Personal entry – Page 15 – Jim Stafford's BlogOKC

OKC’s TokenEx draws $100 million investment

ALEX1 — TokenEx co-founder Alex Pezold stands in front of a whiteboard in the company’s Oklahoma City offices

Something big for all Oklahomans recently flew under the radar locally, and I thought BlogOKC would be a great place to shine some light.

OKC’s TokenEx received a Series B investment round of $100 million.

$100,000,000. That’s a lot of zeros.

If you are unfamiliar with the company, TokenEx developed proprietary technology that “desensitizes” critical information by replacing it with tokenized placeholders that have no relation to the original inputs.

So, if a hacker breaks into a company’s server and steals sensitive data such as credit card or Social Security numbers, tokenization renders the information useless to the data thief.

Co-founded by Alex Pezold, CEO, and Jerald Dawkins in 2010, TokenEx is located in the Port164 office center in far northwest Oklahoma City. It employs 72 people who are constantly innovating improvements to the tokenization software.

I became acquainted with Pezold and Dawkins through past work with i2E, Inc., and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST). TokenEx’s early development work was supported by funding from OCAST’s Oklahoma Applied Research Support program and the OCAST Technology Business Finance Program managed by i2E.

The latest investment round was led by Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based K1 Investment Management, LLC, which led me to ask Pezold about location implications for TokenEx.

Pezold was adamant that TokenEx was, is and continues to be an Oklahoma-based venture.

“TokenEx always has been and always will be an Oklahoma-first business,” he said. “We continue hiring locally and actually relocating professionals into the state of Oklahoma! Of course, due to the pandemic, our hiring practices have adapted accordingly so our business can thrive. “

The latest investment round will allow TokenEx to expand its “go-to-market capabilities” while enabling it to continue to create new products and solutions, Alex told me.

Pezold and his team built this business amid an extremely competitive market, yet drew investor interest from more than 10 different potential equity partners before the K1 Investment Management deal.

“We selected K1 Investment Management because of their progressive practices around partnering with and growing their portfolio companies,” Alex said. “K1 has already been a great partner to TokenEx, and we expect our partnership to progress nicely as our cultures blend extremely well – and we are aligned as partners with our goals.”

Tokenization screen Demand for TokenEx’ tokenization solution continues to increase in urgency. There were 1,862 data breaches last year according to the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Meanwhile, new legislation was proposed in Oklahoma designed to protect data privacy, and similar laws are being adopted around the nation and the world.

“As we’ve seen even here in Oklahoma recently, legislation around protecting privacy data for Oklahoma constituents is only increasing, which is the opportunity we will capitalize on in he next 2-5 years,” Alex said. “The good news, TokenEx is already protecting both payment and privacy data today, so it is only natural that we will continue growing in both addressable markets.”

I’m proud that TokenEx was created in Oklahoma and continues to be an Oklahoma-based company.

Click here to read an article from VentureBeat that details the investment.

Stop the madness of SPAM calls

FCC screen The avalanche started with a phone call from an unknown Oklahoma City number at 8:30 am. The next followed a few minutes later from Denmark, Wisconsin. Then Alex, OK; Luther, OK; Wynnewood, OK; Oklahoma City again (and again); an unknown location; Binger, OK; and on to Colfax, Iowa.

Before the day ended, a total of 17 calls from unknown numbers reached my phone.

But they didn’t reach me.

Monday was just a typical day of robocalls –SPAM calls — from shysters and scammers desperately trying to get me to pick up on the call. They spoof both area codes and local phone numbers to entice people to answer.

Then they either make a gimmicky sales pitch or a false warning of dire consequences if you don’t make a payment IMMEDIATELY.

There are federal laws on the books to allegedly prevent these SPAM calls, but they seem to have ~~little~~ no impact. Consumers can also have their number placed on a no-call list. Good luck with that.

Fortunately, I downloaded an app from AT&T called Call Protect, which directs any call from an unfamiliar number to voicemail. So, my phone doesn’t ring, and I only receive a text notification of the call if I choose to.

I figure if it’s a truly important call, they will leave a voicemail. So, if my air conditioner guy calls, he’ll leave a message and I will call him back ASAP.

voicemail screen

Sometimes, the SPAMMERs do leave voicemails. Typically, it’s the same exact message from a different person. “This is Alexa from the office of the state…” is how most of them start out.

