PowerTalk
The Secret Behind Barefoot Cellars Becoming a National Bestselling Brand with co-founder Michael Houlihan
Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits, and these are my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in the business world that take you behind the scenes and in the know. Be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on PowerTrends and past editions of PowerTalk.
Joining me on PowerTalk today is Michael C. Houlihan, co-founder of Barefoot Cellars where he was president and CEO for 19 years, During that time, Michael and his partner Bonnie Harvey took Barefoot from a startup and grew it to a business that sold over half a million cases making it a national best seller when they sold the company to E&J Gallo in 2005. What’s even more amazing is Michael and Bonnie did it all without advertising. 
As Michael points out, you can have a great product at a great price, but what so many companies forget is that they are also in the distribution business. We’ve seen the product and distribution success of other companies that bear this out — The Coca-Cola Company (KO), PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP), Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (BUD), Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP) and Diageo plc (DEO), which is the home of many top brands of spirits, wines and beers.
Not only do Michael I talk about how he and Bonnie built Barefoot Cellars into a national bestseller, but we also discuss the New York Times Bestselling book that he and Bonnie wrote  — “The Barefoot Spirit -- How Hardship, Hustle & Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand.” 
My advice to you is the following - pour yourself a drink and listen up to this edition of PowerTalk.

Direct download: 12-16-13_BAREFOOTPOWERTALK.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:25pm EDT

Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits, and these are my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in the business world that take you behind the scenes and in the know. Be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on PowerTrends and past editions of PowerTalk.

Joining me this week on PowerTalk is Michael Gorton, the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Principal Solar Inc. (PSWW). There’s been a lot of speculation by investors in the solar space, some making big money along the way and others losing it in the shares of companies like First Solar (FSLR), SunPower Corp. (SPWR), and of course Solyndra, Inc. It’s the view by those at Principal Solar that many are thinking about the solar industry the wrong way. Rather than replacing traditional forms of energy — nuclear, coal and natural gas — Michael and his team see solar generated electricity becoming a self-sustaining, investment grade asset within two to three years. 

Driving that transformation are the 40+% price declines in solar technologies over the last two years, and as Michael tells me by late 2014 or early 2015 the price will be substantially lower making them very cost competitive as a generation source for electricity. By riding the innovation wave much like that in the semiconductor industry that has paved the way for personal computers, tablets and smartphones, Principal Solar sees the use of solar expanding dramatically in the coming years. 

Perhaps that is why the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects solar will provide up to 25% of global electricity production by 2050. Now you may not believe that forecast, I’m not sure I do, but it’s not slowing down solar investments by Germany, China and Japan. Meanwhile here at home, traditional electricity generation companies are preparing for that coming move down the solar cost curve. It sure sounds like Principal Solar is on to something and sometimes to see the real opportunity you have to have a different view on things and that’s just what Michael shares with us today. 

Direct download: 12-10-13_PRINCIPALSOLARPOWERTALK.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:17am EDT

Joining me this week on PowerTalk is Peter Schiff, American businessman, investment broker, financial commentator, author and radio show host as well as the CEO and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Inc. As I’ve come to appreciate about Peter, he is not shy about his views and that always makes for a great conversation, particularly this one that touches on the economy, the direction of the stock market and what lies ahead for both. 

Despite slower earnings growth and the lackluster U.S, economy, the domestic  stock market continues to grind its way higher following the government shutdown. Your probably asking yourself - What’s fueling this continued rise? 

If you look around in your every day life, you are likely thinking there is a disconnect between the economy and the stock market. After all the money the Federal Reserve has used to stimulate the economy, we continue to have huge numbers of people dropping out of the work force each month, wages have stagnated, unemployment remains at high levels and businesses are hesitant to invest and deploy capital. Is it any wonder that Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index remains well below the six year high level of -3. That’s right, the high over the last six years is a negative number!

Yet, the stock market moves higher.

