Fabian Pfortmüller on What It Means to Be a Social Entrepreneur

In Chapter 14 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur and community builder Fabian Pfortmüller answers "How Do You Define Social Entrepreneurship?" Pfortmüller sees a social entrepreneur as one who builds an organization that tries to optimize positive impact by using the traditional means a business structure provides. He shares how his own work at Holstee relates to this definition and the balance he tries to find between making financial ends meet and creating that impact in progressively more measurable ways. Fabian Pfortmüller is co-founder of Holstee, a socially conscious online marketplace, and Sandbox Network, a global community for young entrepreneurial people. Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University.

Fabian Pfortmüller on Making a Plan to Manage Company Growth

In Chapter 18 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur and community builder Fabian Pfortmüller answers "What Procedures and Processes are You Putting in Place to Manage Company Growth?" At Holstee, Pfortmüller and his leadership team adopt a transparent management style of sharing P&L information with the employee team. Additionally, Holstee holds monthly meetings to engage employees in quarterly strategy planning for the upcoming quarter. Structure is also found in a more rigorous budgeting process that helps the company understand its successes and shortcomings. Fabian Pfortmüller is co-founder of Holstee, a socially conscious online marketplace, and Sandbox Network, a global community for young entrepreneurial people. Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University.

Richard Moross on Learning Business in First Job Out of College

In Chapter 2 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "What Did You Learn in Your First Job After University That is Still Relevant Today?" Moross shares that working in a small business after college taught him why people, more than anything else, are fundamental to a business. He learns to shift away from the individual nature of being a student to the collaborative nature of working on a small business team. Richard Moross is founder and CEO of award-winning online print business Moo.com. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a board member at Ladbrokes PLC. Before Moo.com, Moross was a strategist at design firm Imagination. He graduated from the University of Sussex.

Doug Jaeger on Performing Under Pressure in a Creative Career

In Chapter 7 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and brand marketer Doug Jaeger answers "What Does It Mean to Perform Under Pressure in the Work That You Do?" Jaeger shares how he first learned to perform under pressure working in advertising at TBWA/Chiat Day agency. There he learns what it means to be a creative designer who can stand out by performing under deadline pressure. He compares this skill to an athlete practicing and working up to a big shot in a big game. Jaeger also shares how doing deadline-based work has allowed him to use stress as an ally and motivational tool. 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.

Doug Jaeger on the Give and Take of Creative Project Work Attribution

In Chapter 12 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and brand marketer Doug Jaeger answers "What Steps Are You Taking to Get and to Give Credit for the Work That You Do?" An experienced advertising executive now making brand films about companies and their futures, Jaeger shares his perspective on giving credit and taking credit for client project work. He shares when it is and is not appropriate to get attribution for the work you do on a creative project collaboration. 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 Making Lofty Career Aspirations a Reality

In Chapter 4 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Indiegogo CEO Slava Rubin answers "How Are Your Aspirations Changing As Your Responsibilities Grow?" Rubin shares how his aspirations actually remain constant while his optimism toward how realistic it is to achieve those aspirations grows. Rubin shares how his lofty goal to revolutionize finance and change how the world funds projects is slowly becoming a reality. As he approaches the goal, Rubin works with his co-founders Danae and Eric to bring together more people to share in realizing the vision. 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: How are your aspirations changing as your responsibilities grow? 

Slava Rubin: I would say, actually, my aspirations are staying the same. Maybe I’m only starting to become more optimistic of how realistic it is to hit my aspirations, ‘cause maybe, if several years ago, I still have the same aspirations to become the world’s funding platform, but maybe I was lying to myself that it was even possible, or maybe I was so naïve. And now that it’s becoming a little bit more realistic, I think that I’m just trying to follow through in our potential and realize it, right? I don’t think that my aspirations are changing because it was always a pretty lofty goal.

Erik Michielsen: Yeah.

Slava Rubin: Changing the world of finance and allowing people to fund whatever matters to them is a huge goal. So that’s still the same goal but, you know, now, I just want more co-workers and people to be part of the team to help realize our dream together.

Erik Michielsen: Do you have those moments where you look at Danae, look at Eric, and just shake your head, and say, “How did this all happen?”?

Slava Rubin: It’s actually incredible. We just opened our new office in San Francisco. It’s a beautiful, incredible office, built out, brand new for us, and it’s really a signature Indiegogo office, and we just had our all hands there, with 60 employees, and I stood up, gave a State of the Union talk about Indiegogo, and it’s really incredible to have all these great talent, all these great employees, co-workers, just working towards the same vision, to change people’s lives, have an impact, and let people fund what matters to them.

