What Public Speaking Teaches About the Power of Performance - Bijoy Goswami

In Chapter 6 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami shares how learning from storytelling and magic trick sequences has made him a more effective public speaker. Magic tricks have three elements: the pledge, the turn, and the prestige. He shares what he learned taking this approach by saying the "Star Spangled Banner" as a speech. Goswami lives in Austin, TX, where he develops models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully. He teaches his models through community activism, lectures, writing, and online communication. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History.

The 6 Stages of the Entrepreneur Journey - Bijoy Goswami

In Chapter 8 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami shares the six (6) stages of the entrepreneurial journey. The first step is the "You" stage. This is the beginning of using skills and abilities. The second is the "Question" stage where entrepreneurs find what specifically they seek to answer. Stage three is ideation, answering the question and birthing a product, experience or cause the world needs. "The Valley of Death" is stage four, where the entrepreneur must sell to a customer. Stage five is the "growth phase" or sustainability. Here what was the founding team becomes culture and scale questions must be answered. Stage six is "Re-Bootstrap" where the business must continually re-invent itself. Goswami cites Apple as the best example of a company rebootstrapping itself continuously over its lifespan. Goswami lives in Austin, TX, where he develops models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully. He teaches his models through community activism, lectures, writing, and online communication. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History.

How the Startup Story is the Modern Hero's Journey - Bijoy Goswami

In Chapter 9 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami shares why startups fascinate him. He sees entrepreneurs and startups as the modern "Hero's Journey". Playing on the Joseph Campbell metaphor, Goswami shares how the startup is where entrepreneurs confront themselves, learn, and develop personally. He continues with his interest of how we can apply what entrepreneurs learn to a broader audience. Goswami lives in Austin, TX, where he develops models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully. He teaches his models through community activism, lectures, writing, and online communication. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History.

How Leadership Philosophy Impacts Business Thinking - Bijoy Goswami

In Chapter 10 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami shares how philosophy can be used to lead businesses. He notes how a dark matter physics analogy is good for connecting philosophy with something tangible such as a business. Goswami continues highlighting why and how leaders and businesses such as Steve Jobs and Appe and John Mackey and Whole Foods lead via a business philosophy. Goswami lives in Austin, TX, where he develops models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully. He teaches his models through community activism, lectures, writing, and online communication. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History.

Teaching the Spiritual Side of Entrepreneurship - Bijoy Goswami

In Chapter 11 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami shares a metaphor comparing entrepreneurship to the creation of the universe. He uses his YouPlusU model to explain the process of how entrepreneurs create something out of nothing. A student of spirituality, Goswami finds this frame of reference a helpful tool working with entrepreneurs. Goswami lives in Austin, TX, where he develops models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully. He teaches his models through community activism, lectures, writing, and online communication. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History.

How to Use Storytelling to Promote a City and Its Scenes - Bijoy Goswami

In Chapter 15 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami shares how narrative and storytelling can be used to promote a city and its scenes. By using time, specifically a before, a during, and an after, Bijoy constructs a journey. This narrative allows for people to locate a person or city in their own lives. He continues by using story to create an analogy for a city as a person. Goswami lives in Austin, TX, where he develops models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully. He teaches his models through community activism, lectures, writing, and online communication. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History.

How to Convince Corporations to Take Creative Risks - Chris Hinkle

In Chapter 10 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, product designer and software engineer Chris Hinkle shares what he has learned about encouraging and helping large corporations to be more creative and less risk-averse. He notes the challenge, based on British anthropologist Robin Dunbar's number. Dunbar found once a mean group size reached 148 (commonly rounded to 150), it becomes more difficult to maintain stable social relationships. Hinkle sees the challenge encouraging corporate creativity Hinkle currently designs products and develops software for The Barbarian Group digital marketing services company. Previously, he worked at HUGE and R/GA digital advertising agencies. He has also founded a product incubation laboratory, The Hinkle Way.

How Working at Coca-Cola Shapes Marketing Career Ambition - Randall Metting

In Chapter 4 of 11 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, brand marketer and Austin on-air radio personality Randall Metting shares how an Atlanta marketing job at Coca-Cola out of college shaped his career.  Metting get involved with the Dasani Water product launch and learns about grassroots marketing, regional promotions, and new category expansion.  Metting is a brand developer focused on the intersection of luxury goods, professional sports, and charitable cause sponsorship and promotion.  He is also an on-air radio personality for 93.3 KGSR Radio Austin.  He earned a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida. 

