Conrad Doucette on Turning 40 and Becoming a Dad

In Chapter 1 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, musician and digital strategist Conrad Doucette answers "What is on Your Mind as You Turn 40 This Year?" As a husband and a new father he notes the biggest change is that is his life priority has become his family. He shares the joy that comes with making that transition and how a milestone birthday such as 40 has made it all the more apparent. Conrad Doucette is a Brooklyn musician and the drummer for the band Takka Takka. He has performed with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, The National, Alina Simone, and many other leading acts.  When not performing music, Doucette is the communications and brand director at music licensing and publishing startup Jingle Punks.  Doucette earned a BA in History from the University of Michigan.

Conrad Doucette on How Becoming a Dad Changes You

In Chapter 4 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, musician and digital strategist Conrad Doucette answers "How Has Becoming a Father Put Your Life in a New Perspective?" Doucette finds his life change immediately and in big ways and he embraces it fully. Having a child opens doors to a deeper level of love than he has ever experienced. He finds his experiences serve as a reference library to help him be a better dad and husband.

Conrad Doucette is a Brooklyn musician and the drummer for the band Takka Takka. He has performed with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, The National, Alina Simone, and many other leading acts. When not performing music, Doucette is the communications and brand director at music licensing and publishing startup Jingle Punks. Doucette earned a BA in History from the University of Michigan. 

Simon Sinek on Turning 40 and Remaining a Kid at Heart

In Chapter 23 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "What is on Your Mind As You Turn 40 This Year?" Sinek shares that going into his 40th year he does not feel his age. Living with youthful exuberance, Sinek embraces a life of curiosity and wonder. He wonders if and how his fortieth birthday will change his approach to life. Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. Sinek is the author of two books, "Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Come Together and Others Don't" and "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". He is a public speaker, an adjunct professor at Columbia University and a Brandeis University graduate.

Idan Cohen on How Getting Married Changes Your Personal Priorities

In Chapter 1 of 13 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, technology entrepreneur Idan Cohen answers "How Are Your Personal Priorities Changing As You Get Older?" Cohen shares how getting married has intensified things in his life for the better. His priorities change as he thinks less about personal accomplishments and more about what he can do for his family.

Idan Cohen is a technology entrepreneur and product management leader at Samsung Electronics. He co-founded Boxee, which was acquired by Samsung in early 2013. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How are your personal priorities changing as you get older?

Idan Cohen: So I-- I mean, I got married this year.

Erik Michielsen: Congratulations.

Idan Cohen: Thank you. I always knew I would be with someone, that I had my own reasons why people should not be in a marriage, I guess, or, you know, should just be a partnership. But I think it's actually-- for us, it turned out to be a wonderful thing. It kind of intensified everything for the better. And I think that that's-- that's kind of how my priorities changed. It's just now thinking not only on personal accomplishments but more of accomplishing things as a family unit, later on, kind of can't wait to, you know, take part in educating kids and I spend a lot of time thinking about how do we want to shape that part of our life and how do we want to live our lives with kids and how should that look like and where will it be and what are going to be kind of the forming experiences for them? I think that's the main thing that's been changing. I kind of spend a lot of time on that.

Erik Michielsen: Did you make time to sit down and talk about that, or did that just come naturally in conversation?

Idan Cohen: It comes naturally over time. And it's interesting. I think in a way, I mean, we're a little older. Well, for New York, maybe not that old, but definitely when you look around at our sort of families and friends, you know, a lot of them already are in-- where we are. But it's actually a great thing and also, both of us are the youngest in-- I mean, in large families, relatively large. So just gives us a lot of examples to learn from, to analyze. So we do spend a lot of time on that.

Idan Cohen on What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder

In Chapter 2 of 13 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, technology entrepreneur Idan Cohen answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?" Cohen shares how it is easier to figure out his priorities, especially now that he is married and settling down. It finds having a life companion gives him a greater purpose to how he wants to live his life. He finds it harder to combine multiple parts of his life to achieve life goals and figure out what he plans to accomplish in the coming decades.

Idan Cohen is a technology entrepreneur and product management leader at Samsung Electronics. He co-founded Boxee, which was acquired by Samsung in early 2013. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What is getting easier and what is getting harder in your life?