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 Making Affordable Health Care Access a Career Goal

In Chapter 8 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, health economist Clara Soh answers "How Do You Define and Measure Success in What You Do?" At a high level, Soh defines success in her work as making sure people have affordable access to health care. This includes matching patients with the right procedures and making sure the best public policies are put in place to ensure that patient access. 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.

Clara Soh on How Rock Climbing Brings Out Your Personal Best

In Chapter 16 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, health economist Clara Soh answers "When Are You At Your Best?" Soh finds she is happiest when out rock climbing. The concentration and focus climbing brings pushes Soh to give her best and in return the feeling she receives from the experience brings her great joy. The joy is apparent in the office and Soh explains how your passion can help you connect to others including your boss. 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 Managing Job Pressures in a Recruiting Career

In Chapter 9 of 21 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, legal search and consulting firm executive James McCormick answers "What Does It Mean to Perform Under Pressure in the Work That You Do?" McCormick notes the high stakes that come with helping his professional clients make job changes. He learns to manage the pressure in his work by being calm and consistent and aware of his emotions. As his work also involves competing against other firms to fill jobs for hiring clients, performing comes down to reliability to make the right match. 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. 

Leslie Kerner on How Being Part of a Team Can Bring Out Your Best

In Chapter 4 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, education software company executive Leslie Kerner answers "When Are You At Your Best?" Kerner shares how, personally and professionally, being part of something larger brings out her best. In her personal life, it is being part of a community of relationships. Professionally, she achieves the most when leading or being part of a team. She learns this early on competing on swim teams and playing team sports where you have multiple experience levels working together to achieve a common goal.

Leslie Kerner is Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Professional Services group at Amplify, a software and services company innovating K-12 education. She is responsible for building and managing training, professional development and consulting services for schools. Previously, Kerner worked as a management consultant at Deloitte & Touche. Kerner earned an MBA from the Duke University and a BA from Northwestern University.

Leslie Kerner on Giving Younger Employees Opportunities to Lead

In Chapter 20 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, education software company executive Leslie Kerner answers "How Do You Define and Measure Success in What You Do?" As a general manager, Kerner owns bottom line responsibilities to make sure her business unit is growing and profitable. Beyond P&L measures and metrics, she measures success based on her ability to create ways for younger employees to take on more responsibility and become the next generation of company leaders.

Leslie Kerner is Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Professional Services group at Amplify, a software and services company innovating K-12 education. She is responsible for building and managing training, professional development and consulting services for schools. Previously, Kerner worked as a management consultant at Deloitte & Touche. Kerner earned an MBA from the Duke University and a BA from Northwestern University.

Jon Kolko on Ways to Measure the Quality of Design Education

In Chapter 15 of 16 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and designer Jon Kolko answers "How Do You Measure the Quality of Education Your Institution Provides Its Students?" Kolko shares how his school has developed assessment methods to measure design student creative learning. He shares how he teaches students to critique work and how the process develops student confidence, drive and passion. 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.

Why to Work With Business Partners Who Share Your Values

In Chapter 17 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Courtney Spence answers "What Has Been Your Approach to Finding Business Partners Whose Mission and Values Align With Your Own?" Spence notes organizational success is highly predicated on working with individuals and organizations who share your mission and goals. She learns the power of mission-alignment participating in the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meetings. She applies this approach to partner with Participant Media to create entertainment that inspires people to take action. 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.

Jason Anello on Getting Validation Your Work is Meaningful

In Chapter 7 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and Manifold ad agency co-founder Jason Anello answers "What Has Winning Ad Age's Small Agency of the Year Award Meant to You Personally?" Winning the award gives Anello a sense of achievement that provides a sense of validation for the company he helped create. The validation helps him better frame why his work is meaningful and understand the impact his work creates. 

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 Motivating by Reflecting on Company Milestones

In Chapter 4 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "What Role Has Reflection Played in Shaping Your Personal Growth?" Germano does not use reflection to think on bad decisions. Instead, he reflects to think about where he has been and the story that has developed since.  He uses an example of how he can relate the story of his company to where he was and who he was with when celebrating success.

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 Aspiring to More Than Making Money

In Chapter 17 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Carrot Creative social media agency CEO Mike Germano answers "How Are Your Aspirations Changing as Your Experience Grows?"  Germano finds many people in his life tell him he is successful - from his parents to his wife to his peers to his industry.  He finds that defining success is not about reaching these respective expectations as end points but seeing them as new starting points on his aspirational journey. 

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.