Ivy Podcast

From Mongolia to Global Finance: Building Vision, Trust & Financial Democracy – Ganhuyag Chuluun

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 09:49:12 +0000

Ganhuyag “Gan” Chuluun Hutagt is a leading Mongolian banking executive and entrepreneur with 30+ years of experience shaping the country’s financial and capital markets. He is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Ard Financial Group, a publicly listed holding company that has grown into one of Mongolia’s most diversified financial and technology ecosystems, spanning 50+ subsidiaries and affiliated businesses.

Earlier in his career, Gan founded Mongolia’s first non-bank financial institution, which later evolved into XacBank, now one of the country’s leading development-oriented banks. He has been a long-time advocate of financial inclusion, institution-building, and responsible market development, playing a key role in revitalizing Mongolia’s capital markets through the “Investor Nation” movement. Under his leadership, Ard was also an early pioneer in blockchain adoption, including ArdCoin and CryptoNation, the first crypto-investment company listed on the Mongolian Stock Exchange.

Gan currently serves as CEO of AIGroup, overseeing Ard’s non-financial and real-economy businesses across media, technology, digital exchanges, and emerging sectors. He is also Secretary General of the Mongolia Economic Forum, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader alumnus, and a board member of Global Dignity International. Widely known to the public, he is also the host of The Apprentice Mongolia.

Scaling from LATAM: What Founders Must Get Right to Win Globally – Jose Kont

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 09:22:17 +0000

Jose Kont is the CEO of Cuantico VP and Venture Partner at Impacta VC. With over 20 years of experience, he is a recognized leader in digital marketing, communication, and venture capital across Latin America.

Currently, he serves on the Editorial Board of ILB MEDIA GROUP, a network of market intelligence platforms and B2B media serving Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. His perspectives on innovation and venture capital are regularly featured in Forbes México, Pulso Capital, and other regional business publications.

The Power of Trusted Circles: How World-Class Leaders Build Networks That Matter – Leah Price Williams

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 15:28:23 +0000

Leah Price Williams is the Founder and CEO of Mercury, a peer-driven global leadership network and development platform for tech CXOs and their successors. She leads a rapidly expanding community that brings together the industry’s most respected technology leaders for peer exchange, strategic development, and curated experiences.

Before founding Mercury, Leah spent more than 13 years operating exclusive private events for Fortune 1000 executives in New York City. During this time, she saw firsthand how essential high-value, trusted relationships are for solving real-time business challenges. Her client base grew rapidly thanks to her relentless focus on ensuring that every moment executives spent out of the office delivered meaningful impact. She also led and trained global teams, consistently producing sold-out executive programs and building deep relationships across industries.

This experience ultimately inspired the creation of Mercury. Driven by a belief that leaders need trusted peers and not more noise, Leah built Mercury to create meaningful, high-trust spaces where senior technology leaders can learn from each other, renowned speakers and academic faculty, and share challenges openly to accelerate their leadership growth.

Under Leah’s leadership, Mercury has become known for its high-caliber, vendor-agnostic programming and signature initiatives such as the Mentor Exchange Leadership Development Program. She partners closely with renowned university faculty translating cutting-edge research into experiences that elevate how executives lead, communicate, and make decisions.

Leah holds a Bachelor of Communication from the University of Georgia.

How to Succeed as a Startup Founder & Corporate Executive – Vivek Bharadwaj, CIO at Happy Socks.

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 12:09:15 +0000

Vivek Bharadwaj is Chief Information Officer at Happy Socks, a Swedish fashion retail brand, leading a unique portfolio spanning technology, digital, data and growth marketing. He’s pioneering agentic AI automation, delivering hundreds of thousands of euros in savings through intelligent agents for ecommerce, marketing and customer service. His 18 year career journey spans four continents: After starting in India, he moved to Australia for his MBA and built his career in data science and technical leadership there. He co-founded a venture backed AI startup in Sydney in 2020, then went on to become Division Vice President at Hudson’s Bay in Canada, where he uniquely led both data science teams and marketing optimization. While in Canada he also established an India based engineering hub for the company called “Gigafactory”.

Now in New York as the Global CIO for Happy Socks, Vivek brings a unique global perspective from Australian startups, Canadian and US enterprises as well as Indian and Australian engineering and leadership teams.. As both a former startup founder and current industry leader, Vivek understands the full spectrum from scrappy startup innovation to enterprise scale transformation. He brings a rare perspective that spans across commercial and technical, from building cloud data foundations to optimizing marketing spend through incrementality testing, understanding how technology and growth must work together. He’s particularly passionate about the future of digital and AI led transformation through agentic AI, not as a buzzword but practical steps organizations take in agentic AI to solve real business problems today.

Disrupting Talent Assessment with Ai – Rob Abannat, CEO of GloCoach

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 10:40:22 +0000

Rob is the CEO and Co-Founder of GloCoach, a pioneering platform that links leadership talent with
AI-driven, human-centric talent development solutions. The vision is simple: to transform talent
development and prepare people for success in a world that is increasingly integrated with artificial
intelligence. He spearheaded the creation of the industry’s first comprehensive platform that
leverages advanced AI to improve the entire talent development lifecycle, markedly boosting both
efficiency and effectiveness.

Before establishing GloCoach, Rob founded Engineered Multimedia and spent over a decade as a
technology-focused program consultant for NASA. There, he produced widely acclaimed computer-
generated simulations for some of the agency’s most notable interplanetary missions. Notably, his
contributions led to his name being sent to planet Mars aboard the Mars Pathfinder mission—really,
ask him about it sometime! He also held the position of Managing Director at M1 Capital Group, a
boutique investment bank catering to emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region. Rob’s academic
credentials include a BS in Physics from Boston College, an MS in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia
Tech, and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Rob has served on the Board of Governors at AmCham Shanghai and was honored as Cubmaster of
the Year by the Boy Scouts of America for his leadership with Shanghai’s Pack 12 Scouts. His early
career was distinguished by several prestigious recognitions including the Council of Outstanding
Young Engineering Alumni from Georgia Institute of Technology, Young Entrepreneur of the Year by
Ernst & Young and the US Small Business Administration, and Outstanding Georgia Citizen by the
Secretary of State. After nearly 20 years living in China, Rob has been a resident of Malaysia since July
of 2025. He is a devoted family man to his wife and three sons.

Strategy, Impact & Angel Investing: A Deep Dive with Dulatbek Ikbayev

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 09:52:58 +0000

Dulatbek Ikbayev is the Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company’s office in Central Asia, where he leads the firm’s regional operations across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. With over a decade of consulting experience, he advises governments, financial institutions, telecom operators, and resource-sector companies on strategy, digital transformations, organizational redesign, and launching new digital businesses.

Before joining McKinsey in 2014, Dulatbek built a successful corporate career spanning 10 years at global companies such as Procter & Gamble and 3M, where he served as Finance Director for Central Asia. His early foundation in finance continues to shape his holistic, data-driven approach to problem-solving and business building.

Beyond consulting, Dulatbek is deeply committed to the development of the region’s talent and entrepreneurial ecosystem. He is the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of two major social initiatives: Teach for Qazaqstan and the KIMEP Alumni Endowment Fund—organizations dedicated to improving education and supporting future leaders. He is also an active angel investor, backing tech-enabled startups across Central Asia and advising early-stage founders on scaling, strategy, and leadership.

A native Kazakh fluent in English and Russian, Dulatbek holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Finance) from KIMEP University. His career journey—from corporate finance to regional leadership at one of the world’s most influential consulting firms—provides a powerful blueprint for aspiring professionals, leaders, and young entrepreneurs across the region.

GTM & Product Launch Strategies with VP of Product Marketing at UiPath – Yiannis Broustas

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 04:05:25 +0000

As Global Vice President of Product Marketing at UiPath, Yiannis leads a multidisciplinary team focused on bringing Agentic AI and automation solutions to market. Headquartered in New York, UiPath is a $9B automation and AI scaleup which, in 2021, did one of the largest software IPOs in history.

His work centers on helping businesses unlock the transformative power of AI, enabling them to operate more intelligently, efficiently, and sustainably.

Yiannis has had the privilege of investing and working across the AI and automation space—leading go-to-market strategies, product development, and business growth for both startups and Fortune 500 companies over the past two decades.

Before joining UiPath, he played key roles at Celonis, co-founded and led several AI-driven ventures, and is still fortunate to serve as an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Tandon, Stern and Courant schools, mentoring entrepreneurs in technology, venture creation, and Lean Startup methodology.

How to Invest in LatAm Top Startups with Eugenia DiMarco

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 07:14:02 +0000

Eugenia Maria Di Marco is a global legal-business strategist and Venture Partner at Big Sky Capital, where she works with founders and investors at the intersection of law, governance, and growth.

As the Founder & CEO of Sisu Powerhouse, Eugenia leads a boutique consultancy that helps startups turn legal structure into business strategy — guiding early-stage and scaling companies from formation to global expansion.

A licensed attorney educated at Berkeley Law, London School of Economics, and MIT, Eugenia has built a career helping founders align capital, governance, and strategy across markets. Her unique approach blends legal clarity with entrepreneurial vision, empowering teams to grow securely and sustainably.

Recognized as an Emerging Leader by the London School of Economics (2022) and a MIT Digital Transformation alumnus, she is also an international speaker passionate about startup law, founder empowerment, and cross-border scaling.

How to Transition from VC to PE with Roxette Miranda

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 07:12:35 +0000

Roxette Irvine is a Partner at 305 Works, where she has pivoted from early-stage tech investing to focus on acquiring and rolling up established businesses. A Miami native an ecosystem builder, she brings experience from successful exits in med-tech and software sectors, combined with Fortune 500 expertise.

After years of working with high-risk tech startups, Roxette recognized the opportunity in traditional, cash-flowing businesses owned by retiring baby boomers. She is now executing a roll-up strategy, acquiring complementary businesses in fragmented industries to build scale and operational efficiency. Her goal is to raise a dedicated acquisition fund to accelerate this strategy and create a portfolio of profitable, essential-service businesses.

As former Managing Director of The LAB Miami and Co-Founder of Founder Institute Florida, Roxette has been instrumental in developing South Florida’s startup ecosystem. She co-founded Pitch Night and received the Founder Institute’s Global Startup Leadership Award for her contributions to entrepreneurship.

Known as Miami’s “dot connector,” Roxette now leverages her extensive network and fundraising expertise to identify acquisition targets, structure deals using SBA financing and seller notes, and raise capital from investors seeking lower-risk, cash-flowing returns. Her unique background positions her to bring tech-enabled operational improvements to traditional businesses while maintaining their proven business models.

Investing in Early Stage AI Startups across Europe with Cesare Pesci, YXS Capital.

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 07:27:13 +0000

Cesare Pesci is an Associate at YXS Capital with a strong background in venture capital, growth equity, and technology investments. He has supported the deployment of over $10.4 million in investments and contributed to raising more than $71 million for unique founders across the tech and AI landscape. Cesare has hands-on experience in investment banking, sustainable finance, trading, and consulting, and excels in multinational, high-performance environments. Currently completing his MSc in General Management and Analytics at Copenhagen Business School, where he is also minoring in Risk Management, Cesare previously earned a BSc in International Business from CBS, the most competitive undergraduate business program in the Nordics. He has lived, studied, and worked in Italy, France, the UK, Japan, and Denmark, making him highly adaptive and culturally perceptive. Native in French and Italian, Cesare is also fluent in English and Spanish. Recognized for his international perspective, technical finance skills, and relentless drive, Cesare is valued by peers as both a competitor and a bellwether for high standards.”

Investing in Top Startups in Mongolia with Azbayar Altangerel, GP at XZP.

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 08:39:53 +0000

Azbayar Altangerel is the General Partner of Exponential Zaisan Partners (XZP), an early-stage venture capital firm based in Mongolia that supports visionary founders with global ambitions and sustainable growth strategies.

He brings over 15 years of experience in finance, investment, and entrepreneurship, spanning commercial banking, venture capital, and international business development. Early in his career, he managed projects funded by the Asian Development Bank and KfW Bank, gaining deep expertise in risk assessment, lending, and small-business finance.

After earning his MBA in International Finance from Virginia International University, Azbayar spent a decade in the United States, collaborating with global institutions such as the World Bank and IFPRI. Returning to Mongolia in 2016, he has since played a pivotal role in shaping the country’s innovation ecosystem as Local Leader of the Founder Institute, Global Advisor to The Global Chamber, and Board Member of Ard Pension Account.

Azbayar is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs, fostering cross-border collaboration, and driving the next generation of Mongolian innovation.

Interview on Selecting the Best Founders with Johan Hanekom, GP at Askari Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 10:29:27 +0000

Johan is the Managing General Partner of Askari Ventures. He held Executive positions at Amazon, Liberty Global, Enel, and Hanbro. He has worked across a diverse range of industries, including defense, aerospace, renewables, automotive, healthcare, fintech, IT, agriculture, consumer electronics, and logistics.

He is an expert on strategy, innovation, and growth, emphasizing corporate entrepreneurship. A proven business leader in building successful startups and accelerating the growth of well-established businesses in highly competitive international markets.

His background blends consulting, management and business development across private and public companies.

Johan studied Political Economy at Kellogg College, Oxford University and is a columnist for Forbes, Entrepreneur and HuffPost. He is the author of Garage Thinking.

From Banking to Investing in Early Stage Startups in Europe & US with Kenneth Thomas, BackFuture Ventures.

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 10:01:27 +0000

Ken is a Principal at BackFuture Ventures, a fund spinning out of the SaaStock Conference.

Originally a native New Yorker, he’s been living in London for five years, having shifted his career from banking to fintech startups with that transition.

He’s worked in bootstrapped and VC-backed businesses and now invests in businesses at the (pre-)seed and seed stage.

Investing in VC Funds & Building a Growing Investment Ecosystem of Kazakhstan with Askar Bilisbekov – CEO of Qazaqstan Venture Group, Fund of Funds.

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 10:09:03 +0000

Askar Bilisbekov – Chief Executive Officer of Qazaqstan Venture Group Ltd., Member of the Board of Directors

20 years of experience in investments, corporate management, asset management and entrepreneurship.
Co-founder of the vc firm byb capital Ltd.

Previously served as Chairman of the Management Board and Member of the Board of Directors at SPK Almaty and Estate Management Company, totaling over $1.5B AUM.
Served as the CEO of BMW and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Kazakhstan.
Launched as the business owner distribution and PR/Marketing companies.

Serves as the member of Advisory Board at Sovereign Fund “Samruk-Kazyna” and Chairman of the VC and Creative Industries Council at National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Atameken.

Holds an MA from the University of Westminster, Westminster Business School. Stanford Graduate School of Business Alum, took certificate courses in “Venture Capital” and “Leadership and Change” at Columbia Business School, and the London School of Economics and Political Science respectively.

Released the book “Venture Mindset” by Ilya Strebulaev and Alex Dang in Kazakh language.

From Harvard Law to Sr. Counsel at Google to VC Investor with Kawana T. King

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 19:56:17 +0000

Kawana T. King is a Senior Technology Advisor and Counsel at Google LLC, where she supports Google’s advertising business. In her role, Kawana leads a global team and advises on a wide array of complex technology, privacy, advertising, media and consumer protection matters. She also negotiates deals with some of the world’s largest companies utilizing Google’s technology and advertising solutions. Kawana’s expertise in the areas of technology, privacy, advertising and media stem from her diverse professional experience and background. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Kawana started her career as a litigation associate at Proskauer Rose, LLP, an international law firm, where she represented clients in false advertising, media, technology and intellectual property matters. Kawana also worked with The New Press, a nonprofit publishing house, where she was chiefly responsible for reviewing, negotiating and drafting a wide range of licensing agreements and other contracts touching practically every aspect of the business. In 2011, Kawana joined the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips. While at Manatt, Kawana established herself in the fields of technology, media, and advertising; and she was often the lead advisor to several Fortune 500 companies on technology and privacy matters, key marketing and advertising campaigns, and on compliance with federal and international regulations. At Google, Kawana is a “go-to” advisor on a number of high-stakes matters and is recognized by her colleagues and clients as a true partner and thought leader. Google has featured Kawana in The Keyword, Google’s official blog spotlighting powerful, dynamic female Googlers. Kawana also received Google’s inaugural NYC Site Citizenship Award in 2019 for her active role in various social impact efforts, including Tech Exchange, Google’s applied computer science residency program for students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Kawana’s work in the tech field has also been recognized outside of Google. In March 2018, Kawana was invited to be a featured speaker at the African American Women in Tech Conference hosted by the Internet & New Tech Subcommittee of the New York State Assembly. Kawana also received a Proclamation in recognition of her work in the tech field and her community efforts. Kawana is a Brooklyn native, born and raised in the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant (“Bed-Stuy”). Prior to law school, she attended Howard University, graduating summa cum laude with degrees in political science and sociology. Kawana continues to reside in Bed-Stuy where she is active in various community affairs and initiatives, particularly in the areas of community development and criminal justice reform. Kawana serves on the Board of Directors for the Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy and chairs the Nominating and Board Governance committees. She is also a member of the Collective of Concerned Black Professionals, for which she is the chair of the organization’s Criminal Justice and Policing Committee.

Welcome to Ivy Podcast! On this Executive Leadership Podcast we interview top executives from Fortune 500 with a focus on strategy, innovation, negotiation and everything about leadership.
Our Podcast for Executives features Thought Leaders who share practical insights for effective leadership, continuous innovation and strategy execution.
Ivy Podcast is a rapidly growing Executive Podcast, which covers topics like Hiring and Retention Strategies, Talent Acquisition, Innovation, Digital Transformation and much more.
On this Leadership Podcast, you will find conversations with the most accomplished executives from Fortune 100 companies. We aim to cover a broad range of industries and create a learning platform for the most ambitious and high potential professionals who are looking to learn from the most accomplished Executives on this Business Leadership Podcast.

Accelerating Emerging Markets with Pedro Vieira, Partner at 500 Global

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 14:23:12 +0000

Pedro is an engineer turned manager, with deep experience in the tech world. He got his Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley, and hisresearch and publications have received awards both in Europe and in the US. After doing his time as management consultant, Pedro started building companies. First venture was backed by NEA and DFJ and they created tools to help companies sell, and consumers buy, safer and healthier products. These tools are used today by millions of users around the world, and by a diverse set of companies ranging from small companies to large Fortune 500, including the major US retailers.

After that Pedro started West to West and the Discoveries Syndicate to help other entrepreneurs succeed in Silicon Valley. He has experience on both sides of the table as operator and investor, and with all the different stages of a venture from idea to growth, through fundraising, product development, engineering management and biz dev. Pedro brings in strong domain expertise in the Green and Digital Health spaces, but more generically strong analytical skills, data, science and technology expertise. He uses all this experience to invest and advise both EU and US startups including TalkDesk (500S), HypeLabs (AngelPad), Prodsmart (500S), Utrust (500S), Agroop (Top Seedrs) and ClimateEarth (UB Berkeley).

Global 500 Accelerator: https://500.co/accelerators/500-georgia

Robert B. Lamm – Shareholder, Chair – Securities & Corporate Governance Practice at Gunster

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 21:21:56 +0000

Robert Lamm chairs the Securities and Corporate Governance practice at The Gunster Law Firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is an Independent Senior Advisor to the Deloitte Center for Board Effectiveness. He previously held senior legal positions at several large companies, including W. R. Grace & Co., CA Technologies, and Pfizer Inc., where he was Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary. He also has extensive experience with small- and mid-cap companies as well as private companies and non-profit organizations.

Welcome to Ivy Podcast! On this Executive Leadership Podcast we interview top executives from Fortune 500 with a focus on strategy, innovation, negotiation and everything about leadership.

Our Podcast for Executives features Thought Leaders who share practical insights for effective leadership, continuous innovation and strategy execution.

Ivy Podcast is a rapidly growing Executive Podcast, which covers topics like Hiring and Retention Strategies, Talent Acquisition, Innovation, Digital Transformation and much more.

On this Leadership Podcast, you will find conversations with the most accomplished executives from Fortune 100 companies. We aim to cover a broad range of industries and create a learning platform for the most ambitious and high potential professionals who are looking to learn from the most accomplished Executives on this Business Leadership Podcast.

AI Hype and Deep Tech with Nhi Lê, Principal at Alpha Intelligence Capital

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 11:43:26 +0000

Nhi Lê is a Principal at Alpha Intelligence Capital, an entrepreneurs-led, entrepreneurs-invested, global closed-end private venture capital fund. It invests in deep Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) technology-based companies.

Denis Kalinin, Asia Business Development Manager at Runa Capital APAC Startup Ecosystem

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 00:35:20 +0000

Runa Capital is a $0.5B global venture fund that has invested in 100+ early-stage startups in Fintech, Deeptech, B2B SaaS, Digital Health and Edutech. Seed / Series A. Average check: $1-10M. Notable investments: Mambu ($5.5B valuation), Nginx (acquired by F5 for $700M), Zopa ($1B challenger bank), Pasqal (cold atom quantum computing).

Denis’ mission is to drive the cross-border investment and collaboration between EU/US and Asian tech companies. He’s helping 10+ of the portfolio startups expand into APAC markets and raise funds from Asian investors. He’s also looking for promising early-stage Asian startups (Enterprise Software / Fintech / Deeptech) which have an ambition to become global companies.

A Career in VC and Space Tech with Denis Kalyshkin, Principal at I2BF Global Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 20:04:24 +0000

Denis is a Principal at I2BF Global Ventures, a New York seed stage VC. He focuses on startups transforming boring industries like Manufacturing, Construction, Logistics, Utility, and others with frontier tech such as SaaS, ML & computer vision, AR/VR. IoT & wearables, RPA & Automation, etc. Over his career at I2BF he invested in 10+ portfolio companies and he has 1 exit so far.

Show notes:

Space blog: https://spaceambition.substack.com
SpaceTech services: spaceambition.org
Ask VC Website: https://www.askvc.org
Ask VC YouTube: https://youtube.com/@askvc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zadenis
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denis-kalyshkin-b634592a

How to Build & Successfully Exit 3 Startups with Rachel Lyubovitzky, CEO of Setuply

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 13 May 2025 21:18:36 +0000

Rachel Lyubovitzky is the CEO and Chairwoman of Setuply. Rachel leads a team of talented professionals who are passionate about transforming brand new clients into the brand ambassadors with seamless onboarding for B2B solution providers and their clients. With 15+ years of experience in the enterprise tech space, she has a proven track record of building and scaling successful enterprise B2B companies, products, and teams in the benefits, insurance, and human capital management, and other domains.

Rachel’s mission is to eliminate the barriers and challenges that prevent B2B solution providers from realizing the full potential of their deals and relationships. Leveraging my expertise in customer relationship management, social technologies, and strategy Setuply delivers innovative, intuitive, and effective AI-powered onboarding solutions. Rachel is also honored to be a member of the Forbes Technology Council, a vetted professional networking community for leading tech executives, where she shares herinsights and learns from her peers.

Conversation on Authentic Leadership, Role of Sports and Fostering a Culture of Innovation with Deb Cupp, President of Microsoft US

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 23:01:30 +0000

Deb Cupp is President of Microsoft US, a $47 billion subsidiary responsible for delivering the full product and services portfolio of Microsoft to all customers based in the United States. The US subsidiary is Microsoft’s largest regional operating unit, managing over 11,000 customers and 900 partners. Deb is responsible for the sales strategy, execution, and revenue growth for the Microsoft US business which spans enterprise, public sector, small and medium businesses, services, and partner communities. She leads a 10,000-person team pursuing Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Prior to her current role, Deb was Corporate Vice President of WW Enterprise and Commercial Industries. She was responsible for the development and execution of Microsoft’s strategy and go-to-market approach with enterprise customers across seven commercial industries: Automotive, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Media & Communications, and Retail & Consumer Goods. Deb led a team accountable for driving the industry point of view through both product development and customer delivery in both strategic and scale motions.

During her tenure, Microsoft launched the first Industry Cloud for Healthcare in October 2020. This was followed by the announcement of additional Industry clouds in February 2021 when Microsoft shared their continued commitment to expand industry investments.

Deb also serves on the Board of Directors for Avanade, the leading provider of innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions, and design-led experiences on the Microsoft ecosystem.

Disrupting Real Estate Industry through Technology with Bharat Das, CEO of Pippin Title

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 16:17:58 +0000

Bharat is Co-Founder & CEO of Pippin Title. Pippin Title offers comprehensive title search across all 50 states. We take pride in being responsive and helpful no matter what your needs may be. Our cloud based software allows title insurance brokerages, lenders, and attorneys to manage their workflows efficiently and effectively, saving them time, money, and hassle.

Launching the Largest AI Conference in Central Asia with Alina Abdrakhmanova, Managing Director of Astana Hub

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 20:25:59 +0000

Alina Abdrakhmanova – managing director of international corporate fund for IT startups “Astana Hub”.

Member of National commission for women, family and demographic policies under the supervision of the President of the republic of Kazakhstan , member of steering committee for Q88 Kazakhstan Urbanists Association, member of Qazaq Independent Directors Association.

Former: director of KAZGUU Business School, executive director for Q88 Kazakhstan Urbanists Association, independent director at “Science Fund” JSC, CEO and co-founder of IN-VR Ltd (VR startup), CEO and founder of Geneva Business School Kazakhstan campus.

Master in finance, doctorate of business administration in urban development.

Astana Hub website: https://astanahub.com/

How to Navigate Hybrid Work Environments with Cary Sparrow, CEO of WageScape

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 15:16:29 +0000

Cary is a CEO at WageScape (formerly Greenwich.HR), they believe that their client’s time is best spent creating solutions, not collecting data. They have made it their mission to offer the most comprehensive and up-to-date labor market data, opening doors to efficient, world-changing innovation.
Welcome to Ivy Podcast! On this Executive Leadership Podcast we interview top executives from Fortune 500 with a focus on strategy, innovation, negotiation and everything about leadership.
Our Podcast for Executives features Thought Leaders who share practical insights for effective leadership, continuous innovation and strategy execution.
Ivy Podcast is a rapidly growing Executive Podcast, which covers topics like Hiring and Retention Strategies, Talent Acquisition, Innovation, Digital Transformation and much more.
On this Leadership Podcast, you will find conversations with the most accomplished executives from Fortune 100 companies. We aim to cover a broad range of industries and create a learning platform for the most ambitious and high potential professionals who are looking to learn from the most accomplished Executives on this Business Leadership Podcast.

How to Lead and Innovate in the World of Automation with Dmitry Karpov, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of ElectroNeek Robotics

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 19:18:09 +0000

Dmitry is a Founder and CEO at ElectroNeek Robotics. He is a former physicist (quantum electronics) passionate about science and innovation.

Southeast Asia VC Landscape with Arun Pai, Principal at Monk’s Hill Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Sat, 09 Sep 2023 14:57:28 +0000

Arun is a passionate value investor in the public and private market space. Strong operator (6 years in the startup ecosystem) and finance professional background (10 years in Investment Banking) with a B.S. magna cum laude degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

State of Emerging Markets with Robin Butler, Partner at Sturgeon Capital

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 21:09:59 +0000

Robin Butler is a Partner at Sturgeon Capital, a London-based VC investing in frontier and emerging market startups that are solving the key problems affecting the day to day lives of businesses and consumers.

How to Invest in AI Startups with Peter Findley, Partner at Anchorless Bangladesh

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 16:51:46 +0000

Peter is an investor, VC and a partner at Anchorless Bangladesh.

Conversation on the Future of Learning & Work with Head of Global Edtech at AWS Marketplace & General Partner at Pathway Ventures – Siya Raj Purohit

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:16:56 +0000

Siya Raj Purohit is the Global Edtech & Workforce Development Lead at AWS and a General Partner at Pathway Ventures. She’s an operator-investor in the Edtech and Future of Work sectors who helps grow & invest in companies that drive economic mobility through innovative models of earning, learning, and community building.

Siya was previously an early employee at Udacity & Springboard and an investor at GSV Ventures. She published a book on America’s jobs-skills gap during college and is an alum of the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University.

How to Build a Successful Global Fintech Company with the CEO of Credilinq.AI – Deep Singh

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 26 May 2023 20:10:40 +0000

Deep Singh is the CEO of Credilinq.AI. He is pioneering alternative financing for businesses in Asia and around the world to democratize their business lending experience.

Building a Successful Investment Company through Long Term View with Olzhas Zhiyenkul, CEO of Investbanq & Paladigm Capital

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 19 May 2023 15:54:10 +0000

Olzhas Zhiyenkul is a CEO at Paladigm Capital and Investbanq. He’s a fund manager, entrepreneur and an early-stage impact investor with over 10 years of experience in asset management, venture capital, financial inclusion, insurance, brokerage, investment strategy, financial modelling, anti-money laundering and due diligence.

Hiring, Retention & Leadership Strategies with Vyom Upadhya, President of SIM South Florida

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 08 May 2023 13:20:04 +0000

Vyom Upadhya is the Executive Director for Digital at MDVIP in Boca Raton, FL. A Goldman Sachs and Charles Bank backed company, MDVIP operates a network of 1,200 physicians serving over 380,000 patients across the United States with personalized, preventative primary care medicine. As a senior technology executive, Vyom leads multiple teams with multi million dollar budgets focused on delivering a technology enabled healthcare experience. During his tenure, he has led company wide strategic initiatives, managed enterprise partnerships, and has been recognized both as an employee of the year and a culture champion.

During Vyom’s 20 year career, he has held leadership roles in engineering, product development, strategy, implementation, sales and management consulting. Outside of MDVIP, Vyom focuses on providing fractional CIO and CTO advisory services to mid market firms looking to drive growth and value from technology. From Georgia Tech to Florida International University, Vyom holds a Bachelors in Computer Engineering, a Masters in MIS, and an MBA focused on Finance and Entrepreneurship.

Most recently, Vyom has taken on the role of President at the Society of Information Management’s South Florida chapter. Our chapter is executing against a vision of helping build better CIOs and CTOs, ultimately leading to a technology “leadership” hub in South Florida.

Yerjan Ryskali on How He Started Clockster and the Challenges They Faced

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 01 May 2023 16:12:21 +0000

Yerjan is CEO and Founder of Clockster. Clockster is a company that specializes in providing advanced staff management tools for the F&B, Retail, and Hospitality sectors. Their comprehensive suite of solutions is specifically designed for blue-collar workers and includes features such as shift scheduling, attendance tracking, payroll management, communication channels, and recurring task assignment.

How to Get Harvard to Write a Case Study About You with Iz-Lynn Chan, CEO at BHG Retail REIT

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 11:48:12 +0000

Iz-Lynn is the Chief Executive Officer of the Manager. She is responsible for steering BHG Retail REIT’s strategic direction alongside the Board, and delivering the overall business plans with the support of the management team.

The Asia Corporate Excellency & Sustainability (ACES) named Iz-Lynn as one of Asia’s Most Inspiring Executives in 2022 for her stellar management, operations-savviness and investor relations.

Prior to driving the REIT’s listing, lz-Lynn headed Beijing Hualian Department Store Co., Ltd’s (the “Sponsor”) Mall Management Operations and was based in Beijing. In this capacity, Iz-Lynn oversaw active mall management of this Shenzhen-listed group’s nation-wide portfolio of properties. She was also part of the senior management team responsible for directing the Sponsor’s future strategic development.

From 2005 to 2013, lz-Lynn held various positions in Far East Organization. She was the Assistant Director of the Retail Business Group where her primary responsibility included maximizing the business performance of the flagship asset Orchard Central, while her concurrent role as Vice-President (Retail Consultancy) involved the exploration of international new-to-market brands to the retail portfolio. In the Hospitality Business Group, comprising hotels and serviced residences, she was responsible for the delivery of the business unit’s operational and service excellence. During her tenure, lz-Lynn also concurrently held the position of the Head of Service Quality at the group’s corporate level.

Iz-Lynn began her career with Singapore Airlines where she had varied roles which enhanced her exposure to different aspects of airline operations. She became Singapore Airline’s first female Station Manager and was entrusted to manage overseas stations’ airport operations in Frankfurt, Copenhagen, New York and Hong Kong.

lz-Lynn holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom and she completed the General Management Programme at Harvard Business School. Iz-Lynn was also the case protagonist in Harvard Business School Case Study “Iz-Lynn at Far East Organization”.

How To Stay Ahead in the Fast-Paced World of Venture Capital with Jason Pard – Partner at Aksara Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 10:32:47 +0000

Jason is a Partner and founding member at new early stage venture capital firm Aksara Ventures. Before Aksara Ventures he held growth and product roles at various startups and was at VC firm Monk’s Hill Ventures before starting Aksara Ventures. He graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a degree in Mechanical Engineering Aksara Ventures is on a mission to discover startups with the potential to change the way we function in the future. They look to back the bold ideas and resolute operators at the edge of breaking out.

The Role of Accounting in Evaluating Strategic Growth with Rajeeva Serasinghe – Director of Accounting and Finance at Blink Charging

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:49:17 +0000

Rajeeva is the Senior Director of Accounting and Finance at Blink Charging. Blink Charging is a leader in developing electric vehicle charging infrastructure. At Blink Charging, his responsibilities include corporate financial reporting, internal controls, banking, mergers & acquisitions, global financial integration of newly acquired entities, and developing people and processes for the finance team.

Rajeeva started his career as a public accountant at Deloitte & Touche, where he performed external financial audits for large national international corporations for 15 years. Rajeeva is a Certified Public Accountant. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from University of Charleston and a Master of Business Administration from University of Maryland.

Topics:

Reasons for growth in the adoption of EVs
Transitioning from a global accounting firm to a young company in an emerging industry
Challenges facing the accounting profession in today’s changing society

How to Build a Successful PMO & Retain Top Talent with Todd Coe, Head of PMO at Envision Healthcare

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:27:20 +0000

Todd has been in HIT for over 17 years serving in a myriad of roles, from Management Consulting Dir, Dir of IT, VP of Provider Services, all while working for three large consulting firms. Post leaving the consulting world 6 years ago to spend more time with his family, Todd accepted a FT position with Envision Physician Services, to provide Program Management services within the Radiology service line. During his career he has had the privilege to work with some of the finest people and teams, all while working with upper echelon healthcare systems such as MD Anderson, Texas Heart, Yale New Haven, City of Hope/Cancer Treatment Centers of America, NY Presbyterian as well as, over 30 more during my consulting career. In hiscurrent role of Dir of Portfolio Management of 3 services lines at Envision, Todd has been honored to serve a large team of PM’s, BA’s and many technical stakeholders, and truly enjoys his work family.

Putting the Caribbean Tech Scene on the Global Map with TechBeach Co-Founder – Kirk-Anthony Hamilton

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 15:45:00 +0000

Kirk-Anthony Hamilton is an architectural designer turned entrepreneur, investor, community curator and founder of the Infiniti Partnership Inc., Tech Beach Retreat and The Destination Experience. He is also a Principal and Founding Partner of Novamed Health, a healthcare operator with assets across the Caribbean. Kirk is on a mission to build a new global business ecosystem for the Caribbean with platforms designed to attract investment, innovation, influence and big media to the region with an aim to catalyze new enterprise and wealth creation opportunities. Participants in his knowledge and opportunity exchange platforms collectively control in excess of US$140 billion in equity and investment capital and to date they have seeded over US$300 million in investments across various sectors. In May of 2015 he was celebrated as one of 75 Emerging Global Entrepreneurs by President Obama at the White House and in January of 2016 serving as curator of the Global Shapers Kingston Hub he was selected as one of 50 Global Shapers to participate in the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum. His work and profile have been featured in publications including Forbes, the Wallstreet Journal, Essence and the New York Times. Kirk-Anthony possesses a Professional Master of Architecture Degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

The Importance of Cybersecurity at Federal Agencies with John Owens – SVP of Enterprise Solutions Group at CGI Federal

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 07:43:15 +0000

John B. Owens II leads the Enterprise Solutions Group (ESG) at CGI Federal, a wholly-owned U.S. operating subsidiary of CGI, Inc., where he oversees product development of all CGI Federal intellectual property (IP) offerings and the continued development of innovative solution which serve CGI’s clients across civilian, defense, and intelligence sectors of the U.S. federal government.

Topics:

How agencies remain vigilant to protect against cyber attacks
Challenges of implementing cybersecurity at Federal agencies
How Zero Trust Architecture changes the federal cyber landscape

How to Implement Nearshore as Part of the Company Strategy with James Bara, VP of Development at Curity

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 20:17:42 +0000

James Bara is currently the head of development at Curity focusing on using software to fundamentally change the healthcare industry. Having started as a developer, he has worked his way up the leadership ladder and now focuses on creating and growing hyper performing development teams in both the North American and LATAM regions. Having been at some of the biggest companies in the industry (Google, Amazon, Carrier, etc), James is no stranger to complex projects impacting on a global or industry wide scale. James brings a culture and value driven west-cost methodology and blends it east-coast style delivery utilizing global resourcing to drive value and continously push for more difficult challenges.

Strategic Leadership through Digital Transformation with Jose De Jesus – CTO of Automation for Expert Labs at IBM

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 21:18:46 +0000

Jose is the CTO of Automation for IBM Expert labs, and a Certified Executive Architect with over 30 years of experience in IT roles ranging from CTO IBM Automation Expert Labs, Americas Delivery Lead for Garage Expert Labs, Chief Architect for IBM Software Adoption, Cloud Expert & Certification Lead, Senior Software Engineer, Business Integration Specialist, and Robotics Specialist.

He is a Thought Leader responsible for defining the technical landscape that leaders across IBM Expert Labs use to guide clients in automation, from business automation, to integration, AIOps, and network automation. Jose is responsible for designing IBM Expert Labs’ overall automation mission and strategic goals, as well as overseeing the development and dissemination of technologies and reusable assets that can help clients reach straight-through processing. He has a specialization in cloud architecture, design, adoption, and deployment, as well as digital transformation and automation.

Topics:

Ensuring effective communication among large teams
Eliminating technical debt after completing M&As
Leveraging AI principles without applying biasness to data

Agile and DevOps Applications with Stanley Mak – Head of Corporate Technology Support, DevOps and QA at Millennium Management

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 19:22:00 +0000

Stanley Mak has almost 18 years of experience in the financial services/capital markets industry building high performing technical operations teams. He has successfully navigated these teams through various financial crises and the most recent global pandemic. His passion lies within his ability to get the most out of teams, ability to connect with people, and vision to build things from scratch.

Topics:

Best practices when implementing Agile & DevOps
How leaders can get their teams to buy into changes
Challenges and solutions to cloud migration

The Value Behind Productizing and Partnering the Workforce Ecosystem with Vanessa Miller, Vice President of Technology at Atrium

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 11:47:44 +0000

Vanessa Miller, VP of Talent Technology, is a dynamic and innovative leader. Joining Atrium in 2014, Vanessa blazed a path of innovation based on extensive experience in RPO & MSP Programs and related technology platforms. Vanessa and her team are responsible for Client technology strategies, system analysis/consultation, sales support, and product recommendations. Atrium operates as a tech-agnostic partner to clients to optimize their existing HR Tech or introduce market trends and new product options, where appropriate. Her passion is selecting and implementing the best fitting platforms via strong channel tech partnerships to transform client external workforce strategies and processes.

How to Build a Successful Venture Partner Program with Maria Pope, Head of Venture Partner Program at Republic

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 10:46:06 +0000

Maria Pope is based in Washington, DC and runs the Venture Partner Program at Republic, a global equity crowdfunding platform. Previously, she was at Black Girl Ventures. She also serves on the steering committee of the AllRaise DC chapter, is an associate at Potomac Angel Capital, and sits on the Advisory Board for Village Capital’s Capital Diagnostic, a tool to help founders assess what types of alternative funding are a fit for their business needs.

Tapping Into Non-traditional Freelancer Talent Models with Maari Casey, CEO – Founder of Uncompany

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 12:00:00 +0000

Maari is an ad-agency art director turned freelancer turned entrepreneur. After leaving the full-time agency space she set-out into freelance only to discover a void between the quickly growing talent pool of freelance consultants and clients looking to connect with this resource. In 2015, Maari launched Uncompany to bridge this gap. Uncompany is a modern digital talent agency that connects clients with flexible, on demand access to talented freelancers and hybrid teams.

Inclusion for the Contingent Worker with DE&I Expert LaShaun Solomon

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 05:00:18 +0000

LaShaun is an industry expert committed to promoting DEI in the staffing industry. For the past 14 years, she has developed and implemented DEI strategies for Fortune 50 companies.

As the Head of DE&I Partnership Development & Strategy for Pyramid Consulting, LaShaun oversees Pyramid’s intentionally inclusive efforts around recruitment and engagement. As an extension to her role, she serves as the Chair of the Technology Association of Georgia DEI Society.

Conversation on Building and Growing a Successful Global Staffing Organization with Keith Bozeman

The Ivy Podcast — Sat, 22 Oct 2022 13:13:09 +0000

Keith Bozeman spent 25 years in the IT Staffing and Services industry. He was President of TEKsystems, the largest IT Staffing and Services Company in the US, for 12 years. After retiring from TEKsystems in 2015, he has been a Principal with Blu Venture Investors. Blu Ventures is an early stage Venture Capital company focusing on Cyber Security and other leading technology companies. He is also involved with PAX Momentum, an IT Accelerator, providing hands on training and mentorship to start up founders.

Leadership Techniques that Promote Team Success with Benjamin de Point – VP of Engineering at Veritone

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 07:26:04 +0000

Benjamin De Point has been in the software industry since 1998, working mostly in SaaS, and in engineering leadership since 2005. During his career, Benjamin has built top performing teams in both a start-up and growth mode contexts. He specializes in process improvement, change management, cross-functional leadership, employee engagement, performance management, and architectural oversight.

Topics:

Ethical perspectives of AI advancements
Preparing for leadership roles in new environments
Qualities that distinguish good leaders in organizations

World Entrenched Through Future of Work Ideologies with Sunny Ackerman, President of SThree

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 09:06:05 +0000

Sunny joined SThree in February 2021 as the newly appointed President where she oversees the growth strategy for the world’s largest staffing and consulting market within the life sciences, energy, and technology sectors. As a veteran in the human capital industry, Sunny brings a wealth of experience in executive leadership roles within the HR and technology space. Sunny has a proven track record of driving change and delivering results, including architecting multiple turnarounds, and leading a $1.5 billion operating unit to sustained record-setting profits.

Before her appointment as President for SThree, Sunny was the President of the Americas for Frank Recruitment Group where she was responsible for the company’s largest region, leading professional IT experts in developing specialty markets, new brands and client expansion in North America. Sunny also spent over 14 years in a variety of executive positions with ManpowerGroup. As Senior Vice President and General Manager for ManpowerGroup, Sunny led the most significant business in North America, with over 412 offices employing approximately 50,000 people every week. In this position, Sunny oversaw a diverse team of sales and talent experts who connected clients with workforce solutions and people with meaningful work. Throughout her career, Sunny has worked with elite Fortune 500 clients and industry leaders as a strategic advisor and business partner, providing knowledge and experience, while keeping ahead of fast-moving market trends in a complex and ever-changing labor market. Sunny has over two decades of industry experience and is recognized for conceptualizing and aligning talent and workforce strategies to business strategies.

Staffing Industry Analyst named Sunny to the “Global Power 100” – the most influential women in staffing the past three years. Sunny is passionate about and often called upon to discuss industry topics such as women in STEM, careers, and workplace trends, and she Chaired ManpowerGroup’s global women’s employee resource group. Sunny resides in Dallas, Texas.

Evolution of the Healthcare CIO Role with Craig Richardville – Chief Digital and Information Officer at Intermountain Healthcare

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 11:02:39 +0000

Craig Richardville is chief digital and information officer and senior vice president of Intermountain Healthcare.

As a member of the enterprise leadership team, Richardville’s responsibilities include the health system’s information technology, data and digital services involving all aspects of technology including, but not limited to, strategy, operations, applications, cybersecurity, and emerging technology.

Richardville previously served as senior vice president, chief information and digital officer, at SCL Health, where his responsibilities included leading, innovating, and transforming all aspects of the health system’s information technology and digital services.

Prior to his time at SCL, he served as senior vice president and chief information and analytics officer at Atrium Health for more than 20 years, where he transformed the growing company into a national leader in the effective use of technology, utilizing data as a driver and digital services as a differentiator.

Richardville received the 2021 National CIO of the Year Healthcare ORBIE Award, the 2020 Colorado CIO of the Year award, and in 2017, the Carolinas CIO of the Year for continued leadership and impact using technology and digital services.

He also earned the prestigious 2015 John E. Gall, Jr. National CIO of the Year Award from CHIME and HIMSS. He is an active member of CHIME, a fellow with ACHE, a fellow with HIMSS and serves in various capacities on a number advisory and community boards. Richardville holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in computer systems from the University of Toledo.

Topics:

How the role of the healthcare CIO has transformed in recent years
The adoption of AI in the healthcare space
Tips on attracting top talent in an extremely competitive job market

Developing a Competitive Advantage in the Job Market with Khursheed Irani – Head of Global Talent Services at Cprime

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 10:30:14 +0000

Khursheed has over 17 years of experience in the IT recruiting world. She was an early employee of two IT consulting startups in Silicon Valley, both of which were ranked in multiple fastest growing company lists for numerous years, and both of which were successfully acquired. Khursheed has vast recruiting experience spanning IT project/program management, product management, software engineering and executive level placements. She is an active networker and a well-known name in the Silicon Valley Project Management community.

Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Khursheed moved to the US 20 years ago, married to a hardware engineer who is now Director of Product at Intel, and raising two teens, and a cute little Labradoodle.

Topics:

Impacts of the great resignation on employers and job seekers
How startups can compete with established companies for top talent
Attributes that help develop top-performing teams

A Sit Down with Two Recruitment Agency Co-Founders – Brooke Brown and Lauren Nisonger of BackPack Talent

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 12:00:00 +0000

Brooke has been in recruiting and account management her entire professional career – over 11 years! She has a passion for matchmaking great companies with talented individuals. In addition to running sales and recruiting efforts at Backpack Talent, Brooke is active in the local community. She donates her time to several community organizations. When she isn’t working, she is in her van and exploring new mtb trails with her family. #VanLife

Lauren is an accomplished sourcer, recruiter and people operations professional who has placed hundreds of candidates into full-time roles. As an account manager and recruiter, she draws on her experience working in diverse settings: biotech, agency, and high-growth SaaS startups, to name a few. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, where she works, plays, and enjoys long hikes in the woods with her husband and two sons!

Conversation on Innovation & Trends in Mortgage Industry with Willie Newman, CEO of Homepoint Financial

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 11:08:49 +0000

Willie Newman is the Founder, President and CEO of Homepoint, the nation’s third-largest wholesale mortgage lender. An acknowledged expert and innovator in the mortgage industry with over 30 years of experience in the field, including three start-ups, Newman is widely recognized within the industry as the “Godfather of Wholesale”.

In 2014, Newman joined forces with Stone Point Capital to form Home Point Capital. Under his leadership, Homepoint has rapidly scaled to become the third-largest wholesale lender in the country, as well as a Top-10 non-bank loan originator.

Previously, Newman was one of the primary architects behind InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending’s development, growing the company from a small local mortgage originator to a leader in third party lending. In 1997, InterFirst’s parent company, Standard Federal Bank, was acquired by ABN AMRO. Newman helped create what would become ABN AMRO Mortgage Group (AAMG) a diverse, multi-channel Top-5 mortgage lender and Top-10 mortgage servicer. After AAMG was sold in 2007, Newman partnered with

Cole Taylor Bank in 2009 to start up Cole Taylor Mortgage (CTM), helping them become a Top-40 lender and servicer.

Recently, Newman has taken a lead role in advocating on behalf of the mortgage broker community, including removal of the agency TPO surcharge as well as utilizing HMDA data to promote the “Broker Advantage”.

Newman holds a BBA in Finance from the University of Michigan and an MBA, Finance and Business Economics from Wayne State University.

Post-pandemic Digital Transformation Strategies with Darryl Maraj – CTO of GA Telesis

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 07:45:59 +0000

Darryl Maraj is the Chief Technology Officer at GA Telesis, one of the world’s largest commercial aviation firms, with over $1.0 billion in assets under management through its sales, leasing, distribution and maintenance facilities across the globe.

As Chief Technology Officer, Darryl Maraj is charged with identifying, prototyping, and transforming data-driven opportunities in the commercial aviation and fintech sectors under the newly formed digital division at GA Telesis. Darryl has been part of the GA Telesis leadership team for the past nine years, leading a global team of IT professionals responsible for managing and delivering IT resources and solutions to improve global operational efficiencies, increase customer engagement and lead new product development.

Darryl is a founding member and currently serves as the Chair for SouthFloridaCIO, a peer-based approach to helping CIOs maximize their leadership effectiveness, create value, reduce risk, and share success. The core focus of SouthFloridaCIO is to attract, retain and elevate the talent pool of South Florida while making a positive difference in the community we serve.

Topics:

Cloud migration tactics that help propel businesses forward
The role of today’s CTO
Understanding how to apply digital transformation to operational processes within companies

Modernizing Recruitment and Turbocharging Candidate Experience with Pankaj Jindal, Co-Founder of Sense

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Pankaj Jindal is a staffing industry veteran and the co-founder of Sense, the first talent engagement platform designed specifically for the staffing industry. With over 20 years of running staffing and recruiting technology companies, Pankaj is an expert on candidate experience, recruiter productivity, redeployment, and understanding the day-to-day problems faced by recruiters. Pankaj used this practitioner’s knowledge to create Sense, which can help transform the consultant-care paradigm for staffing companies.
Prior to founding Sense, Pankaj was the CEO of Akraya, President of Aditi Technologies and Aditi Staffing, and completed the Advanced Management Education Program from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He routinely speaks at Industry Conferences on candidate engagement, employer branding and increasing retention.

The Redefinition of Qualifiable Applicant through a Skills Based Hiring Approach with Katie Breault, SVP, Growth and Impact at YUPRO

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 13:11:30 +0000

Katie Breault is the Senior Vice President of Growth & Impact at Year Up Professional Resources, PBC (YUPRO), the nation’s leading Opportunity Talent Placement Firm and wholly owned subsidiary of Year Up, Inc. YUPRO champions traditionally underrepresented talent placement where fair market wages, economic mobility and career progression are priority as partners commit to removing barriers for entry-level and middle-skill talent hiring.

Katie’s background in public policy and community activism led her to Year Up in 2013 through an opportunity to mentor a young adult who exemplified the qualities she was seeking in hiring entry-level talent: grit, professionalism, and an enthusiasm to learn and grow. Through this relationship, Katie experienced firsthand how talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not for young adults like her mentee who just need a fair chance to launch their careers and enter the economic mainstream. With her mentee at the forefront of her mind, Katie is dedicated to connecting forward-thinking companies with this skilled and determined, yet often overlooked, talent through YUPRO.

Under Katie’s leadership, YUPRO has been recognized with the American Staffing Association (ASA) Elevate Award for Best Work-Based Learning Program and the ClearlyRated Best in Staffing Client Satisfaction Award for two consecutive years. Katie was named on the Staffing Industry Analyst (SIA) 40 under 40 list in 2021 and to close out the year, YUPRO earned #38 of 52 on the SIA Fastest-Growing US Staffing Firms, as the company doubled in Opportunity Talent placements, revenue, and earnings.

With Katie’s passion to support companies seeking to build diverse and inclusive workplaces, she also serves as the Program Chair for the ASA’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Council bringing awareness and mentorship to the industry on socially impactful topics.

The Future of Work is NOW with Jeff Nugent

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 10:50:06 +0000

Jeff Nugent, founder, and CEO of Contingent Workforce Solutions, has an uncanny ability to anticipate the future and be in the right place at the right time.

At university he wasn’t content to just study and hang out in the pub. Noting the lack of quality student housing, he bought a house with a friend and rented it to fellow students. That one house turned into 10. When he graduated, he had tasted entrepreneurial success and wanted more.

The technology sector was exploding and Jeff felt IT was the place to be. “I applied to an IT consulting company, thinking it was an traditional consulting firm. It turned out to be an IT recruiting firm and that’s how I landed in the recruiting business.”

It opened his eyes to a fascinating career opportunity.

In his first recruiting role Jeff quickly became one of the company’s top account managers, uncovering a talent for building client relationships and developing a reputation for being honest and reliable.

Maintaining Your Accounts Receivables in an Economically Uncertain Time with Wilson Cole, President and Founder of Adams, Evans & Ross

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 10:49:32 +0000

Wilson Cole is the president and founder of Adams Evans and Ross. The nation’s largest collection agency specifically for the staffing and recruiting industry. Wilson’s company has processed over a billion dollars of staffing and recruiting debt for over 3,500 staffing and recruiting firms over the last 30 years.

Conversation on Project Management & Leadership with Georgia Aguila, AECOM

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 12:33:29 +0000

Georgia is an Associate Vice President and Sr Project Controls Manager with AECOM. She has over 22 years of program management experience. She specializes in establishing program management offices for large government agencies and has managed interdisciplinary teams for program management and program controls assignments calling for up to $1.5 billion yearly in construction/project execution. Georgia has in-depth knowledge of project and program controls best practices and has extensive experience providing training to client project managers. Lastly, she has overseen the successful implementation and maintenance of several program

Conversation on Cybersecurity Staffing & Innovation Trends with Angela Polania, CEO of Elevate

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 12:32:17 +0000

Angela is the CEO of Elevate, a Cyber Security Consulting and Staffing Firm headquartered in Miami Florida. Angela is in charge of the strategy and culture of the firm where inclusivity and teamwork is at the core of Elevate’s values. Angela truly enjoys client service and has worked and served over 200 different clients and various industries throughout her career.

Angela began her career working for large international consulting firms: Arthur Andersen and Deloitte in their Risk Advisory Practices. Angela managed large scale assurance and IT consulting engagements which required working with international offices and client locations in Latin America and Europe.

Angela has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a bachelor’s degree in Management Information systems from Florida International University and several certifications in the IT and accounting field.

On her spare time, Angela enjoys spending time with her family, working out, listening to audiobooks on leadership, spirituality, and human development.

Optimizing Contingent Talent Pool Curation with Amy Geiger Director, Human Resources – Marriott International

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 10:15:21 +0000

Amy Geiger is the Director of FLEX Talent Solutions at Marriott International, a leading global lodging company with more than 8,000 properties in 139 countries and territories. FLEX Talent Solutions is the company’s longstanding internally managed contingent workforce PMO. FLEX has evolved from Marriott HQ Temporary Services in the 1970s to a branded and well-recognized program that plays a strategic role in the company’s approach to total talent management in the US.

A lifelong lover of luxury hotels and the hospitality industry, Amy began her career working in guest services and front office for The Ritz-Carlton, one of Marriott’s 30 brands. Her first brush with compliance came from managing the conference center for international law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP in downtown Washington DC. Prior to rejoining the Marriott family in 2021, Amy spent 5+ years at MBO Partners helping enterprise organizations across all industries navigate the complexities of independent contractor compliance, payrolling, VMS technology, and direct sourcing.

Gender Transition in the Workplace with Author and Coach, Cindi Grace Miller

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 12:26:08 +0000

Cindi Grace is an author, speaker, international transgender consultant, LGBTQIA+ Trainer, Coach and Therapist. She is a woman who has lived a life of challenge and success. She has been through multiple major life transitions, including transgender transition and career transition. Cindi Grace’s work Specializes in increasing ROI, and employee engagement with inclusion strategies and organizational authenticity.

Benefits to Implementing Digital Payments Technology with Elizabeth Agosto – Chief Operating Officer at BNY Mellon

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 12:32:54 +0000

Liz Agosto is an Executive Director, Global Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Information Security Division (ISD) and reports directly to BNY Mellon’s Chief Information Security Officer. In her role, she leads business operations and Program Management for ISD with a focus on financial accountability, expense management, employee engagement, DE&I, talent management strategies and transparency into the organization. Since joining in 2015, Liz has focused on optimizing operational processes, driving key change and transformation initiatives, and designing a framework to implement strategy into operation. Liz currently serves on the Advisory Council of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Center on Cybersecurity.
Liz is a champion for DE&I inside and outside of the company. She is Co-Chair, Year Up Financial Services Technology Advisory Council, a Steering member of the company’s DiverseTech Committee, and she is part of the GOTVET Steering Committee, Latin Advisory Council, a member of Hispanic Latino Leadership Forum (HLLF), WIN, WIT, The National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC) and a member of the Association for Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA). In 2020, Liz was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Latinas in the nation by Latino Leadership Magazine.

Topics:

Innovative workplace solutions for connecting global teams in hybrid environments
Influencing corporate leaders to keep investing in women in cybersecurity
Strategies for improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) within organizations

Links:

ITSMF – Networking Org for AA / people of color

HITEC – Networking org for Latinx / people of color

YearUp – Opportunities to close the opportunity divide in diverse communities

NYU Tandon School of Engineering – Center for Cybersecurity

Applications of AI into Web3 Fashion with Mitali Saxena – Founder at Fashom

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 22:46:01 +0000

Mitali Saxena holds a Bachelors in Computer Engineering and Masters in Electrical Engineering . After her 8- year career in wireless communications, she founded her fashion tech startup – Fashom – in Miami, with a mission to promote body positivity in women. She’s currently working on launching a fashion Web3 company in Miami, and runs her own program for feeding underprivileged kids in Swaziland, Africa called Foodom. She supports nonprofits for animals and has personal interests in yoga, spirituality, technology, and fashion.

Topics:

Implications of Web3 in the fashion industry
Perks associated with companies adopting the use of NFTs
How use cases for the metaverse can grow over time

Benefits to Implementing Digital Payments Technology with Elizabeth Hoemeke – CIO at One Inc

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 07:12:12 +0000

Elizabeth has over 20 years of experience in Product Development and IT. As CIO of One Inc, she oversees the implementation of the company’s global IT roadmap, the development of overall strategic planning, transformation, and innovation initiatives, and the security of technology solutions in support of partners and customers.

Most recently, Elizabeth led the company’s partnership with Visa to bring network tokenization to the insurance industry, which empowers banks, merchants, regional payments schemes, clearing houses, and other payments stakeholders to build, manage and control their own tokenization capabilities.

Prior to joining One Inc, Elizabeth was the Sr. Vice President of Enterprise Engineering and Technology Strategy at U.S. Bank. There she led a global organization of over 300 associates in the U.S., Philippines, Ireland, Poland, and India.

Topics:

Successful approaches to adopting digital payments
Balancing the benefits and risks of implementing AI strategies
Cybersecurity within the rapidly growing digital payments industry

Modernizing Marketing for Workforce Ecosystem with Leslie Vickrey CEO & Founder from ClearEdge Marketing

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 19:08:51 +0000

Leslie Vickrey is a marketing expert and business advisor who found a niche in technology and talent as the head of marketing for Spherion’s technology division. She founded ClearEdge Marketing in 2006, which is now a go-to, fully integrated marketing agency for talent and technology firms.

Leslie’s impact far exceeds her day-to-day work as CEO. Passionate about the importance of diversity, Leslie is a frequent speaker on the topic and even co-founded ARA, an organization that seeks to attract, retain and advance women in technology – 6,000 people strong. She is part of the ASA’s Women in Leadership Council; was recognized as one of 100 of Chicago’s most compelling innovators and entrepreneurs; is part of the UIC Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame; and was named a Staffing Industry Analysts Top 50 DEI Influencer two years running. Leslie is the host of an executive women in recruitment podcast, TheEdge, and most recently launched a book called Together We Rise with 14 other staffing industry executives. Connect with Leslie @ linkedin.com/in/lvickrey.

Preparing for the Generational Impact through Marketing with Ronnie Kihlstadius SVP of Marketing at WorkLLama

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 19:08:07 +0000

A team player and collaborator at heart, Ronnie joined WorkLLama to help build, nurture, and grow the marketing machine behind the WorkLLama brand. Ronnie has nearly 15 years of marketing experience in the talent management industry and brings with her a relentless passion for combining creativity with data analysis to solve business problems.

Prior to joining WorkLLama, Ronnie worked for several well-known solution providers in the industry such as Guidant Global, WorkforceLogiq, AgileOne, nextSource, and most recently, People2.0. Throughout her tenure, Ronnie has led the transformation of marketing operations for her employers, implementing new technologies and best practices for greater organizational ROI.

As a veteran of the contingent workforce management industry, Ronnie has seen the evolution of the labor market and understands the complex challenges companies face in the Gig Economy. Her passion lies in creating meaningful thought leadership to help clients better understand the market forces and gain greater access to qualified talent.

Ronnie also holds an MBA from the Robinson College of Business where she focused her studies on international marketing. When she’s not at work, you can probably find Ronnie on a bike path, hiking trail, or tennis court.

The Advocacy Needed Behind the Nursing World with Joy Grassi, Founder of DTRT

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 07:23:00 +0000

Joy Grassi is owner and Founder of DTRT Healthcare Consulting and Advocacy. Hired by agencies to start them, fix them, brand them. She is also a pro bono healthcare advocate. She teaches, trains and supports.

The Ins and Outs of the Mining Industry with Thomas Haun, President at Turner Staffing Group

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 18:30:37 +0000

Thomas Haun is the President of Turner Staffing Group. Experienced in new business creation, Thomas has held leadership roles across human capital, operations, sales, marketing, strategy, and finance.

Before starting Turner Staffing Group, Thomas was the Chief Operating Officer of Turner Mining Group, overseeing the organization, its operations, and its strategy. Previously, Thomas led global business teams for PrecisionHawk overseeing strategic direction, ecosystem development, and commercial partnerships. Thomas was part of DuPont’s Corporate Leadership Program, where his responsibilities included building new markets for DuPont Pioneer’s technology and services business. Additionally, Thomas led proposal management for Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Thomas holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, BS in Mathematics and BA in Economics from the University of Maryland.

A Deep Dive into the IT Staffing Space with Matt Sharples, Founder/CEO at TriCom Technical Services

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 18:28:58 +0000

Matt Sharples is one of the rare people that didn’t just fall into staffing. He grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan and his mother’s good friend owned a temp firm and put him to work during summer’s off in college. After graduating and having developed an interest in both computers and business (Matt’s favorite class in college was Organizational Psychology), he found a list of staffing firms from a book in the library. Matt sent his resume to them for internal roles and moved to KC after graduating starting as a recruiter in data processing.

Blockchain Applications to Enhance PreScreening Processes with Daniel Callaghan, CEO at Veremark

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 18:26:24 +0000

Daniel Callaghan is CEO of Veremark, a world-leading background and pre-employment screening platform for fast-growing businesses.

With more than a decade in innovation around the Future of Work, Daniel built one of Europe’s top freelance marketplaces and previously ran the digital innovation and investment unit across APAC for the world’s largest recruitment company, Adecco Group.

He is an internationally published author on career development and has degrees from IESE Business School and Durham University.

Sourcing Strategies and a take on the future state of Recruiting with Mike Cohen Founder at Wayne Technologies

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 18:20:53 +0000

Wayne Technologies is a recruitment data services firm using the most advanced suite of technologies and strategies to identify relevant candidates, deliver an actionable data-set, and provide first-touch outreach services.

The company works with a diverse group of clients including: Uber, Whole Foods, The New York Times, Waste Management, GIPHY, PwC, Ross Stores, Bridgewater, DE Shaw, Relativity Space, Wyman Gordon, Walter P. Moore, Redis Labs, and more.

The Vision: Harnessing individual superpowers to create synergies that elevate the Talent Acquisition industry.

The thing Mike is most proud of that they’ve created, is not their complex, technologically advanced, sourcing methodology – it’s actually their culture.

Mike strives to continue evolving as a pure implementation of what D&I could be within an organization.

Recruiting for Marketing Professionals in a Competitive Landscape with Katie Larson Recruiting Manager from Celarity

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 18:11:04 +0000

Katie Larson just celebrated her seventh anniversary at Celarity, an award-winning Staffing and Recruiting agency for marketing, creative and digital talent. During her tenure, she has been promoted to various positions and is currently on the Celarity leadership team in a Recruiting Manager role.

Having placed over 300 candidates, Katie is also responsible for leading a team of recruiters, managing the account of a large global client, and overseeing Celarity’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEI&B) initiatives.

Katie is incredibly passionate about female empowerment and education around empathetic leadership. She strives to create inclusion in the workplace so that fellow team members feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to the table.

A recent career highlight of Katie’s was being named a recipient of the Women’s Leadership Scholarship for the American Staffing Association, which included an invite to attend the 2021 Staffing World conference in Denver, CO.

Katie resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, two daughters, and family dog. Outside of work, Katie is an active “Soccer Mom”, and is a leader of a Working Mom’s support group at her church.

Empowering the Future State of Technology Professionals with Megan McCann CEO and Founder at McCann Partners

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 19:42:15 +0000

Megan McCann is an established IT recruitment and technology services leader known for building and leading highly successful IT services firms, and for the work she does to advance diversity and cultivate talent across the technology industry.

Megan is the CEO of leading IT recruitment firm McCann Partners, which she founded in 2011. She and her team deliver IT recruitment with intention and integrity to a growing portfolio of innovative organizations—from Chicago-based startups to companies with a global footprint. McCann Partners is dedicated to creating a more equitable and diverse workforce, and proud that more than 70% of their talent placements in the past two years have been diverse hires. Prior to McCann Partners, Megan co-founded and helped build Geneva Technical Services (GTS), and was a strategic force in growing SelecTech—both premier IT recruitment firms.

Megan’s impact on the tech community far exceeds her day-to-day work as CEO of her own firm. Passionate about attracting, retaining, and advancing women in technology, Megan is a proud co-founder of ARA, a national organization that seeks to promote women in technology and leadership through mentorship, events, and programs. Her additional industry and leadership affiliations include membership in the American Staffing Association, CHIEF, and the TechServe Alliance.

She is also a founding partner of the Chicago Executive Women’s Networking Group and an active member of Chicago Innovation’s Women’s Mentoring Co-Op. In addition, she’s been recognized as a Chicago Business Journal Bizwomen Headliner in Technology, Chicago Business Journal Women of Influence, a three-time Midwest Women in Tech Awards finalist, and an Illinois Technology Association CityLIGHTS finalist. In 2021, Megan was named to Staffing Industry Analysts inaugural Top 50 DE&I Influencers list and selected as a ChiTech Academy Young Women’s Leadership Society Ambassador of the Year.

To Support and Defend – Workplace inclusion for Transgender Veterans with Coach, Sebastian Nemec

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 12:27:13 +0000

Sebastian Nemec (he/him) is a life coach, speaker and author on a mission to help LGBTQ+ people build queer wealth through entrepreneurship. To do this, he founded Coach Bastian LLC in 2021.

Sebastian Nemec served ten years in the Minnesota Army National Guard from 2011-2022. He enlisted when he was 17 years old, right after Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed. Sebastian shares his story as an openly transgender Soldier in With Honor and Integrity: Transgender Troops in their own Words, published in 2021.

Delivering Higher Value through Analytics with Ameen Kazerouni – Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Orangetheory Fitness

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 09:52:52 +0000

Ameen is currently the Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Orangetheory Fitness. Over the course of his career, he has had the opportunity to use machine learning in a variety of fields ranging from clinical research, medical imaging, data warehouse design, e-commerce, and now health and wellness. His core areas of interest shift depending on the problem he is tackling. He is currently focused on the challenges of operationalizing large volumes of data into scalable customer solutions and strategic initiatives. A core belief of his is, “Build experiences, not algorithms”, which drives his team to put forward scalable solutions with measurable impact on real world use cases.

In his free time, Ameen enjoys keeping up to date with the latest methods in Artificial Intelligence, the newest Comedy Specials on Netflix, burning his savings on expanding his Smart Home, and marching down the path of becoming bionic by quantifying himself with any and all wearable fitness tech.

Topics:

Effectively generating more value from their analytics operations
Strategies for efficient cloud migration
Attracting and retaining top talent in Data and AI teams

The Value of Your Network in Today’s Digital Age with Female Founder Megan Roudebush of KeepWith

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 20:11:37 +0000

Megan Burke Roudebush is a compliance person, who also happens to be a networking guru. She is the founder of keepwith®, a platform, with an app expected Spring 2022, that teaches networking.
Megan began her career at age 8 as a reporter and editor of the Children’s Express News Service, interviewing many notable people (including Janet Reno, Amy Tan, Bella Abzug, and Chuck Norris). She understands the importance of deliberately choosing one’s key advisors and building and maintaining strong and authentic, reciprocal relationships. She has written articles on networking topics for publications including Fast Company, Thrive, TLNT, and Law360.com. Megan has spoken to an array of global audiences about networking well. Megan enjoys volunteering, mentoring and, most of all, networking well. She prioritizes exercise and wellness. She currently lives in the Chicago suburbs and is originally from New York City.
Professionally, Megan was a financial services industry leader focused on regulatory compliance. She received her BA in Peace and Conflict Studies from Bryn Mawr College and her JD/MBA from Albany Law School and Union Graduate College. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, a member of the Executives’ Club of Chicago, previously served on the Guild Board at the Lyric Opera and is engaged with the Bryn Mawr College Chicago Club.

Effective Client Retention Strategies with Kim Henderson – Managing Director at Cobalt Compass Solutions

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 06:01:50 +0000

Kim leads Cobalt Compass Solutions, which provides consulting and training services for the staffing industry. Training programs encompass the full life cycle of sales in staffing and teach the skills and strategies to create lasting customer relationships.

Prior Cobalt Compass, Kim had 28 years in the staffing industry and served as a member of executive leadership at Hays PLC. As SVP of Client Services and Global Accounts, Kim was responsible for the development of international and strategic accounts, and she also established the Government Solutions business which acquired clients at the state / DOD level.

Before joining Hays, Kim worked for Kforce Inc where she served on the executive committee and was responsible for the acquisition and development of strategic accounts as well as the national sales strategy with execution across product lines.

Topics:

Benefits of gathering and sharing performance feedback with your clients
Ways to showcase value and strengthen bonds with clients
Improving your competitive advantage by becoming a specialist

How to Get Boardroom Ready & Find Board Opportunities with Daphne Jones

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 06:03:59 +0000

Daphne E. Jones is a seasoned executive with extensive experience transforming business processes and implementing digital technologies to drive market growth, seamless customer fulfillment & internal efficiencies within Fortune 50 corporations. She has over thirty years of experience in general management and executive level roles at IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Hospira (now Pfizer) and General Electric. During her tenure at GE, she served as: SVP for Future of Work, and ran IT as SVP & CIO Product Engineering, Imaging & Aftermarket Services, a $13B segment of GE Healthcare. She helped innovate with AI, enabling predictive maintenance, design for additive & other advanced technologies to help GE be first movers in the healthcare market. She co-led a global team that defined GE’s Digital DNA.

Prior to GE Healthcare, her early career days were spent at IBM and Johnson & Johnson as Executive Director, VP IT, followed by her role as SVP & CIO at Hospira, Inc. a $5B global pharma & and infusion technology company. At Hospira, she led all aspects of Hospira’s enterprise, infrastructure, cyber, digital & analytics technology.

Daphne serves on the board of directors for AMN Healthcare, Inc., Barnes Group Inc, and Masonite International Corp, and is on audit, compensation & governance committees. Named by Savoy Magazine, “one of most influential AA Directors in 2021”, she is a member of the NACD, Accenture Cybersecurity Council, The Digital Directors Network (DDN), and the ELC.

She is the founder of The Board Curators – a company that prepares senior leaders for board service (www.theboardcurators.com) and is launching her book in Fall 2022 from McGraw-Hill entitled ‚“Win When They Say You Won’t“.

In her book, the reader experiences Daphne’s ascent from the bottom to the top, from poverty to prosperity, starting as a Jamaican-American student living in one of the poorest cities in Illinois. In life, careers, and in organizations, women are often underestimated and overlooked by those in power; and people of color struggle through even lower expectations. Those low expectations have stymied growth for many. Daphne’s goal is to create an inclusive movement to turn the tides on that for all leaders who simply want to win. When it comes to seeking success, she have experienced that the word ‘impossible’ is just someone’s opinion. she wants the readers to instead use the world ‘inevitable’ to describe their pending success.

Using her stories and those of other women as examples, Daphne’s 4 part “EDIT” methodology guides the reader through exploring and transforming their current mindset to enable their own continuous improvement and transformation. Drawing on her extensive background in software development and implementation, the EDIT steps are based on the common steps used by software developers who successfully create and implement new versions of software, devices and more.

Staying Competitive in a Changing Staffing Business Landscape with Tom Kosnik – Founder and President at Visus Group

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 15:12:08 +0000

Tom Kosnik, Founder and President of Visus Group is the staffing industry’s leading expert offering a unique combination of business consulting acumen and experience to independent staffing firms. He advises on all aspects of running a staffing firm including organizational performance; change management; strategic planning; financial analysis; compensation plan design; process and profit improvements and business value enhancement to help staffing firms across the country improve operations and the bottom line.

In 1995, Tom started Presidents’ RoundTables to improve leadership capabilities of independent staffing firms’ management through creative idea generation, sharing, collaborating, and addressing industry challenges. The RoundTables have expanded to include CFOs, CROs, and CMOs. Tom holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Development from Bowling Green State University, a B.A. in psychology from Seattle University, a Masters of Divinity degree from Catholic Theological Union and is certified with the Center for Creative Leadership. This specialized educational and professional background equips him with a unique skill set for guiding independent staffing firms.

The People First Advantage Approach in a Competitive Talent Landscape with Kaleen Robinson, CTO from Salo

The Ivy Podcast — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 06:41:12 +0000

Being the chief talent officer at a talent-focused firm might sound like a challenge, but our CTO, Kaleen Robinson, has it covered. She leverages her extensive experience in making connections and managing geographically dispersed workforces to help Salo create meaningful career experiences for our nationwide consulting and internal employee teams.

Kaleen comes to Salo from Alight Solutions, where she was the vice president of human resources. While there, she oversaw the development and implementation of dynamic workforce strategies that accelerated business growth. For example, she led annual talent review processes and succession plans in business units of more than 10,000 employees. She also played the role of executive coach to many leaders across the business. Finally, she led high-performing HR teams across North America, India, and Poland—partnering closely with the global business to deliver results.

Prior to Alight, Kaleen worked as the vice president of human resources for Hewitt Associates (which was then acquired by AON)—a complex, highly matrixed organization with anywhere from 35,000-75,000 employees and contractors in 120 countries. At AON, she led the development and implementation of business-aligned HR strategies, solutions, and programs. She also drove the cultural shift to integrate the company’s global footprint by building strong cross-cultural competencies and training for managers and teams.

Kaleen lives in the Chicagoland area with her wife and three dogs. They have four grown kids and one daughter-in-love, all in various stages of college, transition program, working, and parenting of their three granddaughters. She loves anything out-of-doors, especially water sports like swimming, paddleboarding, and kayaking.

Healthcare IT Innovation & Hiring Strategies with Kathy Azeez, Chief Digital Officer at Hoag

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 12:17:29 +0000

Kathy Azeez-Narain is the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for Hoag. In this role, Kathy leads the development of Hoag’s Digital Strategy & Transformation to maintain Hoag’s position as an innovator in delivering both the highest quality care and exceptional patient experiences. This includes optimizing the relationship between our patients and their health journey, utilizing digital tools to develop, design & enhance the patient experience, and effectively moving patients from offline to online by way of a comprehensive digital eco-system.

Kathy is a digital product leader with more than a decade of experience in product development and marketing within the financial services industry. She joins Hoag from American Express, where she held various leadership roles driving digital product, marketing, and data strategies for the company. It was here that she delivered some of the first ever digital solutions for the organization including mobile experiences that better connect businesses to their cards, centralized data platforms and in-house design/creative solutions and teams.

Kathy earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Hofstra University.

Helping Growth-Stage CEOs Free Up 10+ Hours/Week to Achieve True Greatness With Lauren Weggeman, Head of Training at Mindmaven

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 13:33:35 +0000

Lauren Weggeman is Head of Training and one-on-one Executive coach at Mindmaven.

Mindmaven is an executive coaching firm that’s spent the last 12+ years working with hundreds of leaders, including unicorns like Thumbtack, Reddit, and Outreach.io, as well as heavy hitters such as Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Benchmark, and First Round Capital.

Mindmaven drives greatness by unleashing three key executive superpowers: Leverage, Intent, and Fellowship.

With Leverage, they help executives free up 8-10 hours of their time each week by fundamentally changing how they work with their EA/Chief of Staff. With Intent, they enable leaders to become more proactive and highly focused on growth, mastery, and the things that matter most. With Fellowship, they teach how to build an irrationally loyal following of people (both within the company and greater network).

Topics:

Lauren’s Mindmaven journey
Biggest beliefs holding executives back
The 3 superpowers: leverage, intent, and fellowship
Why hire an Executive Assistant? Do executives really need one?
The difference between an executive assistant and an engagement manager?
Scheduling whitespace time, getting the most out of that time and protecting that time at all costs.
How 5-minute watercooler conversation can be used to deliver deep, meaningful interactions.

Leadership in the Life Sciences Industry with Theresa Sloan

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 22:20:29 +0000

Theresa Sloan has fostered a decades-long and healthy career in high-level personnel recruitment. She is a consummate leader in the career development of countless Life Sciences, PGx, CGx, and Biomedical Professionals. Additionally, she places a strong concentration in the spaces of Telecom, Mobility, and IT Management globally. She is relentless in her pursuit to advance the careers of her peers and leaders. Her network of warm handshakes is unmatched, as is her spirit and attentive care to everyone she collaborates with. She serves as a mentor and life coach to those that know her best. Always available for an encouraging dialogue, Theresa enjoys boating, yoga practice, meditative reading, and the beach in her spare time. She can be contacted by email at: Theresasloan@SloanStaffingSolutions.com, and on the web at: www.sloanstaffingsolutions.com

Transformative Staffing Strategies and Future of Work Initiatives with Kelly Boykin Head of MSP at Real Staffing

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 22:10:09 +0000

Kelly is the Head of MSP at Real Staffing, an SThree company, managing partnership strategy with the world’s best and largest Managed Services Providers around the world. She works with a dedicated team of recruiters, account managers and leaders to deliver best in class results in programs.

She is a 25 year veteran of the staffing industry and began her career leading sales and recruiting teams across North America, working with top Fortune 500 brands.

Kelly is active in the staffing industry, including the American Staffing Association (ASA) and Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). She is particularly passionate about supporting women in the industry. Kelly is the Chair for the Women in Leadership Council for the American Staffing Association, and also mentors women in staffing through the ASA Mentoring program.

She has been recognized for the past three years by Staffing Industry Analysts on the Global Power 150 Most Influential Women in Staffing. She was recently named one of Pride Global’s Trailblazing Women for promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and advancing opportunities for women.

Kelly recently co-authored a book, “Together We Rise” with several iconic women leaders in our industry.

A Full Cycle Guide into Staffing Best Practices with Veteran Recruiter Noel Wolf

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 12:59:07 +0000

Noel Wolf is a respected and renowned leader in IT Recruiting in the Chicago metropolitan area. He has more than 25 years of Information Technology experience in recruiting, sales, and operational management. Noel has successfully led and developed recruiting teams in multiple consulting organizations, resulting in millions of revenue growth and positioned those organizations for subsequent acquisition.

Noel serves as the Midwest Chapter President of TechServe Alliance – Midwest Chapter, a national IT staffing association dedicated to advancing excellence and ethics within the IT staffing and solutions industry. Additionally, Noel serves as the co-state manager for the National Veteran Business Development Council’s 50 State Manager Scholarship Program. The program was established to invest in our future leaders and show appreciation to those enrolled in an ROTC program by providing college scholarships that provide funds to individuals of veteran families who are enrolled in an ROTC program while attending a high school or higher education institution.

As the founder and Managing Partner at Collinwood, Noel oversees day-to-day operations and also leads and trains the recruiting staff. Noel is a Marine Corps Veteran (serving 1988-1996) and was on active duty during Operation Desert Shield (1991). Noel attended Cleveland State University with a double degree focus in English and Political Science. He currently lives in the southwestern suburbs of Chicago.

Building a Community Of Independently-Operated Staffing And Recruitment Firms With TalentLaunch President, Doug Dandurand

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 12 May 2022 14:55:32 +0000

Doug Dandurand is the current President of TalentLaunch, a nationwide network of independently-operated staffing and recruitment firms under common ownership. In this role, Mr. Dandurand is responsible for the overall strategy and growth of the organization.

Previously, Mr. Dandurand was the President of Advantage Resourcing North America, a $430M staffing company owned by Recruit Holdings. By effectively leading five divisions through a significant strategic refocus, he was able to consistently exceed financial targets and led Advantage Resourcing to several industry awards including ranking 8th out of 250 companies in Forbes Magazine inaugural ranking of America’s Best Professional Recruiting Firms.

Topics:

The secret to loving what you do every day.
Doug’s journey into the staffing industry.
What ideas/trends excite you the most in the staffing & talent acquisition space? What practices are here to stay? How can we best prepare to leverage those trends?
Where do you see the biggest growth opportunity in the staffing industry in the next 5 years?
What advice would you give a new start-up agency looking to establish itself in the market?

Conversation on Direct Sourcing and Simplifying Talent with Dustin Talley, CEO of Talent Simplified

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 09 May 2022 08:55:34 +0000

Dustin Talley is the founder and lead consultant at Talent Simplified. Talent Simplified is a consulting firm focused on helping companies build and grow direct-to-talent solutions. In In addition to Talent Simplified, he leads Direct Collective – a community of contingent program leaders for education and networking.

Dustin spent the last 15 years building better contingent labor programs. He combines his background in MSP, VMS, IC Compliance, Payroll, and Direct Sourcing to help companies build manager and talent centric programs and solutions. As an early advocate in direct sourcing, Dustin has implemented over 30 direct sourcing programs. He also launched a two-sided talent marketplace and commercialized digital staffing platform.

Conversation on IT Staffing Trends and Practical Strategies with Harry Chen, Arraya Solutions

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 09 May 2022 08:54:58 +0000

Harry is an IT Consulting and Staffing Leader with 15 years of experience in the IT Consulting/Staffing industry. His passion is creating solutions that makes impossible situations, possible. He enjoys working with clients and connecting with Information Technology professionals to create solutions. Harry has a track record of building successful consultative Staffing Practices from the ground up to become highly profitable revenue streams for the organization.

Harry is currently the Director, Staffing Solutions for Arraya, where he is responsible for building, growing, and managing all aspects of the Staffing Service Practice. We focus on contingent and consulting IT resources to support mid & enterprise organizations help manage their business and technical needs.

How to Position for Growth in a Competitive Landscape: Personal Branding, Messaging, Automation with Kelli Schutrop – Vice President of Sales at Parqa Marketing

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 09 May 2022 08:51:24 +0000

Kelli is the Vice President of Sales at Parqa, a performance marketing agency revolutionizing the staffing industry by leveraging technology and marketing to create great candidate and client experiences, and drive enterprise-level value. Kelli has spent the past decade driving marketing-led results for staffing and recruiting firms, and has consulted hundreds of business leaders across the country on their growth strategies. Her passion for marketing has inspired her to share her expertise, and she regularly hosts fireside chats with industry leaders, conducts speaking engagements, and sits on boards and committees. She has contributed to industry groups such as American Staffing Association, World Staffing Summit, and New York Staffing Professionals, and she currently sits on the ASA Women in Leadership Council and ASA Industry Marketing & PR Committee.

Setting a New Standard Of Employment For People with Disabilities And Chronic Medical Conditions with Bree Sarlati, Chief Executive Officer at Peak Performers Staffing Agency

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 05 May 2022 21:14:37 +0000

Founded in 1994, Peak Performers employs skilled and dedicated people in administrative, professional, accounting, and information technology jobs. Peak recruits for contract, temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct hire positions in State of Texas and other local government agencies. As part of their nonprofit mission, Peak is setting a new standard of employment for people with disabilities and chronic medical conditions.

Brought in as a digital strategy consultant in 2012, Bree Sarlati, President of Peak Performers, began her tenure helping re-brand the company website and optimize it for search engine performance. Since then, Bree has worked in every part of Peak’s business: payroll, marketing, recruiting, staffing, and office management. Bree joined the leadership team in 2017 and has contributed to explosive growth in existing accounts and new service offerings. Under her leadership, Peak’s book of business has grown 40% and has begun offering services in direct hire and executive search. Bree has also led a series of organizational transformations such as a move toward a cloud-based recruiting and HR management software.

Bree brings to the organization a diverse, human-focused educational background of sociolinguistics and anthropology and leverages her background of working for nonprofit organizations around the world.

Bree has been recognized (2020) by Staffing Industry Analyst as a “40 Under 40” leader, trailblazing and innovating in the workforce solutions ecosystem.

Topics:

Bree’s obsession with old books
Bree’s journey into the staffing industry
Biggest lessons learned while building Peak Performers Staffing Agency
The candidate’s experience for people with disabilities and chronic medical conditions
The importance of working with clients that align with your values
What are some of the unquestionable qualities attributed to a successful recruiter?
The power of cultivating authenticity in the workplace

IT Staffing and Female Entrepreneurship with Leenna Choudharry

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 04 May 2022 07:51:16 +0000

Leenna is one of the emerging south asian women in the technology recruitment industry.

She boasts over 20 years of HR recruitment and management experience and is passionate about using her entrepreneurial spirit to help IT and non IT talent succeed in the workplace.

In addition to her current role as President with Placement Experts USA, Leenna Choudharry is the founder of American College Gurus, an online platform that provides educational services including tutoring, test prep, college prep and concierge services within the US and for international students. She’s demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the students she has educated and supported on this platform over the years, onboarding many international students to her payroll before placing them with contract roles all across the United States.

Aside from her current work with Placement Experts and ACG, Leenna has also founded Global Design Feature, a digital platform focused on mentoring, networking, career growth, and economic development of artists in the fashion industry.

She also volunteers at several non profit coding bootcamps in St. Louis where she offers career advice to job seekers and across the globe via Clubhouse and LinkedIn.

She has stayed connected with her Indian roots and volunteers to speak on culture and Hinduism.

A New Wave of Platform Recruiting Technology with CJ Tufano

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 04 May 2022 07:50:24 +0000

CJ Tufano is the Founder of Cherrypicker, a diversity-friendly talent marketplace that connects high performing candidates who are confidentially seeking better opportunities to hiring managers across the United States. He previously worked as a public/private accountant for large corporations and spent the last 8 years as a successful Accounting/Finance Recruiter at NYC’s top recruiting firms. After years of personally experiencing a disjointed hiring process from all sides, he created Cherrypicker out of necessity to solve the points of job searching and hiring talent. His goal is to create a seamless, stress-free hiring ecosystem that is removed of bias while helping companies reduce their costs when hiring top talent. Independent recruiters can leverage Cherrypicker as a digital storefront (like Shopify) and join Cherypicker’s Trusted Recruiter network and create additional revenue streams with their candidate database. Every candidate is professionally vetted before they are invited to download the Cherrypicker mobile application, this gives hiring managers confidence to jump into a first-round interview once mutual interest has been established from both sides. Prospective candidates will be in full control of who they decide to share their information with allowing them to search for their next great role confidentially while remaining gainfully employed. Cherrypicker will invite hiring managers to access to this diverse, vetted talent pipeline to increase hiring speed without sacrificing quality of hire. For more information to join, check out www.getcherrypicker.com or follow us on social media @getcherrypicker on Twitter and Instagram. To contact Cherrypicker about affiliate/strategic partnership opportunities contact CJ Tufano at cj@getcherrypicker.com or connect with him on Linkedin.

The Fundamentals of Recruiting According to Danny Cahill

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 04 May 2022 07:49:56 +0000

Danny Cahill started at Hobson Associates right out of college. He became its Rookie of the Year, top producer and general manager by the age of 26. At 27 he bought the company and built it into one of the country’s largest search firms. He is the only industry “guru” that runs a search firm every day. He does what you do.

He was the Educational Chairperson of the Pinnacle Society, 75 of the highest achievers in the industry and he still personally mentors many members. He also owns and runs AccordingToDanny.com, an online training and mentoring company dedicated to enhancing the skills and jumpstarting the spirits of recruiters worldwide. His keynote presentations have made him one of the most sought-after speakers in the country.

He was elected to the NAPS Hall of Fame in 2006, and received the Dave Knutson Lifetime Achievement Award. HireAbility overwhelmingly voted him the industry’s most popular speaker.

In his other life, as a playwright, he has had works produced off Broadway, and won both the Maxwell Anderson and the CAB Theatre Award for playwrights. He has written for CBS Television, Muscle and Fitness Magazine, as well as numerous magazines. Danny’s book, “Harper’s Rules”, a business novel/parable, which of course features a headhunter, won the 2011 Axiom Award. His screenplay, “Breakpoint” was optioned by Dialogue Pictures, and his memoir, “Aging Disgracefully” is in bookstores and on Kindle and hit Amazon Best Seller status!

Through the Lens of a New Member Within the Recruiting Industry with Naomi Mosley

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 12:45:32 +0000

As a successful manager in Big Box Retail for many years Naomi Mosley was starting to experience challenging times. Naomi for the first time was not doing well in her career anymore and she was not understanding why. Unfortunately, after a year sabbatical Naomi’s Doctor diagnosed her with Multiple Sclerosis and the whirlwind downward spiral started. The depression and the pain in and out of the hospital was extremely hard on Naomi and she thought that she would never work again since she was approved for Social Security Disability on the first round. The doctor told her that there was no way she could have completed her Masters degree with this disability since she was now on a 4^th grade level.

It took years for Naomi to get on the right medication for her MS and she was ready to get back to helping people. Since the world was experiencing “The Great Resignation” a silent partner reached out to her about starting a Recruitment agency. Hudson-Ann Staffing Solutions was created in 2021 and Naomi placed 2 Vice President’s in the first 3 months of business. What is the secret, well we treat people like humans not robots. We have successfully built relationships with over five hundred people and counting.

The first single partnership was with Tru-Bridge located in Tampa Fl, this partnership was fantastic with Bobby Pastorius he spent time coaching Naomi and helping her understand the accounting industry. After many unsuccessful attempts with placements, Naomi decided to switch gears. H.A. Staffing Solutions joined Top Echelon and that was when the light bulb went off. Our commitment is to help our recruiters make placements after the position has been on the market for an extended period of time. Currently we have partnerships with over 1 thousand recruiters, but our top priority is the current partnership with Matt O’Mara, President of Cranbrook Search Consultants in the marketing industry. Matt is her coach and mentor in the marketing industry, and Gary Doersching who is the president of Next Level Exchange is her coach in the recruitment industry. This team is the reason Hudson-Ann Staffing Solutions is so successful!

Conversation on Talent Led Markets in Healthcare Staffing and Fostering a Culture of Innovation with Zia Rahman, CEO of Wanderly

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 18:27:02 +0000

Zia Rahman is the Founder & CEO of Wanderly, a Healthcare Staffing Marketplace and also a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Wanderly is the leading PaaS for Managed Direct Sourcing which empowers many hospitals. Zia has over 25 years of leadership experience in technology, healthcare, federal (DoD, FAA, VA), state, and local government. Prior to Wanderly, Zia was the President and partner of USSI Staffing based in Torrance, CA. Under his leadership, USSI grew its revenue by six-fold in under four years. He was also the COO of Emerald Healthcare Services for seven years and led the company in tripling its revenue. Previously Zia was CTO, CIO, VP of Technology of various companies. He holds a BS in Computer Science from University of Maryland, College Park.

From Underdog to Staffing Industry Analysts’ 40 under 40 List With Kyle Decker, Co-Founder at Riley Decker Companies

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 17:27:27 +0000

Kyle Decker joined the Job Center in 2009 and has successfully led the company from sales of $2.3 million then to sales of $97 million in 2020. In 2018 he co-founded MOR Talent Solutions because he saw the need for professional-level recruiting in the manufacturing, engineering, and skilled labor space. In 2019, Decker founded the “Underdog” podcast because he believes that everyone has an underdog story. Also in 2019, Riley Decker Cos. was established to provide a centralized solution for clients and all their staffing needs. During his 12-year staffing career, he has been on the SIA “40 Under 40” list.

Favorite Quote: “Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple & it’s that hard.” -Danny Meyer

Favorite Books: Two of the books that have changed my mindset are The Energy Bus by John Gordon and Welcome to Management by Ryan Hawk.

Topics:

Kyle’s journey into the staffing industry
What ideas/trends excite you the most in the staffing & talent acquisition space? What practices are here to stay? How can we best prepare to leverage those trends?
Where do you see the biggest growth opportunity in the staffing industry in the next 5 years?
The last 18 months have seen explosive growth in staffing firm interest and adoption of platform-based models to enable “recruiter-less” staffing and direct connection between temporary workers and clients. What is your take on that? Is the recruiter going away anytime soon?
What advice would you give a new start-up agency looking to establish itself in the market?
In a world where the talent delivery model is rapidly changing, there has never been an easier way to find a job than there is now.. how can recruiters stand apart from all the noise?
What are some of the unquestionable qualities attributed to a successful recruiter?

The Ins and Outs of Recruiting within the Insurance Industry with Connie Rose, CEO/Founder at Empire Insurance Recruiters

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 11:11:11 +0000

Connie Rose is the CEO of Empire Jobs, A division of Empire Insurance Recruiters, Inc. a web-based employment-related search engine. Empire Jobs serves the Insurance and Property Restoration industries.

Her experience is within the Property and Casualty and insurance, and property restoration. Connie has staffed professionally for 26years. She worked directly in the insurance industry for twelve years, as a P&C agent, Sales/Marketing, Underwriting, and Property Restoration.

HR Tech and Talent Platform Delivery Solutions with Mark Brooks-Lewis, Founder and CEO, LavasourceHR

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 11:10:31 +0000

Mark has spent over 20 years leading HR, IT and business transformation teams, for some of the largest and most complex of global enterprises. He has travelled widely and built and run Global HR Shared Services Centres in India and the Philippines. More recently, Mark set up LavasourceHR- the first truly global talent marketplace, dedicated to the diverse fractionalisation of HR and HR IT talent. Lava also provides established HR Consulting solutions for those who require support across the HR and IT spectrum.

Riding the Entrepreneurial Talent Wave as a Staffing Firm Owner with Matt Armand of Aligned Solutions

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 11:09:42 +0000

Matt has been in the search and placement arena for over 20 years.

He is the Founder to Align Executive Search, celebrating eight years in business. His Team consists of 20 Account Executives.

Align focuses in Medical, Accounting, Finance, Engineering, Technology and Manufacturing in both perm and temp staffing.

Matt has multiple business ventures that he is a part of including sporting equipment, food, health, wellness and training services.

He enjoys time with his family including his wife who is also an entrepreneur in multiple business verticals and his two lovely daughters. They are active in outdoors events including camping, hiking, dirt biking, gardening, skateboarding and bike riding to name only a few activities!

Matt has traveled all over the world and enjoys health and fitness including yoga, weight training and running. He has participated in multiple fitness events and marathons.

He also enjoys music and plays the bass guitar, classic 70’s rock and blues are his primary favorites. He collects art in many mediums, abstract and 19th century renaissance being his favorites.

Matt is an avid reader, self-help, spiritual, business, relationship-oriented material.

He volunteers in helping others within recovery for addiction.

Healthcare Search & Staffing in the Post-Pandemic Era with Aaron Wandtke, President of Executive Staffing Solutions

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 11:09:17 +0000

Aaron Wandtke is the Founder and President of Executive Staffing Solutions (ESS). Started in 2000, ESS has grown to employ 26 full-time employees and recruits exclusively for the health care industry on a national basis.

Named one the “Best Places to Work” by Columbus Business First, one of the top 150 Executive Search Firms across all industries for the past 5 years by Forbes, ESS has also consistently been recognized as one of the top 15 recruiting firms by Modern Healthcare magazine.

Aaron is a Past Chairman for the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) as well as the Ohio Recruiters Association. He has also served as an advisor to the Ohio Search and Staffing Association as well as been a guest speaker at various conferences, including NAPS, CSP, NEAPS and ORA/OSSA in the past.

Talent Retention Strategies in Today’s Age of the Working Population with Jeff Kortes

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 09:13:30 +0000

Jeff has more than 25 years experience in human resources. He has worked at companies that specialize in manufacturing, construction, and software development. During his career he has worked to recruit, retain and develop employees, at companies including ConAgra Foods, SPX, Midas International and American Crystal Sugar.
Jeff is the founder of Human Asset Management LLC, which helps organizations to recruit, engage, develop and retain talent. He is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and a frequent speaker on the topic of loyalty, employee retention, recruitment and culture building. He is an avid high school wrestling fan, CrossFit participant and US Army veteran. Jeff is the author of Give Your Employees C.R.A.P…and 7 Other Secrets to Employee Retention and HR Horror Stories…True Tales from the Trenches. For more information visit http://www.jeffkortes.com and follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffkortes

Industry insights from the San Francisco Recruiter with Stephen Sorrow, Principal at Counterpoint Solutions

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 09:12:49 +0000

Stephen helps creative agencies and growing organizations find talented professionals. He founded Counterpoint Solutions in 2017 to help candidates and hiring managers with their job search and hiring journey.

As a former Project Manager and Business Consultant he has worked with many organizations and teams on digital transformations and strategic initiatives, and he brings that insight to his current practice. He enjoys building relationships, learning, and sharing that knowledge with others.

How to Hire & Retain Top Talent through Direct Sourcing with Brian McGuire, Co-Founding Partner at TalentBelt

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 09:08:49 +0000

Brian McGuire is an EVP and Managing Director of TalentBelt. TalentBelt is a Direct Sourcing advisory firm that assists Fortune 500 customers with Business Case Development, Solution Design, and Supplier Evaluation. Mr. McGuire is a 25-year veteran of the Staffing Industry. He started his career in the 1990s as an IT recruiter in Silicon Valley. In 1999, he cofounded a nationally-recognized SAP staffing firm. Since 2007, he has designed and sold enterprise BPO programs for globally-recognized Staffing leaders. During the onset of the Covid Pandemic in 2020, he co-founded TalentBelt because traditional staffing models have become outdated and few organizations have adopted a digital transformation strategy to mitigate against talent supply interruptions. In his spare time, he rebuilds classic bicycles, plays guitar, and enjoys outdoor activities.

Conversation on Talent Strategies, Interview Recommendations with Gabe Diaz, Founder at Medalist Talent Group

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 19:26:37 +0000

Gabe Diaz was born and raised in South Florida and has built an exemplary recruiting track record having spent more than 13 years working for agency/search firm, start-up, and large publicly traded companies.
Although he resides in Miami Beach, Gabe has spent the last 6+ years recruiting for prominent Silicon Valley software companies working alongside some of the most influential technologists and placing key leaders across the world.
In November 2021, Gabe founded Medalist Talent Group, LLC, a boutique retained search firm catered to assisting cloud native, SaaS, data, and other modern tech companies in filling key strategic hires and executive roles.

Creating A Better Leadership And Healthcare System With Amanda Eisel, CEO of Zelis

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 05:45:44 +0000

Amanda Eisel has focused the last 20 years of her career at the intersection of healthcare and technology. She has been deeply involved in creating and scaling multiple growth technology companies including Waystar, Applied Systems, and Viewpoint. Amanda has been a member of the Zelis team since 2019, playing a leadership role across Zelis’ growth, operational and talent strategies. Amanda started her career at McKinsey & Company, where she spent nearly a decade advising consumer companies. Prior to Zelis, Amanda was an Operating Partner at Bain Capital focused on technology and healthcare IT companies.

Amanda is a member of the Board of Directors of two non-profit organizations, Youth Villages of Massachusetts and New Hampshire and Make-A-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She is also on the Board of Directors of Rocket Software. She has a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Topics:

What sets Zelis apart from other similar organizations
Amanda’s leadership lessons going from consultant to CEO of Zelis
Amanda’s recommendations to improve the overall US Healthcare system
Biggest trends shaping the Healthcare industry
Amanda’s advice to women looking to step into a leadership role

The Power of Intention & Recruiting with Founder and Managing Partner Monique Davis of Fresh Talent Sources

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 14:38:30 +0000

Monique Davis is a Talent Success consultant specializing in team dynamics, recruiting and training. After nearly a decade in corporate recruiting, Monique offers direct support to organizations through consulting and training models. Her areas of focus include HR, IT, Marketing and Professional Services. Recognizing that making the right hire can make or break business results, a significant portion of Monique’s hiring initiatives also
focus on Predictive Index, A.I. & Data.

Monique is an industry-leading recruiting and talent strategy resource delivering innovative business solutions. She is best known for interactive seminars and consultations that target the root cause of pain points in the hiring process. The result? An authentic, intentional approach to building success. Monique has provided training in the areas of Talent strategy, Career Development, and Team Management.

Born in Indiana and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Monique possesses a knack for interacting with people from all walks of life. The compassion and genuine interest she applies to relationship building allows her to quickly build rapport and offer support. Monique’s approach to team building and recruitment incorporates best practices and exercises that speak to real-world challenges and offer effective, real-life solutions. As an author, she shares some of this insight in her debut book, Respect the Code: Laws for Career Strategies and Code-Switching. Her perspectives have also been shared on platforms such as LinkedIn and Forbes.com. Monique has also been recognized as part of the Forbes Coach’s Council for her efforts in the industry.

Monique is the founder of Fresh Talent Sources. The organization’s mission is to provide quality training and recruiting that drives hiring success for small and mid sized businesses. Monique & her team partners strategically with organizations and individuals for the delivery of customized affordable solutions in RPO style Talent Sourcing, Full Arm Recruiting, Career and Team Development based on behavior & predictive analytics. Connect with Fresh Talent Sources to succeed intentionally in all hiring and retention initiatives.
She is also the Female Founder of a tech start up, Talent2go which is a US based web app geared towards Small and Start Up businesses that desire to grow and scale their businesses through gig work and technology. Talent2go web app stands out due to its exclusive vetting process and thorough assessment of freelancers from all over the globe. Everyone that applies can’t join in. There’s even AI tech integrated to tell business owners the behavior patterns and personality traits of their potential gig worker encouraging long term gig work and stronger rapport. Talent2go is an exclusive web app catered towards US & Canadian businesses that desire an affordable way to build their business without miscommunication like other gig based platforms.

Monique resides in Atlanta with her husband, Rashad, and their two children. When she’s not in work mode, you can catch her volunteering and being an advocate for underrepresented individuals through her various community organizations and efforts. She is also behind the Succeeding Intentionally, and Intentional Recruiters Changing the World movements.

Conversation on Talent Retention Strategies with Chuck Waygood, Head of TA at Kong

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 05:58:42 +0000

Chuck is the proud father of 2 amazing young daughters and he has been in technology recruiting most of his career. Most recently Chuck leading talent acquisition efforts at high growth startups. For the past 10 years he has been working remotely from Florida, for Silicon Valley based technology startups. He has learned that his passion lies in the constant change, ambiguity and build phase of pre-IPO companies. After a 15 year career on the IT staffing side of the house, Chuck moved to his first startup called “Hortonworks”. He was the 130th employee and oversaw global hiring through IPO, over 1,500 employees and then into a merger with their closest competitor. About three years ago, Chuck chose to lead hiring at his current company called Kong, and started as the 120th employee of the company. Kong is now 380 employees in over 28 countries, growing to over 600 employees this year with the goal of breaking 1,000 next year!

How to Become a Strategic Recruitment Partner With Sara Stoub, Recruiter at High Profile Staffing

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 22:13:33 +0000

Sara Stoub is a recruiter with over 10 years of experience in the industry. She has a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Biology from Texas Tech University and began her recruiting career with one of the largest privately-held staffing agencies in the United States. After working as a Field Recruiter for a beverage manufacturing and distribution company, she became specialized in non-exempt recruitment for Market Units in Memphis/Little Rock, West Texas and Dallas/Fort Worth. Sara is also certified as a CIR (Certified Internet Recruiter) and CSP (Certified Staffing Professional).

Sara is currently a recruiter for High Profile Staffing. Since 1987, High Profile Staffing has provided hundreds of Dallas companies with people everyday to fill administrative, human resource and financial positions.

The High Profile staff are experts in their field holding designations for Certified Temporary Staffing Specialist (CTS), Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC), Certified Staffing Professional (CSP) and Professional in Human Resources (PHR). Our recruiters have been trained and tested on employment law.

High Profile is a member and has held leadership positions with the Dallas Human Resources Management Association, the Society of Human Resource Management, the Texas Association of Staffing, the National Association of Temporary Staffing Services as well as various local Chambers of Commerce.

Topics:

Sara’s journey into the staffing industry
What’s broken with the way most companies hire candidates today?
What’s the right length of interview numbers? Are 4 interviews enough to determine if a candidate should get hired?
Tips to increase the employer value proposition
Tips to nurture candidates after they are hired or placed
Most effective strategies to retain talent

Staffing Trends, Interview & Retention Strategies with John Larson, TechServe Alliance

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 08:46:36 +0000

Mr. Larson engages as the lead consultant for those staffing industry companies desiring to understand the M&A landscape. Working through a unique TechServe process, John and his team provide education and specific information about a company’s value and market expectations. He assists owners in making the transition from being daily operators to creating and implementing a defined exit strategy.

John provides strategic and operational insight for entrepreneurs with over 20 years of experience in the IT staffing industry. He focuses on providing actionable initiatives for personnel and performance with the objective of enhancing enterprise value. John specializes in working with owners and partners in positioning their company for various growth strategies.

He was President for three different staffing company founders before acquiring and building his own IT staffing company with a partner. They recently sold their company. He has a multi-discipline perspective, having functioned as the senior operations manager and often as an advisor to the company founder. Before the staffing industry, John held various sales positions in the technology industry. John is also a Certified Advisor for Recruit the Best. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for TechServe Alliance.

Conversation on Talent, Trends and Opportunities in Cybersecurity with Tony Bryan, Executive Director of CyberUp

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 23:13:14 +0000

As the Executive Director of CyberUp, Tony Bryan is committed to cultivating the cybersecurity talent pipeline for today and tomorrow. He joined CyberUp as the first employee in 2016 after serving the St. Louis region’s nonprofit ecosystem for nearly 10 years in various roles. With over 20 years of leadership experience, he has become an apprenticeship and cybersecurity workforce advocate. Tony’s focus is on creating high-quality apprenticeships and gamifying cybersecurity learning for K12 students. His work has been recognized with invitations to serve on the State of Missouri Workforce Development Board and to lead the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Apprenticeship Community of Interest.
Tony was raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He honorably served in the United States Army for 9 years. During that time, he completed his Bachelor of Science in Business from Columbia College and a Master of Business Administration from Webster University. Tony is proud to be #STLMADE and a self-proclaimed “nonprofit nerd.” When he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his wife Addie and their four children. He is a football fanatic and an avid video gamer. He also serves on the board of directors of the Sparrow’s Nest and The Vetwork.

How to Build a World Class Recruitment Team with Balazs Paroczay

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 22:55:40 +0000

Balazs is a Sourcing Leader, Keynote Speaker and Talent Acquisition Strategist. Since 2020 he’s leading a boutique Sourcing Advisory Agency with the mission: helping companies maximize their sourcing capabilities. Over the last 18 years, Balazs has been engaged with various European and global organizations to set up best-in-class sourcing functions and organization-wide sourcing expertise.

How Crowdsourcing of Ideas Can Lead to Innovation, Finding Great Talent, and More Revenue with Simon Hill, CEO and Co-founder of Wazoku

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 04:13:19 +0000

Simon Hill is the CEO and Co-founder of Wazoku.

Wazoku is an idea management software that enables businesses to gather, manage, develop, analyze and implement ideas that creates solutions to their problems as well as identify new opportunities. This approach can achieve both innovation and strategic objectives.

Simon is an active author, blogger, and speaker on topics relating to collaborative innovation, crowdsourcing, co-creation, intrapreneurship, and more. His expertise has been recognized extensively, being awarded the prestigious title of Guardian SME Leader of the Year 2014 and noted as a Top 15 influencer in crowdsourcing both in 2013 and 2014. He is also an Angel Investor and advisor to several B2B and B2C early-stage tech businesses.

Topics:

How Simon came up with the name for Wazoku
How to drive change inside your organization at scale
The force multiplier that allows organizations to punch above their weight
Where do ideas come from? It might not be what you think.
The agile approach to problem-solving
Crowdsourcing and innovation as a tool for recruitment
Open innovation challenges as an alternative channel to recruit top talent

Recruiting Agility and Staffing Insight Trends with Sean Kogan

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 04:04:22 +0000

Sean Kogan is co-founder of Recruiting in Motion; ranked in the “Growth 500” as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country for three consecutive years. He has been in the recruitment industry since 1998; commencing his career with Robert Half, one of the world’s largest professional staffing agencies. He co-founded Recruiting in Motion (RIM) in 2010 in Toronto, Canada, with the vision of providing employers and jobseekers a more customer-centric experience. RIM is a pioneer in the industry by being one of the first agencies to include candidate video presentations into their client experience, decreasing hiring costs and shortening the interview cycle. In 2020, on the heels of its Canadian success, RIM introduced a new business model in the US by offering agency professionals the ability to maximize their earning potential. This unique team-based model provides a platform for entrepreneurial individuals with a passion for the industry to be part of a unique peer-to-peer recruitment network. RIM focuses on direct-hire, contract, and contract-to-hire recruitment solutions and is growing rapidly with dedicated professionals in 17 US states and 8 offices in Canada.

Female Entrepreneurship in the Evolving World of Recruiting with Eve Cartwright

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 04:04:21 +0000

Eve Cartwright is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cartwright Search Group (CSG), a woman-owned boutique Executive Search-Staffing firm based in Boston, MA.

Eve has over 30 years of combined experience in Corporate Human Resources and as a Recruiter and Career Consultant in Executive and Contingency Search. She started her own firm in 2007. Her commitment to quality, transparency and a thorough understanding of a client’s requirements and unique culture is the key to her success. Eve’s reputation has been built on relationships, working in lock step with her clients as a partner, and being results oriented.

Eve worked for Gartner as the HR Recruiting Manager and Staffing Administrator, for 10 years helping to grow the firm from a privately held company with under 200 employees to a publicly held firm of over 3000 (which now has 15,000 employees in 100 countries). Additionally, she staffed many of Gartner’s subsidiaries as a consultant through the years. Eve worked for Tech Target as a Recruitment Manager for all C-Level Conferences as well as with Search Firms on the Retained and Contingency side on national searches in a variety of disciplines.

Specialties: Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Innovation and Development, Biotech and Pharma. Additional Industries include: Professional Service, Research and Advisory, Management Consulting, Life Sciences, Healthcare,Marketing/Communications, Not-for-Profit and Technology.

One of her “give backs” is pro bono consulting for SongwritingWith:Soldiers (SW:S), a not-for-profit organization, based in Nashville, Tennessee that pairs veterans and active-duty service members with professional (Grammy Award winning) songwriters in retreat settings to craft songs about their experiences and return home.

Eve is a graduate of Lasell College and Simmons College in Boston, MA. She is a NAPW member and CPC certified. She resides in Chatham, MA.

Conversation on Building & Leading High Performing Staffing Organizations with Tom Nunn, CEO at Tom Nunn Consulting

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 10:43:41 +0000

Tom Nunn is the president of Tom Nunn Consulting, LLC, a company he started in 2009 that specializes in helping owners and executive teams of growing companies implement best practices to enable long term growth, profitability and health. Since starting his consulting practice, Tom has worked with over 100 IT & Engineering staffing company across the country and also facilitates several industry roundtables. He is actively involved in TechServe Alliance as a speaker, facilitator and currently serves as Secretary-Treasurer for the Board of Directors.

Prior to starting his own company, Tom was president of a national IT staffing company headquartered in Boston, MA. Over the nine years that he was there, Tom helped develop and lead a high performing team that grew the company from $25MM to $100MM and top quartile profitability. Tom has over 40 years of diverse business experience including many years as an executive in the financial services industry where he led teams that oversaw IT and back-office support for various investment management functions in multi-national banks.

Creating Pathways to Opportunity And Growth For Latinos in Tech With Rocio Medina van Nierop, Founder & Executive Director at Latinas in Tech

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 06:59:35 +0000

Rocío is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Latinas in Tech. Rocío graduated with honors from Tec de Monterrey with a degree in Marketing, and until recently, Rocio was the Director of Product Marketing at Prezi where she spent several years launching Prezi’s products nationally and internationally. Prior to her role in Product Marketing, Rocio was General Manager of Prezi Latin America making Prezi one of the leading presentation platforms pushing the boundaries of innovation and effective communications.

Rocío has been an advocate for tech inclusion, participating in multiple boards of charitable organizations that push forward the participation of underrepresented minorities. Besides Latinas in Tech, Rocio has co-founded Silicon Valley Day – a conference that brings the best minds of Silicon Valley to multiple cities and countries in Latin America, helped start Red Global de Talentos Mexicanos in San Francisco, as well as the EXATEC alumni group in San Francisco, and Rocío serves as an advisor to the cultural festival MEXAM in San Francisco.

Born in the Bay Area to Mexican parents, growing up in Mexico, Germany, France, and Boston, Rocío is a proud wife and mother of two and she enjoys the outdoors, traveling, literature, and extreme sports.

Topics:

How can we address the lack of Latina representation and what will it take to improve access to jobs, education, and healthcare?
What should be done to create pathways to opportunity and growth across all sectors?
Barriers that hinders Latinas from career advancement
What is one common myth or misconception that employers have about Latinos in Tech?
Becoming an advocate for Latinx talent in Tech
Recommendation for Latinos looking to break into tech
Rocio’s advice to women who want to be a leader but don’t know how to get started

Conversation on Hiring Strategies for Startups & Investments Ecosystem in South Florida with Vlad Cazacu

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 06:59:32 +0000

Vlad is a Regional Director of Investments at Assure Syndicates, a group of High Net Worth Individuals and Family Offices focusing on early-stage private equity deals from Pre-Seed to Series B. He specializes in cross-border financial structures and leads client management for US East Coast and Europe-based clients. He is also the founder and CEO of Flowlie, a data infrastructure business for the private equity and venture capital world. Previously he was with VU Venture Partners and ff Venture Capital and is the author of “When They Win, You Win: A More Human Approach to Supporting Entrepreneurship”. Vlad graduated with a dual-degree from the University of Rochester and with a master’s from McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

How Can Organizations And Independent Contractors Maximize The Contingent Workforce Trend?

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 06:56:12 +0000

Participants:

Jon Younger, Forbes Writer & Founder of Agile Talent Collaborative.
Fitzgerald Ventura, Founder And CEO Of 1099Policy.
Terri Gallagher, Founder And CEO Of Gallagher And Consultants.
Rachel Stonestreet, Director Of Compliance & Operations at myBasePay.

Topics:

45% of freelancers think their clients really know how to work with them. What’s the secret sauce of companies that are successful in building relationships with freelancers? Why does that matter?
Independent contractors don’t want to be risk-managed; they want to be enabled
The importance of educating organizations and independent contractors on risk and compliance topics.
From loyalty and inputs to flexibility and results: the mindset shift needed for a successful contingent workforce strategy.
Partnerships as a way to drive strategic value for freelancers.
Recommendations for someone getting started as an independent contractor.

From Direct Sourcing to DE&I: Being a Change Agent for the Contingent Workforce with Wen Stenger, CEO and Co-Founder of Omni Inclusive

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 09:13:18 +0000

Wen has over 20 years’ experience in the human resources, staffing and recruiting industry including service in the U.S. Air Force. Wen has created industry changing models like direct-sourcing and DEI contingent processes to open the door for more gig professionals. Wen is the CEO and Co-Founder of Omni Inclusive, DE&I arm of TechDigital Group, that focuses on diversity & inclusion of the contingent labor workforce. Wen is the recipient of numerous industry awards to include being named to SIA’s 2021 DE&I Influencer list and as an SIA Contingent Workforce Game Changer for two consecutive years. Wen holds a master’s in psychology specializing in gender and sexual fluidity from Northcentral University and a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from Regis University.

How to Plan & Promote A 5-Day Virtual Industry Conference With Jan Jedlinski Co-founder Of The World Staffing Summit

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 08:49:57 +0000

Jan is a technology entrepreneur born in Vienna, Austria. He is the co-founder and CEO of Candidately. At Candidately Jan and his team are building the digital storefront for staffing and recruiting companies. Jan graduated from Y Combinator 2017 and raised over $4M in venture capital from investors like Speedinvest, Beenext, YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim among many others. Jan is also the co-founder of the World Staffing Summit, an annual online conference for staffing owners and operators.

Currently based in Vienna, Austria, Jan is passionate about the staffing industry as well as supporting other founders to help them succeed. He actively advises technology companies and is a Venture Partner at Pioneer Fund and Calm Storm Ventures.

Topics:

Why host a virtual conference/event?
The impact of the pandemic on the events industry
The ROI of virtual events
The perception of virtual events v.s. in-person events/conferences
Closing the Staffing Industry gap with interactive content and community
Most important takeaways from World Staffing Summit 2022

Conversation on Female Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Talent with Robin Bienfait, Tamara Lopata and Toni Harrison-Hogan

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 14:26:12 +0000

Robin Bienfait

Robin Bienfait was the chief enterprise innovation officer and senior advisor for Samsung, responsible for building strong partnerships with large global customers to deliver enterprise class services. Robin joined Samsung with over 30 years of experience in mobility, security, business development, enterprise sales, wireless network operations and engineering. As a global intrapreneur, Robin launched Samsung Business Services and advised on the B2B investment strategy. Now as CEO for Emnovate, Robin is advising and providing software solutions to emerging businesses. Prior to Samsung, Robin served as chief information officer for BlackBerry, where she led the enterprise business unit and software development team, end to end product security, tier 3 technical customer service, global network services, corporate security and corporate IT. For the majority of her career, Robin held senior leadership positions across AT&T including Bell Labs, Global Network Services/GNOC, business continuity and disaster recovery, and compliance. As an officer at AT&T, Robin’s last role was leading global network services and chief compliance officer, environment, health and safety.
Robin holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Central Missouri State University and a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a master’s degree in management of technology. A global influencer holding 15 patents, she is the recipient of several awards and was named as one of the top 100 CIO’s in STEM. Robin currently serves on multiple boards as an independent director, Empower Retirement, Putnam Investments, GW Lifeco and MUFG.

Tamara Lopata

Tamara Lopata began her career designing and creating marketing materials for a variety of technology companies which ignited her passion for the industry. Her enthusiasm for technology led her to volunteer in the Atlanta technology community with organizations such as Women in Technology (WIT), Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), and TechBridge, a nonprofit that uses technology to expand the impact of other nonprofits. As a volunteer with these organizations, Tamara led multiple programs and developed relationships with many leaders in Atlanta’s technology community.
After several years as a TechBridge volunteer, Tamara made the pivotal move to join the nonprofit to manage its marketing and subsequently its corporate relations efforts. As the Corporate Relations Manager, Tamara built meaningful relationships with CIOs and other leaders who supported TechBridge in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. In 2017 Tamara had the opportunity to join the Inspire CIO Leadership Network (InspireCIO) which was just beginning its national expansion.
Tamara served as Executive Director for both the GeorgiaCIO and AlabamaCIO chapters and helped kick off other chapters around the country. Serving the needs of CIOs gave her a unique perspective into the challenges they face and the importance of strong peer and partner relationships to their success.
Wrapping up her fourth year with InspireCIO, Tamara was ready for a new challenge. In January of 2021 she helped launch the Atlanta office of Hylaine, a Charlotte-based IT consulting company. In her role as Client Engagement Executive, Tamara has the pleasure of continuing to serve CIOs and other IT leaders by connecting them with key peers and organizations and managing their relationships as clients of Hylaine.
Tamara holds a BFA degree in Graphic Design from the University of Georgia and currently is a board member for the Society for Information Management (SIM) Atlanta and Atlanta Technology Professionals (ATP).

Toni Harrison-Hogan

Information Technology and Digital Business Executive driving innovation, transforming an organization’s business model, designing products and services to create new revenue streams, and steering IT operational excellence at multi-international and global corporations with reported annual billion-dollar revenues. Sought by the executive committee for her proactive consumer, business trendspotting, using her cultivated innovation frameworks and creative solution design thinking for unconventional exploitation of emerging technologies to enable revenue generation and market differentiation. Experienced business enabler leading enterprise transformations with over $30MM in digital investments to deepen efficiencies and optimize costs required for future consumer and product expansions. Delivered a multi-lingual eCommerce platform to enter the APAC, EMEA, and LATAM markets that increased brand recognition, double-digit customer growth, and increased commerce site traffic achieving over 1+MM clicks that translated into increased sales penetration and double-digit profitability. Architected the design of immersive technologies and experience platforms to architect best-in-class hybrid ways of selling, going to market, and ways of working for employees. Shifted the digital landscape while directing these areas: P&L, product development, growth management, strategy, cyber security, risk management, customer advocacy, transformation, and project management offices. Adept at delivering efficient IT services and solutions while managing risk and protecting core assets through operational excellence.

SIM Expo Entrepreueurs:

EyeGage: LaVonda Brown

Vital4: Amy Barbieri & Kristin Stafford

Physician360: Angela Fusaro

Xahive: Sem Ponnambalam

Agreeta: Corinna Baban

Conversation on Talent, Trends in Healthcare Staffing and Retention Strategies with Luke Carignan, CEO of Terradin

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 21:37:22 +0000

Luke Carignan is a Talent Acquistion SaaS guru, staffing firm owner, and podcast host. Obsessed with getting better every day and learning from others.

Perspectives on World Class Project Management with Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, Project Management Authority and HBR Author

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 09:47:00 +0000

Author of the Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook, the featured HBR article The Project Economy Has Arrived, and four other books, Antonio is the creator of concepts such as the Project Economy and the Project Manifesto. His research and global impact in modern management have been recognized by Thinkers50. Fellow and Former Chairman of the Project Management Institute, he is the founder of Projects&Co and co-founder of the Strategy Implementation Institute. Born in Madrid, Spain, and educated in Germany, Mexico, Italy, and the United States, Antonio is fluent in five languages. He has an MBA from London Business School. He is a member of Marshall Goldsmith 100 coaches. You can follow Antonio through his LinkedIn Newsletter – Lead Projects Successfully and website.

Conversation on Talent Marketplaces & Trends in Talent Acquisition with Ilyse Terri Shuster-Frohman, CEO of Mothership

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 19:14:36 +0000

Originally from South Africa, Ilyse hails from a long line of Entrepreneurs. She brings over 20 years of Marketing, Branding, Business and Advertising experience not only through formal education, but also by holding in-house positions at small, medium and large corporations such as Nickelodeon, United Talent Agency and Thompson Hotels.
Ilyse is a visionary who is able to see gaps in markets before they happen and is a tremendous idea’s person and executor with various ventures and lucrative projects under her belt.
As an innovator, businesswoman, artist, wife, mother, and revolutionary pioneer, she loves to solve complex problems and bring value to everything she does.
Ilyse currently serves as the CEO and founder of Mothership, an online to offline technology platform that provides elite talent on demand, and more.
She resides in South Florida with her family.

Effective Leadership & Communication Principles with Paul Szyarto – Founder at PS Group Holdings

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 19:12:47 +0000

Paul Szyarto is an Oxford University and Wharton Business School educated expert in business operations and technology and has spent the last twenty years maximizing the bottom line of more than 1000 global companies including Microsoft, Goodyear, BP, GE, United Technologies, Kellogg, Alcoa, Autoliv, Darden, Yum, and many more from the Fortune 500 list by redefining how they operate in regards to people, processes, and technologies.

He is an expert in business transformation focusing on the domains of Project/Program Management, Digital Transformation, Data Science, ERP Architecture, and Corporate Finance Optimization. In addition, he has personally supported the development of more than 20 entrepreneurial assets with cumulative revenues exceeding $350 million.

Paul is highly sought after for his speaking abilities with more than 200 events under his belt, and for his insight regarding business and digital transformation by hundreds of agencies including Fox, NBC, The NY Times, Reuters, The Inquirer, Digital Journal, Data IQ, and many more with impressions reaching millions.

Topics:

Best practices for implementing AI strategies
How to communicate like a leader
Leadership through the development of trust and honesty within teams

Conversation on Attracting the Top Talent and Fostering a Culture of Innovation with Federika Longinotti-Buitoni, Founder of Collecto

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 06:27:00 +0000

Collecto is a curated homeware retailer and wedding registry bringing together a selection of distinctive European and Latin American brands, where each piece embraces the value of craftsmanship, heritage and design. Our selection is meant to inspire you to bring distinctiveness to your table and home—different colors, textures, materials— while combining pieces that are timeless with others that are festive and unique.

Conversation on Freelancer Opportunities & HR Technology Trends with Anne Rush, CEO at Elasta Jobs

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 20:10:16 +0000

Anne is passionate about the open talent economy and creating solutions for independent talent and companies. As the Founder & CEO of Elasta Jobs, Anne connects skilled HR freelancers with companies. She has also held Fortune 100 Executive roles in Talent, Operations, and Technology. Anne holds her bachelor’s degree from Boston College and master’s degree from Harvard University.

Conversation on Investing, Hiring & Trends in AI with Rob Toews, Partner at Radical Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 09:25:52 +0000

Rob Toews is a Partner at Radical Ventures, an AI-focused venture capital firm, where he leads the firm’s investment efforts in the Bay Area.
Prior to joining Radical, Rob was a VC at Highland Capital Partners, where he led the firm’s AI investing. At Highland, Rob sourced and co-led investments in StackRox (acquired by Red Hat), Domino Data Lab, Eko and Idelic.
Previously, he spent several years in the world of autonomous vehicles, including helping lead the Strategy team at Zoox (acquired by Amazon for $1.3 billion) and working on autonomous vehicle policy in the White House under President Obama. He started his career in management consulting at Bain & Company.
Rob writes a regular column for Forbes about the big picture of artificial intelligence.
Rob holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a JD from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude), and an undergraduate degree from Stanford (Phi Beta Kappa).

How Training Programs Can Help Staffing Firms Mitigate Staff Turnover with Rick Carlson, President Harvyst Consulting

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 22:43:59 +0000

Rick Carlson has been selling, managing, and training sales, recruiting and management teams for more than 30 years. The past 20 have been spent in the staffing world. Rick has held various senior-level positions at Modis, Kforce, and Corestaff Services Group. In each organization, Rick has been tasked with revitalizing struggling offices, regions, and divisions. His hands-on approach to ensuring that team members are properly trained and adequately challenged have been the catalyst to his team’s successes. Rick is the owner and founder of Harvyst Consulting Partners, a company that customizes growth solutions specifically for staffing organizations, and the Director of the TechServe Sales Management Program.

Topics:

Rick’s journey into the staffing industry
What staffing companies can do to enhance the candidate experience
Reducing staff turnover with exceptional onboarding
Biggest growth opportunity in the staffing industry in the next 5 years?
Rick’s advice to someone looking to start a staffing agency today

Building Generational Organizations through Consultative Approach with Jerry Grady, Managing Director – UHY

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 08:48:22 +0000

Jerry Grady is the Ann Arbor Office Managing Partner for UHY LLP and board member of UHY Advisors, Inc. He has acquired a wealth of knowledge throughout his more than 35 years in public accounting. Jerry is a leading member of the firm’s National Management and Technology Consulting Services Group as well as a member of the National International Financial Reporting Standards Committee. He is also the chairperson of the firm’s National Staffing Practice that provides services to more than 200 staffing companies across the U.S.

Conversation on HR Tech Innovation with Dror Gurevich, CEO at Velocity Career Labs

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 13:36:27 +0000

Dror is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Career Labs and the Velocity Network Foundation®. These organizations co-exist to reinvent how career records and credentials are shared across the labour market, empowering individuals, businesses and educational institutions through transformational blockchain technology.
Prior to his current work, Dror served as Co-Founder and Managing Partner of AKT Solutions, one of the largest HR Tech system integrators across EMEA, working with the largest enterprises in the region to transform their HR infrastructure.
Dror’s +25 years of experience in human capital management, training and workforce enablement technologies, has made him a sought-after keynote speaker on innovations in HCM processes and technology and the Future of Work.

Fintech Trends and Innovations with Sebastian Hurtado, Co-Founder at Friendly Transfer

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 12:49:55 +0000

Political Risk entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience working at the intersection between business, government and society.

Founder of PROFITAS, the leading political risk consultancy in the andean region.

Co-founder of Friendly Transfer, the award winning, peer-to-peer platform, allowing people in different countries exchange small amounts of fiat money locally, instead of making expensive international money transfers.

Holds a bachelors in economics from Universidad CatOlica (Quito), an MBA from the McCombs Business School at the University of Texas (Austin) and a MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Columnist and analyst on politics and business whose views have been published in local and international publications like El Comercio (Quito), El Nuevo Herald (Miami), El Tiempo (Bogota), The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and others.

Conversation on Future of Work and Trends in Contingent Workforce with Rich Wilson, Tom Cooke and Jon Younger

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 05:05:32 +0000

Rich Wilson is a former executive at US staffing firm Allegis Group and Gartner, founder at Gigged.AI which is an ecosystem for the gig economy built on AI and blockchain technologies.

Tom Cooke is the co-founder and CEO of Spacely, a digital marketplace connecting independent workers to the aerospace industry. Tom is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and spent 16 of his 24 years of service in space systems development and operations. After retiring from the Air Force in 2017 he began researching open talent marketplace utilization across industries and potential applications for the aerospace industry. This led to the formation of Spacely in January 2020. In June 2020 Spacely was selected to be part of a 5 year contract effort to bring forward aerospace specific expertise to support NASA’s Open Innovation efforts through an open talent marketplace model. Spacely’s goals are to be a trusted network partner in providing access to talent for the aerospace industry and to bring forward opportunities to those who want to contribute and take part in the growing space economy.

Jon Younger is the founder of the Agile Talent Collaborative, an informal collaboration of freelance platform executives, thought leaders in the future of work space, and researchers interested in the freelance revolution. Jon sits on a number of advisory boards and is an early investor in HR tech and co-learning platforms. He co-authored five books on the future of work including Agile Talent (Harvard, 2016) HR From the Outside In (McGraw Hill, 2012), and HR Transformation (McGraw Hill, 2009). He is a contributor to Forbes, has authored many articles in HBR, Talent Quarterly, HR Management, and the Strategic HR Review, and is a well-known consultant in HR transformation. Jon is an occasional faculty member in executive education at the University of Michigan (US), the Indian School of Business (India), and the Copenhagen Business School (DK). His PhD is from the University of Toronto.

Conversation on Open Talent, Passion Economy & Blockhain with John Healy, Chief Executive at Whrrr.work

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 04:57:29 +0000

John is workforce strategy and solutions expert who has spent his career connecting people with work and connecting enterprises to the talent needed to execute their business strategy. He brings a unique blend of traditional executive leadership skills with the practical experience of being the internal agitator who develops and executes the strategies needed to remain on the forefront of a rapidly evolving industry.

John believes that the current systems that connect people with work are broken, and that radical transformation in the systems, operating models, and beliefs that form the workforce strategy of enterprises is critical to competing in our new economy.

For the past 20 years, John has been engaged by executives across the globe to help define, build, and execute their business strategy by redefining the ways that they engage talent. He leverages his broad network and deep curiosity to identify new market opportunities for startups and established enterprises.

At Kelly, John was responsible for launching the Office of the Future of Work. He balanced researching the evolving role of the organization and the barriers and opportunities related to work across four dimensions – the workforce, the workplace, technology, and social norms – with deploying the resulting products and open talent solutions both internally and externally.

John is sought out for his provocative positions and pragmatic solutions in areas related to open talent, talent supply chains, the passion economy, human agility, enterprise enablement, workforce strategy, and people analytics.

He continues to represent Kelly and the industry as Vice President of The World Employment Confederation, where he advocates for healthy labour markets globally and serves as chair of their blockchain taskforce. His commitment to public education and the importance of lifelong learning remains active through his role on the Board of the Public School Forum of North Carolina.

How To Build Repeatability into Your Startup with Amos Schwartzfarb, Managing Director of Techstars Austin Accelerator

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 17:11:39 +0000

Amos Schwartzfarb has been the Managing Director of the Techstars Austin Accelerator since 2015. With over 70 seed-stage investments including Scalefactor, Chowbotics, Storyfit, VanRobotics, Skipper, Helpberbees, Convey, Docstation, and Allstacks. Amos has become one of the most active early-stage investors, via Techstars Austin, in all of Texas. He is the author of two books: Sell More Faster—The Ultimate Sales Playbook for Startups and Levers: The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business.

Topics:

Amos’ biggest learnings as a startup founder and mentor.
Lessons learned from running 6 Techstars programs and investing in over 90 companies.
Startups’ biggest mistakes when looking to implement repeatability into the business.
The importance of the W3 framework and what most startups get wrong.
Amos’ perspective on Austin’s booming startup ecosystem.

Notes:

Levers: The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business

Conversation on Innovation, Recruiting & Investment Strategies with Ajay Agarwal, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 13:43:33 +0000

Ajay invests in seed and Series A business software and has spent the bulk of his career building and investing in software companies. Prior to Bain Capital Ventures, Ajay led product and sales as an early employee at Trilogy, an enterprise software pioneer, growing annual revenues to $300 million.

Ajay’s primary investment themes include front-office applications (Clari, Gainsight, Reprise), digital commerce enablement (Bloomreach, ShipBob, Kiva Systems), bottom-up and developer led software (Clockwise, Sendgrid), supply chain and industrial automation (FourKites, ShipBob, Vention), and the intersection of application software and fintech (Airbase, Argyle, Homebase). Through his time at BCV, Ajay has been named multiple times to the Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Venture Capitalists.

Ajay has a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Stanford University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. In addition to his firm and portfolio company responsibilities, Ajay serves as a National Board Member for BUILD, a not-for-profit dedicated to harnessing the power of entrepreneurship to ignite the potential of underprivileged youth.

Ajay grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is a die-hard Steelers fan. In addition to technology, Ajay enjoys literary fiction, playing tennis, and spending time with his family.

Leadership and Business Transformation Strategies with Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann – Founding Member at RMK Group

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 16:35:35 +0000

Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann is a seasoned CEO and veteran Fortune 50 Global Executive. She draws on deep expertise in the financial services industry and has a demonstrated track record of leading highly successful business turnarounds, scaling new businesses, and expanding operations globally.

She is the founding member of the RMK Group, LLC, an advisory and consulting service focused on fintech, digital currency and payment systems, which was formed in June 2020. Rebecca is a frequently sought-after speaker on leadership and business transformation, life and work integration, culture change, and building high-performing teams. She recently wrote a book, FitCEO: Be The Leader of Your Life, about achieving holistic health– at work, home and play.

Topics:

Rebecca’s four-pronged approach to business culture
Recommendations to overcoming risks faced by startups that are looking to scale
Top attributes to look for when building high-performing C-level teams

How to Innovate Healthcare Through Exceptional Talent & Leadership with COO of Cleveland Clinic, Alexis Espinosa

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 12:41:00 +0000

Alexis Espinosa, MS, RT(R), ARDMS currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of Cleveland Clinic Weston. Alex received his Master’s Degree from Barry University in 2009 and has 26 years of experience working in the medical field. He joined Cleveland Clinic Florida in 2000 and worked as Director of Radiology for eleven years. He then served as Senior Director of Hospital Operations and Administrator of the Center for Hospital Specialties for five years overseeing the clinical departments of Emergency Medicine, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Imaging, and Anesthesiology. In January of 2019, Mr. Espinosa was named Chief Operating Officer of Cleveland Clinic Weston. In his new role, he is responsible for the planning and direction of operations for all of Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Broward and Palm Beach facilities, including the Weston campus hospital. Alex is currently a member of the American College of Healthcare Executive, the Rotary Club and serves as a Board Member for the YMCA of South Florida and the Weston Park of Commerce.

Leveraging Low-Code Tools’ to Reskill Employees And Curb The Great Resignation With Alistair Russell, Co-founder, and CTO Of Tray.io

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 11:58:29 +0000

Alistair Russell is CTO and co-founder of Tray.io. A graduate of the University of Southampton, he collaborated with computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee on Semantic Web UX research as part of the Web Science Research Initiative. Ali co-founded Tray.io because he saw there was a shortage of the software engineering skills that modern companies need to scale in a world overrun by SaaS. Making the creation of software more accessible to business professionals has been a key tenet of his career.

Tray.io is low-code automation for everyone. The Tray.io General Automation Platform democratizes automation and integration so anyone can easily turn their unique business processes into repeatable and scalable workflows that evolve whenever business needs change.

Topics:

Allistair’s journey to Tray.io
Biggest lessons in co-founding and building Tray.io
Allistair’s advice if you are looking to learn low-code automation implementation today
How enterprises can leverage low-code tools to reskill employees and enable them to innovate business processes

Conversation on Total Talent Management and Contingent Workforce Strategies with Ken Brotherston

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 17:00:35 +0000

Ken has vast experience successfully running & building global businesses across the TA & recruitment ecosystem. Ken leads the TALiNT Partners team, helping to create exceptional experiences for our audiences.

With over 30 years’ industry experience including Board positions at Robert Walters, Korn/Ferry International, Morgan McKinley, and as HR Director Fidelity Investments. He also sits on the Recruitment and Development Committee at Oxfam.

Exemplary Leadership for the Competitive Staffing Agency Market with Robin Walters, CEO and Founder at Rogue Recruitment

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Robin Walters is CEO and Founder at Rogue Recruitment.

Strategies for Building High-Performing Teams with Danny Morrow – Co-founder and CTO at Extend

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:36:03 +0000

Danny Morrow is the CTO & Co-Founder of Extend, the fintech modernizing the payments industry from the inside out. Extend provides digital payment infrastructure for trusted financial institutions to enable modern card experiences. Leading banks, businesses, and other innovators can use the platform to access the full power of virtual cards for their business, products, and clients.

Topics:

Lessons learned from transitioning to fully remote teams during the pandemic
How Extend positioned themselves to take advantage of the biggest FinTech trends
Innovative ways for maximize existing resources to gain a competitive advantage

The Power Of Data To Accelerate The Growth Of Sales And Marketing Teams With Henry Schuck, Founder and CEO Of Zoominfo

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:32:55 +0000

Henry Schuck is the founder and CEO of ZoomInfo, (NASDAQ:ZI) a Go-To-Market Intelligence Solution for more than 20,000 companies worldwide. The ZoomInfo platform empowers business-to-business sales, marketing, and recruiting professionals to hit their number by pairing best-in-class technology with unrivaled data coverage, accuracy, and depth of company and contact information. With integrations embedded into workflows and technology stacks, including the leading CRM, Sales Engagement, Marketing Automation, and Talent Management applications, ZoomInfo drives more predictable, accelerated, and sustainable growth for its customers. ZoomInfo emphasizes GDPR and CCPA compliance.

Topics:

How ZoomInfo is helping businesses (both large and small) modernize their sales, recruiting, and marketing motions
Why data and automation are more important than ever in the pandemic and post-pandemic sales environment
How the company has successfully doubled its workforce during the pandemic and onboarded new employees remotely
Zoominfo’s impact on businesses impacted by the pandemic

Connecting Leaders With The Best Talent Beyond The Resume With Laura LaBine, Founder of LaBine And Associates

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:29:26 +0000

Laura worked in a wide range of recruiting environments and is passionate about creating successful professional connections. She opened her firm in 2013 and synthesized her experience of corporate, contract, permanent placement, and project work into LaBine and Associates. Labine and Associates partners with leaders in the field of Talent Acquisition to be able to provide flexible and successful solutions for employers. Her motto is “all sizes do not fit the same, and there are often other ways to solve the problem of getting things done”.

LaBine and Associates is a member of NPA Worldwide, a 60+-year-old global network of highly specialized recruiters, enabling partnerships with experts to fill up roles. NPAworldwide membership is offered on a selective basis to recruitment firms with a proven track record of both experience and success.

Topics:

Laura’s unconventional journey into the staffing industry
How to cultivate a diverse pool of candidates
What most organizations get wrong about culture and diversity
Laura’s biggest lesson from spending a full year in a wheelchair
The secret to a successful partnership between an organization, candidates, and staffing firm
Laura’s advice to navigate the talent shortage

Helping Enterprises Attract Top Talent Amid The Pandemic With Deborah Cento Skender, Managing Principal at DCS Consulting and Staffing

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:26:57 +0000

Deborah Cento Skender has spent her career working in the staffing and recruiting industry from running a full life cycle recruiting desk to running her own search firm, DCS Consulting and Staffing. DCS Consulting and Staffing is a national executive search firm specializing in placing highly successful professionals within the staffing industry, as well as Consultative sales organizations requiring the expertise of sales, customer service, and human resource top talent that will support, empower, and develop profitable organizations. Headquartered in Denver, CO, our executive search firm provides staffing and consulting services for clients throughout the USA.

Deborah has an uncanny ability to source and deliver excellent candidates. She has vast experience in many industries including sales, IT, engineering, staffing, accounting and finance, administrative, clerical, customer service, human resources, hospitality, and light industrial as well as emerging markets. She also offers an excellent sales track record in building trust and rapport quickly as well as meeting and exceeding revenue goals.

Deborah has a deep network in the industry. She has served as the past President of the Colorado Staffing Association in 2004 and 2005 as well as a Board Member from 2002 to 2018. She also served as a Board Member of the American Staffing Association in 2007. Deborah was certified Professional Human Resource (PHR) in 2011.

Topics:

Deborah’s journey into the staffing industry and running her own consulting and staffing firm.
What staffing firms can do to address the talent gap and mitigate risks associated with it.
Deborah’s recommendations to anyone looking to start a staffing business today.
Deborah’s approach to helping clients grow and attract top talent amid the pandemic.
Deborah’s advice to other women looking to build a career in the staffing industry.
How taking responsibility for the candidate experience from start to finish can help you stand out.

Conversation on Technology Trends and Building High Performing Teams with Alfonso Dager – Head of DevSecOps at FedEx

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:16:54 +0000

Alfonso Dager is an IT Manager of the Development-Security-Operations (DevSecOps) team at FedEx Express’ Latin-America and Caribbean Division based in Miami, Florida. In this role, he leads a team to implement modern technologies, processes and culture change to enable IT development teams to work with greater efficiency while promoting greater visibility and fewer obstacles to promote software changes to end-users. In 2016, Alfonso received the Professional Engineering in Software license from the State of Florida. He graduated with a Master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2009 and from the University of Miami with a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering in 2007. As a volunteer with the University of Miami, he has served as President of the College of Engineering Alumni Association from 2011 to 2014, uShadow Mentor and member of the Young Alumni Leadership Council. He is a married father of three ranging from 17, 14 and 1 years old. He is also a avid pig roaster and tailgater.

How to Take Your Company Public Successfully via SPAC with Jason Wilk, CEO of Dave.com

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:11:54 +0000

Jason Wilk is the co-founder and CEO of Dave. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jason is a lifelong entrepreneur who’s always had a passion for building products that help solve problems for everyday hard working Americans. Currently, founder and CEO of Dave, a leading challenger bank focused on lifting the collective potential of America. The company has amassed 10 million users with its innovative checking account that was first to market in 2017 with fee-free overdraft, credit building, expense predictions and a gig-economy focused job board. As CEO, Jason sets the vision and product strategy for the 200+ person company. Dave is the #1 Forbes ranked startup employer in LA, a member of the CNBC Disruptor 50, Forbes Fintech 50 list and the #5 fastest growing company on the 2021 Inc 5000 list. Jason was also named 2020 entrepreneur of the year in Los Angeles by EY.

How to End the Collaboration Chaos Ruining Recruitment & Candidate Experience with Katrina Collier, Published Author & Expert

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:08:31 +0000

Katrina Collier is on a mission to end the collaboration chaos that ruins recruitment and candidate experience; exacerbated by hybrid working. Her inclusive workshops help companies fix the real issues preventing successful talent acquisition, and her unique shared-learning Mastermind program develops the skills HR & recruiters need to partner effectively with the business and candidates. She is also a Mentor, Author of The Robot-Proof Recruiter, a global keynote speaker, and host of The Hiring Partner Perspective (Unedited) podcast.

Katrina is an Ambassador for Hope for Justice charity, and you’ll find her on LinkedIn and on Instagram & Twitter @KatrinaMCollier.

How to Invest into B2B Early Stage Startups with Mendy Yang, Investor at Lerer Hippeau

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:02:51 +0000

Mendy Yang is an investor at Lerer Hippeau, an early stage venture capital firm based in NYC. At LH, Mendy focuses on B2B software investments and is particularly interested in future of work, fintech, digital health and other verticalized SaaS of all kinds. Prior to joining LH, she was an early stage VC at Soma Capital in San Francisco. She also spent 4 years at Vista Equity Partners, where she began her investing career and discovered her fascination with software technology. Mendy enjoys adventures across the world, wineries & breweries, international cuisines and outdoor excursions.

How to Build a Staffing Firm while based in Costa Rica with the Founder of Orchid Holistic Search – Angela Marturano

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 10:58:03 +0000

Angela is a Detroit native living in Costa Rica and a veteran recruiter in the natural products industry. She and her partner Matt founded Orchid Holistic Search in 2010. They work with conscious, mission driven food, beverage and supplement brands on key executive hiring needs; guiding them towards aligned talent who will drive growth and foster culture.

Conversation on Contingent Workforce and Talent Acquisition Industry Trends with Kevin Sturge

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 04:29:38 +0000

Kevin Sturge is an Independent contractor helping drive Contingent Labor strategies. Kevin gets the best out of extended workforces whilst protect a company’s brand and driving value. Kevin previously ran Cisco’s global contingent workforce covering 55,000 contractors.

The Future of Agile Project Management with Fatimah Abbouchi – Founder and CEO at Agile Management Office

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 12:32:10 +0000

Fatimah Abbouchi is the Founder and CEO of Agile Management Office®; a thought-leader providing governance solutions for organisations to manage and govern projects in the agile era. Fatimah is also founder of Return of the Panda®, a not for profit focused on improving the mental health of the millions of anxiety sufferers worldwide. As a successful businesswoman, Fatimah has been supporting businesses from start-ups to enterprise internationally for the past 18 years as an advisor, educator, and award-winning thought leader.

A writer, speaker and host of the ‘Agile Ideas®’ podcast, Fatimah has appeared in The Age, UK Business Telegraph, PM Review Magazine China, Business Chick’s ‘Latte Magazine’ and featured on CIO.com.au. Fatimah has been invited to speak at dozens of events globally. She is also a guest lecturer at Aarhus University in Denmark in the International Project Management Programs and acts as a Corporate Governance Advisor to them.

Personally, Fatimah is passionate about supporting those in the community with anxiety and depression through beyondblue; having spoken at 45 events aimed at raising awareness, reducing stigma, and encouraging others to similarly get involved.

Topics:

New trends that will heavily impact Project Management
Collaboration techniques between Project Managers and Product teams
Strategies for dealing with difficult stakeholders

Conversation on Talent, Staffing Industry Trends and Innovation Strategies with Art Papas, CEO of Bullhorn

The Ivy Podcast — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 15:58:45 +0000

Art Papas is the Founder and CEO of Bullhorn, Inc., the global leader in software for the staffing & recruitment industry. Art was the original architect of Bullhorn’s flagship Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which now helps more than 10,000 companies around the world run their businesses. In 2014, Ernst & Young named Art an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winner in New England. Prior to starting Bullhorn, Art started his career as a software engineer at Thomson Reuters. Art is a graduate of Tufts University, holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. Art currently serves on the Tufts Computer Science External Advisory Board

Take Responsibility for Your Own Career Success With Ed Evarts, Founder Of Excellius Leadership Development

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 11:41:08 +0000

Founder and president of Excellius Leadership Development, an organization focused on coaching mid to senior-level leaders and their teams in business environments. With over 25 years of innovative leadership and management experience, Ed possesses the ability to build awareness, create action, and deliver results. He is known for his business acumen and his ability to resolve complex human relations issues, and his enthusiastic, accessible and responsive style. Ed partners with managers and leaders in business teams to explore clarity and communication and traverse conflict and change. And today, Ed and I are going to be talking about how you can drive your career.

Ed Evarts is the founder and president of Excellius Leadership Development, a Boston-based coaching organization. He works with successful leaders to increase their self-awareness so they can manage themselves more productively; with successful teams to ensure their time together is as productive as possible; and with smaller organizations, at a pivot point in their evolution, to help them plan strategically and purposefully.

Ed is also the author of “Raise Your Visibility & Value: Uncover the Lost Art of Connecting on the Job” and the host of Be Brave@Work, a weekly podcast in which leaders share stories about bravery—or the lack of it—in their careers, and the impact their choices have had on their career progression.

Topics:

Ed’s journey into leadership coaching.
Why do we need to take responsibility for our own careers
The importance of soft skills like curiosity, empathy, and active listening
Aligning communication styles and expectations with your boss
Self-awareness as the key to unlocking a successful career

A Conversation on the State of Recruiting Industry and Future Trends with the President of NPA Worldwide, David Nerz

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:57:02 +0000

Dave Nerz is the president of the NPAworldwide Recruitment Network. He has served as the leader of this 65-year-old member-owned cooperative since 2006. The network facilitates split fee recruiting for the independent recruitment firms it counts as members. Under his leadership the membership has grown as large as 575 members and annual shared revenues have exceeded $8,000,000 in fees. The membership of NPAworldwide is currently comprised of member firms on six continents and more than 42 different countries.

