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How Florida Built the #1 State University System with Ray Rodrigues, Chancellor of the State University System of Florida

meredith@caspianstudios.com (Ray Rodrigues, Jamie Grant) — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Florida has been ranked the #1 state university system in America for nine years running. But what does it really take to build and keep an education system at the top?

In this episode, Jamie sits down with Ray Rodrigues, Chancellor of the State University System of Florida, to talk about how Florida became the nation’s model for affordable, high-quality higher education and what it will take to stay there.

Ray brings a uniquely powerful perspective. He started his career at General Electric, spent 17 years at Florida Gulf Coast University, served more than a decade in the Florida Legislature, including as House Majority Leader and State Senator, and now leads a system of 12 institutions and more than 430,000 students. His path through the corporate, academic, and political worlds gives him a rare vantage point on what it takes to reform higher education.

Together, they dig into:

How Florida froze tuition for a decade while rising to #1 in national rankings
The story behind performance-based funding and preeminence designations
The debates around intellectual diversity and DEI, and what the data really shows
Where higher ed is heading next, from affordability to microcredentials and three-year degrees, and much more.

If you are an educator, policymaker, parent, or just someone who wants to understand where the future of higher education is headed and what it will take to keep it strong, this is the episode you cannot afford to miss.

About Ray Rodrigues

Ray Rodrigues is Chancellor of the State University System of Florida.

In this role, Chancellor Rodrigues is the primary liaison between the Board of Governors, the State Legislature, the Executive Branch, Departments, and Agencies throughout the State of Florida. The State University System has been ranked #1 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report since 2017. Additionally, the Chancellor is CEO of the Board of Governors and provides oversight, guidance, and administration by implementing policies and regulations adopted by the Board, which impacts 12 institutions and more than 430,000 students annually.

Chancellor Rodrigues started his career at a corporate component of General Electric, where he managed their U.S. Import Compliance team. Additionally, Ray Rodrigues then worked for 17 years at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he held positions of Director of Interagency Partnerships, Director of Community Relations, and Business Manager for the College of Arts and Sciences.

In addition to his professional career, Chancellor Rodrigues has an extensive career in public service, where he served as the Florida State Senator for District 27 and four terms in the Florida House of Representatives. During his time in the Legislature, Rodrigues served as the Chair of the Senate Reapportionment Committee, Chair of the Senate Government Operations Committee, Chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee, and the House Majority Leader. His ability to listen, build consensus, and be an agent of change led to his unanimous appointment as Chancellor.

Chancellor Rodrigues earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Berry College in Rome, Georgia, and in 2017 earned his Master in Public Administration (MPA ) from Florida Gulf Coast University. Ray is an avid reader, statesman, and storyteller. Ray, his wife Ruth, and son Rhett call Tallahassee home.

Guest Quote

“ The American confidence in higher education has declined significantly. The number one reason why it has declined is the American public believes higher education is too focused on having faculty members push their own political agenda, and that indoctrination is harming the value of the degrees. We're armed to show that that's not what's happening in Florida.”

Time Stamps

00:00 Episode Start

01:45 Chancellor Ray Rodrigues's Background

04:33 Challenges in Higher Education Funding

07:36 Legislative Experience and Policy Making

17:37 Role as Majority Leader

20:41 Transition to Chancellor

22:58 Navigating the Higher Education Ecosystem

41:05 Intellectual Diversity and Free Speech on Campus

45:16 Legislation for Intellectual Freedom

01:02:24 DEI in Higher Education

01:05:54 Legislation to Eliminate DEI Programs

01:13:24 Performance-Based Funding in Florida

01:21:52 Parental Advice Against College

01:22:51 Florida's Unique Higher Education System

01:24:29 Diversity and Success in Florida's Education

01:27:50 Innovations in Higher Education

01:35:18 Engaging with the Public Sector

01:38:36 The Roundup

Sponsor

Ever To Conquer is brought to you by RedLeif, a digital agency focused on accelerating the modernization and security of public sector data. Visit RedLeif.io to learn more.

