Doug Jaeger on How to Build Trust and Get Retainer Client Business

In Chapter 10 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and brand marketer Doug Jaeger answers "How Do You Establish Trust When Building Relationships?" Jaeger shares how consistency and reliability translate into trust and commitment. Building trust working with clients teaches Jaeger the importance of giving away ideas for free and also when to ask to get paid for your work. He shares how giving away ideas in ideation and brainstorming sessions has helped him add structure in how his company works with clients on a retainer consulting basis. Doug Jaeger is co-founder and creative director at JaegerSloan Inc. where he focuses on brand and experimental marketing for clients such as Squarespace, Samsung and PwC. He is an adjunct professor at New York's School of Visual Arts (SVA) and co-curator of JnrlStr. He graduated from Syracuse University.

Slava Rubin on Creating Scalable Systems to Grow Your Business

In Chapter 10 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Indiegogo CEO Slava Rubin answers "What Procedures and Processes Are You Putting in Place to Manage Company Growth?" Rubin notes why scale matters when you grow a company. He shares scalable systems his team is creating, from publicity, sales and web analytics to project management effectiveness measures to key performance indicators (KPIs) of company success. Collectively, these processes create a structure that helps Rubin and his team manage company growth. 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.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What procedures and processes are you putting in place to manage company growth?

Slava Rubin: As you grow a company, and as you try to get bigger, and we now service millions of customers, we’re now distributing millions of dollars, things need to be scalable. You need to not have it as one-off distractions or one-off exceptions. And these need to be scalable systems where the next person can just plug in and do that, and it’s really incredible the challenge of how hard that is to do ‘cause somebody always has that exception, “What about this? What about that?” Sometimes you just need to cut that off for the sake of the process and making it clean, but it’s imperative to create scalable systems.

Procedures and processes have been put in across the board, whether it’s how we analyze the PR, the sales, the analytics, the SEO, the SEM, whatever it is that we’re using as our campaign measures, whether it’s the product team around our [PH] sprints and our product road map, and our velocity of how well things are being implemented, whether it’s our insight team where they’re really helping to develop a lot of the analyses and numbers, whether it’s our KPIs or key performance indicators that we track the [unintelligible] of the entire company, that we review every week, whether it’s our people performance processes like our performance reviews or recruiting on-boarding process, I mean it’s really endless. Obviously, there is a financial rigor, and I’m talking about the quarterly numbers, and the board numbers, and monthly measures, so there’s just a lot of numbers. Those are processes which is just like, “Here are the escalation policies. This is how we treat the customers. Here are the SLAs, service levels agreements, as to how we follow up. Everything always has to be 24 hours that we respond to, how we treat partners, how we deal with refund, no matter what it is, there are things that need to get institutionalized. 

Erik Michielsen: In the last year you’ve grown from 15 to 60 employees, what were some of the steps involved? What were some of the priorities that you set with those processes, as to hit first, second, and third?

Slava Rubin: Customers are always first. For example, I have a 24-hour response time. How do we create product experiences that we can measure, that people like—? Making sure that we invest in our own people would be very important. Making sure that we have a high level of tracking in how well the company is doing with that. We have financial targets and also KPIs. And I don’t wanna make it sound like it was all perfect all the time. The only reason it got better is because we’ve made the mistakes and we saw how bad it was. So because we’ve made the mistakes, we then learned, and we’re like, “Whoa, we gotta improve that,” and we figured out how to improve it.

Clara Soh on Building Job Skills to Work in American Government

In Chapter 7 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, health economist Clara Soh answers "What Skills Are You Working on Right Now to Become Better at Your Job?" Soh shares how aspects of work have changed as she has left the academic and nonprofit sector to work in American government health care policy. Whereas information sharing was free and open in her previous research lab work, Soh finds information sharing in DC to be a bit more constricted. She finds it challenging and fun to learn this new aspect of how American government works as she acclimates to her new role. 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.

Clara Soh on Communication Keys to Project Collaboration Success

In Chapter 11 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, health economist Clara Soh answers "What Have You Found to Be the Keys to Creating Successful Project Collaborations?" In her policy research work, Soh takes an open communication approach to set expectations around project goals and potential outcomes at the start of a project. This gives the team direction and a more clarified sense of purpose and understanding of objectives. 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.

