Jon Kolko on Finding Purpose Working at an Edtech Startup

In Chapter 7 of 16 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and designer Jon Kolko answers "Why Did You Decide to Take a Position Working at an Online Jobs Platform Helping to Employ Students?" Kolko shares why he decided to join a venture capital-backed career services startup, MyEdu. Kolko finds purpose joining the education technology or edtech startup team to help create a more scalable and relevant way for college students to market themselves and find jobs after graduation. In the process, Kolko finds a boss who challenges him to learn new skills and develop as a business manager. Jon Kolko is VP of Design at MyEdu and the Founder and Director of Austin Center for Design (AC4D). He has authored three books on design and previously has worked in design roles at Austin, Texas venture accelerator Thinktiv and global innovation firm frog design. He was a professor of Interaction and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Jon Kolko on Designing Products That Improve User Engagement

In Chapter 8 of 16 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and designer Jon Kolko answers "What Problems Are You Trying to Solve at MyEdu?" Working at an internet company focused on designing job search products to help millennial college students find meaningful employment, Kolko finds the process comes down to understanding user engagement. He compares and contrasts user engagement and experience between college student users and job recruiter users. Jon Kolko is VP of Design at MyEdu and the Founder and Director of Austin Center for Design (AC4D). He has authored three books on design and previously has worked in design roles at Austin, Texas venture accelerator Thinktiv and global innovation firm frog design. He was a professor of Interaction and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Bijoy Goswami on Living a More Present Life

In Chapter 15 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Are Your Personal Experiences Shaping Your Professional Aspirations?" Goswami notes how his personal and professional worlds are collapsing into one and references author and Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson's work "Transformation" as a way of describing how he shows up in a world with no distinctions.

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas. He develops learning models to help individuals, organizations and communities live more meaningfully. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University.

Hammans Stallings on How Parents Raise Gifted Children

In Chapter 1 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "Where Has Your Family Been Most Supportive in Your Career Development?"  From an early age, Stallings finds his family an extension of his career.  He grows up in a family of doctors and learns medicine is not the career for him via a variety of experiences, from doing home Skinner Box psychology research to taking personality tests in junior high school to learning at camps such as Odessey of the Mind and Duke Talent Identification Program (TIP).

Hammans Stallings is a Senior Strategist at frog design. Previously he worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Honing Interdisciplinary Job Skills to Do More Impactful Work

In Chapter 10 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "What Skills Are You Working on Right Now to Become Better at Your Job?" Stallings finds honing his interdisciplinary skillset - psychology, design, marketing, and strategy - is helping him contribute more to a team and take on more leadership responsibilities.

Hammans Stallings is a Senior Strategist at frog design. Previously he worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Jason Anello on Building Long-Term Client Relationships

In Chapter 12 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and Manifold ad agency co-founder Jason Anello answers "How are Progressively Longer Term Relationships Changing How You Do Business?" Doing multiple ad campaigns and projects for clients such as Microsoft allow Anello and his team to better understand the client business, from its brand to its products to the client team personalities. The experiences create reference points Anello uses to deepen the Microsoft client relationships and build upon past projects with new creative projects.

Jason Anello is a founding partner and creative director at Manifold Partners, an award-winning creative advertising agency.  Previously, Anello worked in creative leadership roles at Yahoo!, Ogilvy & Mather, and Digitas.  A passionate foodie and traveler, he runs the Forking Tasty food blog and supper club series.  He earned a BFA from University at Albany.

Mike Germano on What Lawyers Do to Protect Your Company

In Chapter 6 of 20 in his 2013 Year 4 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "What Has Working With Lawyers Taught You About Business?" Germano builds upon his Year 2 Capture Your Flag answer by sharing more about what lawyers have done to protect his company as it grows and becomes more successful.  By building relationships with the attorneys who serve his company, Germano stays better prepared for potential legal challenges that may arise.

Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO Brooklyn-based social media agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut. He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. 

Mike Germano on 6 Manager Job Skills You Learn Running a Business

In Chapter 8 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "What Skills Are Becoming More Important to You as Your Career Advances?"  As a CEO responsible for managing a 60-employee firm, Germano finds he needs to trust his gut decision more as he gains experience and needs to do things more quickly.  Also, he learns to better understand people, especially what they are NOT saying and how it relates to what they really want.  Staying passionate, keeping employees balanced, managing time better and learning when to drop responsibility are also key to helping Germano grow.

Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO Brooklyn-based social media agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. 

Mike Germano on Why Not to Outsource Software Development

In Chapter 12 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "Why Does Your Company Choose to Keep Development In-House and Not Outsource It?"  Germano keeps his software development team in-house to maintain respect for the development process, to integrate the feedback more fully into the creative project process, and to maintain an innovation culture.  It comes at a cost; however, he finds the benefits outweigh the costs. 

Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO Brooklyn-based social media agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. 

Mike Germano on Building a Talent Acquisition Business Strategy

In Chapter 13 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "How Are Your Recruiting Priorities Changing As Your Company Grows?"  Germano discusses the recruiting, interviewing and hiring processes his social media advertising agency has developed over time to recruit top millennial talent and managerial talent.  He shares how initiatives such as online interviewing tests and dedicated college campus recruiting - for example the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) - has helped the company find the right Gen Y and millennial talent.  Moreover, he shares how he presents a value proposition around engaging and rewarding work when recruiting managers from larger digital ad agencies. 

Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO Brooklyn-based social media agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. 

Mike Germano on How Long-Term Clients Help Business Scale

In Chapter 14 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "How Are Progressively Longer-Term Client Relationships Changing How You Do Business?"  Germano notes how he learns to appreciate the possibilities that come with longer-term client relationship.  Over time, as client relationships become longer term and projects more strategic, Germano uses the increasing commitments to build company infrastructure to support business growth. 

Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO Brooklyn-based social media agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. 

Mike Germano on Performing Under Pressure in a CEO Job

In Chapter 16 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "What Does It Mean to Perform Under Pressure in the Work That You Do?"  Germano shares the pressure-filled moments that come with busy travel schedules and high stakes client pitch meetings.  He notes the greatest pressure and stress come from managing 60+ employees and being responsible for their livelihood.  He The more he can see his employees making a difference by the work they create, the more he feels capable of shouldering greater levels of pressure and stress. 

Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO Brooklyn-based social media agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. 

Mike Germano on 3 Criteria for Investing in Entrepreneurs

In Chapter 18 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "What Has Being an Entrepreneur Taught You About Investing in Entrepreneurs?"  Before he even looks at the business idea, Germano looks at three things.  First, he looks at the major personal relationships in an entrepreneur's life, in particularly their life partner.  Second, he looks at how they handle money.  Thirdly, Germano looks at the team. 

Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO Brooklyn-based social media agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. 

Mike Germano on Why Brands are the New Venture Capital Investors

In Chapter 19 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "Why Do You Believe That Brands Are the New Venture Capital Firms?"  Germano finds there are progressively more ways for entrepreneur designers and developers to find money.  What Germano thinks is key now is distribution and he finds large brands have this distribution and also have innovation constraints.  With their innovation needs, access to investment capital, and distribution, Germano sees brands as the next generation of venture capital firms. 

Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO Brooklyn-based social media agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. 

Manager Advice on Creating Teachable Moments to Train Your Team

In Chapter 6 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, digital media executive Ken Rona answers "How Are You Becoming a Better Teacher?"  Rona talks about how he is learning to better communicate wisdom in more memorable ways.  For Rona, this means looking for teachable moments to use vivid stories, feedback, and timing to teach his young managers core job skills. 

Ken Rona is a Vice President at Turner Broadcasting, where he leads teams across advertising, sales, big data software development and business strategy.  Rona earned a BA and MA in Political Science from Stony Brook University and a PhD in Behavioral Economics from Duke University.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How are you becoming a better teacher?

Ken Rona: The part of it is you’ve got to think about how you communicate the wisdom that you have in a way that is easily remembered. And to tell stories, right? So what I wanna do is tell stories around why I’m doing something or what I was thinking about. What I’m trying to do is shift a little bit to say, here’s the punchy phrase that summarizes what I’m trying to teach you here. And also the things that I’m giving people feedback on, tends to be much more managerial. So the other day something happened where somebody said something in a meeting that probably, like one-on-one would’ve been perfectly appropriate, and instead, he said it in a large meeting and it wasn’t appropriate to do it in front of a more junior staff. And as he was saying it, the first thing as—I mean I knew where he was going, he said kind of what he meant in the first sentence and I said hold it, let’s talk about this afterwards. After the meeting, I asked him to come in to my office and I said, look, as someone at your level you can’t make those comments in front of junior staff. Like you have a responsibility now—Like, have you read the Steve Jobs book?

Erik Michielsen: Some of it.

Ken Rona: So there’s this part where he talks about the difference between responsibility between a janitor and a vice president. And the difference is that that janitor, if he can’t get in your office because he doesn’t have the key to dump your garbage, that’s reasonable. Not reasonable for a vice president to say that. Vice president’s got it. So I kind of gave him a very short version of that story I just said, look, you know, there’s—there comes times in your career where there’s a difference between responsibility and the things you can say, and it’s not gradual. It’s actually a step change. You get promoted to X, you’re in a role, your role is different, and there are totally different expectations. Now, one would like to think like it is a step change, you’re walking up the steps, so you need to kind of go through those steps in your career, and what I was saying to him was, look, you’re—you’ve just taken the next step, the stuff you said at the previous point, you can’t say that anymore. You got—your communication is different. 

