that really kind of attract our attention. And then when it comes to the program, it's like, are we a right fit for you? If you've identified the challenges that you're having, your most pressing needs, what you're looking for out of a program and support network like this, do we feel like we can provide that back to you? Because we want to make sure that it's a well aligned fit. And so I think the ones that really identify, they're looking for community, which is a huge component of our program, our organization, it's one of our core values. Are they looking to be amongst other entrepreneurs, and give back into that community to support to learn to be peer mentors? So those are really things that we look for in terms of like finding the right fit for the programs that we're running.

Kerel  21:15

Gotcha, gotcha. What excites you most about the future of Grid110?

Miki Reynolds  21:22

I'm one of those people that takes things kind of like I don't have like a five or 10 year plan. I stopped having one of those a long time ago and just have tried to be a little bit more agile and nimble and maybe a little bit more responsive to opportunities as they present themselves. And so that's kind of how it's been with Grid110. You know, I think in the beginning, has always had the vision of really creating this dynamic organization and community for entrepreneurs. Up until last year, it was solely focused around Los Angeles, and supporting founders in the local LA area. Earlier this year, we were able to partner with a venture capital firm, also based here in LA called Slauson and Co, and we launched our first national program called Friends and Family. And so we worked with 20 companies across the US in 11 different cities across the country. And that was really exciting just to see what's the innovation that's happening outside of Los Angeles, or even outside of these major startup cities like San Francisco and New York. So the companies we worked with came from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Greensboro, Houston, Atlanta, DC, Cleveland. So it was really great to see you know, that there's innovation happening in neighborhoods across the country. And so I think that's what I'm really excited about is as the pandemic has shifted and [inaudible] of work has become a thing and Silicon Valley and then the reliance on that, and fixed place and geography has come a little bit, become less important. Like, I imagine before, podcasts were mostly probably recorded in person, right? So now we have the opportunity for all three of us to be able to connect from across the country to be able to do this. And so I'm excited for what that looks like for startup ecosystems and support, and the educational opportunities that will present themselves for entrepreneurs across the country that don't have to be just in a particular city.

Kerel  23:10

Yeah, you know, you bring up a good point, because when Erik and I started this podcast, four years ago now, the first couple of years, we're like, okay, schedule podcasts when we're in person, and when we can get the guest in person. And it was just like, thinking back on that, like, we didn't have to do that, like, we still have the same tools that we have now that we did prior to the pandemic. We could have been doing this this way, the whole time. I think, in many ways, the pandemic, while obviously very unfortunate in so many ways, it forced, really everyone to think about, like how you do business, how you communicate and how you socialize as well, too.

Miki Reynolds  23:50

Yeah, absolutely. Same thing happened to us. All of our programs, prior to the pandemic had been in person. So we were very much about fixed place, geography, Los Angeles companies coming into a co working space and connecting through weekly sessions, and the pandemic hit and we, just like every other kind of educational institution - I saw, you know, "Stanford is going to Zoom. Okay, like, well, if Stanford's doing it, then we can probably do that too." And so for the past two years, we've run, I have lost track at this time, maybe like 10 cohorts and they've all been done virtually. And we've committed to running virtual programs in the future because of the accessibility aspect of it is that founders can come to us from across the city. There were issues with commuting and parking, and we have a lot of parents in our programs, so childcare is a thing. And so being able to have the opportunity to just to zoom into a session wherever you might be, that's what really opened up our eyes to the nationwide program. It's like if we can find the right partners and supporters that believe in this as much as we do that we can open this up to beyond just the walls of Los Angeles. It also, same thing with guests, like we can have guest speakers that are coming in that don't have to be based here in Los Angeles, they could be anywhere. And I think it's been beneficial for the quality of the program.