SPAM calls are unrelenting, with waves of them coming in day after day. I’m mostly unbothered by them, but I fear for folks like the elderly who still have landlines or don’t have cell phone call blockers and feel compelled to engage the SPAMMERS when they pick up on a call.

I want to shout “DON’T PICK UP!” to my relatives, but it’s not my decision.

In the meantime, the calls continue to come in, one after another. Obviously, SPAMMING and scamming ~~must be~~ is a lucrative field.

My plea is for the best and brightest programmers out there to create a real solution to halt this problem. Call Protect is a start, but there has to be a real answer.

SPAM calls need to end.

***

Here are some tips I found on the FCC website that might be helpful.

Stips screen

A proposal: let’s destroy ‘The Process’ in the NBA

Thunder arena — Plenty of good seats available shortly before tipoff at a Thunder game in February this season.

Editor’s note: Although I attribute the concept described in this post to radio talk show host Dan Patrick, my friend Don alerted me to the fact that it was originally floated by sports guru Bill Simmons. So, I want to give credit where it’s due, and a salute to Simmons for a worthy idea.

On the list of things in this world that make me crazy, you can put the concept of “tanking” by professional sports teams close to the top.

If you’re not a sports fan, you should know that tanking means a team is trying to maneuver for the best possible draft position. It does that by having as bad a record as possible at the end of the season.

Sometimes it’s called ‘The Process’ (wink, wink).

Teams tank not by asking their players to not play hard, but by manipulating the roster so their least experienced get most of the playing time. I offer the Oklahoma City Thunder’s mostly G-League lineup down the stretch this season as Exhibit A.

Oklahoman columnist Berry Tramel put it best last fall when he wrote “losing is the path to winning.” The idea is that if a team is horrible for two, three, four seasons it will eventually be able to draft the next ‘unicorn’ that will turn it all around.

Meanwhile, local fans lose incentive to follow their team and actually show up at games. The thousands of unused seats on a nightly basis at Paycom Center this season is a prime example.

I wrote about my opposition to tanking and the need to take a “win now” philosophy before the season began. You can read it here.

But today, I’m here to offer an alternative to the tanking strategy that will keep fans more engaged as the season concludes. I credit this idea to radio talk show host Dan Patrick, who proposed something similar on his show earlier in the season.

Here’s how it would work as I envision it:

The NBA would create an in-season, six-week tournament for the bottom teams in the standings. The league would set an in-season cutoff date of February 28 with the six teams with the league’s worst records qualifying for the tournament.

Then for the remaining six weeks of the season, qualifying teams would play to win as many games as possible before the season ends. The team that has the best record in the season-closing “tournament” would be awarded the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Thunder action Teams would have every incentive to put their best roster on the court. Fans would have a reason to show up and cheer their local team down the stretch.

The league could make a big deal out of the tournament, with separate nightly standings, maybe even a trophy for the winning team. The rest of the draft order for the bottom six would follow according to their finish in the tournament.

However, it needs a name. The Race to Save Face? Bottoms Up? Sprint to the Finish? I’ll let the marketers handle that.

My friend Steve poo-poos this concept because the league’s conferences are not balanced talent-wise. But he’s a tanking enthusiast and wears unicorn-colored glasses.

So, what does happen if the team with the seventh worst record on Feb. 28 loses so many games that it has the league’s worst record by season’s end?

That team is shut out of the tournament, so it only gets the seventh pick in the draft order. But it has no incentive keep losing, and that’s the point.

Thank you, DP, for sharing this idea.

So, what’s keeping the league from adopting The Race to Save Face and creating some excitement for bottom-feeding teams?

Nothing that I can see. Let’s destroy “The Process.”

Coffee shop discovery on the road to nowhere

Solomon sits at the bar at Kingfisher’s Strange Brew coffee shop as our barista, Trent, makes our drink in the background.

Our 2-year-old grandson suffered from a case of cabin fever this afternoon, which meant that toys were strewn across the living room and nothing pleased the frustrated boy.

We decided a road trip was in order.

