Kevin Siskar 5/11/20 Kevin Siskar 5/11/20

Closing A Chapter

After almost five years as Managing Director of Founder Institute New York, I will be moving on to my next adventure. I first became involved with Founder Institute back in 2012 as a founder in the program, before signing on as Director of the New York program in 2015. I am very proud of the growth Founder Institute has had over that period of time, both on a global level, and across New York.

Queue the music! It’s time to turn and face the strange. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

After almost five years as Managing Director of Founder Institute New York, I will be moving on to my next adventure. I first became involved with Founder Institute back in 2012 as a founder in the program, before signing on as Director the New York program in 2015. I am very proud of the growth Founder Institute has had over that period of time, both on a global level, and across New York.

On a global level we have scaled Founder Institute to almost 200 cities around the world and I have been very fortunate to meet amazing founders, mentors, and ecosystem leaders from every corner of the planet. Last year we managed to bring Founder Institute back to my hometown of Buffalo as well, a feat which I am immensely proud of.

In New York in particular, I feel fortunate to have worked directly with over 150 founders as they launched their companies. Watching a person manifest something out of nothing, based on purely will, has always been a fascinating & rewarding process for me. It has been an amazing experience to get in the trenches and help with the day to day problem-solving founders have to face. Digging in on team formation, branding, customer development, revenue models, legal, go-to-market, product development, scaling growth, fundraising and more. I loved every minute of it and can not wait to see how these founders evolve alongside their companies.

These past few years would not have been possible without some of the amazing people around me, especially those who went to bat for me when I was starting out, to allow me this incredible experience. Many of whom I have previously featured on this blog and my podcast. You know who you are, and I just want to say thank you! And of course, a massive thank you to the founders and global team at Founder Institute who I had the amazing experience to work with. Rest assured, I am not going anywhere though! You all know how to reach me.

My personal mission is to “Help founders improve the lives of one billion people” and I have no intention of stopping now!

I have some very exciting announcements coming shortly regarding my next chapter!

Kevin Siskar 10/23/16 Kevin Siskar 10/23/16

Kelly Roach, From NFL Cheerleader To Million Dollar Brand

Kelly Roach is the founder of Kelly Roach Coaching and host of the Unstoppable Success Radio podcast. With a resume of NFL cheerleader, fitness enthusiast, and mother, Kelly doesn’t exactly fit the usual business coach profile. In Episode 22 of Ambition Today Kelly gives us some great insight into how she leverages her unique experience to grow her businesses, how she published an internationally bestselling book, and why she started the Unstoppable Success Radio podcast.

Growing up in a financially struggling family, Kelly learned the value of hard work at a very early age while working for the NFL before she was 20. With an unparalleled work ethic she quickly climbed the ladder of success in Corporate America. Soon after she then realized her passion for aiding others in pursuit of their dreams. We cover how Kelly now does just that and more on this episode of Ambition Today:

Going out and working for what you want at an early age.
Applying her degree in Communications to create productive interactions in the business environment.
The importance of travel in shaping a healthy lifestyle mentality.
Lessons learned from holding multiple positions on an NFL team.
Appreciating the value of lesser jobs to build knowledge before having your dream job.
The inherent ebb and flow of startups.
Lifestyle building via business development.
Why building a personal brand is so important now.
Publishing her bestselling book & starting a podcast.
The necessity of human contact in growing your business.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

"What does Ambition mean to you and how do you satisfy your personal ambition each day?"

Links from this episode:

Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…

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Kevin Siskar 5/10/16 Kevin Siskar 5/10/16

Patrick McGinnis Tells You How To Be A 10% Entrepreneur And How He Coined The Meme F.O.M.O.

You are not going to want to miss out on this episode! Patrick McGinnis, Author of the 10% Entrepreneur joins Ambition Today for episode fifteen. We talk about the unique ways in which people can engage in entrepreneurship on the side, how to travel the world, and how Patrick coined the term F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out) on the internet. Patrick went from growing up in the small blue collar town of Sanford in Maine to visiting over 70 countries, investing in several companies with AIG Capital, co-founding his company Real Influence, and now publishing his book.