Dave has been a speaker and presenter at numerous recruitment focused events including the Recruitment Agency Expo in London, the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) Annual Conference in the US, and most recently at NPAworldwide conferences on 5 continents including events in Dublin-Ireland, Melbourne-Australia, Beijing-China, Sao Paulo-Brazil, and Las Vegas-US.

Mr. Nerz is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, has served previously as a volunteer on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Personnel Services, was the NAPS Chairman’s Award winner in 2009 and 2013 and holds a credential from NAPS as a Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC)

How to Develop a Sales Strategy That Actually Works with the Author and Harvard Business School Professor, Frank Cespedes

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:11:12 +0000

Frank Cespedes teaches at Harvard Business School and for 12 years was Managing Partner at a professional services firm. He has worked with many companies on go-to-market and strategy issues, and has been a Board member at consumer goods, industrial products, and services firms. He has written for numerous publications including Harvard Business Review, European Business Review, Organization Science, and The Wall Street Journal; and he is the author of six books including Aligning Strategy and Sales which was cited as “the best sales book of the year” (Strategy & Business), “a must read” (Gartner), and “perhaps the best sales book ever” (Forbes). His newest book is Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021).

The Element of Human Design Incorporated to the Future Trajectory of Modernized HR Initiatives with Kasia Jakarsezian, Human Design Expert at Mission Recruit & Director of Operations at IQ Food Co.

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:07:07 +0000

Kasia is a passionate HR leader with over a decade of experience building and scaling retail and hospitality teams. Most recently, her focus has been on team development and workplace culture. Kasia believes the modern workplace will emphasize our human connection by placing the greatest emphasis on employees’ talents, strengths, and skills. When managers effectively do this, Kasia has witnessed remarkable results unfold with individuals and entire teams. Kasia’s heart-centered leadership approach is proven to increase overall productivity, improve P&Ls, increase retention, and decrease turnover. Incorporating principles of Human Design, Kasia is now partnering with Mission Recruit and engaging with leaders and entrepreneurs to usher in this powerful new paradigm of leadership and workplace culture.

Disruptive Technology and the Impacts to Staffing with Tom McDonald, Business Development Consultant at Sherlock Resources

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:02:53 +0000

Tom McDonald has over 25 years of broad business experience including business development, operations, client management, finance, accounting, business startups, and market development. He has extensive experience in small, mid-market, and large brand-name organizations covering a wide variety of industries. Over the years, Tom has cultivated a large professional network in local and national business communities. Tom has been called the “Networking Ninja” with a knack for knowing who to connect people to for mutual benefit. He holds a B.S. in Management from the University At Buffalo, and an MBA from the University of North Florida.

Significant Roles played by Public Relations Companies with Morgan Borer – Partner at Bevel

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 11:37:59 +0000

Morgan Borer is a Partner at Bevel, leading communications consultancy driving quantifiable results for clients in finance, tech, venture capital, consumer brands, entertainment and more. Bevel works with category-leading brands across sectors, with a business model that combines the power of influential storytelling with the analytical mindset of a start-up.

As the first employee at Bevel when the firm launched in March 2017, she helped grow the firm from two to 25+ employees alongside Bevel’s founder and Executive Chairwoman, Jessica Schaefer, former Head of Communications for Steve Cohen’s Point72. Morgan helped to open the firm’s first office in downtown New York City and later, a second in Santa Monica.

Since inception, she’s helped grow the firm’s client base from three to nearly 40 unique brands, including Acorns, Dave.com, Yieldstreet, Greycroft, Rally, Rho Business Bank, Torch Capital, Avid Ventures and more.

Topics:

Challenges faced by PR companies during the pandemic
Risks associated with companies rebranding their name
PR roles in handling responses to corporate crises

Increasing Access to Funding for Women and Minorities with Jeanine Suah – Entrepreneur and Venture Capital Scout at Florida Funders

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 11 Nov 2021 14:42:15 +0000

Go-giving entrepreneur who uses the world as inspiration for community innovation. Born to Jamaican parents who migrated to the United States, Jeanine prides herself on being a global citizen who speaks three languages, dances salsa and samba, and has shared meals with strangers in nearly 20 countries. She lives by the credo, “Always give more in value than you receive in payment,” and trusts that genuine relationship-building and persistence are the keys to success.

Topics:
- Recommendations on how minorities can access VC funding
- Attributes of an effective pitch deck
- Alternative avenues for founders to obtain funding

Managing Employee Equity with Frederik Mijnhardt – CEO and Co-Founder of Secfi

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 11 Nov 2021 12:59:55 +0000

Frederik Mijnhardt is the CEO of Secfi and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to Secfi, he was the Corporate Development Lead at Karhoo, and a Strategy Consultant for digital transformation projects for Accenture’s Global Strategy division.

As founder of the UUBC start-up incubator, he was awarded the Google Internet Impact Award for groundbreaking research into the intersection of business and technology. He has deep expertise in start-ups, innovation, private equity, corporate strategy, business development, engineering, and product.

Topics:

Exercising equity options prior to an exit
Challenges facing financial regulators when dealing with FinTech companies
Potential impacts of digital currencies on future equity grants

How to Build a Successful Recruitment Outsourcing Company through Gamification with CEO of iPlace, Hank Levine

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 10:42:02 +0000

Hank Levine is the President and CEO of iPlace USA, the largest company providing professionally managed recruiting services for companies worldwide. Founded in 2006, iPlace has over 800 employees, 100 clients, and has placed over 17,000 professionals in 21 countries on five continents.

Hank has served in senior management positions in sales, business development, marketing, and general management. He has created the marketing and business strategy for six companies – four of which were acquired for a total of $92 million. Hank holds his Master’s in Management from the Sloan School at MIT and Bachelor’s in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Conversation on Freelance Communities, Worker Classification and Winning the War on Retention with Niklas Lieb and Hans-Ulrich Freyberg from Vicoland

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 08:14:33 +0000

Hans started working at Bertelsmann after graduating from Stanford. Has led different publishing business within Bertelsmann in Germany, France and Spain. In 2000, he founded Cocomore together with Bertelsmann. Cocomore is a full-service digital agency realizing digital projects for clients like Nestlé, Samsung, P&G or Sanofi. Today, Cocomore is one of the few remaining independent digital agencies and has around 250 employees. Next to the Cocomore business, Hans has built up several start-ups of which the last one, Kairion, was sold to the TV media conglomerate ProSiebenSat1. Vicoland is the youngest incubation of Cocomore and the first one operating in the same business field as its mother agency. At Vicoland, he currently focuses on setting the strategic direction for sustainable growth of the company.

After graduating from business school, Niklas worked in a digital agency in Munich learning the fundamentals of how digital professional services projects are realized. He was mainly focusing on advising clients on digital transaction projects and digital execution strategies setting them up for growth. As he experienced the talent shortage problems typical for the agency industry at Ommax, he realized the potential of the Vicoland product and joined the team to build up the business development department. Niklas mainly focuses on shaping the go-to-market strategy for Vicoland and scaling profitable sales verticals. In addition, he oversees the implementation of processes ensuring a smooth hand-in-hand flow between the Vicoland technology and human service.

Leadership Principles for FinTech Startups with Keith Smith – CEO and Co-Founder of Payability

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 17:42:56 +0000

Keith Smith is the co-Founder and CEO of Payability. He originally hails from the Pacific Northwest and now calls New York City home. Keith spent the initial few years of his career working as an analyst at a few financial institutions before founding CyberMortgage and then Zango. He was most recently co-Founder and CEO of BigDoor, which provides loyalty programs to large consumer brands, including; NFL, MLB, CBS, Viacom, and Starbucks. A successful entrepreneur, Keith regularly lends his time to early-stage startups via TechStars and also serves as an advisor, investor, and board member for multiple tech startups.

Topics:

Overcoming risks and barriers for startups
New trends that will dominate the FinTech industry
The role of empathy in company leadership

The Art of Executive Coaching with Edward Sullivan – CEO and Managing Partner at Velocity Group

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 13:32:16 +0000

Edward Sullivan is the CEO of Velocity Group and throughout his 20 year career, he has coached and advised start-up founders, Fortune 500 executives, and political leaders.

His client list includes leaders from AirTable, Bombas, Clear, DoorDash, Google, Harry’s, Hinge, MasterClass, Polaroid, and many others. Edward helps Startup CEOs and their executive teams scale their leadership skills and build cultures of collaboration, high performance, and psychological safety.

Topics:

How executive leaders can develop skills for exerting positive influence
Differences in leadership styles between political leaders and corporate leaders
Attributes to look for before investing in startups

How to Build a Successful, Generational Venture Capital Firm with Sam Palazzolo from Tip of the Spear Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 12:00:34 +0000

Sam Palazzolo is the Founder/Managing Director at Tip of the Spear Ventures, a Private Equity firm that provides early-stage Entrepreneurs with venture capital, has a holding portfolio from Mergers & Acquisitions, and conducts Business Funding services. During Sam’s time at Tip, he and his team built the organization into one of Venture Capital’s favorite firms, a sustainable leader, and an innovation early-adopter, dramatically increasing customer satisfaction and growing financial results for the companies they help grow. His greatest achievement, however, may have been to make himself a better leader: he decided to work on his leadership skills relentlessly, and grow the next generation of leaders.
Sam’s purpose in life is to make a positive difference on people around him and use the platform he has to make a positive difference in the world. In addition to serving on several board of directors, he spends time as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and supporting other leaders seeking to become the best versions of themselves and to lead with purpose and humanity at the Javelin Institute, a 501(c)(3) he founded. He is also actively invested in efforts to advance meaningful diversity and inclusion.

Conversation on Leadership, Acquiring & Integrating Staffing Firms, Trends in Talent Acquisition with the President of Job.com – Steve O’Brien

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:43:19 +0000

Steve O’Brien serves as President, Staffing at Job.com and and specializes in global high volume Talent Acquisition and artificial intelligence for Talent Acquisition processes. Steve has lead global recruitment for multiple fortune 100 organizations, delivering over 50,000 specialized hires a year. He additionally holds several patents for his work in the areas of machine learning for recruitment.

Prior to joining Job.com, Steve served as Vice President of Talent Fusion with digital recruitment leader Monster.com and has over fifteen years of diversified recruitment experience. He began his career in agency search, boutique retained projects and global Recruitment Process Outsourcing before selecting the interection of technology and talent acquisition as his focus.

Steve holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from The Pennsylvania State University.

Building a Career in Investing with Kai Cash, Investor at Primary VC

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:35:52 +0000

Kai is an Analyst at Primary and is a native of The Bronx. Kai focuses on investing in enterprise technology across all industries.

Previously Kai has program-managed the Blackstone Launchpad in partnership with Techstars and Future Founders; interned at Alphabet’s independent growth fund CapitalG; founded an incubator at Tsinghua University in Beijing as a Schwarzman Scholar; and founded an entrepreneurship program at Williams College.

Most recently, he was a Financial Rotational Program Analyst at Microsoft, where he aided in maintaining financial models related to Microsoft’s carbon tax revenues, carbon offset portfolio, and venture capital arm (M12). As a lover of Latin dancing, Kai spends his free time learning every form of Latino and Afro-Latino dance, from Colombian and Cuban Salsa to Angolan Kizomba.

Growing Your Staffing Firm in The Age Of Disruption With Barry Asin, President of Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA)

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:27:23 +0000

A leading authority on workforce solutions worldwide, Barry Asin is renowned for his expertise in staffing and contingent labor. President of Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) since 2010, Asin holds overall responsibility for the company’s strategy, operations, and growth on a global basis. He has been with the company since 2003, where he previously held the position of Chief Analyst, leading the team responsible for SIA’s award-winning research and content.

Asin is the co-author of Breaking Through: Leadership Disciplines from Top Performing Staffing Firms and is a frequent speaker at industry events, sharing essential insights on leadership and the challenges, opportunities, and rapid transformations around work today. He is quoted in major business and industry publications, including the New York Times, BusinessWeek, Inc. Magazine, The Atlantic, Bloomberg Business, CNBC, Marketplace, USA Today and MarketWatch among others.

Prior to joining SIA, Asin spent nearly 12 years as a senior executive at global staffing leader Adecco SA. Before Adecco, he held operations management positions with PepsiCo, and he began his professional career with Andersen Consulting, the predecessor of Accenture. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University and a B.S. in engineering from Princeton University.

Topics:

Barry’s journey into the staffing industry and SIA.
Barry’s advice on leveraging the contingent workforce trend as an opportunity for growth.
Practical insights for staffing firm owners from Barry’s book Breaking Through: Leadership Disciplines from Top Performing Staffing Firms.
The impact of technology and digital disruption in the staffing industry.
Common mistakes when implementing a contingent workforce program.

What Will Drive IT & Engineering Staffing Firms Success in the Future with Mark Roberts, CEO at Techserve Alliance

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:23:36 +0000

Mark Roberts is CEO of TechServe Alliance, the national trade association serving IT and engineering staffing and solutions firms. Roberts is a noted authority and spokesperson on industry trends. Under his leadership since 2003, the organization has expanded significantly moving beyond traditional association offerings creating multiple innovative programs designed to drive member firm growth and profitability. From its unique member-owned insurance program, account executive and recruiter certification, Excellence Awards, to contract and compliance assistance hotline and sales and recruiter management programs, Roberts has led the organization through its transformation.

Before joining TechServe Alliance, Mr. Roberts was a partner in the Labor and Employment Group of a major law firm and served four years on Capitol Hill. He earned his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his law degree with distinction from Emory University. Mr. Roberts currently serves as a member of the Labor Relations Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He has been repeatedly named to the Staffing Industry 100 List and is a member of the Hall of Fame.

Topics:

Mark’s journey into the IT staffing industry and Techserve’s leadership.
What staffing firms can do to address the talent gap and mitigate risks associated with it.
The importance of partnerships to grow and scale your staffing firm.
The impact of remote work on talent diversity.
Considerations when looking to implement an offshoring and nearshoring strategy.

Finding Your Career Path In The New MiamiTech Ecosystem With Elizabeth Irizarry, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Empire Office

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 09:52:16 +0000

Elizabeth is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Empire Office, the largest commercial furniture dealer in the world delivering workspace solutions to activate brands.

In her role, Elizabeth works closely with regional leadership to strengthen relationships with key partners in the South Florida area. Having previously worked on both the dealer and manufacturing sides of the industry, Elizabeth has extensive experience in strategic sales, product positioning, contract negotiations, change management, and network development. She has also served on the IIDA South Florida board for over five years and is actively involved in many design and construction organizations throughout the tri-county area.

Elizabeth is also the co-host for the Infinite Attraction podcast, where she helps you uncover and navigate everything happening with MiamiTech.

Topics:

Elizabeth’s journey into an interior design career and the MiamiTech ecosystem.
Designing physical spaces for the future of work.
Learning to adapt and reinvent yourself as a future-proof skill.
Elizabeth’s recommendations if you are planning the move to Miami.
Miami’s “How Can I Help?” new way of doing business.

The Technology Needed to Drive a Balanced Workforce with Aashir Shroff, Product Director, Talent Acquisition and Flex at Eightfold.ai

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 12:09:11 +0000

As a pioneer within the Direct Sourcing Movement, Aashir shares with us his experience in blueprinting the technology behind one of the largest Contingent Worker programs in the Direct Sourcing space. Aashir talks us through his thoughts on the future of work and the incredibly important role technology plays as organizations and candidates alike modernize the notion in work fulfillment.

Benefits of College and University Rankings with Mandy Mok – Founder and CEO of AppliedHE

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 11:59:52 +0000

Mandy Mok has three decades of corporate experience driven by a deep passion for the advancement of Higher Education. Joining Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) in June 2002 was a major career move which gave her ample opportunities to spearhead their pioneering work for International Higher Education, particularly in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA). In her capacity as CEO of QS Asia, Mandy has offered the best of branding, consultancy, and student recruitment services to Universities in the region.

Sensitive to the specific needs of institutions that fall outside of established ranking performance measures, Mandy has left QS to start AppliedHE on 1^st January 2020, a new higher education branding and rating agency which is focused on employability, quality of teaching and learning, and collaboration with industry.

AppliedHE brings the benefits of a fresh, new technology-driven operation to the field of higher education branding, ratings and professional networking. It leverages big data and artificial intelligence together with Mandy’s vast and specialist experience to reinvent her industry and with it, the higher education sector.

Topics:

Switching from the business world to the academic side
Criteria that go into the ranking of colleges and universities
Benefits to employers and students as it relates to using rankings

How to Get a Job at Big Tech with an Emphasis on Personality with Maxat Kadyrov, Sr. Engineer at Linkedin

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 06:02:21 +0000

Maxat Kadyrov is a Senior Software Engineer at Linkedin and founder of oneunion.io. Maxat has been 10 years in the industry working in big and small companies as well as startups. One of the startups he worked on was awarded as “Most Social Impact”. Maxat is actively sharing his tech knowledge in social networks and also mentoring young folks on how to land a dream job in Silicon Valley.

How to Build a World Class & Award Winning Design Studio with Rob Brady, Founder of ROBRADY design + production + capital

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 20:48:41 +0000

As a CEO and Design Director, the work he does is not only a mission; it’s personal. Finding that harmony makes each project a learning process that starts with listening and building an empathetic understanding of every stakeholder’s needs.
For 25 years, his forward-looking entrepreneurship and dedication to design excellence has
contributed to over 40 patented and award-winning innovations in robotics, marine, medical,
military, industrial, and powersports markets. It has also led his design teams to work all over the
world, including Capitol Hill, where he has shared his commitment to creating innovation that can
impact the quality of life for those afflicted by the opioid epidemic. Today, he has come to appreciate
the personal side of design leadership that stems from building relationships to make a real
difference in the world.

How to Invest in Deep Tech with Rick Hao from SpeedInvest

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 12:38:00 +0000

Rick Hao is a Deep Tech Investor at Speedinvest.

Conversation on Digital Transformation & Building High Performing Teams with Walt Carter – CIO at Homestar

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 11:42:01 +0000

Walt Carter has over thirty years in technology leadership roles. He is adept at working through complex business challenges and has successfully implemented enterprise-wide packaged software solutions in several fast-paced technical environments. Walt and his teams delivered enabling technology upgrades for a national mortgage company to drive 205% growth in origination volume in just two years. His teams have received accolades from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s, Bloomberg and MarketWatch for innovative use of technology in Financial Services firms.

With and undergraduate degree in Physics, Walt started his career as a technical officer in the US Air Force serving in the nuclear missile arena and Cold War command posts. He’s won awards for his leadership on a $100 million transformation at a major airline and he was named Georgia Corporate CIO of the Year in 2014 by the Georgia CIO Leadership Association for his ground-breaking work at Generation Mortgage. Most recently he was selected as a member of the 2020 Constellation Research Business Transformation 150.

A polished speaker, Walt frequently provides compelling keynotes on change leadership.

Conversation on Future of Work and Trends in Contingent Workforce with Christopher Dwyer, Ardent Partners

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 11:26:41 +0000

Christopher J. Dwyer is the Senior Vice President of Research at Ardent Partners and the Managing Director of the Future of Work Exchange. He has been the market’s leading authority on contingent workforce management, staffing, HR and related technology, and talent management for the past 15 years. Dwyer was an early architect of the Future of Work movement and evangelizes the progressive strategies, solutions, and technologies that optimize how work is done. He has written hundreds of research studies on the evolution of talent and work and also serves as the host for the groundbreaking Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast. Dwyer is actively engaged by global business leaders for guidance on staffing technology adoption, business transformation, and work optimization.

Conversation on Talent, Innovation & Career Development with COO of Salesforce – Archana Subramanian

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 11:21:04 +0000

Archana Subramanian, celebrating her tenth year at Salesforce this year, serves as the COO for the Australia/New Zealand and ASEAN regions.

Prior to this served as the COO to the AMER Verticals and Marketing Cloud Operating Units leading the Sales Strategy and Sales Development teams. Over the past decade she has had tremendous impact on the North America business leading teams through multiple complex go to market transformations.

Born and raised in India she has spent the last 14 years in the United States, and has recently moved to Sydney, Australia with her husband and two girls (Aria, 8 and Jia, 5 years old) and their dog Kulfi.

The Essence of Successful Project Management with Margaret Meloni – Owner of pmStudent.com

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 09:33:15 +0000

Margaret Meloni, MBA, PhD is the pmStudent.com community leader. pmStudent.com is devoted to helping Project Managers successfully navigate the art and science of project management.

Her background in IT Project Management and PMO Leadership, which enables Margaret to understand the challenges PMs face in managing projects. A recipient of the UCLA Extension Distinguished Instructors award, her wish is to see her students take on tough projects and emerge as strong and sought-after Project Managers.

Topics:

How project management has transformed over the last decade
Impacts to stakeholder management for co-located teams
Latest PM trends that can make new Project Managers successful from Day 1

How to Build a Successful Executive Search Firm in Healthcare with Neill Marshall from HealthSearch Partners

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 09:26:07 +0000

Marshall Neill has almost 30 years of experience in healthcare search and has been involved in over 600 hundred senior-level assignments. He’s held leadership roles with significant executive search firms. In 2017 helped create and is currently the Chairman of HealthSearch Partners, the sixth-largest healthcare executive search entity in the U.S.

HealthSearch Partners combines CES Partners, FaithSearch Partners, and Southerland Partners, creating a unique platform to provide a better executive search product.

Marshall’s newest venture is leading groups of late-career senior executives through a process called the Grey Hustle. The Grey Hustle is a retirement vehicle for seniors executives to stay involved in their industry after retirement with financial benefits.

In 2014 Marshall co-founded, Southerland Partners, an executive search firm specializing in recruiting leaders for hospitals and other healthcare organizations. Southerland Partners conducted 80 projects, 12 Chief Executive Officers, including the Chief Executive Officer searches for Intermountain Health Care and Baptist Health in Louisville, 7 Chief Operating Officers, 9 Chief Financial Officers, and numerous other executive-level projects.

In 2005, Marshall founded Marshall Koll & Associates, an executive search firm specializing in recruiting leaders for healthcare organizations. In 12 years, they conducted 150 projects for their hospital clients.

Before Marshall Koll, Neill was a senior consultant with Witt/Kieffer in Dallas. Witt/Kieffer is the largest executive search firm in the U.S., specializing in healthcare and higher education. At the

firm, he was responsible for executive search assignments for client organizations and received the firm’s Quality Award in 2004. While there, he was involved in over 350 senior-level assignments, including 50 for CEO.

Neill was previously director of marketing for Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, the nation’s largest physician search firm. Early in his career, he was an area sales manager for Hematronix, a laboratory supply manufacturer, and an operations manager for Ferguson Enterprises, Inc., an industrial supply firm.

A serial entrepreneur who has started three successful companies, Marshall has spoken to professional groups, trustee groups, and boards of directors on executive recruiting and other healthcare issues and has written numerous articles and promotional publications.

Neill earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Management from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where he helped grow the Society for Entrepreneurship and New Ventures (ENVE) into one of the most respected student-led organizations on campus. He served in various leadership roles, including vice president and marketing director

Building a Successful IT Staffing Company and Value of Mentorship with Anastasia Valentine, President and Managing Partner at Resource 1

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 08:42:56 +0000

As the Executive Vice President and Managing Director at Resource 1, Anastasia is responsible for technical recruiting, technical infrastructure, marketing and human resources initiatives. With over 20 years at Resource 1, she is on the Board of Directors involved in the overall strategic planning and implementation of long and short-term goals. Over the last 25 years, Anastasia has assisted global organizations in developing leading edge technology through identifying and positioning talent. Anastasia also provides human resources consulting services for several Resource 1 clients, which encompass strategic management, IT workforce planning/employment, human resources development, compensation/benefits, and employee relations.

Anastasia is a two-time recipient of the Staffing Industry Analysts “Hackathon” award, featured technology panelist for StaffingTec, finalist for “Technical Innovation” award from Bullhorn, and featured in “Woman in Staffing” spotlight from ClearEdge Marketing.

Conversation on Emerging VC Fund Managers, Role of LPAC and Building Successful VC Firms with Winter Mead, Founder of Oper8r

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 11:59:58 +0000

Winter Mead has worked in financial services for a decade investing approximately $900 million across 80 private equity and venture capital firms as a Limited Partner, specializing in venture capital. Currently he is CEO and Co-founder at Oper8r, a cohort-based training program for emerging VCs. Before becoming an investor, Winter Mead worked in the technology world at three different angel and venture capital financed start-ups. Winter has also been involved with two leading industry organizations, National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), and in his spare time helps teach a course at Stanford University focused on entrepreneurship and venture capital. He is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, which is a professional designation for those specializing in alternative investments, such as venture capital. Winter is the author of How To Raise A Venture Capital Fund: The Essential Guide On Fundraising And Understanding Limited Partners.

The Vitality and Characteristical Attributes of the Modern Day Leader in their Top Talent Strategy with Michael Sarraille, CEO & Co-Founder of The Talent War Group

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 11:48:53 +0000

Mike Sarraille is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer and a former enlisted Recon Marine and Scout-Sniper. A graduate of the University of Texas McCombs Business School, he is the founder and CEO of Talent War Group, a specialized executive search firm and talent advisory that finds high-performing business leaders for senior, executive, or other critical leadership positions. He is co-author of ‘The Talent War: How Special Operations and Great Organizations Win on Talent’ and a columnist for Men’s Journal and Men’s Fitness under ‘The Everyday Warrior’ column. He founded and served as a board of director for the VETTED Foundation, a cutting edge executive level
transition program, and was a former principal at Echelon Front, a management consulting firm alongside the co authors of Extreme Ownershin Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. Mike enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school. He became a Recon Marine and also served as a scout-sniper. He was selected for a Marine officer program, but after finishing his bachelor’s degree at Texas A&M University, he sought a commission in the Navy to try out for the SEAL Teams. After completing the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Training, Mike served in SEAL Team THREE, Task Unit Bruiser, the most decorated Special Operations Task Unit of the Iraq war, where he led major combat operations during the Battle of Ramadi in 2006. In 2008, Mike returned to Iraq and led historic combat operations in during the Battle of Sadr City. In 2008-2009, Mike served as the SEAL Junior Officer Training Course (JOTC) Director where he coached, mentored, and prepared junior SEAL officers to lead combat operations. Mike was then
assessed and selected for assignment to Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), part of the elite Joint Special Operations Command, in support of global counter-terrorism operations. Mike completed a total of ten (10) combat deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Mike is a recipient of the Silver Star, six (6) Bronze Stars for Valor, two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, and a Purple Heart. He is a recognized keynote speaker and subject matter expert in leadership development, talent acquisition and talent management.

The Modernized FinTech Staffing Agency Supporting the Acceleration of Crypto and Blockchain Industries with Mike Yahkind – CEO and Founding Partner at Technical Paradigm

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 11:01:17 +0000

Michael Yahkind is the owner of Technical Paradigm, tech contributor for Shift_TheParadigm, a speaker at various tech conferences including Microsoft Ignite Chicago and TCnewTech. Technical Paradigm was recently featured on Startup Recruiter and Medium as the “recruiting company you should know.” Mike got involved with Fintech as a recruiter, investor, and enthusiast in 2015. At the time, he was the Director of IT Talent for a large staffing firm in Chicago, and he observed fintech companies sprout up left and right. The following year, Michael spearheaded a managed staffing project responsible for the first institutional trade transaction via blockchain. The relationships he formed with talent in blockchain, machine learning, and predictive analytics helped him launch Technical Paradigm. Michael’s firm is currently growing faster than ever, thanks to the recent surge in the NFT space. Once again, Technical Paradigm is branding themselves as pioneers in the blockchain community. Additionally, Michael is an NPA partner, overseeing the fintech group and has placed over 1 million dollars worth of candidates within the program.

Topics:

The agility and sheer growth of blockchain as an industry and how this was applied to a staffing talent agency startup
How the RAS Model “Recruiting as a Service” is perfect partnering with the startup nature of a fintech company
The lack of supply lending to the necessity of foreign talent and best practices to partnering with staffing augmentation
The Generational Impact we can look to expect with Generation Z and Millennials

Conversation on Wealth Management, Leadership and Talent with Felipe Mendonca from StoneX Wealth Management

The Ivy Podcast — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 16:51:18 +0000

With more than 15 years of experience in the Latin American financial markets, Felipe is currently based in Miami, leading the strategic business development of the StoneX Wealth Management franchise, through the research for and management of portfolios of high and ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices. Prior to joining StoneX in early 2020, Felipe spent 14 years at BTG Pactual, an innovative global financial firm operating as a meritocratic partnership. Felipe held several different positions at BTG Pactual, ranging from legal counsel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Head of Investor Relations in New York and, finally, Global Investor for the Private Wealth Management business in Miami. During his tenure at BTG Pactual, he learned to appreciate, value and strive for implementing a true run the extra mile, hard work and meritocratic approaches to all-things in life.

Born in Brazil, Felipe is not only a proud Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) Law School graduate but also (and in spite of being a lawyer) a CFA charterholder.

When not working, you can find him with his wife and Chief (his golden retriever best four legged family member), or probably just playing tennis or enjoying some outdoor sport. Perhaps Felipe’s greatest joy is to inspire people to achieve their fullest potential and to believe that anything is possible, provided you are committed to setting it as your true priority. Tipping points can and do happen, but as the great NAVY SEAL quote teaches us “you don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training”, so you better focus and give your best every single day.

A VCs Perspective on Earning Investment Opportunities and Building Long-term, Healthy Relationships. A Conversation with GrowthX Co-founder, Andrew Goldner

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 10:10:49 +0000

Andrew is a Founding Partner of GrowthX. He has been in the technology sector since 1998, based in New York City, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Palo Alto. Andrew began his career in technology as a lawyer for the early Internet pioneers in Search (Alta Vista and Yahoo), AdTech (DoubleClick), SaaS (Salesforce) and others while practicing law. He left private practice at Skadden Arps to join DoubleClick leading up to the Google acquisition and then co-founded a financial news business at Thomson Financial leading to the Reuters acquisition. He then served as Publisher of Reuters News and then Co-Founder and Managing Director of the company’s legal media business in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

In Silicon Valley, Andrew was early at Guidespark, an employee communication SaaS startup, and BrightTalk, a content marketing SaaS startup. He then co-founded GoodMoney to democratize high-performance, values-based investing. During that “wonderful learning opportunity,” Andrew met his current partners and co-founded GrowthX.

Andrew is a Kauffman Fellow, Regional Board Member of Venture for America, and a Mentor at Endeavor, Alchemist Accelerator and Galvanize. Andrew teaches Venture Capital at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management. Andrew received his undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati and his law degree from Georgetown University.

How to Deliver Value to Startup Founders as a VC Investor with Minn Kim – Principal at Bloomberg Beta

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 06:24:13 +0000

Minn Kim is Partner at On Deck, an education technology startup supporting ambitious, talented individuals start or join high growth companies. Previously, she was Principal at Bloomberg Beta, an early-stage venture firm focused on investing in the future of work, having backed companies like Flexport, MasterClass, and LaunchDarkly. At Bloomberg Beta, she invested in startups across workflow automation, productivity, machine learning applications, and robotics. She lives in San Francisco and loves to write. You can reach her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Conversation on Product Strategy, Marketing and Fintech Trends with Josh Stephens, Head of Product and Adam Hadi, Head of Marketing at Current

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 14:15:29 +0000

Adam Hadi is the VP of Marketing at Current, a leading U.S. financial technology platform serving Americans working to create a better future for themselves. Prior to leading marketing at Current, he was VP of Marketing at Quidd (acquired by Animoca), head of marketing at DRAFT (acquired by Paddy Power Betfair) and led user acquisition at Topps Digital after spending several years as an economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Josh Stephens is the VP of Product at Current, a leading U.S. a leading U.S. financial technology platform serving Americans working to create a better future for themselves. Prior to joining Current, Josh served as a product manager and product lead at various companies, including Zynga. He joined Current in 2016 to lead product, helping the company grow into a multi-product fintech focused on solving problems of faster and better access to money and improving financial outcomes.

Disrupting the Healthcare Analytics through AI and ML with the CTO of NextHealth – Mehrshad Setayesh

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 13:28:46 +0000

Mehrshad is a veteran technology innovator with more than thirty years of experience under his belt. As CTO, Mehrshad leads NextHealth’s team of engineers and developers with a mission to improve healthcare affordability. With passionate belief in the power of individuals and teams, Mehrshad is a value-based leader who turns complex software ideas into optimized, scalable businesses. He joined NextHealth Technologies from Oracle Inc. where he managed a large distributed engineering team responsible for a social media gateway for all Oracle clouds. Prior to his role at Oracle, Mehrshad was part of the startup company, Collective Intellect, which was then acquired by Oracle Inc. An avid athlete, Mehrshad believes a healthy body cultivates a healthy mind and spirit. He enjoys long distance swimming, downhill skiing, hiking, traveling and spending time with his family.

As a trilingual, Mehrshad began his computer science degree at Switzerland’s EPFL, The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne. He went on to obtain his BS in Computer Science and MS in Software Engineering from Southern Methodist University.

How to Succeed as Emerging Fund Manager & Build a Lasting VC Firm with Braughm Ricke, Founder of Aduro Advisors

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 07:14:24 +0000

Braughm is the founder and Chief Executive Officer at Aduro Advisors. As founder and CEO, Braughm drives the company direction and builds critical relationships with Aduro’s clients, investors, and other industry service providers. With twenty years of financial experience in the venture capital industry, Braughm brings his knowledge and operational prowess to Aduro Advisors. He maintains close relationships and lends financial and operational support to Aduro Advisors’ clients, having worked extensively with early-stage Venture firms throughout his career.
Prior to founding Aduro Advisors, Braughm was a founding member and CFO of True Ventures. He was the Controller at 5AM Ventures, and served as an Interim Chief Financial Officer to several True Ventures portfolio companies including about.me and GigaOM. He began his career in venture capital in 1999 and was the Controller at Sofinnova Ventures. Before working in the venture industry, he was an Accounting Analyst at Fidelity Investments.
Braughm holds his B.S. degree in Accounting from Plymouth State University.

Leveraging The Contingent Workforce to Remain Agile and Adaptable In The Future of Work with Ray Culver, Founder of CWSolutions Group

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 12:52:32 +0000

Ray has over 25 years of experience in the contingent workforce industry. He is a recognized expert on all aspects of the business, including temp, contract, direct-hire, HR technology, and RPO/MSP software solutions. His extensive knowledge includes designing go-to-market and talent acquisition strategies across multiple channels as well as managing both sales and operations on a global level.

Topics:

Ray’s journey into the contingent workforce ecosystem.
Biggest changes in contingent workforce management.
When to hire contingent workers.
Challenges with implementing a contingent workforce program and how to mitigate them.
Disrupting trends in HR and Contingent Workforce management.

Future Trends in Project Management with Mike Clayton – Founder of OnlinePMCourses.com

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 10:28:17 +0000

Mike Clayton is the Founder of OnlinePMCourses.com, where he provides a wealth of free Project Management knowledge resources and paid courses. Attached to this is his OnlinePMCourses YouTube channel, which recently gained a sister channel, Management Courses.

Mike has been a trainer, speaker, and trusted advisor since he left Deloitte in 2002, where he was a Senior Manager responsible for Project Leadership engagements. He is an author of 14 print books and serves clients from his home in Hampshire, England.

Topics:

How Project Managers can capitalize on new PM trends
Impact of AI on the project management profession
Effective ways to manage conflicts within remote teams

Improving Diversity and Inclusion at the Workplace with Rocki Howard – Chief Diversity Officer at SmartRecruiters

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 10:24:13 +0000

Acknowledged as one of the Top 100 Minority Executives two years in a row, Rocki Howard is Chief Diversity Officer for SmartRecruiters, host of the Voices of Diversity podcast, and a tenured talent acquisition strategist.

She is a proud over 40, black, Christian wife and mom who prioritizes being a voice for the underrepresented. Rocki is on a mission to disrupt the intersection of diversity and recruitment to create sustainable change.

She believes that “If we change the lives of the underrepresented, we change the world.”

Topics:

Innovative ways for promoting diversity & inclusion
How diversity influences the future of work
What companies can do to attract diverse talent

https://hiringsuccess.com/diversity-and-inclusion/?utm_source=RockiHoward

Conversation on Transformation, Innovation and Leadership with Matt Feldman, Board Member and Banking Executive

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 10:18:13 +0000

Mr. Feldman served as President and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago from April 2008 until December of 2020. Mr. Feldman had been with the Bank since September of 2003 and served in several executive capacities, including Chief Risk Officer and Executive Vice President, Operations and Technology.

Prior to his employment with the Bank, Mr. Feldman was Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Learning Insights, Inc. from 1995 to 2003. Mr. Feldman conceived, established, financed and directed the operations of this privately held e-learning company.

Mr. Feldman was previously President of Continental Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Bank, and served in a number of other roles in capital markets, investments and general management during his 15 years there.

Mr. Feldman holds degrees from Case Western Reserve University and the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University where he is a life-member of the Kellogg Global Advisory Board and a member of the Kellogg Inclusion Coalition.

Mr. Feldman serves on the Board of Directors of Recology, Inc., an ESOP-owned, waste management and resource recovery company based in San Francisco, CA, where he is Chair of the Governance Committee and serves on the Audit and Risk Oversight Committees.

Mr. Feldman served on the Board of Directors of the Office of Finance of the Federal Home Loan Banks. He is a former Chair of the Bank Presidents Conference.

He is the immediate past Chair of the Pentegra Defined Benefit Plan for Financial Institutions.

He is immediate past Co-Chair of the CEO Council of the Financial Services Pipeline Initiative.

He serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Evanston Community Foundation where he serves as Chair of the Racial Equity Task Force, Treasurer; Chair of the Audit and Finance Committees and a member of the Investment Council.

He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Beth Emet Foundation and a member of the Racial Justice Committee of Beth Emet Synagogue.

Survivability for the future focused Staffing Industry Leader with John Lewin – President of Stivers

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 09:37:02 +0000

John Lewin is President of Stivers Staffing Services, a professional and specialty recruiting firm historically headquartered in Chicago, IL. In his current role, he leads a strategic community of recruiting and sales specialists responsible for engaging and creating niche talent pipelines that align with the workforce needs of Stivers clients. The company focuses on office, professional, supply chain, and retail merchandising placements. Stivers is a member of TalentLaunch, a nationwide network of independently operated staffing and recruitment firms under common ownership. We are united by our commitment to a strong sense of culture which drives our collective growth.

He joined Stivers as President in 2019 and has 24 years of experience in the workforce solutions industry, including leadership roles with Kelly Services and Ajilon Professional Staffing, a subsidiary of the Adecco Group.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and his MBA from Northern Kentucky University. With his deep industry expertise, coupled with his exposure to global managed services and professional staffing firms, John provides key insights to clients who are seeking talent in today’s tight labor market.

Topics:

Tactical business agility expansion in the pandemic
Direct Sourcing impacts on the Staffing Industry
AI & Automation Trends
In demand industries aligned for the Future of Work

How to Build a Successful Startup Incubator with Lucas Caneda, Uniqorn Incubator

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 11:56:56 +0000

Lucas Caneda is Global Team Lead at UNIQORN Incubator and a professional rugby player
for Sarlat Rugby Team. A student of engineering, management, economics, and self-taught in
nutrition and fitness, Lucas has always had a very keen interest in business, entrepreneurship,
and personal development. Which lead him to be the Director of one of UNIQORN startups,
ChallengerX, a SaaS company who is turning amateur sport clubs into pro.

CIO Trends, Predictions and Insights with the President of CIO Partners, Joe Gross

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 10:21:04 +0000

For the past 20 years, Joe Gross has built and led high performing sales, recruiting and HR teams, attracting the top industry talent, while focused on delivering a top-notch customer experience.

As president of CIO Partners, Joe Gross leads the practice development organization and the strategic implementation and execution of recruitment best practices for the firm’s client partners. Previously, Joe served as COO for the firm while effectively managing, improving, and scaling all company operations.

Prior to joining CIO Partners in 2015, Joe was the southeast U.S. regional sales leader for Recall Information Management, a $2B global leader in document management and digital solutions, secure destruction, and data protection. There, Joe and his team were annually recognized as President’s Club recipients. During his six-year tenure at Recall, Joe also served as staffing manager for North America. From 2002 to 2010, Joe held multiple leadership roles with HRworks, an executive search and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) firm, where he was instrumental in the development and execution of a flexible, scalable recruitment solution that served a diversified $1M-$50B client base. Joe began his career in the technology sector as a technical recruiter and progressed quickly into an account executive and branch manager for an IT consulting firm with a national reach.

How to Build a Successful Marketing Agency with Max Borges – Founder at Max Borges Agency

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 10:06:22 +0000

In 2002 Max Borges started a marketing agency with a laptop on his dining room table. He quickly became overwhelmed with client demands and employee needs. Over the next few years, having studied the habits of business and strategy icons, he developed a strategic approach that allowed him to scale his agency to more than $10 million/year — with happy staff and clients on board.

Max took his agency to a place where it thrives, while no longer needing him to operate it. In a word, it’s Autonomous. Better still, he did it all without ever borrowing a penny.

He now spends his time writing, podcasting, investing, helping existing and aspiring service firm owners adopt his Autonomous approach…and listening to heavy metal.

Max’s Book

How to Build a Successful Furniture Company with Co-Founder of Elephant in a Box, Daniela Terminel

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 09:53:24 +0000

Daniela pairs extensive global strategic and operational expertise with a strong believe on entrepreneurship as a driver of change. For more than 15 years, she’s been working with leaders around the world to transform entrepreneurial ecosystems and create long term economic development in the for-profit and nonprofit spaces.
Daniela is the Co-founder and CEO of Elephant in a Box, a New York-based home furniture innovation company with products that (un)fold instantly, come in one box and are delivered to your door in 2 days. Formerly CEO of Global Health Corps, building the next generation of health leaders, where as the first non-founder CEO, spearheaded the organization’s transformation towards sustainable growth. Before she served on the executive team at Endeavor Global through a period of expansion across five continents and multiple industries, to continue as the leading organization for the high impact entrepreneurship movement worldwide. She was responsible for launching offices in Europe, Africa and Middle East, as well as managing operations in 10+ markets. She has also held executive roles in the private sector serving as Managing Director at Biblomodel – Allsteel a multinational furniture enterprise.
Daniela holds a BA in International Business from Universidad Anahuac (Mexico) and is an active alumnus at Harvard Business School (PLD23). She has also participated in several executive education programs on leadership and growing ventures at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Thunderbird School of Global Management. She’s based in New York, USA.

Reputation Management in the Staffing and Recruiting Industry with Adam Conrad, Founder & CXO at Great Recruiters

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 06:05:34 +0000

Adam is a staffing industry veteran with over 20 years of industry experience as a recruiter, staffing manager, executive, and entrepreneur, who is passionate about elevating the recruitment industry. He is the founder of Great Recruiters— The #1 Experience and Reputation Management platform for the Recruiting and Staffing Industry. In his free time, you can find Adam on the baseball diamond coaching his two son’s teams and watching his daughter do flips and cartwheels all day long.

How to Lead, Disrupt and Continuously Innovate Digital Health with Chief Digital Health Officer of Boston Scientific – David Feygin

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 22:47:10 +0000

David is the Chief Digital Health Officer of Boston Scientific and a VP within IT responsible for Digital Health and Data Solutions, Chair of the Brigham and Women’s Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice Executive Council, a thought leader in information-enabled healthcare safety, and a Governance Committee member of NESTcc, an organization driving leverage of Real World Evidence. He has spent the last two decades envisioning and developing digital health solutions and organizations, influencing industry policy and leading large MedTechs through transformation.

At Boston Scientific, David is responsible for establishing and leading Digital Health Development Studios, Remote Engagement, Internet of Things and Advanced Data Intelligence teams, and partnering to establish the evolving capabilities that will ensure enterprise success in Digital. Through the pandemic, David has focused on driving Tele-First digital care solutions that enable Boston Scientific, physicians and health systems to safely deliver care.

Prior to joining Boston Scientific, David served as Vice President of Health IT Integration and Strategic Innovation at Becton Dickinson (BD), where he led enterprise-wide health information technology capability development efforts to ensure commercial success and developed actionable strategies to improve patient outcomes, drive health system efficiency and enable BD’s growth through the application of information technology. As Vice President of Corporate Strategic Innovation at BD, David was responsible for integrating company-wide activities focused on the identification of new market opportunities outside of existing core areas, the development of high-impact growth concepts that fall outside of, or cut across, existing business units and incubation of non-core offerings.

David received a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Launching a Customer-led DTC Startup During The Pandemic with Isabelle Steichen, Co-Founder and CEO of Lupii

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Isabelle Steichen, Co-Founder + CEO moved from Europe to the US in 2013. She worked closely as an early employee in operations, customer service and business development, with founding teams for various early stage, VC-backed startups (Kitchensurfing, Sawyer, Voyage Control) in NYC in the food and tech space. Isabelle has additionally worked as a consultant with IfOnly, Hungryroot, and various other startups. As a long time passionate vegan, certified in plant based nutrition from e-Cornell, as well as the founder of the Plantiful Podcast, she is now combining her startup background with her desire to spread plant-based eating through Lupii. Isabelle has been studying lupini beans for the last 5+ years and has developed close relationships with suppliers across Europe.

Topics:

Isabelle’s journey to building Lupii and launching 2 months before the pandemic in 2020.
Lupini bean as a sustainable alternative to animal protein.
Building a newsletter as a channel to build great relationships with your customers.
Consumer testing and feedback as the key to succeed in the consumer goods sector.
Growing trends in the consumer goods industry.
How building a business is similar to training for a race.
Isabelle’s advice to women on their entrepreneurial journey.

Show notes:

Increasing Chances of a Successful Startup with Rosie Chopra – Co-founder and COO at Magical

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Rosie is the co-founder of Magical, a SaaS productivity startup focused on automating mundane tasks and works. She is also an Executive in Residence at Inovia Capital, a venture capital firm that’s invested in companies like Sonder, App Direct, and Forward. Rosie was previously the Head of Business Operations, Monetization & Strategy at Atlassian, managing a 20+ person team and reporting directly to the CFO. Over her 4+ year tenure, she played an essential role in the growth and scale of the business globally.

Topics:

Practical recommendations on how to succeed when transitioning from corporate to startup environments
Overcoming barriers that female entrepreneurs and female-led startups face when seeking funding
Data attributes that strategy teams use to ensure their companies are on target to meet set objectives

Conversation on Leadership, Innovation, Talent and Successful International Expansion with Keith Meier, COO at Assurant International

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 15:00:37 +0000

Keith Meier is the Chief Operating Officer at Assurant. Previously, Mr. Meier served as senior vice president, Global Strategy and M&A for Assurant. During his time in that role, he took on the responsibility of president, Emerging Markets with a focus on Asia Pacific. Prior to that, as senior vice president, Extended Protection Solutions, Mr. Meier was responsible for the extended service (consumer products) and vehicle service contract businesses. Formerly, as senior vice president and general manager, he was responsible for the extended service business. Mr. Meier was the chief operating officer for the business before becoming the general manager and held other executive positions since joining the company in 1998.

Prior to Assurant, Mr. Meier was with Price Waterhouse LLP in Miami, FL where he specialized in insurance and large corporate accounts.

He is active with the United Way, where he has served as a member of the Greater Atlanta United Way Advisory Board and as the company campaign chair.

Mr. Meier holds a Bachelors degree in Finance from Florida State University and a Masters degree from Florida International University.

How to Build The Best IT Staffing Company To Work For with Chris Allaire, CEO of Averity

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 10:19:00 +0000

Chris Allaire is the CEO and Founder at Averity. The Purpose of Averity: To build a company that pioneers a change in the recruiting industry by providing an unparalleled experience with everyone they interact with. His Vision: Build the best company to work for in the US.

Chris has simple philosophies in life and business: “If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing.” And “find something you’re good at and do it better than anyone else.” Chris is a proud husband and father to 2 incredible girls. He believes his calling in life is to influence people to find the best in themselves; a power they have within that they never knew how to tap into, and put this power into action. Chris craves growth and constant improvement, backed by passion.

Conversation on Leadership & Building High Performing Teams with Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, CEO of Celebrity Cruise Lines

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 12:40:33 +0000

One of the few American women leading a multi-billion-dollar company, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo is a trailblazer in the global hospitality industry. She is recognized as the driving force behind transforming and re-defining today’s new luxury cruise experience and building demand with unparalleled brand vision and stewardship; award-winning guest service and operational expertise; and an innate ability for building high-performing, culturally-inclusive teams, among others.

Taking the helm as President and CEO at Celebrity Cruises in 2014, Lutoff-Perlo led the company into an era of unprecedented growth, including accelerated financial performance. Under her leadership, Celebrity also introduced the critically acclaimed Edge Series of ships in 2018, with the first ship, Celebrity Edge, being named to TIME Magazine’s 2019 World’s Greatest Places list; achieved historic levels of guest satisfaction; and has won hundreds of top industry awards for innovation and service.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of Fortune 500 company AutoNation (NYSE: AN), America’s largest and most recognized automotive retailer, where she sits on the Audit and Governance Committees. She also actively lends her expertise to numerous international and regional nonprofit organization boards including Best Buddies Global Board of Directors, United Way of Broward County and Nova Southeastern University, Broward Center of Innovation.

Strategies on Innovation, Hiring and Fostering a Culture of Ownership with Co-Founder of REEF – Philippe Saint-Just

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 11:12:08 +0000

Philippe Saint-Just is the Co-Founder and SVP of Product at Miami-based REEF Technology. At REEF, Philippe has led the evolution of REEF’s technology-enabled products, enabling the company’s ambitious mission to connect the world to your block. Philippe founded REEF after a decade in the enterprise technology sector leading digital transformation in Fortune 500 companies across banking, pharmaceutical and insurance industries. He holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from the University of Alabama and currently resides in Coral Gables, FL with his wife and two daughters.

Breeding Unicorns through Entrepreneur Network with the President of Endeavor.org – Adrian Garcia-Aranyos

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 06:44:00 +0000

Adrian Garcia-Aranyos is the President of Endeavor, a global community of high-impact entrepreneurs present in ~40 markets with a rules-based venture arm, Endeavor Catalyst. Prior to that role he was the Founding Managing Director at Endeavor Spain. Before Endeavor he took on several roles at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co; The Economist Newspaper Group; The Spain-US Chamber of Commerce; and CM Capital Markets.

Since 2004, Mr. Garcia-Aranyos serves as board member at Thune Eureka, an industrial engineering firm specializing in capital goods and focused on deep-sea energy components, paper industry parts and defense mechanisms.

He obtained his BA in Political Science from Universidad Complutense de Madrid and has an MA in Trade & Commerce from CECO-ICEX. Plus a series of certificates from IEB, Kellogg, IESE & Harvard.

The Benefits of an Aligned DE&I Strategy for Corporate Leaders Across the Globe with Ginnette Harvey, CEO of Harper & Gray

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 03:22:23 +0000

Ginnette launched Harper & Gray in 2021 to follow her passion to drive equity into the talent management process. She is driving change in the industry by providing talent solutions that put Diversity and Inclusion first.

Before this Ginnette spent 15 years as an SVP at Specialist Staffing Group, Inc., the US subsidiary of the international STEM recruiting firm SThree Plc. Ginnette led Real Staffing, the company’s largest brand in North America. Ginnette achieved relentless year-on-year double-digit growth for the brand, and Real was and still is the company’s best performing contract business globally.

As the co-founder of SThree’s North American business, Ginnette played a vital role in marking the US as SThree’s highest producing territory taking it from 0 to $280m. Within the portfolio she grew the Real staffing business organically, and it is now one of the largest life science staffing firms in North America with over $100m in annual revenue.

In addition to this, Ginnette prides herself on more broadly championing diversity and inclusion and advocating for gender equality in leadership. Ginnette is a member of the American Staffing Associations Council of Women in Leadership. Her accomplishments also include being named a Woman of Influence by Chicago Business Journal, receiving the Woman of the Year Stevie Award, presented by the American Business Awards, and was named on SIAs 2020 list for the Top 100 most influential leaders in staffing.

How to Build a Data & Analytics Driven Culture with Mario Faria, from the Gartner Research Board Chief Data and Analytics Officer Program

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 16:27:54 +0000

Mario Faria is part of the Gartner Research Board organization, responsible for the Data & Analytics Board, supporting CDOs and D&A Leaders of the largest corporations. Mr. Faria helps clients define data, analytics and digital roles, staffing requirements, and organizational design and structures. Before moving to GRB, Mr. Faria was a Team VP, creating and leading the Office of the CDO Gartner research team. Prior to Gartner, Mr.Faria has worked for ServiceSource, Equifax-Boa Vista, IBM, Accenture and Microsoft. He was also one of the first chief data officers in the world.

Topics:

The Future of D&A
Evolution of the CDO role
How to Use D&A to drive Innovation

First Generation Women Entrepreneurs and Minority Owned Staffing Firm Introducing Human Design to Corporate America with Patricia Karam – CEO and Founder of Mission Recruit

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 18:07:28 +0000

As the CEO & Founder of Atlanta-based Mission Recruit, Patricia is driving force introducing human design to corporate America. With more than a decade of experience working with Fortune 500 companies nationwide, she launched Mission Recruit with the vision of delivering best-in-class services by combining the sophistication of a large recruiting company with the heart and personalization of a smaller staffing agency. Her extensive background in the industry started with a corporate recruiting career with a global leader in the IT staffing industry before transitioning to national staffing, as well as positions in strategy and philanthropy. Her strong entrepreneurial spirit is a result of her parents’ influence, immigrants from the Philippines, who taught her life’s most important lessons – and above all – the significance of giving back.

Topics:

Business differentiators for a successful Agency setup
First generational impacts into the mindset of the entrepreneur
The element of Human Design as a tactical recruitment strategy

Information Security & Technology Trends in Private Equity with CISO of HIG Capital – Marcos Marrero

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 12:10:51 +0000

Marcos Marrero is an IT Risk & Information Security professional with 20+ years of experience establishing and managing IT Risk & Information Security programs. Mr. Marrero first started his career in Information Security with Lloyds Banking Group in North America. At LBG, he assisted in establishing and later was responsible for managing LBG’s first IT Risk & Information Security program. After several years at Lloyds Banking Group, Mr. Marrero moved on to the Legal industry to implement an Information Security Program for international law firm Greenberg Traurig. While at Greenberg Traurig, Mr. Marrero discovered the unmet need within the Legal Industry for Information Security Programs. Once he completed the implementation at Greenberg Traurig, he took the opportunity to assist Greenspoon Marder with establishing an IT Risk and Information Security Program. After Greenspoon Marder, Mr. Marrero moved on to Itaú International, the private banking arm of Itaú Unibanco, serving as the VP & Information Security Officer, responsible for the organizations’ Caribbean, South American, and Florida Information Security Programs. Currently, Mr. Marrero is the Chief Information Security Officer for H.I.G. Capital, a multi-national private equity firm with over $45bn assets under management.

How to Help Companies Succeed with Exceptional Candidates with the CEO of Raindance Partners – Mike Tognotti

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 11:47:43 +0000

In 2008, Mike Tognotti saw an opportunity to apply the Scientific Method to recruiting, and 12 years later his company, Raindance Partners, Inc., is one of the nation’s most successful boutique Life Science executive search firms that has helped shape the landscape of the Biotech industry.

As he describes in this exciting podcast, Mike’s focus on detail, process, and personal touch have proven to be a lasting formula through changing economies, competitive market conditions, and even during the pandemic.

Mike grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and was fascinated by the advances in Scientific tools used in Scientific research to advance drug development and diagnostics. He also loved the 49ers and marveled at how the team identified and developed some of the most talented football players of the 80s and 90s. The 49er’s leadership and culture stood out to him as the key difference-maker. After working for Genentech, Mike joined Illumina, the market leader in DNA sequencing. This is when Mike truly recognized that innovative talent, leadership, and healthy company culture are critical ingredients for a company to be successful. Mike was inspired by the leadership at Illumina and 49ers and gained an appreciation and passion for identifying and developing top talent . He decided to change the recruiting industry by applying what he learned from his influences and also incorporate the Scientific Method to his recruiting methodology after starting Raindance Partners several years later.

Today, Mike lives in North Carolina with his wife Audrey and three children. He loves to spend time with his family, surf, run, and volunteer for Unite To Light.

How to Prepare Business for an Agile Talent Strategy and the Increased Demand for External Talent with Terri Gallagher – Workforce Futurist and CEO of Gallagher & Consultants

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 11:16:56 +0000

Terri Gallagher is the founder of Gallagher and Consultants, a WBENC Certified Gig Workforce Solutions Company. She has over 20 years’ experience as a Gig Workforce Expert and has made it her personal mission to elevate the Gig workforce industry by leveraging a trademarked ecosystem model of delivery that includes best of breed talent, technology, and alliance partners to provide contingent workforce and multi talent supply solutions. She is also an accomplished speaker, writer and published author.

Topics:

The rise of the external workforce and Soloprenuer movement
3^rd party platforms engaging workers
Terri’s creation of the “Agile Talent Program”
Tips for Staffing Agencies responding to the Direct Sourcing Trend

Conversation on Technology and Staffing Trends and Best Practices with Javier Guerra and Bethany Reese from TechHuman

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 19:56:41 +0000

Javier Guerra is a Team Strategist who partners with CxOs and Technology Leaders to help them intelligently scale team capabilities.

After spending years working with multibillion-dollar technology organizations and having a hand in founding multiple startups, his passion for positive change led him to co-found TechHuman in 2016.

Javier knows what it takes for a team to reach peak performance—and it’s not the same old leadership methods and tactics you’re used to hearing about.

It starts with understanding, treating, and leading teams like they are your organizations most valuable asset.

Javier and his organization help venture-backed startups to Fortune 100 technology teams ScaleSmart. In the process, they help leaders increase their TechTeamiQ as they leverage new team intelligence that enables them to discover, validate, and transform team data into powerful business information. His clients take advantage of their TechTeam10x solutions to accelerate team collaboration, increase performance, and have a better grip on how their best teams turn time into money.

In addition to his experience delivering Technology Team Solutions, Javier is trained as a professional coach.

He holds a degree in Biological Science and continues his studies in the field of Behavioral Neuroscience.

Best Practices for the future Staffing Entrepreneur with Dan Jones

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 10:57:18 +0000

Dan spent 5 years with TekSystems, cofounded IT Resources in 2000. Become the sole owner and President of the firm in 2006, IT Resources has become a leading provider of Technology staffing solutions. Companies and top IT talent seek the expertise the IT Resources team brings in extensive industry/market knowledge delivering value with honesty and integrity

Born in Iowa and raised in New Mexico, Ohio and graduating high school back in Iowa, Dan is a proud Northwestern University and University of South Florida graduate. Playing collegiate and professional baseball set the cornerstones of passion for hard work, leadership and teamwork.

When he’s not at work you can find him with his wife, daughter or son, probably playing or enjoying sports. Dan’s greatest joy is helping people create inflection points in their careers and reaching their full potential.

Pioneering Strategic Finance with Brandon Metcalf

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 15:46:13 +0000

Brandon recognized the need for an agile, dynamic financial platform as a founder at Talent Rover (acquired by Bullhorn). He started Place to help businesses of all sizes leverage accurate, real-time financial insights to make better decisions.

A Guide to the Current Workforce Climate for the Future-focused Staffing Agency with Keith Wolf

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 00:16:48 +0000

Keith Wolf is the Managing Director of Murray Resources, a national recruiting and staffing firm headquartered in Houston. As Managing Director, Wolf leads the company’s strategy, marketing, and sales efforts. Wolf joined the company in 2011 and helped drive the firm’s growth and ascension to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The company has been named the fastest growing staffing firm in Texas by Staffing Industry Analysts and has landed on the Inc. 5000 six times. Murray Resources was also awarded the #1 best medium-sized staffing firm to work in the U.S and has consistently been named one of the best places to work in Houston by the Houston Business Journal.

Wolf is regularly called upon to provide insights on matters relating to staffing, recruiting, and employment trends by publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, Houston Business Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Reuters, CNBC, and Houston Public Radio. Prior to Murray Resources, Wolf held various executive and marketing roles with companies such as Procter & Gamble, Invisalign, OrthoClear, and BlueStar. Wolf graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Topics:

Modern day talent strategies required for today’s competitive talent market
Tactical tips for hiring top sales and recruiting professionals
Candidate preparation for the interview and a client guide on retainment for top talent

How to Build a Winning Team Culture with Head of People, Culture & Happiness at AppSamurai, Emre Tuncbilek

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 12:05:15 +0000

Emre Tuncbilek is a Head of People, Culture & Happiness at AppSamurai

Technology and Leadership Lessons with Mark Settle, serial CIO and Published Author

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 11:12:49 +0000

Mark Settle is a seven time CIO, three time CIO 100 award winner and two time book author. His most recent book is “Truth from the Valley, A Practical Primer on IT Management for the Next Decade”. Settle serves on the advisory boards of several venture capital firms and multiple startup companies. Seven members of his prior management teams are currently sitting CIOs within publicly traded companies.

Necessities of the Modern Day Recruiting Professional with Peter Tanenbaum, Founder & CEO of Ramax Search

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 23:59:17 +0000

Peter N. Tannenbaum has dedicated over thirty years to the executive search field and founded Ramax Search, Inc. in 1991. As a unique recruiting firm specializing in the placement of high caliber business leaders and professionals primarily to the financial services community, Ramax Search, Inc. has continued to deliver efficient results to clients including the world’s largest companies to medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups. Peter’s expertise encompasses hedge funds, private equity firms, RIAs, Investment Partnerships, Broker Dealers, and all segments within the banking community. Ramax Search ascribes to ethical standards which focus on: professionalism, integrity, competence, objectivity, accuracy, avoidance of conflicts of interest, confidentiality, loyalty to the client and candidate, equal opportunity, and the public interest. Ramax Search, Inc. is continually recognized as one of the Best Executive Recruiting Firms in America by Forbes in their annual rankings.

Topics:

The evolvement of recruiting in the last 30 years
Strategies to attract and retain top talent
AI & Automation Influences into the Recruiting Space

Corporate Governance Best Practices through aligned Boardroom Principles with Donna Hamlin, Business Transformation and Governance Specialist

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 20:04:01 +0000

Donna Hamlin is an executive with strategic vision, record for implementing creative solutions to complex, culturally diverse global challenges and building competent teams and improve market share, revenues, EBITDA and value in companies in 46 countries. She is a change driver with deep experience in business transformation, strategic planning and operational execution, restructuring, brand breakthroughs, and innovative talent development. Contributions span Global 1000 companies to founding successful early stage companies. Recognized as developer of award winning CASCADE© market research method and inventor of BOARD BONA FIDE global governance analytical tools. A popular global speaker about governance and leadership and active board director.

In 2011 Donna became the founder and the CEO of Boardwise, Inc., global, best practices board governance firm, designing and introduced fresh approaches and tools for improving governance, director competency and effectiveness and performance improvements.

Topics:

Vitality of a board lending to proper corporate governance
Influences of the Start-Up Culture seeping into boardrooms
DE&I Top of Mind Topics in every boardroom

How to Launch a Successful Career in Venture Capital & Build an Investor Playbook with Devon Smith from Silversmith Capital Partners

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 15:22:30 +0000

Devon joined Silversmith Capital Partners in 2021 and is currently an Associate. At Silversmith, Devon focuses on investments across the firm’s two core verticals, Healthcare IT & Services and SaaS & Information Services.

Prior to Silversmith, Devon worked at Blackstone in their Strategic Partners group, focusing on co-investment and secondary transactions across industries and asset classes.

Devon is an avid soccer fan and player, a native of Philadelphia and active volunteer with numerous charitable organizations. In his spare time, Devon enjoys Skiing, Running and supporting lackluster Philadelphia sports teams.

Education: BBA, magna cum laude, in Finance from Morehouse College

How to Build a Successful IT Staffing Firm with the CEO of AGM Solutions, Mirtes Lobaito

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Mirtes Lobaito is the Founder and CEO of AGM Tech Solutions Inc., an I.T. Staffing firm specializing in contract, contract to hire and full-time placement. From its infancy in late 2018, AGM has grown to producing $25 million in revenue supporting mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies. Mirtes was recently chosen by her employees as one of the top CEO’s on 2021 Glassdoor employees choice. She is responsible for leading the company, driving business growth and delivering outstanding service to fortune 400 clients.

Before founding AGM, Mirtes held National Account sales Manager positions in software companies as well as within the IT Staffing space. An entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience, Mirtes has dedicated herself to growing her client base and supporting them in all aspects of Staffing Augmentation.

Mirtes took the next step, in 2018 when she saw a gap in the market place for more minority and women owned staffing companies, disrupting the industry by providing a true consultative approach to clients and candidates competing with big names competitors in our space. Our focus will always be Quality and Execution while providing an excellent client experience.

Best Practices around Enterprise External Workforce Management with Senior Vice President at Advantage xPO – Joshua Smith

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 08:14:18 +0000

Joshua Smith serves as Senior Vice President of Advantage xPO, the workforce solutions division of Staffmark Group, providing Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Managed Service Provider (MSP), and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). Since joining Staffmark Group in 2004, Joshua has held a number of positions with increasing responsibility in both operations and sales throughout his tenure. He is responsible for leading client development, account strategy and service delivery across the Advantage xPO client portfolio.

As an experienced practitioner in strategic workforce solutions, Joshua has distinguished himself as a results-driven leader with a strong business acumen for developing and deploying best in class programs within this discipline throughout the United States and Canada.

In 2019, Joshua was named to Staffing Industry Analyst’s 40 Under 40 list.

He holds a BS in Marketing from St. Cloud State University – Herberger Business School.

Topics:

Fundamentals around MSP’s and RPO’s
Analyzing the typical MSP Profile
Direct Sourcing Initiatives

Embracing Digital Transformation in the Legal Industry with Sam Alkoubey – Head of Sales at PracticePanther

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 23:27:48 +0000

Sam Alkoubey was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Miami. He is currently the Head of Sales for a practice management software company called PracticePanther. He is an expert communicator with over 15 years of experience in business development, management, and sales. You can find Sam hanging out with his family or playing basketball with friends in his off time.

Topics:

Parallels from different industries that make someone a stronger salesperson
Strategies for excelling in Sales post-pandemic
Consultative approaches to change management

Closing the Opportunity Divide with Fred Rosario

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 11:24:12 +0000

Raised in Tampa Bay, Fred Rosario is the Site Director of Year Up Tampa Bay, a non-profit workforce training program, with an enterprising partnership with St. Petersburg College. Year Up’s mission is to close the Opportunity Divide through a training model that consists of career exploration, technical and organizational skill building, and an earned 6-month professional internship with a corporation for Opportunity Talent ages 18-26 years old.

Fred has 20 years of experience working in non-profit organizations, specifically working with Opportunity Talent, with several diverse organizations, to include, Alonzo Mourning’s Overtown Youth Center, Children’s Home Society of Florida, and Year Up South Florida. He is passionate about social change, race equity and focused on creating and investing in real change within the communities he lives and serves.

Previously residing in Miami for 15 years, Fred received his MS in International/Intercultural Education from Florida International University in 2012 and his BA in Liberal Studies in 2007. In 2019, he returned to Tampa Bay and continues to seek opportunities to connect, collaborate and participate in the community and the diverse people within it.

1Welcome to Ivy Podcast! On this Executive Leadership Podcast we interview top executives from Fortune 500 with a focus on strategy, innovation, negotiation and everything about leadership.
Our Podcast for Executives features Thought Leaders who share practical insights for effective leadership, continuous innovation and strategy execution.
Ivy Podcast is a rapidly growing Executive Podcast, which covers topics like Hiring and Retention Strategies, Talent Acquisition, Innovation, Digital Transformation and much more.
On this Leadership Podcast, you will find conversations with the most accomplished executives from Fortune 100 companies. We aim to cover a broad range of industries and create a learning platform for the most ambitious and high potential professionals who are looking to learn from the most accomplished Executives on this Business Leadership Podcast.

How to Build a Relationship Driven IT Staffing Company with Roger Whiteman, CEO at Kolter Solutions

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 13:03:44 +0000

Roger Whiteman began his career in recruiting in 1993 and has been in the IT staffing business for over 25 years. He worked for some of the larger agencies, small to mid-sized organizations that became large where he served as both branch and regional manager as well as managing director, and now finally his own company, Kolter Solutions, for the last 11 years. After a challenging period during the Great Recession of 2008 and for the next couple of years, Roger eventually founded Kolter Solutions in 2010. In the next couple of years Kolter began to experience a 48 % average ‘year over year’ growth between 2015 and 2020.

Today, Kolter has 20 internal employees including sales, recruiting, and administrative and operational staff. They have over 100 IT consultants, primarily in Central Florida and in 11 other states. Kolter won Staffing Industry Analysts “Best Places to Work” award in 2021, Best Places to Work in Central Florida in 2020, and the Fast 50 (fastest growing private companies in any industry in Central Florida) according to the Orlando Business Journal.

Roger’s focus today is primarily on the Operational Side, helping paint a shared vision, finance, compliance, legal and generally helping others to solve problems; keeping everyone rowing the boat in the same direction.

How to Lead Effectively Through Crisis with the President of Genesis Medical Center-Davenport, Jordan Voigt

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 22:12:10 +0000

Voigt joined Genesis in 2011, when he served as Administrative Fellow to Genesis Health System President & CEO Doug Cropper. Following completion of his Fellowship in 2012, Voigt was named Executive Director of Clinical Operations & Programs for GMC-Davenport. In May 2013, he was named to the position of Administrator, GMC-West Central Park, which expanded to the position of Administrator, GMC-Davenport. In 2014, he was named President of GMC-Davenport.

Voigt is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Business Administration, with a concentration in Management, at Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill. He also holds a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration, with a Certificate in Health Care Financial Management, from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He also has previous experience from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, and HealthSouth Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital in Birmingham, Ala. In his free time, he can be found running, biking or enjoying the outdoors with his Newfoundland dog, Bama.

How to Build a Successful VC Company by Investing in Immigrant Founders with the GP, Founder of Unshackled Ventures – Nitin Pachisia

The Ivy Podcast — Sat, 10 Jul 2021 12:04:41 +0000

Nitin is a founding partner at Unshackled Ventures, a venture fund designed to help immigrant founders in the US succeed faster. Building on his lived experiences as a founder on visa, Nitin is dedicated to not letting the immigration journey slow down a founder’s entrepreneurial journey.

How to Build a Successful Global Platform for Co-Founders with Matt Clifford, CEO of Entrepreneur First

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 05:44:22 +0000

Matt Clifford MBE is cofounder and CEO of Entrepreneur First, the leading technology company builder in Europe, South East Asia and Canada. Entrepreneur First invests in top technical individuals to help them build world-class deep technology startups from scratch in six locations across Europe, Asia and Canada. Since 2011, Entrepreneur First has created over 300 startups worth over $3bn including Magic Pony Technology, Tractable and Transcelestial.

Matt sits on the board of Code First Girls, which he co-founded in 2013 to teach young women how to code, and is a member of the Innovate UK Council.

Matt started his career at McKinsey & Co. and holds degrees from Cambridge and MIT, where he was a Kennedy Scholar. He was awarded an MBE for services to business in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

How Staffing and Recruiting Companies Will Change in the Future with the CEO of Candidate.ly – Jan Jedlinski

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 14:55:15 +0000

How to Build a Climate Tech Focused Staffing Company with Brendan Andersen, CEO at Climate People

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 07:03:43 +0000

Brendan is the Founder of Climate People, a climate tech search firm mobilizing a workforce transition to fighting climate change. Brendan and his team partner with top Climate Tech companies, Venture Capital firms and their portfolio companies to identify mission-driven technical talent that can help accelerate the development and adoption of technologies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, remove carbon from the atmosphere and help build climate resilience.

Brendan is passionate about making an impact on climate by bringing the best and brightest minds to the fight. He’s an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion as a pillar for company success. His approach to recruiting is to lead with impact and place the opportunity for impact over profit. Climate People is proud to partner with 1% for the Planet, a network of environmental non-profits. They donate 1% of each placement fee to an environmental non-profit of the candidate’s choosing.

Outside of his work with Climate People, Brendan is an active member in his community of Framingham, MA. He is a Co-Founding board member for Framingham Youth Basketball and has spent 10 years coaching both boys and girls youth basketball, as well as youth baseball. He is married with 2 teenage kids.

Finding Exceptional Niche Talent in a Candidate Driven Market with Maryann Donovan, CEO at Impact Personnel

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 06:59:34 +0000

Since founding Impact Personnel in 1989, Maryann has maintained a long-term commitment to staffing excellence. Working with her team of expert consultants, Maryann has built one of the premier staffing firms in the recruiting industry. Maryann has wide-ranging ties in the Fairfield County and metropolitan New York business communities. She is a graduate of Fairfield University where she has served on the Alumni Board of Directors. She is a member of Who’s Who in the East and of the prestigious Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO). She recently chaired the Career Committee for the Gettysburg College Parents Advisory Board, was Director of Membership for the Southern Connecticut SHRM board, and was a member of the board of directors of Dress for Success Mid-Fairfield County.

How to Build a Culture of Innovation with Sanjay Bhasin, the President of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 08:42:05 +0000

Sanjay K. Bhasin has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas since May 2014. Under his leadership, the value proposition for members has been strengthened through enhanced products, services and funding solutions. He also serves on the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, the trade association for the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks.

Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Bhasin was Executive Vice President, Members and Markets, at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (Chicago Bank). Mr. Bhasin joined the Chicago Bank in 2004 as Vice President, Mortgage Finance, and he was promoted to various leadership roles throughout his tenure.

Prior to joining the Chicago Bank, he was responsible for managing the interest rate risk associated with Bank One, NA’s mortgage pipeline holdings from 1999 to 2004. Mr. Bhasin holds an MBA in Finance from Indiana University.

How to Build a Successful Venture Fund focused on Underrepresented Founders with Mac Conwell, Founder of RareBreed Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 08:41:19 +0000

McKeever “Mac” Conwell II is a software engineer by trade and was a former DOD contractor with a top-secret clearance. He was a two-time founder with an exit and a failure. Next Mac moved on to the venture capital world via the Maryland Technology Development Corporation as part of their Seed Investment Team.During his four years there, Mac amassed experience leading an initiative to create the Minority Business Pre-seed Fund, the first and only, at the time, state-backed pre-seed fund for women and minorities in the country. The program institutionalized the friends and family round for black-, women-, and minority-led startups and was subsequently funded long-term by the state of Maryland. In September 2020, Mac founded RareBreed VC, a pre-seed fund that invests in exceptional founders outside of large tech ecosystems.

Providing a Platform for Gig Workers through Exceptional Writing with Forbes Writer, Jonathan Younger

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 08:39:24 +0000

Jon Younger PhD is the founder of the Agile Talent Collaborative. He is a thought-leader in the freelance space, sits on several advisory boards, and is the author of Agile Talent (Harvard, 2016) and writes regularly on the freelance revolution for Forbes.

How Solving Your Own Frustrations Can Lead to Becoming an Entrepreneur with Jodi Frank, Founder and CEO of Culineer

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 20:15:13 +0000

Jodi Frank was raised in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, PA, where she developed passions for both innovating and baking. A cookie recipe unique to the Pittsburgh area (Lady Locks) would later spark the inspiration for Jodi’s company, What’s for Dinner Technologies and their brand Culineer.

After graduating with a BA in Speech Communication from the University of Pittsburgh, Jodi earned her MBA from Penn State. She has worked in a variety of roles for an array of companies and industries, and feels that her entire career has prepared her for her role today as the Founder and CEO of What’s for Dinner Technologies.

Jodi was inspired to develop Culineer by her challenges around locating and managing recipes. Driven by her entrepreneurial spirit, she soon identified a much larger opportunity to fill a sizable void in the American marketplace. Jodi envisions Culineer as an innovative and flexible solution that empowers people everywhere to not only share recipes, but create homemade food and positively impact both individual and community health.

Topics:

Why selling is one of the most important skills you can develop for your career.
The importance of mentors that nurture a leadership mindset in you.
How Jodi’s frustration with food deserts and digital recipes led her to founding Culineer.
Jodi’s biggest lesson from her entrepreneurial journey.
How to attract the right talent for your startup.

Show notes:

Fostering a Culture of Innovation, Customer Obsessed Products & Future of Work with Sandy Carter, VP AWS

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 19:53:51 +0000

Sandy Carter is Vice President, Public Sector Partners and Programs at AWS. In this role, she is responsible for driving next-generation partnering. Her responsibilities include evolving partner models to intensify partner innovation, AWS cloud adoption and creation of mission critical cloud solutions with partners across public sector. She is focused on growing the partner ecosystem as a major driver for public sector and contributing significantly to the success of public sector customers. She previously built an enterprise workload team as the Vice President of Enterprise Workloads at AWS focused on migration and modernization through containers and serverless.

Sandy has been a founder and CEO of a startup, and her last role at IBM, she ran the Cloud and AI/ML Ecosystem on behalf of the IBM corporation. Sandy is the Chairman of the Board of Girls in Tech, Chairwoman for WIoTCoE, and an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley.

She is the author of Extreme Innovation: Three Superpowers for Purpose and Profit. Sandy is a Federal 100 Award Winner, Stevie Award Winner for Women of the Year Technology, Women in Tech: Top 50 Influencers, CRN Women of the Channel 2021 Power 100, 2021 Cloud Girls Rising Inaugural Visionary Award, Top 50 Influencers, Top 150 Global Cloud Thought Leaders and Next Generation Leaders of 2021, Top 40 Cloud Computing Influencers on Twitter, Top 50 Digital Influencers, Awards Magazine Top 50 Women of Influence, Top 15 IoT Premier League, Lifetime Achievement Winner, ‘Excellence in Cloud Achievement’, AI Innovator Nominee of the Year, Top 10 AI Influencers 2019, Verdicts ten of the most influential people in artificial intelligence on Twitter during Q4 2020, and the Top 10 Cloud Computing Influencer

Why Community Is The Future of Work And Education With Trish Kennelly, VP Of Experience at On Deck

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 18:33:52 +0000

Trish is passionate about designing high impact, community-driven experiences that connect people and possibility in new ways. Her approach is influenced by her background in behavioral economics, belief in entrepreneurship, and global perspective from her nomadic lifestyle.

She is currently VP, Experience at On Deck, where her team is focused on deeply understanding and serving the needs of top talent through community-based fellowship programs. Previous experience includes VP, Experience at Remote Year and Global Program Manager at Unreasonable Group.

Topics:

Trish’s journey to designing world-class experiences for the On Deck community.
How to figure out the next step in your career and what skills you should work on.
Prioritizing relationships is the foundation for the future of work.
Bridging the gap between traditional education and skills-based hiring.
The power behind building and sharing your projects in public.
Trish’s advice to women in leadership roles.

Show notes:

Leveraging The Untapped Talent of Women Returning to The Workforce with Ashley Connell, Founder and CEO at Prowess Project

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 18:28:19 +0000

Ashley Connell, CEO and Founder of Prowess Project, is one part fearless entrepreneur, one part fearless women’s advocate. She has been an unstoppable tech marketer and entrepreneur in both Austin and London over the past 15 years of her career. With a keen ability to marry the art and science of marketing, she has honed her dynamic skills in key positions including launching and driving all European marketing initiatives during her tenure at Spiceworks, and managing Global Field Marketing at SanDisk.

Her commitment to changing the lives of overloaded employers, women seeking rewarding work, and those affected by the gender pay gap, has landed her thought leadership pieces in Forbes, Built in Austin and at SXSW. In her pretty much non-existent spare time she enjoys yoga, walks with her bulldog, cheering on her beloved Longhorns, and spaghetti and meatballs.

Topics:

The Harvard Business Review statistic that inspired Ashley to found Prowess Project.
The number one barrier for women wanting to return to the workforce after a 2-3 year break.
Why having a working mom as a leader is better for business.
How Prowess Project helps hiring managers make better hiring decisions.
Ashley’s recommendations for founders looking to pitch their startup.
Customer satisfaction as Prowess Project’s north star.

Show notes:

Proven Methods to Identifying Ideal Real Estate Investment Opportunities with Simon Mass – Co-Founder and CEO at The Condo Store Group of Companies

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 05:11:25 +0000

Simon co-founded a ten-person boutique firm in 2004 that evolved into The Condo Store that now proudly hosts over fifty team members and more than 300 sophisticated high-net-worth clients from around the globe. Often recognized in Toronto as the architect of the pre-construction condo investment sector, with over $10 billion in transactions and a reputation that spans across North America as the creator of the bulk condo investment space.

Simon has long-term relationships with hundreds of clients that include doctors, medical practitioners and business professionals across Canada. These clients account for over $500 million in annual investments. Simon’s long-standing relationships with leading developers continues to fuel The Condo Store’s investment engine.

Topics:

Strategies for winning competitive deals
Critical partnerships that promote successful business ventures
Supporting communities through corporate philanthropy initiatives

How to Build a Successful Alternative Investments Company with Founder and President – Michael Weisz

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 09:25:43 +0000

Michael Weisz is an award-winning entrepreneur and Founder and President of Yieldstreet, a next-generation digital investment platform powering the modernization of today’s portfolios by unlocking access to income-generating alternative investments. In 2020, Yieldstreet was named Financial Time’s 12th Fastest Growing Company in the US, and for 2 consecutive years, Yieldstreet was named one of the top 50 Fastest-Growing Companies by INC.

Prior to founding Yieldstreet, Michael worked across the specialty finance spectrum, including pioneering the Litigation Finance sector. Michael has managed over $2.5 billion in transactions across multiple asset classes, including Real Estate, Marine Finance, Art Finance, Legal Finance, and Non-traditional Commercial and Consumer Loans. At Yieldstreet, Michael is responsible for the company’s investment and portfolio strategy, originator network as well as general corporate strategy, including M&A and investment partnerships.

How to Build a Culture of Intrapreneurship with Alex Reynolds – VP of Platform Solutions at Shutterstock

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:43:10 +0000

Alex is VP of Platform Solutions at Shutterstock where he is responsible for leading a team that delivers a best-in-class product powered by AI-based search tools, to improve workflow processes for creatives and professionals around the world by deeply integrating Shutterstock’s Platform Solutions capabilities into the applications and workflow environments they are already using. Alex has directly led 100+ API deals with leading technology companies including Facebook, Google, Apple, IBM, Snap Inc., Magic Leap, & more.

Alex started his career as a management consultant at Bain, focusing on growth strategy and M&A across a broad portfolio of Fortune 500 Tech companies. He later transitioned to travel startup, Peek, where he helped grow the company from 25 employees to over 100 and then joined YP (Yellow Pages) as Director of Consumer Business Development, where he built net new monetization partnerships with esteemed consumer brands including Uber, Apple, Opentable, and TripAdvisor. Alex earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Consulting & Venture Management, Marketing from Emory University.

Leveraging Military Experience to Succeed in Corporate Environment with Jeff Buck, Executive at Lash Group / AmerisourceBergen

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:39:26 +0000

Jeff Buck is the Vice President of Business Optimization and is responsible for the development and execution of global business strategy which includes exploring and implementing new offerings. In this role, Mr. Buck collaborates with Operations, Finance, IT, and Business Development teams on strategic initiatives and transformation opportunities across various business units.

Mr. Buck brings over 15 years of thought leadership and experience shaping strategy and planning. Mr. Buck has been with Lash Group for seven years, most recently working within the organization’s Strategy Department and the Business Transformation and PMO business units. Prior to joining AmerisourceBergen in 2013, he served in the United States Marine Corps in various roles.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA. He also earned a master’s degree in Business from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and a Post Graduate Certificate in Data Science and Analytics from Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. Mr. Buck holds certifications in Project Management Professional (PMP), Risk Management Professional (RMP), and a Black Belt Six Sigma.

Building A Sustainable Seagreens-based Food Brand with Courtney Boyd Myers, Co-founder & CEO of AKUA

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:38:07 +0000

Courtney Boyd Myers (CEO, CMO of AKUA) is an entrepreneur, environmentalist, and writer. Prior to launching AKUA, she helped build the Summit Community, a global network of founders, creatives, and innovators. Previously, she helped market companies such as Four Sigmatic and Unframed Ice Cream. She began her career as a journalist at Forbes Magazine and The Next Web and has been recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business. She currently serves as an advisor to GreenWave, a nonprofit that supports the regenerative ocean farming industry.

Topics:

How ocean farming and a kelp farm tour led Courtney to find her calling and build AKUA.
The importance of kelp farming as a more sustainable form of food agriculture.
Community as the ultimate tool for product development.
Leveraging the power of crowdfunding as a marketing tool to build brand awareness.
Courtney’s advice to women entrepreneurs going through challenging times.
Biggest challenges in building a sustainable seagreens-based food consumer brand.
Prioritizing self-care as an entrepreneur.

Resources for the show notes:

Technology Automation Strategies with the CIO of Workato – Carter Busse

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:35:19 +0000

IT executive with a proven track record of success in both private and public companies including 3 IPOs – Excite@Home, Salesforce,com, and MobileIron. Expertise in building high performing, collaborative teams (90+), delivering on business strategy, and generating new revenue while decreasing operating costs. Extensive experience managing local and remote teams across time zones and continents. First IT leader hired at Salesforce.com. Lead the security function at companies and successfully completed SOC 2 Type 2 compliance for 2 pre-IPO companies.

How Build a Thesis & Innovation Driven Venture Capital Firm with Maggie Vo – Partner & Chief Investment Officer at Fuel Capital

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:31:48 +0000

Maggie Vo, CFA®, is a finance expert with more than a decade’s experience in the public markets, analyzing and managing investments across a wide spectrum of asset classes. As Chief Investment Officer and Managing General Partner of Fuel Venture Capital, Maggie spearheads due diligence processes that determine prospective investments and capital deployment and steers valuation analyses of existing portfolio companies. Maggie sits on the board of Bolt Mobility, Eyrus, Soundtrack Your Brand and Ubicquia.

How to Cultivate a Culture Of Mindfulness In The Workplace with Carolina Lasso, Marketing Director at Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI)

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:23:41 +0000

Originally from Colombia, Carolina Lasso cares deeply about growth. As a marketer with 14+ years of experience, she has worked with companies of all sizes to elevate their brands and grow. As someone passionate about personal development , she practices and teaches ways for anyone to grow and attain their full potential.

Carolina graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in International Business and received an MBA from New York University, specializing in Marketing and Finance. She has worked as a marketing professional in companies that include ZGS Communications, Telemundo and American Express. Most recently, she worked as Product Marketing Manager at Google for 7 years.

In 2018 she joined the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute as Marketing Director and currently leads the organization’s efforts to grow reach and impact across marketing channels.

Carolina is a certified Search Inside Yourself teacher and also a certified meditation facilitator. She is the author of the book Plenitud and the creator of plenitud.net serving the Spanish-speaking community interested in mindfulness and personal growth. She currently lives in San Francisco and enjoys oil painting, writing and traveling. She loves oil painting, dancing, and discovering new places around the world.

Topics:

Carolina’s journey to learning how to prioritize her own personal and professional development.
Burnout and how it can be a sign to evaluate what’s important to you.
Carolina’s recommendations if you find yourself unfulfilled.
Biggest challenges to cultivate a more mindful workplace.
Fostering psychological safety in a remote environment.
The underrated tactic for a successful customer acquisition strategy.
Why sharing your story matters.
The seven mindfulness practices to cultivate a state of fulfillment.

Resources for the show notes:

How to Build High Performing Teams with Head of Procurement at J2 – Mousa Hamad

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:20:58 +0000

Mousa Hamad currently resides on the Gulf Coast of Florida. There, he is a partner and a father to a vivacious three year old. Which, he will tell you, is a great tune up for his day job as the Director of Operations and Procurement at J2 Global, Inc. Mousa has been in the Information Technology industry for the last 15 years getting his start on the front lines as a Tier 1 tech. He is a customer centric executive who loves being a part of great teams that deliver results.

Succeeding in Post-Pandemic Market in Talent Acquisition with Chris Burkhard – CEO at MyPlacers

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:18:10 +0000

Chris Burkhard is a 4th generation entrepreneur, and has been running his business for over 20 years. Placers is a workforce company that not only helps people find jobs but consults with businesses on how to best use a contingent workforce. In running Placers, Chris is known as being a cultural servant leader. The Placers community is unique and gives back to the local community. He emphasises the importance of having an environment where people can be themselves. Culture led business that has steered Placers towards being listed on Inc 5000 list a combined 10 times in its history. His way of leading also earned Chris the SBA Small Business Person of the Year for the State of Delaware in 2020.

Chris has a love of the outdoors and would prefer to be forest bathing. Chris currently lives in Lewes, Delaware but daydreams of living in the mountains of Wyoming. He is an active business person and Scaling Up Coach who loves to mentor entrepreneurs towards building their own successful businesses. Chris lives his life the same way, whether it is business or personal. He is a dedicated husband to Kim and father to Josh and Hallie. His true love are his 2 aussie shepherds Gracie and Ziggy.

Practical Recommendations for Finding a Perfect Healthcare Executive with Sue Forster from The Healthcare Initiative

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:11:13 +0000

Sue rejoined The Healthcare Initiative in 2019 after leading the Executive Talent Acquisition Center of Excellence for a $4.8 billion health system (a CHI MBO) where she was responsible for executive talent acquisition for 17 hospitals, medical group, health system, and network affiliates. With over a decade of healthcare executive talent acquisition within a large system transforming the landscape of healthcare, she brings her leading edge industry expertise and passion to deliver a proven process that can identify; attract; evaluate for skills, emotional intelligence and cultural alignment; and land the top talent clients are seeking to engage to lead the tsunami of change health system leaders face today in the world of complex, matrixed environments to build alignment, standardization, eliminate silos, increase consumer/employee engagement, reduce costs, and provide new models of care.

Sue has impacted and helped advance the careers of over 1,500 director and c-suite healthcare executives across the healthcare continuum. In addition to healthcare, her business acumen includes over 30 years of experience in healthcare, high tech, consumer products and financial services with small, medium, large and international organizations (as a consultant and direct leader).

What it Takes to Succeed as Chief of Staff with Christopher Perrotti – Chief of Staff to CEO of LogMeIn

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:05:26 +0000

Chris Perrotti has been the Chief of Staff for LogMeIn’s CEO for the last 2 years. In his role, he is responsible for driving aligned focus against the most critical priorities at LogMeIn. In addition, he has been focused on transitioning to a permanent remote-centric workplace for roughly the last year. Chris leads a small team of program & change management professionals to support and drive the transformation. Prior to the Chief of Staff role, Chris spent about 15 years building and leading teams delivering insights and efficiency through data and business applications, both at LogMeIn and Forrester Research.

LogMeIn’s category-defining products unlock the potential of the modern workforce by making it possible for millions of people and businesses around the globe to do their best work simply and securely—on any device, from any location and at any time. A pioneer in remote work technology and a driving force behind today’s work-from-anywhere movement, LogMeIn has become one of the world’s largest SaaS companies with tens of millions of active users, more than 3,500 global employees, over $1.3 billion in annual revenue and approximately 2 million customers worldwide who use its software as an essential part of their daily lives.

Achieving Business and Cultural Agility – Steve Martinez

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:00:26 +0000

Steve is currently a Senior Director at NTT Data working as a Agile Practice Consultant. Steve works as an Agile Transformation Lead and trainer heading organizational agile implementation and adoption for a broad set of industries that include multiple companies in the Commercial, Federal, Non-Profit, Cybersecurity, and Military sectors. Steve holds numerous certifications from Scaled Agile, Scrum Alliance, and the Project Management Institute, and earned his BA and MBA from Florida International University. Steve has also proudly served his country by earning the distinct title of US Marine.

How to Grow and Advance Your Career with the CEO of Teal HQ – David Fano

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 14:58:00 +0000

A serial entrepreneur and architect by training, Dave Fano has built his career by creating high-growth teams. He founded the successful building information and technology consultancy CASE and ultimately sold it to WeWork, where he served as Chief Growth Officer and increased the unicorn startup’s revenue 100% YoY for four years and led a global team of 3,400 people. In 2020, Dave launched his latest mission, Teal, which offers tools and resources that puts career development back in the hands of the individual so they can pursue a fulfilling career.

How to Build a Successful Career in Venture Capital with Samantha Huang from BMW iVentures

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 14:46:52 +0000

Samantha Huang is a Principal at BMW iVentures, where she focuses on investments across AI and big data, autonomous driving, Industry 4.0, sustainability, and the next generation of human experiences. She also serves as Head of Content for the Emerging Venture Capitalists Association, which is the most active pre-partner nonprofit organization for empowering the next generation of venture capitalists. Samantha previously worked at Robert Bosch Venture Capital and in corporate development at SK Telecom. She also worked as Lead Researcher at the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University on research projects centered on innovation and entrepreneurship. She holds a J.D. from UC Berkeley Law School and an MA in history from Stanford University. Samantha is also a licensed California attorney.

Startup & Investment Trends in South Florida with Chief of Staff at Pareto Holdings – Nadav Ben-Chanoch

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 05:08:36 +0000

Nadav Ben-Chanoch is the chief of staff at Pareto Holdings, where he oversees investments in a wide-range of industries and helps launch and scale tech companies. Nadav is also a co-founder of Rowgatta, a health and wellness brand headquartered in New York City. Prior to launching Rowgatta, Nadav was a corporate lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis’s New York office, specializing in private equity mergers and acquisitions. Outside of work, Nadav is a travel and fitness enthusiast. He is a 2-time Ironman, marathoner, and avid scuba diver. Nadav studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida and got his JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City. Nowadays, you can find him strolling around Coconut Grove with his Goldendoodle, Rosie.

How to Build a Marketplace for Productions Jobs with CEO of Productions.com – Carolyn Pitt

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 07:40:40 +0000

Carolyn Pitt is Founder and CEO of Productions.com, the job marketplace for production professionals that connects studios, music labels, and corporate brands to vetted local production talent.

Productions.com is headquartered in Atlanta and partners with clients nationwide. The company advocates for production professionals of all backgrounds and is proud to help level the playing field for women and professionals of color, who are underrepresented in the entertainment industry.

Immediately prior to the passage of the CARES Act, Carolyn addressed the U.S. Senate and House Subcommittee for Small Business and Entrepreneurship to advocate for stimulus funding for the film industry and underrepresented founders. She also participated in two small business roundtables at the behest of the Biden-Harris campaign. Carolyn was recently recognized as a recipient of Google’s inaugural Black Founder Fund and was named 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year by Envolve Global.

Carolyn is an Intellectual Property and Entertainment Attorney with significant experience in Management Consulting, Strategy, and Business Development. She previously practiced at Alston & Bird LLP and received her BS in Psychology from Vanderbilt University and her JD from American University’s Washington College of Law.

How to Succeed in Executive Search for Renewable/Clean Energy Sector with Jon Semingson from Peak Demand

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 08:31:13 +0000

Jon Semingson is the Managing Partner of Peak Demand where he and his team help some of the best renewable energy companies build the teams they need to enable the renewable energy transition. He has spent 13 years focused exclusively in Renewables and the individuals that Peak Demand have placed have impacted nearly 10 GW of installed renewable energy in the US.

How to Build Very Big Things on Innovation, Strategy and Talent with Co-Founder of Very Big Things – Chris Stegner

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 11:23:00 +0000

Chris Stegner is a Co-Founder of Very Big Things.

Content Strategies and Thesis-Driven Investments into Founders with Jessica Li

The Ivy Podcast — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 10:39:03 +0000

Jessica is the 2nd growth marketing hire at Series C, General Catalyst backed Zageno, the B2B procurement marketplace for the life sciences. She also heads content for Elpha (Y Combinator S19, community of 45K+ women in tech), Harvard in Tech, and Techstars Boston. She is the first industry fellow with Pear VC, a founding fellow at On Deck, a contributor at TechCrunch, a writer at Pinduoduo, an angel investor, and a content and marketing consultant with many startups and venture funds. She has previously worked in venture capital at Soma Capital (employee #1), General Catalyst, Romulus Capital, Global Founders Capital, and Female Founders Fund; in growth and operations at Morning Brew (acquired by Business Insider) and Luxe (Google Ventures backed and acquired by Volvo); in investment banking at Morgan Stanley; and in public markets at Northwestern Mutual and a family office. She graduated from Harvard with high honors in applied math, computer science, and economics, where her thesis research was completed with the 2016 Nobel Laureate in economics, Oliver Hart. She has worked with startups in MassChallenge, Techstars, Alchemist, Envision, Zane, Plug and Play, 500 Startups, and other programs.

Startup Valuations and Fundraising Dynamics with Ashley Martis

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 21:15:27 +0000

Ashley Martis is a startup ecosystem expert and super connector. He is a startup valuation expert by education, and is a startup founder and VC venture partner. His mission is to make the startup ecosystem more efficient for every organization involved. He has spent the last 9 years attending 750+ networking events in 30+ cities around the world studying and learning how the global startup ecosystem can better interact and do business with each other. He has a strong passion in impact, and is a huge advocate of removing Human Bias in VC to support diversity, sustainability, and community.

Overnight Success That Took 20 Years with the CEO and Co-Founder of Bankers Health Group – Albert Crawford

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 21:09:16 +0000

Al Crawford is a Co-Founder of BHG and currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He is responsible for overseeing all facets of the company and its operations.

For 30 years, Al has expertly coordinated loan/lease sales and financing between community banks and companies. His unique passion and excitement for creating financial solutions shines at BHG. He has facilitated over $10 billion with financial institutions, including more than 1,300 banks nationwide.

Al provides guidance and mentoring to his Leadership Team, who he meets with regularly. These 8 direct reports are leading their respective teams, and running the day-to-day operations of the company alongside Albert. Because of his hands-on, inclusive management style and thirst for knowledge, his presence in all locations and departments is evident.

In 2012, Al, along with co-founders Bob and Eric Castro, was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Financial Services. And in 2009, he was one of an elite 10 selected from hundreds of the nation’s top CEOs to be a member of the Inc. magazine CEO Project.

Al earned his bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg College. He has held licenses as both a commodities broker (Series 3) and a stockbroker (Series 7).

How to Build a Winning Culture of Innovation with Chief Digital & Information Officer at Baptist Health – Tony Ambrozie

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 20:26:10 +0000

Tony Ambrozie is Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer/Chief Information Officer for Baptist Health South Florida, the largest not-for-profit healthcare organization in South Florida. He is responsible for all Technologies, Digital and Data efforts, with immediate focus on consumer and patient experience as well as clinical digital and data.

Before joining Baptist Health, Mr. Ambrozie served as Senior Vice President, Technology and Digital at The Walt Disney Company. In this role, he was responsible for a number of digital and core systems and technologies, engineering, data analytics and machine learning for Disney Parks and Consumer Products, Games and Publishing.

Prior to joining Disney in 2013, Mr. Ambrozie was Vice President for Digital Platform Technologies at American Express, where he was responsible for platform engineering, shared services development and application security, with previous roles focused on application architecture, development, engineering and performance.

He is a proven leader in the technology and digital space with a keen focus on using technology and data to enhance the consumer experience.

Prior to spending the past two decades focused on large business operations, he launched his technology career as the cofounder of a software development startup, specializing in building unique, small business applications.

Mr. Ambrozie holds a dual MBA and Master’s Degree in Information Management from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

How to Win the War on Employee Retention with the Chief Visionary Officer at Job.com – Arran Stewart

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 22:14:26 +0000

Arran Stewart is the Co-Founder and CVO of blockchain-powered recruitment platform Job.com. Arran has spent over a decade working to disrupt the recruitment industry with innovative, first-of-its-kind technology. His expertise on hiring, recruitment, technology, and macro job market trends has been featured in Forbes, Inc., Reuters, Wired, Fortune, and Nasdaq, among others.

How to Invest in Immigrant Founders with the Partner at Unshackled Ventures – Maria Salamanca

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 21:22:24 +0000

Maria Salamanca is a venture capitalist at Unshackled Ventures, a fund that fills a unique space in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, funding teams with immigrant founders at the earliest stage of pre-seed and seed. Maria joined the fund in 2015, during her time she has been involved in all 38 investments and has evaluated more than 2,500 deals. In 2018, she was first Latina named Forbes 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital and Business Insider’s Under 30 Rising Stars. Her support for the Latinx community also won her the the 2017 California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Shark of Year.

Previous to joining Unshackled, Maria worked at FWD.us an immigration lobbying group founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Ron Conway, Reid Hoffman and other tech leaders. She attended UC Berkeley where she studied Government and Legal Studies.

How to Build a Successful Career in Technology with Alejandro Mainetto – Partner at Overactive

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 18:36:28 +0000

Alejandro Mainetto is a Managing Partner with Overactive where he advises multiple companies in areas such as digital transformation, business and product strategy and building new digital products and services. Before joining Overactive, Mainetto worked as a Digital Partner for Ernst & Young (EY) and focused on helping customers strategize and execute on their digital transformation strategy and journey and provide solutions to create next generation customer experiences, digital platforms and new digital business models. Before joining EY, Mainetto was an entrepreneur and ran a successful digital strategy consulting business, New Media Strategy, where he provided technology strategy advisory consulting services for key clients in media, travel, retail, education and healthcare industries across the US. Advised major organizations on how to drive digital and consumer experience transformations across their businesses.

Before New Media Strategy, Mainetto spent many years in Corporate America in the Media and Entertainment and Education industries working as the Global CTO for Kaplan, Deputy CIO for NYC Department of Education and the Head of Software Engineering for Disney Corporate. Prior to Disney, he also held various management positions at firms such as IBM, Verizon and Con Edison. Mainetto received his Executive M.S. in Management of Technology and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from NYU-Polytechnic University

Helping Top Companies Win the War on Talent & Retention with Don Townsend from DonleyTownsend

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 18:30:32 +0000

Don Townsend is an executive search consultant and an executive coach for senior leaders new to their roles. Don has experience in the energy, computer, telecommunications, instrumentation, IT services, financial services, and engineering/construction industries. He has conducted senior leadership and board of director assignments in Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. He is particularly skilled in finding European leadership for US firms and American leadership for the US operations of European firms. In addition to his executive search work, Don assists chairmen and CEOs in recruiting directors for their boards. He has published articles on governance topics in Directors Monthly and Strategy & Leadership. Don was a Vice President at A.T. Kearney, the global management consultancy, from 1997 to 2003. Prior to that, he held Human Resources positions with Hilti AG, Teradata, and AT&T. During his industry years, Don also held leadership roles in Quality and Marketing. Don has bachelors and masters degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

How to Launch & Scale a Thriving Staffing Company with a Co-Founder of Pocketbook Agency – Brittany Dolin

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 18:21:29 +0000

Brittany Dolin is Co-Founder of Pocketbook Agency. Inspired by her own career as a personal and executive assistant for high profile families, Brittany was determined to create a search firm that fosters long term relationships to help both clients and candidates feel more productive, successful, and fulfilled in the hiring process. Brittany’s years of experience in assistant roles allowed her to see what was missing from the traditional placement process. This critical understanding is what she turns to every day, working with Fortune 1000 companies & leaders, high profile early-stage businesses, ultra-high net worth families, and everyone in between. Brittany’s specialty lies within the high net worth family office industry, where she has advised and worked with some of the most prominent family offices across The United States. Brittany has been quoted in leading publications such as The Financial Times and Forbes as an expert in the recruiting sector. Brittany is a Los Angeles native where she currently resides with her husband Derek and two Maltese dogs, Bentley & Teddy.

How to Develop a Winning Go-To-Market Strategy & Help Startups Grow with Liam Mulcahy from Unusual Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 18:12:51 +0000

Liam Mulcahy is the Director, Sales GTM at Unusual Ventures where he works directly with enterprise portfolio companies to go from pitch deck to product-market fit, paying customers, and beyond.
Prior to joining Unusual, Liam worked at MongoDB, pre/post IPO, as one of the top sales reps before going on to manage the top-performing sales team worldwide. Earlier in his career, he worked at a healthcare analytics startup, at the advertising agency McCann Erickson, and built/launched a networking app for coworking spaces.

How to Build a Successful Franchising Business Model with Dan Brunell – CEO of Dearborn West

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 18:08:24 +0000

Dan Brunell has over 30 years of talent acquisition experience. Serving in front line to executive management roles in the staffing industry, Dan has worked in both public and private organizations in sales, operations, and administration. He is experienced in start-up and turnaround strategies and has started multiple businesses including home care franchises. He is President of Dearborn West, LLC – a specialized consulting firm that recruits owners for top franchise systems throughout North America.For almost two decades, Dan has been a leader in establishing best practices and ethical guidelines for the franchise brokerage industry. He has developed franchise broker training programs for multiple broker networks and has personally trained hundreds of brokers. He has authored books on brokering and franchise selection as well. Dan is passionate about matching talent to opportunities and ensuring that every franchise broker is equipped to excel in this exciting space.

How to Win a War on Talent with the CEO of ACG Resources – Len Adams

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 18:04:24 +0000

Len Adams is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Adams Consulting Group/ACG Resources. He has a 40-year record of achievement in meeting the Talent Acquisition (Executive Search, Staffing and Consulting) needs of many prestigious corporations, software companies, banks, Insurance companies and financial services institutions – locally, nationally and internationally. In addition, the firm works with a diverse portfolio of client companies, ranging from Start ups to Middle market firms.

Along with the entire team, Len is committed to ensuring that ACG consistently provides clients and candidates with the highest quality of service possible in the Search and Staffing Industry. As a career Certified Personnel Consultant, Adams is an accomplished lecturer at the university and secondary school levels on various subjects relating to career planning, business ethics, recruiting and search.

How to Build Effective & Engaging Communities with Brett Haralson from Wix.com

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 17:55:57 +0000

Brett Haralson is best known as WIX.com’s Global Community Manager, where he works with one of the most passionate global online communities in the world.

How to Succeed in Public Sector as the Youngest Mayor of Miami Lakes – Manny Cid

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 17:50:40 +0000

Mayor Manny Cid is a 27-year resident of Miami Lakes. He is an associate at Horizon Properties of Miami, Inc., and Owner of Mayor’s Café – Miami Lakes.

Mayor Cid served Miami Lakes residents as the Senior Legislative Aide to two State Representatives and served on the town’s Youth Activities Task Force and Economic Development Committee.

During his seven years as a Sr. Legislative Aide in the Florida House of Representatives, he successfully worked on important pieces of legislation- such as the “Carbon Monoxide Safety Law” and a bill which helped Florida International University recruit a new Medical School Faculty. Additionally, while in the State Capitol, he worked on various appropriations for Miami Lakes residents including funds for the Town of Miami Lakes Bull Run Roadway and Drainage Improvement project.

Elected in 2012 to the Miami Lakes Council and subsequently selected as Vice-Mayor in August 2013. In November 2016, Manny was elected Mayor of the Town of Miami Lakes.

He is also a graduate of the Institute for Elected Municipal Officials (IEMO) I, II, & III. The educational program is sponsored by the Florida League of Cities and the John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government.

Mayor Cid and his wife Melissa reside and are raising their two sons in Miami Lakes’ Villa Vizcaya neighborhood where he previously served as a Board Member of its Condominium Association.

How to Find & Retain the Best Talent in PR, Marketing and Communications with the President of Chaloner – Larry Brantley

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 17:45:24 +0000

Larry Brantley is the president of Chaloner. Chaloner is a national executive search firm specializing in communications, public relations and marketing recruitment.

Larry has more than 30 years of experience in the communications, marketing and advertising fields. One of his first key jobs was as a packaging designer at Frito-Lay where he developed his networking and people skills. He eventually started the first creative staffing firm in the DFW area. Since then he has been involved in recruiting and placement of industry professionals both nationally and internationally.

Larry has worked with such firms as JCPenney, HP, Perdue Farms, McDonalds, Texas Instruments, Johnson Outdoors, PRSA, TracyLocke, MaDougall Biotech, Phillips 66, Frito-Lay and Edelman. He has placed brand, creative, account service, interactive/web, public relations, marketing, media, traffic, production and other executive level talent.

Larry has been interviewed as a staffing industry expert by Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, PROMO Magazine, Communication Arts Magazine, Dallas Men Magazine, The Dallas Business Journal and The Houston Business Journal. He is an award-winning designer through IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) and is a long-term member of AAF where he serves as a part of the executive leadership for the 10th district and Vice Chair for AAF Council of Governors on the national level.

He currently splits his time between Dallas and NYC. He has 3 sons.

Startup Growth and Path to Acquisition with the Founder of SpeedETab – Adam Garfield

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 20:01:00 +0000

Adam is the VP of Restaurants at Wix.com, the world’s largest platform for creating, managing, and growing an online presence, serving over 200 million customers worldwide. As VP of Restaurants, Adam helps guide business strategy that empowers restaurants to more easily offer online ordering, delivery, curbside pickup, and connect with their customers.

Prior to his role at Wix, Adam was the co-founder and CEO of SpeedETab, which was acquired by Wix in February 2021. SpeedETab offers online ordering and mobile apps to restaurants, easily integrated directly with their point of sale.

Adam is a Miami native, and after some time in Boston, returned to Miami in 2014 when starting SpeedETab. He’s an avid cyclist and runner and a novice tennis player. He also recently started the Adam Garfield YouTube channel, geared towards a vlog style sharing of entrepreneurial life, startup learnings, and Miami living.

How to Succeed in Gaming Industry with the CTO of Mogul Games – Karolis Mikalauskas

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 31 May 2021 16:46:36 +0000

Originally from Lithuania, Karl started spending summers in United States at the age of 12 and finally made a permanent move at 17. Being very passionate about technology, movies and games, he pursued all three careers. From filmmaking and photography to fine arts and 3D computer animation to software and games development. Karl has worked on visual effects for films such as Iron Man, Captain America and many others. He has created over 60 computer applications for the real estate industry and led game development teams in the creation of mobile games. Currently, Karl, is solely focused on the latter.

How to Build a Successful Sales Recruitment Firm with the CEO of Treeline – Dan Fantasia

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 31 May 2021 16:41:02 +0000

Dan Fantasia is the President of Treeline, Inc., the nation’s top sales recruiting firm. Dan founded Treeline, Inc. in 2001 and since its launch the company has helped its clients hire more than 3,000 sales professionals nationally. The company has been recognized as One of America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms by Forbes, an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company, one of the Best Places to Work in the Country and in Massachusetts for two decades by Inc. and the BBJ, one of the 50 Fastest Growing Private Companies in MA, and has received numerous awards for its sales hiring technology that gives hiring executives more insight into the hiring process. Dan Fantasia is recognized as an expert in the sales industry, and a trusted advisor to companies looking to harness a sales network of hidden talent.

How to Stay Employable & Spotting Workforce Trends with Murielle Antille from LHH

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 31 May 2021 16:23:43 +0000

As SVP, Head of Government and Industry Affairs with LHH, Murielle Antille is responsible for the relationships with external stakeholders such as policy makers, institutions, communities or think tanks. As a member of the Global Leadership Team and global thought leadership council, Murielle acts as an internal advisor on topics related to labor markets, regulations and further external developments impacting LHH’s activities. In the past, she held various functions in global sales as well as lead LHH European talent development business. Prior to joining LHH, Murielle worked in international business development, human capital management and partner management. Murielle is also the global chair of the Career Management Network at the World Employment Confederation, the global sector association of private employment firms.

Murielle holds an M.A. (lic. rer. publ. HSG) in economics, law and political science from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland

Top Payment Trends in Central America and the Caribbean with Visa’s Head of Products for Central America and the Caribbean – Allen Cueli

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 31 May 2021 16:19:42 +0000

Allen Cueli is responsible for Visa’s product suite in Central America and the Caribbean. In this role, Allen works closely with clients, fintechs and partners in bringing Visa’s consumer products and API-based capabilities into the markets as well as the development of new payment flows.

Most recently, Allen had been leading a number of transformation initiatives in Latin America, including introducing Agile into the organization, launching the Visa Everywhere Initiative, a platform to spearhead Visa’s fintech engagement efforts, driving Visa’s first equity investments in the region and managing the Visa Developer Platform, where the company exposes its capabilities through API’s.

Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Allen has both significant international and US experience, including leading engagements with a portfolio of signature US clients on collaborative innovation development to deliver differentiated payment experiences.

With over 20 years of experience, Mr. Cueli has developed a deep base of product management and business development expertise across both developed and emerging markets within the Innovation space with Ecommerce and Mobile payments as well as core payment solutions like Debit and Commercial Solutions.

How to Build a Successful Fintech Staffing Company with Blair Lewis, President at GRN Mid-Cities

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 31 May 2021 16:15:36 +0000

Blair Lewis is the President of Global Recruiters of Mid-Cities and leads the executive retained search division. This division focuses on: Asset Management, RIAs, FinTech, Wealth Management, and Private Equity.

Before founding GRN Mid-Cities, Blair surpassed expectations in financial product sales at companies including Deutsche Bank, Cohen and Steers, and ING Funds. He has served leadership roles such as Master’s Council, Vice-President, and Senior Vice-President positions.

As President of GRN Mid-Cities, Blair taps into his experience in the finance industry to help companies acquire the best talent for strategic hiring initiatives. His unique professional experience of working in two start-up firms and two multi-national corporations imparted a passion for team building. His work as an executive recruiter is inspired by that passion today.

Blair is excited about building the best teams possible within an organization. He believes this is best done by evaluating culture, needs, expectations, and desire – not just a qualifying résumé.

Blair graduated with a B.S. in Business Management from Texas A&M University and studied Theology at TCU’s Brite Divinity School. Blair lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with his wife and has a Freshman daughter at Purdue University. He spends his free time playing tennis with friends, working out, and hosting two podcasts: Namastir and What’s Next with Dave and Blair.

How to Transition Successfully from Google to Career in Venture Capital with Adrianna Samaniego from Female Founders Fund

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 31 May 2021 16:10:21 +0000

Adrianna Samaniego is an Investor at Female Founders Fund, an early-stage fund investing in female-founded technology companies across B2B, Consumer, Healthcare, and Fintech. Female Founders Fund has invested in some of the fastest-growing female-led start-ups including Zola, Billie, Co–Star, Eloquii, Maven Clinic, Rent the Runway, Peanut, Tala, WinkyLux, and more. In her role, she sources, invests, and supports portfolio companies who are building category defining technology businesses.

Prior to joining Female Founders Fund, she worked as a Summer Investment Associate at JetBlue Ventures, Harlem Capital Partners, & New Media Ventures. Adrianna spent eight years in tech, formerly as Co-founder & Co-CEO at Area 120 Google’s Startup Incubator. In this role, she led a team to rapidly build and launch a B2B marketplace for Fortune 500 companies to procure from diverse-owned companies. Adrianna also formerly led and created Google’s Global Supplier Diversity Program that created over $1B in opportunities for diverse-owned businesses.

Adrianna is passionate about removing inequities and increasing diversity in VC and Tech ecosystems. Adrianna Samaniego is of Mexican descent and was born and raised in the small border town of Douglas, Arizona. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from University of Georgia.

How to Build a Successful Venture Fund with the Co-Founder of Hustle Fund VC – Eric Bahn

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 31 May 2021 16:07:28 +0000

Eric Bahn is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Hustle Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm ($50M under management) based in San Francisco. Hustle Fund invests in software startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, backing founders who exhibit great execution and high velocity (we call it ‘hustle’).

Previous to Hustle Fund, Eric was an angel investor and venture partner at 500 Startups. And prior to becoming a professional investor, he spent over a decade as an operator and entrepreneur. Eric draws from his product and growth experience to advise his founders in scaling their own enterprises.

Eric is a native of Detroit, Michigan and first arrived to Silicon Valley to attend Stanford University (BA, MA), which launched his career into software and startups. Eric is happily married with two kids.

How to Successfully Transition from Founder to Venture Capital with the Founder of Las Olas Venture Capital – Mark Volchek

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 31 May 2021 16:02:30 +0000

Mark is a Founding Partner of Las Olas Venture Capital, an early stage venture fund focused on Florida and other underserved venture capital markets. The firm was founded in 2016, and has successfully deployed fund 1, and has started to make investments out of its second fund. Prior to starting Las Olas VC, Mark spent about 15 years at Higher One, a company he co-founded in 2000 while a senior in college. In his roles as CFO, Chairman and then CEO, Mark has had a major hand in steering the company from its first round of seed funding and multiple rounds of venture funding all the way to its successful IPO in 2010, and beyond. He helped grow Higher One from just three founders to more than 1,000 employees and guide the company through multiple acquisitions exceeding $150mm in aggregate value. When Mark left in 2014, Higher One’s products and services supported more than 1,900 schools and approximately 13 million enrolled students.

A Conversation on Disruption, Bringing the iPhone to Market and Leading an Entertainment Media Division with Melissa Arnoldi, CEO, Vrio – an AT&T Company

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 20 May 2021 14:55:15 +0000

Melissa Arnoldi is Chief Executive Officer of Vrio Corp., an AT&T digital entertainment services company in
Latin America with $5 billion in revenue and more than 9,000 employees across 10 countries. She is
responsible for driving business growth, bringing innovations and delivering superior customer experiences to
more than 10.5 million customers. Her track record of deploying advanced technologies in fast-paced
industries drives the strategy to connect consumers in Latin America with the content they love through
innovative products and services. Under her leadership, Vrio has seen double digit revenue growth and has
been named as a Top 25 World’s Best Workplace by Great Places to Work®. Melissa was appointed to her
current position in August 2018.

Before her current role, Melissa served as president of Technology and Network Operations, AT&T
Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. She directed a team of nearly 200,000 employees
and was responsible for global information, technology development, network deployment and operations, as
well as AT&T’s Intellectual Property group, Labs and Foundries. She also led AT&Ts transition to a softwaredefined and future 5G network while leading the team to the award-winning recognition of Best and Fastest
Network.

How to Find Your Next CFO with Executive Search CEO – Dave Arnold

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 20 May 2021 14:54:02 +0000

Dave specializes in the recruitment of exceptional CFOs and Board Members for technology companies located in tech hubs across the U.S. He works with clients backed by top-tier venture capital and private equity firms, and with public companies. Over the last ten plus years since forming Arnold Partners, Dave has placed CFOs in a wide variety of industry sectors in both Tech and Life-Sciences, Arnold Partners is established as the leading independent tech CFO resource delivering exponential value to clients.

Dave is a sought-after voice for the tech and CFO communities having been cited by The Wall Street Journal, CFO Magazine, Silicon Valley Business Journal, USA Today, Money Magazine, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Street and a host of prominent, on-line career and CFO resource publications. He has also been a featured speaker and panelist at CFO related conferences including FEI, ABFO, SHRM and BDO Roundtables.

Dave also served on the SFBJ Leadership trust. Arnold Partners’ focus is completing assignments that result in direct contributions by their placed CFOs to significant growth and profitability for their clients. To date, CFOs Arnold Partners’ placed CFOs have created over $22B in value in terms of market capitalization and merger and acquisition (M&A) exits.

How to Build a Successful ERP Staffing Company with the President of Dynexus Group – Julian Schrenzel

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 20 May 2021 14:52:10 +0000

Julian is President and CEO of Dynexus Recruiting, one of the premier Mid-Market ERP Recruiting and Staffing companies in North America.

As of 2021, DyNexus has placed talented job-seekers in the Mid-Market ERP workforce with hundreds of companies, and over 70 Acumatica ERP partners and end-user companies as a member of the SSA (Success Services for Acumatica), Acumatica’s select group of preferred service providers to the member companies of the Acumatica ERP partner community.

DyNexus Recruitment and Staffing specialties include: Functional/Technical Consultant, Cloud, Web & Mobile Developer/Architect, Sales Executive/Solutions Sales, Practice Manager/Consulting Manager, Systems Administrator/Business Analyst & Technical/Systems Analyst, Project Manager/IT-Ops Manager/Director of Operations/COO, Accountant/Controller/CFO

Julian was born and raised in Seattle, WA, and has worked for DyNexus since October 2008. He has over 20 years experience in Technology, Leadership and IT/ERP Recruiting. His early career was in the performing arts, as an actor and singer, which is how he met his wife Jenny.

How to Evaluate & Invest in Early Stage Consumer Sector with Investor at Unusual Ventures – Rachel Star

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 20 May 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Rachel is Senior Associate at Unusual helping to build and support the firm’s consumer investments. Rachel’s passion for business lies at the intersection of products and people. Rachel started her career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company with a focus on consumer brands, retailers, supply chain, and manufacturing. She then joined the Corporate Strategy team at Nordstrom Inc. Most recently, Rachel was an early-stage investor on the consumer team at Shasta Ventures. Rachel grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, a place that has given her a deep appreciation for the entrepreneurial journey. She was a part of the team that launched SparkTruck, a non-profit organization that brought design-thinking curriculum to students across the country via a mobile classroom. She has been a speaker at TED events, for the Aspen Institute, and at Autodesk University. Rachel holds a BS from Northwestern University where she studied Manufacturing Engineering and Psychology.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:13]Rachel Star: Hi there. I'm Rachel Star and I'm an early stage investor at Unusual Ventures.

[00:00:17] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:17] Rachel, thanks so much for finding time and joining us on the Ivy Podcast. I understand you're visiting Miami these days. Yes, I was how's the experience so far.

[00:00:29] Rachel Star: [00:00:29] It's been great. I have some family in the area, so it's been awesome to get to spend some time with them and heading back out to San Francisco.

[00:00:38] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:38] That's awesome. Yeah, we've been quite hot these days. Not only from the weather perspective, for both from the tech scene, that all of the stuff that goes on with our mayor, he's actually supposed to be coming on the show soon as well. So we're going to talk a lot about also the Miami tech week that just happened. So a lot of exciting things, kind of the media version of Silicon valley, I guess.

Rachel Star: Yeah, for sure.

Jahn Karsybaev: Before we talk about your current role and what you're currently working on, we'll spend a little bit of time getting to know you. Tell us a thumbnail version of your career timeline and what have you done prior to where you're currently working?

[00:01:15] Rachel Star: [00:01:15] Yeah, it's a great question. And I have bounced around quite a bit in my career. So I'll start with college. I went to Northwestern university. I studied manufacturing, engineering and psychology. So sort of an unconventional combination, but to me it was really about understanding products from various different lenses. So marrying the technical side of how you actually make and manufacture something with the psychological side of who is your user? How do you understand how people interact with objects on a day-to-day basis? I then did a quick stint at the Rhode Island school of design studying studio. So I wanted to get the artistic and creative lens in that whole product design world, took a detour and joined McKenzie and company based out of our Chicago office primarily focused on the retail sector. And then join Nordstrom Inc based out of Seattle on the corporate strategy team. So I took a number of different stops before joining my first role in VC, which was at Shasta Ventures. I was there on the early stage consumer team for a handful of years, and then just joined Unusual Ventures about a year.

[00:02:22] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:02:22] Well, super exciting. Thanks for that overview or what are diverse and interesting backgrounds you've got from different sectors, different industries. As far as your current role, tell us a little bit more about that. What falls under your purview? What are the interesting sides of your responsibilities? Happy to hear about that.

[00:02:40] Rachel Star: [00:02:40] Yeah. So either unusual, I sit on our consumer. Yeah. Which means I cover everything consumer-facing from, I do more social products, consumer finance in anything that you or I might use on a day to day basis. I also spend a lot of time covering the FinTech sector. So in addition to consumer FinTech, I look at B2B finance products and other FinTech infrastructure in the life for me can range greatly, but I spend a lot, a lot of my time trying to source and find new potential investments. Doing diligence and research on various sectors to support those potential investments. And then I spend a decent amount of time supporting our existing investments and working with our portfolio founders on various different things that might come up.

[00:03:24] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:03:24] Oh, that's super cool. And which raises so many other questions that I want to cover with you today, but I know we're limited on time in terms of the deal flow from unusual ventures, it gets perspective. I'm sure you guys get some great deal flow from just founders. People just supply directly to you, aside from that, what are the different sources of deal flow for you that you found to be useful, you found to be interesting that you explore maybe on daily basis.

[00:03:56] Rachel Star: [00:03:56] Yeah. I think one of the most exciting things about investing at the early stage is that great founders can come from anywhere. And so with that great deals can come from anywhere. And so, throughout my career, I have found deals in some of the most unexpected places which is always amazing, especially on the consumer side. We have the luxury of running into interesting products in our day to day. So actually the first deal that I ever sourced in my career was my first week on the job. And I attended an event I snuck in, it was actually a Harvard business school event. I didn't go to Harvard business school, but I met a fantastic young female founder. Really clicked with her and had her and her co-founder come in. It was the first meeting I ever took solo as an investor and converged on a fantastic investment one that I'm very proud of. And that was just the happenstance of being at the right place at the right time running into people out of EDS and, and getting to know folks in various different ways. Hm, I think more recently as I've matured in my career, I've found my sourcing has become a little bit more thematic or theme focused. And so I like to do kind of a deep dive on. Kind of niche sector, trying to understand the ins and outs. I find particularly when you're looking at complex things, FinTech is a great example. It's really helpful to come into even first meetings with founders, with a little bit of a prepared mind on the topic. Otherwise it's easy to get bogged down in the details of regulatory and other things that have to research in order to really understand that. So I tend to pick off one or two topics per month, really spend some time time to understand that speaking with people who are in the industry and oftentimes through that, either they'll connect me with founders who are relevant or maybe I'll post something on LinkedIn or Twitter, and folks will kind of come out of the woodwork.

[00:05:47] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:05:47] Well, that's very interesting. And thanks for sharing that. So, definitely very creative ways, creative strategies to diversify your deal flow. And I can attest to you've mentioned alumni networks, I'm part of the HBS alumni angels. And so the quality of startups that are presenting on the basis, it's and your creative ways to be part of an ecosystem. This, I think that's a great way to kind of increase the quality or diversity or your deal flow. As far as unusual ventures, what's the story behind the naming, what's how that all came about? Can you share with us anything from that perspective?

[00:06:30] Rachel Star: [00:06:30] Sure. So the name Unusual, like many good nicknames, is one that was given to us, not one that we choose for ourselves, but when the team was out doing some early fundraising conversations and explaining their vision, For what they wanted to build folks kept saying, Hey, that sounds pretty unusual.

Jahn Karsybaev: I haven't heard of anyone else doing that.

Rachel Star: [00:06:49] Yeah. Yet. And so with that, the name unusual was born. And I think it kinda comes down to two main factors. So the first thing is how our team is structured. And the core focus there is that almost everyone on our team has either been involved with early stage companies for many years, whereas actually founded companies on their own. And I think with that comes a deep appreciation for how hard it is. And a deep empathy for the founders that we work with. And so with that in mind, we try to be helpful. And I know that many investors say that and I think. Everyone wants to be helpful in their own way, but we have tried to build a structure at the firms specifically that supports our ability to help out these early stage founders. So that's everything from the content we put out on our website to the partners we've got on our investment team. And probably most importantly, we've got an awesome group of folks on our team that we called the gap program or the get ahead platform. And these are folks who've been operators in employees. Areas like sales, marketing, and recruiting, and they're full-time with Unusual, but they spend almost a hundred percent of their time working with our portfolio companies. So we've really got a structure in house to be able to support founders as they go through some of the critical stages of the company.

[00:08:07] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:08:07] Oh, that's great. Definitely sounds unusual. Appreciate the backstory on that. You've mentioned a value add investor which is a very interesting topic. I'm very passionate about this, but having been on both sides as a founder operator now on the angel investing side and part of other syndicates, it's an interesting dynamic. It's a very interesting relationship and sentiments and just in general. Where she talks to the investment community, VC community. They have one take on that from the founder standpoint, it could be different from your perspective, what are some of the strategies that really help you kind of break that barrier? As a true value add investor where you, you're not just coming in and helping from financial standpoint, but also trying to genuinely come up with strategies or things that really help the founders and their startups grow.

[00:08:59] Rachel Star: [00:08:59] Yeah. It's a great question. And I think it almost starts before you invest in a company. And so one of the things that we feel really passionate about is actually creating content and putting it out there to the world, not just to the founders that we work with, about what it takes to start a company. And we actually recently just launched a spark program, which is early pre-seed investment from us in addition to some support from the team. I think with the realization that for many founders, the first round is a friends and family round and not everybody has access to friends and family who can invest in their company. And so in that way, the first way we can be value add is, Hey, like let us be that friend, family member, let us invest early in your company and support you. Right. But beyond that, I think it really comes down to figuring out the strengths of a founder and then being able to support them in their areas that maybe they don't have experience. For many folks who are founding companies, they wear a lot of hats, especially in the early days when maybe it's a team of two or three. Oftentimes we're supporting very technical founders, folks who are brilliant engineers, but maybe they've never been in charge of sales or recruiting or marketing before or maybe vice versa. It's a team that has a really unique insight to a specific market. But doesn't have the technical background to actually build the product that they're envisioning and so that we can support them hiring that first set of engineers. I think one of the things that's really fascinating and has been a big learning for me is that. Hiring is one of the most challenging things to do for an early stage company. And there's the question of where do you find great talent, which is certainly something that we work with our companies on, but also how do who's great. And how do you understand, particularly for skill sets that are not your own? What questions do you ask and how do you benchmark and evaluate whether or not this person is the right person to bring onto your team? So that's a big area. With us well, I'm thinking about, okay, you're hiring that first sales person. You've never done sales before. What do you think about that interview process and how do you make sure that this is really the right person to add? So I think that's a big area for us and something that even as companies scale continues to be an important priority, but at the early stage, the initial team is really critical. And in many cases can be kind of a make or break for our call.

[00:11:19] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:11:19] Right, right. Absolutely. I love that. Take on the overall talent acquisition for startups, because that's a space where we play in. And I've seen the transformation, especially in the market where we have these days where it's not even necessarily the war for talent. It's almost a war on retention because everyone's shifting to full remote. Everyone thought about, oh, great, I'm going to get this insane access to talent. But that also increases the competition 10 X, where you have companies with brand names with much better packages with much greater cultures going after that same talent as well. So it becomes very challenging for startups not only to attract, but also retain the talent because all of the companies after that segment, but I'm sure we can talk about that for the rest of the episode to switch gears a little bit on you, you've mentioned, you gave us a little bit of a History on your career timeline, you spent some time in consulting on the consumer side, but in general, is that, was that the career path that you were after in terms of going into the venture capital investing. The reason I'm asking is because a good portion of our listeners. So now on the podcast side, we have early stage career professionals, second year MBAs. And a lot of questions that we get are from an overall career perspective. What are the different takes? And from the practitioner standpoint just share with us your thoughts on that, how to go about that career trajectory as you look into venture capital.

[00:12:51] Rachel Star: [00:12:51] Yeah. It's a great question. And quite honestly, I think, when I was in school and when I was kind of demeaning my career path, I never even thought about venture capital as something that I could. I think it was a career for people who had a full career first and then maybe they were in their fifties, they were experienced and had expertise across various different areas that they could then apply to investing. It never crossed my mind that that was a job. I could have it at 25. But I think for me, the biggest piece of advice that I give to folks who are interested in brands and certainly I think is what pulls me into the industry is to just follow your passion, because I think that the best investors out there are people who have strong points of view on various different sectors. And I think, yeah. No matter what that sector is, you will be most successful if you really enjoy spending time, researching it, talking about it and building out connections in the industry, because that's what you're going to spend all of your time doing. And so for me initially, that was retail and consumer products. So I spent time at Nordstrom. I spent time thinking about how the direct to consumer ecosystem was affecting the big box retailers and folks like Nordstrom and our peers. I also ordered every single direct to consumer product and tried it out myself just because I found it fascinating. And I remember in my first set of interviews with what became my first role in a venture, I was on zoom and my apartment. And the partners were asking me about some of the different things that I was interested in. And I just remember shifting my computer screen over and showing them this pile of boxes that I had in my apartment of all of the different products that I had tried. And I just went through them one by one and said, okay, I liked this. I didn't like this one. Here's what I think they could do better. And that's what I did in my free time. I loved it. And so for me, I was able to talk really authentically and passionately about that topic. Of course, as my career has progressed, I've moved into other areas as well, but I think that's what made possible for me to break into this industry was just like my authentic feelings about this space and the fact that I was willing to dedicate both my time during the day as a job, but also my time after work to researching and getting to know the industry. So I think more so than exactly what job you hold or what degree you have from what university. I think that kind of drive in one area, building out your own thesis and making those connections is probably the most.

[00:15:31] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:15:31] Very interesting. And from a standpoint of something that you didn't quite expect, or maybe the dark side of the industry, tell us a little bit more about that. What's been the most unusual, I guess, about venture capitals that you didn't know about that you wish you did.

[00:15:52] Rachel Star: [00:15:52] Yeah. I'll answer that in two ways, because the first thing сomes to mind is the biggest surprise I actually think is a huge positive. But I definitely didn't realize how collaborative the industry was. And so, no matter what stage you're at, there's likely to be investors who are investing in the companies you work with before you and after you and in any given round more often than not, there's a number of different investors involved as well. And so the venture capital community is actually relatively close. And in my first couple of weeks, I got the opportunity to meet new investors, join other firms, work together with them and actually get to build pretty strong relationships with a cohort of other individuals who are now, both close friends and also colleagues in various different ways. I think, my experience at McKinsey, of course we weren't collaborating with each other. Зeers over at BCG or at Bain. And similarly at Northeastern, we were never collaborating with the teams over at Macy's or Bloomingdale's, but in BC, it's the opposite. Your network of other investors is actually really valuable. And so for me, it was really cool to get to partner with. Folks at other firms, get to know them and build kind of collective theses on different areas. I've been able to co-invest with a few of them, which has been really fun. And so I think that was a surprise that definitely has made my experience more positive. To answer your question about the dark side, I think , for many investors, the hardest thing is that we have to do it and we have to do it multiple times a day. Of all the meetings that I take, less than 1% are companies that we actually ended up investing in. And it's not always clear cut there's times when there's founders that I really love and the deal terms don't make sense, or it's a market that I think is really interesting, but I am not able to move fast enough and build conviction on the product. And so a lot of times, those conversations are really hard. And you have to sit down with somebody who maybe you've met a couple of times and you've spent a lot of time with and say, Hey, I know this is your dream, and I know you have a lot of conviction in it, but I can't support you in that way. And for me, I think that is a [00:18:00] really challenging conversation. Every single time, no matter how many times I do it, it doesn't get easier. And coming at somebody and our whole firm is built with people who want to help. And so being able to help is something that we love to do. And when we can't do that, I think that's hard. And we spend a lot of time having those conversations.

[00:18:22] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:18:22] Yeah, no, that's very interesting. From the two perspectives, I really liked the overall concept that the entire industry of venture capital is very collaborative. And that makes sense because in a way that you're operating in very similar fields and you're probably valuing the same deals. So it makes sense to collaborate versus then competing because then it just creates a completely different dynamic. Well with the founders and whatever the case may be. So that makes total sense. And then from the standpoint of I guess rejection, it's probably nine out of 10 times, you have to say no, but to that point, have you gotten better to increase your batting average? So to say, when you meet with, let's say those 10 startups, 10 founders, maybe two years ago, where nine out of 10 was an immediate no, versus maybe now you've increased your approach or your thesis or whatever the case might be to pre-select that group. Is there any difference or any particular steps that you have taken to improve?

[00:19:23] Rachel Star: [00:19:23] Yeah, I definitely think doing some of the research upfront is really helpful. And so when I first started, I would take meetings with anybody. I would hear their story, learn about the market and then do my research afterwards. And that led to a lot of instances where, after a couple of minutes of research, I could clearly get to an answer. Hey, maybe this market's not big enough or maybe it's too complex or regulated and I don't want to participate by front-loading the research and picking out areas. Proactively that I'm excited about. It makes it so that even if a company isn't ultimately something we invest in, it's usually a little bit more of an interesting conversation and it gets to a point where I can ask those sorts of questions that help me get to an answer faster. And so definitely that piece of the puzzle, I think, has fallen into place, but no matter how sure you are about markets or how excited you are about various different spaces. I think the reality of the industry is that you're always going to have a lot of meetings with companies that you don't invest in. And so that's just a piece of a puzzle.

[00:20:30] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:20:30] Right, right, right. Absolutely. And when we talk about the actual evaluation strategy, when you do that research, when you talk to others and follow up, I guess the digital breadcrumbs to maybe evaluate a founder From the founder market fit. What are some of the things that really help you make those very early prints addictions about their particular founder? The reason I ask this is because before we get to the king of the product market fit and assessing the overall market, I'm pretty sure that one of the initial things you look at the founder or the founding team, and for me, I found through kind of several years, me being in this field is the ability to clearly articulate what you don't know is one of the very rare abilities for a startup founders. I remember it was very hard for me as well because we were moving at 10,000 miles per hour trying to build this thinking. We know everything, but also at the same time are looking at very early careers of the founders, maybe even high school, early career days, college days, where. Did you join the club or did you build a club or were you a, I heard it somewhere on the podcast where a guy talked about cartographer versus a navigator. Where were you just following the map or where are you actual cartographer, where you create an actual map for others to follow? So those are some of the things that's very interesting to me when I get your take on that.

[00:21:58] Rachel Star: [00:21:58] Yeah. I think you're spot on that. Evaluating a founder and understanding their perspective on them. Is one of the biggest things that we do in our diligence process, especially at the early stage. I think there's a few different factors that come into that decision. So the first is do they have some sort of unique insight or unique perspective on a market that the average person might not know? And so oftentimes this comes from people who've worked in the industry, or maybe they've been the customer that they're trying to sell to. And so they have some kind of secret sauce that they can provide and say, Hey, this is something that not everybody would know about this industry. And it's a problem that I am uniquely positioned to solve. So I think that's a big piece of it. The second is can I actually build whatever it is they say they want to build? I think for a lot of folks there's the idea of that phase, which is really interesting and very important, but then there's also kind of the technical chops of how to build a product? Can you get something off the ground? And I think that really goes to your point. The question of the navigator maybe that's not somebody who knows how to build something from scratch. And so I think trying to suss out is this person, somebody who can build something is definitely a big piece of the product process for us. And I think the last part, and this goes a little bit to the, is this somebody who can build something, but is this somebody who other people would want to work for? And is this somebody who can hire a good team? No matter how amazing a founder is, whether they know the market inside and out, whether they can build the product from scratch, if they can't hire people to work for them, it's never going to. And so for some folks that means having a really strong network of engineers. For some folks that means they're really charismatic and great at telling the story for other folks. It means that they are just. Somebody that has experience and people are excited to work with. But I think that's a really key part of the puzzle. Is trying to evaluate whether from references or spending time with somebody on their hiring strategy to figure out, will this person be able to attract eight plus people to come join the company.

[00:24:08] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:24:08] Right, right. Absolutely. No, that's a great perspective. And you've mentioned something that's very, seems simple, but oftentimes overlooked is as an investor, almost our ability to get along with the founder as well, because through the next 10 years we're going to be. Together, were you going to be attached to the hip? And it's almost a relationship that we're both investing into. It's not just me investing in stepping away. It's really, can we actually go and grab a drink together and have a heart to heart conversation where it's not investor to a founder, but more in a sense, Hey, this is where we're struggling. What do we do about this because when the company has to pivot and those things, I think. Those small nuances become very important when you have that ability and the confidence level to have that honest conversation with your investor, with your partner. So that's very powerful. When we, as we move on from kind of that founder risk to the actual product, Category and we'll look at the product market fit. And there are early indicators that a particular company has scratched the surface, that there is a potential, there is interest to share with us, your thoughts on some of the things that you look for. What do you evaluate? What are the, maybe those indicators that tell you, maybe that's that, there's something there.

[00:25:31] Rachel Star: [00:25:31] Yeah, it really varies by sector, but I think one of the things that we really look for is some indication of an organic swell of passion and energy, whether that's people who are tweeting about how much they love the product, whether that's people who are spending hours and hours and hours using the product in a given week, or whether that's people who are referring their friends. I think that at the earliest stages having people and having users who will be a champion for you is really important. And of course you can always tack on. Sales and marketing efforts down the road, but that organic love is something that's really hard to tack on later. And so at the earliest stages, there's various different metrics that you can look at. But I think that spark is something that we try to find. And so that, that is often kind of one of the earliest indicators of product market fit in our.

[00:26:30] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:26:30] Right. Yeah, that's very interesting. And I think from the organic perspective, it's very important to also look at what the founder has done at the very early stage to really generate and garner some type of interest. We get that. You may not have the actual product and you may not have the actual technology, but validating that there is some type of interest, maybe some. Sign up list where you have people that are expressing an interest in spending time interviewing them. Those are some of the things that I think you are referring to. That's very interesting. What are some of the trends and insights that really excite you these days. Where do you spend a lot of your free time? That's maybe outside of your day-to-day job when you evaluate the startups, maybe something that's for you personally. That's very interesting. What are some of the things that you think will be next?

[00:27:24] Rachel Star: [00:27:24] Yeah, it's a great question. I think for me one of the things that's been really interesting over the past year has been thinking about how we all work and interact with our coworkers. And for me, I started at unusual at the end of March, 2020. So I've never been into our office. I have not met a lot of my teammates and. That's been a really interesting adjustment and I think there's significant pros and cons to that structure. And , as we discussed, I've had the luxury of working out here in Florida for a couple of months. And so trying to understand the momentum around remote work. As something that I feel really strongly about, and I think that there's various different pieces of infrastructure, whether that's communication tools, whether that's hiring tools, whether that's other ways that people can work together in interesting ways that will really fuel the future of our society. And I think there's a couple of things that really go into that of course the pandemic and everyone's had to get used to new ways of working. But I also think when you look at demographic trends and you look at gen Z, when you look at new grads who are coming out of school, their perspective on what a successful career path looks like is a lot different than even it was for me. And certainly than it was for me. And so I think for me, I'm really keen to be kind of a student of the consumer and a student of those demographic shifts. And I think that as more and more young people enter the workforce, there will be a pull for some more flexibility, whether that's enabling freelancers, whether that's having more collaboration tools that enable remote work or asynchronous communication. I find that really fascinating and that's certainly something that I'm spending a lot of time.

[00:29:17] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:29:17] Yeah, that's a very interesting, very unique sector, but I can see how that could be a very big, very big trend in general that we all experience in our everyday lives. I think that's super interesting. And Rachel Anan conclusion, and I like to spend some time on your content diets. What do you consume on a daily basis? What are your sources for learning? What are the differences I dunno, handles, you may be following share with us your your, your secret sources that are bookmarked in your browser.

[00:29:45] Rachel Star: [00:29:45] I definitely, , I'm active on Twitter. I think that's a great source of news and perspectives. There's a handful of newsletters that I really enjoy reading. Simon Taylor's FinTech brain food is a favorite of mine. I also really liked the accelerated newsletter by Justine and Olivia at CRV. But, I think for me, particularly on the consumer side, one of the things that I love is just talking to people who come from different backgrounds or who have different lifestyles than me. I think it's really easy to be in this tech bubble of people who work at startups and people who invest in startups. And there's a lot of people out there who. Have different sets of needs and use different sites, sorts of products, whether that's talking to my grandma about what she uses and what she's interested in and what her needs are, or, maybe that's talking to a friend who just had a baby and is in a different stage of life or someone who's planning a wedding. I think that getting to understand different perspectives where people are struggling in their life. It is actually the best sort of content diet, if you will, for a consumer investor. So there's nothing that makes me happier than getting to call up people in my life and get their perspectives on a company that I'm looking at or even better. Having my mom or my brother send me something and saying, Hey, have you looked at this? I just downloaded this app. And I think it's really cool. So, that's a big priority for me is trying to break out of just the tech ecosystem and try to understand the bigger picture of what's going on. And it's also a great way to connect with people in my life. So I certainly love that.

[00:31:24] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:31:24] So combining work with personal it's it's pretty interesting. I'm actually going to steal that from you because a lot of times we don't think of our very close circles. I will love one seller families as potential sources for motivation learning and things like that. So I really like that advice. So that recommendation and Rachel, I asked this question not only on the podcast but also the people that I interview all for our job. For our companies. And it's, I found that question to be interesting because it really puts things in perspective. Not only just praising, I guess the other side or thinking of ways what has gone well, but also evaluating yourself as you think about some of the responses that you also provided as we had that conversation. So just in general, how do you think this conversation.

[00:32:16]Rachel Star: [00:32:16] That's a great question. I think that, for me, I spend a lot of time talking about the industry, talking about my firm, talking about my path into venture capital, but it's always great to reflect and have a reminder of how far I've come. I think, specifically the questions that you asked around how my process has changed over the years on any given day, it feels like there's. Just incremental changes. But when I really look back and say what was it that I was doing three years ago, that I just am embarrassed, that I did, or what has changed in my process? It's always a great reminder for me. And a good learning experience. I don't always take enough time to take a step back and think through that thing. So for me, it's been valuable to take that time and get to do a little bit of reflection. And, for you, I hope it was a helpful conversation and it helped the listeners. We'll get something.

[00:33:08] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:33:08] Oh, yeah, absolutely. I definitely appreciate all the insights and everything you had shared with us, I personally learned quite a bit and I'm pretty sure all listeners will do as well. We're going to stay in touch with you and perhaps I like to do another episode in about a year or so. So how much you've changed and transpired through this period and talk a little bit of time, as far as the reflection on here's the conversation we had a year ago, what has changed, how maybe your entire process or anything like this. So that's what I like. Perfect.

How to Build a Successful Angel Investor Club with HBS Alumni Angels President – Christian Schweizer

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 12 May 2021 14:26:09 +0000

Christian Schweizer is an experienced Marketing Leader with expertise in Business Strategy and development, analytics & digital marketing. He is the Head of Marketing Intelligence for Kaufman Rossin, where he leads the mission for analyzing, reporting and optimizing the firm’s marketing. He also works hand-in-hand with clients on strategic business and marketing initiatives, as well as on data analytics and insights.

Prior to joining Kaufman Rossin, he led the Global Business Analytics team for S&D Marketing at IBM, managing the Enterprise Marketing Analytics Centers which oversees all data, business & marketing insights. Christian has lived and worked in Europe and the U.S. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland and is a graduate of Harvard Business School. He is an adjunct professor with the University of Miami lecturing Marketing Analytics. He serves on the board of the HBS Club and is also the President of the HBS Alumni Angels of South Florida.

How to Build a Thriving Angel Investor Community with Rebecca Danta from Miami Angels

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 12 May 2021 14:20:34 +0000

Rebecca Danta is the Managing Director of Miami Angels, the largest angel network in Florida, which funds Seed and Series A technology companies with early traction across various sectors.

Miami Angels has deployed $13.6M into 33 companies since 2014, and Rebecca built a sustainable, independent business model for the organization.

Prior to joining Miami Angels, Rebecca managed global campus operations for General Assembly in New York City, the first accelerated learning provider, and the “Top Most Innovative Company in Education” per Fast Company. General Assembly had a successful exit in 2018. Prior to that, Rebecca worked at Macy’s in their Executive Development Program.

Rebecca is a Miami native and passionate about investing into markets and teams that are often overlooked in traditional venture capital. She serves on the board of the Florida Venture Forum and is a Class XI member of Miami Fellows.

Career & Skills Development For the New Wave of Job Seekers with Lorie Camacho, Career Strategist and Linkedin Guru

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 10 May 2021 14:52:12 +0000

Lorie Camacho, MS is a LinkedIn coach, workshop facilitator, and corporate consultant who leverages a unique style to engage and motivate professionals to find more happiness in their current job, build an online presence and organize strategies for success in their career networking. Lorie has a master’s in teaching with technology and incorporates science-based learning and clear objectives into all of her engagements. Lorie manages a private coaching and corporate consulting business and can be found at: loriecamacho.com

Building a Successful Startup with Head of Techstars’ Global Startup Pipeline, Saba Karim

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 10 May 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Based out of Denver, Colorado, Saba Karim is the Global Startup Pipeline Manager of Techstars, the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed – responsible for helping source 150 of the 450 startups from across the world that are accepted into its distinguished accelerator.

Saba is a public speaker, often delivering keynotes on pitching, growth marketing and fundraising. Saba is also often called upon as a judge at startup pitch competitions such as Web Summit in Lisbon (considered the largest tech conference in the world), Denver Startup Week (the largest free event of its kind) and many more.

Prior to Techstars, Saba was on the founding team of Evolve – the world’s first dating CRM, which went on to be acquired by Hubspot (NYSE:HUB). He is also part of the origin story of Orai – an AI powered public speaking app (backed by Comcast).

Additionally, Saba loves coaching founders, serving as a growth advisor to a number of consumer startups most commonly in the areas of Future of Work, Marketplaces, Mobile Apps and Retail. He also coaches founders through the recent creation of the Saba Says Podcast.

Topics:

Saba’s journey to becoming a coach, mentor, and advisor for startups worldwide.
The mindset of giving without expecting anything in return.
Community as the unfair advantage for startups.
Biggest misconceptions around building community around your startup.
What Saba looks for when sourcing startups for Techstars Accelerator.
Traits of a successful startup team.
The art of a great pitch.
The importance of celebrating the small wins throughout the startup journey.

Resources:

How to Build & Sell a World-Class Startup, Win an Entrepreneur of the Year and Become a Successful Investor with Shirin Dehghan from Frog Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 10 May 2021 13:53:00 +0000

Shirin Dehghan is an Operating Partner at Frog Capital. She founded and scaled Arieso before selling the business to JDSU. She is now Chair of mobile analytics software business Opensignal, tele-therapy solution provider Neurofenix and employee engagement AI software company, Winningtemp.