As I gathered Solomon into my arms and carried him to the car, my wife asked me where we were going. I told her I didn’t know, but would let her know when we got there.

So, we pulled out of the driveway about 2 p.m. with no destination in mind, but thinking about discovering a cool coffee shop in a nearby small town.

I headed northwest out of Edmond and decided that Kingfisher might make a good destination. It’s only about 40 minutes from our house, and I love the Main Street look of its downtown.

I figured the town with a population of about 5,000 was bound to have a local coffee shop or two.

Sure enough, we passed a billboard advertising a coffee shop named Strange Brew Coffee House and Tea Room as we entered Kingfisher’s city limits. And that’s where we landed at 2:50 p.m., 10 minutes before its 3 p.m. closing.

The shop was empty except for “Trent,” our barista, as we stepped in. I apologized for barging in so near closing, but he welcomed us in. I ordered an iced mocha and looked around the place as Trent made the beverage.

Strange Brew — also the name of an Eric Clapton recording — has sort of a classic rock theme with posters and faux records on the tables. Trent wore a Led Zeppelin T-shirt that matched the decor of the small shop.

I placed Solomon on a chair at the bar and explored for a few minutes. Trent said the busiest times were early mornings on certain days and the 11 o’clock hour during the work week.

The iced drink arrived within a few minutes, and it was perfect for an 80-degree March afternoon. Trent also rewarded Solomon with some complementary whipped cream for the road.

We loaded back in our car and headed east out of Kingfisher precisely at the Strange Brew’s 3 p.m. closing time.

For a Saturday afternoon drive that began without a destination, Kingfisher and the Strange Brew made it an excellent road trip. And Solomon was a happy boy as we pulled back into our driveway.

Now I’m plotting future drives on the road to nowhere.

The magic words and Sam the Chihuahua

Sam the Chihuahua is always listening for the magic words.

As my wife and I sat in the living room this afternoon, I casually mentioned to her that I’m thinking about taking our 10-year-old Chihuahua, Sam, out for a walk.

Immediately, Sam shot off the couch, where he had been sleeping, and raced to the front door.

“Whoa!,” I said to Paula. “It’s like he’s monitoring our conversation and waiting for certain code words.”

Sam’s reaction is like that of the Echo Dot we have in our bedroom that might not react to anything for months, but responds the instant you say” ‘Alexa, what’s the temperature outside.’ “

Meanwhile, Sam impatiently snorted and pawed the door as we continued to talk. Of course, I then had to find my shoes and the leash and a ‘doggie bag,’ to clean up after the dog.

By the time I collected everything, Sam was running in a circle and barking in the foyer.

All of which reminded me of an episode of the old Andy Griffith show where a visitor to Mayberry is impatiently pacing on Andy’s front porch as Barney and Andy are spending a lazy afternoon.

Barney says he’s going to go home, take a nap, then over to Thelma Lou’s to watch a bit of television.

But he never moves. Instead, he repeats his intentions about three times before the visitor has had enough and yells at him to ‘just do it!’ You can watch the hilarious scene from ‘Man in a Hurry’ below:

Finally, I found my shoes, the doggie bag and the leash, which I managed to clip on to the restless Chihuahua.

Out the door we went.

The episode has repeated itself in our home countless times over the years. It shows there’s more to this 9-pound canine than meets the eye.

He’s always listening for the magic words. Careful what you say.

Perspective: Paul Whitmire & the urban ministry of Cross & Crown

The 9th and McKinley location of the Cross & Crown Mission

Paul and Suzanne Whitmire are “urban missionaries” who serve a vast underserved population in the heart of Oklahoma City at 9th and McKinley. Cross & Crown Mission was launched in 2001 by the Whitmires and others from their home church group. They immediately began rehabbing a dilapidated old church property, and for the last 20-plus years have remade the surrounding neighborhood and the lives of many of those they serve. Paul and Suzanne emerged from the church I attend when it was known as Quail Springs Church of Christ. Our congregation, now known as The Springs Church of Christ, still supports our urban missionaries two decades later. Paul recently took the time to answer a few questions about his ministry for this BlogOKC feature.

Question: Where were you raised and what did you do in previous life before Cross & Crown?

