Fabian Pfortmüller on How Holstee Sets Growth Goals to Scale Business

In Chapter 15 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller answers "What New Challenges Are You Facing As You Grow Your Business?"  He finds the business has passed the "get started" phase into its position as an 8-person company.  As it looks to take the next step and expand into the 25-50 headcount range, Pfortmüller shares how the maturing company is assessing its team, its capabilities, and its market opportunity.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of the young leader accelerator, Sandbox Network, and HOLSTEE, an apparel and design firm that sells meaningful products to mindful shoppers.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its school of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What new challenges are you facing as you grow your business?

Fabian Pfortmüller: With HOLSTEE we’re going definitely into phase three right now I would say. First phase was just get started phase. Phase two was building up to kind of a certain first level, for now 8 people. We have grown a lot in terms of traffic, revenue, sales, you know, how our brand and our community has grown and that keeps growing right now.

The question is: where do we take this from an 8-person company to maybe a 20 people company. How do we take this to really have an impact on a global level and those questions we never thought of in the beginning and very often people told us in the beginning, you’ll be thinking about those questions later on and we’re like, “You guys are crazy”. We’ll never have think of like inventory questions and, you know, how to optimize our books and financial planning and what not because in the beginning you just make it work.

And that’s okay, that’s how it should be, but in the phase that we are right now, we really wanna fully understand every part of our business to then be able to scale it up and scale doesn’t come by itself. Scale comes from fully understanding where you’re at and finding that niche, that really kinda has the opportunity to grow a lot. And at HOLSTEE right now, at the moment where we have an existing business that is doing very well and is growing, but at the same time it also gives us the opportunity to take a step backwards. We were a whole week in California last week just to do exactly that. Think of, you know, where do we really wanna take this in the next 3 or 5 years and almost start with a clean slate.

How Online Business Refines Social Media Marketing - Michael Margolis

In Chapter 12 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "How Are You Learning to Use Social Media More Effectively in Your Business Pursuits?"  Margolis shares how social media marketing is fundamental in growing his online info product business.  He notes why his team has been changing its social media approach, in particular with data analytics and conversation marketing, as the company grows.  Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative.  He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University. 

How to Set Measures of Success in Life and Work - Michael Margolis

In Chapter 14 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "How Do You Define and Measure Success in What You Do?"  Margolis separates success measures by business and life.  He talks about progressively increasing leverage and scale to create more revenue via passive online income streams, including core curriculum to teach storytelling to the world.  Personally, he sets success measures around achieving liberation or freedom from constraints and attention to wellbeing.  Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative.  He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University. 

Why to Sell Clients on Your Company Culture - Mike Germano

In Chapter 11 of 19 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, social media ad agency CEO Mike Germano answers "How Are You Becoming Better at Selling Your Vision?"  As Germano sees his company grow, he shifts his focus from fighting to establish its brand reputation to selling the story of his company culture.  Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO, Brooklyn based social media advertising agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University.

How Real Estate Projects Shape into Enjoyable Career

In Chapter 6 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Do You Enjoy Most About What You Do in Your Real Estate Career?"  Goldman shares a big picture view of how long-term deals begin adding up and defining his career path. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  What do you enjoy most about what you do in your real estate career?

Brett Goldman: I think that I enjoy the successes. Each deal takes a long time. A short deal would be a year, and a long deal is 8 years, a really long deal is 15 years, you know, and I haven't really been involved in a 15-year deal or even an 8-year deal, but there's a lot of build up in each real estate deal. There's so many different parts that need to go into making it successful, so many different to details. Now I kind of delight in the details to some extent and sometimes it takes away from my ability to deal with the bigger picture but I always kind of bring it back to the bigger picture and say, okay, "well, this is what's gonna get it done," but all the little details are always really necessary. So when you've done all the little details and you've put them all into place and when the big picture kind of comes together and none of those details fail and it actually makes it successful, that's a personal success to me.

Erik Michielsen: How do you celebrate success?