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How Tech is Raising Our Children Without Consent with Dr. Lisa Strohman, Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Digital Citizen Academy

meredith@caspianstudios.com (Dr. Lisa Strohman, Jamie Grant) — Tue, 5 Aug 2025 09:00:00 +0000

We talk a lot about protecting our kids’ future, but the real fight is happening in classrooms, living rooms, and phone screens every single day.

In this episode, Jamie sits down with Dr. Lisa Strohman, clinical psychologist, former FBI profiler, and founder of Digital Citizen Academy, to talk about the real psychological and societal cost of unchecked technology and what it’s going to take to reverse course.

Lisa brings a uniquely powerful perspective. She has been on the ground at Quantico profiling predators, in the halls of Congress crafting policy, and in therapy rooms with the families paying the price. Her work now centers on one mission: to give kids, parents, and educators the tools to fight back against a digital world they never signed up for.

Together, they dig into:

Why social media is more dangerous than a gun in your child’s room
What AI literacy in schools needs to look like
The real neuroscience behind screen time, attention, and identity
Why tech isn’t evil, but intentionality is everything
What Lisa is building to scale truth, empathy, and protection in an era of misinformation and digital harm, and much more.

If you’re a parent, educator, policymaker, or just someone who wants to understand how we ended up here and what we can do about it, this is the episode you can’t afford to miss.

About Dr. Stohman

Dr. Lisa Strohman has widely become known for her advocacy and education around mental wellness as it relates to our digital lives. She has worked with thousands of parents, schools and children around the globe. An attorney, clinical psychologist, and author, Dr. Strohman established the Digital Citizen Academy, a non-profit program offered to schools with an in-home plan that educates, empowers and inspires balance and prosocial use of technology.

She is the founder and director of Digital Citizen Academy, one of the first organizations to address the global issue of technology addiction and overuse. As a licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Strohman has spent more than a decade working with individual, family and adolescent clients struggling with issues including depression, anxiety, addiction and technology overuse.

Recognizing the growing challenges parents now face with their children, and the increasingly serious issues her young patients are dealing with due to our growing dependency on technology, inspired Dr. Strohman to launched the Technology Wellness Center, which she co-founded with Dr. Melissa Westendorf JD, PhD in 2014.

With her work in schools and in the media Dr. Strohman recognized the need for prevention education and diversion programs and founded Digital Citizen Academy for students, educators and parents addressing these issues related to technology.

Dr. Strohman attended the University of California, Davis where she received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She then completed a joint, integrated program in law and Psychology at Villanova and Drexel Universities.

During her undergraduate career, Dr. Strohman gained experience as a lead program coordinator with Families for Early Autism Treatment (FEAT), as a family reunification therapist and a hospice counselor. While attending graduate school, she performed research in substance abuse, risk communication and child abduction. Her avid interest in public policy earned her the honor of becoming a legislative intern for Congress. She was also selected as an honors intern with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and invited to become a visiting scholar with the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime division as she completed her dissertation.

After earning her Juris Doctorate, Strohman worked at a large law firm, while completing her residency at the Arizona State Hospital in both a clinical and forensic rotation in clinical psychology. She eventually settled back into her counseling practice as the clinical psychologist with Lifescape Medical Associates, where she utilizes her training in cognitive behavior therapy to help patients.

In addition to establishing the Technology Wellness Center, Dr. Strohman and Dr. Westendorf developed an assessment test to help parents identify if their child is at risk from technology overuse. The two have also co-authored a book, Unplug: Raising Kids in a Technology Addicted World, published in July 2015.

In an effort to educate parents, caregivers and students, Dr. Strohman is a guest speaker to schools, parent organizations and students to help raise awareness and offer preventative tools and resources. She is also frequently featured in the media as an expert source for issues related to technology use and behavior, including a weekly feature on Dr. Drew’s radio show as well as an expert on Dr. Oz’s ShareCare site.

Guest Quote

“ I don't want to overwhelm people with here’s how it can be really super dangerous. I want to really give that picture of tech as a tool is awesome, tech as a toy, not so much. So let's kind of look at what the good and the bad of it is.”

