Notes on 4 Segments – back to late ’15 and People in Work October 12, 2018
Posted by Anthony in experience, finance, Hiring, Uncategorized.Tags: #business, content, experiences, finance, Hiring, humanity, life, Money
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*/ Note – I think I’ll start including one of the logos/marks from one of the segments in my notes as features. Draw some more attention to these interesting companies/people!
Sometimes, I lament the fact that I only catch some of the radio segments midway or further through. I always wish I have the time to go back and finish or research more of the information. However, my notes initially are simply what I catch and then remember once I’m in front of my laptop again. So, if they seem incomplete – they are! However, it does remind me to go back and check it out at a later point (or when I can catch other parts of the segment in repeats).
With that said, here we go:
Week of October 1, 2018
- Sean Seton-Rogers, founding partner at PROfounders Capital (20min VC 068)
- VC fund for entrepreneurs
- Learned the most during 2000 after crash, workforce reduction and doing everything to survive
- Biggest lesson was that you need to have laser focus – doing too much is scary – must deliver one product amazingly well
- At time, influx of US capital in European markets – got very expensive to get into high growth companies
- Arbitrage play initially but now he thinks that there are lots of resources available for big companies ($1-10bn)
- He looks to invest $1-3mln pounds, 7-10 people and invests early – prove his value to founders (definitely higher capital engages founders)
- Bar is higher for proving your value for next rounds of financing
- Have to be good to get next rounds, belief that company can grow
- Early stage – he says that location does matter, meeting face to face in crucible – first proper employees, business dev deals, early stage
- Bounce and converse ideas with – top level CEO and key management – PROfounders tries to be there for them
- Europe was leaders in global music during 50s, 60s and still are – SoundCloud, Spotify, others
- Fashion is another leader as a vertical – Milan, Paris, etc… still providing global leading fashion companies (List, etc…)
- London is financial tech but Berlin is also up there
- Talked about immigration issues in London or Berlin for global talent acquisition for the big operations and scaling people
- Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc….
- Crowdfunding, as Harry’s passion
- Can skip the many meetings and questions of VC, less equity that they have to give up, different type of investor though (cash only)
- Have to weigh if the different investor costs or if they want to raise more or price more
- Sean said it can be great for entrepreneurs and it’s a challenge for investors (as competitors)
- Quality of companies on crowdfunding platforms are increasing
- Can skip the many meetings and questions of VC, less equity that they have to give up, different type of investor though (cash only)
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson and Influence: Psychology of Persuasion (human body conditioned to respond)
- Mike Morris at Sequoia as most successful of old, Chris Sacca of new people
- Ben Nader, Founder CEO at Butterfleye (20min VC FF 011)
- Born in middle east, migrated to United States, studied electrical engineering / hardware and electrical
- Moved into product management, opened his eyes up to camera/videos while in college, though
- Personal frustration toward products in market when he wanted peace of mind for his bikes in his garage (2011-2013)
- Design decisions by the shortcomings of these products
- Wanted an industrial designer to look/feel good product
- In designing team, he lived in the Bay Area
- Networking and friends of friends, angelist, LinkedIn for most connections
- For the product, most cameras did 24/7 passive recording – decided to put a brain in camera for making sense of content (humans, pets, beings)
- Connected devices – 20-30 people to give feedback (but he noticed 3-5 people would be enough because the rest would respond similarly)
- Feedback on features being useful or not
- Kickstarter and Indiegogo (they used this) was a great way for him to go and get customers – early adopters and shaping the last 10% of product
- Can change software side, especially – had a chance in SF (indiegogo was closer to collab – both teams local)
- Good angel investors – business case scenarios vs bad (asking what-ifs)
- Jason C as first one (reached out on Angelist, initially) – talking about idea actively, what are you building, no stealth mode
- Featured on Angelist – generated traction via feature – friends rounds for first investing checks after he put his savings in
- Mentioned BeatsByDre and GoPro as good consumer brands (funny with GoPro tanking after public)
- Born in middle east, migrated to United States, studied electrical engineering / hardware and electrical
- Danny Leffel, CEO and Co-founder of Crew App (Wharton XM)
- Discussing how communication was crucial, end of the discussion
- Belief that there should be very limited time spent on pitch decks or setting meetings
- Said that he would spend capital trying to hire the right people – it’s the VC firms job to seek out start-ups they want to found
- Startups become interesting because they have traction, interest and a place in people’s minds
- He said that his role has been hiring the right people and getting the right metrics into place
- Sally Thornton, founder and CEO of Forshay (Work Wharton XM)
- Work/life blend and discussions with many people over past 7 years in work
- Knowing clients and how they prioritize people and work culture
- My question: is there a place that will publicly share team-by-team people metrics and match them with candidate metrics?