Answer: My father was a minister. While living at home, we lived in seven different towns, mostly Texas. I graduated high school in Houston, college from Abilene Christian University. I served as a youth minister in Fort Worth from 1979-1984, youth minister in Edmond from 1984-1992, operated an antique business from 1992-2001. Began Cross & Crown in March 2001.

Q: Tell me the story of how you came to launch this ministry in this part of the city?

A: We considered moving to Honduras. God moved us to 9th and McKinley. Most people said ‘don’t go to that area.’ God said ‘go to that area.’ (For more on the founding of Cross & Crown Mission, read this story by Bobby Ross published in The Oklahoman in 2001 ).

TheWhitmires — Paul and Suzanne Whitmire

Q: Who has worked with you and your wife, Suzanne, over the years to advance the ministry?

A: The work was originally shared by our house church with the ultimate plan to be primarily operated with people from the community. God keeps sending people. Some receive and leave, some receive and come back for more, some receive and come back to be a part of giving to others.

Q: What obstacles have you faced in this journey to provide ministry through the Cross & Crown Mission?

A: Big obstacles early. Most were because we said ‘but how?’ Finances, trust of the community, paying the bills, getting enough food. Someone asked early on if I knew how much it would cost to make the old building usable? I told him I know someone that has more money than we could ever need. He wanted to know the guy’s name. I gave him my Bible.

Q: What population are you serving, (and how have you gained their trust over the years?

A: We serve whoever shows up. About 65 percent are hispanic. The group with the most to fear. We try to meet their request; we ask to pray; we act humbly. It has worked. Many gave fake names early, then shared their real names later.

Q: How do you balance providing for physical needs and well being of those you serve and being a spiritual influence or leader for them?

A: We have discovered that graciously meeting physical needs eventually leads to them asking the question of ‘why?’ You get the rest.

Q: How would you describe the impact Cross & Crown has had on the neighborhood surrounding your location?

A: Early into the work, housing became an ongoing need. We followed Isaiah 61:1-4 and decided we would ‘restore the places long devastated and renew the ruined cities.’ It has significantly changed the landscape.

Q: What type of services do you provide?

A: The primary services provided: food, clothing, furniture, medical, legal aid, housing, education of youth, Bible study, worship, baby supplies, prayer.

Q: What’s a typical day look like at the mission?

A: Sunday morning worship; Monday-Wednesday: food pantry, clothing, furniture. Wednesday: legal aid; Thursday-Saturday: projects in the neighborhood. Primary focus: being in the neighborhood constantly to meet people’s needs, being Jesus to others.

Q: How often do you offer worship services?

A: Worship service: Sunday morning 10:30-12, English and Spanish.

Q: From where have you drawn your volunteers over the years?

A: Our volunteers come from around the city or live in the neighborhood or are in our housing programs. Our paid staff are all self-supported missionaries , such as myself.

Q: How do you measure the success of your ministry?

A: I wish I knew how to measure success, but I trust God with that. I knew if they were hungry and we fed them; needed clothes and we provided them; they were thirsty and we gave them drink; homeless and we housed them; alone and we invited them in; were drunk for 40 years and we helped them to be sober for one day; never thought God loved them and we showed them love, led them to Jesus, became family when they had none; then it’s a good day to me.

Q: How has the ministry expanded, and its mission changed or evolved over the years?

A: The ministry began with food from ours and your pantries, then relationship with the Regional Food Bank, relationship with Walmart, Dollar General, pastry shops. Taking people home with us — to 11 properties to house people; two attorneys to address legal needs to 150 partnering attorneys available. From after school with children in basement to new Youth Center, to Classical Arts school for neighborhood children. And on and on. In the midst of the pandemic we began a south side mission in Capitol Hill. It’s known as the Christian Service Center, with Luke Whitmire as director and minister.

Q: How do you describe yourself to people you meet along the way?

A: When people ask what I do, (I say) ‘I’m the director of an inner-city non-profit.’ Then it’s up to them to be curious. An hour later they have a pretty good idea of what I do, and maybe wished they had been satisfied with my first answer. It’s normal that I will be in tears, and maybe them, as well. God is pretty amazing.