Matt Curtis on How to Build Trust by Being Forthright

In Chapter 8 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, HomeAway government relations director Matt Curtis answers "How Do You Establish Trust When Building Relationships?" From the get-go or onset of a conversation, Curtis tries to be forthright and clear in his communication. He gets feedback that this straightforward and often blunt communication style is well-received for its sincerity. Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

Matt Curtis on 3 Ways to Give More Effective Mentor Advice

In Chapter 12 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, HomeAway government relations director Matt Curtis answers "How Are You Learning to Be a Better Mentor to Young Professionals?" As someone well-versed in seeking out mentors and asking for advice, Curtis learns three principles to giving more effective mentor guidance. First, it pays to be positive. Second, transparency is essential. Third, Curtis pushes hard to get as much insight from a mentee as possible before making recommendations. Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

Matt Curtis on Improving Public Speaking Skills by Singing Karaoke

In Chapter 15 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, HomeAway government relations director Matt Curtis answers "What Does It Mean to Perform Under Pressure in the Work That You Do?" For Curtis, performing under pressure in his work means presenting to or speaking to elected public officials. He shares how performing karaoke and singing karaoke has helped him get more comfortable standing up in a crowded room and presenting with confidence. Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

Courtney Spence on How to Build Relationship Trust

In Chapter 3 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Courtney Spence answers "How Do You Establish Trust When Building Relationships?" Spence shares how building relationship trust comes down to honesty, transparency, and vulnerability. She finds you create and maintain trust by being committed to honest communication and accepting that it is okay to be vulnerable.

Social entrepreneur and storyteller Courtney Spence founded 501c3 nonprofit Students of the World (SOW) to shine a light on progress and celebrate the world's problem solvers. She is building a movement of next-generation storytellers and creative activists through the SOW program The Creative Activist Network. Spence is a graduate of Duke University. 

How to Turn Self-Confidence into Confident Leadership

In Chapter 18 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Courtney Spence answers "What Role Does Confidence Play in the Work That You Do?" To Spence projecting confidence is everything. By being confident in her work, her mission, her self, she is able to fully embrace her knowledge and skills and maximize what she can do with them pitching ideas, selling donors, and inspiring staff. Social entrepreneur and storyteller Courtney Spence founded 501c3 nonprofit Students of the World (SOW) to shine a light on progress and celebrate the world's problem solvers. She is building a movement of next-generation storytellers and creative activists through the SOW program The Creative Activist Network. Spence is a graduate of Duke University.

Audrey French on How Emotional Vulnerability Can Build Relationship Trust

In Chapter 7 of 18 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Audrey Parker French answers "How Do You Establish Trust When Building Relationships?" French finds sharing a vulnerable moment or being open to showing emotional vulnerability is a good way to build relationship trust. This helps her create and open, sharing and accepting environment to engage others in and out of work. Audrey Parker French is an entrepreneur who co-founded CLEAResult, an energy management consulting firm she helped grow to #144 on the 2010 Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies and then sell to General Catalyst Partners. She currently volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and teaches children's choir. She graduated from Wake Forest University and lives with her husband in Austin, Texas.

How to Find Interesting Friends Who Accept You For You

In Chapter 7 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "How Are Your Personal Priorities Changing as You Get Older?" Stallings notes how the people around him provide him the space and accommodation to have selfish or individual moments. He also discusses why he tries to surround himself with interesting people who teach him things.

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.

Learning Real Estate Business by Working With Lawyers

In Chapter 14 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, real estate developer Brett Goldman answers "What Has Working With Lawyers Taught You About Business?" Dealing with lawyers with lawsuits, foreclosures, and other real estate events teaches Goldman the importance of presenting ideas and concerns in as black and white a way as possible. This provides a clear point of view that allows for more easily negotiated settlements and keeps the issues out of the courtroom.

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.

Jason Anello on Building Employee-Friendly Company Culture

In Chapter 15 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and Manifold ad agency co-founder Jason Anello answers "How Have You Created a Company Culture That Can Be Embraced by New Employees?" Anello notes that his business, Manifold Partners, started with five friends come together. As the company has doubled in size, Anello notes the importance of engaging new employees through inclusive programs that cultivate the creative business in fun ways.

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.

Phil McKenzie on Iterating a Lean Startup Business Model

In Chapter 9 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "How is Your Business Model Evolving as You Gain Experience?"  In three years operating his global event series, McKenzie evolves his business from a vocational-based platform to a values-based platform.  By honing business goals around core values - transparency, innovation, creativity, mindfulness - McKenzie and his team are better able to align operations and strategy to community and partner needs. 

Philip L. McKenzie is the Founder and Global Curator of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss the current and future state of influencer culture. Prior to that, he was Managing Partner of influencer marketing agency FREE DMC and an equities trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co.  He earned an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Howard University.