Propelling the Staffing and Recruiting Industry into the modern-age of Marketing with Ryan Kovach, Founder at RKCMO

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 06 May 2021 12:05:58 +0000

Ryan Kovach is a 20+ year veteran of the staffing and recruiting industry. He is currently the President and CEO of RKCMO, a fractional outsourced CMO agency dedicated to helping staffing and recruiting firms grow their businesses.

With 5 American Staffing Voice Awards, for Overall Excellence in Marketing under his belt, Ryan and his team can help your staffing agency reach your growth goals.

How to Lead with Empathy and Build a Winning Culture with Executive Advisor at VMware – Dr. Gautham Pallapa

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 05 May 2021 15:46:56 +0000

Dr. Gautham Pallapa is an Executive Advisor for VMware. He works with C-Suite and executives at Global 2000 enterprise customers in transforming their strategy, processes, technologies, culture, and people to achieve their objectives and business outcomes. His mantra is “Transform with Empathy” and has successfully led several business transformations and cloud modernization efforts in various industry verticals.

Gautham is an agile coach, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, a SAFe Agilist, and an Ambassador for the DevOps Institute. He writes/talks/works on transformation, elevating humans, helping underprivileged people, and giving back to the community. He has an upcoming book called “Lead with Empathy” which explores these topics in detail.

Marketing Strategies & Innovations in Cruise line Industry with the Head of Marketing at NCL – Yasemin Akcakaya

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 05 May 2021 15:16:55 +0000

Yasemin Akcakaya is the VP of Consumer Marketing, leading integrated marketing, brand and product teams at Norwegian Cruise Line. She has a track record of combining strategic vision, strong analytical thinking and keen grasp of market trends to drive aggressive profitable growth in highly competitive B2B, B2C, Online and Retail landscapes. Since joining NCL in 2020, Yasemin has focused on developing innovative and impactful strategies that elevate brand, drive loyalty and increase consumer engagement. She has deep experience in the areas of brand strategy, customer retention, customer experience, loyalty marketing, CRM, personalization, integrated marketing, marketing analytics, and customer research. Prior to joining NCL, Yasemin led marketing teams at CVS, Liberty Mutual and FedEx.

Effective Executive Coaching Strategies & Future of Work with Sean Leavitt

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 05 May 2021 15:14:59 +0000

Sean is the founder of MacLENS Inclusive Leadership. This practice helps leaders break away from the status quo by seeing problems and solutions through a broader, deeper, and more inclusive leadership lens – focusing on awareness, action, and accountability that optimizes the diversity of people and teams. As a consultant, coach, facilitator, and culture change agent, Sean is passionate about helping leaders transform the way they think and lead to advance their strategic plans and fulfill their larger purpose. He is an authentic advocate of Diversity & Inclusion with the ability to approach development, growth, and alignment by integrating both business and human resources principles and practices. Sean is described as “a courageous leader who challenges and enables others to see their environments from various perspectives and identify new ways to reach higher and more effective levels of performance.”

Sean’s podcast: https://bourbonbeerandboldconversations.libsyn.com/

From Navy Seals to White House to Technology C-Suite with Chief Digital Transformation Officer of VMware – Mike Hayes

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 05 May 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Mike Hayes is the Chief Digital Transformation Officer at VMware. He joined VMware in October 2020, and leads the company’s worldwide business operations and the acceleration of the company’s SaaS transition. Prior to joining VMware, Mike served as Senior Vice President and Head of Strategic Operations for Cognizant Technologies, where he ran a $2B P&L for Cognizant’s largest financial services clients. Mike previously spent four years at Bridgewater Associates, an investment management firm, where he served in Chief of Staff to CEO and COO roles. Prior to Bridgewater, he spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy SEALs where his career began as one of 19 graduates from a class of 120. Mike served throughout South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, including the conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. His last job in the Navy was the Commanding Officer of SEAL Team TWO, which included ten months as the Commander of a 2,000 person Special Operations Task Force in southeastern Afghanistan. Before that, Mike was selected as a White House Fellow (’08/’09) and served two years as Director, Defense Policy and Strategy at the National Security Council.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Mike Hayes: [00:00:00] Hi, my name is Mike Hayes. I'm the chief digital transformation officer at BM where I've been at VMware for about six months. I'm responsible for running global business operations and transformation. VMware is a large software company based in Palo Alto, Califia. And I was having a great time. And before VMware I spent 20 years in the Navy seals and also then four years at Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, four years at cognizant technology. It's a large IT services firm where I ran a $2 billion P and L for all IT services sold into the financial services vertical. So eclectic background, a little bit of a lot of things. I know I'm an inch inch deep and a mile away.

[00:00:58] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:58] That's awesome. Mike really appreciate your time to join us on the Ivy Podcast today. Very diverse backgrounds. So I want to dive a little bit deeper into that and obviously talk about some of the things that you are building now, your book and all of that great stuff. First things first shared with us. What falls under your purview within VMware right now? What are you responsible for? And then we'll go from there.

[00:01:18] Mike Hayes: [00:01:18] Absolutely. So everything starts with people. So let me talk about the team. And one thing that I think is really important is that I never say anybody works for me. It's only with the preposition should always be with never, never for. And so the people I'm privileged to work with on my team are the chief data officer, the chief information, the chief security officer and an integration, and then a and then a few other elements. And I run what's called our operations leadership team. We have three leadership teams across the firm. The OLT is the operations leadership team. The PLT is the product leadership team. The GLT is the go-to-market market leadership team. I'm a member of all three and run the OLT.

[00:02:03] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:02:03] Wow. That's super exciting. Definitely a huge enterprise and very diverse leadership team. And I like what you said in terms of team members working with me versus for me it seems so simple yet, very powerful and oftentimes overlooked concepts when it comes to servers and leadership and things like that. Which leads me to another point: your book that I want to dive a little bit deeper into never enough. Can you at a high level, tell us what was the motivation behind the book. And then I want to spend some time talking a little bit further about that.

[00:02:36] Mike Hayes: [00:02:36] I'd love to, first of all, we should start with the title. Never enough is intentionally provocative. It can sound a lot like fame and fortune. We never have enough material goods or status or whatnot. Not at all. It's intentionally provocative, but focusing never enough is about me. Meaning and impact in the world. So it's about making ourselves better and, and so on, enabling ourselves to make the world better and to help others. My foundation of my growing up in my twenties, thirties and young forties was really in the seal teams. And it's the culture of one team. So I've lived a life of hundreds, if not thousands of once in a lifetime experiences. I like every seal of my era that has buried way too many friends. And now it's about giving back. I'm donating all of my profits from the book, never enough to a 5 0 1 C3. That pays off mortgages for gold star families. And so those are families who have experienced the loss of a loved one in combat. And so it, for me really John it's about, it's about helping, it's about pulling people and society up.

[00:03:51] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:03:51] Well, that's super exciting. Definitely very powerful. And how long have you been working on this book before it came out?

[00:03:56] Mike Hayes: [00:03:56] Well, I say my whole life, because it's a lifetime of lessons in there. I like to say, wisdom is really just a series of things we get from mistakes, so certainly while I've had some successes, I've also had plenty of things that were less than success, if not full on. Full of things you might call failure. And that's really, to me, it's really only failure if you fail and don't learn. And so on, that's what I poured the heart and soul into. And then the, but the actual answer to your question took me about maybe a year and a half to write it. And for those of you who know the book process, it's you write the proposal, you see if anybody wants it. And I was really fortunate. I had, I don't know, about 15 different places that wanted to publish it. And I was able to be selective. I chose a great group. And now we're really just trying to bring it to the world.

[00:04:47] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:04:47] Oh, that's great. And as far as some of the lessons or the strategies that you've written about in the book, can you share with us some of the practical use cases or our application strategies in the corporate environments or anything that's in the business?

[00:05:05] Mike Hayes: [00:05:05] Absolutely. First of all, what I tried to do was recognize that my life as a seal and also running defense policy and strategy, and two different white houses might not be that relatable to some people. But, and so how do I make those experiences and learnings relatable? And I've done a lot of things wrong, but one thing I've done really, I think right in my life is make those experiences real experiences relatable. It really can apply to anybody who reads it, a new college graduate or a CEO of a fortune 500 company that reads this will get something out of it. And so to answer your question a little more directly, I think there are a bunch of things in there. The most important thing I think is really being oriented more for others themselves. If there's anything that I've learned in my life in giving that we are so cliche, but it's cliche for a reason, but in giving we do receive. And when , nothing comes back to you in the moment, but mail lives when you just live a life of positive energy out in the world that does come back to you. We see these networking events. And I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is that they think of networking as, oh, let me go get the business card from the person who is better placed than I am professionally. And then it's very transactional. Like, oh, I talked to so-and-so and I have the business card and so narrow and wrong. To me, a network is a group of people in whom we invest. And then when we need something, we'd get it back from that. So we can pull the energy back from all those people in our lives that we've helped in our days because we look, we all have hard days. That's number one. And I'm sorry, I'm going on way too long. Had a very easy question, but I'm passionate about sharing the one more thing that I would say is it's really about risk in the seal teams, it's obvious, you're thinking about risk and so a mission, what missions do we go on? And what risks do our people assume and what risk is worth assuming and what risk isn't. And so that's the same thing as in a career, it's the same thing in a relationship, tell the person, or don't tell the person about this bad news or how you do it, whether it's PR professionally, et cetera. So I, and then the last thing I would say, It's really interwoven. Some people love the theory. Some people love the practice. In other words, some people are top down thinkers. Some people are bottom up thinkers, no value judgment. They're both. But what I tried to do was make this relatable in a way that had both stories that were interconnected with, I won't say theories, that's a little bit too educational, but the broad abstract concepts are intertwined with stories.

[00:07:36] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:07:36] That's very interesting. And prior to recording, when you and I spent some time talking about this, something that really was very powerful that you mentioned as far as, from that altruistic standpoint of the proceeds from the book that you use for sharing with us a little bit more about that at once. I want to shine a little bit more light on that, because I think that's very unique. That's very different. You don't see that a lot of these.

[00:08:01] Mike Hayes: [00:08:01] Well, thank you for asking. And it really is the mission of the book besides a one to many model of sharing things that I think that we as citizens in society need to be more United, to be more one while accepting that we are a diverse nation with lots of different opinions on how things should go. That should also be celebrated. Иut the point is a lot of people have sacrificed in lots of different ways. There are few communities that have sacrificed more than our nation's gold star families. So I have been really privileged to be in a situation where I've transitioned from the seals and I'm in the C-suite of a large or important organization. The nation's technology fabric. And so it's really the expression to those whom much has been given much is expected. And so I live a life where for the rest of my life, I've dedicated myself to very quietly helping these families and widows and children of the fallen and to make it, to bring it to. Like we just paid off our fifth house. The day before Thanksgiving, we were able to tell a woman whose husband was a seal teammate of mine and many friends of mine who was just a wonderful, wonderful man. And the woman got back on her feet, started a small business and she and her four kids were doing okay. And then in the pandemic, she lost her business. And so she was struggling and she and her children. We're homeless until we bought them a home. And so it's mind blowing how in America, we can have families whose husbands and fathers have, and in some cases, mothers and wives have given the other, their life to the nation and that they were homeless. And so that's what I'm really dedicated to is helping in whatever way I can, Jahn.

[00:09:50] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:09:50] Wow. Just one word that comes to mind. Powerful. That's very powerful. So definitely thank you for that. Thank you for sharing a little bit further about it. I understand that you spent some time in the Obama administration. Can you share with us, what were some of the lessons learned during that period of time that really stand out to you that perhaps you're still utilizing to this date?

[00:10:13] Mike Hayes: [00:10:13] Great question. First of all, I was fortunate where I caught the tail end of the Bush administration. And then was one of the few people who carried over the new Obama. I was in a role where I reported to the national security advisor who reports to the president. So I was, I knew where the light switches in where the bathrooms were when the Obama administration came in and, and was able to, was able to help on the phone. Foreign policy showdown for president Obama, which was when a guy named Richard Phillips got hijacked on a ship called the Maersk Alabama overseas. And this was Easter of 2009. I basically led the white house response upstairs. I have a nice note from president Obama on white house stationary that says Mike, you made a family very happy at Easter. Great work on the Somalia situation Brock, and then just got pulled into more and more as the administration went on. I learned a ton. It's where the average of the people we hang out with. I was privileged to hang out with people who are really smart, who are really dedicated. And I think they're the main lesson that I draw from both administrations, frankly, is that the process is so important at the beginning of the Trump administration. Or excuse me, after Trump was elected, but before he took office. Half the nation, no matter who wins and who loses, half the nation is happy and half the nation isn't, that's the way the system is designed to work. And so having spent time in both administrations, both a republican and a democratic administration, I was often asked like, what's coming at us. And my answer was look as long as. Process doesn't break down. We are going to be fine. Our nation's fabric, our democracy is built on process and law. And so the takeaway, if I can paint this a little bit better, is that when we're making a decision, I've run hundreds of meetings in the white house situation room, and then things that my meeting couldn't solve that kicked up to the national, the deputy national security advisor, the national security advisor and, or the president. The thing that I learned was that my job is to make my boss's job as easy as possible. My job is to keep things off of their plates, but that's okay when it doesn't come together. And so as long as we have the people with diverse opinions around the table, a diverse set of experiences, we rightly talk about diversity, equity and inclusion right now. And the access to all is equal. Access for all is so important because we get different viewpoints and with different viewpoints around the table, you will make better decisions like, and this is like, let me bring it back over, running a seal team and running. I ran all special operations in Southeastern Afghanistan for the better part of a year in 2012, back at the peak when we had about a hundred thousand Americans in the country and when I had to make a decision, that was really hard. If I saw myself as both the input and the decider, we wouldn't have been as solid as if we had multiple inputs. And so what ma by definition, what I try to do is surround myself with people who don't think like me, because then, then you build that like healthy conflict into the system, and then you get better. You get better surface area on which to grapple and grasp. And ultimately that leads to better outcomes.

[00:13:20] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:13:20] I liked that last point that you just made because I see a lot of that as I work with other executives and other, other managers within organizations, when it comes to hiring and interviewing where their focus is rather more on, can I tolerate that particular individual? Can I tolerate the weaknesses that they have versus looking at it on a completely different spectrum? In terms of, are they thinking completely differently? Can they offer a completely different perspective? So I think that's very unique. That's very powerful in terms of building a very high performing team.

[00:13:53] Mike Hayes: [00:13:53] It is one. It is the most important ingredient to me. If we think about when we're hiring, we all have biases, whether we know it or not. And one very natural bias is to see somebody on the other side of the interviewing table who looks like us. And we will naturally think that person is really smart and awesome. And the thing is that we need to remember is like to hire people that are different from us engineers naturally hire engineers. If you had an engineer interviewing an engineer and an artist. The engineer will probably 95% of the time pick the engineer or the artists will pick the artists, but your organization is better if the artist picks the engineer and the engineer picks the artist. Right?

[00:14:34] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:14:34] Absolutely. And one, I spent some time talking a little bit about innovation and leadership strategies, first things first, what are some of the trends, insights, and ideas that really excite you these days? What are you researching? What are you perhaps looking to implement or invest in?

[00:14:52] Mike Hayes: [00:14:52] Great question. First of all, I wish I had more time to research. I certainly wouldn't give myself any credit there. I'm lucky if I read no,I do read a decent bit, but I think the middle third of my book is about the concept of agility. I think the biggest thing that organizations need, especially as they're larger, is to recognize that they're not planning for the future, that they know. But they're planning for the future that they don't know. And the only way to do that is agility. I've gone around and spoken at lots of different places. Wells Fargo, JP Morgan UBS, a lot of these larger institutions that all have really critical functions to run for the globe. And one of the things that happens in any large enterprise is that things go right. And it isn't that's to be expected. You want to minimize what goes wrong, obviously, but what defines an organization isn't whether or not something goes wrong, it's how the organization handles what goes wrong. So a lot of people, a mistake, a lot of people make is that they think, oh, we have a playbook. We're going to make a playbook. We can see this could go wrong. And if it goes wrong, we're going to take our playbook off the shelf and we're going to go run the play and it's going to solve the problem. That is garbage. It does not work. It never works. You're going to plan for a hundred playbooks and the hundred and first thing is going to hit you. And so what I tell people is that you only need one playbook and it's what I call the Metta playbook. It is what is the, which is the playbook to create the playbook that you need in the middle. Because that's all I ever did in the seals, we got the advantage of time to prepare for many missions, but a lot of missions, it was like, Hey, how fast can you get out the door and go do this thing? So the course of thinking through, like, how did we succeed in those types of situations is the extractable relatable stuff that I tried to bring through in the book, which I think I did. And so that playbook is like, if you want me to talk more about that, what is a Mehta playbook? And that trend, I wouldn't call it a trend. It's something that I'm trying to make a trend. And can I take a second on the metal playbook, Jahn? Is that all right? Absolutely.

[00:16:56] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:16:56] Please expand on it.

[00:16:56] Mike Hayes: [00:16:56] Okay. So, to me it's very simple first and foremost, deciding what outcome you want and need. Everybody gets total alignment on the goal. When I walk into the C-suite of another organization and say it, and just as one of these executive talks or something like that, if I ask. I pull out a three by five card, write down the vision for your organization. You'll get 50% alignment, but maybe if you're lucky 65, but not more than that, right? Because on the fringes, there'll be like different words in language that don't show total alignment. It'll be close. But how do you, it takes a lot of effort to really stay like 90 plus percent aligned on where you're going. My economics professor in grad school said something that stuck with me. He said, Mike, be aware of fast trains to the wrong station. And so it's really making sure you're getting that right station. Once you have that, Jahn, then it's a matter of organizing the work. Now, you have to think about it into two buckets. One is the positive space of what you can see. And then the other is the negative space of what you can't. So first solve for all the positive space of what do you need in order to go achieve that goal? And how do you chunk things out, organizations? And put people in charge of those different pieces and parts to go achieve that goal. And then from there you also need a function. That's going to get into that unknown, unknown quadrant and think about that. Like, what are we missing? That's where all of the opportunity and all of the risk is for any organization. And so if you don't have somebody thinking about what you're not doing, you'll lose. I sometimes ask, we'll ask people or an organization who's in charge of what we're not doing. And nobody raises their hand. It's a natural proclivity to not have that quadrant handled. So then with that design, then it just gets to culture and how people operate together in order to, how do you communicate? How do you inter operate in order to achieve that set outcome? That's what the Metta playbook is that you make that in the moment very quickly builds on knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the people on your.

[00:19:03] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:19:03] You mentioned something around culture, which leads me to a further question when it comes to building and fostering that culture of innovation, that culture of experimentation, what are some of the things, some of the strategies, maybe some of the methodologies, or maybe some things that you do personally, that really help you build and foster such culture within your organization.

[00:19:24] Mike Hayes: [00:19:24] That's a great question as well. I love this topic. I would answer it in two different ways. There's the culture of innovation so that everybody in the organization is an innovator. So take, say we have a hundred people in the organization. How do we get all a hundred people in, while they're doing their day jobs? And while they're busy being mindful of capturing the innovation or the thoughts of what our organization can be doing in order to prepare for. Then there's also a structural piece of like, do we have any sort of people carved out too? So that innovation is their full-time job. I think it takes both and they need to be inextricably linked. Now the other part of it, I think from a structural, like innovation type of mindset is not just saying you're innovative, but you have to, like, if you have to follow through on some of those things that the a hundred people are going to have a hundred different ideas or maybe a thousand ideas or more yeah. How do you have a process going back to the process conversation earlier, where you're going to take some of those ideas and actually go see them all the way through. One of the biggest problems I see is that in a lot of big places and in small places to say that they're innovative, we all say we won't wear that way, but you're actually not. Unless you see a few, some of those things all the way through. So if you can generate a hundred ideas. How do you have a process to figure out what you're going to implement and what you're not, you don't have any organization that has the bandwidth or the capacity to go implement a hundred ideas. So what's the business logic of what you're going to select out of that hundred. And then how do you say you picked three of them or say you picked 30 of them. How are you going to celebrate the 70 or the 97 that you didn't pick and say, Hey, thank you so much for your ideas. Keep them coming. Here's the ones that we're going to implement. We're going to keep your idea on the shelf, but three or the 30 that you pick, you bring them all the way through. And then when they're rolled out, you celebrate that in a way that is very.

[00:21:26] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:21:26] I spent a great deal of time with other executives talking about the concept or even the future of work something that we're all dealing with, especially in the current times where the pandemic and I'm coming out of this and organizations designing their workforce in hybrid models. What's your take on that? How do you, what's your view into the future of work? How do you see the next period for a lot of companies?

[00:21:52] Mike Hayes: [00:21:52] If I had the answer I'd play the lottery. I think everybody's working through this right now, but there are a few things that are undeniable, which is that the hybrid model is here to stay. And that's not any knowledge that's unique or differentiated. It's funny, just yesterday, myself and another colleague from work. Had a call on this very topic with two executives from a large wall street bank, just a very informal conversation of how are you thinking about it? So, Palo Alto based tech software company in a New York city based bank and saying, just sharing ideas and thinking about this. And so the first thing I would say, Jahn, is keeping lines of dialogue and communication open so that we're not solving anything. And then I would say what we're personally doing is figuring out what is it, meeting people in the workforce where, where they want to be and of course we're a business where we have responsibility to shareholders and we'll of course, first and foremost, focus on the mission of the organization. Well, we can simultaneously achieve that mission and be great for our employee base. And that's what we're doing. I'll tell you just to bring it to life. I needed to make a hire for a communications leader and I talked to a woman. Is extremely intelligent and I've known her for quite some time and said, look, I'd love to get you on board. And we talked about all this stuff and she'd look, I just can't do it. I'm in Washington, DC. I have a three-year-old and I just can't move. And I'm like, that doesn't matter anymore. Like let's keep talking? And so that, I think the talent flow that we're going to see is going to flow to the places that are more agile to the earlier conversation. Until everybody is equally agile. And I just think that's the future. One other point on that, because I think we need to do such a much better job with diversity, equity and inclusion. One I'll just be very open to one interview question that I love to ask. As I say on a one to 10, if you had an employment offer in front of you from within, with a 10 being you'd sign right away. And one is you'd run the other direction, where are you at? And I don't care about the number, but I care about what's in the space between your number and a 10, and that forces the candidate to think about what's in the space of why you wouldn't say it. We talked about that. And then I can understand what's the gap that I need to close if I really want to get this person on board. And so that draws out that gets right to the crux of the issue. I interviewed another woman who actually started yesterday. Excuse me Monday. And I lost cattle a day, what day? The week it is. But it was an awesome conversation and she said, look, I'll be honest. I had a one-year old, I just don't know about returning, pivoting jobs with a one-year-old, et cetera. I was like that's to be celebrated, we will work. There's no meeting at any company that if you miss, because you're a parent that you're going to that we're going to crash the car. Like, we will be fine if you call up and all of a sudden you're like, I'm sorry, like I'm supposed to give this big presentation. I just can't because my, I got to go to the doctor, like that's where we have to meet people these days. And I think that is needed. Recognized by executives. I think it needs to be incorporated. Look, there are, of course, some functions that really have to be done, but individuals can fail while organizations can't if you build that system so that we have individuals that don't do what they're supposed to do, but the system does, does work. That's good. That's going to create great long term outcomes.

[00:25:22] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:25:22] It couldn't have set me up any better for the following question that I have for you around talent acquisition interviewing, and really surrounding yourself with the play eight type players. What does a difficult interview with Mike look like? I understand that candidates go through multiple rounds of assessments, technical and whatnot. And when they get to you. Give us a glimpse into an interview with you. What are you, what are you asking? And more importantly, what do you look for in the responses when you hear them?

[00:25:50] Mike Hayes: [00:25:50] Great topic. First of all, it never feels like an interview.I think the other person's interviewing me just as much as I'm interviewing him or her. And so that's where it starts and it feels just like a conversation. Look, we're all human. Like let's just have a human conversation. I'm very open about the organization of what we're doing. And what our challenges are so that we can make sure that if that person does get on board, they're not like, oh my gosh, you didn't tell me about these 10 things that are absolutely terrible. Like, let's talk about that before you come in the door, because those are the things we're trying to solve together. And so it's somebody who draws energy. I will say that I think of it with three circles. I think of a circle. That is what gives a candidate. What is a candidate good at? And then what does the business need? And the only solution is to paint the middle of those three circles and hit that perfect setup where people are energetic. Good and can contribute to the business in a way where we are a profit maximizing organization, but we can maximize profits while doing great things in the world. And it starts with people being really excited to be on the team. So that, and so the quick answer is it doesn't feel like an interview. I have grown up, I can figure more. Very few super powers. One of them is figuring people out really quickly. And so just through a conversation with people, I can really understand what makes them motivated. What makes them tick. I'm looking at what people's motivations are, not through a judgemental lens, but everybody's different. If we really got down to what motivates people, if we whiteboard and 10 different things, John, we basically come out with some combination of what motivates every single person in the world compensation. Public recognition, learning quality of life. The people that you're around the opportunity to move in a company, we named four more things and you basically got, got every promotion, so understanding what makes people excited and then helping them connect their goals with the goals of the company are what the mental calculus that I'm doing is I'm visualizing the future and saying, yes, this is a person with the abilities and the interests. That'll get us to the point.

[00:28:01] [00:28:00] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:28:01] Yeah, that's very exciting. And I love the concept of making that a conversation versus the interview. It's really trying to understand who that person is, what motivates them, what's their personality like? So that's very interesting. And when it comes to. The war for talent out there is real. And so a lot of companies, when the pandemic hit everyone shifting to remote setting, everyone thought that, oh, great, I'm going to get exposed to a much greater pool of candidates and access to all kinds of skill set, but that also increase the competition with a lot of companies that are probably much bigger, much faster targeting that same talent pool from your perspective. What are some of the most in demand yet very hard to find skill sets out there, at least in your field, in your space. What are you seeing now there? The reason I asked this question is because a good portion of our listeners are early stage career professionals, second year MBAs. And a lot of times the questions that I'm getting is what's the career path. What are some of the things that I should be investing in further as I enter the world?

[00:29:07] Mike Hayes: [00:29:07] Well, the first thing I would say is that whenever you get career advice from somebody you recognize that the advice is going to basically be, you should be like me because I'm the smartest person. I know. And so my answer right now, just in full disclosure, is going to be almost exactly the same, the but, but in all seriousness, I think what it is to find a foundational stuff. Get really good at it. I describe a career in three phases. One is getting, picking something and getting really good at number two is then showing the world that you're really good at whatever you've picked. And then the third phase is a phase. A lot of people don't make it, which is being confident that you're good at what you do. You no longer need to prove that to them. So that's how I'm the arc, if you will. But there are I'm intentionally not answering at the skill level because I really deeply believe it's just foundationally. How, what are people's experiences in their ability to to connect things now, like my own past look, I've been in the seals, I've worked in the white and white houses. I've worked at a hedge fund. I've worked in an IT services firm in a product company. Like how, like, if you look at my career path, it just doesn't. To a lot of people, if you look, but then if you look the layer deeper, you say, oh my gosh, all this guy has ever done is moved toward the largest problems where you can create value in greatness in the world and gone after that and not be afraid to take risk and not be able to be afraid to roll the sleeves up and and really do the work to to put yourself out there and to go learn new things. So I would say. You could be at a place for a lifetime in one organization, but every, every year you should be looking back and saying that you learned and got deeper at whatever it is you're doing. And I think with that leaning into the hardest things. It's one of the topics in the book that is never enough, it's leaning into those hard things, trying the hard things and then learning. I will say that the biggest obstacle to that is saying like, why wouldn't you try the hardest. Well, it's really because of fear of failure or fear of looking silly to our friends or colleagues or family. And if you really think about that and you take the view, the mental exercise of going that last tactical mental yard, like there's no reason to worry about trying hard things and failing because the people who care for us, the people who really know who we are, aren't going to think less of us. If we try something hard and fail, that's okay. That has to be okay in our organization. That has to be celebrated because it's that con that thing I said before about individuals can fail, but the system can, if we need every single person in the company to succeed at every single thing, they try, we will fail as a company because those people need to be able to go try hard things and learn that's what's going to make us better for the future. So that would be my best advice to a younger person.

[00:31:52] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:31:52] Very sound advice. And Mike obviously as a book author, I'm sure you read a lot and you consume a lot of information and share with us your content diet. What are some of the things you consume on a daily basis? How selective are you with what you let your mind be exposed to any resources that you can share with us?

[00:32:11] Mike Hayes: [00:32:11] I will. And what I would start with is saying like, I'm one of these, I love the expression. If you want something done, give it to a busy person. I'm that busy person and my biggest challenge is carving out quiet time. There's a great article. It's maybe eight or 10 years old. Now I'm going to it's called solitude and leadership. And the author said it was a West point graduation speech. We can get it out to you to post later or something, but if you look up, it appeared in the Atlantic. So if somebody Googles, solitude and leadership at Atlantic I'm 99% sure it will come up. But that article's premise is about carving out the quiet time you need in order to think. And in fact, I tell one really great story about when I was the commanding officer of the special operations task force of co coming into a very complicated situation. And I designed a system where I didn't have a job, so I could sit down and have that quiet space to think about what we weren't thinking, thinking of back to the earlier point of that where the opportunity and the risk is in that unknown quadrant. That's how you get that out. But anyway, Jahn, the biggest thing for me right now, doing my 20 minutes of Headspace or whatever meditation app, you can just really get a chance to quiet your mind. And I think without that quieting of the mind, you're never going to get in that creative mode. So I try to do that every day. I often fail, but that's so thing, number one is not actually reading it's the quietness. And then what I personally have is a combination of long form short form. I think the things that I scan are the biggest things for me, just to think about my morning: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and for the news diet, if you will. And then for some of the longer form stuff. In fact, this just came in, I was reading an article foreign affairs. I'm a member of the council on foreign relations. I was just reading an article anyway, it doesn't matter that, and in fact, you see a whole bunch of, and this is the only thing that I don't throw out. They're all sitting right here because I'll remember an article. Flip back and get some factor 50 figures in there. I'm not really a paper person, but that's the one thing that I really do think. And the economist, like I think if you read one thing, the economist, when I was applying for the white house fellowship, which is an incredible program I the best advice that previous white house fellows get where like, if you read one thing to prepare for the interview is just go read the economist. And so I think that's another really great piece. And then I try to always have a book in hand right now. I'm rereading Marcus' meditations. I think the stoic philosophy is such a it's such an awesome thing to be both detached from a situation yet not vacuum.

[00:34:45] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:34:45] Yeah. Mental health is something of a huge interest for me that I've been studying a lot lately. The whole mental fitness concept is we probably can spend the entire episode talking about this typically on each episode. Mike, I asked what is one book that you always recommend to others? I'm going to ask you that in a different capacity, because I definitely want to talk a little bit further about never enough. So can you share with us where the book can be easily bought, find access to just share with us and maybe any of your contact information. If people want to reach out and find out a little bit more.

[00:35:25] Mike Hayes: [00:35:25] Absolutely. Thank you for asking. And so the first thing I would say is the easy answer is you can buy it anywhere. You buy books, Google never enough on Amazon, it's on Barnes and Noble, it's going to be an I it's going to be in target for actually for Father's Day, a part of their Father's Day focal. They're calling it. So it's pretty easily found. What I will say is that I appreciate the question because look, I'm not profiting from this book. My personality is such that if I was making a penny on this, I couldn't sit here and go ask the world to go buy my book. It's just not who I am, but that model of going to help others, I would tie it to something that I had when I grew up in the seal teams during my era, it was either strength or perceived. There was no never showing your weakness or perceived weakness. It was about minimizing that and maximizing the other part. And I think that, I spoke at a seal graduation maybe four years ago now where one of the things I said was that asking for strength is to excuse me, asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness, and it's okay to ask for help. I took over for him or a bunch of seals that a group of seals after grad school in 2005 had been their mates, half of their platoon had been shot down in a helicopter. It became a movie called Lone survivor. And I worked through some really hard situations with a bunch of the friends that survived through that. And we all lost friends at that particular time. June 28th, 2005. And one of the things that I did was I brought in a chaplain and a psychologist to come overseas and come help us out. And it was that at the time in 2005, that wasn't common, that was very uncommon. And frankly, some of the seals were uncomfortable even talking to them. And I said, Nope, everybody's going to spend at least five minutes. You just go say hello. That way there's no stigma of who talked to the chaplain or the sec and the psychologist and who didn't everybody at least five minutes mandatory. I don't care if you just sit there and stare at the person for five minutes, you gotta do it. And to a person, everybody spoke for hours, the chaplain and psychologists were like, I'd like to stay here an extra week and just keep talking to a few people and things like that. So I'm going on too long, Jahn, the main thing is that I will now ask for help. Hopefully I show strength here because this book is for others. Look, it's a great cause, but I also promise people hit me up on, I will Venmo you 20 bucks if you read it and you really genuinely don't like the book. I know that's a bold statement. I'll probably be out millions of dollars after this, because you have said you have such a large readership and but no, in all seriousness, I really do appreciate the opportunity to bring the mission, meaning and impact to the world. And for on Twitter, I'm at this is Mike Hayes, one word and Instagram is, this is my case. And on LinkedIn, if you Google, my K's and seal, I'm pretty sure I'll be the person that pops up. So that's how you track me down. Awesome.

[00:38:14] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:38:14] I love it. Thanks Mike, for that. And for our listeners and viewers, we'll make these links and titles and all of everything that might have been mentioned throughout the episode available in the episode notes, Mike can't. Thank you enough for this very short and powerful conversation that was actually taking a lot. Throw out in the conversation. So I really appreciate all the insights that we're going to stay in touch with you. And we can do another episode in the near future.

[00:38:35] Mike Hayes: [00:38:35] I'd love to, and I also meant in the very beginning we got started so fast. I just wanted to also thank you for bringing all of this great content to the world. Forget me for a second. And then let's. All of the great content you brought to the world is so uplifting and, and awesome. I'm a huge fan of yours and the podcast, Jahn. And I just thank you.

How to Build a Marketplace for Creatives with the CEO of The Labz – Farah Allen

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 04 May 2021 18:15:37 +0000

Farah Allen is an accomplished media technology leader with over 17 years of experience. Allen is currently the CEO & founder of ‘The Labz, The Labz is an interactive events platform that allows event organizers and content creators an entertainment-focused event solution that increases their RSVP rate and drives more revenue. Whether presenting films, theater productions, episodic and panel discussions, The Labz makes an exciting theatrical online experience. Farah’s previous executive positions include President and CEO of The Allen Group Management consulting Agency, where her clients included fortune 500 companies, and CEO and Cofounder of Song Society App. Farah has the honor of being the AJC Women of the Year for technology and is featured in publications such as Forbes and The Washington Post. The Labz also was named by Atlanta American Inno top startup to watch.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Farah Allen: [00:00:00] Hi, my name is Farah Allen and I'm the founder of the Labs Fair.

[00:00:19] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:19] Thanks so much for finding time to join us on the Abbey podcast. Can you tell us before we talk about your current company and your role as the CEO and founder of that, give us a thumbnail version of your career timeline.

[00:00:33] Farah Allen: [00:00:33] Ah, thumbnail. Okay. I'll try. Well, my career started in architecture and construction. Yeah, silence is creative, but I was also some one whose parents wouldn't allow me to be an artist. So I became an architect. And through my time in architecture was great, but then I realized I couldn't be frank. I'd first start out making bathroom remodels, and I just didn't like that feeling. So technology was my next step in my career. Technology just opened up so many doors for me just to create what I wanted to. It's really fascinating to know that we can build anything via technology. I started a management consulting company and was very successful with that, but unfortunately I had to give all the products I created a way and I wanted to keep the products I wanted to build a company. I just had that strong desire and a lack of opportunity as a woman and trying to quickly expand my career and she had negative roles. This didn't seem like the opportunities were there for me. So I made my own opportunity and started the labs.

[00:01:47] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:01:47] I love what you just said. I decided to create my own opportunity. That's a very powerful statement in a way that I also operate in that way that I'm a creator first. I'm a builder first. And if there is, at the end of the day, it's not about knocking on the doors, just almost building your own door. So that definitely resonates, which leads me to that further point. Tell us a little bit about what you have built. What are you currently working on?

[00:02:14] Farah Allen: [00:02:14] Yeah. So I have built a way for creators to express selves online. So that's via collaboration. Having very visual collaborative tools, which ultimately right now, the tools that are collaborative are made by engineers that may not be in the creative industry because they're giving you black and white and gray. You use designs where creatives are so involved in the world. And so I'm visual. That those options weren't available. So I created options that were more visual, more customizable to how people like to create content, create music, share videos, all those things. We've built into the labs, but because of COVID. We made a shift in focus because we, sorry, users and film and theater and in music, wanted to present in the way that we've created our technology, which was very visual, very creative minded and focused, but they didn't have Technology out. They were platforms that gave them options to express themselves and present, present their content. So we took our same ideas behind the lives and put them into an event. Presentation tool that allows you to fully customize experiences that fit your brand, fit your line of thinking and your creativity. So that's something new that we've done and it's been really successful. So far we're glad we made it. And even as the world is opening up and things are more hybrid. We find that most businesses are continuing their online presence because they went from local to international overnight. And you can't go back, which is great for us because we are there to support you daily. Experienced creative needs.

[00:04:10] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:04:10] That's exciting. And definitely makes sense. Especially in this current market with everyone being virtual, everyone trying to collaborate together in very dispersed environments. I'm pretty sure, there's a lot of demand for service, like the labs. Is that something that you aspire to create or was that the nature of you pivoting and adjusting to the current market?

[00:04:32] Farah Allen: [00:04:32] It was always the focus. The focus was always, how do we put, create, how do we have people own at work? And it grew from. Hey, I'm going to help you as a musician. Who's creating music with someone else. The content that you're making and make sure that ethnically, you have knowledge as to who wrote what and when, and that's important for your profession and went from that to where it is now, but the, [00:05:00] the mission is still the same. We're still having you as a creator on how you present, how you work, how you collaborate with people.

[00:05:12] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:05:12] Oh, that's pretty exciting. And how long have you been building your company?

[00:05:17] Farah Allen: [00:05:17] We started in 2018.

[00:05:19] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:05:19] Okay. And tell us a little bit about that initial phase, the very first portion of your journey, because usually that's the hardest and they know they, there's a lot of decisions to be made, whether you bootstrap and build it yourself, or you go the venture route where you raise and Angel Investments, the reason I ask is because that's my passion. That's where I operate in venture capital space. And as an angel investor, And for me, it's always exciting to hear these very early stages, the napkin stage for the founders in a way, what were some of the decisions that you had to make and what did you learn from that?

[00:05:59] Farah Allen: [00:05:59] Yeah. Well, I'll tell you it's still hard. It's just a different level of hardness.

[00:06:05] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:06:05] Yeah, exactly.

[00:06:05] Farah Allen: [00:06:05] It never gets easy. Right? The stakes are just higher at the top. And the top seems like it never ends. So in the beginning it was quite difficult. Of course, I'm African-American woman and all of these numbers are just moving against you. But when you're starting, you can't think about that. Obviously, it exists, but you have to push through it. So I didn't know how to operate a startup. I knew how to operate a management consulting business. Totally know how to create products. But when I got into the startup phase, there was a special thing that I felt like I was missing. And I couldn't find that formula that makes me mark Zuckerberg and I'm looking. And it was very hard to find resources. When I started out I started looking in with this idea of 2017. So I found R Jordan has an organization called ATDC. I found them, they supported startups by giving them classes and learning about how to do customer discovery, all the beginning phases of building the idea, making sure that the MVP is there. Didn't quite get it. Everything I needed from that because I was still required to know something before I even got there. And I didn't even know what I was starting to know, but I wasn't getting that help that I personally needed. Then there was an organization I heard about called digital undivided and they spoke to me. They literally spoke to me. They said, if you're a black or a Latina entrepreneur, then you want you, we want to help you build your company. And so I tried twice and I got in the second time and expense almost a year, working with me on learning the ins and outs of building a business and was very personalized and created a huge network across the United States with people that they know. So once I left there I went into an accelerator, Comcast set an accelerator for it, and I even grew from there. This is where I became really serious. Like this is for real, everyone's kind of. I have backing that has social proof, my family, the two people that did have money invested. So it was my first like $10,000 that came in because they realized that maybe she's onto something. And we understand that this type of organization is backing. And starting to build, never really enough money to build what the idea was. But I trickled in and was very creative as to how I got what I needed to prove that we are an investable company. And eventually after a year of course there, the reality is it is hard to be that American one. Like, I can't afford that though. I can ignore it. It doesn't ignore me. So I have to become even better at what I do and do less with more, with do more with less. And then eventually, I proved out undeniably that this wasn't an investable company to someone and I got my first $200,000 in quiet capital with quakes money. It was like the first time I had just enough to like to build more quickly and faster. And get more people and make more deals. And the future just slipped a lot grinder. I never felt that sense of, Hey, I got some more support here, but at the end of the day, I'm building something that normally takes like $3 million to start off with an investment of, at that time, 250 kids, when I invested that invested capital from, and luckily we were able to do something with that. We were able to get customers, they were able to combat, again, they're insects that you do need capital to scale. It's just unavoidable, no matter what you do you do need it unless you are doing something extra special and your strategies like your product and strategy is just unique in that way. Those are the people you hear about in the newspaper. They're not normal people. So, at some point I needed to raise again. And luckily I met Abigail Disney and Adrian Bakker who owned a theater. Well, a media company called level four and they do invest in minorities and women. And in media and entertainment, they invested a million dollars in our company last year. And because of that, I was able to get to the next level. It's like the second about these levels. It progresses. And as I always ease their level, because now I see why people raise three, four, $5 million, because I can't hire the necessary folks to handle all the influx of new customers with that again. Just from beginning to be the, where we are now, I'm just realizing, and I'm maturing as a CEO, a founder. Someone that does see a huge multi billion dollar opportunity and sees how people actually do get there. I'm just getting that knowledge or that insight into that space because I'm here. I have some capital to deploy. I do have backing from people that can bring in more opportunity and more investors. But we're still, it's always that upward lifting. I wouldn't say struggle, but there are strategies and things that you have to do in order to do it. He knew it. And that's where we are right now.

[00:11:54] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:11:54] Yeah, that's very interesting because as I worked with a lot of startup founders and myself as an operator and founder of multiple companies, I understand some of the challenges that you went through initially, and you probably still dealing with that, whether making those decisions fundraising or not, but at the end of the day, it's, it could be very distracting. Exercise, because it's almost a full-time job. When you go in through the fundraising route as you go through dealing with investors via, we'll also try to build your company. So that's always that balance, so that every founder has to deal with someone recently categorizing us founders as these kinds of folks with a permanent anxiety disorder. With the focus on productivity that we're just walking around with just permanent anxiety, just trying to be productive. So I thought that was, that was pretty cool. So what are some of the trends and ideas that really excite you these days, as not only as the CEO and founder of your own company, but what are you researching work kind of bets? Are you making, what do you see as the next big thing in the next few years?

[00:13:06] Farah Allen: [00:13:06] Yeah, I am. So I would just, in golf, in new, because COVID happened and of course we're going back into a state, but it's not the same state and he just left, so I see new things that weren't. Like popping before that is popping now because folks are now more used to technology and being on the computer. I see go-to market strategies have changed because of the COVID and they're not going back to normal. So I see all these new opportunities used for people to reinvent. Social norms. And I see that in a bed space. That's why we are focused, double down on focusing on growing that side of our technology, because we're at the cutting edge of the future. It's also compared to what. E-commerce did for physical retail, right? Because of the Shopify of the world. Now people are doing dual things, they're shopping and they're going online. They're probably doing both at the same counter Martin the same day. And I see that for a lot of things that are now socially. Okay, because folks have stayed at home for the whole year and they have no anxiety about doing that anymore. So I'm excited about events. I'm excited about online experiences that kind of replicate marketing techniques of how to keep people engaged with your marketing advertisement. If you want to sell products or you want to do online Shopping. That's really, that's a growing space. And I see China really taking the lead with kind of the home shopping network experiences online. And we're doing that as well. So I'm interested in that space. That's the space I really love right now. Yeah.

[00:15:01] [00:15:00] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:15:01] Yeah, definitely would love to pick your brain around that because we organize a lot of events. We facilitate a lot of the executive round tables and things like that with our networks. And it's always interesting in looking for ways to make that experience a lot more organic and natural. And it's very challenging, especially in the virtual setting. So definitely I'm going to, again, to try to pick your brain a little bit around that as a CEO and founder of your own company, surrounding yourself with like-minded people and just eight players is I'm sure at the top of your mind 24/7, whether you are recruiting actively or not, I've been there. I am there. I live in a breathe that shares with us any of the strategies that really help you. Bring like-minded folks bring the top talent to your teams. How do you succeed in that space? What's maybe you have learned through some of the activities that you went through. Talk a little bit more about that.

[00:16:05] Farah Allen: [00:16:05] I'd say I'm an expert in that yet and in the beginning phases of growing your startup, the resources are a lot, right? You have people that can really help you grow. From the state, the early stage. But when you get into the later stages, it's really hard to find those folks. Of course, you got to have capital payment, no one's at that stage is working for them, their value and your company may or may not be that valuable for the coming one. But the equity that, you kind of dumb dangle in front of folks in the. The beginning stages. So now, we reached a stage where the resources that we started with, aren't the resources that we're going into the future with. So now I'm finding what exactly I need for scale and growth for folks to help me with strategy because another thing you realize is that you, as a founder, can't do everything anymore. You can't be the smartest person in the room and you can't hold all the knowledge and expect to succeed to the levels that whatever your brain is telling you're going. So I'm finding people right now. It's me really networking within my cohort of founders and seeing it owes and seeing who has left something similar or who's ready to go, or who came from corporate and did a really good job that I can give a bigger position to, or more opportunity for leadership that matches their needs. There needs to be your needs and seeing where that can go. And I smell everybody there. They may not even be looking for a job that might be an opportunity that I'm looking for. So I'm really involved. And that process right now is we're raising our next round and making sure that we have those people on board to get us to that next level. So no answers, but a good strategy. That's what I have for you. Right?

[00:18:00] [00:17:59] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:17:59] Right, right. Absolutely. And that makes sense. But in the current market with everyone being virtual, a lot of companies and people thought that, oh, great. I'm going to get this tremendous. Access to candidates and skillset all over the world, but they overlooked the aspect of the competition. Now, every other company is out there for the same talent and they probably have a lot more to offer. So the candidate will kind of think that employee retention becomes even more important in that aspect because everyone's hunting. Everyone is after the top talent. What's working for you or maybe not. When it comes to your employee retention, what are some of the things that you do that really help you keep your core team around you?

[00:18:43] Farah Allen: [00:18:43] Well, we are growing our team. Honestly, it's been a lot of me and our technology or our team of developers. It's really a nice team we've, I've worked with them for the duration of this and they're great.And they believe in the mission, they are creatives yourselves, or have Loved ones that they want to say that they'd create a technology to support their livelihoods. So our development team, which is great, I think for us is where we are right now. We need it because of our slight pivot or our growth in the event space, it's more customer oriented. That means our business team has to scale out. It can't just be me answering emails, one-on-one customer engagement that's new. There are more projects, there's a vantage point there's production. So we are adjusting the mix of growing that side of the team. We're very small. So we aren't. So how do we retain these folks? Well, they're mission-oriented too. They come from media and entertainment. They see the value of what we're doing and Laura. So they see an opportunity to grow with a company and quickly take on leadership roles if they put themselves out there and kind of come up with ideas and how we can scale in our strategy.

[00:20:11] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:20:11] Right, right. Absolutely. I think that's very important, especially at the very beginning. When you, as a CEO, said that strategy and getting people that buy into that it's so far, most important, especially at the very early stage like this because that will push them to work harder, work more and be kind to that self-sufficient team. So I like that analogy. As far as the future of work. Where do you see the king of the industry in general shifting towards two, or do you think we will stay as, is a lot of companies shifting to kind of hybrid modes, whether you're working with. Partially virtually partially in the offices. How are you preparing for that?

[00:20:55] Farah Allen: [00:20:55] I believe at least the next five years are actually why five, but it seems like normal social norms and things changed within five-year increments. As for my research, people are still at home. I remember working in corporate America. It was always thought that you don't do as much as home. Like people are getting away with stuff at home. And now we see that people are doing way more at home than they do in the office. Because they're home and they don't have all that social distraction, which could be good in some certain areas and not in others. So I don't think this is going away. I think office buildings are going to have a challenge because they have to fill those spaces. But there are environments where you need to be in there. I think those folks would figure out strategies in order to give people the freedom that working at home provides you even if they don't necessarily have to be at home. So I think we're in the wild west of seeing where founders really come to light and shine and create these opportunities. That's why I was like, I love this time because everyone has a chance and opportunity to start something new and solve problems that we didn't have a year, 18 months ago. So I don't think hybrid or virtual is going away. I think it's just gonna grow and it's going to grow per section and per industry need. And it's going to get more niche in regards to seeing this next flow of. Kind of like CRM tools that are for her industry. So I'm looking forward to it.

[00:22:42] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:22:42] Yeah, for sure. And definitely going to help the labs grow as well. Right. It's a lot of people to collaborate virtually, so it's kind of, it should be a win-win. Enclosure, I'd like to talk a little bit about your personal resources or content diet. What do you consume on a daily basis when it comes to learning, getting better at self-improvement? Share with us any resources that are useful to you on a daily basis.

[00:23:11] Farah Allen: [00:23:11] So I love when people recommend books, especially smart folks that I know are doing really awesome things. I want to know what they focus their time and their brain power on. So I tend to get book recommendations. I read the scam, the news for four things in events, things in SAS technology I followed music, technology news just things that pertain to my industry and looking for trends or looking for new ideas as well. New people, new players, new parts, and potential partners. Or competitors. So I think I have set the algorithms just to know what I'm looking for everyday, because it just shows up on my news feed outside of that. I have tointentionally go to read because I am busy as a founder, but I do realize that if I don't, I miss out on key things that could Could help with my strategy could help me not do that particular strategy because someone else kind of proved it wrong or right. And in some way. So I don't do as much reading as I want to, but when I do it is because it's recommended or it's some industry thing that I need to know in order to do my business.

[00:24:31] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:24:31] Well, you couldn't have set me up any better for my last question I wanted to ask is what's the book, are you currently reading? And what if it's different from that one? Which one do you always recommend to others? And why is that?

[00:24:44] Farah Allen: [00:24:44] Well, instead of a buck I consistently listen to Start Up Therapy. Which is a podcast by startup.com and it is important, I stress, mental health for founders because it's not easy what we do. And we're all consistently doing things that normal folks stay away from because it's painful or it's just. You don't want to be rejected. what customers talking, trying to complain, you don't want all this stuff, but we are consistently being put in Dallas positions or putting ourselves in those positions. So mental health and it's important. I think why I listened to this podcast is because there are people out there that go through the very same thing you do and understand that. That is something not as unique as you think you're able to see past it, go past it, solve it. The stress level goes down. So that's how my real life surfaced? And so I'm a part of that organization.

[00:25:53] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:25:53] Yeah, absolutely. And for our listeners, we'll make these recommendations available in episode notes and lead me to the last point that you've mentioned: mental health and all of that great stuff. It makes sense. And a lot of. Sometimes, at least from my perspective in the startups or companies that I invest in, I view the founders almost as professional athletes, because you have to take into account everything when it comes to their lifestyle, the diet, the mental fitness, all of that great stuff. And my analogy is that. Founders have to be treated exactly the same way as the professional athletes are at the end of the day. It's, they're leading the company 24/7, so, and that's just kind of my take into that and I'll leave kind of that conversation, that fire up. Thank you so much for your insights today. We're definitely going to stay in touch and do another episode in about a year. See how much has changed and how you guys are dominating your industry.

[00:26:48] Farah Allen: [00:26:48] Thank you so much for having me in you're on my top podcast list, and I'm just looking forward to this episode and all the episodes moving forward.

[00:26:57] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:26:57] I appreciate that. Thanks so much.

How To Build a Successful Career as a Chief of Staff with the Chief of Staff at Google – Jeremy Strickland

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 04 May 2021 18:13:43 +0000

Jeremy L. Strickland currently serves in the role of Chief of Staff at Google. Prior to returning to Google, where Jeremy also began his career, he worked as a Sales Innovation Manager at LinkedIn and in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. Prior to that, Jeremy completed the MPP / MBA degree program at Kellogg and Harvard and has also studied at Vanderbilt (undergraduate) and Stanford.

Having worked in Silicon Valley for nearly a decade, Jeremy brings a diverse set of experiences and background to his role as Chief of Staff, making him a valuable contributor capable of advising on a wide spectrum of issues, ranging from business drvau and product strategy to financial design to public policy.

Outside of his role at Google, Jeremy advises start-ups and is currently working w/ the leadership of Pied Parker, a quickly growing start-up in the transportation / parking sector. Outside of the office, Jeremy (and his wife Grace) compete in CrossFit competitions, loves Atlanta Braves baseball, and holds a single-digit golf handicap.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Jeremy Strickland: [00:00:00] Hi, this is Jeremy Strickland. I'm the chief of staff at Google.

[00:00:18] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:18] Jeremy, thanks so much for finding time. Joining us on the Ivy Podcast this Friday afternoon, April 30th. The reason I included the date is because lately I've been getting some comments around that some of the episodes appear to be maybe a little out of date or maybe not within the trends. So we started doing that. Where are you based?

[00:00:40] Jeremy Strickland: [00:00:40] Yeah. So I'm based out of San Francisco but due to COVID reasons, my wife and I have been coveting as we like to say in gross point, Michigan, which is about 20 minutes outside of Detroit.

[00:00:53] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:53] Oh, very cool. Well, in a completely different location, right. I want to spend some time talking about your current role within the [00:01:00] organization, but before we do that, tell us a little bit more kind of the thumbnail version of your career.

[00:01:06] Jeremy Strickland: [00:01:06] Yeah, absolutely. So I guess I'll start with my, kind of my first job undergrad. So I graduated from Vanderbelt in 2011. And then I joined Google for the first time. So I immediately came to Google as part of their new graduate program. I spent two years doing small and medium, Sales and support before transitioning to a more analyst or operational type role. I spent roughly around six months as a business analyst, before transitioning to a strategy and operations lead. This latter role was really kind of my favorite time at Google. So working on super complex projects with really high performing individuals. In total, I was at Google for about five years before I went to graduate school. I did my MBA at Kellogg and then a master's of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy school over a three-year [00:02:00] period. After that, I briefly joined LinkedIn where I was a manager on our sales innovation team before a recently returning to Google and my current role as chief of staff, which is just an ideal and perfect role.

[00:02:16] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:02:16] That's awesome. What are quite diverse backgrounds and appreciate you sharing? Tell us a little bit more about the role as a chief of staff. I understand what falls under your purview and the responsibility, especially the last few years. That role has been gaining a lot of grounds in terms of a lot of organizations racing, the specific need for that, but not a lot of people may be familiar with that. The overall concept shares a little bit more insight into the day to day responsibilities. What falls under your purview?

[00:02:49] Jeremy Strickland: [00:02:49] Yeah, absolutely. There's so much to just unpack there, but it really is a super exciting role. The first thing that I like to tell people about being a chief of staff [00:03:00] is this role is not for everyone, right? The pace of this role is just really, really intense. So the only thing that I can equate it to is, I did investment banking at Goldman for my internship. It's that pace, but not quite as long of the hours, but you're always on call. So some of their phrases that I like to describe the chief of staff job that I think resonate with other people in this role are you're an inch deep on many projects, but you're about two miles wide. So one of the things that my executive and I do on a weekly basis is we just review the priorities of my project. And I think at one point I was up to 30 different projects that I was touching or helping to manage or helping to manage the managers on those projects. And so I think that's really interesting. You have to keep this rotation. Of what is most important, what's going to drive the most value for the business. And if I can only work, [00:04:00] , 60, 70, 80 hours a week, where is it that I'm going to spend my time? And so I think that's super interesting. So in terms of like chief of staff, so it's definitely been growing in Silicon valley over the last few years in terms of interest, I think as more and more tech companies begin to grow, they start to understand and realize that the founder all fit is not the executive who is going to be able to kind of grow and scale the company. And so the type of value that someone like myself can bring is really kind of that go-between helping provide. Operational rigor, strategic insight and just kind of being able to scale that, that executive, right. And so I have the good fortune of doing this at Google. So I work for a leader who has been at Google for gosh, over a decade. She's a phenomenal leader. She's a great people manager and she understands her business [00:05:00] better than anybody I've ever worked for. And it is truly exciting and inspirational to see how she operates. So with that in mind I'm happy to go into more of like day-to-day responsibilities, but I'll toss it back to you. In case you may have a specific area you want to.

[00:05:19] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:05:19] No, I love that. I love and appreciate the background and the insight more into the specific role. And I agree, definitely, especially in our circles, in the technology startup community or technology organizations have been growing trends. But I also see, I interact with a lot of executives at other industries and other organizations and have been definitely getting grounds as far as that particular functional domain within the organism. Tell us a little bit more about the career path. He seems like you were at the executive level, you interact mostly with executives. So you do a lot of advising and coaching almost to a certain extent. [00:06:00] What's the path to chief of staff and beyond.

[00:06:04] Jeremy Strickland: [00:06:04] Yeah, absolutely. So I can talk about my path here. And so coming out of business school, I took what was basically just like a managerial position at LinkedIn. And LinkedIn is a really great firm, but I just didn't feel that that was the right role that played to my talents. I think I'm somebody who does really well when I have a bunch of different projects on my plate and can navigate among those different products. And I enjoy that a lot more than having to go really, really deep into projects. So what I didn't love about the kind of manager position that I had at LinkedIn was as we were working on the CRM migration and I was helping to lead that project, a huge, critically important project. But I just wasn't super interested or motivated by the way. And so when I transitioned to Google on, was thinking about, or before I even transitioned to Google what my next role would be, did it make sense to move from [00:07:00] like a people management position and to something at the back to where I would be an individual contributor again. And so the only thing that I could think of that really made sense to me was the chief of staff role. And the way that I think about it is most people in a chief of staff role because of the pace of the role. And just how strung out you are over all of your different projects, all of your different stakeholders. There tends to be a high burnout rate of about two to three years. So if you look at the most, same as the chief of staff role to the president I think the average tenure in that job is just a little over a year. And that's just because of the high nature or the high paced and just quick nature of the role. And so that was kind of, my plan was to come in support of this executive. It was an area that is growing very, very quickly, Google well-respected executives based on the due diligence that I did. And so that's ultimately how I ended up here. But I think, on my day to day, who do I interact with the most so [00:08:00] directly supports my executive. And then she has a set of basically head of heads or some, or some of which are at the director level that report to her. And predominantly I work with two or three of those basically hazard directors, more than others. So of that gosh, like six or seven, that report to her, I mainly focus on and help drive it, drive, work and value a couple of those more than others. So I think it's good because I get exposed. Yeah. Cross-functionally across all of everything that Google has to offer from marketing sales, engineering support implementation side of the business, et cetera. And it's kinda great because with like, thinking about moving from like a people manager role to like an individual contributor role with a chief of staff, something that somebody told me that didn't make sense until I got in this role is no one reports to you, but everyone reports to you. And so I think that's a [00:09:00] really interesting phrase to think about because while I'm not directly responsible for the performance manager of everyone, I have what I hope is the trust of my executive. And when I'm recommending something on a project, people tend to listen. And so that's a really great position to have.

[00:09:21] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:09:21] Oh, that's very exciting. And it definitely paints a much bigger picture in terms of the area of responsibility as a chief of staff and being able to get so much exposure all across seems like the entire organization, different domain areas, different types of leadership within the organization that also creates a lot of opportunities for you to learn, absorb as much as possible. So I think that's super exciting. Tell us about any specific challenges that come along with that particular responsibility. What are some of the things that maybe you did not expect or something that was really, you did as much research as you could prepare yourself for that particular role, but what were some kind of the “aha” moments or someone that got you sort of.

[00:10:09] Jeremy Strickland: [00:10:09] Yeah, absolutely. So I think it starts with, you have to have a clear vision of what your job is, right? And so my job is to basically scale the effectiveness of my executive. And I think that goes with the general kind of foundational value that I have of this role. So chief of staff, you are not achieved, you are staff, right? And your job is not to make decisions. Your job is to help the executive make the best and most informed decision. And so that means helping to guide, helping to inform, helping provide options, pushing back when you don't agree. Right. And doing so thoughtfully and respectfully. So what were some of the challenges that I faced? I think with anybody who's new to this role and had never been a chief of staff [00:11:00] before it's really learning how there is, what is the best way to gain their trust? Of your executive. I think that's something that I did pretty well. And the way that I did that was really trying to connect on a personal level and then really spending a lot of time with her direct reports getting to know them. So I set a personal goal for myself like my first 45 days in the role to meet with all of our important stakeholders. The end of that 45 days, I counted up the number of different one-on-ones that I have. I think I was at something like 52. And so that's just an incredible amount of time that I spent introducing myself, getting to know others, getting to know about people's families, their interest in their hobbies. And so I think that that was like one thing that I, that many people could potentially struggle with in this role is undervaluing. How important it is to be proactive and like your network. Now the thing that I found that was [00:12:00] just like, whoa, oh my gosh, this is over my head at this point is I mentioned a bit earlier being inch deep in a, in a couple miles. Those first couple of months, you're just trying to get up to speed. Right? You're trying to learn to lead through the product. You're trying to learn the personality. And you're given exposure to 15, 20 different projects, and you have no idea what many of the acronyms mean. Who were some of the key players? What are the kinds of historical precedents behind many of these projects? And so it was definitely the. The thing that I always mentioned to people, the experience for me was definitely the Dunning Kruger effect or Dunning-Kruger effect, which if you come in, you have a couple of quick wins. You add value. People are like, Hey, this guy's pretty smart. Like, maybe he can put some more operational rigor and then you get exposure and maybe you're on one or two products at that point, then you get exposure. To 20 or 30 different projects. And you're like, oh my God, I am like this sea of despair. I have no idea what I'm going to do. They are going to fire me in two weeks. I'm a big fraud. And then slowly over time, you just start building back up to where you hit like that, six month marker. So you feel pretty comfortable or you're like, all right, I have this, I have these 20 or so projects on my plate. I know the two or three that really matter. I know the two or three that I can completely like offload and that person's going to take care of. And then I know the ones that are like, people are going to tell me this is important, but it's not really that important. And so you kind of just like slowly build back up until you hit this like plaque. And then that plateau is like, you're feeling comfortable in your job. And then you start taking on new responsibilities, prepping for meetings and things you don't know about. So you have to do research on them that are kind of stretching you a little bit more and more. And so I think it's if you're familiar with the Dunning-Kruger effect, like, I definitely like to say that. Absolutely very true of this role, because you have like your, your valley of despair and like you think that you're a fraud, but , you're slowly come out of it.

[00:14:10] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:14:10] Yeah, it definitely resonates. And as far as in terms of
the lack of clarity around the specific responsibilities that you have to take on as the chief of staff, was that something that was a concern to you or do you on the opposite spectrum, do you actually operate it a lot better from that step?

[00:14:33] Jeremy Strickland: [00:14:33] Yeah, so I think, one of the things that I've been told that I do well and. I think there's always room for improvement on anything you do well to be even better at it, is managed ambiguity. And I manage that through relentless prioritization. Like, look here are the projects that we're working on together. I think these are the top five. Let's confirm that, and that's what we do on a weekly basis. And then to say like, Hey, okay, how can I begin to drive value on this or these, this is the team that we need to build to work on this. Or am I leading this project or am I supporting right? And so I think what many people would be interested in is like for somebody in this room. What do I kind of do? And so I thought about, if my end goal is to scale the effectiveness of my executive, what are the levers that I have to do? So, and so I kind of think of those in like four big buckets and I'll just kind of break those down. I'm breaking the rule of three for all the consultants out there. So the first one is basically, thinking about strategic priorities, so really helping to identify major trends. In the business thinking about where we want the executive to basically plug in versus what I can lead. And then also just kind of generally acting as a gatekeeper. And I think of it as that filter for all of the requests that come in, so that's kind of, one is being, I call it the personal confidant of the executive or helping to set strategic priorities. The second one is really thinking about a program or project management, right? When you're a chief of staff, we have an organization that we've built and oftentimes there'll be projects that just don't fit very well within that organization. And so it requires somebody who has the purview and scope to sit across many of those directors or heads of industries that are the next level down and drive those projects. And then the third area is really, I would think like strategic planning and alignment, otherwise known as a really fancy way of just saying operational rigor. So one of the big things that we do is just basically just understand what is the process that we're doing for something that's really important today. What are the pain points? Where can we clean this up? Where can we streamline things? Where can we make it more efficient? And then it's really just asking the question of how we've done it in the past. Do we need to do it this way in the future? And one of the big projects that [00:17:00] I'm on right now, we had my predecessor had done a, he had done some work on it, had improved the overall flow of it tremendously, but me being new to the organization allowed me to take a step back again and say like, Hey, okay, we took a big step forward last time. How can we take two more steps for, and really drive and scale this process? And then, thinking about the last lever is really thinking about how you can effectively communicate the message of the executive out to not only her direct reports or his, or her direct reports, but to everyone in the organization, to make sure that they are motivated that they are interested in the work and that they will be excited about working at the company or for this particular part.

[00:17:46] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:17:46] And that's very interesting hands at Google. I'm sure you are exposed to all kinds of different trends, ideas, projects, and so forth. What are some of your personal passions these days that you follow? Very extensive. And what are some of the trends and ideas that really excite you. What are you perhaps looking into investing in yourself or research further?

[00:18:09] Jeremy Strickland: [00:18:09] So this is kind of interesting because when I think about this question, I think about my work persona, which is very much, I work in this strategic realm of digital marketing, right? So when you think about Google as a whole, and this is just my own two thoughts, it's digital marketing, it's advertising, et cetera. And so I feel like I get such great exposure to that. Through all of the different things, pieces that we have, external literature, et cetera. So when I'm not working on something directly related to Google, I tend to focus on my other areas of interest in my own personal research projects. So for me, that kind of dates back to some of the work that I did while I was in graduate school. As part of the MPP MBA program, you have to write what I call a dissertation light and mine was on, or I wrote mine on autonomous vehicle [00:19:00] regulatory policy. And so this is an area that I've continued to stay pretty intimately involved in outside of the office. Done a few different podcasts. I have done speaking engagements at VCs major law firms in Silicon valley. And it's something that I really enjoyed building that domain expertise. Do I get to bring that to my day job at Google? Not exactly, but is it something that I enjoy doing and writing an occasional medium post on? Absolutely. So predominantly when I'm outside of the office, I tend to work on things like that. That's led to some consulting work that I've done with a startup in Silicon valley. The name of the startup is called pipeline. And they think of themselves really as a transportation company, but their conduit to becoming a larger transportation provider is through parking. And so we're really thinking about ways that we can improve and disrupt the current kind of [00:20:00] parking environment or landscape. It's a very old analog solution-based business. And we think through technology we really have the opportunity to disrupt. And so it's been great bringing my operational rigor, strategic mindset to the startup who is basically doing extremely well, but they're operating at lights. And so it's really just thinking about things like, Hey, how do we put together a comprehensive hiring plan, or how can we begin to recruit top talent from MBA programs or thinking about the future of our company? How can we start to put the pieces in place that get us ready to become, to grow X percent and become an even larger company.

[00:20:45] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:20:45] Yeah, no, those are very exciting trends and absolutely very relevant to the current market conditions and a lot of things that are going on these days when it comes to working remotely and maybe some hybrid model. [00:21:00] I spent a lot of time also with executives who were clients of mine and a good deal. Topics that we discuss is they come and we, they just basically say Jahn, some of our newly hired employees that just joined the organization, a lot of them struggle especially during that initial period, especially when you just joined the organization maybe last year. When everything is hundred percent remote and you're not so used to this particular setup where, in the normal scenario, you'll have a lot of opportunities to meet new folks and just run into people. We're just casually, I have a hallway conversation. What are your thoughts? And maybe some strategies that really help you. Some of the folks that are just joining the organization don't necessarily have a lot of experience working remotely. Joseph is able to collaborate with others, but also expand their internal networks within that.

[00:21:57] Jeremy Strickland: [00:21:57] Absolutely. I have some, just [00:22:00] some low hanging fruit here that I think could be really helpful for fruits. First and foremost is don't underestimate or undervalue the importance of creating a workspace that you feel comfortable in. Right. And so when I first started working remotely, I was just working from the dining room table. And when I realized after a few months. I was just miserable. Right? There simply, the table was too small. I couldn't, we really didn't have a place to eat when my monitor and stuff was there. And so I invested when I started at Google and really put together a much better office set up. And I think that increased my not only happiness of the work that I was doing, but also my productivity. So that's a low-hanging fruit tidbit. Number one. The second one is something I've already mentioned earlier is put yourself out there and way. Like, especially for somebody who's in a similar role to me, or who's going to be touching a lot of cross-functional projects, set yourself a goal, your first 30, your first 45. Get out there and [00:23:00] network, identify a list of people with our points of contact, with whom you're going to be interacting with on a consistent basis. And then just start meeting with them. And any of your conversations, introduce yourself, find out more about them, those initial introductory chats. Try to keep it about, I say 10 to 15 minutes on just who they are as a person, what they like to do. And then 10 to 15 minutes on, like, what are their big strategic priorities, right. Or what keeps them up at night or anything else along those lines. So that's networking that you can proactively do. Another thing that I've found that is really great is we have a series of coffee chats within our organization. And so this is run by some of our basically individual sales folks and what they do is everybody enters theirs in or their names. And then once every month or so, we can just have a coffee chat and it'll match people all the way from our executive to like the person who's it's day two [00:24:00] on the day. I'm like right out of right. Coming in from an agency or something like that. And so I think it's been really great to do that because it's given me the opportunity to chat with some of our frontline employees and for them to kind of understand what I do and how I'm their advocate and their voice. So for anybody that's new due to the whole, like working from home thing, Talk to your executive, talk to your manager and say like, Hey, let's create these informal coffee chats once a month and let's mix and match people throughout all of the organization. I think it's a quick win for many people. I don't think you're going to get a lot of pushback unless you're working in investment banking, but especially at tech companies, I think that will go over pretty well. And I think it's just organizing and putting it to use.

[00:24:47] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:24:47] Yeah, those are great strategies, especially, an organization of that size. I think it's also very interesting to hear, initiatives such as proactive, monthly meetups, where you get a chance and opportunity to meet others, [00:25:00] maybe completely outside of your functional area or outside of your team that you are operating in. So that's a great strategy for a lot of executives to take into account within their organizations.

[00:25:11] Jeremy Strickland: [00:25:11] It's something that I really pride in because like, I think about what I work on at a very high strategic level, look it trickles down to these folks. And so it impacts what they're doing on a daily basis. And so it's great to hear what's working, what isn't and take that back up the chain.

[00:25:31] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:25:31] Absolutely. You've mentioned something as we were talking about the different trends and ideas and building the culture within the organization on hiring and surrounding yourself with top of the line candidates. And retention also becomes a challenge, especially in this current market where a lot of, for executives, actually thought that shifting to virtual was going to open up a whole gamut of opportunities to new candidates, but also competition had [00:26:00] increased as well. What are your overall thoughts on Just talent acquisition aspect of where it is in the current markets. How do you approach this? How, what are some of the things that really help you succeed in the space of talent, acquisition, interviewing and surrounding yourself with the players?

[00:26:19] Jeremy Strickland: [00:26:19] Yeah, I'm going to harken back to something that I heard from Meg Garlinghouse who, I don't know her official title at LinkedIn, but I think she's the kind of head of CSR, corporate social responsibility, something similar to that. But she's been on LinkedIn for a very long time. And so one of her kind of big tenants that she believes in is diversity to know your network. And so it's really thinking about, Hey, look here, my things, characteristics that define me, I'm a mid thirties Caucasian male living in the Midwest right now, previously in San Francisco, I make X amount a year, et [00:27:00] cetera. Who adds more value to my network? Somebody who is 28 in Chicago and maybe makes 50 grand more than I do, but works in PE or something like that. Or somebody who is really diverse and works in Florida, maybe he comes from a non-traditional background. Didn't go to an Ivy league school, but has been a really successful entrepreneur in the consumer goods industry. And so I think what she would say is that the latter person actually adds more value to you, our network. And so the reason why I bring all of that up. No, I swear. There's a point to this as we think about remote working, right? One of the things that it does is it unlocks the potential value of finding those people who are not co-located where your job is. Right? So by defining where a job sits, you inherently limit the applicant pool, that you will get two people who are either willing to [00:28:00] relocate there. People who are already there, or people who are going to try and change your mind about where this job needs to be. Right. And so, and this is completely aside from Google. This is just purely my own thoughts. I think what it does is it really helps you improve that network diversity and help us find a candidate. That would not typically fit a traditional hiring profile that can bring and add value in a typical way or in an atypical way. And so what does that mean? So if we're bringing in more diverse candidates, we're getting different opinions. What we need to do as a leadership and as a management group is we need to make sure that we're setting up those candidates for success when we bring them in. And I think there's a few fundamental tenants there that I believe in that I think really promote this. First and foremost. It's aligning impact division, right? Understanding how the person is going to be able to contribute to an overarching goal of the organization or for the company as a whole. I think the second is ensuring that there is the minimum level of hard and soft skills the person needs to achieve in that role. So in particular, thinking about somebody who is coming in with a non-traditional background, maybe in writing or something like that, writing or policy, but they're taking on more of a data and analytical role because that's the move they want to make in their career. Right? How can we help enable them by building those soft skills? The networking, the understanding how to communicate along with those hard skills of rigorous data analysis, regression analysis. And then I think the third component of that is really building that community aspect. So really understanding how can we find people who aren't the person's direct manager, but mentors and buddies and other folks who they can just have candid conversations with, and in my role as that I have now, and there were many things that I would get forwarded on emails when I first started in this role and be like, I [00:30:00] have no idea if I need to do this or not. And so there's another person who's in a similar role to me. I would just forward him the email. I'm like, Hey. Do you do anything with this? His response usually back was Nope, but if I should let me know. And so just like having somebody like that, then I could just forward an email to just as a quick gut check when I have no idea what something is really made me comfortable and secure in my role and really accelerated my ability to do this role well, and do it pretty quickly.

[00:30:31] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:30:31] Right, right, right. No, that's a very interesting perspective into that particular topic, which I'm sure we can probably riff on the entire episode. So I appreciate it.

[00:30:42] Jeremy Strickland: [00:30:42] All the things everybody else says, like, pay people well, treat them well, lead with appreciation. I think those are also critically important. Right? But like, look, you can go to any other book, any other podcasts and you can find that stuff. And here's the way that I think about these things. And it's like maybe [00:31:00] it's a little bit different, but, maybe that's a unique value add that I hopefully have on that particular topic.

[00:31:06] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:31:06] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's such a broad and very sensitive topic as well. That's very relevant to the current market and where we are, just in general, in time coming out of the pandemic, moving on to the next period. And it's very interesting. And Jeremy, the enclosure. Talk a little bit about your content diets. What are some of the sources that you utilize on a daily basis for self-actualization for learning, share with us? Any sources that may be helpful?

[00:31:38] Jeremy Strickland: [00:31:38] Yeah. So other than just having sports sit around in the background no, I'm joking. That was early mid twenties Jeremy, for sure. But no. Okay. So what do I actually digest on a daily basis? So I like to start my morning off with something a little bit fun, a little bit playful. I love the morning. A newsletter for anybody else, for everybody out there who hasn't subscribed [00:32:00] to that, I think it's a good way to get a quick snippet on what's going on in the world and kind of fun and quickly digestible. I am an advocate, a podcast listener. So I love Planet Money. I love Freakonomics, This American life. I think that those bring together a lot of what I like, which is behavioral science, data driven basically insights and really bringing it back up to that high level of what does this mean and what does this, how does this impact society? So I would say you've got a newsletter there. We've got a podcast and a couple of podcasts I really enjoy on my reading shelf or bookshelf at the moment. What I'm reading is a book called the Gatekeepers by Chris. So being new to the chief of staff role, I wanted to read from the authority on what it was like to be a chief of staff. And so a former actually manager of mine recommended this book. And what it does is it really just looks at how the chief of staff is playing an important role to the president of the United [00:33:00] States. And how a good chief of staff can lead to a very successful presidency and how a bad chief of staff can all very nearly ruin what is considered to be a good presidency. And they're all shades and degrees. And so that's given me perspective on how I can do my role a little bit better. Some of the things that work in terms of when to be a bulldog versus, when to be a pacifier, right. And so I think that's really interesting. And then finally for fun, my wife and I, we just finished the very last season of Ray Donovan. And I am, so that's the show that we watched together. And then I am finishing up the very last season of Homeland, which I have been working on for about the last year.

[00:33:49] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:33:49] Yeah, those are great resources. And thanks for sharing those last but not least. Is there a book that you always recommend to others and why is that?

[00:33:57] Jeremy Strickland: [00:33:57] Oh, that's really great. So I would definitely [00:34:00] recommend the Gatekeepers book, if you were interested in politics at all. I think that this one is really, really exciting. There's a few books throughout my lifetime that I've thought are right. Kind of informative and influential on some of the things that I believe in. I really enjoy autobiographies. And so our autobiographies and biographies, however, with ghost writers nowadays. So for anybody that has. Every time a new presidential autobiography or biography comes out, I always read them. So the next one up on my bookshelf is Obama's, I read Clinton's, I read Bushes before that. And so that's been really, really interesting. Other things that I would kind of recommend to folks like this is going to be a super boring answer, but I think one of the things that really differentiate people in my role or other strategic roles is the ability to quickly communicate quickly and effectively communicate [00:35:00] and understanding the different types of logic models that you can use to get a point across. And really thank you deeply about what does the other person hope to achieve and how can I communicate that question? Therefore, I think a really good resource for people would be like the Minto pyramid for anybody who hasn't read that. I know it is a bit challenging to get your hands on a copy of it, because it's not readily available on Amazon most times, but I think that it is one of the most fundamentally important business books that I have that I've ever seen. So I think those are, I think that's good. There's a lot of books that I can read. Another personal favorite of mine is extreme ode ownership. So for those that are unfamiliar with that book, it was written by a former Navy seal about how he and his team kind of practice leadership and during some of their campaigns during various wars. And so I think that that is [00:36:00] something that I have definitely adopted is this idea of extreme ownership and one one that I encourage others to adopt along with reading what is a extremely informative and.

[00:36:11] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:36:11] Those are great recommendations, Jeremy, and for our listeners, we'll make those available in the episode notes. Can thank you enough for your time today. Personal are quite a bit so lots of great insights, definitely gonna stay in touch with you. Perhaps we can do another episode in the near future next year and see how much you've changed and transformed.

[00:36:30] Jeremy Strickland: [00:36:30] That sounds excellent. I am always happy to be here. It's been great getting to know you and to chat with you and, hopefully I didn't lose you too many listeners along the way, much.

[00:36:41] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:36:41] Appreciate it.

Lessons on Transforming Startups into Unicorns with Martin Schilling – Author: The Builder’s Guide to the Tech Galaxy

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 03 May 2021 14:00:00 +0000

As an angel investor, startup builder and scale-up executive, I believe entrepreneurship is one of the most effective ways to be a force for good. In the past 15 years, Martin has co-created and scaled up five companies, including a subsidiary for McKinsey & Company and the FinTech N26. Turning tech startups into unicorns is his passion.

As a serial entrepreneur, he believes we not only need more late-stage venture capital, but more skills and knowledge to turn more startups into scale-ups. To this end, he is currently writing the book “The Builder’s Guide to the Tech Galaxy – 100 Practices to Upgrade Startups into Unicorns Companies”. Martin believes that we, builders, are the inventors of the 21st century, and he is doing everything he can to support entrepreneurs working toward that mission.

If you want to pre-register for the book “The Builder’s Guide to the Tech Galaxy”, you can do so here: https://buildersguide.org

Topics:

Qualities that help in building high-performing teams
Strategies on how small startups can acquire growth capital
Finding your north star that can help serve as part of your organization’s guiding principles

Episode transcription:

[00:00:11]Fred Obiero: [00:00:11] Hello and welcome to the Ivy podcast. My guest today is Martin Schilling. He's the former COO at the End 26 Group, and is currently working on a book. Thanks for joining us Martin.

[00:00:25] Martin Schiling: [00:00:25] Thanks Fred for having me, it’s really a pleasure to be here.

Fred Obiero: Wonderful. So give us a brief introduction about yourself and your role, and maybe a little bit on what excites you the most about becoming an entrepreneur and also about writing the book.

[00:00:37] Martin Schiling: [00:00:37] Yeah, sure. Look, I have been an entrepreneur all my life. So what excited me most is walking paths that no one walked before. Essentially venture into the unknown with a great team and build amazing companies, which no one has done before. That's kind of my path. Since early days, I have created a youth parliament in my small Bavarian hometown. I went to Argentina and I created a foundation there. I then created my first company in Berlin, Australia. Consultancy worked a couple of years for McKinsey, super interesting years, whereas, well, I had McKinsey clients to create companies in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia for two years. And then I had to find a subsidiary in Germany. And I was then at a point in my career where I had said to myself, I never wanted to work for banks or insurances. And at that point in time, the six founders of Maxon 19 called me and said, look, don't you want to scale up? And 26, a FinTech European FinTech from around 300 people to 1,500, which was an amazing journey.

[00:01:51] Fred Obiero: [00:01:51] There's some that you said that I want to follow up on, actually two things. First one, you said that you helped found the parliament when you were growing up.

[00:02:01] [00:02:00] Martin Schiling: [00:02:01] Exactly. It was a youth parliament. So it was essentially that I lived in a small Bavarian town and there was the year of our mayor to create a youth parliament. So it was essentially a city parliament for youths.

[00:02:20] Fred Obiero: [00:02:20] That's the idea, is that something that you did while you were also, I know at a younger age or just because of your experience?

[00:02:27] Martin Schiling: [00:02:27] I've been driven since these days as well by let's say societal mission. This has always been important for me and more important than earning money. So for example, when I know you've said it before I'm currently writing a book and I'm super passionate about creating companies, in particular tech companies that will create millions of future jobs and secure the technological silver entity of countries. So [00:03:00] that was always a theme in my life that earning money and kind of creating valuable companies for investors is great in the pot. But the purpose to essentially make the planet a better place has always been a big thing for me.

[00:03:15] Fred Obiero: [00:03:15] And I also was going to ask, what made you go from Germany to Argentina? What was it that had you crossed the Atlantic to get all the way over there? Is there something that you would apply for? Did they just find you, how did you end up in Argentina?

[00:03:30] Martin Schiling: [00:03:30] I was dancing tangle Argentina on bad days a lot. So I wasn't either a passionate hobby, tango dancer. And I thought to myself when I experienced this on world-class and Argentina is the one place to go.

[00:03:48] Fred Obiero: [00:03:48] So Martin, I have spoken briefly about the book that you're currently working on. Could you please tell us more about it. And the book is titled The Builder's Guide To The Tech Galaxy. So that's a very unique name. First of all, tell us a little bit how you came up with the idea of writing a book and what the user would do that the readers will take away from having read the book.

[00:04:10] Martin Schiling: [00:04:10] Yeah, of course. So look, essentially, this is the book, which I would love to read before joining End 26. So essentially it's a book for scale-up bidders because we have the phenomenon in particular, outside the US I would say that in less mature ecosystems, startup ecosystems, you have many people who have not yet scaled up companies before. So we're re-writing this book for aspiring and current leaders of startups with the ambition to make their companies big. And the idea is we want to shorten learning cycles. If you read the book, that's the idea. You can avoid some of the errors we made in scaling companies. And we want to shorten the learning curve from, let's say three quarters to one quarter.

[00:04:59] Fred Obiero: [00:04:59] What are some of the areas that you think a lot of startups make when they bring in new people and trying to scale up, or are those common mistakes that you've seen many companies fail and how have you helped companies navigate that so that they end up being successful?

[00:05:15] Martin Schiling: [00:05:15] Yeah, exactly, these are the four building blocks, these four pitfalls, your fund to which we're talking about in the book. So essentially the first is having a super clear North Star direction. Can I elaborate that in a minute? So that's one tool bringing in a triple eight team. That's the two things. The third thing is building functional excellence in your scale-up functions with functions, we refer to product management. For example, technology operations marketing says that it took a set set of functions and finally getting enough growth capital. I think these are the big four building blocks for operational scale. That's very important. We are writing here, not about business model or business model innovation. That's another topic as well. Very relevant. The focus of the book is organizational scaling.

[00:06:05] Fred Obiero: [00:06:05] So let's talk about the North star that you just mentioned. One of the four things that you mentioned, what do you mean by the North Star and how can it help the readers in becoming successful in their profession?

[00:06:16] Martin Schiling: [00:06:16] So, many companies, many startup companies are very fast and good in creating a business ambition and all that. They have been asked this many times. So creating a business ambition is easy, but there are around the business ambition, five more important dimensions of direction, which have to be scaled up and need to be in place. The more, the better, the more direct you have, the easier, the more autonomy you can give to your teams. So in these elements of direction, our first purpose is beyond profit. So how does your company, or why does your company make the planet a better place? That's the first second company [00:07:00] values. So one of the guiding principles of your company, then third business ambition. What I just mentioned. So what's the business outcome in the long run for North star metric. What's the one metric which really counts in your startup? And then finally the company value proposition. What is the unmet need you address to which target group? And these are the five key elements, and then you need to bundle this into annual or quarterly, all chaos.

[00:07:27] Fred Obiero: [00:07:27] Okay, so, okay. Objectives and key results, right?

[00:07:29] Martin Schiling: [00:07:29] Key results. Exactly. Essentially, this is how you translate this North Star, the direction into actionable items for your teams or this thing that filtered down to everyone that's working on this charter, or are they more broad, broadly applied on the executive level and the founder level? So the principle is usually that you scale one cascaded down in the organization. So there is an objective and key result on the company level. Then there isn't any objective [00:08:00] and key results may be on your inner directors level. And then for the team member, that's the theory. Most important is to have it on a company level so that the executive team is extremely clear on the top three to four keys to focus on each quarter and as well, one year's perspective on that already makes a big difference with an office done.

[00:08:24] Fred Obiero: [00:08:24] When you were breaking down the North Star, you mentioned metrics. Give me an example of a metric that you can look at or these internal metrics that are Intel within the startup, or are they external metrics, like compare with the competitors? What kind of metrics do you look at?

[00:08:40] Martin Schiling: [00:08:40] So, Airbnb, that's the super well in kind of defining a North Star. So this, we can do it through some, they say their purpose beyond profit is create a world where everyone can belong. It's beyond profits. It's kind of this belonging that is at the core of that purpose. Then they have some company values, be a host, so kind of [00:09:00] braced the adventure in something like this. And then you'll return to metrics. Then they have the first metric: business ambition gives a hundred million people an opportunity to earn income. And that's kind of an external metric to the hosts and the number of guests per night. That's an offset metric. So then that's one of the key indicators they're focusing on optimizing, increasing the number of guests per night, and then they have the value proposition. Something like we enable travelers to benefit from a truly local experience and also benefit from extra income.

[00:09:33] Fred Obiero: [00:09:33] Got it. So, the metric basically covers both internal and external metrics that they're tracking to make sure they're sticking within the North star principle. Right?

[00:09:41] Martin Schiling: [00:09:41] Absolutely. And that's the nice and the OKR framework. That's very flexible. So you usually have internal, external metrics, these shift over time, but it's important. That's the North star idea. You should have one very stable metric. So for example, the End 26, we are using monthly active users. So it's not for example, sign-ups. It's the monthly active user who really used the account.

[00:10:05] Fred Obiero: [00:10:05] Okay. That's a good segue. So you previously worked as a COO at the End 26 Group located in Berlin, Germany. How does the North star principle apply to those that are leading larger organizations? Do you have any examples that you can share?

[00:10:21] Martin Schiling: [00:10:21] So certainly, and what I just said applies there as well. So many startups and scale-ups I worked with. I'm very clear in the business ambition, which is good, but many are not so clear in particular around purpose and around value proposition. And why is that the case? Because you are so under pressure in a scale-up. And in a startup with operational work in particular, the leaders that you often do not find, or do not take enough time to shop the North star. So this is why I believe it's super critical that at least every quarter you have some kind of letter from the executive team to the company, or a two pager where you reach, find your North star. That's usually not done enough. And the clearer you are there, the easier you get growth capital and the easier you attract talent.

[00:11:17] Fred Obiero: [00:11:17] So when you redefine the North star, is that based on, let's say customer feedback changes in the industry? What would make you want to really find the North star on a quarterly basis?

[00:11:29] Martin Schiling: [00:11:29] Yeah, it's a good question. Read this. That's not a bit of art, not science. So there is certainly an element of founder vision in it. So you need to have some interesting inspiration. You need to look at industry trends. You need to look at what your customers want. So there's no one size fits all sensors. The key is you need to have multiple sources where you concentrate and in particular taking the time to really do it.

[00:11:59] Fred Obiero: [00:11:59] Great. So you also talked about functional excellence, building a high performance scale of functions. What are some of the qualities that help when it comes to building high-performing teams?

[00:12:11] Martin Schiling: [00:12:11] So, the first thing one needs to understand when it comes to functional excellence in scallops is that you need to enable a journey of specialization. So you're an early pirate ship team. They are the generalists, the intelligent generalists. You can throw them essentially any water and they will swim at one point in particular, when the company gets around a hundred FTE and Sirius B is a typical turning point. You need to hire experts. Someone who has seen scale ups before effort could be a marketing expert, even deeper, a performance marketing expert. It could be a platform engineer, people who have seen it before. So you need to enable this journey of specialization. Now what's the problem? The problem is you have been rising silos because the complexity within these functions, marketing operations product, et cetera, at least is increasing day by day. And it's only natural that your team starts focusing on the worst yet. So they are building a great function, but they look inside their own site because they have to a certain degree this, and that's why as the leaders of the company, they need to install several principles to bridge the silos. And a couple of these principles are customer centricity. You really need customer centricity at the heart of your company. So for example, having one metric around customer centricity, sitting alongside. Profits and growth. That's one of these principles or, and it's snowed on. You need to really make sure that it's a learning journey, that all the teams engage in a running journey, or then autonomy to act, to empower cross functional teams to work together towards joint objectives. So the principle is essentially your rising silos and you need to bridge the silos.

[00:14:05] Fred Obiero: [00:14:05] Follow up to that. You talk about AAA-teams, hiring AAA-teams. How do you go about first of all, what are AAA-teams and how do you go about acquiring that level of talent?

[00:14:16] Martin Schiling: [00:14:16] Yeah. Triple talent is for me a team which has the potential to accompany you to unicorn Lebanon as, so essentially people, they don't have to be experts, but they need to have the right mindset and kind of the general abilities to really go with you. The full lock and the bar can not be high enough. This is really important. There is often an arrow made and I made it myself. You are a lot of you're not, you don't have a lot of time. You have to be under pressure. You lower the recruiting bar and you get people in where you say, let's see if this works. It is almost always better to delay the hiring until you have really outstanding candidates. That's kind of the first mindset and to get this triple talent, that's super critical. You need to understand that the company applies to the AAA talents, not the separate talent to you. And that means you shouldn't take no for a note, it might be that you need to follow up with a triple-A candidate, half a year, giving him or her a call every month, a call sending, some podcasts or some white papers to really communicate that this person is the one you need. You might need someone, someone might move from Silicon Valley to Berlin and you need to take care of his or her partner to find a job in Berlin, yet you really need to walk the extra mile to get the stipulate talent.

[00:15:46] Fred Obiero: [00:15:46] That's fascinating. And it's one thing that there's a book that I read about having the right talent and an example that was listed in that book was Amazon Jeff Bezos. He doesn't feel a position until he feels like he has the right candidate for that position because a metric that he found is okay, If you make the wrong hiring decision, you'll spend 80% of your time managing the wrong decision and he'd have a field level position unfilled until he has the right candidate to fill it. So that kind of relates to what you just explained on that previous example that you gave, and I'm seeing how you drawing the parallels to a bigger company like Amazon, even though we applying this to a startup kind of set up for scaling up.

[00:16:33] Martin Schiling: [00:16:33] Yeah, exactly. And one thing is, it's much easier said than done because you are feeling the pressure and the pain of non hiring and to sustain this pressure and pain. And that moment really keeps searching for great candidates. That's kind of not totally trivial, but absolutely essential to do.

[00:16:54] Fred Obiero: [00:16:54] So as you are spending, let's say months or up to a year, trying to fill this position. What do you do in the interim to make sure that that unfilled position, that role is being fulfilled? Do you just have somebody else assume part of that responsibility? Does it just become a shared responsibility among multiple people? How do you go about filling that gap in the end?

[00:17:16] Martin Schiling: [00:17:16] Yeah. Good question. You need to think about talent lying in a portfolio. So it's essentially a seminar on investment. You need your thing in portfolios and investing in several people in several assets. So the idea that you bring us up to a position that you're not dependent on one person needing. That means you need to over-hire a bit. So you need to proactively hire, or did you start hiring all four? Maybe you don't only need the person six months ago, six, six months in the future. So this, to bring yourself in the position that you can afford to wait two, one to two months or three, that's kind of really, really key. And you're awesome. I'm surprised how capable the existing [00:18:00] team is. If there is a gap, and you have this philosophy of hiring AAA-talent, the younger AAA 10 steps. So, there are several aspects as well of not filling the position that can be beneficial.

[00:18:18] Fred Obiero: [00:18:18] Good. My next question is about how startups can grow. What are some of the best strategies on how to go about acquiring both capital?

[00:18:28] Martin Schiling: [00:18:28] So when we talk about growth capital, we usually mean serious B and follow-ups. So that means $20 million checks and above. So it's more the bigger checks. That's what we refer to when we talk about growth capital and in the growth capital stage, the fundraising game is a bit different. So, whereas in serious A and the early phases story and team really counts in the growth rounds the business model and the performance to [00:19:00] date are much more relevant. So what's key is, there are six questions. A growth investor usually has on his or her mind, and you should be web first is fund fit. So do you at all with your company fits to the investors fund, there is helpful to very early ask the investors. What numbers they want, or what's the check size they're looking for? And what's the rough Federation? That's one, two timing. Why now? Why should we invest now? Invest in your startup or scale-up. So essentially, are there any trends, technology trends, technology to technology or capital trends, regulation trends that facilitate growth? That's two, three market potentials. Is your service available in the markets? Greater than 1 billion US dollar. It's the service, not the total addressable market. So the percentage of the total addressable market should be bigger than 1 billion US dollar globally. [00:20:00] Fourth category leadership, a very important question to many growth investors. Have you invented a category or are you going to eat a category? It's that important then obviously the business model. So that's the company's performance to date showing a path to become profitable in the midterm. And then they usually look up on figures like net revenue retention or something like customer lifetime value over average customer acquisition costs. And finally the team and a great growth team is a team with clarity of thoughts. So here again, it connects to the North star being very clear on what you want to achieve. Crystal clear will help you attract growth capital.

[00:20:44] Fred Obiero: [00:20:44] The last question is something that they get asked a lot and I'm curious to see your take on it. What are some of the ideas that you can share on how smaller startups whose members lack experience of previously working on a startup can raise funds? How do they go [00:21:00] about that?

[00:21:01] Martin Schiling: [00:21:01] Yeah. Look, the couple of principles I would apply first. Impossible is nothing. The impossible is nothing mindset. So really aim high. So I have a global ambition. So for example, it's not about providing, as an example, better recipes for cooking that affects you in the US, it's a global platform to bring together global food stars and their fans, it’s to really think big. That's the one thing which really makes the first difference. The second. Plan with a hundred notes. It's really, really important. A great entrepreneur is persistent in the face of rejection. And every one of these nos need to make you stronger if someone tells you, no, I don't think this is a good idea. It's often not you or you're a year it's maybe the other side who didn't get it. You need to be flexible to change your idea and adopt it, of course. But every note should make you stronger. No, that's the second. And then finally it's about, as we said before, it's engaging on a learning journey and very early on, you will face failure. Your hypothesis fits totally. And to quickly go into these learning cycles. That means, maybe starting with service, like with customers talking to a hundred potential customers to really start getting into this learning cycle. That's where for investors, very inspiring to see.

[00:22:34] Fred Obiero: [00:22:34] I think my favorite phrase so far in this episode is that every notion makes you stronger. I'm saying that because that doesn't only apply to startups, it should apply to everything, everything in life. And I like the mindset. Absolutely. What's the one tip you can share with our readers on how they can apply some of the recommendations that you described in your book.

[00:22:59] Martin Schiling: [00:22:59] No, it connects [00:23:00] what you just said very much. I think being an entrepreneur is having the right mindset. And for me, It has always been a combination of this. Impossible is nothing, dream big and almost a Socratic modesty to embrace failure and learning. Second step. There's a super cool story. There was a guy in 1525, he was called Nuno Garcia, the Torino, and he painted the so-called Salvia Yachty World Maps. And this was a word of a map of the known territory these days, but he left them unknown spaces blank. So he invited me with this exploration. It was common these days to paint dragons and mythical Korea greatness in unknown spaces. No, he left the map black and he invited this exploration. So I think this is really a call for all contemporary [00:24:00] entrepreneurs to venture into the unknown and to explore the open spaces and build great tech companies.

[00:24:08] Fred Obiero: [00:24:08] Going back to your book. What do you hope that their readers take away from having read the book? And also when will the book be available for purchase?

[00:24:14] Martin Schiling: [00:24:14] [00:24:16] So first it will be available next month. So we are currently in negotiation with a couple of publishers. We haven't signed a contract yet, so it will take a little bit, but it will be very soon.

[00:24:29] Fred Obiero: [00:24:29] And next month, you mean may 2021, right?

[00:24:32] Martin Schiling: [00:24:32] It will certainly not be for the summer of 2021.

Fred Obiero: Got it.

Martin Schiling: So, yeah. And the one thing which I would love that the readers take away is that the best time to create and scale startups is now, and I want readers to leave. Golden cages of the corporate world, if they are there and then share with us into the startup or ads and build many, many great startups. And scale-ups, so that's kind of the spirit of the Pope. We want to encourage entrepreneurs, potential entrepreneurs to start bidding.

[00:25:12] Fred Obiero: [00:25:12] Wonderful, wonderful suggestion. There's also one thing that I like asking all the guests that come with my episodes, because people have different experiences as they ascend in their professional careers. What has helped you get to where you are? And what advice would you give to someone that wants to pursue a career that's identical to yours?

[00:25:35] Martin Schiling: [00:25:35] So my advice would be to look for a good school to learn. Early or mid in your career? Earlier than later, my school was McKinsey. I worked for McKinsey and combined this with my own entrepreneurial endeavor. So this combination is very powerful. It doesn't have to be a [00:26:00] consultancy. It can be as well, a big tech company or really great scale-up, but it should be an environment where you learn from excellent people. So you need a school, but then you need autonomy and courage to try out your own ventures. And if you combine this, you're perfectly set up to become a successful entrepreneur.

[00:26:21] Fred Obiero: [00:26:21] Martin, thanks a lot for coming on and talking to us. I can't wait to get a copy of your book so I can read some of those principles and apply them to my own self.

[00:26:31] Martin Schiling: [00:26:31] Thanks Fred. Thanks for having me. It was a pleasure to talk to you.

The Future Workforce Influenced by Contingent Talent with Founder & CEO of TalentBurst – Brad Talwar

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 05:36:54 +0000

Brad is the founder & CEO of TalentBurst. He founded TalentBurst in July of 2002 with two colleagues from Monster Worldwide (parent of Monster.com). Under his leadership, TalentBurst has become one of the pre-eminent providers of IT, Engineering and Life Sciences staffing solutions to global enterprises including through MSPs. He was one of the first business leaders to embrace MSPs in 2005. In 2008 during the financial recession, Brad architected the move for TalentBurst to enter a niche vertical providing High Hazard Payroll and EOR services. EOR now accounts for almost half of all TalentBurst revenues. Prior to founding TalentBurst he was one of the founding team members of People.com, a provider of staffing services to dot coms. Brad lives in the Boston area with his family, loves to travel and enjoy different kinds of foods.

Salesforce Talent and Independent Contractor with Chris Hopper

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 05:36:24 +0000

Chris Hopper is a Salesforce technical recruiter who assists clients and candidates with identifying and qualifying Salesforce talent. He enjoys speaking with Salesforce professionals around their career growth, trends he sees in the Salesforce job market and providing career advice when called upon. He’s an active LinkedIn connector, posting and collaborating on various Salesforce technologies, recruiting, book reviews and relevant career topics. Prior to recruiting, Chris was a technical consultant, delivery manager, independent contractor and career counselor and uses his past experience to help guide the next generation in the workforce.

Principles of Savage Leadership with Darren Reinke – Founder and Managing Director of Group Sixty

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 05:31:35 +0000

Darren Reinke fundamentally believes there is greatness within each one of us. His mission is to unleash the inner lion within leaders so that they can lead more authentic and joyful lives while creating stronger and more resilient teams, organizations, and communities.

Darren founded Group Sixty, an executive coaching and training company based in San Diego, to bring his purpose to life and to transform leaders, their teams, and their organizations. Group Sixty works with leaders and teams at Fortune 500’s, mid-market companies, fast-growing startups, and visionary non-profits.

Link to Darren’s book: http://thesavageleader.com/

Topics:

Strategies on how to overcome barriers related to writing your first book
Leadership styles and attributes that work best in terms of championing organizational strategy
Biggest challenges facing corporate leaders today

How To Make Community Your Competitive Advantage with Co-founder of CMX, David Spinks

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 18:34:00 +0000

David Spinks is the cofounder of CMX, where over 20,000 community professionals gather to learn and support each other and is the host of CMX Summit, the largest conference in the community industry. In 2019, CMX was acquired by Bevy, where Spinks now serves as the VP of Community, helping companies launch and scale event-driven community programs. David has personally advised and trained hundreds of organizations in community strategy including Facebook, Waze, Salesforce, Airbnb, and Google.

Topics:

David’s journey to becoming a community professional.
How following your genuine interests and curiosity can lead you to career growth.
The power of bringing people together and creating a sense of belonging.
Understanding and measuring the value of community for a business.
The SPACES model as a framework to develop your community strategy.
Common misconceptions around building community for a business.
Hiring community professionals.

The Central Role Played by CIOs during Challenging Times with Pete Gibson – CIO at Friendlys Restaurant

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 16:15:30 +0000

Pete Gibson is the CIO at Friendly’s and Johnny Rockets Restaurants brands where he is leading the technology and digital transformation efforts. He is an executive leader with a solid record of success leveraging technology, improving operations, developing high-performing teams globally, and has earned a reputation during his 28-year career for realigning organizations to increase business profitability, improve value, grow revenue, and drive down costs while improving overall operating efficiency.

He has managed resources for maximum revenue, growth, and productivity in a diverse field of business environments including Fortune 100 companies, start-ups, franchisors, research and development, and government organizations.

Gibson has led organizational change from multiple C-level posts, having directed six large technology organization turnarounds, improving overall company revenue by up to 31 percent, and reducing costs by as much as 30 percent.

He is known as an approachable and personable leader with a track record of strong employee retention. His business credo is, “Technology in business is as much about motivating employees for optimal performance as it is about creating innovative products that work.”

Topics:

Discussion on leadership techniques between the military and corporate environments
Approaches on the effective execution of technology strategies post-pandemic
Innovative methods of solving new challenges for products or services during the pandemic

Career Strategies & Innovation in Information Security with Margarita Rivera – VP for Lennar Multifamily Communities

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 16:14:18 +0000

An Information Security Executive with over 15 years of experience, Margarita Rivera has thrived her entire career on solving complex problems. Margarita has dedicated her professional journey to building Information Security Risk, Compliance and Privacy Programs and continues to do so as the Vice President of Information Security at LMC.

Margarita has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is currently pursuing her Masters in Information Systems Management at Harvard University. She has several professional certifications including the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT), and the Certified Risk and Information Systems Controls (CRISC) to name a few.

Margarita is also very involved within the Security community. She currently serves on the Governing Body for Evanta, the Advisory Board for SecureWorld and is a member of the ISACA and ISSA.

Data Transformation Strategies with the CEO of Smartshift – Derek Oats

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 16:10:11 +0000

Derek Oats is the CEO of smartShift and is responsible for expanding the smartShift business globally. He has a successful track record of Global and American sales and leadership roles. He was recently the CEO of Americas for SNP, a leading software suite for data transformations. Prior to SNP, he was Global Vice President, Database and Data Management for SAP, the World’s Largest Provider of Enterprise Application Software. He is naturally customer experience focused and solution minded and has held various leadership roles at top technology companies including Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and Oracle. In his spare time he enjoys playing golf, spending time with his wife Christina and their four children Alex, Ryan, Lizzie, and Sarah. He is also actively involved in coaching his son’s football teams.

Building A Global School For Product Managers With Founder And CEO of Product School, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 14:30:00 +0000

Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia is an entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience building global companies and digital products in the US, Europe, and Latin America. Carlos founded Product School in San Francisco in 2014. Today, the company is the global leader in product management training with a community of over one million product management professionals.

Designed to fit into work schedules, classes are held in the evenings or on weekends.

All the instructors are real-world product managers, working at renowned tech companies like Netflix, Airbnb, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Paypal. In addition to individual classes, Product School also delivers custom corporate training programs to Fortune 500 companies seeking to upskill their existing teams or onboard new talent.

Carlos is committed to pushing the product community forward. With this aim in mind, he published the Amazon bestseller, The Product Book. He also hosts Proddys – the annual awards honoring the best software products -, produces ProductCon – a multi-city conference attended by tens of thousands of product managers every year – and helps organize over 1,000 free events every year in 200 cities around the globe.

Topics:

Carlos’ journey into product management.
The value of failing and learning to carve your own path.
Building the Product School community to over 1m product professionals worldwide.
Keeping quality as your community and organization scales.
Common misconceptions around product management.
The brain of a product manager: resourceful, analytical, and empathetic.
Customer retention as the key to growth.

Resources for the show notes:

Transforming South Florida into Innovation & Tech Hub with Luis Andre Gazitua – Miami Lobbyist and Attorney

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 09:37:00 +0000

Luis Andre Gazitua is a Miami-based attorney and lobbyist specializing in procurement in Miami-Dade County, the municipalities of the greater Miami area, and Miami-Dade Public Schools. He represents clients from pre-bid through bid protest, award, and project implementation stages. Gazitua represents clients in all industries, including technology, infrastructure, and transportation.

In 2017, Gazitua assisted private clients in closing almost half a billion dollars in competitive solicitations in the infrastructure and services sectors. In 2019, he closed under one hundred and fifty million dollars in the third quarter in the transportation and public safety sectors.

Gazitua is a National Board Board Member of Maverick PAC (MavPAC). MavPAC is the most active conservative political organization that engages next-generation leadership in the national political process. MavPAC’s fundraising history and achievements in membership growth have positioned MavPAC to develop the future base of the Republican Party further and lead a new generation of conservative activists, distinguished young professionals, and future public servants.

Innovating Candidate Experience with the Head of Talent Acquisition at PeakActivity – Scotti Williams

The Ivy Podcast — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 06:23:00 +0000

Scotti was Born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. She was a four year Division 1 swimmer at the University of North Florida and graduated with a BA in Education. She started her career at Creative Circle in New York City, NY and absolutely fell in love with creative and technology recruitment. After Creative Circle, she opened her own recruitment firm, Digital Elite Staffing, which focused on permanent placements in the creative and emerging technology industry in the NYC, Philadelphia, Florida and Boston areas. Now back in South Florida at PeakActivity, she recruits for a company that embraces emerging technologies to a new level and focuses on creating the best culture a potential candidate can ask for in a workplace. She has been in recruitment for 10+ years and loves seeing candidates through the recruitment process. She still, to this day, gets overly excited to give a candidate a job offer. She is a connector; She connects great talent with great opportunities.

Why Giving to the Community Will Lead to Growth with Charlie Lewis

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Charlie started BlueWave in 2014 with the intention of helping scale rapid-growth startups and recently funded companies. His passion for technology and startup culture quickly lead him into launching BlueWave Investment Partners, an Orlando-based angel investment group. Charlie is extremely active in the local community through his involvement in the Orlando Tech Council, Downtown Orlando Partnership, and organizing the newest Orlando technology group, Project Orlando.

Outside of work, Charlie is a husband and father of two adorable little girls, Zoe and Indigo. And we know if he had a choice, he would move the BlueWave office to New Smyrna Beach so he could catch a few waves before the work day.

Enabling Change: The Project Management Office and Digital Transformation Programs with Vicky Osejo

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 04:50:50 +0000

Vicky is a passionate Information Technology Executive with 20+ years’ experience in leading global technology initiatives. She brings a broad range of capabilities and perspective for defining, building, and delivering transformation initiatives, as well as establishing and leading governance, projects and portfolio organizations. Vicky’s experience has been gained with global organizations such as Seminole Hard Rock, Royal Caribbean Group, and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), as well as working with charities closer to home by Chairing the Board of Kakes4Kids – an organization dedicated to improving the lives and self-esteem of foster and underprivileged children in South Florida.

Topics:

Role of the PMO in Digital Transformation
Establishing Program Governance and Metrics
Why Do Digital Transformation Programs Fail

Career Success & Industry Trends in Venture Capital with Principal at Obvious Ventures – Meera Clark

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 04:50:23 +0000

Meera Clark is a Principal at Obvious Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund based in San Francisco. Prior to joining Obvious, she spent several years at Morgan Stanley. At Morgan Stanley, Meera began her career on the Cross Asset desk within the Institutional Equities Division in New York. From Sales & Trading, Meera transitioned to Investment Banking, joining the firm’s Technology Banking Group in Menlo Park. Post Banking, Meera began her investing career within Morgan Stanley’s Multicultural Innovation Lab, the firm’s early-stage accelerator focused on backing and supporting women and multicultural founders. She graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Management Science and Engineering. Meera is on the board of Stanford Professionals in Finance (SPIF), the SF Chapter of Synergist Network and currently serves on the Steering Committee for the All Raise Summit.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Meera Clark: [00:00:00] Hello? Hello, Meera Clark here, principal at Obvious Ventures that is based out in San Francisco and really, really looking forward to today's conversation.

[00:00:35] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:35] Thanks so much for finding time to join us on the podcast today. Tell us a little bit more about your backgrounds before we talk a little bit about your current role, curious to know a little bit more about your career timeline, then any specific highlights you want to share with us.

[00:00:53] Meera Clark: [00:00:53] Awesome. Yeah, happy to, I would say at a high level, like so many, I am very much a product [00:01:00] of my environment. And so I grew up in North Carolina to an immigrant mother, working mom, and a little bit of a hippie dad, which was, I would say, a bit unconventional given the more conservative neighborhood that we lived in. And from that experience at a very young age, I became deeply curious and why people consume. What they consume and what drives those shifts in consumer behavior. So, as I began to think about college, I wanted to see as different of an ecosystem as possible to begin exploring some of these questions, which is what led me out to California and to study engineering at Stanford. And so Stanford for me was I think like for so many, a bit of an intellectual playground or summer camp, for lack of a better term, spent a lot of time exploring the startup ecosystem. How different industries interacted, what have you, and found myself and my first super traditional job the summer after my junior year [00:02:00] post a couple of internships at Stella & Dot and PayPal. And with that junior summer internship, I landed at Morgan Stanley on their time square trading floor. For me, I had this naive hope that I could explore the public equity markets. Over the course of the summer, soak up as much as possible. And then start my own thing. Go work in tech, follow the traditional Stanford path, I suppose. But from that summer, what I really came away with was one this true excitement or passion for the energy that pervaded the trading floor and the intellectual curiosity that was espoused by so many individuals there. And two was this belief that I had a lot more to learn as it relates to how different industries interact and how companies evolve within these ecosystems. And so I returned to Morgan Stanley right after graduation to join the firm's cross asset desk. And so on that desk, I was focused on identifying disruptive trends in the [00:03:00] market. Think about the evolution of the automotive industry. Or the shift towards more digital commerce, what have you and with those trends, I was very focused on identifying both plays across the equity markets or the credit markets, as investable means of playing out those themes. And so not actually that different from the mentor in many ways. There was this part of me, kind of the mission driven part of me that itched and that ached and knowing that at the end of the day, I was simply watching lines go up and down on a screen. And so that's really what compelled me to move closer and closer to working with these companies. And what first led me to move back to the west coast and join Morgan Stanley's tech banking practice down in Menlo Park. My experience in banking is probably exactly what one would guess it would be like. And so no need to really expand much more than that. But for me, it was an incredible opportunity to gain exposure to a lot of these big [00:04:00] players to develop my technical skillset and to develop a stronger understanding of the key themes that pervaded the broader tech ecosystem. I rounded out my Morgan Stanley tenure back in New York. So lots of back and forth movements, but join the firm's multicultural innovation lab, which is their early stage accelerator investing in women and multicultural founders generally at the pre-seed seed stages. And from this experience, I really fell in love with the world of investing and became that much more convinced in disbelief that I wanted to be investing in a mission-driven manner. And so I was very fortunate actually through an organization called all raise to get connected to the team in Q2 of 2019 and joined full time at that point in time to focus on our consumer investments and have been living the life doing all sorts of investing diligence, company support and more ever since.

[00:04:58] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:04:58] Well, that's exciting. What a journey. So thanks for sharing a little bit more insight into that. As far as your current role with obvious ventures, tell us a little bit more about the kind of the mission behind the fund, the types of founders you guys invest in, what types of deals that you are more mostly interested in? Just a little bit more insight from their perspective?

[00:05:21] Meera Clark: [00:05:21] Yeah. Obviously it’s a little bit of a unique venture capital fund in that. We have invested behind this. I would say very simply that the most valuable and iconic companies of our time will be the one solving humanity's greatest challenges. And so from 2014 when William, co-founder of Blogger and Twitter and Medium, founded obviously alongside my partners, James and Michelle, we have very much kept this world positive approach to investing. As the core to what we do as a fund, we actually are a B-Corp. Many of the companies that we invest in are not, but I think it really speaks to the [00:06:00] mission orientation that we lean into as an organization. And so, as we think about where we apply this approach, we look at three primary pillars with some degrees of overlap. We think of them as sustainable systems. So re-imagining resource intensive industries think anything from. Construction or transportation with a company like Protera all the way over to manufacturing or modern materials with a company like Zymergen and moving on from there. And our people power pillar, we think a lot about enhancing the ways that individuals work, learn and earn. And so that could be anything from a future of work platform, like Gusto to a fair finance platform, like the long-term stock exchange. And then finally in our third pillar, healthy living, we think a lot about preventative care approaches to physical and mental health. So again, this is going to be anything from plant-based foods, with a company like Beyond Meat, all the way over to computational biology with a company like Rutgers and [00:07:00] Pharmaceuticals. And so across all three of these pillars, we are. A little bit broader, a little bit funkier than I think your traditional sand hill road vs. fund, but really looking for creative novel approaches that are truly going to transform the ways that hundreds of millions of Americans are living their lives on a daily basis.

[00:07:19] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:07:19] Yeah. Very interesting. And I guess not so obvious to an obvious name. Where'd the name come from?

[00:07:30] Meera Clark: [00:07:30] The name obvious really comes back to this idea that when we are making these investments, let's say Beyond Meat, for example, it sounded like Looney Tunes back in the day, no one thought people would buy a desk. No one thought that the gross margins could possibly be positive on something so complex or something so out there. But today you look at the market cap of that company and it seems quote-unquote obvious. And so we're really looking. And these opportunities again that are [00:08:00] slightly stranger, but become so integral into the daily lives of Americans that in the rear view mirror, they look obvious.

[00:08:10] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:08:10] Right, right, right. No, that's pretty interesting. And aside from some of these, the industries and trends that you guys invest in as a fund. For you personally, what are the different trends that really excite you these days? What is something that you're very passionate about? It could be the same. I'm just curious to get your personal take on what is, what do you perceive as to be the next big thing? What are you researching further?

[00:08:32] Meera Clark: [00:08:32] Yeah, I mean, so many areas, always, which keeps things interesting. I would say one theme in particular. That I've been quite focused on over the past few months though, has been this idea of financial wellness. I think that so much of 2020 was very focused on survival mode, which I think has correspondingly mapped very closely to mental health as we sort of take a step back. And think about what the recovery play will be. I think I have this increasing suspicion that individuals are going to say, okay, what systems broke or what systems were a little bit shaky last time and how can I set myself up with a slightly more resilient foundation moving forward? And so with this sort of approach, I think financial wellness can encompass anything from an upscaling platform so that you're earning more money in your job to a retirement account that is allowing you or empowering you to more effectively save for the long term. I think similarly as we just take a step back, I think it's fairly well understood or appreciated that corporate America has for so long propped itself, back up on the backs of hard working Americans. And while the rich have gotten richer, I think the rest of the country has had to work harder and harder to make ends meet as a result of anything from stagnating wage growth to the rising cost of living. And as I reflect upon what the past 10 years or 12 years, let's say post financial crisis have really entailed. It's been this rising wealth on behalf of the richest Americans because of the concept of ownership while the top 10% has historically controlled, let's say anywhere from 70 to 80% of the stock market, we have seen this percentage continue to creep up over time reaching a peak around 88%. I believe it was in the fourth quarter of 2019. And so what I think we are increasingly seeing, let's say even over the past quarter or two with all of the wall street bats may have, is that retail investors or kind of your average American are now saying no more to this total domination by institutions and by the ultra wealthy. And so I think we've seen wave one of this movement play out with platforms ranging from Robin hood to honey, really proving that you can build massive businesses catering to quote unquote the average American and their financial services needs. But I think as we move forward, we are increasingly excited about it. Platforms that are both broadening access to and awareness of the markets through anything from retirement accounts, banking, applications, investing platforms, and more. And I think as we think about what will be at the root of this financial wellness 2.0, I think I'm increasingly excited about these dynamics of identity and community. And so that platforms feel purpose-built for you or personalized for you. And so. I've been spending a lot of time across this ecosystem. Some of it in these super hyped areas like NFTs, some of it in much less sexy areas surrounding the concept of a credit score. But broadly, I think there's a ton of opportunity here, both to make insane returns from an investment perspective, but also to really make a difference in the lives of so many.

[00:11:53] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:11:53] Right. No, that's very interesting. And especially with the pandemic and everything, shifting to remote environments, those types of platforms, those types of resources just have grown exponentially through the last couple of years and just provided so much access to everyday consumer every day, just a regular individual to be able to explore and tap into resources as such and really just essentially improve on the overall financial kind of that wellbeing as you called it. So that's very exciting in terms of the overall trends that you're seeing and kind of to shift topics a little bit on you. I advise a lot of startups from a technical standpoint as a technologist and former operator. Just for me, a lot of my passion and interest these days is to take the sum of that experience and help some of the startups that are going through that, whatever the technical difficulties are. And some of some of the trends that I'm also seeing in the few startups that I've been engaged with is that initial traction, obviously that initial product market fit is everything in getting some type of validation with consumers. But also they go in parallel through fundraising, which is obviously when they talk to investors, whether angels or VCs to show some type of proof, whether that's product market fit or what list of LORs or anyone that's looking to purchase that product. If there's that lack of traction during that period yet they're still looking to raise funding. It's obvious, it's catch 22 from your standpoint. What are some of the recommendations you may have for these types of startups? Is it focused more on continuing to push and try to get some type of market validation or try to do some type of a balancing between what just what's your overall take on that?

[00:13:50] Meera Clark: [00:13:50] Yeah, I think it's a great question. Given the way that the markets are headed, it feels like companies these days are fundraising earlier and earlier in their life cycle. And so as an investor on the other side of the table, I for better, for worse have much less information or data to really analyze. And so I think to your point, as it relates to companies that maybe are not generating revenue or are pre-launch in nature. There's really two areas where I think about spending time to determine some sort of proxy for this traction. The first is really founder market fit. And trying to understand whether or not this founder has generated meaningful traction in the same market or an adjacent market in a prior role, whether they were chief product officer or chief technology officer at a former startup, whether they were the founder of a very successful startup or even a PM that was able to really build something that generated strong traffic for their broader company. And so first I really think about that founder market fit on the flip side. As it relates to the numbers or whatever we want to call them these [00:15:00] days. I think that the idea or the ability to generate a strong waitlist is something that isn't holding increasing weight with investors. So it needs to be done in a thoughtful and deliberate manner for me, because I'm focused primarily on consumer facing companies, this could be an Instagram account that has a hundred thousand followers or TikTok reach that reaches 500000, whatever it is frequently with these sorts of efforts, you will see companies begin to build wait lists on their website, which can range anywhere from a thousand to a hundred thousand, from a signup perspective. I think it's important to remember that someone on your wait list is not a paying customer. When you open the flood gates, many of these will churn. Many of these will disappear overnight, but I do think that it speaks to interest and excitement for your product, which at the end of [00:16:00] the day is what we are trying to determine. And so I think these are probably two of the areas where I'm spending the most time. Let's say with a seed stage company that is building in a space that I love and I'm really excited about, but that hasn't quite come to market or proven that the market is ready for the product that they're selling.

[00:16:19] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:16:19] Hmm, right. Very, no, I love these strategies and the founder market fit, it's you nailed it on the head. And as far as understanding where that particular founder came from, have they done something similar or what's their motivation at the end of the day as well to build this type of product. So I think that's a very interesting dynamic too. Take a look at when evaluating particular deals, but also for the founders themselves to consider that. And at the end of the day to step back and ask yourself that question, what makes you so unique to you? What would increase your chances of succeeding in that type of environment or the product that you're trying to build. So that's great. Thank you for that. In terms of the venture capitalism industry in general, we've seen emergence of different types of roles within that space. And some were just, I never even heard of, but from your standpoint, what are some of the some of the most in demand skill sets yet very hard to find these days in venture capital. What are you observing in terms of the last couple of years as the industry emerged.

[00:17:25] Meera Clark: [00:17:25] Yeah. I think that there are a few archetypes that we tend to see venture capital funds hiring for. I think the two that probably get the most press buzz would be former operators. So engineers, product managers, what have you, as well as former investment bankers, let's say like myself, I think that both of these skills provide a lot of leverage, frankly, for teams, when these individuals are coming in as analysts, associates, senior associates. What have you. And so I understand why the market has historically valued these skill sets. On the flip side, I think as individuals grow from, let's say an associate or senior associate role up into a partner role, longer term, the skills one needs to succeed are actually quite different while an associate or senior associate, it's primarily looking to think on behalf of their partner. And be able to view the world through the lens of their partner. Someone that is a partner is now in a position to hopefully be forming their own independent thoughts and be able to sort of synthesize and sell on their own as it relates to winning a deal. And so, as it relates to underappreciated skill sets that I think are quite in demand, particularly as one matures through the ranks, the ability to sell is really at the top of that list. For me it's been interesting navigating venture as a career because I really tried hard to get into this ecosystem coming from sales and trading, and no one wanted to chat with me until I had that banking stamp of approval on my resume. For me, as I look back at one of my experiences, actually most relevant, I 100% believe that having a sales background and the ability to quickly synthesize information. Personalize the message for another party and deliver that message in a compelling way. That's what I think really provides me with an edge in this business. And so I think that this ability to sell is certainly an in demand skill and hard to find, but I don't think that the market necessarily fully appreciates it yet today. And so, it'll be interesting to see what the profile of investors, both incoming investors and established investors look like in five years, because as the markets evolve, I think founders need to evolve. And at the end of the day we exist, we exist to serve founders. And so always an interesting progression to walk from the sideline.

[00:20:06] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:20:06] Yeah, that's very interesting. And you mentioned something that resonates very well as far as building that particular leverage. So to say, where you've mentioned sales, which for me as a technologist there's always kind of these two distinct areas you either build or you sell. And for those that are able to succeed in both. Were you really good at building and you really good at selling those? That's a very unique skill set, and those are almost like unicorns, which are very hard to find. And for me, that was also the kind of the analogy that I had to continuously work on to be able to, yes, I'm really good at building, but how do I really transition and build that skillset to be able to sell at the end of the day, because when you're in a startup environment, everyone sells, everyone builds, everyone wears multiple hats. So that's very interesting, which leads me to another point in terms of when we talk about leverage and specific knowledge for deal flow, everyone can get it. Deal flow. We there's a lot of different channels and opportunities to be able to expose yourself to a great number of startups and founders that are trying to build something really cool. But then on the other side, is that the access. Right in, we've all heard that, I have a great deal flow, but I don't have much access because if it's something very interesting, very hot, how do you actually make sure that you do get access to that particular deal? What's your take on that? How do you build that type of knowledge, whether that's a skillset or a reputation or knowledge, to be able to get that type of access to a very unique deals that are very hard to find.

[00:21:50] Meera Clark: [00:21:50] Yeah, I think, I probably think about that access question in three primary ways that have some degree of overlap, but also sort of stand on their own. I think first is coming from a brand or coming with a message that resonates, which for me has been something that's worked quite well and obvious, and that I feel very grateful for. I think that our world positive approach and mission-driven ethos in everything that we do is increasingly appreciated by founders, particularly in the areas where we spend time. And so I think being able to come to the market with a point of differentiation or competitive edge versus kind of the commoditized capital that is flooding streets of Silicon valley, I think that can be very powerful. I think that leading with authenticity yourself, and giving back to your broader community can be quite valuable. It is playing the long-term game. It's not trying to get the quick win, but by helping others and [00:23:00] adding value to their lives, to their processes, I think positions you to make some of those higher value, asks them a line, whether it's for an introduction or a for a reference. And so I think that's certainly something that is top of mind for me, and that I'm deliberately building towards every day. And then I think the final point is really your point of view on the ecosystem. I think founders certainly should be smarter than I am on their stage, given the extent to which they've dedicated their lives to building in that ecosystem. But as they look at investors, they want a thought partner or someone that can point out their blind spots. Or someone that can intellectually spar with them as they think about their product pipeline or what have you. And so I spent a lot of my time going deep on specific areas to develop a view, which frankly may or may not be correct and is certainly subject to change on a daily, weekly, hourly basis, but really doing the pre-meeting preparation work to understand where a founder is building and why their approach might make sense. I think it goes a long way to emerging from the mayhem that is thousands or hundreds of inbound emails. They're probably getting by if they're one of those hot shows in lens, but have you.

[00:24:23] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:24:23] Yeah, right. No, absolutely. I love that kind of three, three three-pronged approach to that. And that's very interesting to hear from that perspective, in terms of your self actualization or your content diet, what do you consume on a daily basis? What are your sources for learning? Whether that's a Twitter profile or it's a blog or newsletter that you subscribe to. Share with us the sources that you consume on a daily basis.

[00:24:54] Meera Clark: [00:24:54] Yeah, so I read a lot. I actually spend the first hour of most [00:25:00] days reading, , for me, this is, , a 6:00 AM walk around my block or probably three to four laps around my block. And so my neighbors certainly think that I'm psychotic. But for me, it's a great quiet time to read through all the blogs and or articles that I flagged over the past 24 hours to one know what's going on, but also begin to go deeper on some of these various topics. And so some of the blogs I subscribe to are the traditional tech blogs, let's say an Axios Pro Rata or a term sheet while others are more focused on specific sub sectors, whether it's healthcare or food or sustainable fashion or FinTech, but really spending time getting deeper and deeper into ecosystems, I think it's quite valuable in terms of continuing to push my thinking kind of to balance out these blogs though. I really, really value the learnings that I got from books, which I think at times in the areas that investors overlap because they get burned out from all the reading that our day to day involves. That said for me, going deep on a topic to explore various angles, not only gives me the fuel to think more creatively and critically about a given topic, but it also provides me with firepower to bring up in a conversation with another investor. So that. I can make them smarter while they're hopefully making me smarter. And so I am ruthless about asking smart people for book recommendations, because I think that reading is really one of the best ways to learn. Everyone has their thing. Some people love videos, some people love audio, but I'm really kind of a hard text person first and foremost.

[00:26:52] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:26:52] That's great. Which leads me to the last question. I've just finished a great book by a former professor of mine from Harvard. He writes a lot about innovation, a lot about experimentation and his latest book experimentation works, which was eye opening to a lot of. The things that companies like booking.com, a lot of the strategies that they implement to continuously innovate, build a culture of innovation foster that. So that was kind of very exciting for me in terms of the book. What have you read lately that really stood out in terms of the book and is there a book that you always recommend to others? And why is that?

[00:27:30] Meera Clark: [00:27:30] Yeah, I would say in terms of what I am reading at the moment, I'm currently reading a book called Always Home. And so, this is a book by Fannie Singer, who is the daughter of Alice Waters, a very famous chef in Berkeley, who in many ways is a pioneer at the farm to table movement here in the U S. And so this book brings together a love of food and family and cooking. Along with this idea of care and living life with, in a very deliberate manner. I think given the attention economy that we all exist in and the speed at which the world, the markets, everything seems to be moving. I think many of us can find ourselves spinning in circles. Without a true area of focus or a true intention that resonates with our values and what we believe in. And so this book for me is an incredible reminder of that and one that I'm really enjoying. But I think to your other question, as it relates to sort of the must reads that are at the top of my list from a recommendation perspective, one book I read last year that deeply resonated with me and that I have gifted to probably more humans than I want to admit. Is a book called essentialism and interestingly essential as a math staff to this same sense being deliberate or intentional in how you spend your time while always home is maybe more focused on your personal life. And your consumption habits essentially map both to your personal life, but even more so to your professional endeavors. And how you think about anything from your network to your calendar blocks to the number of projects or clubs or committees that you want to sign up for really espousing. This less is more mentality as it focuses on quality over quality quantity. But yeah, I would certainly put centralism at the top of my list for recommendations for your listeners, because I think we all have something to learn from it. And one of the most exciting elements is what each of us takes away from the book. Probably a little bit different.

[00:29:44] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:29:44] Oh, that's super cool. I'm definitely going to add that to my growing list of books that I have to read this year. And for our listeners, we'll make the title author of these books available in the episode notes. Meera, thank you so much for finding time to join us on the podcast today. I know it was a very short but powerful conversation that I personally learned quite a bit. Definitely going to stay in touch with you and perhaps we're going to do another episode next year to see how much you've changed, how much has transpired.

[00:30:09] Meera Clark: [00:30:09] I love it. Thanks so much for having me and have a great rest of the day.

Improving diversity In Product Management with Brittany Bankston, Co-Founder at Black Product Managers

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 04:49:49 +0000

Brittany Bankston is Co-Founder and President of Black Product Managers. She has had a vibrant career in product management, building products from the ground up in a variety of industries such as beauty, senior care, and social impact. She recently joined a startup called MainStreet, to help uncover government incentives for small businesses to close the opportunity gap. Her passions include singing, meeting interesting people, traveling, and eating her way through Brooklyn.

Topics:

Skills that help Product Managers excel in their profession
Creative ideas for team-bonding activities while working remotely
How companies can improve on diversity in under-represented areas

Digital Transformation and Healthcare Innovation with Angela Yochem, Chief Transformation & Digital Officer at Novant Health

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 04:48:38 +0000

Angela Yochem is EVP, Chief Transformation and Digital Officer for Novant Health, a super-regional healthcare system with one of the largest medical groups in the US. She and her teams oversee growth initiatives, and deliver the world-class consumer capabilities, differentiating technologies, and advanced clinical solutions that allow the integrated system to provide remarkable patient care.

Angela has served as EVP/CIO at Rent-A-Center, Global CIO at BDP International, Global CTO at AstraZeneca, and divisional CIO at Dell. She’s held tech exec roles at Bank of America and SunTrust, and held senior technology roles at UPS and IBM. In these roles, she built B2B digital product lines, grew digital retail channels (B2C), created technical services lines of business, and transformed global technology capabilities.

How to Scale Your Customer Support Team to Deliver a Great Customer Experience with Susana de Sousa – Senior Manager of Customer Support at Loom

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 07:50:47 +0000

Susana has over ten years of experience in Customer Experience. She is currently a Senior Manager of Customer Support at Loom where she empowers users to be their best selves at work and achieve more with their team. She is the 3rd employee at Loom and has helped the company scale to 120 Loommates. Before Loom, she helped launch and grow Airbnb’s European HQ to 600+ employees. When she’s not helping companies scale and deliver great customer experience, she is paying it forward as a mentor for the Portuguese Women In Tech community and sharing advice and resources for job seekers in her personal blog.

Topics:

Susana’s journey to Airbnb and her current role at Loom.
Common misconceptions about customer support.
Biggest challenges when scaling a customer support team.
The impact of COVID in the future of work.
Susana’s mentorship experience with PWIT (Portuguese Women In Tech)
Finding a work environment that promotes trust, transparency, and failure.

How to Build a Culture of Innovation with CIO of Wells Fargo – Tracy Kerrins

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 07:49:57 +0000

Tracy Kerrins is the Chief Information Officer and head of Enterprise Functions Technology for Wells Fargo Technology, one of the world’s largest and most innovative information technology groups with more than 23,000 talented team members who help keep Wells Fargo at the forefront of America’s diversified financial services companies. As the head of Enterprise Functions Technology, Tracy is responsible for providing technology solutions for Human Resources, Corporate Risk, Finance, Technology, Audit, Legal, Marketing, Stakeholder Relations, Data, and the Chief Operating Office. In addition, she is a member of the Wells Fargo India Private Limited board of directors.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Tracy Kerrins: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Tracy Kerrins. I am an EVP group, CIO of enterprise functions, technology at Wells Fargo.

[00:00:20] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:20] Tracy, thanks so much for finding time to join us on the Ivy podcast on this Friday afternoon. Can you tell us a little bit more about your backgrounds, maybe kind of career timeline overview. That would be great to hear.

[00:00:32] Tracy Kerrins: [00:00:33] Sure. Hopefully as exciting as it has felt to me through the years, but I actually started off, I have an engineering degree from the University of Michigan, came from a long line of engineers, my dad, grandfather, et cetera. So I was encouraged early on to get interested in coding and technology overall. And kind of carried the torch forward with some family history there and coming out, I got a degree in industrial and operations engineering, and I was very lucky out of college to work. I went to PricewaterhouseCoopers and Big Five consulting was big at the time. But it was very lucky because I got to actually code for many years, probably the first seven or eight years of my career. At the time we were doing a lot of custom application development at a variety of companies, I started off working in the utilities industry. So I was doing a lot of app development for gas and electric companies, which at the time I didn't really appreciate how exciting that can be and really the potential for change. So what I was learning was not just coding and different technologies. I mean, I started off in PowerBuilder and did cold fusion and Siebel, but it was really learning to take kind of legacy outdated. Business processes and use technology to really transform those and thereby the business. And that's been something that really excited me early on that I've carried through my career and is now a really critical part of my job day to day as well.

[00:01:58] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:01:58] Well, that's super exciting and it seems like a very diverse background. And then it's also, I want to dive a little bit deeper into kind of the transition from the consultancy and then going into more of a corporate world. So to say, and then moving up the ranks from that perspective before we do that, can you share a little bit more around your current role? What falls under your purview and area of responsibility?

[00:02:19] Tracy Kerrins: [00:02:19] Yeah, absolutely. So, I'm the CIO for enterprise functions and what that entails. It's really all the technology that runs that company runs Wells Fargo for our employees. So that's HR, finance risk marketing, legal audit data for the company. It includes all your payroll benefits, everything that really runs the company for employees day to day. So often underappreciated in a way, because when it works, it seems like just very baseline things that we should have. But if it doesn't work, obviously people get very upset. But for me, that's the exciting part, right? Like high risk, high reward, being able to really kind of think [00:03:00] strategically and to the point around what else am I responsible for? So in addition to that technology, I aligned to the corresponding business leaders for each of those spaces. And at Wells Fargo, it's a really exciting time right now because across each of those business verticals, being like HR risk finance, we are in the middle of doing an end-to-end business and technology transformation. So to my earlier point, we have the opportunity right now working with our business partners and saying. How can we do this better? So technology is an enabler. Obviously we bring a lot of technology ideas to the table, but it's also really about how do we streamline and simplify the business process and then use technology to really amplify that. And I get to do that in a lot of different areas right now in my role.So I'm having a really good time. I can imagine if you're a kind of an adrenaline junkie, this is the place to be, which for me is very well suited.

[00:03:52] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:03:52] Wow. That's so very exciting. It seems like you're wearing a lot of different hats and overseeing a lot of different spectrums of such a [00:04:00] large organization, which leads me to a further point that I want to discuss with you is around building and fostering a culture of innovation within the organization. But first things first, in terms of some of the trends and ideas that really excite you these days, whether from transformation initiative perspectives that you're leading, or from personal standpoint, something that you researched on your own, share with us any insights or ideas that are super exciting to you.

[00:04:27] Tracy Kerrins: [00:04:28] There's a lot going on in the world. I mean, we all know this, right? So obviously artificial intelligence to me, I hesitate to even say it's a trend because I feel like we are full blown into it. But what excites me is I think we've just barely begun to tap into its full potential. And so I am a big proponent of AI and usage of AI, but also in watching where and how it can be used and also the concept of using it responsibly, right? Like the logic built in there and ensuring there's no bias, et cetera, is very top of mind. I am fascinated with autonomous driving. I think that could really change the way we interact as humans in the world.Like I think about financial services, if I can better. Like, or change my commute time, day to day. What will I do with that time? I'm watching the road, but I don't have to, could I bank, could I buy, as a busy working mom, I'm always looking for every minute in the day and how to free that up. And financial services along with all the other things I do in my life are part of that. So I look at how that will change the way people just get around and use their time. And then I also have been just captivated this past year, as I'm sure many with biotech. I know very little about it. I researched some of the vaccines and the technology and the way that the world really came together. And I'm fascinated by that. I think we've made tremendous progress probably in the last year kind of working together across the entire world, as I mentioned. So I'm watching that just with [00:06:00] interests, personal interests. I think it's fascinating.

[00:06:03] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:06:03] Yeah. Wow. That's super exciting. And I couldn't agree more with you, your especially interesting aspect on self-driving technologies, recently spent time talking to an executive who they're actually building LIDAR technologies that build the algorithms and essentially software that takes into account a lot of the human behavior when making decisions. So, which is very interesting and very fascinating at the same time. It seems so futuristic. Yeah, very close to where we are these days.

[00:06:32] Tracy Kerrins: [00:06:32] Yeah, exactly.

[00:06:33] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:06:33] I have a very loaded question. But I want to, once we get your perspective on just the overall strategy around building and fostering a culture of innovation within your organization or on your teams or within your verticals, what are some of the things, in terms of practical strategies or recommendations that really help you do that on a continuous basis, or maybe some things where you have failed and learn something from that particular [00:07:00] experience, share with us. Anything that really helps you do that.

[00:07:03] Tracy Kerrins: [00:07:03] Yeah. I mean, I certainly haven't cracked the nut on this. I don't think anyone really has, but I'm less of a fan of having huge, dedicated innovation teams in our business. In my world, what usually becomes the best innovation ideas are leveraging current technologies or even cutting bleeding edge technologies, but using existing technology to create new business processes, right enhancements to customer and client experience in different ways. So that's what I focus most on. And to do that, I mean, obviously I need to keep a close eye on all innovative technologies out there, we all do as technologists. So I don't mean to diminish that in a way, but it's more to me about watching those and then looking at how they could be used in different ways or in alignment with our business and always with customer and client in mind. So to do that, I think you just have to have a culture where people are free [00:08:00] to bring ideas, even if they're completely out of the box. This is where I go to see the diversity of teams. Everybody's experience in their day-to-day life and world, right. Should pray ideas into your workspace where they say, I saw this, or what about this? And being free to bring those ideas and then free to try them. So what I do is if it's good, I'm like, Hey, that sounds cool. Why don't you go and mess around with that pilot when it comes back. Right fails. That's okay. But like, we took a look, right. If it looks like it has legs, then let's go and start talking to more people about it. Like pull business partners in to start, then the ideas really start to build. But you want to poke around at them a little bit and give them the room and space to do that. They don't often have the time to do it, but I find people are really passionate about their ideas. So they bring something to the table and they're very willing to do that on the side or at night, because it's something they're really excited about. And if someone's really excited about it, then that's usually [00:09:00] the best way to get momentum.

[00:09:03] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:09:03] I love those examples and I hear that a lot from other organizations trying to do that. We're all about ideas. But at the end of the day, everyone's full of ideas. But when it comes to actual execution is a completely different story. And I love the analogy that you were making in terms of, yes, it's a personal passion of yours that you are in fact, bringing that idea to me and for you to be able to recognize that energy, that passion and give them the autonomy to run with that bond and experience. Because at the end of the day, it's not really a failure. It's an experiment for us to learn something from that and see if we, if it has the legs to take this further, so those are great examples. There's one book that really comes to mind. I always recommend it to everyone. It's a book by a former Harvard professor of mine. He wrote two books on experimentation matters and experimentation works and covers a lot of the examples like that, which is specific to what exactly you're talking about. So thank you for that. So for that example on [00:10:00] the other spectrum of innovation and just building, looking into that future of work. I spent a lot of time talking to other executives at different organizations. And one question that's very, or topic that's very prevalent these days is how are you designing your organization or your teams, and how are you preparing for that next period is coming out through pandemic and the hybrid workplace share with us any thoughts that you may have what's to come, how are you preparing or some of the things that may be working for you when it comes to that future of work?

[00:10:34] Tracy Kerrins: [00:10:34] Yeah. Well, I mean, when it comes to, we're heavily remote right now as most companies still are. When we look at the post pandemic Wells Fargo has come out and said, we're going to start bringing people back in September timeframe. After labor day, we do still feel there's value in people being able to collaborate and interact personally in the office. And so we're looking to do that, still trying to decide what to do. Kind of new normal or normal [00:11:00] operating mode will look like. But we are going to go back to the office later in the fall and still drive that in-person collaboration, but with flexibility we're trying to determine what that flexibility looks like and means. But I think about technology. I mean in many companies we've proved that we can work very effectively, many of us remotely. And so we're not taking that for granted. Right. We're building that into what flexible look like, what flexible looks like and what it looks like for technologists to like me or my team, et cetera. I do want to touch on, so that is super top of mind, but always thinking about. In my role, I think about the future, future of work. And that's where I'm always looking at. What does that look like? How we collaborate. So it's similar to what we're talking about, but I look a lot at my, I have three daughters and two of them are twin 14 year olds and an 11 year old and I am constantly watching them and how they communicate with each other, with their peers, how they get information. And to me, that's what I'm always keeping on top of when I think of the future of work. Right? You were talking about innovation late earlier than we were, but that's really, I have to look, I think we all have to look five, 10 years down the road when my daughters are entering the workplace and what will they expect? What will they need? How do we build technology organizations and teams that support, well, first that are a tech destination they want to work in. And what do we need to enable them to be desirable for them? Like, what do we have to have available? And just the way they don't talk to each other, right? They text, they look for videos and input of information and how to so differently. That's what I'm always thinking about with the future of work, I guess, to me, it's future, future of work and whatever that means 10 years down the line.

[00:12:45] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:12:45] Right, right. Absolutely. And I love leveraging, I guess, the resources that you have at your disposal immediately and taking into account how, like you're the example you've made on your daughters, how they interact, how they consume information. I think that's super important to get some insights on how the future of work will actually look like. So that's, we can probably spend an entire episode talking about this. So as an executive within your organization being in charge of technology division, I'm pretty sure that surrounding yourself with the top talent A-players is at the top of your mind 24/7, whether you are actively recruiting or not. Share with us a few strategies that really work for you to accomplish that. And more specifically candidates that interview with you. They probably go through multiple rounds of assessments, other interviews, panel, interviews, and so forth when they get to Tracy. As much as that you can share with us, what does the interview with you look like? And more importantly, what do you look for in some of the responses when you talk to prospective candidates?

[00:13:54] Tracy Kerrins: [00:13:54] Yeah, well, hopefully it's a positive experience right out of the gay, hopefully by the time they get to me to use those words, hopefully they come out feeling like it was a good use of their time and they learn something just like me. But honestly, I start with , like, I ask people to tell me a little bit about themselves. Talk to me about your background, give me some highlights quickly. What I'm looking for is their ability to give information, but at the right level, kind of summarize important points. I'm also looking for how they describe themselves, their team, the role they played in things. Are they a team player? Is there a lot of eyes, like I'm looking for the role they played but just very casually, like letting them kind of speak and tell their story. But out of that, I look for those nuggets. And then, I mean, the hardest part about interviewing what I'm really looking for is how can I determine if this person is really good at execution strategy and innovation, everyone says they are, and their resumes are going to tell me they are, but how do I really determine that before they're on the team? And so listening to them, I take the nuggets and then I dive a little deeper. See what level of detail they have. And out of that, what I'm really trying to learn is I'm looking for good decision-making. If I'm being honest, like we're, none of us are ever going to make the right decision all the time. But what is so important to me, because that's when I can really say, this person has it. And I trust what they're going to do is because they have good decision-making, are they using data facts? How are they bringing in past experience and failures to change their decision-making process on the go forward? If they had to do it again, would they make the same decision and why are those the nuggets I'm looking for? Because that to me is the most critical thing in a leader in getting someone in on the team.

[00:15:42] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:15:42] Although, I appreciate the insight. I appreciate Intel sharing a little bit more about that. And I love that you stressed the importance of the decision-making process versus the actual decision that's been made. What are some of the things that they go through? How do they arrive at a particular decision? I think that's very unique. I think that's a very interesting insight into being able to understand that particular personality. Or a person through that very short conversation. So I think that's very interesting. Thanks for sharing that.

[00:16:12] Tracy Kerrins: [00:16:12] Well, and I've been in, I'm sorry, I've been in difficult kind of triaged type situations or the post-mortem and have even gone through that myself and said, look, here's why I made the decision I made. And if I'm being honest, I would make it again because based on what I knew at the time, it was the right decision now, but I know. Here's what we'll do about it. I just think that's so critical, right?

[00:16:33] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:16:33] Absolutely. No, I love that example because at the end of the day, how you made that decision is probably more important than the actual decision itself. Oh, that's a great example. When we talk about various strategies to attract the top talent and not only attract, but then retain it on to your teams, to your organization, what are some of the things that really help you achieve that? Or maybe something that hasn't worked and you learn from that.

[00:16:58] Tracy Kerrins: [00:16:58] I find that top talent, they want to work on teams where they're challenged. They get to learn and they get to work. They want to be on a high performing team. And they want to have a voice be respected and appreciated. It's kind of simple, it sounds like a simple formula, but it's hard to get there. But creating that high performing team is most critical. I want top talent to want to be on our team to want to be part of it. And to get that for me, culturally, on the team, it's about being candid, transparent, being open to ideas, listening to the team. And that means even creating a culture where like my leaders a lot tell me I'm wrong. And I try to infuse humor to let them know that that's okay. They'll listen. Now go. So what you're saying is that I was completely wrong about this. And that you've done this work and this is the way we should go. And we all kind of laugh, but that's right. And that's good. None of us know the answers and people, if people are afraid to challenge the lead or to ask questions and challenge the thinking you'll never have that high-performing team. And I think that behavior also drives the respect and the voice that they want. And with those behaviors, you're going to have hopefully a good outcome. You'll be delivered. And that's all of those together is what creates that high-performing team. And to me, that's how you retain talent. People want to work on teams that win and are doing great things. Right? And so to me, that's a big part of retention in attracting the same, right? Like the best part is to have people come to you, right? I want to be on your team. But in addition, if they're not right interviewing, as we mentioned, they should hear that and see that in your voice and in your examples, and in talking to other people on the team the passion that they have for the work and how they feel about working there as well. To me, that's the way you attract it should come from you and from your team. There's obvious strategies at scale, right? When we come and represent the company and [00:19:00] things we do, but in the end, it boils down to one-on-one interview discussions and they need to see, feel, and hear that from you. And if it's not authentic, top talent candidates. See right through that. So you really have to start at yourself and your team and how they're acting and working together.

[00:19:18] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:19:18] Just recently, I was talking to an executive at Fortune 10 company, a very huge organization. And I asked him why are you participating in a lot of webinars, live events, podcasts, things like that. And one of the things that you mentioned to me was, it really resonated, it's essentially his ability or his opportunity, that opportunity to really share almost his leadership style or give a glimpse into the type of culture within the team, within the organization, what are the things they value? And he mentioned that there are so many programs prospective candidates that actually listened to those types of talks, and then they bring that to the interview as part of that homework that they have done which also then gives him a really great indicator of how much they're interested. So I can definitely relate to a lot of the examples that you're talking about. And also the fact that you are also repairing with us as an example, to be able to share some of, some of those strategies. I think that's very unique and you don't see that a lot, the special ed exists at the executive level.

[00:20:24] Tracy Kerrins: [00:20:24] I've had similar experiences. People stop me for things I wouldn't even have thought about where they say, we saw this on LinkedIn, or you posted this video. And the reason they get, like, what I'm most interested in is when they tell me why they liked it so much, it's it. That's where you get the real insights and I've heard them say, it looks like you, and the leadership team, my peers, like you really like each other, you get along and I'm like, can you do right? And so little insights like that. Are you starting to realize how important that communicating, how social con, social media can be, but also just the importance, like of those relationships and how you work and how you show as a team. And it has to be real and authentic. And they see that. And then to my point around them, they want to come to you. They want to be part of that team too. Right?