Q: How can local people contribute or participate as volunteers?

biker A: Donate or volunteer. Donate almost anything if it works. Clothes, food, appliances, furniture, cars. Call Paul at (405) 232-7696. Volunteer — let’s get past COVID.

Q: What else would you want readers of this blog to know about you or the Cross & Crown mission?

A: This work is the Lord’s. He wants it to be the work of all of us. We need financial donors, we need prayer warriors, we need material donations.

Q: What do you want to say to the people of The Springs church, where you were when you began the ministry?

A: The people of The Springs were there with us when we began in 2001. They have supported and prayed for us continually. They have never burdened us with expectations or demands. They have faithfully been family to us and blessed us richly. We are not alone because of you.

Follow the Cross & Crown Mission on Facebook

Facebook won’t let milestone pass unnoticed

FB screen — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook has become somewhat of a boogeyman for millions of people worldwide, and the criticism is well earned. The social network collects data on subscribers. It tracks users across the web. And it’s a boiling concoction of crazy conspiracy theories and crazy uncles.

But sometimes Facebook surprises me in a good way.

Today, it showed past January 27 posts from my timeline, and one popped up that I had given no thought to until I saw it.

On this day in January 2019 I underwent double heart bypass surgery at Oklahoma Heart Hospital. It’s an anniversary of a life-saving medical procedure that is definitely worth noting personally.

So, I decided I should share it with you. The FB memory was actually posted by my wife when it was clear that I had survived the surgery and had a good prognosis.

I spent the next four nights in the hospital before making a very anxiety-filled trip home where the real recovery began.

Three years later I’m close to being my old self and moving on with my life pretty much as before. Maybe just a little slower.

Thank you, Dr. Randolph, the gifted surgeon who literally held my life in his hands for about six hours.

And thanks to Facebook, which made sure I remembered the milestone day in my life.

The newspaper visionary and the skeptical student

The 1970s vintage IBM Selectric typewriter

I was sitting in a news writing class at Abilene Christian University in 1977 when I heard something so preposterous that it has stuck with me for more than 40 years.

Our professor, Dr. Charlie Marler, speculated about the future of the newspaper industry. He said that some day we could get our news on a TV -like screen and have the choice to print out the stories that we wanted to read.

No one laughed out loud, but I had a good laugh to myself. Yeah, right, I thought. Not sure where Dr. Marler came up with this kooky idea.

At the time, the IBM Selectric typewriter was cutting edge technology for journalists. We were privileged to be able to type our stories on one in the late 1970s for The Optimist, ACU’s student newspaper.

Fast forward four decades. We can now see how dead-on Dr. Marler’s prediction was in the 1970s.

The fact that most of the world now gets its news instantaneously via a screen attached to a computer, tablet or phone made my old college professor appear to be a modern-day Nostradamus.

The rapid decline of the newspaper industry has been well documented. From my perspective, it began in the late 1990s as the public began finding news sources online and accelerated in the 2000s when WiFi became ubiquitous and smart phone use proliferated.

In fact, I accepted an early retirement offer in 2008 because my employer, The Oklahoman, reduced its workforce that year by 150 people or so. That ended a 30-year newspaper career that I launched upon graduation from ACU in 1978.

The Oklahoman was (and I think remains) the largest newspaper in the state. It has undergone multiple rounds of reductions in the years since I left.

All of which led to this week’s announcement by The Oklahoman. Beginning on March 26, it would no longer print Saturday editions.

The paper will be “digital only” on Saturdays, meaning it will be found only on your screen. A host of other daily newspapers owned by the Gannett corporation have announced the end of print Saturday editions on the same date.

You called it 40-plus years ago, Dr. Marler. I’m pretty sure that the “digital only” newspaper model eventually will eliminate print publication on most other days of the week.

Maybe the Sunday edition will be the only day we can actually get our hands on a printed newspaper. If we’re lucky.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so skeptical of Dr. Marler’s prediction at the time I heard it. Because cartoonist Chester Gould, an Oklahoma native, had introduced an even bigger fantasy for his Dick Tracy comic strip back in the 1940s.

It was a two-way communications device worn on the wrist.

I was a huge fan of the Dick Tracy comic strip as a kid and infatuated by the device that Tracy wore on his wrist through which he had instantaneous communications.