How Marketer Changes Career to Pursue Passion for Sports - Randall Metting

In Chapter 5 of 11 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, brand marketer and Austin on-air radio personality Randall Metting shares how he broke into sports marketing working with the PGA Tour.  After working with Coca-Cola and ad agency McCann-Erickson, Metting decides to take a pay cut to work in sports.  Working with the PGA Tour leads to several opportunities organizing events for big brands, including Nationwide and Chrysler, for different golf events.  Metting is a brand developer focused on the intersection of luxury goods, professional sports, and charitable cause sponsorship and promotion.  He is also an on-air radio personality for 93.3 KGSR Radio Austin.  He earned a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida. 

How PGA Tour Job Teaches Event Marketing Strategy - Randall Metting

In Chapter 6 of 11 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, brand marketer and Austin on-air radio personality Randall Metting shares how working for the PGA Champions Tour taught him event marketing strategy.  Tournament golf offers Metting a platform to combine charitable cause sponsorship - in this case with a Puerto Rican charity Sor Isolina Ferre - with large brand participation.  What results is the "Chrysler Senior Match Play Challenge".  He shares how a non-traditional tournament structure benefited advertisers and maximized both viewership and charitable impact.  Metting is a brand developer focused on the intersection of luxury goods, professional sports, and charitable cause sponsorship and promotion.  He is also an on-air radio personality for 93.3 KGSR Radio Austin.  He earned a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida.

How to Market Luxury Brands Using a Grassroots Campaign - Randall Metting

In Chapter 7 of 11 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, brand marketer and Austin on-air radio personality Randall Metting how he learned to market luxury brands by creating a grassroots campaign.  Working with Brown-Forman's Appleton Estate Rum, Metting creates a nationwide event schedule integrating premium brands in experiential luxury event settings.  Metting is a brand developer focused on the intersection of luxury goods, professional sports, and charitable cause sponsorship and promotion.  He is also an on-air radio personality for 93.3 KGSR Radio Austin.  He earned a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida.

Randall Metting on Marketing Luxury Brands to a Jetsetting Audience

In Chapter 8 of 11 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, brand marketer and Austin on-air radio personality Randall Metting shares what he learned about jetsetter culture working in luxury brand advertising.  Working at Dupont Publishing, Metting adapts traditional advertising approaches to connect with a wealthy clientele living a jetsetter lifestyle.  Metting is a brand developer focused on the intersection of luxury goods, professional sports, and charitable cause sponsorship and promotion.  He is also an on-air radio personality for 93.3 KGSR Radio Austin.  He earned a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida. 

Joe Stump on How SimpleGeo Co-Founder Grows Into Leadership Role

In Chapter 1 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur and SimpleGeo CTO Joe Stump shares what is getting easier and harder in his life. Personally, Stump finds his groove in his relationships and beliefs. Meeting many new people through work and travel, he adjusts to manage relationships better. Professionally, starting and managing a company gives him perspective on pressure previously unseen in his corporate roles. Stump transitions into a co-founder and board member role, contrasting it to being a normal employee or corporate executive. Stump is the co-founder and CTO at SimpleGeo (www.simplegeo.com), a San Francisco-based mobile location infrastructure services company. Previously Stump was Lead Architect at Digg. He programs in PHP, Python, Django and enjoys scaling websites. He earned a BBA in Computer Information Systems from Eastern Michigan University.

Transcript:

Erik Michelsen:  What is getting easier and what’s getting harder in your life?

Joe Stump: I think the whole searching for yourself thing has gotten a lot easier as I’ve gotten older.  I’ve kind of got a lady that I don’t have to worry about. It’s like the first girl I’ve ever dated that it is what it is. It’s awesome and I don’t have that “grass is greener on the other side” feeling anymore.  That’s gotten a lot easier.  A lot of pressure gone on that.  As I kind of come into my own as a person, I don’t worry or care about what other people think, that’s elevated a lot of pressure. 

What’s gotten harder is I don’t have enough time to do everything that I want to do and I really wish I had more time to do more things with more people.  My social circle has expanded greatly over the last five years and I’m finding that I don’t have enough time to visit everybody that I’d like to visit.  And as I progress in my career, there are a lot more responsibilities that are work related that add a tremendous amount of pressure.  There is a world of difference between even being a VP at a company and being a co-founder and board member and somebody that – there is a lot of pressure that goes along with that that is much different than being a normal employee.  So, that is what has gotten harder, but at the same time a lot of the normal social stresses have almost completely gone away.