[00:21:10] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:21:10] Absolutely. You can't fake that. Another important topic I want to touch upon is around female leadership, female executive leadership, especially in tech. And as much as I don't like that label, it does exist. And I have a daughter and I have a sister, I have a mother and so forth. My wife, we talk about that a lot of times. And I know it's a very loaded question and it's very high level, but from a standpoint of, and the reason I'm asking is a good deal of our audience. Also early stage career professionals, second year MBAs, those are entering the workforce. And from your standpoint, if you were to highlight a few things that you wish you knew when you were starting your career out as an advice or a recommendation for early stage career professionals, what would that be? Or what would be some of the things to avoid?

[00:22:01] [00:22:00] Tracy Kerrins: [00:22:01] It's a loaded question, but to your point, it's real. And it's still, I mean, it's something I'm passionate about women in technology overall. What I would say is no one's going to tell you what to do. No one's going to tell you what to do next. So take the initiative. Ask questions be curious, right? Get out there and take the lead. Just say, I want to do this. I'm going to run with it. Show him what you can do. Don't be afraid to change, right? I think everyone gets too nervous about things happening, maybe in a way that they weren't expecting when they think about their own kind of future and next steps that change can lead to great. Next steps in your career path that you may not have even thought about before. I mean, there's things where I look at, I started off in the utilities industry, as I mentioned in technology, but ended up in financial services and coming out of college, I don't think I had not even thought about financial services and I enjoy it so much. So embracing that change and the last one to me is probably the most important is for the women early in their career, stay on the technical path. Women are very good at some of the less technical roles like project management and BAS, and often you get pulled to do that or asked you because you aren't good at it. We are right, but don't, I just don't leave the more technical path once you do. It's so much harder to get back. And even though it can be challenging at times, I just say, stay the course. It will create such a rich career path and rich experiences for you just stay on the technical path. Try not to veer off as you can.

[00:23:42] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:23:42] Love it. And I appreciate your ability to summarize in a very high level of response like that, which is very powerful. So thank you for that. And Tracy, last but not least a few questions I have are around your personal content diet as I like to call that. So what do you consume on a daily basis when it comes to self actualization or self learning? What's in your bookmarks or Twitter profiles that you follow and share with us? What do you read on a daily basis?

[00:24:07] Tracy Kerrins: [00:24:07] Well, as I mentioned, they don't look at a lot of, I try to pull content from the world around me. I should have done some, I should have looked at some Insta or Twitter things I follow. I didn't even think about that. You probably, they would not be as interesting to you, but I read Wired, I get magazines. I have a pile of books next to my bed that I would love to tell you. I've read all of them. And I haven't. I have some that I try and make time for, but as I mentioned right now, I read mostly about middle school girls and how to deal with that. If I'm being candid. But it's that rounded out. Experience of everything around me. To me, that's like the most, that's where we find the disruptors right in the influencers is things happening around us. And just looking for how those, how those translate into things that we might need to be thinking about from a financial services perspective. So that's really what I do. I'm grabbing, I do use social media a lot. I'm always on instant Twitter and I'm looking and listening. And when people say things I don't understand, I go down rabbit holes like everybody else and try to come out. But it's really more of that less traditional content for me.

[00:25:16] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:25:16]Yeah, no, that's awesome. I love that. And is there a book that stands out, that's something, a book that you always recommend to others and why is that?

[00:25:25] Tracy Kerrins: [00:25:25] If there isn't one, because I, like I said, I have too many, I would tell you just this week because I am big, I watch and look for them and I buy them. I should read more this week. I got a new one from a women's technology group that we're having Peter. He has a new book out called getting to nimble and it's all about digital transformation. So that's the one right next to the bed right now that I'm hoping to pick up this weekend and look at. But yeah, again, I'm more of a student of the world around me and trying to bring all of those insights into my day to day.

[00:26:00] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:26:00] Yeah. No, and that makes sense with everything going on and all the information being thrown at us through different mediums. It only makes sense. Yeah. Thank you so much for finding time to talk to us today. Very powerful conversation that I personally learned quite a bit. I'm going to look forward to staying in touch with you, and perhaps we can do another episode in a year or so and see how much I've transpired.

[00:26:19] Tracy Kerrins: [00:26:19] Great. I'd love that. Thank you for having me.

Building a Successful and Fulfilling Career with Lisa Lewis Miller, founder of Career Clarity

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Lisa Lewis Miller is a career change expert and the founder of Career Clarity, a company helping individuals step into the careers they’ve been dreaming of. Her path evolved into coaching after working in digital marketing for nearly a decade at companies like 2U, Edelman, the American Cancer Society, Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and CBS College Sports.

Lisa’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, Business Insider, US News and World Report, Fast Company, Forbes, Refinery29, and more. She received her coaching certification as one of only seven coaches in the world trained in the Pivot Method. Clients praise her ability to see through their excuses, champion their possibilities, and give resume reviews that are like “purifying hellfire.”

Lisa is from Colorado and received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Barnard College in New York City.

If you’re looking for someone who will believe in your potential career happiness as strongly as you do — and help equip you with the ideas and resources to make it happen — you can learn more about Lisa’s work at GetCareerClarity.com.

Topics:

Lisa’s journey to becoming a career coach.
Making career moves that lead you towards more happiness and fulfillment.
Lisa’s recommendations if your work has been impacted by COVID.
The power of cultivating strategic relationships for your career success.
Common misconceptions about building a successful career.
The four pillars of career fulfillment.
How to evaluate career opportunities that align with your values?

Resources:

Career Warrior podcast link: https://shows.acast.com/job-seekers-podcast/episodes/your-ultimate-guide-to-reach-out-messages-lisa-lewis

Career Clarity Show link: https://getcareerclarity.com/episode83/

Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One by Jenny Blake

How to Mitigate Risks and Ensure Compliance in Contingent Workforce with Pablo Quesada

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Pablo S. Quesada focuses his practice in the areas of corporate, real estate and international law, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, stock and debt issuances and offerings, financing and lending transactions, domestic and international commercial transactions, and other general transactional matters. Mr. Quesada has extensive experience in matters affecting corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships, and in manufacturing, distribution, licensing and technology-related transactions. In addition, given the litigation and trial experience gained by Mr. Quesada early in his career, he provides his expertise in the corporate arena to assist in the handling of complex commercial litigation matters involving corporate, stockholder and/or board governance issues. Mr. Quesada also serves as General Counsel and is a director for one of the largest U.S. military apparel manufacturers.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Pablo Quesada: The trouble that use that you saw and you continue to see, and the big item you need to be careful with when you're dealing with contingent workers is, you know, when you're hiring somebody as independent contractor, it becomes the issue of misclassification. And you know, we've seen that now for many years, for over a decade. Misclassification issues, which means somebody who is effectively an employee of your company, but you're treating them as an independent contractor.
[00:00:40] I'm Pablo Quesada. I'm a partner at SMGQ mall in Miami, Florida.

[00:00:46] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:46] I will thank you so much for finding time to join us on the podcast today. A great way to start off the 2021 and just real quick, before we get a lot into the conversation that I wanted to have with you, share with us a little bit more about yourself, your backgrounds, where you come from and kind of career-wise, just share a kind of high-level timeline.

[00:01:10] Pablo Quesada: Absolutely. Well, I'm a local Miami person. I was raised in Miami. I went to the University of Miami for undergrad. Then I went to Florida state for law school. Soon after law school, I came back to Miami. I worked at one of the larger Miami firms or with some of the most probably locally prominent attorneys.
[00:01:28] And then I had an opportunity to go to a national firm and work out of their Miami office. And I've been practicing now for over 25 years, but that's where I got my start at the big national law firms and had opportunities to work on very interesting clients matters. And after I worked in the corporate securities department, so I did mostly corporate transactional with about 30% of my practice being public company work.
[00:01:54] So actual public filings, quarterly reports, annual reports. Interestingly I was able to work for about four years when I was at the firm. It was Kirkpatrick and Lockhart at the time KNL Gates, which is Bill Gates, his father, actually, he was a well of the Gates law firm. They merged at some point, but back then I had the opportunity to work with a Miami company called Brightstar, which was a telecommunication logistics company, basically cell phone distribution, and the CEO of that company was much of a settler cloud who is now with SoftBank and starting division funds. And he's been very active in the Miami community to fund startups and technology companies. I had an opportunity to work with him for about four years. That was a great opportunity because that was really his first company that he took it. I think when we were working together, he took that from like 300 million in sales to 5 billion in sales, over a span of like four years.
[00:02:49] So it was pretty incredible. It was a great experience. I did that. And then I always had the bug to go in-house to go on the corporate side. And I had an opportunity, a very good friend of mine who's still at Visa, the credit card company. He gave me a ring one day and he said, listen, they're looking for Latin America.
[00:03:06] They need counsel who will look over their day to day activities and to give guidance for the Latin American region. So I took that opportunity. I always wanted to be on the corporate side, on the in-house side. And it actually worked out great because I had already built up great experience from counseling clients, working with some great mentors, some great corporate attorneys that I got to learn from, which I think is vital for every young person.
[00:03:30] It's not just law firms. It's you take that across the board? Any industry it's just important to have good mentors and to have a good breadth of experience. So I went to Visa and it was great because I got to sit on the other side of the table. Now I was the client. And I got to see what it was that I needed from my outside counsel.
[00:03:48] So it gave me a great opportunity. And then you also got to see what corporate America is like. I had not realized as an attorney on the outside. Sure. You know, your clients are concerned about legal fees and expenses, but when you get on the insight, that's when you really realize they do have these actual budgets that they have to kind of control and they get measured on those budgets. Bonuses could be triggered by, you know, your performance compared to budget. And so that's when I really realized how important that was, and also the support that the in-house legal gave to their local business teams. So it's not just providing services to in-house counsel, but it's recognizing that that in-house counsel is turning around and has business teams for putting pressure on them to get deals done.
[00:04:36] Transactions consummated, and you have to provide that support. So for me, it was a great opportunity. I was there for a couple years. And then I had the opportunity about back in 2006 to launch my own law firm. And I started with two colleagues of mine that I knew from the community. It was, we started as a three-person firm and we've built the firm.
[00:04:57] Now we're probably about 35 lawyers in full service. So everything from transactional litigation, employment, immigration, basically we've got all the practice areas covered. So, that's been a great opportunity. So I've also seen in growing the firm, I've seen the importance of recruiting talent and maintaining talent, and thankfully at our law firm.
We've built it over time. As I mentioned from three to over 30, and we've had very good success in retention which has made me think, you know, what is key. And obviously, you hear when buying property, whether it's a stock or property, you know, get it at a good price, it really depends on the purchase. You know, how good of an investment it's going to be. And it's the same kind of thing when you're recruiting talent. The key is being able to identify early on, you know, the type of person that's going to fit well or mesh with your culture and hopefully make that long-term obviously, we're all looking for talent that has the experience and the expertise that's going to drive your organization forward.
But you're also looking for that personality, that person who meshes well with your culture and you can see either. Add to your culture, you know, mesh with your culture or build you in a new direction. Maybe it's something that your organization is lacking, even from a culture perspective that you see that somebody would be a good fit. And thankfully we've been very successful on that front. Our core group has been together since the beginning and everyone we've brought on has remained with us. So that's been good to see.

[00:06:38] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:06:38] Wow. That's super exciting. And thanks for sharing that background.
So, you know, very diverse. Started out on the corporate side and then launched your own company. So I want to spend a little bit of time talking about that transition. I think that's pretty exciting because a lot of guests that I talk to on the podcast go through similar transitions, whether they started their own companies and then they get acquired and they transitioned to the corporate side or vice versa, you know, just like myself.
We started out on the corporate side. Now we're transitioning to something that we built ourselves. So that's an interesting dynamic there. You mentioned Marcella. I've read a little bit of bottom, kind of his background and funny enough, we actually pitched them to come on the podcast.
Have you heard just yet, but that would be pretty cool. The other, the other part that you've mentioned is, from a standpoint of recruitment and really surrounding yourself with kind of the A-players, with the best talent. That's at the top of the mind for every executive, every organization, whether you are recruiting actively or inactively, it's a 24/7 game.
So from your standpoint, and I guess unrelated to that from legal, from compliance, from risk mitigation or anything in that space, I asked that question a lot of the guests, what are the different trends in this space or ideas that really excite you these days? What are you researching?
What are you looking to invest in further, perhaps, share kind of the latest research bookmarks of Pablo?

[00:08:18] Pablo Quesada: Yeah. Well, one thing that I would tell you, I'm fortunate for being a corporate attorney is not only do I get to see the law firm experience and our own, we're running a business as well.
So we see how important talent is and you know, where the industry's headed. But I also have an opportunity to effectively serve as general counsel to a bunch of different companies in different industries. And the one thing I would tell you that they all kind of tied together. You know, it's two key factors when you're talking about land purchases or real estate, people say location.
When you talk about building a business, I mean, it comes down to talent and technology, and it's pretty incredible. I mean, it doesn't matter the industry, everybody wants to get that key talent and everybody's looking for that technology. That's going to differentiate them. And so as a result, what ends up happening is that your talent has to be technologically savvy.
I mean, the talent that you're seeking is the person who knows how that new technology works and how to drive that forward. From the law firm industry, you know, it's interesting. What we've been seeing more is, you know, before it was your typical track, you know, you joined a law firm, everybody was an associate who joined the law firm.
[00:09:31] You had partners, the whole drive was to become, you know, get from an associate to become a partner. And that's kind of, you know, some of that, it remains true, but like in every other industry, what you're seeing more is attorneys who love flexibility. So you're clearly seeing from an employee perspective more people who, you know, want to be a contract attorney or want to have some sort of different relationship with the law firm, other than the usual track of, you know, I'm just going to continue down this path.
[00:10:01] And so you see that that's something that you see from an employee wanting, and I think it's with this generation, even in particular, is they want to have flexibility. And we're seeing that now, even during the time of COVID with the flexibility of even not having to come to the office.
And we've seen that successful here at the law firm itself. And, you know, we have attorneys who even worked from, for example, Colorado. And it tends to be the younger attorneys who want that flexibility, want that lifestyle and they can still be efficient. They can still serve the client. There's really no need for them to be in the office necessarily.
[00:10:38] Although most of our attorneys come in, there is something about that flexibility. And we've seen that contract attorney type of relationship and you would see it, and that started at the larger firms when you have discovery, which is basically when you're exchanging information to learn more about a case from the opposing side, you're making requests for production, that type of stuff you would always see.
You know, there had already been a place where law firms were seeking talent attorneys just focused on that. And they would hire them on a contract basis, on a project basis, just to come in and handle that type of work. And that's how it kind of started. And then you even saw it with some basics, you know, it was interesting, there was a time there where they were outsourcing this to foreign countries, to have attorneys from other countries do some basic research.
Because it was just cost-effective. So it was interesting. It's interesting to see everything that the law firms have tried to reduce their own costs and to maximize their efficiency. And I think you see that played out not only at law firms, but in your industry.
Obviously, you know, that whole contingent workforce is key.

[00:11:53] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:11:53] Oh, that's exciting. And something that you've mentioned resonates well in terms of that flexibility. And it leads me to, you know, the further points for what I wanted to discuss with you on that contingent workforce perspective, because a lot of clients, a lot of companies that we deal with partners or some of our customers, a lot of them are corporate sector and they're developing strategy on how to best leverage, utilize contingent workforce because of what you were talking about.
[00:12:21] That flexibility aspect is really to be able to, at the end of the day, it's also generational not being tied to a single organization as a full-time employee has that flexibility, but also on the corporate side as well, companies are looking for that. To be a little bit more agile, to scale at growth or downsize or upsize in all different directions.
[00:12:46] So for companies that are looking to develop that strategy to best leverage contingent workforce from a legal standpoint, what have you seen in terms of the challenges that the companies are facing and what would be some of the kinds of recommendations to address those? I realize it's a very loaded question, but from immediate needs, just share with us your perspective from that standpoint.

[00:13:12] Pablo Quesada: And now I would probably focus on one or two points because this is a very broad area and there were so many issues that you can dissect. And, you know, we could probably do a week's worth of podcasts, you know, just touching on these issues, but something that I've even seen in my practice and over the years, and even when companies started to get into the contingent workforce.
[00:13:34] So really what it was “Do I need a full-time employee or is there a benefit to me hiring independent contractors?”, and you would see a lot of employers even trying to manage it themselves, and the trouble that I use that you saw, and you continue to see, and the big item you need to be careful with when you're dealing with contingent workers is, you know, when you're, when you're hiring somebody as independent contractor it's and becomes the issue of misclassification.
[00:14:00] And you know that, we've seen that now for, for many years, for over a decade. Misclassification issues, which means somebody who is effectively an employee of your company, but you're treating them as an independent contractor. Andthat creates a number of minefields. They had to be careful because there's potential liability, because when you hire somebody as an independent contractor, you're not necessarily affording them the benefits that you're affording to your employees. And you're also not doing certain tax withholdings that you would be doing with respect to your employees. So there are cost savings that are attractive to companies, but in the method, in which it gets implemented and depending on the class of employee, Depending on the control you have over that employee, you could end up in a situation where you find yourself identifying somebody as an independent contractor, treating them as such for tax purposes and labor purposes.
[00:14:56] And in fact, you know, it's not your call at the end of the day. At the end of the day, it's the IRS and the department of labor are going to decide whether in fact, that person should have been classified as an independent contractor or an employee. It's not enough to have a written agreement that says you are an independent contractor. And in fact, having that type of written agreement could even be used against you to reflect that arguably you were doing it for the purpose of disguising the true nature of our relationship. So those are things that I would say.
[00:15:30] That's one big area that I find that companies have to be careful with. And that's great, because as a result of that, what we've seen is that companies aren't necessarily in the best position to be making those determinations or even companies are in the business, whatever their core business is, and their expertise isn't necessarily payroll, their expertise isn't necessarily back office. Is it making these types of determinations? You know, some companies of course have legal counsel and have full-fledged HR departments, compliance officers, but at the end of the day, there are so many issues that they're even looking at that it's nice to have somebody to be able to come in almost with a fresh set of eyes, and kind of consult with you and analyze and give you some different alternatives as to how you can avoid or, you know, identify areas that you may have some weakness and also see, and perhaps even implement processes that could assist you.
[00:16:38] So you, you know, we've discussed before, you know, there are opportunities, things such as the employer of record before, you know, companies are familiar with these types of arrangements, because they'll call it payrolling. You know, they want to bring somebody on, but they're aware of the compliance issues.
[00:16:59] They're aware of some of the difficulties that they could have with misclassification. And there are providers out there that now can come in and provide these services and who have a focus on compliance. So we're not only looking at cost savings when we're looking at these types of arrangements, which is how they started. As I mentioned, the whole thought of having independent contractors was cost-effective for me to hire somebody as an independent contractor, as opposed to the employee, but it doesn't become cost-effective if you run into compliance issues. So I think that what we're seeing now is more enterprises going out there and saying, you know, help me on the compliance front.
[00:17:37] Let's make sure we're doing this right. And we also see situations where in the past you've had companies such as staffing companies serve as do this payrolling type of service. But the reality is staffing companies are not built for that. Staffing companies really were built to find candidates. You know, that's what they do.
[00:17:56] They're great search firms. They can do a great place. And there are some staffing companies that may have the compliance aspect to it. But unfortunately, you know, there are many that run a foul, you were talking, what about smaller, smaller types of enterprises? So now there is a need that we have seen at least in counseling clients, where there is a benefit to have these providers come in and not only benefit the companies, but they also benefit staffing companies.
[00:18:24] I mean, they actually are a support for the staffing company, you know, staffing companies don't necessarily have to go now and get a compliance officer. You know, you could partner with these providers and you know, and go out to the market and combine forces and I think that's what you're going to see in the future.
I think that's the use, and COVID has probably accelerated this process. Yeah,

[00:18:46] Jahn Karsybaev: We've seen a lot. We've seen that a lot in this market, especially, you know, like you've mentioned with a pandemic everyone's shifting to completely remote setting that kind of elevated, that needs to be a lot more flexible from that contingent worker perspective and to kind of, to recommendations that you were providing in the sense to be able to, for companies that don't necessarily have the right infrastructure in place that you know, that legal administrative operationally to be able to handle that proper worker classification. So to say it makes sense to outsource a lot of those duties to other, other companies that are actually focused on that. Technology is another great example to be able to handle a lot of that employee onboarding benefit processing.
[00:19:31] Payrolling, I think there's a lot of opportunity there. And when we talk about that aspect of worker classification, it's such an important yet oftentimes overlooked issue that I see day-to-day with a lot of organizations where a lot of the clients that we serve from your standpoint, aside from kind of the tax implications what other legal considerations that the company should pay attention to when thinking about improper or misclassification of a contingent worker, can you share with us any examples that come to mind when, you know, from the legal perspective?

[00:20:13] Pablo Quesada: Yeah. When we, when we talk about misclassification, it's a number of factors that we have to look at, but it's as simple as whether somebody is an employee, ultimately it comes down to whether you're in control, you know? So it becomes a question of, are you controlling the details of the work that's being performed? No, it's okay to give a guidepost as to, because at the end of the day, you have a project you're working on.
[00:20:37] There's an end result you want, and there's nothing wrong with giving direction as to what it is that you need, but you need to be careful with respect to requiring a certain number of hours of work schedule, providing employee training that you may provide to other employees. Those are all types of factors that identify that somebody is really acting more as an employee, as opposed to an independent contractor who's able to set their own schedule, who is an expert in their area and is providing the services according to their own discretion effectively. So when you have this measure of control coming from the company itself, that's where you start seeing these misclassification issues.
[00:21:22] And I would say that they can't, and of course that runs the gamut of also, you know, you also have issues with regard to compensation. How are you compensating these employees? You know, it's so that's also an issue that arises. So you have to look, does the employee carry insurance?
[00:21:40] Does the employee is employed providing for its own expenses or are you reimbursing the employee for expenses? Are you setting up the employee’s basically business? Remember when you have an independent contractor, you're really hiring a business. It could be an individual, but you're effectively hiring somebody who should be performing on their own.
[00:22:00] So to the extent that you're assuming all the obligations that somebody who would be operating a business, if you're assuming all those obligations, then that person no longer looks like an independent contractor. And it starts looking more like an employee. And aside from the misclassification issue, another, another item that you could run into.
And I would say it's a second point that would be a joint employer liability. So sometimes a corporation could outsource payroll functions. You know, and we see that with videos, you know, you're basically just having somebody else doing the payroll, but that does not mean that you're no longer the employer of that individual.
[00:22:39] Now you run into an issue where there's enjoined employer liability. Both parties could actually be responsible. For, for violations of various laws. And so it's very important there also that when, when you do hire a provider and that provider is serving you as the employer of record and is going to be serving as the employer, you need to be certain that not only are they doing the payroll and benefits hiring, firing, but that organization really is truly the employer.
[00:23:11] And really is setting forth the ground rules and is really overseeing that employee. You don't want to be transitioned. You don't want to be in a situation where effectively. You know, as the client, which is using that resource or that talent, you don't want to be in a situation where, where you are effectively taking control of that relationship.
[00:23:31] And you really are the one hiring and firing and, and those types of issues. So we also have to be careful with respect to joint employer liability, and that can also be taken care of, in your agreements. And you have with your providers, obviously you should always have your legal counsel look at those, your in-house counsel.
[00:23:48] Just to make sure that, you know, and it's important to say two things. Number one is we've discussed various factors that are important. Number one is when you hire talent, and your provider, your employer of record what they should be doing is number one is they should really almost have a worksheet that almost, or a checklist that actually, you identify the specific talent you're hiring and you list out these factors that the department of labor provides you in the IRS.
[00:24:19] And you should try to go through that checklist and kind of verify that, in fact, if somebody is going to be an independent contractor, that they, in fact, based on the client requirements, satisfy the independent contractor. Because if not, then let's not identify them as independent contracts.
[00:24:36] Let's go ahead and call them what they are, which is an employee. And that is something that, you know, a company like myBasePay, for example. You hire the person as an employee. It's not an independent contractor relationship, so that's key. And then, part of that is don't lie to yourself.
[00:24:54] You know, look at that checklist, make sure you're compliant. And then importantly is a lot of people, and this isn't just limited to employment issues. A lot of times people sign contracts, right? And with the best intentions, and these are the terms of the agreement, this is what we agreed to. You put that contract in a drawer, and then you start putting that emotion and you start executing on that contract.
[00:25:16] Well, many times the way that you're engaging in that relationship is much different than when you identify in the contract. So you just need to be careful that if you're agreeing, that certainly these factors are going to be handled by the employer of record or by the provider. Then you're in a situation where once that person, that talent, and if you're the company, you hire this person, they, you start, you don't mold that into a different type of relationship where you don't start providing in-house training.
[00:25:46] You're not requiring a work schedule, you know, so you have to see how you are putting these things in practice. And that's why it's also good to have. You know, a provider who can come in because it kind of gets lost in the mix within a large organization. And if you have somebody on the outside, who's effectively monitoring that relationship, that's been maintained.
[00:26:08] You know, they're all, they're also the ones who could identify red flags for you. And so again, I think it comes down to being an attorney for me, even more than the cost savings is compliance is so important.

[00:26:21] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:26:21] Right. No, that's, you know, those are great recommendations and I definitely appreciate a lot of that insight from.
[00:26:30] From your perspective, you've mentioned a couple of times, you know, the role of general counsel and I, you know, spent a good amount of my time advising startups, younger entrepreneurs mentorship, and a lot of guidance, you know, from that standpoint. And a lot of times with the younger entrepreneurs or the startups that are just getting launched, you know, they don't necessarily have the means to, you know, get the access to the general counsel, that legal advice perspective.
What are your recommendations? To a lot of companies that are starting up in this space, especially in technology, to be able to get access to the general counsel, to get that legal advice, especially at the very beginning when a lot of those things are getting formed. So just curious to get your perspective on how that relationship typically works?

[00:27:19] Pablo Quesada: [00:27:19] You know, it's very interesting. The reason I think I enjoy it, my profession, as much as I do is that I'm not just an attorney and I have so many different clients in so many different sectors right now. I sit on the boards of several companies. I serve as an advisor, so it's not just legal, I mean, with my experience, I've seen so much from the business perspective that it goes beyond the legal and it's so important for small businesses to be able to have somebody that could come alongside them because they're experts in their business area and the industries. I mean, I deal in the military communications equipment, I mean, things that I really have no idea how they even work.
[00:28:04] Right. When it comes down to that technology and that's what they're experts in, but they need somebody next to them that can, that can kind of guide them down the path. So it's not so much even. The legal contracts or the operating agreement or shareholders agreement, things like that. Of course, those are important, especially when you have partners.
[00:28:22] It does come down just to some general guidance as to issues such as employment issues and independent contractors and things like that. And unfortunately, I don't know if it's a cost issue, but I really don't think you can replace having an outside counsel who can give you the guidance. Now, the good thing is I can tell you that that's what excites me about dealing with entrepreneurs. So ultimately I think what you're going to find is that there's a lot of attorneys and seasoned attorneys that are going to be more than happy to come along your side and work out some sort of arrangement to help you out in that starting phase.
[00:29:06] Because what we all love to see is, you know, I go back to my cell and. This was back in the early 2000. I mean, I remember even reading an article about him, that he started his business selling cell phones from the trunk of a car in Los Angeles. I mean, when you think about that, right. And you see somebody like that continue to grow their business too, you know, to where they are today, you know, so that's what you're looking for.
[00:29:29] So you're looking for the next marshmallow, you're looking for the next local tech guy. That comes to you with an idea. And you know, what you'll find is you're going to have attorneys who are very receptive, you know, to be able to assist you and they want to give their guidance.

[00:29:46] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:29:46] Wow. That's great advice. And at the end of the day is probably just that perception, I guess, that, you know, the kind of the legal sector is almost unapproachable from that standpoint. So that's great to hear. That's great to hear that advice, that recommendation and you know, the little plug for that South Florida tech scene has just been growing tremendously.
[00:30:06] Through the last couple of years, it's super exciting to see a lot of that growth from Nesta standpoint in the innovation and the technology sector. Last but not least our share with us, your content diet. As I like to call that, what are you consume on a daily basis? What are your sources for learning?
[00:30:22] What are you reading? Any sources that you could share with us, or maybe favorite books?

[00:30:27] Pablo Quesada: [00:30:27] We'd love to hear that. You know what I read so much during the day. I mean, if you would have asked me if you would have told me when I started my legal career, how much reading and writing, and you would think that, you know, I should have known that, but no, I spend my day reading.
[00:30:41] So honestly, I find it very difficult to get into you know, doing some light reading on the side. Although I actually, now I am reading I am re I'm reading a book on the Apostle Paul. Not so much from a theological perspective, but from almost like a historical perspective and really more of a focus on the cities that you know, who was a missionary effectively.
And so it's been pretty interesting, and having done that and not having done it in some time, you know I can't wait to finish and start my next historical, you know, I won't do fiction, but something nonfiction, something historical, something going back in the middle ages or something would be interesting to me just because, you know, I forgot how enjoyable it is to go back and have somebody really be able to recount a period of time and put it in perspective.
[00:31:33] But it's pretty great too, to be doing that. And then from a content perspective, the internet is just really an amazing thing, right? So I love just social media because I love the fact that I can go on LinkedIn and I can say you posted an article or something that caught your attention and I can read it.
[00:31:55] And I learned so much from the information that is being put out by people that I respect in the community. So I would say that my largest source is almost like a referral network, you know? So it's just an opportunity to see what somebody else found interesting. And so it's like having a friend refer to you a book, so it's great.
And so that's effectively where I get a lot of my content from.

[00:32:23] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:32:23] Oh, that's great. Thanks for sharing that. I can definitely relate to, you know, kind of that referral network as you'd like to call it that for certain kind of group of people that you know, that I follow on a lot of the different social media channels and a good bulk of content that I consume is kind of the referrals from those sources.
[00:32:40] Well, that's definitely relevant. You're very busy. We really appreciate your recommendations and insights today. A lot of free legal advice, actually for a lot of our listeners. I personally learned quite a bit through this very short and powerful conversation. Definitely looking forward to staying in touch with you.
[00:32:55] And perhaps we can do another episode in the near future to see how much you've changed, transpired, then things have changed. So definitely appreciate that.

[00:33:02] Pablo Quesada: [00:33:02] Absolutely. Thanks for having me on the podcast. It's been excellent and I look forward to it because as you mentioned, we are on a tech boom here in South Florida. So it's exciting. And we do have a lot of startups, so I wish you well continued success and hopefully we'll talk soon.

[00:33:14] Jahn Karsybaev: Thank you for listening to the Ivy podcast. Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed on Ivypodcast.com and all major podcasting platforms like Spotify and iTunes. As always, if you enjoyed this podcast, please give us a rating on iTunes.

How to Become Better at Sales with Leo Toledo

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Leo Toledo resides in Miami Florida with his wife and two young sons. He is the founder and CEO of Masterminds Consulting, Inc (MCI), a Sandler Training center. With 17 years of outbound and inbound selling experience, Leo has earned his recognition as a top producing sales professional. Drawing from his own experience in sales and the founder of MCI, he works with clients to improve sales performance, overall sales strategies, and personal and professional development.

Viewed as an emerging leader in the field of sales and customer service, Leo demonstrates through MCI’s training programs his vast understanding of core challenges that limit sales growth within an organization. While he has in depth sales knowledge and experience contributing to the bottom line of the organizations he has worked for, Leo also has experience driving performance through leading and managing sales teams. Drawing from his sales expertise in the field and coupling that with the experience of leading sales teams, Leo illustrates his capabilities through training, leading seminars, blogging, and producing daily content on sales and related subjects via major Social Media platforms.

Leo’s client list stretches to over 2,500+ loyal customers within his selling tenure and he successfully contributed to 30% YOY growth in sales in his previous career. His approach to his sales and business now ranges from mastering behavior models coupled with advanced selling techniques. Mastering the art of a winning attitude and the science of sales are the forefront of his approach.

Ben Dickinson – Director, Talent Acquisition, Americas at Citrix

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Ben Dickinson leads Talent Acquisition for the Americas at Citrix Systems in Fort Lauderdale, FL where he guides a team of recruiters and sourcers to fulfill the talent needs of an leader in the virtualization, cloud, security and networking space. A career spanning over 15 years in Talent Acquisition, Ben has led TA functions in enterprise organizations, high growth mid-sized companies and start up environments in enterprise technology, fintech and consumer services. He has a passion for talent acquisition technology and the role that it plays in the future of recruiting efficiency and candidate identification as well as evolving the recruiting function from a tactical process to a business partnership by leveraging data analysis and insights to engage his internal clients.

A graduate of Florida Atlantic University and past Board Member and Chair of the National Alumni Association, Ben resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL with his family and enjoys running, golf and the opportunity to coach various youth sports teams through his son’s involvement.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Ben Dickinson: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Ben Dickinson, director of talent, acquisition Americas at Citrix system in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

[00:00:50] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:50] Ben, thanks so much for finding time. Join us on the Ivy Podcast on this Friday afternoon. Glad to connect with you at the beginning of 2021, a lot going on. Great start, interesting start to the year. So thanks for finding time. Tell us a little bit more about your background professionally, where you come from career wise, and then I'll want to spend a couple of minutes talking about your current role.

[00:01:13] Ben Dickinson: [00:01:13] Cool. Yeah, absolutely. And thanks very much for having me. I appreciate it. So, as I mentioned, I'm Ben Dickinson. I'm currently the director of talent acquisition Americans @ Citrix, but I had spent my whole career recruiting human resources. I went to Florida Atlantic university here down in South Florida and initially joined a boutique staffing firm based in Boca right after graduation. I wasn't like many people, I think I fell into recruiting, had a little bit of experience of it for some college days actually. But found that it was something that suited my sales skills. Bye. Enjoyment of just connecting with people and finding out about people. And it's something that I think all workers do from the beginning of their career, right? If you enjoy making connections and understanding how you can fit someone's skillset to a job or introduce them to somebody now making a successful recruiter. So after a few years focusing primarily in HR search at that firm, I ended up getting hired by one of my clients at first and worked for one of their large regional facilities down here in South Florida. And grew my career in corporate recruiting at first data, got a lot of exposure. I was really fortunate to get to go work for a global company like that, you find through my career. Anyway, I found, I went from large organizations to small organizations to sized high growth organizations. And I found that to be a really fun journey because you get things like in the big companies, tons of resources, great systems, great tools. And then I flip it over to a mid-sized company that was in a really high growth mode and help establish a TA function at that organization. We have slightly different experiences, from an employment standpoint, not as many tools and systems and not as much budget but the ability to influence and change things if you want. And that's also really fun. And then I went back for a short stint in the agency world and opened up a division for a company down here in South Florida really leveraging my network of folks that you've done here at South Florida. And then that a year ago joined Citrix to run talent acquisition for the Americans.

[00:03:25] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:03:25] Oh, that's exciting. Quite a journey you have, and I can definitely relate to going from corporate fortune 500 organization to smaller company boutique shop. And I've gone through a very similar journey, so I can definitely relate to all the different experiences. I'm actually a part of a much smaller startup that we've been building in stealth mode coming from Citrix, from ultimate software, very big companies. So definitely a very interesting perspective. From that standpoint, as far as your current role being ahead of TA, tell us a little bit more about what really falls on there, your purview. We all tend to think generalize, it's just an HR function and that says, so just want to get a little bit deeper understanding for our listeners, what really falls under kind of that talent acquisition role.

[00:04:09] Ben Dickinson: [00:04:09] Absolutely. Yeah. So the TA function when the organization and Citrix is quite robust, we have a number of different departments inside talent acquisition. So I run what we consider to be the delivery side of that. I lead a team of about 25 and recruiters, sourcers and university recruiters. And our responsibility is the mechanism of filling the requisitions that come through and open it up in the organization. We have internally here in TA regions and a whole centers of excellence team that covers TA, marketing, HR, and data. We've got sourcing and diversity and inclusion as well as key components. But for me and my responsibility, my team we're a team of recruiters that are partnering with the business to help them identify the right talent and bring talent to them so that they can make some hires and build their teams out.

[00:05:05] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:05:05] Oh, that's exciting. You guys are on the forefront. And I've been on both sides of that equation, where I was a hiring manager and then on the staffing side as well. So it's very definitely, completely different sides when you actually hire people that will actually help the organization find and source and recruit folks. So definitely critical mission responsibilities there. So you've been in talent acquisition for most of your career, obviously, built up quite an expertise there. Share with us, any trends or ideas that really excite you in this space? What do you think is the next big thing? What are you researching? What are you passionate about? Maybe what are you looking to invest in? Just curious to get your take on that.

[00:05:48] Ben Dickinson: [00:05:48] So I see that as a short or long term question really, right. So I think today and what most TA organizations, if they haven't already started to make this shift. Becoming a data-driven partnership organization is crucial to our success inside an organization inside of a larger company. So the things that we're doing here at Citrix is ensuring that we can partner with the business and help educate them on things like market conditions, talent, reliability and the talent pools that are out there for them when they go to search compensation information, right? So our recruiters are no longer just order takers at their, they're not just showing up saying, tell me what kind of job profile you want to see, and then go off and try and find the talent we need to come to those meetings. And he sort of from a partnership lens and wants to try and help educate the business as to what's happening out in the industry, in the market right now as many people know. I mean, even though we have pretty high unemployment numbers, there is a real challenge to find the specific talent that a lot of companies are looking for. And we feel that Citrix significantly wouldn't use a specific technology experience or Pacific sales experience, for example. So we have to be able to help partner with the business and help them understand. Some of the challenges that are out there and how we might better market those roles and use the information that we have available to us. So the data that we can show past performance and help get from the business on that. From a long term standpoint, what I'm personally most fascinated about is how technology has been to change the way we work. And I mean that from recruiting the TA technology standpoint, there's a lot of really interesting stuff that has been coming out in recent years. But whether it be AI, screeners, resourcing pools and I do wonder how that finds its place eventually in all large TA organizations. We've been exploring a lot of that, whether it's just front end, this aspect tools. So how can we better get through the funnel? We have examples of open positions where we'll get 500 applications almost immediately for a role. So how do I help enable my recruiter to get through those 500 applications without having to individually click through them? And then we layer in just the concept of being fair and inclusive in that process. Right? So, I mean, can we find tools that help us do that versus just relying on an individual and what maybe their own personal biases may be when they're looking at those resumes? So that's something that I find really interesting. And I know we're spending a lot of time talking to potential partners in creating that whether that's something to help ease the recruiters workload on the front end or it's something that helps us go out and find right talent out in the marketplace. Right? So some sourcing tools where we can say this is an ideal profile, go do it. A lot of the systems that we use today use LinkedIn for an example of sourcing. Well, we're still relying on the recruiters to enter in a lot of those search terms and manually handle that process. So how can we accelerate that for them and make it a little bit quicker so we can deliver it for the business, you to the business faster as well.

[00:09:03] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:09:03] Right. No, that's exciting. Definitely very interesting trends. And it sounds like that initial screening, that initial evaluation process, it's very labor intensive and it's very in terms of just going through every single application and being able to funnel that and come up with almost a short list of the candidates for a particular role, if there's any type of technology that can really help streamline that process, sounds like we'll definitely help from that person.

[00:09:34] Ben Dickinson: [00:09:34] it's crazy. It's, there's not a one size fits all solution in that, right. Where we have pockets, where we see higher volume, maybe we have a solution there. But then once we get to a certain level of let's call it a developer, right, an engineer. I wouldn't be able to send them to a front end assessment to evaluate if they're any good, because then we would lose the interest of the candidates. When you get to a certain level in your career, not that interested. Yeah, playing games on the front end. Right? So it's being able to create solutions that will work for specific parts of the business, but being our focus is on how can we leverage technology to get better at what we do to not just make our jobs easier, but like, are we finding the best talent for what the business needs.

[00:10:18] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:10:18] For sure for sure. No, definitely. That makes sense, which brings me to another point. You mentioned the use of technology. Share with us any tools or any software and your particular technology that you guys are currently leveraging that really helps you elevate your performance, operational efficiency, or anything that you actually wish that existed. And then something that would definitely help you guys out from that standpoint, curious to get your take on that role of technology.

[00:10:47] Ben Dickinson: [00:10:47] Yeah. So we're fortunate enough to have a really robust ATS system. Here at Citrix, we use Workday and it's fully integrated throughout the rest of the HRS stack here at central, too. So, I think from an experienced standpoint, we do a pretty good job, right? There's always room for improvement on how we onboard people and we bring people into the organization and communicate with candidates. But overall speaking, right, when you have a fully integrated anti-Western HRS platform, it helps when it comes to just the new hire paperwork and all kinds of the basics that make your first week on the job, really smooth and easier, maybe, pre day one on top of that. So we use Yellow as our CRM, our sourcing CRM platform. And that's really beneficial in the sourcing organization that we have stood up here. We unleashed the sourcing Oregon, a couple of different ways. So we have kind of our standard planning efforts that we know we've got wolves that we regularly have to fill, right? Whether it be certain technology, development roles or sales was one of the kinds of customer groups when it comes to things that say they have the highest volume of needs. So what we spent a lot of time pipelining and then no drip campaign, just to keep warm, campaigns getting interaction with the managers is that pipeline as well, to make sure that they're engaged. And it's not just a cold lead list sitting out on the side. And then we also want to use the sourcing team when it comes to high needs, right? So hard to build position, super unique skill set that we know is going to be difficult for us to find. We don't want just one recruiter working on that. Let's try and get some extra hands in there to help do the lifting CRM platform, like that's been really helpful to us. We use calendar on and LinkedIn talent insights as some of our advisory tools for managers. So, I went there as an enterprise customer and I think that's table stakes nowadays in the recruiting world. That's where a lot of people are going to have to find their talent. And use that as a sourcing platform for sure. But then also I find the talent insights and also the talent neuron, which is a gardener tool is another one that we leveraged to try and pull information. So when we go to that kickoff meeting, right, so we no longer call it an intake meeting, Garrett Cedric's. We refuse to use the term intake because that's more of a tactical conversation. So when a recruiter gets a new requisition, They go to a hiring manager and they have an advisory conversation about, here's what the market looks like for the role that you're looking to fill. Here's some data that I'm bringing to the conversation that shows what talent availability is, what the market's paying. How does that compare to what we're looking for? And that I think is a great first step in us creating that partnership with the business and not just looking like a service arm of the organization. And then we are, as I mentioned, I mean we're entertaining a number of different assessment tools right now. So we use today a hacker for rent and coder which is all like a tool in one paper rank is a great front end platform for us to assess more entry-level development, talent engineering, talent and then code pair is there kind of partner piece that allows us to do virtual white boarding sessions and really online interviewing or the virtual interviewing program where we had a lot of noise in the beginning of COVID. Threw everyone for a loop, right. We all had to very quickly become a virtual workforce. Thankfully Citrix or the business that we're in, I think we were really well-prepared for that. And it was just a matter of making sure everyone was using the workspace. If we had virtualized desktops almost immediately, but highly managers, right, had a lot of interesting challenges too. I mean, they'll go to the engineering side where they were used to meeting candidates face to face and having real life, white boarding sessions. They want to see a design drawn out how you think and what your methodology is. And they're like, well, we can't do this now. What do we do? And so having a tool like code pair that allows us to do virtual white boarding sessions is really helpful. And then layering in assessments where they make sense. But when we talk about that future technology, that's where I've been spending a lot of time and talking to vendors and considering your partners, do we have AI tools that will help us quickly get through these large candidates? Pools and find really top talent for us to, to identify so we can speed up the process because time is money. The longer a hiring manager has their requisition open. Yeah, the more frustrated they get and it does cost of business. We see that a lot in sales, right? So one of the metrics that we track heavily in sales is actually their time to start versus our time to fill where, and you see that a lot in teaching in general, right. Then kind of table stakes. It's either time to fill. How long has it taken us to fill racks? We've switched that metric over to the sales organization to make sure that we're focused heavily on when do we have that salesperson? In the seat starting to work because that's when they can start counting for some revenue tied to that job. And that's how we can impact the business, right. If we can get sales people in there faster, then they can start making money for the company faster and we all win.

[00:15:55] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:15:55] Right. No, absolutely. Those are very interesting perspectives. Thanks for sharing. A lot of the tools that you guys are using leveraging for your operations. You mentioned some technical assessment tools. I may have some recommendations for you outside of this conversation. So there's no bias, there's no promotion but really good friends of mine will actually appear on the show. They are the founders of four different tools, in the assessment space. So definitely very interesting.

[00:16:23] Ben Dickinson: [00:16:23] Yeah. I think I know what you're talking about now. We had a presentation a couple, probably two months ago when we were hot and heavy on that.

[00:16:29] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:16:29] Yeah, there's quite a few in that space really evolved, especially through the past year with the pandemic.

[00:16:44] Ben Dickinson: [00:16:44] I think that really elevated the need for those types of tools. So definitely there's quite a few very interesting players. So definitely gonna share that with you. One of the things that I uncovered during those conversations, right? It's almost not that it's easy to land on a technical assessment tool. There are a lot of choices out in the market, and then I think they all bring certain value and you have certain negatives to them each. But it's also we had other customer groups inside the company that were wondering how they might also leverage assessments. And so outside of tech, right? So, in tech you can have. Sort of a yes, no response, right? Does this individual possess these skills? Do they know how to code in this language? Or what have you when you get into the software with us, with that, a lot of managers find that they have, maybe they feel a little bit more comfortable at face-to-face interactions uncovering some of that stuff. How do we assess for that? And that's been an interesting riddle as we've gone through these conversations with these different partners as well, and do we decide to go down that road or not? So there is out on that, but still trying to explore it.

[00:17:39] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:17:39] Yeah, but that makes sense. It would be really nice to have a comprehensive solution that encompasses different divisions within the organization. So it's not just one dimensional like this, because then it becomes from a vendor management perspective and disparate systems in place. It's definitely a challenge. So you can definitely relate to what you're talking about. You briefly mentioned some extremely challenging roles, very difficult roles to find curious to get your take on what are those types of roles? What is the most in demand yet? Very difficult to find the reason why I'm asking this question because the portion of our listeners is early stage career professionals and all the second year MBA. So, just entering the workforce and a lot of questions we get from them is around that particular aspect, which, what roles are in very high demand and very hard to find, like if I was to invest my time and resources into learning, where should I go? What should I do? So, I'd love to hear your take on from that perspective, get a PhD in data science. That's my recommendation. If you're in college, data that is huge. That is huge. It is. And you can be surprised what those jobs pay initially, especially right out of school, it's always a running joke on TA. As you have access and exposure to all the differences, you're working on positions and you're seeing what people are getting paid more than once. So if I heard a recruiter say to me, man, I really should have gotten into this. Right? Like, it's awesome to see someone graduate right away and make so much money. For us where I see the biggest lift that it's your real challenge to find the right talent for us. Security is probably number one. Yeah, I wrestled with this, I actually thought about that conversation with the team members recently. And we were talking about this cloud and cloud engineering, there is always the challenge, right? That's a hot topic. A lot of organizations particularly the tech space has moved that direction. But one of the benefits you see in the cloud side is, and then you've got AWS. You have Azure, you've got folks, sometimes different skills, but organizations, a lot of times are happy to take someone who maybe comes from a different platform and are willing to train on theirs. Right? They're not vastly different. So at least the talent pool, you can kind of cross and have like skills and just go pull someone. Then maybe that has Indian, US background for a national job, but insecurity there's we don't have that benefit. So you really see a shallow talent pool insecurity. And now that has become the number one topic, right? I mean, it's on a monthly basis, you can find an article about another organization. That's had a major security breach and it is viewed as a number one. I mean, I'm sure, if you look back in the last 10 years, the amount of CSO roles that have opened up in organizations in that time. Which was a job that didn't really exist prior to that. And that is during the entire organization dedicated to security. So for us, and we have that too, right. So we have a massive organization just dedicated to that. As we've got networking solutions, cloud solutions, staff solutions, and all those things that we need to make sure we provide a secure environment to our customers. That means that we've got to work real hard on that. And I know from a TA standpoint, security is definitely one of the biggest challenges to find the talent. The other side of it. I mean, we get some real niche skill sets, machine learning, AI, like a lot of that kind of the newer stuff where you don't get folks that have a ton of depth. If any years of experience, or even the managers sometimes have very little experience in some of these technologies. Right? So it's hard to find someone with five years of a really robust machine learning experience when the technology hasn't been around that long. Or has just barely, recently elastic search was one that. I had heard, talked about and that's like, even just you're talking like emerging tech, right. The stuff that just pops up and they're like, Hey, we need a bunch of people that can do this. And you're like, I've never heard of that. So you spend time trying to try to find that and look it up those are kind of the core areas from a technology standpoint. I think data is key, right? I mean, even NTA that there's been a massive transition from how we used to run talent acquisition, even when I think back in early parts of my career and how we reported out on things versus what we have today. I mean, we have a TIDI team here in central. That is dedicated. It's not just one person or anything that needs to be in this group dedicated to creating the dashboards that we need, making sure the data is crisp so that we can go and pull it out. And then if we have adjustments or new inquiries that we need to make, so anyone that comes with a data background is going to have and that doesn't, I don't really need to get a data science degree, which of course might be writing yourself a blank check in many ways. I mean, I think, when it comes to earning potential and need in the market, that's a great degree path. But at the same time, if you are an individual, that's not necessarily going down that path. Getting yourself familiar with it and trying to expose yourself as much as possible to data analytics and being able to speak to the numbers like that, I think is going to make you different in the candidate pool side of things. And that's very true in something like talent acquisition, and it always used to just be a soft skill thing, right? Can tend the person to talk and they pick up the phone and, and call candidates. We can teach them how to serve. Now can you analyze and then advise our customer base, right. And being able to look at the reports that we can see and make assumptions from that, and then show our clients and advise them properly on it, I think will be really helpful.

[00:23:22] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:23:22] That's very interesting. The very last point that you just made. I've been hearing a lot of that and I interview a lot of executives from different companies. And when we talk about very niche skill sets and which ones are difficult to find and so forth, yes, the themes are very similar. Data advanced tech cybersecurity, all of that, but also the other aspect of that from the soft skills perspective. Yes, the technical skills, they're important, but they evolve, like you said different technologies emerge and stuff like that. So for a very successful candidate, to be able to pair that up with an extremely robust set of soft skills, emotional IQ, being able to articulate complex problems in a simple matter, I think, be able to collaborate virtually with. Through the past year we saw the elevated need for that. I think those are the types of skill set. The combination of those becomes extremely important. And that's definitely exactly what you're talking about. So definitely thanks for sharing that insight.

[00:24:19] Ben Dickinson: [00:24:19] Yeah. That's definitely how a candidate would be able to differentiate themselves, particularly in any more soft skill driven role. So, that can apply. I mean, obviously finding it, but when you look at some of the sales, marketing, human resources, those groups, they're all trending that direction. And I used to have a sign in my office that said HR is the new IT 10 years ago. And it was kind of during that evolution of where organizations were all, it was me digitally, but companies were realizing quickly that the people that run the technology are far more important than the technology you just bought. Because it's immediately outdated. It needs to be customized and updated, et cetera. And I've seen that transition take place again recently when it comes to your data, right? So TA is no longer just spitting antidote anecdotes out to the business about man. It's really hard to find people, everyone I call just like this, right? Like we have to be able to bring a lot more to the table to help them understand what it is that we're doing and how we can better serve them.

[00:25:20] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:25:20] Absolutely. That makes perfect sense. It makes perfect sense. From, we've talked a little bit about the different tools that you use and techniques to find the best talent. You guys were in the news recently about one of your executives saying close to 600 jobs to be filled at Citrix, which is an insane, insane number. So, I'm assuming the bulk of the workload is going to be going to fall kind of on your group, your team, your division. So from a standpoint of utilizing different techniques or strategies or initiatives you have in place that would help you really attract the top talent to your organization. Aside from the tools that you've mentioned, anything that you could share with us in terms of different strategies in place to really target that specific talent and be able to actually attract them to your organization.

[00:26:15] Ben Dickinson: [00:26:15] So I think we're in a fortunate position with Citrix. So certainly when we look back at 2020, right? I mean, that's going to be the headline, I think for just about everyone. When we think about what happened in industry and we were fortunate enough, like I mentioned before, we're kind of in the business of desktop virtualization and helping people be able to work wherever they want whenever they want. So Citrix pivoted quickly when we had to move to the speed of the virtual environment. And I do think that helped us in some ways, too, right there wasn't really a ramp up period for us. It was just flipping a switch and everyone just started working for the workspace on their laptops. I also think that from a Kennedy attraction standpoint Citrix's name being in the headlines throughout 2020 in mainly positive ways, right? Like it's being a technology that has a place in an environment like we're living in right now helps tremendously individuals, I think frequently when they're thinking about making a job, they're not just talking, they don't just want to know what's the role that I play in the company, right? Like what is my job? But it's what's the company's future. What do they do? What impact do I have to the success for the company as we move forward? And fortunately I think if people can quickly see when we tell the Citrix story to them and what we're doing today and kind of our plans for the future, we are well positioned to be pretty successful in this environment, in this COVID environment which is great. We just had an announcement 48 hours ago, right? An acquisition of a kind of a content collaboration partner in a company called right on mountain California. That helps kind of close out a lot of our product offerings right back off. Is it offering, send out more and user offerings too, which is exciting. And that's part of the story our recruiters tell them we get on the phone with candidates and we talked to them, right. Is how do we engage those candidates and get them excited about that, so we created it earlier this year. And last year, sorry. What we call a TA business partner model and it mirrors a little bit of the HR business partner model. That's really popular in many organizations, right? When you sort of have an offended HR contact in the business, that gets a lot closer to the business functions. So they understand what's happening and they can help strategize around talent efforts.This is the same from a TA standpoint. So how do we embed ourselves into the business? And get to help predict the headcount needs. And the capital planning around these ways of business initiatives that are being created. So the 600 head hiring our engineering expansion, thankfully not globally. So it doesn't all sit on my shoulders. We've got a lot of development centers and organizations from Europe and Asia Pacific and in India as well. So thankfully it's pretty evenly distributed but we've got plenty of work happening with that too. And of those positions. So, one of the ways that we try to even tackle this, the struggle to find talent, is how do we develop talent from within, so a lot of early career programs I'm based here, right? So a really robust university recruiting program here, internship program, et cetera, when you are a lot of folks like even have that big number, a big chunk of that is going to be wanting two years of experience, early career. And then how can we help grow and develop those individuals? That's sometimes a lot easier, right? I mean, that certainly has its own challenges in hiring lots of individuals and developing them, et cetera. But sometimes a lot easier than going out and just trying to find a couple of really, really specific skill sets at a high level. So we've got internally, also a team marketing organization that I think has done a great job this year. And we're going to continue it into 2021 where we produce a lot of content that helps one thing that we've educated, our hiring managers on last year in 2020 was leveraging their network and helping them be a part of the solution versus just go to TA, had them bring you some candidates and you hire the one that you like. How can you be a part of that process? So if you're a hiring manager you don't have to do any heavy lift. We've got the videos produced. We've got a lot of our videos that highlighted leaders in the organization and the divisions that they run or any interesting news that's happening at Citrix. As well as other contents, that content right announced that there are things that we can create for the hiring managers. So we hand it over to them electronically and all they do have to do is just click the button to post it to their LinkedIn. And then that's getting out to their network that drives a ton of a fertile interest which has been really helpful to us. When we try, especially embark on one of these large campaigns, reach out to our alumni network to actually write. So if we had a crew of people that. And left in the last few years that fills certain roles that we know we're going to hire again in this big hiring push we'll circle back and reach out to those folks and say, Hey, this is what we've got going on now. I don't think it's going, for you over at Oracle or Microsoft or wherever you went, right? Like that was the grass greener or not. And I think a lot of people make those changes just because they want new challenges, but when great things are happening in organizations, they get excited. Maybe you want to come back to it. So those are some of the things that we do to try and tackle that.

[00:31:36] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:31:36] No, that's absolutely. Thanks for sharing those strategies. That seems like a very, very diverse spectrum from a strategic standpoint, not only focusing on specific tech skill set, but also investing a little bit further in, so that way, what we talked about that early stage career professionals and invest a little bit more in, so they're learning and so their growth because at the end of the day, some of the skillset and so such unicorn said that it's difficult to find that it makes probably more sense to bring somebody in with limited experience, but willing to learn something within those lines and kind of groom that skill set and internally. So that definitely makes perfect sense.

[00:32:15] Ben Dickinson: [00:32:15] You try and I try and find similarities, right? Where we have the same builder by right. When you talk about technology in organizations, they're faced with that challenge right in an IT department or something. I think you understand talent conversation, right? So is it easier to build or buy the talent? Can we go out and find some individuals that we can eventually get there? And they may not be there tomorrow, but we could eventually get there and we kind of groomed them the way we want or can we go out and just easily acquire that talent right now? I feel like obviously diversity and inclusion is going to be a big conversation in 2021. It has been in the past few years here in Tinder too, and we have an individual on the TA team that's dedicated to that center of excellence already. And I think we're fortunate enough at Citrix, we've been an individual on the HR leadership team as well, that runs diversity inclusion and belonging curates difference too. So we've had a lot of programming around that for many years, but when we talk about that from a TA standpoint, one of those the themes that has come up, a lot of those conversations is like, I think the fastest impact that we'll be able to have on diversity and inclusion is going to be at this early stage career side. Because some of the challenges that we have when it comes to technology, let's say right, 18 years, it's not that you can just wave a magic wand and solve all the diversity issues that you may have on your team, just based on the talent that's available. And so how can we help grow talent from within the organization that will go on to have green careers, whether it be at Citrix or other parts, but I think we can really tackle that pretty well, by doing that from an early career stage.

[00:33:51] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:33:51] Right. Absolutely. No, that's a great strategy. Definitely expands the pool and the opportunities to really kind of fill the roles that are not [00:34:00] necessarily with talent sitting on the bench and waiting to be available. So, absolutely. Ben last month, not at least in terms of your sources of information, your sources of learning, share with us, any tools, any blogs, any Twitter profiles that you follow? What is your daily source of information? What's your content diet?

[00:34:20] Ben Dickinson: [00:34:20] Yeah, so I try and consume a lot of content. I'm not spending as much time out of the house anymore, so it's a little bit harder, right? Like I used to throw podcasts off. We were driving the car around or something. It was easy to get things that way, now we're all stuck indoors. So we don't get as much as TA specific. So I mean, a bit of a, like a TA during, too, right. So I enjoy listening to folks that I think are interesting in that space. I like Tim Sackett a lot. John Leeka, I think is really interesting. He helped inform a lot of RTA business partner concepts as well. I think he's a really interesting mind in the TA space. I like James Brown a lot too. Tim Sackett has a podcast that I think is really funny. I even saw it this morning and sent an email out. I tend to gravitate towards the individuals that speak in more of a raw way. Like, so it's not just like Harvard Business Review stuff. I had an article when it's done, like why you're an idiot for checking references. And so that's enough to get me to click on it and dive in and say, okay, I want to hear his perspective on that. What's his take on that? I think Dre is a really good resource as well. If you're in the recruiting space anyway the electronic recruiting exchange has a great network here. You did that. And so I get their daily email and it's got a number of different blog topics and things like that. And then other content that I consume a couple of daily, like emails, this is a Water List and 1440, or like ones were kind of business related, but it comes from a lot of tech companies. So it helps me kind of stay informed of things like change at Intel, right. In the leadership, we talk about that a lot here internally, right? We've just got kind of a network of the TA folks that it's like, if you see something on the market that you say, Oh, Intel's just changed their leader and VMware up CEOs should have tripped over there. Let's talk about that, right? Like isn't there a talent implication there that opens up opportunities for us to go and try and poach talent from some of those organizations when they're about to go through big change. So we try to keep the team communicating about that pretty regularly in our staff meetings and whatnot. But those are probably the top ones for me that I've got a lot of entertainment stuff. He listed Joe Rogan and whatnot, but right. And of course The Cast, right.

[00:36:45] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:36:45] Yeah. It's definitely going to be a bookmark after this. I appreciate it. Last but not least what's a book that you always recommend to others and why is that?

[00:37:00] [00:37:00] Ben Dickinson: [00:37:00] Yeah. So number one for me is Good Leaders Ask Great Questions, like I said I love it. Yeah. It's, I mean, I'm excited a lot anyway. I follow him also, but that book has spoken to me ever since it came out years ago, five years ago or whatever it was, it's been my guidepost as far as management is concerned and leading the team that we have here. And I see the benefits of it, right? I mean, if you've got a team of champions that will work hard for you and respect you and appreciate you because you've provided that appreciation to them. And just showing the team that you care about them and you'll do what's possible to protect them from the external challenges that they have sometimes, right? Whether that's a hiring manager, that's wanting to scream at somebody or other outside forces, I've just found that there's a ton of benefit. If you can build a team that you have that level of trust with, and they know that you'll fight for them, then they'll fight for you. And it's a lot easier when you get 600 reps coming through from the engineering department and you have to tell everybody, Hey, listen, this probably means that we're going to be working this weekend. And we've got some heavy lifting to do. They're willing to do it because they know your back has their back. And so I think that's from a leadership standpoint, that's been my guideline.

[00:38:19] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:38:19] Oh, that's awesome. I love that recommendation. And for our listeners, we'll make that title available in the episode notes then can't thank you enough for your time today. Lots of great insights personally learned quite a bit. Appreciate you being so generous with that information, definitely gonna stay in touch with you and perhaps we're going to do another episode later this year or next. And to see how much has changed, how much has transpired so much. Appreciate it.

[00:38:43] Ben Dickinson: [00:38:43] Yeah, absolutely. Likewise. I mean, it's been really nice talking to you. We probably could have gone for two hours today, so yeah, exactly. You wanna stay here? This is my favorite stuff to talk about, but we'd like to circle back in the future and CDM to some of my predictions are right. Like if we've been taken over by AI and chatbots, but yeah, it's been really nice chatting with you and I look forward to staying in touch.

Cultivating Meaningful Relationships and Belonging in the Workplace with Adam Smiley Poswolsky, Author, Speaker, and Millennial Workplace Expert

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Adam Smiley Poswolsky is a millennial workplace expert, internationally renowned keynote speaker, and author of three books: The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, The Breakthrough Speaker, and Friendship in the Age of Loneliness.

Smiley helps companies attract, retain, and empower the next generation, and he has inspired thousands of professionals to be more connected at work, through speaking at companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, Unilever, Deloitte, and Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Smiley’s TED talk on “the quarter-life crisis” has been viewed over 1.5 million times, and he has spoken in front of 50,000 people in 20 countries. Smiley has advised heads of state and foreign leaders about millennial talent, multigenerational engagement, and fostering belonging in the digital age.

Smiley’s work has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fast Company, CNN, and the World Economic Forum, among many other outlets. Smiley is a 13-time camp counselor at Camp Grounded: Summer Camp for Adults and advisory board member for Digital Detox.

In 2017, Smiley launched The Women, BIPOC and Inclusivity Speaker Initiative, a community that aims to increase the number of women and people of color speaking at conferences and companies, as well as ensure that women and other underrepresented speakers are paid competitively as compared to their colleagues. The group now has over 4,000 members.

Smiley is a proud graduate of Wesleyan University, and can usually be found dancing in San Francisco, California.

Topics:

Smiley’s journey to becoming a millennial workplace expert.
How pursuing things you care about can open up opportunities aligned with your values.
What companies get wrong about building an engaged workforce.
The challenges of building meaningful relationships at work.
The reason we are more disconnected than ever despite technological advances.
What leaders can do to reduce loneliness and increase belonging in a remote workplace.
Common misconceptions people have about loneliness.

Resources:

Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope by Johann Hari

Strategies on the Effective Implementation of Product Management with Johnny Quach – CPTO at Hostelworld

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Johnny Quach is the CPTO at Hostelworld Group where he leads 120 people over a variety of functional areas. Previously, he was at Airhelp, a Y Combinator startup from 2014, where he helped scale the company from 400 to 800 people while creating over 400% growth over his 3 years there. He is passionate about making big impact — fast.
After only six months at Rocket Internet, he launched three companies from scratch, operating across Germany, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Brazil, Malaysia, and the UK.
Fun Facts: He was a professional poker player for 2 years, his dance team won America’s Best Dance Crew Season 2, and he was a Master ranked Starcraft 2 player”.

Topics:

The evolving role of product management
Strategic recommendations on building a robust product vision
Collaboration of Project Management and Product Management teams

Episode transcription:

Thank you for listening to Ivy podcast, where we feature weekly leadership conversations with thought leaders and industry experts. Now here's your host bread, OB arrow.

[00:00:55]Fred Obiero: [00:00:55] Hello and welcome to the Ivy podcast. My guest today is Johnny Quach, he is the chief product officer at hussle world. Hey Johnny. Good to have you on

[00:01:07] Johnny Quach: [00:01:07] Glad to be on, happy to be here.

[00:01:09] Fred Obiero: [00:01:09] Johnny is sitting in Lisbon, Portugal. What's the time difference, Johnny? I'm on the East coast of Florida

[00:01:16] Johnny Quach: [00:01:16] Right about now it's probably 2:30 PM. So I'm on the UK time zone.

[00:01:22] Fred Obiero: [00:01:22] Oh, great. For all listeners that may be unfamiliar with Johnny, he has speaking events that he's had posted out on YouTube. So if you've got an opportunity, feel free to go and take a listen to him. I personally listen to a few of them and they are very interesting. I liked the one you talked about AI in the travel industry. So maybe that's a topic for a future podcast.

[00:01:45] Johnny Quach: [00:01:45] Absolutely. I think in general technology is really changing the world. That's an obvious statement, but I think people don't realize how much of the world has already kind of run. And machine learning is really just one aspect, but there are so many other kinds of big innovations happening. And I think the thing with technology is when it innovates faster than its predecessors. So that rapid pace of changes it's just creating all kinds of opportunities in the world that some people are taking advantage of and others, and there's still many pockets of things to do, I think.

[00:02:16] Fred Obiero: [00:02:16] Great. So Johnny, tell us about yourself and a little bit about your role at hustle world.

[00:02:22] Johnny Quach: [00:02:22] Yeah. So I actually started my career as a videogame designer. I went to school for graphic design and concept art. So I mainly focused on actually producing drawings and illustrations and monsters and cars for video games.That was my kind of passion when I was a kid. So I worked in video games as an assistant kind of concept artist for about a year. So I didn't really find it to be super fitting to what I wanted to do. Long-term so I ended up actually starting a t-shirt company for about a year with a good friend. After about a year, we ended up hitting each other. And from there I actually took, which is very common for your first startup of any type, and after that I took the kind of designs that I had and I made a portfolio out of it. And I started working in fashion for about eight or nine years. And in fashion I worked for a bunch of skate surf companies Quicksilver, Roxy, rip, curl icon, all kinds of stuff. And just right at the end of 2007 or something like that I decided I wanted to do something a bit more independent. So then I started playing poker professionally because I thought that would give me the most financial freedom as well as freedom to live, where I am. But the funny thing about starting your own business or playing poker professionally, or being a consultant or a freelancer, is that you don't actually get that much time off. So all your free time goes back into growing your business or growing your skill set or whatever. During that time around 2007, that's when the iPhone came out and the world literally just changed in front of me. So we went from a world where people would think about tech companies as websites to a world where people started thinking about applications and apps as products. And during that time I took a few swings at building a big company, and I had a good friend who moved to Shanghai at the time. So we tried building multiple starts based on the Chinese audience at the time because we thought that was really interesting. And so we took a couple of swings at that. We didn't really get it right. But that's really where I got my start in thinking about product and product management. And at that time, that terminology was still not a common role. From there, I worked at a mobile ad agency where I worked on a wallet solution that was a competitor to Google Pay and Apple wallets. And after that I worked at a company called match.com as a product manager, and they're the owners of Tinder and OkCupid. So one of the biggest stating properties in the world. And shortly after that, I had a strange scenario where I just felt like, well, I've grown up all my life and I've worked on my life in Los Angeles.If I don't try living somewhere else at this point, I'll probably live here forever. So at that point I had a travel bug and there were some opportunities. And so I ended up moving to Berlin, Germany, where I worked for a company called Rocket Internet, and Rocking at the time and still is a very big presence in the tech community in Europe. But they're one of the biggest tech companies at the time, if not the biggest, and they were turning out new startups constantly. So I was there for two years, just building companies all across the world, really from Singapore to London, to Germany, to just all over the place. And that was really kind of high velocity two years of my first two years in Berlin, from there, I joined a company called Air Help, which is a YCombinator company from 2014. And I joined the company of around 400 people as a VP of product. And we brought it to about 800-850 people. And then I left as a chief product officer there. Shortly after that I joined the company Hostile World, which is where I am currently. And I currently lead as the chief product officer, as well as the chief technology officer, where I manage all the engineering, all the technology, product, design data data science, and just an array of different functions.And from here we're trying to build the future of travel for the millennial audience.

[00:06:04] Fred Obiero: [00:06:04] That's the wonderful introduction. If you don't mind me asking, when you moved to Germany, did you speak any German?

[00:06:10] Johnny Quach: [00:06:10] No. And my wife is German and I lived there for five and a half years. And still yet my German level is quite depressing.

[00:06:20] Fred Obiero: [00:06:20] What about your Portuguese now that you're in Portugal?

[00:06:21] Johnny Quach: [00:06:21] Oh, that's even more challenging to say, no Portuguese. We're just going to take a little while I think. Yeah, it's going to take quite a commitment for myself to really learn it. My wife's actively learning it right now, but hopefully one day I'll be able to speak German. That's the first step I think.

[00:06:40] Fred Obiero: [00:06:40] Yeah,that's very impressive. Being multilingual is one of the things that is not easy, but we know once you accomplish it, that's when you understand that you can say the same thing and two or three different languages, it's not an easy thing to do.

[00:06:54] Johnny Quach: [00:06:54] Yeah, I think someone said something to me when I first came to Germany, which is they're quite surprised why I didn't learn German and I was nonchalant about it. But I think the statement they made is that when you speak a different language, you really do learn to think a different way because vocabulary and the way we speak really drives our thinking of problems and things like that. And this statement. Really struck out with me and I believe there's a lot to think about there. And you can really relate that idea to really thinking about programming as a language, right? So typically engineers will think about problems in a certain way. A marketing person would think about something in another way. And just thinking about the different ways to think about the same thing. It's insane. So your language and your vocabulary does dictate your ability to adapt to different situations.

[00:07:39] Fred Obiero: [00:07:39] That's good to know. So the question regarding products, so many companies are now adopting product management into their product development operations. What is the role of product management in your estimation and what are some of the best approaches to implementing it for companies that may be unfamiliar with the concept?

[00:07:58] Johnny Quach: [00:07:58] Yeah. I think there's a lot of extra forces here that will kind of define my answer and bring a bit clarity to it. So at the highest level, I think product management is simply, put it just, you want to create an app, you want to find opportunities to create impact in a company. Opportunity is defined as expected impact divided by costs over time and impact is defined as moving a key metric that matters to your company. Sometimes that's revenue, sometimes it's user growth, sometimes that's retention, whatever. So you're always looking for opportunities to create impact. That is the main and top priority of a product manager in any role at any company. The forces at play though and one kind of movement you can clearly see in technology is that writing code and building products, creating features and building companies. It's just so much easier. And every single month, I think that trend only accelerates. So building an Airbnb, let's say product today. It's very possible within a few weeks. Right? So all these things make the development part of product management easier. Which begs the question that if you are saving time and resources on the engineering piece of the work, what should you be spending that additional time on? And so that is always about looking for opportunities to create additional impact. And because of this, one thing that I think a product manager should always be, is extremely flexible and adaptable to the scenario. And oftentimes we think of product managers owning a singular product for an infinite amount of time. But I think that world is not the case anymore. And if you look at any product manager, their career, typically they're changing products every year or even six months. And definitely two years. It's very rare to see one person work on one product for more than two years. And that's because our ability to context switch our ability to develop different features and use different technology is just accelerated. So it accelerates our need to be stagnant in the things we're thinking about day to day.

[00:10:07] Fred Obiero: [00:10:07] Great. What strategic recommendations can you share with us on how to go about building a robust product vision that a company can follow so that their product vision aligns with the company's strategic visions?

[00:10:20] Johnny Quach: [00:10:20] Yeah, I think the best way to do this is actually to think about. It is actually to think about all your functions in a company, HR, marketing, sales, product engineering, and you really want to align everyone on the company strategy. And that is critical because I think traditionally we've always run companies as a society as there's a company. And then there are different skill sets and those skill sets do their own functions. And then we contribute to the overall success of the company. But I think what you will see with more modern companies. Is that every single function exists for the same vision as the overall company. And so skillsets, departments and org structures become less important, which is why you see so much innovation in Oregon, organizational structures in general, there are companies with no or design which is the extreme case. And there are some that have an org structure that changes every year, every six months. And clearly you can see that the most innovative companies constantly reviewed these things. So I think to build a concrete product strategy, number one, you need to build a compelling company strategy and all functions don't think about contribution to that strategy, but they think about themselves as that strategy. And as that vision. And I think that is the key way to prevent any kind of siloed thinking. It'll also just prevent a lot of content strong contention, discussions of is a good for the product. Is it good for the business? You need to kind of align those things at the very beginning, at the very impetus of your company, because that just makes decision making so much faster, which then creates a higher velocity in output as an entire organization.

[00:12:06] Fred Obiero: [00:12:06] You said something quite interesting there, that some organizations tend to change their reporting structure every six months or every year. Is this something that has shown value to the product management industry in your opinion?

[00:12:22] Johnny Quach: [00:12:22] Yes. I think there is a growing trend that it feels like if you have a strong individual product manager, that person can solve a huge variety of different problems.That person can go into a problem space and deduce a solution, even if the problem and the solution is not technical or engineering or even technology. And I think that's interesting because if you think about every function from HR to finance, everything is getting productized and every function has a ton of products to use, which is interesting. Even customer service, there's 1,000,001 customer chat applications as an option. So when you have all of these things as technologies that enable higher productivity in your functions, the general idea comes up as well. You probably want someone who understands how these products work and how you can leverage them to the best of your ability. And so what product managers, I think a very strong product manager has the ability to context, which, but really identify problems at a first principle level and come up with solutions that are high velocity and low effort. And so highly high leverage outcomes. And so I think product managers and you'll see this now you'll see titles of product manager PPC, which is a pay performance thing. You'll see product managers for HR tools. You'll see product managers for internal tools. You see product managers for internal finance tools. So the list goes on which just shows you that the title of a product manager is so versatile in a wide topic that you can really, really apply to almost any single thing in a company. So longer term as technology gets better and faster and more people are able to use it. I think more roles inside of a company would just become a product manager type role, which becomes a general manager, just with an idea of how to kind of problem solve.

[00:14:20] Fred Obiero: [00:14:20] When doing a product roadmap review, how do you ensure that there are no upstream or downstream disconnects across the company? Because this tends to happen a lot, especially when you have those siloed kinds of organizations where this department is doing something one way, but they're not sharing that information with the other department. How do you prevent that in the product management world?

[00:14:42] Johnny Quach: [00:14:42] Yeah, I think there's a kind of holistic way to think about this problem. And there are some tech tactical slash technical ones. So the very first kind of high-level pieces that simply like, as I mentioned earlier, companies think of their company as different departments and this already sets that imaginary silo that you can think of. It just, it already exists from the day you think about departments. I'm not saying don't have departments, don't have reporting lines, but the very fact that people lean on that as such a main and key thing, that's a problem. So what you'll see is many companies, including all the ones I've worked at, you start trying to create cross-functional working teams with departmental reporting lines. So you have the reporting lines to maintain a career path training guidance standards, but the actual day to day work. Is cross-functional you have data scientists working with engineers, working with product managers, working with designers, working with a UX person, working with a copywriter, working with a brand person. And that is the most modern kind of org structure I've seen, which seems to exist in some of the coolest companies in the world. So that's kind of at the holistic level, you have to get your company so familiar with the concept of cross-functionality and don't even worry about the department piece of the company. That's the first step, the second piece, which is a bit more tactical and it's a bit silly to say, but there are still many companies that use Excel files, Word docs to manage all this stuff. I mean, the first thing you want to do is put all this crap into the Cloud. Does this have a shared place, physically to have all your crap? That actually solves a huge part of the problem. And I know it seems silly to some people, especially startups or like 5-10 people, but at bigger companies, it's actually really hard to mobilize this kind of data and this way of working into the cloud and start thinking about everything as a shared doc. And once you get to that point, everything becomes physically easier to manage.

[00:16:40] Fred Obiero: [00:16:40] Great customer feedback is vital to any part of a business. Let alone in product and collecting data has now become a coalition of companies that aim to adapt with changing conditions as they relate to their customers. How can product teams ensure that they are incorporating customer feedback data so that they can make well-informed decisions? And for this question, I was thinking more like from an AI perspective, if that's something that's applicable

[00:17:06] Johnny Quach: [00:17:06] So yeah, I think you always have to be very careful when asking customers questions about their experiences. I think it's an amazing barometer to understand directionally if your company is doing the right thing, But I think it can be very dangerous to use this as a Wade, a way to define features. What I like to think about it is when I think about user interviews and just UX research in general is that there are, it is one layer of a multi-layer process to define true problems, which have true solutions. So you might start with data analysis of your user analytics and you're going okay, well, people are going from this step to that step. But they're leaving on step three. So you're like, okay, what is the reason you probably wouldn't know, just looking at a bunch of data. So when you didn't do it, you would spin up the same group, go through a UX kind of interview, get that user feedback, generate that. And then from that learning, you go back to data analytics and you try to see where the commonalities lie. And so the ways to think about as you stack the data analytics piece, the user survey, please. And then you look at the landscape. So this is the competitor analysis. When you stack those three on top of each other, what you see is some commonalities that come from that, which then help you define a more high probability roadmap of success. And so I think that's kind of the way it should be used now, in terms of AI, what to think. I think it's not special in the sense that it is anything unique. It is just like any other feature or functionality. So you want to think of it as a tool to solve a problem. But the hardest thing in a business is actually to identify the problems, but the solutions are often actually easy if you truly understand the real problem. So I spend most of my time defining the right problem statement and very little time actually defining the solution because there's more than enough ideas and solutions out there.

[00:19:00] [00:19:00] Fred Obiero: [00:19:00] What type of qualitative and quantitative data should product teams focus on collecting to achieve this kind of desired outcome.

[00:19:09] Johnny Quach: [00:19:09] Yeah, I think traditionally what product teams might think about is a funnel. And that funnel is from when a person lands on site to when a person makes a purchase or some kind of key interaction. And they look at all the steps, their product team should still look at that. But I think what has changed now is that part of teams need to look at not just the beginning, the end, but the expanded edges. So even before a user gets to your site, a product manager should really understand how they got to that site and why. So that could be understanding paid performance marketing that could be paid, understanding CRM or SEO or whatever these other functions that feel external, but a product managers should see and understand the experience the user goes through in those steps before they even get into the quote unquote funnel. And what happens after you make an acquisition product managers need to understand. How do you take that acquisition piece and that conversion at the end? And how do you turn that back into a loop that powers the initial channels. That is the way companies should really think about these things. You move away from the funnel and you move more into a loop thinking, and that is powerful because you will stop thinking about the user as it's a user that I care about only if they touch this page. And what you start thinking about is the whole journey. And when you do that, the insights and the ideas and the impactful things that you could do become much more obvious.

[00:20:31] Fred Obiero: [00:20:31] I have a question that deals with something that many startups usually face and it relates to differentiation. What strategic insights can you recommend on how product teams on startups can go about achieving differentiation that will separate their product from the existing ones from the competition?

[00:20:49] Johnny Quach: [00:20:49] So with any feature, any product or any company, it always starts with the same statement, which is what is the problem you're trying to solve. So if you take two companies doing the exact same thing. So let's just say there's two companies selling shoes. Let's not even talk about tech companies stumbled just normal companies. So think about two companies to sell shoes, and let's say they both sell athletic shoes on paper. Everything is the same, except for one thing, the brand, right? So the first step is, yeah, you can differentiate your company by creating a brand. And even in tech companies, lots of tech companies survive because their brand is stronger than other tech companies. Right now, the problem with brands is that they're so expensive. It's so expensive and so hard to measure over time, but people know it works, but it is technically very hard to measure and very hard to measure investment. So then when you start thinking about it as well, If you have two shoe companies, one neither one is solving every single problem that anybody who ever wears an athletic shoe would have. So then when you see, as once your company might go, well, we're going to build a better shoe just for people who play basketball or just for people who play ping pong, or just for people who play badminton. And what you'll see is that when you start focusing on a niche group, there has a big problem that the other players or ignoring then when you do is you create these new categories. So that's very kind of like spinning up new audiences. However, what you could also do is still focused on the same audience. So let's assume these, both these shoe companies are basketball shoe companies. Well, if one company said, well, why don't we optimize the experience for really, really, really tall basketball players? And we don't accommodate shorter players. And then, what you start doing is you start thinking about all the problems that a person who's really tall wearing an athletic shoe, what kind of problems they experience. And you can kind of apply this to any tech company. So think about food delivery. Because there's so many players out there. Well, the first thing food companies did was go, okay, well, what other things can we deliver? So then you get groceries, you get drinks. Now you can get ice cream delivered. You can get tea delivered now. So, you start expanding all this stuff out. And what you see is no one solves all the problems in the world, because there are so many and every problem can become a company. Every problem can become a feature and every problem can become a successful business, but it always starts with problems.

[00:23:15] Fred Obiero: [00:23:15] I'd like to know when you are hiring for your teams, do you tend to get creative with the interview questioning or what exactly do you look for in the people that you interview for it? Or for working in your teams?

[00:23:26] Johnny Quach: [00:23:26] I think it's definitely true for product managers, but it's probably true for any person I hire. What I'm always looking for is I'm looking for someone who I'm not typically looking for a traditional product manager. What I'm looking for is an entrepreneur with some product management skills, because I think product management in the traditional sense is actually something that you can teach that people can learn is a technical skill. There's a process, but a mindset. And being relentlessly resourceful is very hard to train. That is experience that is fought, process, that's attitude, that's upbringing, that's network. That's so many things that are hard to build. And mindset is harder to build in physical technical skills. Right? So I typically tried to find the right cultural fit as the main thing I'm looking for. And then the actual product management experience. I'm a little less specific. So that is the key when I'm hiring any role, some way I kind of like to get into the mind of how someone thinks about being resourceful is I typically have all my product manager candidates and pretty much everybody tick a business case test. And my business cases are very simple. I gave them an imaginary company and I asked them to tell me how they would grow it by X percent in one year. And that's the entire case. And what I like to see is I like to see people who really think outside the box, they really think about all the ways they can grow a company, all the things they should try to do. And what you see as still they'll kind of apply their own level of prioritization. And most importantly, they applied their own level of creativity to it. As a really tangible example, the business case I give is you run a company that does delivery for desserts in Cape town and I pick a random city and I've had so many applicants fill this business case out. And some of the most creative answers I've ever heard is that someone came back with a report that said, you don't need to build this company. You don't need to do anything because the average income in Cape town is increasing by X percent every year. So by nature, your business will grow. Now. That was an amazing business.That's an amazing answer to the problem because that's the kind of thing I like people to think about is beyond the product and the features in the UI. They need to think about the business and the environment. So, of course, guys have come up with great growth strategies and super cool features and all this kind of stuff. But it's the guys that think very wide that really understand how to get this stuff done.

[00:25:56] Fred Obiero: [00:25:56] It's very impressive. Now, is this something that you normally ask during the interview, like before the interview starts or is that like something that they just provide to you when they come for the interview?

[00:26:05] Johnny Quach: [00:26:05] So the kind of first piece of the interview is just a quick introductory call with myself. So I'd just like to get to know a person in a very casual way. I'd like to know how they think about their data, where they work. But typically a business case like that it's the second interview. And typically you're given a week to kind of fill it out and go through your presentation, all that stuff. And then we do a kind of group panel interview where we ask questions about the thinking and the mindset.

[00:26:29] Fred Obiero: [00:26:29] I really liked that. That's something that I think a lot of companies can adapt to. I come from a project management background and I'm curious to know how can product or how can project management and product management teams collaborate together within a given project or product development.What's the most efficient way for this type of collaboration to be successful in your opinion.

[00:26:51] Johnny Quach: [00:26:51] Yeah, I think there's a mini kind of framework out there to talk about this classic partnership. I like to think about it in a bit more pragmatic way. It's that the role itself, the two roles, product management, project management serve kind of two functions. So the product manager does a lot of project management, but himself is not project management in entire wide real estate. So the way I think about it is. Within the kind of technology and product and UX kind of function, the product manager, project management, all of that. But the project manager is the one who really assists and brings in all the external pieces that need to happen. Right? So sometimes there's an involvement from legal or finance or sales and the project management piece of it plays a big part in making sure those things are driven at the same pace as the development. I think, in a fast moving younger company, what you typically have is the product manager will do all of it. And I think that's an unexpected thing for myself as well. However, when you're talking about mobilizing a 300 person project, you're probably going to need project managers to help coordinate all that. So I think there's a bit about scale here, and it just depends on how many people you need to coordinate. And the wider that gets. The less one product manager can be scalable. So I think it's really, you adapt the skill sets to the actual scale of the problem.

[00:28:16] Fred Obiero: [00:28:16] Last question. And this is one of my favorite questions that I ask all my guests. What has helped you to get to where you are and what advice would you give to someone that wants to pursue a career that's identical to yours?

[00:28:29] Johnny Quach: [00:28:29] I think that the thing that's helped me the most is, and I don't know where this comes from, but I think always being extremely optimistic about everything really helps in life. And if I think about 2020 as a great example, literally one of the worst years that I've ever been alive, I can't really think of a worst one to be honest and all agree on that. But yet, I look back at it and I can only see the kind of great things that have happened for me personally and for life and just in general. And so I think staying extremely optimistic. And aggressive about optimism is very powerful. And I think within a project, in a company when you're working on something, even if your contribution is small to a project, but your optimism for it is high that really shows through. And that makes it so that you are just much more enjoyable per person to work with. It's really that simple. So showing optimism and motivation to really do something well, this is infectious. So not only do you increase the likelihood of people wanting to continue to work with you, it also increases the likelihood that people work with you productively. And what you'll see is that the relationships that you build at an individual contributor level are the relationships that move you further in your career later. So I always spend a lot of time staying optimistic. I spend a lot of time making sure other people feel optimistic, but most importantly, I'm always trying to help people. And I never think about the payback. I give people feedback on the resumes every single week. Anyone who sends it to me, any stranger I'll review it. Anybody who wants to help interview better. I do that. And because I've always done this as a principal for the last like seven years. The majority of the positions I've been offered or people contact me from, they come from referrals of people who are working as product managers in those company.And that's not because I'm amazing at product management. I just think it's because I prefer to have this guy in the company, working with me. Going for any problem that we might foresee. So I think you always want to just be giving back as much as you can, to anybody you ever meet. You always want to be open for conversations, open for coffees, open for zoom calls. You just need to be available and all that stuff. We'll pay back a hundred X in your life.

[00:30:53] Fred Obiero: [00:30:53] Always important to give back. Johnny, it's been a pleasure having you on thanks a lot for taking the time to be with us. Cannot wait to catch up with you in the near future.

[00:31:04] Johnny Quach: [00:31:04] Absolutely, pleasure.

How to Build an Innovation Hub and Foster Culture of Innovation with John Wensveen

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Dr. John Wensveen is Chief Innovation Officer at Nova Southeastern University and Executive Director of the Alan B. Levan NSU Broward Center of Innovation responsible for overseeing a multimillion-dollar public-private partnership to support the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem by attracting and retaining industry-leading entrepreneurs, technology, sources of investment capital, and supporting resources to create a premier innovation center and technology hub.

Prior to this role, John served as the Vice Provost of Academic Schools at Miami Dade College providing direct leadership and direction for the College’s professional education programs. He was responsible for creating corporate relationships with local, regional, national, and international boards and organizations and with leaders of foreign governments, businesses, and non-governmental organizations.

John has extensive academic leadership experience including Professor and Head of the School of Aviation & Transportation Technology at Purdue University, Dean of the School of Aviation at Dowling College, and Professor of Airline Management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Building and Scaling A Global Sales Team with Adam Griffin

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Adam is an author, sales leader, and entrepreneur. In addition to leading Enterprise Sales for Automattic (one of the largest remote workforces in the world), Adam writes about how to create the best version of ourselves. His work has been featured on Men’s Journal, INC.com, The Huffington Post, Men’s Fitness, Lifehack, and Entrepreneur On Fire. He is the founder of The Vitruvian Project, Better Than Yesterday Publishing and former founder of Bodeefit, a fitness community of over 500,000 people worldwide.

Topics:

How to create your best self?
Challenges with building and scaling a global sales team
Skills and strengths of best sales professionals
Leveraging the power of content marketing and partnerships to build a startup
Why is the act of writing a vulnerable act?
Most important leadership traits
Biggest lessons from failures

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Adam Griffin: [00:00:00] Almost without fail, the highest performers I've ever been around are always seeking out coaching. They want the hard feedback. They don't want to be patted on the back. They don't want to be told you did X, Y, and Z great. I mean, our egos loved that, but they want to also get beyond that and think, okay, but where are the holes? Where am I missing? Where can I get better?

[00:00:39] Cesar Romero: Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Ivy Podcast. If you are someone that is looking to be a better leader, then this episode is for you. My guest today is Adam Griffin. He's an author, sales leader and entrepreneur, and he is currently leading the enterprise sales for Automaticc, which has one of the largest remote workforces in the world.
Additionally, he's also the former founder of BodyFit, which is a fitness community of over 500,000 people worldwide. And if that wasn't enough, he's also the founder of the Vitruvian Project and Better than Yesterday publishing, where he writes about becoming the best version of ourselves. Adam, I'm so excited for today's episode, and thank you so much for being on the show.

[00:01:39] Adam Griffin: Yeah, super excited to be here. Thank you, Cesar. It's going to be fun to chat, looking forward to it.

[00:01:44] Cesar Romero: [00:01:44] Absolutely. So before we dive a little bit deeper into your background, let's start with what does becoming the best version of yourself mean to you in your own words?

[00:02:01] [00:02:00] Adam Griffin: [00:02:01] That's a good question, and that's an answer that I think has changed quite a bit over time, because I have really used that idea of better than yesterday or kind of creating the best version of yourself for a long time, probably over a decade, just personally, as a kind of guiding light. But I think what I mean by that has changed a lot over the years. Even though I've held on to that as a true North, I think if I went back to my mid-twenties, let's say, I think that probably equated a lot more to ambition, dreaming big, you know, setting high bars, high goals, working towards those reverse engineering, your goals. It's just something I talked about in one of my books, and I think if you, if I look at my life the past few years, I think that definition has evolved quite a bit too much, much less about doing and much more about removing, meaning removing, cloudiness of judgment, trying to make sure ego's not making decisions and trying to operate more from just kind of a really authentic place. That's like something more central to you. So I think today, my definition around creating the best version of yourself being better than yesterday is much more about like the inner work, looking at yourself internally, doing a really good accounting of where you are at personally, where your head's at, what is holding you up? What is keeping you from being that better version of yourself? I think that the easiest way to think of it, as we all know when we're our best version of ourselves, like we feel it, our energy is high.
We're attracting things and people in our life because our energy is at a good level. things are easy. You're probably in flow state much more often. So we all recognize these moments in our life when we are at like, operating at a different level. So I think it's much more about paying attention to that and trying to dissect, like what, why is it that causes this?
What is the difference in that day that I wake up on top of the world on fire, ready to go. And what is that day that I wake up like, I can't, I don't want to do this again. Like there's distinct differences. And I think taking the time to investigate that question is so critical. And I think that's the path, at least currently to creating the best version of myself personally.

[00:04:53] Cesar Romero: Yeah, no, I love that, Adam, and a couple of things I want to echo here is that the answers are within ourselves, right? Like no one can give you these answers of what is the best version of yourself, right. Cause, it's an inner work as what you mentioned. Right. And definitely through practice, through trial and error, I have become better.
At identifying when I'm in the flow or when something is just not resonating with me, and it's something that we're, no, my parents didn't teach me that, school didn't teach me that, it's something that I have to come to learn. Like, what is this that I'm feeling inside, right. What is this? I guess, intuition or whatever you want to call it, but yeah, I think it's so important to listen to that, right. Because emotions are there to guide us, you know, in some weird way, right? Like if you're feeling something's not resonating, and it's worth looking into that, so how do you bring this into your work at Automaticc?
And maybe before we jump into that, for those that are not familiar with Automaticc, just give us a brief background on what is the problem that Automaticc is solving and, you know, what do they do about it?

[00:06:29] Adam Griffin: [00:06:29] Sure. So Automaticc was founded by the, Co-founder of the open source WordPress project.
So if you go back 16 years or so, Matt Mullenweg founded the open source WordPress project, and it's still the lead developer on the project today. And he founded Automaticc about a year after to basically build products and services known into this open source community. And so WordPress as a software, and an Automaticc as a company, like the mission is really to democratize publishing and has been from the beginning. Meaning we have this thing called you know, the worldwide web, the open web, and this is a place where people can have a voice and publish content, and you know, what started out as primarily a blogging platform. If you go back all those years it has really evolved into a platform that powers Fortune 500 businesses, online presence, it powers e-commerce stores, all sorts of stuff. So that's what Automaticc does that we're in the web content space, and I particularly focus on the enterprise space, so large companies utilizing WordPress.

[00:07:53] Cesar Romero: Yeah, no, I mean, if you're around our age, right, you definitely use work risk at some point in your life.

[00:08:01] Adam Griffin: For sure. We just hit the 40% mark, 40% of sites on the web are powered by WordPress.

[00:08:07] Cesar Romero: The first blog was on, on WordPress, right. As I was getting into the internets and putting my thoughts into that what, why, where.

[00:08:19] Adam Griffin: When I was in my early twenties, my wife and I, and our buddy, we owned an online greeting card company and we built our company blog on WordPress.
It's life should be simple that wordpress.com, but it's so fun. It's like going back in time, going in the way back machine looking at sites from the early web is pretty fun to do.

[00:08:50] Cesar Romero: Yeah, no, absolutely. So there's two things I want to dive into. Work at Automaticc, one is your role that you have right now, as enterprise sales leader and the other one as, as a team builder, right. As someone that recruits and hires and trains. So let's start with your role specifically, what are some of the biggest challenges that you are tackling?

[00:09:20] Adam Griffin: Yeah. So we're in pretty heavy scale mode right now, which is a bit unique for a company that's been around for 16, 15 years, but I think content is even more critical and present today and more relevant today than any point in history. And we'll only continue to be so, so Automaticc continues to grow.
Alongside the web, alongside the growth and the importance of content. So challenges right now, a lot of them come down to scaling. Scaling companies is hard, not just the revenue side of things, but organizationally, how do you scale in a meaningful way that is not like everyone is constantly working, that is not everyone being, you know, pushed to their red line every day.
That retains culture, retains happiness. Like how do you build a team that still, you know, loves their work while also changing all the time, cause scale has changed. Ultimately it's intentional change that sets you up for the future iteration of your organization. And so how do you keep culture and just kind of the joy of work, high amidst, all of that change? So that's probably the biggest challenge and there's a lot of things nested within that, but that's my current state.

[00:11:04] Cesar Romero: So, how do you tackle those challenges? Like how do you make sure that you keep the culture and that you keep things aligned right, especially when you hire people, right?

[00:11:19] Adam Griffin: Sure. So we have a saying at Automaticc, which is pretty central to the way we work, which is communication is oxygen. And I would start there, like If you're not communicating well, it's very difficult to do much of anything, much less scale, a large business. So we are hyper communicative and we're also hyper or try to build a culture of hyper honesty in our work. So we want hard conversations. We want continual feedback. We want people to feel empowered, to have an opinion about something. And so it's very much a culture of transparency of communication.
[00:12:00] And so that honestly doesn't solve the problems of scale, but it makes it digestible. And then the other thing is like making sure you're seeking a diversity of opinions, and that has implications in hiring, that has implications in decision-making, that has implications in culture itself.
And so making sure we're not kind of existing in a silo, we're getting opinions. We're, seeking out intentionally a diversity of opinions and, you know, ultimately leadership's job is to listen well and make a decision on how to move forward based on observing, listening and also intuition and past experience and making a column moving forward from there.

[00:12:58] Cesar Romero: I'm really glad that you mentioned communication because, you know, it's one of the first things that suffers when a company grows and scales. So if you don't have the right systems and processes and the right leadership in place, that can become toxic for the company. So now Automaticc is one of those companies that attracts a lot of people, right? Because it has a reputation and also the culture, right. Everybody wants to work at Automaticc. How do you weed out those candidates that are enough because of the perks, I guess, and those candidates that are in it, because, hey, these are my people and I truly see myself, you know, in this company.

[00:13:49] Adam Griffin: Yeah. That's a great question. And it's very, very on the nose. You know, we do there, we call them fanboys and fangirls, like there's a lot of Automaticc families. They're fanboys. I think honestly, they weed themselves out. Because if you think about it, if you put yourselves in the shoes of someone building a team, someone hiring like the least possible interesting thing you could say is. The thing that everyone else says, like, I want to work for Automaticc because, you know, I love the culture. I love the reputation it's like yeah. You and everyone else. So yeah. It's they weed themselves out in the sense that you're saying the things that you think are compelling about you, but you're actually just saying the same things that everyone else is saying.
[00:14:42] And so it's like, the last way you want to stand out is by saying the same, the thing that everyone already knows. Yes, it is a great culture. It is as good as advertised. It is a wonderful company and we have to get beyond that. What I love, I will say that that idea doesn't extend to the WordPress software itself though.
And what I mean by that is a lot of people genuinely love WordPress because it is the thing that grew up alongside the Internet. It is the thing that gave so many people on the web a voice. It really like pioneered blogging and the idea of the open web and open source technology. It was very core to a lot of the early movers in open source.
And so people that come here because they genuinely love the software and what it does for the world. That's a different story, yeah. But so the short answer is they oftentimes weed themselves out and then we can start looking at what are the other compelling reasons they want to be here and start from that place.
And also not everyone has to want to be here deeply. Like even though Automaticc is one of those companies that attracts a lot of people that just want to work for the company. And there's also people that have never heard of Automaticc and then don't have deep WordPress stores. And I love those people too, because then you get to sell them on why it is such a good place.
[00:16:18] And so that is equally as fun, I think, people that aren't familiar with the impact that the software and the company has had on the world, and getting them bought into what we're doing.

[00:16:32] Cesar Romero: Yeah. I mean, I'm one of those people I didn't know about Automaticc until recently, you know, I always associated Matt with WordPress but not Automaticc. Sure. So, if you have an interview with Adam, do not tell him how much you ended up with the culture, because he's gonna be like, okay,

[00:16:57] Adam Griffin: We don't make it past the resume screening stage if it answers like that. But I don't want to bash on people. I know I certainly have probably done very similar things in my career, so yeah.

[00:17:12] Cesar Romero: No, we all do. Right. But, I get your point though, right? Like don't tell me how much you love the culture of the product. I mean it's great, but show me what you can do, right? Show me how you would fit into what we're building. Right. I think that that might have a better impact

[00:17:29] Adam Griffin: For sure. Yeah. You gotta find your people. The thing is so much more important than finding a company. You gotta find people and values that you align with, and sometimes that's a start-up you've never heard of, sometimes it's a big corporation that, you know, maybe we think is boring from the outside, but that actually is specifically where you'll thrive? So yeah, I think company is generally a poor indicator of whether or not you'll thrive at a place.

[00:18:01] Cesar Romero: Speaking of finding your people like for you, as a hiring manager right in a sales role, what are some of the things that you'd look for in your people that are going to be a part of your team?

[00:18:16] Adam Griffin: Yeah. One thing that is incredibly central to hiring both for me personally and Automaticc broadly, and that kind of ties back earlier to like diversity of opinions, diversity of experiences, diversity of backgrounds, diversity of individuals generally. I think we unintentionally build ourselves blind spots.
If we're not operating from a place of diversity, equity, that could be an inclusion. So, and then, from a skill standpoint, I look for a few things above all others. I look for curiosity, which is, I think, people that are genuinely curious, make incredible salespeople because they ask questions. They follow, you know, little carrots to learn more. They want to understand someone's business, so curiosity is big. If you're not curious, I think it severely limits your ability to do a sale effectively. Really good listeners, really good salespeople are really good listeners. They pay deep attention and they shepherd a conversation based around what they're hearing. So it's active listening. It's absorbing and also extending the conversation in particular directions because of what they're hearing, and then the third thing is coachability. We are pretty intentional about building a culture of feedback.
[00:20:00] We even build coaching into the hiring process and, that comes from a place of like, if you're not coachable, then no one can help you. No one can help you see your blind spots. No one can help you get better, and what's ironic about it is almost without fail, the highest performers I've ever been around are always seeking out coaching.
They want the hard feedback. They don't want to be patted on the back. They don't want to be told you did X, Y, and Z great. I mean, our egos love that, but they want to also get beyond that and think, okay, but where are the holes? Where am I missing? Where can I get better? And so starting with that mindset is I think critical in success in any field, but it's something in particular that we look for in the hiring process quite a bit.

[00:21:02] Cesar Romero: I'm curious about that because that's something that, you know, if you don't have, the red process in place, it's hard to measure if someone is coachable or if someone is a good listener through the interview process. So how do you make sure that a candidate successfully meets these requirements?

[00:21:27] Adam Griffin: That's a fair question. I think the particulars take different shapes and it's changed over time. I used to have an actual coaching call as part of the interview process. I would have someone deliver me or have a mock like sales conversation with me, and the intent was not how well they did in the sales call. The intent was after the call, I would coach them on what I thought went well and what didn't. And then we get to the whole underlying reason of why we're doing this.
And I'm just paying attention to how they are responding to that feed? Do they go blank? Do they perk up, do they pay attention? Do they listen? Well, and then we actually would jump into a second, we would redo this mock sales call and I want to see, did they actually listen to, did they incorporate the feedback into the conversation moving forward? So that's one way I've done it. Now it's a bit more subtle. We will still have a mark-like sales call, but we'll do it with a group of people on the team. And immediately after we stop the mock sales call, we go around the horn and the team gives feedback directly to the person, both good and constructive feedback.
And so what they did well and then also areas to improve. And it's a similar methodology where I'm just observing, I'm seeing how they're responding, what are like the nonverbal cues they're giving. And that can tell you quite a bit about, you know, the way someone is, at least in their current state is wired for coaching and coachability, by the way is not some hardwired trait. It's something anyone can make a decision to be coachable. Today, it's the decision to remove emotion from feedback and to take it as what it is, which is constructive. And you remove the emotion from the feedback and the ego from the feedback. And that's a decision thing. So you can do that in the next five minutes, if you want to.

[00:23:40] Cesar Romero: Yeah. I agree with that. It's a decision that you can make right now. And I'm a big fan of the four agreements. One of the agreements is to not take things personally. And I think it's important, right. Because we have to be humble. Right. We have to be open to how others perceive our actions, you know, feedback. It's such an important trait to have.

[00:24:11] Adam Griffin: Sure. It's interesting how tied together the different aspects of work are. Cause like, you know, we were talking about culture a little bit ago and this is one of those things that might seem separate from culture, but it's deeply entwined because if you have a highly coachable group of people, your communication can be more open and honest. People aren't afraid to give their opinions, people have a respect for giving and receiving feedback. And so it's like, you know, culture gets the spotlight, but culture is this aggregation of so many moving parts. This being one of them, like if you can't start with coachable people, it's very difficult to build a culture that is not centered around the egos of the individuals within it.

[00:25:06] Cesar Romero: Yeah. No, a hundred percent coat being coachable. I feel it's such an underrated skillset. But it can have so much return of investment right in the culture and on you as a professional. Great. So I want to shift gears here a little bit and transition from Automaticc to your time with Bodyfit.
You and I met when you were still running by the feds, and I was actually a user of of Bodyfit because I love the idea of someone or this app, just giving me my water for the day and just doing those workouts, by the way, what else? By the way, and I'm curious about your journey with Bodyfit, like why did you decide to leverage content marketing and partnerships as a strategy, to grow the community to over 500,000 people?

[00:26:08] Adam Griffin: Yeah. The decision is probably not that fun of an answer, but it is the truth. So I started Bodyfit as a side project. I'll give a quick backstory and then I'll answer your question a bit more directly, but yeah, I was working for a technology startup at the time, and was pretty heavily involved in CrossFit. Back then I was coaching CrossFit just for fun, was very deep in my local CrossFit community, and I saw firsthand the positive impact CrossFit had on the community broadly. Me personally. Yes. But more so than that, because I had always been into fitness and I would have been into fitness regardless of CrossFit, but what I love was watching what it did for people . That wasn't their story. That fitness was new to them or it helped them overcome various things in their life. Like I loved seeing those stories and what the whole intent between starting or behind starting it as a side project was like, CrossFit was unapproachable for a lot of people. It was then, it is now some people are just too intimidated. I'm like, how do I make a community like this more accessible to more people like that? Stay at home parents don't get out of the house. They don't know how to start. They don't know where to start. Like how do I reach that person or the person that like, just, they have self-confidence issues?
[00:27:49] They're not going to carry themselves into a gym. They're not going to take themselves to CrossFit and rip that bandaid off. Like how do I reach that person? So that was the underlying intent behind starting it as a side project. It grew really quickly out of the gate. Like I think it touched on a nerve, and it seems silly. Now, if you go back to the time when I started it, the idea of daily workouts and workout apps, it wasn't much of a thing. Like there was CrossFit, they had their workout of the day, but that was pretty much from that perspective, and so it was a bit novel at the time.
[00:28:28] It grew really quick, I think because of that novelty and it struck the right chord with people. And so I decided to leave that startup and run it full time. And the decision to grow through content marketing was purely one of like, I didn't have the intent or the desire to build some like a big fitness tech company.
[00:28:51] I didn't want to go raise capital. I had worked for venture funded startups and there's trade-offs that come with venture capital. And so that just wasn't a path that was interesting to me. And so I had to just be creative about, “Okay, well, how do I grow? How do I grow this thing in a manner that doesn't require a bunch of capital and something that I can drive myself?”
And so content became that thing, because I had been writing, I loved writing. I knew a bit about the online content world. And so I just started literally writing down like the publications that I wanted to be in, you know, setting that kind of big, hairy, audacious goal, and I just started working towards it.
So I think when I left the startup, the first thing I did was I set a goal of being in these five publications. By the end of the year, it was January. So I had a year to do it, and I accomplished it within the first like two months, which means I probably did not set an ambitious goal, but that's when I knew like, okay, there's a path here.
[00:30:10] Like this is repeatable, this is sustainable. This is a great way to grow. and it just works for me. It worked for my skill set. It works for my personality and it allowed me to grow and, you know, a way that didn't depend on money.

[00:30:25] Cesar Romero: Yeah, no, I love the app. Especially at the time I was traveling a lot. Right. Running trips with Matt, from one day experiences in, I love the app because it was quick. I could get the workout done. It was something that I had not seen before. I remember that and I know you mentioned writing and we'll get into that, but I'm curious to know you’ve always been someone that is willing to serve.
Right. I see you as a servant leader, and I'm curious to know, like, where does that come from? Did those have to do with your upbringing or maybe something that happened throughout your career? I've always been curious about that. I always wanted to ask you that.

[00:31:21] Adam Griffin: I appreciate you saying that. I hope it's as accurate as advertised. I think this isn't a question I've thought about deeply, but it's a great question. I think it stems from a place of my own personal values. Like I value autonomy very highly. Like I think we as humans, as these animals that we call humans, like we at our core need some level of autonomy and ownership over our life. Like I think when the autonomy is removed and we feel like we're just part of something else that we have no control over, I think it's difficult to set goals. It's difficult to dream big. It's difficult to envision a better future if you don't start from a place of being an autonomous, independent human that can go create in the world. Yeah. So that's a very fundamental underlying value for myself. And when I think of. Leadership, I just think like, things like power are so antithetical to this idea of having autonomy over our lives, and so it's not to say, I like to go against power structures, I just approach power or leadership. And those are two different things. But I approached them both from the perspective of like, we're both humans. We need to be on a level playing field. This is not a me versus you thing. This is not I'm up here or you're down here or you're up here and I'm down here.
[00:33:10] We can't start from that place. We have to start from a place of like, we're on the same level. Let's talk as human beings, human to human, to solve, whatever it is we're trying to solve to create whatever it is we're trying to create. And so, getting to that place of just level setting with individuals, no matter what their position or stances in life, if I have to start from that place or else, it rubs up against my values. And if you're rubbing up against your values, I think it's a hard place to operate from.

[00:33:43] Cesar Romero: Yeah, no, I agree with that, you know, two things here. This is why I love sports because in a sports arena, right? Let's say soccer or football, you start SQLs, right? Like each team, you know, the score is even, and the team that makes a better play wins. Right. And I think, leadership and being a servant leader, it's a very similar right to that because you see the other team or the other person as an equal, right, not of, you know, have below you, and there was something else I wanted to mention that I'm totally blanking out.

[00:34:25] Adam Griffin: I like the analogy though. It's an apt analogy for sure. Yeah.

[00:34:31] Cesar Romero: Just on, on the values, so you can't see it, but here on my wall, I have my values and psychology so far seven, but there were some I haven't because I can see it every day. And remind me, is this decision or is this action that I'm about to take, does this align with my values or is it not right?
It's a very yes or no answer and every time that it's a no, it's like, okay, then this is not worth it. Right. But it took me a while to do that because at first I was like, oh, you know, values, goals, mission. Yeah. It sounds very woo. But whatever. But one day I decided, you know what, I'm going to write them down and just put them in here and look at them every day. And yeah. Strange, strangely enough, it's made a difference. Sure.

[00:35:24] Adam Griffin: Guess I'm looking at it.

[00:35:28] Cesar Romero: That's not going to make me happy. So I'm not gonna answer that.

[00:35:31] Adam Griffin: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it kind of goes full circle to the beginning of the conversation in that like I just think it's difficult to create that best version of yourself.
If you're not doing the work to understand what your values are and aligning the way you show up in the world to those values. I think when we're younger, like, you know, again, how that definition has evolved, like early twenties, mid twenties, there's energy, there's ambition. But it's generally, unless you're an old soul or you were raised by very wise parents, you know, you haven't done the deep work to understand internal values, to understand what's intrinsic to you to understand how you're wired and that's okay.
I don't think that's a problem, but at some point we start to evolve a bit and we start to understand how core operating from this internal space is to our own happiness. and to our own contentment in life. So yeah.

[00:36:52] Cesar Romero: Yeah, no. I want it to shift to writing because I know writing is a big part of your life and yeah, I know that you have mentioned in the past that writing is a vulnerable act. Describe what do you mean by that? You know, what do you consider writing a vulnerable act?

[00:37:11] Adam Griffin: Yeah. So I'll speak to a particular kind of writing, which is the type I do, like non-fiction personal development, because I think your fiction, your novelist might have a different take on this. That's totally fair. What's funny about personal development is writing, is that as the reader, you think you're reading from an expert, someone that has solved all of these things they're writing about. Yes. But how this writing actually comes about, and this is not a me thing.
I think this is how almost every personal development writer they're solving their own problems. Like there. Because that's the stuff you have to write about like writers or processors they write because it helps them understand the world around them. It's a vehicle for understanding the world around them.
[00:38:11] So when you're reading that book, you're reading what the author themselves has struggled with and the approaches they took. And you're not reading from a person that has perfected something. You're not reading from a person that is so far ahead of you in these particular areas. You're reading from someone who has struggled with them, just as much as you have and is likely, still struggling with them.
[00:38:37] Otherwise they would not be writing about them. So that's why it's a vulnerable act is because. Even if it's unbeknownst to the reader, you are pouring out your own issues onto the page and you're working through them on the page. And so, that's what I love about writing. That's the thing, that's one of the biggest misunderstandings about writing.
And that's what makes such a vulnerable act is once you understand that, that truth about what writing is you realize quickly, it's like, oh, that person struggles deeply with this same thing that I struggle with. And the information becomes helpful in a new way. Not because they've given you some secret formula, but because one, you have a shared experience with someone.
[00:39:29] And two, you get to see how they think about it and maybe it's useful. Maybe it's not, maybe parts of it are useful parts of it or not, but you're doing the work to look at the problem itself.

[00:39:40] Cesar Romero: Yeah, no, I definitely had this misconception of, you know, authors and writers that. I put them on a pedestal because you know, this person that wrote this book is a published author and I'm not, and I'm reading through the book and I'm finding all these nuggets of wisdom and knowledge.
But over the years, I've realized that these are just people like you. When I write like normal people that are sharing their journey, that the hero's journey, right, of their struggles, challenges, and overcoming those challenges, and I really liked that you mentioned how writing is a tool to help you understand the world around you and I'm becoming more comfortable with that and being very vulnerable here, I've struggled with the writing habits, cause some days let's be honest, I don't want to do it. You know, I don't show up, but every time I write down my feelings about something, whether it's at work or life, I feel much better. Right. What do you think that is?

[00:40:57] Adam Griffin: I think it's therapy because it's holding a mirror up to ourselves, and I don't think it's dissimilar from therapy itself. Like when you go to a therapist, you are or should be, addressing something head on you're looking at, in the face that is what allows you to process it. Like you can't see what's in the dark, unless you shine a light on it. And that's effectively what therapy is. And I think that's effectively what writing is, it forces you to look at something that you might not shine a light on otherwise, but what it also does is like, our brains, our thinking brains are not good processors.
It's very difficult to think your way through something. And writing forces you to have like conciseness of that, it forces you to make sense of things. It forces you to distill problems down a bit simpler. Like, you know, thinking is you can think a million miles a minute and that doesn't mean you're doing yourself any good, but writing forces you to slow that thinking down, it forces you to distill that thinking into something actionable or discernible, and so to me it's just the most beautiful way to approach problems, and there's no better way from my perspective to think through something to think through that thing that you struggle with, which allows you to create that next best version of yourself.
[00:42:46] I'm probably the opposite of most writers. Like you mentioned writing habit, I don't have a writing habit. I have gone through phases where I have writing habits, but I've really detached from that idea that writers have to be these, like people that treat it like a job, they show up at your table every day for however long that works for so many people and some of my favorite authors, they swear by that. For me, I don't think about it like that, because again, I see writing as a tool. I see writing as a way for me to see the world a bit more clearly and the problems that I'm dealing with. So when I have something I want to process, I'm going to write about it, whether that's for other people's eyes or not. Writing will help me think through it.
[00:43:36] But there's times in my life where I don't need more writing. I need more experiences. I need more energy. I need more time to just not think about being a writer, like time to just not wear the identity of being a writer and have to like, feel like I have to live up to this thing of being a writer, and that's okay too. And so if people build a writing habit, fantastic. If people want to build a writing habit. Fantastic. But I don't think it's required to be a writer or to be someone who writes.

[00:44:11] Cesar Romero: I definitely resonate with that. Especially with all this advice you see on social media that you need to have riding habits, you need to do this. Yeah. I think what you said, it's so true, right? Right for yourself. When you lead, when you feel like you need it, and then when you don't feel like you don't need it, then go out and experience it. Right. I think that's awesome.

[00:44:33] Adam Griffin: That's one thing I picked up on later in my writing career, that wasn't as obvious to me or earlier in my writing career, is that there is no writing without experiences. And so too, to tap into that creative energy, that creative energy is stirred by novel things. It's stirred by new experiences.
And those new experiences give you a different way of looking at something. And then you, it starts with like a seedling of an idea, and then it grows into a bigger idea, or it takes a different path, but none of that can happen without having a life of experiences. And I don't mean like traveling the world.
I mean, like leaning into life, engaging in life, the normal throes of life, and paying close attention to those. And so sometimes I step away from writing completely and I just focus on things like, I need more inspiration. I need more experiences in my life. Cause they'll trigger different thoughts.
They'll trigger new ways of seeing things, you know, it's very similar to reading to me, like I don't need to read any more books. I have read enough about every topic. That's been interesting to me for far too long. So I don't read to gather new information. I read to gather more dots. So if you think about knowledge, think about knowledge as a bunch of different dots.
[00:46:16] Imagine a poster board in front of you. I've got millions of millions of dots, and this is like the aggregation of your knowledge or things you've read or learned about the world. Reading is not because you need it. Like more information, it's because the more dots you have, the more information you have, the more connections you can start making on that board.
That's where novelty comes from. That's where creativity comes from. That's where inspiration comes from, not gathering some piece of new information. It's being able to see the world differently because you've connected dots that you have not been able to cope with. Connect historically. I think that's where the magic of writing is. Like Mark Manson is brilliant at this, he's written several good books. What I love about them is that nothing they say is new. These are not novel ideas, but he has a completely different lens on them because he's connected dots that people haven't connected before. And that's why it resonates so much. Not because it's some novel idea, but because the way he's viewing the information is novel.

[00:47:22] Cesar Romero: Yeah, I'm a big fan of Mark Manson as well. I think human James clear is one of the top people out there, writing about real personal development, you know, habits, items, we could spend hours talking about, personal development, writing, leadership and. One last question for you since we're talking about reading, what is one thing that you're reading now? It could be a book or a course or anything that you're trying to connect to that.

[00:47:59] Adam Griffin: Yeah, so I am about to finish a book called A Course In Miracles, Made Easy. Hmm, cheesy title. Of course miracles were not something I was familiar with until recently. I heard about it on a podcast.
They asked someone, you know, what's the one book that's had an outsized impact on your life. And they mentioned A Course In Miracles. I was like, oh, that's surprising. I've never heard of this thing. So we do some research and it turns out, It's a book written in the 1970s, I believe by a psychologist. My elevator pitch for it, we'll not do it justice, but of course in Miracles is this, I haven't read the actual text clear. It's a super dense text from everything I've read about the reviews. And this psychologist basically looks at the Bible. And effectively says, like, I think we've been misinterpreting this thing wrong quite a bit.
[00:49:10] And she applies like a psychological slant to the truth that she pulls out of the Bible and regardless of religion, because the idea is it has been equally useful from everything I've read too. People that don't believe anything to people that have a wide range of beliefs. And so don't think of it from a religious context, because it's much more about psychology and personal development than that.
[00:49:39] But man, it has been a really good read. I actually just bought a copy of it yesterday. I think it's fascinating for the same reasons that ironically, that we were just talking about, like, it is introducing information in a new and novel way where you're like, wow, I have never thought about that.
[00:50:01] Those are the best, the best books. So anyways, the book I said is A Course Of Miracles Made Easy, which is this guy basically took this super dense text and made it a lot more accessible. So he brings down the core themes, and the core takeaways, and it's been a fun one.

[00:50:22] Cesar Romero: Awesome. I'm going to have to go check it out.

[00:50:26] Adam Griffin: I would be remiss to not also talk about the War of Art, which is the book I recommend and give probably more than any other.

[00:50:33] Cesar Romero: Yes, I have that book, and funny enough, the irony is that I have resistance to reading the ultimate irony.

[00:50:44] Adam Griffin: If you give it, the beauty of Steven Pressfield's writing is that some of the chapters are, you know, order of a page or half a page. If you can commit to a minute of reading, you might. Yeah.

[00:50:58] Cesar Romero: Yeah. I need to put it on my night table, so Adam, what would be a one take away in terms of leadership that you will want to close, and want the audience to take from this episode, what would be your one advice around leadership?

[00:51:20] Adam Griffin: I think the best leaders or human leaders, like, you know what you're getting with them, you're not getting a facade, you're getting the human. And I think that single attribute unlocks so many other things within leadership, trust and confidence, energy to achieve difficult things. Like I think it is best unlocked by starting from a very human place.
And so I'm not a perfect leader by any stretch, but I try to be the most human leader. I can, I try to connect with people. Where they're at, I try to get to know them beyond the quota, beyond the task at hand, and start from that place. And I think, you know, we spend so much of our life working and if it becomes this thing that we have to like isolate from the rest of our life that becomes this like other versions of ourselves, and then we've got our non-work-life person.
I think that's maybe the saddest way we can pass a life. Because we worked for most of it. And if we're passing that time, being someone that is not core to who we are, it's just a wasted opportunity.

[00:52:38] Cesar Romero: Adam, thank you so much for being on the show and I'm really looking forward to getting you on another episode and diving deeper into some of these topics, but for now, thank you so much. Awesome

[00:52:50] Adam Griffin: Cesar. So good to see you. Thank you so much. I appreciated the conversation and am looking forward to next round.

[00:53:00] Cesar Romero: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the podcast. Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe on your preferred podcast listening platform. And we really appreciate that effort until next time.

Rob Casas – Senior Vice President, e-Commerce at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Rob Casas serves as the Senior Vice President, e-Commerce of Norwegian Cruise Line. Rob started at Norwegian Cruise Line in January of 2018. Rob currently resides in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale Area.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Rob Casas: [00:00:00] My name is Rob Casas. I've been in the travel industry for over 30 years, leading the efforts of great travel brands in the e-commerce space.

[00:00:36] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:36] Awesome, Rob, thanks so much for finding time to join us on the podcast today. We're very excited. I know we've been playing this for quite some time. Tell us a little bit about your backgrounds, career wise, where you come from. And then one, spend a few minutes talking about some of the latest trends.

[00:00:52] Rob Casas: [00:00:52] Absolutely. Thanks, Jahn. Good to be here. My career started back in 1988, and I went to work for Delta Airlines right after I graduated from school college. And my first few years were field operational roles working at airports call centers and so forth. So my involvement in digital started Peck in the mid nineties when I was given responsibility for overseeing the Delta shuttle. ATNS Delta shuttle, as you may know, is the shuttle service that Delta has between New York, Boston, New York, and Washington, very much a high transaction and speed is of Avastin. Back then it was one of the first platforms that enabled instantaneous point of sale reservation transactions as passengers board their flights. So that went on to other projects. Like the introduction of boarding pass readers in the mid to late nineties, and really sort of set me up for then going to work in the companies on the company's fledgling website, which at the time was known as sky links. And of course would eventually become delta.com and where I spent the remaining years at Delta until I left at the end of 2001, in 2002. I took a year off to backpack around the world. And then, in 2003, I went back to work for a tour operator that operated Delta vacations. And at the time continental airlines vacations, and I was the head of e-commerce there. So I joined Norwegian cruise line in the fall of 2006. And along with my predecessor, we created the e-commerce organization at Norwegian with oversight overall strategy, operations, site development, and the director. Online channel sales were there for 13 years. I formally left the company in March of last year and with the pandemic starting to take root and along the way, decided that it was a good time for me to take time off and spend time at home with family along the way, truly where my travel and hospitality roots. I made some investments in a Lake Resort area that my wife and I started and now run in South central Michigan. And it's also the place where we spend our summers. Beyond that, I'm also an advisory board member for uplift a financial tech company that is exclusively focused in the travel industry. So those things get me busy at home. And I look forward in 2021 to continuing to interact and network and, as opportunities come up, see if they make sense.

[00:03:32] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:03:32] That's excellent. Thanks for sharing that background. So you have pretty extensive backgrounds, in the travel and e-commerce industry in general. And tell us a little bit more about what are the different trends and ideas that you're very passionate about that you think will be the next big thing. What are you looking to invest in? What are you researching? Any insights you can share with us or would be, I would love to hear that.

[00:03:56] Rob Casas: [00:03:56] Yeah, absolutely. What comes to mind at the moment is as horrible as this pandemic has been for the world and particularly for our nation, I think one of the outcomes obviously has been the accelerated boom in e-commerce as folks have opted. For online transactions, right. Instead of going to the store. So this is a surge demand for companies really to invest heavily in their e-commerce operations, especially in the retail, businesses in the restaurant and groceries. Online food platform deliveries have taken off. We use them extensively in our household. And fortunately they've been able to provide a lifeline for a lot of these businesses to stay viable. So I think if you sort of look at the industry in recent times, we're probably in the neighborhood of about 5 trillion a year in online sales, right. In the coming year. And if you sort of go back seven years or so that's about 300% growth. Huge, exponential growth and, of course in the last year is nothing but an accelerator. And a lot of that is coming from mobile, right? We've had steady double digit growth in mobile for a number of years now, prior to the pandemic. And today it accounts for the majority of e-commerce sales. So, those are obvious things. And with mobile, let's face it. We have a new generation of shoppers that exclusively transact on their phones, and that's only going to continue to grow. And then let's not forget digital voice citizens like Alexa that enable ordering, right from your kitchen counter. So those are positive trends that I think make investments in e-commerce even more important than ever before. I think the awareness impact from social media is also something that continues to create opportunities, especially for smaller evolving brands. Right. If you think about the cost to start up a business, where you have no awareness, and what that opportunity is like now more than half of, for example, you don't consumers. Are transacting really with what are otherwise smaller, independent brands. But those are brands that they discover from their social media feeds and engage with them. So I think that's exciting if you're an entrepreneur or having a startup business that doesn't have a large budget to advertise your products and services. I think that that ability to be discovered through social media, especially in the last year exploded. There's also what I think are great trends in automation, particularly around organizational efficiency, right? So, things that make the teams much more productive, robotic process automation, RPA is really starting to take hold in a lot of areas and are. Enabling really routine manual tasks that took time away from more important things. So more specifically, I think, folks like BI analysts can now automate much of their data processes and that leaves them more time for what's really important, which is their insights analysis. RPA is also able to efficiently harvest a large amount of structured and unstructured data that was off-site. So what that means really for brands that are well-known and have huge amounts of user generated content circulating around the internet in the form of, for example, reviews, images, blogs, videos, et cetera, it gives them, gives the ability to capture that information and synthesize it into personalized content recommendations, or even just as critical feedback loop for your internal optimization teams. And it can do that at scale. So that's huge. That's very powerful. I think about call centers, and internally the ability for companies to sort of harness these natural conversations that their representatives or agents have with their customers and how that information can really generate a tremendous amount of knowledge and data that an RPA system can harvest using transcription technology and data processing. So those are really evolving trends that just make the whole ecosystem that much more impactful and I think have a lot of growth and opportunity, right?

[00:08:41] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:08:41] Absolutely. No, definitely excited about these trends. And you've been in the airline industry, cruise line industry. Based on your background, what do you think is the next? Thanks just for the traveling industry in general, obviously they've been hit pretty hard during the pandemic. What are your predictions for that then also, what would be your recommendations for companies that are in this space to adapt, evolve and succeed?

[00:09:15] Rob Casas: [00:09:15] Yeah, absolutely. First of all, for brands in the travel space. And obviously I've got a background in the airline industry, as well as the cruise lines, which have been decimated in the last year or so. I think first of all, the good news is that eventually we'll get back to being able to do the things we did before in terms of travel and taking cruises and flights. I mean, obviously the airlines are ready. It started to fill airplanes. They've invested heavily in their cabin air quality. They've put some strict regulations around wearing masks and so forth. It's a little bit more difficult with cruises. Obviously you're not strapped or sea and people roam around, but I think we're going to get there, whether it's through eventually getting the vaccination to provide a sort of new, so eventually we're going to get there, but for those brands and the opportunity of getting there, there is a number of evolving technologies that are really focused on the product experience, especially bringing that product experience to life. And this has been a big hurdle for many, many have really seen the product in the store firsthand. Has it always been essential to the purchase process? Right? So in the cruise industry where I last came from, for example, consumers are really purchasing and experiencing, and when you add to that, the huge number of first-time cruisers that comprise a typical cruise, that ability for them to visualize those vacation moments during the consideration process becomes incredibly powerful. So with that, I think the introduction of things like augmented reality, that's one example of a promising analogy that can, I think, significantly enhance that experience online. Of course there are other visual e-commerce experiences that are becoming more pervasive on online store shelves, such as consumer generated media, interactive content, particularly engaging product videos. So, I think when you can take those visual experiences, particularly with the evolving kingdoms of AI, you can exponentially increase your capability to capture, excite, retain those high balls. Particularly if that AI platform is capable of machine learning. So these are things that are not necessarily new, big ideas. I think those new big ideas sort of usually manifest themselves in more traditional ways. But I think what we are seeing already from things that have been happening in the last year or two, that haven't been quite ready are becoming now more capable and more able to take mainstream platforms and take them to that next level. So, to summarize visual product merchandising and the ability to empower that in a more personalized way through AI platforms while not the next big idea, it's just really becoming now really fruitful and able to sort of be taken advantage of.

[00:12:35] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:12:35] Right, right. Absolutely. No, that's very interesting. And when you go through that almost Prince or Varian's mode, when, when you get hit with crisis as such definitely strategies shift to, and as we look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, we tend to shift to the bottom where we revert to kind of the basic needs, the you kind of the safety and all of that. So when it comes to innovation, especially during the difficult times, it's not necessarily a top priority, but at the same time, it's also a great opportunity to innovate, to come up with different ways of doing things. So curious to get your take on perspective, as far as companies being innovative during the crisis. So you're in difficult times. How do you foster that? How do you build that type of culture that even during the very difficult times, you still keep that as a priority, you don't stop innovating, you don't stop experimenting, you continue evolve, you continue to make things better. What are your thoughts on that?

[00:13:37] Rob Casas: [00:13:37] Yeah. Great question. So, first of all, I think when you come from large established brands there's always certain limitations you work with that exist, right? That makes that ability to innovate, sometimes challenging when you start up something from scratch, obviously you many times have a blank canvas and innovation particularly when you have smaller highly collaborative teams, become the culture. So I think, speaking from someone who largely has spent time with larger brands, it starts really with empowering your teams to own their actions, really and give them the tools and flexibility to innovate. And first and foremost, you've got to ensure that everyone understands what the objectives are and how all of the outcomes need to align to those objectives. So once everyone is grounded in that, and specifically where the goal line is, I think it's important to collaboratively work to shape the specific strategies that will get the team there. So basically everyone needs to be in on it. I think with that framework in place you foster a competitive spirit that gives everyone the ability to participate regardless really of their specific roles. Everyone should be a customer advocate. That being said, I think there's in order to create a culture of innovation, in my opinion, you first need to develop a culture of experimentation, incorporate into the routines of your team members, the freedom and the time to experiment, right? This is something that highly innovative companies like Google have done successfully for years. Jim Collins, who has authored some great business management books, including one good to great that I've read a number of years ago, wrote another book called attorney turning the flywheel, I think. And the phrase fires bullets first and then cannonballs, which you may be familiar with, which of course illustrates this concept of testing small and often before making your large investments to scale. So of course, early testing and experimentation had been around a long time, but in the digital space and with large amounts of traffic coming online, the ability to test them quickly get results, are really there, and make rapid optimization possible. So with that notion, I think it's also important that you let your teams know that you expect failures. Right? It's impossible to innovate without having failed a number of times so that they need to be aware of that and not fear. And in fact, if they're not failing, then they're not doing something, and then lastly, I think, you need to recognize and reward success, right? It can be as simple as letting these team members present their ideas and successes directed through other company executives that has always worked well for me and my teams, and I think another key element to fostering innovation is ensuring that your folks have the ability to engage outside of your organization with peers, right? I've seen companies work in somewhat siloed environments where team members seldom have the opportunity to connect with others that have similar roles. Right? One of the things I've always encouraged on my teams was for everyone to research conferences, industry events that are coming up in the year and to take the time to prioritize their potential value to our organization, really by sort of digging into the relevancy of attracts and the presentations and how they align with our strategies and objectives. And also really that feedback from past attendees, I've always given everyone an opportunity to attend at least one conference a year that aligned with their respective roles. And I found that by letting them prioritize for themselves, they really took the time to review the potential substance and the value that the industry conferences bring. And as a result, they've come back much more engaged in their ability to connect and share ideas with others has grown significantly. And I refer to it as this innovation energy. So I think those are some elements of ways that you can foster innovation, whether you're a startup or a large brand that can sometimes be somewhat set in their ways.

[00:18:24] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:18:24] Right. Absolutely. No, that makes perfect sense. Especially when we look at from a standpoint of the whole aspect of failure that it's not necessarily a failed experiment, the word failed, innovation, it's more of an opportunity to learn. It's an opportunity to do things better. And at the end of the day, it's an experiment, trial and error looking for different ways to do things. So I can absolutely resonate and relate to a lot of things that you were talking about as far as those strategies. So thanks for sharing that.

[00:18:55] Rob Casas: [00:18:55] Yeah, no, that's great. That's so absolutely true, Jahn.

[00:19:00] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:19:00] Yeah. And from a different perspective, when we'll look at it, the kind of the company's going through difficult times and the downsizing and what a lot of Oregon experienced last year, as far as attracting and retaining the top talent becomes a different perspective. And for organizations too, especially for executives, surrounding yourself with winners and eight plus players, it's at the top of their mind, 24/7 all the time. So what's your outlook into some of the strategies that will really help teams executives to attract the top talent to their teams during difficult times as such.

[00:19:46] Rob Casas: [00:19:46] Yeah, it's very competitive out there. And especially with the growth that we've seen in e-commerce, even more of a challenge today to find top talent. I think, first of all, work internally to make sure it's a culture that is attractive to future candidates who are prospective folks, and that's really important. There's a large corporate culture that you sort of work within, but I think leaders have the ability to sort of shape their micro cultures and yeah, and for me and my teams, it's been one that has been important in the sense of allowing folks the freedom to sort of own and be accountable, own their responsibilities to sort of be highly collaborative, to never be afraid to share the truth. That's really important. While there's a hierarchical makeup to our teams at the end of the day, We approach it from a, everyone is on the same level playing field everyone's opinion is equal. And I think that just in itself is important as you sort of work to attract new talent, because at some point, first of all, let's face it. They're going to come across people, especially when you work for larger brands that have worked there. And they're going to get a sense outside of any interviews you have of what it's like to work there. So, getting that sort of culture set, I think is important for the future of your ability to sort of attract, but going back to your question, I think some of the same techniques that digital marketers used to drive qualified users to their sites, I think are applicable to the initial recruitment phase, particularly when you tap into the capabilities of their social network. I mean, let's face it, who doesn't have a profile on LinkedIn, right? It's a huge resource, and it comes with your general background. I have abilities, but the ability for you to search for specific job titles, skill sets, and even filter down to geographic locations is a good way to start your search for talent. I mean, obviously, HR departments already do this. I knew the region, they were doing this, but the business areas that are hiring, also should be doing this right. Your network is rich, and your ability to sort of message your connections with your hiring needs. We've had good success with that in past years, and it's a great way for your connections to then forward on your opportunities that are outside of your immediate network. And then once you've identified candidates, I think, again, it becomes a wonderful resource to connect with former managers, former colleagues of that candidate, that you do during your vetting process. No obvious, but I don't know that everyone's still doing it and I've just had such great success with that. Another good source has been referrals from outside business partners and agencies that you work with. I mean, they already understand your business and they know your culture and they have a leg up on candidates in those fields that have a fit for what you do and what you need. So that has always been a good source of referrals and a good way to sort of recruit and attract talent. I should be sick, right?

[00:23:22] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:23:22] Absolutely. No, I love some of these strategies that you're talking about when it comes to attracting talent, especially when the competition is so high and unfortunately, a lot of very talented, very highly qualified folks, have to pivot and look for different other opportunities. And that also opens up kind of no many doors for opportunities to get into different other industries of different other types of roles within different sectors. So that's very exciting. From a standpoint of kind of that you've been in this industry for a while, as a thought leader, in terms of developing a particular skill set or kind of what's in demand out there in terms of a particular skill that a professional can possess. The reason I ask this question is because a good portion of our listeners on the podcast are early stage career professionals, recent grads, second year MBAs and so forth. And a lot of questions that we get from them is, Hey, with the current trends, with the current outlook, into the market and industry, what are you guys seeing? What are your recommendations in terms of investing a little bit more. As far as developing a particular skill set or a set of skill sets. So curious to get your take on that.

[00:24:41] Rob Casas: [00:24:41] Yeah. One of the things that have always been in large demand and challenging sometimes to recruit, especially with businesses that are sort of aggregating a lot of information is really experienced analytics professionals who can have the ability to harvest and disseminate multiple source data into actionable insights. That is a talent that is highly sought after for obvious reasons. And one that, if you don't have those kinds of folks on your team, you really need to figure out a way to bring them in. So that one quickly comes to mind. And then with all the displays that are displayed your eyes that are out there, mobile, obviously website, voice, all that you really just start thinking about ensuring that you have folks who have the capability to understand and have the ability to build what should be very intuitive experiences, particularly in industries, like for example, crews that have complex product funnels that was always something that we had a challenge with and for a lot of organizations. That's fine. They usually outsource that to a design agency and so forth. But I find that, regardless of whether you do that or not, you still want to have that skill set in house, even if it's just ancillary and sort of working in a synergistic way with your outside agencies, but if you're looking to build a lot of internal capabilities, that's one that I would say. You want to make sure that you have so and again, very much in high demand and very competitive to find really quality top-notch, UI/UX designers, particularly those who have cross-device experience. Right?

[00:26:53] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:26:53] Yeah, those are great recommendations, Rob, thanks for sharing that. In terms of your sources of information, your sources of learning, tell us, what are you following? What are you reading these days? What's on your bookmark list. Curious to get your take on that.

[00:27:12] Rob Casas: [00:27:12] Yeah. So, well, I read things like tech crunch is one that I've often turned to digital commerce. Three 60 is another one and eight. Anything of interest that I come across when scouring the internet, as I often do, honestly, the biggest source for great information for me, and learnings come from great accomplished colleagues that we're closely and highly innovative environments and folks that I connect with on a regular basis. Folks like digital, Matt Kujawa’s GlueIQ, Derek Bell's to get Three60. I had to name a few folks. These are folks in a highly respected field who are very passionate about technology and marketing. And those are the folks like them that I turn to quickly, whenever I want to understand something deeper than a knot. I'm not there yet. Right? These are the folks that are typically breaking through innovative capabilities are on the cusp of emerging technologies. And I find those conversations, in the short amount of time I have with those yields so much more than many things that I read, but having said that I'm a sucker for just reading about anything that comes across. So I'm always hoping. And in fact any recommendations you have, I'd love to sort of look at because there are some things that I'll read and after a while I realized, this is fairly basic, but then again, there's always something that I come across that I hold an alleyway that there's a couple of books that I read early on that I thought were well basic common sense approaches for people that want to get started in the industry. One of them was Don't make me think. And that one is all for those folks that are particularly focused on their websites, ensuring that they have an approach to designing with very intuitive navigation. It seems obvious, but if one of the things I sort of come across more often than not is websites, especially from brands that have been out there while that still haven't figured out a way to simplify their pathing into their funnels. They seem somewhat disconnected in terms of the product merchandising. And I think, many times I get frustrated and I think this is now 2021, this should be a sort of a basic staple of what people need to do. So, that book, I think for those that feel that that's an opportunity for their websites. One that, again, I read a few years ago, but I think it's still relevant in today's world, especially with mobile, right, where there's very limited real estate and you need to optimize that. And then another one along the lines of optimization is a book I read a few years back by a guy named Chris Coward called You Should Test That. And it's really all about this. We've talked about this already. This is experimentation culture, optimization culture that I think everyone should have. And it's really about testing everything. I mean, everything from your images, your colors, your navigation, your call to actions, your headlines. You can take different approaches to do that. You can MBT your testing. You could do A/B testing in many iterations, ultimately it's about test desk tests. And as I alluded to with Jim Collins, that's the principle that's been long standing, even beyond in the analog world, which is “know, take small steps to validate what you're doing”. And then once you've calibrated, then start scaling. And I think that book speaks to it very plainly, very easily, especially for those that are coming into this area and don't have all that background.

[00:31:27] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:31:27] Right. Absolutely. Those are great recommendations. And in terms of a book that you always recommend to others, do you have one in particular that really stands out and why they recommend it to others?

[00:31:41] Rob Casas: [00:31:41] I think one that comes to mind beyond those three, those are the ones I recommend, especially for folks that are getting started, but one that sort of comes to mind is what's called. I think One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon, and The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, that's where it is. I read that one, again, a while back. And I think it's interesting only because of what Amazon started to represent from its initial roots. And it's selling books, right? 20 years ago, 20 plus years ago to sort of become this. Logistics technology company that has morphed into a number of different business opportunities and what that culture and what those early sort of learnings and their sort of evolution in their investments. When at times it seems strange for some of the things that we're doing, how it's all sort of connecting now to sort of the things that they're doing now. So that was an interesting book again, it was interesting for me, just because of what Amazon represents. It's one of the companies that I think have shaped e-commerce right. The largest online retailer and what they've done along the way to make that really work. So if you look at it, you can order a candy bar that costs a dollar 50 and get it delivered to your house. How do they make money off of that? Well, there are ways that they take that simple process and while they may not make a ton of money on the actual sale of it. The data and all the things that go with it get monetized in different ways. The consumer behaviors, they collect all that stuff, to me has been really interesting and fascinating to sort of see all of the years. And I think that's a book that I think helps you understand that better.

[00:33:55] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:33:55] Oh, that's great. That's a great recommendation. Definitely got to check it out myself and for all our listeners, we'll make these titles and authors available in the episode notes. So you guys can check them out as well. Rob can thank you enough for your time today. Very insightful conversations, great outlook on a lot of different perspectives, much appreciated, and gonna stay in touch with you. And we're going to do another episode later this year and see how much I've changed, what I had transpired and looking forward to staying in touch.

[00:34:20] Rob Casas: [00:34:20] Okay, that sounds great, Jahn, I appreciate the opportunity to come on your show and thank you.

Jahn Karsybaev: Thanks so much, Rob. We'll talk soon. Take care.

Nurasyl Serik – Co-founder and CEO at remoteam.io

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Nurasyl Serik is the Co-founder and CEO of Remoteam, global payroll and HR compliance for Remote teams. They provide Employer of Record (EOR/PEO) services for full-time employees and FREE contractors management & payment service in over 150 countries. Before Remoteam, he was the first Product Manager for a new division within JOB TODAY, the #1 mobile jobs platform in the UK and Spain where he developed a payroll system and executed the product vision, definition and go-to-market plan to achieve six-figure monthly revenue from 0 within 10 months. He is a product and remote work expert obsessed with understanding the customers.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:21] Cesar Romero: [00:00:21] Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Ivy Podcasts. If you are wondering about how to best prepare for the remote work revolution, that's happening in front of us, whether you are a professional or an executive, then this episode is for you. We're going to be diving deeper into remote work. What are some of the skill sets that you get developed? How have you built culture? And many other things related to remote work. And today I have the pleasure of having Nurasyl Serik, who is [00:01:00] the co-founder and CEO of a remote team. So thank you so much for being on the show.

[00:01:07] Nurasyl Serik: [00:01:07] It's an honor to be in the show, thanks. Load point waiting guys.

[00:01:11] Cesar Romero: [00:01:11] Okay. Absolutely. No, thanks so much for taking the time to get us started. Let's start with diving deeper, a little bit deeper into your background. I understand that you are someone that is a remote work expert and obsessed with understanding the customer. Where does that come about and how has that played out in your past experiences?

[00:01:39] Nurasyl Serik: [00:01:39] Sure. I guess like, just say background wise, I'm originally from Kazakhstan. I've lived most of my life in the UK. I've studied there. I worked there. I've started a bunch of startups there. I guess the whole idea of how I went into [00:02:00] remote that was like five years ago. So we've been in a remote space for five plus years before it became a trend. So essentially me, my co-founder, and he's from Ukraine. So, we essentially were starting startups in the UK and then for us, because we're mostly bootstrap, most of our startups were a cost, so that was one of the things why we started being remote first. We kind of hated the idea of having to go into office. We either like in someone's house or flat, or just like remote. So we love that idea of flexibility that you can literally work from anywhere. What's the reason for actually being in the room, and then, because obviously we were from different countries, we were kind of looking to employ people from our own countries or different other countries. And then that's where we first faced the kind of challenges of employing [00:03:00] people remotely, essentially in terms of most of our startups, most of them failed, but we had one kind of successful one that we had to exit with. So it was fairly math, it's an AI master up. You take a picture of any math equation. It gives you a step by step solution within seconds. We have a hundred thousand monthly active users open up. So suppose the week, top 10 free education apps in the UK. So at the end we sold the US tech part of it, and we had a nice exit with that, and then essentially with that, knowing that we were all remote first companies, we always faced the challenges of how to hire people globally in a compliant, in the right way. And then we, in a way used, we were kind of our own customer. To be honest, we felt all the pains ourselves. We'll look [00:04:00] for a solution, we use some legacy solutions. And then what we hated about them was that they were super slow, they were well known tech savvy. They have lots of hidden fees, and then those are the things we thought like, okay, in the era of Gusto and Zenefits, like how can global peril be so painful? Why are there so many hidden fees in there? So that was like one of the motivations for us to tackle this industry and build something that we ourselves would love to use, and I mostly held positions of product. I love building products, understanding the customer pains. So yeah, and even into product, I kind of got accidentally because I studied accounting and finance, kind of a transition that I did not expect, but I always loved tech, and then I was always fascinated by that. I self taught myself how to code and then that's how I went into product management. And then later off to starting a bunch of our own startups, I thought maybe it's time for us to join another startup. So I joined a startup in London called Job Today. So for them, I essentially launched the need division. I was the first product tech person. I built the first MVP with our coders or developers with the designers. So I love knowing don't code status as well. And then essentially, then I assembled a team, that with whom we've built IT payroll in the UK. So that was our kind of first experience of understanding how to be in a CharTec plus building and payroll. And then later, and knowing having that experience on this to make the pains of the customer ourselves, we decided, okay, let's give it a try and build a global payroll. So that was kind of our background, how we went into this, there was a mixture of our skillset plus they experienced the pain points we faced ourselves.

[00:06:11] Cesar Romero: [00:06:11] Thank you so much for that wrestle. And there are so many directions that we can take from here, before we dive into failures. Because I wanna talk about that. Because you mentioned that you fail a lot, so I'm definitely curious about that. But before doing that, let's talk a little bit about remote teams. What is the specific pain point that you're trying to solve? Like, who is the customer? Let's dive into that.

[00:06:44] Nurasyl Serik: [00:06:44] Sure. So a remote team is in the global payroll and HR compliance solution and simple words. Let's say you have a company that is based in the US and you want to hire someone from the UK, China, Russia, India, any [00:07:00] country in the world, you have two ways to do it. Number one, you can go and set up entities in those countries, which is quite costly. It costs about 20 to 80K upfront, and then it's time consuming. It takes two to six months to set up an entity in different countries, essentially a subsidiary in their case. Number two, how they can do it, they can hire people as independent contractors or freelancers. So that is, I would say the most common way, how companies do that. But when you hire people as a contractor or freelancer, there are a few misclassification risks that they don't know about. Most of the customers that we speak to, they don't really know because they are just becoming a remote company, but essentially, if someone works for you full time and the person has a manager, that's all the kind of red flags that says this person is classified as a contractor, but whether it's a full-time employee and essentially you're [00:08:00] not paying the right taxes, they end up paying the right taxes. Any one of them, the government finds out or they input somehow it leaks in and then we'll have to pay penalties. You will have to pay all the taxes from the one and then, yeah. So in some severity cases, there might be some prison time, but I mean, it's a super interesting part where a lot of people don't really know how it works in how it should be higher than what kind of documents you need to kind of fill in and so on. So I guess for those reasons we exist. So what we did, we set up our own entities or through partners, we set up in these, in different countries in the world, and then we hired people on behalf of our customers. So that's called an employer of record solution essentially instead of them setting up an entity themselves or hiring person. As a contractor, they came to us and then with one click, we hired the person into our entity, and then essentially they will be working us up to us. They hired themselves. So we kind of liked to call yourself an extended HR partner. So we like to be the partner that actually helps them rather than just things they must have customers or that pain into this stuff. So, yeah. So when the customers come to us, they come with a problem of saying, Hey, how do I hire a person in this country, in that country? And then we tell them what is the best way to do it.

[00:09:32] Cesar Romero: [00:09:32] I guess my point with that and I totally agree with you that it's it's much needed. And I was involved in a startup where. What do you think about this? When we started doing more remote work? We didn't think about if we were going to be compliant in other countries as we would hire more, more and more staff. So I can definitely see the need there to make sure that startups are compliant right. Because every country has their own rules and regulations around the workforce in general. So with this set, what are some other things that companies need to take under consideration when they're shifting towards remote work? We already touch on what remote teams do and help companies do it. But why are some of the other things that companies need to do or should do to ensure that they have an efficient remote workforce?

[00:10:37] Nurasyl Serik: [00:10:37] Yeah. I mean, that is a big topic right now. So there are a lot of companies that are trying to coach people to be there, the right remote first company, there are lots of directions you take, but I guess like for me, myself, there are three main things that I look at in our own company. Number one is writing everything down. So I think. When you're a remote company, you don't have a privilege to go in the office and come to someone and say, Hey, can you explain to me what this is, so write everything down. So someone, anyone you onboard or someone in your company can have the access to that knowledge you have or any specific information they're looking for. So it's like a directory. Within your company and you can access any time. So that is super important. I would say I'm writing everything down for every single employee you have, they should write down on their own and you should write down on your own. And then it will have a library of knowledge in your company that could be passed to anyone you want more. And they can go in and read about different stuff. So I think that helped us in the previous companies. And then now in our remote team, essentially for us was a, we didn't write anything. And then you have to sync up with everyone and explain to them how it works. Just like a repetitive process. So if you're writing [00:12:00] once yes, you might like, it might not be that, I mean, like not everyone is a good writer or not, you don't feel like writing about it, but if you do it once and then it kind of helps you in the future rather than telling it to someone over and over again. And then number two for me would be to adapt an ACE in meetings or Oral Async, because essentially meeting with someone on the calls all the time is tough because of the time zones, and then people need to kind of either wake up at 1:00 AM or, or like 5:00 AM or go to sleep. And then, well, maybe their work time starts late. So we essentially for those reasons, I feel that async meetings and the boast. And then to be honest, that kind of forces your company to, not become the people, forces your people to be kind of more effective because they're not waiting for the meetings. They're not waiting for anything else. They just do it through the chat or like make sure that everything is async secret way to boost your efficiency in the company, would say, and then the final part, I would say culture. So there is a good saying that culture eats strategy for breakfast. Then I think it's absolutely true. In our case, like, culture is a big thing. So we try to adopt a culture from delivering happiness. Tony made a good one, a good cook. And then I think like when I read it first, I fell in love with the whole ideology that he brought to the world. And then that's how I see the culture. And then, I guess like there are different ways [00:14:00] we can talk about the culture, how to develop it. We could go into it if you like, if not, we can talk about it.

