THE VALLEY CURRENT®️ COMPUTERLAW GROUP LLP
Computerlaw Group LLP (www.computerlaw.com) provides strategic, knowledgeable, and effective business and intellectual property protection, licensing and litigation services to Internet, e-commerce, computer software, hardware and other high-tech businesses, teams and industry professionals throughout California, nationally and around the world. CLG produces THE VALLEY CURRENT as a way to keep its worldwide clients, co-counsels, colleagues, and friends aware of developments in Silicon Valley and beyond.
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The Valley Current®: What Can Childrens Books Teach Us About Leadership?
09/11/2023
The Valley Current®: What Can Childrens Books Teach Us About Leadership?
Storytime is one of the most influential times for children. Childrens' books are loaded with quotes and themes designed to encourage children to become the best people they can be. Over at , Tom Casey and other senior executives spend most of their time teaching people to become more effective leaders and guiding them on how to invest in the development of their employees with the intention of promoting the overall success of the company. Reading children’s books to each other has become Discussion Partners go-to way to figure out what they would have learned about leadership if they had just paid attention all those years ago. Today host Jack Russo finds out the not so hidden messages we missed when those books were read to us, and when we read them to our children.
/episode/index/show/computerlaw/id/27853524
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The Valley Current®: How “Safe” are SAFE Agreements?
09/08/2023
The Valley Current®: How “Safe” are SAFE Agreements?
Many things are happening in the face of a recession. Angel investors and VCs are tightening their belts & seed-stage startups are trying to gain traction despite a meaningless valuation. As a result, these startups are running to their financial advisors trying to figure out what their options are now. No federal, appellate, or district court have talked about what should be done with failed SAFE agreements, so should entrepreneurs just be expected to eat this dropped agreement? Today host Jack Russo asks if SAFE notes can be written off and what strategies entrepreneurs should consider going forward.
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The Valley Current®: Are Workspans of Professionals Becoming Longer?
09/06/2023
The Valley Current®: Are Workspans of Professionals Becoming Longer?
How old is too old to work? You’d assume most people circle the day they turn 65 as either full retirement or the beginning of their phase out period, but working well past that date is becoming more common. The ability to work and adapt in an ever-changing work environment is the most crucial factor most people do not think about when joining the workforce. Take Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman into consideration. Federally appointed judges are limited to terms and at age 96, Judge Newman is being forced from her seat by her colleagues due to mental impairment. Today host Jack Russo and discuss to what degree will AI play in an individual’s workspan.
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The Valley Current®: Copyright in the 21st Century: Will AI Force Radical Change? - Part 2
09/04/2023
The Valley Current®: Copyright in the 21st Century: Will AI Force Radical Change? - Part 2
When ChatGPT launched in 2022, it felt as if a new future had been revealed to us. Now that AI is freely available, user-friendly, and regularly assisting in the production of products and services, legal professionals are faced with a slew of new questions. Can a computer infringe on existing copyrights by pulling too much data from it? Can AI improve products by merging source codes? Does the extraction of millions of images infringe on an individual image creators’ rights? In part 2 of this podcast, host Jack Russo and Professor Rafael Chodos discuss the need for a new chapter of copyright laws highlighting the use of AI development.
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The Valley Current®: Copyright in the 21st Century: Will AI Force Radical Change? - Part 1
09/01/2023
The Valley Current®: Copyright in the 21st Century: Will AI Force Radical Change? - Part 1
Copyrights have existed for centuries, and the idea of them dates back even further. United States copyright laws are nothing short of a mess, at least according to Professor Rafael Chodos. Not only is intellectual property not property, but copyrights tend to commercialize creativity instead of advancing science. Revisions for things like software and DCMA have been added since the first copyright laws were made, but at the rate technology is evolving, Congress would have to begin amending laws once a decade to keep them relevant. Today host Jack Russo asks Rafael Chodos how laws will have to change with AI playing a heavy hand in developing creative works.
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The Valley Current®: Are AI Tools Going to Automate Tax Returns?
08/30/2023
The Valley Current®: Are AI Tools Going to Automate Tax Returns?
For the average person, tax season officially runs from February 15th to April 15th, but for tax professionals the planning starts mid-November and doesn’t end until New Years Eve. The high-end taxpayer has need of a CPA who knows how to use the more sophisticated financial tools and is willing to take on the liability of a problematic return. Meanwhile, the average Joe does their taxes at home using software that files everything for you in a user-friendly manner. Whether you’re doing it yourself or doing it for someone else, both sides might find future returns become significantly less stressful. Today host Jack Russo and discuss the possibility of AI automating the most stressful season worldwide.