- Can this be done? Has it been done?
- They mentioned Apple is much more private team-wise than Google, for instance
- My question: is there a place that will publicly share team-by-team people metrics and match them with candidate metrics?
Interesting Notes from Last Week October 4, 2018
Posted by Anthony in education, experience, finance, global, Uncategorized.Tags: #business, books, content, experiences, finance, reading, research
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First week of my initial interesting thoughts on segments I listened to over the past week! Copying my notes below:
Week of September 24, 2018
- Co-founder, CEO of Glow Michael Huang (Launch Pad Wharton XM)
- Discussed working with his co-founder as Head of Product at Paypal – credibility in financing
- Fertility, infertility community – massive growth for scale in China (post-single child, aging)
- Applications, connecting community with providers (some large fertility clinics, some small and personable)
- Large funding rounds and how difficult it was to initiate a feeling of what it’s like to go through these experiences
- SC0x MIT Video 6
- Why is it so difficult?
- Metrics – how do you measure a system?
- Trade-off of Breadth vs Validity of metrics
- Outcome-based logistics – perfect order, perfect shelf
- Politics and Power of Players – Who Wins?
- Mom and pop vs megastores
- Mega retailers vs mega CPG manufacturers
- Visibility – who can see what and how quickly
- Data stored separately
- All parties don’t have equal access to data
- Massive data does not equal shared and accessible information
- Uncertainty – who knows what’s going to happen?
- Variable demand of product (shorter lifecycles)
- Variable manufacturing yield
- Unreliable sourcing of raw materials
- Inconsistent transit lead times
- Increased complexity – why is it getting harder?
- Exploding number of SKUs
- Higher and diverging customer demands
- New and merging channels (omnichannels) – online, stores, replenishing, different chains
- Global operations – Why don’t we ever close?
- Most firms source and sell globally
- Multiple regions, time zones, languages and cultures
- Metrics – how do you measure a system?
- Why is it so difficult?
- Steve Johnson, author of Farsighted (Knowledge at Wharton)
- Discussing why there isn’t really an update to pros/cons list
- Long-term decisions – how do we decision map
- Considering alternative solutions, especially when it’s a ‘do this or don’t do that’ initially
- Processing out “what if / how does this go poorly?”, “what about if it’s best?”, “what makes it weird?”
- Ex: moving for a job (uses his own case of moving to bay area)
- Gina Fyffe, CEO of Integra (Dollars & Change)
- Talked about a discussion with a Serbian Uber driver who was concerned about the dependency Serbians back home had on aid
- How do we better get rid of dependencies in times of crisis?
- Mentioned a case where a simple task like building a water well close to villages can save a ton of time, but more importantly
- Build it with a shovel and show them how to do this instead of Caterpillar tractor or something that would be too expensive to maintain
- They’ll offer money to people that have a passion to do something meaningful, but it doesn’t always pan out
- Therefore, they don’t write initial big checks
- Talked about a discussion with a Serbian Uber driver who was concerned about the dependency Serbians back home had on aid
- Mike Todasco, Director of Innovation at PayPal, (Work of Tomorrow – Wharton XM)
- Increasing the creative output of employees across company
- Before PayPal, he was founder/CEO of eCommerce marketplace Sketch Maven
- Spent 4 years as Director of Strategy, heading up m&a and strategic planning at NewPage, portfolio company of private equity firm Cerberus
One thing I recognized for the week is that I didn’t get a chance to listen to any podcast episodes (20min VC, a16z or Data Skeptic). I did, however, start EdX’s MIT Supply Chain Analytics course, which has been a good, fairly comprehensive foundation (for me, review) of optimization and how it applies in various parts of the supply chain. Gina’s segment was fascinating to me in finance and how different many countries are in their services and day-to-day lives. There are a ton of opportunities in other countries to just simply “catch up” to things we may be used to, but this has to be done in an intelligent manner. Then, I added Steve Johnson’s Farsighted to my book list – simplicity repeated is important, and he discussed our decision-making plans or maps haven’t changed dramatically.