[00:14:07] Cesar Romero: [00:14:07] Yeah. I know that that was going to be my followup to this because culture in remote teams is big. And yeah, there, obviously, there are some challenges to building a remote culture, right? Because you don't have the in-person water coater conversations. So let's dive into it. Like what are some of the key, I guess, key strategy you or tactics that you have implemented to build that culture in a remote team. Or let's start with how would you define culture?

[00:14:51] Nurasyl Serik: [00:14:51] That's it. That's a good question. So culture, I guess like it's a cornerstone [00:15:00] ideology that your team. In my case, I believe we set up some ideology like kindness, customer obsession, and then cost optimization. One of the three cornerstones to be in everyone, is kind of going into that direction. But what would I say is our agricultural benefits? And then definition in our company.

[00:15:34] Cesar Romero: [00:15:34] I think that's great. Right? It's about being aligned right with the values that you want to present as a company, as a professional. So what are some of the, I guess, challenges that you have experienced, when trying to build culture, right? Like how do you make sure that everybody is aligned with the culture of a company?

[00:15:58] Nurasyl Serik: [00:15:58] [00:16:00] That's definitely tough. I think with the remote company, that's definitely tough because you don't have that personal touch. You don't have that kind of meetings. So I think with us, what we try to do, we'll try to build up some activities and then I feel that the activities might actually be one of the things that boost the morale of the team and then get them to know each other more and then eventually help the culture. So I think, the culture should be built via activities, yearly meetups and benefits. So those are the things that could kind of help to grow it. I know like, I tend to like one particular activity where. You are randomly assigned one-on-one with someone on a weekly basis. Like it just goes on them, [00:17:00] people. So we love that because you don't have to specifically go and talk to someone, but rather it's just randomly. You get one-on-one with someone and you are kind of forced to talk to the person, but at the end, it turns out to be great because you get to learn about them more about their challenges, and then that's how everyone helps each other.

[00:17:23] Cesar Romero: [00:17:23] I really love that. You mentioned that because one of the things with remote work is loneliness, right? People have been reporting like more and more feelings of loneliness. And I think one of the ways to mitigate that is by having this type of activity where you get to have a call with your coworker, with a teammate and not necessarily talk about work, but talk about life too. Like, what do you like, what did you like to do in your free time? Right? Like, what do you like to eat? Things that seem trivial, but we build relationships and build trust. So I really liked that. They mentioned that because, yeah, loneliness is an epidemic, right. And now that things are shifting more remote, I feel like we have to make a more conscious decision of actively trying to connect with our teammates.
[00:18:27]

[00:18:32] Nurasyl Serik: [00:18:32] Right. I think that's a big thing. Loneliness is a big one right now, and I think mental breakdowns are happening because of that and overall, I think it's really tough to be at home. You feel locked down, I guess like the ideal world of remote work is that. You don't have any restrictions of where to go. You can work from the, I dunno, from the park and the beach, from wherever, but especially this time in 2020 it was because everyone was locked in into their homes, maybe smaller apartments. It's really tough. Well, you feel like you're in a prison?

[00:19:13] Cesar Romero: [00:19:13] It does. It does, luckily I do have a window here, so with a great view, that helps me out a little bit. I want to shift gears here and ask you, because they know you have been doing remote work even before remote work was called, even before this shift. And last year we're covered a lot of people got taken by surprise, right. With everything coming in remotely, and people are struggling with that adjustment and companies too. Right? Like what would your advice be to someone that is not used to remote work and it's trying to [00:20:00] adapt to this new, I guess, new, normal, in terms of skill sets or things that they could do to be a better remote teammates.

[00:20:15] Nurasyl Serik: [00:20:15] Yeah, I think that is a very good question because I, myself. Struggle to be a good remote teammate in the beginning, and then probably still learning a lot of things, but overall, I feel like there are lots of directions. We can obviously take a buddy. I like to highlight two most important things that helped me. Number one is writing skills. So you have to boost your writing skills because when you sin or when most of this stuff is in writing, when you write something, it could mean. Different things and then people can perceive it differently. So [00:21:00] if you learn to write concisely precisely, and that would help a lot. So writing skills, I would say me personally, it helped a lot. So obviously not. I know I wasn't a good writer. I was writing some stuff that people perceive in a different way. They did something different. I was like, shit, I meant something else. So, yeah, so I think that is very important as a scale. Number two, I feel, it's another, the second big one that I'm still struggling to cope well is self-management meaning time management, meaning managing your work-life balance, all of it together so that it is a big topic and a skill. Because there, if you're not managing well, there could be burnouts and loss of motivation. Your productivity [00:22:00] goes down and then all the things that are dependent on that. So I think like, really, really kind of thinking about the coals. So like for example, if you have different meetings, different goals, it's tough to find a time for deep work. So sometimes like you have so much destruction and you feel that your day is not done, like, because you haven't done anything, you just fit in the clothes. So I definitely recommend people to think about self-management the way it kind of helps their own lifestyle. So for me, for example, I block out days and then kind of times in each day that I don't take any calls. I just work. And I don't look at the emails. I'm just unavailable because I'm doing some work that I need a hundred percent concentration and then managing yourself to do all of that. Plus also thinking about the work-life balance, making sure that sometimes it's only 3:00 PM. When you feel like not working for a couple of hours, don't I know it feels kind of wrong, but because people are used to office hours, like nine to five, nine to six, they're like it's 3:00 PM. I got to go back to work, but sometimes I feel like 3:00 PM. I don't feel like working for the next three hours. I go and take a break. That's fine. You should do it. Like, definitely because honestly, like one of the things I felt when I was in the office plus working remotely is that when you work remotely, the work never ends. You end up doing more work. So it's fine. So if you feel, yeah, those three hours at 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM feels weird. Yes, it does. But let's take a break and do something. This stuff. So we definitely, that one was a kind of boost for myself, honestly. Like there were days, like I know I wake up late, but I still do stuff. So I think you should just try and find your balance.

[00:24:10] Cesar Romero: [00:24:10] I really love that. You mentioned this, because first let's start with writing, which is just being a good communicator. And it sounds like a basic skill, but I'm surprised how many people miscommunicate in writing or either in a speaking format. And I was laughing internally because I was watching a YouTube video by Jordan Peterson, where he gets asked this question about skill sets. And he basically told the students to learn to read, learn to write, and learn to speak. But recently he was saying that it was because if you are able to communicate your ideas in a way that are [00:25:00] clear, concise, and influential. The people receiving your message, then you're going to be someone that most likely are going to succeed and it sounds so basic, but it's so true, and the second part that they mentioned on, you to me had this report of 2021 trends and the number one was, I think it was called self-mastery. And the fact that they mentioned that just makes me happy because it is true, right. Burnout, not knowing your boundaries, what you need in order to be productive. I saw something, I think West Cow, she was too personally responsible for pioneer in the alt MBA with Seth Godin. [00:26:00] And she tweeted yesterday of how she was shocked that 96% of people spent all of their days in meetings and they start actual work after five. I think that's something that we need to be aware of. Right? Like, are these meetings necessary? Is this something that could be done in email or any other way? When would that say, just to shift gears here a little bit, what are some of the tools or apps that you use on a day-to-day basis to manage remote work?

[00:26:41] Nurasyl Serik: [00:26:41] I guess like we are ourselves still exploring different apps, different tools. So I mean, we use Slack, obviously we use Notion, I think Notion is a big thing. So it's kind of, we use it for all the knowledge sharing. So most of our data, most of our company information is in Notion. So that director I talked about, so we use JIRA. And then I guess in terms of self kind of tracking. You can use different tracking apps to track your time where you need deep work. You could use some, I personally use different kinds of apps to listen to some calming music too. I can go into my deep work. So, those are the things. Oh, the most important tool that you should use. It's a global parallel compliance of course compliance and your business made sure that that is the number one priority. Like those are the main things we use, but I get nowadays, they're like so many tools that are popping up every day in terms of remote. I think there's like so many of them, like you just. Should find a balance. I think for me, also, I'm not the kind of person where I want to have different tools for different stuff. I like to minimize extra stuff. So I like to have as minimum as possible, the tools. So not everyone jumps in different places because it's just going to mess. So, what we have, even in our kind of organization, we try to limit the tools that people can use, because like, imagine tomorrow comes, someone else is like, Oh, I know this still is best. So he ended up starting. Another one comes in is the other tool. So it just becomes a Frankenstein and you'll have to use different tools. So, we try to minimize the tools. And even though like, Well, let's say Notion doesn't have some kind of tracking system for tasks, for issues and so on and so forth. We try to even like to use one single platform. So even though that there will be less functionality rather than pure software for a particular purpose, would try to just stick to one and then see how it goes.

[00:29:23] Cesar Romero: [00:29:23] I like that. I think Nordstrom is a big one and one that I'm still getting my feet wet, because you can do so many things with Ocean, and I agree with you, right. There's tools for everything. And like there's so many tools out there and I think you can easily get overwhelmed. So I'm a big believer in limiting the number of options that they have, especially to get your work done. All right. So let's shift gears here because I promised at the beginning that we're going to dive into failures and I want to make sure we do that. How have your failures set you up for success and what is your favorite failure?

[00:30:15] Nurasyl Serik: [00:30:15] All defenders said that, I guess my favorite failure is not being able to get into investment banking or banking overall. So as I said early, I studied accounting and finance. I wanted to go into banking, but things didn't work out and kind of there were two main reasons. My passion and my interest was doing tech, but I felt back in the days, I felt that investment banking is the right place to be. So as a young person that wants to, I know, Excel in his career, earn lots of money and then so on and so forth, I felt that that could be the right direction. But then things [00:31:00] didn't work out. I felt bad at first that I couldn't get into investment banking. But then I felt that that's right. Failure set me up to where I am at the moment, because it just shifted, it just closed my path to that. So I didn't go into the banking industry overall. So I just shifted to tech. And then that was like, I would say one of the ways for me to be where I am.

[00:31:35] Cesar Romero: [00:31:35] Yeah, no. I think sometimes the things that do not work for us end up being the best thing that never happened to us. Right. Because they are like a redirection into what you should be doing next. All right. But how do you determine that? I guess there's a balance, right? Because I'm a believer in going after what you want. And if it doesn't work out and try again or try a different strategy, never give up and never give up. But there's another aspect of that is recognizing this is not something I'm going to do, but I think what's, so what made you decide that of not being insistent. No, this is, I studied this and this is what I need to make happen. What was the process for you internally?

[00:32:26] Nurasyl Serik: [00:32:26] That is, I think, a very good question because overall, I feel that even in startups, like when you start different startups, they say to yourself, you got to go out. But sometimes it's like, I think like most of the people who start startups, they have that problem with delusion illusion. They'd feel this is the right way to go, but it is really, I don't know, like a pro guide knows myself, if there is a way to actually determine if this is the right or not the right way. But for me, I just put some criteria. Is it as it's gonna make it work or is it something that isn't going to succeed? So what is right? Checks for me. So I kind of like having a checklist or if this is the right thing, should I persevere or should I stop on that? And then what are the different ways that you can peak? And then in particular about the finance, I felt for me that the decision process was in a way that I felt that this is potentially the right one way to go, but I don't feel that I might be kind of the right person for it. And I didn't have the passion to say that I want to learn more of it everyday. I'd rather had a passion to think about tech, different startups, building the websites, learning a bit more about code. So I had that, but I guess like overall, you just got to think about your gut feelings plus the passions. Like, is it something that you will do regardless of if it's going to break, make you money or regardless if you're going to be happy about it.

[00:34:22] Cesar Romero: [00:34:22] I think that's a key there, right? If it's going to make you happy, because if you're not happy, then it's not worth it. Right. And I think it takes a lot of courage and a lot of internal work to recognize when something that you tried. That you put money and time and effort into it. It's not going to work out or didn't work out, right. Especially for anybody in the audience that is just getting started in their career. If you're listening to this, I think it's important to go out there. Try things, experiment. And then learn from that, right? If it's something that resonates with you, keep trying. If it doesn't then listen to that gut intuition, whatever you want to call it. Because we're not taught to do that right. In school or in society. We're not taught to listen to our God. It's just like, what's your next achievement? What's the next thing that you're going to work on and I think, yeah, going back to what you said, happiness is the goal, it's what we're trying to achieve.

[00:35:38] Nurasyl Serik: [00:35:38] Awesome. Yeah, absolutely. Honestly, I agree with you. I think you made a good point. It's very important to understand if this is the right path or not. And then definitely being happy, making sure that this is something that you can do, but at the same time, I think, for me personally, even, I really think that sometimes when the things happen, even in a wrong way, I just have a trust that this is probably the right way.

[00:36:12] Cesar Romero: [00:36:12] Yeah, exactly. Right. So somewhere where things are working out for you. Awesome. So that's the question here before we wrap this up, I always like to ask. I guess, what are some of the content that you are consuming? Whether it's book, courses, podcasts, what are some of the things that keep you learning these days? It could be a course, a book or a podcast, anything that you're reading, listening, or watching.

[00:36:56] Nurasyl Serik: [00:36:56] So mostly now I read stuff that helped me post one skill, the other. So right now I'm boosting my sales skills, reading a book called Sales Triangle, and then overall, I think, when you are a startup founder, it usually happens that you get into a problem and you're like, okay, I don't have experience in that. So why don't I go and learn more about that? Yeah. So my favorite one way of learning is rather books. I wouldn't, I would say that podcasts, I listened to them, but not that often. I rather go and read books and then that's, I think my way of learning, courses. I don't feel that it was efficient for me, because I just like what I do with the books. I like, I skimmed through, I tried to find the information that I'm looking for and I got the whole idea, but the course is too long. Takes too much of your effort on podcasts. Also, you sometimes don't know who to listen to, where do you find any answers there? So it with the books is more or less clear. There are books that kind of help you do X or Y. And then you kind of go and learn the fundamentalists in your play in your own way, but having that fundamental, because as you said, like, these things are never taught either in school, in university. And then, you got to go and learn it somewhere, but the other interesting fact is that I think having the right mentors, for me, also helps. So sometimes I just go and ask them other than going and looking for a book back and have me do that.

[00:38:49] Cesar Romero: [00:38:49] That's awesome. And a couple of things here, I'm a little sad that you didn't mention the Ivy Podcast to listen to. Just kidding! I think sales, right? Learning sales. It doesn't matter what you do or who you are. I think learning sales it's extremely important. So I'm happy that you mentioned that, and the second thing I wanted to do before I knew we got to wrap it up, but I don't want to leave because you mentioned something important asking mentors, what would you recommend or how would you approach asking a mentor? Because I know there's a right way and a wrong way to ask. What would you recommend to someone reaching out to a mentor? How would you go about it reaching out? Meaning they are looking for a mentor or meaning they have a mentor and they are asking the question, looking for a mentor, making them ask how would you go about that?

[00:39:54] Nurasyl Serik: [00:39:54] I guess like looking for a mentor is a tough one to mentor you, but I guess. Being brave here. So sometimes when people don't ask, they don't get, so we just go and ask, you never know if you are either going to get yes or no, but that's fine. They said, no, go ahead and go and look for someone else. So, yeah, so my life I've just randomly asked the person that like, okay, why not? Let's give it a shot, let's give it a try. But in the right way of asking, obviously. I mean like there is stuff that you can find out yourself so different in us, like rarely. And the kind of thing that you can Google.

[00:40:46] Cesar Romero: [00:40:46] Exactly. Right? You can Google it.

[00:40:52] Nurasyl Serik: [00:40:52] Don't ask me, why are you essentially Googling it? I mean, those are the simple principles, but overall, I mean, when you have a mentor, I guess, like it's more of a conversation style. It's not like you only go to them when you have a problem, but you keep in touch, you just talk and then. Here and there, it just pops up different questions in the let's just talk about it, but it's not like you only call your mentor when you have a problem. So it's more of a general catch-up and learning about life, learning about their love in your life. And that's pretty much it.

[00:41:26] Cesar Romero: [00:41:26] I love it. I love dimension, just ask, make the ask. You can go, you can either do, get a yes or no. Because a lot of times we suffer in our mind before we even do the action. So, and I like that, you mentioned it's a relationship, right? Like you build a relationship. It's not just transactional. Right. And I think that's my biggest mistake people make is making it a transactional relationship where they only reach out when they need help. So build those relationships, because that's what this is all about. No, that's all. Thank you so much again for coming on the show, sharing with us a little bit about your background, your insights into remote work and how we can ask professionals and executives better prepared to embrace this revolution that it's already here. Right? And I don't want to say it's coming because it's already here. And I would love to follow up. Do I know the episode down the road, see where things are at, but for now this is it that we kind of wrap it up. Thanks so much. Appreciate you.

[00:42:40] Nurasyl Serik: [00:42:40] Thank you, Cesar. It was a pleasure talking to you, it was really good. Fun. So thanks so much. And then I guess from now on, I'm going to listen to more podcasts.

Brian Oblinger – Chief Community Officer, Strategic Consultant

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Brian Oblinger is a strategic consultant and keynote speaker with over 20 years of experience helping enterprise brands leverage the power of community and customer experience to increase satisfaction, lower costs, and generate more revenue. He has helped companies like Acer, Alteryx, Autodesk, Comcast, eBay, The Home Depot, HP, and PlayStation connect with their customers to build an engine for engagement, satisfaction, and retention. He is also the co-host of In Before The Lock podcast where he talks about community, customer experience, and leadership at scale.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:21] Cesar Romero: [00:00:21] Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Ivy Podcast. Today, we're going to be talking about community asset growth drivers for your business. So if you are listening to this episode and you're wondering what is community, what's the impact the community can have in your business, or maybe you are a community professional that you're struggling with challenges are how to present the impact that community is having on your business, then you definitely want it to name into this episode because today my guest is Brian Oblinger and Brian for the past 20 plus years, he's been helping brands leverage the power of community and customer experience to achieve your goals. And he's also a consultant speaker and the host of the podcast in before the lock brand. Thank you so much for being on the show today.

[00:01:28] Brian Oblinger: [00:01:28] Yeah. Thanks for having me.

[00:01:30] Cesar Romero: [00:01:30] Absolutely. So. The main question in people's minds is how do you make sure that the impact of the community, but before diving into that, I want to set the context and help the audience get to know more about brands. So why don't you tell us a little bit more about your background? How do you get started into the work that you're doing and why are you so passionate about community and customer experience?

[00:01:59] Brian Oblinger: [00:01:59] Yeah. In a lot of ways communities are the only thing I've ever done right. So I don't have any other applicable skills. So I'm kind of stuck in this industry, but I got started really young. I was a kid, I liked playing video games, the Internet became a thing. My parents bought a computer, we hooked it up to the phone line, and I think it was on CompuServe at the time. And I started, I don't think Google was even around. I think this was like Netscape and stuff like that. So I just started searching for gaming stuff and I stumbled into gaming communities at the time. This is like in the late nineties, kind of mid to late nineties. And I know, right? Half your listeners probably weren't alive then, but that's okay. So, no judgment. So, I started getting into these communities and really, I got started by just being a member. I just really loved going to these communities and connecting with people and having conversations and sharing whatever I could share there. And I just, I found that so addicting, I spent all of my time at that computer and I'm sure my parents were like, what is this? Oh no, what have we done? But look at me now, ma. So it all worked out, but I've always been into the community. And then there were opportunities to volunteer. I created a couple of my own communities, varying degrees of success and just grew really organically with this whole thing. And I've done pretty much every job one could do from a community management and administration and all that perspective and then teaching other people how to do community. So it's truly my life's work. I don't know anything else. And I just really want to help people succeed with building these great communities.

[00:04:03] Cesar Romero: [00:04:03] I love a brand, I live with that. It's an extension of your passion and your personality. Right, because I don't know people, that's one of the biggest challenges. Right? How can they combine what they're passionate about in their career and you are someone that has done that very successfully. So that's awesome. So throughout your career in helping businesses build community what have been the biggest challenges that you have noticed or help businesses solve around community and customer experience.

[00:04:48] Brian Oblinger: [00:04:48] Yeah. I mean, clearly the business aspect of this and the measurement aspect. So, to go back to the beginning here, I think gaming companies in particular understood the value of building community around their games and around their consoles and those kinds of things, and so I think they understood that pretty early on, but from an enterprise or corporate business perspective this is all new. And what's funny is we've been doing this for 20 years or whatever now. And people are still just discovering it now. Right. So it's still relatively new. And so one of the big challenges is education, right? Just what is this thing? Why do I care? Why would I invest money? And what kind of return am I going to get? These are just the most basic of topics that I talk about every day with businesses today. Now people are getting a little bit more wise to all of this and more accepting and that's great, but we're still very much in the early innings of a lot of that. And so I think education has been a big one. And then clearly, how do you translate what you're doing in the community to actual business value, which I know we're going to talk about and tell that story. So like CMX, just put out a report, right? A couple of days ago, as we record about trends in the industry, they do this every year and the trends are great and there's lots of positive news in there, but the one thing about the report that's kind of on the downside is a lot of community professionals said in their survey that they still struggle to measure the value of community and to tell that story to like an executive audience at businesses. So we still have a long way to go there, and I have a bunch of experience doing that and am happy to share whatever I can.

[00:06:49] Cesar Romero: [00:06:49] Absolutely. And let's dive right into it then. Why do you think that's the number one challenge. And to set the context here, I was having a conversation with an executive and I was trying to explain to him the value of community. And he just gave me this nod of like, yeah, I think I know what you're saying, but he didn't really understand right. Then that could be my fault for not explaining it well. But what do you think there's such a disconnect between the executive team and a community team or a community manager.

[00:07:36] Brian Oblinger: [00:07:36] Yeah, I think there's a couple of facets. One is on the community manager side. Right? So people who have been building and operating these communities have been focused on doing just that. They spend all of their time, every day thinking about how to engage members and how to build programs and what their content looks like? And they're deeply invested in the day-to-day operational aspects of the community. And so therefore they just haven't had the time to invest right in understanding what the business aspects are and how, and they don't get that. They haven't had that exposure like classically. We all know it's kind of a trope at this point, but classically community professionals have been sort of under appreciated and just off in their corner doing their thing, generating value, whether people know it or not. And so, they just haven't had that opportunity to get into those types of more strategic discussions. And know what executives care about. So that's on the community side, on the executive side. Again, this is just all new, right? They understand marketing, they understand accounting, they understand products, these are all things that have been around for hundreds of years and are pretty well-worn paths. And there's a large base of knowledge around this and accepted best practices. And so those are just known quantities, right? Whereas community is this sort of newer for a lot of companies and a lot of executives it's brand new, right. They've never heard of it before or when they do. There's a big learning curve there. Now I am starting to see when I talk to clients and I talk to a bunch of different people in their organizations. I am starting to see that change, just by virtue of, because we've had enough time now you'll talk to people and they'll say, Oh, Yeah, two companies ago, we had a community and it was great. So some of that familiarity and just general awareness is being built up, which is good, but you're right. That a lot of times you have these conversations and they just don't know. And it's not because they're dumb or they don't get it or whatever. It's just, they haven't had the time to understand it yet. And so that's really the challenge for us as community professionals is to help them understand that and it is on us. I think if you're just waiting for someone to have an epiphany and understand everything clearly you're going to be waiting a long time. And so we have to think very deeply about how we connect with these people and how we help educate them. And then how do we show them what that value can actually be through execution?

[00:10:09] Cesar Romero: [00:10:09] Yeah. No, absolutely. And so, Brian, let's say you had to go into an executive meeting, right. Like, and prove the ROI of community in the business. Like how would you approach that? What are some of the things that you would consider in terms of achievement, that goal of creating that awareness in the executive team?

[00:10:40] Brian Oblinger: [00:10:40] Yeah. Well, the first thing is to ask questions, right? So instead of going in and trying to have this big presentation and here's what the value is and here's what you can do and all of that, the first thing you need to do is understand what their goals are and what they care about. And oftentimes when you talk to people at the executive level, their goals are going to sound something like, I'm trying to reduce costs or I'm trying to generate more revenue or I'm trying to create more leads, right? If I'm on the marketing side or if I'm in product, I want to build a better product, a more quality product with less defects support, so go in and understand like what's their slice of the business, what do they really care about? And what are those high level, the highest of level business goals that they have? And then I think once you understand what those are and what their challenges are, and who's involved and all that good stuff, then you can start to craft a narrative and say, Okay, for example, let's do the support one because that's everybody's favorite. Right? So if you go talk to the VP of support or the chief customer officer, or whoever owns support at a company oftentimes they have several key problems. One is obviously cost, right? They're trying to bring their costs down to scaling their team and how are we going to address the needs of our customers with what we have available to us on the resource side, and then the third one is typically, how they interface with the product, right? And what the interplay is between product and support and how they work together. Those are kind of commonly three challenges you might find. And so what I would say to that executive, once I understand that a little bit more is I would say, well, look with a self-service environment in this community, right. We can create content and put it out there and people can self-serve and it can be a one to many, or many to many model where they're supporting each other, they're consuming this content. And that has the net effect of getting at several of your goals. Right? So we're going to reduce costs because those people aren't coming to your support as much anymore. They're self-serving right. We're going to help you on the scaling side, because now you might not need to hire as many or as fast support engineers because we're offloading some percentage of the overall support to the community. And then on the product side, for both product and support, we're going to get a bunch of feedback through discussions. And if we have a legitimate ideation solution, we'll know what's going on, what they care about, they'll tell us what their feedback is, and we can use that to make that process better and connect you better with the product. And so those are the types of narratives that I would give. And it sounds really simple, right? It's not, I didn't say anything technical. I didn't throw any big numbers at you. It's just plain English. Here's what your problem is. Here's how we can start to solve it. And here's what the value will be.

[00:13:41] Cesar Romero: [00:13:41] Yeah, I agree with that. And I really like what you mentioned is listening, asking questions or really finding out what metrics do they care about? And trying to figure out a way to tie those metrics with the community. I think that's the key there.

[00:14:02] Brian Oblinger: [00:14:02] Yeah. Because a lot of people will be like that, so one of the mistakes that classically gets made is someone gets invited to their first meeting with directors or VPs or executives or whatever. And it's like, give us an update on community, tell us what's going on. And they show up and they say, Oh, we had this many posts and this many likes and this many new members and I get it because again, that's the world. They live in those operational community metrics and you should be tracking those because they do give you indications of your success on the community side, but to a CEO, like I don't know what that means. Oh, we had 10,000 posts. Is that good? Is that bad? Like what does that mean? And how do I think about that in the context of what the board is telling me, they care about every day. Right? And so that's where the disconnect often is. And being able to come in and say, here's the actual dollar value or business value of this is really important. And then if they want to dig deeper, sure. You can dive down into those operational numbers and the formulas and how you got to the dollar signs. But that's usually where the disconnect is people just kind of missed the mark on the types of things they're talking about with that level of audience.

[00:15:17] Cesar Romero: [00:15:17] Yeah. Personally I've made that mistake myself.

[00:15:20] Brian Oblinger: [00:15:20] Oh, I have too, yeah. To be clear, I'm not judging. I've been there, I've done it. I just have learned that lesson enough times that I have changed, right.

[00:15:31] Cesar Romero: [00:15:31] Yeah.Going into a meeting and explaining, Oh, we had so many events this month and the CEO being like, okay, but what does that mean in terms of revenue or leave?

[00:15:43] Brian Oblinger: [00:15:43] Yeah. Cool story, bro.

[00:15:45] Cesar Romero: [00:15:45] Yeah, exactly. And not that you mentioned the story, I think storytelling, right? It's the key, right? Like how does this tie into the overall goal of the company? And the metrics and speaking of metrics, one of the questions that I received was, is there a difference between community metrics and business metrics. And how do you align those years?

[00:16:15] Brian Oblinger: [00:16:15] I've sort of come up with a framework for this, which is really how do you take that high level company goal or objective? So again, we're going to reduce costs, right. Or we're going to generate more leads, whatever that is, and then you bring that down a level to say, okay, if our goal is to let's use the marketing one. So we want to generate more quality leads. So we're going to bring that down a level from their objective to, okay. How can we address that on the community side? Well, we can design a content program that attracts a broader, more industry focused audience to bring people to the community, to consume that content and potentially interact with it. And when they want to interact with it, whether that's in the form of leaving a comment or engaging in a discussion. What do they do? They sign up right now. We've captured their email address and their title or whatever we're asking for on the sign-in page. And that can be part of your lead gen flow. Not necessarily that they're automatically a lead, but now some people you didn't know before. So that's sort of the mapping and then the metrics underlying that, what are the views on that content? How popular is it in the context of other content in the community? How many people are signing up directly after they view that content? And so you get this, you can draw a straight line between, Hey, someone came to the community and saw this content and signed up and look how this is helping influence or contribute to this goal that we have of broadening our audience and therefore potentially generating more higher quality, more relevant leads. And so that's how you kind of map those two things together and draw the line. And then in hearing me say that you probably heard the story come through, like that's exactly the story that I would tell a CMO or a VP of demand gen or whatever the case is very clear, very specific. Here's how we're going to map these things and they go, Oh, okay, cool. I get that. And then you have a conversation about what is that content you just described? Let's talk about that. Who do we need to create that? What does it look like? What are the themes? And then you just go off in that direction until you do something great. And you execute on it.

[00:18:29] Cesar Romero: [00:18:29] Yeah, it's a hundred percent, right. The story that would tell it's going to either break a breaker maker, your case. And now that community is finally on the radar, what are some of the trends that you are most excited about in terms of community-driven companies innovation. What are some of the things that you're seeing out there that have you excited for the future of humanity?

[00:19:00] [00:19:00] Brian Oblinger: [00:19:00] Well, community itself is a trend, of course. And we've been trending, I would say four a number of years here, but now with COVID and everything else many businesses have become more aware of this. And so I'm having a lot more conversations now with companies that they kind of get on the phone and they say, we should have done this two years ago. And we kind of know we're behind the eight ball and we should have done this. And now we have all these customers, we don't know how to support them. So that's a big trend. Marketing is also a big trend. So it used to be, if you look back in time, five or six years, maybe, and beyond, support was always one of the primary drivers of most communities from a business perspective anyway, because it's one of the easier things to map and measure. And now what we're seeing is that marketing and product and developer relations and a whole bunch of these other folks, customer success, are getting involved in the community and actually being the ones, championing it in their company. So if I look right now at the six or seven clients that I'm currently working with, almost all of them, maybe except for one, are driven through marketing right now. And that just wasn't the case several years ago. So that's a big trend. And then I think the third one is, again, back to what we're saying before, they're learning. How to translate what they're doing into business value. And that's one of the drivers to go back to, like, why is the community trending? Because it's a great story to tell if you're at a company that's been around a little while you've done all the normal things. You've run the playbooks. You've done all the stuff. Like if you're in marketing, right. You've done all the marketing things that you can do. And now you're looking for what's the next thing that we can do to drive some value. And the fact that they understand the community is one of those things and see how it can contribute is an important part of why it's becoming popular and new departments are getting involved in new leaders taking chances on it because it's new for them. Anyway, it's a new unexplored area of value and that's a driver for them, right. They want to do something new and exciting andshow their company that they can do that.

[00:21:17] Cesar Romero: [00:21:17] Yeah, I agree with you. And I think what you mentioned at the beginning of dips, so is that we've been doing community forever. But I think now it's becoming, it's been trending, I think a lot because of the technological platforms are out there, right. That is almost like a catalyst of the impact that a community can have on the business. And one of the questions that I got as well was how do you decide what, where to host your community in terms of platform, right? Like, is there a process or a blueprint that you follow when it comes to selecting a platform, yeah. I'd love to talk a bit about that.

[00:22:15] Brian Oblinger: [00:22:15] Yeah. This is an interesting one. So a couple of things
on one hand people get way too invested in technology and platforms, right? And they tend to get overly focused on that. And what I try to do is help people understand that technology's important, but before we play with technology, let's figure out what your goals and your strategy is. And then let's go get whatever platforms we need to make your strategy come alive, as opposed to the other way around a lot of people will go buy a community platform or decide, Hey, we're going to do this on Facebook or whatever. And then they kind of back their strategy into it based on the capabilities of that platform. And so I kind of get people thinking about, Hey, let's do strategy first and tech second, when it comes to the tech part, though, technology is important. Don't get me wrong. But a lot of it has to do with your execution on that platform. And there's a bunch of considerations that go into it, right? Your audience, your audience size, what kind of features and capabilities they need. Are they already somewhere else that you can go tap into? There's a bunch of different things, but in the world that I live in mostly anyway, which is sort of this enterprise, software companies, product companies, thinking about building community around their products and services. Usually the best bet for them is let's build it on your domain, right? Let's build it on a platform that you control. You have access to the data. You get to brand it, no one can pull it out from under you. Which is kind of a common problem with the Facebooks of the world and those things. It's like policies change. They make decisions. They're the ones developing the platform pretty much solely without you, without your feedback. And so you lose a lot. They're right. You don't own the customer, as they say, as you do when you kind of own your own community. So, I generally kind of steer people towards, Hey, you can have a multifaceted strategy where you're participating in many different places, right? Twitter, GitHub, Facebook, maybe like Stack Overflow, Subreddits, all this stuff. Like there's definitely a bigger universe of where your community is and different things you can do. But ultimately what you want to try to do is have one central location that you own and operate right? Where you're sort of aggregating a lot of that content and that power and bringing people in and building that affinity for your products and services, and then hopefully turning that into advocacy. So all the buzz words there, but I would sort of tell people to think about how to own that experience and operate it the best you can, because I think that's what most customers want as well. Right. That's they want to be closely aligned with you.

[00:24:55] Cesar Romero: [00:24:55] I agree with your brand. And I really loved that you mentioned putting the mission, the vision, the goals before that the technology, right? Because I agree, ultimately, the platform or the tech should be in service of whatever goals you have, whatever goals users have, and also owning the experience. Right? I think that's a big one. Unfortunately on Facebook, you don't get to do that, but it is almost like the low hanging fruit, right? If you want to test out a new community. Right. And you want to see it, you want to gauge if there's demand, but yeah, I think only the experience and the data that your users are going to generate. That's a big one. So I'm so glad that you mentioned that. So Brian, I want to shift gears here a little bit and talk about failures or things that haven't gone according to plan, right? Especially in the community world, because I'm a big believer that failures can teach us way more than success can do. So I wanted to dive into how failure sets you up for success later in life, or one of your favorite failures of yours that talk to you a lot.

[00:26:25] Brian Oblinger: [00:26:25] Yeah.This is going to be a long show. If we're going to talk about my failures, I guess, but yeah, I think you're right. And that's what we've been doing for 20 years. Right? Kind of testing things. Let's try this, let's try that. Like when you're in a new industry, you're just making it up as you go. And you're just trying stuff. Some of it's going to work. Some of it's not,фnd I think that's actually been a wonderful experience to have that freedom, to try things and fail and go. That's okay. Just don't ever do that again. So I totally agree with that for sure. And I've learned so much through just miserably failing, I've failed on all fronts, right. And learned a lot from it. So from the tactical side of operational community day to day stuff, moderation, tons of failures there. And then also on the business side some key ones that you learn from what I would say is that and that we'll tell some stories, but what I would say about it is that you ultimately, hopefully you, I work for a company that allows that space. Right? So I think some do and some don't, but I would say ultimately, one of the things that can happen is people that get into this and are successful right away whether that means, big numbers or big impact or whatever the case is, they haven't really lived that life, having to struggle there, they're sort of operating on the best practices that the rest of us died on 10,000 Hills to build, which is fine. That's great but then what happens is they go somewhere else and they think, Oh, I know what I'm doing? I had this big hit and that kind of thing, and that's when they run into trouble because it's, for whatever reasons, it's not as easy this time or they're, it's a different situation. And so I think that's the big thing is like always learn, even if you think you're the hottest shit in the world, like just make sure you're learning from other people and understanding what their failures are and that kind of thing, and that's it. That's I guess that's my other point, right? Is that like, you can have your failures and learn from them, but you can also interact with and talk to other people and learn from their experience to not make those mistakes. And I know Erica and I have talked about this on our show, quite a bit about our failures in the hopes that other people don't follow in our footsteps. Right? Like, please don't do this thing. Like it's terrible and we don't want you to do that. And so the wisdom of time and the crowd can be really helpful there. So anyway, that's my spiel on that. And then happy to tell any stories you want to hear.

[00:29:09] Cesar Romero: [00:29:09] Yeah, no, absolutely. I really love the chemistry that you and Erica have. It's become one of my favorite shows. I have to listen to them in parts, right? Because most of the episodes are one hour and being a parent and everything else going on when our it's a big commitment. But going back to what I mentioned about failures, one thing I've learned at least for myself is that sometimes we can hear from others, but I don't know. I feel like we have to go through that mistake to internalize it and make it our own context so that we can learn the lesson. I don't know if that's happened to you, but sometimes I get some advice, Oh, don't do this, I don't recommend it. And then I was like, okay. Yeah, I get it. But it sounds too, I go through it like, Oh, now I get it. So that's happened to me. But yeah, it's is there a favorite story of yours that you were like, Oh shit, I really messed this mess. This one up.

[00:30:24] Brian Oblinger: [00:30:24] Yeah. I mean, I think you're right. Experience is important, especially personal painful experience tends to teach you lessons that otherwise wouldn't, I'm trying to think of a good story. Maybe one I haven't told somewhere before. Let's see here. There's just too many to pick from, Cesar. Let's reach deep into the bag here. Well, so let's do this. Let me start with an operational community management type one, and then maybe we'll do a business one. How's that? So, one of the things that I did, and this is so okay, one time in a community, in a galaxy far, far away, many years ago, we were rebuilding the rank structure, right? So every user gets a rank and there's a whole structure. And in this particular community, because it was a gaming community, they loved that they loved their ranks. It was a big deal. People were really into it. And it was really sensitive when you changed it, and so it became my job to execute that we came up with a new rank structure and we were implementing it at midnight on, I don't know, Tuesday or something to try and reduce the impact. But part of the thing about doing that is that you can't just cut over, like it's an iterative on the PR on the platform we were on at the time. And so I'm in there and I'm changing ranks and doing it as quickly as I can. And trying to not blow up the community in the middle of doing this like literally thousands of people online watching this happen in real time. And I went to make a rank and I didn't fill in all the fields. Which is a simple mistake, but written in reality, what you learned from it is like attention to detail. And when you're doing it live in these types of environments, you want to make sure that you really know what you're doing and you're paying attention. And I wasn't paying attention. And I basically gave every person in the community an admin rank. Now, luckily it didn't give them the permissions to go along with it, thankfully, but for like, some window of time everybody has, so I hit click, it was done. And immediately the other people on the team are like, what are you doing? Everybody has this rank and it sets off this 24 hour firestorm of like just stupidity and memes and all kinds of stuff. And it was like, no, no harm necessarily was done there. Other than that, I just blew it. And I look stupid right in front of the team and all of that. And so just a good example of I think things like that really taught me, double check, triple check. And so now, even today, 15 years later, I am so careful about things because I'm always worried about how I'm going to harm myself. And so I sort of have this like constant defensive posture in that way. I really want to make sure that everything I do like, so for example, sometimes I tweet and there's a spelling error and it just guts me. Because I'm like, see, like, you didn't learn the lesson of the past. So that's a really small example, but it's those things, especially in your formative years, right. When you're learning something new, that really colors like the rest of your life and how you approach things. So that's sort of operational, it didn't have a huge, detrimental impact, but it's still formative for me.

[00:34:05] Cesar Romero: [00:34:05] Yeah. I mean, attention to detail. It's important. Right? But at the same time, I understand when you're under pressure and you're trying to get things done. Sometimes it gets overlooked. It happens to me all the time. How's their birth where in your line of work, someone has come back and said, Hey, Brian, like this strategy or this blueprint that you gave us. It's not working. Have you ever had this happen?

[00:34:38] Brian Oblinger: [00:34:38] No, absolutely not. Everything I do is perfect and awesome. Everybody loves it all. It's great. It's perfect. It's right. Every time. Yeah, sure. Right. And I think a lot of this is an expectation setting to say, look, we're going to sit down and we're going to put together a strategy or an approach or a program or whatever it is that we're doing with the best information that we have available. Right. And with the wisdom of the experience that we have available. And we're going to build tolerances into that plan, should things go a different way or like, well, you have to be agile, right? You can't just write something down on a piece of paper or a slide deck and put it in cement and that's it, that's all we're going to do. We're going to ride this thing down to the bottom if that's what it takes. So yeah, it happens all the time, things, change goals, change people, other departments get shifted, new products are released, customers are pissed off. I mean, you name it, right. There's a million different things that can happen. And the most important thing is that you're willing and able to change your mind, right. As the circumstances change and do whatever you think the next right thing is. But it certainly helps having a bunch of experience where you can point to and say, Hey, I've seen this before in a couple of different flavors. Let's not do that. Let's do this, here's some approach, best practices, kind of a thing. And that's really where I try to help pilot people when the strategy does change is through that experience.

[00:36:11] Cesar Romero: [00:36:11] Yeah. I liked that. I liked being adaptable and flexible. Yeah, just because it's in writing, it doesn't mean that you have to follow that to a T because things change.

[00:36:23] Brian Oblinger: [00:36:23] Right. Do you get new information execution? Yeah. Like strategies hard. And it's an acquired skill and taste and all of that. So I'm not belittling strategy, but execution is way more important, right? You can have the best strategy in the world if you don't execute it well, or you don't zig when it's time to zig or use it when you should have zagged, then you find yourself in trouble, right? So, a lot of time people spend a lot of their time thinking about the big blue puffy clouds and the strategy and all that stuff. And it's important to know where you're going and get buy-in from people. But when it comes time to actually put it into action and get things done and deliver that's in my mind where the rubber meets the road and where I would advise most people to focus their energy.

[00:37:10] Cesar Romero: [00:37:10] Yeah, no, I a hundred percent agree with that, Brian, I know we're almost coming to the close of the show, but I wanted to ask you. What advice would you have for up and coming community managers that are struggling with their career? Is there anything that you would recommend to them in terms of proving their value of living up their skill sets?

[00:37:40] Brian Oblinger: [00:37:40] Yeah, well, it probably depends on what kind of career advice they're looking for, but in general, I advise people on a couple of things, always one network, right? Go find other people that have been doing this work for longer than you have, or the same amount of time or less amount of time. It doesn't matter. Go talk to all those people and understand what they know, why they know it, what failures they had to get there to know that and just take in as much of that knowledge as possible. Now, the other thing is these people are in a great position that we were not in, which is that they have the benefit of all these, there were no podcasts when I was trying to figure this stuff out, there were no templates. There was no CMX. There was no, like this stuff wasn't around, right? So they have the benefit of an incredible network of people and resources and content, and templates like Eric and I provide and all that stuff that you can learn and ramp, I would suspect at a much faster rate, but you have to want to. And so I think investing the time and the effort into digging into all of those resources and making those connections is a really important thing. And then the third one, which is the theme of the show pretty much here today is get into some business conversations, ask your manager, can I sit in on a more higher level discussion than I normally do so I can hear how you talk about it and just start to get that experience and that exposure to the business world. Right? So that you can start to map those things together and make those connections. Like we talked about earlier on,

[00:39:17] Cesar Romero: [00:39:17] I love a brand. It's interesting, right? Because connections, it's all about community, right? So, get people. Making those connections it's key, right? Because you need to know who is in the arena, right. Who are the members that are building community and yeah. I agree. Getting to know them and pain points, challenges, why are some of the things that they're trying to achieve? And be of service to them. Because I think that that builds up your credibility and your social equity as they call it. So, Bran, the last question I have for you is what are you reading, listening, courses. What are you feeding your mind these days?

[00:40:05] Brian Oblinger: [00:40:05] Yeah. So I've always been a big fan of biographies, so I read, or now I listen to, I like doing eBooks, right? Because I can like podcasts. I can listen to them as I'm doing other things. So, I read, I recently read Bob Iger, the former CEO. He's now the chairman, I believe, of the board of Disney. He has a biography. That's really interesting. I read Barack Obama's, I've read Steve Jobs, Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars. I tend to gravitate towards these like transformational business leaders and their biographies. And that kind of helps me also understand what these people care about and what their lives are like and how to map some of that. I find that that kind of stuff really interesting. Other than that, it's funny because people think like, Oh, Brian's been in this industry for so long and he knows everything. He's the purveyor of the knowledge. But really I spend a lot of my time looking at other people's stuff to try and understand what they're doing and keep up with the trends and all of that. And so I just, if I slow down or stop learning, I know I'm in trouble. And so I spend a lot of time doing that, and then outside of that I love YouTube. I love watching videos about engineering and physics and just all kinds of stuff that isn't really, it's not applicable necessarily, but filling my head with new and interesting things constantly seems to be a good way to stay sharp. And it's amazing how you can use some of those things along the way somewhere.

[00:41:40] Cesar Romero: [00:41:40] Yeah, Brian, I really love that you've mentioned staying sharp and always being learning because that takes humility. I'm a big fan of autobiographies myself because you can relate, right, these are just people that had the same challenges, for the most part and they overcame them. So, yeah, I'm a big fan of that.

[00:42:09] Brian Oblinger: [00:42:09] So thanks for that. I'm going to read your biography someday. I'm here by putting in the pre-order the first, signed copy of yours.

[00:42:19] Cesar Romero: [00:42:19] It comes out the same here for yours as well, but Bran, thank you so much for being here with us today and sharing a little bit more about your background challenges, failures, and how we can, us professionals, in the community industry help measure the ROI of community in the business looking forward to having a future episodes, because I feel like we just touched the surface here, but thank you so much. And, yeah, it was great having you on the show.

[00:42:57] Brian Oblinger: [00:42:57] Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm always happy to come on and chat with you and your audience. And love it. Go community.

[00:43:06] Cesar Romero: [00:43:06] Go community. Thanks. Right.

[00:43:09] Brian Oblinger: [00:43:09] Thanks.

How to Build and Grow a Successful Sweetener Company with Billy Green – CEO at Evergreen Sweeteners

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Billy Green started full time at Sunlight Foods Inc after graduating in June, 1994. In 2006, Sunlight Foods changed its name to Evergreen Sweeteners after the sale of the foodservice division to ADM). He grew customer & sales portfolio, built a sugar trading structure to manage commodity risk, grew business 12x between 2006 and 2010, lead the M&A team in the sale of a sugar production asset to NSM-Amalgamated Sugar-Sucden Americas in 2012. Currently Billy is a President & CEO of Evergreen Holding Corp which owns Evergreen Sweeteners, Evergreen Transport and various other companies that support the business.

How to Build In-Home Fitness Business with the Founder of Fit2Flaunt – Shelly Murdock

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Shelley Murdock was always a person to give something that piqued her interest a chance. Born to Caribbean parents, she knew that being an entrepreneur would have its challenges. She believes that you have to continuously put yourself in new situations and environments to foster your growth.

In the middle of her college career, she saw an ad for the US Military, looked at the perks, and evaluated its pros and cons. She decided to join the Air Force.

Things moved pretty fast, and when her time in the military came to an end; she became an exotic dancer to help pay to finish her degree. After Shelly graduated, she realized her love for the art of pole dancing and wanted to try and have a physical location where she and other women could train and focus on it as a sport. It awakened a passion in her.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Shelly Murdock: I started the page. I think it was about six or seven months before I was going to launch Fit2Flaunt. I do have other social media pages. So I was able to promote the Fit2Flaunt by Shelly page. The thing is that what I noticed with my other pages, I was always so corporate, if I could say that, you know, I was always worried about, you know, it has to be extremely professional and with“by Shelly” I really just wanted you to know me.
This is me, you know. I do a lot of volunteer work. I'm always trying to help other entrepreneurs. Like, I'm more than just a business owner. And I honestly think that was the difference in what made that page grow so quickly being relatable versus trying to be so corporate and make everything look picture.

[00:01:16] Shelly Murdock: Hi, I'm Shelby Murdock and I'm the founder of Fit2Flaunt and Exotic workouts. I help women to have fun, be sexy and get fit.

[00:01:25] Jahn Karsybaev: That's so lit, and what an introduction. I love it. Thanks for finding time to join us on the Ivy Podcast today. What a great way to start 2021. I have heard great things from our mutual friend, Paula. I appreciate the introduction.
Tell us a little bit about your backgrounds or, you know, your story. And then I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about what you're currently working on.

[00:01:47] Shelly Murdock: Okay. Awesome. Well, believe it or not, I was in the military stationed in Germany. I loved it. I got out of the military and I'm like, okay, I really want to focus on school and finishing my degree.
And I'm like, man, it's gotta be hard to be taking all these extra credit hours and working like a regular job, a full-time job. And I remember I was in the car with my little sister and she's like, You don't want to work well, you better be a stripper and you know, but we were both laughing and then I'm like, actually, you know what?
[00:02:18] That doesn't sound like a bad idea, you know? And I'm like, I'm going to try it out. And I had never been to a club or anything like that, I'd be bored. So I tried it out and I fell in love with the art of pole dancing. Let me tell you, I just thought it was so beautiful. I loved the way it made me feel and, you know, fast forward I did graduate.
I was doing my internship when I decided that I think I really want to pursue this passion of mine, this pole dancing passion of mine. So actually I had to quit my internship and I opened my first Exotic Workout studio and now I own three locations. I've been in business for 10 years and I just launched the brand new startup Fit2Flint.

[00:03:02] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow, what an exciting story. I appreciate kind of the background so as far as where you're currently working on, you mentioned you have your training studios for quite some time and you just recently launched something else. Tell us a little bit more about it. How was the idea born? What's the vision there?

[00:03:21] Shelly Murdock: Okay. Well, I took a program for million dollar women, right. It was just a random ad that popped up on my phone Facebook. And I said, well, let me see what this is about. And it was amazing. I was able to speak with other women entrepreneurs like myself, and I started thinking about, okay, Shelly, how are you going to scale Exotic Workouts?
You've been doing this. You love it. You have women all around that wish they could train with you. What is the next step? So then I started thinking, wow, it would be amazing if I created a mobile app that would allow women all around the world to train with me and my instructors. And that's exactly how the deployment was born.
Then fast forward to today, we have been in business for about 11 months and we have almost 27,000 downloads.

[00:04:11] Jahn Karsybaev: That's very impressive in that short of a period of time. This is crazy. Congratulations, this is outstanding. So how, as far as kind of through this period of hyper growth, obviously with close to 30,000 downloads in such a short period of time, as I guess to the extent that you can share with us, what are some of the strategies that really helped you propel your product to such growth? Anything that worked well or maybe didn't work well that you had discovered through this period?

[00:04:46] Shelly Murdock: Definitely. I would say social media played a huge factor in that. So my personal page, if you go and see it, I think I make an emotional connection with the women. They see that I'm relatable.
They see that I'm still learning. I don't have it all together. You know, I just love pole dancing. I love working out. I love how it makes me feel and it built my confidence. So I think that makes them want to follow along on my journey. And then eventually they're like, wait a minute. It has so many benefits.
[00:05:14] I think this is something that I want to do too. So really social media has helped me to take my business to the next level of, I have to be honest, I've also been re-posted by celebrities like Cardi B, Summer Walker, Kelly Rolan, you know. So obviously, that helped a lot for my page to grow. I think it's been about a year and a half since I started it. And it already has like 225,000 followers.

[00:05:45] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow, this is, this is super inspiring. This is great because you know, at the end of the day, I'm an entrepreneur, every one server, you know, around me will be building something and stories like this are super motivating.
[00:05:57] When, you know, you're able to find your niche because that's what it's all about. And then you really cater to that and, you know, almost become an expert in that space. I think that's how a lot of, you know, very successful companies that dominate that. So in terms of building that followership that audience way in advance before the launch of the product or what was kind of the thought process behind it, or was it like we launched a product first and then in parallel build that audience. What are your recommendations there?

[00:06:27] Shelly Murdock: I started the page. I think it was about six or seven months before I was going to launch Fit2Flaunt. I do have other social media pages, so I was able to promote the Fit by Shelly page. The thing is that what I noticed with my other pages, I was always so corporate.
[00:06:46] If I could say that, you know, I was always worried about, you know, it has to be extremely professional and with Fit by Shelly. I really just wanted you to know me. This is me, you know. I do a lot of volunteer work. I'm always trying to help other entrepreneurs. Like I'm more than just a business owner. And I honestly think that was the difference in what made that page grow so quickly being relatable versus trying to be so corporate and make everything look picture perfect. You know, even if I mess up on something or I had a bad day at work or something happened with the business, I shared that to inspire other entrepreneurs and it really helped to just develop like a tribe. Right.

[00:07:30] Jahn Karsybaev: I know. And you know, you nailed it kind of the tribes, there's, you know, famous book by Seth Godin talks a lot about the tribes and being relatable, like you said, and very authentic seems some of the key ingredients that really help you grow from that perspective. So definitely appreciate you sharing those insights, you know, for us, which is super cool. So in terms of innovation and, you know, whether you're improving your current product or you're thinking of something very disruptive for the entire industry, share with us that kind of the thought process or whatever works for you in terms of coming up with new ideas, how do you approach that?
How do you go in iterations or you try to go, you know, big, you know, share with us a little bit more behind kind of that innovation process.

[00:08:23] Shelly Murdock: Okay. Well, when I was creating fits of font, one thing I did a lot of market research. And for one there weren't a lot of pole fitness apps out there and the ones that were out there, I personally felt like they could be very intimidating if you were a beginner, because all of the beginner skills were jumbled together in one section. So if you're a mom and you're at home, you're a stay at home mom and you don't have access to the gym. And even if you did, you don't like it, which is okay. Cause I don't like going to the gym, you see pole dancing, like why? I think this is something that I would want to try, but I have no idea what I'm doing.
So the way I designed my app and no other pole fitness app is on the market like that. Everything is broken down. Intersections. So even though you have level one, which is first timers, it has section 1.1 1.2 1.31. So it literally takes you step by step. Whether you're a first timer, it'll guide you through the whole process.
[00:09:24] And for my poles, I'm actually working on trying to get everything ready to hopefully secure some funding for Fit2Flaunt. We were really thinking about how we can make the polls more innovative, like you said, so maybe a heart rate monitor may be a way for it to track how many calories you're burning.
Having the poll communicate with the app. To keep track of your workout goals and how far along you're going. So these are all ideas that we have, and hopefully we'll be able to bring them to fruition.

[00:09:56] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow. That's great. And that's, you know, definitely exciting and that the period of the fundraising and working with investors and VCs, you know, it's super exciting, but at the same time, very challenging, because it's finding almost the right partner, who's gonna really help you take the company to the next level.
I think it's super interesting, we could probably spend the rest of the podcasts talking about this. So you're in the kind of personal wellbeing space. If I was to categorize the overall kind of the field that where you plan outside of that, are there any particular trends or ideas that really, really excite you? Something that you're super pumped about, that if you were, let's say, an investor today, you would totally invest in that share with us. The reason I'm asking this question is because a good amount of follower listeners on our podcast are folks that, you know, looking to start their own businesses, you know, they are always looking for different ideas.
So every guest that I host, I asked that question in terms of share with us any ideas that, you know, super exciting to Shelly.

[00:11:09] Shelly Murdock: In the health and wellness?

[00:11:12] Jahn Karsybaev: Anything that you're personally excited about?

[00:11:15] Shelly Murdock: Well, if I had to be honest, it would be Peloton.
I look at that business all the time. I researched their like, you know, their seed route and how much capital they brace. I think the way Peloton has been able to have their app and their fitness equipment communicate with each other and everything just works seamlessly together is just amazing.
And I think that company is just getting started. I can imagine where they're going to be in 10 years. So if there was a company that if I was an investor that I would invest in, it would be Peloton to be honest.

[00:11:53] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah. That's super exciting. And you know, this whole space is going through the pandemic with people being stuck at home and looking for different ways to work out.
So I think that really took that to the next level, which I can only imagine for you with your company. It was also kind of that blessing in disguise almost, right? Correct.

[00:12:10] Shelly Murdock: It's kind of perfect. I launched in March and in March is when everything was happening with the pandemic. So it was crazy. You wouldn't, people thought I timed it and they're like, that's so crazy that I can pull dance at home.
And all my studios are closed. I'm like, that's not on purpose, you know, that's just the universe like being on my side.

[00:12:32] Jahn Karsybaev: Oh. Cause I was going to ask, as far as the timing of the launch, how did you plan for that? I mean, were you already aware of a lot of things that were happening and you were like, let me just do it, or what was the plan there?

[00:12:46] Shelly Murdock: Well, I had already anticipated, launching and having the app alive on March 22nd. And it really just so happened that that was the time where I had to close all three of my physical locations and, you know, everyone was fucking to the app. And I also sell the dance poles. So I didn't even have enough in stock because of course I didn't anticipate that we would be in a pandemic.
So I was sold out within like three weeks of launching. It was crazy how people were just going to fit to find like, I need to pull any of the app.

[00:13:23] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:13:23] Good problem to have, right? Yes, definitely. That's awesome. Well, that's super, super inspiring from that perspective, how sometimes, you know, things workouts when you really want something. Right. And to go take a step back a little bit in terms of you preparing for that launch, tell us a little bit more about that process.
How long did that take you to go from just ideal in the napkin to an actual product that was customer ready? How long did that take? What was the process like any recommendations from that perspective?

[00:13:58] Shelly Murdock: Definitely. So, it was about. I want to say about 11 months. And if there's any advice that I have for entrepreneurs, it's just to go for it.
Because honestly, even when I launched in March, I didn't even have all of the programs on the app yet. You know, I still didn't have a chair floor dancing. I didn't have the advanced section for the pole yet. I'm only having the beginner to the intermediate and that's more so because I wanted to get it out there.
See what the feedback was. See how people are absorbing the information. Is it working for you? My teaching style before I made a thousand videos, in that time, it did take a lot of time to record the videos because remember I'm rolling, affording myself, then I have to edit the videos and then I have to upload them to the app.
So that took me about seven months to do that, which was very tedious, I will say. And then I had to figure out the programs, how did I want everything to go? How did I want the flow to be? So, yeah, it's about 11 months that it took me from when I thought of the idea I'm going to do an app to the app, actually launching.

[00:15:12] Jahn Karsybaev: Well, that's, you know, it's a very short period, to be honest, it's very condensed.

[00:15:16] Shelly Murdock: I think, you know, I'm not saying to obviously like your product is nowhere near ready and just put it out there and expect people to buy it. But I know that we have the tendency sometimes to want things to be perfect. Or we launch it and unfortunately, whatever idea you have in your head, when you do launch it, It's going to be something totally different.
So you really have to launch your MVP. That's what I wanted to have as an MVP. Put it up there. See how people like the app, you know, how is everything slowing? Is it easy to navigate before I went full force?

[00:15:53] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:15:53] Right. Wow. That's great. That's really 11 months is definitely short periods because, you know, I can attest to that.
[00:15:58] We're building completely different product product because from a technology standpoint and has been about almost a year and a half and we're nowhere near ready, but we also have these debates as far as let's put that aside, the whole thing of trying to be perfect, you know, let's launch and get the feedback from the users and then start improving from there.
So it sounds exactly right. Thought process that you went through when you were getting ready to launch? The other question I have is, so I talked to a lot of, you know, younger entrepreneurs and you know, that you're about to start out. And I also interviewed a lot of executives and very successful folks and kind of the balance in between with some of the entrepreneurs that I see, some of the questions are.
[00:16:38] You know, these days, it's all, you know, software technology, everything is in that space. But if some of those entrepreneurs don't have the technical skill set, but yet they have ideas to develop something that, you know, whether that's a SAS product or, you know, some type of a mobile app, you know, for me, it's easy because I'm a technologist.
I have our software development company, but for those entrepreneurs, a lot of the challenges that they face is how do I do this? Where do I even start? Where as, I don't even know how to develop an app, or I don't know anybody who can help me. What was your process like when you were thinking, Hey, I'm going to launch a mobile app and here's what I need to do and get ready to go to markets. Tell us a little bit more about that.

[00:17:20] Shelly Murdock: [00:17:20] Okay. So really quickly you want me to like how I source the talent to get them all back.

[00:17:27] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:17:27] Exactly. How did you find the talent or what was your process, you know, what are you thinking? I'm going to drive everything and I'm, you know, I'll find somebody who can develop or I'm going to partner with somebody.
What are some creative ways to find the kind of people that can help you?

[00:17:43] Shelly Murdock: Okay. Definitely. Well, for me, when I was looking into creating the app. It was scary at first, I'm going to be honest because I started getting quotes and I'm completely self-funded. I don't have any outside capital for any of my businesses.
This is going to be my first time fundraising. So, you know, when I'm getting quotes for $50,000 for an app or $60,000. I'm like, wow. I was extremely discouraged, but I'm the type of person that If I want something on, like there has to be another way. So I actually went on Upwork. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that site, but I went work and I put a job posting and I mean, I did have hundreds of people apply and there was one guy.
He was just amazing. And he showed me other fitness apps that he built and we just had that connection right away, I think. You know, when there's someone that you feel comfortable to work with, and I must say he exceeded my expectations and he was half the cost. So that's how I was able to get my mobile app up and running.

[00:18:46] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow. That's cool. That was great. Then I can imagine that was also, you know, a challenging process to go through all the applications proposals, and really try to navigate that space, because if you're not closely familiar with, you know, the technology or how that works, I think it could be intimidating.

[00:19:05] Shelly Murdock: Definitely. I mean, he was speaking a totally different language that I didn't understand, but, you know, If you want it, you're gonna make it happen, you know? And don't let that intimidate you, you know, even if you don't know anything about technology, you know, your product and you're passionate about it and you know, that there's a demand for it, you know?
So you just start taking the steps in the direction. And I'm telling you I'm really big on like the universe and getting guided. So if I make that reference a lot, that's why I always say, take the first couple of steps and it's like magic. The universe just puts the right people in their path to help you go after whatever it is that you want.

[00:19:45] Jahn Karsybaev: Right, right, right. No, absolutely. Can't agree more with that. In terms of where you are currently, how big is the team, or are you still running everything? So just want to get a sense of where you at and then want to ask a couple of questions where you go in.

[00:20:00] Shelly Murdock: Okay. Well, right now the team is very small.
I am doing a lot of the work I have. There's about five of us that handle everything, you know, you can imagine customer service people not installing their poles properly in my startup life. So there's about five of us. I work about 15 hours a day. It feels like, but maybe not some days I'm like, okay, I need a break.
But I'm hoping once I raise capital that I can hire the people that I need to really help them grow. So I already started thinking about the physicians and, yeah, so right now it's a small team, but I'm hoping it's going to be much larger and having full-time employees and help me balance everything.

[00:20:49] Jahn Karsybaev: Super cool. So you mentioned something about hiring and really surrounding yourself with like-minded folks, rock stars, you know, just straight killers. What's your philosophy around, you know, recruiting, hiring the best people surrounding yourself, and then also retaining them, making sure that they are motivated, that they are happy, what's your take on that?

[00:21:14] Shelly Murdock: Well, I can only speak from my physical location since, you know, this is all new for me with the, with the tech space, but with hiring, I'm so sorry. Could you repeat the question?

[00:21:28] Jahn Karsybaev: Yep. For sure. In terms of kind of something that really, you know, you leverage in terms of a strategy that helps you attract the top people for your teams.
How do you go about that? Where do you find them? What's the interview look like? Tell us a little bit more about the whole recruitment and hiring process that you think will really help you find the right people.

[00:21:53] Shelly Murdock: It's definitely about the network. Paula is actually going to be helping me with that, because that was one of the questions I had for her.
Paula. I'm so used to being an entrepreneur that does everything for myself and this company is growing so fast and that, you know, that is one of my apprehensions, like how do I know if I'm hiring the right people for the team? So I think it's definitely important to have a network so that if you don't know, at least you're in.
Communication with someone who does know. So I can't even honestly answer that question, but Paula has been so gracious and she's willing to help me. So when that time comes for hiring, we're going to be sitting together and, and establishing what exactly fits a font needs. And you know, who we think can fill those needs.

[00:22:40] Jahn Karsybaev: Right. No, absolutely. And it's, you know, exciting to hear in terms of really trying to figure out what's the greatest need that's missing or the biggest strength that's missing on my team. Like what can I not do myself as a founder that I need to find somebody who will help me fill that void and really go from that perspective?
I think at least from what has worked well for me in the past, that's how I approach things and that's, you know, that's great. That was great to hear that. And as far as kind of, where do you see yourself in about three to five years. It's, you know, I think it's like, you know, shooting in the dark, but through the next shorter period, what are your plans?
Where do you see yourself or your product go?

[00:23:27] Shelly Murdock: Okay, well, since the polls have been on the market for about 10 months now, we've been able to get feedback from a lot of our planters. So currently I'm working with an engineering team so that we can redesign the poll to make it just a little more economical.
And I'm hoping to have that launch within the next few months. And then from there, you know, having you brand a poll on the market. So that's the main focus for my team right now.

[00:24:01] [00:24:00] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow. That's great. That's, you know, super exciting. And in terms of your outlook into the current situation with the pandemic and where that's going to go, what are your predictions from that standpoint, in terms of, as you get your product ready, or you come up with different versions of the product, Are you anticipating any major changes in the market? How things will flow or you're just kind of pursuing what's where you have been?

[00:24:29] Shelly Murdock: I anticipate that people are still going to be apprehensive about going to a pole fitness studio for class. And now that they've already seen what life is like, doing everything at home, they might say, Hey, actually, it wasn't so bad.
So definitely I want to have more stock because right now I'm having a problem keeping the posts in stock because they're going so fast. So that's something that, like you said, a good problem to have, but I can imagine it can be frustrating as a customer. So that's what I'm working on. Definitely because I think that it's going to take a long time before people feel.
Super comfortable, again, going into pole studios and gyms and working out freely like before. And that's unfortunate because, you know, I do have my brick and mortar location, so I understand, I know what it's like to have a physical location and you need customers and customers are scared to come. So yeah.

[00:25:29] Jahn Karsybaev: Absolutely. Wow. Yeah, no, definitely. I can definitely resonate with that because a lot of the clients that we serve, you know, fortune a hundred companies and they've been, you know, physical locations and offices, everything has changed. And now it's all these talk about, you know, what's going to happen next, the hybrid workforce, whether you know, half the time you are in the office, half the time you're remote.
So that's going to be very interesting, to see how this year plays out and the next, some of the other questions I have for you in terms of your personal development, your content diet, as I like to call that, what do you consume? What do you read? What do you follow? Who is your source of inspiration? Who is your source of learning? Share with us any blogs that in your bookmarks, or is there a Twitter profile that you would follow.

[00:26:19] Shelly Murdock: [00:26:19] Oh, I actually made a list of some of the pages that I love.

[00:26:23] Jahn Karsybaev: Well, we'll put them in the episode notes so that people can actually link them, but share with us.

[00:26:29] Shelly Murdock: Okay. I love Ariel Lauren. She's a funding expert for women businesses. I love Julia Pimsleur. It was her program million dollar women that I took that really shifted the way I thought about my business and scaling it.
I love following afro.tech, black women talk tech. I found women, man. It's just really inspiring for me to see. People that look like me raising capital and scaling their businesses so that those are the pages that I follow right now. I'm reading the book, let's see your three super powers, meditation, imagination, and intuition.
I think it's very, very important as entrepreneurs to meditate. Keep yourself grounded because working is addictive. You know, like this is our baby, our businesses. And we just want to give it all of our time. Oh, I love you. I don't want to put you down. It's so important to have balance because I see the difference in the way I run my businesses when I meditate, when I sleep well, when I eat well, versus when I don't and I'm more hectic and I'm just going, going, going, it's like you're busy.
But you're not productive. If that makes sense. I mean, I think anyone can relate in the entrepreneurship space. You're busy, but you're not really that productive. It's like you've been working 12 hours and I'm like, wait a minute. Like, this is all that I got done. So definitely, I think meditation is super duper important just to help us have more clarity and organize our thoughts and our goals.
And just to know exactly what it is that we're going after. Like, why are you doing what you're doing? Why are you staying up late and working? What's the end result?

[00:28:12] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:28:12] Right? Right. No, I love that. Mainly because I've been reading a lot about, you know, kind of that, the overall headspace and, you know, mental fitness at the end of the day.
And we've been really kind of researching, going down the rabbit hole in that. And one book that really inspired me was my novel. He is one of the very prominent, famous, VCs. He built successful companies and now he's in the investment space. But the book that he wrote was specifically about that, on how that meditation, how to all of those strategies really help him to stay grounded and really be in control of your.
[00:28:52] You know yourself at the end of the day. And I just love that. So I think that was like the stupidest thing in the world. Like, you know, when I was a little bit younger, I'm like, put meditate that you crazy, but now it's those things. I find a lot of value in that because as you take some of those strategies and apply it on them, you know, on a daily basis, I think that's, you know, super helpful.
So definitely, we'll include the links and the book in episode notes for our listeners, Shelly, anything in conclusion, the way where do people find you? Tell us a little bit more about that.

[00:29:25] Shelly Murdock: [00:29:25] Oh, definitely. You can find me on Instagram, swinging on the pole on app fit by Shelly. If you want to follow my businesses, it's at Fit2Flaunt and at Exotic Workouts.
And as something I'd like to leave off with, I just want to let all the entrepreneurs out there and all the aspiring entrepreneurs know that it's okay to not know. It's okay to not know it all. Just know that you are worthy because that was one of the things that I was worried about. I'm like, wow, me, raising funding for a business. I'm like, can I really do that? But why not me? And why not? You know, so we really have to make sure to keep those self-limiting beliefs in check because they're not productive and they're not going to help you to reach a goal. So I just wanted to leave it out there that I don't know everything.
I'm still learning, but guess what? I'm going to learn and I'm going to do it. And so can you.

[00:30:26] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow. I love this. There's such great advice and definitely thank you for sharing that, Shelly. And I really appreciate all the great insights. I know it was a very short, but very powerful conversation. And I personally learned quite a bit and am super pumped right now that I'm about to go and start with some other things.

[00:30:42] Shelly Murdock: [00:30:42] Thank you so much for having me.

[00:30:46] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:30:46] Yeah, absolutely. And we'll stay in touch and, you know, we, perhaps we should do another episode in the, you know, towards the end of the year and next year and see how much you've changed, how much has transpired. I definitely love doing that with a lot of the guests on my episodes, to see how, you know, things have progressed.

[00:31:01] Shelly Murdock: [00:31:01] Totally. I would love that.

Innovation in Healthcare through Investments with Mike Phillips – Partner at Intermountain Ventures

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Michael Phillips MD, MBA, Managing Partner and Director Intermountain Ventures, directs business development and venture investment for the Intermountain Venture Fund. The fund seeks to bring new technology and businesses to Intermountain Healthcare from both internal and external sources to improve the lives and health of our caregivers and patients. Previously, Dr. Phillips served as the Chief of Outreach and Clinical Services at Intermountain Healthcare supporting outreach, Telehealth, and clinical shared service design and deployment.

Prior to joining Intermountain, Dr. Phillips practiced as a clinical neuro-radiologist at Cleveland Clinic since 2002. He was director of business development in the Cleveland Clinic Imaging Institute and served on the Cleveland Clinic Board of Directors and as the co-chair of the Care Affordability Task Force, identifying and developing ways to improve efficiency and lower the cost of care.

Dr. Phillips earned his medical degree from Columbia University and his undergraduate degree from Amherst College. He completed a radiology residency at John Hopkins Hospital and a neuroradiology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Episode transcription:

Mike Phillips: [00:00:25] Yeah. Hi Mike Phillips. I am one of the partners of the venture fund and intermountain healthcare, and glad to be here today.

[00:00:34] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:34] Great, Mike, thanks so much for finding time. Join us on the Ivy Podcast today. Starting 2021 on the right note, my talking to you is super exciting. Tell us a little bit more about your backgrounds and maybe some context around your current organization.

[00:00:51] Mike Phillips: [00:00:51] Yeah. So, I’m working in venture through a pretty secure, I am a neuro radius biologist by training and was a neuroscience researcher for probably about 20 years with grants from the NIH and DOD, I did functional brain imaging over that time period, but always had an interest in companies, health care businesses, and I actually entered into the whole business arena after a patent of mine was sold by the Cleveland clinic. And I took that money and went to business school and have kind of done business related work since then both with the Cleveland clinic. And now here at Intermountain. And about a year or so ago, we started out a venture funded Intermountain and that is the sort of brief history of my background.

[00:01:50] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:01:50] Oh, that's super exciting. And you guys are based out of Salt Lake City.

[00:01:53] Mike Phillips: [00:01:53] Yes. Intermountain has 24 hospitals that spread over the primarily Utah, but also we have practices inside Nevada and inside Southern Idaho as well. So, as an organization, which is really focused on promoting health, we have more than 50% of our patients at full risk. So we really are, and that's growing every day. So we're a value oriented healthcare system, which makes us a little bit, not necessarily unique, but certainly towards the end of value=based health systems.

[00:02:39] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:02:39] Wow, that's super exciting. And I definitely want to dive a little bit deeper into that with you. From a standpoint of just the overall organizational culture of your company, I'm pretty sure innovation is at the forefront with your guys's need to continuously innovate, to look for innovative solutions, whether for investment purposes or working with any of your clients, share with us any strategies or initiatives that really help you foster and build that culture of innovation within your company.

[00:03:10] Mike Phillips: [00:03:10] So we have a couple of things that we do on that. First of all, our venture fund is completely directed into things that improve the performance of our healthcare system and improve the health of people. That we care for. So we only invest from our venture fund in products that we use in Malton and we assess them in sort of the following way: do we believe that the company can prove value for our patients here at Intermountain makes them healthier, allowing us to provide lower cost care. Do we believe that the company has legs to go externally and work out in the greater world to provide better healthcare. And importantly, do we believe that Intermountain by participating with the company can make them better and help them grow. And so we want to be able to provide value to that company because we believe they help us provide great healthcare. We want the rest of the world to benefit from that too, because first and foremost, we're caregivers. And then the last component for us is, if we're creating value in the company, is there a way for us to extract that value back for Intermountain Healthcare? And so in our case, we do that in terms of investing in the company. Oftentimes we'll run pilots with companies and take warrants for running those pilots. And we really get actively invested in companies. So we're, if it's providing good care here at Intermountain, and we believe the company has value and we've invested, we'll go out and help them tell the rest of the world in healthcare that they have a great product. And those folks should be using it. So the reason why we want to be invested in that way is that the returns for that for us, because we're a not-for-profit health system, just go back into us, providing better healthcare for more people. So at the end of the day, our patients get to benefit from the success of the company, as well as the organization proper, because all the money that we make in Intermountain goes back into providing healthcare for folks. So hopefully that gives you a sort of an idea of our organizational structure, and then I would add just a little bit to put some color on your innovation. So we also actively select these companies by going out to our clinicians and finding out what they need. So we solicit ideas from them directly. We also have a program called the Foundry Program at our organization, that is headed up by a group of folks who literally search out ideas in our organization and help people bring them to fruition, both in terms of things that will be done internally. And things that we'll be able to potentially spin off in a company that's headed up by Randy block at our place. And he does an awesome job at making that happen. So, we actively foster innovation amongst our folks through that Foundry Program.

[00:06:29] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:06:29] Oh, that's super exciting, and with you guys, the venture funds, I'm pretty sure you'll continue to look out for the research info. As far as the latest trends or what are the latest innovations in your space? So curious to get your take on kind of what are you currently researching? What are you currently observing in terms of that next week of latest innovations or ideas in your space or share with us, I guess, to the extent that you can, what really excites you these days and what are you looking for? What do you believe would be the next big thing?

[00:07:10] Mike Phillips: [00:07:10] So, a lot of the stuff that we're working on now is on providing better inner information for clinicians and our patients to make really good decisions. So those are our software that's out there that helps us better understand all the data in the medical record helps us make decisions. We have an active participation with a company called MDClone that is out of Israel, that does a great job at servicing data. We've also worked with several other companies that are out there. It is one of the companies we work with. They help us identify folks who potentially have gaps in care, may not be on the care path and the way that we would like them to be and allows us to let our clinicians help those patients get back into the right path of care and allows us to execute on just getting them to be healthy, essentially. So we are able to both follow patients, as well as identify things that aren't working as well as they should incorrectly. So a lot of what we're focused on is getting the right data to the right people at the right time so that we can make sure that people stay healthy. So those are the kinds of innovations that we're looking at in that space. We also have done some work in looking at. No precision medicine, things like genomics and proteomics are things that we've been interested in doing. And again, this is focused on us being able to deliver this care. We are really much more clinically focused company rather than a sort of traditional academic research organization. And because we hold risk on as many patients as we do, we're really focused on delivering that care today. So we're really known very much so focused on products, old information, technology products, things that are in new fields of genomics and proteomics and others that allow us to impact the care of people today. So hopefully that gives you a little bit of a flavor, right?

[00:09:24] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:09:24] Right. No, it absolutely does definitely make sense in terms of you guys, the area that you guys primarily invest in and that's exciting, especially these days with the pandemic and everything that's going on in the world, I'm pretty sure that also adds different color to that. In terms of just me being a technologist and information technology, software development, advanced tech is all very exciting to me. So I can't help, but ask in terms of machine learning, artificial intelligence and all of those advanced technologies, they're reinventing different industries and healthcare is no exception. How do you think these trends will impact your industry from an innovation standpoint? And moreover, more importantly, I'm curious, what are the best strategies to adopt such technologies when it comes to healthcare.

[00:10:18] Mike Phillips: [00:10:18] Yeah. So I think that it's a complicated process. I think there's clear value in this. I'm competent that we can develop algorithms, which will do a phenomenal job both in identifying people, understanding their risk and giving us new information or better information about how to treat them down the road. What I think the biggest concern for me is not actually the technology. Because I think the tech it's proven itself very well in many fields. I think the biggest aspect of making it has the kind of value that we would like to have at see inside healthcare is closing the loop from the insights and data to actual changes in behavior for our patients and for our doctors and for the APS and everyone else who works inside our health system. So there are a lot of human factors engineering that needs to occur so that we can take those insights and actually apply them because we can get the insights out. I mean, I'm confident in the technology, but what I would say to you is that most health systems in the United States aren't executing uniformly across all their patients for the things that we already know are right to do. So, we don't have all of our patients getting optimal treatment for all of their disease processes, even though we kind of know what to do. So it's a combination of both developing that technology but equally as importantly, getting people to execute on it. So there's some blocking and tackling in terms of getting to changes in behavior for both patients and caregivers that needs to be done in Congress, and at the same time or in parallel with us applying AI and machine learning, and maybe the simplest way of putting that this is sort of a little bit of roundabout in the way of doing it is that we don't even uniform. We execute on other things that we need to know that we know we need to do right now. So getting the extra information out of AI will be incredibly important, but we need to work on being able to execute on it. Okay, that makes sense.

[00:12:46] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:12:46] Yes, absolutely. It definitely does make sense. And from investing in technologies, these are buzzwords, but at the same time, those concepts have been around for quite some times at different labels, but it's more of a viewing that as an enabler especially when it comes to healthcare. I think it's definitely here to stay here to kind of help the healthcare system in general to provide better care, whether that's through technology, through the algorithm and so forth. So that's pretty exciting when you guys are doing it and in general, for those who are not familiar with the overall concept of value-based care versus the volume-based, can you just give us a little bit of a context from your perspective, if you were explaining that to your neighbor, let's say.

[00:13:35] Mike Phillips: [00:13:35] Yeah. So, I think the basic way of thinking about it is that value-based care basically rewards people for staying healthy, because it's the old goal of this value-based care is that you receive payments, usually in the form of a per member per month payment premium. And that's the money that you have to work with to keep someone healthy. And it really, in this case drives the sense that preventative investment in healthcare, all the things that you can do to keep people healthy, have value for you as the person who sort of owns that insurance contracts, because at the end of the day, healthy people are cheap. And they just spend less, if you can keep someone healthy, they're going to spend less inside the system. And at the end of the day, it's also what we signed up for. As doctors, we signed up to keep people healthy. The other side of the coin is the volume-based approach. And it literally pays a fee for everything that you do. So, if you see someone in the office, you get paid first, be seen in the office, do a surgery, you get paid for doing a surgery, it really pays for widgets and procedures. And when you think about that, rewarding someone for doing something means that they'll do more of it. And that's probably the biggest issue with the service healthcare is that it's not focused on receiving a payment for keeping someone healthy, rather it's focused on being paid for treating their disease. So it's just a difference in philosophy in the process of how you care for folks and they're good people performing good medicine in both groups of things, we believe that the value-based approach to healthcare is a better one and promotes health more generally. But there's room for disagreement and the thought process is on all of this. It's just that the difference is one pays for procedures and the other effectively gets a set amount of money to care for someone and drives towards decreasing costs by improving the patient's health.

[00:16:13] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:16:13] Yes, absolutely. And thank you for some summarizing that is essentially what it sounds like. It really value-based care really focuses on kind of preventive care in terms of really kind of focusing on the overall health of the patient versus a particular procedure. That's almost reactive in nature when something already happened.

[00:16:38] Mike Phillips: [00:16:38] Yeah. And I think that's probably a good way of thinking about it. And there is some thought process of people who are basically helping you don't need to do anything for them. You're not spending a lot in that P for service point of view, but I think that the value of books takes the long view of the patient. And the concept that you're going to keep them healthy at the end of the day, because you receive some fixed rate for this. So, we'll have your greatest earnings in that situation, if the patient stays healthy. And so you do everything you can to promote that from a financial point of view, but put all the finances aside, we're in the business of caring for people. And our job is to promote health. And in fact the entire mission of Intermountain Healthcare is summed up in our mission statement, which is helping people lead the healthiest lives possible. So, it's really just that whole philosophy fits in with the concept of value-based care and information technology and AI and ML and all the things that we can do to get insights and better understand our patients, the best tools that we're going to have in the end to keep them healthy. So, it really is a perfect fit for this kind of technology, because we will use the algorithms that people have used in many other fields to be able to design a great way to care for people and help them be healthy. And the amount of information on a given patient, it has risen so quickly that it's hard for a person whose brain is not designed to sift through tons of data, but maybe more designed to stay out of the belly of a tiger to sort through that much data. And literally the medical literature is doubling every three months now in terms of total knowledge, there's no way for a human being to keep track of that. But fortunately we have very capable and smart algorithms that can help us understand the most relevant things. And importantly, bring all that relevant data to the point of care where we can use it to take good care of people. So, we're very bullish on the concept of AI and ML and we believe that it will be in the future of medicine. We also really want to make sure that the human part of it, which is changing the behavior of our doctors and our APS and all of our healthcare providers and the patients that we translate all that good information into actually changing their behavior and getting better health at the end of the day.

[00:19:39] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:19:39] Right. Absolutely. No, I love these concepts and it definitely makes sense in terms of kind of, you mentioned a lot from that patient data or the overall kind of demographic information that's out there available and for organizations to be able to use that data to create the data models that are actionable to predict certain behaviors, to predict certain trends. Second, that's super exciting. And there's definitely a lot of opportunity for innovation in that space.

[00:20:07] Mike Phillips: [00:20:07] And we're seeing every day, there are folks out there who are creating great tools to help us predict things. Everything from who will get a blood infection in the hospital, we call that sepsis, to a person who's going to be at a higher risk for developing diabetes within the next three years. So those kinds of algorithms are already out there, they're being actively used by people. And there is a little bit of a potential balance in there that we have to get to with the concept of patient privacy and their data, and being able to actively protect that. We of course are laser-focused on making sure that our patient's data is appropriately protected. There are new technologies out there that are very promising for that including being able to generate synthetic data from existing databases which looks like it will be able to give us the value of the underlying data without any of the patient information with regard to personal health information. So we think that there's an opportunity here for us to learn a ton from the patients while still completely protecting their privacy, which we need to do as caregivers.

[00:21:38] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:21:38] Absolutely. Can you share with us what are your sources of information? What are your sources of learning? What do you use as your content diet that I like to call? If it's a particular publication block blog, or even Twitter profile, just curious what are your sources.

[00:22:01] [00:22:00] Mike Phillips: [00:22:01] Kind of everything and anything we actually get, I guess. Sources from people who just directly email on things. I use the usual financial kinds of things, go to Crunchbase and other places, look through anything I can get my hands on and use just sort of standardly available software at Google to do news aggregation with the appropriate search titles. So, that's kind of the approach that I've done to look at this and then spend a lot of time on the phone, talking to people. I think that one of the ways that you get that information is that there's no way for one person to effectively find all of this stuff. So, you know, you do a little sort of crowdsourcing watching what folks are looking at, using and talking to people who're in the field and sort of getting leads from that standpoint. And I think it's just being on some level being open-minded to that, there are a lot of great sources of information out there. You're going to have to sift through a chunk of it and you can help yourself a little bit with the appropriate kind of aggregation of data, but I'm not sure I have the one place that you would go to find things.

[00:23:38] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:23:38] Makes sense. It's a combination and depends on the situation. So I completely understand that. Last, but not least. Mike, what are you currently reading and what is one book that you always recommend to others and why?

[00:23:55] Mike Phillips: [00:23:55] I have a really broad interest in reading, so I read a lot of science related stuff. And then I read some business related books. If I had a business related book and I'm not going to remember the full title at this point, but there's a really great book out there that is just basically a manager's guide to finance which I think has a great deal of value for folks. I will get you the actual reference because I'm not thinking of it right now of recent things that I've read. I read a book on quantum gravity recently, and I tend to read a pretty broad range of things. There's also for those who are sort of a bent towards AI and ML. There is a great relatively recent biography about Claude Shannon. That one that I would recommend, and I have to get you the actual reference. Here is a book, that's a biography of Claude Shannon, who is sort of the father of information theory. And it's a great book. And really, I think it allows people to understand some of the thought process that people sort of take for granted now, but underlies a lot of how we think about information and how it should be used and structured. So, I think particularly for folks who are interested in kind of the tech end of things, it's great work. It provides a lot of reference and really some very interesting thought processes. So, worthwhile reading and I will get you the title. I should have looked it up before we got on the phone, but I can get it back for you.

[00:26:18] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:26:18] Yep. Yeah, absolutely not a problem. And we'll make these titles and authors available with the episode notes, Mike, and thank you enough for your time today. It was very insightful, short conversation, I’ve learned quite a bit. Definitely look forward to staying in touch with you. Perhaps we could do another episode towards the end of the year to see how much have transpired and changed and see how you guys are doing.

[00:26:43] Mike Phillips: [00:26:43] Sure. That'd be great. And yeah, really appreciate having an opportunity to talk with you today.

[00:26:49] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:26:49] Thanks so much, Mike.

Transforming Service Industry with Steven McCarty – Chief People Officer at Apex Service Partners

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Steven McCarty is a human resources executive who is currently the Chief People Officer for Apex Service Partners, a private equity backed HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services group that partners with dozens of industry leaders in 10 states. Apex has expanded rapidly and is investing significantly to be a world class, people first national platform. Previously, McCarty owned and operated 501HR, LLC, an HR consultancy which “helps small and mid-sized organizations with big company HR.” McCarty was also promoted through a variety of leadership and executive roles with Enterprise Holdings where he served as their global Vice President for Talent Development, their VP of Human Resources in Florida, and as a Corporate HR professional supporting the Midwest.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Steve McCarty: So that's all getting them in the door, right? Once they're in the door, how do you pick the right one? And I have to kind of go back to, I mean, we've implemented paneling, and there's a lot of different opinions out there, but I don't know that there's a lot of research validated.
Things around selection and for me, and this is going to sound geeky, but I think it's really relevant for our audience. The employment interview by Schmid and Zimmerman back in like 2004 is the only study I'm aware of, and I'm not a big study guy, but it basically came down to this: most executives do average or poorly at selecting management above.
And the best way to do it properly as a panel, you can actually go out, you can search online and you can look at the research, but it really comes down to doing separate interviews is broadly a waste of time, a properly done panel with structured score cards and maybe a proper debrief at the end is actually the way that if you want to increase your hit rate, your batting average, I'm going to hire 10 people this year.
[00:01:02] And I don't want to lose five. I want to keep eight or nine or ten. The right way to do it is with a panel and that's actually backed up.
[00:01:36] I'm Steven McCarty. I'm the Chief People Officer for Apex Service Partners. We are in realization that acquirers and in the future, I'll say partners with, but acquires companies in the trades, plumbing, electrical HPAC, often overlooked part of American industry.

[00:01:56] Jahn Karsybaev: That's exciting, Steven, thanks so much for finding time to join us on the Ivy Podcast today. To dig a little bit deeper into the strategies for the acquisitions and how you guys select the companies and so forth, but before we get into that, tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background, where you come from your career path and where you headed next.

[00:02:14] Steve McCarty: Sure. So, had a few jobs, did most of my career with a big Rent-A-Car company enterprise, which started really small at the time. We were kind of pulling trailers on dirt, lots and knocking on doors for business and learning to kind of run and grow a business. And then as the company grew over time, got into human resources, started an HR department, went to the corporate office and helped other people start HR departments that would a lot of the policies and trainings and procedures that the organization has today. And most recently, before this current role, was their head of talent development for the company. At that point, it was, you know, a multi-business, multi-brands country. And most recently, was consulting before starting with Apex.
So got back to my roots, working with small and midsize companies. And that's how I got connected into Apex Service Partners. It’s fun helping small businesses be better versions of themselves again.

[00:03:08] Jahn Karsybaev: that's exciting. Congrats on all the successes through the career. Right now you are Chief People Officer, you know, there's some misconceptions about the role. Tell us a little bit more about, you know, just the role in general, what falls under your purview? What are some of the things maybe that people don't know about this particular role? What are the major highlights?

[00:03:32] Steve McCarty: You know, I kind of almost wonder if the Chief People Officer title is kind of titled wrong.
I kind of think of my Chief Executive Officer as the Chief People Officer, and hopefully I'm doing a good job for the people underneath him, but you know, people is kind of the evolution of personnel / HR. And, you know, I mean, you think about HR human resources. Oh, my humans are resources like other assets in the business.
It's, you know, fairly, blandly put. No, the people function is meant to be more talent focused, more culturally focused. And that's what I'm responsible for, you know, one side you have classic HR operations. Our people deserve fantastic benefits, fantastic internal employee services, the same way we would add external customer service, but at the same time, the real differentiator is not trucks or trades or even financial capital. It's people. Right. So having the title and the department aligned towards where the true differentiator is people. So really all things employee focused is something that we hopefully support and lead.

[00:04:30] Jahn Karsybaev: Well, that makes sense. And you know, that's exciting and I can relate to, you know, what you're talking about. You know, I talked to a lot of executives and one of the kind of prevalent themes is, you know, digital transformation, a lot of transformation initiatives, but what it boils down to at the end of the day, starts with people's transformation that you cannot be successful with transforming your systems, your technology, if you know the people on that button.
So I think that makes sense from a standpoint of what you're talking about in terms of the overall role as a Chief People Officer, as, you know, as I interview a lot of entrepreneurs and also executives as well. And one of the things that excite me is to talk about different ideas or trends that from your perspective will be prevalent these days.
What are you most passionate about? Whether that's in your industry specific or it's something in general that you currently observe or looking to invest. Share with us any ideas that really excite you that you think will be the next big thing?

[00:05:34] Steve McCarty: yeah, sure. So I almost, if I'm allowed to go a bit backwards on you, I almost kind of want to comment on what you were commenting on and the title and the function.
Just go back a hundred years. Your cars are no cars, computers no computers, internet no internet, you know, just, what was the common thread between companies that did well and didn't do well because the industry has changed industries. In our lifetimes it's been happening, you know, the differentiation of people and people, leadership has been significant.
I think that's the evolution of our function. So it just came to mind as you were speaking before that, you know, sorry to go backwards on you, but to your current question, you know, about the trends of the industry. Oh man, I think I don't want to be so bold as to think that we can do this perfectly, but we really do want to bring respect back to our trades.
Like, if you think 20 or 30 years ago to take a longer time horizon, you know, white collar work and blue collar work were more equally respected. Like, you know, many of us had fathers, like my grandfather drove a milk truck. I mean, these were jobs where, you know, hard working men and women literally built America.
[00:06:43] And then you see high schools kind of starting to take out some of the trades trading or the Bowtech or stuff like that. If you fast forward to today, people almost overlook, you know, from a consumer perspective and from a business perspective, these wonderful, beautiful, skilled trades that really are the foundation of our country and from a business point of view.
[00:07:03] Wow. What multi-billion dollar nationwide industry has tens of thousands of small companies in it. With maybe only a handful of nationwide players or companies becoming nationwide like us. It's an amazing business opportunity where somebody with skills like yours or mine and hopefully make the industry maybe a bit better.
Cause they haven't had the benefit of larger scale companies, or you know, more, developed professionals like ours. So I think the trend of the industry is now starting to say. Wow. Maybe we have overlooked this. I think, you know, just some PE firms have noticed it. I think, you know, media is starting to notice it.
I think that you're starting to see more press out there about, okay, how many white collar, you know, college graduates, if you will, are in jobs that don't require college degrees. According to my research it is about 17 million. You see research out there about the cost of a degree and what's the return of that.
And then you see bias, frankly, stereotyping in a society that shouldn't stereotype at him. Anybody we stereotype work in addition to people and I candidly think that's wrong. You know, the blue collar trade should be not even more respected, but they should be acknowledged for the fantastic careers they are.
[00:08:17] And I think those trends about small business, about what really builds America, thinking about what will be here 20 years from now, our skilled trades will be, I don't know that, certain jobs will be, I think there's a lot there to think of with our industry, that both respects the past and evolves towards the future.

[00:08:38] Jahn Karsybaev: Oh, absolutely. And that makes sense, you know, from a standpoint of just overall trend, where are we going from education standpoint, from, you know, professional setting. I can definitely relate, especially with us coming out of quote unquote from the pandemic.
[00:08:53] I think, you know, it definitely shines a lot more light on that particular aspect of that. So that's pretty cool. So for you, you know, as the Chief People Officer, and also being an executive, this space for quite some time, I'm pretty sure that, you know, innovation is at the forefront is one of the key strategies just overall as an or organizational success.
[00:09:14] And I spent a lot of time, you know, Talking about this particular topic on a lot of the podcasts that we host. And as far as strategies or initiatives that really help you as an executive to build and foster that culture of innovation, I know it's extremely loaded question, but from a standpoint of something that stands out, something that you have seen work, you know, day to day, as far as building that type of culture within the organization, share with us any insights from that standpoint.

[00:09:46] Steve McCarty: Yeah, I think some of it is new and fun. I think some of it is just classic. Right, you know, I think getting into the classic space and I've seen a number of projects even within our own organizations and the partners and companies that we buy and support. You know, just a couple of days going, we're working on some different things with some compensation plans.
I said, well, has anybody, what are people doing this job say, well, we asked them. That's a good point. We should go check. Right? So sometimes as managers, as leaders, we have these different ideas of this innovation and this or that, or we read the periodicals, we listened to your podcast.
[00:10:26] So we come up with these things and for a simple, as it is, we forget to get 5 or 10 of our best folks that are actually doing the frontline, whatever job it is, get them in a room, get a pizza and just a whiteboard. What don't you like? What would you change? And even if they hit all the things that you would have picked anyway, it's their idea now, not yours.
And I guarantee, it is just about every conversation. You know, our men and women will identify things that we have missed in leadership. Ask is my first thing. I think the second one is organizational design. I mean, our CEO, myself, our CFO, we want to be very intentional in setting this company up in a very decentralized way.
I mean, we partner with fantastic companies. In some cases they've been around for decades. They know far more than we ever will, about many, many things. And for us to be able to kind of, I don't know, be like the NFL. You don't have a set of rules, have a set of parameters every so often maybe where the black and white stripes and, you know, kind of call something if it kind of went out a foul or whatever, but for the most part, you know, within certain guidelines, Let our partners play the fantastic game and come up with their ideas and their innovations locally. And then if we're smart and if we're listening and asking, we can go ahead and identify those quicker, and share them more quickly. It's kind of like states' rights versus federal rights.
You want everything coming out of one government or is it kind of interesting to see how 15 different States approach their economies? And I would argue for the latter. Absolutely. I think the asking ended the organizational design and the last thing would just be, there are especially the people, HR space, a lot of very interesting things like that's happened in the consumer space predictably with data, and we need to get much better, in our profession of partnering with our CEOs and partnering with our CFOs and being fact-based and metric driven.
We generally don't do that well with people in HR and we need to do that better.

[00:12:21] Jahn Karsybaev: Right. Absolutely. It's, you know, definitely being that, you know, not, you know, not almost a service provider, but more of a strategic partner, especially when it comes to business decisions. So where people make decisions or whatever, you know, the particular initiative that's in place.
I think HR talent acquisition becomes, you know, a critical aspect of that. So that's exciting to hear about what, you know, what are you talking about? And for you guys it seems, you know, correct me if I'm wrong. The growth strategy primarily is through acquisition. Right? You guys acquired a lot of the different companies.
[00:12:54] Tell us a little bit about, you know, about that process. What does that look like? How do you guys identify the prospect as you know, to the extent that you can? and more importantly, what I'm curious about is when you go through that acquisition and make that particular company part of the overarching organization, as far as preserving that culture preserving that's, you know, the overall mentality, what are the strategies that really helped be there?

[00:13:18] Steve McCarty: So to the first question, it's a great question, by the way. So to the first question, yeah. How do we identify them? I mean, I think most companies do that consistently. Well, I mean, you have some men and women and you asked them to find people in your space and you have certain parameters and we've identified those parameters folks that, you know, we want to work with slash partner with slash buy.
I think what's interesting now is, you know, just recently, we have several businesses that we support and partner with a Texas based on those, you know, based on their experiences with us. They are actively referring other people to us. So, you know, HR folks, you know, employee referrals, marketers, we'll talk about consumer referrals.
We see it on the business side too. You know, we see people saying they prospected my brand. They've respected my leadership. They respect what I've done well, but then they have these additional things that I didn't have, and that word gets out, man. And it gets out within your industry niche and that's happening to us.
So we're really excited about these kinds of referrals that come in, because hopefully it's a sign of respect for the way we treated the previous partners that we've worked with. What was the second part of your question?

[00:14:24] Jahn Karsybaev: The second part was around, you know, as you guys go through with the acquisition and, you know, make that company part of the overall organization, as far as embedding that the two different companies and, you know, also preserving the core values, the core culture, what are the different strategies that really help you succeed in that particular situation?

[00:14:44] Steve McCarty: I think my CEO screened me with a question, very similar to that. When I got hired, this is back to word design. This is back to leadership. This is back to leadership, not being about itself. Right? So, I mean, how do we preserve the local cultures? First of all, that's very important for us.
With the skilled trades these brands have in many cases, been around for years and decades. Right? So how do you add value without destroying what they've done well, and that is to a large degree, our respect for decentralization. We want to build local leaders to be better versions of themselves. So we've seen some things from larger company perspectives or from some other industries that maybe don't exist in most of these companies.
So what's the layer in the things that we've seen that could be helpful and not getting in the way of the things that they do well, and there's a lot of intention and that comes from Alex that we literally call our business partners that are running large chunks, like, you know, a state or a certain section, multiple brands, if you will, they're called a regional CEOs very intentionally. It's not title inflation because they are the chief executive officer, their local operation, and we need to support, enhance, but never replaced that role.

[00:15:56] Jahn Karsybaev: Right. Absolutely. And, you know, that's, that's pretty interesting because as you know, I'm pretty sure you guys acquire companies of various size, whether that's, you know, the mom and pop shop or, you know, much larger organization than you, I'm pretty sure part of the evaluation strategy is also how to really preserve that, you know, the culture that they have, but also at the same time, make it part of the Apex ecosystem.
I think that's pretty interesting how you guys go through that process. So you've been in HR talent acquisition space for quite some time, obviously thought leader in this share with us any insights or anything practical, or maybe even, you know, things to avoid, when it comes to interviewing, when candidates interview with you, give us a glimpse into the interview with Steve.
What does that look like? What are you asking? Do you get creative with it? What do you look for in some of the responses?

[00:16:49] Steve McCarty: Well, yeah, and it's a great question because you know, many of us had done this for years. I don't know that many people do it well. The matter of fact, I think most people do it somewhere between below average and poorly.
So starting with a Kennedy point of view and part of this is Steve pet peeve. And part of this I think is really candidate perspective. You know, candidates, I call it the statement. Like look at when folks were applying with you guys or if they're applying with us or what have you, especially at management and above roles, if there's a cover letter, which there's not always anymore, but if there's a cover letter, I love reading the cover letter and just counting the number of eyes I would like to work for your company, because I have the skills that I can wind up having career growth.
And I would like this and I would like that. If I put my marketing cap on and take off my people cap wrong, that's the wrong approach. You know, companies don't have jobs that are open for your needs. Once you do a great job, I'll walk off the face of the planet for you career wise. But ultimately my job is open because I have a business need.
I mean, the I statement should be replaced with the use statement, right? And this goes through the cover letter, but it also goes through the interview. I understand that one of your biggest challenges right now is, is selecting leadership. You know, because you are acquiring companies at a very fast rate and then you call them partners.
[00:18:06] And your leadership development program is formative right now. But I understand that you have some people like you with a lot of background in this space. And that's really interesting to me, which isn't entirely right. Different conversations than saying I want to grow my career. So flip the I statement as a candidate, flip it 180 degrees.
It's not about what your future needs are. The company will care if you selected the right company, but they'll care after you meet their Indeed's. And I'm sorry to put it in such business terms, but it's true. Or the other thing I would go from a candidate perspective, man, is just, you know what, applying for so many jobs, apply for fewer jobs and just apply for the well like no Prosource, no Apex, no, no.
The company that you're applying for in lots of detail and you will differentiate on that alone, you'll have far more hits. And waste far less time by just being more thoughtful and targeted less is more, less is more.

[00:19:05] Jahn Karsybaev: I love those recommendations. You know, recently I had, you know, one success story where we had interviewed one HR executive from a local healthcare healthcare company.
And, you know, she calls me a couple of days ago and she says, Hey, you know, actually just wanted to share this story with you. That's one of the candidates who was interviewing with us at their company for, you know, an executive role apparently, have listened to the episode that we did with her and where she talked a lot about leadership style, the type of culture they have within the organization. And actually that candidate took the time to really kind of research, investigate and do a lot of the homework from that standpoint. And you know, it boils down to also some of the reasons why a lot of the executives participate in forums like this podcast and, you know, being open about their leadership style and the type of culture they have within the organization. Because I think to me, that's the most effective way to relate that versus, you know, just having somebody read an about us section of, you know, of the company on the, on the website, so I thought that was pretty cool. And kinda in the sense, what you also talking about is providing the candidate with an opportunity to interview you as well to make that a conversation to make that, you know, in dialogue versus just, Hey, it's only me interviewing you as a candidate. I think there's, there's a lot of misconceptions from that standpoint.

[00:20:31] Steve McCarty: love what you were talking about a hundred percent, man. Yup, absolutely.

[00:20:36] Jahn Karsybaev: In terms of, if we look at the current times and you know, what's coming ahead and a lot of. You know, good questions that we get from our audience. Some are early stage career professionals coming out of schools, second year MBAs and so forth, boils down to what are some of the in demand skillsets, you know, these days, that are in demand that will be in demand.
So share with us any insights from your perspective, what would that be? What would you recommend kind of, you know, investing as far as, learning or developing skills, curious to get your take on that.

[00:21:13] Steve McCarty: Well, I mean, broadly, anything technical, right? I mean, you can, you can put a whole lot into that, but I mean our skilled trades, absolutely.
I mean, just look, macroeconomically not enough supply, more than enough demands. I mean, you see that, you know, with a lot of the engineering's a lot of the, you know, the computer, it type of stuff that you guys I'm sure you know, better than anybody. So I think from a technical skill point of view, you don't have to spend very much long, searching on Google to know which professions truly have that supply demand Delta. That is to a candidates advantage. But beyond that, look, if you get an interview, you got the interview because you looked like you had the technical. All right, so let's just assume the technical and technical could be the background, NBA, the experience, whatever it is.
[00:22:02] Anytime that you get an interview, somebody thought that you had those basic core skills. Now the argument is going, the decision's going to be made on the intangibles. Right? I'm talking to five folks. They all looked decent with their CV. So now, what am I differentiating on initiative? The I versus you statements of the understanding, you know, the work ethic, you still are going to get back to those same things that were relevant a hundred years ago, and they're going to be relevant a hundred years from now.
It's going to be passion, growth, mindsets, you know, initiative, work ethic, those types of things, the ability to work cross departmentally and cross profession, especially increasingly nowadays. And I want to go back to the growth mindset because a lot of professions are gonna outgrow folks that don't continue to grow within those professions and having continuous learning.
And whether that be ongoing certifications, going back to school, whatever it is, just examples of continuous learning are critical because otherwise companies are going to outgrow you and are growing too fast.

[00:23:04] Jahn Karsybaev: Absolutely. No, I love that. And it goes hand in hand with, you know, technical skills. Yes. They're important. They're in demands, but at the same time, you know, skills evolve. And if you don't match that up also with some of the matching soft skills, you know, some of the things that you had mentioned, the ability to, you know, from emotionally intelligence perspective, the ability to collaborate.
I think those are the skills that require continuous development. And that's super important for, you know, in the period actually that we are entering these days. Right. With being a remote workforce, you know, everything has been done virtually. I think that even elevates that particular need for that.
So that's great, so as, you know, Chief People Officer, you know, what are the strategies that help you attract the top talent to your organization, or maybe what's not working. What are the things to avoid? Curious to get your take on something that's, you know, has consistently produced great results for you?

[00:24:01] Steve McCarty: I mean, how many times? I mean, if I go back in the future and if I go forward in the future, No go back in the past in Florida in the future. how many times have you heard of war for towels, war for this war? For that? You know, I mean, you know, the battle rages, right? So what are the key ingredients to folks who have done better than average?
You know, the first one of the reasons I joined Apex was frankly, you know, my CEO and CFO, our CFO said just recently on an all hands call that hiring is the most important thing we do. Have you ever heard another CFO say that, and that's not to say that other things aren't critically important, but he knows that if we get that next controller, right.
And the next VP of finance, that next HR director, whatever, everything else underneath that person gets right. So, I guess, you know, the first strategy is just making sure that non talent acquisition, non HR non-people officers are actually engaged with that priority. And I know my boss feels that way and I know our CFO feels that way and that makes the lift that we do in talent and people that much easier.
That being an ingredient one ingredient two is don't think like HR, people think like the marketing folks, like our marketing leader, awkward comes from a consumer marketing background at a major company locally. And he's just fantastic. And what he does with consumers, we should do with candidates, know your audience, you know, for us, where's the military, where's the MBAs, which MBAs have we hired in the past?
You know, what programs had the military men and women come in the past. How do I customize my message? How do I become a niche market or in recruiting? And there's a lot of intentionality around defining the audience, defining persona, defining the communications, and then building a media plan so that I do less work, but in pools that have greater production.
[00:25:51] And that is a great partnership, I think, between people and marketing, And then I think the last ingredient for us as companies [00:26:00] is, you know, a lot of times, frankly, HR recruiters, talent acquisition, we become little fiefdoms and I don't like it. You know, like who's our competitor inside the company.
[00:26:09] Nobody. And that could be said for all staff departments, really not kind of put that thought aside and just come back to the people function, specifically the talent acquisition function. I think very strongly that we have multiple recruiting professionals that we should be able to have developed kind of like the centralized org chart we talked about before with our regional CEOs in such a way.
So there's an incredible amount of autonomy and leadership and ownership for the local operations, but it also allows you to rank everything. It also allows you to see, you know, who's better at certain things. It allows for that best practice sharing. And frankly, for a lot more accountability, gotta be very careful about having a fiefdom internally.
So I think the org design, the marketing partnership, you know, I think those are some of the key things, you know, go and the senior leadership engagement, if you don't have that.

[00:26:59] Jahn Karsybaev: Absolutely. No, I love those examples from a sense that it should not be only a siloed function within the organization.
We tend to think of just HR or talent acquisition being responsible for that to attract the top talent. I think it's the mindset, you know, not only at the executive level, at every level within the organization to be kind of that on that constant hunt for A-players for winners, for the people that you know will elevate you will make you better.
I think it sounds very simple, but oftentimes overlooked strategy when it comes to surrounding yourself with top talent or attracting the top talent to your organization.

[00:27:40] Steve McCarty: Well in talking about that top talent, if I could just pile on it, you don't want that. So that's all getting them in the door, right?
Once they're in the door, how do you pick the right one? And I have to kind of go back to, I mean, we've implemented paneling and I, and there's a lot of different, there's a lot of different opinions out there, but I don't know that there's a lot of research validated. Things around selection and for me, and this is going to sound geeky, but I think it's really relevant for our audience, the employment interview of validity by Schmid and Zimmerman back in like 2004 is the only study I'm aware of. And I'm not a big study guy, but it basically came down to this: most executives do average or poorly at selecting management above. And the best way to do it properly as a panel, you can actually go out, you can search online and you can look at the, at, at the, at the research, but it really comes down to doing separate interviews is broadly a waste of time, a properly done panel with structured scorecards and maybe a proper debrief at the end is actually the way that if you want to increase your hit rate, your batting average, I'm going to hire 10 people this year.
And I don't want to lose five. I want to keep eight or nine or 10 the right way to do it is with a panel and that's actually backed up. So I push everybody towards the panels when possible handles done correctly.

[00:28:58] Jahn Karsybaev: Absolutely. And, you know, there's this famous, statistic quote that goes within the lines of, you know, we spend 3% of our time recruiting, interviewing and hiring.
And then the other 97% we spent actually fixing our hiring mistakes. So it kind of that goes hand in hand with where you're talking about in terms of really hiring is one thing, but also really making sure that whole retention aspect and the internal growth really becomes the highlight. You know, the focus center.

[00:29:28] Steve McCarty: Yeah. We'll never get it right. But our goal is to get it wrong a lot less often. Right.

[00:29:34] Jahn Karsybaev: Absolutely simple as that. That's great. Steve, in terms of your personal development, your personal learning, what are your sources of information? What are your sources for learning? What are you reading? What do you follow?
Whether that's a blog that you subscribe to or, you know, Twitter, whatever the case may be. Tell, share with us, share that with us.

[00:29:54] Steve McCarty: You know, I, I think we have invested in, you know, some kind of executive coaching for our higher level folks, you know, within the organization. So we get some good stuff out of there.
Currently I'm reading the characters edge, which talks about the character component of, of leadership. And, you know, we tend to look at it from a competency point of view. Can I do strategic? You know, what's my financial acumen, whatever it is. And I think we forget about the internal character it's written by, Yeah, the guy who ran West point for a little while.
So it's, it's a very interesting read that kind of takes the thought in a different direction. I frankly enjoy talking with non HR folks who are working on our analytics, cross section team with our analytics partners, to just frankly, learn more about spaces I don't know about. And, you know, there's a couple of thoughts there.

[00:30:44] Jahn Karsybaev: Is there a particular book that you always recommend to others?

[00:30:48] Steve McCarty: For HR people? I think there's two. A CIO getting back to the whole, you learn more from people outside of your profession. A CIO several years ago, referred me to how to measure anything by Douglas Hubbard. And frankly, HR people will often say you can't measure this.
You can't measure that, or this isn't relevant or that's not relevant. Well, guess what? The book pursuits all that and actually gives you a lot of tools. And then the other one I love. And I've talked about this for a number of years, the more beautiful question you don't even have to read the whole book.
I hope the author hears me saying that, but you can kind of get the gist of it from the first few chapters and it really is all about. Framing the question correctly, drives you to a better solution. You know, how to ask better questions for us is so key as candidates or in leadership. We're all points in between focused more on the questions, not the answers. So those are two that I find that I've worked well across our profession in all professions.

[00:31:41] Jahn Karsybaev: Thanks for those recommendations that we'll make those notes available in, you know, in the comments section our episode, Steve, can't thank you enough for your time today. Lots of great insights, you know, very short, but very effective conversation.
Personally I learned quite a bit, definitely going to stay in touch with you. Perhaps we can do another episode, you know, in the near future and see how much I've changed, how much has transpired. I really appreciate it.

[00:32:04] Steve McCarty: Appreciate you bringing your thought leadership to the call, too, and for the great questions and, Yeah, I enjoyed it. Thank you very much.

[00:32:14] Jahn Karsybaev: Thank you for listening to the Ivy Podcast. Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed on IvyPodcast.com and all major podcasting platforms like Spotify and iTunes. As always, if you enjoyed this podcast, please give us a rating on iTunes.

Chris Venditti – Director, Strategy & Execution at Cardinal Health

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Chris Venditti is a skilled influencer with proven thought leadership experience in multiple industries & companies.

Chris has held leadership roles within the Banking, Consumer Packaged Goods, and Healthcare industries primarily partnering with Executive Leadership teams to build strategies and then execute upon the defined deliverables.

Currently, at Cardinal Health he is responsible for setting 12-18-month strategy for the largest growth segment within the company.

At The J. M. Smucker Company Chris led teams within Revenue Growth Management (RGM) and Sales Operations. During that time, his teams created and enhanced several new policies such as MAP Pricing and Unsaleables. Chris was the first ever “Big Winner” (Smucker’s highest award honor) for his functional area.

While at KeyBank, he held roles of increasing scope & responsibility including as a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt responsible for creating and implementing strategy with the bank’s executive team.

He currently serves on Girl Scouts of NorthEast Ohio as the Vice Chairperson of the Board and resides in the Cleveland, Ohio area with his wife, Larissa and his two daughters, Layla (4) and Elliana (2).

Sergio Alfaro – CEO at InventTV

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

An Executive Producer and creative force, Sergio is committed to making culturally impactful content for leading networks. Responsible for the development and production of original programming, ranging from live events to specials and numerous critically-acclaimed reality series. Extensive knowledge and expertise in the areas of sales, finance, development and distribution. Production highlights include over 50 live specials and awards shows, including the Emmys, Grammys, American Music Awards, the 2008 Presidential Inauguration, and the Music Rising Concert, which benefitted the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, Sergio has also produced shows such as “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City”, “Bringing Up Bhabie”, “Into Alaska”, “Chad Loves Michelle”, “LA Ink”, “The Rachel Zoe Project”, “The Next Big Thing”, “BBQ Pit Masters”, “Swamp People”, “Next 15” and more.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Sergio Alfaro: There are no new ideas. I feel in our industry, the approach is like, if you think of all of the great shows as in like successful long term, they're all generally based around somebody's profession to some capacity, right? Like what they do and how interesting that is from, you know, Kat Von D, when she had LAE, Rachel Zhou, you know, doing design and like even the house, I was like, everybody's got something going on in their profession.
[00:00:25] And then you tell the storyline, so from a start-over perspective. If I could give anybody advice as if you have an idea and you're going to pitch it, make sure you have a good character to pitch it with because ideas now, like they're great. But to sell, you gotta have that character.

[00:01:08] My name is Sergio Alfaro. I am the CEO of InventTV.

[00:01:11] Jahn Karsybaev: Sergio, thanks so much for finding time to join us on the Ivy Podcast today. Great way to start the 2020. Well, with conversation with you, tell us a little bit more about your background, your career path, where you've been. And then I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about your, your current company.

[00:01:27] Sergio Alfaro: Sure. I started in the nineties with Ken Ehrlich and Ron Bacilli. A show called Motown Vibe. And from there really wasn't the live events space for a long time. Did the MES, we produced a fundraiser in New York after 9/11. Did the halftime show for the opening of the Superdome. I was part of a team that produced Obama's first inauguration.
Like we did a lot of, that one wasn't with Kenner Lake. That was Ricky Kirschner, Lisa Gears. But yeah, did a lot of live events and then transitioned at some point during the writers' strike into this new thing called reality TV that I really didn't understand. And I did this little sizzle with a really good friend of mine, Jay Peterson.
And he brought me over to this company called Original Media. And from there I learned what this reality business is, which is what I'm in now. It's great, great business to be in.

[00:02:24] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow. That's super exciting, you know, completely different spectrums, you know, from Obama to, you know, to reality TV, that's super exciting.
Tell us a little bit more about your current project, your current company. What are you guys focusing on and what are you guys building?

[00:02:42] Sergio Alfaro: Well, InventTV, we have a lot of unscripted programming and specials, so our focus right now is we actually have a new approach on some of the content that we're trying to do.
And I think what people need right now in general is just a change of pace, something that's, you know, going to make people happy when they're watching it. And you know, there's one project in particular that I'm very excited about that one of our partners brought, and Jeffrey Soros brought, introduced me to a guy named Arthur Brooks who writes for the Atlantic.
And he's a teacher at Harvard who teaches happiness. And this guy in particular, in what this project could be just makes me beam inside. Like, I couldn't imagine a show where you could tune in with your family and by the time you're done with it, learn ways because it's not just like, you know, a show where I'm going to watch it, I'm going to smile.
No, he could actually teach you how to be happy by hacking your brain or making you see things in a different way. So I just would love to put a program on air that after watching it, you know, after one season or after, like you literally would be a happier person, if we can create that kind of movement, like, Oh my God, that'd be ideal. I mean, that'd be so great.

[00:04:00] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow. That's true. Cool. That's super exciting. And you know, that brings me, I've been investing in a lot of energy and kind of that mental fitness aspect. And a lot of the readings that I have been doing are all around happiness factory, and the brain's a muscle that you can really train, from that perspective. So I love that. Definitely, you know, when the show comes out or whatever it is,

[00:04:25] Sergio Alfaro: Yeah, it really isn't. I did like this every time I did on the phone with them, I'm like a stenographer. I write everything down that he's saying I did all excited. Like, Oh my God, this is great. Very exciting. And I mean, he interviewed the Dalai Lama recently, and it's not his first time with the Dalai Lama. So this guy is pretty, very brilliant guy, Arthur Brooks. I really, I like him a lot.

[00:04:47] Jahn Karsybaev: Well, that's super cool. I can't wait for that to come out. So as far as different trends and ideas, what is exciting you these days, whether that's in your industry or just something in general? So share with us to the extent that you can, what's super exciting to Sergio, or what are you looking to invest in?
What are you, what do you see as the next big thing in a short period? Tell us a little bit more about that.

[00:05:10] Sergio Alfaro: Yeah, I mean investment. I think it isn't that good. The character always, you know, in our industry, we like to find, we have a great casting department. Joey Jim Lee, who works with us is just an absolute star. This guy could find these diamonds in the rough and for us. You know, I'm excited about finding those new stories, those new characters, things that you haven't found before. Right? Like I like watching shows like American pickers, where these guys traveled the world and they go into these homes and you get to see these relics and stories of like these antiquities that they have.
And, value aside, it takes you on this great journey and the characters on that show. They're just fun to watch. It's like, you feel like it's family, they're down to earth, you know, and I love even, you know, in the negotiations, one of the things I really like about that show, and these are the things that we're looking for and excited about is when he's negotiating with somebody and they're like, give me 20 bucks for it.
You know, Michael, look at them and be like, it's actually worth like a hundred. So I'm going to give you a hundred bucks, like who does that? That's the kind of stuff I think for us, like in programming that, we want to find are those great, good characters, wholesome. But that tells a good storyline as well in television. That's what excites me in life.
I love the stock market and I love playing with wood. I'm a laser. I laid all kinds of woodwork constantly, and that's always fun to find. New wood, new things that I'm going to put on the machine.

[00:06:42] Jahn Karsybaev: That's super cool. You know, I can relate to the stock market, cannot relate to the wood part, so that's pretty cool.
It's very diverse, I love it. I love your very, very unique perspectives and it's super cool. From an inventive perspective, and one of the topics that I'm very passionate about, I spent a lot of time talking to a lot of executives from different companies, all around innovation. And when it comes to innovation, as far as building that culture or, you know, fostering that culture of innovation, it's not easy, only a few companies that really succeed in this space.
Everyone says that they're innovate. But see, you know, it just probably means a little bit, a little bit different. So with your organization, with InventTV, you know, just your name alone probably stands for that continuous innovation, you know, experimentation. I'm pretty sure that's at the forefront of your overall strategy as a company.
Tell us a little bit more about that process. How does that work? What do you guys go through and just different strategies that really help you build that culture of innovation at your company?

[00:07:46] Sergio Alfaro: Yeah, I mean, for us in particular, it really is about the look. The storyline is incredibly important and that's what we sell to begin with.
Like what are the characters, what's the story. But then with technology and the looks and what we have to do to like, what's going to make our show stand out. I mean, the way I see it today. There are so many different gigantic platforms and I call them vortexes that you go into, right? What's going to set it aside from the rest.
Like you have all these, you know, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, HBO, Max, you have all of these vortexes that you get to enter now and then choose a program. What's going to make you stand out. I think it's the look and innovation wise, I really lean on the people that are much smarter than I am with that technology, which are DPS and, you know, our directors of photography that really say like, look at this new lens, look at this new camera. This is what we can do with it. And just, you know, even today with COVID, we've had to adjust quite a bit in how we shoot things and how we record things and how we put things out to the market where it doesn't feel COVID right.
Like an interview could feel as if two people are actually standing next to each other in the same room. When in reality they're not, they're actually in two different states. So that kind of, and it's the youth, by the way. So like, for me, it's like the innovation. We really listen carefully to the new up and coming, you know, DPS and directors.
And also obviously the incredibly experienced ones that are always tinkering because they do, they never stopped tinkering. So, you know, we lean on them to show us what is going to be, what's going to make this show stand out, and look uniquely different. So, cameras, lenses, editing, you know, all of that for us.
[00:09:32] There's so much technology that we get to play with. And it's just getting better and better and easier for us. I mean, now look, you have a phone that shoots in 4k. I mean, you could grab like nowadays we can do, you know, just take a picture or record it on your phone. And we could put the video into a series that's on television, you know, from our phone, which I think is great. Technology is always evolving. Yeah.

[00:09:59] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow. That's super cool. Yeah. You know, you mentioned, you use the word tinkering and that to me is a synonym of, you know, experimentation, you know, and then a lot of people perceive innovation that has something grand is like, you know, disruptive, but it could be some very small improvement to whether, you know, your current techniques of doing things or your current processes.
So that's very interesting where you're sharing.

[00:10:25] Sergio Alfaro: Just the lens with our DPS. All of these setups in one little change of a lens, one different angle. Like everything makes such a difference in our industry and how it's going to be perceived, you know?

[00:10:39] Jahn Karsybaev: For sure. And so for our listeners who are not familiar with InventTV, what are some of the biggest shows that you guys have produced or what are you guys most famous for? What are you most proud of to date?

[00:10:53] Sergio Alfaro: Most proud of or everything? Yeah, I think most proud of what's coming, because, and it goes down to the happiness of it all. I mean, we did a beautiful show in Alaska. That was great. I think right now, as in today, we're probably most known for Housewives of Utah, Salt Lake city, which is on Bravo, which has gotten a ton of attention, you know, it's a great show, Bravo has been great partners to us over the years. I worked with them way back on the Rachel Zoe days and a few other projects.
So that one is probably the most like getting a lot of attention right now. We've been across the platform, you know, we've been on. We've done things for Snapchat, BT, Oprah Winfrey Network, Bravo. And right now proud of, I have to say, just because of who I am, it's going to be that happy show. I mean, we got a lot of great crime shows out in the market right now, a lot of good projects, but I'm a happy guy. So if I could do something that affects the world in this way, and again, like one of our partners and I consider him a dear friend, they actually joke and in a fun way with me that I'm always happy. Like I'm in a good mood. It's just my spirit. So when Jeffrey brought us the happy project that I couldn't have dove it faster. Like, yes, I love it. Let's do it. So that's probably what I'm most proud of and it's not even out yet.

[00:12:23] Jahn Karsybaev: Well, awesome. Well, I can only imagine because you know, the energy, I can feel it and now can't wait for that to come out then really experienced. That's kind of that happiness factor. That's going to be super cool.
When it comes to really surrounding yourself with the best people, with A-players, with just rock stars, what are some of the strategies that really help you attract the best folks, the best professionals to your teams. And then in terms of the strategies to retain that talent, just want to talk a little bit about that.

[00:12:57] Sergio Alfaro: On the celebrity side or on the back-office side?

[00:13:00] Jahn Karsybaev: Anything, anything that really helps you succeed and, you know, take your company to the next levels, whether that's your celebrities or the kind of the supporting cast or whatever. Just curious, what are some of the recommendations?

[00:13:13] Sergio Alfaro: Sure. Well, on the production side, in a team, it's just being kind and respectful.
You know, we are definitely a family office where everybody understands the hurdles of life, like the kids and what's going on, especially in COVID. And I think treating everybody as a part of the team, nobody has a I or a credit taker in our company. Everybody is a team like I am nobody's boss, I'm everybody's, you know, we're a team.
And that, I mean, I don't know a different way of releasing it, but we all lean in, you know, everybody has a voice in our office. Everybody contributes to the creative and, you know, you never know who's going to give you that little didn't think about that. You know, we're not precious about like, oh, you're an assistant or you're a director. You can't be a part of this. Like not at all, like everybody's in on it, even with our agents, when we have our agent calls or our partners calls, we bring the whole family in, like everybody's on the call from, you know, the coordinators to the president of the company. Everybody's in the mix.
[00:14:21] And I think that just fosters a level of like a family that keeps each other going, like everybody's rooting for each other to succeed. I know a lot of places, other companies where it's competitive. Like I got to outsell this person or I got to work harder and I need to prove. Like, no, man, just be cool. Be a part of the team, like help each other out because in success we are all at the end of the day. You know, I mean, one of my longest employees I've had, she's been with me over 12 years and she was a coordinator, she's VP of production now. Every step of the way, she'd be like, I'm not ready to do this job.
And she always was, and she's brilliant and has been with me literally forever on the talent side of things. We're really getting a level of celebrities right now and the way we're doing it, I have to thank the Kardashians for, we have a very clean approach. I think what they did with their brand, in general is brilliant about their program.
They were, what made them successful in my opinion was how raw and honest they always worked. They just, they didn't care. I don't mean that bad way they didn't care as in, this is what we know. And like, I will do what I'm going to do. I'm going to act the way I'm going to act. And that rawness is what grew that, you know, that brand for so long.
[00:15:42] And for us from a celebrity stamp point, you know, go back probably four or five years, I would talk to certain musicians or celebrities or athletes, and they be like, I can make a million dollars in a concert tonight. Why would I do an unscripted show pass? Well, I have a very different approach to that.
Now I speak to some pretty high profile individuals and not say, are you as big as Paul McCartney? No. Are you as big as George Clooney? No. Will you ever be? Probably not. You look at, even if you Google, you know, the net worth of Taylor Swift, or like really big names, Bano, blah, blah, blah.
They're not billionaires. I could name two Kardashians that are, I can name more. Reality stars that have become billionaires. So if it's about money and it's a money play for you, don't tell me you could make a million a night because that's short-sighted, build a brand, create yourself, you know, something where you become a household name.
[00:16:42] Then, if it's about money for you while the business you're in is great. That's gotten you some attention, but come over to our side and I'll show you how you can become a billionaire, create a household name. And that really gets their attention where it's like, Oh shit. And that's everything from big name actors to musicians where it's like, I didn't think about it that way.

[00:17:04] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah, that's very interesting. Yeah. You know, I like what you said in terms of really that family aspect, when it comes to attracting the actual employees for your organization and treating them as such, I think that goes for any industry or any type of organization, whether that's Fortune 500 technology company or, you know, it's a smaller startup, right.
Exact same mentality from kind of the leadership perspective, really fostering that type of culture, so that's, you know, that's very interesting and to take it a little bit further in terms of the interview process, when you interview folks or candidates that, you know, going through interviews for your company, give us a glimpse of what does that interview look like?
Do you get creative? Do you keep your traditional? What's the interview with Sergio is like?

[00:17:49] Sergio Alfaro: Well, in our industry, it's actually very focused, with regards to depending on what job we're going to end up putting them into. So if it's for a specific show, we look for that demonstrated capability in that genre.
Right? It's not that we wouldn't put them into something else, but when people come in, like, Hey, we're doing something in Alaska. We’ll be looking for people that have that cinematic tone that had done nature shows before. So we really focus on that part of it versus if we're doing a reality show like a housewife show.
[00:18:21] They really needs to have that skill set and talent because it is a very different skill set. From an interview perspective, I like people that are honest and that life hasn't been perfect the whole time. I like to learn. You learn from failure. You really do make a mistake, make it once, make it fast and then move on.
I think Warren Buffet says that if you're going to fail fast so that you could learn from it, I'm a true believer in that. So I interview wise when people come in and it's like, oh, I've been raped my whole life. Everything's been perfect. I've never had an issue. Like I like asking the question, like, what's the worst job you ever had?
Or like, have you ever been fired and why? Like it throws people back because nobody wants to put that forward. But to me that rawness and honesty might give me a glimpse into what you've learned. I don't see it as a bad thing necessarily, but it could actually be a benefit too. You'll never make that mistake again.
I mean, if you're anything like me, you make that mistake once you program it in your mind and you never do it again. Right. So I look for that kind of honesty of like, not success, but also failure, you know? Like what, what has your life been like? And when it's too perfect. Yeah. Usually it's all bullshit. Yeah.

[00:19:36] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah. Probably not a good signal and something around kind of being self-centered from their perspective.

[00:19:43] Sergio Alfaro: I have it all to like people where I've actually had somebody pitch a show that they said they produced. I'm like, actually, we wrote, that's our show. And he's like, oh my God, I was not.
And then they get to the truth of it all, but I did everything or if they may say a little bit too much about the past, I don't like negative or negativity around our environment.

[00:20:09] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah, that's pretty interesting. And, you know, it's funny how these principles are so simple in the sense that I recently interviewed a CEO of Deloitte, one of the biggest consulting companies and when him and I were talking about very similar question, that it was almost exactly the same concept, from a standpoint of really keeping it simple and also giving the opportunity for a candidate to talk about some of their failures matter in the sense like, you know, to come across as you were perfect or not.
Okay. Like, what did you learn from that? And what was kind of that thought process as you went through that particular failure? I think that's pretty cool. So for this, if you're going to be interviewing with Sergio, you have a little bit of insider information, right?
And what are some of the most in demand and very hard to find sets in your industry? Iis there one particular thing that really stands out, especially recently, that you were like, man, this type of skill set is just so unique, unicorn, is there such a thing?

[00:21:12] Sergio Alfaro: Yeah, there is, we call them predators, which is a producer editor because in today's market too. Like you have to do so much to get a show sold, right? Like you gotta find the talent, you gotta go and interview them, do some scene work, edit it, write it up. Like there's all these different things that you have to do. And when you're developing, it costs a lot of money to do that.
[00:21:38] Right. So you have to hire a camera guy, an audio guy, a sound guy, like sound, audio, same thing. But you know, the producers, you gotta do all these things and there's these incredibly talented people out there that have the ability and they are very tough to get a hold of. Because once you have one, you don't let them go.
We have a couple in our portfolio, but they have an ability to get out into the field, pick up the camera, shoot a scene, come back and edit it. Like, they start to, or even produce and edit it. Like, this is what I need, it's not just, it's almost like, what do they call those knives that have all the stuff in it?
[00:22:18] The Leatherman you remember that? Yeah. Like these little pocket knives and you can, Oh, here's a scissors and a screwdriver. And these guys and girls are so talented in that ability that those unicorns are great and difficult to find since you have one person kind of overseeing a lot of different things.
[00:22:41] So those are our unicorns and show runners. Like. Yeah, no runners are everything in our business. They are the ones that in the once we sell something we're still involved, but they're the ones that are out there, executive producing and making sure that the vision and what we sold is going to be actually delivered to screen.
[00:22:58] And there are some brilliant people out there that, you know, we've worked with and will continue to work with.

[00:23:04] Jahn Karsybaev: Very cool. Yeah, that's very interesting. Definitely very unique, very niche. I would imagine, you know, it takes a lot of great deal of recruiting and sourcing and, you know, just trying to find that type of talent.
[00:23:16] Very interesting, in terms of, what I like to call, the content diet of Sergio. What you consume on a daily basis that, you know, helps you stay, you know, ahead of the game, self-improvement to anything that you read and follow, give us your sources of information.

[00:23:35] Sergio Alfaro: For our industry, it's pretty straightforward, you know, Variety, Deadline Hollywood.
I think for following stories, we read the newspaper still, you know, we get the Sunday times and you open up and you find a story in the paper and you're like, Oh wow, that's interesting. Let's go find out what that's about, whether it's, you know, an extreme murder case, because now you have something for ID or oxygen, because so many people are into the crime world or just, you know, something that stands out.
I mean, if it makes the LA times, and it's amazing, it's almost like a lot of people do this as well, but it's like the ambulance chasers for insurance companies. Remember that that's us, you read the paper and you read a good story. It's like, shit. We call the casting department and we call our producers like, find this person, get them on Instagram, just send them a private message, see how you can get to them because you got to get to them. You'll be surprised how many times you reach out. It's like, Oh, we've already been contacted by X, Y, and Z, and Instagram also, it's, you know, hunting and finding people on there that are interesting and have a good following, but haven't been discovered yet in the general world.
it's also good because it's just, people are so raw on there and you get to see so much, you know, they really let you in.

[00:24:54] Jahn Karsybaev: That's pretty cool. One of the last questions I have is, and I think it came from one of our audience members in terms of, on your website, you have some very big names listed to see, you know, celebrity wise, in terms of you growing your company to the levels where you're dealing with, you know, the kind of top level solve, whether that's celebrity status or the business experts and so forth, any recommendations for some of the kind of early stage career professionals that are looking to get into this type of business? What is something that you wish you knew that, you know, now that you know, you would have done differently or something that, you know, you did, that you would recommend?

[00:25:37] Sergio Alfaro: That's a good one. I mean, if you're starting off from the very beginning, I guess what I would say to anybody is an idea. There are no new ideas. I feel in our industry like what the approach is. Like, if you think of all of the great shows, great. As in like successful long-term, they're all generally based around somebody's profession to some capacity, right?
[00:25:59] Like what they do and how interesting that is from, you know, Kat Von D when she had LAE Rachel. So, you know, doing design and like even the house, I was like, everybody's got something going on in their profession. And then you tell the storyline, so. From a start over perspective. If I could give anybody advice as if you have an idea and you're going to pitch it, make sure you have a good character to pitch it with because ideas now, like they're great, but to sell, you gotta have that character, you know, we've come up with some amazing ideas that I think are like jaw dropping and fantastic.
But you don't have the character to go with it. You don't have the expert that goes with it. That is actually like, you know, entertaining. Don't pitch your family, just don't everybody says, Oh my God, I got an uncle. I got this. Like, my family is crazy. We should be on TV. It's never the case.
You'll never be on TV or you will, but it's just that those are the tough ones. The other one is don't. Pitch celebrities that you don't have because the thing that we get most, and I'm telling you, this is probably a weekly thing for us. Somebody will pitch a show and they'll be like the greatest reality show on her Angelina Jolie and the kids.
[00:27:12] And boom, there it is. You're like, do you know her? No. Do you know her manager? No agent? No. So you have no connection. You're just saying Angelina Jolie. Yeah. It reminds me of the movie Elf when the writer, the animator shows up and he's like, tomatoes, you like tomatoes? What, what'd you do with tomatoes like that?
The whole book was going to be based on nothing. Right. You got to know them. If you're going to pitch somebody, get a good character, and if you're going to pitch a celebrity, reach out to them, connect, you'd be surprised how many times we've actually gotten to pretty big names that they either didn't think of the idea or they wanted to do it right.

[00:27:50] Jahn Karsybaev: Well, you know, I love that. And thanks for thinking of that, you know, recommendation right on the spot. I love that. And that was a great recommendation, Sergio, anything in closing in terms of, is there one book that you're a big fan of that you recommend to others?

[00:28:03] Sergio Alfaro: Yes. There is ice. It's funny. When, when I saw that as a question, you know, it made me smile because I think I irritate people with how much I talk about this book because I truly, truly love it. The dog. Hands down one of the best books ever, have you read it? I

[00:28:22] Jahn Karsybaev: Haven't, but I've definitely heard many times.

[00:28:26] Sergio Alfaro: I'm not a sneaker head. It's just not my world and it got recommended to me by a good friend, Andrew Lee, Nike founder.
But what I love about it is that it's that story. Like people just think that, you know, life comes easy. Like, Oh, you got you're Nike, you're filming. You're rich. And everything was as it is for you the whole way. Like success has struggle, man. You really got to, you win the lotto, you got to really put it in. You're going to have big ups.
You're going to have big downs. This is what the world's about.
But Phil Knight and his story and what this whole book is about. This guy really struggled. I mean, he self admitted, horrible encyclopedia salesman. That's what started with his feet killing him, walking in Hawaii, as he started his shoe company.
We, you know, put plastic in a waffle iron. That's how the shoe print actually came to be like all of these different things for him in particular. And why I love the book so much is he was always on the brink of bankruptcy. He was always on the brink of failure, going to jail, people going after him for all the wrong reasons.
Just trying to take them out. Like I will not wear Adidas for nothing more than how many bad things they did to try and take down the little guy that was trying to make it. He just had so much struggle until he finally made it, but it's like, You're talking 20 years of just never giving up, constantly getting hit.
That is pushing the Boulder up. Kilimanjaro, not the mountain. Like this guy is literally, it's just a great story. And there's some, I won't give it away, but there's some touching moments in there too, where, you know, as a reader, like you get choked up and you're like, oh, damn, that's interesting. It's really, it's a fantastic book. Highly recommended.

[00:30:11] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow. That's super cool. And I'm actually trying to pull up my fault so I can show that it isn't my Kindle. I haven't gotten to it yet.

[00:30:19] Sergio Alfaro: No I'm telling you when you finish that book, they're going to be like, not expected. It's not a book you would expect to pick up. Like, I don't want to, I don't want to read about Phil Knight and Nike great. So why did Nike he's rich? Who cares? Right? It's a great story. It really is a great story.

[00:30:34] Jahn Karsybaev: Awesome. Love it. Love it. Those are great recommendations and Sergio, thanks so much for your time. Great. You know, valuable insights, personally learned quite a bit through this very short conversation with great energy.
I loved it. Definitely appreciate the time we'll stay in touch with you. Perhaps we could do another episode in about a year. See how whenever you want. Thank you so much. I very, very appreciate your time today. You got it.

Bryan Peña – Principal at Defiant Solutions LLC

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Bryan is a globally recognized thought leader in the world of extended work and open talent. With a unique perspective on the ever-growing demand for comprehensive workforce solutions,
he is a widely sought-after keynote speaker, a passionate evangelist for the open talent industry,
and a highly sought out expert on emerging talent platforms, workforce management programs,
labor models, HR technology, variable and future workforce trends. Through his boutique
consulting firm, Defiant Solutions LLC, he works directly with HR tech providers, service
providers, private equity, and enterprise clients to navigate the ever-changing global talent landscape. His firm utilizes an immense global network of industry experts and specializes in solving complex challenges. Just a few current projects include; working with an industry trade group to develop a unique set of industry standards for open talent platform businesses, creating new go-to-market economic model for a North American telehealth provider, developing a diversity certification for independent talent, building a new product offering for a talent platform based in the UK. You can find Bryan being featured in various industry publications, podcasts, webinars as well as Forbes, Fortune, Buzzfeed, to name a few. Bryan is featured extensively as an industry expert in an upcoming National Public Radio’s Marketplace episode on the future of work in America.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Bryan Peña: [00:00:00] The hard thing to stomach, regardless of whatever industry you're in is that if a client feels like you're a commodity, then there's not going to be a whole lot. You can change it. If he thinks you're a commodity, you're a commodity. Now we agree. I believe holistically completely with every fiber of my being and the value that staffing firms bring and the value that opportunity creates opportunity, providing people a way to make a livelihood that is sacristan, there's a sacred role. I have a deep passion for it, but if the enterprise doesn't feel that the value you bring is truly a strategic one and more of a point solution or a transactional solution. Well, that's that you need to take a good, hard look in the mirror and make a decision. Is this a client you want to work with? Is this an industry we want to be in? Is this the vertical we want to be in? Or what can we do to really meet the value or the value expectations? Of my clients.

[00:01:20] Angela Alberty: [00:01:20] Okay everyone today, I have Brian Pena on the show. We are so excited to have you today. Brian, I have been a fan for some time with you and your prevalence in your staffing industry. Go ahead and give us a brief introduction on yourself.

[00:01:34] Bryan Peña: [00:01:34] Thank you, Angela. And thank you for having me today. My name is Bryan Pena. I am the principal for my own private consulting firm called Defiant Security Solutions Ltd, LLC. Prior to forming defined solutions I was the chief of market strategy for MBO partners. And then prior to that I was the senior vice president of continued workforce strategies for staffing industry analysts.

[00:01:58] Angela Alberty: [00:01:58] Awesome. So, Brian, like I said, I've been super excited to interview you today. You were one of the first people I reached out to as I announced a podcast host for the Ivy Podcast. And I've created this kind of trend with each podcast episode, it's called the fire and dice questions. It's a ring of fire to kind of put you under the pressure, but the ice part is to break the ice and get to know you a little bit better after all. So tell us, are you an early bird or a night out?

[00:02:29] Bryan Peña: [00:02:29] Yes, I actually don't get a whole lot of sleep. I usually sleep maybe four or five hours a night, so I go to bed relatively late and wake up relatively early. So I'm one of those freaks, I guess I drink a lot of coffee.

[00:02:48] Angela Alberty: [00:02:48] Okay. Gotcha. All right. So most interesting facts that people probably wouldn't associate with Brian Penya.

[00:02:54] Bryan Peña: [00:02:54] I'm trying to think of something that I haven't talked about before. I think something that people might not know is that one of my favorite things to do with stand up comedy. So, last year I did my first set at the con at the improv in Hollywood, did a standup comedy set there. So a lot of people might not be aware of that, but that's one of my first loves is comedy.

[00:03:23] Angela Alberty: [00:03:23] Wow, totally would never have guessed that. Definitely, definitely surprised by that. Okay. What do you live by to stay organized besides coffee?

[00:03:34] Bryan Peña: [00:03:34] Well, I think the app that I could not live without is Calendly, the calendaring app. I think that putting the Calendly link into my email and just kind of directing people to set time, that way is 100% a time-saver no question. So it saves a ton of time. I highly highly recommend it. I don't get any kickbacks for it, but I do highly recommend the application.

[00:04:02] Angela Alberty: [00:04:02] It certainly is a lifesaver, your personal calendar, this word calendar, the other word calendar.

Bryan Peña: In fact, that's how we scheduled this today so that we did this that's right in the box.

[00:04:10] Angela Alberty: [00:04:10] Okay. So if you weren't the thought leader that you are in the staffing industry, what do you think. Your career that led you to, will you be in the showbiz industry doing comedy or probably something else?

[00:04:20] Bryan Peña: [00:04:20] I don't know if I would want to pursue a career in entertainment by any measure. I think I probably go to school and want to teach, probably get a degree, a degree in philosophy or something like that. Like if I had total total freedom to do whatever, I think I would probably do something like that, pursue a career in academia and just explore new ideas. I love new ideas and thoughts, and I like to share those and get people excited about them. So, that's one of the things I probably would want to do is go back to school and get a PhD.

[00:04:58] Angela Alberty: [00:04:58] Well, that's what I automatically correlate you to,
because when I got, like I told you before the recording, when I first recognized you from teaching me the CC WP certification with SIA, we'll get into that a little bit later, but, all right, so now we can get into the good stuff, the real questions that we wanted to ask you today and what I was hoping the premise to be. Behind this is to make contingent work, flexible work, a notion. That's more understandable to the masses out there. So how would you define the flexible, the staffing and external workforce to somebody that doesn't necessarily know about contingent workforce in general?

[00:05:36] Bryan Peña: [00:05:36] Well, gosh, that's such a huge question. I think that really contingent work in all of its forms is simply a mechanism by way enterprises organizations can leverage. People are human capital in nontraditional ways. So, if we think about it in the broadest possible terms, contingent work, extended work is really anybody who is providing services to your organization, who is not a W2 employee of the organization. Now it can get even more squishy when you think about seasonal employment and stuff like that. But for the most part, extended work and continued work is a mechanism by way organizations can engage people in a multitude of different ways. Right? We can go down the rabbit hole on that one.

[00:06:29] Angela Alberty: [00:06:29] Yeah. Yeah, we can.

[00:06:32] Bryan Peña: [00:06:32] What kind of worker is how many layers exactly it's an independent contractor versus somebody in an outsource call center in Bangladesh. All those sorts of things are just simply ways that people can exchange a skill or a competency for some form of compensation as opposed to establishing a full-time employment relationship.

[00:06:57] Bryan Peña: [00:06:57] Untraditional indirect form of finding workers. I like that. That's a good artistic articulate way to, there you go.

[00:07:01] Angela Alberty: [00:07:01] All right. So, like I mentioned earlier, you were pretty instrumental in the formalization of the CC WP program with staffing industry analysts. And I'd love to pick your brain on what that experience was like, especially in this rapidly evolving area of continuous. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about that.

[00:07:22] Bryan Peña: [00:07:22] Well, the CCP program is something I was incredibly proud of. Well for my time at SIA, and it really started as an idea on a PowerPoint of mine to use. I almost want to say almost 11 years ago, unbelievably, particularly, I saw the need for professionalization of managing the extended workforce. I also realized that there was a very strong need for industry standardization. I mean, way back when there wasn't even a consistent definition of what a reasonable time to fill calculation would be, or what is the definition of a good program versus a bad one. At the same time, providers were struggling with a lot of buyers who are not necessarily educated on the nuances of engaging contingent workers as a strategic resource. So the CCP was something that was born out of that need to fill that hole of understanding and developing a standard language as well as a minimum level of competency for someone to be what is called a competent player in the ecosystem. So we had, at the time we engaged Caesar’s Council Members, large MSP staffing firms, VMs. And then we created a list of core ideas, thoughts, concepts, and bits of knowledge that we felt were necessary for someone to succeed in this emerging kind of domain of expertise. And out of that came the CCDP. Kudos to variation and the leadership team along with myself in putting forward the necessary resources. And now it's really something I'm incredibly proud of. You've taken the class and it's taught on multiple continents and several thousand people. And it's just the goal. I never ceased to be excited and surprised by how people have leveraged it, how it's changed their careers. No, I have a little Google search. So every time somebody puts up, Hey, I got my certification. I got a notice and that drew my best to congratulate them. But it's been a source of tremendous pride to see people such as yourself, take the class.

[00:09:35] Angela Alberty: [00:09:35] Yeah, as well. It shouldn't be because, like I said, it's become a standardized form of recognition within the contingent workforce industry. So kudos to you on that. All right. So we've got to talk about the elephant in the room. It's the pandemic, what your thoughts are on the pandemic and what COVID has done. Or what it's going to do to influence the contingent workforce. What do you think is going to happen from that?

[00:10:02] Bryan Peña: [00:10:02] Well, I think obviously contingent work has always been the canary in the coal mine for economic activity. Right? So whenever there's a downturn, it's usually the first place you see that sort of thing, ironically, at the same time. And the other side of that coin is as things start to recover, you see that inverse is one of the first things to also recover in terms of full-time memory. So that natural cycle is definitely occurring. It is certainly affecting some industries more than others. For example, the service industry is absolutely decimated, but healthcare, for example, is going through the roof and they're just simply constrained by supply. So I think the pandemic is going to do a couple of different things. It's going to force enterprises and organizations to really reassess how they leverage people. I think that individuals specifically are going to recognize and really kind of reevaluate their priorities. I mean, we've all been subject to this existential crisis of COVID and reassessing our career goals. And we might realize that we might want to work more flexibly. Maybe that's working remotely. Maybe that's deciding to become a digital nomad and working independently. And I think we're going to see a lot more people choosing to kind of go with their own way. One of the interesting statistics that I found really fascinating, independent MC is the rise of people choosing to become solo entrepreneurs. In Q3 of 2019 to Q3 of 2020, it was an 80% increase in individuals applying for employment identification numbers. That means that there are millions of people who are deciding that they're going to go ahead and try and go with their own. And that's just the people who got Yans, not to mention the thousands and thousands and millions of millions, of other people who are choosing to create their own solo practitioner business on the back of many hundreds and hundreds of different platforms in which they can make a living. So I think that we're going to see almost like a Renaissance in kind of new work forms, new forms of working because the organization is really reassessing the way that they average people and trying to identify ways that they can meet people where they are also a kind of influencing model that is, I think people are going to pursue more meaning in the work that they do. They're going to pursue jobs that don't just pay the bills that they can feel passionate about and have a mission to do because crisis youth tend to do that to people is to take stock of their lives and reassess what's important.