Cathy Erway on How to Create Relationship Trust

In Chapter 3 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, writer and healthy food advocate Cathy Erway answers "How Do You Establish Trust When Building Relationships?"  Erway believes it comes with time and comes with testing, particularly in high stress environments.  Going through an intense period can teach you whether or not you can trust another person and how you can trust that person. 

Cathy Erway is Brooklyn-based author, part-time cook, freelance writer, radio host and teacher focused on healthy food advocacy.  Her first book, "The Art of Eating In" developed from her blog "Not Eating Out in New York".  She earned a BA in creative writing from Emerson College.

Cathy Erway on How to Find a Literary Agent Right For You

In Chapter 5 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, writer and healthy food advocate Cathy Erway answers "What Advice Do You Have for Writers Looking to Build a Literary Agent Relationship?"  Erway notes the two literary agent sources, the sole proprietor agent and the literary agency.  She gives advice on how to build a relationship with the agency and its agents that is in line with your long-term career goals as a writer. 

Cathy Erway is a Brooklyn-based author, part-time cook, freelance writer, radio host and teacher focused on healthy food advocacy.  Her first book, "The Art of Eating In" developed from her blog "Not Eating Out in New York".  She earned a BA in creative writing from Emerson College.

Andrew Epstein on How to Be a Better Partner to Your Boss

In Chapter 7 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "How Have You Learned to Be a Better Partner to Your Boss?"  As a CFO of a network of charter schools working with his boss, the CEO, Epstein focuses on being mission-aligned and being fully committed to the organizational vision.  He makes it a point of setting expectations early in the relationship - in the hiring phase - to make sure he and his CEO are on the same page. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Jullien Gordon on What Marriage Teaches About Teamwork

In Chapter 5 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach Jullien Gordon answers "What Has Marriage Taught You About Teamwork?"  Gordon learns that communication and finance are two top challenges in a marriage relationship and makes it a priority to team with his wife addressing these key issues.  He learns there is a time and place for these conversations.  Jullien Gordon is a high performance coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase employee performance, motivation, engagement and retention.  He earned a BA from UCLA, an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a Masters of Education from Stanford University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What has marriage taught you about teamwork?

Jullien Gordon: When you ask people about relationships, the two things that come up are communication and finance, in terms of the most difficult challenges in a relationship. In regards to communication, I’ve had to become a better listener. And a better question asker, which is what I am and who I am, to really try to get at the core of what’s the issue, otherwise, issues are gonna continue to come up, if you don’t address the root. And so I’ve been more diligent about trying to get at the root of situations because this is the person I’m gonna live my entire life with. And the only way to work through that is with communication. Now, there also is-- are times where you have to know when is the best time to communicate, just because I wanna answer right now doesn’t mean that she is ready to talk and vice versa. And so that’s been core. And then the financial side is really getting clear about what’s enough and what it’s gonna take to sustain the partnership from the financial standpoint. And how do both people contribute.

In a lot of ways it is like a business, it is like a business partnership, and with the exception of the unconditional love. I think some business partners can work together without it necessarily being unconditional love, but—I’ll be honest, we have room to be a better team, I mean we are the Gordons now. We got our jerseys. We got our jerseys and-- but we’re also like the Lakers, you know? We have great players on our team and we’re trying to figure out how to work together to actually move toward something amazing. And you saw it with the Miami Heat as well, we’re Lebron James fans so. You see it with any team that’s coming together, even when there are stars on the team, it takes time.

And we see the hopefully 60, 70 years ahead of us as a time to constantly grow closer and closer and closer together. We saw our marriage as an opportunity where we felt close enough to say we’re committed to this same path together. And I think and I hope that every day is just gonna bring us closer and closer and closer together. The other day she asked me, “do you really know who I am?” And I had to say no. I don’t. But I hope that through this journey together, I constantly get to know more and more of who you are.

We made a choice out of—with uncertainty. And almost every major decision that we have in our lives, whether it’s a new partnership, from a team-standpoint. Whether it’s choosing your spiritual source, or your career, some of the biggest choices in our lives or all of the biggest choices in our lives are filled with uncertainty. And so knowing that going in, knowing that nobody on the team knows the right answer, but together, you can get to the best answer for us. I like to use us. “Us” is a third entity, because there’s the individual, there’s your teammate, and then there’s “us”. And it’s helpful to talk about “us” as a third entity in the relationship, because what’s best for one individual and what’s best for the other individual may not be what’s best for “us”. And so you have to always put “us” at the forefront when you are on a team.