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ASCENT Foundation Celebrates 10 years of Creating Entrepreneurial Impact

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  • 850  growth-oriented entrepreneurs from 54 Diverse Cities including Srinagar, Guwahati, Dharwad, Varanasi, Tirupur, etc grouped into over 72 operational Trust Groups
  • More than 20% members who joined in 2012 continue to be members of the foundation
  • Aim to become a 1000 member cohort by FY23

Mumbai, August 17, 2022: ASCENT Foundation, a not-for-profit, peer-to-peer learning platform founded by Harsh Mariwala, Chairman, Marico Ltd, completes 10 years of providing unmatched peer support to entrepreneurs, SME business owners, growth-oriented doers and leaders of tomorrow. Consisting of  840+ members in three chapters across 54 cities in India, ASCENT aims to become a 1000 member cohort by FY23.

ASCENT was founded by Harsh Mariwala, Chairman of Marico, ten years ago with the goal of providing the necessary peer support to business owners and empowering the entrepreneurial ecosystem by enabling the doers with learning, support, motivation and a sense of camaraderie.  With the aim to give back to the entrepreneurial ecosystem ASCENT was set up with the aim to support founders and business owners in navigating the challenges of running a business in a dynamically evolving market reality.

Started with a single city chapter, ASCENT has now expanded across India not only to metros but also to other cities including Srinagar, Cooch Behar, Guwahati, Dharwad, Varanasi, Tirupur, Bhuj, Guwahati, Hubli and Mangalore priding itself in maintaining Inclusivity – in terms of different cultures and mindsets across these cities. In 2012, ASCENT started with members whose annual turnover was upto 100cr and is currently hosting members with upto 2500cr annual turnover. The ASCENT Annual Health survey of 2022 showcased that members have witnessed upto 200% increase in revenue with 50% increased efficiency in operations.

Commenting on the occasion, Archanna Das, CEO, ASCENT Foundation said, “It has been an incredible journey for all of us as ASCENT completes a decade of existence. We all are delighted to be a part of an initiative that not only focuses on enriching and empowering entrepreneurs but also aids in the tangible scaling of their enterprise through peer support. In the past decade, ASCENT has become more inclusive in terms of culture and mindsets growing to 54 diverse cities and we aim to achieve greater heights in the near future. We are in the right direction to continue this growth by celebrating diversity in all aspects of businesses with entrepreneurs of the right mindset of willingness to learn.”

The Trust Groups leverage the power of the collective and enable entrepreneurs to share and exchange experiences, ideas, insights and learn from each other in a healthy and non-competing ecosystem. Since its inception, 170 ASCENT cohort entrepreneurs (accounting upto 20% of the cohort) continue to be with the Foundation like

  • Sanjay Arora, Group Medical Director – Dr Lal PathLabs and Founder – Suburban Diagnostics
  • Shweta Mangal, Group Chief Executive Officer, MUrgency
  • Vikram Bhat, Founder, Enrich Salon
  • Ravneet Singh, Director, Ace Energy Infrastructure Pvt Ltd
  • Roopak Saluja, Founder & CEO, BANG BANG Mediacorp, Founder – The 120 Media Collective, Founder – Jack in the Box Worldwide
  • Smriti Dalvi, CEO, Florista India Pvt. Ltd

ASCENT also gives a great opportunity to its members to learn and network with the leaders of the industry by organizing its flagship annual event ‘ ASCENT Conclave’ for the last seven years that has witnessed 100+ prolific speakers including  Rajiv Bajaj (Bajaj Auto), Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon Ltd), Uday Kotak (Kotak Mahindra Bank), Nandan Nilekani (Infosys), Dr. Raghuram Rajan (Ex-RBI Governor), Sangita Reddy (Apollo Hospitals), Naveen Tewari (InMobi), Falguni Nayar (Nykaa), Sriharsha Majety(Swiggy), Harshil Mathur (Razorpay), Sajjan Jindal (JSW Group), Sourav Ganguly (BCCI) and many more. The annual entrepreneurial event to look forward to will be revived physically this year for its seventh edition on 24 November 2022 in Mumbai. The conclave will be focused at the theme of ‘Thriving on Change’ – deciphering the dynamically changed new-normal and carve out the path to the future of work.