The future was right there on the funny pages for decades and we didn’t recognize it.

Gould’s fantasy device became reality when the Apple Watch debuted in 2015. Today, millions of people wear Apple’s incredible two-way communication device on their wrists.

Not sure who laughed at Chester Gould’s vision when it appeared in the Dick Tracy comic in the 1940s.

Or who was laughing aside from me at the outrageous prediction of Dr. Charlie Marler in a 1970s ACU classroom.

But no one’s laughing now.

Good intentions unmasked by peer pressure

As we’ve watched another rise in the number of COVID cases spurred by the highly contagious Omicrom variant, my wife and I have begun wearing our masks again in most public situations. Stores. Church. Thunder games.

I’ve been feeling pretty smug about myself in my new KN95 mask purchased on Amazon.

However, sometimes my good intentions have turned into a total failure. I wrote about one incident that happened on a road trip last year.

Let me tell you about a more recent instance.

Last week, I was invited to the launch event for a new Oklahoma City business publication. It was a great event in which about 100 or so people attended.

The event was held at a co-working space on Main Street downtown. I arrived shortly after 5 pm, parked on the street, put my mask in my back pocket and promptly forgot about it before I walked into the event.

I immediately ran into several people I knew and took a few minutes to network before the scheduled program began. None of my acquaintances wore masks, but I wasn’t thinking about that.

As I was chatting with someone, I saw a friend of mine who is in the public relations business walk in. She was fully masked.

Then it hit me, I had my mask with me, but had never put it on.

I was proud of my masked friend, but ashamed of my own lack of conviction, I guess you call it.

I wasn’t practicing what I’ve been preaching.

Was it absent-mindedness, bowing to peer pressure or misguided confidence that my vaccinations and booster shot have made me bulletproof?

I’m pretty sure it was peer pressure.

Because of the Omicrom variant, COVID is racing through our population, both here in OKC and nationwide. None of us are bulletproof.

We all need to do better. I need to do better.

I’m a Mac (fanboy): Apple ads across the years

It’s no secret that I’ve been an Apple fanboy ever since I first read about the company and how it was founded in the 1970s in a Cupertino, Calif., garage by two guys named Steve.

In fact, my first computer was the Apple II, which brought personal computers to millions of people back in the day.

I’ve also been a fan of its advertising campaigns across the decades. Along with its groundbreaking technology, Apple has always taken a different and memorable approach to advertising its products.

But it gained notoriety in 1984 with the debut of the Macintosh.

Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl ad, which skewered IBM while introducing the Mac, is hailed as perhaps the most groundbreaking ad ever. It only aired one time. In case you missed it or it’s been a while, you can play it below.

Then, co-founder Steve Jobs left the company when he was fired by John Scully, the CEO he hired. Apple wandered in the wilderness for a decade before Jobs returned, first as interim CEO and then with the full title.

One of Jobs first and most memorable acts upon his return was to launch Apple’s Think Different campaign. I loved it, and apparently millions of other people did, as well. The company’s sales began to soar. Watch the ultimate Think Different ad here, that celebrates The Crazy Ones.

Another well received Apple ad campaign was known as the Switcher ads, featuring regular people who had switched from PCs to Macs.

My favorite Apple ad campaign of all time was the I’m a Mac campaign that ran from 2006 to 2009. I’m a Mac was actually a series of short vignettes starring Justin Long as the Mac and John Hodgman as the PC.

Long was one cool dude, while Hodgman was hopelessly uncool, out of date and out of touch with popular culture.

But mostly, the ads were funny, which hooked me immediately.

Although it’s been 12 years since the ads were aired, you can easily find them on YouTube. Here’s my favorite I’m a Mac ad of them all, featuring Patrick Warburton, who also played “Puddy” on Seinfeld.

Enjoy the comedy.

BREAKING NEWS: Just saw this from the Wall Street Journal about Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. became the first U.S. company to reach $3 trillion in market value, the latest milestone in a pandemic-era surge that carried shares of the iPhone maker and other large technology companies to unprecedented highs.

Apple shares crossed the milestone when they topped $182.856 Monday. The share price has more than tripled since the pandemic lows of March 2020, adding around $2 trillion in market capitalization.