With little return in alternative assets, like CDs for example, thanks to continued easy money from the Federal Reserve investors have few other places to turn. What’s worrisome is that the average investor is extremely bullish even though at some point either the Fed will have to taper its efforts or as Peter points out, we will have another crisis on our hands. The most recent American Association of Individual Investor’s sentiment readings points to levels of bullishness that are well above the long-term average. 

It’s the lack of tapering or at least the unlikelihood that the Fed will tighten that have Peter concerned with the health of the economy, the dollar  and more. As we delve deeper into the reasons for what Peter sees ahead - another financial crisis, we also discuss where he is having his clients invest their capital today to deliver returns for tomorrow. 

Direct download: 12-02-13_SCHIFFPOWERTALK_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:38am EDT

Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits, and these are my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in the business world that take you behind the scenes and in the know. Be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on PowerTrends and past editions of PowerTalk.

This week I had the pleasure of talking with John Allison, President & CEO of the Cato Institute. Unlike many other firms located in Washington, D.C., Cato is neither democratic nor republican in nature, but rather it is a public policy research organization — a think tank – dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace. That alone is great reason to talk with John Allison, but it get’s even better.

Prior to becoming the President & CEO of the Cato Institute, John was Chairman and CEO of BB&T Corporation (BBT),  the 10th largest financial services holding company headquartered in the United States. During his tenure as CEO from 1989 to 2008, BB&T grew from $4.5 billion to $152 billion in assets. John’s also written a fantastic book —  “The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure: Why Pure Capitalism is the World Economy's Only Hope.” Not only did it receive a number of rave review, but it sat at the top of the Wall Street Journal’s best seller list. 

Over the course of our conversation, John and I talk the big talk on a variety of topics including why a sense and understanding of liberty is essential, why regulation is bad for the market,  what we can do to promote a healthy free market and end unemployment in America. We’ll even touch on the Federal Reserve, an organization that some say is only helping fuel the problems we are experiencing today. 


Welcome back to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits. Each week I bring you my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in business and those areas that impact business, the economy and more.

This week I am especially proud to talk with today’s guest -- Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Now most of you know him as the only twice-serving Secretary of Defense. As you’ll learn in our coming conversation there is far more to Secretary Rumsfeld…for half a century, he’s been at the center of our nation’s history, as a Naval aviator, U.S. Congressman, ambassador, top aide to presidents. He also spent two decades at the top of American business, and was named by Fortune as one of America’s ten “toughest” CEOs and by The New York Times as a “turnaround artist.”

That collected experience means Secretary Rumsfeld has valuable isight into leadership, strategy  and management. We’’ll talk about all of that as well as his new book - “Rumsfeld’s Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life.”


Unlike many of the people in Washington today, I think you’ll find that Former Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has a keen eye for what Washington should be doing to help the economy and business. As you’ll hear, he also has a few comments and suggestions for President Obama as well. 


Joining me today on PowerTalk to discuss all of this is Jeff Lawson CEO and co-founder of Twilio, a company that makes cloud-based telephony tools -- voice and messaging -- for companies and mobile application developers like Uber, Google (GOOG), Hulu, salesforce.com (CRM), Home Depot (HD), AT&T (T) and others. 

With the global explosion of the Internet, smartphones and tablets, we’ve seen a shift in how we can communicate with one another. Instant messaging, mobile messaging, picture messaging, email, messing through Facebook, Google+, chatting and more recently video calls through Skype, Google and even Apple with its FaceTime app.

While many think of these new modes of communication are for personal use -- keeping in touch with family, friends and so on, there’s another aspect to it -- for business. That’s right the Internet and telecommunications technologies are changing the way we connect with companies, and that has implications how a company communicates with its customers It’s not just Twitter and Facebook - a company can interact with customers via voice, messaging or even picture messaging.

In the age of software defined communication, which is having an impact on the business models of Comcast (CMCSA), AT&T, Verizon (VZ), Cisco (CSCO), Avaya and others, Jeff has been named one of the top VoIP CEOs to work for. To me that says he’s worth listening to and as you listen to this edition of PowerTalk you’ll soon see picking up the phone and talking to someone in new light.