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The Valley Current®: How Pro Bono Work Creates Inspiration: “Mississippi Reckoning”
08/23/2023
The Valley Current®: How Pro Bono Work Creates Inspiration: “Mississippi Reckoning”
Transferred mens rea, or transferred criminal intent, is the intent to harm a specific individual, but accidentally harming a different individual instead. When Mitchell Zimmerman took on a pro bono client in a death penalty case, he never intended to write a novel as a coping mechanism to help him deal with the stress. While Mississippi Reckoning is not directly based on Mitchell’s client, it does reflect upon the deep feelings that come with a high stakes case. Listen in as host Jack Russo learns how Mitchell Zimmerman turned an unpaid legal case into a gripping story of assassination and civil rights.
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The Valley Current®: How Do Courts Actually Decide Cases: Head v. Heart?
08/16/2023
The Valley Current®: How Do Courts Actually Decide Cases: Head v. Heart?
Any law professor will tell you the best way to win a case is to learn the law and apply them to the facts. It’s simple, but this straightforward approach has led Myron Moskovitz to years of success in the court room. Of course, no lawyer is bulletproof. Convoluted opinions and poor reasoning were the leading causes of courtroom losses and the main thing the cases shared was a shady client. Judges are required to rule in accordance with the law, but a shady party will most likely end up facing additional penalties. Today host Jack Russo and discuss how cases are settled when bad guys push sentencing guidelines.
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The Valley Current®: Are BigCPA firms now competing against BigLaw?
08/09/2023
The Valley Current®: Are BigCPA firms now competing against BigLaw?
To what degree will artificial intelligence accelerate the merging of legal and financial services? There is already a lot of overlap between the two given the nature of the industries and both being highly regulated by the government. Overseas there is already news of CPA firms hiring more lawyers and creating law firms under the CPA brand, but here in the US there are laws that keep the two separate. Could the incorporation of AI tools be the catalyst that forces these two industries to expand their services and incentivize flexible regulation? Host Jack Russo asks CPA, Steve Rabin if the United Sates will follow international trends and start seeing law firms competing directly with CPA firms. Click here to read more about the role of AI in legal services: And this article on auditng the auditors:
/episode/index/show/computerlaw/id/27551247
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The Valley Current®: Is ChatGPT a Copyright Infringer or a First Amendment “Fair Use” Machine?
08/02/2023
The Valley Current®: Is ChatGPT a Copyright Infringer or a First Amendment “Fair Use” Machine?
Whether one loves or hates ChatGPT, this much is clear: it is by far the fastest, lowest-cost (non-advertising based) way to quicky obtain information and perhaps even some “knowledge” on a given topic. As much as it feels like someone is conveying more than just information to us, it is still software pulling text, numbers and other data from across the internet and presenting it in a user-friendly matter within seconds. Despite t, large language model (LLM based) AI tools are still going to impact knowledge workers, but a ruling on intellectual property could change all that. Last week a new federal class action complaint was filed in the federal court in San Francisco claiming that while ignoring all copyright rights. Will OpenAI eventually concede some responsibility for paying royalties or will this case eventually need Supreme Court review? Today host Jack Russo and the CLG Educational Team discuss if AI based scraping practices are copyright infringement or are the First Amendment and statutorily protected fair-use of the “ideas” and underlying data and not the “protected expression” of the copyrighted works (which the lawsuit limits to just the registered copyrights of record in the US Copyright Office).
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The Valley Current®: Will ESG Become An Integral Part of the Startup Mission?
07/26/2023
The Valley Current®: Will ESG Become An Integral Part of the Startup Mission?
Historically, venture capitals and angel investors have not been sensitive to climate change or eco-friendly startups. Unless the business itself is targeting renewable energy, it was hard for VC’s to imagine a profitable company when there are positions dedicated to making the company earth friendly. Is there any basis to their assumptions? It’s hard to imagine that money going to waste when Silicon Valley style areas are popping up around the US. To find out if ESG principles are more than just marketing, host Jack Russo chats with PhD candidate, Tatiana Tauhata, who is exploring how VC money contributes to a firm’s climate change goals and achievements.
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The Valley Current®: How Can Side Gigs Produce Huge Personal Success?
07/19/2023
The Valley Current®: How Can Side Gigs Produce Huge Personal Success?