Leaving Maine, Patrick went to Georgetown for International Economics which eventually lead to an entire year being paid for to live in Argentina. After his time abroad he came back to work in Latin American investment banking on Wall Street in New York City. When his position was dissolved he then re-evaluated his role in finance and went on to Harvard Business School before joining AIG Capital. At AIG Capital Patrick focused on investing in early stage startup companies. He later founded, Real Influence, a company which enabled branded video partnerships for early Youtube stars. That experience taught Patrick the lessons he shares now in the 10% Entrepreneur. From Patrick’s life we also explore:

Overcoming the local hometown mentality when leaving your hometown.
The value of traveling the world and living abroad.
What to do when you find yourself in a life threatening situation.
How Patrick went from Wall Street analyst to Venture Capitalist.
The impact being at AIG during the 2008 financial crisis had on Patrick’s life.
What stress can do to the body long term when you let it build up.
Overcoming Turrets syndrome and what other people think.
Making the leap from investor to founder.
Selling something for the first time.
What does it mean to be a 10% Entrepreneur.
How partnering with people can expand yourself outside your comfort zone.
How do you get a book deal.
Coining the word term F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out) on the internet.
Learning resilience at an early age.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

What was the gold standard “norm of jobs” when you were growing up that your friends and family accepted as a good job to have, but you didn’t?

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Kevin Siskar 3/30/16 Kevin Siskar 3/30/16

Ambition Today: Adam Besvinick Teaches The Art of Hustle and How To Break Into Your Dream Role

Venture Capitalist Adam Besvinick explains the value of pure hustle in pursuing his dreams of breaking into the Startup and Venture Capital industry. Recently named to the Forbes 30 Under 30, Adam has invested in several startup companies as Principal at Deep Fork Capital.

Adam Besvinick, Principal VENTURE CAPITALIST aT Deep Fork Capital

In episode 14 we explore where Adam came from and how that connects to where he is now. Adam started blogging on VentureMinded.Me years ago and created his own track record through taking ownership of his brand. He has always strived to be continually helpful and add value to others. Through that hustle he previously worked his way into a role at Lowercase Capital to learn from Chris Sacca. Afterword Adam was one of the early employees at Gumroad while going to Harvard Business School. Now Adam is Principal at Deep Fork Capital and has invested in several companies across the country, with a focus on New York City and Silicon Valley. We go over what he looks for in great startups, how he used self-marketing to break into venture capital, and also cover:

The influences of growing up around entrepreneurship.
The value of experiencing life abroad.
How to demonstrate your expertise in a given field.
Why self-marketing is important.
How Twitter can create real world connections.
How constantly being helpful to others, leads to opportunity.
His experience at Duke and Harvard.
The differences between Silicon Valley and New York City.
How being an Investor in New York City is beneficial.
What Adam looks for in startups today.
Exploring some of the Deep Fork Capital portfolio companies.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

How important is networking?

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Kevin Siskar 3/9/16 Kevin Siskar 3/9/16

Moving To New York City

New York City. The Big Apple. The Nexus of the Universe. Whatever you call it, it is one of the most unique places on earth and 8.4 Million people call it home. Many of those people moved here from other places in order to pursue their dream. New York City is the promise land of opportunity in the United States. Moving here however is no easy task. Getting a job in New York City without living here makes it next to impossible to get called in for an interview and securing an apartment in the cities crazy real estate market is a whole new world within itself. The city is expensive, the city is unforgiving, and the city is challenging.

While living in Buffalo I knew that I wanted to move to New York City and that I wanted to get involved with startups there. I applied to jobs for months before actually moving to New York City. The call's I got back for an interview were to come into the office in a day or two, but I was still 600 miles away in Buffalo. I needed to be closer if I was going to make any progress. I flew to New York City on a day in July with Colleen to try and get us an apartment, but we quickly learned we couldn't get approved in a nice building without a job. After viewing a dozen apartments with a broker we finally got approved by a building. We were quickly educated that being as this was July, where apartments can come on the market in the morning and be immediately off the market after lunch we had to decide fast if we wanted an apartment or not. We took it; real estate broker fee, deposit and all.