How Entrepreneur Gets Advice From Peer Support Network - Joe Stump

In Chapter 5 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Internet entrepreneur and SimpleGeo CTO Joe Stump shares where he seeks advice and help from friends and how this is changing as his company grows. Whenever Stump has a big decision to make, he consults his "Jedi Council", a group of friends and family who know him well. Stump values multiple perspectives from different people, including his dad, and over time adds new members as his needs change. This includes investment professionals and legal contacts. As Stump becomes progressively focused on growing his business, he seeks progressively more entrepreneurial-based insight from the peer group. Stump is the co-founder and CTO at SimpleGeo (www.simplegeo.com), a San Francisco-based mobile location infrastructure services company. Previously Stump was Lead Architect at Digg. He programs in PHP, Python, Django and enjoys scaling websites. He earned a BBA in Computer Information Systems from Eastern Michigan University.

Joe Stump on How to Manage Hypergrowth at an Internet Startup

In Chapter 6 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur and SimpleGeo CTO Joe Stump shares how management continues to challenge him as his company quickly grows. In his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, Stump noted how general management challenged him as he started his business. In this 2011 interview, after securing multiple rounds of financing and building a larger team, Stump finds new levels of challenges across hiring, company structure, and culture building. Stump is the co-founder and CTO at SimpleGeo (www.simplegeo.com), a San Francisco-based mobile location infrastructure services company. Previously Stump was Lead Architect at Digg. He programs in PHP, Python, Django and enjoys scaling websites. He earned a BBA in Computer Information Systems from Eastern Michigan University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What has been most challenging about growing and starting this business?

Joe Stump: Oh, it has to be management, by far and away. The team grows really, really quickly and unlike I think a normal person that is a manager at a normal company, the company is always established, you get high engrained into the culture probably because you fit into it, where as in a startup, we went from zero to fifty employees in about three months. And so not only, you know in that other scenario there are two structures in place already as well so in a startup you have to define the structure, you have to hire the people, set the cultural tone and all of that stuff and that all needs to happen literally in days.

Like, so you pay more attention, like at SimpleGeo we establish what we call a cultural creed, which is like ten rules that we as employees agree to live by, we all participated in creating that, and then once you have fifteen employees you have to do things like establish PTO policies, and like follow them and once you hit twenty five you have to do sexual harassment training and the list just goes on and on, but I would say my biggest struggle has been setting up the team, setting up the structure, establishing culture and then essentially kind of, once you’ve done that getting them all pointed in the same direction and on board with the same vision, has… it’s something we struggle with even today.

We’re constantly getting better but we still have people in my one on ones that are “I really don’t, where are we going with all of this?” and it’s like, “Ok well clearly all of the things I’ve done to satisfy that question for everybody else aren’t working for you, let’s talk through it,” so yeah, it’s a constant struggle.

Joe Stump on How Intrinsic Motivation Shapes Startup Success

In Chapter 7 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur and SimpleGeo CTO Joe Stump shares why startup leaders tend to be intrinsically and not extrinsically motivated. He notes the challenge creating, running, and sustaining a business without intrinsically motivated leadership. Stump uses Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg as an example, noting his style was about solving a problem - i.e "scratching an itch" - and not making money. When Zuckerberg did become financially focused, Stump still believes it was about company and vision control and not reward driven behavior. Stump is the co-founder and CTO at SimpleGeo (www.simplegeo.com), a San Francisco-based mobile location infrastructure services company. Previously Stump was Lead Architect at Digg. He programs in PHP, Python, Django and enjoys scaling websites. He earned a BBA in Computer Information Systems from Eastern Michigan University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What has your entrepreneurial journey taught you about intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation?

Joe Stump: I think what it’s taught me is that there are fundamentally two types of people. Those that are intrinsically motivated and those that are extrinsically motivated. You can’t viably create, run and sustain a business if core, key people are extrinsically motivated.  Because you’re really in a startup – I think really the greatest startups that are in existence and have thrived are the ones where the people scratched an itch and were really very passionate about it and didn’t really pay attention to the dollars and the cents as they were going along.  