Everyone is a storyteller, but not all of us write books. It’s been 70 years since the Korean War ended with an armistice, but there are still stories of it waiting to be told. When covid hit and we were sheltering in place, Nicole Kim Rogers passed the time by watching two war-based miniseries, A Band of Brothers & The Pacific. These series reminded her of her grandfather who spent 10 years writing down the stories he told her of growing up in Korea and fighting in the Korean War. Nicole then decided to piece together the stories of her grandfather’s escape from the totalitarian communist North Korea to the capitalist Republic of South Korea. Host Jack Russo and Marketing Leader Nicole Kim Rogers discuss how she transitioned her career of telling stories that bring tech products to life, to bringing this historical moment to life through the eyes of her grandfather. Buy your copy of Beyond the Border here:
/episode/index/show/computerlaw/id/27500577
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The Valley Current®: Will Musk and Wachtell Resolve to Use Creativity Over Controversy®️?
07/17/2023
The Valley Current®: Will Musk and Wachtell Resolve to Use Creativity Over Controversy®️?
What does Elon Musk's latest lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court reveal? Alot! The detailed lawsuit (and its many non-redacted internal emails and other exhibits) more fully disclose the profit model of powerhouse New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition company's suit seeks equitable "disgorgement" of the alleged $90M in "excessive legal fees" charged to and paid by Twitter's previous (now all fired) management and "approved" by its previous (now all resigned) board members. How did this happen? The “re-negotiated” fee agreement (setting the “multipler” on hourly fees to $90M (or over $100K/billable hour for less than six months of work that resulted in no trial, no appeal, and no substantive judicial decisions was finalized the day before the closing of the settlement Musk agreed to conclude after first refusing to do so. Is the timing alone enough for Musk to void the new fee agreement or will both sides consider some form of Creative Dispute Resolution? Today host Jack Russo and Professor Rafael Chodos discuss if Creativity Over Controversy®️ techniques could help both parties reach an amicable resolution. See:
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The Valley Current®: Is Money Changing the Culture of Silicon Valley?
07/14/2023
The Valley Current®: Is Money Changing the Culture of Silicon Valley?
The process of creative destruction has largely been accepted in the economic field. Weaker competitors are “cleaned out” in bear markets leaving the strongest to survive with the freedom to evolve in an environment concentrated with skilled workers. One thing that had never really changed until now was the standard face-to-face meeting before client and company agreed to do business together. Establishing trust on a personal level has felt less necessary for consumers as processes became more streamlined, but for Twitter, maybe that trust building component was more important than they thought. Elon Musk is suing Twitters’ legal firm, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, arguing that the company was taken advantage of with unethical hourly and success fees prior to its sale to him. Today host Jack Russo and Joe Cucchiara discuss how money is changing the culture of Silicon Valley. Click here to read more about Elon Musk's lawsuit against Twitter's lawyers:
/episode/index/show/computerlaw/id/27437202
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The Valley Current®: What does the College Loan Forgiveness Reversal Reveal?
07/12/2023
The Valley Current®: What does the College Loan Forgiveness Reversal Reveal?
The Constitution’s “ideal” for the US Supreme Court is a group of learned individuals debating in a bipartisan manner with the purpose of resolving questions of Constitutional interpretation to uphold the rule of law in the United States. Today, the US is far more divided and so is the High Court: Are the learned justices now talking past each other instead of grappling with the issues at the heart of the Constitutional debate? The rejection of President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program provides a recent example. Host Jack Russo and Professor Robert Acker examine the growing controversy about whether the High Court is functioning in a way that our Founding Fathers imagines or whether there is some need for structural reform and if so, how?
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The Valley Current®: Did SCOTUS actually change Affirmative Action in America?
07/10/2023
The Valley Current®: Did SCOTUS actually change Affirmative Action in America?
The Supreme Court struck down the admission policies of many colleges, ruling Affirmative Action to be illegal under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, but how much of this is just pretext? Although race is no longer a valid reason for getting accepted to a university, aspiring students can still game the system by including challenges they face due to their minority status in their essays. So, did SCOTUS actually change anything with this ruling? Host Jack Russo and Professor Robert Acker discuss how universities could handle this subtle tweak to admission policies when weeding through thousands of college applications.
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The Valley Current®: Did SCOTUS just radically expand the 1st Amendment?
07/07/2023
The Valley Current®: Did SCOTUS just radically expand the 1st Amendment?
What exactly is covered by the First Amendment? It’s something most American’s thought they knew, but when the Supreme Court ended its term on June 30th SCOTUS left us with a few questions on one of their latest rulings. Lorie Smith of 303 Creative (a single person web design LLC) won the right to not create a wedding website for a same-sex couple based on her First Amendments rights. While many across America see this as a win for free speech and religious freedom, others see this ruling as a setback to LGBT rights. Host Jack Russo and Professor Robert Acker revisit this controversial case of public accommodation vs freedom of expression.