Brett Goldman: I think that I just feel good about myself. To some extent, it's like a notch in my belt, that I've done that. And I'd like to do more and more, I’d like to make more and more notches in my belt, thus more and more successful projects and I'm able to shepherd them.

Erik Michielsen: Where do you find validation in your work?

Brett Goldman: Just from that, from the individual successes. As I said, there's a long work up until a success. A success might be a lease signing, it might be a sale, it might be an approval, it might be a completion of a construction project, it might be a financing. But in each of those cases, there's so many different parts that go into them, you know, there's a lot of different parties out there that can be involved. There's a lot of different strings that you need to pull to get everything together, and then when it comes together, whether it's a big success like a sale or even a small success like a financing, which sometimes can be a big success, but either -- in any of those cases, each of those are kind of milestones and that's where I feel that’s success. 

Plotting a Real Estate Development Career Path

In Chapter 7 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Have Been the Milestones in Your Real Estate Career?"  Goldman shares how small, detail-oriented project experiences have helped him gain experience and become a better big picture, strategic decision maker.  He finds his acquisition and project management experience builds by working across several elements, including financing, market analysis, construction analysis, approvals, and real estate contract law.  Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  What have been the milestones in your real estate career?

Brett Goldman: Well, I started by just doing the details. I mean that's pretty much how you start in real estate business.

Erik Michielsen: What do you mean by that?

Brett Goldman: Real estate is so experience-centric that you can't really learn it in school, though I did go to school for real estate. It's all about making good decisions. There's always two or three or four different paths you can travel, and the more correct paths you travel the more successful you'll be. 

I mean I've been doing acquisitions for a long time but also project management. And you can't really do acquisitions without project management because even in just in acquisition, there's a lot of different things that go into it, there's financing, there's market analysis, there's construction analysis, there's approvals, and, you know all the things, there's law, there's real estate contract law, just to get to an acquisition is a milestone. So each of my acquisitions have been milestones. But then each -- along the path to each one of those acquisitions there's a bunch of littler milestones that are individual successes.

How Hands On Work Enlightens Creative Career - Jason Anello

In Chapter 7 of 20 in his 2012 interview, creative director Jason Anello answers "How Has Hands On Experience Changing What You Believe is Possible in What You Create?"  Through his life and career, Anello finds success leads into management and, as a result, removal from hands on work.  He shares how he has created a career where he can maintain the hands on work that drives his passion to create things which unleash an audience pleasing experience.  Jason Anello is a founding partner and creative director at marketing services agency Manifold Partners.  He is also the co-founder of the Forking Tasty Brooklyn supper club.  Previously, Anello held creative leadership roles at Yahoo! and Ogilvy & Mather.  He graduated from the University at Albany. 

What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder - Yoav Gonen

In Chapter 1 of 11 in his 2011 interview, education reporter Yoav Gonen answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Journalism Career?"  Gonen notes how he has become one of if not the most experienced reporter covering education news.  After writing over 1000 articles and building over 2000 contacts, he finds it easier to find stories.  Gonen finds challenge in not telling the same story twice and finding new angles to tell similar stories.  Yoav Gonen is the education reporter for the New York Post newspaper in New York City.  He earned a Masters of Journalism degree from New York University and a BA in English from the University of Michigan.

How to Scale Your Vision Globally - Phil McKenzie

In Chapter 6 of 21 in his 2011 interview, Phil McKenzie answers "How Have Your Aspirations Changed Since Launching the Influencer Conference?"  He notes how he walks into situations with an open-ended mindset using minimal guidelines to shape his vision.  By launching a conference and scaling it globally in 2011, he feeds on team-based and resource-based achievements to go from proof of concept to scale event size and global footprint.  McKenzie is the founder of Influencer Conference, an international event series bringing together tastemakers across the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology.  He is also managing partner of influencer marketing agency FREE DMC.  Previously he worked in Domestic Equity Trading at Goldman, Sachs, & Co.  He earned his BA from Howard University and MBA from Duke University. 