Direct download: 11-05-13_TWILIOPOWERTALK.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:41am EDT

Joining me this week on PowerTalk is Ben Chodor co-founder of Happtique, a company that certifies medical, health, and fitness apps through its App Certification program and helps healthcare professionals fill prescriptions with its App Prescribing prescription tool.

That’s right, we’re going behind the scenes and in the know this week on mHealth.

It’s no secret that our lives are becoming more and more connected. Mobile carriers like AT&T, Verizon and others are looking for new revenues streams as smartphone and tablet sales grow. We’re hearing more about The Connected Car and The Connected Home and wearables. In that last category we’ve seen smartwatches and other devices from Samsung, Nike (NKE), Fitbit, Jawbone and others. Smartwatches, Fuelbands, fitness trackers, activity trackers and the like.

With a rich ecosystem of supported devices and applications, mHealth enables you to manage your personal health and wellness from the palm of your hand, anytime, anywhere.

Given the explosive growth of what I call the Connected Society, revenue in the global mobile health market is expected to reach $26 billion in 2017, according to a report released by Research2Guidance. Driving that is the 1.7 billion people that are expected to download health apps by 2017. And there is no shortage to choose from Today - there are about 97,000 mobile health apps in 62 different app stores.

That’s where Happtique comes into play. As you’ll hear Ben talk about, there is a lot going on in the world of health, prescriptions and apps. Before too long, one day your insurance company may reimburse for your home healthcare equipment AND the apps that not only run them, but connect them with you physicians. If you think that’s exciting, just wait until you hear what Ben and I talk about in this edition of PowerTalk.

Direct download: 10-29-13_HAPPTIQUEPOWERTALK.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:45pm EDT

Joining me this week on PowerTalk is Brian Jaquet, senior marketing manager  of Slingbox. We discuss not only about the past, present and future of place shifting but also what it means for Sling Media and how the company looks to compete in this next battleground. This is what Ted Loeonsis, the acting CEO of Groupon, partner at Revolution Growth and owner of the Washington Capitals, Wizards and Mystics says about Slingbox:

“Slingbox, which turns my iPad into a television, has become an invaluable app for me. Everything that I have on my home TV's satellite setup I can now watch on my iPad, wherever I am in the world.

Over the last year or so we’ve talked with a number of people at a variety of companies. This week we’re venturing into some new territory as we hone in on what I think is one of the next battleground to be fought in what I call the connected device space. That’s a key part of my Always On, Always Connected PowerTrend.

We’re in the middle of what I call the smartphone bloodbath between Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Blackberry, LG, and a number of others. 

We’re starting to see the same dynamic take shape in the tablet space as well. 

The area that I’m talking about is the Connected Home and the living room in particular. Odds are you have a set top box, maybe a DVR already and perhaps even a gaming console sitting under your TV. 

You’ve probably noticed that given the rise of the DVR and on demand programming, you and people like you that lead busy lives are abandoning what’s been called appointment TV. 

Instead, we’re seeing a sharp rise in what’s called placeshifting.

In fact I bet some if not most of you are placeshifters

That’s a person who consumes content on one device even though its stored on another one.  Slingbox  invented placeshifting back in 2004 and during the ensuing years"Slingbox" has become to placeshifting what Kleenex has been for tissues.

Over the last decade, the ability to store, watch, send, has not just grown, its exploded as first mobile phones then smartphones, tablets and connected TVs have shipped not by the millions, but by the billions. I’d argue the concept placeshifting has expanded and  now include areas like document synchronization, file sharing and other cloud-centric features from companies like Boxee, Dropbox and cloud applications by Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) and others as placeshifting ones. 

Brian and I discuss not only about the past, present and future of place shifting but also what it means for Sling Media and how the company looks to compete in this next battleground. Trust me, this isn’t a conversation you’ll want to save and listen to later.