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The Valley Current®: How Did Silicon Valley Create a New EV Mini-Truck Company?
06/30/2023
The Valley Current®: How Did Silicon Valley Create a New EV Mini-Truck Company?
Americans love their trucks, and its not too hard to figure out why. Trucks can be loaded down with tools for work, useful for helping your friend move across town, or tow a boat to the lake for the weekend. The only thing truck owners probably don’t love about their trucks is the low gas mileage and the challenge with street parking. A group of Stanford grads seek to fix both issues with a BEV (battery electric vehicle) mini-truck called TeloTruck. As students, they started designing solar vehicles and joined the solar car team at Stanford University. Forrest North and the guys at are busy making America’s next favorite mini-truck which will do everything a gas guzzler does and with the ease of city street parking! Is America as ready for the mini-truck as it was for the mini-van decades ago? Strap in as host Jack Russo asks Forrest North how TELO created an environmentally friendly BEV-based mini-truck that was made for urban living, daily work chores and outdoor adventuring - all with long (350 mile/charge) range and exceptional speed and agility. For more information, see and the mention in that comments on what they are doing that may prove that Tesla needs a mini-truck in its lineup even before the release of Tesla's long planned but further delayed cybertruck!
/episode/index/show/computerlaw/id/27316431
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The Valley Current®: What are the Benefits of ChatGPT?
06/28/2023
The Valley Current®: What are the Benefits of ChatGPT?
We know using ChatGPT is not foolproof and for anyone using artificial intelligence assistance at work. That being said, ChatGPT does seem to be incredibly helpful when a little human intelligence is also applied to the situation. Host Jack Russo and figure out specific areas where AI can be used to speed through the more tedious parts of financial and estate planning (like creating a basic list of questions to ask clients), leaving professionals with more time to focus on the details.
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The Valley Current®: What are the Risks of ChatGPT?
06/26/2023
The Valley Current®: What are the Risks of ChatGPT?
What can ChatGPT do? It’s a question we’ve been asking and keep finding new answers to. As we jump into this new world where artificial intelligence available is readily available to assist us with our work, we are finding there may be a few risks in blindly trusting ChatGPT. Two New York lawyers were recently fined $5,000 each for using ChatGPT to write briefs that cited multiple non-existent cases. Today host Jack Russo asks if ChatGPT can be used responsibly by financial professionals to serve their clients in effective way - and without the risks this recent published federal case exposes for lawyers.
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The Valley Current®: Ted Lasso and the Role of Transformational Leadership
06/19/2023
The Valley Current®: Ted Lasso and the Role of Transformational Leadership
One of the blessings of finance is that it exposes you to all 10 sectors of the global economy. Much like the character Ted Lasso, Anthony Benson is a transformational leader who will not look at only history to find the solution. Meeting and understanding the players in everything from consumer discretionary to industrials is key to inspiring positive changes and finding flexible solutions that will move us sustainably into the future. Today host Jack Russo and discuss the importance of leading on a personal level beyond goal-focused performance in all areas of life while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
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The Valley Current®: US v. Trump: Will the Rule of Law Survive in Our Democracy?
06/16/2023
The Valley Current®: US v. Trump: Will the Rule of Law Survive in Our Democracy?
The 2024 presidential elections are in less than 18 months and once again, the news focus is all on former President Donald Trump. Last week, Trump became the first US President to be formally charged with committing various federal crimes based on his refusal (post-January 6,2021) to return classified documents he removed from the White House and in his attempt to hide them at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida home. Polarization is not the only issue complicating the process of granting Trump (and the co-defendant aide also named in the indictment) a fair trial. Loyalty, which was a major element of Trump’s presidency, raises some doubt over the electronic evidence originating from that aide and over whether a Florida federal jury can ever unanimously convict both or either of them. And, what pre-trial rulings by the Trump-appointed federal judge will set the framework for that criminal trial? Is a firm trial date possible within the next 18 months? If not, could a trial theoretically happen even if Trump wins the 2024 election? Today host Jack Russo asks can the rule of law survive Donald Trump?
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The Valley Current®: Is Silicon Valley entrepreneurship now in the EU?
06/12/2023
The Valley Current®: Is Silicon Valley entrepreneurship now in the EU?