[00:12:27] Angela Alberty: [00:12:27] I love what you're saying about this, because I think oftentimes we see and read so much about how contingent work can increase just due to businesses. The agility and the agility that they may need to scale up or down in times of economic uncertainty, or just general uncertainty like the pandemic has caused like, but your response was totally geared towards how that's going to affect the worker. I mean more so obviously there's favorability behind businesses doing it, but hello, there's a lot that's happening in the mindset of the worker and the shift that we see into preneurs and how that can pay a part in the work and the fulfillment that they find through what has been a very crisis oriented last couple of years. The real challenge, I think for organizations moving forward is going to be less about sourcing people, sourcing talent, and more about handling talent.

[00:13:10] Bryan Peña: [00:13:10] That's a great line, but that's the thing that like my one of my good friends, Neil Bryson, he had that line. I was talking to just today and I thought it was just absolutely the best way to say it is that organizations are really not gonna have a problem with finding people because they're gonna be a wash in resumes and applicants and all these other sorts of things. The real magic is going to be in how they're going to handle them, how they're going to handle these people, because the consequences for a negative employment experience or negative experience overall, it can be quite catastrophic for a brand. I've often argued that paying attention to the experience of your extended workforce is even more important than even focusing on your full-time hiring because the velocity of those individuals through your business is that much greater. And if you create, if they have a negative experience, if you don't respond in a timely manner, if you, the resumes go into a black hole or whatever, you're creating a service terrorist, and that person is going to tell 10 people what a terrible experience they had, don't bother applying. And that's going to poison the well. So, it's going to be easy for those things to occur. If you just have a million people in your ATS. And so the successful strategies moving forward are really going to focus on really creating an excellent experience for everyone who your brand comes in contact with, not just your full-time hires, right. That company branding that is referencing.

[00:14:43] Angela Alberty: [00:14:43] I mean, you see a lot about it and you hear a lot about it. So, and the perfect segue to my next question. So. What are some of the biggest changes that you foresee employers or larger enterprise organizations having to do from a technology standpoint, to be able to fulfill or oversee a contingent workforce more successfully?

[00:15:07] Bryan Peña: [00:15:07] I think that organizations are going to take a harder look at the way they're implementing their VMs technologies, their vendor management software, their services. Right. I think they're going to take a hard look at how those are implemented, looking at these adoption paths and understanding, really taking a candidate analysis of how effectively these are being deployed. I think a vast number of programs tend to just kind of atrophy over time because they're just good enough. And they're not really pursuing strategic initiatives. I think that sort of atrophy and focusing on simple process efficiencies and cost savings are going to have a negative consequence in the future. So you're going to need to explore. More non-traditional elements of sourcing that includes integrating things like online staffing applications, like Upwork or Fiverr or whatever. They're going to include looking at your direct sourcing strategies without a question, successful organizations are going to be implementing a direct sourcing technology. Right? I think that is 100% in the next big trend we're going to see, just like we talked about before is leveraging those direct sourcing methodologies and really taking a good, hard look at how you leverage statements of work and consulting and kind of reassessing the total talent management narrative. Now I'm not a huge fan of total talent management sincerity, because I think it's a buzzword and in many situations it might be a solution in search of a problem, but I really do think there's something to it in that you look at your whole sort of workforce holistically, as opposed to in the uniform kind of utopian vision that people often express. I believe that it's super important from a technological standpoint to recognize that the sourcing channels can be multifaceted as long as it's coming through a uniform, like application, like a VNS.

[00:16:57] Angela Alberty: [00:16:57] So it's really just responding to this digital platform technology that we see is happening with companies like forever or any, I mean, online staffing, you see that trend going upward. So it's capitalizing on inputting or sourcing talent from those models. And also you mentioned direct sourcing. So what's your easiest way to define direct sourcing to the audience listeners out there. And why do you see the uptake happening?

[00:17:21] Bryan Peña: [00:17:21] Well, I think direct sourcing in its simplest terms is a way for organizations to monetize their employment brand, to source the extended workforce. There are many ways you can do that. There are talent pools and all these other sorts of things. But at the end of the day, it is simply allowing an enterprise to be able to use their employment brand, to source their extended workforce. And there are dozens of ways that organizations can do that. They can leverage an outsource recruitment partner. They can leverage their own ATS and an internal recruiting team, dozens and dozens of ways. I forgot the second part of the question on that one.

[00:17:58] Angela Alberty: [00:17:58] Why do you see the uptake happening going to happen?

[00:17:59] Bryan Peña: [00:17:59] Because, one, I think there's a professionalization of individuals who are managing the industry, such as yourself. You have the CCDP people who are making it their career to really look at creative ways to manage contingent work. I don't think we can understate the power that comes from that particular population too. Technology has made it easier for organizations to create and curate these sorts of pools. Right, and then three, like I just mentioned before, these organizations are a wash and candidates just absolutely just flowing with candidates. Every ATS has probably bursted at the seams, putting some skill and discipline behind making sure those folks have a good experience is probably going to be a great way to source full-time hires as well. Moving forward, try before you buy I'll do other sorts of things. So I think those are some of the main forces that are influencing them also containing costs which is a very cost-effective mechanism. And also making sure that you put more revenue in the hands of the workers. One of the benefits of sourcing directors, the margin requirements are obviously lower. So we're able to pay those resources more as opposed to being constrained with a larger market.

[00:19:10] Angela Alberty: [00:19:10] Yeah. That's right. And then to that end, just with my background, part of me and no one, I don't think anyone has the answer to this question figured out, but what is that going to mean to the traditional staffing agency?

[00:19:26] Bryan Peña: [00:19:26] If we do see this upward trend in direct sourcing, I think it's a mistake to think that staffing agencies are going to go the way of the Dodo bird. I think there's always going to be a place for staffing and a direct sourcing strategy is not going to work for every category of labor. And it's not going to be the panacea for every company. Some organizations are not going to have sufficient scale density, geographic density, demand, entities require and necessitate those sorts of things. So I think there's always going to be a role for staffing firms. 100%, 100%. I'm not sure. I don't think that direct sourcing, I don't think it's ever going to place the deco with a direct sourcing strategy now. Right? It works in the places where it works. I think that there will be some compression and margins and that will be increased expectations and suppliers. Okay, I'm sorry. I don't even know what that was, but anyway, I think at the end of the day staffing firms don't have anything to be afraid of. In fact, there are many staffing firms who’s going to join the party. They look at repurposing some of the recruiting horsepower to more of an RPO situation or a CRP situation. So I think that there's a way, if you can't beat them, join them. That's the staffing in and of itself is a relatively mature industry in a lot of ways. And that maturity is not necessarily lent themselves well to a lot of innovation. I think direct sourcing is an example of an opportunity for staffing firms to innovate and look at threats as opportunities as opposed to kind of trying to push the sand back up hill or, and it's the transformation and involvement that the more savvy staffing agency owners are going to have to transcend into to be able to capitalize on this movement.

[00:21:02] Angela Alberty: [00:21:02] You mentioned RPO and I've had that conversation with a few other staffing agency owners, what does that going to mean? And it all becomes down to evolvement and capitalizing on the movement that's happening, whether that is through an RPO or perhaps, I mean, at the end of the day, they're going to be teaching clients to do what they do.

[00:21:28] Bryan Peña: [00:21:28] Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And that's the nature of the beast. And I think that you have to be willing to make sure you make your clients better buyers. Right. And if they don't know if your service in the van, that you bring as a supplier, not Bartlett where you are easily replaced by technology, there's not a whole lot. You can do about it as opposed to reassess what you're doing and how you can do better and how you can bring more of that. I remember earlier in my career, before I started, Sam was an enterprise buyer and I was, for 12, 10 years or so, I was managing congee workforce programs and I would speak oftentimes at essay conferences. And I remember the tenor at the time, 13-14 years ago, they were afraid their organizations were going to commoditize the value of staffing. The staffing firms were being relegated to the role of a commodity. And I remember being at round tables with staffing owners and they were really lamenting the fact that they felt they were being commoditized. And it was really ironic to me because the hard thing to stomach, regardless of whatever industry you're in is that if a client feels you're like, you're a commodity, then there's not going to be a whole lot. You can change it. If he thinks you're a commodity, you're a commodity. Now we agree. I believe holistically completely with every fiber of my being and the value that staffing firms bring and the value that opportunity creates opportunity, providing people a way to make a livelihood that is sacristan, there's a sacred role. I have a deep passion for it, but if the enterprise doesn't feel that the value you bring is truly a strategic one and more of a point solution or a transactional solution. Well, that's what you need to take a good, hard look in the mirror and make a decision. Is this a client you want to work with? Is this an industry we want to be in? Is this the vertical we want to be in? Or what can we do to really meet the value or the value expectations of my clients? And that's the thing that I think VMs are, and all these other solutions have done is forced the industry to really take a good, hard look at how they deliver and what they can do to be a much more strategic partner and direct source is going to do the exact same thing. It's going to make you relook at how you bring value. And some organizations are not going to value it in someone's will. And it's the magic is making that marriage right.

[00:24:00] Angela Alberty: [00:24:00] Fascinating. So great tips on what staffing agencies can do to capitalize on this movement. But let me, let me ask you this. So say if we woke up in your dream world, what are some of the steps that you would like to see take place? So that enterprise organizations, or just in general, anyone that's utilizing the external workforce can act as an advocate to the contingent workforce. What are some things from an advocacy perspective that we can do? Or you mentioned, making that experience better for them from the time that they're onboarded and in inputting your own branding, but, what's your outlook on advocacy for contingent workers?

[00:24:40] Bryan Peña: [00:24:40] Well, I think the biggest elephant in the room is going to be benefits. Right? I think that if we're going to, I think that as a society, we need to resolve health insurance and all the other associated benefits that are typically tied to employment. So if I had my druthers, that would be resolved tomorrow. And I think that if we were to see a complete separation of benefits from employment, we would have an absolute. See change in the number of people who choose to work in a flexible manner. No question in my mind. I think that's first and foremost, I think what organizations can do to do that is to really look at their workforce in their entirety, understand how talent in all of its forms affects your profitability, your client outcomes, and then reassessing what you can do to make sure that you are optimizing every step in that process to maximize client experience and profitability. And then at the same time, recognizing that the contingent worker, those folks were doing continue to work are justice critical parts of your team as the guy who's been there for 12 years. And before, I think that my phone with my computer was buzzing. I don't know what that was about, but anyway, I apologize if I lost that. Yeah, no, no

[00:26:03] Angela Alberty: [00:26:03] worries. So it comes down to implementing better benefits?

[00:26:06] Bryan Peña: [00:26:06] Well, I think there's a societal change and that's probably
larger than most enterprises can accommodate. Right. But I think that if you asked me what I was in my ideal world it would be some sort of resolution of the never-ending benefits, problems, statutory things happening at state levels.

[00:26:20] Angela Alberty: [00:26:20] You're from California, but we do recognize it as the Republic of California on the ongoing classification changes the PTO requirements, the health insurance. So I think it's slowly transitioning or it's going to force companies to make some changes, just like Obamacare did in 2015 and suddenly you found businesses in a position where they had to offer at least some form of minimum essential coverage to be compliant under ACA. So I do see that evolvement happening, but if there can be businesses that identify that early on, that can be the make or break in a town.

[00:27:01] Bryan Peña: [00:27:01] Yeah. For the contingent worker, I think also a big trend is going to be independent professionals, independent contractors, people choosing to operate independently is going to be a huge, huge trend. I think that organizations need to really take a look at that population as a whole. We talked about the major statistics earlier about the incredible increase. That's going to get easier for people to do, right. I mean, you can put up your shop, you could buy a URL on GoDaddy, you can go ahead and buy a brand identity on Upwork, and then you can go to Fiverr to get a PowerPoint template and you can source independent workers and you can immediately present yourself as a much larger organization for next to nothing. So, I think organizations need to think more expansively between how they choose to engage things like management consulting. Someone doesn't need to have, for example, a McKinsey background to give them to deliver a McKinsey output, because the labor force is global in nature and recognizing that the best talent is not necessarily one that is going to be working as a W2 employee someplace, the best talent is going to want to work independently, gonna want to be able to control their future and monetize their experience themselves. So the organizations, I think that are true, they're going to be successful. They're going to leverage and look at the policies they have that discourage engaging individually, independent contractors or independent professionals and resolving those in some sort of broad manner.

[00:28:36] Angela Alberty: [00:28:36] Well, and that's interesting that you mentioned that. So I guess this can go ahead and segue essence of classification because in the last, I've been part of billion dollar year industries and their contract administrator, and we'd saw this trend happening where a lot of these enterprise organizations completely forbid any form of independent contractor personnel, just because of the class classification risks that's involved in that multi-party sort of system. So if we're seeing this uptake happening in the entrepreneur and it's easier than ever for them to start their own business and become classified as an IC, what are some of the measures that businesses should take to properly oversee that segment of the workforce and not involve themselves in or minimize any kind of classification liability?

[00:29:23] Bryan Peña: [00:29:23] Well, I think the best thing you can do is to be honest with yourselves and recognize and make a decision. I think that the key thing is how important is it for you to have the best people working in your location? And some organizations, it might not matter. Some organizations might have a strong enough employment brand that someone who wants to be an independent contractor was okay with working as a payroll to you or something through a third party provider. So that's the first step is to really take a good hard look at how important talent is to the organization. As a whole two are developing a comprehensive IC engagement strategy as a whole, leveraging a competent compliance partner, like an MBO partners where it used to work or Greenlight financial or talent wave or pinnacle technical, any of these other guys who do some form of compliance review and is willing to indemnify the organization for doing that. I think that is incredibly important to be able to do. I think that the first step is to really take stock of the policy of none whatsoever, because what's going to happen is those guys are gonna go someplace else. I mean, I can tell you first. Firsthand from my time at MBO, good talent walks out the door. If you don't accept them where they're at and the best people are gonna want to work in control and monetize their experience for themselves.

[00:30:43] Angela Alberty: [00:30:43] That's great. And I'm leveraging an engagement partner
that you can outsource the liability and completely oversee the management and classification process there, and then hopefully be up to date on all of those processes.

[00:30:55] Bryan Peña: [00:30:55] Yeah. Yeah. It is. It really boils down to the organization, making the decision that it's something that they want to do. And even the organizations that say we don't have ICS, I guarantee you, they do.

[00:31:09] Angela Alberty: [00:31:09]Of course.

[00:31:09] Bryan Peña: [00:31:09] in some other department or hidden someplace under a statement of work somewhere there they are. I can guarantee you.

[00:31:14] Angela Alberty: [00:31:14] Okay. So, and we might've gotten into this already through just our own dialogue, but what are some of the challenges that organizations are going to face? If they are looking to increase contingent workers, increase the independent workers.

[00:31:31] Bryan Peña: [00:31:31] Let's see, what am I thinking about? I think one is going to be willing to pay more and more foot paid billing, they pay more for good service. Don't expect to have your roles filled for $10 an hour. When I think you have to recognize you're competing, not just with the guy across the street, but also you're dealing with expanded unemployment administrators pretty for a period of time. I think that kind of decoupling and really taking a good, hard look at those sort of roles, and this is probably something most people do already, but recognizing that what percent of the roles need to be in the building versus ones that could be done anywhere in the world and really developing processes and to create a really effective remote teams should include strategies that incorporate external workforce as well.

[00:32:25] Angela Alberty: [00:32:25] Yeah. Well, it all comes down to paying a little bit more money and potentially leveraging globalization and the demand.

[00:32:29] Bryan Peña: [00:32:29] Yeah, they don't have to be down the street. They can be anywhere. If there can be any, if they don't need to be in the office, then why do they need to be in the state if they don't wanna be in the state, then why do they need to be, why can't they be anywhere in the US and if they just in the US maybe it's someone in the same time zone. I mean, there's like a really, it's a nice Daisy chain. And then it's a great thought experiment to really kind of write down on a piece of paper what's possible and determine what's the best way to get something done.

[00:32:57] Angela Alberty: [00:32:57] Yeah. And it's interesting that you bring that up because I was reading somewhere that businesses are no longer looking at locality as a priority, and all this comes down to skill set, and whether that can be fulfilled. And the timeframe that they need. So it definitely has some shifts happening. All right. So this is my last question, which makes me sad because I feel like we're just some contingent worker, great dialogue happening here, but all right. So what is your opinion on the future of work and what that means? And what can businesses do to prepare?

[00:33:28] Bryan Peña: [00:33:28] Wow. We just listened to the last 30 minutes for sure. I'm trying to think about it. I think that it's a philosophical one for me. I think that the future of work is going to be led. By the talent. I think we talked about the mission. We talk about purpose. We talked about all this other stuff, and I think it's really misleading to think that because we're coming out of a pandemic and people are going to be, we have significant unemployment and the economic times are challenging. The mistake will be that, Oh, we're just going to be a wash and people. And I think that quite the contrary. I think that they're the future of work, where they belong to the workers, to the talent themselves, because never in human history рave you had more opportunities to make a living? You could be an Uber driver at night and form your own consulting company. You can sell your stuff on Etsy and then you go and buy and sell books on Amazon. I mean, so you're competing with a whole host of other things. And I think also another way to think about that with the talent focused approach is to really reassess the way that you qualify workers as a whole. I think it's fantastic to focus on results over resumes. And also maybe that job might not require a college degree. You know, I think that there's a lot of reassessing about how organizations choose to engage and decisions they make and engaging people as a whole. And if you think about providing the most opportunity for the most people possible as a society, we're going to be able to have to really take a good hard look at how we make hiring decisions as a whole. And the extended work is a great way to do that. And so if I think about the future work, the future work begins to belong to the talent. The world of the world is exactly the world is your oyster.

[00:35:30] Angela Alberty: [00:35:30] Yes. And it responds to the war for talent while capitalizing on unconventional untraditional ways that we have been so ingrained to think of good talent for school, the resume, the relevant experience. What does that truly mean? Is that the best way? For us to respond and curator the solid talent pool for my organization. That was super philosophical, but I did it. Okay. So, Brian does wrap up our podcast today. Why don't you tell the audience out there, how we can get in touch with you?

[00:36:07] Bryan Peña: [00:36:07] Well, you can reach out to me through LinkedIn. I like to accept almost all, I guess. So that's, I'm an open network. Absolutely. I'm happy to talk to anyone. You can email me at my email, Brian@defiantsolutions.net and hopefully you can just put that email in the link to the podcast and I'm happy to engage with whomever and just reach out and give me a call.

[00:36:35] Angela Alberty: [00:36:35] Bryan@defiancesolutions.net. Okay. Bryan Pena. It has been an absolute pleasure to interview today. Thank you so much for joining us and for all the listeners tuning in today. Let us know if you have any questions and we'll definitely make sure to include some information on how to reach out to you.

[00:36:49] Bryan Peña: [00:36:49] Thanks so much take care.

[00:36:52] Angela Alberty: [00:36:52] Yeah, it was my pleasure. My pleasure.

Christopher Mann – SVP at rEvolution

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

With close to 20 years’ experience working with brands to maximize their partnership investments, Chris brings a wealth of knowledge to lead REV/XP. Chris joined rEvolution from Dignitas, one of the most successful esports organizations in the world, where he led partnerships. Prior to Dignitas, Chris spent time at WME IMG and led T-Mobile’s entry into gaming and esports, securing many first of their kind deals with the biggest leagues, teams, and platforms in the industry.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:21] Rob Mann: [00:00:21] Thanks so much for jumping on, Chris. Welcome to the Ivy Podcast.

[00:00:24] Christopher Mann: [00:00:24] Hello, Robert, friend. Last name is very familiar. Have we met before?

[00:00:30] Rob Mann: [00:00:30] So the elephant in the room is that crisp is my older brother who has a lot more hair than I do.

[00:00:35] Christopher Mann: [00:00:35] Better hair. Better basement.

[00:00:38] Rob Mann: [00:00:38] Yes. You were in a cave and I live in Fort Lauderdale and it's been snowing. What do you have? 24 inches of snow right now.

[00:00:43] Christopher Mann: [00:00:43] I got a lot of shoveling to do later. You should be happy that I'm not standing up because I have no pants on underneath this wearing sweat pants guys.

[00:00:49] Rob Mann: [00:00:49] Also, I saw a very cute photo of my nephew shoveling in front of a snowman earlier. So thank you for that mom.

[00:00:57] Christopher Mann: [00:00:57] Much appreciate Henry. Maybe he'll make an appearance. Maybe Henry has made an appearance on some pitches. I was on recently with a wiffle ball bat and it was a floating wiffle ball bat that came up from behind me. And then I saw my wife, Danielle, chasing him as everyone on the call was laughing. And I turned my head just in time to catch the wiffle ball bat, as it almost smashed me in the face.

Rob Mann: So those of you that have a deal funny enough?

Christopher Mann: No, we didn't get the business, but not because of that. They all laughed. But yeah, I mean, that was the joys of working from home are awesome. And having a 22 month old is amazing. So he definitely helps. He's been helping me shovel all the snow outside.

[00:01:38] Rob Mann: [00:01:38] Yes. Actually throwing it on you. And I would like to probably say that Henry is more useful than you were probably as a child cause I had to shovel off.

[00:01:44] Christopher Mann: [00:01:44] No, he's good. He's very useful. It's nice, he's a nice little chat. There we go.

[00:01:48] Rob Mann: [00:01:48] Anyway. It's good. Good parents. Thanks for, thanks for joining in. You guys, we're going to talk about esports and gaming. It's a super fascinating market growing rapidly. Chris, you want to give your background about Revolut, your background, and then also the background about Revolution.

[00:02:05] Christopher Mann: [00:02:05] Rob is more handsome, older, better looking better hair brother. I'm the SVP of REV/XP, which is the gaming and esports division of Revolution, Revolution’s a full service sports marketing agency covering everything from experiential marketing consulting for brands looking to get the most out of their sports investments, including esports and gaming. We do a host of different services, so full service, data and insights, research, media placement, media buying. We run the gamut of services across the board headquartered in Chicago. I'm based here in New Jersey. Of course, many of us are working from home right now, given COVID. And my background, how I got here is that I've spent 15 years on the agency side. I led Campbell Shuggie Soups, NFL partnership for 10 years. You see a lot of NFL stuff behind me, this is usually a really busy time of year for me when I was on the NFL stuff. 10 super bowls that I have the opportunity to go to. And then I transitioned to gaming any sports about five, six years ago, led T-Mobile's entry spent the last few years on the esports team side. Most recently with a team called Dignitas, that's owned by Harris Blitzer, sports and entertainment, Harris splits. They also own the 76 years in New Jersey Devils. Let's go, Devils! And at Dignitas probably most deal that I was most proud of in my career, but also a one that was big for the industry was I did Verizon's first deal in gaming, Guinea sports, where they built dig Dignitas a 5,500 square foot gaming and esports facility in Playa Vista, California. And went back to the agency side about five months ago to help brands like Chipola, navigate their esports and gaming investments. Can I take a breath now?

[00:03:42] Rob Mann: [00:03:42] Yeah, that was excellent. You were speed pitching. So guys, the reason why I find this so fascinating, if you're a staffing and recruiting leader is, and I'll let Chris talk about this, but there's a really low barrier to entry, maybe not for esports, for creating content, engaging an audience and doing some advertising through it for gaming. And so Chris, maybe we'll start with, what is the difference between gaming and esports and how easy is it to create content for gaming?

[00:04:14] Christopher Mann: [00:04:14] Obviously not easy. I think that it's a question that any brand looking to get in, tap into the massive gaming audience, gaming's a hundred, I think last I saw was the 180 billion dollar global industry, more than music and movies.

[00:04:28] Rob Mann: [00:04:28] Nintendo had their best quarter ever last quarter.

[00:04:29] Christopher Mann: [00:04:29] Yeah. Animal Crossing came out at the perfect time during the pandemic. People are going on dates. There are late night TV talk shows on Animal Crossing. So I mean this thing, so there's gaming and then there's esports and most brands are like, Oh, we need to be any sports. It needs to be any sports. Well, you actually need to be in gaming. Because gaming is this overarching industry in esports is to competitive play of video games. So you don't necessarily need to be in any sports. It depends on your goals and objectives. The esports is part of what your strategy could be. Gaming is culture, gaming is entertainment, gaming cultures are the melding and merging of fashion, music, movies, video games, events. Everything that comes together in a cultural movement. That's what gaming is gaming and what it means to be a gamer has changed long gone is the stigma of someone in their basement playing video games. Gamers are trendsetters. They're cool. Nerd culture is cool and gamers are gonna break brands in the future. And that's why you're seeing brands like Verizon. And T-Mobile. Red Bull Buffalo, Wild Wings, and so many more brands get involved in poli in this space and will continue to, because you're tapping into the 18 to 34 year old consumer. Now they're going to grow with them and they're going to continue to grow brand loyalty and brand affinity. And hopefully when there're 1830 fields, get older, have families with more disposable income. They're going to be loyal to those brands that were loyal to their a and supported their favorite esports teams or content creators in the future, the same way that we're loyal to the New York Giants and their partners, but even on a bigger level, there's a stat out there that says 65% of esports fans and that will recommend your purchase from a brand that supports League of Legends or League of Legends teams or creators first 14%. If they sponsor traditional sports like the NFL or NBA. Think about that. If you're a brand marketer, you're like, why? Like that's incredible. And that's because there's a two way conversation. That's always happening. Gaming is always on our mom's games. She's not necessarily the hardcore gamer that we're going to market to, but she's a gamer. She games on mobile, 60% of the audience games on mobile. Everybody's a gamer. And I think that two-way conversation, whether you're watching it or playing it, there are brands integrated in it. You're watching your favorite stream or your favorite teams. You're on Discord. You're on Twitter. You're on Twitch. You're on YouTube. There are so many ways to consume gaming content. That's why it's so influential when it comes to purchasing and recommendation, power and influence.

[00:07:02] Rob Mann: [00:07:02] Got it. So there are also a lot of podcasts that have a really strong conversion for me. Like, I'll go to the website of a brand, I think it is interesting if I hear it on a podcast, but what you're saying, 65% of consumers, usually 18 to 34, because that's the largest demographic we'll go to. Or support a brand that supports a League of Legends creator or esports team. Is that correct?

[00:07:28] Christopher Mann: [00:07:28] Yeah, it's a step from MRI and probably paraphrasing a little bit here and there on that step, but it's an MRI stat from last year. But all you need to know is there's quite a difference between the brand loyalty and support from partnering within the League of Legends ecosystem. And esports in general, I think at least these, it only goes down a few points when it comes to just esports and gaming for traditional sports. So that's what brands are involved. That's what brands are investing, and that's why they will continue to invest now going into the very near future.

[00:07:56] Rob Mann: [00:07:56] Got it. And it wasn't fair when I said that the barrier to entry for gaming is pretty low. Can be very high. When you say barrier entries are, you're talking about dollars. Are you talking about like it can be, I mean, there are some teams out there and leagues getting, million dollar plus deals and there's some, but that's esports what about some influencers? I mean, gamers get that much money to do it.

[00:08:19] Christopher Mann: [00:08:19] Yeah, for sure. There are content creators, streamers that are strictly gaming, entertainment, not anything to do with these sports that are getting half a million to million dollar deals? It's pretty impressive, but I think it's not, you hear that number and then you're like, I think back in, like, I think about having Drew Brees or like these really big names in these Campbell's commercials and these massive social falling, but it's not apples to apples. So you think of someone like Tim, the TapMan, for instance, 2 million followers on Twitter, 30,000 people tune in every day to watch him stream three to four hours. That's why he's more influential than say like Drew Brees. That's why he's getting paid these six figure potentially seven figure deals out there because the way that he engaged with the audience is so much different. It's so much more valuable for brands than a traditional sports athlete at this point. And that's why these guys are going to continue and women are gonna continue to grow who are over in the space.

[00:09:16] Rob Mann: [00:09:16] So I think, and kind of like, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's almost like, and I can't do it, but listening to the Joe Rogan podcast for three hours every day. It's almost like doing that, but living, right. If a streamer…

[00:09:28] Christopher Mann: [00:09:28] Yeah, yeah. I mean, listen, it's the same. Rogan recently had her point Jordan Burroughs. Yeah. It's long. It could be long form or short. Here's the great thing about a Twitch stream, a YouTube stream that could be a three or four hour stream. Some of them social members go for 16 hours, 24 hours. They do marathon streams. Yeah, they play with their community. They're engaging with their community. They're there, they're playing, watching, chat and engaging with their chat. Right. They're part of an experience when you watch TV, you're not part of that experience. That's why you see the NFL now on Twitch. Someone like Tim, the Tam in streams, NFL games on Thursday night through the Amazon relationship and he's talking to his chat. It's like, they're watching, especially now during COVID where you really can't go out and have that experience of community and watch games with friends and family. Like you're used to, it's been really valuable. But yeah, I mean, like there's a massive opportunity here. And brands are going to continue to engage, and learn how to engage. And I think that's where my job comes in, right? Like my job is to help brands navigate gaming and esports extract as much value from these creators, these teams, these leagues as possible align their objectives with the strategy. And help them get the most out of it. And that's where an agency like revolution and REV/XP come in as well.

[00:10:38] Rob Mann: [00:10:38] Got it. So, and I think you, every so often we're having conversations, you were telling me like, Hey, this brand is interested in coming in, but they have no idea. Or their strategies are off. They're spending too much money. Maybe they're not spending the money in the right spot. A lot of times I feel like that's been happening since you've been in this space. And we kind of just talk when we see each other. So it's, I don't think it's unique to esports, or gaming, but it's definitely the new frontier. Right? So navigating.

[00:11:07] Christopher Mann: [00:11:07] Yeah. Everyone says it's the Wild West. I wouldn't, I think that's the term, maybe like 2013, 14, 15, whatever, like, everyone's like, it's the Wild West. You have to be authentic. First off, you have to be authentic in anything you do. It doesn't matter if it's gaming or a matter of T-sports. Doesn't matter if it's an NFL partnership, you have to be authentic. So that's like a buzzword. I think that people who were in the industry early used to kind of scare new people that were coming in, and it's different now. And I think that brands don't, they're used to certain brands are more savvy when it comes to investments with partnerships, because they're used to investing in the major league baseball, spacer, other like NFL, right. Or entertainment music. So, but you can't disvalue things the same way. Because of the things I mentioned earlier. So there are opportunities and those learnings definitely do apply. Markets do, definitely do apply. And the opportunity versus scale is definitely something you need to consider. But I think, understanding all the different touch points and leverage to pull. On a deal in this space. I've seen it countless times where a brand has never done a deal in this space, does the deal far more probably than they should have without the necessarily assets that they should have asked for because they didn't know. And that's where, that's why there are agencies like revolution out there and people like myself that can help these brands come in in an impactful way and feel really good about your partnership, your investment, and work really hard for you. So that you're successful in entering the space like this same thing as we did with the NFL.

[00:12:38] Rob Mann: [00:12:38] What it sounds like, and I'm still fascinated by the engagement piece, right? Like, I really think it's powerful that it's easier for you to create a community around a streamer, because they're going to engage with the chat with you. And then that's something I learned watching webinars, and like, if I'm a panelist on a webinar, I'm actually trying to engage in the chat, live with the people in the audience. I just did that last week for the World Staffing Summit. I was. Don't what the panel is basically in the chat, talking to everyone while I was trying to listen, but also stay engaged. So I could see that, it kinda reminded me of that a little different when you're playing Call of Duty, our fall guys are among us and then engaging with your chest. Are they using like a voice to the text?

[00:13:24] Christopher Mann: [00:13:24] Well, they usually like I have a screen here. That's why I have this weird glow on my face. And I have a screen here that I'm talking to you on. So if I'm streaming or if I'm chatting, like a dual screen. So I play here like this and I look here and many of them have four or five screens. They have different chats here so they could read it and they understand what's going on. They're sponsors too. Maybe they have their, if they're successful enough, they have partnership script and talking points too, that are fed into them. Maybe that they're really successful. Like someone like a doctor disrespecting a whole studio for history, maybe like a whole real interesting, very highly produced setup, with producers on site. So it's not out of the norm.

[00:14:02] Rob Mann: [00:14:02] Got it.

Christopher Mann: So that's again, you guys are hearing like the level of production can increase by the amount of time. Amount of followers that you have, or the amount of concurrence, more eyeballs, more money, more money, higher production, better value for, or maybe have better value. It doesn't have to just because it's high production doesn't mean that the value is more or less.

[00:14:20] Rob Mann: [00:14:20] Yeah. I mean, that's the thing, that's why I meant low barrier of entry. Right? Cause like if a company wanted to start gaming, right, they could get some assets, set up, some images set up, put them on Twitch or YouTube, have their background of their streets set up and then just jump on and start playing a game, a brand.

[00:14:38] Christopher Mann: [00:14:38] Oh. And I would not recommend that I would.

[00:14:41] Rob Mann: [00:14:41] Okay. Well I'm just saying like, that could be, if you're a brand, just don't think you can turn on a Twitch.

[00:14:44] Christopher Mann: [00:14:44] Yeah. Don't if you're a brand out there, don't think you can just turn on a Twitch channel and people are going to tune in.

[00:14:52] Rob Mann: [00:14:52] That's true. But I'm saying like, if you were at a startup and you were just gaming. I mean, you could just turn.

[00:14:56] Christopher Mann: [00:14:56] Yeah. I mean, yes, in the synopsis, Sony, not a Samsung, not a T-Mobile.

[00:15:03] Rob Mann: [00:15:03] Yeah. Okay. Got it. Very good clarifying point. You would probably want to partner with a streamer under your brand and go to their channel.

[00:15:17] Christopher Mann: [00:15:17] You don't sponsor streams that you don't want you to send. You want to hire them as a spokesperson or an ambassador for your brand, the influencer economy, essentially. That's it.

[00:15:26] Rob Mann: [00:15:26] Got it. That makes sense. So, are there any other points of entry? Like obviously I messed that up a little bit or maybe oversimplified it.

[00:15:36] Christopher Mann: [00:15:36] Yeah, we want to highlight, there are a lot of points of entry. You could work with publishers, publishers control the game, IP, they make the game and you could work with publishers on a variety of different ways to enter. It could be through the game and game IP, or it could be through esports if the publisher offers esports. So for instance, League of Legends. A Riot who publishes the game. You could partner with Riot and League of Legends to the game, or you could partner with the LCS league championship series, which is the esports league here in North America. There's a global league. There are leaks all around. There are 16 different regions all around the world. So that's an entry point. There are teams, teams are really interesting at your point. Obviously I know this one, well, from being on the team side for a few years, teams have what's really big difference. An entry point with teams is that when you do a deal with like, say the New Jersey Devils, you just get the Devils, right? You get the D, you get usage, like collective usage of players. For those of you that know what that means in sports marketing, but you don't get individual players to do things. Maybe you get an appearance here or there. Well, with esports teams, not only do you get access for them to create content because they know their community better than anyone to the team socially, but you also get all the players. So if you're a TMC like Dignitas, which is where I was prior, we were in the League of Legends, LCS is the third most popular league in this country for 18 to 34 year olds. After the NFL and NBA, like, think about that. You get access to all the players in the league. That's the third most popular. All those players are streaming all the time. You get access to, if you have assets like a Jersey Load, but placement in that broadcast. Which is watched by millions of people throughout the year. And then you also get the opportunity to activate it like a Rocket League team or Counter-Strike team or a new Valor and team, or a bunch of content creators can access to everyone.So while there are similar entry points for the leagues and the teams, the teams take it a step further because they give you access to all these different communities. Every game has its own community. Every content creator has their own community. This is a very community driven conversation. There are other entry points, creators, some creators, and streamers, they play for teams. They're part of a team organization. Some are independent. So that's another entry point. There are events. When we're back into a physical world events like BlizzCon or PAX East PAX, West DreamHack. These are great events that people think that gamers just like to sit behind the community, sit on their computer and play games, but they love getting out. They love being together. They play with these people, hours and hours on end. So they want to meet them in person and hang out and have some good craft beer with them and have a fun experience at an event like BlizzCon, and then there are platforms like Twitch. You could do a media deal with which you could do a partnership deal with Twitch to sponsor something like Twitch rivals. That's a nice compliment to a deal that you have maybe with like League of Legends and LCS, you'd get like the Twitch rivals is like a more of an And Entertainment, gaming, tainment style event, less focused on competitive, but then there are also media buys. Pre-rolls in Twitch, same with Twitter, same with YouTube. So there are a lot of different entry points to navigate, and I think that could sometimes be a little scary for brands, but it shouldn't be because all those different entry points are opportunities to get your message and relay your message and the opportunity and value that you're bringing to the gaming community through those different platforms and entry points.

[00:18:52] Rob Mann: [00:18:52] How many people showed up to the last live LCS championship? Less live one, where was the last, I wonder if it was in Detroit?

[00:18:56] Christopher Mann: [00:18:56] I think it was in Detroit in 2019, because there was not a live one in 2020. So last one was September, 2019 and yeah, I mean, they were at the same arena, Joe Lou, whatever Joe Lewis or what is it? Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, there's 20,000 people there. And then how many? And then by the way, guys, I was in PA, I was in Paris at Eight Core Hotels arena or whatever. However you say it, that was for the League of Legends, World Finals, at least 20,000 people screaming. I've been to Madison Square Garden, sold out for League of Legends events. Barclay Center was sold out for the first Overwatch League Finals. So, these are a considerable audience for these events plus the concurrence chambers, which is actually how audiences are actually judged, right? You're like, think value is the scale, right? The scale of the live stream event is pretty big. And, it's always interesting. Every event is different and every game is different, League of Legends, of course being the most popular, but there are games like Fortnite, that absolutely dominate if they do like at Fortnite World Cup event.

[00:20:11] Rob Mann: [00:20:11] Yeah, there was a celebrity with a pro.

[00:20:12] Christopher Mann: [00:20:12] Yeah. There are so many different events out there. I mean, Chipola, we do each poli challenges series this year. Last year we had someone from 21 pilots and she just used her Smith. We had some of the best port Fortnite players in the world participating in it. And it's just a really fun event and creating experience and content for people when they're looking for more gaming content, more than ever before.

[00:20:31] Rob Mann: [00:20:31] Right. I can definitely vouch for that. So, obviously you've run the NFL. The NFL is a lump, even when the NFL was pretty mature in terms of sports, marketing, and brand opportunity for marketing. But where is, whereas the esports gaming world is immature, but it's growing.

[00:20:51] Christopher Mann: [00:20:51] It's growing very rapidly. I think I was interviewed for an article a few years back that was a forced business journal when they were like esports and gaming where they should be now. And I was like, absolutely like, sure esports second has been around since 1972. There's a real fun event, but then it wasn't big, low, and like esports today has only been around since like the probably 2000 tens maybe, call it the Call of Duty events to StarCraft events, League of Legends, came out right around that time, probably LCS and like it's you think about how long the NFL has been around for, or major league baseball and think about how many years and how they've refined their strategy of working with brands and their product. We're in the infancy of the esports space. Now gaming. No similar, but gaming's bigger. Like gaming is, there are opportunities in games to do different things like e-sport as a competitive product to sell to brands is still very new and young. But that being said, there are leaks like the Call of Duty league, or again LCS, LEC, which is the league of legends league in Europe. That's really cool. Rocket league, Rocket league championship series that have really similar entry points on a league level. They are traditionals as traditional sports do and which brands, which resonate with brands.

[00:22:10] Rob Mann: [00:22:10] It makes sense. And guys, one of the reasons this was super fascinating to me is when I was still traveling for work where I'd be traveling for seven to 10 business days a month up until the pandemic. Every time I was in the airport, I would be watching kids from any reach group, right? Like under 10 to teenagers on their phone, I'd be sitting at like a restaurant eating in the airport and there'd be somebody next to me at all times, watching someone play video games and there'll be a dad and a mom being like, what are you watching? And then they'd say Fortnite or whatever, or someone played Fortnite. And in my head, I'd be like, why aren't you playing Fortnite? But there really is a strong audience. And I don't think the pandemic changed that they might've even amplified it and expedited.

[00:22:53] Christopher Mann: [00:22:53] It there's definitely going to be some stickiness to the people that have discovered gaming content and started playing games, whether it be on their PC or console, there is going to be some stickiness to that content because let's be real. We're probably not getting back into the world the next few years, as we have been in the past, unless I hear you're in Florida, then everything's your game. Anything goes, but at least here in New Jersey, we'll be locked down anyway.

[00:23:21] Rob Mann: [00:23:21] Is there anything else that yet, why don't you tell people to keep an eye on a small brand, big brand doesn't matter.

[00:23:30] Christopher Mann: [00:23:30] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you're interested in League of Legends, when does this come out, Rob?

[00:23:35] Rob Mann: [00:23:35] Probably in the next two weeks.

[00:23:35] Christopher Mann: [00:23:35] Okay. So I was gonna say February 11th, REV/XP will be hosting our quarterly Reverex Presents and the focus of REV/XP Presents will be League of Legends and entry points. And I'll have someone from Twitch. Some are from G2, one of the most popular teams in the world focused out of Berlin, and as well as Riot on the panel, we'll be talking about really cool. Obviously that's next week. So pending when this comes out, if not, you can get the video on demand and it will be available at revolutionworld.com. I would check out Twitch, check out your favorite games. If you have kids, see what your kids are watching. Because chances are, they're probably not watching a lot of TV content, and they're probably watching a lot of gaming content. And it's funny. I think the consumption of TV has gone down 26% over the last 10 years while the consumption of gaming contents has gone up 27%, a strange correlation there. But it makes sense, right? It's like, you're really similar percentages and increases and decreases. And I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised, by some of the content. Now, listen, there are some of the contents edgy, some of the content you may think is immature pending. Your age or your views, whether it be religion or political or whatever, but this is what people are watching, and this is the future of entertainment. And that's why you're seeing again, the NFL and these traditional sports gravitate towards Twitch hosting the NBA G league, the D essentially to develop last year there. So it's a massive opportunity. There's a lot of really cool content. The cool thing is you can just, you could go on Twitch and watch people work out how you workout with them. You could watch them cook. You watch it payment cold calls. Yeah, you can. The best one is the guy who scammed scammers, kid Bogut. There's a few of those out there. He's one of my favorites and there are some really cool opportunities to engage. If you're a brand and opportunities to grow a future consumer and grow a lot of brand loyalty. And there are a lot of really creative ways to do it. Because, these streamers, you criticize these teams, they know their audiences, they know their communities and they know how to tell stories really well, and in a way that is impactful for the brand, that gets your goal and objective across. But doesn't it in a way that resonates with a younger demographic. And I think that's super valuable.

[00:25:49] Rob Mann: [00:25:49] Got it. What game are you playing right now?

[00:25:51] Christopher Mann: [00:25:51] I have been playing a lot of Borderlands 3. I love the Borderlands franchise. I've been trying to get you to play, but played League of Legends. I play Call of Duty, but over the last month I've played a lot of Borderlands 3, which is certainly not a top 10 most viewed game on Twitch, but it's definitely got its community right. And it's a fun game. And Kevin Hart, they just hired Kevin Hart to play rolling, which should be really cool. If, when I think of Roland, I think of somebody like LeBron James, in terms of height and stature though, Kevin's kind of Jack nowadays. I thought Kevin, they were going to cast his Claptrap forever. It’s Jack, but I think like his age, I feel like Claptrap would be, it would have been his better cast. Well see, I'm excited that they have such a big talent, like Kevin Hart on it, in anything, hopefully there's not a good history of having successful crossover movies from games to movies. So hopefully Borderlands will be the exception to that rule.

[00:26:46] Rob Mann: [00:26:46] I think we sound like men, my wife and I, Mandy found Doom. With the Rock. Was that what he was in like, I've never seen it. It was, Oh, no, it wasn't, was it, it was Doom or something. It was a first person shooter, like an old school computer game. And it was cheap. No, but the Rock, I think the Rock was in this game and he ended up being the bad guy at the end. Sorry, check it out. But it was special. It was pretty special.

[00:27:13] Christopher Mann: [00:27:13] Yeah. That's probably playing nowadays,

[00:27:14] Rob Mann: [00:27:14] Rob. I'm still playing Overwatch and I'm playing Borderlands 3 when I can.

[00:27:24] Christopher Mann: [00:27:24] Yeah. I've been super frustrated by the way, just because the missions take so long and I think, yes, there was, you have to play with me because I'm just running through it right now. Anyway, well, what else do you wanna chat about, Robert?

[00:27:32] Rob Mann: [00:27:32] No, that's it, man. I just, mom and dad. I appreciate it. Let's get another, probably New Jersey shoveling snow. Like you're going to be in about five minutes, so I appreciate it. Call us guys. You should definitely tune in to subscribe. Like where can people find you if they want to connect with you?

[00:27:49] Christopher Mann: [00:27:49] Send a smoke signal of a gaming controller, no matter where you are in the world and I will see it. And they will run to you with a mask on, no, you can find me on Twitter. It's @ManimalNJ. You could probably link it to Robyn and some sort of description on this. In LinkedIn go to Rob's profile search for man, which he went with UNC on something that I do the two ends and you can appreciate it.

[00:28:13] Rob Mann: [00:28:13] [00:28:17] I will link you.

[00:28:18] Christopher Mann: [00:28:18] Look at he's kicking me off, seeing my brothers kicking me off his own pocket.

[00:28:22] Rob Mann: [00:28:22] I am. Cause , we'll talk forever about nothing anyway, much appreciated guys. Thank you for tuning in and thank you, Chris. Let's go, Devils.

Ken Patel – CEO at EV Hotel Group

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Ken Patel has been in the Hospitality Business for over 20 years. Previously held senior level positions nationally, and built reputation on leading each market worked in, by building REVPAR Index growth year-over-year and GOP. As he has learned from my experiences in Dubai where he obtained my MBA in hospitality that operations and service are undervalued and can be overachieved. His experience encompasses all Brand-Types of hotels.

Ken has held Executive Positions from 2011 to 2018 before my relocation to Georgia from the NYC area and also has been voted under 40 to exceed expectations and made the cover of a travel magazine on a piece for resorts. The hospitality industry is all about giving and that is what Ken wants to demonstrate. Ken graduated high school in 1999 and have been in Hospitality ever since.

Episode transcription:

Thank you for listening to Ivy Podcast, where we feature weekly leadership conversations with thought leaders and industry experts. Now, here is your host Priscilla Torres.

[00:00:27] Priscilla Torres: [00:00:27] Welcome to Ivy Podcast. My name is Priscilla Torres, and today we will be sitting down with Ken Patel who will be talking about his experiences with his personal resiliency, through his leadership and all of the changes that have transpired in 2020 within the hospitality industry. Ken, welcome to Ivy Podcast. How are you?

[00:00:48] Ken Patel: [00:00:48] Thank you. Thanks for having me on.

[00:00:51] Priscilla Torres: [00:00:51] Absolutely. It's a pleasure. So, Ken, can you go ahead and start us off with an introduction on yourself?

[00:00:58] Ken Patel: [00:00:58] Of course, of course. So, Ken Patel has been in the hospitality industry for about 23 years now. I pursued my MBA in hospitality from Emirates academy and I've worked in big markets, such as New York City. I'm originally from New York City, and was there for about 32 years. Now I reside down here in Elena currently the CEO of Evie Hotels group. We're based out of in a bucket area of Atlanta, and we're looking for a successful 2021.

[00:01:39] Priscilla Torres: [00:01:39] I love it. And certainly the hospitality business has unfortunately been greatly affected in 2020 due to COVID-19. What can you say in your experience has been the most impactful lesson that you learned in 2020?

[00:01:56] Ken Patel: [00:01:56] Resilience. I believe that we can be put down below ground. And the only way to look up is to dig ourselves out of it. And I feel that we are all going to take it out of it. We are going to get back to normalcy. It might not be as impactful as it was pre-COVID, but we were able to learn a lot. We were able to find out with our inner selves what we're capable of. And the capabilities that we'll be able to do moving forward are going to be a lot more than we knew pre-COVID. So, as we find out what is going to happen here in 2021, it's a big question. But now we understand that we are not only capable of doing one thing. We can do two different things. So it's going to be a big change. And 2020 brought us and kind of gave us a wake-up call. And that's kind of how I look at it is we were able to now know that there were certain things that we were doing more right now. Let's make it right. And moving forward, we can create a better atmosphere.

[00:03:27] Priscilla Torres: [00:03:27] I think that's such a great response because obviously looking at the operations of hospitality and that industry, we've had to pivot and look at different ways that we can serve our customers and different ways that we can make our customers feel safe and welcomed back into the hotels. In your experience, how do you feel that this has been a pivoting moment for the hospitality industry and helping folks get back to traveling and feel more comfortable with going, staying at hotels?

[00:04:02] Ken Patel: [00:04:02] Yeah. That's a great question. So it's almost like this, right? We can't force people to stay at hotels. We can't force people to travel. Companies need to have revenues. So the corporate travel sector is vastly impacted where now it has kind of gone away from the physical travel aspect. And when two more virtual meetings went to a different kind of sector where people don't need to leave their house to have a meeting anymore, people can have Zoom, Teams and other platforms. So it's very different from how we actually conduct business. Airbnb, for example, has worked through tremendous avenues and levels during COVID and that has been impacted by the way we've done housekeeping. So the way we actually do housekeeping during COVID has the consumer thinking that it's better for them to stay at an Airbnb. But now that we get back to the levels of housekeeping, we get back to the levels of breakfast, where we're emphasis is a lot on regional travel, regional business. So we'll get back to certain levels, but they won't be to the levels of pre-COVID, but I feel that operationally we can't operate the way we did before COVID. We have to operate as to how we were operating during COVID and I don't mean run with the lean staff, but be operationally smart. be analytically smart, and one of the things that we do with EDV Hotel group is we have our platforms where we're actually AI-driven where autonomous operations. So we provide hotels to be operationally smart, where we're going to teach you to live a better human life. And, I think that's kind of the gear we need to shift towards is we want to have retainability right. We want to make sure staff and employees and consumers always look at, are they able, when it comes to employees, they want to make sure they're at the same position or they're at the same company. Consumers want to see the same staff. They want to see the guests want to come in every week or once a month, and they want to see Jennifer or Allen at the hotel. So I think we need to pull out more emphasis on that because the turnover rates in hospitality for the last eight, nine years have just been skyrocketing because we don't have certain things in there that impact those levels. And I feel that it was like that during COVID too. That's why a lot of the hotels barely had any staff. They couldn't find staff members. So, we were able to learn through how certain people had to do two to three different positions during COVID. And I believe they are going to keep struggling with that. And how do you solve that? It's to create an analytic way it's to create less labor and less operating costs. Everybody came down to a science that operates with less cost or in COVID, but that's not the way operations should be. That's absolutely not the way. And that's what we do with the hotel group is we integrate software into operations. So when we have full autonomous operations, when it comes to revenue management and back-office operations, and that's something that's going to drive for us. And I think that is the way we're going into this industry. If you look at the hospitality industry as a whole. We are so behind with technology, and not to name a brand out there, but one of the biggest brands out there is still operating with the DOS-based PMs system. But that's just, we're behind, we're behind. As two cars are almost going to self-drive themselves. And here we're still stuffed in the way we operate like we did in 1980? So I think that is a driving force right now in COVID taught us that because nobody before COVID wanted to make any changes, because they were like, Oh, we're making tons of things we're doing really well. Why are you asking me to make a change? Why are we going to go do this? Why aren't we going to go do that? But now we're at that point. Yes. We're not making all that tons of revenue that we were, and we're not retaining staff and we're not training staff. So, we're back to square one, but that square one has to involve technology. And without technology it's like nobody has a laptop and an iPad and a PC laying around everywhere. But their technology is on their phone. It's AI's and your phone AI's when you go and do a Google search. So AI needs to be in hospitality. We need to learn our guests. We need to learn what they're about. We need to learn every single guest that comes in what the impactfulness of that guest is. What do the guests want? So all of those things are going to be a big play in 2021, especially with us. And that's why we're a different management company. We are driving this right now and we're driving it to all different levels. And I think that's what initially that's what it comes down to is how do we change operations in this industry? You can't change the way people operate, but you can make it more efficient. And that's what our goal is.

[00:10:57] Priscilla Torres: [00:10:57] That's a fantastic goal. And I didn't even think about the importance of AI and how that could really drive the future of hospitality. And I love that's what you and your organization are going to be focused on in 2021 and really leveraging that data to make the experience, the consumer experience more satisfactory, but you're also using that data to help drive what future changes need to happen that maybe have not been discovered yet.

[00:11:29] Ken Patel: [00:11:29] Right. And we've done a lot of research. There's a lot of research that has been done, and it's not only research we've done in the United States. We've done research in Singapore. We've done research in Germany, Switzerland, Berlin, Russia, Thailand. I mean, you name it everywhere. India, all this research has come from how AI has to be focused and providing technology-based solutions, and just to throw an example out there when we do revenue management and hospitality. We have an RM service that is provided by the brand to have your directors, sales, all these people are involved in one sector, but there's a way to solve that. There was a way to do it. We have our own RM software and that's what I mean by ORM is revenue management. Our revenue management software has a virtual assistant. It has. It shows you a pickup window by the hour. So it tells you what your busiest hour of the day is now taking that busiest hour of the day. Now you can actually maximize your rate. So now you're making it a higher profitability. So, this all is focused around AI. I mean, and that's only one sector. We have another sector where software provides ownership or whoever owns the entity of that hotel is known. Physically has to go there at any given time. That's not a GM, obviously the GM has to be there. But we can get a 50-page rapport with physically somebody who would be there. It would be like somebody is actually there to see all that. So we would physically have that rapport would pictures and all sorts of data. So that's yeah. How we're minimizing costs and maximizing profit. And also at the same time, making sure every department is ready. If they have a quality assurance audit, and also making sure that it's going to make everyone's life easier. So GE is not going to be scanning invoices and spending their time. So the focus, the primary focus with AI is to make sure our guest interaction is better. Sure. Well, we forgot how to interact with our guests, we forgot how to give that level of service and you see that everywhere. It's not only in hotels, it's in the F and B of the food industry. It's when you go to Walmart, you go to Target, you go to Kohl's you go to Macy's it's all around us because we forgot that guest interaction. We've got that face to face and why that face to face because someone else's mine is okay. I got to finish this. I got to make sure I got to get my invoices to the corporate office. I got to do payroll. I got to do this. I got to go check a room to make sure it's clean for a guest. But we're doing all those things, but then we forget about the guests itself.

[00:15:08] Priscilla Torres: [00:15:08] That's a great point. And you mentioned something a little earlier about how the hospitality turnover rate was increasing and then COVID happened. And obviously, different organizations had to handle it. Uniquely right. Given their circumstance. So when we talk about the future and the future talent that is going to be onboarded and recruited and retained during these times, what do you feel? What are those like elements or characteristics that you feel are important for the hospitality organizations to foster, to keep talent, good talent and to recruit potential new talent as well?

[00:15:53] Ken Patel: [00:15:53] Yeah. So, this is your cup of tea being an HR executive. So, I feel like this way, it's great to retain talent. I mean, that is what you want to grow your company, but there is so much talent out there. There's this whole world of talent, right? And I always look at it as two. We always look for talent in the same sector. But there are other sectors where we have talents. Like it could be somebody that's at a drive-through window of a McDonald's, and that could be the greatest front desk agent ever. Or your server at iHub that reaches what we have. We need to focus on that reach instead of like, okay, let me just hire somebody that worked at a Holiday Inn express. Let me hire somebody to work that out of Hampton or a town place. Because they already know what they're doing. Not really just because they worked at a hotel. It doesn't mean they know what they're doing. I mean, if somebody told me that they want to hire a front desk agent because they have that experience with that PMs system. Rather than taking somebody that I probably met last night at a high hop or I felt like she was, Oh my God, she was phenomenal. She was just knocking it out of the park. As to every time I needed something, she was on it or she just had that smiling face on her, that personality. So I'm a big personality person. Like somebody can win me over with a personality rather than experience. If you have the personality, I feel like you can do the position and then the training will come, rather than bring somebody on that you can train for a few days with the experience, I'd rather train somebody with the personality for a week and know I'm getting a home run hitter, and that is where our focuses are that we don't want to only focus on the hospitality sector. When it comes to the HR portion, we want to focus on different traits and we want people that we can put together to bring them all as one, and that, or they can bring different levels of expertise and where they can do, whether they were working in it, whether they were working at a sales position somewhere, but all of this has an involvement with hospitality. Hospitality is an industry where you're not seeing the same guest and you're not seeing the same person all the time. And a person working a 3d 11 front desk. Their only interaction is a guest interaction, their interaction isn't with an employee. There are no other employees working at the hotel during those five and forget the 11 to 7. They don't even see anybody. So do you find a person and that has worked in a hotel that normally works at seven to three and tell them you're going to put them 11 to 7 or they say I can only work 11 to 7. Now, is that going to be an effective employee? That employee is not going to be effective compared to somebody that might work at a diner 11 to 7 or overnight. So now they know how to deal with working a graveyard shift. And that's kinda how I feel about that, and where we would need to be and how we operate on the HR levels because HR portions are very different now than they were 10 years ago. We have options for a lot more onboarding. We forget how to onboard an employee. Now there's. I mean endlessly. I know that. And our HR department, I feel sometimes, doesn't provide the proper guidance that the hotels need to do. Let's just say creating a non-boarding and I feel the onboarding word is so put in the wrong way, because I feel people when they see onboarding, they think new hire and they don't think onboarding as training. They're like, Oh yeah, let's get them into ADP Paychex. Where are their IDs. Get them in there, get them on board. Yeah, there you go. Start, this is your first day checking in your first guests, and I don't think that's proper onboarding. I'm a big onboarding person where one of the things we are going to do is we are going to have onboard the physical way of onboarding an employee. And that comes from videos. A lot of data, as to what their position is going to entail how they're going to be able to do their position, what are going to be some things that they're able to do and not do? What are they comfortable with? I mean, these are a lot of the questions we don't ask the employees. We kind of just look for somebody and kind of throw them into the fire and that doesn't make a successful transition? So I feel that we can't get there with these employees and why we have these high turnover rates and why employees are shifting from one hotel to the next hotel is just because now they're looking at a pay rate. They're not looking at how well they feel and have that comfort level. It was why would somebody want to switch for 25 cents? Sure, there are reasons why they want to do it. Obviously pay has a lot to do with it too, but they don't feel comfortable. They feel like, Oh yeah, I'm not going anywhere here. I feel like I'm doing a lot for $9 an hour or $10 an hour. Yes. Sometimes they are because we're giving them a lot in a short timeframe, you know? So, I mean, that's where I feel like we can succeed at a different level. And COVID definitely didn't help that portion because we were giving them tents science more than we were before the COVID.

[00:22:54] Priscilla Torres: [00:22:54] Well said, I mean, it's important at least to have those elements on the forefront to continue to recruit and grow your organization. I love that you create an emphasis on onboarding and that experience is truly key to retaining good talent and being able to provide them with these different facets and different areas of experience, knowledge, exposure, relationships, across your organization, that'll help them feel safer, more secure, more confident in the work that they're doing. And ultimately that will translate into that. customer satisfaction that they're going to be able to provide to your consumers. So I'm so happy that you said that. And I think this year is certainly going to be an interesting year as we continue to navigate and pivot through all of these changes, but it sounds like you guys are on the right track. So I'm happy that you shared that with us. And as we close, I always like to end every episode with a positive and exciting question. So given that we started a new year, we're in 2021, what are you personally looking the most forward to this upcoming year?

[00:24:16] Ken Patel: [00:24:16] I would probably say I'm looking at multiple things, but yeah. I'm so excited with our project, with EBY Hospitality Group, with what we're doing and how we're going to be the new concept and the new concept of hotel management, and working our tech side of things into it and able to deliver on what we've been preaching and our deliveries as to we are going to make everyone's life so easy. We're going to make it where the owners are happy. We're going to make it where the employees are happy, and not go working as an employee to the endless stress that they have by the time they get home. And the owner's saying that why is my GOP below 40%? I mean, these are guarantees that we have placed in our model, that we're able to deliver this because of what we have and what we will have. If some of the things are like, I mean, for example, with Hilton, they had a project called Connie, that they did back in 2016 with IBM. We are going to have some similarities to that project and there are things that we are going to put emphasis on and up, but I think it's going to take time for us to deliver on this. It's going to take time for hotels to preach it, but we do have numerous people around, people right now that are so interested in it. After we showed them what we're going to be capable of doing. And I'm looking for 2021. I mean, I know it's going to be the tech year. I mean, if you're familiar with the EBV cars, the electric vehicle cars, I mean, there's a guy right down there. I think he's creating it out of Florida. So the EBY concept is going to be huge, and it's not the reason we came up with the EDB hotel group, but we do have, and I got to say, we do have a prominent person as one of our investors that has their own EBY company and they're there, and we're still in conversation. But to the fact is we were drawing that kind of insurance. And I'm a big EBY person, and I love the EBV concept. I love that battery charging at 15 minutes. So I'm ready to see what those ed cars can do in 2021. I'm ready to see what we can do in our industry and hospitality and I'm just really excited about it. And we love to talk about it. I mean, our teams are out there talking about getting with people. We're just drawing a lot of interest. I mean, the level of interest I'm shocked by. I mean, just shocked by it. I mean, we've got in days, our VP of communication told me days that we landed on LinkedIn. We had about close to a hundred followers in hours. So, I mean, we're just getting international calls to know people want to know how we're doing the autonomous revenue management and operations that it's unheard of. Let's say that. So, that comes from the level of experience that we have with our chief revenue officer, where he was with Arbor, lodging and high gay, and our VP of communication or a VP of acquisitions, all of these people that are involved into the company. They've got those vast years of operation. And that's what makes me excited to know that I have a great team and to look forward as I don't want to say, I want to forget about 2020, but I'll always have 2020 in the rearview mirror, right. As to okay. We need to make sure we're so focused on how the hardship that people live through, they don't ever have to live through it again. And how do we, and it's always like that, right? When we look at tragedies, how do we fix that tragedy? That it never happens again. It's not saying it won't happen again. But if it does happen again, are we good to operate? And are we good to make sure that we'll still be able to operate efficiently? And that's kind of what set us up, that set us up to know what we need to make sure if, if it's going to operate and we lose, let's say, we lose market share. We lose guests, we lose 20, 30, 40% of our guests. And we can't afford to have employees. How else can we operate? And that's kind of what set us up and I love the idea it's taken me months. And I would say I've been on this idea since 2018. But we have a lot of backing. I mean, we have tons and tons of backing. We are down the road, we are going to be creating multiple platforms of software. That's going to be able to do a lot of different things. Currently we have one software edge. We have two, so we're working on a few more, but people are getting these great incentives when they sign up with us right now, nobody's going to get ever again, they're not going to get that. Because already my VP of acquisitions, like, what, wait, we need to stop these incentives. I'm like, no, we'll keep it rolling. Keep it going. So, yeah, but that's what we were looking for or two and we're all excited and I'm really happy. Five days into 2021, I'm like, this is going to be the year of tech and this is going to be the year that we can say these countries come back from the grave tragedy, right. Came back well, where we were so resilient that we are going to come back. We're going to show people that it might not take a year. It might only take six months, maybe three months, who knows, but we'll be stronger than ever.

[00:31:31] Priscilla Torres: [00:31:31] Most definitely most definitely we'll be stronger together and certainly a lot to look forward to in 2021. So I want to thank you again for just being so open and honest and sharing all the wonderful things that you and your organization are working on. Lots of books. Or two in 2021. And for our listeners, if you are interested in looking or listening to any of our additional episodes, you can look us up at www.ivypodcast.com. Thank you, Ken.

[00:32:08] Ken Patel: [00:32:08] Thanks. Thank you. Bye-bye.

We hope you've enjoyed this podcast. Please take a minute to rate, subscribe, and leave a review on your preferred podcast, listening platform. We really appreciate that effort. We'll catch you in the next episode.

Vincent Devoe – Director of Business Applications at Signature Consultants

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Vincent “Vinnie” Devoe serves as Senior Business Applications Manager at Signature Consultants. With 17+ years at Signature, Vinnie has supported the growth of the company in various capacities, serving as Senior Resource Manager and Manager of Development Programs before moving into his current role 5 years ago. Vinnie played an integral part in building out Signature’s award-winning training and development department. He currently manages the evolution of internal business technologies and solutions and has successfully deployed numerous technologies to improve efficiencies across Signature’s 28 offices including Bullhorn, Daxtra, Herefish, Cornerstone, Broadbean, and UpGlide.

Vinnie holds a B.S. in business administration with a concentration in management from Merrimack College.

Leadership & Decision-Making Strategies During A Global Pandemic with Brian Garish

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

As president of the industry’s leading provider of preventive care, Brian’s top priority is creating a high-performing, inclusive culture for Banfield Pet Hospital’s 19,000+ associates at 1,000+ hospitals across the country. Since Brian became president in 2017, Banfield has achieved the lowest turnover in its history while simultaneously averaging double-digit year-over-year growth. Over Brian’s time with Banfield, the multi-billion organization has grown by over 50 percent. He believes that pets, people and society are all connected and is passionate about ensuring Banfield is making a positive impact on the world.

Topics:

Leadership traits that make for a strong leader in moments of crisis
Accelerating innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic
Effective communication strategies for senior leadership in a remote workforce environment

Ashish Nangla – CTO at OpenBots

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Ashish Nangla, the CTO of OpenBots, comes from an extensive IT and automation background and is a renowned subject matter expert in User Experience, AI, ML, RPA, and similar topics. Nangla believes that the RPA market was a natural fit for an open source model since, unlike other enterprise software, most commercial RPA software requires extensive implementation, maintenance, and support services on top of license costs. “OpenBots is our attempt to fulfill a promise,” said Nangla. “We want everyone to be able to create enterprise-grade simple to complex automations, very quickly, with little effort, and at very little cost. Our slogan ‘Open Source Automation for All’ explains our initiative very clearly. We want the democratization of automation and the widespread availability of the tools.”

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Ashish Nangla: [00:00:00] Now that we are willing to our cycles of sales and implementations. I am surprised that most of our clients are actually large companies, that they have billion dollar corporations with all their tools. And then I asked myself after these zoom calls about you're a billion dollar company, why are you talking to me? And then it looks like they also struggled with the same. The way calculations, when they open up the Excel sheet and they put in the license fee, the number of rules that qualify or come in agreements are very, very few. And they themselves are also looking at open source.

[00:00:45] Thank you for listening to Ivy podcast, where we feature weekly leadership conversations. With thought leaders and industry experts. Now here's your host Courtney Domingas

[00:01:06] [00:01:00] Cortney Dominguez: [00:01:06] Ashish. Welcome to the Ivy Podcast. Thank you so much for having this conversation with me today.

[00:01:11] Ashish Nangla: [00:01:11] Thank you so much for having me over.

[00:01:13] Cortney Dominguez: [00:01:13] Can you please tell everybody a little bit about your background and also about Open Boxing?

[00:01:17] Ashish Nangla: [00:01:17] Sure I am sheesh and I left. I am the CTO and co-founder for open boxing. Open Box is essentially an RPO open source RPA tool. It's now available in the market. We have launched in about November, early November. Myself, I've been in ID services, Nike consulting for a long, long time, about 45 years now. Did gigs for large insurance companies, financial services, banks, high level architecture in terms of creating solutions as well as did a lot of in the later years I started doing a lot of emerging tech, especially around EIS, RPA, IoT a whole bunch of new technologies that started breaking ground and look very promising. They're kind of starting to become mainstream now. RPA was definitely one of them. RPA was the early contender and looked like it had better ROI for most of the other results and more definite business cases and use cases for us when we started implementing RPA and earlier we did have to explain what RPA was and things, but at the end, RPA took off very well. It was understood by the business community better. And they started appreciating what RPA can do. And I thought this could become a business by itself and not just part of some services that, an independent thing altogether.

[00:02:53] Cortney Dominguez: [00:02:53] So you and I are passionate about RPA, and we deal with it every day. According to Gartner Global RPA revenue is projected to reach $1.8,-1,9 million this year in 2021. And that's an increase of almost 20% over 2020. And the growth rate is expected to continue by double digits into 2024, despite this, and despite you and I living and breathing this every day, there are still companies out there that are exploring this technology and haven't really leveraged it yet. So maybe can you describe RPA and also some of the benefits it can bring to an organization.

[00:03:32] Ashish Nangla: [00:03:32] Absolutely. I mean, RPA, when we describe RPA or another, when we started this business, how I described this to my RP, to my wife was RPA, is what, I think my wife wants it to be, it has to be simple. It has to be fast to implement. You cannot be coding the same thing again and again, and it is a few days ago or like, when we started open and slightly, a few days before that she saw me coding and said, you are doing the same thing that you were doing 20 years ago. These brackets are, these semi-colons look the same. And I actually agreed with her that technology has not improved substantially to make things better. And RPA is exactly that, right? RPA is the answer to that. People may look at it from different views. They can, they think of it as tactical. Somebody can think of it as a strategy, but that is essentially what we set out to be what I call as the unfulfilled promise of it. We were supposed to do things really fast and turn it out, applications and make business better. And RPA is going to do that. RPA is making that change by making sure that all the human effort goes into operating a business can get automated, right? Can be so anything that needs to be moved around on applications, data being entered, data being extracted. So these are not only the data work, I want you to say that some time ago that it's just repetitive work, but that's not true anymore. So in business processes, trying to get more automated and involve hans in the loop when only a decision needs to be made or an important information needs to be conveyed, something needs to be reviewed, make sure you have not missed out, put the decimal in the wrong place, in a check amount and those kinds of things. So that's where they come in. RPA earlier was started as a fringe thing out and through elements of an organization tried to right overcomplicated macros but that's not true anymore. There is a good venture of its tools that have come up and everybody has started embracing that now. So we see RPA adoption, there is hardly any CFO anymore who does not know what RPA is, there might be CIO that don't know what it is, but I'm definitely sure CFOs know what that is. And it's essentially making sure they are able to do that because it's being talked about and how they're able to improve costs and operating costs and make making that mainstream.

[00:06:15] Cortney Dominguez: [00:06:15] Yeah. And that's an excellent point. I think a very typical place to start an RPA project is within the finance organization, finance and accounting, because so much of what they do is like you said, repetitive, but also very manual. It's very labor intensive and very manual and gone are the days of those six months, two year long implementations, RPA is so much faster to implement.

[00:06:42] Ashish Nangla: [00:06:42] That's right. That's right. I mean, those times then I remember I have implemented an RPA one single process in nine months. I mean that, it was that crazy, like getting the part where you're located explaining 500 people, what you're doing and stuff now it's become. People have, are now a van, what it is they have would be the basic understanding of the infrastructure, people are booming processes at a much higher rate. So that's actually a good thing. And I think that's exactly why we thought it was the right time to bring in something like open box.

[00:07:18] Cortney Dominguez: [00:07:18] Yeah. So let's talk about that. So Gartner peer insights lists 20 plus RPA software vendors right on the market. We're seeing a trend by enterprise software companies, incorporating intelligent automation of the products. Microsoft is getting big into this space now. So why did you decide this was the right time to go to market with open bots and what really differentiates your software from others that are already on the market?

[00:07:41] Ashish Nangla: [00:07:41] So, when we started with Open Box, we talked about not being able to implement these services really easily. And this was a good business model that we go without implementing RPA for large companies that, by the hundreds, at least that's sort of, we eat it dream tough. And once we were early, we were doing only high ROI processes, so it looked like this will never end and this can go on and we'll keep making money and this company will become huge just by doing that. But the first thing we saw that there is a clear lack of understanding of how the ROI works, right. If you see all the projects that we do, they are still the top a small percentage of what processes can be automated. Everybody struggles with getting the right ROI and, even though the commercial tools have done an amazing job in marketing and creating the awareness. If I’m into a large organization now, there is already a head of automation or head of RPA, there's already two people who know how one of the tools, any one of the tools work and things. So they have done that as a good thing. But on the other side, the real disservices, the licensing models, the minute we put in the license numbers of a whole bunch of use cases, suddenly don't qualify or do not show up on the radar and without how do we fix this? And especially being at that time, a startup, we did not know how to make money off that, right? So we saw open source options and there were some options that we thought were very good. Some options that were horrible. Some of them were just abandoned. We looked at all of them and realized there is not even a single good contender at that point of time that could actually take up the call, some of the commercial stuff or the features. So either they did not have the features or they did not have the right support models and those kinds of things. And we decided, we looked at that and said, we will start using Python and it was not going anywhere either, right? Like you did not, we couldn't orchestrate, we couldn't do unattended stuff very well, we could schedule it somehow and stuff, but those were not real solutions. If you, anybody who worked with the commercial RPA tools could come in and call it bullshit. Right? This is not how, if not, how RBS should be. It was the opposite of programming. And now we've gone back to programming. So we thought we should write something ourselves. We looked at the open source market or models altogether. And we found it very interesting. And with the advent of cloud and other things that have come up AI and cloud and other things and be taught. Why not have a nice open source application which can do all the RPA stuff, what people really want. We would not have to interfere with the day-to-day Ottawa of people and when people want to move to the cloud or when people want to do AI, when they want to do document understanding and document processing, that's when they could come to us and we can make money out of that. We could definitely make money out of hosting services, like the WordPress model, the application is free, but when you're more hosted, that's when you start paying or similar to MongoDB and other things. So we decided we were going to be the red hat of RPA. That's that's essentially the thought behind it. That's the strategy that looks well. We got funded for it, we are absolutely, our investors are very excited in terms of where this is actually headed. And it started with smaller tools and smaller use cases. And we were always thinking that we would go with small and medium enterprises. They are the ones who can't make sense, but actually now that we are willing to our cycles of sales and implementations, I am surprised that most of our clients are actually large companies, that they have billion dollar corporations with all their tools. And then I asked myself after these, because you're a billion dollar company. Why are you talking to me? And then it looks like they also struggled with the same, do calculations like this, when they open up the Excel sheet and they put in the license fee the number of rules that can qualify or come in green is very few. And they themselves are also looking at open source. So, we now think that we have hit the right cord, with the market where there is a need for an option where they can actually improve the number of use cases they can bring to that, to the business. They can improve technology drastically without compromising on capability.

[00:13:03] Cortney Dominguez: [00:13:03] So it sounds like one of the main benefits between an open source technology versus a commercial RPA tool is. But certainly ROI, right? I mean, you have more use cases that fit in because of the lower cost. And because you don't have some of the same licensing costs. Like you do a commercial RPA tool, but what about the support of it? I mean, is the support of it also easier because it is an open source product.

[00:13:30] Ashish Nangla: [00:13:30] It is easier. I've been, we can drop rough patches and we can do BRS and modular requests, more often than what some of our commercial partners could do or commercial commutators could do. We definitely think that the support model is now so much better because it's not only the RPA people who are now being able to communicate with each other and talk about it. We have people who are building commands for us just out of date needs that are now in the conversation. We now have people who want to build features like somebody didn't like one of the features we had in the recorder. So they kind of went ahead and changed it and then later had a call and now we have that feature in the tool itself. So a lot of this is coming out of the true open source and assessment. So it's way beyond, yes, we are lower in numbers right now in number of people who have adopted and number of people who use it. But the sheer variety of people is going to be much higher. So if we get the same time to mature, like some of the other tools. The number of people who understand our to in and out would be way higher. Supportability makes it easier because Hey, if, if you don't know why something is not working, you don't have to wait until a support ticket is opened and somebody answers it. And those kinds of things, you can just go to GitHub and look at how we developed it and say, Ah, this is how it works and you could change it right. On the other side, we did the thing that not having commercial support or the proper professional support would be an impediment for a lot of organizations to implement this. Especially if you're small, you don't know how to install servers, you don't know how to install some of these things. So we did come up with a plan. We tried to make sure that it is as low as possible. So we have a standard plan and a priority plan. Not for priority for somebody who wants to use this for mission critical things and immediate, we have response times at highest valleys and standard would be for people who want to make sure that this stuff doesn't feel like I downloaded it off the internet. Would it work? Those kinds of questions. So, that's why we did land up creating a support plan.

[00:15:47] Cortney Dominguez: [00:15:47] Sure. And I think that makes a lot of sense. I mean, there are companies that are gonna have the people that are able to do it in house. And then there's the other companies that like some of your target market, like you were saying is smaller in nature. So maybe they don't have that support team that they can do it in house. So then they're able to go back to your team to be able to provide that encompassing technology and support.

[00:16:09] Ashish Nangla: [00:16:09] Same with large companies. Like we thought this was only for small companies and things, but that kind of changed very fast. When we are looking at large organizations and especially as a support plan is not based on the number of bots. So the calculation works out to be so much easier for them. They're not worried about how it's going to change in terms of how, when the scale, right? Like just yesterday I had a call with a prospect, a large financial services client and they, and the guy kept asking me. What's the catch? That is the open source model. And that is how these things operate. We don't want to make revenue off of each install and each individual process and part people installing part people use, we're looking at overall implementation. We want the market to grow and we would have a smaller chunk of business out of that. It's good enough for us. Like, it's either you have the whole cake or you have a much larger cake and have a larger piece of, I think our strategy is we want the industry to go. We want this, the adoption of RPA to increase and we are sure we will be able to have a bite, a piece of the cake for us as well.

[00:17:32] Cortney Dominguez: [00:17:32] So for that company, like the financial services company, or other companies that are looking to start their RPA programs or expand them, and they're evaluating various RPA tools. What kind of advice do you give them, what would you say to those that are potentially looking at your tool and others?

[00:17:51] Ashish Nangla: [00:17:51] I think, typically when we go through this evaluation, we have done this a few times now. We are glad that we were putting in the same Excel sheet as most of the commercial products now and given ratings. And that's how we see most of them comparing. And most of them evaluate the advice or the thought that I haven't when we do that, or we really hope that the evaluator looks beyond the marketing, right? So it looks beyond the B shiny objects. And even looking at these tools, it's also about. What you really need, right? How can you get your program off the ground? And how are you going to scale? These are questions that you need to really ask, if you're being provided with options to do a number of things, are you really going to use that? You have to ask that. Yes, it is nice to be future proof, but then you are forgetting the fact that it's going to cost you to get, go for, to do that. It's also harder to implement. It's also going to get difficult to manage and maintain, and it's not like RPA does not need maintenance and you have just put it on some machines and it's just running. You have to constantly manage it and monitor it. And be expats of 16, we did that. Like this is our daily life.

[00:19:27] Cortney Dominguez: [00:19:27] So exactly, I think, cause I think you're right. I think a lot of people think RPA is set and forget its technology. And it's not like that, like any software, it requires maintenance and care and feeding in order to continue to make sure everything's working. Like it's supposed to be.

[00:19:40] Ashish Nangla: [00:19:40] Exactly. And, yes, we people are able to start off with RPA programs by giving them top 10 business cases. But think beyond that a little bit, you have to see how it goes beyond that, how it's going to go,it's good to truly affect your organization and make that the business's case. I have seen the majority of the companies that take are only Ottawa based. Hey, if I put in $50,000 in automating this process and 50,000 in licenses, am I going to save $200,000, whatever. Right. So those are Excel sheets, but the true value of RPA will start coming in when people have more objectives or more business benefits out of RPA. I have seen insurance companies that are legacy insurance companies, but one to one or two use RPA to improve their business offering. So they started working with InsureTechs and the new fintechs, , and there were, there are businesses now possible that were not even possible before RPA. Yeah, right. So being able to process certain policies in insurance, certain contracts and financial services and other things were not even possible. If they were not automated with RPA, the way they were. Look at KPIs. So business capabilities need to be added on the other side, RPA tools. Businesses can offer RPA as part of their own integrations. Right? So if you were a large supply chain company, right, and you have customers and you have brokers and other people, you could offer them an RPA. Environment where they can automate and integrate with your systems. So it's not only that you're bringing in this value of automation for yourself and only doing your finances and Excel sheet automation, but you're actually being able to affect your business partners and overall improving what you're offering to your customers. So RP needs to now come into that as well.

[00:21:46] Ashish Nangla: [00:21:46] Yeah, I love that. That’s exactly. And it's not only used as an automation tool, but it's also a business collaboration tool.

[00:21:55] Cortney Dominguez: [00:21:55] Yeah. I think some of the most interesting use cases for RPA are where you're thinking outside your traditional spaces and you're beginning to leverage it and more creative ways. And even in some cases, Bots, a bot technology, it can be a customer vendor where you're interfacing back and forth. And you're really taking the manual human out of it at that point. And having bots about communication. I think there's a lot of interesting, interesting places where it can be leveraged.

[00:22:22] Ashish Nangla: [00:22:22] Absolutely. It's just that once you move ahead of these basic use cases, the top 20 use cases that you have, that's when you start seeing these things, and that's when it takes you to this whole pricing model per bot. A license model is so broken and there's no way out like the deals that I see all the commercial RPA tools that have been made within investors, evaluating them at billions of dollars. Even though I envied that, but also the fact that kind of has made them sign the deal with the devil because now they cannot get out of it. There, they cannot come back to you and say, Hey, we got to give you more cost input, a cost improvement out of what they have. We cannot give you a per transaction model. We can't give you a par bot, or a process model or something like that. It has to be the broken model that we have today for Bart. And so it is going to be the biggest bottleneck that not only individual organizations, but the overall industry is going to see. That's the glass ceiling of this industry, I would say.

[00:23:37] Cortney Dominguez: [00:23:37] And it sounds like you're here to disrupt

[00:23:37] Ashish Nangla: [00:23:37] It’s ready for that. And I think that that is what we think we will change. Right. I mean, that's where we will make our Mark. We don't want, again, going back to the, by the strategy, we want the big industry to grow and us being able to have a piece of that. So, that's where we are headed.

[00:23:57] Cortney Dominguez: [00:23:57] Yeah. So it sounds like that's where you see things headed from not only your perspective, but also RPA in general. And I think 2021, it sounds like it's going to be a big year for you. So, and open bots for sure. And source technology in general. So, any other trends, anything else you see kind of happening in the year ahead?

[00:24:19] Ashish Nangla: [00:24:19] I think two trends that we see other than the open source RPA trend are very evident. The open-source trend is happening. We are now seeing people interested in that people, kind of supporting that there are people who are now. Starting to explore that, see very seriously. So that's a good trend. So 2021, definitely we will see that open source has become mainstream people understand that we are a windows that is also this Linux thing that can be used. So we see that the open-source RPA equivalent coming in the other two trends is definitely about moving to cloud. I think people have resisted the cloud for a long, long time now. And I don't think they have a choice anymore. With how people were, it was a clear differentiator for people in these pandemic times. Right. You saw people who had clouds. Whatever to do. People who did not have the cloud would not be able to do things right. So that trend would continue. People don't have a choice anymore. If they need to evaluate, they need to look at how cloud and RPA can work together. And that's, again, one of the drawbacks we see, but with commercial tools, most of them are not cloud ready. They're not even close. Some of them are trying to work towards it, but most of them just cannot work in that environment. It's a high failure environment. It's a more distributed environment. Those are environments that most of these clients are to be solutions that do not work. So that's the second trend. The third one, I would say, really would be a little bit of more machine learning and AI coming into play, which includes, I would say, document processing. So document processing definitely in 2021 will become mainstream. People realize that there is way too much paperwork that they generally in businesses for everything, they landed up creating a document or a form that has, that is coming back to haunt them. And they will see document understanding and machine learning and AI as some of the solutions out, because now you are able to do transactions without you can throw in calculations in between business processes. And plug them in that you will see AI kind of improving the use of AI improving. I would not think that a lot of people will suddenly start making deep neural networks and throwing them in business processes, but good statistical machine learning models will start coming in and try to show what our RPA can bring in. So, if a loan comes in, they will definitely be scored and classified before actually a human skin can actually prove it. And underwrite, if an insurance policy comes in or a claim comes in, they'll definitely be a fraud score that an RPA would calculate to come up with a commit with an indicator for the adjusters to look at. So those are things that definitely are 2021 Prince. I will be surprised and quite disappointed if they do not turn out to be correct.

[00:27:43] Cortney Dominguez: [00:27:43] Well, I think what you said makes a lot of sense. I mean, we're certainly seeing a big shift to cloud technology, like you said, and more and more, more and more vendors are moving that way more customers are moving that way too. But like you said, the technology really needs to keep up. Right. And the software needs to keep up with moving to the cloud. So, and of course, my favorite thing about the past year has been the elimination of so much paper.

[00:28:15] Ashish Nangla: [00:28:15] And I think, like you said, I think people add travel.

[00:28:16] Cortney Dominguez: [00:28:16] That's true. Yes. That's true. True paper and travel. There's been a big reduction in both of those things this past year. So, I hope travel comes back. I'm less inclined to bring back paper. But I do think you're right. I think that people have realized how much paper they were using in two, how many forms and how many documents and all of these things that needed to be processed and processed quickly. We've really seen that, with health insurance and test results and reporting and all of that over the past year or so. I think you're right. I think we're only going to see that get even faster and more sophisticated over the course of the next year and beyond.

[00:29:00] [00:29:00] Ashish Nangla: [00:29:00] That's right. That's right. And we think you and I will see really good things happening to our peers this year.

[00:29:07] Cortney Dominguez: [00:29:07] I think so, too. So thank you. This has been a great conversation. Like I said, I know this is a passion of mine and a passion of yours and yeah. This has been a really fun conversation to have. And I think we're going to have to revisit it either later this year or next year, because big things are gonna happen over the course of next year and not just for our PA technology, but for open bots in yourself as well.

[00:29:29] Ashish Nangla: [00:29:29] See how my predictions come through and if they do I move into astrology or something,

[00:29:45] Cortney Dominguez: [00:29:45] I love it. Thank you so much for being on the Ivy podcast.

[00:29:47] Ashish Nangla: [00:29:47] Thank you so much for having me all the best.

[00:29:51] Cortney Dominguez: [00:29:51] Thank you.

We really hope you've enjoyed this episode. Please take a moment to rate, subscribe, and leave a review on your preferred podcast listening platform. We really appreciate that effort until next time.

Trends, Ideas and Innovations in Venture Capital with Jomayra Herrera

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Jomayra Herrera is a principal at Cowboy Ventures, a seed-stage focused venture firm where she focuses on investing in the future of work and edtech companies. Prior to Cowboy, she spent nearly 3 years as an investor at Emerson Collective. As an early hire on the investing team, she played an important role in building key investment theses, creating internal processes, and helping to grow the team. During her time there, she led the firm’s investments in companies like Handshake and Career Karma. Before Emerson Collective, she worked at BloomBoard, an early-stage education technology company, where she focused on customer success and sales.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:25] Jomayra Herrera: Hi, I am Jomayra Herrera. I am a Principal at Cowboy Ventures, and we are a seed stage focused fund based in the Bay area.

[00:00:33] Jahn Karsybaev: Jomayra, thanks so much for finding time joining us on the podcast this afternoon. You're joining us from Orlando, right?

[00:00:40] Jomayra Herrera: That's correct. Sunny Florida.

[00:00:42] Jahn Karsybaev: Awesome. Yeah, we'll be serious, South Florida. Tell us a little bit more about yourself, your background. And then I want to spend some time talking about where you currently wake you up.

[00:00:53] Jomayra Herrera: Yeah, of course. Well, I suppose my background actually starts here in Orlando, Florida. It's a little bit full circle. I was born and raised in Orlando. And as you can imagine, especially when I was born, there was no conversation around tech venture capital or startups where I was, but I was lucky enough. I was the first in my family to go to college and I was lucky enough to go to school in the West Coast, in the Bay area. And through that experience, as someone that was going to be first in her family to go to college, I was like, okay, I'm going to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer.
It has to be one of the three. I know nothing about science or math. And so I was like, lawyer. I also enjoy arguing, so it felt like a good fit, and so I did everything you're supposed to do to get prepared for and go to law school. I did the internships. I prepared for the LSAT and when the morning of the ALSAC came, I just realized that when I thought about where I was spending my time, it was never really thinking about being a lawyer or I didn't really have any passion around that career. When I thought about where I was spending my time, it was always in schools, working with kids, and primarily K-12 schools. And I promise I will get to the point of how I ended up becoming an investor, but I realized that what I cared deeply about was economic mobility and education.
[00:02:16] And so I ended up going to graduate school for education, and during that time period, I really focused on adult learning and really childhood learning and just fell in love with the idea and the mission of reducing inequities for people all across the board. And after graduate school, I started my career on the operating side, selling software to school districts. And anyone that has done that knows that it is very challenging. You learn a lot, you learn a lot about how to hustle, and you learn a lot about what not to do. but I really enjoyed that experience. And one of our angel investors happened to be Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell-Jobs, through her family office, Emerson Collective.
And so through that relationship, I just got to know the organization better. And then I ended up joining their first investing hire, I didn't know anything about venture capital other than having worked at a venture backed startup, but I learned a lot on the job. And we went from effectively, like a very, very small team of just a few people to about 20 investors.
[00:03:19] By the time that I left and we became a multi-asset family office, and just by nature of my background, I spent a lot of time investing in education and future work-related companies. And I know like the story's not rambling, but I'm almost done.

[00:03:34] Jahn Karsybaev: It's very interesting.

[00:03:35] Jomayra Herrera: Towards the end of my time there, I just realized that where I wanted to be spending a lot of time within investing was at the earliest stages, right?
Like when founders are just figuring things out, when things, when the DNA of the organization can still be molded. And so I joined Cowboy Ventures about a year and a half ago to do exactly just that. We focus on seed stage investing. We are generalists investors, but again, by nature of my background, I focus a lot around investing in education or learning related solutions and feature work related companies. And so that's a little bit of my background and how I got here. It's definitely non-conventional.

[00:04:16] Jahn Karsybaev: Right, right. Wow. What a story, what a great background. And thanks for sharing that with us. Very interesting. And my path was a little bit different getting into, I'm not part of, you know, venture capital or anything like this, but I do angel investing myself into startups, but my path was a little bit different where I almost fell into that by nature, being a founder of my own company, having failed several companies with one exit, it was also taking that experience and saying, how can I then help other founders maybe avoid the mistakes that I've made and learn from that experience. So that's pretty interesting.
And thanks for sharing that. As far as Cowboy Ventures and the kind of fund that you are part of now, you've mentioned you guys invest into that kind of future for the education learning sector. Tell us a little bit more about that mission. What type of problem are you guys looking to solve through these types of investors?

[00:05:11] Jomayra Herrera: Yeah, so I guess the first thing I will say is Cowboy Ventures as a firm is a generalist firm. So it invests in all sectors and categories, and we ended up messing in everything from infrastructure software to financial technology, to education technology, and everything in between. And so. Each of my teammates focuses on specific areas or a specialist in specific areas.
I just happen to focus quite a bit on education and future of work. And so I'll speak specifically to where I spend a lot of time, as what we've known for a long time. And it's especially true in the last year, is that the way we think about work for most people is going to dramatically change. I've always said that it's almost like the future of work is short-term over-hyped, but long-term under hyped. Like they're real tectonic shifts that are going to be happening across the board when it comes to how we think about work. And so, as a result of that, there's going to be a whole new set of infrastructure that needs to evolve to be able to support that evolution, and so one recent investment that we made and we announced just last week is in a company called Contra and they're building a LinkedIn for freelancers, or non-traditional or what they're describing as independent workers. And so for them, the way they're thinking about it is like there's over 50 million freelancers just in the United States.
And that number has spiked dramatically in the past 12 months. And those freelancers, like right now the way to find work for most of them, it's just through word of mouth. And if you don't already have a set of a network of people that you can rely on, it's really hard to find that access to work and have some level of stability when it comes to your income.
And so what Contra is trying to do is, Hey, here's a place where you can host your professional identity and also, host your network. Span your network and then find vetted opportunities that fit what you're looking for, and so they just launched last week, already have hundreds of thousands of people that have signed up just indicating the demand for it.
But that's an example of a type of company that is helping to support where I think the world is going when it comes to the future of work.

[00:07:19] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow. That's super exciting and definitely makes sense. I can resonate well, especially with the current market everyone's shifting remote. I've been reading a lot about the contingent workforce on the rise, you know, the gig workers that consultants that contractors, you know, I've been there myself and I think services like this definitely makes sense.
As far as that trend being on the uprise and making investments into platforms as such that we create those opportunities. For the contingent worker, to get an opportunity, to be exposed to new opportunities versus the traditional word of mouth. So to say, I think that's, that's very exciting. That's awesome. Well, that's congrats on that success.
So aside from that, what else excites Jomayra, what are you passionate about? What are the different trends that you are observing these days that you see will be kind of the next trend? So to say, what are you researching? I guess to the extent that you can share, what are you looking to invest in further?

[00:08:18] Jomayra Herrera: Yeah. So I think it's of no surprise that COVID was unprecedented. I mean, I don't think anyone expected to be in a global pandemic, and what has done, it's basically accelerated trends that were already happening, but has now shortened the timelines. Dramatically insignificantly. And so areas that we're looking for, areas that we're super excited about are ones that are probably going to be of no surprise to others.
But how do you think about improving access to healthcare and improving? Not just the quality, but also improving the affordability. And the access. How do you think about improving access to online learning in particular? What do you think about the new wave of e-commerce and how do you think about evolving supply chain as like the rise in e-commerce is happening?
[00:09:08] And so it's a lot of things that I would describe are. We're already happening, but just accelerate in this time period in terms of consumer behavior and consumer adoption. And so the things that I would say we're really excited about are all of the things that we were doing either in person or manually before or off like off platform, those things are probably going to go online in some way, shape or form. Not all of them. There are some things that quite frankly, it's better to be done offline, but a lot of the things that we were doing before we're going to go online and, and so there is still a huge need to create that infrastructure for those things. The other thing I will say is we're also pretty excited about some of the changes that are happening in, in mostly regulated markets.
So like financial services, healthcare and education, like highly regulated markets. Most people have been scared about them in the past, but now it's finally to the point of there is a degree of consumer willingness and consumer adoption and increased budget, to help digitize and move towards software in those areas.
And so that's opening up a ton of opportunity, and we're seeing that across the board, even within our portfolio companies and other companies that we're seeing arise. And so, I think these are areas that a lot of people are really excited about and ones that we're definitely spending time on.

[00:10:31] Jahn Karsybaev: Well, that's very exciting. And, you know, with the trends that you had mentioned, especially in this highly regulated markets, we see a lot of translations, you know, with Bitcoin Navarro said it's an exit from the, you know, the financial industry. And one of the things that I've been going on in terms of the education, the healthcare sectors, absolutely so much opportunity out there, especially with everything shifting to that.
Virtual works work environment. I think it just opens up a lot more opportunities from that standpoint. So definitely thank you for sharing some of the insights that you were exploring further. I want to shift topics a little bit, go to more of a kind of putting yourself in the shoes of the startup founder.
[00:11:13] And I advise a lot of startups from the technical standpoint in terms of technology stack, whether it's choosing the right methodology, infrastructure, all of that great stuff. Right. A lot of questions were a lot of things that we ended up talking about overall that initial traction for the startup.
And for those founders and startups, that really lack that initial traction. So to say, because we all know it's, you know, it's very difficult. It's very hard to find that product market fit that really, really is intended to work the way it should. So for those that really lack that initial hyper-growth or initial traction.
[00:11:55] From the startups that you talked to, I'm sure, on a daily basis, share with you any recommendations that you provide in a sense to be able to, whether to focus on that growth initially, or really do go the fundraising routes. And how do you overcome that barrier? That I hear on a daily basis from entrepreneurs that say, you know, I'm limited in resources to be able to attract certain customers, but also that becomes a red flag for the industries, so just kind of that balancing act is curious to get your thoughts on that.

[00:12:30] Jomayra Herrera: My initial reaction is that there are two reasons for why you might lack traction. And it's important to distinguish between the two, there's the one camp where it's like, we have a vision we're really excited to build this up, but we need the resources to do it and also to attract the right set of customers. In that case, you just need to find the right investor that is investing super early to help give you that initial jumpstart. So that might be a seed investor. It might be a few angel investors. That means these are strategic for you. It might be a seed investor. So for example, at Cowboy, the last few investments that we've made have been in companies that only have our wireframes, and maybe they have some degree of customer discovery. The founders really understand the problem, but the traction is still really early. They might have built a list, but it's super early, but that's our job as early stage investors is to take that risk.
[00:13:26] And so for that camp, it's just about finding the right investors that are used to making early stage bets, then there's the other camp we've been building. We've been trying, but there isn't market demand for what we're building. In which case you have to take a step back and rethink what you're offering, what you're building and making sure you're building something that the market really wants because no amount of capital is going to change market demand, right?
Like if you have $10 million in capital, but you're building something that people don't want, like no amount of cash is going to change that. And so in that camp, what I would say is like, don't raise capital, go back to the drawing board and figure out how can we continue to iterate and ask questions and build something that once you do get the cash.

[00:14:10] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah, very interesting. And that's a great analogy from kind of those two perspectives. And from the first kind of the first point that you made, where an example where you guys invest into companies that, you know, don't probably don't even have a product yet their frames and just some mock-ups and ideas. Tell us a little bit more about that process aside from all the research that you guys do internally for that market, for the product market fit as well.
What else kind of is one of the key ingredients that really make you guys think. Let's take that risk. Let's make that bets because, you know, as an early stage investor, you always in that kind of balancing act, whether you make that bet or not, bear with us a little bit more about that kind of, how do you increase your chances to kind of improve your batting average?

[00:15:00] Jomayra Herrera: Yeah, so there's a few things that we think about. One is obviously the founding team, right? Is this a team that has, what I describe is an earned secret about the market? So by nature of where they've worked or what they've done or what they've experienced, have they earned a secret about the market that gives them a competitive advantage.
And so part of it is just the founding team and their passion and their knowledge and skill set in that market. And so that gives us and inspires a set of confidence. The other piece is in terms of, even if it's just Mo mock-ups or wireframes or prototypes or whatever it might be like, have we shown this to potential customers?
What's their reactions, like, do we have a wait list? Right? Like, do we have pent up demand for this type of product? And like, do we have signals around that right now? The other thing that we do is we obviously talk to people that might be potential customers. So on the enterprise side, we'll talk to people that might be potential customers and say like, What do you think of this product? Would you use it? How much budget do you have to spend on it? Like what's the sales cycle, like, and that starts to give us some confidence on whether or not this is a bet we want, we want to make on the consumer side. It's a little bit more of a bet because consumers are traditionally finicky.
[00:16:08] You don't know what's going to take off but that's where we rely more on our market knowledge, our experience as consumers. And then also speaking obviously to potential consumers of that product and understanding whether or not there is going to meet demand. Those it's always tricky, right?
Because if like, If I think 10 years ago when Airbnb was rising, if I asked you, Hey, and this was before Airbnb, would you stay at a stranger's house and pay like $30 to like sleep in one of their rooms? You'd probably be like, no, that's really weird. Why would I do that? and similarly, like if I was a host, like, would you let a stranger, a random stranger staying in your house and just like, put your house on a platform.
They'd be like, no, that's crazy. But. You never know what consumers want and what they're craving for. And so obviously Airbnb now is a massive company, so there is always a degree of serendipity and just luck to all of this but we try to do brisket as much as possible, but really understanding the core user, the poor consumer, their needs, and the pent up demand for those products, really understanding like the founding team, what makes them tick and their passion for the product.
[00:17:24] And then also going through the exercise of like, let's go through the product roadmap, like, what are your instincts on how you're going to figure out like what you're going to build and why you're going to build, and then the value that it's going to produce. And then I think the last piece is like all investors will ask around is market size, right?
At the end of the day, a venture has to rely on billion plus dollar outcomes. And so are you operating in a market that can support a venture size outcome?

[00:17:52] Jahn Karsybaev: Right, right, right. No, absolutely. Yeah. That's very interesting. And kind of that approach and that thought process and that amount of prep work that goes into very unnoticed and very, you know, not widely recognized in terms of being able to do that research.
And like you said, I love the exercise of talking to potential customers and saying, Hey, we have this idea in front of us. Would you be willing to pay for something like that? And I think that also seems like a very simple, but often overlooked exercise that can help with a lot of that justification to make that calculated bet.
So to say that's very cool. Yeah, definitely. Thanks for sharing that a little bit further. and on the venture capital side, in terms of what are some of the most in demand skill sets that you guys are seeing these days to succeed in venture capital. What do you think those are? What makes a kind of a successful venture capitalist?
So to say, or maybe there's certain domain areas where you see kind of a gap internally in terms of that expertise, share any insights from that perspective?

[00:18:59] Jomayra Herrera: So what I will say is venture is the most competitive that it's ever been, for across the board across the capital stack. There are more dollars like funds that have so much dry powder and they're looking for great investment opportunities to put them in.
And then the other piece is like, outcomes for companies are larger than they were before. So it's just like, there's a ton, a ton of investors that are trying to go after often the same opportunities. And so it's more competitive than ever before. And so what I would say is, the skill sets that often are most in need, or I guess that really prepare you the best for winning in these situations are one ability to be quick. So speed, speed is a huge thing, for better or for worse and under kind of, if you, if you like to pull the layer on or pull the string on that, the things that help with speed is one having specialization in the market.
[00:19:57] So if you know this market really well and you meet a company and you're like, Oh, yeah, this is a no brainer. Like I don't even have to spend a ton of time diligencing it because I've been spending a ton of time in this space. I've talked to potential customers in this space. I can make a decision in the next few days and generate conviction in the next few days, you already have an upper hand over an investor that is new to the market and says like, Oh, well, I have to dig in, I don't know the market size.
I need to talk to customers, et cetera, like speed and just maintaining some level of ball control is hugely important for investors in this space. relatedly, like I said, some degree of specialization, we're seeing a lot of more specialized funds popping up, whether it's focused on FinTech, focus on ad tech, focus on healthcare.
And a lot of founders are like, Hey, I do want that very specific strategic advice. Because you understand, and probably have the better connections and networks that I need in this space to help me grow. So if I am a company operating in healthcare and you're a healthcare investor that has relationships with payer payers and providers, that's probably really enticing for me.
[00:20:58] And so you probably have a leg up, to win in that scenario, the last piece I would say is functional experience. So oftentimes founders like to take capital from investors that were former operators or former founders. I have found historically that has gone either way. We're obviously fantastic to go with an operator because they have been in your shoes.
They have empathy for you and can give you advice that is grounded in reality. The other side of that is. They might be focusing on a particular type of experience, like their experience and their startup might not be specifically to what you're building. And so I've seen it go both ways, but being an operator and having some functional expertise can be a big differentiator and winner in this market.
[00:21:46] And then I would say the last thing is, and this is so underrated, but just doing the damn job, like actually being helpful. There are so many investors out there that are like, were hugely valued. Add we, we help you on so many different things. And then they just ghost you once they break the check, and they don't provide any form of value or of support.
And I have found that to be so odd, because I'm like, I don't know what you're doing with your time, and so just. Already by like being actually being helpful and doing the damn job you're in the top 1% of VCs in my eyes, and so just, you know, hustling, hitting the ground, running, helping wherever you can, whether it be in new recruits, whether it be with customer introductions, whether it be with even simple things like, Hey, let me build your financial model because as a founder, like you're probably not a finance expert and that's okay.
But as an investor I can help you do that. So those are just a few things that I think are definitely some in-demand skills within venture.

[00:22:47] Jahn Karsybaev: Wow I love that. I love the categorization, then these four pillars. So to say, which makes it very easy to comprehend. And, you know, I couldn't agree more with you, especially on that very last point where I personally made that mistake when I was very young raising money for the startup.
And I would just like to take money from anybody who would give me. And in a sense, there was also a huge, you know, experience of a lesson learned that. Get it, you know, partner with somebody who can really help you beyond just the monetary support is oftentimes overlooked. And that's a lot of, kind of that very simple, but oftentimes overlooked advice for a lot of the startup founders. Don't just jump on everything that comes in front of you. Like, you know, at the very moment, be very strategic and be very selective who can actually help you beyond just that check that they write. So that's pretty exciting. The other part that you had mentioned in terms of helping startups grow and recruit the question that I have for you is for the startups that go through that initial phase, which could be very slow, very daunting, and a lot of work once they raise the capital, they’re almost getting on the rocket and you got to experience that, you know, the hockey stick almost, kind of trajectory and also investors expecting the hypergrowth as well, which involves a lot of hiring finding the right people surrounding yourself with that top talent, which a lot of times it's very difficult also for startups to attract because you're an unknown company and for very talented people to join, you require a certain skill set or some kind of a compelling package share with us.
Any strategies that you guys help, the startups that go through that hybrid roles to really staff and find the right people very effectively at the same time quickly.

[00:24:30] Jomayra Herrera: Yeah. So I'm a few thoughts on this one. This is where leveraging or in busters is actually really great. So one thing that we do is when our companies are looking to hire someone, call it a head of sales or head of engineering or whatever it might be, we help them put together a wishlist.
And then we often reach out on their behalf or like to reach out to specific people that are within our network that fit that criteria. And we help do a little bit of the selling. For them where we say like, this is [00:25:00] going to be a massive company, this is an incredible opportunity. And so we help them like source interviews and close their candidates.
And that's why I think finding a hands-on investor, particularly in these, like, hyper-growth like early stages is so important because they can actually be hands-on with on the recruiting side. The other piece that I have found to be successful is often founders. Have really great networks of other operators.
Right? And so you have to just tap into other operators and see who might be interested in, you know, who might be looking or whose friend a friend might be looking. And the wonderful thing about being a startup is yes, of course you're somewhat unknown, but the other piece is if we're wildly successful, this is a huge life changing amount of money for the person that gets a great, you know, amount of equity and can turn that into life changing money.
Right. And so there is a particular type of person that is attracted to that type of environment.I would say the other piece is, and it's been really interesting to see. We have quite a few companies that lead with some sense of mission or mission orientation. We aren't an impact fund, but we just happen to have quite a few companies that are either in.
At tag or HR tech or some sense of like, they have an impact component to what they do. And that has been really great for recruiting talent. Especially during the pandemic, people are spending a lot of time at home and they're like, man, life is short and I want to make sure I'm doing something meaningful.
And so they're looking for opportunities to join companies where they feel like the work that they're doing is going towards something that is impact oriented. The last thing I will say is we've also seen some of our best CEOs. They take the long, the long term kind of focus when it comes to recruiting too.
So of course there are immediate needs that you have, but then there are people that you come across in your path and you're like, That person is going to be my CTO. One day, that person is going to be my CMO one day. Like I know it. And so they maintain the relationship sometimes for like two years to be able to close that candidate. It's sometime period, but they know, and they have a good sense of like, this is an incredible person. I want them on my team at some point. Maybe not now because we're too small for them, but definitely at some point. So we've seen that being incredibly effective as well.

[00:27:21] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah, I love that. I love that example, especially for startups worried, probably have that anxiety to move fast, to move quick, but having that, almost that discipline to be able to control yourself and really make that long-term bet.
I think that's super cool. And those are unicorns. Those are, those are the guys and girls that can, you know, really in this for the long run. And I think for you as an investor yeah. That's probably one of the ingredients for why you invested in that particular individual or the company and the mission.
[00:27:49] So that's pretty cool. Wow. I love this so much content and you know, we can keep going for the next couple of hours, but to wrap up the conversation, a few questions. What are the sources of information and learning, for you? What do you consume on a daily basis? Who do you follow on Twitter? Or what type of blogs that you read, share with us? What's on your bookmarks list?

[00:28:13] Jomayra Herrera: I would say that the best sources of information are actually from people that are experts or operators in their own space. So yes, of course there are newsletters and there are some stocks that you can look at and that's fantastic, but the places where I feel like I'm able to go deep and get really meaningful information that has.
It changes the way. I think in a lot of ways I have changed, my point of view is talking to operators in spaces that I'm really excited about or experts in spaces I'm really excited about. So for example, I spent a lot of time in the ad tech or feature of workspace. And so talking to educators, talking to operators that are ed tech operators of future work operators, and just like hearing how they're thinking about things and hearing what they're seeing in the market.
That is invaluable because that's a point of view that as investors you can hear about, but you're not there on a day-to-day basis. And so that has been for me the most important way for me to learn and like what I consider as probably the highest signal source of information. In terms of like, you know, if we're talking about books or articles or newsletters, what I found is the newsletters that actually are more data-driven, and it's not just like, Hey me, a random person postulating on like what, what rise in the world is going. and I say that ironically, because I do that myself, but like Lenny Richardson, he, for example, has an awesome newsletter where it's super, data-driven. Like he talks to like, hold talk to like a hundred product managers and be like, what product managers do.
What's a great product manager versus a good product manager, or he'll talk to a bunch of like consumer investors. And like, he'll say like, and whole survey them and see what his rate consumer's subscription retention is at six months at 12 months, 24 months. And then he'll like, Actually provide that data, which is something that is hard for me as an individual to do, but he's doing that work.
[00:30:11] And so that's an example of a type of newsletter that I find really helpful and has a lot of signal to noise ratio. The last thing I will say, because, I will be very upset with myself and I don't make a plug for my colleague. My colleague, Amanda, does a podcast on open source strategies.
[00:30:31] And so again, it's like, more specific. She brings on and she interviews former or current operators or co-founders or founders in the open source space. And she creates an avenue and a venue for them to actually communicate what it took to build their startup, how they leveraged open source, and she does this with her friend, Tim, who, is a former, a former operator himself in the space.
And so, again, like, I don't know a lot about open source, but I'm happy to listen to anything that Amanda puts out there. And obviously I'm a little biased cause she's my colleague.

[00:31:05] Jahn Karsybaev: That's awesome. Yeah. And definitely we'll include the links in the episode notes. Jabari, is there a book that you always recommend to others? And if so, what is it and why do you recommend it?

[00:31:19] Jomayra Herrera: A little bit depressing, but I think it's important. So there is a book that I read years ago and to be honest, I still think about it all the time called the deepest well, and the book goes through the way that childhood. Variances really manifest and affect you through the rest of your life, which sounds obvious, but she goes into the details of how it not only affects you emotionally and psychologically, but also physically as well.
And at least for me, it was very helpful to understand, not only what are some of the things that drive my current behaviors, but also the people around me and just made me develop this like deep empathy for other people, and so I'm always I'm like one of those people that is like, I think everyone should go to therapy, but obviously not everyone is going to go to therapy.
So at least read the deepest well and do us all a favor, and so the deep as well is definitely a book I always recommend.

[00:32:15] Jahn Karsybaev: That is so cool because I have a good friend of mine. We were both in management consulting a long time ago and met in Saudi Arabia when we were consulting for an oil and gas company. And he actually got his PhD. His thesis was, within the lines of what this book is about that you're recommending bodies all around the birth order sequence, how that shapes you as a person and as a leader. For example, if you have an older sister or you are the middle child, all of those things, like before I met him, I was like, what? Like, are you kidding me? No, my older sister just beat me up all the time and that's it. But that also kind of really impacts you like your behavior, your decision-making, all of that great stuff. So definitely the book that you recommended and I'm totally going to move that up on my list. I'm going to try to check that out. That's great. How do our listeners connect with you? Where do they find you aware that you are the most active?

[00:33:13] Jomayra Herrera: You can find me on Twitter. I am @jomayra_herrera. You can also just email me at jomayra@cowboy.bc. I answer all cold emails, so feel free to email me or just find me on Twitter.

[00:33:26] Jahn Karsybaev: Awesome. Jomayra, thank you so much for finding time to talk to us today. Lots of insights, very short and powerful conversation. I actually learned quite a bit through this. Definitely going to stay in touch with you and we're going to be in touch soon.

[00:33:37] Jomayra Herrera: Awesome. Thank you for having me.

[00:33:44] Jahn Karsybaev: Thank you for listening to the Ivy Podcast. Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed on IvyPodcast.com and all major podcasting platforms like Spotify and iTunes. As always, If you enjoyed this podcast, please give us a rating on iTunes.

Robert Bouchard – The H1B Guy at TheH1BGuy.com

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Robert has established himself as a thought leader on immigration. He has implemented multiple programs surrounding work authorization, third party process, and international recruitment strategies during his 15 year career in the private sector. Launching TheH1BGuy.com in June 2020, Robert consults with employers and employees to help maintain compliance and implement automated processes surrounding employment based preferences. He posts weekly content to his Blog and YouTube channel where he covers News, Education, Advice and Reform discussions on the H1B Visa and other immigration benefits.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:27] Angela Alberty: [00:00:27] Okay. Super excited about our show today. I am speaking with the H-1B guy, Rob. I'm so excited to have you today. Let the audience know a little bit about yourself before we get started.

[00:00:40] Robert Bouchard: [00:00:40] Well, hey Angela, thank you for having me on today. Really excited. My name is Robert Bouchard. I am the H-1B guy. I grew up in a small town called Brunswick, Georgia on the coast of Georgia, went to a Georgia Southern university in Statesboro and made my way to Atlanta. And in the early 2000s kind of found myself and technology and then recruiting. And then here I am today, the H-1B guy, so really excited to, to jump on today.

[00:01:11] Angela Alberty: [00:01:11] Awesome. H-1B the world of work visas and immigration policies. But before we get started and dive into the nitty gritty, I want the audience to get to know you just a little bit better. You gave us a great introduction. We know you're a Georgia boy and where you were born and raised, but let us know. What's a hobby of yours.

[00:01:31] Robert Bouchard: [00:01:31] So I have this really weird obsession with Walt Disney world. I don't know why I just loved music and definitely very avid sports: golf, tennis coaching, my kids and youth sports. So really keep busy outside, try to stay as active as possible.

[00:01:53] Angela Alberty: [00:01:53] Okay, so you sound like the perfect dad, Walt Disney and avid sports and coach. Yeah.

[00:02:00] [00:01:59] Robert Bouchard: [00:01:59] No, I don't want to say no to adventure. Let's just leave it at that.

[00:02:05] Angela Alberty: [00:02:05] Right. So if you could choose anything, what would your last meal be?

[00:02:07] Robert Bouchard: [00:02:07] Yeah, I guess I'm a barbecue guy, right? So, if it had to be one protein, I have this hankering for smoked chicken with white sauce. And a lot of folks don't know what white sauce is. They kind of grew up in Alabama and it's very regional. It's like a Manet's vinegar based sauce. And yeah, I'd say that with some greens and maybe some Mac and cheese, I think that would fill me up.

[00:02:42] Angela Alberty: [00:02:42] Right. Good old Southern boy. I love it. Love it. Okay. If you could have any dream job in the world, what would it be?

[00:02:49] Robert Bouchard: [00:02:49] Yeah, I grew up with this dream of being a professional golfer. Unfortunately I didn't want to practice or work hard enough to get there. I was pretty good, but those guys, they live a very privileged life, but they do so because they are the best at what they do in the world. And yeah, I think for me, you look at what goes into being a professional golfer, the time, the dedication, the travel, but they see every corner of the world. And for me, that was always something that I dreamed about.

[00:03:22] Angela Alberty: [00:03:22] Yeah. It takes a lot of dedication, but pretty cool. I think a lot of guys have out there, some kind of professional sports player. I know my husband does as well. So congratulations. You survived the round of fire and the ice questions. We got a chance to get to know you a little bit better and break the ice. But now let's delve into who you are. So tell us a little bit about your story and how you became the H1B guy.

[00:03:46] Robert Bouchard: [00:03:46] Yeah. As I mentioned earlier, I graduated from Georgia Southern university, 2003, and my first job out on the street was selling credit card machines. And then I had a company that was a technology based company, they gave me an opportunity to really beat up the phones inside sales. And I took this interest into systems and networking and was like, wow, this is pretty cool. Technology is amazing. And what it does. And I worked for that company for a while. And then I got into doing recruiting for them. They had some needs and I helped them out. And all of a sudden I realized, wow, there's some big money to be made in these agency recruiters. I had met some people just through networking and realized the kind of money that they were making. So I took the jump to agency and I did that for 15 years and worked for a couple of different agencies and had the opportunity to be introduced to corporate core based business, which is subcontracting based business and staffing, and started to take this interest into the different types of visas and understand standing it and to have the opportunity to manage a large immigration program that basically we built from the ground up that at one of my former employers. And then, like a lot of people, I think March, March 15th, 2020, was kind of the day that a lot of our worlds changed overnight. And I was fortunate enough to be in a position to kind of survive over the next few months. But like a lot of organizations, companies are out there, we're trying to figure out how to cut costs and keep the lights on. And so ultimately staffing business was impacted pretty swiftly. And a lot of that was the contingency based staffing, which is what I have done for a large part of my career. And I was hoping for a lead delivery strategy over a very large enterprise account and that account was impacted significantly. And so my role was impacted right before Memorial day and in hindsight at the time, wow, it was a bit of a shock. I can't say that like a lot of us didn't foresee it. But what I decided after that was like, I'm going to take Memorial day off and just kind of on plug right. And decompress what's going on. And so, fast forward, three weeks later, really mid-early June, I had this vision of the concept of the H1B guy come to me. And what I realized is that I have this very unique skill set and staffing and in business in general, which is I understand the inner workings of the temporary foreign worker and the various work authorizations that go along with that. And I also understand the relationships between third party subcontractors and firms and how they manage human capital flow. And so, I started looking out there and I'm like, well, the only people that are really talking about this are folks that are on these work faeces and attorneys. And I said, wow, there's a gap in the market. And quite honestly, I love to talk. I love to write. And I said, what? I know I can help businesses solve problems and I have a lot of relationships. And so I'm just going to put myself out there. And I took a couple of weeks, created the H1Bguide.com. Did everything with my iPhone 11 and a Chromebook. And so I could get some revenue going and afford to buy the laptop that I now use. And it says by piece, like when I started shooting my YouTube videos, I was using an industrial work-life. But what I realized is it doesn't matter what your setup is or how much you invest in it, it's to get quality content out there. Right. So I started talking about this H1B visa, but I quickly realized, wow, this is much bigger than H1B visa. There's all these other types of work authorizations out there. And then in the news in July, was this Senate bill. SB 86, which was part of removing the green card backlog, removing country caps for employment based preferences. And all of a sudden my political sort of interests overlap with my professional and I had a platform and I рave this voice that wow, just very quickly, in a matter of 30 days, I started getting all these messages to these people saying, thank you for talking about this, thank you for bringing this story to light. And I'm like, wow, this is really something that I'm on and to back that up, I put myself out on LinkedIn, which is where you and I found each other. And I had a client that reached out to me day one that said, I need your help and I need it now. Can I talk to you tomorrow? And I said, I said to myself, Angela, wow, you're onto something. And so that's where the H1B guy was born

[00:08:52] Angela Alberty: [00:08:52] Yep. Boom. So we dedicate 15 years to staffing. All of a sudden found yourself in the middle of a pandemic laid off and you made yourself into somebody and you're right. That's exactly how we met. You've gotten sick. You've gained quite a bit of traction. So I'm super excited to talk to you about this because we look at H1B and work visas. I've been in staffing. Most of my career. I know I've been on the phone with the people that were holding the visas. When people try to get those people to get to work. I know that there's a lot of relevancy, particularly in the white collar world. When you look at it, engineering, and STEM and STEM work. And there's relevancy behind this population. So tell us a little bit about that candidate experience and what has led them to the options that this type of worker is limited with.

[00:09:40] Robert Bouchard: [00:09:40] Yeah. I think, for any of us who have spent any time and staffing, or just as an employer or a business owner that is looking to hire. Because at the end of the day, that's really what we're talking about is human capital H1Bs just happened to be temporary foreign workers in that human capital designation. And so what happens in the physical is that there are tech startups. And then there were these large enterprise organizations that decided we're going to implement this very niche technology into our platform. And so when they make that decision, a lot of times in that process, they don't realize what they have to do to recruit, attract, and hire. The person who can implement it, if it's not some sort of managed services agreement that they have in place with a team of developers, that's going to come in and do it. So when they try to augment their staff, they have positions that go unfilled for a very significant amount of times, right. That kind of time to fill. And so jobs are left on open they're, left on work. And what I realized very quickly is that if you can build a network within this pool of candidates. They're much more likely to refer you to somebody just because they're always looking out for their friends because they know they have to maintain status. Right. And so what I realized is that H1B still, this very sort of niche gap and a lot of high-tech space and a lot of its development, a lot of it, or these one-off systems that have their own sort of code behind it. And the reason being is that they are trained very early on in technology. Whereas when we go through school, it's a lot of liberal arts. It's a lot of social skills and things like that in US history. Right. And not that those things aren't important, but we're not, we're not only more recently is technology becoming part of the learning institution in US schools. And so that's where the gap was created, right? Is that there aren't enough high tech. Resources to fill the high tech needs and large enterprises and tech startups. And so what happened is, if you have this shift starting in the late 1990s, early two thousands, and the H1B lottery and the excess of visas that was added in the early two thousands. It created this significant influx of inbound individuals, specifically from India and China.

[00:12:15] Angela Alberty: [00:12:15] Wow. Interesting. So let's go into the next question then. It let's say you go to sleep and you wake up and you're all of a sudden in your dream world, what do you think would be the most significant impact that we could apply starting tomorrow to help this H1B and the H1B lottery process for this very untapped part of the worker candidate pool.

[00:12:40] Robert Bouchard: [00:12:40] So H1B has come with a pretty restrictive employment process. And so there's two ways that individuals can be awarded in H1B, there's exempt and then there's non-exempt so exempt means that they work for a nonprofit institution. Thank medical doctors, nurses. Things like that, where researchers where they're not the company they work for has a non-profit designation. And so they are cap exempt, meaning that the employer can petition for their H1B at any time during the year, as long as they have the appropriate documents, then there is the non-exempt. And so that means that you have to be awarded through the lottery. And each year there are 85,000 H1B visas that are awarded in the annual age when the lottery that's selected and opened on April 1st. And so you have two different pools that they pull from 65,000 that are generally pooled from foreign nationals with bachelor's degrees outside of the US. And then you have another 20,000, which is advanced US degrees. So foreign nationals who've come here and gotten a master's degree in the US. And so for a very long time, it was random selection and what would happen and what a lot of the large outsourced employers have learned is that they flood that lottery with multiple petitions. The more petitions they submit, the higher probability, they would have to be selected, almost gaming the system, if you will, versus a small employer who maybe has two needs and submit two cases, but only gets one. And what is it this created is really no rhyme or reason other than random selection. Well, one of the things that's been in the news recently is the wage rule changing the way the H1B lottery will be selected this year. And so what the new rules States and this has been contested, and there are some questions about being debated, but I think this is a step in the right direction because what it will do is in turn, make the H1B lottery based on wages. There is no more random selection to it. So employers who are willing to pay H1Bs, the most salary, right, are going to be the ones who are going to be selected. And so what that ends is the cheap labor debate. It ends the displacement of American workers debate. It basically says that I'm willing to pay this for a national more, then market value more than the prevailing determination so that I can get this resource here on us. Soil, because I need to fill this position versus large outsourcers that are submitting two, three, four, 5,000 position petitions and getting half of those. Right? Because last year I believe the number was 275,000 petitions for the lottery US received for 85,000. So those numbers don't line up.

[00:15:40] Angela Alberty: [00:15:40] Okay. 5,000 petitions, 85 of those actually get approved. Some of which are coming from bachelors in those countries. Some of them are getting their master's here, but that wage limit, you think that you see that as a major improvement, at least a step in the right direction.

[00:15:55] Robert Bouchard: [00:15:55] That's correct. I'd say 90% of H1Bs that are here, 9 out of 10 that are here currently working in the US that are mired in the screen card backlog that we'll talk about, but what they would tell you that they are in favor of this because what it shows is their value is based on their merit and skill it's based on what they're paid. It's not based on a random selection of, hey, you meet the specialty occupation requirements, but I only have to pay you $75,000 because that's the prevailing wage determination for that position. What that means is that the department of labor states that these are the minimum salary that you would pay that individual. And so the lottery based on the actual employer or offer letter that States the wage that's entered electronically and selected based on that would end a lot of this.

[00:16:56] Angela Alberty: [00:16:56] Wow. Okay. So you may have mentioned some of this, but now we're headed into a new administration. We've got Biden on the radar to become president. We know some of the steps back, or at least things that didn't advance us as far as it could with Trump. But what do you see as some of those other improvements taking place under this potentially new administration to look like with Biden?

[00:17:17] Robert Bouchard: [00:17:17] Yeah, I think. As I just mentioned about the H1B lottery wage level, this was something of a proposal for rulemaking that the Trump administration just put in going back to November. And so this is kind of their parting shot. They, the announcement came out last week from us, CIS that it would be implemented, but this is actually a very big feather and the Trump administration's cat, I think where they missed the Mark is he ran on merit based immigration in 2016, we saw the raise act come into the Senate, the cotton bill is I refer to it in 2017 and then we didn't hear anything after that. And it was more of an assault on the temporary foreign worker, I think, with the new administration coming in. You'll see the president alive. Biden's soon to be president Biden comes in and starts to resend some of these executive actions. I don't know how many, and I don't know how much he's going to go towards the H1B. I think he may just kind of sit back and let some of these happen. What I really believe happened and if it's going to happen. And if you read a lot into what the transition team is saying is that I believe that we'll see new legislation through Congress come up. And I predicted that a few weeks ago, June or July by July, I think we'll see some new immigration legislation. That's gonna have some carry over language from Senate bill three 86 that I mentioned. And a couple of those big things that relate to the H1B visa employee are the 50-50 rule, which says that if lawyers have 50% or more H1Bs on their staff, they can no longer be awarded new H1Bs and the lottery. So that curves the H1B sort of cycle and employers who are fully reliant on H1B. That's a big one. The other one is the whistleblower penalty. So right now there really aren't a lot of pushback employment-based penalties for H1B. Employees that are willing to speak up when they know that there's known fraud. And so that's another big sort of protection for H1B. Of course, back in August when the Biden administration put out their policies on immigration very way down in the bottom, he talks about, he doesn't agree with country quotas for employment based preferences. And for those who aren't familiar, there are 140,000 employment-based preference green cards issued every year, but there is a 7% cap on your country averse. So that it means that if you are from the United Kingdom and your employer sponsors you, there's a 7%, only 7% of those hundred and 40,000 can be awarded to individuals from the United Kingdom. So when you go back and look at, as we talked about 70% of H1Bs are from India and this pipeline and cycle that it's created, think about the number of individuals from India that are mired in this backlog. And so I think you'll see the Biden administration target removing the country cap quotas. I also think that they will come up with some different transitions for removing the green card backlog. So all of this and how it impacts our staffing world is that at some point transitioning in the next five or so years, we are going to see a plethora of H1B employees that did not have W2 freedom, meaning they couldn't really pick who they wanted to work for, where they wanted to work and how much they wanted to be paid, because a lot of that was mandated by law. You'll see them start to hit the market. And what that's gonna do is it's not necessarily going to create an influx of human capital, but what it is going to do is make them more highly skilled. Individuals with years of US experience, start to look and see is there something else I want to be doing? And so what's so big about clearing this backlog is that it will help us move forward. And that war on human capital, because right now they're in a cycle and they don't have freedom. So big advances coming our way.

[00:21:33] Angela Alberty: [00:21:33] Let me see if I could recap it. So we've got the wage, the wage merit, and getting the visas that way we've got the cap happening. So any employer over 50% ratio will be limited, we've got some major changes headed with Biden and what he plans to do with visas. And as we're coming up on time, it looks like we've got about time for about two more questions, but as an employer, what do you need to do to remain attractive to this candidate pool? And what are some investments that you can make? If you have the need to get some of these types of workers out on your payroll and working for you?

[00:22:15] Robert Bouchard: [00:22:15] So, I think a couple of things are the war on capital that's happening is also borderless. And so I think that's the bigger thing is that right now people are sitting anywhere they want and to see in the US and also in the world. And so I think giving your employees that freedom to choose where they want to work and, and when. It is really big and the new society that we have. But I think if I'm a company I'm looking to hire H1B visas, I'm going to want to do a couple of things. First of all, I want to make sure I have a really good immigration attorney on retainer is number one. You have to have it, whether you are going to hire one or you're going to hire 50, you've got to have a great immigration attorney. Second, you've got to have a compliance process in place because what you don't want is ice walking through the door, asking me for documents on certain employees and you cannot produce them. That's a big no-no. So at the end of the day to attract this type of employee, what you have to do is make them feel wanted. And how do you do that? You do that through paying them a fair wage above market value in many cases. So money, right? It is a huge influence. The other way that you do that is giving them that path to permanent residency. So that would be employment based green card sponsorship. I can tell you, in all of my years of working with H1B employees that have been here in this country for two, three years, they're two motivators. Generally money and green cards. The third one would be, they're going to learn a new technology or skill, right? And then the fourth is who the employer is for the resume, that name recognition. And so if I'm an employer and I'm looking to build these programs, I want to make sure that I'm going to start. So it's like you're baking a cake at the very bottom level to tear yourself up. I'm going to identify who the immigration attorney is that I'm going to use. I'm going to bring somebody like me on to help guide them in that process and make sure that their compliance is in place, that they have all of the appropriate processes in place before they even get to thinking about bringing in H1B onboard. And then when you get to that point, it's going to be money. Your commitment to their permanent residency, the technology they're going to get to work on and who you are and where you're going as an employer.

[00:24:45] Angela Alberty: [00:24:45] Wow, money and green card. That's where it seems to be a lot of it where it's starting to at least attract these workers along with everything else that you mentioned, perhaps investing in another skill.

[00:24:54] Robert Bouchard: [00:24:54] So I think one more thing on that too. Angela, I think a lot in, and I've seen this a lot, is that the stability aspect of who you are as an employer and making them a permanent employee versus a subcontractor of a subcontractor or what we refer to as layering in our staffing world. I think that in and of itself I failed to mention that, but to me it resonates with the temporary foreign worker who is your permanent employee. It gives them purpose and I say them in the sense that as a whole, it really does. It has been proven in all of my conversations that I have, that the H1B is our permanent employees versus the H1B that are working for a consulting firm or layers. The ones that are perm are generally much happier and satisfied and where they are then than the ones that are working through consulting firms, which by default, if you're helping them obtain a green card through that retrospect.

[00:25:57] Angela Alberty: [00:25:57] It's because you're offering some form of permanent employment I'd imagine. Right?

[00:26:06] Robert Bouchard: [00:26:06] Correct. And investing thousands of dollars in them. Right. That's the other side of it is we're talking about thousands of dollars and investing in them.

[00:26:17] Angela Alberty: [00:26:17] Right. Right. And I think we can dedicate an entire episode to one, an investment is into H1B statuses and the requirements that an employer has to uphold, because I know that that is a very complex situation in itself. But tell me if you could give one reason right on why we face a big risk, if these certain policies aren't improved, but it does seem like we're headed that way, but what's the biggest thing that's at stake. For the US worker population, if some of these improvements aren't addressed.

[00:26:48] Robert Bouchard: [00:26:48] Yeah. So one of the stories that I told back in August is a really good friend of mine, who I would consider one of the top 500 best art software architects in the world. He had been here in the US for a decade. His priority date was 2012 and he wasn't seeing an end in sight. And a few years ago, he started to look at his options and he was able to navigate the system in Canada. And the system in Australia in the end, he decided to go to Australia because of a better opportunity and the climate, and quite frankly, the location in reference to India. And so the US lost on that. Our economy loss, our innovation loss. This is now someone who is doing some really cool stuff in Australia. And guess what? He could have been here doing that, but because of the way our system works, it suppresses H1B from being entrepreneurs. They can't own businesses and it traps them. They have to every time he changed employers, which he had three, I won 40 approvals because over that 10 year period, he changed employees three times. And so the cycle just continues. And so if we're going to break the cycle, we have to look at what that is that attracted him to Canada and Australia. And so I always come back to this merit based points, immigration system, which is instead of there being a random selection or just who's ever going to make the most right. That it's based on your compensation, but also other factors, your command of the English language, based on an assessment, the type of degree you have, the type of skill set, you have the type of experience you have, your spouse's merit and skills are also evaluated in that if the individual is married and the points way towards that. So what it does is it creates this huge system. Around merit and skill, because some of the things we've talked about on my channel, right now, the worst way to come to America is based on merit and skill. Think about that. The worst way to come to the US is based on your merit and skill because the navigation of becoming a permanent resident for temporary foreign workers is long and winding. Whereas countries like Canada and Australia, give them a path in two years, you're going to have this. Status in four years, you'll be eligible for this status and it's a climb up, right? It's permanent residence. It's a work visa. Then it's permanent residency, then it's citizenship. And ultimately that is to me, what ends the cycle? It ends the cheap labor debate. It ends the displacement of American workers debate. It ends this game where large outsourcers are flooding. The system with resources that may necessarily not be as qualified as they're perceived to be. Instead there's an electronic vetting system that goes into it. And at the end of the day, no, employer's obligated. It's up to that individual to come here and seek their opportunity and earn for themselves. And that when that happens, fortunately, I don't foresee this happening over the next four years, but when that happens, that's when we will win the war on human capital.

[00:30:08] Angela Alberty: [00:30:08] That's fantastic and not just human capital, but the innovation of these very brilliant people bring to the market into what is a future trajectory for the US and are thriving.

[00:30:17] Robert Bouchard: [00:30:17] Well, I'm thinking about that's what our country was built on, and that's the legacy that you and I have to leave for our kids is that we're gonna advance this because technology we've seen how quickly it moves. And one of the things I realized about the H1B guy and I alluded to it is that it's not just technology. I mean, there are medical doctors that are on the phone bringing lines battling this pandemic that could very easily get sick, not be able to work for 60 days and lose their work authorization, saving American lives at the risk of deportation when they came here legally, if that picture. Does it paint a horrific graphic of what's happening right now with our immigration system specifically? Employment-based I don't know what does, and if I'm an executive that I'm sitting there looking at, how do I get better? How do I hire better quality? I want to come back and know that we have a system in place that is vetting everybody, whether they're American or foreign.

[00:31:24] Angela Alberty: [00:31:24] Yep. It goes back to the core. And as I told you, this subject at least speaks volumes to me as a daughter of an immigrant that came to this country and established their way here and knows exactly what that process is for her to fulfill and maintain legal work authorizations. I completely resonate with this and I feel like this is an area that we do need to address, but it does seem like there is some glimmer of hope happening at least with what's Biden proposals to do on regulation and reporting any kind of discrepancies, the caps on each country, the address of a green card and the backlog they're in. So, we're headed towards there, and it's been great having you on this show. I'd hope that we can at least dedicate another episode to perhaps more focused on the employer and what they need to do to facilitate this process. I know that lots of people are gonna have questions as we come up and publicize the podcast work. Can we get a hold of you? If there's any questions that come up as we're wrapping up today's episode.

[00:32:33] Robert Bouchard: [00:32:33] Yeah, thank you. I'd love to come back again, as you can tell, I can talk for a while and I think, if I go back to, Hey, you asked me where people can find me. Well, it's at H1Bguy.com and what I want people to know is that my dream here is to continue to be recognized in the world of employment-based immigration. And so expect to hear this voice and see this face and read my writing a lot because that's where my why. And what I do is I help businesses and individuals solve complex work authorization issues and the recruitment process while also bringing awareness to employment-based issues and benefits in the immigration system. And so you can find me @theh1bguy.com. You can follow me on Twitter at the H1B Guy. Of course, please go to my YouTube channel, the H1B Guy, subscribe to it and I also have a telegram platform as well, H1B Guy channel on telegram. And so those are the best ways to find me and subscribe to the website for the latest and greatest that I put out every month on immigration and news.

[00:33:49] Angela Alberty: [00:33:49] There's lots of great stuff on that YouTube channel that I think I have found a lot of relevancy on as being a member of the staffing industry for quite some time now. But Rob, I appreciate it. I love your story. I hope to have you back onto the show and thank you so much to our listeners for tuning in to our show today with the H1B guy.

Transforming Digital Training & Upskilling Industry with Jason Field, CEO of BrainStation

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 05:53:43 +0000

Jason Field is the Founder and CEO of BrainStation, the global leader in digital skills training. Since 2012, BrainStation has trained more than 100,000 professionals around the world through corporate training, award-winning bootcamps, certificate courses, industry-leading events, and more, both online and at state-of-the-art campuses in cities such as New York, Miami, London, Toronto, and Vancouver. The company has also worked with over 4,500 corporations in the process of digital transformation, offering cutting-edge employee skills training and a pipeline of emerging tech talent.

Marcus Session – Vice President of Information Technology Services at Tampa International Airport

The Ivy Podcast — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Marcus Session is the Vice President of Information Technology Services for Tampa International Airport (TPA). He is responsible for leading and advising on technology initiatives throughout the organization. He has 21 years of experience in Information Technology working in a variety of industries. Previously, he served as Interim CIO for USF Health and Senior Director of IT Operations for the USF System.

During his tenure at Tampa International Airport the ITS team has undergone significant change; restructuring of the IT project management office, information security team, hosting several local technology events, and strengthened relationships with other technology organizations throughout the country. This has increased visibility, collaboration, security, and efficiency of technology initiatives at TPA.

He has spoken at national conferences, led transformative initiatives, and promoted innovative ideas to help TPA reach its goals, and maintain its status as “America’s Favorite Airport”. He is also a leadership coach, college instructor, and holds a Master’s of Science in Information Technology, as well as a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Florida. He is also a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and a Cisco Networking Academy alumnus.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:27] Marcus Session: Good morning. I'm Marcus Session, Vice-President of Information Technology services with Tampa international airport.

[00:00:33] Jahn Karsybaev: Thanks so much for joining us today on the Ivy Podcast. Appreciate you finding time on the holiday week, everyone, you know, taking the time off. So it was great for us to connect.
Tell us a little bit more about your background to your current role. What falls under your purview?

[00:00:49] Marcus Session: Well, you know, I've been Maxi for over 20 years. Sound weird saying that, but no, I don't don't feel like it's been that long, but yeah,of the 20 years, you know, I've worked in a variety of industries, healthcare, helped them search higher education, you know, obviously aviation transportation, industry, you know, got some consulting, on the side I teach, so,a lot of different areas, you know. My current role, I'm responsible for all the technology initiatives and I'll say racial security. Tampa International Airport is America's favorite airport, by the way, so that's what it is. It's Americans living in there. And you know, basically anything we're trying to protect knowledge of perspective, you know, coming up with a strategy or working with departments and our partners to help technology bring value to the organization and help us support our missions and goals.
But most importantly, if I had to sum it up is using technology to provide a great and robust customer experience. You know, we want you to come through Tampa, and you know, not just remember your visit at the beach or wherever you're going, but also remember that, Hey, we have break here, too.

[00:02:01] Jahn Karsybaev: Oh, that's super exciting. I I talked to a lot of CIO, CTOs of different companies, but so this is the first time, you know, connecting with someone who is in charge of, you know, the elevation, the airport kind of from that industry perspective. So I'm super excited. Tell us, so you've mentioned, you know, briefly around strategy and, you know, the need to continuously innovate.
I would imagine that's all, you know, at the core for you guys. As far as building and fostering that culture of innovation, you know, not only in it, but yeah. Organization in general. share with us any strategies or initiatives that you have in place that really help you kind of build that and foster that culture of innovation.

[00:02:46] Marcus Session: You know, it's interesting. The way you asked your question, you kind of said a very good answer that I think people need to think about. You said foster a culture of innovation, not just the team, but the organization and that's the key. So what I try to do is, you know, I try to come, you know, from the organization perspective of including everybody.
So if you think about it, a lot of organizations, the ideas are top down and you have one or two superstars or whatever it is, where everybody has moved to format. What we try to do is we try to cultivate ideas from everybody, but it's hard to do that sometimes. So as a leader, what ends up happening if you say, you know, and, every leader’s seen this, they sit in a room and you say, all right, look, Hey, anybody got any ideas spins we could move forward.
Well, most people are going to sit there and say, well, I'm not going to say anything. I'm just ready to get out of this meeting. When's lunch. Hey, is AAA open. And so, you know, you don't get that feedback because people just haven't been, you know, are comfortable talking or, you know, just having don't feel them enabled or like, Hey, you know, let me collect my check and do my thing.
So what we try to do, we try to meet where they are and give them as many options as possible to submit ideas, give input, get feedback, and conflict, challenge them and ask questions and challenge assumptions. I'm even challenging my own assumptions. You know, if we're rolling something out and say, Hey, what do you guys think?
You know, I know someone in here doesn't listen. Maybe like the idea. I think it's perfect. It's perfect. And you kind of put that to people and we let people through multiple channels. Submit ideas. Now we take those ideas under consideration and we talk about it in an open forum. So if someone isn't comfortable bringing up before an idea they submitted from this, you know, I call them an anonymous channel, and then that question will come up and we'll talk about it. Right? And then that way you get their idea of the baited without having to sort of be the face of it.
[00:04:38] Cause everybody doesn't want necessarily to be in the limelight, but they do maybe want to affect change. And the second part to that is including the entire organization. When I first got there, I met with everybody. I had been in like 30 minute to one hour meetings with every leader in your organization that I could kind of meet with.
Right. And I probably had 70 hours worth of meetings, in the first month, a couple months or whatever, and being there. And I wanted to learn about everybody's perspective, how they spoke about it, how having books about technology, how it intersected, and part of that too, was also laying that groundwork of my plan for what I wanted in terms of billing technology as a tool for them and not just something, well, actually just implementing this thing. So building the ownership in, and that, Hey, I could use it as a tool. So as we did that, and people saw the value when they started getting things they wanted, then they started coming forward with more ideas.
[00:05:35] So having that plan and laying that foundation early with those relationships is what kind of allowed it to happen. And then now not. Centralizing it we're centralizing our innovation and we're kind of having an innovation program. That's kind of over that function. That's within our HR department person, that's kind of the person that's going to be organizing the innovation efforts.
That way it's not just the technology based thing. It's not just, Hey mortgage, just won't spend another million dollars. It's, you know, it's more about whether anybody can something.

[00:06:05] Jahn Karsybaev: No, absolutely. And you know, I like what you said in terms of typically it's, you know, it's a top down approach and, you know, from a standpoint of innovation, it's really empowering and creating this almost autonomous environment for anybody to feel empowered, not only to bring ideas to life, but also have the resources and the support of the leadership to actually take that idea and work on it, prove that it works, you know, prove that it's going to bring value. And from there on out to actually bring that idea to life, as far as getting that implemented, you know, whether an organization level, department level and so forth, because that then sends the right message to everybody across the organization that, yeah, it's not just being done for PR type of initiatives that their ideas definitely do get considered that a lot of ideas actually that have been brought up, they'd get a chance to, you know, implement it. So I think that's, you know, those are great examples that you provided. Thank you for that.
So from your standpoint, just curious and it doesn't have to be in your industry. Doesn't have to be, you know, related to your company, I like to ask this question in terms of what are the different ideas or trends that really excite you these days? Like, what are you researching, when you're not working or even when you are working, is that something you observed, something that you think will be the next big thing? So what's on Marcus's mind these days?

[00:07:41] Marcus Session: Well, it's a lie, right, so if you think about it, I like to call it digital transformation. 2.0. you know, somebody has probably coined the phrase we do want it, but I'm going to go ahead and just point it to a digital transformation, 2.0, it's part of this fourth industrial revolution. Basically it's automation of everything, you know? And if you think about it, I think about it like this, with the whole thing, with the pandemic and COVID, and the way the work styles have changed, what's ended up happening is that people are now working in ways they never thought they would 9, 10 months ago.
And a lot of companies, you know, CEOs they're sort of, three to five year plan was done in this last nine month period during the pandemic. You know, people are like, well, we're trying to get more cloud or we're trying to get people to, you know, use more of the digital tools and things of that nature.
[00:08:48] Well, you had to turn that switch with COVID. And so now it's kind of like, well, wait a minute, I've just done my digital plan here. What's next. So that's why I call it digital transformation 2.0, because now you have people with digital tools. Hey, guess what we found out? Surprisingly, everybody that resists people is really comfortable when they have motivation to move to the tools and they surprisingly can learn how to use them.
Right. So all those barriers went out the window and what most people have found is they like it. Oh, the people that, you know, didn't like it before now, like it, so for me, the exciting thing is how do I now take these tools to the next level, integrate them, automate functions, get more business value out of them.
[00:09:30] You know, you talk about things like RPA, you know, what's the big thing, right? Robotic process automation, and the biggest thing about it. And the biggest thing that I'm working at is now taking all these things and I call them stuff that it's kind of, it's half off the shelf. Most organizations have tools that they have implemented, and those tools are sitting there like, well, we'll get back to it. Yeah. We still haven't finished that project. We have to finish this project. Oh man. We're going to integrate, this is going to be wonderful. Trust me. Hey, you're going to get that report. All reports in a single pane of glass. You want to get that nice dashboard eventually, right? That's it. Right. Digital transformation 2.0, you've now done the base level. Now you can look at those data sets. And now bring those into the digital tools cause you're gonna have people using the tools. There's somebody that can get value there now. So now you have an incentive to actually implement those tools and finish those projects. So looking at the automation piece and bringing everything forward, and it's just one thing specific to my infancy and automation, we're trying to automate sort of the passenger flow aspect of it to provide a seamless journey.
You know, a combination of using apps and physical tools and signage and different things to give you a better experience in the airport and the transverse you can be because airports are confusing and stressful for people. So we want to give people tools in their hands, mobile apps on their phones, maybe so they can look and say, Hey, I'm gonna need a port here.
Oh, Hey, look, you know, I'd love to eat at this place, but where is it? And it takes you with a blue dot, technology over to that spot. And Oh, by the way, it tells you where the bathrooms are and it gives you a notice, Hey, security takes this long. So your flight leaves here and we need to leave for the gate from where you are in this, at this period of time to make your flight on time.
Right? So those things all come from taking data and existing tools and bring them together to provide a robust experience.

[00:11:24] Jahn Karsybaev: Well that's, yeah, that's pretty cool. Those are great examples. You know, I was wondering about the latest trends and innovation, especially from that airport experience, because, you know, yes, some airports do a really great job with this, but sound, you know, it's a painful process.
And you're right. And as far as that being a stressful experience in terms of going in and really not knowing what to expect, so anything that technology can do to help at least to prepare the passenger for what's coming or, you know, any, any type of predictive, you know, suggestions and stuff like that.

[00:12:00] Marcus Session: I think that's, you know, there's a lot of opportunities for improvement so yeah. And one of the things too, Jahn, I didn't really mention biometrics. That's another thing that's out there that kind of goes with the automation piece. But the thing is, I don't always Mitch about Memphis. Cause it was still to the point where it was still scarce components that you set out with people with, Oh my privacy, you know, all these different things like that.
That's not the thing that's going to horizon that that's maybe, it's here. It's being used in certain applications, but how it's going to be used in the future. There's a lot of ideas, but there's not a consensus just yet. So that's another thing that's maybe a little further out in terms of becoming kind of a household thing.I still think there's some conversation you've had.

[00:12:37] Jahn Karsybaev: Right, right. Yeah, absolutely. And would you say that, you know, kind of airlines and, you know, airports specifically in terms of being a little bit slower to adopt new technologies or do you consider, you know, airports to be a little bit more advanced from that standpoint?
Where would you say, we hear a lot about in artificial intelligence, you know, a lot about machine learning. And I would imagine that's going to take its place in airports as well. At some point to, you know, automate, like you said, a lot of the processes and a lot of the things that we have to go through that airport experience. What's your take on that? And just in general, from that standpoint and being able to adopt such technologies.

[00:13:25] Marcus Session: We have a saying in the aviation industry, at least for the airports. It says once you've seen one airport, you've seen one airport, airports are designed with this idea that it brings a certain sense of the city or area.
It's an, so, you know, you want this play because you walk into lax, you're going to get kind of an, an Ellie feel to it. That's at least kind of the purpose, right? You all in our airport, you get, you want to feel like you're in Tampa, you get a sense of the city, you know, a sense of the area, right? So the airports very much so are very different investors, different, you know, from a technology portfolio perspective as well.
So in terms of innovation, you have some that are very, forward-thinking, very own the cost, very cutting edge. And you have some that, you know, are laggards and, and they kind of come very late to the party, and a lot of it depends on just sometimes the airport leadership have it funded, cause obviously, you know, we did record almost 23 million passengers last year.
So that's a pretty good number, you know? But you know, you have Lex, doing, you know, 80 to a hundred million passengers a year, right? You haven't Atlanta airport doing over a hundred million passengers a year. Right. So there's different economies of scale. There's different structures.
So it does depend on that very heavily. Right, but there's some, there's some airport, therefore I would say, you know, a good chunk of what we call it a large sub category, which is kind of a large category. We're lucky we're considered a large hub here at Florida. There's about 30ish in that large of category, I would say, you know, about half of the large hub airports, you know, are really kind of stay try to stay in the front. So I'll push things forward. A lot of it out of necessity, I think by reducing a hundred million passengers a year, if you're not trying to find ways to constantly automate and get more efficient, you're going to have some problems, you know, and it gets out of hand really quick when, cause when people appreciate, you know, you probably travel a lot, this or an airport, you probably don't want to fly through.
Well, you're probably like, man, that's a connection through there now. I'm good. I'll fly an extra hour and a half around. He goes somewhere else. Right? Yeah. And so that's what you're trying to avoid. You want people to want to come to your airport? So it is very dependent upon that. and a lot of the time, you know, we're trying to, we have an innovation group.
In the industry that I'm a part of. And, you know, we try to figure out how do we innovate and continue to bring that new because we're traditional to your point at a base level, do kind of operate a little bit slower just because you haven't had the thing, but aviation hasn't changed in a long time.
Like you don't see a lot of complete breakthroughs or, you know, you don't see a lot of like, yeah, you know, at least visible change in airports, airlines. And it's, I was just wondering, but that makes sense, you know, what you're talking about and the point that you made across, which I didn't really think about that, that maybe some airports, you know, actually operate from that standpoint by design. Like for example, Austin airport net coming to the tech hub. So I'm pretty sure there's also some, you know, strategic plans to make their airport a little bit more, you know, tech advanced from that standpoint. So that's pretty interesting. That's pretty cool, but I never thought about it that way.