Harsh Mariwala, Chairman – Marico LTD. and Founder of ASCENT Foundation said, “Ten years ago, I started ASCENT with an intention to offer peer-to-peer support to entrepreneurs and help them in their entrepreneurial journey as it gets lonely at the top.  Today ASCENT has entrepreneurs from diverse regions and industries representing an annual turnover of more than Rs. 53,000 crores+. ASCENT, in its own way, has contributed towards building a new India by supporting and encouraging the entrepreneurs. We are thrilled to hold the 7th edition of the ASCENT Conclave physically in Mumbai after two years of organising it virtually owing to COVID-19. It has been one of the successful mega events for entrepreneurs across the country to learn and network with the leaders. I would like to thank all the people associated with ASCENT in our journey so far and urge us to keep contributing to the entrepreneurial ecosystem with a sense of gratitude and giving back.”

Orangutan onboards its 5th roster with No Lucario, a Pokemon UNITE team

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Mumbai, August 10, 2022: Orangutan, one of India’s top competitive esports teams, has added No Lucario as its 5th roster, which enables them to enter directly into the Pokemon UNITE World Championship 2022, which is going to take place in London from the 18th to 21st of August.

The Pokemon UNITE World Championship is the final event and the World Championship of the 2022 UNITE Championship Series, with a prize pool of $500,000 USD. The best teams throughout the year have been qualified for this event. 16 teams are invited to this tournament, namely No Lucario, Secret Ship, Renaissance, Eternity, Revenant Esports, IX Gaming to name a few. The winners of the tournament will bag a prize pool of $100,000 USD.

No Lucario is the team from Singapore and have played in the Asian Pacific qualifier. They were also the Asian Pacific Champions of the Pokemon UNITE Asian Pacific Championship. This shows the intent of Orangutan to enter the international esports market. With this never backing down thought, even though recently the Indian esports industry was shaken due to the news around Battlegrounds Mobile India, Orangutan has expanded internationally and is targeting a new market. 

Orangutan’s team, No Lucario consists of:

  1. Bryan Khoo Chin How
  2. Tay Leong Jie
  3. Chuang Fu Yuan
  4. Tang Khoon Seng
  5. Devsen Putra Lie

Yash Bhanushali, Founder at Orangutan said “Pokemon as a word has immense nostalgic value, and the fact that we can have a team represent our country while celebrating our nation’s 75th year of Independence gives me a lot of pride.” 

Orangutan has now entered the 4th game in competitive esports by adding Pokemon UNITE. Orangutan now comprises esports teams in 3 mobile games: Battlegrounds Mobile India, Free Fire, Pokemon UNITE and a competitive team in the PC Game- Valorant as well. Orangutan looks forward to entering many more esports tournaments in the coming years.  Instagram Link for reveal  https://www.instagram.com/p/ChChvvkrdEn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Lenovo calls on Indian artists to showcase their vision of a sustainable future in a region-wide digital art contest

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Lenovo, together with AMD and Microsoft, launched a contest in Asia Pacific encouraging all artists and would-be artists in India to conceptualize their idea of a sustainable future via a digital art piece. The theme of the campaign “The World We Imagine” calls on contestants to envision what a green and sustainable world looks like.

From now to 30 September 2022, contestants in India are invited to submit digital art entries that best represent their vision of the future and stand a chance to win a cash prize of up to USD$5,000, Lenovo’s premium line of laptops including Yoga Slim 7 Pro X and Yoga Slim 7 Carbon, as well as free subscriptions to the Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe applications.

Contestants must submit their entries via the campaign microsite, with a file size of less than 20MB and in JPG format. Any form of digital artwork is acceptable except commercial works, brand-related, commissioned, or competitors’ commissioned work. Entries can be submitted in 3D, animation, illustration, photo, or digital format.