How Female Entrepreneur Learns to Scale Food Business - Julie Hession

In Chapter 21 of 21 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, food entrepreneur Julie Hession answers "What Have Been Your Learning Milestones Starting and Growing a Food Manufacturing Business?"  Hession shares the challenges she has faced letting go of responsibility and embracing support.  As additional products emerge and her core granola business blossoms, she learns to maximize the time she spends in each area.  Finally, she learns to manage expectations within a budget and make a profitable, high quality product.  Julie Hession is the founder of Julie Anne's All Natural Granola Company.  Passionate about food since childhood, Hession has developed her career by food blogging, cooking contests, and starting fine food companies.  Hession earned an MBA in Marketing from Duke University and a BA from UNLV. 

How Non-Profit Sets Priorities to Manage Future Growth - Kyung Yoon

In Chapter 17 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung Yoon answers "What Priorities are You Setting to Manage Future Organizational Growth?"  Yoon talks about the meaning of celebrating her organization's 10th Year Anniversary and how it relates to the evolution and expansion of its mission.  Over time, the organization uncovers unmet community needs and evolves its mission to provide not only physical health but also mental health services.  Kyung Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

Developing Public Speaking Skills Working at IBM - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 15 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Ramsey Pryor answers "How are You Developing Your Public Speaking Skills as You Gain Experience?"  Pryor notes how even internal communications in his IBM role requires speaking in front of 100s of colleagues.  Coming into IBM from a small company Pryor constantly gets opportunities to speak to large groups of people both internally and at conferences.  He notes specific ways that have helped him improve public speaking over time.  Pryor is currently a product management executive at IBM focused on cloud-based communication and collaboration software.  Previously he was VP Product Marketing at Outblaze, acquired by IBM.  Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University. 

How to Define and Measure Success in Life and Career - Andrew Hutson

In Chapter 2 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Andrew Hutson answers "How Do You Define and Measure Success in What You Do?"  Hutson looks at objective success measures that be tracked over time.  He also looks at how this impacts personal life and career goals, noting how a successful project may not necessarily raise personal or professoinal wellbeing.  Hutson is a senior project manager at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where he advises corporate partners such as Wal-Mart on sustainable supply chain initiatives.  Hutson holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MEM from the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment.  He earned his BA from Michigan State University. 

How CEO Leadership Changes as Company Tops 100 Employees - J.T. Allen

In Chapter 8 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, education entrepreneur J.T. Allen answers "What Does It Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?"  Allen compares and contrasts leadership responsibilities when starting a company to the present, where he now has over 100 employees.  He shares challenges staying connected with employees while setting an example and vision for his team to follow. J.T. Allen is the CEO and co-founder of myFootpath, a company that provides higher education online resources and call center services to help high school and adult learners choose academic programs in line with career goals.  Before myFootpath, Allen worked in strategy consulting for Ernst & Young.  He earned his BBA and graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

What Attributes to Seek When Hiring Managers and Executives - J.T. Allen

In Chapter 9 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, education entrepreneur J.T. Allen answers "What Attributes Do You Look For When Hiring Managers and Executives?"  Allen notes that at his phase - roughly 100 employees and growing at 40% per year - he needs experienced hires that have done it before.  He shares how funding or capital availability plays a role and the challenges that come with part-time staff.  J.T. Allen is the CEO and co-founder of myFootpath, a company that provides higher education online resources and call center services to help high school and adult learners choose academic programs in line with career goals.  Before myFootpath, Allen worked in strategy consulting for Ernst & Young.  He earned his BBA and graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

How Talent Management Strategy Changes as Business Grows - J.T. Allen

In Chapter 10 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, education entrepreneur J.T. Allen answers "How Are Your Recruiting Priorities Changing as Your Business Grows?"  As Allen's company grows, he learns to let go and focus on hiring experienced talent.  He shares examples how internal controls provide business structure allowing for managed growth and scalability.  He notes how talent profiles differ between startup culture and structured growth culture and how that affects priority setting over time.  J.T. Allen is the CEO and co-founder of myFootpath, a company that provides higher education online resources and call center services to help high school and adult learners choose academic programs in line with career goals.  Before myFootpath, Allen worked in strategy consulting for Ernst & Young.  He earned his BBA and graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