So there’s kind of another piece around the teaching where I tried to make it very vivid for him. To say like I mean I told the story about the steps and—So another thing you can do even though as I say I like to tell stories, really what I’m trying to do I guess is make these teachable moments very vivid for them so they remember it. And I think, you know, for that particular incident, stopping him in the middle of the meeting, bringing him in to my office, telling him the Steve Jobs story, and then saying you know, this applies to you. I’m 100% sure he got the message. So I guess some of that is I guess another important part of the teaching is the reinforcement, with that particular case, I reinforced 4 times in like, you know, 15 minutes. But I think that’s how you create teachable moments.

Ken Rona on Making a Career Transition from Specialist to Generalist

In Chapter 7 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, digital media executive Ken Rona answers "What Do You Enjoy Most About What You Do?"  Rona talks about the rewarding elements of his progressive managerial responsibilities interfacing with C-level executives and his related career transition from more specialist-oriented job roles to more generalist-oriented ones. 

Ken Rona is a Vice President at Turner Broadcasting, where he leads teams across advertising sales, big data software development and business strategy.  Rona earned a BA and MA in Political Science from Stony Brook University and a PhD in Behavioral Economics from Duke University. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What do you enjoy most about what you do?

Ken Rona: I notice a shift in my—in what I spend my time doing—in the last year. The team is functioning I think very effectively. Instead, my job has more evolved to—I have to communicate what the team does. Right? To people—to people outside the organization or even inside the division I’m in. To monitor what’s going on in the industry. To interface with our C-level officers.

So I think—I think that’s been a shift in the role and I found that very interesting. It’s no longer am I solely valued for my analytic skills or my product management, my analytic product management skills. Now my value is coming from how I communicate with our senior folk and other folks that are kind of in the industry.

And that’s been—That’s been very interesting. As I say it’s—it requires a bit of a shift in mentality. As I say, it’s like –It’s a seat change, or it’s a step change, in what I was doing. So I felt like this year in particular, my career has taken a—my job has shifted. That it’s—it still encompasses the old stuff but it has a much more of a component around communication.

Ken Rona: How to Delegate Responsibility and Empower Employees

In Chapter 8 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, digital media executive Ken Rona answers "What Has Been Most Challenging About Handing Off Responsibility to Others?"  Rona describes himself as an "aggressive delegator."  Learning from working at McKinsey management consulting, Rona carries an "assume benevolence" approach to giving trust to others and empowering employees. 

Ken Rona is a Vice President at Turner Broadcasting, where he leads teams across advertising sales, big data software development and business strategy.  Rona earned a BA and MA in Political Science from Stony Brook University and a PhD in Behavioral Economics from Duke University. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What has been most challenging about handing off responsibility to others?

Ken Rona: I gotta say I am ruthless about it. I am ruthless. I do not find that challenging one bit. I assume that people are gonna do a good job of it. So I think there are people who manage folks who say, well, I don’t trust you so I’m going to—I’m gonna keep—I’m gonna keep this, right. Keep the task, I’m going to keep responsibility, I’m gonna manage it very closely. That’s not my style at all. I actually am aggressive. I describe it literally as I’m an aggressive delegator. And what I’ve found is that when you trust people, and that’s my MO, right, is that I trust people. My first reflex, right, in these situations is to trust that people are going to do the right thing. 

And that comes from McKinsey. It comes from—there was this notion of assumed benevolence. Assume that people are good. And that’s—don’t make up a twisted story of why they’re messing with you. Just assume like something happened or, you know, why didn’t they get back to me? Because their kid was sick. Right? Not because they’re trying to make you look bad. I found that to be true. So one of the things I do when I take over a team and I’d say that I’ve done this 3 or 4 times where I’ll take over a team and they maybe hadn’t been the most highest performing team, the first thing I do is just empower them. And in almost every case people don’t wanna disappoint. They appreciate the opportunity and, you know, it takes sometimes a little while for them to say, oh, you mean I don’t have to check with you? But I like that, I mean that—I like that I go “no, why would you? This is something you’re perfectly capable of making a decision on.” Part of my strategy for delegation is I only delegate things that people can fail on. So I try to be really careful about that. 