[00:16:51] Jahn Karsybaev: So for you as an executive, you know, in charge of it and all of the information technology for your organization, I'm pretty sure, you know, at the core of your, you know, just being a leader is, you know, surrounding yourself with, with A-players. So with the best talent and whether you're recruiting actively or passively, I'm pretty sure you are always on the hunt for, you know, the top talent.
So tell us a little bit more about your interview style or, you know, for the candidates that go through the technical assessments, all of those great things before they get to you. Once you sit down with a candidate, give us a glimpse in you know, of that interview. What do you do, do you get creative with your interviews?
Do you keep it pretty traditional? And then more importantly, what do you look for in some of the responses when you talk to a candidate?

[00:17:44] Marcus Session: So, what we try to do is we try to have a little bit, you know, a little bit of the traditional one, a little bit kind of Orthodox methods if you made, you know, and we're not asking people, you know, Hey, how did the egg get into the part and kind of, you know, mumbo jumbo kind of things like that, but what I try to do is I try to make it, what we wanna do is we'll make me comfortable. I'm a pretty personable person in the sense of people back. I see myself a person and want you to be comfortable, because you want to see what you're like. And, you know, I don't want to call it, you know, we're term wartime and peacetime, but when you come in for an interview, right, it's, it's a big moment for you in a lot of cases, you know, you've got to suit all.
You may have not worn a suit for years, so we want to relax. So we try to relax you and try to make it, you know, environment, feel a bit more casual. then typically it's, tried to a lot of laughing, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of comedy to loosen people up because what I want to do is I want to see who you are, who person is, you know, kind of a high and the representative as we like to call them, because truthfully, I try to look for soft skills and, and some of those intangibles a little bit more than, technical skills. Cause there are times that I'm saying, you know, I put a job out there, you know, I'm going to get it. 300 resumes and a lot of cases, right. And I'm going to lay out everything, Hey, the certified and I have all these technical skills. Awesome. Right. But the differentiator is fit where you fit in the organization is, is the aviation authority or Tampa international airport, someplace that you would want to work and that you want to come be a part of this team. Right. And so that's, that's really how we do it. And so I try to, you know, I'll ask questions, you know, just about, Hey, well, Yeah.
[00:19:27] What was your biggest, what was your biggest failure? You know, and how did you overcome it? Right. And in that question, people would suspect, Oh, well, you know, one time I had this customer or I was writing this piece of code or this things like that. Right. Then that question, you get to hear how people solve a problem.
[00:19:46] You get to hear how people are detail oriented. and then I'll, I'll throw it out though. It didn't say that, right. Because what I like to do, I guess my differentiator is I put myself in a rabbit hole because people work for those first-line questions. They don't work for the drill down because they don't know what it's going to be.
So then I'll say, well, have the customer fields. It's probably gonna have the customer, if you'll have that person feel when you solve a problem or what were their feelings like, what were you detecting right now? I'm digging into their thought process. Did they show empathy? You know, did they think about the customer?
[00:20:18] Right. And you can kind of tell, you know, a natural reaction versus someone saying, Oh crap. I didn't think about it. Let me make it up. So, we try to do it like. No question I've asked is, you know, Hey, if, if your, your significant other or family member or your wife or whatnot was sitting right there, what would they say?
The number one thing you need to work on it. And most people are prepared for that question of, Hey, what's my weakness. But now they have to think about, well, wait a minute. What would my. What would my wife say? This is a matter, right? I love the different questions.

[00:20:50] Jahn Karsybaev: Oh great. Because you know, it's so awesome. I love it personally, because you know, for us at Prosource, that's our bread and butter. We partner with organizations of different sizes to work on, you know, very niche advanced, you know, IT skill set, we helped to find onboard and recruit and all that great stuff. And one of the things that, you know, I used to be on the other side of the table where I was the hiring manager.
Yeah. And to your point, one of my favorite questions of all time was also kind of in a sense where you asking about not from the spouse perspective, but in the sense that, Hey, if I was to call your current manager or the previous manager, like what, what do you think they will say is your greatest weakness?
It also kind of allows you to see, kind of that level of detail that the candidate is actually hearing, what are you asking? A lot of times they just jump straight to like, Oh my weaknesses is this, but no, that's not what I asked. Actually. I love that. I love that.

[00:21:54] Marcus Session: One thing I ask people too, if it throws people off and I'll talk to people, laughed about the reactions and the way they interpret the question is very interesting.
I say, well, so what are you going to do? If you don't get the job? And I just look at them and then they're like, Oh, I like they're not prepared for that answer. Cause I I'm asking you basically, what are you going to do if you fail, right. You came in here to look for a job. You didn't get what was your next step?
And a lot of people just don't think about it. And so it gets an interesting response. And, and it's funny because, you know, I've had to do this internally. Positions where, you know, people that currently work for me and people that work, I think trying to get a different position. And then after the thought of being like, you know, when you asked me that I knew it wasn't getting the job well, no, that's not really that wasn't the intent of the question.
It wasn't pre determined that you weren't getting it. I want to know, are you, did you just apply for this job because it's there. Right. Or is this part of a bigger plan for you in a personal development goal? Like why, why do you want it, you know, like, like what, what is going to drive you? Because if you're saying, well, if I don't get it, you know, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. I'm happy. I'm fine for that. That's telling me that, that you're not really, you just kind of doing it because it's there and that's not necessarily going to preclude you from getting it. Well, that's going to tell me, is that you just kind of. You don't have a plan. You're not not super motivated.
You kind of just rolling into the next thing, which is fine. You may still be qualified. You may still get the job, but it's great to know people's motivations because, and if I can get it bad, if I could glean enough of that information from other questions I can ask you directly, what's your motivation?
[00:23:35] You may not really tell me the truth. Exactly. I'm going to glean some of that stuff from other ways. So that's kind of how I try to approach it. I try to relax people and get them to be the true self. And then I try to get as much information as I can to really get a sense of the first technical skills.
You can train a lot of people who are great, technically, you know, but I want to know how they problem-solve. You know, and in the intangibles, and social soft skills.

[00:23:59] Jahn Karsybaev: That was great. You know, at the end of the day, I talked to a lot of executives, you know, on a daily basis, different sizes of companies and all that.
And it all boils down to kind of exactly where you talking about, the overall message is that at the end of the day, it's also an opportunity for a candidate to interview me as an executive fits, you know, what are they stepping into? And also allows me what you're talking about, to get to know them a little bit on a personal level, who, you know, who they are as a person, and try to, at least through that short, very short assessment, very short conversation to see if, you know, there's a potential fit into the type of culture that we have in our organization.
So that's pretty exciting, you know, and, as a joke, I always say for our listeners, if you're going to be interviewing with Marcus, that you have some insider information though, I gotta switch…

[00:24:46] Marcus Session: questions up.

[00:24:48] Jahn Karsybaev: Exactly. You know what to expect. Thank me. Thank me later. If you get the job, the kind of follow up question I have for you is, I guess, from the airline and airport industry, from that standpoint, it's not something that we hear, you know, on daily basis that it's, you know, the industry where a lot of, at least from IT perspective.
That's kind of almost the household industry for a lot of software engineers and developers, you know, to be in, from your standpoint, what strategies or initiatives that you deploy to really attract the top talent? Something that's really, really hard to find the guys that are not sitting on the bench, you know, really unicorns.
What are some of the strategies that work for you?

[00:25:40] Marcus Session: So for me, it's being visible and being able to tell our story, right? Like you said, you know, I'm the first person from the aviation industry, and so I try to get out there. I'm president of an organization called Society for Information Management - SIM, you may have heard of it before. So I'm the president of the chapter for Tampa Bay. so I participate in a lot of events there. We've partnered with HNV Strategy, which is another organization that puts on IT events. I've done some events with them. I'm doing podcasts with you, right. To get the brand and the thing out there, because when the interesting part of IT is no one that no one in IT, for the most part, I mean, me included, never woke up in the morning and said, you know what, I'm going to apply for a job at an airport.

[00:26:29] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah. That's what I was getting it. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:26:33] Marcus Session: You just don't think it's there. And when I took over one of the first things I decided to do was transforming the organization. Look, it has a great brand. You know, if you're coming through Tampa and people start telling you who to talk to, who traveled in airports a lot, they're always talking about us. We're always one of the top one, two or three rated airports for customer satisfaction. You know? So in the aviation industry, we're well known, but outside of that, it's one of these things that you don't travel a lot.
If you know, you don't flatter this region of the country, things like that, you know, you've heard of the media, the Tampa Bay, Buccaneers, you know, things like that. Other things that the city may be known for, but you'd never know that airport doesn't come up. So. I try to get out there and be present, you know, and we try to use innovation to do that. Like one of the things our CEO has been on multiple news, news stations, NBC independent live because we were one of the first airports in the country, if not the first airport to do COVID testing, it was hello. And that was an innovation that we came up with because we want to be a forward thinking innovation.
We know that right now in order to get the traffic back and get the industry back on its feet, we have to make people comfortable traveling and we aren't going to be comfortable traveling. Yeah. You know, airlines tell them to wear a mask and all those other things. But let's be honest, you're getting into a crank claim, with, you know, 150 of your best friends.
[00:27:59] Right. Depending on the size of the plane. So you're just, you're breathing the same air and all those other things. So like I said, it's already a stressful restraint. I've got to go through security. I had to get my bag. Now you've got to throw. Mats and germs and hand set a pattern wipes and all that stuff on top of that, right?
We can say, you can get tested before you get on the flight. Now, some places require you to get this done. So that's one of those things that's like, wow, I would've never thought to do that. Oh, this place in Tampa is knowing that that brings recognition to the week to the airport. And obviously me being present in the air to be a part of SIM being there, doing those kinds of things, because the brand, once you learn about us, We're doing a lot of things, right?
A lot of experiences, a lot of that just kind of sells itself, you know? So for me, it's telling that story, we never got out and told the story. And so I've been telling our story and telling them the things that we're, that we're doing and what we're doing to it. We're doing fun and innovative things here as well.
[00:28:58] And truthfully, you know, it's a plus we meet people where they are. We try to provide an experience or a work environment for everyone. And so we're building a brand new building, a nine story building, and we're going to put some innovation in there and we're going to do some hoteling, but we have some people that want to have a permanent.
That's why I have a permanent home. We'll provide that too. so we try to meet people where they are so that you could work here. There's an experience, this something for you. And that's what it's all about finding the right fit and, and trying to find out what people value and what they want. Right?
Like, look, I'm not out competing with Google and Microsoft and all those companies. We're the next year after that you've worked with those companies you've gone and made a ton of money. You've worked the grind you've done the 90 hour week. Come to a place now where you can take those skills and innovate on your own dime or on your own sort of, in the way you want to, and bring those innovations to a place and, and provide, provide your platform and get to tell your story.
That's what we get people to do. And I think a lot of people, a lot of talent we've gotten, they've enjoyed that and they've come in to enjoy the slower pace, and still being able to innovate and do some things. But, but having a lit tle bit of a calmer pace to Workday. So that's how I do it. Tell them the story and getting out there, telling my brain and rest and let it work.

[00:30:21] Jahn Karsybaev: I love it. I love it. You know, a lot of executives that I host on the podcast, you know, a lot of them get that value of being able to get out there and get the message, you know, about themselves as an executive about the leadership style about the organization, the brand it's all about.
Because sometimes when I talk to the other side of the executives, the questions that I get, well, you know, why should I participate in the podcast or something like this? And it's, you know, usually that's what I get at it's really, you know, your opportunity to also, you know, get the message out there and attract the top talent and really, you know, because you can't really read that.
You know, in the company description about us, it's all text, when you actually hear that directly from the source, I think that's completely different. And it's a while you were giving some of those examples, I actually looked up some of your Google reviews and it's like, it's wow, it's impressive. You guys have closed like 7,000 Google reviews and all of them, almost five stars.

[00:31:31] Marcus Session: That's the thing, right? Like most people would have known it. Now. Maybe people want to travel to Tampa. We have some of the top rated beaches in the country, in this area, you know? So it's very interesting.
And just to give you a tidbit of that, right? So as part of our SIM chapter, the global CIO for PricewaterhouseCoopers, is a member of the chapter right now. Our org is very different, he's got thousands of people, he's on a plane, he's got Microsoft and all people's customers, you know? Right.
You know, we're a smaller shop. And, you know, obviously serving much one to 3 million passengers a year, you know, partnering with other airports, working with the government, opposite TSA, FEI and the people. Right. So it's interesting. We're having a conversation and we didn't have been in the airport and we're doing a tour.
Most of them never tour network. Right. Just being able to see the inner workings. I'm talking about one of the projects we're doing one of the highly innovative projects of using GIS mapping tools to map our airfield assets. We connect that to basically what we call the work management system.
[00:32:34] Essentially, if you think of a service now, those kinds of things, but it's one, that's a little bit more specialized that connects to our GIS system. And what we did is we automated that and digitized that system for our FAA inspection. So the FDA, what they used to do, they come down and they'd have these huge binders and it goes through the binders and say, okay, this airfield light cause airfield lights that we have to go down to airfield lights and things like that, to be a regulatory compliance, I can only be out for certain periods of time that you want lights on when you land.
[00:33:04] Right. So they used to look at these binders for the service records. We've now digitized all of that, right? So I'm talking about this guy, you know, global CIO for PricewaterhouseCoopers. He's like. I never knew what such a system existed. So think about it. Think about this guy, one of the largest companies in the world globally, and I have this GIS system that we're doing all this cool stuff with and he hadn't, he didn't even know that that was the thing.
So he would have never known that had we not had that exposure and I told that story. Right. So. Well, when I hear executives, they will watch, should I do a podcast? Why should I head up on this? You know what they're doing in that, regardless of making it about them, like, Hey, I'm this, you know, executive that works for this company, Jahn, why should I, and you're a podcast that's going to to help you, but no it's going to help your organization, cause yeah, I think by most organizations don't leave with their IT group. You know, you don't go to like, you know, Deloitte and Touche to say, Hey, click here to learn about our IT team. You know? So you have to get on telling those stories and be the advocate, because most companies aren't IT companies, most companies are regular companies that use technology as a function. You have to make IT part of the business and tell that story to bring that talent.

[00:34:16] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah, absolutely. No, I couldn't agree more with you on that. And then it's, you know, you give a perfect example of how you collaborate with associations that you're heavily involved with, and that definitely helps in the sense that, you know, you probably don't see immediate results, but if you do that, you know, consistently that definitely contributes to kind of building that right brand image of the organization, the leadership that's part of that.
[00:34:41] So that's really cool. I, you know, I love stories like that. What, what are some of the most challenging or the most in demand skill sets, for, for, I guess, for you and for your industry to find, especially in this current market, w [00:35:00] how do you guys go about sexually, you know, attracting that type of skillset?

[00:35:03] Marcus Session: So obviously information security is one. And I mean, we know about the growing gap there in terms of the amount of jobs that are available. Versus the, you know, amount of available talent. so that's definitely the number one, number two for the sort of, I would call the, the new, the new jobs in it, or the changing job that it, you know, when you're talking about going from, you know, the traditional SIS admin role to more, you know, cloud architects and, you know, different things like that.
That is really where the industry is going and where things are trending. You know, having people that have AI experience and people that have RPA experience, those skills are very much, it's hard to find. And if you do find someone. They command a high, a pretty high salary because the skills are sparse and there's a lot of companies looking for that right now.
And what I feel like, I feel like, you know, just like anything on a curve of adoption, we have people that are at the front, you have, you know, the early adopters and then you have like laggards, you have people in the middle and all that kind of stuff. The thing about it is. I feel like it is going through a hard time sort of industrial revolution at this point.
You know, if you want to call it the fourth industrial revolution and yummies disarm to have our reference, Andrew Yang earlier, do you want to use the term that he uses? But I look at it a little bit differently. He puts it more towards the fact that robots are autumn or automation is going to kill a lot of jobs and all those other things that you have to reinvent themselves.
[00:36:40] Right. I'm talking about the same thing, but in a little bit of a different way, the industry has already moved forward in a lot of cases. And what's happened is the industry has commoditized itself. But what you have is you have a lot of, sort of, especially in the operational, a lot of CIS admin, a lot of people in that role that haven't wanted to change.
There's still feelings like, Hey, racking servers and setting up systems and all that stuff, that's still very much needed in some cases, Hey, I should be an exchange admin, you know, Those things are not like an exchange admin on your resume right now. That's what you're leading with. You're not going to be in demand in the market.
So finding people that have the new job titles, because with it, we don't standardize anything in this industry. So at one company adopt had them maybe one thing and another company, something else. So you don't know what the skill sets are. So truthfully having people's titles match, what that new thing is.
[00:37:37] I haven't seen that in a sort of large scale change where it's like, Oh yes, this person definitely has skills with, you know, Azure and AWS and also things that I need, you know, but now it's kind of like, think my Oracle has their own top. Salesforce has their own cloud. AWS has their own cloud and you can go on and on.
You can list 50 different cloud companies. Yeah. The stacks were a [00:38:00] little bit different, the skill sets, a little bit different. So I don't necessarily. I can't find someone that has the mix of all the clouds that I have because the clouds are very specific to me. Right. So that's why, when I talked to him earlier about finding people that are problem solvers, they have the skills you've worked with a cloud before.
[00:38:19] I have to kind of just accept that and find out if they're a good learner and can pick things up because we're in this weird commoditization mode where the old style people are trying to figure out what their new job is. Right. And the last thing on that, in the scary part is, think about everybody that grows up with technology.
My daughter. She's three. She has been using an iPad, gosh, for a year and some change now. And she clicks on as she moves things around. She knows how to get the applications and switch and all that other stuff. People now coming along have eight technical skills. And guess what they can do, they can use an interface on a cloud system and set things up pretty easily.
You're not setting up storage rains like you were before that that skillset is needed in some regards, in some places. But it's changed. You need now people that can act with the business guy, you know, have some of that business and business analysis skill set, and then be able to apply that to a technical system.
That's already a platform that's already kind of built for you, and then you just work within it. That's different than pay on the CIS admin. You know, I've built this server, look at this data center, I set up a kind of skill set. So it's hard to find that because. A lot of the people's backgrounds on the resumes that can do that job.
Don't have it in. So, you know, just this mixing, this, that mix and that kind of transition that we're going through right now is what's made it more difficult, but obviously cybersecurity for obvious reasons, too.

[00:39:47] Jahn Karsybaev: For sure. Yeah. I would imagine that's, you know, the forefront in terms of the most in demand skill set.
And I like what you're saying in terms of, you know, not so much focusing on their past experience and number of years that they had accumulated, but versus, you know, their ability to, you know, to adapt to ability, you know, willingness to learn. you know, I think I couldn't agree more with you from that standpoint and that'd be a lot more important, than just a number of years of experience.
So that's very cool. Marcus, last but not least, what are you currently reading or what is, what is one book that you always recommend to others? Why is that?

[00:40:23] Marcus Session: Well, so I'm currently reading the Phoenix project, and you know, I'm a little bit late to reading that a lot of people have read it and been recommending it for years.
So I finally got around to reading it. Right. And you know, it's pretty good so far. Obviously we were, you know, agile training and all those other things, and it's something we're looking at. And obviously that that's a big, big movement in the industry, so, that book is actually pretty interesting.
It was very well written. And one book I recommend is the start with the Y I believe is what it's called. And the reason for that is that's very central to my core. Like why, like, why are we doing something? You know, what problems are we trying to solve? Why did this problem happen? You know, You have to start with a question when something comes in, you have to, you know, my wife always tells me that it's never a simple answer with you.
You always answer a question with a question, right? Because I need to get clarity around the request and I need to do the context and I'll leave people with that. You know, you have to understand where someone is coming from. That's why I met with everybody in leadership, as much as I could to give their idea and their vision.
And what you learned is there's a lot of competing. Things in it and, or, you know, just in the organization, in terms of what people see that the organization's vision is from their perspective. Right. So how do you bring that together into a cohesive thing? Sometimes I tell you a lot of times that I actually am caught in the middle.
And so if you start with the why, well, why do you want to do that? Yeah. You know, I mean, the example I would give people is if someone came to you and said, Hey, look, man, I want to put clown hats all throughout the airport. Do you just do it? Or do you say, well, why do you want to do that? You're going to ask that question.
So you have to start with that. So that's why I recommend that book because I think it's a good starting point for people because ultimately. I see people are problem solvers. That's what we are at our core. and that asking that question helps us down the road to that. I love it.

[00:42:37] Jahn Karsybaev: I love these recommendations. Definitely gonna make these available in the episode notes. Marcus, can’t thank you enough for your time today. All the lent expertise, I know it was a short visit and he had very insightful conversation. I look forward to staying in touch with you and perhaps do another episode in the near future. See how much I've changed and how you guys are dominating the airline industry.

[00:42:58] Marcus Session: Appreciate it. Thanks for having me on and I'm looking forward to it. And then, Hey, I'll just leave everybody with this. Fly TPA, America's favorite airport.

[00:43:07] Jahn Karsybaev: I love this. Thank you for listening to the Ivy Podcast. Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed on IvyPodcast.com and all major podcasting platforms like Spotify and iTunes. As always. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give us a rating on iTunes.

Joel Patterson – Founder of The Vested Group

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Joel Patterson is the founder of The Vested Group, a business and technology consulting firm in the Dallas, Texas area. Joel has worked in the consulting field for over 20 years. He began his consulting career at Arthur Andersen and Capgemini before helping found Lucidity Consulting Group in 2001.

For 15 years Joel specialized in implementing Tier One ERP, software systems designed to service the needs of large, complex corporations with many departments and locations. These systems were too complex and expensive to meet the needs of his smaller customers.

With the small-to-medium market in mind and years of experience under his belt, he founded The Vested Group in 2011. The Vested Group focuses on bringing comprehensive cloud-based business management solutions to start-ups and well-established businesses alike. Joel and his exceptional team at The Vested Group strive to exceed client expectations and deliver solutions and support that allow companies to thrive.

Joel holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Baylor University. When he’s not creating a fun company culture at The Vested Group, Joel enjoys watching baseball with friends, listening to new music, and spending time outside. He attributes his success to his lovely wife and his patience to his children.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Joel Patterson: [00:00:00] Recruiting has become the number one thing. And we want to always keep that recruiting pipeline filled because we're always looking for really solid culture fits and people that want to learn. And that doesn't just happen when you're in a hiring mode. So you've always gotta be thinking about that and you have to have recruiting in a hiring process that matches it. So what we've done, because we struggled with it just like. Any company, but we've got a process that we're pretty happy with now, and it really starts with a video. So what we tell people is that when you want to apply or you're interested in the organization, whether you were referred in, or you came in through an ad, we will ask you for a two minute video about why you're a good fit for the Vested Group. And that's all the instructions that we give.

You're listening to Ivy podcast, where we feature weekly leadership conversations with thought leaders and industry experts. Now, here is your host, Courtney Dominguez.

[00:01:07] [00:01:00] Cortney Dominguez: [00:01:07] Joel Patterson, welcome to the Ive Podcast. Thanks for hanging out with me today.

[00:01:13] Joel Patterson: [00:01:13] Thank you, Courtney. Glad to be here.

[00:01:15] Cortney Dominguez: [00:01:15] It's been a while. So, tell me a little bit about, obviously tell our listeners about your background and also about the Vested Group.

[00:01:23] Joel Patterson: [00:01:23] They're heavy too. So, Courtney and I have known each other for a lot of years. And if I've done a lot of work together over the years though, it's been a little while, so I had been in the ERP space for over 20 years. And for those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically enterprise, software and really the process of developing requirements and working with companies to define who they want to be, what their future state really looks like. And then implementing a system to support that growth and that expansion in all phases of their business, whether it's accounting and financials or order taking. And we work a lot with industrial manufacturing companies. So we get to work with a lot of companies that are doing some really cool things, making new products, but also companies that have been doing the same thing for a lot of years. Like we've got a company that makes electrical cable. So, for homes. So there's a good variety of companies that we work with. This is the cool thing about this industry and you and I got to work together a long time ago, implementing these systems for various companies, so, yeah, that and I'm actually working on my second company now started a first one in 2001 and had some failure with that company. And that's really what got me to where I am now. And that company, we had a lot of early growth, and a really cool culture at the beginning, but that kind of fell apart as we grew. And we didn't know why. And that really became the impetus of the vessel group. To make it all about the culture and really believing that the way to run a successful business is to make sure that your people are happy. And that's really what we've come to do.

[00:03:07] Cortney Dominguez: [00:03:07] So let's talk about that a little bit, because I know creating culture has been really important to your company. It's been critical to the success of your business. So what are some of the things that you've done to cultivate that and how are you keeping people happy?

[00:03:21] Joel Patterson: [00:03:21] Yeah, it's truly the number one thing. So with the last company, like I was saying, we grew and we were, and then all of a sudden we became very virtual. And as soon as we became an organization where we couldn't keep tabs on everything that was going on with everyone, it's sort of, we just lost that connection. And with this one, what we've decided first is that we want everybody to be together as much as possible that it's not always going to, especially these days. That's not always possible, right. People working remotely or people just located somewhere else. And so then it became about, well, how do we be intentional about that? How do we make sure that our culture is meant to be regardless if they live in Dallas, where we're based or where else in the country? And there's a lot of things that one of the main drivers of it for us is on this concept of coaching. So we've really tried to change how we interact with our people, how supervisory, relationships, function, all of those things that people are used to in a normal business. We want them to be less about telling people what to do and more about helping our people become better versions of themselves and allowing our managers to really focus on, Hey, how do I invest in my team as opposed to, how do I tell my team what to do and how do I constantly worry about whether or not they're getting their stuff done? How do I actually invest in them so that they become more self-driven. They know more about where their blind spots are and where their strengths reside. So we've done a lot around coaching and we have multiple people that help us with that in that we have one person that's focused on strengths finder, if you've ever heard of that, used to be Clifton StrengthsFinder and Gallup actually purchased them. And that's a really nice, easy way for people to learn about themselves. And like my top five strengths are our learner and input and competition, futuristic. And I can't remember the other one. But learning to be at the top is really important for me because I do that's who I am. I love learning about new things. And just being able to identify what that is through this coaching process really allows people to, Oh yeah, I'm good at that. I didn't even think about that, but I'm good at it. And same with the bottom strengths. So that's one way to, it's really sort of very delicately walk into this kind of coaching process. And the other one is that we actually have a process to find a 12 week process. People go through call leadership, authentic leadership, and that is really about recognizing who they are as a person and really understanding what their limiting beliefs might be. And then that was developed over time through coaches or through teachers or parents. But then really trying to understand who your authentic self is. And it sounds like it's more personally focused and it is, but we're believers in that this work-life balance thing that doesn't really exist anymore, it's almost a turn that is negative because it separates the two and it makes it seem like one is bad. The other's good. We want to say that they are completely interconnected and there's no way that you can have a successful business professional life if you're miserable personally, and vice versa. And just recognizing that they do impact each other and allowing people to step into that and try to learn about what they've got going on. And we found that that really does improve engagement and productivity and all the things that you want your people to be through a simple process that they have to be willing to go through, but really is something that we invest in them. And we've thought so far.

[00:07:03] Cortney Dominguez: [00:07:03] So obviously you're seeing a very positive impact, right, by having this program. And have you seen, or your employees really, are they embracing it and they kind of appreciate the journey that I guess that they go on through this process.

[00:07:16] Joel Patterson: [00:07:16] It really throws people off at first. Like it is because it is unique and it is sometimes people think, Oh, that sounds a little new agey. I'm not sure I'm really bought into that, but as we've rolled it out to more people and we've got people that have taken it, talk about it with other people and recognize that, Hey, this is really just about you improving yourself. It's been very well received so much so that the people, I mean, they kind of come out of the woodwork once they get it and say, Hey, this has really changed my life. And that sounds really grand. So I don't want to say that this is going to change everything you've got going on, but for some people it does. And for others, just the knowledge of knowing who they are and how they become that way really allows them to shift gears and be who they want to be. So from a business perspective, what that really has done is allow us to really keep up on our attrition and turnover. This industry has very high turnover. There's always, usually back when I used to work for Arthur Anderson. Right? So for the four kinds of things, there was always somebody in one of those big, before big fixed speaking, six companies, there was throwing out money, trying to recruit as many people as they could. And that would get people bouncing around. And we don't want that. We want people to really be engaged in our business, be engaged with our clients and their colleagues. And we also feel like replacing somebody as a hundred to $150,000 effort. So it's not cheap. So for us, this just going through the process, investing in our people, making sure that they're connected and engaged, there's a real dollar value that's tied to that. And so when you're in an industry with typical 15% turnover, and you can keep that to four or five, I mean, there's real dollars there and that's really what we want to do now that the dollar side of this is a great benefit. This is really more about investing in our people and that's just, it's kind of fun, it's really the right way to run your business. And so, we keep our focus on that, but the fringe benefits are really significant. And especially during this COVID time, just like everyone we've been that prides itself on culture. I've not found a way that we can inject or share our culture with people over a zoom call. You and I have a relationship we haven't really spoken for a long time, several years, the fact that we had a phone relationship, we can just jump right back into it. And it's no big deal at all, and that's the kind of thing that we want to make sure we've got here is that even if I don't see somebody for a year, I have that relationship developed with them where we can be old friends in no time. And we wanna be able to do that at work too. Especially when you get into these projects, that can be very challenging clients, there are a lot of changes that we bring to a client and they don't like it all the time. They know it's a necessary thing to go through, but it's not fun and it's not easy. And so we're when our people are in those environments where they can get very challenging and sometimes even aggressive. You want them to have that bond that allows them to be effective, even in a difficult situation.

[00:10:23] Cortney Dominguez: [00:10:23] Yeah, absolutely. So attrition rates in the technology sector tend to hover around 13% and in large companies it can be upwards around 23%. So, Google, Yahoo, some of the big ones that have very high attrition rates. Talk to me a little bit about, I guess the culture, not just the culture, but hiring into this culture. I mean, I'm sure that when you're hiring these folks in that. You think a lot about how they're going to fit. And I've heard other people talk about how that's probably even more important than having the right skillset. You can teach skills, but you can't necessarily teach somebody to fit into a culture. You know, they have a personality. So how do you go about making sure that you're getting the right people and when you're hiring into the organization

[00:11:07] Joel Patterson: [00:11:07] Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, recruiting has become the number one thing. And we want to always keep that recruiting pipeline filled. Because we're always looking for really solid culture fits and people that want to learn. And that doesn't just happen when you're in a hiring mode. So you've always gotta be thinking about that and you have to have a recruiting and a hiring process that matches it. So what we've done, because we struggled with it just like any company, but we've got a process that we're pretty happy with now, and it really starts with a video. So what we tell people is that when you want to apply or you're interested in the organization, whether you were referred in, or you came in through an ad, we will ask you for a two minute video about why you're a good fit for the Vested Group. And that's all the instructions that we give. And it's funny how over time, you see the differences and how people prepare for that. They mentioned your core, values and purpose. Are they just reading from a script? It's not that there's a wrong answer. It's that you see you just, you pick up on who this person kind of is by how they respond to it. And when you watch a hundred of them, you can really tell the difference now. Sometimes we have videos of people that have worked out really well. The video wasn't great, different personality types, and you take all that into account, but as long as they have made the effort, because we have some people who will try and then they just give up and then they remove themselves from applying and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. And that saved everyone time. But if they do a decent job on that, we'll have them in and then they go through a three-step process. From there, they'll go through three different interviews to make sure that culture fits. And what we ask our people is about something we would call the Sunday test. So when you're interviewing this person and you may not know a lot about them, but certainly when you're sitting down with them, you're going to get some level of a vibe. If that person were to ask you and say, Hey, I've got I'm behind. I really need some help on Sunday. Can you come in and help me out? And yeah, you just met this person, but what does your instinct tell you? Does it tell you that this is the type of person that you're going to want to help out then? Yeah, because that may not be the best of the best use of your time. But if you feel that that desire, that interest to help that person, then they pass the sundae test. And it's very simple for people to understand, but it is maybe the most important piece of that, because you can learn the scale. But you can't necessarily learn, necessarily learn how to be a good culture fit. That's really about being authentic and being who I feel like we've spent some

[00:13:41] Cortney Dominguez: [00:13:41] Saturdays, Sundays, late nights, a lot of those together, if you don't have the Anderson days.

[00:13:49] Joel Patterson: [00:13:49] Yes. For sure. I think about those are the times those are the memories that you remember. It's kind of miserable sometimes in the middle of it, but those are the things that you look back on. You're like, man, that was actually kind of fun, even though it was hard. We had a good time and those are important.

[00:14:02] Cortney Dominguez: [00:14:02] Yeah, absolutely. No, there's a couple of Sundays. I can remember that. Maybe that's not what I wanted to be doing at the time, but I look back on it now with fond memories. So those are the ones that stick, not the Monday, Tuesday, Monday through Friday, it's the Saturdays and Sundays. So tell me a little bit, you mentioned culture in the beginning having kind of an environment where things were more virtual and obviously over the past year. Lots of things have been more virtual, whether we liked it or not. And I know, in your culture, you like everybody to be close together, but obviously over the past year that wasn't probably the case where most people could be together. So how did you keep the company culture and keep, I guess, that feeling of being together when you couldn't be together, how did you make sure that you were still addressing that even over the difficult time over the past year.

[00:14:52] Joel Patterson: [00:14:52] Yeah. So we certainly changed what we were doing and how we're going about it. And you're right. I mean, I continued to come into the office the whole time and a lot of days I was here by myself and it was really just because I just, I liked the energy of it and it felt like I needed that. Being an effective leader. But what we quickly realized is that we needed to shift a little bit. I mean, the overall messaging is still the same, but how we deliver it, how often we deliver it. A lot of that needed to be modified. So what we've done is we've over the last year, really focused on four things. Transparency in that, what we tell people and how we tell them nobody expects us to have all of the answers going into what's happened over the last year. But they do have every expectation that you are doing everything you can define them. And to come up with a way for us to get through this. And so that has been key in that we have never once said, Hey, we've got all the answers for this. It's more about, this is what we're trying. This didn't work, but this is what we're trying now. And it is working and continuing that process until we find things that have done what we needed them to do. So transparency is one, providing purpose is very critical in that if people are bored or they're slow or they that's the worst. I mean, that sounds great for some people like, Oh, well, I can just sit around and do nothing, but when you're alone at your house and you don't have that regular contact and you feel like you just aren't fulfilling, what you need to do is take chances. You're getting a lot of negative emotion from that. So having purpose and that just means work in a lot of ways is important. Communication is the third one, and that's really in both directions, just making sure that we're communicating one of the major things that I've changed in the last year is I do. I started doing a weekly video. I brew every Friday or sometimes it comes out over the weekend, but I'll send out less than 10 minute videos of the whole company, just, Hey, this is what we've got going on. And I've gotten really good feedback from that. And that's something that I'll continue to do even long-term every week, if we don't have our monthly meeting, they'll get a video. And then the final thing is fun. Just having a good time and finding ways for people to connect early on, we were a lot of virtual happy hours and things like that. And we've had to get a little bit more creative to make sure that people are engaged. But you've got to do that if they don't have that opportunity to talk outside of work, somehow, you're going to lose some of those connections. So transparency, purpose, communication, and fun are really the main things that we focused on in the last 9-10 months.

[00:17:23] Cortney Dominguez: [00:17:23] I think communication's been really critical for everybody really, because it is so easy to fall behind your video, behind your screen and not really connecting with people and not asking, how are you doing? How to make sure people are okay. And I think that more and more I'm hoping that's one of the things that really sticks coming out of this is that people are really empathetic and trying to make sure that everybody's all right. And reaching out because I just feel like that's a lot harder to do when you're not sitting next to somebody in the office and you don't see them coming in and having a bad day or cause it's just easy to turn your camera off and say, I'm having a bad day and leave me alone, that's that is tough.

[00:18:01] Joel Patterson: [00:18:01] And that's the thing that I don't think we've got an answer for yet. Although there's some very 1984-ish thought police products coming down the pike where they'll do some, so they'll analyze your posture or your facial expressions and things, and really give you kind of a, Hey, is everything okay? That's a weird one. I don't know exactly how I feel about that yet. Because sometimes you do just have a bad day and you don't necessarily need an AI calling you out on it.

[00:18:30] Cortney Dominguez: [00:18:30] Right. He's in a permanently bad mood, just leave her alone for the next month.

[00:18:36] Joel Patterson: [00:18:36] Exactly, exactly. So, we'll see how that ultimately plays out, but that is the piece that I think is still missing from the new work from home world is how are we dealing with people that are having a rough day or consistently having a rough day? How do we keep them engaged? We don't have all the answers for that yet, but you're the one thing I do know is it's going to take intention. Nobody's just going to be able to fall into that. You're going to have to do things that are intentional of you reaching out and making sure that your people are okay.

[00:19:03] Cortney Dominguez: [00:19:03] Yeah, I absolutely agree with that. I think you 're making sure that you're doing those things cause it's just not going to happen on its own. So, hopefully, we'll be able to transition back into the office sometime soon and things will get back to whatever normal is? So it's probably not going to be exactly the same, but I'm sure, like I said, I hope there's a few of these things that really do stick because Zoom, happy hours are fun, but regular happy hours are a good time as well. So be good to get back to those.

[00:19:34] Joel Patterson: [00:19:34] And I'm okay with going to restaurants and people's wait staff. So wearing masks, some of these things are okay too. So see how they play out.

[00:19:43] Cortney Dominguez: [00:19:43] I'm a big fan of the QR codes for the menus. I really like to have it on my phone and I don't want to touch a dirty menu. So I'm all good with that. That can stay around for a long time as far as I'm concerned. So it's all good. So let's talk about diversity. So diversity in tech, I mean, this has been an issue forever. There's a lot of statistics that show that it really hasn't even gotten that much better. Although, I know a lot of companies make efforts to do that. In December Harvard business review published an article that said that tech companies really need to start thinking outside of those tech hubs, right? They need to start thinking outside of New York, California, Massachusetts, and move to where the talent is clustered in. And I think now more than ever a lot of people you're seeing these people leaving some of the big cities and going to where they have more space and being able to get out and have a yard. And Texas was actually highlighted as one of those areas where there's a very high tech diversity scale is what they call it at the HBR. So you happen to be located in Texas as well. So tell me a little bit about what you think needs to be done as far as creating a culture that's inclusive, and increasing the diversity in it.

[00:20:56] Joel Patterson: [00:20:56] Yeah. I mean, it's an interesting problem. So, my background is I've got siblings that are African-Americans. So I grew up kind of in that world. And it was interesting when all the social justice stuff started happening this year, how throughout my life, I'd always kind of put myself in a different category because of my background and what I realized this year that that's not right. There's still assumptions that I make, or maybe certain things that get said that I don't even take into account that might be creating issues. So, I think we've all learned, hopefully, everyone's learned something this year, but I think that the biggest thing when it comes to our industry is really just going back to being intentional. When we're in, like even right now, we're in active recruiting mode. And when I look at the people that we've got on our list that we're talking to right now, there's a lot of white male, and it's not because we don't want to talk to women or to minorities. That's not the case at all. A lot of times that we just don't get applicants. And so what we've done is we are intentionally reaching out to people that we believe we could recruit and would be a good fit and create some diversity for us internally. Because we want that. I mean, I like diversity. Diversity is really kind of what brings new ideas and, and it's a good thing. So we're just having to be a little more intentional than what we were before and our numbers are pretty decent. We just looked at him, so we are about a third women, just under 33% and we are just under 25% minority. And on the grants scale, that's actually pretty good. But it's even 33%, if the world is half women, half men and we're trailing pretty far behind on just that, so yeah. For us, I do see improvements on both sides on minorities in it, as well as women. Those numbers seem to be going up, but there's still a long way to go. And I think a lot of it is just making people understand that this is a good industry for them. I think for a long time, because we were a high travel industry, women would tend to fall out of that, especially if they were in their time for potentially having kids. And nowadays there's so much like we've got women here. We've got one that just came back from her second maternity leave and it's worked great. We're able to modify some of how she works, even before COVID she was doing a lot of work from home. She wants to stay engaged in the company and keep working. So we want to support that. And she's, I mean, she actually started, she was one of our first hires and was a functional consultant. Now she's a developer. I mean, she's done all these great things and we want her out talking to people. And we want her out talking to kids and really supporting that. We've got a couple of ladies here that started an IT for women networking group. Because there aren't a lot of those running around. They actually just launched that last month. So those are the kinds of things. I think that it's going to take that, to get people excited about the industry and to let them know that this is a good industry for them, because the thing you can do here that you can't do in most is you can learn. So much about business and how companies are run, where they struggle because you get to bounce around a lot. And so for anybody that likes a little excitement, a little volatility in what they do, excitement yeah. Outside of it relates exactly. But for us, for those of us in it, it is exciting. There are a lot of really cool things that can be done and we just need to continue to push that out and get out there and talk to, especially the kids that are coming up through the ranks right now and let them know what reality is.

[00:24:28] Cortney Dominguez: [00:24:28] I think, right now it's such a great time for kids because there's so many STEM options that they don't even know, that they're learning and they don't even realize that they're kind of in that IT space. I see a lot of my daughter's friends and they're doing roadblocks or they're doing Minecraft. And I just read an article today about a guy who's making $500,000 a month. He's in his twenties and he's just doing it by streaming, playing games. Like, I don't know about you, but I should have really, I may reconsider it still, but I mean, $500,000 a month to do that is pretty, pretty incredible. And to be in your twenties, I mean, I could work one month and be happy. I wouldn't even need a couple of months. I could do one month and then vacation for the rest of the year. So, there's so many new options, I think out there when we were in school, it was, you went to school. If you wanted to really get into IT, you got a computer science degree and then you became a developer. So, but now there's so many great options, and I think you're right. I think it's about educating and talking to kids about IT because there's a lot of options you don't have to just be a program or you don't have to be a computer science nerd or whatever you can have a lot of different ways to get into the industry.

[00:25:47] Joel Patterson: [00:25:47] It really forces them to think about problems differently. That's what I liked is they have to get through that kind of if then else sort of that's and that's really what we're going for. If you can just understand those kinds of dependencies in how you solve problems. I mean, whether you're coding or whether you're just working on a business process, it's the same kind of thought process that you go through. And that helps them a lot. Just getting exposed to some kind of IT logic.

[00:26:12] Cortney Dominguez: [00:26:12] Yeah. I hear you. And back to what we were saying earlier, I think that's something that's very difficult to teach. I don't think you can necessarily teach problem solving or analytical skills. I mean, it's really working on that and developing IT. It's not like I can tell you how to get from A to Z, you really have to try to figure that out on your own and the baths aren't always the same. There's different paths to get there.

[00:26:33] Joel Patterson: [00:26:33] Sure.

[00:26:35] Cortney Dominguez: [00:26:35] So Joel, as somebody, I mean, you've been a serial entrepreneur for a while. I mean, you came from Anderson, but since then you've done a lot of other things and created several successful companies. So tell me and tell our listeners, I guess, what advice you would give and what are some of those lessons learned? It sounds like you shared a few of those already talking about how your first company now your second company and culture obviously is one of the big factors in that and maybe the factor, but what are some of the other lessons learned that you would share?

[00:27:06] Joel Patterson: [00:27:06] Yeah, I think the biggest thing is it sounds simple, but you need a plan, right? And there are several tools out there that can help you with this, but one way to make just the overall experience of running a business easier is to follow a plan. We use something called Rockefeller habits, which are some 10 habits that Johnny Rockfeller really believed in how he grew his companies. And that's a scaling up philosophy. There's also one called EOS, which is an entrepreneurial operating system. They're kind of similar and they're really based on three things. One is having meeting rhythms. So we have a daily huddle. Everybody in the organization participates in a daily huddle, which takes about 10 minutes in the morning. And then we have a weekly leadership huddle. So, one of the things is making sure you've got rhythms. The second thing is having an aligned leadership team. And making sure that you've got a group that is driving your business forward. And the final thing is having a critical number or two. And that's really how you determine the health of your organization. There's a lot of things that make that up, but what it does is it really allows you to get your organization in an easily communicated plan so that everyone understands what you're trying to accomplish. Part of building that plan is identifying your core values and your purpose. And those should drive everything. You're hiring our business pers purpose, the best job ever. And with that, we want our people. That means something different for everyone, but we want our people when they're sitting down with their grandkids someday. And describing what their best job was and their career. We want them talking about this place. And so we believe that. what I mean, you've got to own that. So that along with our six core values is really how we run the business. And unfortunately, a lot of times people hear mission statements or values or whatever, and it gets sort of just kind of brushed aside because for a lot of years it was just something hanging on the wall. But if you don't do that and you have actually taken this stuff to heart and you actually make your decisions based on it, you'd be shocked at how much it simplifies things. So making sure that you've got that. And then the final thing I'd say is just authenticity. You gotta be you as you're investing in people, as you are recruiting, as you're working with your clients, just be you. I think we've gotten. I still run across people like this where it's kind of like Gordon Gekko, or they think that if they yell at people, right, that's how you manage well, and that's how you create it. That's just so not true. And it's the polar opposite of that you want people to see that you care and that you want. So, when you want to see them grow, when it creates an opportunity for them to grow, if you do that, I think people will believe it they'll trust you. And when you get to that level of trust and vulnerability that you need, then that's really when things just take off and you can focus on the stuff that grows your business. So, have a plan, whether it's Rockefeller habits or something else, make sure you've got values and purpose, and then just be authentic. I think that will serve you really well and invest in your people.

[00:30:16] Cortney Dominguez: [00:30:16] Do it all day, Joel, I am looking forward to being able to get on a plane again soon and coming to hang out in Texas. So in visiting you and seeing your company there. So thank you so much in the meantime, we'll have to do this virtually from now on, but thank you for coming on the Ivy Podcast with me and sharing your insights. It's been great.

[00:30:34] Joel Patterson: [00:30:34] Absolute pleasure, Courtney, look forward to getting on the road again as well. And we'll see you in the airport.

[00:30:41] Cortney Dominguez: [00:30:41] That's right. And if nothing else, we'll see. So you're in Miami, right?

[00:30:44] Joel Patterson: [00:30:44] Yes. Ma'am

[00:30:45] Cortney Dominguez: [00:30:45] All right. Cheers. Thanks, Joel.

We really hope you've enjoyed this episode. Please take a moment to rate, subscribe, and leave a review on your preferred podcast listening platform. We really appreciate that effort until next time.

Gerald Beuchelt – Chief Information Security Officer/VP at Sprinklr

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Gerald is the Chief Information Security Officer/Vice President for Sprinklr’s products andcorporate assets.In his prior role as Chief Information Security Officer/Vice President for LogMeIn, he was responsible for the security, compliance, and technical privacy of LogMeIn’s products and corporate assets. Before, Gerald was Chief Security Officer for Demandware, a Salesforce Company, responsible for security and acting Chief Privacy Officer and Data Protection Officer for Demandware’s German subsidiary.Previously, he worked for Sun Microsystems, Inc. in various roles, including the BusinessAlliances Group of Sun’s Chief Technologist’s Office. He is a member of the Infragard Member Alliance Boston Chapter Board of Directors and the IT Sector Chief, as well as a National Subject Matter Expert for Infragard, and has served on the board of other national membership organizations.Gerald holds a Master of Science degree in theoretical physics.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:00:00] So the cyber security industry has been in some ways a wonderful opportunity to really start to rethink some of the controls, some of the technologies that are being used. I think for us as implementing companies, there's been definitely a bunch of challenges the first couple of weeks of the lockdowns, really, where it's like, how can I actually make sure that my employees can still work? Like at all? Right. It's like, I mean, there were simple civil artists, seemingly simple challenges. Like, does everybody have a laptop? It's like, no, like some people didn't say, how do you get laptops out there? It's like in a time when there was really a shortage of laptops, because everybody needed one, it's like going over monitors, webcams, right? It's like the whole nine yards. There's a lot of those kinds of trivial things.

Thank you for listening to Ivy podcast where we feature. When leadership conversations with thought leaders and industry experts. Now here's your host bread, Fred Obiero.

[00:01:04] [00:01:00] Fred Obiero: [00:01:04] Welcome to the Ivy Podcast, Gerald. I'm so happy to have you.

[00:01:08] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:01:08] Thank you so much for having me. It's like, this is funny. It's like, I'm really doing this.

[00:01:14] Fred Obiero: [00:01:14] All right. For all listeners that don't know you. Why don't you give us a brief introduction about yourself and your role and how you ended up in information security?

[00:01:24] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:01:24] It's just like my name's Jared Michelle's, I’m the chief information security officer, of course, Bigler, we're a software as a service company, focusing on marketing tech, automation. And it's like, I just recently took up this position, so don't be too hard on me in terms of like, what's going on. It's like, I'm still learning. We're just part of the experience. I got into nineties.

[00:01:49] Fred Obiero: [00:01:49] What's that? I'll take it easy on you.

[00:01:50] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:01:50] Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Perfect. Now it's definitely been a long journey for me in many ways since like, it's been super interesting to see how information security, how the information industry in general has been changing over the last decades. Literally, it started out in a pre-sales kind of situation a long time ago which was something that I would actually encourage him. Anyone, but it's like, especially working in security too, to really do at some point in the careers, mainly because it's like, it gives you an appreciation for customers in terms of how to deal with stakeholders, et cetera. So I was like that. I think that was a really important part of the step, but really getting into information security. I got over time first focusing on interoperability between different systems. And if I look at interoperability then security often plays a pretty crucial role in terms of moving those things forward. I then got ultimately into a hardcore security by ways ofidentity management, which again was something a little bit more of a interoperable, interoperability kind of a play initially but then dug deeper and deeper instead of. Now been at my third software as a service company doing the CSO or security chief security guy role, which is obviously something that is particularly important for software as a service companies, given that customers trust us and our systems with their processes, their data, and their critical kind of business interactions that they add that they need to do. And I think that is really important to keep in mind. That that software as a service really needs to establish that trust with our customer base and then maintain it over time.

[00:03:38] Fred Obiero: [00:03:38] You recently moved to sprinkler after spending time with me as a chief information security officer. And I think this is the perfect timing for us to have this conversation because transitional leadership is something that's very crucial to the success of any company that somebody may be taking over having transitioned from a previous organization. Talk us through some of the challenges that new leaders face when they transition into a new organization and also the best practices on how to effectively deliver on key strategic goals.

[00:04:08] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:04:08] Sure love to. I think the key element here is to really understand as early as possible and as deep as possible, what that business is really about that you're getting yourself into. I mean, I always feel strongly about the idea that in order to be able to create a good security program, a good security strategy for any organization. You really need to understand the business objectives, the mission goals, whatever that organization does to the last teeth. Because it's like, if you do not align the security program with what the company or the organization is truly about, you end up missing the biggest point. It's like, because we're not doing security just for security sake or because it's important or because somebody else told us to, well, sometimes we do, but it's like at the end of the day, it should really be aligned with what the company does. So understanding the business is, I think that is the first, this is something that anyone who's in transitioning from one role to another should be probably doing as they go through the initial interview cycles. It's like, you've got to figure out what is a company that I feel comfortable with. And that was definitely something that I felt strongly about when I started to talk to the people that they're starting to look at, how they've been building their business and what their overall objectives are. So, that's the first step is it's like really that, and that happens long before you even start to transition. It's like then as it gets closer to service, like, one of the things that I've done and that I would recommend everybody do is stop reaching out, just like starting reaching out to the folks who we'll be working with. Start having some discussions, if you can afford that. And as far as timing goes, start to really dig one LA. Well down in terms of like, what's the organization look like? What's the culture at the company, right? How are the people actually interacting with each other and what are they, what do they think about security? It's like both the security team, but also the rest of the organization. For example, platform as a service privacies, as something that's important, how does it work? How's the legal team structured? But did they think about security and privacy? What do sales think about that? Right? It's like what is important to them? Do they see a lot of requests for security related conversations or not? So really start to dig one level deeper. Obviously you have to understand the technology. There's no question about that. But one of the things that I always like to say is that people process technology, literally in that order, as I started, I understand that people start out at the end of the processes and then also start to understand the technology that you're dealing with as you move forward. That should get you right to where you start. And then once you start, obviously, there's so many recommendations from the gardeners, the foresters and the analysts on the planet. Literally it's like, well, how should the first a hundred days for Cecil look like? And a lot of those are really good. It's like most of those have similar kinds of general approaches, assess the organization, make relationships with the people that you will be dealing with on a personal level. It's like to really understand how they tick and what they need from you and then it really starts as you move along, it's like starting to draft a story strategy in terms of like, what is most important to look at the crown jewels or the organization is that systems, is that processes, is that data? Is that a business relationship? I think all of those can be relevant in this context. And it's like, you really have to understand how you want to protect it, those things. And also start to really have a serious discussion about things like the risk appetite and tolerance, right? It's like for fast growing businesses that are moving quickly. And that really does not have a lot of time because there's a lot of market pressure on them. You may have a much bigger risk tolerance than lost large established businesses that have a lot to lose. Right? So you really want to find out from a leadership perspective, from a board level perspective, where are those lines being drawn? It's like, what's the minimum risk appetite. How much are you really pushing for people to take risks? And what's the top level we say is like, this is getting a little bit too problematic. Like all those kinds of things really need to happen almost in parallel. Right? It's like and then as you move forward and as you go in, depending on the size of the organization, you want to pull in some outside help as well. I would never claim in a million years that I understand enough about all aspects of security that I could really, as they come in as the genius and then, oh my God. It's like, I find everything about that needs to be found out. You want to have strategic assessments, but the companies that know how to do this, you want to probably do some offensive security poking around the company and not just like a simple pen test, but really something that is full scope, so to speak. So red teaming. You wanna try to look at the threat landscape that the company faces and those kinds of things for me, come at it a little bit of a later time. Once you start to really understand what's going on, but they definitely need to be part of your planning process as well.

[00:09:04] Fred Obiero: [00:09:04] If I go piggyback off of what you just said about some of the things that come over in the long-term, let's talk about the 30, 60, 90 day timeframe for a leader, a strategic leadership. What are some of the things to the extent that you can share that part of the 30, 60, 90 day implementation, even though you have an eye to this strategy, strategic vision of the organization, what are some of those things that fall within the first three months of a transitional leadership?

[00:09:34] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:09:34] I would say it depends a little bit again on the size of the organization and the size of the complexity of where you go. If you go into a fortune 10 company, there's a lot to learn. It's like, learning is probably going to be a huge element of the first 90 days, just to really understand who the people are that you're actually dealing with. If you go into a startup with 20 folks, then one of the people is actually pretty quick. Because it's like, so that's a bunch of meetings and then you'd done it and you can really roll up your sleeves and get to work. So I don't think there's a one size fit, all fits. All right. Like there's this typical thing that you would do for organizations of certain sizes, certain complexities, certain market segments. Right? If you start thinking about, If I were to go into a highly regulated industry, like in healthcare or government or what have you, the first 30 days would be looking at somewhat differently if I'm at versus like going into some larger company, perhaps that is totally unregulated, right? That it's just like moving at the speed of light, pretty much in terms of moving forward. So I'm always somewhat skeptical. I was like, Oh, you've got it. Within the first 30 days, you gotta do X, Y, and Z. And then 60 days you're gonna need to have X, Y, and Z. This is achieved, et cetera, that fields too much cookie cutter. And it's like, I think it's not really a consideration of what I was saying before is like really learning the business, really understanding what the motivator is for the company writ large and the individuals that are making up the company. It looks like, but Evan said that. It's always okay. But then a couple of things you can do is like I said, it's like meet the right people, like meet your team, right? If you're coming into a security team, you really want to understand how the security team works. There's no question about that. Because I mean, those are the guys and gals that you're working with on a daily basis. So I was like, what their motivator is, what their concerns and challenges are. I think that's most important, right? It's like, get the team, they get to learn the team, get behind the team in any way possible. And that, depending on the size of the team that can take some time, I think the next step then is obviously to work with the stakeholders, right? Like I was saying before legal sales, finance, HR, literally across the entire security tends to be a very all encompassing discipline. Like there's everything that we do can negatively or positively impact the security. So say you really want to make sure that you understand everything at the horizontal level, but also at the vertical level, right? It's like, you want to make sure that you get the opportunity to talk to senior leadership, to talk to the board, to talk to those folks that are really having risk on their mind in a language, in a way that is relevant to them, right? It's like, if you go into the wall, I found X, Y, and Z vulnerabilities in my first week. It's like, yeah, good job. But that doesn't necessarily mean something for somebody who's looking at how to develop the corporation over the next two or three years. Right. So it was like really find the right audience, find the right level and talk to them. Then the sec, like I said, I think it's like understanding the long-term mid-term and long-term strategy for the company. It's like understanding the business goals, the way the company aims to achieve them. I think it's critical in terms of moving forward with your strategy. So that could be in the kind of like 60 day category, if you want a really starting to formulate that. And then in parallel, really starting those kinds of external assessments that I was talking about is like, what, Steve what's this really independent third party. Think about the overall security posture that we have today is like does that compare to industry standards of where we are? How does it look from an offensive security perspective? It's like, if we can start to fish, people's like, how does that feel like, is that lateral movement in the networks? Do we have the necessary controls in place to prevent, but also then react to potential security issues as they may arise and go through all those kinds of things, then that would be something of more than 90 days. And then it's really a rinse and repeat it's like the threat landscape never stands still technology, certainly never. And still people move forward. Business changes, customer expectations, regulatory expectations, change on a go on, go on basis. And as all those kinds of things before you really need to make sure that what you've done the first couple of weeks, months, really adjusts appropriately with what you're doing in the long-term.

[00:14:01] Fred Obiero: [00:14:01] Wonderful to me, the biggest takeaway from everything you just went over and you mentioned some really great points, but the biggest takeaway for me is building those relationships ahead of time so that when you hit the ground running, you already know how people react, what they like to do, where those needs for improvement. I think once you solidify that it makes it an easier transition. So that's one of the biggest takeaways for me, as far as what you just covered. Makes sense.

[00:14:26] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:14:26] Yep. Yeah. I think that's super important. Right?

[00:14:31] Fred Obiero: [00:14:31] The COVID-19 pandemic has made many organizations adapt their operations by transitioning into working remote for a large majority of the employees. What are some of the major risks that this sudden change caused to the cyber security industry? And what strategies did you implement to ensure a smooth transition?

[00:14:51] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:14:51] So, the industry I think has been really sort of a cyber security industry has been in some ways a wonderful opportunity to really start to rethink some of the control, some of the technologies that are being used. I think for us as implementing companies there's been definitely a bunch of challenges. The first couple of weeks of the lockdowns,it's like, how can I actually make sure that my employees can still work? Like at all? I mean, there were simple civil or seemingly simple challenges. Like, does everybody have a laptop? It's like some people didn't say, how do you get laptops out there? It's like in a time when there was really a shortage of laptops, because everybody needed one, it's like going over monitors, webcams, right? It's like the whole nine yards. There's a lot of those kinds of trivial things the network bent with on the last mile was an issue. And definitely more than what, just one or two sick areas. Literally hundreds and hundreds of people were going online during the day. Some of them streaming, some of them trying to work, everybody's like transporting video signals in some form or another, the bandwidth, which is sometimes not there, both at the residential or at the last mile, as well as at the VPN concentrators are some of the data centers where companies were just set up to have people work from the office and not having to provide like massive amount of VPN. So from that perspective, I think testing to this situation that you went from, depending on what kind of company, was almost zero work from home to a hundred percent work from home literally overnight. And in some cases I think there were huge logistical challenges, huge operational challenges. Which was really part and parcel of the capability of the IT teams and security teams to move things forward. So, it was really important to be very agile in terms of your rollout. I think those companies that most deeply invested in software as a service infrastructure, zero trust kind of infrastructures were really getting away the easiest. It's just like, I remember it's like we, I'd log me in at the time we had pretty much everything on the business back and wherever possible. It's like a software, as a service, kind of as a set up, like appropriate identity protections, et cetera. And then really moving things forward in a most efficient kind of way. So it's like, from that perspective at those kinds of things were most critical.

[00:17:30] Fred Obiero: [00:17:30] I've spoken to some CSOs in the past with a beat on the podcast webinars. So just no conversations on hallways. One of the things that was a big challenge during the pandemic was when people are now fully working remote. Not all employees are going to be within the boundaries of, let's say, the United States. Some people may be in Spain. Some people may be in Cuba. What are some of the challenges that come with that kind of a diversified and widespread workforce? Do you have bigger threats if people are working, let's say, EST hours, but they're based in Spain or somewhere in Europe. Is that an issue that you guys face?

[00:18:09] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:18:09] I would say. From a security person, I mean, from an IT perspective, logistics and coordination meetings, it's time zone politeness to some extent, definitely was an issue as well. I was like, Hey, I got to schedule a meeting. It's like, Oh, I never realized it was two o'clock in the morning. And I don't know India or Australia or whatever. It's like, I think it happened to a lot of us who've not been really used to that. So I liked driving. That was really important. It's like making sure that we were able to still continue working appropriately. I think from a security perspective, one of the things that was really a problem at the beginning, was along the lines of that we really ended up being in a situation where we were no longer able to reach employees the same way we were able to reach them while they were in the office. It's like in the office, we have digital signage, we have posters, we have outreach, we have little flyers or all kinds of ways of really interacting with employees in a very dynamic, kind of a way, reminding them of their security responsibilities, reinforcing security awareness over and over again. And that kind of went out the window again overnight. Right? It's like, along with the fact that a lot of people were really concerned about what was going on, just like from a health perspective, from an economic perspective, et cetera. So there was a lot of lack of focus. It sounds like that's something, what I mean? It was really a lot of focus, other topics that were more important to employees at the time, everybody at the time, so that security to some extent, started to take a step back and it's like if call the initial fishing, and fish fishing activities and scams and ransomware, they really started at that time were focused around the pandemic, around the lockdowns. It's like, John Hopkins University map application, which was like, kind of silly. In and by itself, it was really successful in getting a lot of bad code on people's machines because people were clamoring for information. So that breakdown of communications from the security teams to the individual employees in the very beginning of the lockdowns, I think was problematic, right? People were clicking stuff out of fear, because they were interested in terms of what was going on, et cetera, et cetera. And those kinds of things really made it. I think I've adjusted fairly well over time, by changing the way we interact with each other, the way we started to do all kinds of it's like online meetings, coffee hours or a Thursday afternoon. It's like just a happy hour or whatever. It's like those kinds of things that really brought people to get together. And I think that really made a difference in terms of the ability to reach out. It's like, I remember we had back in the days long ago and we used to have virtual, we used to have security escape rooms, right. Just to get people interested and it's like playing around with stuff. And it's like, really the classical escape room kind of thing, the team was able to move this over to do a virtual escape room for that. And as a matter of fact, it's like we ultimately replaced the boring computer-based training for employee onboarding with that virtual escape room ultimately, it actually is too. So I think there's a lot of good stuff that came out of it, but it definitely took a while to really get those kinds of communication flows going.

[00:21:43] Fred Obiero: [00:21:43] That's interesting. I had never heard of the virtual escape room, but it's definitely something that I probably should try. My team here processes it.

[00:21:51] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:21:51] Yeah, no, it's great fun. And it's much more playful, is that the gamification of learning stuff I think has really been one of the best developments in terms of how we deal with security overalls, like going away from these, like here's a half hour worth of. But slides you've got to click through, which nobody did. It was like nobody paid attention.Let's be all real, to something where you really have to in some form or another interact with your respect for PS. I think that makes a huge difference with regards to how sticky the content ultimately gets, because it's like, if you, if it becomes an interactive kind of a setting, it is much more of a topic that the people engage with and then take more learnings from it.

[00:22:41] Fred Obiero: [00:22:41] IT and information security have been front and center for supporting workforces around the world. And at the same time, as companies were dealing with business disruptions and loss of revenue, What recommendations can you share on how to influence corporate leaders to invest in cybersecurity? When revenues may have fallen across the board, due to the pandemic?

[00:23:01] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:23:01] Oh, there's always the shortfall in budgets that we're facing. Right. It's like, whether it's a lockdown, a pandemic, an economic downturn, I mean, I think it looks like security is not the only thing that is relevant and important. This many other aspects of a business that are very relevant as well. And that needs to be balanced against security goals. I think what it really comes down to, like I was talking in the beginning of psych, is that an organization really needs to understand the security and risk posture. It has to identify for itself, whether that's acceptable or not. It's like we can, there's a lot of different ways in terms of like how you can I deal with a security risk. You can, mitigated in some form or another, by lowering the likelihood you can lower the potential impact and event may have. Which is the traditional kind of way of looking at security. But you can also transfer risk, right? It's like you get cyber insurance. Is that going to have an impact on your business if you have an event? Absolutely. But at the very least you're capable of recovering portions of a, or maybe it was like a lot of the potential loss that you move maybe facing from a problematic event. You can also accept the risk, right? I mean, at the end of the day, it's like if it comes down to being able to go to the market fast or securing your systems in the long run, sometimes you just want to accept the risk and say like, look, we know probably if something bad is going to happen on the way, we don't know exactly what it's going to be. We want to mitigate this to the extent possible, where we have to take this risk, because if we don't, then the risk of us going out of business would be bigger. So, a long story is like how you would deal with these kinds of things. At the end of the day, the rationalization around whether I want to invest in security or how I want to look at security really comes back to this, like where do I stand from a security posture? Risk posture perspective that is commensurate with my goals is like, is not investing. Security is something that I can afford. Right. Because if you look at secondary and tertiary effects of what can happen, you may end up being in a position where losing confidence, your customer's confidence in your ability to deliver a secure service may ultimately take down your business. And whatnot. Right? So it's like these kinds of calculations really have to have to get into play. And based on that, I think it really then comes down to an investment decision as like, do we invest more in security? Do we keep it even, but do we maybe even remove some funding from security in order to be able to fund other activities in the company? Haven't said that it's like, I think one thing that's super important is security and the threat landscape changes on a constant basis. And I usually like to compare, it's like driving a security program, like splitting up a river, right? If you exert some forces, you have to exert some fools, you have to exert some growth and some strength just to stay away. You walk, otherwise you gotta be washed down the river. Right. So if you stop and in terms of what's going on, your security posture is going to go down. I'll put time, just because of the way things work. You have to really actively move forward. And yeah. That comes sometimes with additional investment that comes sometimes with the restructuring of the kind of resources you have at the time, but standing still and just hoping that everything has kind of stayed away. It’s definitely going to increase your security exposure.

[00:26:41] Fred Obiero: [00:26:41] Going into your new role at Sprinklr. What are some of the strategic initiatives that you believe new leaders should focus on to obtain buy-in from their teams and also to build a strong foundation following the negative impact of the pandemic?

[00:26:55] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:26:55] I think what's really important at this point in time is to make sure that all the good stuff that we already have is fully accounted for. And that we can really align the business objectives that we have for the company with the security program itself, right. Just like security programs, like I said, never stand on their own. It's like, they're not in an empty space and it's like as the company moves forward and grows as quickly across the board across a large variety of customers that we're serving, we really need to make sure that the security program supports these. So for example, we recently earlier this year, we achieved a FedRAMP readiness status for a file product, which means that they are ready to be used in the context of federal activities, which is awesome. This is really great to see the possibility of a much improved customer experience, not only in the commercial sector, but also for citizens. It's like really making. The interaction with the IRS. So the social security administration, more pleasant. I know it can sound a little weird, but I think we can't get there. But in order to be able to get to that point, it's obviously very important to me, to all the kinds of requirements that are very different from a public sector perspective, versus like a private sector perspective and security can definitely play a big role in this. So it was like helping to move those kinds of strategic initiatives forward. I think it's going to be a very important point as we move on.

[00:28:36] Fred Obiero: [00:28:36] Digital risk management is now in the forefront of business models with the increase of remote workers. What are some of the emerging threats that companies need to prepare for going forward?

[00:28:47] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:28:47] So, I mean, it's usually what's the crystal ball for 20, 21 and 22. Right? It's like that's predicted. I think it's, there's a couple of interests, trends happening across the board. I think what we are seeing, which is to some extent a result of the experiences that a lot of companies have during the lockdowns and the sudden explosion of work from home, is that the reliance on a utility computing model like through software, as a service. That has shown to be very resilient, right? If you run your own email server from a basement and suddenly nobody can get to that basement anymore because he can't go there because everything's closed down that spells trouble is like just it realistically speaking. And obviously it hasn't been that bad for most companies. But it's, I mean, that's the general kind of a just way to go on. If you instead are capable of really relying on. On the expertise and really the knowledge of service companies to provide you in. Like I said, a utility form of computing across critical business functions that you're not an expert in yourself then I think that's a much more, same model for it. So it's like the security challenges around that are going to be, how do we now really integrate all these things securely? Because if we don't, then we see that employees are starting to go off and say like, Hey, I really want to do X, Y, and Z. But the company is a collaboration platform or information sharing platform or whatever. It's like, doesn't really support it. I'm just going to open up a new Google account and then I'm just going to put it on Google drive, what can possibly go wrong? Right? So those kinds of making sure that the organizations are agile and resilient enough in order to be able to address the needs from employees while still maintaining this high degree of resiliency across the business operations. I think that's going to be the theme and topic for you for the next couple of years, as we revisit our business continuity plans, as we are starting to really look more into making sure that security can actually help to drive those kinds of topics forward. And this kind of change, obviously to a more service oriented utility is thought computing. It does come with a bunch of changes. You can't rely on just everything surrounding everything with a firewall, and they're calling it a day. It's just not working any longer. So it's like, you have to think about what is the new perimeter? And as I've been saying for a while now, that does like, as the firewall, as a traditional kind of security control becomes less relevant. , the identity of the users that are interacting with you is, , becoming more and more important. So it's like securing the ability for it to identify the users through appropriate single sign on multi-factor. If I'm metric whatever is appropriate. And in this kind of context, I think it is really important. And then really making sure that all the applications that rely on things are capable of actually leveraging this kind of identity. And then starting to move. I think there are other things just like we've seen that ransomware like just not just stubbornly, not going away. So I think eradicating the ability is there, it's going to be hard. We've seen that patching stuff, as we know how, is at the same time we're seeing now how hard it sometimes can be to patch stuff. So, I think those kinds of operational excellence, the topics, they're going to be front and center for a lot of discussions as well.

[00:32:35] Fred Obiero: [00:32:35] Earlier, when you were talking about how to handle risk, easily accept the risk transfer, mitigate, and so on and so forth. It reminded me of how people handle risk and project and program management. And that's actually my background. And I was curious to know what role does project management play in your profession and what strategies have you utilized to ensure its effectiveness?

[00:32:56] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:32:56] So very good point is like, I think project managers are sometimes the most underappreciated team members in the security teams. I was like, I would make the case that if you have any kind of reasonably complex security program, security initiative in order to drive forward, you cannot do this without program management. That's just absolutely not possible because like I was saying earliest, like security tends to Interact with a lot of parts of an organization or a company, right? It's like you have to talk to HR in order to make things work, you have to talk to finance. It's like operations departments, like sales, coordinating all those kinds of interactions with people who are more centered around the security like driving the security technology is going to be insanely complicated and it's not effective. It's like if I have somebody who's really good at creating new infrastructure on AWS in a very secure way. I don't want them to do program management because they're not very good at this and it distracts them from the stuff that they are good at. So I think every security team should have at least one project or program manager to help them organize those kinds of complicated tasks. Look at, for example, identity management across an organization, right? It's like, not only setting up a single sign on, but it's like including onboarding and offboarding processes for employees or contractors. Those are really complicated business processes, you need to take a look at that really affect pretty much the entire organization. And just relying on a really good security engineer is not going to get you there. It's like they may eventually be able to solve that crack that not as well. Because they're usually pretty smart, but it'll take longer. It'll be harder and it won't be a pleasant experience. So I think that's why I love program management across the board.

[00:35:01] Fred Obiero: [00:35:01] Geralnd, there's a lot of questions that I can keep asking you. Because I know you're a treasure trove of information, especially when it comes to information security. But I have one last question for you. This is one of the favorite questions that are like asking all my guests. What has helped you get to where you are and what word of advice would you give to someone that wants to pursue a career that's similar to yours?

[00:35:23] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:35:23] Oh, boy. It's like what advice you wanted to give a dude for certain careers and we'll advise, like, that's an open question, but if you set your mind to it, there's a lot of things to peel on. You have to get engaged. You have to really get down and dirty in terms of what security means. You have to understand what's going on, but also keep in mind the whole thing about people processing technology, right? This is not only about finding out what the latest mouse greatest mouse trap is. And then it's like setting it up as a security. You have to be interested in making sure that you become a teacher mentor and educator, whatever it's like in terms of helping other people understand the relevancy of security as you move forward. So, I think this, like somebody who wants to get into this kind of general line of business and further start to play with stuff, stuck to start to play with the system, start to play with processes, be interested in understanding how things work and sometimes also how to break them because that's usually how the adversary works and it's like, that's a larger topic. I was like, you have to think like an adversary. It's like, you have to think like, how could I possibly attack X, Y, and Z, and then it becomes real. And then you can start to devise about the second step, which is like, okay, now I know how to break things, to try to prevent them from breaking. I usually like to say that people ought to be passionate about stuff and it's like, I still maintain that but sometimes you also need to realize that when you're not particularly good at something, it's hard to be passionate about it, right. If you really stink at putting, I dunno, whatever together, then it's not as fun, right? It's like as you really learn more about an area as it gets deeper and deeper into it, it becomes more interesting. And you automatically to some extent, hopefully become more engaged and more passionate about it. So I was like, but seeing whether your engagement with security topics with people, process and technology actually gets you excited. If you see that that's moving forward, then it's like just fine. Then just follow your passion.

[00:37:44] Fred Obiero: [00:37:44] Gerald. Thanks a lot for coming on the show and sharing your insights with us. I'm really looking forward to catching up with you in the near future.

[00:37:52] Gerald Beuchelt: [00:37:52] Thank you, Fred. This was a lot of fun and I hope to see you soon. Thanks.

We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Ivy podcast. Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe on your preferred podcast listening platform. And we really appreciate that effort until next time.

Ericka Witkowski – Founder & Principal at Witko Group

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 13:00:21 +0000

Ericka Witkowski founded Witko Group to fill a void in today’s market. With a focus on the ability to be nimble and offer innovative, personalized and technology-based solutions to clients. As a boutique firm, Witko Group is able to curate the best-in-class professionals per project – allowing the firm to become a true extension of the team.

Witkowski has over 9 years of experience in the South Florida real estate sector, having participated in many projects ranging from master planning, design, marketing, lease-up, and sale and purchase of office and mixed-use assets.

Prior to launching Witko Group, Witkowski served in brokerage roles at some of the top commercial real estate firms transacting over 215+ leases and sales. Most recently she served as a Director for Cushman & Wakefield South Florida, where during her two and a half year tenure she was involved in sales and leases totaling $186.5 million encompassing more than 435,000 square feet of transactions. Witkowski holds a Bachelor of Science in Real Estate from Florida State University.

International Women’s Day and Advice for Women in the Workplace with Galina Russell

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Galina Russell is the Chief Operating Officer of REEF Energy at REEF Technology, a Miami based technology start up focused on transforming underutilized urban spaces into neighborhood hubs that connect people to locally curated goods, services, and experiences.

Ms. Russell as part of the leadership team, is at the frontier of establishing partnerships with public and private sector organizations to pioneer the transformation of traditional parking infrastructure into dynamic hubs that address the diverse needs of surrounding communities in a sustainable way.

Topics:

Significance of International Women’s Day (IWD)
Cultural and Societal Influences on Women Seeking Leadership in the Workplace
Dissecting Traditional “Female vs. Male” Leadership Qualities
Empowering Women through Mentorship

A New Vision For HR with Enrique Rubio

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Enrique is an HR, Tech and Future of Work expert and keynote speaker and founder of Hacking HR, a global learning community at the intersection of the future of work, technology, business and organizations, with thousands of members from all over the world. Enrique is one of the top 100 HR global influencers. Enrique was the founder and CEO at Management Consultants, a firm specialized in Human Resources in Venezuela. Before Management Consultants, Enrique worked in the telecommunications sector as a Senior Project Engineer for Telefonica and several other companies. He is also the cofounder of Cotopaxi, a recruitment platform focused on Latin America. Enrique is a guest author in several blogs about innovation, management and human resources. Most recently Enrique worked as an advisor to the Chief Human Resources Officer at the Inter-American Development Bank. Enrique is a Fulbright Scholar, has over twenty years of experience and is an Electronic Engineer with an Executive Master’s in Public Administration from Maxwell School at Syracuse University.

Topics:

Transition from electrical engineering to HR.
What is Hacking HR and biggest challenge about putting together a global HR conference.
In your own words, what does the phrase Human Resources mean to you?
Common myth or misconception that people have about HR
How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your thinking on the future of work.
What are some of the skills we need to develop to prepare the workforce for the disruption of exponential technologies?
What kind of technology do you find the most interesting for HR these days? What HR technologies are you curious about and WHY?
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Enrique Rubio: [00:00:00] What I want you to do with that. Instead of focusing on the 50 calls a day, I want you to talk to five people a day and make sure that you are making a difference in the lives of those employees. When you talk to them, meaning asking them what they need, how you can support them, being there for them, creating the platform and the infrastructure for them to succeed and thrive at work.

[00:00:21] Thank you for listening to Ivy podcast, where we feature weekly leadership conversations with thought leaders and industry experts. Now here is your host, Cesar Romero.

[00:00:37] Cesar Romero: [00:00:37] Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Ivy podcast. In today's episode, we're going to be diving deeper into the world of HR. And if you are a professional in HR or really anyone that's interested in putting people first. I think this episode is for you. We're going to be talking mainly about what are some of the things that need to change in HR and what are some of the things that you could do to better prepare for that future that's already here and today I'm excited to bring on. And Enrique Rubio, who is an HR tech and future of war experts and keynote speaker. And he's also the founder of Hiking HR, which is a global community of HR professionals that is at the intersection of the future of work technology, business, and organizations with thousands, thousands of members across the world. He's also the co-founder of Cotopaxi, which is a recruiting platform focused on Latin America and Ricky has written multiple blogs on innovation management and hand resources. Enrique, thank you so much for being on the show today.

[00:02:05] Enrique Rubio: [00:02:05] Thank you so much for inviting me. I am really, really excited about this conversation. So thank you.

[00:02:12] Cesar Romero: [00:02:12] Yeah. So before we dive into HR, I want to start with your background because. I understand that you were not always in HR in that you got started as an electronic engineer. Let's talk about that. Like what prompted you to make that transition and what was the aha moment?

[00:02:38] Enrique Rubio: [00:02:38] I lost my way from engineering. I got lost. When I was growing up, when I was a teenager, I went on to be an astronaut andI was thinking back in Venezuela, the place where I was born, I was thinking there's no anything related to, or helping me to become an astronaut here. So the closest thing for me to be that would be an engineer. So I ended up becoming an electronic engineer, which I loved, and I still love very much my decision to become an engineer. I practiced engineering for about 10 years in the area of telecommunications as a project manager in telecommunications. And then I switched to HR because part of my career in engineering at the very end of my tenure as an engineer, as a practicing engineer, I worked in technical sales and I found out that he really loved having that relationship with people. Right? I mean, not that I didn't have it before, but it was a little different being a sales person. And I said to myself, well, what, I'm not sure that I like sales that much, but I do want to work with people on for people. And of course I discovered HR. So I switched. I became a consultant in the HR space. My masters at my master's degree was focused on HR. Then I worked in the corporate world for a number of years, and then I found that hacking a char, which started as a community to discuss technology and HR, which are my two backgrounds. And it's evolved now into way more than that.But the reality to me, for me is that having an engineer. Mindset in the world of HR has been a fascinating journey because it really helps you think differently about the work of HR. So I always tell people in HR, you don't have to become an engineer, but do something that is not just HR practice, something different, really going to help you sort of expand your vision. And this is true not just for HR. If you're an engineer, go to a char for a little bit of time or to sales or to marketing or to finance, this idea of cross-pollinating experiences and expertise and professional professional sort of fields is incredibly powerful.

[00:05:04] Cesar Romero: [00:05:04] Yeah. I totally agree with that. Because that's where innovation comes from. Right? When you take, when you borrow different frameworks from different disciplines, right? And you just like, make your own. So tell us more about the engineering framework that you bring on to HR. Like what are some of the things that you implement, that you took from your engineering background into HR.

[00:05:31] Enrique Rubio: [00:05:31] I know I'm thinking about something that happened very often, by the way, and I'm sure that you and everybody listening to this podcast will relate know when an electronic device wouldn't work at home, you would first get really annoyed. You would unplug it or whatever, and then you would punch it. You would hit it. What the hell is going on with this device? Right. So we in engineering, we do that, right. I mean, I remember working in telecommunications, working with devices and when you got really frustrated, it would have started like shaking something or like hitting it because you were like, you thought somewhere in your mind, but a little cable was disconnected somewhere in there and that by shaking that thing or punching it, it would connect again and it will start working. So, what happens is that, I mean, that may be a meaningless kind of example, but the reality is that as an engineer you have to get really creative with what you're doing. You really have to very often use your imagination about why things work in one way or why things don't work at all. And that's a little piece of mindset that I bring to the HR space. I'm not one thing that I met my friends in this space. They laugh at me because they know that I'm this way. I don't like rules. I don't like being bound by a barbed wire preventing you from going and seeing the world. And I feel that in HR, our profession was designed to be that way. It was designed to be a scare of what, on the other side of the barbed wire or on the other side of the wall, where our professional HR was designed for. The people practicing the char to run away as far as fast as possible from risks from using creativity or for doing something that in any way was a little deviated from the standard of the way things should have been. And this is not true for engineering. There are standards in engineering processes and there are rules that the only way for you to invent something is to create something new to solve. Problems that come via systems or devices. You've got to get really creative. And you have to really think outside of any given box, because sometimes engineering boxes do not define what the problems or challenges could be. So that mindset really helps me in the world. And that's why actually I named this community hacking, hacking has been considered a technical constant. Right? I mean, when people think about hacking, they think about, first of all, they think about something negative, but it's not really just negative, but they think about technology. Somebody hacked the system, somebody hacked the bank, somebody hacked the government, somebody hacked the steam. And the reality is that hacking in the technical perspective is you bow down to the very foundations of whatever you want to change and you hack it. What I was thinking was I want to go back to the foundations of a char and hack them. I want to change them because it is obvious by now, that at the moment that I create a hack in HR, that the traditional HR is not really working, and is not delivering value. So anyway, that mindset of creativity, risk taking intolerance to B2B, to being bound by walls that don't let you see what's out there. In that mindset, it's what I bring to the world of HR from engineering. And it really helps me.

[00:10:00] [00:10:00] Cesar Romero: [00:10:00] Yeah, no, a hundred percent. And now that we're talking about that. What, well, first let me say that. I definitely agree with you because I have worked in corporations, banks, institutions, and I have definitely felt that way that HR was there just to, I guess, to follow the rules. Right. And it was for the corporation, not for the people. So what are some of the things that HR traditional HR is doing wrong? And what is your vision of what HR could be?

[00:10:45] Enrique Rubio: [00:10:45] Yeah. Great question. I think that by exclusively focusing on the administration and the transaction of processes, I think we are doing a big disservice to the atrial profession. We're making a big disservice to the corporation of the company or the organization that we work for. And we're making a big disservice to our people. As simple as that, you've got a nature professional that is just focused on hiring, firing, ensuring compliance and paying people. And that's what they do, what we are missing out. If that's all we did, we would be missing out on such an incredible opportunity to number one really help the organization that we work for become its best version of itself. At the end of the day, we in HR are business people. We happen to work in a car, but we are business people. And what we want is, or what we should want is our organization to succeed and be just a transactional HR professional. It helps the organization just go day in and day out the way things were before yesterday and the day, the way things were will be the day after today, but that's pretty much it. So we gotta get out of there if we want to help our organization succeed. Now, the key here is that we help our organizations succeed with the success of the people. Hmm, when we build the foundations and when we help our people at work succeed. We are helping our organizations succeed, but we don't do that. If all we do is high, higher fire pay and a shoe compliance. How do we do that by listening to what people are going through by providing them opportunities for growth and flourishing at work, by providing them opportunities for learning, by creating systems, processes, policies that are flexible and can change with the circumstances that we may be going through. We do that by truly understanding what our business, what our organization wants from all of us, and also translating what we do into something that makes sense for the organization. So the mindset here is completely different. Now it might have, I even said that we don't have to fire higher pay and ensure compliance. No, I haven't said that because we still have to do that, but that cannot be our full focus of attention, because if that was the, if that continues to be the case, we're missing out of an incredible opportunity. As I said before, and I want to give you one example of what I'm saying right now, digital transformation is perhaps one of the most important business strategies, business drivers for innovation and change transformation. And of course, businesses are staying alive and thriving. Now this transformation is intrinsically a human process that is supported by technology. Digital transformation is a process that is the bottom line of how we make our processes better, more efficient, more effective for our internal and our external customers is for the people. So it is intrinsically a human process that is supported by technology. If this is true, if what I'm saying is true, that this is the transformation is a human process supported by technology. Who should be leading digital transformation in any given organization? Shouldn't it be the person in charge of the people's operation of the organism? Yeah, it should be maybe marketing or sales, but that is not true. Who are the leaders of digital transformation are generally in the technology side and not in the human side. Why is that? The answer is very simple. It is because those who are in engineering, generally they know more about the way people work and how to serve them via technology than HR leaders know about how technology works and how technology can serve people. So we are the gap from all is way larger than they got for them. So we've got to close that gap and that's why this traditional HR is not enough anymore for us to be the leaders of the transformations, whether it's digital or people or marketing or any other kind of transformation that our organizations are demanding from their leaders. And we should be stepping in to do that. So that, to me, it's two completely different mindsets in HR.

[00:15:43] Cesar Romero: [00:15:43] Well thinking, reading for that. And I had not considered how digital transformation starts in a company and you're right. The people are in it, in other departments, they typically embraced that first. And then it trickles down to HR when it should be all the way around. And I felt this way when I was working there, in corporate, where I saw HR as a place where I would just go for the transactions, right. To, I dunno, to benefit or to fix some admin stuff that my manager would say, Hey, you need to go to HR to do this. Or it would be times where I would be in trouble, I guess, for not doing something that I was supposed to do. So. Yeah. I definitely agree that it needs to shift from the administration and compliance to people first. Right. And with that, I wanted to shift gears to talk a bit about hacking HR, because I am amazed at the amount of work, the quality of content, the quality of speakers, and how you are able to pull this together, not just in terms of the conference, but also the community. So I wanted to talk a bit about that and what have been some of the, I guess, biggest challenges in putting together this level of a conference where you have industry leaders, speakers, and the quality of the content, how are you pulling that off? I guess, that's where I wanted to get it.

[00:17:29] Enrique Rubio: [00:17:29] It's just, to me, it's a little bit about the way I see most things in life, which sometimes it's a blessing sometimes depending on what happens after you actually make a decision. But, to me, it is about accepting the challenge and learning along the way, how to do it, how to make it happen, that are people, I'm a runner. So I'm a competitive runner. This is what I do outside of my working in hacking HR. And, I remember the first time that I signed up for a Nutra Race and Ultra Race competition back in 2013, I signed up for a 50 miler. Well, at that, by the time I signed up, which may have been like four or five months before the actual race, the longest I had ever run was like 10 miles or something like that. So I had never run anything longer than 10 miles. Now I signed up for that. Because I knew that by setting myself up to the challenge, I was going to have to force myself to learn how to get there, to that place. I trained, I did the race, which I had no idea how it was going to go. I ended up being physically broken, like a really broken leg. Everything was hurting. Like I couldn't even move forward. A month and it, I became hooked to it. I loved it. And ever since I learned, and now I know how to do this racist, it's the same thing in the world of what I'm doing with hacking guitar. I'm going to set up a challenge for what I want you to do. I wanna, last year, this was at the end of 2019. I said to myself, why the hell do people have to pay so much money to go to a conference? Where 80% of the content is just sales from a marketing company that is selling them something. And the company is also paying to give that sales speech. So when I was thinking of, wait a second, these companies that are organized for these events are making it. Total money out of the registrations from participants, which by the way, happened to be the same people all the time, because I've been to many of these events. And it's like, if you guys had, so you like two months ago in the other conference, and last year in the same conference, it's always the same people. And then they get money from that and they get money from the sponsors and then people participate in those kinds of events. They have to pay for the registration. They have to travel because the events were happening there, in New York or San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando. And I said to myself, I need to change this thing. I can't believe that in this day and age, the only way for people to get access to these amazing speakers speaking at a conference would be to have to pay thousands of dollars to be there. And I said, this was at the end of 2019. And I said, what, I'm going to organize a gigantic conference and I'm going to pull it together online and it's going to be free. And I did it. I had no idea. It's funny because this, I started organizing about. Actually it was not in November. It was like August of 2019, November was when I consolidated everything. And even in November of 2019, five months before the conference, I didn't even know what technology was going to use to myself. I'm going to have to figure it out, but let me get to the speaker's first and then figure out the technology. So that is to me, the way I address some of these things, right. It is, let me set up the challenge. I accept the challenge. Nobody's putting a gun to my head to say, to get into the challenge. I am setting it up for myself and then they learn along the way. How to do it at that conference, 2020, we got about 11,000 people registered 225 speakers, people from all over the world. And I did offer my computer. Literally. I was sitting at my computer and all, I sat down for an entire week, doing all for my computer. This conference that is happening in March of 2021 is larger. We have many more people signed up and many more speakers. There are many areas that I'm asleep, feeding and out, but I learned, and now I'm in a cadence here. So anyway, the bottom line here is, and this is true, not just for HR. It's true for anything else in life. If there's something that you want to do. And you don't know how to do it, set up the challenge for yourself, set up the challenge for yourself. You can do it, you're going to learn how to do it. I'm not talking about the kind of things like, I'm going to beat Michael Jordan in playing basketball. That's never going to happen. So I'm not going to be a stupid to set up myself for failure, right. For something that I know will never happen. But if it's something that I know it's hard, it's difficult. It's challenging, but it's doable. Set up the challenge for yourself and learn how to do it. Do you want to go and run a 50 miler? Everybody can do it. Everybody can do it, set up a challenge, backtrack and get, and plan how you need to get ready for that thing. And that's the way I see things with hiking a char and that's the way it is. Sittings with a lot of things that I do in my life. So again, sometimes this is great because I'm very driven. Sometimes it's like, I'm like one week before the thing. And I'm like, man, I haven't figured out how I'm going to do this thing.

[00:22:36] Cesar Romero: [00:22:36] It's yeah. I love it. I love the story, t's almost like reverse engineering, right. Start with the goal set, sign out for the event for the challenge that you wanted to.

[00:22:47] Enrique Rubio: [00:22:47] Yeah, backtrack. And if you think about it, it's different coffee in the book, the seven habits of highly effective people. He said this 25 years ago, he said with the end in mind. So, the goal. There are two principles that are fascinating to me. One begins with the mind, meaning you begin with a Y with a goal, Simon cynical successes, right? You begin with what, where do you want to go? What you want to do. And then the second thing is. Also as set by as different COVID is everything in life is created twice, one in the mind and one in the actual physical world. So when you set up your goal, when you begin with the end in mind, you backtrack and then you start thinking you create in your mind how you are going to make that happen, and then you actually make it happen. But you got to think how you make it happen, that there will be several questions along the way, but that's okay. You will figure it out.

[00:23:48] Cesar Romero: [00:23:48] I love it. Yeah. It's so true. Right. Because then you have no choice, but to figure it out once you have that challenge.

[00:23:55] Enrique Rubio: [00:23:55] Correct.

[00:23:57] Cesar Romero: [00:23:57] Awesome. Enrique, let's shift gears here and I want to talk about the pandemic, right? Because it's a topic that 's on everybody's minds. And I want to ask you, for you personally. How has dependent mate and COVID-19 changed your thinking about the future of work and what that means?

[00:24:24] Enrique Rubio: [00:24:24] That's a great question. What I think is that we're dealing with so many problems before COVID. And now some of those problems, we knew that were there, we just were ignoring them, or we just didn't want to tackle them. Right. And like, for example, deep inequality. Hmm. I'm not just talking about social and racial inequality. I'm talking about technological inequality. The fact that when you send the entire world into lock down, you have to make sure that people have the internet to connect. You have to make sure that they have a laptop at home to connect or a computer at home or a webcam or headphones. Yeah, we discovered that that was not true. We discovered that a lot of people, actually more than half of the people in this world, don't have access to the internet. So what the pandemic date works on earth, not only equate a bunch of problems in itself by the pandemic, all these tragedy of so many debts and people are ill because of the virus, but it, our nurse many problems that we were ignoring, or we were bearing down because we didn't want to tackle them before. And the pandemic made those problems way more evident than they were ever in the past. So that is one thing to me. The second thing is this, I tell people this the metaphor that I use, we are going through the dark tunnel of the pandemic. And people always say, I want to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I say the same thing, but what I don't want is that light. To be the same kind of light that we left behind when we got into this tunnel. Yeah, because that light that we left behind, it was not working for everybody. And it was only shining upon a few people and not everybody. So we want to get out of this dark tunnel and not to miss the opportunity to change things so that they never happen again in this way the light at the end of the tunnel has to be very different from the light that we left behind. It has to shine up on more people. Hopefully everybody, we have to be more inclusive. We have to take care of each other. We have to prepare for things, which is another thing that happened to the pandemic. There are many things that we were told were going to happen, and we didn't want to believe that they were actually going to happen. Like, for example, I remember president Obama in 2015 saying another pandemic will happen in the next 5 to 10 years. So the government that we had during the pandemic didn't prepare for something like that. Right? Bill Gates said this 10-15 years ago, he said the biggest challenge for humanity is what if a pandemic like the influence of 2018 and 19 and 18 happens again. And we were caught off guard in many different respects. So it is to me, number one, addressing the problems that were there before then now are amplified by COVID number two. It is creating a better, brighter, more beautiful light at the end of the tunnel, so that those who are suffering before they'll have to suffer again. And we don't have to go through all this. Pain that society has gone through because they lied before, was so selfish for some people and not for everybody. And number three, it is preparing for things that we are told could potentially happen and believing that they were going to happen. And I just want to give you one example. We came about this last thing for the past, at least one decade. Experts institutions have been telling governments, organizations, technology, especially automation will replace a gigantic number of human jobs. Do you think we're remotely ready for this? The answer is no, we're not remotely ready for this. And what happens with technology is that it goes at the beginning very slowly. But then once you get to a certain inflection point, it starts going pretty quickly. So for example, self-driving cars, self-driving trucks, very slowly governments are still like I don't know, safety, all of that. We're going to get to an inflection point where we will get to a place where now self-driving technology is basically infallible. What's going to happen with the thousands of people that are actually millions of people, driving taxes or driving trucks. Most likely they will lose their jobs. Are we ready for that? The answer is no, even though we have been warned about this for years. So anyway, preparing for a future that we are being warned about, but we seem not to believe that it will actually happen.

[00:29:18] Cesar Romero: [00:29:18] Yeah. So I tell them that. So one of the things that I want to talk about here, but I want to focus on members in the audience that got caught off guard because of the pandemic. And now they have to pivot right in their careers. What advice would you have for the saving of the audience that is trying to prepare right for the future, but might not know what to do or what skills to, to learn or skillsets, right? Like, what would you recommend, what would you advise for this segment of the audience that is trying to pivot? Because they either got furloughed, they got laid off because of the pandemic. What would you recommend?

[00:30:07] Enrique Rubio: [00:30:07] Yeah, this is what happens. All that I just said for the person who is very busy, sounds like. I mean, you want to break it, just forget about that. And then I'm going to go back to my day to day thing. The first thing is that everybody's busy in this society at work with personal things and whatnot. So everybody's busy and everybody's like, I don't have time to learn what I'm going to need for the next five years. I need to learn what I need for tomorrow. And that may be true. I mean, I know that's the priority and you need to focus on tomorrow rather than the next five years. But if you can. If you can allocate 5% of your time, 5% of your time, it's 15 days, 17 days a year to learn about things that even though they are in the back burner of your mind because you don't need them today. You may think that you will need them tomorrow or in a year from now or in five years from now. Did it get a little bit of the energy to do that? Not number one, number two, make sure that whatever you are putting that 5% of your time into is not just in your knowledge silo. What I mean by that is I am a better professional because I am an engineer who works in HR, who also happens to want to learn about a lot of other things like nutrition and mental health and all those things. That makes me better. So, if you think you are going to get, if you are a nature professional or an engineer who thinks that you're going to get better just by learning from engineering, if that's your style or by learning from HR, if that's your style, you're making yourself a gigantic disservice because you may be getting better on a vertical that may be significantly disrupted going forward. So make sure that as you learn, that you don't learn necessarily vertically or across the board, but you are learning more diagonally, if you will, meaning you are getting better, not only in your own silo, but in other areas that can help you be better at your own work. For example, for me, people in HR, you guys need to learn about finance. You guys need to learn about marketing. You need to learn about technology. Yeah. It's all overwhelming. And people may say, Oh my God, that's a lot. How am I going to learn about all those things in such a short period of time? Nobody's asking you to learn to be a professional marketer in a week dedicated. One hour of your week, one hour watching a video about marketing on YouTube, you don't even have to pay for it. You go to YouTube and you go to Gary V or whoever, Seth Godin or one of these super amazing marketer guys out there. And you look at one video one hour a week, that's it. Next week you may get hooked to marketing. And you say in the next two months, I'm going to watch one hour of videos every week. And then at the end of two months, you say, what I'm going to get certified on this marketing strategy. You never know. Right? They may not be helpful at all, but they may be number one, 5% of your time, a year, a month, awake to learning of things that may not be the day to day fame. Number two, learn about silos that are not your own silo. That's going to make you way better in your own silo, or if you need to transition to another style going forward. And the last thing is Albert Einstein said that the last human to know everything that needed to be known about the world was ice at Newton, in the year, in its 16th, 17th, centuries. I don't remember exactly, I think 16 hundreds and something. And Albert Einstein said that because he said all of the books, all of the documentation about science that had been written at that moment, I start Newton, had it in his library. He had all the books, he had all the things, he had all those things today that are just impossible. Nobody can know everything that needs to be known about the war or about anything for the matter anymore. So how do you resolve this conundrum of how do I know what's going on in my field? Get together with people that can inform you, can make you better and can help optimize the flow of information as much as possible. If you are in a leadership position, make sure that you are creating enough avenues, building bridges and channels for people to come together with the USA. Hey, I heard this about HR and we're not doing much about it. Let's just keep it in the back burner of our minds, but you have it in there because there's no way that you can control or know all that needs to be known about your silo. So 5% make sure that you're looking at other areas and number three, collaborate with others that can optimize this flow of knowledge and information.

[00:35:17] Cesar Romero: [00:35:17] Yeah. It's crazy, right? Like, how things have changed from Isaac Newton to now. But I really loved your advice because especially with the community, right, what you're doing with hacking HR and just being around people that are in that same mindset of learning and getting to know others in the industry and other industries to cross-pollinate as you mentioned, and, I mean, it's so true. Start small, 5% of the time, video or a blog, whatever it is, right. Like, just start small in it'll just like how technology, right. It starts small. And then it gets to an inflection point.

[00:36:07] Enrique Rubio: [00:36:07] Yeah, you'll become an avid reader and once again, the reality is all of these things that we're discussing, they are doable. You don't need, you don't need money. You don't need permission. Nobody has to give you permission to put one hour of your time in your phone while you are in the bathroom. If you want to be in the bathroom, just looking at that video, right? Nobody has to give you permission to go to LinkedIn or to the Hacker Lab or whatever it is to reach out to somebody else and say, Hey, I'm going to reach out to that guy because he's done some stuff that I want to do. I want to ask. Give him or her how they did it, right? Nobody prevents you from doing that. You don't need permission from anybody, make it happen. One of the things that brings me the most is to see people comfortable in the place where they are and it pains me because I think they are making a mistake by thinking that what is happening in the world will not happen to them. And it will.

[00:37:15] Cesar Romero: [00:37:15] Yeah. Yeah. It'll happen eventually. Right. If you get too comfortable now with that, with that in mind, I know we talked about from the perspective of an individual contributor. But what about the perspective from an organization? Right? If I'm not HR leader, besides the things that you already mentioned, what is one thing that I should be looking out for to make sure that my workforce is prepared, resilient, adaptable, flexible, and that they're always thriving. What is one thing besides what you mentioned? Right? Like the 5%, the community. What's one thing that I, as a leader in the organization, I should be looking out for?

[00:38:02] Enrique Rubio: [00:38:02] If there was one thing, I mean, I could tell me the things, but if there was one thing, this is what I would say, create the formal and informal avenues. For people to exchange information and to cross-pollinate ideas from different areas of expertise. And I am not just talking about HR. I am talking across the board in the organization, creating the formal and informal avenues for this to happen. The formal avenues could be down-home meeting sessions where everybody comes together, not to hear from the president of the company, but to tell the president of the company what's happening in the world, or to exchange ideas with each other, with leader sitting in each table where there are nine tables or physical tables sitting together and discussing about what they are staying in the world and how those things may affect the workforce and the people. Purpose of that organization. So that will be formal, but informal, it will be something along the lines of creating a culture where people are not afraid of reaching out to others in other departments to say, Hey, you work in finance. I just, I just looked at this thing that had to do with finance. I don't understand it that much, but I just wanted to bring it out because it may have an impact on the work that we're doing, or it may help you do it better. So that kind of informality. Of the interactions that happen at work is incredibly powerful. Because once again, going back to what I said before, nobody controls or can have a finger or the pulse on all the information that is created about anything in life anymore. So what better than maximizing the opportunities for coalitions cross-pollination interactions at work, both formal and informal. So I would be, if I was a leader, I would find a way to make this happen.

[00:39:53] Cesar Romero: [00:39:53] I love it. So create opportunities for people to collaborate.

[00:39:57] Enrique Rubio: [00:39:57] Yeah. And informally within the organization and even outside the organization as well. Of course, as a leader, perhaps the priority will be making it happen within the confines of your organization.

[00:40:10] Cesar Romero: [00:40:10] Yeah. No, I think that's valuable now, Enrique, I wanted to shift gears with. Talk a bit about tech, right? Because take it's everywhere these days, right? Even in HR, what are some of the technologies that you are excited about as relates to HR?

[00:40:32] Enrique Rubio: [00:40:32] Well, without necessarily naming any specific company, I think it excites me that with artificial intelligence, we will be, we can potentially be able to sort of optimize some processes for which we are not good at. I mean, transactions and paperwork, documentation, and more transactional work. That is really exciting because if we do things right. And I'm hoping that we do the things right. If an organization has Enrique and all Enrique is doing is answering the phone every day to respond to transactional questions and a chat bot can do that. Maybe I'm going to ask them what now you don't have to respond to 50 posts every day to respond to questions that are in the employee handbook and can be responded to by a chat bot in seconds. But what I want you to do is that instead of focusing on the 50 posts a day, I want you to talk to five people a day and make sure that you're making a difference in the lives of those employees. When you talk to them, meaning asking them what they need, how you can support them, being there for them, creating the platform and the infrastructure for them to succeed and thrive at work. So they might work to become the real human development people centered kind of work, not the responding phone calls like a call center kind of thing, which can be done by technology. No, no, no, no. I'm focusing now on truly optimizing human relationships and I'm making sure that the business succeeds, because people are doing well and they are succeeding. So that's a very different thing. So that comes because automation and artificial intelligence will give us that opportunity. And it is already given that opportunity to many companies. I'm hoping that it becomes more prevalent and, and cheaper so that more companies can do some of that.

[00:42:29] Cesar Romero: [00:42:29] I love that. And, yeah, having AI and the new technology take care of the transaction. And that frees up time for HR to develop people. Put people first as, as it should. So, yeah, no, that's exciting. And so many companies out there, I think, are already doing that. So now let's have two more questions here. But I want to talk about failures. Like I said, I'm a big believer that failures can teach us more than success can. And I wanted to ask you, if you have a favorite failure of yours that taught you a lot, and that shifted your mindset or your perspective.

[00:43:28] Enrique Rubio: [00:43:28] I'm failing a little bit every day. I prefer the small continuous failures rather than a big messy one, right? Which comes together with taking risks. I think when I was way younger, I was really perhaps too direct to the point of borderline with being aggressive in my approach to human relationships and that hurt some of my relationships to my own family, with my friends, with potential colleagues. And it's been through the today hitting walls when this happened, that I realized maybe this is not the way. And even today, I mean, it's not that I don't get upset at people or things, which, because I do, and I get frustrated and I went to write an email saying like, go to hell, but I don't do that. So what I do nowadays, I try to be very mindful about other people's journeys and where they're coming from, and I don't think this generally comes naturally to a lot of people. That's let me sit down and reread my email to make sure that I'm being correct and understanding. I think you got to make an intentional decision for this to be that way. Right. And I try to, when I'm writing something, reread it. And I stopped myself from like, this is not good, I mean, sometimes I still make the failure or the mistake of not really thinking what I'm saying. But then I have to pick up the pieces and that's not easy. So to me, that's being, perhaps what's taught me a lot. Be careful, be mindful, be understanding, you don't know some of the people's journeys and they may be going through a very hard time. And now you're going to add some harder time by being so aggressive with an email or with a message or something. And, so I'm going to say that that perhaps it's been my main area of everyday work because I continue to work on that in myself basically every day.

[00:45:50] Cesar Romero: [00:45:50] Yeah. That's the same with me. To be honest, that's something that I work on every day, especially that now that we're remote, right. I'm communicating everyday via email or whether it's a voice note or video, but mostly emails, right? It can be misinterpreted depending on how many exclamation points you had to.

[00:46:15] Enrique Rubio: [00:46:15] Yeah. I invited people to speak at a conference and there were some people that I really wanted to have. They never responded to my invitation, unfortunately, but I send them like four or five LinkedIn messages. And the last one, it's funny because when I sent it three or four months ago, the headline said of the last message in capital letters with an exclamation point in PLEASE BE A SPEAKER. The way I originally intended the message to come out was please be a speaker for the conference. But when I'm ready now, three months later, It sounded like please be a speaker, you have to be a speaker. So it made me think like, I'm guessing that it probably burned some bridges in there and I'm going to have to pick up some pieces because that message could be misinterpreted in a way that I didn't intend it to be, but now me, myself reading it again, I'm reading something completely different from what I had in mind back then. So you gotta be very mindful about your messages and your writing style and whatnot.

[00:47:17] Cesar Romero: [00:47:17] Yeah, absolutely. Now to close it off, I wanted to ask you, especially cause you mentioned this, right? Like read something every day, one video. What is one thing that you're reading now? It could be a course, a book or a YouTube video that you saw. What is something that you would recommend to the audience to check it out?

[00:47:40] Enrique Rubio: [00:47:40] Well, I don't know if I would recommend it because I'm developing the hacking next to our lab. I have gotten very much involved in programming. I'm not a programmer. That's not an area that I find any joy or any interest in. But I've been learning about Heroku. Get home, react to this user interface and user experience design. So all of those things are really funny because they are awesome skill swaps. I'm not saying that I'm saying the people have to become a programmer, but developing a technology platform. It's not easy. So I think that's, I'm not reading anything about it. And sadly only when something happens that I have to rate like, okay, now what do I do? Right. How do I explain this to my programmer so that they understand what I'm saying and how do I understand them? So I think that's the one thing that I've been dedicating most time recently , because well, I need to make sure that this lab really works well. In terms of books, I got a bunch of books in there that I happened to read a little bit of one, and then I moved to another one after the one that I was reading before, depending on the mode I was just finishing reading, actually the book, the great influenza, the name of the other John Gary. And the book about the influence of 1918. And it's just fascinating. It's fascinating to rate what happened in 1918 when we had nothing like we have today. Right. And so you can tell that I really like to get my hands into. Nothing with what I do for work. I love reading books about evolution and human evolution and I love them. They really help neuroscience, another my favorite topics. So, I read a little bit of everything basically every day.

[00:49:38] Cesar Romero: [00:49:38] You're the second person to recommend the great influencer. So I'm definitely going to check it out because I've heard that it has a lot of similarities to what we're going through now.

[00:49:47] Enrique Rubio: [00:49:47] Very much so. Except back then, we didn't have the technology, but there's a lot of the same. So, that's what I was talking about before being prepared for things that we know are going to happen again. I mean, by the way, COVID is not the next pandemic of 1918 is the worst pandemic of 1918, but there have been other pandemics going around. So, we've got to learn from the past.

[00:50:18] Cesar Romero: [00:50:18] Absolutely. And to close it off, what will be one of the takeaways to leave the audience with and that you would really want to absorb from our conversation today.

[00:50:33] Enrique Rubio: [00:50:33] I would tell people to believe that the things that are affecting others could potentially affect you or impact you not necessarily affecting you in a negative connotation, but impact you make sure that you're investing in yourself. You got to invest in yourself. There's this great leadership guru, Jim Rohn, and he used to say, don't invest in you as an employee, investing in yourself and the skills that will make you employable because it's different. You invest in yourself just as an employee of a given company that you invest in yourself to be employable going forward. So invest in yourself, don't see these things as opportunities that your company has to give you to learn or to grow if you happen to come across a leader or a company that are giving you opportunities for learning growth development. You are in a great place, but more often that's not the reality. So that means that you are going to have to sit in the driver's seat, not wait for anybody to tell you this, or here is the course that I'm paying as a company for you to take. Don't wait for that. You sit in the driver's seat and invest in yourself. Learn, learn, learn.

[00:51:59] Cesar Romero: [00:51:59] Enrique, thank you so much for being on the show. And I really love that. We're closing off with that. I agree with you investing in yourself. And don't wait, right? Take that into your own hands. And I really enjoyed this episode and I'm really looking forward to having you on future episodes, like catching up with how hacking HR went and any other projects that you might have with you, but for now, thank you so much.

[00:52:28] Enrique Rubio: [00:52:28] And I really appreciate you.

Serena Huang – Global Head of People Analytics at Kraft Heinz

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Dr. Serena Huang is the Global Head of People Analytics at the Kraft Heinz Company. Prior to Kraft Heinz, she was the Global Talent Analytics Leader at Koch Industries. Previously, Serena led People Analytics/Strategic Workforce Planning & HR Operations at General Electric and advised Fortune 100 clients on mergers & acquisitions efforts at Deloitte.

Serena is an invited speaker on people analytics, employee experience, digital transformation, and the future of work. She is passionate about leading change, building high-performing global teams, and helping business leaders see data as an asset in large organizations. She excels at showing executives the “art of the possible” through both 1-on-1 dialogues and facilitated hands-on workshops, and co-creating customizable, scalable solutions in predictive analytics in HR, Workplace Strategy, Supply Chain and Litigation domains. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics with specializations in Labor Economics and Econometric.

[00:00:26] Angela Alberty: [00:00:26] Okay, so thank you everyone who is joining us today. Serena, I'd love to start this off with a quick introduction on yourself before we dive into the podcast episode and some more in-depth questions.

[00:00:40] Serena Huang: [00:00:40] Hello everyone. Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening, wherever you are. My name is Serena Huang and I lead Global People Analytics at Kraft Heinz. I'm based out of Chicago.

[00:00:51] Angela Alberty: Oh, wonderful. So when we had you lined up to be a podcast host, I must say I was super impressed with your profile online and your entire background. I'm really hoping that out of today's episode, We can make a future of work and big data people analytics, a more understandable concept to a larger audience.
So that's really the premise behind today's show. And so why don't you tell me a little bit about your background, where you come from and what's led you to your passion on people and people analytics.

[00:01:23] Serena Huang: Of course so excited to be here and chatting about a topic really dear to my heart. I am a PhD Labor Economist by training.
So economics is about supply and demand and labor economics. It's the same concept applies specifically to human capital. It's really prepared me well for the journey I've been on in people analytics. I started off in consulting, after a few years I went in-house and started building people in the Lennox teams from general electric to coach industries. And now at Kraft-Heinz.

[00:02:00] [00:01:59] Angela Alberty: Wow. Pretty impressive. So if someone outside of the industry and completely new to this, you know, space that you're in said, Hey, Serena, tell me in your best definition, what is people analytics, how would you respond to that?

[00:02:15] Serena Huang: There are a thousand definitions you'll see out there.
One of my favorite is really using data analytics to make better decisions when they comes to people in the workplace, using those and analytics to make better decisions when it comes to people in the workplace.

[00:02:27] Angela Alberty: Wow. Okay. That's a very simple concept. So how do you think that that kind of influence can really change the employee experience for a new person and really help build a company's brand, or is there any examples that you can give us on how that sort of relationship can work from employee to company branding course?

[00:02:53] Serena Huang: So, if you think about employee experience, and I'll give you a brief definition, employee experience is a super hot topic and it has been, based on the 2020 LinkedIn talent report, they indicated talent employee experience was the most important trend and that was before COVID.
So think about how much more important than this going forward. I'll make an analogy. employee experience to HR as similar to customer experience for sellers marketing. So it's how employees experience their work life, put simply. So if you think about the onboarding experience, for instance, an employer can make the experience really delightful, or if things don't go as well, it could be very bumpy and frustrating for the employees.
Some area where we can apply people analytics or data analytics in general is to see how the process is going for the employees as they get onboarded. Did they receive all their it assets on day one? Did they get to meet with their managers, whether that's virtual or in person, do they know who they need to talk to?
Do they know other onboarding tasks and so on? So, we can also link that experience with other outcomes. Like, does that translate into retention to employees who have a better onboarding experience, stay longer with the company, so that impacts your employer brand. And we all know that employees are able to comment publicly now.
So if they have a great experience, you want them to be your ambassador for your brand and talk about how wonderful the onboarding experience has been and attract other candidates to apply for jobs in the future.

[00:04:36] Angela Alberty: So a couple of things that you just said, that super resonate with me, the analogy that you gave with sales, versus the customer experience and employee experience, being that same sort of, you know, equilibrium to the HR department.
I think that that's so valuable. And if we look at the industry as a whole, we know that there's a war for talent. We know that it's a highly driven candidate market, even amidst a global recession and a pandemic. And how does that really translate to the employee experience from the time that they get onboarded through the whole entire duration of their assignments?
Does that mean that they're retained better? So, wow. What an interesting way to put that. Now let's talk about the recession and the pandemic and how that's influenced big companies and big data on making more pivotal decisions during what has been a pretty bumpy year. Is there some examples or just some insight that you can give us on that topic?

[00:05:33] Serena Huang: Yeah, for sure. I would say data analytics has become much more important since dependent meg. If you think about the supply chain disruptions that we have faced since the beginning of the pandemic, that has changed the world overnight, the demand for food for instance, went through the roof. Right? So think about, not just, flour, eggs, and milk that we all had trouble finding grocery store paper and toilet paper.
Right? That's all forget that people line it door to buy limited quantity of certain items that suddenly became a really, really hot commodity. None of, if you think about demand planning model, traditionally that is perhaps updated monthly, sometimes weekly walk, guess what? That's outdated overnight since COVID hit.
Right? So if you're using historic data to predict future demands on what customers needs, well, you have to think about how you incorporate new data really quickly to make the model more accurate going forward. So that's on the data analytics side. So, on the employee side, on the other hand, we are no longer in the office day to day.
And the only way to know how people are doing is by asking them through some digital format, whether that's a survey or whether you host a town hall with all the employees, and then you can post a poll question and have everyone respond. In any case you don't have that water cooler moment anymore.
So for companies to know whether or not the communications efforts are working, whether or not employees are able to, you know, stay safe. What else do they need for independent MC for remote work? That's also a very different communication channels. So I think in the people analytics space, myself included, a lot of my peers are now getting involved in more frequent listening of employees to get their feedback so that the company can know how to help them better through the pandemic.

[00:07:38] Angela Alberty: Pretty interesting. So, you said something in the beginning that I think, is kind of groundbreaking for this year, is we can no longer utilize historical data on decision-making roles in the future. So we've got to pivot quickly and we've got to be able to know what we're going to need next week.
[00:07:55] And we can't rely on what we needed last week, make that decision anymore. So, you know, when it comes to employees and checking in on them and having those water cooler moments anymore, What do you think that translates to when it comes to employee wellness? And I've seen some of the information that you've shared online, and I know that this is an area that you have passion on.
How can we retain employee wellness through such an unique relationship type of world that we're in right now?

[00:08:29] Serena Huang: Yeah, one of the ways to do that better is by asking them, in the past, we haven't the topic is of interest, certainly, but it's gone from a HR specific question to now the CEO and the board cares question.
So are employees saying, are they healthy? How do we do a better job in keeping them safe, whether that's essential workers, or going forward as we slowly transitioned back to the office, what does that look like? It's certainly plays a really important role. And I think if there's an underlying silver lining to the pandemic, it's that we're able to talk more openly about stress and burnout and mental health.
It's much more okay to talk about it now because everyone feels that you are not alone. If you feel stressed, if you are not alone, if you feel like the work can not stop, and there's no boundary between your work and personal life, cause it's all blended with that, it's really important to ask employees how they're doing, and figure out whether it's additional resources companies can provide to them, to help with the coping, or perhaps managers could use more training and support to help the employees and notice some signs of burnout beforehand. So those are some areas, again, of personal interest for sure. I was really grateful to be part of a company wide event, and I led a meditation, a mindfulness meditation to show a lot of employees the benefit of just sitting down and being still for five minutes.
[00:10:18] Be with your thoughts and be present. In independent MC you know, a couple of things that I've found helpful personally are one, mindfulness, meditation. I found that helpful. And then number two, a gratitude practice. So, with that, I read up a lot of research on how gratitude helps you feel better.
[00:10:41] And to that extent, I decided to experiment. So I think starting my work meetings was gratitude. I start by saying thank you to my team members who have contributed in specific ways that they helped me, and then naturally people just started to say, thank you to others as well. It's being very powerful and positive to kick off work meetings, and it's been a really pleasant surprise to me on how that has helped with our health emotionally.

[00:11:15] Angela Alberty: And it's interesting that you say that because implementing one small change, like that takes no investment, it takes no kind of approval. It's just something cool tomorrow. And I think that employee burnout is truly a real thing, even though we're at home. I think I've read some studies that people are becoming more engaged and actually spend more time in front of their computers and are working more at home.
Absolutely. Yeah, so that's, that's so interesting. And I came across an example. I don't know what you think about this, but I was working with a colleague and we started as a zoom. We had nothing to talk about. It was just her and I clicking and working and talking. And although we had, there was no premise behind the meeting.
It was just some kind of human interaction, I guess that we usually would have cubicle next to cubicle. And although she was in the background, it just, you know, I could hear her cat kind of in the background and it was just nice to have somebody to comment with throughout the whole day. And it's creative, things like that, that you can change really don't cost anything to ask somebody how you're doing to change the format of a meeting to implement something that could be contagious, like gratitude. And to have that five minutes of just let's think for a second and allow our minds to go into where it needs to go and rest. Right.

[00:12:35] Serena Huang: [00:12:35] So, definitely. And that's tight. I'll tie that back to employee experience. That's the everyday moments, right? It's not the onboarding journey, right? It's not a specific moment, but it's every day when you have those conversations how you as a manager or a team member can help create, bring creative ideas to make the meaning, more human and more fun these days.

[00:13:01] Angela Alberty: Yeah, we do. And I love how that we can take a two-pronged approach. Yes. We can probably implement some kind of training program amongst the managers so that they can know that, but there's such simple things that we can do to keep that engagement there. That's great. So Serena, what are some areas that you're most excited about in the future when it comes to big data and then when it comes to machine learning and how do we translate that to a way that everyone can understand how greatly it's going to influence every single guac?

[00:13:32] Serena Huang: Yeah. I see so much opportunity for machine learning to make a positive impact for employees to make their experience better, to make it more personalized. So there's this concept of not just personalization, but hyper personalization in the future, because we have so much more data on everyone than before we know from your employee data, where you came from.
What you have learned before, and we can use machine learning to recommend training that might be more relevant to you that maybe you didn't think of yourself. We can make recommendations to managers on additional jobs, career opportunities, projects that their teams can take on, based on data historically, and say there's a similar employee who have taken these paths, perhaps you can think about it, right? Maybe it hasn't occurred to you, but we now have historic data on a large population. And that's where machine learning has a lot of power, by mining that data of similar employees and similar job paths and similar skill sets to make recommendations, that you may not have thought of before.
And you could think, Hey, maybe I'll take a different path because, there are similar employees who have my skill set or will have my background, will have taken this next step. And that could be my next step that I haven't considered.

[00:15:04] Angela Alberty: Wow. So it sounds like, at least from your perspective, what makes you most excited about big data and where it's going is the hyper personalization that we can bring out to the masses and employees across all levels, because we know what's worked in the past and we will know what hasn't worked and we could guide employees to become, you know, better suited in a skill set or better retained through the branding, through their own awareness of how the company is taking care of them.
Hyper-personalization is probably the most exciting on what's to come. Now, what about from an investment perspective on a company, really? You know, if there was a company out there that doesn't really have the resources, where do you think they could start to make this investment in? In big data and in their employee population, how would you recommend that?

[00:15:57] Serena Huang: Yeah. One particular area related to what I just mentioned in personalization, is to think about the advancement in chat bot capabilities to help employees. So there's related to the future of work, where, how machines will be able to do a lot of what humans can do today. Instead of a person answering questions related to policy, chatbots can do that for instance, this way you are putting machines to work, using their strings and you are putting humans back to what they're good at, you know, with emotional intelligence, connectivity, and other skills, that machine currently don't have.
So think about what humans would do, it would be great at doing in the future and what machines will be better at doing in the future. And with that, you can alleviate a lot of the manual and painful work that perhaps humans don't actually enjoy doing today anyways. Yeah, like take this huge book of policies and review and sign them, please, you know?

[00:17:00] [00:16:59] Angela Alberty: Exactly. I love that. You know, how we could put that sort of procedure into a personable chat box that floats at the top of your screen when you just started, that gives you that information with an emotion. So, yes. You know, any common, you know, best practices that you would implement and recommend to a company when it comes to maintaining integrity behind the data and how critical that is for this really to play an important role and be successful from learning from it.

[00:17:39] Serena Huang: Yeah, definitely machine learning won't work very well. If your data quality is poor, so I'll assure from experience. We have governance bodies internally within the company that look after data quality specifically. So on a regular basis, we look at all the metrics we track, and we report out on the quality of each of those data elements.
And it sounds daunting, but it's totally worth it. Initially it would be difficult and challenging, but as you start to see that data quality improves and, and has to be maintained as well, you will see that payoff, you know, in the, in the people's space, if you don't talk about promotions the same way, right. Whether it has to be a pay increase, you know, does lab remote count countless promotions, if you don't even have a standard definition within the company on what the promotion is, it's very hard to then say, Hey, I want to predict, you know, what, who would be great for the next promotion because your promotion definitions are not the same, so definitely really important to keep an eye on data quality.

[00:18:58] Angela Alberty: Awesome. So I'm going to, it sounds like yes, maintaining data quality could be an initial investment, maybe redoing some processes or having an environment that's conducive to the user that allows them to attain better quality data, but it also comes into place in setting that foundational groundwork for at least the employees to become aware of certain skillsets, KPIs, promotions. These are the goals that we're aiming towards. So we take this data and we take the metrics behind them and we connect the two to get in better understanding. And that is, that is going to be an initial sort of investment. So anything that, you know, you think aside from, okay, quick agility with the pandemic, anything else that you think this is something that we want to be aware of and prepare for, as a cause of the pandemic and how that's influenced, you know, we've talked about employee wellness and the agility behind companies to be able to take data and respond to it quickly. Is there any other influence out there that the pandemic has taught us?

[00:20:09] Serena Huang: Yes. A couple of things. One - for everyone who is listening, I really encourage you to take the time to reflect, use this as a reset, to think about why you want your post pandemic life to look like whether that's personal life or work life.
We have been given an opportunity, don't waste the pandemic, use it to really reflect and think about what you want after. And for companies, it's really important to think about what the post COVID world looks like in returning to the office, I've written an article called “How people analytics can help with the return to office”.
And one thing I recommend every company to think about is not how to return, but which roles and which groups need to return. As we have proven with COVID that remote work kind of works, it's stressful, but it kind of works at least for now, so that means collaboration could take on really different meanings.
What does teamwork growth look like? And now if we were to have a workspace where some work from home and some are in the office. What does that look like? And a lot of flexibility in terms of work location, traditionally has been a great way to attract additional talent and for companies to remain more competitive because instead of limiting your candidate pool to people in this particular city, you can potentially open out to the entire world.
But that requires the collaboration to work. Otherwise, those who are not physically in the office cannot effectively collaborate with those who are in the office. So really think about what that looks like. This could also impact the workplace as well. How do you configure the future of your office?
What does that space even mean? What does it mean? And right now, I heard this statistic from a Deloitte report recently that currently most offices are set up, with a 30, 70 split where 34 collaborate, 30% for collaboration space and then 74 individual workspace. And the prediction is it's going to flip in the future where you have 70% for collaboration and it's larger rooms where people can come together and work together.
Bbut that's going to be a huge change for employees. So definitely think about what that means for them as well.

[00:22:47] Angela Alberty: Wow. So companies have to prepare for what is the space going to look like? What are our roles going to look like? Are those going to change? And how do we create a dynamic that allows for remote and in-office settings while maintaining that comradery amongst our own staff, pretty interesting stuff.
And I think that the pandemic, you know, you touched on something earlier. It made us all vulnerable, right? So we have the two year old screaming in the background or the person that can't get to the office because they are in a high risk category. Everyone has shown their true colors and it really is an important pivotal time for us to just sit back and reflect on how that's going to change this at a personal level and how companies can attain that.
So any top tips on, you know, what you guys have done to stay creative and maintain that interaction on a remote basis this past year?

[00:23:47] Serena Huang: Yes. So we have done a lot of, certainly town hall type activities where we get updates from the company, to make things really fun. We have done talent shows. We've gotten to know employees in very different ways. We know people who have musical talent, and among others, and it was really fun to be on the screen, and see what people can do outside of the work. Something else we've done as a food company is cooking shows. So actually there were cooking competitions.

[00:24:29] Angela Alberty: blocked on food network.

[00:24:30] Serena Huang: Exactly, exactly. Right. Right. And to make it more fun, we also had the families involved because we're all at home now. So it's really fun to see the contestants and their family tasting their food on the screen. So, this, you know, there's a lot of creativity that's come out of the pandemic for sure.

[00:24:54] Angela Alberty: Oh, that's great. That's awesome. And it's definitely going to be interesting to see how we juggle, you know, in an office and remote life next year, because it's going to be not necessarily going back to the normal, but it's going to be a hybrid between what we perceive as normal and still remaining in a very COVID post pandemic world.
So wonderful. Well, those were all the questions that I had for you today. So Serena, thank you so much for your time. And if there's any way that we can reach out to you, what's the best way that we can connect with you online.

[00:25:29] Serena Huang: Definitely. It's been great to be on the show. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Please reach out to me on LinkedIn. Those who heard me on this podcast, I'd be happy to connect.

[00:25:40] Angela Alberty: Okay. Wonderful. Thanks a lot, Serena.

Innovating through Marketing Automation Software with CIO of True Influence – Ray Estevez

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Ray’s journey to the C-Suite consists of successful enterprise and start-up experiences at JP Morgan, Time Warner, ConsumerNet, 24/7 Media, ORB, V12 Group, V12 Data, and True Influence.

Ray Estevez is the Chief Data Officer at True Influence. Estevez provides data and technology leadership for the continued development of an innovative, robust, and secure data and information technology environment throughout the organization. The primary responsibilities for this office encompass a wide variety of strategic data and technology issues: governance and policy, information technology protocols, and the True Influence Information Technology organization.

Previously Estevez was the co-founder and Chief Information Officer of V12 Group. Where he helped grow and develop the company until it was acquired by Datamentors in 2016. The combined company was rebranded V12 Data. He has 30 plus years of leadership experience in the fields of data management, information technology, and digital marketing.

As the CTO of ConsumerNet Estevez was instrumental in the development of their Email database technology and revenue growth. This led to the company being acquired by 24/7 Media Inc., for $52 million dollars (http://tinyurl.com/qylqopj). After executing a smooth integration of technologies and personnel, he went on to lead the technology and operations of the 24/7 Mail division. He was appointed an executive member of the 24/7 Media mergers & acquisitions team.

Estevez is a member of Forbes CIO Network, TECHLATINO, and serves on the Board of Advisors of Rebel Visions Corporation and NextVision Sales Institute. Ever an advocate for his team, he encourages education, open communication, and work-life balance. He is a mentor to several college students and prior colleagues that are now CEOs of their own companies.

[00:00:27] Ray Estevez: Hi, Jahn, thank you for inviting me for the podcast. My name is Ray Estevez and I am the chief data officer at true influence. They've been with the company for about two years now and I'm actually moving on to a chief information officer role. So my responsibilities are expanding, which is pretty, pretty cool.

[00:00:45] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:00:45] Awesome, Ray, thanks so much for finding time to join us on the podcast. Perfect timing right? With the change in the role and responsibility, congrats on the promotion or whatever that is or changing responsibilities. Tell us a little bit more about, by your background, where you come from in your career path and then the one to spend some time talking about your current role.

[00:01:07] Ray Estevez: [00:01:07] Sure. Well, I am a proud product of New York City's inner city school, public school systems. I went to public school, public university, and it just goes to show you that if you give an individual an opportunity, they really can Excel. I came from a very tough area in Manhattan, Harlem. I'm sure you've heard of Harlem New York and had a great upbringing. Tufts streets, but it made me tough, it made me want to succeed and achieve great things. So I stayed focused on school, got my degrees. And then just hustle my way through careers and promotions just by a lot of hard work.

[00:01:54] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:01:54] Oh, that's exciting. I can definitely relate to the upbringing and the kind of the big city life as well. So that's great. Thanks for sharing that. As far as your current role and responsibilities, or the company in general, tell us a little bit more about that. What falls under your purview? What are the problems that you currently saw solving? What are the most exciting projects you have underway?

[00:02:18] Ray Estevez: [00:02:18] Yeah. I started, like I said, about two years ago, I was brought in to help sort of expand the data practice within the organization. So I actually made a move, a pivot in my career at that time from a chief information officer, chief technology officer background, to more of a chief data officer focusing on the data side, both data science. They'd acquisition best practices, data governance, and really mature the organization and make it a leader in the B2B space for marketing data. So that's what I've been doing for the past two years. And just recently, they've reorganized the company. And they've added a bunch of other responsibilities just because of my background to me. And I'm being moved to chief information officer now and still responsible for the data, but now all of the systems in terms of infrastructure, compliance, privacy, security, high availability, all those great things that come with the technology side. In particular for me, the data challenge was a great, great experience. These last two years have been awesome because I came into an area where I heard and read a lot about data science and big data. I stayed abreast of change and technology, but had not really had a chance to fully put it to practice. And the last two years have been such a great experience. We process billions and billions of data signals that show intent of business contacts and businesses showing consuming business topics by visiting websites, searching, clicking on ads. And we take all of this data, process it and put it through this relevance engine that we build that basically tries to provide an intensity score of how is this person really injured, did in this topic, mostly around B2B, what are they searching? What are they consuming? What are they exploring? Are they in the market to make a purchase? And we surface that interface that we develop for our customers to find these leads and drive marketing campaigns, whether it's through digital ads, in terms of programmatic or email marketing, many different forms of marketing to reach these business contacts, if you will, in businesses that are showing intent. So it was completely different because I came from a consumer centric business prior to this, we targeted consumers who were looking for music and sports and just consumer driven purchases and interest. And B2B was not that big of a focus in my previous roles. So I had to completely learn a whole new industry in a whole new world. But it's been an incredible journey and I'm very, very excited to lead this group and to achieve what we've done in such a short period of time.

[00:05:27] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:05:27] Wow. That's super exciting. And it sounds like a lot of challenges, but at the same time, very exciting projects you have underway.So that's great to hear. Yeah. And to take that a little bit further, you play different roles being responsible data. And now to taking more over umbrella role of the technology aspect of your organization being the CIO innovation, I'm pretty sure is, at the forefront for you as a strategy and building and fostering that culture of innovation, I'm pretty sure that's, you know, one of the main focus areas for you along the lines with everything that comes along with, from maintenance standpoint, tell us a little bit more about your strategies or insights and initiatives that really help you build and foster that culture innovation within your organization.

[00:06:17] Ray Estevez: [00:06:17] Yeah. Great, great question. And for me, innovation, really, a lot of people confuse innovation with technology and it really is not technology to me. Innovation is people that are really thinking about a problem and making an improvement. Or solution to something that either doesn't exist or exists, but how to improve it and make our world around those better. So innovation is creative minds to look at something that exists or doesn't exist and help improve it without improvement.There is no innovation, right? And that's the way I look at things. That's the way I feel, I consider that without improving the process, they'll build something new. That's going to help the world around us. You can't call that innovation just because you apply faster technology or cool gadgets. That's not innovation, so that's kind of how I look at innovation in terms of strategies, I've tried to build even in my prior roles, but more so now, because I'm more on the business side, dealing with data and customers directly. How do we innovate? How do we improve? What we're delivering to the customer, the quality, the responsiveness of that data in terms of those campaigns, how do we increase their ROI? So not just the process itself or the technology tools, which are just a vehicle to drive that innovation, but what is the end result? How, have you made these clients happier or better or more successful because they're using your product or your data. And that's where I've basically have used my team to look at the data and really ask a lot of questions and model it and really try to say, what can we learn from these campaigns and these things that work or didn't work and teach these models, these AI models that we've developed. To provide and keep surfacing the better responding groups of target customers that you might market to. And that's really sort of a culture that I created in it to influence that basically says, listen, you got to look at the data, you got to challenge the data. You have to question the data and you have to validate it, or you have to make sure that the response is there. You can't just bring in all this raw data, try to format it. And yeah. Standardize it as structure and just say, I'm done. So to me, where innovation is really about how do you improve the business process of our marketers, the CML clients that are coming to us, that are trying to grow their businesses. And that to me is what makes this an exciting world for me technology is just a vehicle. It's just a tool. There are tools that help accomplish that, but training and educating and creating this data-driven culture within my company is what's allowed us to innovate and continue to grow even during COVID. I mean, think about what we just went through and we're still in it. Right, most companies were struggling and we just, we kept pushing forward. We accelerated it, we went faster. We challenged ourselves and our staff. So that to me is what innovation is. How do you improve the process even under these challenging conditions? Right?

[00:09:46] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:09:46] Right. I love these examples. At the end of the day, it's not about some innovative new product that you had built from a technology standpoint. And it could be as simple as improvement in a process, like you said, it's all boils down to the overall outlook into innovation and that whole culture of experimentation almost empowering your folks, employees to fill, to be autonomous in the sense bringing ideas to life and also having the resources and time and allocation to experiment and bring, take action and actually try to bring that particular idea into action. So that's exciting.

[00:10:24] Ray Estevez: [00:10:24] Yeah. Early on in my career. Just to add a little to that, I was one of these guys that really challenged the norm. If you remember, you are probably much younger than I am, but back in the days, you will not fail. If you selected IBM or Microsoft, now everything is open source, right? So about 15 years open source was just kind of a beginning and I adapted it. I learned it. I embraced it and brought it to my companies that I was involved with and helped those companies innovate and grow because I took chances and challenges. So it's like you said, it's technology is just a vehicle, but how do you apply it? How do you use it? How do you convince people that this is going to make things better and improve your world? And that's kinda how I started innovating. Early on by just looking at what was out there and applying it within my own world and how to improve my environment.

[00:11:19] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:11:19] Right. Absolutely. That makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing that. And we briefly touched upon different ideas to innovate ideas, to make things better from an overall standpoint of what are the different trends or ideas that really excite you these days? It doesn't necessarily have to be in your industry, but just overall, what are you super excited about? What is the next big thing? What are you researching? What are you looking to invest in or perhaps build, share with us some insights there?

[00:11:47] Ray Estevez: [00:11:47] Sure, sure. Well, from an outside of my industry, obviously AI is the craze that's going on. Right? You see all these autonomous vehicles and flights into space and all these companies, exploding around us in terms of growth and investments. So, I'm just so excited that where my children and my grandchildren are going to live, what's that, we're all going to be like, it feels like it's almost right here right now. Getting almost tangible. I didn't think I would ever hear about any of these things. So I will have flying taxis over, and can take us somewhere. And that to me is what I see outside of my industry that really excites me. I read a lot. I follow these companies. I invest in these companies because, hey, if I believe in it, it may pay off from my personal investment perspective from our business side, in terms of my current role, it's really applying some of those challenges and innovations and ideas in the business side. Data and the use of AI and expanding and improving data science to come up with better models and better solutions for our customers and our platform. So I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what are we doing? How can we do it better? Is there another enhanced cycle or model that we can use to produce even better results? So, pushing the envelope of how do you apply data science and types of data that you're bringing in to solve and improve your current business and your customers' results. So that's kind of how I spent a lot of my days constantly thinking about innovation from that perspective. And it's really on my side of the business, all around data, how much more data can I bring in what type of data can I enhance? And then what do I do with that data? How do you massage it and process it and create these models that can tell you something, some predictive analysis that might yield a great result for our customers. So that's kind of what. Gets my juices flowing excitement as I get to get up and go to work every day. So it's a lot of fun.

[00:14:09] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:14:09] Yeah, no, I can definitely relate. And then a lot of the trends that you're talking about, definitely very exciting to me as well, from an advanced technologies perspective. Also from a standpoint of just anything that really kind of questions, the normal questions, the standard, the cryptocurrency, I'm very excited about that. Just being the overall kind of education learning component of that, just exiting from the overall standard, institutionalized education versus something a little bit, that's more practical. I think those are the different trends that I'm super pumped about. So definitely thank you for sharing those ideas with us. To shift gears a little bit. So with you being a technology executive, and when certain candidates join your guys' organization, they go through different rounds of interviews, technical assessments, all of that great stuff. When the candidate gets to you and you interview. Then give us a glimpse into an interview with Ray. What does that look like? Do you get creative with those? What types of questions you ask and more importantly, what are you looking for in some of the responses when you hear them?

[00:15:22] Ray Estevez: [00:15:22] That's a great question. I don't do a lot of interviewing, honestly. I kind of have an introductory call. Normally my directors and VPs that work on my organization. They do the technical drill down. And I tell them, I don't want to see anyone unless they pass mustard on your side. And you feel like this is going to be a great candidate for this company. So we might start out with 20 candidates for one role. And I may interview two or three. If that normally, maybe just two. And then I kind of help them give them my insight, but I never make a decision. I don't hire anyone. I've always empowered my staff to make their decisions because they're the ones who are gonna lead those folks. They are the ones who have to work with them closely every day. So I give them that power. I say, listen to this, I can give you my opinion, but at the end of the day, you make your final decision. But what do I do in these interviews? Or sort of hello, introduction calls that I make with these folks that make it to my level is really to try and find how confident they are. Do they get rattled by challenge and crisis or the cool, calm and collective, can they handle a crisis and solve a problem? Not get, oh my God, all flustered. And I can't figure this out and kind of throw their hands up in the air. I look for that in a personality, right? Because the skill sets. They have a degree, a lot of them bring a lot of theoretical skills and knowledge to the table, but very little practical experience in real world challenges. So I'll ask a question about, tell me about some of the biggest problems you've faced in your role. And how you dealt with solving that and things like that I start picking personality traits on an individual to say, wow, this person is going to be super cool, super collective, and it's gonna be able to handle any situation that the business brings to the table, whether it's a crisis or just a question. And that's what lets me find, I think really high quality individuals. I have people in my organization that I've been working with for many, many years. There's a gentleman that works for me that I've sort of brought him wherever I go, because he's one of my right hand guys. And he's worked for me for almost 20 years. And to build that kind of rapport and a connection with someone is because you have to get. Give people power to make decisions. You can't micromanage. You got to let them grow and develop, and you'd be surprised how well they're going to surprise you and deliver. So that's something that I thrive in in terms of how do I grow my staff? How do I encourage them to lead and to nurture the younger, more junior folks that we hire into the pool? And I've only been here two years, but like I said, I have one person that's been with me for like 20 years. And he's with me in this new organization. And I rarely lose people because I work very hard to help them grow and give them a lot of rope either you're going to hang yourself or you're going to succeed. And I think most of them, because I picked them properly, they thrive. They just become successful. I have people that I still connect with that work with me in the past. They're currently CEOs of companies or CEOs or CTOs, and they were directors or VP of something in my organization at some point in the past. I love that. That shows I'm doing something right. These people are successful and I picked them. I brought them in, so it's great.

[00:19:16] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:19:16] I love it. Well, that's super exciting. And that's just a testament to your leadership style in terms of really understanding the whole concept of leadership at the end of the day, that the more people you can help succeed, the more successful you are. And also what you've talked about from the interviewing standpoint, it's really empowering your team to make the decisions. And really when you actually, it sounds like when you interview folks, it's more of an opportunity for them to interview you and also ask the question. So, who's the leader? What type of culture within the organization am I the right fit for this type of group? I think that's super exciting, very simple, but oftentimes it's overlooked from a standpoint of kind of driving that and that's super exciting. Ray, from a standpoint of some of the most in demand skill sets or something that's very challenging for you guys to find these days as an organization,share with us some intel. From that standpoint, the reason I asked this is because a good portion of our listeners also are early stage career professionals, recent grads, and a lot of questions we also get is, hey, these conversations are great because it's practical, it's straight from the source. It's, there's no marketing fluff, but. Ask for gifts. What are the different areas where I should invest my time developing a particular skill set?

[00:20:41] Ray Estevez: [00:20:41] Yeah, those are great questions and it really depends on what they want to do. Technology is so broad, right? There's so many angles and areas that one can follow. I sort of landed in management, just I think by accident, but it worked out great. So you have to. First search within yourself and determine what drives you. What motivates you? Do you want to be a practical hands-on engineer that solves some amazing products and, and, and create solutions and things like that. Then there's a different path in terms of what you should learn, what you should focus on. If you want to be a project leader, there's another path you want to be a manager at a high level, this a different type of way of thinking, but with answering your question in terms of what's in demand. I mean, right now it's all about data and data science. You see it all around, even all this AI stuff that we're talking about for the future, that's happening all around us. It's all driven by data. And the processing and handling of this data through all these models, which include machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing and LP. And just understanding how to use these skills in a practical manner will open and allow you to grow with where things are тow. You asked this question 10 years from now. It may be totally different, right. But in today's world, I mean, those are the biggest in demand, skill sets, anything around data, data science, and I'm talking about it. It's a big gamut of areas, right? It could be development where you need to be a programmer and develop and apply some of these models into a computer. Algorithms, whether you're using Python or AWE or C++, or there's so many options, but right now Python and R are the two leading development languages. You have to understand the concept of sequel, right? In terms of data analysis and extracting data and standardizing data and querying data and updating data and bringing structure to this unstructured world that we get all these feeds in. So, those are the areas that. If you really want to say what is really in demand. Those are the areas I think, in the data science field, anything with Python and R and sequel and development and those coding in those areas to help those things analytics in terms of modeling and advance querying of data and thinking of data and grouping it in certain ways, those types of skills. We'll make anyone extremely valuable and the money that's being thrown at these people is sick. It's crazy. I mean, I graduated with God, I'm giving my age away here, but I graduated in 1986 and I got my first job at JP Morgan in wall street. He was such an excited young kid and I think I was making $25k a year. So it was like, okay, that's a long time ago. And it seemed like a world. Now there's some kids coming out of college with barely no experience, just theoretical degrees and paper breaking that hundred thousand mark. It's insane. What's going on. Especially if they focus on a data science or real technical area. So, these skills that are in demand are very important. But besides that, it's the human element, right? Understanding, listening, people skills managing and engaging with teams. That's also a big demand. You look at a lot of managers that are hiring. They look for that because of the technical aspect. People are going to get better over time. The more they do the better they're going to become developers and analytics type folks, but there are certain skills that are harder to teach. And don't look for those things. So if you can focus on personal skills. To help you, whether you're going to go on a technical track and be a engineer hands-on all the time or a project manager or a leader that you want someday to be a VP or C X O of some type. Those other skills are just as valuable, if not more. The business side of things. So I look for all those things. And to me, that is, what's really in demand these days in a technical world, for me, what's hard to find you said are there things that are hard to find? Yeah, this is a shortage. We'd hear about it all the time. And there's such a push for teaching STEM, right. To folks in college and all these programs. And that is what we need to do. We need to increase the number of people that can work in these areas, because this is where the world is evolving to at least for the next 10-15 years. So the more people that can get into these fields and take these classes and these degrees, the better we're going to be. But right now it's a challenge. When I put in a job ad for data science. Even if it's an entry level or mid-level person, it takes us a while to find the right candidate. There's a lot of people who throw their resumes over, they took a class on you to me, and they think they're a data scientist. It doesn't work that way. So it is hard to find these people and there's a shortage out there. So I am a big supporter and proponent of people that I mentor too, if they want a career in technology and in this type of field to focus on these areas and become proficient, practical, not just book theory, but put it to practice the more and the more you learn and do the better you're going to be at what you do.

[00:26:58] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:26:58] Right. Absolutely. I can totally relate with what you're talking about from data perspective, because for us at pro source, that's what we specialize in partnering with companies on very specific niche skill set from staffing and recruiting perspective from cloud data science, advanced technologies, cyber security, those four areas.We specialize in mainly because that's our practical expertise, but from what you're talking about, that being in demand and that being almost unicorn. Skillset where just the skillset alone technical expertise is not enough where it has to be combined with a set of soft skills that really make you as a well-rounded technologist, technically professional because technical skills, they evolve technologies, evolve all the time by your soft skills, your ability to elaborate, your emotional intelligence. Those are the things that also should not go unnoticed. And I love when you were talking about, from that standpoint, really also investing time into developing that side of you as a professional. I think it's super important.

[00:28:06] Ray Estevez: [00:28:06] Absolutely. I think you hit it right on the nail there and the head of the nail, because a lot of people focus on the technical spot. I got this certification, I got this degree, I got this. But they don't know how to deal with conflict and those soft skills you just described, dealing with understanding what the client is really asking for. Listening. Listening is a very powerful skill. And these days to where you're talking, like everything being remote and virtual, those skills.

[00:28:39] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:28:39] Exactly, exactly. Memorial of it. Yeah. That's right. I love that. That was great. Thanks for kind of give us insight from their perspective. When it comes to actually, you touched upon that being a big challenge, attracting that type of skills to your teams and so forth. What are the different strategies that really help you to find and attract that type of talent to your teams? Share with us anything that has worked well for you. Maybe there are some of the things to avoid.

[00:29:12] Ray Estevez: [00:29:12] Sure. Yeah, right now I'm in a good spot. And the reason is I'm at a great company that offers a lot of benefits and great stuff. So it makes that part of the decision-making of attracting people easier. Right. So, the company offers 100% free medical benefits. You don't contribute a penny to it 401k matching, where they're actually matching some of your following 401k contributions. I think it's like that, right? Continuous training. We invest so much money and energy on training through LinkedIn, other sorts of groups of training, external training, whatever it takes to advance these people. So, that portion makes it easier? When I have those conversations with folks who might be looking at our company, because it opens a door that there's no objection. Oh, well, this company doesn't pay well, they don't have good benefits or they don't do training. So that makes it a much easier conversation. The next thing is, it's really about personality, right? You have to have a culture and you have to feel like you fit into that culture. So I work very hard with my staff because they do most of the interviewing. They do most of the initial screening. They are the ones who narrow it down to those top two or three candidates that might come on board. So how do you make them feel like, oh my God, this is the company that I would like to be part of as they're growing. They offer great benefits, this advancement potential, there's learning potential here. Even if it's just for two years of my journey, it could be the most amazing two years that I've had so far. So making that environment appealing and attractive to them, I think, helps us attract candidates. When we put up an ad on LinkedIn or on our website, we get inundated with resumes and maybe. Because there's a lot of people who've lost jobs because of COVID. There may be more people. So, sometimes we have to spend a lot of effort trying to convince the really good ones that we are the right organization for them, that we are the right team, the right culture, where they are going to Excel and grow and develop their journey of where they want to get to. So, it is a challenge. It's not easy. I guess I'm lucky right now because I'm working for a pretty good company that offers a lot of great things that makes that part a little easier. Sometimes you get some candidates that they're very clear on what they want to do. And I always ask these questions sometimes about goals and what do you want to do? Short-term or long-term right in that introductory, just to get a sense of, is this someone who just wants to be a manager and a VP by tomorrow, or someone who wants to contribute to this company and evolve as an individual and grow. And those are the types of things that I get into to understand some people come in with a chip on their shoulder because they think they're that good and that they should be in your seat. As the CDO or CTO by next year. And some people tell me, I want your job by next year. And they're applying for a manager's job or even a senior engineer's job. And I'm like, well, I pay my dues to get here. I've been at this for a long time. So I don't think it's that easy. I mean, some there's some exceptional rockstars out there, but most of them that you notice. The way they get there. It's because they start their own thing. If you do it through the journey of a corporate environment, you still have to pay your dues. You're not going to go from graduating college with your bachelor's or master's degree. And two years later expect to be the CIO, a CTO or CEO of a company that's maybe making a hundred million dollars a year without paying some dues and really innovating. Right? So, that's what I try to find those that are realistic in their vision of their journey. And then I try to embrace them, I can help you get there. Let me show you how I can get you there. Tell me what you want. If it's realistic and achievable within this culture within this organization, I'll show you the way. But if it's not it's okay, good luck. This is not the right fit for us. Right. And that's, you have to find those, identify those differences and then make decisions off of that.