Erik  25:06

Miki, I have a question and you touched on something that comes up a lot. And I feel like you probably run into this a lot with all of the sort of folks that you run into as founders and you mentioned imposter syndrome. What are one or two things that you've learned over the years, personally, you know, you mentioned there's moments where even after being successful and learning how to sort of power through those moments and have built up a way to handle that, but there's moments where you still get pulled back into that just for a moment, right? What are one or two easy ways you can pass on some of that knowledge to something so complex? Imagine you're a newer founder, what are one or two ways that you can pass on something simple to some folks like that?

Miki Reynolds  25:52

Yeah, the first thing for me is really kind of taking a look at what's making me feel this way. Is it an opportunity that I don't think I'm good enough for? That I don't think I'm experienced enough or equipped for? I don't have, you know, right words to say. I remember getting an invite for my first podcast several years ago, and my immediate reaction was, "Oh, I know a bunch of people I can recommend for this podcast," like, why am I scared, like, this person invited me, they asked me, you know, and why is my first reaction- I did that with speaking engagements too. I'm like, "Oh, I have the perfect person I could recommend." And I think it's just reminding yourself that if something like that comes up, you were invited to that table. That there was a reason that you were chose, that this is being presented to you or you created it is that they want to hear your voice, your perspective. And you have one, I think it's just to have confidence in that and to figure out what is it that I want to say? And how do I want to share it? And then I think it's, if you can, finding some sort of peer network. And so whether it's you have like an accountability buddy, a business partner, a confidant like somebody who I think is going to be your hype person, when you have moments like this, whether it's you're feeling a little insecure, you have self doubt, you have impostor syndrome, like something that where you're just like, "I need to get out of my own head and I need to talk to somebody else about this, like, somebody who's going to back me off the ledge a little bit." And if that can't be yourself, like hopefully you'll try to learn the skills and the frameworks to be able to do that for yourself, but having a friend, a partner, somebody who's able to do that for you. I mean, for me, and this is a privilege is I started therapy a year ago, and it has really helped in terms of quieting down like the noises in my head where I'm very much like an over thinker, I overanalyze, and I was worried about it, just really impacting how I performed as a leader, as a boss, as a coworker, and colleague. And I think that that's been something that's been really helpful to me is just getting it outside of my head and talking about it really rationally with somebody else.

Erik  27:53

That's huge. That's huge, Miki. Thank you for sharing your personal experiences and those insights for others. That's massive. I love something you said earlier, it was around being a possibility model, right? And that's so inspiring. And also, I think, just huge for, for anyone to come across if you're newer in your career or newer as a founder, or even if you've been doing it for a while, there's nothing like seeing that and getting recharged again, right, or getting excited again. Can you talk a little bit about just one or two examples of how you can be a possibility model for others?

Miki Reynolds  28:29

Yeah, I learned that term from my friend Yolanda, who had a podcast that I fortunately got to be on, it was one of her questions was like, "Who are your possibility models?" And I had to have her kind of define, like what that meant. And it's like somebody that you see that shows that like it can be done. And I think we see them all the time when it comes to people that are in the spotlight, whether they're celebrities, athletes, entertainers, like somebody we aspire to be, and they have a similar background or story as are so that you know that it can be done. But I think it can also be peers, you know, it can be people in your own friend group that have a compelling story or inspiring to you. And that you can be that for other people. So whether it's like you volunteer, you could be a mentor, you could, you know, volunteer for some sort of like after school program, you could be guest speaking in front of kids. I think that's the biggest thing is like, the younger audiences really need to see that there are a bunch of different opportunities out there for them that they may not get exposure to while they're in school. And so I think it's learning that it is possible for somebody who may either came from the same neighborhood went to the same school as them is now doing X, Y, or Z and really opens up kind of, again, the possibility of what they could be doing.

Erik  29:44

That's great. Alright, Miki. I have to ask you about the T3 or the triple T threat, it is tequila, tacos, and tech. Tell us about that.