Idan Cohen: What's getting a little easier for me is figuring out my priorities. So I think that, like, suddenly being married and thinking of a family and in some way like, settling down a little bit, then it gives me a better understanding of kind of my priorities in terms of-- it's not only personal goals. Like, it's not only self-fulfillment. Suddenly there is a bigger picture in this. I think Christina is a huge difference. That kind of dedicates a new priority and time that I want to spend with her and the time that I want to think of what we'll-- like, our lives are going to look like together, not necessarily each one in his own path. But it's also getting harder to figure out how do you combine all of these things and then still kind of achieving, you know, those life goals that you want and figuring out what you're going to do in the next 20, 30, 40 years. 

Idan Cohen on Selling a Startup After Six Years in Business

In Chapter 10 of 13 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, technology entrepreneur Idan Cohen answers "What Was It Like to Sell the Company That You Co-founded?" On one hand, Cohen finds selling his company Boxee to Samsung a relief after six years grinding away in a startup life. Through the ups and downs he also finds going through the acquisition process a challenge, from managing uncertainty to managing expectations with employees.

Idan Cohen is a technology entrepreneur and product management leader at Samsung Electronics. He co-founded Boxee, which was acquired by Samsung in early 2013. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What was it like to sell the company that you cofounded?

Idan Cohen: I think that the main thing was relief. It was a lot of responsibility that you felt like, “phew, it's now, you know, someone else's.” I don't need to get-- you know, wake up tomorrow or go to sleep tonight and think about this, that, you know, and all of those things that just keep grinding you daily when you run your own business. And I think that was the most-- that was the feeling, the most significant feeling that I had.

Erik Michielsen: Did you expect to feel that way?

Idan Cohen: No, I don't think so. Maybe I know that now, but, yeah, I wasn't expecting exactly that kind of feeling. You know, the whole processes can be gut wrenching, and there's ups and downs, and also, around acquisition, it takes time, and there is a lot of uncertainty. And it's also not-- just not easy to keep the team aligned as you are going through this because, you know, they don't know what's happening, but everyone feels what's happening, and it's hard to keep everyone going and you know, working at the same pace.

Lauren Serota on the Give and Take of Learning and Teaching Design

In Chapter 6 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and educator Lauren Serota answers "How Are Your Responsibilities Changing As You Gain Work Experience?" After three years working at frog design, Serota finds she is ready to transition from learning from job experience to teaching others what she has learned on the job. This coincides with growing creative leader responsibilities at work, continuing teaching responsibilities at her school, and new ways to make an impact in the design community.

Lauren Serota works as an associate creative director at frog design. She is also a teacher at the Austin Center for Design (AC4D). Serota earned a bachelor's degree in industrial design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). 

Lauren Serota on Turning 30 and Letting Go of Expectations

In Chapter 19 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and educator Lauren Serota answers "What is on Your Mind as You Turn 30 This Year?" Serota looks at turning 30 as an opportunity for reflection and to assess where she has been, where she is, and where she wants to go. She looks at relationships, her work experience, and accomplishments and makes it a point to focus on what she has done versus what others have done.

Lauren Serota works as an associate creative director at frog design. She is also a teacher at the Austin Center for Design (AC4D). Serota earned a bachelor's degree in industrial design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Yoav Gonen on Turning 40 and Planning for the Future

In Chapter 18 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City reporter Yoav Gonen answers "What is on Your Mind as You Turn 40 This Year?" As he hits the age 40 milestone, Gonen notes that like it or not, you are forced to reflect. After a tough 39th year full of challenges including a physical injury and recovery, Gonen looks ahead to fully embracing 40 and making the most out of the year ahead. Yoav Gonen is a reporter and City Hall Bureau Chief for the New York Post daily newspaper. Previously he spent nearly six years covering the education beat for the New York Post. Gonen earned a B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Journalism from New York University.

Michael Margolis on Using Structure Frameworks to Grow a Business

In Chapter 17 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "What Procedures and Processes Are You Putting in Place to Manage Company Growth?" Margolis builds a business operations strategy around a four element model. Water is used to create regular meetings to gauge employee emotion and to get feedback. Fire is addresses problems and projects. Earth focuses on operations procedures, namely recruiting, retention, and routines. Lastly, air addresses the future. 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.