[00:33:58] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:33:58] Absolutely. No, I love those examples and the personal perspective, it definitely makes sense. It's at the end of the day, it also boils down to the type of culture that you foster within the organization. And for a lot of my clients that we've had relationships for many years, it's really for, yes internally, we are recruiting. That definitely makes sense. But for us to come in and also help an organization, I think number one, investment that we make is to really first understand the type of culture that's in place. Because as we said, start sourcing and interviewing candidates, it's usually an immediate yes, no assessment is this going to be the right fit? Is this they're going to be the right personality match and so forth. So I think that definitely makes sense from what you're talking about being very surgical and also providing the candidates an opportunity to interview you as well.

[00:34:54] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:34:54] That's very exciting. Very important. Absolutely. So for you personally, for your sources of information, your sources of learning, share with us any interesting articles, blogs, websites they use subscribed to what are your sources for continuous self-improvement, tell us a little bit about that.

[00:35:19] Ray Estevez: [00:35:19] I am a learner, I'm always researching and trying to stay ahead of the curve, because as you said earlier technology is just constantly changing and evolving, so you can't stay still. Right? One of the sites that I've used and I discovered it a few years ago and I love, and they're doing a great job. With universities to help people advance and get degrees, even while they're still working, the world has changed. Right? And this is what I call about. This is what innovation is. How do you make education easier, better, more accessible, and more reasonably priced. So there's a site called edx.org. I discovered the site like three years ago. I love it. I still use it. It's critical to my organization, the last two organizations that I've been in, and I'm actually right now starting to try and work towards my masters. Ah, and you say, Oh crap, great estimates. Doesn't have a masters. That's right. While I was at JP Morgan, I just devoted my life and time to the company. I started my master's degree at Pace University down the Wall Street at Sidetrack, got married early in life, my career got in the way. And I started succeeding. Never finished it. It's one of those things you regret in life. Not because it didn't help me succeed. I've been very successful. But it's just a personal achievement and growth. So, now they have these micro programs and things you could do slowly, gradually towards, you can put it all together and get that achievement. Even if I'm 65 years old, Jahn, I'm going to invite you to my party to say, Hey, I'm celebrating my master's degree because that's one of my goals and dreams too, to still finish.

Jahn Karsybaev: Right. I love that.

Ray Estevez: And it's one of those things that this site can help many people, even in inner cities with low income that can start building skill sets and degrees or certificates to help them land those jobs, to improve their lives, their families, and move forward. And it doesn't matter where in the world, right. Because the internet is so powerful now. So, that's one area that from an education I use a lot and I leverage it at all my companies. And a lot of my staff use it to advance their skillset or learn new things. There's other sites like Kaggle, Data Science, Central, which are areas that I'm always following and reading their blogs and posting great papers by some great people, and another one called code mentor that I've used and visited occasionally. So, those are some of the areas where, and they're all around data science and AI, because that's where I spend a lot of my time learning and reading. So, but there's others, there're so many great resources out there, but for me, those are the few that I subscribe to and use for learning.

[00:38:29] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:38:29] No, I love that. Thanks for those examples. And we'll make those links available in the episode notes for all of our listeners. Ray, last but not least, tell us what are you currently reading and what is one book that you always recommend to others and why?

[00:38:45] Ray Estevez: [00:38:45] Yeah, I'm actually right now finishing this book called Learning to Love Data Science and it's by this author named Mike Barlow. It is put together in a way that breaks it down from more of a theoretical high level perspective. Not trying to say that you're going to become a data scientist, but to understand the concepts of what encompasses data science. So this is one book that I am in right now, like three quarters of the way done. And I just can't put it down. I love this book and I highly recommend it. And it is just for those who might want to pursue a career in data science or data, anything around data and technology from a data perspective, I recommend and hope that it inspires them to want to pursue that if that's what they want. Oh, they may read it and say, what? This is not really what I want to do, which is falling to you to find your passion. Once you find that passion, everything just. Kind of comes into play and falls right there and your path is kind of clear to you. So, there's a lot of books. I mean, there's a lot of personal books that I've read that I can't even think of the names and authors right now. I apologize.

[00:40:08] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:40:08] Oh, no, it's all good. I love the recommendation then, definitely if you think of something and send it to me, we'll include that with a publication as well. Ray, thank you enough for your time today. It was such a great and insightful conversation. Definitely going to stay in touch with you, do another episode and about a year to see how much have transpired, how many more CEOs that you have produced and much appreciated all of the insights you shared with us.

[00:40:35] Ray Estevez: [00:40:35] Absolutely, that'd be fun. I will actually send you a list of some of my colleagues and friends and folks that I've very close to, that I've helped to evolve. It may open up more candidates for you to kind of consider in the future for some of your podcasts. And like I said, some are CEO, some are CTO, some are different roles, but it's pretty cool. You could kind of get a sense of how their careers evolve and maybe tie it together and say, Hey, you remember Ray, how he helped you in your path? So that'd be cool.

[00:41:09] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:41:09] Wait for that. And I love those recommendations. Usually those are the best episodes, like with Maribel recommending you. It's a super exciting, so definitely much appreciate all the insights.

[00:41:20] Ray Estevez: [00:41:20] Awesome. Well, Janh, thank you so much for the time. This was a lot of fun. I like talking about my past and the sense of how I can help the youth and the folks that are looking for some guidance in terms of this industry. So, you could always share my profile on LinkedIn and anyone who wants to reach out and connect with me. I'm open to guide them and answer any questions they may have.

Joel Lalgee – Founder at Head Hunter Media

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

In the span of just a year, Joel Lalgee has become one of the top voices for recruiters to follow on LinkedIn. Having garnered a massive audience while establishing his own live-time series, Joel has interviewed some of the most renowned figures in the recruiting and staffing space. Join us as he guides us through the characterization of the modern day recruiter and best tips for establishing your own personal brand on LinkedIn.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:27] Angela Alberty: [00:00:27] Okay, so excited to have this podcast today. Joel, I have been waiting for several weeks now to interview. You were one of the first people that I reached out to when I made the announcement as podcast host at the Ivy Podcast. Go ahead and give the audience a brief introduction.

[00:00:43] Joel Lalgee: [00:00:43] Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, thank you for having me on the show. It's a pleasure to be here. A little bit about myself. I am a recruitment head Hunter agency recruiter. That's been in the business for about five years, and I've recently made a transition into the content marketing world, helping agency recruiters build a personal brand, particularly on LinkedIn. So I've spent the last 18 months building a pretty decent sized brand on LinkedIn. Got a lot of experience with that. And so now I'm helping other people to do the same thing. And so, yeah, again, just thank you for having me on the show.

[00:01:27] Angela Alberty: [00:01:27] Oh absolutely super excited for this, because I think that the audience can leverage a lot of the insight that you provide. And one of your, I guess, feel good stories is how you found it and landed yourself into this role. But we can get into that in just a little bit. We're going to start with some fire and eyes questions. And I feel the vibe today, you're black, I'm red public fire knife questions because it's the ring of fire ring of fire questions, but it's also to break the ice. So we want to just get to know you a little bit better and ask you super random questions along the way. So are you a coffee guy or a tea guy?

[00:02:03] Joel Lalgee: [00:02:03] Oh, well, so I was born in England, so I still have a little bit of tea in me. Yeah. So my whole family is tea, but I definitely like coffee in the morning, coffee in the afternoon. High energy coffee.

[00:02:18] Angela Alberty: [00:02:18] Yeah, me too. Me too. I've got that simple American coffee plantation lineage of coffee drinkers. So actually, my followup question, which you may have just answered is the most interesting fact about you that most people wouldn't associate to Joel.

[00:02:34] Joel Lalgee: [00:02:34] Yeah. I would say being born in the UK. So I was born in England. And I moved here in 2000. And so I've, that's why the British excellent. When you're in middle school and you have a different voice and everybody else doesn't go well. And so, in any attempt to be cool, I started saying what's up man and hey everybody, before it I'm sounding American.

[00:03:05] Angela Alberty: [00:03:05] Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So this one's pretty interesting. What's the worst job you've ever had.

[00:03:12] Joel Lalgee: [00:03:12] Yeah, that's a great question.

[00:03:13] Angela Alberty: [00:03:13] You could, that's right. So something maybe…

[00:03:19] Joel Lalgee: [00:03:19] In a call center, for about six months and I was working for one of the big, well, I was working at an agency that represented one of the big banks and I would literally call people and say, hi, it's Joel, I'm representing so-and-so bank. Do you have a couple of minutes to chat about your recent experience and I'd run them through a script. And, I did that and I actually was good at it, but it was. You can imagine. I mean, it's yeah. You're cold calling people for reasons that they don't even care about. So it was, it was tough.

[00:03:54] Angela Alberty: [00:03:54] I can see how that may be set the foundation for a recruiter Joel, because that's a large premise about what might you do similar to like you finding a restaurant gig and how that lends to customer service, foundational experience. So pretty bad job, but it all helped along the way. I'm sure. Yeah. All right. So we're all busy. We've got a lot going on. What do you do? What was one tip that you would give the audience on how to stay organized?

[00:04:20] Joel Lalgee: [00:04:20] Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. I probably asked that question to other people. I think for me, what I'm finding is you've got to have the time-blocking and you've got to have that schedule made at the beginning of the week. So I like to take my Sundays and I'm just mapping out time for everything from going to the gym to content planning, content creation, and in client work and sales work too. So those are usually the four areas that I block it into, but I do like to leave a little bit of time for flexibility as well, obviously, because things can just change nowadays as we all know.

[00:05:00] [00:04:59] Angela Alberty: [00:04:59] I like that. It gives you the head start in the week. So you don't have this like impending panic when you wake up on Monday, like, Oh shit, what I need to do.

[00:05:08] Joel Lalgee: [00:05:08] A hundred percent. And I'm definitely more of a person who would try and fly, but like definitely when I was in other positions, I was very spontaneous and I wouldn't have a plan. Now I just, I see the value in being organized, but it's something to that. It's a huge struggle, but it's dividing those revenue activities with the activities you got to get done as well. And really planning that out. Smartly.

[00:05:34] Angela Alberty: [00:05:34] Yeah, absolutely. Revenue generation activities. Love that. Okay. So this is the last one, your biggest mentor, and some advice that they've given you, that you take with you to the grave.

[00:05:46] Joel Lalgee: [00:05:46] Yeah, no, I love that one. I think. So my biggest mentor over the last year is a guy called Adam Posner. I don't know if you had seen in my mind with Adam. So Adam, he's got a wealth of experience when it comes to marketing and he's also kind of run his own recruitment agency for the past three years, I want to say. And his, I guess it's just like ongoing mentorship, but the advice that he always gives, particularly with content is to really be true to who you are, everything that you're putting out. And he's great because there's moments where I'll put something out on social media that maybe it's just there for vanity, or maybe it's there just to get the likes and the comments. And he's really quick to call me out on that. So, that's just the ongoing advice that he gives is just authenticity. It's really being who you are and sticking to that as much as you can.

[00:06:48] Angela Alberty: [00:06:48] That's pretty cool. And I think, some of the biggest mentors are the ones that push us to the hardest and make us question how we're doing things.

[00:06:56] Angela Alberty: [00:06:56] So, he is quick for a little while. He's got some mentorship through Gary V so I can see the fact that he's done the recruiting thing, he's got some great marketing appeal and some great marketing experience to leverage and how much that's influenced you. So this is a question that I'm going to be asking everyone that I interview in the staffing and recruiting space. No one ever is eight years old and says, what? I want to be a recruiter when I grow up. So how did you find yourself within this very interesting industry that you and I are both a part of?

[00:07:31] Joel Lalgee: [00:07:31] Yeah. I think, and just interviewing a lot of recruitment pros myself, it is always that classic. Like I fell into it and I am definitely no different to that. I had aspirated. I mean, I graduated college in 2011, so it was right off the back of the recession. So it was really, really hard for me to find a job. And so I took a job in retail banking because that's what my degree was in. It was in finance. And so I did that for a number of years. I did that for about five years, ended up underwriting people's loans, working with cash flow, getting into investments, but it was really suited to him. And I think anybody who's seen any of my content. Probably anybody who's watching this right now, you probably would be, get a feel that I'm not a suit and tie person. It's just not, I'm not a rule follower. And obviously the bank is extremely regulated. So I did that for a number of years and I got to a point where I had a mentor, I had had another mentor who happened to be my past CEO and I reached out to him. And this time just like, Hey, I don't know what I'm doing. Like. The next step is senior vice president and then president. And it's just, I could just work my, I could wear it the next 30 years and just work my way up this hierarchy of positions, but it's just not me. And I'm just not enjoying it. And he had just started up a recruitment agency in the Milwaukee area. And at the time I was living in Southern California. So he said, if you want to, he's like, I'm totally cool for you to live out in California, but I want you to come and get a feel for what the company I'm building, what I'm building. And at that time his company had, I think, six full-time people. And I was like, this sounds amazing. And he's like, you'll get to work remotely and you're going to be recruiting. And I'm like, I have no idea how to recruit. He was like, don't even worry about it. I'll teach you everything you need to know. So, yeah, I packed my bags, quit my job at the bank, packed my bags, moved back to Wisconsin, which is where he was based in the Milwaukee area. And right from day one, I was a, they had a slightly different recruitment model. It wasn't contingent, it wasn't retained. It wasn't a full desk. It was, you have your salespeople. And you have your consultants and I was a consultant. So right from day one and meeting with clients, I have no idea what I'm talking about with recruiting, but it's like you figure it out. And I researched, I did the research on the roles I was working on. Did the research on the industries to companies and started building relationships with hiring managers where you are placing again. At first I was a generalist, so I was a generalist for about two years. So I worked with a lot of people in the trade show space, which is obviously dead right now. But in the trade show space, I did one of the first roles I placed as a design engineer. They did massive like lifts that you'd find in like a car dealership or whether it, so they manufactured these massive lifts that would lift cars. So I did that. Um, a little bit, a little bit in planning and some trade shows and not knowing what the heck you were doing along the way. You're figuring it out.

[00:10:33] Angela Alberty: [00:10:33] But what? My respect level just kind of went up for you a little bit, because I think something you and I both have in common is that we completely turned our backs to corporate America.

[00:10:50] Joel Lalgee: [00:10:50] So, yeah. And well, it's so funny cause it was like, the banking environment was really stuffy and I was good at it cause I'm good at math and good with people, so stuff. So it was good. But I remember the first week they were like, okay, you need to either have a really big beard or you need to shave it off. Cause I had it in between. Cause that was a style. And I'm like, you're telling me to shave my face and then it was like the next week. Your style is a little bit too modern. Like we want you to wear like, kind of baggy suit. And I'm just like, wow. I was like, okay, this is the scene. It was insane, but I'm going to do it cause you're paying decent and all this sort of stuff. And then moving over to the startup world where it was, we were remote. This was five years ago. We were all remote. Everything was through zoom calls already, it was like, figure it out as you go, we're working on processes. So it was a completely different environment. And from a recruitment perspective, I think the biggest challenge that people have coming into the recruitment game is you usually get a full desk where you are stuck in a role where you're trying to sales. You're trying to prove that something about an industry, but you don't, you're then trying to win sales. You're trying to recruit people. I had the luxury of day one meeting with presidents, CEOs, hiring managers, and strategically talking to them about the types of positions they're trying to fill, how are we going to do it? How are we going to strategize? And so I got an acceleration in relationship building, right from the get-go, which I don't think a lot of agency recruiters that I talk to. I think that the first two years are a lot less structured and a lot less, a lot more sink and swim. So, I am really thankful for the start that I had in recruiting. And I believe that it built a good foundation for understanding the process, but also just understanding the internal process as well. And I'm really thankful for that as well. So it was kind of cool.

[00:12:47] Angela Alberty: [00:12:47] That's pretty awesome. Cause you're right. Most people will have to do that sink sink or swim mentality going into it. All right. So let's talk about personal brands and where you've leveraged yourself in the span of a year, I think you're at, I don't know, 40,000 followers, 30,000 followers on LinkedIn. How do you think that's going to transform itself into the recruiting and staffing space?

[00:13:14] Joel Lalgee: [00:13:14] Great question. So I think when I look at the different industries that are around, I think, and I've worked in a number of these like banking, construction, legal, real estate staffing and recruiting a lot of these industries. Are pretty old school and the way that you go about them.

[00:13:35] Angela Alberty: [00:13:35] So, totally right. I think that's a notoriety within the industry.

[00:13:39] Joel Lalgee: [00:13:39] It's just being kind of old. It's cool. It's old school, which is, which is good. I mean, in some ways, because I think in old school, in the old school, which I would consider heavy cold-calling activity, building relationships over the phone, building relationships face to face. Those things are great and they set the foundation for how you build relationships. So those skills are really important, but I think where the personal branding comes in now more than ever is we obviously have hit a stage where digital. And zoom and video communication and being able to build relationships virtually has accelerated. So anybody that tells me right now that their plan for 2021 is to go to live events with people and network. I don't know what planet you're living on. It's not happening. Anybody that's telling me right now that they're making 20 calls a day cold calls a day and being successful. It's not happening. You have to make a hundred to 150 cold calls. You need to send out a lot of emails. And so you have to have a lot more outbound activity because you don't have that same face-to-face relationships that are going on. So I think what we've seen because of, obviously, COVID-19, which everybody hates talking about. Cause it's overplayed. But with that, obviously you get just a big decline in those face-to-face interactions, those face-to-face meetings. And so now there's a newer generation of people who are coming into an industry it's very archaic and old school, but they're realizing, okay, I can't not have a presence online. I don't need to be an influencer. I don't need to have millions of followers, but yeah, I do need to have a presence and I do need to put. That the art of building an online presence into what I'm doing. And I think for any role that's sales based or relationship based people now are just realizing that you have to have something online. You have to have a podcast, you have to have a YouTube channel. You have to have something big because the buyer mentality now is it's not just, Hey, I'll talk to you on the phone and believe everything that you say. It's literally, what's your name? Let me type you into Google and I'm going to see what pops up. And if you haven't picked up the phone, like people aren't picking up the phone, statistically there's reports that show, how many times do you pick up a cold call? I mean, like, let's be honest with one another. So that's sort of, I don't exactly know, but I think, I mean, and it depends who you reach in. I think like, if you are reaching sales people pick up the phones probably do some ethic method because they're on the phone. Sales people are on the phone, but I had a guy on my show who told me that his expectation for his recruiters is a hundred cold calls a day minimum, and two to get the same results that 10 years ago it was 20 calls. And I think my theory, my belief is you still going to have to do outbound activity, like cold calls and emails, but you have to start thinking about how am I going to inbound attract people? How am I going to start creating a machine that is bringing people and pulling people in towards me, or at least throwing out my name enough places to where I make those cold calls. They've got familiarity with who I am. I just don't see cold calling getting better. And I don't see it completely dying either. I always see it as one of those things that you can get lucky with. But I think if that's all you're relying on, as millennials, as gen Z starts to penetrate the markets and they become more, decision-makers gonna have a really hard time cold calling people. You just get to have to strategize something else, some generational shifts happening, for sure.

[00:17:34] Angela Alberty: [00:17:34] So, okay. So we're talking to that recruiter now. And okay. They decide to implement some personal bank branding, at least steps that they could compliment to cold calling to their email campaigns. What would be those three steps that somebody could start implementing tomorrow to at least initiate a presence online?

[00:18:00] [00:18:00] Joel Lalgee: [00:18:00] Step one, find people within your space or find people who are in the recruiting space that have a great online presence. And follow them. So just look at what other people are doing in your industry. So if you're in tech space, follow the tech influencers for lack of a better word on LinkedIn, follow the recruitment influencers on LinkedIn and see the techniques they're using. See what kind of content they're putting out to start consuming that and start connecting and just start getting a feel for that step two would be blocking off time each day to engage with other people. So I don't say, I don't think the first option is to just start creating and start a YouTube channel. I think the first option is to consume, then engage with other people. So we engage with those people. Start leaving comments, start getting kind of into that community. Start making connections, start finding your prospects on LinkedIn and start engaging with their content. And then the third, and the third would be more around the creative, the creating the content, I guess, in terms of starting to brainstorm topics that you think. That you could talk about, or you could post about and start thinking there. But I think that that's the last place to go. I think the first place is to start consuming, engaging, and then create.

[00:19:24] Angela Alberty: [00:19:24] And it's not even this premise behind. Okay. You need to create a YouTube channel now it's more so what's your quick opinion on something and start sharing relevant material around that, as opposed to going into this all in one investment.

[00:19:38] Joel Lalgee: [00:19:38] And I think you bring up a great point because, well, the biggest place where I see people make a mistake and it's the same with going to the gym. It's the same with saving money if they go, man, I'm going to go to the gym five days a week, and then I do it for two weeks and you just get burned out because it's such an extreme change. And then you'd give up again for another six months until someone else reminds you [00:20:00] of.

[00:20:00] Angela Alberty: [00:20:00] Totally. I'm guilty of content games.

[00:20:04] Joel Lalgee: [00:20:04] Yeah. I'm, I'm guilty of it. And I think with content, what happens is people go. I've got to invest in a microphone. I got to get a ring light. I got to, and before they've even done anything, they spent a thousand dollars. Then they go, then they're like, all right, I'm going to do this continent schedule. And I'm going to commit to every single day. And what happens is anytime you make a commitment, that's just too much, you fail and then you give up and then you stop. And so that's where I just advise, like, just start consuming, start taking half an hour a day and just. Scroll through LinkedIn, start leaving comments, start seeing what's out there. I do that for a couple of weeks. If you can commit to half an hour a day of doing that, you've got a good foundation to start spending the half an hour a day to may posting more connecting with people more. But it just, and that is how my journey started. Like I did just for everybody out there, I post three times a day. Now on LinkedIn, I post three times a day on Tik TOK. I run multiple live streams. I'm on a couple of other apps as well. So I'm doing a lot.

[00:21:05] Angela Alberty: [00:21:05] Is that like, is that what you're planning out on Sundays as this is going to be my content post for Monday through Friday, three times a day.

[00:21:17] Joel Lalgee: [00:21:17] So I'm looking at 15 different ideas. I've planned them out on Sunday. Sunday for me, it's more just planning my actual time. And I'm at a place now, which you get to in a content journey where it's, I can be spontaneous in a moment, so I can just sit at my keyboard. And in 10 minutes, I can write out a LinkedIn post in the moment and I've learned to be able to take whatever I'm thinking about or an idea, and just generate an idea in a moment, but it's taken a year and a half of being consistent to, and it took me about a year to get to that point. So initially on that Sunday, if it helps you to break ideas down the short, take a Sunday on it, say Monday, I want to talk about how to cold call a candidate. Tuesday, I want to talk about perseverance and how to just keep pushing in this game. Wednesday. I want to talk about interview and career tips. Thursday. And it's going to help to plan that at first, but it's like anything, the more you do something the better you get. And once you get to a level where you're super consistent and you've been doing it, It starts to become just, I think just, I believe a natural thing for most people, some people, I think it's a little bit more of a challenge. You might need to work with someone you might need to find a coach, but like you say, initially having that planning time helps for me, I just need that to plan that time to be able to do it. and then I think the biggest thing for people is it's this fear mentality and the fear of looking stupid, looking dumb. What are other people gonna think if you're a CEO and you're listening to this, I know what you're thinking. Well, one of my clients sees it and they just think, yeah, it's stupid. I will tell you the truth of this. When you first start something, nobody's going to see it. And it's just, that's not how the algorithm works. It's not going to show your post to a million people. And if they do see it and they don't like it, they'll just scroll right past. They won't engage with it, but chances are, if you step out and you break past that fear and it's a client that you've worked with a lot, and you're speaking your value and you're, you're bringing your authenticity. It's hard for me to believe that is going to not do business with you over that. And if they did ask, whether or not they were even a good client in the first place. So yeah, sorry, I get really passionate about this.

[00:23:36] Angela Alberty: [00:23:36] Oh, I think he just dropped the mic. Like that's that authenticity. And if you are truly about bringing value and that's what you speak to, why would you question somebody not liking that online and is it even worth it at that point?

[00:23:49] Joel Lalgee: [00:23:49] And I think that's the mindset. The mindset that people have. The creators that I know have switched passive fear and gone. You're going to get trolls. You're going to get people that don't like your stuff. I don't care about those people. I really don't. What I care about is this like a micro chasm of people that are going to be attracted to what I'm doing. I want them selling. And those are the actual people that I want to work with. So when you start to see content as something to attract people, and actually repel other people that you never were going to work with. Anyway, that's when it starts to become powerful. So when I look at my inbound leads, now there's nothing like working with a client that came to you because they like your content. And the other people that are like, this is stupid. I get people all the time. Whatever they like about your content, this is irrelevant or you'll never make it cool. What I, you just saved me. Three hours of trying to get a hold of you. Cause you just proved to me in an instant, you came to me and told me you didn't want to work with me. Perfect. Move on. So the question that CEOs need to ask is not what are my three biggest clients going to think? The quiet, the question you should be asking is if we point you should be taking this, what about the three amazing prospects that I've been trying to get into the bigger than my current clients. What are they going to think? And are they going to be attracted to it? And, I think that's the mindset shift that creates content creators, and even what they're liking and what they're engaging in.

[00:25:19] Angela Alberty: [00:25:19] And you're speaking to that, it can only add relevancy to how they will engage with you or that appeal that they could have with you.

[00:25:29] Joel Lalgee: [00:25:29] Exactly.

[00:25:30] Angela Alberty: [00:25:30] Yeah. That's awesome. All right. Two more questions. Let's get into the Clubhouse. You hear it, you see it, everyone. It's this cool, fancy new social media platform. I think there's a lot of arms up in the air, like, Oh my God, LinkedIn is losing that organic algorithm. And then there, you see this Exodus or at least this populate or popularity rising towards Clubhouse. What is it? Where is it going? And what do you think about it in general?

[00:25:58] Joel Lalgee: [00:25:58] Yeah. So obviously when this airs, I mean, I think Clubhouse is growing pretty quickly, so there's a good chance that a lot of people who are listening, if you haven't heard it, when we recorded it, you may have heard of it in three weeks, but essentially. Clubhouse is a social media platform. That's just audio based. So you don't have a newsfeed. You don't have a discovery channel that's based on like what you see or posted content, what you have is lots of rooms. So the newsfeed is basically lots of chat rooms with different topics, and you can see how many people in the room you can see who are in the room. And you're able to join into a room. So let's say you're scrolling down the newsfeed and you see a topic that says, how to grow a real estate business. You can click into that room, you can see the speakers and you can see everybody that's listening. And when you jump into the room, you join as a listener. So you can't speak. All you can do is listen, but it gives you an option to raise your hand. If you've got something to say, or you've got a question and then the moderators who set up the room, they have the power to bring you up as a speaker. So the way I've been looking at it is with the really big rooms. Where you've got a grant Cardone, Gary V and Tai Lopez. You got these huge names that are more of like a podcast feel where if you're in there long enough and you raise your hand, you'll probably get to ask a question, you have that feel to it, but that's more of like a podcast where it's a lot more informational. And then you have these micro rooms with five to 10 people that are highly effective for networking. So what I've been doing is jumping in and out, it's like, I'll be at the gym. I'll be listening to one of these really big rooms. It's a life kind of like a podcast, it's interactive. People are asking questions and then I'll separate actually time out throughout the day and jump in and go into some of these smaller rooms where I can be a speaker a lot easier and get to know people. So I think the applications of where it goes, I think it's super powerful in terms of your coach. If you're running a webinar, if you've got a podcast, I think you're going to be able to bring people in from other social channels into this as more of an interactive voice. So let's say if you, me and you, we're having this conversation, people are just watching it, listening to it, but they have a question right now. The only way they can interact with us is by reaching out to us after the show, sending me a DM saying, Hey, I heard you on a podcast. I've got a question. Clubhouse allows you to do that in real time.

[00:28:34] Angela Alberty: [00:28:34] So interesting. Do you see it compared to B2B, just like LinkedIn, like becoming a social media competitor to what is the LinkedIn audience or do you see it kind of falling into that B to C Instagram kind of Facebook type?

[00:28:49] Joel Lalgee: [00:28:49] I see it falling into a lot. I mean, a lot of different applications, so I don't think it will. It's not going to replace social media because. You have to have, there's a time investment for it, right? So like on LinkedIn, you can hire a VA and they can do all of the interacting with you. You can automate things, you can schedule things so you can automate your content schedule. You can't do that in Clubhouse. You've got to be in the room, actually speaking in real time to people. So there's a big time investment, which is going to limit what people can do, where social media is still going to exist. You post your picture, you post your content. People are still going to interact with it. It's an easier interaction in some ways. I see it going, I see it more of a business to business networking than B to C. I think like Tik Tok would probably be the big B to C one coming up and Instagram still those are the two. But I also see it as a great opportunity for or a great application for people in recruiting, for example. So like you could host some sort of speed type interview on Clubhouse. So if you've got an opening, you could have a Clubhouse room that says, come work at this company, we're going to have like interviews, I think you can have this closed room option. So if me and you're in a room and we're having a great conversation, I could be like, Angela, let's go to a closed room real quick and continue this conversation. So you can have a closed room, a lot of cool applications, but also in their seeing, like there's a lot of political discussions. And it's kind of cool because there's right now, everything is text-based. So if you disagree with someone on Facebook, it turns into this big writing thing that takes like three days. This is like, Hey, you got something to say it in front of everybody and let's have this live conversation.

[00:30:44] Angela Alberty: [00:30:44] Yeah. I wonder what the troll is going to evolve to in a, in a platform like Clubhouse. I mean, they have to be ready to speak their truth in front of everyone. It's not, it's much easier to leave a comment and be an asshole that way.

[00:30:57] Joel Lalgee: [00:30:57] And, and I've seen some that's those, a couple of people who were saying that they were in a room and like these three people got on stage and they were making like whatever sexual noises or something that was like really like out to the room. And, and so. So I think every platform is going to have that, or you might just get that person that's on there, that just hates you and just like, everything you're doing is complete garbage. I think the cool thing about it, even with that is like, as a moderator, you can mute people and you can get people out of there. But yeah, I just think there's a lot of cool applications, but I think that the fact that it takes so much time, that's going to be an interesting one to play out because that's a little bit more authenticity behind, behind it all.

[00:31:44] Angela Alberty: [00:31:44] Yeah. Cardone, for example, like he's got people that manage his Instagram that manages Facebook. Like it's not him. Who's putting out that content. It's him. Obviously he has an influence over that. Same with Gary V he'll have an influence on what's being put out, but he's got teams that do it, but a Clubhouse, you can't have somebody who's not, you like interacting as you, cause the interaction is your voice. It's your own thoughts. And, so that's been cool as well because you might think someone's like a real jerk through their content, which some of these guys, like they get misunderstood because their content is so big and like bald, but when you get up on a Clubhouse situation and they're actually answering questions, You get a really unique look into like how smart and how intelligent these guys are and how well they actually know business. And so there's a couple people I've heard where I'm like, I actually hate your content, but like, I love the advice you've given to people and the real talk and the help that you're really giving. So yeah, it's the content creator through another lens and it's garnered a lot of attention at least. So we'll see where it goes. Last [00:33:00] question.

[00:33:00] Joel Lalgee: [00:33:00] Yes.

[00:33:01] Angela Alberty: [00:33:01] What would be the advice that you would give to that entry level recruiter going into the space, super green, not knowing what the heck they're doing. The Joel five, six years ago. What advice would you give to that person?

[00:33:16] Joel Lalgee: [00:33:16] I love that question. I asked that one a lot of the guests that I have. I think my personal advice to somebody would be. Number one is find a mentor and somebody you can trust. And if your company hasn't given you a mentor or a manager that you feel comfortable with, like find somebody that you like, their style, you like the way they're doing it, they're really successful. And just ask them like, will you mentor me? Will you help me? And as much as you could find that person, I think that's going to, that will help. And then the only other piece of advice I'd have is the first two years of anything you do that is sales related or that's, commission-based sucks and it gets better. And this is actually the point where you do 90% of your learning. And if you can get through that point, and if you can be encouraged enough to get through and understand that this roller coaster is ups and downs. I think you come out of that stronger and better and you'll be highly successful. Like money-wise. Career-wise, and super fulfilling. So that'd be my advice.

[00:34:24] Angela Alberty: [00:34:24] That's awesome. So find the mentor and know that it's not going to be easy, but you got to just ride through it. You got to ride through it. And that's true. I think one of the biggest advantages that recruiters and salespeople have is that they're peoples’ persons.So at the end of the day, as long as you have some ease and conversations and dialogue, And you're already halfway through the battle. I feel like. So, yeah. Awesome. Well, Joel is a pleasure man. Happy new year. You're my first podcast of 2021. It's starting off a little crazy, but we did it.

[00:34:56] Joel Lalgee: [00:34:56] All right. Well, thanks for having me and anyone who's out there too. If you want to reach out on LinkedIn. Just search for me, Joel Lalgee. I'm the only Joel Lalgee in the world. So if you just Google me, you'll find all my social profiles and appreciate the opportunity to just be on this podcast and share a little bit of my story. So thanks for having me on.

[00:35:15] Angela Alberty: [00:35:15] Yeah, absolutely. We'll see you on the flip side, Joe. Logix you guys find him on LinkedIn and then, thanks for having us. Maybe we'll have another show sometime, so yeah.

[00:35:25] Joel Lalgee: [00:35:25] Thanks.

Lindsay Resnick – Executive Vice President at Wunderman Thompson Health

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Lindsay is recognized leader in the healthcare and insurance sectors. Since 2010, Lindsay has been part of the senior leadership team at Wunderman Thompson Health, a health care marketing and advertising agency that combines strategy, creative, data and technology to build health care brands and inspire consumers and professionals. Areas of focus span the payer, provider and technology landscape and include consumer data and insights, competitive intelligence, brand direct marketing, customer experience, and sales optimization.

Lindsay is a Mentor at MATTER, a health technology incubator helping entrepreneurs with early-stage companies go-to-market. And he is on the Board of HMS Federal which provides services for prevention and detection of fraud, waste and abuse in the federal healthcare system.

Previously Lindsay held senior executive roles at Weber Shandwick, Gorman Health Group, Healthmarket, and Celtic Life Insurance. Early career experience included Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Lindsay has a Masters in Health Administration from Washington University in
St. Louis and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston. He is a frequent speaker and author on topics in healthcare, insurance, marketing and sales. Originally from New York, with stops in Boston and St. Louis, Lindsay is now a deep-rooted Chicagoan.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Lindsay Resnick: Every innovation doesn't have to disrupt right there. There could be, yes, there are inventive innovations and disruptive innovation, but there's also innovations to do existing things, better move things along a maturity curve. When the organization is ready to be able to change the way you're doing something. So yes, it could be something very new. And it could be something you've always done, but now have figured out a way to do better.
[00:01:03] Lindsay Resnick: Hi, I’m Lindsay Resnick. I'm executive vice president of Wunderman Thompson health, which is part of the WPP network of companies[00:01:12] Jahn Karsybaev: Awesome. Lindsay, thanks so much for finding time to us on the Ivy podcast today. Very excited to start 2021 with this conversation. Tell us a little bit more about your background and your highlights from your career. And then I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about your current role.
[00:01:28] Lindsay Resnick: Sure. So, I spent the first half of my career on the health insurance, and healthcare side. Interestingly, and I know we're going to take the conversation later to the current day. But I did way back start at Northeastern university in Boston, which is famous for its co-op program, which really got me started in healthcare where you go to school, for six months, and then they place you in work where you think you want to go. And I played around with accounting. I played around with marketing and finally found healthcare, and have been in healthcare ever since with blue cross blue shield and some commercial health insurance organizations. And then about halfway through, and I've always had responsibility for marketing sales, sometimes compliance, and then about halfway through my career, I flipped over to the pure marketing and advertising side of things. And then for the last 10 years I've been at Wunderman Thompson health, which is a marketing and advertising data-driven organization that are part of that organization just focused in healthcare.
[00:02:55] Jahn Karsybaev: Awesome. Wow. That's exciting. Thanks for sharing with us a little bit by your backgrounds, in terms of your current role, what falls under your purview and share with us anything that's interesting from that particular space?
[00:03:06] Lindsay Resnick: Sure. So Wunderman Thompson health cuts across the entire healthcare spectrum part of our organization is more heavily focused in the pharmaceutical side of the business. My group focuses on organizations that sort of are responsible for paying for healthcare. So health insurance companies, as well as providing it provider organizations and health technology companies. My role is sort of a combination of business development. marketing and thought leadership for our niche in that business, and then client advisory council. So strategies where they should look at what's coming next in the marketplace.
[00:03:56] Jahn Karsybaev: Very interesting. I want to talk a little bit more about this, but before we do want to get your perspective on a topic that sounds very passionate about. I talk to a lot of executives on this podcast, it’s all around innovation, because for every executive, I'm pretty sure, yourself included, innovation at the forefront in terms of how do we continuously innovate, make things better, whether internally or for our customers and so forth. Tell us, what does innovation mean to you? And then more over as far as strategies or any recommendations as far as what has worked well for you, or maybe didn't what have you learned through the process when it comes to building and fostering that culture of innovation?
[00:04:40] Lindsay Resnick: Yeah, I mean, I guess from the backend of that question, every innovation doesn't have to be disrupted right there. There could be, yes, there are inventive innovations and disruptive innovation, but there's also innovations to do existing things better, move things along a maturity curve. When the organization is ready to be able to change the way you're doing something. So yes, it could be something very new. And it could be something you've always done, but now have figured out a way to do better. One of the interesting things right now that I'm seeing is innovation through collaboration, which basically says to an organization. Listen, you're an organization. That's good at certain things. There may be people in the market that do other things better that you may need to do or latch onto what you do today. And there's nothing wrong with a collaborative partnership like that. And we're seeing a lot of that in healthcare right now. So you're seeing Walgreens, for example, partner with a primary care delivery organization. So they will use their clinics and it will be co-branded with Walgreens. So we were seeing a lot of that collaboration. I think that's a good thing.
[00:06:13] Jahn Karsybaev: Yep. Oh, absolutely. I love what you said about initially the kind of the perception of innovation doesn't necessarily have to be disruptive, industry changing type of thing. You could be as small as improvement or an existing process or something, and innovating through experimentation as well. It's something that's an interesting concept. That's and I love some of the examples that you have provided. So appreciate that in terms of some of the trends or ideas that really excite you these days, whether that's in healthcare space and marketing or anything outside of that share with us. What's on the mind of Lindsay? What are you researching? What would you invest in? What are you predicting to be the next kind of really impactful trend in the short period.
[00:07:03] Lindsay Resnick: Yeah, so interesting and linked a segue from the conversation. We just had one of the things that I've done is doing some mentoring at a health technology accelerator here in Chicago. And there's also one in the same building. That's not healthcare specific and what these are. So these are organizations where generally it is an invention or it is something new. And it's brought as an idea or an initial business plan from a group of engineers or group of physicians that they're not lawyers. They're not generally marketers. They don't know how to go to market. So working with those has really kept me in touch with what's happening in my side of the industry. And Sarah would be the same thing in transportation or any other. So as sort of podcasts, Word of advice. If people have the opportunity to do that, hey, it's a little bit of give back, and it's a way to really keep your head into what's happening in terms of innovation. So I've been mentoring, a company that came up with something very simple. It's a sensor that goes under a mattress for a senior citizen. And when they get up in the middle of the night, the lights to the bathroom go on because that's the most likely of an incidence of them fall. And then if they don't get back in bed, a notice goes out to either someone they've identified in the community as a caregiver or the front desk at an assisted living facility. So they know the person needs to be checked on these kinds of innovations. And there's this right now, a ton of them in the healthcare sector. If you track the consumer electronic show, which cuts across all industries, the healthcare section of that show has just boomed from remote monitoring to every aspect of healthcare that you could think of. So you really now have to build that into it, it's almost a new site of care for people. People can be at home in it and don't have to go to an office or a facility that's been accelerated because of COVID, but now you're going to see things for your healthcare at home that is really transformational.
[00:10:01] Jahn Karsybaev: Oh, that's very interesting. And that one example that you gave, the device for senior citizens, that sounds pretty cool in terms of that innovation being born out of necessity. That quote really stuck with me when I interviewed CTO of L'Oreal and that's what all he spoke about from that perspective. So that's a good example of the kind of result of that you've mentioned initially. Data-driven marketing. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? So, everything is data these days, a lot of buzz words. When it comes to big data, a lot of data science, data warehousing, all of those great concepts are very sexy, but at the same time when it comes to the actual implementation and leveraging of data to make certain decisions data-driven approach or actionable data. It's a little bit of a different story. So we're curious to get your perspective on that. How do you make that work? What things to look out for anything from high level perspective. I know it's a very loaded question, but any insights from there that would be great.
[00:11:10] Lindsay Resnick: Yeah. And in marketing right now, there's that fine line between using data to best know your customer really well, and the line is, or getting a little too creepy, like a little too much about me that I'm comfortable with. But when I say data-driven yet, it is all around this big data, but it's also the best way to know your customer and for marketing now, whether I'm marketing to someone who is thinking about enrolling in a medicare plan, or I'm thinking about someone who's going to go buy something, a product at best buy there's things that you could know about that potential customer. Are they online shoppers, are not online shoppers, generational information, so some of the basic demographic, but also social media habits and a whole range of lifestyle, life, stage indicators that let you take the right products to the right people. And the ability to do that is efficiency from a marketing dollar standpoint and a connection from MIT connecting with the person who's this product best suits, or am I just throwing it up against the wall? In a healthcare example is telemedicine where a lot of people have access to it. Now, I think upwards of 80% of employers, large employers offer it. But they were sort of just throwing it out there. Or when people were in offices, there would be a poster in the lunch room about it. But the uptake was, nobody was using it. It was single digit. Now COVID changed that game. But what also changed the game was companies that started saying, well, who's using it. Millennial moms. Well, let's message different millennial moms. Then the pre-retiree who may have different reasons or different motivations from calling. So it's part of how you motivate someone to take an action. And I contend the best way to do that. And the data is available through data.
[00:13:47] Jahn Karsybaev: Very interesting. And thanks for, for some of these insights and couldn't agree more with you as far as also iterating really starting from smaller without trying to do the entire transformation when it comes to leveraging data, using data for decision-making capabilities. So that's very interesting. I'm pretty sure we can talk about it. There are particular topics for the rest of the podcast, but we'll keep moving. There's something I want to talk to you about is I'm pretty sure that's also as an executive. It's at the top of your mind 24/7. It really evolves around surrounding yourself with the best people, with A+ players, someone that really helps you take not only your personal productivity, but also everything around that you're responsible for to greater heights. So, quick first question. When candidates interview with you, give us a glimpse into the interview with Lindsay. What does that look like? Do you keep it pretty traditional or do you get creative? So any insight into that process would be appreciated.
[00:14:57] Lindsay Resnick: Sure. Yeah. I guess one would say I keep it pretty traditional. I don't ask if they were put in a blender and had one thing to get out, but there are things there. I'm looking for. Right. And one of them is, are they listening? Do they listen? Which sounds basic, but listening insight to an organization is critical. What are they going to be like to have on a team and their work? How are they going to work on a team? So, I've made pro around past experiences in terms of team collaboration. And then, so two pet peeves of mine that I try to make sure I'm addressing is curiosity. There's nothing I dislike, whether than someone inside my organization asking me a question and it takes me under five minutes to do a quick Google search and find the answer out. That they didn't do that first and come to me and say I've looked everywhere, so am I hiring a person who has a high degree of curiosity and this probably sounds old school, et cetera, but work ethic. Is it someone who's just looking for a job or they looking for something they're going to be passionate about. Now you could say, well, who joins a health insurance company for example, and is passionate about it? Well, there are things in, maybe you're passionate about marketing, or maybe you're passionate about managing, helping someone manage their care. Well, those passions can be realized inside the health insurance company or inside a marketing organization, there may be different things. Right. And then from a skill base, I would say that writing is something that whether it is core to a particular position, something that I look for and try to probe around with somebody.
[00:17:23] Jahn Karsybaev: Right. Absolutely. No, I love these examples, especiallyyou've mentioned, which seems as very basic in terms of listening, but a lot of times it's often overlooked. There's one question that I really like to ask when I interview candidates is something around, if I were to talk to your current manager, what do you think they would say? Is that candidate's greatest weakness? And a lot of times the candidate's mistake that immediately starts jumping into my greatest weakness is, and without realizing the question is all around your self-awareness of what the other person thinks is your weakness. Right? It just kind of goes hand in hand with what you were talking about. So for our listeners, if you are going to be interviewing with Lindsay, you have some insider information on the interview process. So thanks for sharing that, that's great advice. And when it comes to attracting and retaining the top talent for your teams, what are some of the strategies that really have worked well for you in a PA in the past, or currently that you're utilizing. They really help you surround yourself and attract really the top talent in the industry.
[00:18:35] Lindsay Resnick: I think it's obviously where you look for that town, but it's also where there are pieces of what I'm looking for, that someone can grow into. So if I'm in the healthcare business and I'm looking for a marketer. It probably behooves me to look for the best marketer and I'll help them get the healthcare knowledge they need, or it may be vice versa, but it depends on what you're looking for from a position standpoint, but it may not always have to be someone from inside the industry, but I think that's important saying that I've seen it work both ways. So I've seen that at the executive level. Someone we're going to bring someone in from the airline business to run a blue cross blue shield plan. I'd say there's been mixed results with that. They may be great managers, brilliant people, but there's certain at certain levels, they have certain things about an industry and industry knowledge and history in an industry that I think are important. So it's a balance, but there's things that someone can learn on the job and be okay, be one of your best hires. Right?
[00:20:08] Jahn Karsybaev: Right. Absolutely. That's very interesting. And then it, as we were talking about the interviewing, you've mentioned a couple of critical skill sets such as writing and listing. What else would you highlight as far as most in demand yet? Very hard to find skill set in your industry and how do you go about addressing that need?
[00:20:31] Lindsay Resnick: Yeah. I mean, we may get back to your innovation to innovation. Is it somebody that is going to be able to see beyond a job description or see beyond what the traditional position may entail to be able to go to new directions with it? So, no, I guess that's a future thinker or somebody that can take something and bring a lot of what ifs we did it this way. Or what if we went over here?
[00:21:19] Jahn Karsybaev: Right. I agree with that because especially now with shifting completely to remote, virtual world, these types of skill sets, there's even a greater light shining on that ability to collaborate remotely and thinking outside the box, but also relaying that message, when you collaborating with your teammates or your superiors or your direct reports remotely, I think that becomes even a greater challenge. And that communication skill is paramount in that particular environment. So that's very interesting. Lindsay, from the perspective of your, what I like to call content diet, what are your sources of information? What are your sources for learning. Share with us any, whether that's a bookmark over a blog or it's a Twitter profile that you followed? Tell us what you are reading these days in terms of.
[00:22:16] Lindsay Resnick: Under the category of for better or worse, right. I do follow and look at certain Twitter people from a healthcare standpoint and a marketing standpoint, I would say there's also probably for daily newsletters that I go to that are more industry-based. So I can start the day knowing I know what I'm up to date on. What's happened around the healthcare and insurance business, and what's happened as that relates to in Washington. And I'm fairly active on LinkedIn, but again some of these things are wind up being your bubble. Which good news or bad news. Right. But I try to look at a couple of newspaper, well, Wall Street Journal, and a local newspaper: Sunday, New York Times, just to get the range.
[00:23:30] Jahn Karsybaev: Absolutely. Yeah, that's very interesting. And you've nailed it when it comes to kind of living in that little bubble, especially when it comes to your specific, whether that's industry or personal interests so that there's a lot of opportunities there. And furthermore, but last but not least is twofold. Question is what are you currently reading when it comes through to a book? And if that's different from the book that you always recommend, whether it's a, what is that then? Why do you recommend it?
[00:23:59] Lindsay Resnick: [00:23:59] Okay, So, I'm not gonna bullshit. Yeah. I'm not reading the extensive history of Winston Churchill reading downtime. I'm going to go to David Baldacci, John Grisham, Nelson DeMille, and read some mystery spy train. From a business perspective, the book I have been recommending is called Getting Naked by PatrickLencioni. And I recommend it to you because you look like you haven't read it.
[00:24:43] Jahn Karsybaev: I haven't heard about it, but definitely gonna.
[00:24:46] Lindsay Resnick: Check it out. It's really about business transparency and not being afraid to give something away for free in fear, oh, then they won't buy anything else from me. And really it's about a little consulting firm that keeps eating the big dogs on new business and the big dog says, go in there and look at it and let's just buy it. And what they go in as they go in and they have honest open discussions and they say, maybe you should look at the, they're very transparent about the strategy or the advice they're going to deliver. And sure someone could walk away. Well, that's good. I went fishing and I got in, but it's really the bigger strategy. And nine times out of 10, those people came back and bought the smaller services of the smaller insurance of the smaller consulting firms. It's an easy read. And it's told in a story about a big company buying this little company and then having a little company try to change once it's got a quiet, very relevant to what's going on right now. In the consulting world, but be in the integration this so much. Merger and acquisition activity and consolidation in most industries right now, you could be as an outside or know which ones are going to do it. And which ones are just not going to leverage, what little value do they think? Just by getting rid of one of the HR departments, condensing legal, some of the administrative stuff, then we've made our business synergies, quote, unquote. Well, there's a lot more that these organizations can do to integrate, to really get the value of a combined organization. It doesn't happen all the time.
[00:26:48] Jahn Karsybaev: Well, very interesting. I'm definitely going to add that to my growing list of books I need to read. And for our listeners, we'll make the title and author of these books available in the episode notes, Lindsey. Thank you enough for your time today. It was a very short, but very insightful conversation. Personally learned quite a bit. Definitely gonna stay in touch with you. And perhaps we can do another episode in the near future, probably in a year. See how much I've changed, transpired, and we'll stay in touch much. Appreciate it.
[00:27:16] Lindsay Resnick: Sure. Thank you very much. Appreciate the opportunity.

Nadesha Ranasinghe – VP of Offer Engine Development at Accelya

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Nadesha Ranasinghe, VP of Offer Engine Development at Accelya, oversees the architecture, development, delivery, and optimization of Accelya Offer Engines (FLX Merchandise, FLX Shop and Price, FLX Availability Calculator, and FLX Schedule Builder), ensuring all engines are highly performant and ready for massive scalability.

Nadesha joined Farelogix in 2009 as a database administrator and was promoted within a year to Director of IT, a role he held until he was appointed VP of Offer Engine Development in 2018. As Director of IT, Nadesha focused on infrastructure operations, ensuring that all critical technology environments – including the systems hosted at the offsite data center, databases, and network infrastructure – were operational 24/7 x 365. He also led change management, orchestrating the release of new code into different environments, including QA, UAT for customer testing, and Production; and ensuring the scalability of key technology platforms. Nadesha was also responsible for the company’s security infrastructure, ensuring compliance with all industry security mandates, and implementing state-of-the-art internal security controls to prevent breaches. Under his guidance, the IT team also managed the development of the Data Tier of Farelogix’ flagship technology, ensuring a seamless interface between applications and databases using its Open Connect. Nadesha led the support team as well as local and offshore help desks; was responsible for maintaining the QA platform used by other stakeholders at Farelogix for testing; and guided the company’s BI and Data Science efforts.

Prior to joining Farelogix, Nadesha was a software specialist at the University of Miami and held several other roles in project management and database engineering. He has a B.Sc. in Computer Science and an MBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Miami.

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Nadesha Ranasinghe: One topic. I think that's pretty important for us. That is something we've been focusing on is just optimization. So if you write your own applications, it's something that you have full control over. Then by going back and taking a look at your application and seeing whether Al algorithms can be optimized.
[00:00:20] We are finding that, you know, there's potentially massive savings there, right? Because if we can take our code and optimize it and maybe make it run 20, 30, or maybe even 50% faster, what that does is it saves us 20, 30, 40, 50% on our infrastructure or cloud hosting costs. So I think it's something that, you know, everyone should kind of be.
[00:00:40] Taking a look at it from at least the executive should be taking a look at it from that perspective, because it's, it's pretty powerful.
[00:01:11] Hi, I'm Natasha Rhonda singer. I'm the VP of Offer Engine Developmen at Accelya.
[00:01:17] Jahn Karsybaev: Thanks so much for finding time, joining us on the Ivy Podcast today. You know, we're glad to connect with you at the beginning of the year, start of the new periods, you know, try to put that whole pandemic, everything behind us.
[00:01:31] Tell us a little bit more about yourself, about your background, and then, I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about where you're currently working on.
[00:01:38] Nadesha Ranasinghe: Sure. Sure. And thanks, Jahn, for hosting me here. I sincerely do hope 2021 is going to be completely different from 2020. I can tell you from a travel industry perspective, that's where we work in the travel space, we are seeing things, you know, getting a little bit better, but it's a long road to recovery.
[00:02:00] I think for us, just in terms of, you know, getting everyone comfortable with flying, getting business, traveling back to where it needs to be, but we're optimistic that 2021 starts that journey for us.
[00:02:11] So my background really, I'm kind of all over the place. I just like technology. But I really was specializing in database, specifically Microsoft SQL server back in the day. That's when I joined Farelogix as a database administrator, and then shortly thereafter took over the IT department responsible for everything, disaster recovery data center network, all of those operations are our help desk. And then finally, a couple years ago, I took over the offer engine development team. So we do all of our development is CC plus plus high performance, processing for airline engines.
And it's been a great journey.
[00:02:56] Jahn Karsybaev: Oh, that's super exciting. And you know, there is definitely a very diverse background that you have congrats on all the successes and for our listeners. Fair logic. So we actually hosted Manish Nagpal in 2019. So this is a great, you know, a great segue to talk a little bit more about how much has changed, how much has transpired a lot of change for you guys as a company and kind of for you as a leader to go through so many, so many changes and transformations, definitely excited about that. Tell us a little bit more about the Farelogix just in general and then with your guys' merger with Accelya Group.
[00:03:34] How did that impact the overall, just, you know, from culture standpoint, from organization and for you as a leader, what are the different strategies that you're deploying these days to make sure that you preserve that kind of that startup mentality?
[00:03:48] Nadesha Ranasinghe: Sure. So, I think when I joined Farelogix we were maybe 40, 50 people.
We grew over the years to just around 300 people before the acquisition. [00:04:00] So it was quite the growth, but we still managed to maintain that sense of culture, that sense of family that we had from the initial days. And I think that's been key in hiring talent, in retaining talent.
[00:04:13] People just liked working here. It's a nice place to work as a fun place to work. We have a lot of smart people that are very dedicated to their jobs. And you know, that you just see it in how everyone interacts with each other. You see it in the work that we produce. And I think after the merger, we're obviously a much larger company now, in the thousands of employees globally, but we've managed to still maintain that feeling of Farelogix here, within Miami.
[00:04:46] So Miami will be one of our headquarters, one of the accelerator headquarters going forward. So we've retained the same office, although that, you know, is a dynamic situation given, just office space in general and what companies are doing. But yeah, we've managed to retain the same few, most of the same team is here.
[00:05:04] We're still doing a lot of the same kick ass work that we were doing before, so it's, yeah, it's great.
[00:05:11] Jahn Karsybaev: That's awesome. That's awesome. That's great. Then, you know, I interview a lot of executives from different companies, different sizes, and we talk about that a lot, especially, you know, post acquisition, pre acquisition, right.
[00:05:20] The different strategies, especially if you go from, you know, through this hyper hyper growth mode, a lot of times, for example, especially become a challenge of how to really preserve your, that type of culture, that mentality that you had started out with. So that's pretty exciting.
Speaking of cultures in terms of building and fostering that culture of innovation. I'm pretty sure for you as, you know, IT executive that's at the forefront, that's, you know, something that's part of your strategy, part of the continuous overall leadership for you.
[00:05:56] As a thought leader in this space, share with us any initiatives or strategies that really help you develop, foster and build that type of culture of innovation, any practical experience or any practical strategies you can share with us.
[00:06:13] Nadesha Ranasinghe: Yeah. I mean, that's great. That's a great question. It's obviously something everyone wants to do. We implemented just company-wide. There's process called a DNA interview. So we have technical interviews with hiring managers and then there's a panel across the company that does what we call the DNA interview.
[00:06:35] Funny enough, we did have one person that thought this was an actual DNA test and they were a little freaked out, but they calmed them down. But what it really is we're just looking to see, are they going to fit because we're, you know, 150%. Our logic CEO, Jim Davidson, we had this thing called Run Hard and we were just running hard all the time, but we also like to have fun.
[00:07:00] We also like to hang out with each other and we just want to make sure you know who we're bringing on. They're going to be able to fit, and they're going to be able to handle that. That was one thing we did across the company. The other thing I find that's important across the teams is never to stifle that feeling that something is possible. So, you know, a lot of times people get kind of caught up in, this is something that's impossible. This is something that can't be done. And here's a white paper showing why can't be done. And here's an article showing why it can't be done. I'm not interested in any of that.
[00:07:33] Let's figure out how to get it done, right. Because I'm sure if you go back to the 18 hundreds, there were people saying, Oh yeah, well, you know, cars or whatever, we have computers. That's impossible. That's never going to happen. Right. But look at us now. So it's the same thing. It's just getting people to get outside of their frame of mind of where they may be stuck in thinking something is not possible.
[00:07:55] And let's take a look at it. Let's see how we can make the impossible possible.
[00:08:00] Jahn Karsybaev: Oh, I love that. And you know, the quote that you mentioned from you guys, a CEO running hard, I think that's, you know, carries a lot of meaning to this, especially when you're starting, just starting out and building a particular product or service.
[00:08:13] It's important to hit the ground running and start executing. And they're really kind of figuring out the things on the fly in terms of what are the different improvements and stuff like that. And because, you know, talk is cheap. It's, you know, it will all come together as you start executing so that makes sense.
[00:08:28] That definitely resonates from an innovation standpoint. Exactly. Pretty sure, you know, you read a lot of your research a lot, and you know from my perspective, I'm just very entrepreneurial in nature, you know, I found a different startups, and a lot of my circles. So, you know, they start, founders, executives, you know, from that standpoint.
[00:08:51] So one question that I'm very passionate about. So I talked to a lot of my guests on a podcast is what are the different ideas and trends that really excite you these days? What do you think is the next big thing? What are you researching these days? It doesn't necessarily have to be about your company or your industry just curious, you know, from your perspective.
[00:09:12] Nadesha Ranasinghe: So, a couple of things in the industry in general, at least the travel industry, I think we're going to see a much larger portion of data science and AI. There has been a push. We've done some continuous pricing, implementations with a few carriers. So we're kind of seeing that, you know, carriers are kind of warming up to this, this period also where, you know, there's not that much people flying is also, we've seen as appeared where the carers can kind of experiment because there's not as much revenue on the line, as it previously was when things were this gangbusters and everyone was flying. So I think we are going to see a definite, a definitive push into that space.
[00:09:53] I mean, everyone's, you know, big data, data science, those are hot topics these days. Personally, I think, usage of blockchain in general. I think that's something interesting. I'm sure you hear it. Everyone starts talking about it, but there's just, I mean, we haven't tapped the surface of what can be done with blockchain.
[00:10:13] So when we really start getting into some of the implementations, how this stuff works, there's a bright future in blockchain, just across industries.
[00:10:23] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:10:23] I love it. You know, you and I can probably just talk the rest of the episode about that because crypto is something that I'm extremely passionate about.
[00:10:29] I researched that a lot. I invest in it and it's definitely our groundbreaking, you know, overall, even methodology from that standpoint, just having that kind of the crypto as the exit from the traditional finance industry overall. I think that's pretty exciting just to experience that.
[00:10:51] And we've seen some crazy trends, you know, in the last couple of weeks, how it's, you know, I think quadrupled in value just from Bitcoin perspective. It's super exciting just to watch that. So definitely resonate with kind of what you're talking about.
You briefly mentioned something around the leverage of advanced tech, such as, you know, AI machine learning as part of the innovation strategy, you know, these are the buzz words that are very hot these days and the concepts, you know, have been around for a very long time.
[00:11:27] It's just, I guess we'll label them a little bit different these days from your perspective. You know, talking about them, marketing, PR. It's great. But when it comes to actually implementation of such technologies, it is a completely different story. So for you as a tech executive, any insights or practical strategies on what to avoid or what's actually to do when it comes to implementing and leveraging advanced technologies as part of your technology operations.
[00:11:56] Nadesha Ranasinghe: So I think what's important is to define a problem, right? So to find a problem that you're trying to solve, and then, we have talented data scientists that can go out and do data discovery, you know, getting access to data, doing data discovery. That's a large part of the journey is to, you know, just prove out whether this is something that's even going to work.
[00:12:15] Right. But whether it makes sense, or maybe we discover something else along that journey, but I think clearly defining what it is that problem that we're trying to solve. And then executing in that direction is I think a pretty practical strategy.
[00:12:28] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah, absolutely. No, those are great examples. And thank you for sharing that to switch topics a little bit.
[00:12:34] I want to talk about something around that's for every executive, it's at the top of your mind, 24/7, whether you are recruiting actively or, you know, indirectly surrounding yourself with the top talent building the team of winners under you and around you. So for you as a tech executive, I'm pretty sure, you know, candidates go through multiple rounds of interviews, technology, technical assessments, and all of that great stuff.
[00:13:00] When the candidate gets in front of you, give us a glimpse of an interview with you. Do you keep your interviews pretty creative, pretty traditional, but more importantly, what do you look for in a response when you talk to a candidate?
[00:13:13] Nadesha Ranasinghe: So what I like to look for, so we have rounds of technical interviews, make sure they know what they're talking about.
[00:13:21] They know how the C++ works. What's a pointer, you know, basic stuff like that. We make sure they understand that. But what I really like to do, and I introduced this several years ago is it's more of a problem solving style of interview, where we take a problem. That's pretty abstract. Sometimes you know, it doesn't even make any sense.
[00:13:42] And we asked the candidate, okay, what would you do in this situation? How would you solve this problem? And really what I'm looking for is I'm looking for someone that's not going to quit. So it could be a problem that's, you know, incredibly difficult, not necessarily expecting anyone to get to the solution, but how far are you going to go?
[00:14:00] [00:14:00] So I can tell you a story from many years ago, probably over a decade at this point where we had a guy with two people that came in for the same interviews, just the tech support position at that university. One guy, we asked him, and there's a problem with a network card on one of the PC.
[00:14:17] So what's the problem. You know, we had the guys they go through and they say, Oh, let me check my control panel. Let me check the network settings, let me check the cable. And one guy finally said, why don't we just try reinstalling windows? Right. So he got all the way kind of to the end and the last resort.
[00:14:33] Well, let's just install windows, his response was, I don't know, And so I told him, well, assume that this is the director of the center. So you can't say, I don't know, you got to figure this out. What are you going to do? I don't know.
[00:14:51] So that's what I'm looking for. Someone that's just going to go that extra mile and just keep their foot on the pedal to try and solve whatever the problem is.
[00:14:59] Jahn Karsybaev: I love that story. I love those examples. At the end of the day, just be, you know, be very resilient and also taking it, grabbing the bull by the horns says sort of like, you know, don't wait for direction or instruction, almost ask for forgiveness than permission. think it goes a long way. When we talk about, you know, the different caliber of folks we want on our team, because when real problems started coming rising, you want those people that will really kind of roll up the sleeves and actually help find the right solution.
[00:15:32] Nadesha Ranasinghe: For that a hundred percent agree.
[00:15:34] And I can tell you, our Farelogix CEO, again, one of his mantras was don't be afraid to make mistakes. Just don't make the same mistake multiple times, but that, you know, I think that also was one of those, you know, you asked me about an innovation. That's one of those fuels, right. For innovation is you gotta be prepared to take risks and sometimes you make a mistake and take a risk. Right?
[00:15:58] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:15:58] Right. Absolutely. And kind of also building almost that culture that we're where everyone treats problems more as opportunities versus, you know, Oh my God, we got this problem. What do we do now? Rather than, Oh, okay. You know, this is happening right now. Let's take a look. What we can actually learn from that and prove to make sure that this doesn't happen again.
[00:16:19] And come up with various ways to resolve that. So I think that's, you know, exactly what you're talking about. That's pretty cool. When it comes to attracting the top talent, whether that's your peers or the teams under you, what are the different strategies that really help you kind of attract very niche, hard to find type of skill set for your teams?
[00:16:44] Nadesha Ranasinghe: So, I mean, for us, it's again for my teams, it's mostly CC plus plus, um, we have analysts also with very specialized knowledge and ATP, and that I can tell you, it's a very close knit community. It's very hard to find people. You just have to always keep looking. Right. Um, for CC plus plus down here in South Florida, it is very difficult to find a CC plus plus talent, but we just kind of just go out there and recruit and Tony, I know she does a great job, um, helping find that talent. One thing when she came on board that we started doing was doing more recruiting fairs with the FIU because they're so close to us and that did help quite a bit.
[00:17:32] We found a great amount of talented students that were looking for opportunities, internships that we could offer that would grow into full-time jobs, you know, after they graduate. So you asked me what's been probably one of our most successful recruiting strategies has that has been one of them.
[00:17:51] Jahn Karsybaev: Yeah, absolutely. And I know that model works, you know, at the end of the day, it's also kind of you investing into the early stage career professionals who want to learn, they want to absorb everything and they want to have the hungry and passion and energy to succeed. And I think those are the types of people that, you know, you want on your teams. So that's can definitely resonate. That's super exciting. In terms of kind of these days, based on the latest developments and the trends and the way the market is, what's your take on kind of the most in demand skillset, you know, especially when it comes to technology, the reason I'm asking this question is because, you know, a lot of listeners on Ivy Podcast, a good portion is the early stage career professionals. And they continuously ask us this question, you know, when they listen to the episode, can you find out that particular guest's perspective on where to invest in terms of skill development?
[00:18:50] Nadesha Ranasinghe: I would probably say data, that's one of the hottest areas right now, everyone needs it. Everyone's looking at it. Data science, right? That's a great career track, because it has so many different uses. So, I mean, we saw just even after, you know, the whole pandemic started and we saw just airline tickets flatline, right.
[00:19:18] Everything went down. We use data science internally to start looking at our operations, right. And how we could streamline our operations and how we can streamline our cloud costs and stuff. So, I mean, there's so many facets of use for data science, not just from building products that enable your customers, but also from introspection in the company.
[00:19:40] Jahn Karsybaev: [00:19:40] That can definitely resonate, you know, relate to us because, you know, part of ProSource, we deal with that on a daily basis. And in terms of seeing the type of candidates, the type of skillset that's in high demand data absolutely, one of the top trends out there.
[00:19:56] And I think, you know, it's only here to grow, to stay, because of companies demand to build. You know, very robust, predictive, actionable, you know, data modules. So I think that definitely makes sense. Nate, from standpoint of your sources of information and learning, share with us, what do you use?
[00:20:21] Whaе sites do you have bookmarked or, whether that's a Twitter profile that you follow, share with us your kind of your sources of information.
[00:20:32] Nadesha Ranasinghe: So I'm very eclectic when it comes to information. I don't really have, I would say I have like individual sources that I always go back to. Probably I always start at Google and then just go from there, and then, depending on kind of what I'm looking for, you typically will gravitate to somewhere that is kind of the repository of expertise, right, in a specific area. So, you start looking up enough issues around SQL server. You're going to end up at likesqlservercentral.com for example, where there's just a ton of information on those forums.
[00:21:06] I like to read through comments on these blog articles. So I'll go to, you know, like a SQL server central article where I'm researching,what's the difference between these different query formats. And then you go down to the comments and you find all these people that they'll say, oh, well you could do it this way, and you could do it this way. And maybe the author updates the article, but there's a lot of information just, I guess, from various sources, right? Because it's not just one person, one individual, you're getting it from a community of enthusiasm, really.
[00:21:38] Jahn Karsybaev: Right. No, absolutely. And you know, from a comments perspective, that's always, you know, you find a completely different perspective, whether what the article is all about or alternative ways of doing things.
[00:21:49] So I can definitely resonate with, you know, actually referring to someone in the comment section, that's pretty exciting. And last but not least, what are you currently reading in terms of the book and what is one book that you always recommend to others? And why is that?
[00:22:07] Nadesha Ranasinghe: So I'll pass on a book that I have not gotten to yet because my dog ate it. So I need to go get another copy of it, but it was highly recommended to me by a good friend of mine. The way he explained it, it's something that we can all use in our daily lives. It's called the Information Diet.
[00:22:27] And basically I think the whole premise of the book is every day, we're just inundated with just information, information, overload, whatever you're getting in your email, whatever you're getting in your regular mail, whatever you get on your newsfeed, et cetera, et cetera. And how do you segment what's actually useful from what's not right.
[00:22:48] Jahn Karsybaev: Oh, that's super cool. And for our listeners, we'll make the link to the title and author of the book available in the episode notes. So you guys can also check it out.
Nate, I can’t thank you enough for your time today, for all the insights and valuable strategies that you had shared with us, it was a very short and powerful conversation, at least for me to learn quite a bit from you.
[00:23:07] So I thank you and look forward to staying in touch.
[00:23:10] Nadesha Ranasinghe: Yeah. Great. Thanks Jahn. It's been a great time.

Michelle Bazargan – Sr.Director at Gartner

The Ivy Podcast — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Michelle Bazargan has a unique and diverse leadership background spanning startups and complex enterprise organizations across numerous industries and sectors including Technology, Wellness, Automotive, Finance and more. She inspires a new way of business thinking to balance putting people first, challenge outdated rules and systems, create resilient and sustainable business models and legacies. Her experience spans executing business innovation, product and marketing strategies in both startups and enterprises by placing focus on the one commonality everyone has – Our customers, employees and partners are all diverse humans. When people feel equal and included, they are empowered to contribute to driving change, creativity and innovation and impact business results and revenue.

Her baseline of struggle and possibilities is different, as she escaped a revolutionary war and came to the U.S. with $500 and unable to speak a word of English. The experience built a foundation of resiliency, reinvention and purpose to help others face fears, adversity and believe in their strengths. Passion fueled her to create a technology business from the ground up with a successful exit.

She is obsessed with inspiring people to keep it real and believe in themselves and speaks at events like TEDx on The Value of Human Connections. What lights her up is contributing to Children’s Shark Tanks Innovation programs, running innovation bootcamps for schools and universities, advocating for diversity and STEM and sharing perspective on Forbes Council, Huff Post, Podcasts and other platforms. She is also an athlete and believes the commitment and discipline to taking care of your health first is foundational to everyone’s success in leadership and life.

Episode transcription:

M: Hi everyone. My name is Michelle Bazargan. I'm excited to be here to kick off 2021. I am currently at Gartner helping clients prepare for the future, think about the future. Be more innovative. Think about the workforce strategy. I also have a company called Align Innovations and I'm very passionate about diversity and inclusion, the actionable way. So I do a lot of speaking engagements consulting around that and also help a lot of startups as well. Also brings that in Michelle.

J: Thanks for joining us. So the podcast to kick off the 2021 on the right note is very exciting to host you and talk a little bit more about all things, diversity inclusion, the law, the workforce innovation and a lot of that great stuff, very prevalent and relevant topics to especially in the current times. Tell us a little bit more about your backgrounds, where you come from your career path, and then I'd love to spend a couple of minutes talking about your current project, for sure.

M: Yes. so I actually have a really diverse and different background and I try to keep it front and center because it keeps me humble. And my family does it if I don't. So, I'm a very proud Iranian and American, my family and I actually immigrated here from Tehran, Iran. We, as a little girl, escaped a war, crazy in the middle of a winter storm, we were on a bus. We got smuggled out of the country, machine guns pointed to our faces. So, but the game of survival and being resilient became very clear to me as a child, and just like many other immigrants from a lot of different countries that have all come here to the US we didn't speak English very well. We had very little money. It was the point where we would put food back in the grocery line. We also were severely judged because of our names, our accents. And people lose sight that we're all from somewhere, right? No one, everyone is an immigrant. If you do an ancestor.com DNA test, you'll see that you are from somewhere. So people lose sight of that. As a child, I've found people went heavily into the media and believed what the media set there was a Iranian in us hostage crisis. And so we had to actually change our identity as Iranians, because if we went anywhere, we were called terrorists and names and all kinds of other things it's actually the reason why a lot of Iranian Americans call themselves Persians because a lot of people weren't educated to know that Iran was actually of Persian descent. It went as far as me. I actually, a lot of people don't know this. My first name is actually mare Noosh Michelle Bazargan. And what happened is my family gave us American middle names. Because when we immigrated here, we knew that we would struggle. And so I had to actually flip my name around. So my name is actually Michelle Marunouchi Bazargan because we couldn't fit in. And I went to linguistics classes actually to get rid of my accent. That's the only reason I don't have an accent. And so I'm bringing all this up because we use this buzzword diversity equality. Inclusion and it's real. It's real for me. It's real for every immigrant that's been here. Every person that is of a different color, different gender, different race, different sexuality. And so we really need to get serious about going beyond the checkboxes of hiring more women, hiring more people of color, and really holding ourselves more accountable because it's real and it impacts people's real lives is what I've found for sure through my journey, of even how I became fell into tech is actually tied to the story, which is why I started off with it. So, what happened was my dad was very passionate about technology and so he actually studied computer engineering at university of Miami. We didn't have much money. So he would take me to his engineering classes. I was building computer systems with him, running networks, all kinds of things. And so from there that actually launched my tech career. He has entrepreneurship in my DNA. So we started a company I've been working at since I was probably 15 years old. Originally it started to make ends meet and then it turned into my career. And my passion from there, I've worked in major corporations from Toyota Distribution to Ultimate Software to Oracle. I also have spent a ton of time working with startups. I've worked with the Accelerator Founders Institute, Tremendous, Asleep. And I actually even developed and built and sold a fitness technology solution as well. So I've always gone kind of back and forth between the enterprise and innovation. And it's really neat because you start to very clearly see why startups are more innovative, why corporations and large companies lose that innovative spirit. And so at Gartner, I try to really guide clients like Nike, American Express, FedEx on how to really be able to do both because you need to be able to scale, which is what startups sometimes struggle with. But you also need to be innovative. Like if you don't innovate and you get hung up on the day to day, You won't be here long term. So I'm super passionate about that. I do that at Gardner and that Aligned Innovations. I'm a professional speaker and I also do a lot of consulting on diversity and inclusion and helping startups scale as well.

J: Well, that's exciting, quite a background. We really appreciate you sharing the personal story behind those can definitely relate to that on many levels. I mean, never hear myself, so that's congratulations to you of that great success you've been able to accomplish so far. I'm pretty sure there's just scratching the surface from that perspective. You've briefly mentioned a little bit around from an innovation standpoint, it's a passion of mine, a lot of guests that I host on Ivy Podcast, that's a prevalent topic. We talk a lot about innovation strategies to build and foster that culture of innovation. So to say, you also mentioned something around, curiosity, from, as that being, creativity being part of that innovation concept. Tell us a little bit more kind of your take on that. What are some of the strategies that really help you? When you partner with your clients or whether you're working at your current organization to not only kind of speak, talk about the overall concept of innovation, but something tangible as far as really fostering that culture of experimentation innovation standards.

M: Absolutely. And Jahn, as an immigrant, you'll appreciate that that curiosity is probably still, even in your DNA because a lot of innovation is driven from scarcity and there're so many examples of that. And so, when you look at the last financial downturn is where the Uber's and the Airbnb's and the group bombs came to life, mainly because they saw a need. They saw a scarcity, they saw people were struggling financially. And they saw and they thought through, well, how can we take advantage of this opportunity, right? They didn't sit there and cry that, there's a financial downturn. They said, awesome. This is an opportunity. What do we do? And so, they created Uber where people could share vehicles that was actually driven because of a financial limitation for people sharing homes, Airbnb, who would think that you would sleep at a stranger's house. So, scarcity is definitely a driver. Starting first, I think, there's this always, this chicken and the egg. Is it culture or is it leadership? Where does innovation start? And I would say the conversation usually starts with culture, but I actually would say that it starts with leadership. Mainly because I believe that both in personal life and in professional life and in business, everything starts with yourself. So I like to challenge clients and even my own personality and my personal life to really think about what is your purpose? Why do you do what you do? our jobs as leaders and we're all leaders, we're all either leaders at home on the soccer field. Whatever we do, we are all leaders to some capacity. And day to day from a corporate perspective, let's just say, or startups at scale. A leader's job. Isn't performance reviews. It's not quarterly business updates. It's not managing KPIs leadership, which is leadership for the future to drive both innovation curiosity and inspire people and the organization to go through places that they never thought was possible. And when you look at the grades, like the Steve Jobs of the world or the reasons, Elon Musk's of the world that Jeff Bezos’, that's what they do. it's table stakes to do performance reviews and meetings and PowerPoints and things like that. So really, I think first it starts with every leader or really every person. It doesn't even matter if you just graduated college. Like why do you do what you do? What drives you? And this principal actually. Be used for all areas of life. Like, why do you do what you do in your personal life, with your relationships? What is your vision and your goal? What do you need to really do to maintain a legacy? So, on a per on. Having these tough conversations with not only yourself or the people around you. I challenged both myself, everyone I'm around and every leader to really start thinking about what they can do differently to set the tone. You can't send conflicting messages, like please be innovative on Friday afternoons because that's how Google does it. As a leader, you need to understand that your company's culture is very different from Google. So that's not very empowering to kind of send that message. It's really to step back and say bottom up top down, how do we work together to really bring this to life? Are we giving you guys enough time? Are we just talking or are we being the walk? Are we asking you to be innovative? But then we're asking you to do the day to day and it's not working. Are we saying, please be innovative, but then please don't fail. Or are our behaviors showing failures, not Excel. So those are the real challenges. And then as a leadership team also sitting down and saying, what message as a team are we sending? So a lot of organizations are set up in silos, right? You have the chief information officer, the chief marketing officer, all these chiefs. But no, one's really coming together to say, as a leadership team, what do we do differently? First us and to help cause this ripple effect in our culture and silos are a big challenge. So a lot of people don't realize that our organizations and our organization charts were actually created back. And the industrial revolution where all we were trying to do is manage risk and perfect output. And so what's interesting is if you pull up one of those org charts from like the 19 hundreds, it actually looks the same, which is kind of scary. So we are, functioning the same systems, the same structures, the same silos that were set up to manage risk. They were never set up. To drive creativity or innovation. And so, and then top it off, we use a lot of buzz words. So it just really inhibits it. So we have to rethink the structure, one of our organizations we have to really challenge ourselves from a leadership perspective, we have to throw out everything that we know, because if you think about all the turmoil around us, all the change around us. What worked even two years ago, six months ago is not going to work now. So getting away from these I know statements, we know statements. And really empowering bottom-up top-down to do it better instead of saying, how do we become innovative? How do we die drive digital transformation? Like, what does that actually mean for you as an individual and you, and the organization itself?

J: Right. I love these examples and it definitely makes sense. And especially the overall concept of that kind of servant leadership where you take the org chart almost where you're talking about flipping that upside down and looking at it from that perspective that, hey, you know what. Things from a leadership perspective, really walking the walk that in a sense, we're not just saying innovation just for marketing and the PR standpoint, but it's really, and creating this autonomy amongst all of the employees or whatever the organization you're part of and really view innovation. Not so much from that overall innovation standpoint, but it's really an opportunity for us to improve whether that's digital transformation, people, transformation and whatever else the case may be. It's really empowering the employees to think outside the box and really figuring out ways to foster that creativity and innovation. So I love those examples. And setting the tone for that too. I think the tone is so important because if you get to your point, if you get a ton of inspired people in a room, but the leaders are talking for the first 20 minutes, for example, you're setting the tone. So everyone in that room is going to follow you. So I sometimes tell leaders like high levels, say which direction you're going, inspire people, leave, hire really amazing, smart, cheerful people. And your job becomes a lot easier, so great. Right. Absolutely. I love that. And the next question I have for you is something that you briefly touched upon from the overall diversity inclusion perspective, more specifically around female leadership or female executives and especially in technology, it's a very it's a highly requested topic on Ivy Podcast from our listeners and so forth. And I know. It's an extremely loaded question that I'm about to do that we can probably, we should probably spend like a series of podcasts, episodes, podcasts. Negate entire, vertical to this. And I know it's a challenge for you to summarize these concepts into one concise response, but still, what is your take on the vendor? If you were in your early stages of your career and knowing what now what recommendations can you provide when it comes to the work life balance, or career growth from the female leadership perspective? What are some of the things that really helped you along the way that you kind of wish that you knew earlier? So just wanted to get your take on that.

M: Yeah, no, that's a great question because really. The foundation that we lose sight of is people right? Females, males, everyone, anyone with really a heartbeat falls into this category. And before I dive into your question one of the important things to also kind of on the diversity front, remember we're obviously in turmoil, there's things going on around us. We're all having some sort of struggle, whether it's family struggle, something we're all connected through struggle. But we don't speak to each other like that we use a lot of buzz words. We don't speak human, we speak very robotically and that ripples into this topic because we have this armor around us or masks you could call it that we all kind of wear based on what's on the outside. And so, before I get into kind of the specific women of questions, cause I actually have a different, very different possibly controversial twist to that whole question. But all of us can do better. All of us can, from a human perspective, go beyond checking these boxes. We can, instead of society push us and all these messages push us too fix all of our strengths and folk fix your strengths. Go after your weaknesses do better. And we lose sight that we all have strengths and weaknesses, and we can all work together. Like, men, females, or people of different backgrounds, all have experiences that are unique, that are innate. If you grew up poor, for example, that makes you different. You're probably, a little bit more empathetic women by natural DNA, by God's given nature, which is why we can carry children and are a little bit more empathetic. That just is male. Have that masculine energy. I think we keep going one extreme to the next, instead of really just aligning and figuring out what we're good at and what we're not good at and complimenting it. You're never going to fix every single weakness that you have. And so we lose sight of the human piece and we're so focused on. What we look like and what genders we have and things like that. And so, for me, one is, first of all, I think we should all do better in this space. Myself included. I think that we really all need to focus more on diversity of thought. And not what skin deep, what the color of my skin is the color of my hair. I certainly have been picked on because I looked different. It was different, had an accent when I came here getting past some of those superficial things that we'll really focus on right now and going a little bit deeper specific career advice that I would give, for me, actually the twist here, the controversial twist is I've actually had more support from male colleagues in my career than I have women. And I've only always reflected on why is that? And one of the things is because over the years and that still exists today, there's limited seats at the table in general, there's limited seats at a manager's table directors, table, VP chiefs, whatever you want to mean. And so people become very competitive and the ego kicks in. And so for me, I've always struggled with this topic to be quite. I actually even declined recently women's events because I'd like to fix the challenge, like, what is the challenge? Are we having real conversations, environment and by all humans, like let's really have real deep conversations of why things are not working. Is the corporate structure outdated? What are the root causes? So that's one perspective, I guess, for the audience to keep in mind is I think the challenges we have keep going from one extreme to the next and just hiring people and putting people at a desk doesn't really solve the deeper problem because we are empowering them? Are we including them? If you're hiring a ton of women, okay. Are you giving her to him? For example, or if you're hiring a person of color for diversity and inclusion, are they really empowered to drive this? Or are we just doing a checkbox. So the top advice that I would give to segwaying into for all humans, I guess, because I mentor a lot of men in addition to women and people of all different kinds of races and colors, and I don't even see color and all those things. And I think the first one is you need to ask for what you want and whether it's a salary, a title, a promotion, a position. and if you get a no, no is not a never, Noah's a comeback leader. And I had to, as I had this naturally in my DNA, because as an immigrant struggling, like we have to do whatever it took. And the other big thing is don't ask for sponsors, don't ask for mentors, sit down and ask for someone let's say within or outside of your organization, that you really look up to. And ask them to sponsor. You ask them to get real, to help you navigate, to move through the organization. If you don't ask very rarely have I seen someone just come and tap you on the shoulder and promote you because of hard work, hard work is just a piece of it. And I think that's one of the biggest things people miss is. The world has changed and you're not necessarily going to be recognized for what you deliver all the time. The other big thing that I find is, and I think this is because of our human wiring of comfort. You have a choice, like you either have to have courage or you have to be in our comfort. You cannot have both, you can't stay in an organization for 15 years, like we used to back in the day and be comfortable and think your career is going to flourish. Those days changed both ways, both on the employee side and both on the employer side from an overall workforce strategy perspective, the entire workforce has been disrupted, It's not just about remote work and zoom. It's more than that. So careers are not linear anymore. You have to get, you have to constantly stop and reflect. Am I at the right table? Is my ladder that I'm envisioning, leaned even against the right building. Should I be switching buildings, even basic things like that, because time is so limited. And as we all, we're all bound by our calendars. If you don't have a plan and a vision for yourself, and you're not constantly measuring it. You're gonna turn your head and spend time and energy working somewhere, and it's not even aligned with where you want to go. So that's really crucial. What I mean by plan act and measure is you have to take control of your career. You're the CEO of your life. Really? you can't rely on a boss to get you the skills you need. You can't rely on a company to send you to the training you need. You need to step back and look at what I would like to accomplish for my career. And that's different for everyone. Not everyone has aspirations to become a senior leader in an organization. Some people want to become experts at what they're really good at, for example, in technology, maybe going up to an architect position or what have you, so really be conscious of where you want to go in five years, for example, and then work backwards to that. Like I literally, and I've done this for years. I have a spreadsheet with like six tabs and I have like a life plan for each area of my life. Finances and my skills, I'm big into athletics. I'm an athlete, my training plans. And every week I sit down and I check in and say, what am I doing? What worked well, what didn't work well, you have to have a strategy and then you have to have in corporate terms, a way that you're measuring yourself and you're being truthful with yourself. Otherwise relying on a company, a boss, a leader to manage your career is really risky. It's always been risky, but in today's day and age, where everything is changing and nobody knows what we're going to really land for the future. You have to be one the CEO of your life and to the CEO of your career, you can't rely on anyone to do that for you. Oh, I love these, and you did a really good job summarizing, such a loaded question. It's kind of these key concepts and recommendations really appreciate that. It's bottom line taking full control and really not relying on somebody else to dictate or be in charge of your career, your life and so forth and informing kind of these almost. Audits on yourself in terms of my performance, my ambitions, my career and what's the action plan to get there. I think it's super important yet often overlooked.

J: So those are great written. Definitely appreciate that to pivot a little bit, once you get your take on myself being extremely entrepreneurial and I always, all of the guests that I host on the show, we talk about the different trends. We talk about the different ideas. What's the next big thing? So for Michelle, what is that? What are you currently researching? What is the next big trend that you were observing that you think is going to be the most impactful?

M: For sure. That's a great question. So by trade, as I alluded to, in the beginning of, we started our talk by trade. I'm a technologist. I'm an engineer at heart. So by trade, I gravitate towards all of the technology, things that we all hear, right. Cloud AI and machine learning, predictive analytics, edge computing, internet of behaviors, right. The list goes on and on. Non-technical. Can be using data to do the right time, right place in marketing. But I have to step back over the last five years and go, what's the real foundational trends that are happening. Meaning let's say we perspect in machine learning and AI, which in certain roles I've had a lot of innovation roles that I've led, but a lot of them have failed. And so the common theme that I came to was, and I say technology, but this can apply to anything. It can apply to finance. It can apply marketing basically. I mean the technical discipline of your trade. So I came to that this is just a tool. And so the top layers that I'm looking at and finding that impact. Success and failure of one, not just startups, I'm sorry, not just large enterprise companies, but also startups comes back to the people piece. So, I think some people realize it, maybe some don't we're in the middle of a global workforce disruption upside down. and certainly, we're all really excited about what technology changes are going to mean to us, but we're always going to have people in the mix. The first one is skills and education are being turned upside down. The education system has not evolved. I gave the 19 hundreds board chart example. The education system is having the same challenge. I also speak to a lot of universities and schools. I work with them to create their innovation curriculum. And it's just not working, which is why you're seeing companies like Amazon Tesla schools, you name it. Creating their own little universities their own little bootcamps because they're seeing this gap. The other thing is there's a skill shortage as well happening across the board mainly because skills have become so commodity one great example that I'll reflect on from back in the day. Amazon became really proficient in the cloud space. And so we had a lot of systems engineers that didn't want to accept that systems engineering was becoming a commodity. And so that has happened and that's accelerating even more. So you can't rely any longer on just your technical trait that you went to school for, whether it's you learn finance or you learn marketing you really have to step back and look at some of the other soft skills you need as well. And that's where the shortages are with the soft skills people who are curious, insanely curious, question, everything, question, what they know extremely collaborative. Where they have, can't say no ego. We all have ego, have lower ego where they genuinely want to work with others. They're comfortable with failure. They have grit and you can find these types of people in wastes that you never thought. So, for example, I'm an athlete. I'm in a lot of athlete communities, athletes by nature are comfortable with failure. They have grit. They're super, just self-disciplined. So you don't always have to rely on one area of a person. So getting to know others, but mainly it's to understand that has changed. And that's where the shortage actually is coming into play, which is why you, for example, I'm sure people are experiencing this. You can hire the smartest person. Let's say an AI, but if they're missing curiosity, they're missing, they're not comfortable with failure. They're not disciplined. They don't have grit. They're oftentimes not successful. That's been my experience. So that's why there is such a gap. One, because our companies don't teach that our schools don't teach that. And so people are losing sight of it and the gap is growing. The other thing too, that's happening too, is a lot of people are focused on remote work and zoom and all this stuff. Remote work has fast tracked the workforce disruption, because if you think about it, you don't really have to live in Silicon Valley anymore to work for the tech leaders. If you are in Ohio, Kansas, Argentina, and you have an amazing team and resources. Other companies can come now tap into your local resource pool. So the level the playing field has now leveled and where you are located is no longer a problem. So that's going to even fast-track, the whole aspect and the lines are blurring now with. Partner partners and vendors and people that are working internally. So the workforce is no longer. I'm going to hire this permanent employee. It's this blend of people coming together, bringing their unique intelligence to the table to drive the future forward. One of the best examples I can think of that comes to mind is a few months ago, Microsoft announced this partnership with Tesla because they are actually disrupting space communication. And so if you look at how they're doing it, they're partnered with these 10 major companies combined with their internal resources. And they're using the strengths of each organization to bring a solution together. And that's really the future is who's got what piece that they're really good at and how do we bring them together. So if you think about that, which segues into the other big disruption that I keep bringing up is our organizational systems, charts, processes, metrics. Are not set up to support that future. So we have to get really serious about where we are going? What does our workforce strategy look like? How do we really take a blank piece of paper? And it's not following best practice. It's being creative and innovative, right? it's to sit down and say, this is where we're going. This is my vision for my organization. Okay. How do we get there? Because the ways we've done it before are not going to work. The org charts from before are not going to work. The KPI's and measures are not going to work. The way we recruit is not going to work. Even as deep as the way we lead is no longer going to work, my command and control style for example, is not going to work. It's not a senior leader sitting up at the top and saying, please be innovative. That doesn't work anymore. So what leadership changes do we have to make, to lump this all in a buzzword it's called scenario planning. And business model innovation. And what that really just means in layman's terms, because I'm all about speaking human is to think about the future in a way that's never done before, because you're not going to copy someone Facebook wasn't created by copying somebody, Amazon wasn't created by copying somebody. So really sit down and think about your business. Shell Corp is a great example. Back in the seventies, when there was oil embargo challenges going on, they were actually the only gas and oil company that made it out of that because they sat down and said, forget everything. That's going on. White piece of paper, what are all the scenarios we need to think about? And what do we need to do differently as an organization to change? If you don't do that, what's gonna happen is you're going to get what I call blockbuster video syndrome, which is blockbuster video thought that they were the best thing. And everybody was constantly going to take out VHS or DVD tapes. And as we all know, they're not here anymore. So when you kind of think you're the best and these things aren't going to happen to you, or you try to copy something that somebody is doing right at this given moment, because it works now or they were successful now. Well, that's a little naive, so those are kind of the big ticket things I'm tracking because taking it back to how I started the conversation. You could have the best AI, the best marketing strategy in the world. When you don't have this foundation of people, the new organizational structure that is bringing people together for shared intelligence, including your vendors and partners even how procurement is done differently, right. And you're not being real with the new types of leaders you need. These are the core themes of why a lot of organizations may not be here in the future. And if we look at these things, we can be, and we can be prepared and it can be really exciting.

J: Right. Absolutely. No, that's so insightful. Definitely thanks for drilling a little bit deeper from your perspective. And for the next part of our conversation, I wanna focus a little bit more on you personally Kind of or with 2020 behind those. So, it still feels like we are in 2020, whether it is going on these days, we joke that it's still 2020, the lines have blurred.I don't even know what day is it today? It's December 47th, 2020. So let's treat it that way. So, and I'm not a fan of the whole concept of new year's resolutions because I have a different take on that, but from your standpoint, I'm curious what's currently, on your short term roadmap for you personally, what are you looking to accomplish, what are you focusing on through the next short period? The US is coming out of this very interesting year with going into, hopefully something different, curious to get your take on that and how do we prepare for that?

M: Yeah, that's an awesome question. So one thing, which is kind of tied to my background foundationally, I think we all need to think about changing our story and what I mean by that is when I first met my family and I immigrated here to this country, our story could have very easily been one of why is this happening to me? I don't want to stay here. I want to go back. I can't control any of this because, as I shared my story, a lot of the things I mentioned were a little uncontrollable, but we flipped the story to what is the opportunity here and what can I do differently? And change my mindset to do differently to get out of this. So I think one is that, and I'm challenging myself as well for this, which is obviously you turn on the news and the media and everything is doomsday, right. And also as humans, we are naturally wired for fear for wanting to be comfortable. So if you're, you're not constantly changing, challenging or in a mental state, which I'm challenging myself to do. You're going to get dragged down into the sky is falling. The world is falling apart and I have zero control. So that's kind of foundationally what I've been working on one in 2020, but now actually leading into the new year as well. So I have this interesting thing that I do and I'll, I'll share it with everyone. I'm sure a lot of people have heard Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Where it talked a lot about that on the episodes last year, I was like the whole premise was inserted to interrupt from a perspective, where the bottom level safety, security, all of that we had. How do you still think about innovation? Something, higher level. So that was interesting, but yeah, go on. Oh, totally. Because it's true. We lose sight of the basic needs, right? Safety food shelter to ultimately reach what he had captured your full potential or self-actualization. So through my journey of life, just experiencing everything I have, and then through my career and family and relationships, I said what's my hierarchy of mastering myself and my goals. So I literally have drawn this triangle where I said things are gonna happen to you. Like as a human we're wired a certain way, our zeros and ones are already programmed a certain way. We're gonna want short-term gratification. That's just who we are as a species. we're gonna want things immediately. We're not gonna want pain. We're going to want pleasure. That's just table stakes. That's how we're wired. That's why, when you step back, you see so many people following society, right? Society says have children two and a half kids, white the house, the 401k retire, so we're following systems and processes. So I said, you know what? I have to be real with what I want, not what let's say. My family wants. My boss wants, all these pressures around us. So I literally sit down and I'm asking myself, and I'm doing this actually right now. one of my core values and what, why am I doing what I'm doing? Like, what am I chasing? And it's not necessarily a corporate status or societal things or things in general. I actually just sold my house and left Florida. I own nothing. So what motivates me and really looking at that hard look, and being true with yourself. And I recommend everyone does this. Cause you'll have a lot of what I call holy moly moments where I'm trying not to curse where you're going. Wait, why am I doing this? Is this real? Is this why for me? Or is it because of pressure that's coming from somewhere else? So I really recommend doing that. I call it the hashtag unfollow, the herd process, and being real with yourself. The second is really looking at a long-term mindset versus short. And this goes back to what I mentioned about, we are naturally wired to do things for immediate gratification. That's why we will go spend $5 at Starbucks for a cup of coffee. That's probably 30 cents. Right? So, we are wired for the short term. And so, you have to challenge yourself to think long-term, which is why I constantly recommend going to what you want, why you want it, and then inventorying yourself to say, am I on track? Cause otherwise you're naturally going to go short-term and this applies to self whether it's your financial goals, your fitness and athletic goals relationship goals even and this applies to business as well, because many businesses right now are worried about their quarterly numbers to wall street. And that's it, which is why they struggle with deal delivering on innovation, they're playing the short-term game, not the long-term game. So personally I'm challenging myself. What am I chasing? Where's my mindset at how I plan it? Act on it. If you don't take massive action, you're not going to go anywhere. You can talk about it and read books till forever read about social media, but what's my plan? And then I literally map it every day. I literally say, this is what I'm going to do this week. Then at the end of the week I measure myself and I say, what worked really well? What could I have done better? What fell apart? And then to use our corporate speak, then I literally pivot and say, okay, I'm going to change this week and I do that on a frequent basis because life gets in front of you and very tight. A lot of times you'll pivot off track. The other major thing too is really thinking about where is your time, energy and focus going? We somehow as humans get this is going to sound more breath, but we forget there's an end and we forget there's death. And we run around and we waste so much energy and time. And I've always been baffled on that and now it's even worse right now. We have social media, we're open. We had the news before and now it's everywhere. Your iPhone alerts are going off your text messages. You're going off like distraction is crazy. And so once again, it goes back to being more conscious of what you are doing? Where are you going? So part of what I'm sharing with this measure is I literally inventory my time. I inventory, how much time I'm spending on social media. I inventory the people that are in my life the colleagues that are in my life, where is that time going? And then I kind of carry that over into the corporate world a little bit because we do waste a lot of time. And then the other aspect to that I have found works really well is I put a dollar value on my time and this doesn't have anything to do with what I make or anything like that. But I literally I'm like, okay. I picked a number one, so I was like $150 an hour. Okay. Am I going to check social media? If my bill is $150 an hour? Is that really valuable? And the answer might be yes or am I going to clean my home for three hours? If my bill rate is $150 an hour, when someone can do it, let's say for a hundred, right. Then I actually doubled that rate. Because I said there's opportunity cost. I don't have infinite time. So if I'm spending time with, let's say a colleague for two hours, that's two hours. I'm also losing out on maybe creating a business plan. I don't know. So really inventory or time, and this is not coming from a place of knowing I'm a work in progress, but I'm really trying to get better at knowing what I'm going after, knowing my mindset, inventory, and yet getting feedback and then improving.

J: Right. Absolutely. No, I love these frameworks in a sense it's one thing that also helps me from a standpoint of that particular productivity now, I mean, framework is what I call it. One major accomplishment is because I've noticed that as I was going through my daily task list at the beginning of the day, I would come back at the end of the day and I'm like, crap, I didn't accomplish all of that. So yeah. Like you said, life gets in the way. And so I kind of changed the mindset and stuff. I didn't come up with that concept, but it's a variation of what I've read other successful executives do. It's just really focusing on this one major thing that I want to accomplish today. And I noticed for myself.

M: Yeah, exactly. And if I accomplish that I'm happy, everything else that comes along with that, I find it helps with your mindset too, Jahn, like you don't feel like you feel like okay, I can do this again versus, Oh my God, I can't.

J: Yeah. And it was like, Oh, I got like 50 tasks on my list. Like I'm running around like crazy. So that's some, some color from my perspective there, Michelle last but not least share with us your sources of information. What, what do you do? What do you read? What do you follow? What blogs do you subscribe to? If there's a Twitter profile year, you religiously update. Tell us your, your content diet that I like to call.

M: Yeah, for sure. So I have so many sources I'll touch on a couple. But before I go into that, I wanted to share one thing I do a little differently. I realized years ago that we consume so much information and consuming is not doing. And this actually ties to your point that you made about pick one. So I read a lot of things and I'll share my hit list here in a minute. But one thing that I find is working better. And again, I'm constantly learning and pivoting is to read something. For example, if you read a book, a chapter and there was one nugget that you were like, wow, that that was something that just blew me away. Take that one nugget. Right at wherever you want in your iPhone notes journal and do it like implemented, try it, tweak it. There's a Bruce Lee quote that he takes things from people and what works he keeps and the things that don't have lots of go. We really want to be effective with all the stuff we're consuming, we need to be doing. So that's one takeaway that's actually working really well for me. The second one that I also recently started doing is to challenge your thinking and to challenge what you're actually reading. So a lot of us gravitate towards certain topics. Certain people, I actually am also challenging myself to listen to people I normally wouldn't whether it's on a podcast and also to diversify all the topics. So I listened to health and fitness topics, financial topics, business topics. Relationship topics and you'll find, which is what I've been finding over the last years. Everything is so connected. So when you listen to, let's say a health and fitness podcast there's one I've recently started listening to it's called chasing excellence. That someone turned me on to Bergersen, I'm going to butcher his last name. He's a successful CrossFit coach and one of the top coaches for athletes for CrossFit athletes. And his concepts totally cross over to not only your personal life, business, life innovation, world relationships. So really challenge what you listened to and make sure you're being diverse. Like, just because you're passionate about health and fitness don't listen to just that, just because you're an executive and you need to stay on top of business don't make a hundred percent of your, what you're consuming, just that, but my tops are the one podcast I mentioned was that the other one I listened to is one by Gwyneth Paltrow. It's called Loop. That one has just about every topic you can think of. They also make it very controversial, too. Make you think about your thinking? From a business perspective, I listened to creative planning, which is by Peter Baluk. He speaks what I call human in the financial markets and business. He doesn't use a lot of buzz words. He keeps it real. Book-wise I am reading over Principles by Ray Dalio. He is great at not just obviously the financial investment piece that he's so well known for, but also business and life advice. And I'm also reading one that is around consciousness. I'm very passionate about conscious leadership, mainly because of what I brought up. I think we need to do leadership differently. In business and in life. And it's by Dane Heer, it's called Being you changing the world. if you don't read this, if you look up conscious leadership, it'll give you some insights about how to just be more aware, how to question everything, how to do things differently. The other great one is ego is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday, and an innovation one that's really awesome is zero to one. And it really talks about. And I've actually read that multiple times about changing yourself. The other funny one that I'll share and I'll end with is I actually read and applied a little bit, the five love languages books, not because it's about a personal intimate relationship, but one of the things I find is we all need to do a better job of knowing each other. And what we want from each other and what motivates people. And this obviously crosses over to leadership, you know? So, one person may not be motivated by money or gifts or what have you. One might be motivated by time. So that's a really good one that you don't have to look at it from an intimate relationship lens. You can look at it from an overall relationship with. People are your team lens. It makes you think a little differently. So that's a funny one. I'll share what I'm trying to look at and apply across.

J: Awesome. I love that. I love it. Those recommendations. And for our listeners, we'll make these, all of these listed in the episode notes. So you guys can check them out, subscribe by whatever the case may be. Thank you enough for your time today. It was very insightful, powerful, short conversation, and personally learned quite a bit. Definitely gonna stay in touch. We gotta do another episode. So does a follow-up to dive a little bit deeper in some of the things that you were talking about.

M: Definitely. Thank you so much for your time.

J: Yeah. And I appreciate it. And I think you're doing something that's so important, which is using your voice, and this is going to have a ripple effect, I believe in ripple effects. So I think that this is amazing what you're doing here on this podcast and the diversity of people that you're bringing on and the questions you're asking. So thank you so much for the opportunity to be here with you today.

Dr. David Bray – Inaugural Director at Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center

The Ivy Podcast — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Dr. David A. Bray has served in a variety of leadership roles in turbulent environments, including bioterrorism preparedness and response from 2000-2005, time on the ground in Afghanistan in 2009, serving as the non-partisan Executive Director for a bipartisan National Commission on R&D, and providing leadership as a non-partisan federal agency Senior Executive. He accepted a leadership role in December 2019 to incubate a new global Center with the Atlantic Council.

He also provides strategy to both Boards and start-ups espousing human-centric principles to technology-enabled decision making in complex environments. He was also named a Senior Fellow with the Institute for Human-Machine Cognition in starting in 2018. Business Insider named him one of the top “24 Americans Who Are Changing the World” under 40 and he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for 2016-2021. From 2017 to the start of 2020, David served as Executive Director for the People-Centered Internet coalition Chaired by Internet co-originator Vint Cerf, focused on providing support and expertise for community-focused projects that measurably improve people’s lives using the internet.

He also was named a Marshall Memorial Fellow and traveled to Europe in 2018 to discuss Trans-Atlantic issues of common concern including exponential technologies and the global future ahead. Later in 2018, he was invited to work with the U.S. Navy and Marines on improving organizational adaptability and to work with U.S. Special Operation Command’s J5 Directorate on the challenges of countering misinformation and disinformation online. He has received both the Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award and the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal.

Episode transcription:

D: Hello. I'm Dr. David Bray, a director at the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center. Thanks so much for finding time, join us on the podcast today to excited to host you here at the beginning of 2021. I’m looking forward to just like everybody else put the 20 behind us and focus on kind of the new period.

J: So that's exciting to have you here. Can you tell us a little bit more about your background, where you come from career wise and a little bit more about your current role?

D: Sure. The short version of my background is that I fell in my head at an early age and that made all the difference, but the slightly longer version would probably be my background. It's kind of eclectic. I was fortunate enough that I was good with computers at an early age. So good that actually led to the government offering me a job when I was 15. I actually had to get a work permit because I was technically, younger than the legal age to work in the state that I lived in. That led to me working initially first at a physics facility. This was back in 1993, where they were modeling electrical. They were actually using electron beams or trying to understand subatomic particles, neutrinos and quirks. And so I got involved with trying to model. What would happen with the electron beam and what might be done with the electron beam, if different physics experiments were done fast forward, later when I was 17, got called down to the principal's office, everyone's like. And it was really four individuals offering me a job at a place called the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). It would involve classified work involving satellites tied to at the time what was called the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. And finding civilian purposes. And so one project, I got to be a part of picked up crop growth from space, tried to predict famines in advance and try to be ahead of the curve to try and help people there. But then another thing that I actually got to lead was demonstrating a prototype of could we pick up forest fires from space and try and model the wind conditions or foliage conditions and try and guess where things were going to go. So that was kind of not a normal beginning to things. Also in parallel during all this as well. I got an invitation to work with the US Navy with Dr. Robert Ballard, who was the discoverer of the Titanic. And basically this was in the Sea of Cortés. We were mapping the hydrothermal vents. We were trying to understand the plate tectonics and the region, and I was doing a computer model of that as well. So not a normal beginning briefly spent time with both Microsoft and later Yahoo, or actually, sorry, other way around Yahoo. And then later Microsoft, trying to actually understand, one what could be done with Fortune 500 companies. Again, with this idea that technology can actually have a positive impact in the world. And that led to me showing up in South Africa where I actually built computer models of the spread of HIV/AIDS, because the interesting thing they had gone from 5000 cases in 1994 to 2.4 million, just four years later in 1998. And so I was not just trying to build a model, but it was underground trying to advocate that they actually needed to do some more proactive policies on HIV/AIDS. It was interesting though, because I kind of kept on hitting some walls and I ended up teaching in the schools instead because it was that seemed to be the best way to do advocacy about trying to do some prevention on HIV/AIDS. So that led me to working for the centers for disease control where I joined in 2000 a little known program called the bioterrorism preparedness response program. We were only 30 people, and every six months or so old, we were told we didn't need to exist. We were Cold War relics, and it was actually scheduled weeks in advance for me to give a briefing to the CIA and the FBI, as to what we would do technology-wise should a really bad day happen. That briefing just happened to be scheduled for September 11th, 2001 at nine o'clock in the morning, which unfortunately, as we all know, tragedy hit at 8:34, the world changed. We literally piled computers in the cars and that with response to 9/11 stood down from high alert on October 1st, a brief stay on October 3rd only to have the first case of anthrax show up 24 hours later. So it was a very busy time. I'll fast forward from there just saying what's now virus happened severe acute respiratory syndrome happened. Monkeypox happened. A lot of other things happened, went and got a PhD, after dealing with some of those responses, focusing on how to improve organizational response to disruption using both technology and data. It was interesting at the time schools of engineering said, we like your proposal, but we don't understand the people part and schools of policy said that we like your proposal if we don't understand the technology part. So it was actually in a business school. And then literally after I graduated, did postdocs at MIT, Harvard, and then went to raise my hand to go to Afghanistan. And you might say, well, why Afghanistan? Well, that seemed to be an interesting challenge of how do you work humanitarian efforts? Have you worked with military efforts there to stabilize the region? How do you coordinate across all those? And so it was in some respects to put in place my dissertation proposal which at the time, what I wrote about was how do you empower the edge? How do you actually? Do a team approach, which of course later, of course we know others have also been echoing that as well, which is great. Came back and continued to ghost write papers for about a year and a half on different issues involving technology and the future of work, but also cybersecurity. I remember writing a paper in 2009, 2010 on how we need a way to do cyber deterrence because things were only gonna get harder and harder as cyber intrusion technology has got democratized. Then became a senior National Intelligence Service executive, initially doing information sharing to try and prevent terrorism events, but also at the same time, protect privacy and civil liberties. That was a non political position and was quite interesting. More than that later on folks, aren't just saying that, but it was an interesting challenge that I tried to stand for what I could as best I could and then got approached to actually join. You serve as the executive director for a Bipartisan Commission that had six democrats, six republicans reviewing the R and D efforts of the entire United States Intelligence Community. that was interesting because when I was recruited for that role, they did not tell me there had been three executives in about three months not working out. And I was now number four and so they always tell you, no, they don't tell you what came before you. And the good news is a year and a half later, we were like based for classified reports, one unclassified report with Bipartisan praise and then thought it would be easier to go from having 12 commissioners to five commissioners at the federal communications commission where I parachuted in 2013 into a role as their chief information officer. That was an interesting case where they'd had I think they had had eight or nine different acting in different CEO's and different roles over a period of nine years. And so it was always a good sign when you parachute in that things must be going great. And what I found is I listened to people and tried to understand the lay of the land is that they had more than 207 different IT systems. They were spending more than 85% of their IT budget just to maintain those systems, not even do improvements or anything like that, just to maintain them. And that was obviously a death spiral. And so through the efforts of the entire team, and I really do want to give efforts to the entire team and empower the edge. And two and a half years, we turned that around from having things on premise to nothing on premise. We either moved to private hosting or public cloud. And as a net net result got that spend down from 85% to 35%. Essentially what was a fixed budget which was game-changing because then we can actually use that to do new development for the people in the public who did that for about four years. So I had good news: I survived much longer than my predecessors and then joined Vint Cerf with an offer at the people-centered internet coalition, which was back in 2017. Was concerned that the internet was increasingly becoming polarized. There were concerns about misinformation disinformation, and that this was not something that was bringing communities together. And that was a nonprofit, I was the executive director behind the scenes. So also had some opportunities to work with special operations command on the increasing challenges of misinformation, disinformation, and did that for about three years before we finally lead to where I am now at the Atlanta Council GeoTech Center, where I got approached to help create an and start a new center focusing precisely on how is how our data and technology efforts, changing geopolitics, changing how the world operates and then vice versa. How is the world being changed by these technologies? And so if anything, I look at my career, it's been exactly that, which is trying to understand how new technologies change the world.

J: What a background! And congratulations on all the great successes.

D: Oh, I wonder if some of it looks like success. Some of it was doing the best I could. Some of it was some dead ends.

J: I did history, definitely very diverse backgrounds. You've talked from cyber security to government affairs to climate change. So, it's great. It's super exciting. So, definitely a great place to host you here. So from taking that context and to where we interviewed a lot of executives, a lot of startup founders, very entrepreneurial myself and can't help, but ask you. In terms of the current trends or the different ideas that really excite you these days. What are you from your standpoint? What are you currently researching? What do you think is the next big thing in the next period, share with us any of your thoughts and your ideas?

D: Right. So I think we're in a period of some might say period of inflections. I may say a period of transition where things are changing and it is unclear yet what will take its place, but it is clear. The way that we operated post-World war two, which was the idea that there were strong governments that were more top-down in nature that even in corporations, it was like organized by hierarchy. That was the effective way to operate in an era in which quite frankly, information was somewhat scarce communication was laggy. It took time to do coordination and coordination. And so you organized for that? Well, that's no longer the case. I mean, we are now facing a world where there's anywhere between 35 to 45 billion network devices on the planet. Relative to 7.7 billion human beings. So we humans are the minority on the planet. Relative to network devices same thing with, in terms of the amount of activity on the Internet. People don't realize that it was around 2012, 2013, that the Internet traffic more than I think it was at the time about 59% of internet traffic at that point tipped over to being bought driven versus human driven. So we're also the minority on the Internet as well. The amount of data on the planet right now the estimates are in about two or so years, two and a half years, there will be 120 petabytes. That's 120 billion terabytes of data on the planet, which some say is three times all the conversations we've had as a species. So, whatever this new world is, this geo-tech decade in which information and data and technology are really surrounding us are raising interesting questions about how do we organize? What is the future of work? What is the future of communities? How do we make sure it doesn't become surveillance state or surveillance capitalism for that matter? Because short of an EMP blast or something even worse that takes out all these devices and takes out all these data, they will be there. How do we avoid the temptation for that to become surveillance? And instead, try to figure out ways that are people affirming and community affirming. And at the same time, be aware of the information environment. I mean, if you look at just the events of 2020 and the start of 2021, the information you receive will shape your perceptions of reality and will shape your sense-making. And if we're not careful, we'll create information environments that are more divisive and polarizing versus unifying for people.

J: Yeah, absolutely. And it's a unique time. We're all in with a pandemic seeming to be behind us yet, it's still very prevalent. And a lot of the things that really happen through the first part of 2021 seems like definitely interesting times. So, it can definitely resonate with a lot of ideas that you're talking about, but back to kind of the period that during the war. You know the role, well, the more one period, almost recovery, recovery period. So that's, definitely very exciting. You talk and you post around the future of work or future of governance, in the future of mantic communities, see you're very vocal about this. I'm pretty sure you do a lot of research on that particular con and those concepts.

D: Yeah.

J: Tell us a little bit more about this. What are the thoughts behind these theories and what's the premise behind them?

D: Sure. So with the GeoTech Center and the work that we do, it really is grounded on the premise that we are in. We are entering the geo-tech decade and that's again, how technology changes geopolitics, where capabilities and the reach of technologies are providing individuals and communities. The ability to do things that 30 or 40 years ago were only possible by the large national security apparatuses of say the United States and Soviet union. At the time that day as an individual, you, as a company can do things right. We're only possible by the CIA and the KGB 30 or 40 years ago. And so this is why I always tell people the good news is technology is getting democratized. Oh, the challenging news is technology is being democratized. And so people ask like, why are we seeing an increase in misinformation? Disinformation would be like, well, quite frankly, in the 1980s, 1970s, I mean, the intelligence communities were aware of misinformation. Disinformation was being done. We know now the Russians finally came out in the 1990s that they were very active in trying to propagate misinformation that HIV/AIDS had been created by the US government to serve as a weapon against its own people. That was obviously not true, but at the time there were people that believed in and there were active efforts to try and spread that well, those same capabilities are now democratized that anybody can do it. And so I say the great news about the internet. Anyone can print whatever they want. The challenging news about the internet, anyone can print. And so, we're living in a world in which technology is being tied to democracy. This is giving new capabilities to some individuals, but now we have to recognize too. It's not giving everybody the same capabilities justly or evenly. And so we need to think about what we can do to help people have more access to these technologies and capabilities, more opportunities, and even the education, the military necessary to use them, because if we don't empower everyone equally, then that sets the seeds for something that I think would be really bad. Either an Opera sees neo-feudalism or something like that. And so we have this obligation to try and lift up everybody. So they're empowered. And then ideally think about how can governance and I'm going to use the word governance and not government, because it may not be the government that does this, but how can community governance or companies play a role or even just individuals encourage governance that steers more towards using these capabilities for good, which of course requires us to actually say what does good look like in the next decade involving technology? I mean, if you go to say China, they may say, it's about making sure there's stability and that there is security and that things are under control. Well, okay. But that also may mean that you are now acquiescing to surveillance and having everything monitored here in the United States. I don't think we'd have that same answer. But then the question is, what does good look like for the United States in terms of using these technologies and data to empower you to have choice about what's done with your data? Well, what does that look like? How does it actually play itself out? Do you have a digital assistant? For Europe, of course we know they've planted the flag and said, GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation. It's ever a European individual goes, you must treat them as if they're in Europe, even if they're not in Europe, which is kind of interesting because I'm waiting for the train wreck to occur where Europe says GDPR give people privacy, even if they're in your country and China is saying, well, wait, our rule is all your data belongs to us because it's for our stability and security. That seems to be an interesting contrast between what Europe is saying in China. So what if someone's in China? Which one do you apply to? And so this is obviously going to raise up to geopolitics. We know also, I mean, just imagine the future of conflict. I mean, I hate to say it, but the next heated conflict will be flooded with images that are both real and not real about what's happening. How do you sift through that? How do you make sense of what's going on? And so as always, I'm trying to go to where the puck is going, not where the puck is and trying to. I always tell people, be bold, be brave and be benevolent. How can we make sure these are uplifting of people as opposed to the alternative?

J: Right, right. Absolutely. And no, it can definitely resonate with a lot of these concepts in terms of where we at as a society and the workforce, in the future, all of that, from the standpoint of warfare governance, the communities and the correlation between that and the technology. I think those are very unique concepts. And also, furthermore, when we talk about the kind of these transformation initiatives, whether that's digital transformation, people transformation or whatnot, a lot of organizations are going through that concept of change agents and how's that helping with really succeeding something with someone who's transformation initiatives, share with us a little bit more about that. What's the best practice or what are some of the recommendations for other executives who may be listening right now in terms of utilizing that particular concept and implementing when going through some of the initiatives at their organizations.

D: Yeah. So the idea of change agents are leaders who are willing to eliminate the way for whatever positive change that they see. And that positive change has to be something beyond themselves. It has to be something that's for others as well. And there's a couple of concepts unpack that first is the idea of leadership. I often say we confuse leadership with management when we do we meet expectations, we do what someone expects of us. And to some degree, we all have to do that to some degree, if I don't meet the expectations of my boss, I'm probably going to get fired. If I don't meet the expectations of my peers or my reports, or if I'm in a пovernment sending, if I don't meet the expectations of the Congress or the administration, I may find myself exiting. And again, there may be times when the best thing a leader can do is to exit, but you have to be aware of, you have to manage to some degree leadership. On the other hand, though, is when you step outside of expectations and it's the opposite of some respects of management, because now you are going outside of whatever expectations, either your boss or your peers or your reports have. And I often try to point out that there's some say that the word leadership comes from a Greek word leak, which means to be sent unto death because back in ancient Greece, the leaves were the ones that carried the flag in front of the army. And that's all well and good until one army meets another army. And that happens to be the leader because the flag bearers, the ones that are carrying the army are the ones that are killed first. And again, it's not saying that you're always going to get killed if you're a leader physically, I hope not, but that when you step outside of expectations, that's all well and good until you hit conflict until you hit friction. Nelson Mandela said his most frying moment as a leader actually was when he had to turn to his own party, the African National Congress this was during the period of apartheid ending, which is a good, it ended which it should have ended, but he was trying to convince him to do it peacefully as opposed to have a violent coup they wanted a violent case. And he said, no, no, that will only end in more bloodshed. And so it was fortunately he succeeded, but that was hard. And so I would say if you're a positive change agent, you need to be aware that someone is going to want you to get back in your box. You're going to have friction and that the art of a good positive change agent is having a strategy for managing the friction, which gets to the second part, which is positive change agents have to step up to what I call the balcony. When you're in the midst of something, you're going to see a lot of things that are hitting you and you're going to be like, well, why is that person doing that? That makes no sense. Why are they doing it? I don't understand. They're crazy or whatever it might be. And you'll get caught up in the visceralness of the immediate events that are happening. What you really need to do is somehow mentally take yourself to a balcony, to look down at the dance floor and say, why is this other person thinking this way? Why is this other person that I don't agree with acting this way? Because if you can try and figure out an empathize, even if you don't again, it's not condoning, if it's something you're doing something that's important, it doesn't mean you change your mind about what you believe, but at least if you can understand why they're behaving that way, then you can actually figure out a better strategy. And that's, I think so, key because I see a lot of people that want to bring about change, but they never really elevate themselves to figure out what's the strategy. And then come back down to the plant dance floor or whatever world you're operating in to make it happen. And then the last thing I would say is the third thing about being a positive change agent is once you've had that view from the balcony and you've come back. Then you've got to do it as a team sport, that no one person can make the change happen that they want to have happen. It's about building networks. And so I think that is so key because again, I've seen so many people that come in with a desire change. I mean, when I parachuted the FCC, they quite frankly said and I encourage this openness. They said, we're just waiting to see if you're still here six months from now, and fortunately I did, I stayed four years there were challenges and everything like that, but they also were watching when something didn't go right. How did I respond? Cause like the first time something didn't go right. If I started pointing fingers and blaming people that would be game over. But if, instead, I'd say, okay, I'm going to take the hit. I'm going to take responsibility, but I'm also going to ask, how are we going to fix it? Then at least I get some buy-in that says, look, a true leader, serves as a flak jacket for their team. And it figures out that leadership and positive change is a team sport.

J: Right. Absolutely. And something that you mentioned as you were, you were talking through this surrounding yourself with the right people whether that's transformation initiative or whatever you going through, I'm curious to get your take on some of the best practices or the strategies that have helped you through your career to find the best talent to not only find, but also retain and develop share with us. Any lessons learned, maybe some areas where you had failed and you had learned something or from a perspective of what really works for you.

D: Well, these days to find the best talent retain the best talents and basically succeed, succeed as a group. So whenever I'm like considering either recruiting or working with someone, one of the things I always like to ask them is what brings you joy? Which I know often, sometimes, especially like in a technology background, I'm like, well, why are you asking that? But it's to try and understand, one watch their face, watch them sort of reflect and to actively listen to them as to what excites them, what motivates them because if I can find things that involve getting a mission done that aligned to whatever brings them joy, then they're going to be self-motivated, they're going to tackle that they will not need me to do anything other than ask to say, would you like to take this on? And they'll say, yes, and the reality is there's just so much work that needs to be done often in a crisis management or change situation that you can actually help put people where they need to go. And I think the art of a good leader is okay, how do I take the different teams that I have and actually build something that's stronger than the sum of them, anyone? So I think the first step is to ask people what brings them joy and use that as a way to reflect the second is give people. When you're dealing with someone that maybe you're not quite sure initially about their talents or their gifts or where they really are, give them six weeks to see what they can do. Tell them, I always ask my team. if you have a pitch, I often look at my role as instead of being a leader. That's going to tell you exactly what to do. I'm going to tell you, I'm going to share our vision. I'm going to share our boundary conditions, answer questions, and beyond that, I'm going to be open for you to come and make your pitch for what you think we should do. Almost like an internal venture capitalist. And when you come and make your pitch, give me three reasons why we should do something, three reasons why we shouldn't and then how we're going to mitigate those reasons why we shouldn't. And that shows like that you've done second and told her thinking, and then after that, I'll back your play. I'll give you six months or sorry, six weeks to see what you can do if that works. And I'll give you an additional six weeks and eventually that'll build up to six months and 12 months and go from there. So I think, letting people help set the part chart and giving them autonomy and some sense of being in control and that also motivates them. And then actually people cause oftentimes when I was working in the public sector, we can't always pay you the best, but we set the motivation for you by the mission. And so that was one technique I would do. And two, sometimes you also. There is huge value in working with people that are there that may have, have hit their head against the wall so many times that they are now disenfranchised. So that leads to the last and third thing that I would say is sometimes you're going to find people that seem like they're commercially or they've just shut down, and it's not. And I would encourage people not to write those people off one, listen to them because there may be value in whatever they're congressionally about. But then too trying to figure out what made them come up. And so I can remember once there was a time when I had this meeting with everybody where I said, I can only ask questions for the next hour. I'm just going to listen, but I can only ask questions. And about somebody who said, I have grief, and I said, tell me more. And he said, it happened 17 years ago. I said, tell me more. And he went on to tell me what happened. And of course that was before I arrived and everything like that. And so after listening, I said, I appreciate you sharing that. What do you think we can do to incorporate that as we move forward together and do better as a team. And so it sort of like acknowledged that this person had a grief, they had something that had made them feel like they had beaten their head against the wall and wasn't recognized, but then pivoting and saying, okay, now we go from problem holder ship to problem solving ship. And that it's something that we all do together. And so I say at the end of the day, I think we all have talents. And it's only really a question of is someone going to take enough time as a leader, to both understand them and then give us the opportunity to see what we can do.

J: Right. Absolutely makes sense. And last but not least, what are your sources of information and learning? What are you reading? Who do you follow? What do you subscribe to any books that you can recommend to share with us? Your content diet.

D: So that's an interesting question because I find that, I mean, again, it goes back to the editor, the amount of data on the planet, it was growing exponentially. I find myself almost having to like be judicious in where I choose to put things. And I am increasingly, it's interesting. I'm going back to old school. I mean, I've done social media and everything like that. I'm just finding that increasingly I need to do intentional listservs because in some respects, the nice thing about a listserv is no algorithm is deciding what I see or not. It's the people on the listserv just posting. And I try to subscribe to different listservs of different things, whether it's about tech or about policy or about what's happening in the world. And I intentionally try to pick groups that are diverse. So if I'm only hearing from peers that I always agree with, and I'm like there's not a lot of value in this. I want to hear people that are going to challenge me that are in a respectful way, but they're either going to have different views internationally or different views tech-wise or different views policy-wise. And so I would say, if you're still on social media, then I would say, make sure you try to ensure that the algorithms are giving you diverse perspectives versus. Who's that meet amplifies your echo chamber. Alternatively, go to email, which doesn't have recommendations by algorithms and actually form a community. One thing I did when I came back from Afghanistan in 2010 was I started a series of virtual meetups. They were about every well, they were actually in-person meetups that became virtual as well. It was a listserv of about once a month. We got together non aggravation, safe space to have conversations. We're doing the same thing now online, even though we can't get together during COVID 19. And it's a non attribution space to have those conversations as well. So I would say. My real guidance for anyone looking for information is look for books. Look for people, look for perspectives. That in my mind, I am learning because I'm having my views challenged on a daily basis. And I think I'm stronger as a result, but you have to be comfortable with that. The other thing I would just say, if you're looking for an interesting read in sort of the future I'm a big believer that good Saifai in this modern philosophy and discussions. And so there's an author by the name of Iain M. Banks. He's written a series called The Culture. One of them is called The Player of Games. That's just one of the several series of books. But to me, it is a modern philosophy of we may be going to in some respects, it paints a somewhat. Revealing anarchistic picture. But goodness still comes out of it and it actually shows how we can find a way to co-exist with technology in a way that is so uplifting of human values.

J: I love these recommendations and for our listeners, we'll make those available in the episode notes, Dr. Bray. Thank you enough for your time today. It was a very short and powerful conversation and I learned quite a bit. Looking forward to staying in touch with you.

D: Perhaps we could do another episode in near future. See how much I've changed.

J: We'd love to dive deeper if you want to on any of the specific topics, and want to thank your listeners. If they do want to find out more about the Atlanta Council Geo-tech Center. We're at GTC. That is G as in George, T as in Tango, C as in Charlie.Atlanticcouncil.org. And boys, please be bold. Please be brave. Please be benevolent for the future ahead. Outstanding happy new year, happy new year.

Elaine Rodrigo – Chief Insights & Analytics Officer at RB

The Ivy Podcast — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Elaine re-joined RB as Chief Insights & Analytics Officer in November 2019, tolead both the consumer insights and data analytics teams.
Passionate about people and consumers, she is leading RB’s efforts to always Put Consumers First, via expansive consumer-centric thinking and ‘humanizing data’ through the digitalization of insights.
She is a firm believer in the power of connecting all sources of data and insights about consumers and categories, with analytics playing a key role in building data-driven decisions in-market close to consumers. A key part of her role is to accelerate the digital and data transformation of the group, building insights &analytics as key enablers of digital marketing & eCommerce.
This is Elaine’s second stint at RB, the first being in 2001 when she spent 6+years in a variety of roles spanning the Global Category in UK, and Geographies.
Prior to re-joining RB, Elaine was Chief Strategy & Insights Officer at Danone for3 years, where she led a company-wide charge towards a more agile & digital approach to insights.
Elaine also spent 9 years at Kraft/Mondelez, as RegionalConsumer Insights & Strategy Director for Asia Pacific, and Global CIS Director for the Biscuits category. Elaine started her career at market research agencies including Kantar and Ipsos, and has a PhD in Marketing from Monash University in Australia. She is originally from Singapore, and has lived in Paris and London.

Episode transcription:

F: Thank you for being with us today. Elaine.

E: I've been looking forward to this happy new year.

F: Awesome. Just to get us started, tell us a bit about yourself and the role that you play at RB.

E: Sure. Yeah. Мery happy to be here today. So my name is Elaine Rodrigo and I'm chief insights and analytics officer at RB Reckitt Benckiser. Which means I'm responsible for the entire function across the group, first of all, the business units. So everybody who works in the consumer insight area.

F: In most mature organizations understand how to leverage analytics for knowledge discovery, whereas fewer are able to consistently aim this discovery in the right direction, which is also an impressive analytics that may be functionally useless. What strategic steps would you recommend when designing analytics processes that would help avoid the use of analytics for analytics sake?

E: Okay. Now I think it's a great question. And maybe I'll tell you a little bit about my background, which also kind of almost defines, I guess, where I start. And I'd say that my starting point is never the analytics, so I always start from a business question. What's the insight that you need to drive and answer that business question, and then the analytics that, that is required in order to inform it, but maybe if I look at the, I guess the way that I've developed my career and learning over the years, as well as I started off in a very analytical space. So I started off as a PhD student and constructing structural equation models. So really deep into building. Building an analytical model. And then after that, I actually started my career when I left university and I went into a market research agency. So this is like in the 1990s now. And that's when it's about consumer, it was about consumer insights. It's all the insects and the consumer and needs and what's going on there. So I shifted gears to thinking about that. And then actually I joined RB the first time around 20 years ago in a client role. And that's when you realize when you come into an organization that the whole point of the insight is to drive business decisions. So therefore I kind of came around into that. And then finally, over time as analysts and analytics, I guess, became more important even in large organizations around what we call driving. Fact-based thinking, data-driven thinking it's come around. So I feel like I've kind of gone round circle and that's why now I take everything from a lens. So believing that. We need to have to know and have everything that we know. I guess, insights data about our consumers. Everything ended up in one place, right. Seamlessly connected to answer business questions. So therefore then coming back to the point, the question you asked, which is probably make sure, I guess I would summarize it by saying in a higher eviction, we don't have impressive tools chasing problems to solve. This is the point. And in any organization, even when we, as an organization come up with innovation ideas, you don't want to come up with an innovation that doesn't actually have a consumer job to be done. So it's the same philosophy. So I've not got any strategic steps. I would say the first thing is always, always start with the business priorities and what are the business questions out there. So whether the use cases. Start from there. And then from that, you can understand, okay, what kind of analytical tools do we require to solve that question and within there, and maybe we get to that, I guess, as we keep talking, there are different levels as well, of what level of analytical tools you need to solve that question. And sometimes it's like you're trying to develop a Ferrari. To solve the problem that bicycle too, and then that's sometimes you get to the weight of itself. So I think this is the same for those of us. And as I said, I came from that world and started off with as well. So nice. We fall in love a little bit with the two, it's just like in business. And as we fall in love with ideas and we forget what job to be done is so finance always starts with a business question, always starts with that, that use case. And then develop the tool to solve that business question. And you don't have to start with platinum standard on day one, start with an MVP, a minimum viable product get some small wins test and learn and then see how you scale.

F: It was to know, you talked about how you said it worked in consumer insights. I think 20 years ago. What are your thoughts on how the industry has changed over the last few years? And what do you anticipate being the next trend in consumer insights within the next, let's say three years.

E: It's, as every single industry has gone through a huge disruption over the last few years. So let's just talk about the insights, Margaret procession to the insight industry. Obviously over the years, every three to five years, there's usually some kind of vividness or some change. Right? I think at the beginning, it was called market research. When I joined this industry. If you think about it, just even what it was about researching the market, it was about consumer research. That was what it was about. Then the next stage was how to get insight from that. It's not just, it's not just data it's insight. Then it was insight to action. That it was insight to action to business results. Right? Then it was strategic thinking, et cetera. So every two to three years, there's something. And then it's about creativity. Then it's about strategy, but really over the last five years, obviously, like we know it's been about how this huge shift in the world about how people have changed. And how data and digital has really come in and is kind of in every part of our life. They created a huge disruption in this industry. I would say probably around four to five years ago is when it is rainy, it really hits. And the biggest change at that time was obviously look at it. The macro is such of the insect and she was much more survey based, right? Qualitative focus groups, so on, and you know what I believe there is still space for that. Now we've all learned. How to do things maybe in a much more agile kind of on time rate, but there is still a space for that. But a whole area of data here is a new thing of thinking of how do you get insight from that? So that area has really kind of coming, and I think then what happened is you ended up with like two camps, you ended up with this consumer insight or like CMI camp, and then you had this other camp, which was like, Data analytical too, analytics, digital tech driven companies and tools that were almost like challenging. What was then started to be sort of almost classified as traditional or old-fashioned. And I don't believe so. I believe you need all of it. I need you, I believe you need both sides to it. Right. So I believe that where we are now is. Three to three years ago, I saw those two happening in parallel. I saw a lot of challenges coming from the tech and analytical world on the kind of classical CMI or consumer insights world and creating a little bit of a disturbance there. Some of it, the destruction was good. Some of it was not good, but now I sit in the seat coming more together. So that's point number one. Where is he going to go into the future? It's going to keep going that way. I think the next point, the next step, and this, this is why I have redesigned the function in RB. Firstly, I renamed it. So it used to be called CMR. It used to be called consumer and market intelligence, CMI. And then there was another part of the business. There was another team called DNA data and analytics. And they were two parallel groups, right? Renamed this function, insights and analytics, because I believe that we need both to solve business questions and bring it all together. So I'm trying to set us up. The other thing is parts of different parts of the organization. You have to have different parts of the organization, focused to solve different business questions. So they need to drive those agendas. But my team is set up to work across. So we are horizontal. I believe that the future is a world. Where data insects have to be much more seamless, right? So you need to understand across the entire consumer journey. So not just upper funnel, lower funnel, wherever, but the entire journey stuck. She seemed together connecting the dots much more leveraging data, redefining perhaps what is the future of brand equity? What is the future of the consumer value equation? Some of these things are gonna change. So I think it is all very exciting. And I think that the changes that I've seen in this industry, I mean, make me feel comforted over the last couple of years. That the industry has woken up. I think there was a period where the industry was a little bit like, honestly like deer in headlights caught by what was going on. But now I feel like I see people and I see the big companies, agencies really starting to embrace this area and understanding how data tech, how has cetera is going to take us actually to the next level of understanding people, and understanding consumers better, right? Understanding consumers as people better. And that there and really at the end of the day, so that's all, I think that's all very exciting for me to do.

F: Has there been any disruptions that have been brought about by the pandemic that affected the entire world last year? And if so, how have you guys responded to that challenge?

E: I think there are two things. One of them is, I guess it's a functional leader. So this is when I put on my insights and analytics hat from an industry and our capability set one. Do you get status from a business lens? Maybe I'll talk from a business lens, obviously, you know at record bank he's, I mean, we have friends like Lysol and dental in our portfolio brands. So having brands like that, you are at the heart of everything that's going on with the COVID situation, especially, we also have a very big business in China. So actually starting from January. Of 2020, we were already starting to see signals and signs of what might be to come. So obviously there's been a lot going on there, but I think, so my team as well, played a key role in terms of keeping a little bit ahead, I guess, of what's going on in each of these markets and seeing how it's unfolded. Obviously there's, I wouldn't say it was just disruptive for everybody in the world, but it created a lot of change, obviously within the over and the organization was also going through its own transformation last year in its own organizational changes. So the two kind of came to get, but I think it's my CEO summarized in his kind of new year's address to all of us. Is he proud? He felt that it was a tremendous year where honestly, you're going through a huge internal change. There's all this coming from outside, but you know, that true spirit, I think the army spirit and the DNA of people where people just kind of just get stuff done and just get down to it. And at the end of the day, I think we managed to get through a year where we were still able to deliver growth. But at the same time, we were also able to invest in capabilities. Capabilities that will continue to set us up for the future. Therefore, then I came to what was the disruption or the change within my group. And I like to think of it as you know, it's almost like what is the silver lining, right? That came out of it. And I spoke in another podcast as well. And I used this particular example where, so I'm half Chinese, and in Chinese, what for crisis. Chinese is weighty where one word means a threat or risks or danger. And the other word means opportunity. And essentially it means a nanny crisis. There is obviously always a threat, but there's always an opportunity as well. And in this case, your opportunity that came up as, as everybody shifted to a virtual world, all the things that I wanted to disrupt change within my group about people going much more online, being used to working like this, speaking to consumers like this, about using digital data, using social listening, using much more agile tech with all of that kind of that the situation supercharged, what I wanted to do anyway. And now it's very natural for everyone. So that's a good thing and you need to keep doing it. The other thing that COVID created is that these are very dynamic companies, very fast paced to start off with, but some of our tools, it forecasting tools, for example, in the past, we used to do four cards once a year for our three year plan. So you focus for three years. But all of a sudden with COVID yet focus like every month. Every week, every day, every hour. So we actually had to step change. Our tools submitted, they're much more dynamic, much more granular. This is also a good thing. I mean, it was kind of done. And then a little bit like tourists, we had to do it quickly. But at the same time now it's something that I'm like, why would we want to go back to the old way anyway, we want to keep doing it this way now. So I think that agility, that speed, that Knight dynamism, that moving to embracing data and tech, what things that kind of came out of the disruption. But we want to keep that as a team going forward are increasingly relying on data to create value and make well-informed strategic decisions.

F: For companies that have relatively insufficient data or practical recommendations, do you have for how they can still benefit from implementing data analytics processes?

E: Sure. So, I'm originally from Asia, so I've actually spent most of my career working a lot of developing markets where actually you don't have a lot of data or if you have kind of one day, if it's a right. So, I understand the situation, understand the situation. What I'd say, I think there, there are two things. Number one is I used to say philosophy. So number one is that's that with the business question first. So you start with, so rather than worrying about the data, it's you think it's because of the nature of. Our job is and who we are, as I said, if you are a kind of classical, but we tend to stop with the data and how we build it into the tool. But first start with the question. So what's it. And then I went, I did this exercise once and I really learned, I was very surprised because I hadn't seen the question where we wrote the business question and I thought, I don't think we have the data for this. What we did was we just listed everything that we do have, and we surprised ourself. We surprised ourselves actually, how much we were bad. So that's the first step. You might think you have insufficient data, but why don't you put it down in paper right down then obviously, if you are a true blue analytics person, you are questioning every single source and saying this isn't really 99%, whatever it is that's okay. If it makes you feel better, give it a rating, give it a rating on a scale of one to 10. Of how robust you think it is, and it doesn't matter if it's all 10 and then you rent then after that, based on whatever, you have your surprise yourself as a set, that you will somehow be able to connect the dots to answer that question, even if it's not granular or deep enough or whatever it is to build up algorithmic model, but you'd be able to do something with it, even if it's like just writing on a page and drawing up something.To actually get insects to answer your question. So I think that's, and then once you start from there, you also know what you don't have. And then the next thing is in most companies the problem is that the data's all over the place. So what other places? So once you know what you have, then you know what else you need, then you can just go get and what you need. Then I would go to other parts of the organization to see if I didn't find it. And if not, then you see whether you might need to go outside to purchase it or whatever, but whatever it is, it'll be significantly less the way you start it. And whatever it is, you would have already moved on something you would have developed, life delivered some kind of value already to your organization, right. Rather than still being in the space of thinking. I don't know if I can do this because the data isn't good enough.

F:All right. There were several years of use cases and examples of where organizations failed because they over refined their data analytics processes to a point where they failed to achieve any meaningful business values from your experience, what are some of the potential risks that can result in the success of effective data analytics and how can those be prevented?

E: Hmm, sorry, I've spoken a lot about the business questions. So I'll pop that for her because I think that's part of it. Let's start with the next thing, which is in order for, for these analytical tools and processes to be useful. It's, it's that change actually happens to people. So maybe it's old fashioned to me, but I believe that actually people that drive change versus just the technology and the processes. So those things exist to enable and empower people, right? So if you want people to use these, it needs to be developed for people. And I think sometimes we forget that. So the whole idea of a user experience and thinking about now the end user, who's going to use this for that business question makes a difference. And I noticed that, I have in the past, have I ever had a number of really brilliant analytical people who work for me, who develop tools, where it's like, you need a PhD in analytics, do you use it? You know, and the thing is sometimes I say, just use me or a naive audience, like people who, when you Merrick, what stuff, but not a builder. And it needs to be intuitive. So I usually tell actually my team, I said, okay, If you want an idea, you should be use things like a social media use, like look at things like whether it's Facebook or Google or YouTube or Pinterest, or Tecta all the design to make it so easy that people don't actually need a training to use your tool. This is a starting point to point in one of my previous, actually when I was in my previous company turned on my head of analytics at this brilliant idea, she actually hired somebody who was an expert in user design in design. In the analytics team. And actually that, that person was not visually challenged, but she basically couldn't hear that well. And because of that reason, she had this highly attuned visual, skills where it was really about what you see. And she was so into the user experience. It was really interesting for us. So I think that's what I would say is one of the things to design your tools or your user. So after you design it for your business questions, design it for your users.

F: Strategy execution requires that appropriate metrics are in place to measure performance and progress towards strategic goals. What are some of the key metrics that you'd recommend to ensure the successful creation and execution of a corporate strategy?

E: So firstly, I already believe in corporate strategy, so I mean, there needs to be strategy and I know what you mean. I mean, we write them as well, but you know, all strategy has to land in markets and be executed. Otherwise there was no point in having it in the first place. So I believe that. So I work a lot on strategic plans, et cetera, but we make sure that the inset and the data is from the ground up so that it is actually reflective of a true situation. So that's one thing. So therefore, I mean, if this question is really broad and I think it depends also on what are the strategic priorities and goals of your organization at the point in time. But if I talk about RB, for example, at the moment. So when I look at a strategy, what are some of the KPIs that we use? Obviously we are a very performance driven organization. So obviously we look at the usual ones like revenue and profit and margin and say, but generally vindicated number one, myself, I look to see whether something is consumer centric. So once again, is this solving any kind of consumer problem? Is this a job to be done, for example? So that's where a qualitative kind of assessment. Is it really consumer centric? But then usual kinds of metrics would be things like, in some cases it depends on what you're trying to drive for that category of rabbit. It could be about driving penetration, for example, could be one metric market share and obvious one. So we look at that, but we also talk about new places, new spaces. So we're trying to drive growth here. So are there new channels that you could go for? Are you trying to get to new occasions? Are you trying to capture a new target market and your audiences, are you trying to capture more points of distribution? So there are many, many different KPIs. I think the key thing is number one is to go back to strategy that is usually designed to find growth, right? And where is it you're going to find those growth and then choose don't have too many metrics as well as just like three or four. And then as you say, you need to track them regularly in the market. When you talk about tracking the metrics and KPIs regularly, what's the ideal time frame for revisiting those metrics to make sure that you're still on target. Is there some that you've used in the past to, to go back to and see, okay, it's been this amount of time that has elapsed. Let me see how we are trending as far as this metric. The men, usually most of the time, the metric itself doesn't change all the time. The sentence, the source of the data might shift a little bit, depending on you. It depends on what it is. But let's talk about equal Mustangs at the moment. That's an area that's shifting all the time. So, what are the metrics for our e-commerce? How do we measure it? What's a source of data that we use, right? Obviously in channels, which are more, the Amazons and so on the world, it's a little bit more stable, but DTC is direct to consumer in the open marketplace. How do you track market share of that? For example, when you don't know what the full universe is, and the universe is changing, even as you and I are speaking right now, So in those things, you need to be a little bit more flexible. I need to be a little bit more agile in terms of the source of data so far for our e-commerce area, we have pretty much real-time data that keeps coming in as well. So the metrics do not change day to day, but we do have to keep an eye on the of dinner when hiring for your teams for those candidates that interview with you, do you change and get creative with your interviewing questions? So firstly, I don't like good electronic trick people or calling them out or whatever. So for me, a first year interview is a conversation. So I prefer it to be a dialogue and a conversation of getting to know each other better. So for me to get to know the person and that for that person to also get to know our company. So it kind of works both ways. So, but what I try to do is to make sure, I mean, I do try to understand whether, I guess, to try to use copied examples rather than just asking people what they've done to see how some of the competencies that I require I keep flowing through. And usually, I suppose at my level now, honestly, I am checking less for technical. Competencies and details. But at this stage it's usually around leadership it's around. So it's a bit of experience. But then leadership around, how do you do those things that we've been talking about? You know, how are you able to firstly engage with stakeholders around understanding what the business priorities are, how are you then able to understand who your users are, how are you able to start from something small and, and scale it up, right. So examples of that examples of managing, difficult stakeholders, how do you actually, so those are some of the things that I look at, but I do also sometimes ask people questions like, what do you want to do three to five years from now? Not trying to catch anybody out, but for me it's okay. Potent, because, when did you joining the organization? I don't think of them just for this job. This one job. I want him to think about what they want to do next. And it's interesting. He says, most of the time, the people I hire, honestly, my reports are all 20 plus years of experience. Occasionally I will speak to various people who are below them and in that millennial population, it's interesting how often I get the answer. Like I haven't actually really thought about that. So there are two answers. I haven't really thought about that. Or the other side, which is that they're spending too much time thinking about it. And I do not kind of landing on anything. So sometimes I do ask that question, as well. And it's interesting one or two situations, I think, where it's like the interviews sort of almost turn into a coaching, almost like a career coaching session by the individual because that person, like, I can't believe I've never thought about this and maybe that's why I haven't made as much progress. In my career and I'm like, so nothing wrong with that. No need to beat yourself up over it. Now, you know about it. Why don't you go take some time and think about it and let's reconnect when you have thought about it.

F: Last question. And this is one of my favorite questions, because again, a different variety of responses from, from different leaders. What has helped you get to where you are and what word of advice would you give to someone that wants to pursue a career that's similar to yours?

E: It's interesting, so a lot of people like, I dunno, when they asked you questions, like what did you always know? You wanted to do what you're doing now? And sometimes they expect me to say no, because that's the answer that they want to hear. Sometimes they don't really do work. And in my case, actually, it's just unique because I am doing exactly what I wanted to do. I didn't think that I would be not this company specifically, but when I was in university and I studied marketing, I knew that I wanted to do something, this knowledge, fear. So I loved research. I loved knowledge. I loved, I didn't know it was called insight back then, but, I loved that, that piece. I wanted to do something as well, which has to do with learning and teaching people. And so in the end, I really wanted to do something on an international stage, like travel the world and see it. So, I planned it, I planned it out and I got here, but the thing is the part that's not always straight. I think this is the point, right? It's not linear. It's not a linear part. So I would say, I think for me, my key thing is plus the, I always plan a whatever role I want to do. So I have a short-term place, even in business, usually you have like you have your immediate goals for the next 12 months, and then they're strap plans right. For three years, and then back to a long long-term plan. So generally I have those steps in mind, so I have a further out goal. And then I think about what do I need to do in order to get there. But yeah, you need to know as well. So that's the first thing. Then I asked myself, what are my strengths? So what makes me unique? And one of my strengths. And how would I leverage those? And then what am, I guess I don't for me to get there and the gaps keep surfacing because the world is changing. So you will keep in, as you're growing, they'll always be something that you don't know at a point in time, but it's better than no way. So, and then what I do is I leverage my strengths as I go along. I find ways of actually filling the gaps in my own knowledge or my own expertise through my job or through, through other ways, you know? So that's one part of it. And then the other part. Which I think has been important for myself, I think for everybody, but particularly as a woman, as a female leader over the last 20 over years, I think this is a life lesson for everybody, but for myself, the team trying to manage this whatever you want to do, your ambition, your plan, but with your life journey, your life takes different, different steps along the way, right? Whatever it is, male or female.But your life journey, your goals, your purpose. But sometimes you, it's not stagnant. It's not like that. It's not static at every point in time. And you just need to kind of it's like, I always knew eventually where I wanted to be, but along the way, I had to take a couple of pauses or take a little side steps because of various reasons like, when I had, when I, for example, when I started having kids. I was in the UK, but it wasn't kind of working out. Honestly, I'd be in this position so much faster. If I had stayed here, then I made a decision not to, I made a decision to move back to Asia because I could continue a career with support. It's not this kind of Caribbean parts like this. But I could still have a career, but then I decided since I couldn't go steep, I was going to go wide. So I started using that opportunity to actually gather more sort of breath. You know, you talk about your team, right? More skills and competencies or so on. So once they were growing up, I was ready to push again. I was ready for it. So yeah, no, just kind of, I guess no way you want to be no way you want to go know your strengths, know your gaps and metadata, with you, with your light journey as well and understand that it's not, sometimes it's about timing. Maybe now's not the right moment, but maybe another time to write a moment.

F: It's been wonderful having you on. Thank you so much for coming on and talking to us. I am looking forward to having a followup conversation in the near future.

E: Nice. Thank you, Fred.