Submissions must be accompanied by a short synopsis explaining the creation and must be original, related to the contest theme, unpublished, and uncommission by a brand. Reviewed by a panel of qualified judges, all entries will be judged based on their visual design, creative concept, and adherence to the theme. More details on submission guidelines can be found here: http://lenovo.com/theworldweimagine

Indian semiconductor market is estimated to reach around $300 bn by 2026

According to recent research, the ‘Make in India’ and production-linked incentive (PLI) programmes will encourage local sourcing of semiconductor components in the ensuing years, bringing India’s semiconductor component market’s total revenues up to $300 billion by 2026.

Currently, the IT, industrial, mobile and wearables categories together account for around 80% of the country’s semiconductor revenues in 2021.

According to the analysis by the India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA) and Counterpoint Research, future regulatory changes and the development of a semiconductor ecosystem will lessen dependency on imports.

“Before the end of this decade, there will be nothing that will not be touched by electronics and the ubiquitous ‘chip’. Be it fighting carbon emissions, renewable energy, food safety, or healthcare, the semiconductor chip will be all-pervasive,” said Krishna Moorthy, CEO and President, of IESA.

semiconductor
Credit: economic times

Under its PLI programme, the Indian government recently proposed a separate expenditure of Rs 76,000 crore (about $10 billion) towards the growth of an electronics ecosystem for semiconductor and display manufacturing.

Maharashtra has won a staggering Rs 2.06 lakh crore investment from Vedanta Group-Foxconn cooperation in the rising semiconductor chips and display fabrications sector in Pune, besting at least five other states in the process.

“The gradual shift from feature phones to smartphones has been generating increased proportions of advanced logic processors, memory, integrated controllers, sensors and other components. This will continue to drive the value of the semiconductor content in smartphones, aided by the rise of wearables such as smartwatches and TWS,” explained Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research.

“However, the telecom sector with the advent of 5G and fibre network rollout will be a key catalyst in boosting the semiconductor components consumption,” Shah said.

semiconductor
Credit: economic times

Neil Shah, vice president at Counterpoint, predicts that various industries will contribute to the upcoming significant rise in semiconductor components. In addition to the high-tech, semiconductor-intensive 5G and FTTH network infrastructure equipment, which will account for more than 14% of all semiconductor consumption in 2026, “but also from the highly capable AI-driven 5G endpoints, from smartphones, tablets, PCs, connected cars, industrial robotics to private networks,” he mentioned, will also contribute to this consumption.

India’s end equipment market had revenues of $119 billion in 2021. From 2021 to 2026, a CAGR of 19% is anticipated for growth. According to the report, from component, sourcing to design manufacture, India’s electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry would significantly impact the overall growth of the nation.

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Oscar’s move to Flamengo collapses at final stage

Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar was expected to join Flamengo this summer. But, Shanghai SIPG pulled out of the deal at the last minute, and the player will now be staying in China for the remainder of the season. 

The deal was in the final stages, and the player had also pictured himself in a Flamengo shirt. But, the documents were not signed by the club, and now, the deal is completely off for the time being. 

Oscar not joining Flamengo as deal collapses at last stages 

The midfielder sent out a tweet to explain the situation: 

‘I appreciate the interest of Flamengo and the fans, but it was not possible to do so at that moment. 

‘I wish the club the best of luck and all the friends I have there for the remainder of this season. Thank you all!’ 

Oscar made the move to China in 2017 from Chelsea, for an eye-catching fee worth £54 million. At the time, Chelsea were close to winning the Premier League and it was seen as a purely financial move. Five years later, the player was set to return to Brazil, but due to differences between the two clubs, things haven’t gone according to plan. 

A number of European clubs were tracking him prior to his move to Asia, and at 30, it is likely that he will soon earn a move away. 

XPG Launches ALPHA WIRELESS Gaming Mouse

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XPG, a fast-growing provider of systems, components, and peripherals for Gamers, Esports Pros, and Tech Enthusiasts, announces the ALPHA WIRED and WIRELESS gaming mouse.  A 2022 Red Dot Design award winner, the mouse features an ergonomic design, energy-efficient PAW-3335 sensor, and premium OMRON switches for comfort and performance.