Short Notes on Initial Presentations September 24, 2018
Posted by Anthony in experience, finance, training, Uncategorized.Tags: #business, content, experiences, ideas, training
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It’s time! My process through the week consists of plenty of personal notes – some from podcast episodes I’ve listened to, my key takeaways from radio segments (mostly Wharton XM’s channel), courses I’m going through/reviewing, webinars I get the opportunity to attend, or books that have engaged me. Outside of a few tweet or LinkedIn shout outs, I keep these to myself. Bit selfish, no?
So, this will be a first intro to my quick notes on doing an initial presentation/consult (whether a pitch, training or a client & manager meetings). Hell, could be just networking or keynote speaking. These are top of mind for me as I go into these. I don’t want to waste my time, let alone others’ – so I’ll get to sharing!
- Presentation
- Storyboard lays the foundation for consulting report
- Structuring:
- Start with your point first
- Mento Principle (Barbara Mento from McKinsey) – present ideas organized as a pyramid under a single point
- Answer first, then summarize your supporting arguments, and logically order supporting ideas
- Focus on Highlighting Data Visually
- Hard data as evidence for building credibility and selling solution
- KISS – avoid graphics that are overly elaborate
- Print charts in black/white, never use 3D graphics, One message per chart
- Start with your point first
iii. Elevator Test Scenario
1. Be able to deliver your presentation in 30 seconds
Lessons from Jack Ryan, S1 September 11, 2018
Posted by Anthony in experience, global, questions, training, Uncategorized.Tags: #business, content, experiences, life, questions
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Summer is nearing an end. As September dawned, Amazon treated us to their series release of Jack Ryan, starring Jim from The Office [re: John Krasinksi] and Wendell Pierce (of The Wire, Suits or Ray Donovan fame). Pierce plays James Greer, the new head of TFAD for Jack Ryan, though not necessarily by choice. Why do I bring James in, other than being a powerful actor? The answer is the dichotomy that is so quickly evident between Jack and James. Without revealing too much [I will try to avoid big spoilers], each made a major mistake that placed them into their position where we jump into the story arc.
Analysis Paralysis
In the workplace, there are many types of people. We get to witness this firsthand, especially early on. Jack plays a quiet role, trying to “blend” in without attention. However, he is still deeply rooted in his quest to make up for a mistake and provide the most concrete, clear analysis that he can. I think MANY people, including occasionally myself, fall victim to analysis paralysis – the idea that there is so much to analyze or go into decision-making that you don’t take action, or don’t make a decision. Brutal for results! Especially if one is on to something in the first place. Jack Ryan is an economic analyst working for the CIA, lording over a ton of financial and transactions data of key targets / suspected affiliates. We see that he owns his data and recognizes tons of patterns [in the books, there’s a deeper insight that we read about but in the show, we merely get a glimpse]. However, it takes a massive push in a meeting to say that he has something. Again, he was unsure – a product of his new persona [post-mistake Jack] and wasn’t certain of what his analysis ultimately meant, yet. Too much data or limited communication or, due to his mistake in the past, hesitation for fear of being wrong kept him from making a conclusion or actionable communication.
Communication
A memorable episode and collection of scenes for me occurred between Jack and the director of the French intelligence agency. He was frozen in a few moves, both personal and what they should do next for finding the bad guy. He explicitly states that he isn’t sure because it isn’t certain – the viewer can see the discomfort in him not being able to figure out the course of action. Thankfully, only a very few of us have life/death situations sitting on these decisions. Although, that doesn’t discount the many decisions that are still important.
Some find it much easier to communicate what they’re doing than others. Some are comfortable making mistakes and owning them [or not] and others want to be absolutely certain that they’re comfortable in whichever way a decision will go [because their data / reasoning supports it]. Much of what we do can never be 100% certain or right. Communication is extremely important. But it has to be thoughtful. Additionally, we all benefit from clear, concise [business] questions decided ahead of diving into the data or exploration. That way, there’s a goal in mind – teams can get on the same page to know what they’re working toward and how. Developing this skill or coaxing it from team members can be the difference between success and failure, both in the show and our own work environments.
Individual Action
This goes with both of the lessons above. Individuals can excel on their own, but even the most individual jobs require communication and supporting evidence to complete them. Whether it’s a back and forth between clients or customers and even team members, I’d imagine the people who produce to succeed most often are ones that can involve the right people at the right time in the process. Better yet, we should all try to leave a trail of production / processes so that we can decide how to operate better in case of a mistake, or repeat the process if there is a success. Allow others to share as necessary. This was in short supply in the series – Jack and James, though together, worked far too often as individuals when chasing (resulting in getaways). As they adapted to each others’ styles, there became a better understanding of each other, guided by their common goal. Hopefully, in the next season, we see them further gel as a duo while growing as individuals, continuing to learn and make up for their past mistakes.
