Ken Biberaj on What It Takes to Win a City Council Primary Election

In Chapter 23 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council Candidate Ken Biberaj answers "What Will It Take For You to Get the Votes Necessary to Win Both the Primary and the Election?" Biberaj breaks down exactly what he must do to win on September 10th. He discusses grassroots campaign strategy elements from analyzing data to registering voters to getting them to vote on election day.

Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Democratic Candidate for City Council in New York City. He is also a public relations executive for the Russian Tea Room restaurant at One Fifty Fifty Seven Corporation, a family business focused on real estate development, investment sales and retail leasing. Previously Biberaj was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. Biberaj holds a JD from New York Law School, a Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Political Science from American University. 

Slava Rubin on Learning to Work Hard and Do Good Each Day

In Chapter 2 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Indiegogo CEO Slava Rubin answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" Rubin shares how he learned his work ethic watching his role model parents. As he matures, Rubin learns to translate that diligence into finding ways to create a positive impact for someone else each and every day.

Slava Rubin is CEO and co-founder of Indiegogo, the world's largest crowdfunding platform. Indiegogo empowers anyone, anywhere, anytime to raise funds for any idea—creative, cause-related or entrepreneurial. Prior to Indiegogo, Rubin worked as a management consultant. He earned his BSE degree from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Clara Soh on Why Confidence Matters in Health Care Research

In Chapter 12 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, health economist Clara Soh answers "What Role Does Confidence Play in the Work That You Do?" Soh shares how she uses economic analysis and statistical modeling to understand future budget planning issues around health care policy such as Social Security and Medicare. She notes the challenge of using different statistical models and methodology to analyze economic impact of health care research and budget estimates. Clara Soh is a health economist and Senior Director of Policy and Research at a pharmaceutical trade organization in Washington, DC. Previously, Soh held senior roles at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (KPCHR) and Health Policy Research Northwest (HPRN). Soh earned her Masters of Public Administration (MPA) in Policy Analysis and Healthcare Public Finance from the NYU Wagner School and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.

James McCormick on How to Build Cross-Functional Knowledge at Work

In Chapter 13 of 21 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, legal search and consulting firm executive James McCormick answers "How Have You Learned to Work More Effectively Across Different Disciplines?"  Experience provides McCormick cross-functional learning experiences he then can apply in serving clients and training new employees. He learns from his father that often the only way to build institutional knowledge is to embrace the continuous learning experience that creates it in a career. James McCormick is a Partner at Empire Search Partners in New York City. Previously, he practiced law as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney for Proskauer Rose and Jones Day. He earned a JD at Tulane Law School and a BA in History at the University of Michigan. 

Bijoy Goswami on Learning Work Ethic From Family Role Models

In Chapter 3 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" Goswami shares how he learned his work ethic from his family.  His recalls learning from his grandfather and how he took such great care in his work and possessions.  His parents teach Goswami the importance of persevering through times where delaying gratification is the right thing to do.

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.

How Deal Due Diligence Improves Investing Confidence

In Chapter 10 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, real estate developer Brett Goldman answers "What Role Does Confidence Play in the Work that You Do?" For Goldman, confidence is fundamental in making real estate deals. He builds confidence in the preparatory due diligence research work he does understanding the property, market, location, terms and other elements of a real estate deal.

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.

Matt Ruby on How to Rebound From Rejection

In Chapter 6 of 19 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, standup comedian Matt Ruby answers "How Do You Deal With Rejection?"  Ruby, a self-appointed rejection expert, offers tips on how to get through those moments.  He learns along the way that putting up with the bad parts helps you get to the good parts.  He notes the importance of having a positive self-image that is grounded so you understand why you are getting rejected when trying to hit your goals. 

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

Matt Ruby on How Fear Can Be a Motivational Tool

In Chapter 12 of 19 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, standup comedian Matt Ruby answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?"  Ruby finds fear motivates him to practice enough to perform at levels that meet his expectations.  He notes how a string of bad shows, where he is not doing as well as he could be doing, pushes him to compare his performance and push himself to succeed.  He notes how technology can be a negative influence on his productivity and how unplugging is important for him to stay on track and produce and practice new comedy material. 

Matt Ruby is a standup comedian and comedy writer 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.

Planning Hiring Strategy at a 100-Employee Firm - Richard Moross

In Chapter 17 of 17 in his 2012 interview, London entrepreneur and Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "What New Challenges Are You Facing as Your Company Grows?"  Moross notes his company has reached 100 employees and is now hiring a person a week.  He emphasizes 1) the importance of aligning new hires with the existing team; 2) telling the story of the company; 3) finding adaptable new hires and 4) ensuring he finds time to meet with an increasingly distributed and international team.  Moross is founder and CEO of Moo.com and a leader in the London startup scene.  Before starting Moo.com, an award-winning online print business, Moross was a strategist at Imagination, the world's largest independent design company.  He graduated from the University of Sussex, where he majored in philosophy and politics.