XPG’s Award-Winning Ergonomic Design

The ALPHA gaming mouse sports simple and elegantly curved contours with a comfortable grip that reflect XPG’s industrial design language, called “:Exoskeleton”. The design philosophy emphasizes a balance between form and function, with a focus on ergonomics. By studying data from a large pool of diverse subjects using XPG’s AI-driven hand scanning application, XPG was able to determine the optimal mouse shape. For example, the overall width of the mouse is derived from averaging finger measurements collected to create a device with an ideal grip size.

Made for the Best Gaming Experience

On the inside, XPG ALPHA will impress too. Equipped with an energy-efficient, high-performance PAW-3335 sensor from Pixart, it provides a range of DPI settings from 100 to 16000 to meet the requirements of all types of games. What’s more, a programmable triangular button at the top of the mouse offers excellent flexibility in connecting to XPG PRIME software. XPG ALPHA is also made to last with premium OMRON switches capable of 60 million clicks. Its connection modes include a low-latency 2.4G wireless via a dedicated dongle for gaming or a standard Bluetooth direct connection for versatility and productivity, featuring up to 60 hours of battery life while still using default LED lights.

The RGB lighting on the ALPHA diffuses subtle and elegant light via 3 dedicated zones that are independent of each other. Light settings can be stored using 3 customizable hardware profiles or through XPG PRIME software.

Customize with XPG PRIME

XPG ALPHA is a software-programmable gaming mouse, where buttons, DPI settings, and RGB lighting effects can be customized and tailored to each user’s needs. Programmable buttons, button assignments, and Macro settings can be programmed and saved to user profiles for seamless switching between PCs. Learn more about XPG PRIME HERE.

To learn more about pricing and availability in your region, contact an XPG representative near you via www.xpg.com. XPG ALPHA will also be available in a wired variant.

Mastercard partners with leading badminton stars Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to promote Digital Payments in India

India – August 17, 2022: Mastercard today announced that Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, will come on board as brand ambassadors in India. As winners of the prestigious Thomas Cup 2022 and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the new ambassadors will partner with Mastercard to spread awareness about the safety, security, and convenience of digital payments in India. This partnership is in line with the efforts of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Prime Minister Modi’s vision of Digital India.

Over the years, India has seen an increasingly diverse sports landscape, and Mastercard’s foray into badminton runs alongside the evolution of India’s sporting industry. Earlier this year, Mastercard signed on Shiv Kapur to enhance its leading panel of golfers, which also includes Anirban Lahiri as brand ambassador. Globally, Mastercard is deeply invested in sports from tennis to cricket to soccer to e-sports, with badminton now added to the list.

Today’s badminton ambassadors reflect the aspirations of a resurgent India and serve as respected role models to the younger generations.  Similar to the key role played by Mastercard’s brand ambassador MS Dhoni, the badminton stars will be a part of Mastercard’s Team Cashless India campaign, which works with merchants and cardholders to create awareness of the safety, security, and convenience of digital payments.

Mastercard partners with leading badminton stars Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to promote Digital Payments in India

Nikhil Sahni, Division President, South Asia, Mastercard said, “Creating awareness about the convenience and safety of digital payments in India is a top priority for Mastercard. Mastercard is delighted to team up with Indian badminton stars Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, and Chirag Shetty, who serve as an inspiration to millions of sports enthusiasts in the country. With support from the new badminton brand ambassadors, Mastercard aims to meaningfully engage with millions of cardholders and help support India’s cash-to-digital journey.”

Lakshya Sen said, “I am humbled and grateful for what I have been able to achieve, from growing up in Almora, Uttarakhand, to putting India on the world stage in badminton. I am honored to serve as an inspiration to millions of Indians by partnering with Mastercard to tangibly demonstrate the benefits, ease and safety of digital payments, which I have experienced firsthand.”

Mastercard continues to contribute to furthering the government’s efforts towards a Digital India and has undertaken several initiatives including workshops on digital payments for MSMEs, educational street plays, knowledge sessions for farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and Team Cashless India to increase merchant digitization.