It’s something I learned from—Actually l learned this from Donald Trump, I learned this from watching The Apprentice. So the story on The Apprentice is when Donald Trump shows up, if you’re the project manager of the show, you know, of that day. You show up to his limo, you open the door, “Hello, Mr. Trump, welcome.” And you escort him to wherever he needs to be. That’s an important thing that needs to happen. You can’t delegate it, in that show. So what I’ve learned is that—that’s how I think about these things. There are some things that the CEO makes a request, you know, I’m paying a lot of attention. The chief research officer makes a request, I’m paying a lot of attention. Some parts of the company who are looking to make a big decision, really important decision for the company, I’m paying a lot of attention. What I want is for the staff to be in a place where if they fail, it’s safe. That I can kind of take the blame, or that I can remediate it. I can throw another person at it. I can take them away from—Like you know whatever I gotta do to help them fix it, that’s what I wanna be in a position to do. What I don’t want them to be in a position is that where something had to go to, you know, someone very senior or something very visible and it was a spectacular flame out and I wasn’t involved. If I’m involved, then it’s my responsibility. Oh, I’m sorry. If I’m involved, it’s my responsibility. I mean it’s my responsibility anyway, but like, I can get in front of it. 

So what I try to do is construct environments where it’s safe for them to fail and I actually have some people, I call them trusted hands, where there are some people who, you know, if I’m super busy, and I can’t do something that should be delegated, I will—or you know, that I’m a little uncomfortable about delegating, I will put—I will give it to one of these folks. And they will—I probably have 3 or 4 of them floating around, that can handle very complicated things that have very high emotional intelligence, very high, you know, IQ, and that I just trust that they’re gonna deal with things the right way and I of course make myself available, but I’m not worried about them—I try to like—other people, I’m willing to tolerate failure in a safe way because that helps them grow. 

Ken Rona on How Reflection Informs Manager Career Growth

In Chapter 9 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, digital media executive Ken Rona answers "What Role Has Reflection Played in Shaping Your Personal Growth?"  Rona refers to fundamental attribution error, which is where you take credit for good things and blame bad things on the external world.  Understanding this bias helps Rona reflect and make sense of challenges and his choices to overcome them.  Ken Rona is a Vice President at Turner Broadcasting, where he leads teams across advertising sales, big data software development and business strategy.  Rona earned a BA and MA in Political Science from Stony Brook University and a PhD in Behavioral Economics from Duke University. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What role has reflection played in shaping your personal growth?

Ken Rona: You know, there’s that line about a self-reflected life is not worth living. I take some of that to heart. When I have a challenge, I try to think about what role I’ve played in creating it. Do you know what the fundamental attribution error is? 

Erik Michielsen: Tell me more about that.

Ken Rona: Sure. It’s a psychological phenomenon, right, that many people experience. And the notion is that when something good happens, it’s because I’m great.  Right? And when something bad happens, it’s because the world is against me. Right? Or you know, it’s your fault, basically. Right? So you blame good things on yourself—Or you take credit for good things, but for negative things, you attribute to the rest of the world. And that’s one where, you know, when I think about something, I really try to separate that out. I really try not to take too much credit for the good, nor try to put so much of the bad, some of the negative factors on the external world. I try to kind of have a much more balanced—I try to—because I know about this I’m biased. I try to think about how to have a really honest assessment about what my role in whatever the challenge was, was. And I found that helpful. 

And I actually—it’s actually my—almost my talking point for the year has been to tell people about this. Because I have been in a situation in business where it happened with a vendor, where they were blaming something on us that was—like their product failure. They’re like, well, you’re not using the product right. Look guys, it’s your product. Right? Like, you know, why would you not take ownership of your product, and like blaming your customer is not a good way to go, right? But—So I’d say that’s kind of the—how I think about reflection. I guess it’s an empirical question if I do it enough or not, it’s certainly it seems to be okay but I think that you have to—especially as you get more senior, as you get more senior, you really have to think carefully about what your role in things are. And to make sure that you’re having the appropriate amount of influence, how you’re doing that influencing, where you use more direct power, right? 

I used to be accused of being a bit -- my elbows were too sharp. My elbows are probably always gonna be too sharp for the level I’m at, but I think that my use of the elbows is much more surgical. Right? I’m not like whacking them around, I’m more like—I’m more just going… And it was funny, I have a staff member who works for me and he’s—I—Do you know this notion in a—like World of Warcraft in a multimassive, multiplaying—massively multiplayer role-playing game, you have roles, right? And one of the roles that people have is they’re called tanks, and a tank is basically like a character that is designed to take abuse, right? 

So that while everyone else is running around stealing the vorpal sword, you know, the enemy is beating on the tank. Right? He is that guy. People just beat on him and he just takes it and takes it and takes it. And he’s—has much more—much higher emotional intelligence than I have, right? His EQ is much higher. I think. Because he takes that stuff and he takes it with a lot of equanimity, right? He’s just like really cool about it. And somebody was taking advantage of him. And I said, dude, they’re taking advantage of you. He said, I know, what should I do? I said, you gotta throw the elbow, man. Like so there are times when like being the calm voice, right -- the tank, is not always the right thing, right? Sometimes you gotta go a little bit on the offensive. 

So I’ve tried to be more—I’ve tried to kind of take actually from him the “be cool,” right? And I’ve tried to be a little more tank-ish. But I’m much more surgical about my use of my elbows.