Richard Moross on Making Personal Life Goals at Priority at Age 35

In Chapter 5 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "How Are Your Aspirations Changing As Your Experience Grows?" After nearly ten years building a successful and admired company, Moo, and achieving additional professional goals, including joining Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) and joining a board of a public company, Moross shifts his aspirations to his personal life. In particular he looks to make sure his business life does not take away from goals he has for his personal life, including being a husband and a father. 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.

Richard Moross on Managing Growth as Company Nears 200 Employees

In Chapter 9 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "In Growing Moo, What Have Been the Headcount Milestones Where Things Changed the Most?" Moross reflects on how staff level milestones evolved the look and feel of his company. He notes important early milestones - 10, 20, 50, 100 - and what nearing 200 employees means for his company. At a technical level, it means more hierarchy and structure. At a personal level, it means Moross recognizes the reality that a progressively large global business will lose some of the intimacy you have in a small local business. 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.

Richard Moross on When to Hire a Creative Agency to Build Your Brand

In Chapter 12 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "How is Company Growth Changing Your Advertising and Public Relations Needs?" As his company hits its one millionth customer and 200 country customer footprint milestones, Moross sees a need to invest in global branding and marketing communications. He shares why his company decided to seek external expertise and what he learned as the team went about finding the right creative agency, Creature, to develop an international television ad to run in the UK and US. 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.

Ken Biberaj on What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder

In Chapter 1 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council Candidate Ken Biberaj answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?" Biberaj notes campaigning for office has helped him get better at talking to strangers. Campaigning for over a year, Biberaj learns to get into a daily routine of meeting voters. During this time, he becomes a father and with his wife, learns that the joys of fatherhood come with the sacrifice of not sleeping as much.

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 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.

Slava Rubin on Empowering Leaders as Startup Grows to 60 Employees

In Chapter 9 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Indiegogo CEO Slava Rubin answers "What Leadership Skills Are Becoming More Relevant to You As Your Career Progresses?" Rubin shares how his startup, Indiegogo, has grown from 15 to 60 employees in the year between his 2012 Year 3 interview and this Year 4 interview. Rubin notes how it no longer is about individual work but rather empowering new leaders to make decisions in a supportive structure that uses relevant business processes. 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 leadership skills are becoming more relevant to you as your career progresses?

Slava Rubin: As a founder, it was all about just getting the work done, seeing a wall right in front of you and just like putting your head right through it. That was the core skill of being an entrepreneur. I think now we’ve grown in the last year since I last spoke to you, from about 15 employees to 60 employees. I really need to rely on my leadership team to do a lot more than managing and empower them to do a lot of the core decision making. It’s really about empowering my leaders, about listening whether it’s from my leadership team all the way down to the most junior person, and to try to suss out that information as to connecting the trends as to what’s going on, and it’s also about analyzing data in a good way that can make big decisions easier.

Erik Michielsen: And what does that look like when you’re 15 versus 60? 

Slava Rubin: I mean definitely the aura is changing in terms of what the structure looks like, but it’s also you need to set up systems and processes that are just more scalable and just escalation policies in place, so you can’t constantly be running around like a chicken with your head cut off on any decision, and we can’t have every decision go through one individual whether it’s the CEO or not. So we just need to really figure out, you know, how do you escalate decisions? To what level? When and why? How? And who do you empower? For what? How do you manage? And, yeah, just use a lot more data as part of the decision making.

Slava Rubin on Recruiting Smarter to Hire and Retain Top Talent

In Chapter 12 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Indiegogo CEO Slava Rubin answers "What Problems Are You Trying to Solve to Grow Your Business?" Rubin notes how product market fit is no longer a problem - the market has been established and the product has been validated. As his company has grown from 15 to 60 employees, Rubin faces new challenges with talent acquisition and employee retention. From honing strategic hiring practices to improving the Indiegogo talent development cycle, Rubin and his team work to put the processes in place to hire, motivate and retain top talent. 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 problems are you trying to solve to grow your business?