Read: BCCI: Mastercard replaces Paytm as the new title sponsor of the Indian cricket team

Moong Labs releases Epic Cricket – Big League in Dolby Atmos for mobile gaming fans in India

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New Delhi, August 17, 2022: Moong Labs, a leading developer and publisher of free-to-play (F2P) games for smartphone and tablet devices, worked with Dolby Laboratories, to release its popular mobile game “Epic Cricket” in Dolby Atmos®.

Built for the truly passionate fans of Cricket, Epic Cricket in Dolby Atmos® is a revolutionary mobile cricket gaming experience that provides incredible and immersive gameplay like never before. The team behind the game has deployed complex algorithms and techniques to build an amazingly realistic experience that will leave a lasting impression on gamers’ visual and auditory senses.

Through Dolby Atmos®, critical moments in Epic Cricket will feel more realistic. The player will be able to experience a distinct loud roar of the crowd from the stands where the ball travels and the sound of a wave while the player gets ready to face the next delivery. Furthermore, the clearly audible chatting of the wicketkeeper from behind the stumps will add to the realism of the game. All the emotions of the players and crowd will bring out an authentic experience allowing the player to feel connected with the game like never before.

Moong Labs releases Epic Cricket – Big League in Dolby Atmos for mobile gaming fans in India

Commenting on the development, Samit Babbar, Head of Product, Moong Labs said, “The Indian gamer today is seeking a quality experience while playing their favorite game on mobile. Epic Cricket with Dolby Atmos® will bring a whole new level of immersive gameplay to take gamers right into the action with surreal sound as if they were standing in person in the middle of the pitch. You’ll be able to soak in the sound, the tension, and elation of the crowd as you lead your team to an Epic Cricket journey.”

“Being a mobile-first nation, mobile gaming is growing rapidly in India. There has been an increased demand from consumers for spectacular audio experiences on their smartphones. We cater to this demand with Dolby Atmos®, which provides impressive clarity, detail, and depth to create a more realistic and thrilling experience while gaming. We are confident that with Dolby Atmos®, gamers will enjoy a richer experience while playing Epic Cricket,” elaborated Ashim Mathur, Senior Regional Director, Japan, and Emerging Markets, Dolby Laboratories.

Dolby Atmos® surrounds you in a multidimensional soundscape, allowing you to experience your game with more clarity and sharper detail that puts you right in the middle of the action. Pinpoint accuracy defines location and audio direction for a more realistic and thrilling game experience unlike ever before. 

Read: Women’s IPL 2023: The Inaugural edition of Women’s IPL will have six teams

15 Minutes EV Rapid Charging Startup, Exponent Energy raises Series A round of $13 million led by Lightspeed

  • This is Lightspeed India’s first investment in the Indian EV space. 
  • All existing institutional investors – YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital & AdvantEdge VC also participated
  • Company to utilize the funds to scale up the e^pump network to 100 location points per city, starting with Bengaluru; streamline e^pack production; and deliver more Exponent enabled EVs 
  • Exponent has developed the e^pump and e^pack, its proprietary charger and battery pack, that together unlock a 15-min rapid charge for 0 to 100% battery charge
  • Recently unveiled world’s fastest charging electric three-wheeler in a partnership with Altigreen Propulsion Labs

India, August 17th, 2022: Exponent Energy, a startup simplifying energy for EVs, recently announced that it has raised $13 Million in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed, with all existing institutional investors such as YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital & AdvantEdge VC also participating. The amount raised will be utilised to scale up the e^pump network to 100 location points per city, starting with Bengaluru; streamline e^pack production; and deliver more Exponent enabled EVs. 

Speaking about the investment, Harsha Kumar, Partner, Lightspeed said, “The need for enhancing EV battery performance, sustainability and most of all access and affordability has never been more pressing and so we are delighted to partner with Exponent to simplify energy for EVs. This team, with their drive and innovation, has made rapid EV battery charging possible in just 15 minutes. We are confident that the technology is a real breakthrough, allowing EVs to become ubiquitous.”