The only time I’ve rarely seen entrepreneurs that are intrinsically motivated act in an extrinsic manner is really around control of the company, and that’s driven I think entirely by passion for the product.  So, like the amount of control that Mark Zuckerberg still has at Facebook, I don’t believe that that was because he was fundamentally a money grubbing kind of guy.  I just don’t – I’ve talked with Mark a couple of times and that just doesn’t seem like the type of guy that he is.  I think he did it so he had utter control over the product and the direction of the company as it moved forward.  So, that’s probably the main lesson I’ve taken away from that.

Joe stump on How Leadership Ambition Becomes Longer-Term Focused

In Chapter 8 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur and SimpleGeo CTO Joe Stump shares how his ambition has shifted from shorter to longer term focus as he has built his company. In his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, Stump noted his preference for short-term sprint projects. Since, as an entrepreneur building a company, Stump learns the startup journey is filled with consecutive challenges that build upon one another. As a result, Stump adapts both his personal and professional approach to think longer term. Stump is the co-founder and CTO at SimpleGeo (www.simplegeo.com), a San Francisco-based mobile location infrastructure services company. Previously Stump was Lead Architect at Digg. He programs in PHP, Python, Django and enjoys scaling websites. He earned a BBA in Computer Information Systems from Eastern Michigan University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  How has your passion for doing sort term sprint projects played out as you’ve built your own company.

Joe Stump: The thing that has really changed and that has surprised me is when I first started SimpleGeo, I was like, “Well, I’m going to come here.  I’m an early stage guy.  I probably won’t fit in very well once we raise like a big round and decide to go big and what not.”  So, the thing that has surprised me is that as I’ve gotten further into it and as we get closer to what I thought would be the end game, is that there is a whole new set of challenges and it basically rolls and comes in phases.

Where as in the me from two years ago that just started SimpleGeo would probably say, “By the series B, that will probably my clean exit point.”  And now we’re getting real close to probably raising a series B and potentially over the next six months.  And if that does happen I want to stay another year because I have a whole new set of goals.  And it’s uh… where as in I think before my normal thing would be to come in, fix the stuff and work the things I wanted to and once I kind of hit that finish line, look for something else and move on.  

Now, quite frankly, you know I started it, my name is attached to it in a fairly significant way, I have a pretty large, obviously, equity stake in the company and so it’s constantly changing.  SimpleGeo is completely a different company in every way, shape and form than it was six months ago and it’s going to be, again, a completely different company six months from now.  So, it’s kept me engaged in a way that I probably wasn’t expecting.

Joe Stump on Working With Investors as a New Entrepreneur

In Chapter 9 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur and SimpleGeo CTO Joe Stump shares his experiences learning to work with startup company investors. In his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, Stump shared how he developed a "tell it like it is" approach. He carries this into venture capitalist and investor meetings. Surprisingly, he finds his transparent and honest approach well-received. Stump is the co-founder and CTO at SimpleGeo (www.simplegeo.com), a San Francisco-based mobile location infrastructure services company. Previously Stump was Lead Architect at Digg. He programs in PHP, Python, Django and enjoys scaling websites. He earned a BBA in Computer Information Systems from Eastern Michigan University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  How has your approach of telling it like it is went over with the investment crowd?  

Joe Stump:  Uh, surprisingly well, actually.  I think that the things that investors hate the most is the unknown.  They’ll talk about the more information that they have the better investment decisions that they can make.  And so I really don’t sugar coat anything, I tell them exactly what is going on and exactly how I feel like I fit in, and it’s resonated pretty well.  They know exactly what they’re getting and they know exactly where they stand on the whole thing and where I stand.  So, it’s gone over a lot better.  It’s a fine line between being overly abrasive and being honest and open.  And as long as I stray more on the open and honest and away from the abrasive, it’s gone mostly fine.

Erik Michielsen: What were you expectations going into those conversations and what has played out in reality?

Joe Stump: It’s really funny, I thought that basically a tattooed, t-shirted asshole who doesn’t filter himself coming into those offices on Sand Hill Road will basically get me thrown in jail and it’s been the direct opposite. I think what really resonates with them and I think actually terrifies them is that I’m okay with things failing because my failure is a lot better than most people’s.  

My failure is to go have a nice, cushy salary at Facebook or Netflix or something like that.  So, I don’t really care and that resonates with them but it also scares them because they know that a lot of other entrepreneurs that don’t have that possibility, particularly younger ones, the investors in part rely on the fact that if they fail that they go back to the ground floor and have to work their way up through the system.  And with me I’m like failing one rung down.  Like, it’s not a big deal.  So, I think that is good and bad for them.