Direct download: 10-22-13_SLINGBOXPOWERTALK.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:43am EDT

Joining me on PowerTalk today is Ed Bilek, the head of U.S. shareholder services  for Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA). While you may find it hard to believe, BBVA is arguably the next big bank you’ve probably never heard of.

Before we get to why that is, let’s step back a bit and talk talk one of my   -- PowerTrends -- The Rise and Fall of the Middle Class. That PowerTrend -- of my Great 8 PowerTrends -- looks to capitalize on those companies positioned to benefit from rising disposable incomes in the emerging markets as well as gains in more mature markets, like here in the U.S. or the Eurozone.

What would make a company even more interesting and the opportunity to own its shares even sweeter is if the businesses is is benefitting from a regional to national strategy. A great example of this is Starbucks (SBUX), which is going from a regional presence to a more national one in China. Starbucks recently opened its 1000th store in China during the June quarter, and aims to have 1,500 locations throughout China by 2015. I recommended shares of Starbucks to subscribers of my investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits and including dividends received they are up more than 70%. 

Another company that is embarking on a regional to national strategy is BBVA. For those who have not heard of BBVA before, it is the 35th largest bank globally with assets north of $800 billion according to Accuity. Headquartered in Spain, BBVA has a presence in more than 30 countries. It’s not surprising that you may have not heard of BBVA here in the U.S., it was only a few years ago the company made a concerted effort to bulk up its US footing when it bought Compass Bancshares.

Flash forward to today and BBVA Compass is the 22nd largest bank in the U.S. based on deposit market share per data just released by the FDICBased on conversations I have had with management their long-term goal is to grow BBVA into a top 10 U.S. bank. That’s a similar strategy embarked upon by Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) and it’s served its shareholders well. 

After listening to my PowerTalk with Ed Bilek, I suspect BBVA is a bank that you’ll at the very least want to keep your eyes on.



Joining me today on PowerTalk is Leonard Moodispaw - Chairman and CEO of KEYW Holding Corp. (KEYW), a publicly traded company that provides cybersecurity, and geospatial intelligence solutions for U.S. Government,  intelligence and defense customers as well as  commercial enterprises. 

As we move more and more of our lives into the digital frontier, it exposes us to a different set of risks. Whether your a person, a business or a government, the way in which you need to secure yourself is far different than it was 2-3 years ago, let alone 20 years ago. 

What I just described is the downside of my Always On, Always Connected PowerTrend

Cyber attacks, including website and email hacking, malware infection and targeted denial of service, are being increasingly reported by private users and government departments

How big of a threat is it?

Companies such as Google (GOOG), Twitter, Facebook (FB), Evernote, and recently Adobe (ADBE) have all reported being hacked. In fact, Adobe said it suffered a massive security breach which compromised the IDs, passwords, and credit card information of nearly three million customers.

That’s pretty bad, but it gets worse.

As Verizon (VZ) noted in its 2013 Data Breach Investigation Report, it experienced more than 47,000 reported security incidents and 621 confirmed data breaches last year. Over the entire nine-year range of this study, that tally now exceeds 2,500 data breaches and 1.1 billion compromised records .

With that as a backdrop, does it come as a surprise that The Department of Homeland Security awarded a $6 billion contract to 17 companies to protect the government against cybersecurity threats?

That’s good new for KEYW. While it’s list of intelligence community customers may sound like a lot of alphabet soup, it’s important to realize that it includes NSA, NRO, NGA, AGC and other agencies within the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense (DoD). Winning business from those customers and others led KEYW to deliver revenues of $240 million last year -- that’s up substantially from the $39 million in revenue it achieved in 2009. 

During our time together, Leonard and I talk about what’s going on in the cybersecurity market, how KEYW has been able to deliver that great revenue growth, a new KEYW product offering -- HawkEye G, the industry’s first truly active defense solution to detect stealthy advanced threats, and more

While KEYW may not be a mainstream name today, once you listen to today’s PowerTalk I suspect you’ll be wanting to know more about the company.


Direct download: 10-09-13_KEYWPOWERTALK.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:49pm EDT