Commenting on the funding round, Arun Vinayak, Co-founder & CEO, Exponent Energy, said “We’ve really enjoyed thinking aloud with the Lightspeed team in all conversations leading up to the investment. We believe we have a great partner in them as we simplify energy for EVs – for an all-electric future. 

15 Minutes EV Rapid Charging Startup, Exponent Energy raises Series A round of $13 million led by Lightspeed

Our technology already delivers a seamless charging experience, and with our vehicle partnership in place, we’ll scale-up our production and network presence to 100 e^pump location points per city to deliver freedom & flexibility to our customers. This funding now allows us to execute even faster and make 15-min rapid charging the new normal.”

Earlier this month, Exponent Energy partnered with Altigreen to make rapid charging a reality for eCVs on Indian roads. They unveiled the world’s fastest charging electric 3-wheeler that rapidly charges from 0-100% within 15 minutes. Exponent’s e^pack on the Altigreen neEV HD is uniquely built using regular LFP cell chemistry, making this the first rapid charging solution that’s affordable and scalable. Customer deliveries of Exponent Enabled NeEV HD will begin from October 2022.

Previously Exponent Energy has raised $6mn in Seed and Pre-Series A round from prominent investors such as the family office of Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman, and CEO, Hero MotoCorp (World’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer), Motherson Group, a leading global supplier of automotive components along with YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital, AdvantEdge VC and a few angel investors.

Report: Apple Employee claims the Management Threatened her over a TikTok Video

An Apple employee claims that her employer, where she has worked for more than six years, has threatened to terminate her because of a popular TikTok video she made that offers simple, commonsense advice on what to do if your iPhone is stolen.

On TikTok, the employee, Paris Campbell, has about 500,000 followers and more than 17.7 million likes as of this writing. Campbell never revealed to the public that she worked for Apple before a video last week; instead, she frequently published stand-up comedy performances and reaction videos to amusing and eccentric content uploaded to the app.

Following the theft of their iPhone and subsequent messages from the perpetrators threatening to sell their personal information on the black market, Campbell responded to another user’s TikTok a week ago. With the help of Find My, the victim discovered the whereabouts of their iPhone in China.

The crooks specifically urged the victim in their emails to do so to get around Activation Lock by removing the stolen iPhone from their Apple ID account. It is strongly advised against doing so because doing so would make the device useful and would only benefit crooks.

Credit: MacRumors

“I can’t tell you how exactly I know this information, but I can tell you for the last six years I’ve been a certified hardware engineer for a certain company that likes to talk a lot about fruit,” Campbell said in the opening of her video response to the concerned victim. Campbell continues by emphasizing the need to avoid detaching the iPhone from the Apple ID and by describing Activation Lock.

As a reminder, Activation Lock forces users to enter their Apple ID password to unlock their iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch after it has been deleted if it is still linked to an account.

The iPhone in this instance is completely worthless without the Apple ID password or the password used to unlock the device previously. In her video, Campbell only offers the victim some helpful advice and reassurance that, despite the criminals’ claims to the contrary, they do not possess sensitive information. Campbell advises the victim to disregard the messages as he wraps up the video. At the time of writing, the video had received over 7.4 million views.

Only a few days after publishing that video, Campbell published a second video outlining the events. She said that she received a call from her manager informing her that she had violated Apple policy by disclosing her employment status in public. However, Apple’s policy merely mandates that employees uphold Apple’s reputation and image in their online presence and does not prohibit them from openly identifying themselves as Apple employees.

Credit: MacRumors

Numerous Apple engineers openly identify as company employees on Twitter. They frequently engage with the public and tweet about how excited they are about the work they have been doing since the announcement.

Campbell agrees with her management that Apple does not pay her to “make TikTok videos,”  claiming that she only does it for fun in her free time.

“Apple, you didn’t hire me to make TikTok videos, but apparently, I’m good at it. Talking about your products and tech in general and how people can deal with it in their everyday life is kind of the thing that I’m best at,” Campbell said.

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