Despite some cheesy scenes and a few plot holes, I found this first season a necessary prelim to what I believe will become of Jack Ryan – seeing what he tries to improve as an analyst, operative and individual. I enjoyed being able to see a character struggle through these lessons that so many of us encounter in our everyday lives.
Productive Purge: Less is More March 21, 2018
Posted by Anthony in education, experience, global, questions, Uncategorized.Tags: books, college, content, experiences, ideas, life
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There may come a time where I don’t feel this relief. Where you don’t question the purpose of keeping 10-15+ year papers that have collected dust from middle, high school and college. Some may say there is a novelty of being able to reflect upon the papers and compare but honestly, if you’ve learned, I would say that you’ve chosen what sticks to mind and what doesn’t.
In Algorithms to Live By, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths demonstrate how sorting algorithms run our decision-making processes, both in the short-term and long-term. The default? LRU – Least Recently Used. Our memory stacks on new things learned repeatedly, pushing further the less recent events down the stack. What is concrete, reviewed, fully understood may maintain a cache available on call but the percentage of material we see that falls into place is minimal (and as we age, a smaller percentage still – albeit more knowledge overall). One of the most rewarding [re: relieving] feelings was ridding myself of materials that no longer seemed relevant, especially when space can be limited. There was a weight per space allocation that had to be measured. All of the feels or none of the feels?
What did I keep, you ask? Books. I am keeping an entire me-sized bookcase worth of books, a majority of them classics or favorites from college and my push to read more since exiting. I did also keep the Harry Potter series (it can live appropriately in my mind instead of the awful recreation the movies were – don’t @ me). From my youth, I threw away many of the fantasy and science fiction stuff. I kept WWII, military aircraft, Star Wars and Star Trek spacecraft/weapons books. The amount of creativity that went into those books to create possibilities that we have seen or may see bits of in the future is astonishing. Then I felt obligated to keep textbooks I refer back to, both for valuations/corporate finance, as well as multi-variable calculus, analysis (complex & real) and interestingly enough, my sociology and bio-engineering ethics materials.
Currently, my dresser is emptied, desk is cleaned, nightstands donated and bookcase emptied. I have my laptop bag and a closet filled with necessary bathroom materials, dress shirts, blazers/sport coats, suits, long sleeves and then 2 suitcases of t-shirts, shorts and the rest of clothes. And don’t forget the shoes. Oh, and the Xbox One to go with the stereo (which is currently on the fence for donating). That’s it, and it feels good. Again, the attachment isn’t there. James Altucher mentioned often that he has no attachment to his place of residence – not owning a home, renting as needed and in short-terms so he could move at a whim. I’m not quite there (I like the idea of returning to a place to sleep that’s consistent as I don’t strike myself as one who can just take a 1-way ticket without a time frame), but I feel closer, and it’s freeing.
We attach ourselves to the past and present and the more we do this, the more I believe there’s an anchor. Now, if it’s seen in a positive light, this isn’t a negative. They’re reminders of where all of us have been. However, attitude dictates that. And I, for one, would love to continue to be more mindful and positive of these circumstances.
I am excited for what is ahead and hope the lessons from the past influence me to provide an easier path, one filled with only new challenges to learn from.
Let’s go forward!
p.s. There’s something to be said for this in lieu of Stephen Hawking’s death last week on Einstein’s birthday / pi day (he was in Cambridge at the time of his passing, a day ahead of U.S.). A Briefer History of Time was provided as summer reading entering UC Berkeley as a freshman. This was a readable (even for non-engineers/mathy-types) book that simplifies concepts that are both taken for granted as well as presenting the inconceivable in a simple manner. I had the pleasure of attending Hawking’s lecture in the spring of that year, as well. It will remain one of my personal highlights. This is a man who wanted to feel what it was like to go into space and got the opportunity to do so after his condition worsened. We should all aim to go after what we’re passionate about – forward, upward and onward.
Valuation Resources to Keep Top of Mind February 12, 2018
Posted by Anthony in experience, finance, training, Uncategorized.Tags: #business, books, content, experiences, finance, ideas, questions, reading, research, valuation
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In responding to a colleague who I’ve recently connected with, I was forced to go back through some old coursework, starting books/projects and the massive amount of bookmarks Chrome holds on for me. However, this was productive in allowing me to gather a few of the key websites/links/books to share for others.