Time Stamps

00:00 Episode Start

01:35 Lisa's Early Life and Background

04:13 Lisa's Professional Journey and Achievements

07:35 Experiences in Law and Psychology

17:01 Challenges and Insights from Government Work

26:48 Impact of Technology on Critical Thinking

34:23 Rethinking the Formative Years

40:34 Digital Citizens Academy: Addressing the Problem

47:39 Challenges in Education and Social Media

54:26 Scaling Solutions for Schools

01:03:44 The Role of AI in Education

01:27:02 Executive Order: AI Training for All

01:32:33 The Roundup

Sponsor

Ever To Conquer is brought to you by RedLeif, a digital agency focused on accelerating the modernization and security of public sector data. Visit RedLeif.io to learn more.

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From Transactions to Trust: The Empathy-Driven Public Sector Playbook with Rajeev Bajaj, EVP of Education Solutions at MGT

meredith@caspianstudios.com (RedLeif) — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 09:00:00 +0000

The public sector doesn’t need more point solutions. It needs partners who can actually help solve the right problems.

In this episode, Jamie sits down with Rajeev Bajaj, EVP of Education Solutions at MGT, to talk about what it really takes to modernize public sector go-to-market, from both sides of the table.

Rajeev brings a rare perspective, having led in the classroom, at city hall, and in the private sector. That experience fuels his mission: to replace hero selling with real partnerships, grounded in listening, trust, and discovery. For Rajeev, it’s not about closing the deal. It’s about designing solutions that public sector leaders can stand behind and scale.

They dive into:

Why the "AE as hero" model fails in complex public ecosystems,
How to build discovery-driven sales teams that lead with empathy,
What public sector leaders can do to shift from passive buyers to empowered change agents,
Why the next wave of innovation needs to be open source,
How to bridge the trust gap between government and big tech, and much more.

If you're building, selling, or leading in the public sector, this conversation is a blueprint for making the shift from vendor to true partner.

About Rajeev

Rajeev Bajaj began his career in education over a decade ago as an elementary school teacher at PS 161 in Harlem. After his time in the classroom, he transitioned to key leadership roles at the New York City Department of Education, including Managing Director in the Office of Accountability. Most recently, Rajeev served as President of Sangari Global Education, an education services provider that delivers inquiry-based science educational materials to over 500,000 students worldwide. Prior to his work in education, Rajeev began his career in technology first at Microsoft and later as part of the core team that launched Jamcracker, a web services provider based in Silicon Valley.

Rajeev graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in industrial engineering/management sciences and has a master’s degree in education from Hunter College. He is a recipient of a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship through the Fulbright Memorial Fund-Japan and is a 2012 graduate of the Broad Foundation’s Fellowship for Education Leaders.

Guest Quote

“The ability to listen, to ask good questions, to be a good consultant in that way, and then to co-design what a solution or an architecture for a solution might look like—I think is the path to success.”

Time Stamps

00:00 Episode Start

02:40 Developing the Next Public Sector Leaders

05:22 Building Trust and Empathy in Business

09:58 Team-Based Approach vs. Hero Selling

19:18 Public-Private Sector Collaboration

30:31 First-Order Thinking in the Public Sector

43:15 Transitioning from Public to Private Sector

47:50 Bridging the Talent Gap: Public to Private Sector Transitions

53:52 Challenges in Moving from Buy Side to Sell Side

56:08 Rethinking the AE Role as Chief of Discovery

01:01:39 Customer Acquisition and Lifetime Value

01:05:59 AI and Education

01:14:32 The Roundup

Sponsor

Ever To Conquer is brought to you by RedLeif, a digital agency focused on accelerating the modernization and security of public sector data. Visit RedLeif.io to learn more.

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The People Part of Technology is Foundational with Jon Rogers, Director of Strategic Workforce Planning at Indiana Department of Child Services

meredith@caspianstudios.com (Jon Rogers, Jamie Grant) — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Government isn’t broken because of bad tech. It’s broken because it was never built for the talent we need now.

In this episode, Jamie sits down with Jon Rogers, Director of Strategic Workforce Planning at the Indiana Department of Child Services, to unpack what it really means to build the future of public sector work, from the inside out.

Jon shares his unconventional journey from high school teacher to CIA officer to government tech leader, and how that unique perspective fueled a bold new model for hiring and retention in state government. His mission is to replace outdated degree requirements with real skills, real people, and real results.