Slava Rubin: I think that earlier, when we’ve met, probably one of the first times that we met, one of the first things to solve was product market fit, so creating the product, identifying the market, and figuring out how those two things connected. And because we’ve had a lot of usage of Indiegogo, we’re now distributing millions of dollars every week, I think it’s fair to say that that has been solved. That doesn’t mean we can’t improve, it’s just it’s something that has been replicatable, and scalable, and something that’s there. I think that probably the biggest challenge these days, especially as we’re trying to grow a large company that makes an impact on the world where we allow anybody to fund what matters to them, that’s totally global, is really about people. So the biggest challenge is on acquisition and retention of people. Like I’ve mentioned we went from 15 to 60 people in the last year. Some of those hires were perfect. Some of those hires may have not been perfect. It’s really around what are the programs you could put in place to retain these people. How do you learn from them? How do you give them the right performance reviews? How do you give them the right metrics, the right mentorship? In acquiring, how do you set up the right brand? How do you filter? How do you make decisions? How do you do the interview process? If you hire the right people, you don’t have to manage as much or worry as much because they will figure it out, so it’s really around finding the right people.

Erik Michielsen: Now you’ve worked in management consulting before starting an internet startup, Indiegogo. How is that talent development cycle different in where you’re now, you know, and how is that talent development cycle different in your work now than what you did before?

Slava Rubin: I’ve actually learned a lot from when I was a consultant, especially on recruiting strategies, how you identify that people are smart, how to identify if they are the team players, so I think I learned a lot from being a consultant. In terms of the retention programs and performance reviews, I also learned a lot there that I look to apply in my company, which is what kind of questions to work towards in terms of performance reviews, how often to do it, or what it would mean. It was more structured back in the days ‘cause those companies were more established, our company is very young and nimble, and we’re trying to literally just put those processes in place, so we only strive to have the same sort of people programs, but I definitely learned a lot.

Erik Michielsen: Is there a generational element that comes into play when you think about managing talent in what you do?

Slava Rubin: From my viewpoint, there is no difference based on age. I mean people just wanna work at a great company. They wanna have an impact. They wanna feel like they’re empowered to have decisions. They wanna know what their role is. So that hasn’t been different. So I haven’t really noticed any specific generational difference.

Slava Rubin on How Specialist Job Roles Help Young Companies Grow

In Chapter 15 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Indiegogo CEO Slava Rubin answers "How Are Your Recruiting Priorities Changing as Your Company Grows?" Rubin shares how growing from 15 to 60 employees has shifted hiring needs away from generalist or "athlete" skills sets and toward specialist skill sets. As structure is added to manage organizational growth, job roles and responsibilities also get more structured and specific. Rubin shares why it is important to constantly evaluate these shifts to maintain company culture. 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.

Transcription

Erik Michielsen: How are your recruiting priorities changing as your business grows?

Slava Rubin: We’re constantly meeting to re-org the company as it evolves in terms of the size, and as part of that, when you’re smaller, you want more of an athlete, which is you’re not exactly sure what they’re good at, but they can just be a valuable asset to the company, they can be versatile, and you start getting bigger, you don’t want people who are just athletes, you wanna have them start specializing. So you can almost think of it in basketball terms. Sometimes you just have five great athletes, or sometimes you have like the 7-foot-3 guy as the center and he’s exactly the center, and this other guy is a 3-point shooter and he can’t do anything else, but it’s actually nice to have those really locked down pieces if that’s where you need to focus on, if you have those other athletes. So as you have more specific roles, it’s important to get those specific recruits, but it’s a balancing act as we’re evolving from more athlete-driven to finding some specific focus.

Erik Michielsen: And how do you maintain that culture as you’re shifting from focusing on athletes to more specialists?

Slava Rubin: I think that’s a great question. You need to constantly evaluate on the specific role. Is this somewhere where you can still go with an athlete or is it somebody that’s so precise where their experience needs to be so clear, and their knowledge base subject matter expertise is so unknown that they need to be a specialist? And every position has a different evaluation

One of the specialist positions that we just hired for was actually our head of international. So that was one of those things where it’s hard to be an athlete to just say, “Oh, I think you’re or she is really smart, and I think they can figure it out.” It’s really nice when that person has done international for years and they have gone to those examples and those experiences and be like, “Oh, that’s a problem. That’s gonna be problem. You’re gonna deal with this. I know this is gonna happen.” That’s where being a specialist helps.