Silicon Valley magic is not limited by its geography. Silicon Valley represents giving a group of entrepreneurs with a lot of potential the chance to do something huge… and now that mindset is popping up in places you might not expect. On the island of Kea, formed , a quiet hideaway where entrepreneurs can relax, build new relationships, and discuss opportunities for new investments. Today Jack Russo heads to Greece to speak on the outward growth of Silicon Valley he has witnessed and how Silicon Valley is catching fire around the world.
/episode/index/show/computerlaw/id/27095760
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The Valley Current®: How Does Change Happen?
05/19/2023
The Valley Current®: How Does Change Happen?
has always been a bit of a rulebreaker. He did things the unconventional way. He served 25 years in the Air Force as the first Quaker chaplain – a strict no-no in the church. Since then, Jack has decided to spend his next chapter of life setting up programs where elders can share their wisdom with younger generations and the younger people can help older people better understand new technology in return. Today host Jack Russo asks Jack Williamson how change happens when the generations come together to learn from each other as equals.
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The Valley Current®: How Do Juries Get Selected in State Court?
05/17/2023
The Valley Current®: How Do Juries Get Selected in State Court?
We’ve all gotten our summons in the mail before, but few of us have ever been selected for jury duty. Opposite to what Hollywood would have you believe, jury selection includes a thorough screening process to form an objective jury that both sides will present their cases to. Listen in as host Jack Russo asks Linyan Tian to share her experience of going through the states jury selection process for a criminal case.
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The Valley Current®: Can Anything (& Everything) Be Measured (& Will ChatGPT Help)? - Part 2
05/15/2023
The Valley Current®: Can Anything (& Everything) Be Measured (& Will ChatGPT Help)? - Part 2
When it comes to measuring risk, the average person assumes they either need a ton of data or they have not enough data. The truth is you often need less data than you think to improve upon your current judgement, and it’s probably been measured before. Unfortunately, recognizing that data and applying the math to it doesn’t come naturally to the average person and we will probably need some help from technology to access that data. Host Jack Russo asks quantitative analyst Douglas Hubbard if the future of AI includes analyzing data and producing recommendations for things like business strategies, investment strategies & more.
/episode/index/show/computerlaw/id/26757843
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The Valley Current®: Is the Covid Pandemic Really Over?
05/11/2023
The Valley Current®: Is the Covid Pandemic Really Over?
Hooray! !... but is it really? Politically and economically, yes, it is, but biologically . Just like the flu, covid has become part of everyday life and we may be getting annual covid shots alongside our annual flu shot. Today Jack Russo and Dr Leonard Hayflick celebrate the “end” of the covid pandemic.
/episode/index/show/computerlaw/id/26789892
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The Valley Current®: Can Anything (& Everything) Be Measured (& Will ChatGPT Help)?
05/08/2023
The Valley Current®: Can Anything (& Everything) Be Measured (& Will ChatGPT Help)?
Can literally everything be measured? According to quantitative analyst Douglas Hubbard, yes it can – at least when it comes to risk management and decision-making sciences. Hubbard believes that anything that has any impact on your life has observable consequences and is sometimes judged based on flawed empirical data. Today host Jack Russo and Douglas Hubbard discuss measuring risk in areas where even the professionals once believed you could not.
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The Valley Current®: How to Adapt, Become Resilient, and Find MEAning?
05/05/2023
The Valley Current®: How to Adapt, Become Resilient, and Find MEAning?
When Jeff Hamaoui came to the Bay Area 20+ years ago, his mission was simple: bring people together under a common, humanitarian effort. Focusing heavily on improving sustainability, innovation, and impact investing, Jeff brings supply chains together and figures out how to make things better and faster at a cheaper rate – something which doesn't always go well with ESG (environmental, social and governance) investors. It wasn’t until age 47 when Jeff hit the bottom of his u-curve of happiness, drove down to Mexico, met Chip Conley, and decided to help him form the . Today host Jack Russo finds out how Jeff Hamaoui’s own midlife crisis inspired him to create a community which empowers others to embrace their own.
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The Valley Current®: Is Automation Radically Changing Talent Acquisition?
05/01/2023
The Valley Current®: Is Automation Radically Changing Talent Acquisition?
Years ago, it was not uncommon for an employee to spend 30+ years working at the same company. Today, talent is a revolving door with employees averaging under 4 years before moving on in their field. Succession planning has become a key aspect of today’s work environment and not only do businesses now constantly focus on attracting top notch talent, but they must also create a reputation for being a great place for future employees to spend a few years there. Host Jack Russo and discuss sourcing tools that aid companies in their hunt for talented individuals.
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