They dive into:

How Indiana’s apprenticeship-style program is transforming future technology leaders,
Why soft skills like communication are actually the hardest to master,
How public sector teams can out-compete on mission and culture,
What legacy IT leaders get wrong about modernization, and much more.

If you're rethinking how we recruit, reskill, and retain talent, this episode is a masterclass in what’s possible when you start with people first.

About Jon

Jon Rogers is the Director of Strategic Workforce Planning, Indiana Department of Child Services. Previously, he was the Director of Strategic Workforce Planning for the Indiana Office of Technology (IOT), which provides consolidated IT services in support of Indiana’s executive branch. Jon joined IOT in 2018 and became the agency’s inaugural Strategic Workforce Planning staffer under former CIO Tracy Barnes. In his current role, he developed and administered a nationally recognized work-based learning program – State Earn and Learn (SEAL) IT – which reskills adults from other jobs and occupations into information technology and security. Since 2020, SEAL IT has graduated forty-eight adults (a graduation rate of over 84 percent) into positions supporting the State of Indiana. While doing so, Jon led the agency’s efforts to move into skills-based hiring, removing degree requirements from job postings, and he was a member of Indiana’s delegation to the National Governors’ Association Community of Practice in Skills-Based Hiring (2024-25). SEAL IT and IOT’s Strategic Workforce Planning team received a State IT Innovation of the Year award from StateScoop in consecutive years (2022-23), an HR Impact award in Talent & Recruitment from the Indianapolis Business Journal, a National Association of State Chief Information Officers State IT Recognition Award for Enterprise IT Management Initiatives (2023), a StateScoop 50 award for state leadership (2024), and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce/Institute for Workforce Excellence Impact Award for Innovative Program of the Year (2024). Before joining IOT, Jon worked in federal positions with the Office of United States Senator John Warner (Ret.) and the Central Intelligence Agency, where he was a finalist for D/CIA mentor of the year. He earned an MBA and M.Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin, a BA in Government from The College of William & Mary in Virginia, and a Senior Certified Professional credential from the Society for Human Resource Management.

Guest Quote

“ When finding the right people in a workplace, don't go for the skills first. Go for the human. Go for the human pick. Pick a good human.”

Time Stamps

00:00 Episode Start

02:21 Jon's background and career journey

07:19 Breaking down transferable skills and workforce development

18:35 Why soft skills are the hardest skills in tech

34:56 Entering the golden age of public sector software

51:05 Rethinking recruitment and retention

59:18 Recognizing hidden talents and fostering a strong culture

01:11:10 The Roundup

Sponsor

Ever To Conquer is brought to you by RedLeif, a digital agency focused on accelerating the modernization and security of public sector data. Visit RedLeif.io to learn more.

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A Successful Startup Co-Founder Turned VC Takes On PubSec with Cam Doody, General Partner at Brickyard

meredith@caspianstudios.com (Cam Doody, Brickyard, Jamie Grant, RedLeif) — Tue, 3 Jun 2025 11:51:24 +0000

Startups don’t fail because the ideas are bad. They fail because the systems weren’t built to let them win. Cam Doody is flipping the script.

In this episode, Jamie sits down with Cam Doody, Co-Founder and General Partner at Brickyard, to explore what it really takes to build in broken markets, navigate entrenched power structures, and reimagine the role of venture capital.

From moving college kids into dorms to raising millions in VC funding, Cam shares the raw, unfiltered journey behind scaling Bellhops and why the team ultimately ditched the five-star review system in favor of something better. He also opens up about the evolution of Brickyard, a bold new venture model built for operators instead of spreadsheets.

They dive into:

Why most startups are playing with the wrong incentives,
What it really means to be early in a market like public sector tech,
How regulatory capture is silently killing innovation,
Why Bitcoin may be the only honest money left, and much more.

This episode is a front-row seat to the future of venture, crypto, and civic innovation, all told through the lens of someone who's been on the front lines and is still building what's next. If you're rethinking how we fund, scale, and serve, this one’s for you.

