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Member Spotlight: Chris Rezendes

Chris-Rezendes

During his first visit to Groundwork!, Chris Rezendes of INEX Advisors gave us a crash course on the Internet of Things (IoT), shared his personal history and values with us (he grew up in Fall River), and proposed that we all work together to create a better future for the South Coast. Chris promptly became a Groundwork! member and proceeded to connect us with folks in his personal network in New Bedford and beyond, all of whom are doing amazing things that support innovation.

As a result of that first meeting with Chris, the SoCoLAUNCH! Meetup was born and we are quickly forming a movement to redevelop the South Coast.

Chris’s enthusiasm for his work is contagious, and when you talk to him it is hard not to get excited about how the Internet of Things could improve our quality of life. Check out his TEDx Talk in San Diego:

If you’re curious to know more about IoT, you can read Chris’s post here on 9 Fundamentals of IoT Strategy. Or you can stop by Groundwork! and strike up a conversation. In this interview, Chris gives us a glimpse into his busy and productive life.

What’s your profession?

I’m an advisor and investor in technology companies.

Describe a typical work day for you.

When local: Communications before dawn, kids to school, calls, meetings, fighting for time to read and write.

When on the road: Tubes and cubes; meetings with amazing people; cubes back to tubes. Home.

What’s the biggest challenge you face at your job?

Time management. Unlimited opportunities, limited resources. Missing out on anything with my family.

Do you have a morning routine?

Pre-dawn prayer/ meditation. Scan news. Catch up on overnight communications. Coffee with wife. Kids to school. Workouts … irregularly.

What are your favorite productivity tips or hacks?

Mental models. Frameworks.

  1. You must seek and build models for engaging, ingesting and processing all the information that is coming at you so that you can separate signal from noise.
  2. You must take time away from the tasking to review, refine, revise your models as needed.

What do you listen to during the day?

My better inner voice — seriously. My wife. My kids. My partners. Leaders of our portfolio companies. Clients. Prospects. My parents, brothers, and friends when they are available.

How do you benefit from using a coworking space?

Energy. We all work with and for people. What else is there? Being at GroundWORK! has been a valuable source of energy. Every day.

What’s in your digital toolbox?

The coolest beta versions of tools that our clients, portfolio companies and partners will give us access to. I try to keep it light. Notebook for composing. Tablet for consuming. Android for communicating.

What is the most surprising or unusual aspect of your life?

How happy I am to be the laggard in my household — on every dimension.

What inspires you?

The opportunity to play a meaningful role in the intelligent and intentional instrumentation of the physical world so that we can achieve more of our goals and honor more of our ideals. To leverage this thing called IoT to help more people make more money and more meaning. To be part of the definition and development of a number of new systems that will drive financial success and broader economic stability and ecological sustainability. Making money and meaning. To make my parents, my wife, my kids and the people I grew up with, live with and work with, proud.

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Chris has a full schedule of speaking events in the coming months. You can see him at:

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