How Feedback Helps Author Nina Godiwalla Refine Career Purpose

In Chapter 7 of 22 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, author Nina Godiwalla answers "Where Has Audience Feedback Been Most Helpful Finding a Sense of Purpose?"  Releasing a book focused on workplace diversity for women working on Wall Street, Godiwalla finds her message appeals not only to women outside finance but also minority men.  The stories remind Godiwalla she has a greater purpose to speak for people whose voices go unheard.  Godiwalla is the author of "Suits: A Woman on Wall Street". She is also a public speaker on workplace diversity and founder and CEO of Mindworks, where she teaches mind-based stress reduction techniques to help organizations improve employee wellbeing.  Godiwalla holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, an MA in Creative Writing from Dartmouth University and her BBA from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen:  Where has audience feedback been most helpful in refining your sense of purpose?

Nina Godiwall:  What’s helped me with purpose is I went out with a story about Wall Street, a story about my experience particularly as a woman, also as a minority but less so as a minority and so I expected my audience would be women probably on Wall Street and what surprised me is I do have – I have a very strong woman audience but what I didn’t expect is I didn’t expect it to be all across corporate America and other organizations.  I’ve had so many people write me, contact me and say, “Thank you so much for just telling your story because I had a similar experience in X.”  So I’ve seen that with the women in terms of all different industries, that surprised me and it reminds me that I have a bigger message that’s just not so limited to this small world that I thought it was. 

The other part that surprised me even more is I was doing a media interview -- I was doing a TV interview -- and after I was done with the interview, I got several guys who worked at that station email me, someone from a different country -- someone in Europe -- and then someone who came to me, it was a minority man who came to me afterwards and he’s a very senior person at the company and he pulled me aside while I was trying to walk out the building and he said, “I just want to thank you so much for saying what you said.”  And I thought I didn’t necessarily say anything profound, at least I didn’t think so.  I just said, “Hey, it’s a difficult environment and you spend so much time hiding what you are to be in this culture.”  And that I never expected to strike so many men and one of them was an international guy and this other guy, he was American but he was – he talked to me a little bit about how people don’t get that I have to work so much harder and it’s not because it’s difficult for me, it’s just I’m constantly having to prove myself so even two years into this, when I’m established and everyone knows I can do a good job.  When I mess up, when something goes wrong, there are those people there that thinks it’s because I am who – it is because of who I look like.  Whereas I don’t get those cards all the time that just say, “Uhh you know.  No, we totally get you, you’re fine.”  And he said I always have to be on and I had to explain that to someone in a meeting who was trying to tell me, “You know what, we’re just going to pull one of your things together, we’re not going to put…”  You know they worked on life events and stuff and he was like, “I can’t pull something together sloppy.”  You don’t understand, he said I have to pull him out aside and quietly tell him, “I can’t be sloppy.”  That’s not a card that I have. And that was striking to me. 

I carry his story around all the time because I never expected to be touching him in that way and for me it just reminds me that I have a bigger purpose.  It’s not about me.  It’s about something much bigger and speaking for people that don’t necessarily have the opportunity or chose to speak up for themselves.

How Success Shapes Standup Comedy Career Growth - Matt Ruby

In Chapter 11 of 18 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, standup comedian Matt Ruby answers "What Interests You Most About the Arc of a Standup Comedy Career?"  Ruby notes how comedians get more interesting with age and experience.  Experience and time allow a comedian not only to build a set but also to build a brand.  Over time, it becomes less about being an anonymous name in a large room to being the featured performer in a fan-filled room. 

Matt Ruby is a standup comedian based in New York City.  He co-produces the weekly show "Hot Soup", co-hosts the monthly show "We're All Friends Here", and manages a comedy blog "Sandpaper Suit".  Ruby graduated from Northwestern University.