About Cam

Cam Doody is Co-founder and General Partner at Brickyard, a seed-stage venture capital firm. Prior to investing, Cam co-founded & built Bellhop, a Top 5 U.S. moving & relocation company that has moved nearly 500k U.S. households. In his personal life, Cam is husband to Hannon, dad to Margot and Liles, and avid about aviation and the outdoors.

Guest Quote

“Delusional optimism is the only superpower of a founder. You would never do this if you knew what it took. And of course, when you're looking back, you're just talking about all the good times and stuff, but in the middle of it, it is brutal.”

Time Stamps

00:00 Episode Start

02:10 Cam's Journey

06:02 Founding Bellhops

12:08 Hypergrowth and its challenges

18:34 How to balance customer feedback with company vision

30:54 The emotional rollercoaster of a startup exit

35:45 Founding Brickyard

43:52 Importance of on-site founder support

48:42 Benefits and challenges of investing in public sector innovation

55:40 Can venture capital evolve for the public sector?

01:09:36 Understanding the real cost of inflation

01:12:07 Inflation as theft: Why Bitcoin might be the cure

01:25:42 Crypto and Regulation: Are we at a turning point?

01:31:39 The Bellhops review system overhaul

01:39:30 The Roundup

Sponsor

Ever To Conquer is brought to you by RedLeif, a digital agency focused on accelerating the modernization and security of public sector data. Visit RedLeif.io to learn more.

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IngressNightmare: CVE-2025-1974 - 9.8 Critical Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities in Ingress NGINX

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How Next-Gen APIs Will Transform the Future of Software Integrations with Nate McKervey and Burch of Subkeys

Thu, 22 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Government tech isn’t broken. It’s just missing the keys. And Nate and Burch think it’s time to change the locks.

In this episode, Jamie sits down with Nate McKervey, CEO of Subkeys, and Burch, Prince of Puns at Subkeys, to unpack how virtual API keys are unlocking a new era of public sector modernization.

With analog APIs acting more like snail mail, Subkeys is flipping the model, turning them into smart locks that offer precision access, airtight security, and scalable efficiency. It’s not just about making government tech faster. It’s about making it smarter.

They dive into:

Why most APIs are built for yesterday’s internet,
How virtual keys can simplify compliance and strengthen security,
What proactive API management looks like in high-stakes environments,
Why better APIs mean better services for everyone, and much more!

Virtual API keys aren’t just a better way to manage access, they’re the foundation for a safer, smarter, and more adaptable public sector. If you’re thinking about the next chapter of government tech, this is where it begins.

About Nate

Nate McKervey is the CEO of Subkeys, an innovative platform for API key virtualization. Before founding Subkeys, he spent over a decade at Splunk, where he was the company’s first TS/SCI-cleared hire in professional services, supporting public sector clients. At Splunk, he later led technical marketing and spearheaded Web3 product development. Prior to that, Nate worked at L3Harris, focusing on mission-critical networks. His unique data analysis projects have earned him features on national television, as well as in Sports Illustrated and Wired magazine. Fun fact, Nate competed in the Rubik’s Cube World Championship.

About Burch

Burch is the Prince of Puns at Subkeys.io, leading the Go-To-Market organization. Before joining Subkeys, he spent 9+ years at Splunk, doing everything from developer advocacy to sales engineering—basically, if there was a way to talk about Splunk, he found it. In fact, he once set a company record by presenting 11 sessions at a single .conf, which some call impressive and others call “a cry for help.” While no longer performing improv on stage, he brings his love of quick thinking and comedy to his work. Combine that with his passion for technology, toss in Subkeys.io, and out you get Burch making API authentication… fun?

Guest Quotes

“ We crafted a Splunk search so we could look at the logs and see if somebody was trying to exploit that vulnerability. If you virtualize keys, you can do the same thing. So you can look for that targeted, that well-crafted API call. You can search for that and alert on it in real time. So not only do you block it, but you also can identify the region of where the carefully crafted attack came from. So it's not only a block, but it allows you to turn the defense into a little bit of an offense.” - Nate McKervey

“The part that really blows my mind is the concept of virtual keys provides data that just didn't exist. And it's so critical, but it was just, just didn't exist…The data is huge because we can't even imagine what then becomes possible when you take that data and you feed it into AI. And now we can say, oh, this is abnormal behavior for this key. Or we take that data and coalesce it with security items. Or we take that data and we now have cost control, eliminating license. We're paying for this one service. No one's actually making any calls. So things like that, the possibilities of ways that we can improve our lives become incredible once you have visibility.” - Burch

Time Stamps

00:00 - Episode Start

04:37 Subkeys’ mission

05:55 What is an API?