Miki Reynolds  29:57

Yes, so, huge fan of tacos. I think I'm fortunate to live in Southern California where tacos are aplenty from like, I literally have a like pop up, taco stand that comes to my corner in downtown LA like a couple times a week. There's taco trucks roaming the city, like you could get an amazing taco kind of anywhere here. I don't know, it's just something about them where it's like, the size of them, you could have a bunch of different types of meats. And so I'm pretty much a carne asada girl, but we'll try kind of like anything. And it's usually if I travel somewhere, I will like judge the city based off what their tacos taste like. (laughs) And then it like depends on the season, but usually I'm a tequila in the summer, whiskey in the winter girl. And it was, I don't know, just something that felt like, the alliteration aspect of it and then tech, so just three things that I've found that it's like, just bring me joy and enjoyment in life.

Kerel  30:54

I don't know what I want to do more now, go have a taco or go have tequila or whiskey.

Miki Reynolds  31:00

Oh, do both.

Kerel  31:05

Awesome. All right, fun question I love asking every guest that we have on the podcast, give us the top three apps that you use on your phone, but you can't name email, calendar or text messaging, because those are too boring and normals.

Miki Reynolds  31:20

Okay. I've tried to reduce my use of these. So I'm one of those people that doom scrolls in the morning and late at night, so Instagram, for sure. I love the visual content and aspect of Instagram. Fun fact, I was in the first 1000 users to download Instagram the day that it launched. I was following a tech blogger who was beta testing it and posting his photos on Tumblr, if we can go back to many, many years ago. And I was like, "What is this cool, like over saturated filter that they're using on their photos." And they shared that it was Instagram. And so the day that it launched, I downloaded it immediately have been using it ever since. I'm one of those daily active users on it. Twitter is a big thing for me. So I've had Twitter for over a decade as well. I am a hardcore introvert, but I consider myself a digital extrovert, so I feel much more comfortable kind of networking and communicating people through digital platforms and social media networks like those. So with Twitter, I found some of my co founders on Twitter, I have found people to hire, I'm a scout for a couple of funds, so I've actually found investments through Twitter. We've gotten funders through there. We've met founders through there. It has its pros and cons for sure, but I think it's really incredible, the gateway that it's opened up to connecting with people. And then the third one I think most recently I've been on a closing my rings on my Apple Watch kick, so the whatever the fitness app that they call it on there, or the Apple Watch has been something that has kind of consumed my daily habits of making sure that I'm closing my rings from a kind of health and wellness perspective. And so I think those are the three that probably get the most screen time for me.

Kerel  33:06

Yeah, I've been a little obsessed with that as well too. Walking, running, cycling, something, what are you doing to close your rings?

Miki Reynolds  33:15

It's a little bit of a mix. So I actually just started when Peloton enabled you to start renting their Peloton so you didn't have to buy it and like make that upfront investment. So I started renting a Peloton, I've had it for about six weeks now. So I've tried to get on it a couple of times a week and I've found that I've actually really enjoyed it. Walking has been big for me. So I have two dogs, I need to take them out multiple times a day, but I at least try to take them out on one like pretty significant walk. Even just like getting out and bike riding also. So yesterday, they have this event in Los Angeles called CicLAvia. And it's when they close down a couple miles of different parts of neighborhoods around the city. This part was focused on South LA and you can bike, you can walk, you can run, you can bring a scooter, just anything but a car so it's closed down for cars. So ended up biking about 10 miles yesterday. I try to mix it up. So like I took a rowing class a couple of weeks ago, I took a reformer Pilates class and got my ass handed to me because it's so hard. I just try to like, whatever I can do to kind of diversify my workouts but also just have some fun with it.

Erik  34:23

Excellent. Miki, I didn't hear a sitting app or any of those. But listen, it's been a blast having you here. Thank you so much. Our audience loves to stay in touch, loves to learn more. How can they do that? How can they follow you?

Miki Reynolds  34:40

Yeah, I am @mikster on all of the social apps. And then we're at Grid110 and grid110.org is our website.

Erik  34:49

Excellent. Well, everyone thank you for listening to another episode and thank you Miki for joining us. You can find more episodes where you find all of your audio and video just search Minority Report Podcast and look for the logo. Thanks everyone.