What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder - Hammans Stallings

In Chapter 1 of 22 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?"  As a strategist working at a design company, Stallings notes how it is getting easier to bring his varied skills together to serve clients.  He notes a growing challenge is understanding that more and more of his work is different than anything done before, which pushes him to look outside his industry as he crafts client strategic plans.  This is Hammans Stallings' Year 2 CYF interview.  Stallings is currently a Senior Strategist at frog design.  Previously he worked in business 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 McCombs School of Business and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia. 

How Positivity Improves Productivity - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 15 of 18 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis answers "How Do You Get Yourself Into a Flow State of Productivity?"  Curtis shares how he gets into a zone by working and crossing items off his lists.  This causes him to feel more positive emotions which in turn help him enter a flow state of productivity.  Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn.  In 2011, Curtis won "Austinite of the Year" in the Austin Under 40 Awards.  He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

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. 

What It Means to Be a Leader in a Real Estate Investing Career

In Chapter 8 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Does it Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?"  Goldman shares it means to achieve excellence in real estate.  He points to sustainability and how informed decision making and consistency shape results over long periods of time.   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 does it mean to be a leader in what you do?

Brett Goldman: The leaders in our business are successful, continue to be successful, make smart moves, keep a relatively low profile, lead by example, and they're generally sharp people that have made strings of good decisions for most of their career. So those are the people that lead in my business. The people that are most well-known are the people that are doing the most deals for the longest time, and that doesn't necessarily mean the guy who's coming in doing 10 deals in a year and then never does a deal again because he overpaid. There's been a lot of companies especially in '05, '06, '07 that overpaid and they looked great in those years, but they didn't survive and so the leaders in the business are the ones that can survive the ups and survive the downs and keep going. 

Erik Michielsen: And as you’re crafting your own path of leadership, what specific takeaways are you pulling from those that have blazed that trail before you?

Brett Goldman:  It's about making smart decisions, and that means reasoned. Like really doing a lot of research in order to make decisions. And doing them with a historical basis in your mind. Meaning you can't be fooled by just today's environment, you always kind of have to -- you have to know what the winds are blowing or how the winds are blowing, what they're bringing and what they've brought. And if you can kind of understand what the history of things are, it can -- I think that it can get you to a better place in understanding where you are in that history. Sometimes that makes us more conservative as investors and sometimes we lose out on deals because of that. But I think that it keeps you in for the long haul and that's how you lead.

Finding Meaningful Work in a Surge of Passion - Jason Anello

In Chapter 6 of 20 in his 2012 interview, creative director Jason Anello answers "What Makes Your Work Meaningful?"  He notes that meaningful work does not always mean paid work and how in those surge moments of passion, he finds work worthwhile.  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. 

How to Build and Scale a Food Passion Business - Julie Hession

In Chapter 1 of 21 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, food entrepreneur Julie Hession answers "To What Do You Aspire?"  Hession highlights how she is taking progressive steps to connect her passion for food to a food business career.  She highlights how incremental steps, from launching a specialty food store to creating a food product line to doing food writing are giving her a well-rounded skillset to refine and scale her food business.  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 Startups Can Better Prepare for Acquisition or Exit - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 7 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Ramsey Pryor answers "What Was Most Educational Going Through An Acquisition Process as a Startup Executive?"  Pryor learns to understand how to assess what and what not an acquiring company cares about.  Pryor also shares specifics around what the diligence process taught him about what young startup companies can do to better prepare for an exit.  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 Plan a Product Launch - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 11 of 15 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Ramsey Pryor answers "How is Launching a Product at IBM Different Than Doing So at a Startup?"  Pryor shares how magnitude affects several dimensions of a global corporate product launch, including analyst relations, sales training, and customer feedback processes.  Pryor details the systems and structural benefits of the IBM 100-year history launching products.  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 Philosophy Can Improve Non-Fiction Writing - Scott Gold

In Chapter 13 of 20 of his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and writer Scott Gold answers "Where Has Your Philosophy Education Been Most Impactful in Your Writing Career Development?"  A philosophy education teaches Gold to more fully consider his points and arguments and to make sure they are well supported.  He uses his philosophy toolbox to better articulate his thesis and make his points to communicate more effectively.  Scott Gold is an author and writer based in New York City.  When not writing, Gold moonlights as a bartender at Char no. 4 restaurant in Brooklyn.  He earned a BA in Philosophy from Washington University in St. Louis.