10:17 Importance of API keys and virtual keys

38:42 Modernizing constituent services with APIs

50:36 Breaking down the Kubernetes breach

01:02:38 Future of AI and API management

01:13:25 The Roundup

01:27:37 A look at what Subkeys can do

Sponsor

Ever To Conquer is brought to you by RedLeif, a digital agency focused on accelerating the modernization and security of public sector data. Visit RedLeif.io to learn more.

Links

Mentioned in this episode

Summary of IngressNightmare

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The Shocking Truth About Public Sector Procurement with Mike Vichich, CEO of Pursuit

meredith@caspianstudios.com (Jamie Grant, Mike Vichich) — Wed, 7 May 2025 16:40:55 +0000

The public sector isn’t short on talent. It’s short on alignment. And Mike Vichich is on a mission to fix it.

In this episode, Jamie sits down with Mike Vichich, CEO of Pursuit, to break down why legacy procurement processes are actively working against innovation and how data-driven models can realign the ecosystem.

From growing up in a family steeped in public service to building and exiting a successful tech company in the private sector, Mike brings a rare dual perspective. Now at the helm of Pursuit, he’s applying those lessons to one of the most complex and inefficient markets in America: public sector procurement.

They dive into:

Why most civic tech projects fail before they start,
What Mike learned from his previous company, Wisely,
How Pursuit is rethinking the pipeline with precision targeting,
What it takes to serve taxpayers like customers, not inconveniences, and much more.

This episode pulls back the curtain on incentive structures, misaligned risk, and why the most significant barrier to transformation isn't bureaucracy. It’s trust. If you're in the trenches trying to change the game, this one’s for you.

About Mike

Mike Vichich is the Cofounder & CEO of Pursuit (pursuit.us), an AI company simplifying how businesses find and win public-sector contracts. An accomplished entrepreneur, Mike previously founded and ran a company through acquisition by a public company for $187M in 2021. He is also an active angel investor, backing early-stage startups and mentoring founders who tackle challenging problems with creativity and grit. Outside the office, Mike lives in Ann Arbor, MI with his family, where they enjoy playing sports, exploring new destinations, and continuously learning something new together.

Guest Quote

“ In SLED, you might pick California, Texas, Florida, and New York. Those are the biggest budget states, and you got limited resources. So you hire people who have relationships, whether it's a sales rep or a consultant or an advisor, or a lobbyist, and they give you access to data. That was the old game, right? Relationships gave you data. The new game, we think, is that if you're actually able to listen to the transcripts, the plans, the budgets, the contracts, all the stuff that's happening in the public sector, that's being put out every day. If you could listen to that and then find where your opportunities are and prioritize based on who's got the pain, that data tells you what relationships to go build from a seller's perspective. So that's the fundamental frame that we're teeing up. We're not saying the relationships are gone, we're saying that you should use data to figure out what relationships you should be investing in.”

Time Stamps

00:00 - Episode Start

02:36 Mike's Journey

09:56 Balancing family values and career ambitions

18:24 Breaking into the public sector

22:48 Understanding incentives in the public sector

44:33 Breaking down RFP dynamics

49:08 Role of relationships in the public sector

53:25 The Three Farmer Syndrome

58:27 CAC vs COGS & How Venture Funds Really Work

01:08:06 Why government buyers get screwed on pricing

01:18:38 Fixing public sector tech: From SI boondoggles to smart SaaS

01:27:50 Rethinking regulation in public sector tech

01:32:48 Pursuit's approach to public sector solutions

01:45:44 The Roundup

Sponsor

Ever To Conquer is brought to you by RedLeif, a digital agency focused on accelerating the modernization and security of public sector data. Visit RedLeif.io to learn more.

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