A month later we moved to New York City. After struggling just to get into the city I still had to find a job though. I ran out of money shortly after moving to New York City and ended up having to sell my car, which I had payed off while working bartending jobs during college. That only bought me a few more months of runway though. So I took a bartending job that I was able to get through a friend of a friend in Buffalo who happened to do some business in New York City (See Buffalo really is the "The City of Good Neighbors"). The bartending job was part time and still wasn't enough. Again, I was slightly better off than before but not by much. So I took a second job freelancing and working remotely online in the early mornings, writing for a tech website. I was still applying to potential full time jobs and taking interviews in my spare time. The cycle became that I would work bright an early in the morning, then apply to jobs and interview during the day, and finally bartend at night. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I remember distinctly getting down to $20 in my bank account at this time while I would be waiting for my next paycheck to come in from either of the jobs. I was very close to having to move back to Buffalo. After months of this I finally got a full time job offer out of one of the interviews. I still remember being out to lunch. Colleen and I had company in town visiting us. We were talking about how life in New York has been treating us so far while eating cheeseburgers and I got a phone call. It was my future boss saying that the company would love to hire me and asked when I could start. It was an entry level job but it was enough that I could break even, pay my full rent, student loans, and live in New York City. Since that day, there have been hardships and challenges of course, but I am here. I live in New York City. Casey Neistat last year told a very similar story of his struggle in moving to New York City. How moving here can eat you alive and strip you of all your resources in the process. That even just getting set up to live in New York City is one of the greatest challenges people face.

He explains at the end of the video how it has all been worth it though. How for him the opportunity has out weighed the tremendous cost of moving to New York City in the first place. I have to agree. The opportunities the city has afforded me since then have been tremendous. I get to experience new products, stores, movies, foods, services, and crazes in New York City long before people in other parts of the country. So many experiences. I am always surrounded by ambitious and motivated people here. I feel privileged and love what I get to do now with startups. It was not easy though. So as you can see there is a reason Sinatra once said if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

Kevin Siskar 1/22/16 Kevin Siskar 1/22/16

Ambition Today: Justin Dombrowski Uncovers The Power Of Curiosity, History, Bitcoin, & Education In Life

Break out your pen and paper and get ready to take notes because you will be tested on this episode! Justin Dombrowski, Principal at Historiocity teaches some incredible lessons during Episode #11 of Ambition Today.

Justin Dombrowski Historiocity Ambition Today Podcast Kevin Siskar

One of my favorite quotes from this episode perfectly embodies Justin's strong curiosity from a young age:

"I was trying to figure what kind of things best explained the world that I was interested in."

Justin has more degrees than you can count from institutions such as Columbia and Oxford. The real question though is why? Listen in to find out what Justin thinks of his personal experience with the formal education he has received and how he compares it to the world of entrepreneurship.

Through all his education Justin has become an expert on world history. We talk about what the past can teach us and ask the question: does history repeat itself? In his post academic life Justin now applies his intellect as an expert in the world of Cryptography, Bitcoin, and Financial Technology. Episode 11 of Ambition Today is packed with the following:

The power of curiosity.
How to manage curiosity.
How the access to information is changing education.
The value of formal education in the modern world.
How to use history to understand today.
Does history repeat itself?
How core human behavior is the golden thread unifying history across centuries.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
What is the future of Bitcoin.
How will Bitcoin impact the world.
The importance of living life.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

What kind of education is most valuable?

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.

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Who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…

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Kevin Siskar 8/12/15 Kevin Siskar 8/12/15

Quit Your Job, Grow Your Startup

Working corporate from 9-5pm and startup business from 5-2am. It is not easy but you will make progress. After all work is work and you are doing something, which is always better then nothing. But, you will be distracted. Your startup business will not have your full attention and for that it will suffer. There is an answer though. Quit your job and focus on your startup. Here are some thoughts on just that.

1. You Need to Raise Capital

Adeo Ressi, CEO of the Founder Institute says “It's important to quit your day job. I recently got an update from a graduate. Their company failed to raise capital and his day job was getting harder, so he had to close his startup. This comes as no surprise, since I have never heard of any startup that was able to raise professional angel money while the Founder was still employed. Furthermore, it's nearly impossible to dedicate the time and mental energy necessary to gain traction in the marketplace for your product while working for another company."

2. Quitting Your Job Is The Next Step to Success

Mohamed Kamal, Co-Founder and Head of Product for Gigturn adds, “Adeo is completely right. I bombed two investors meetings because I had a day job. Here’s the cold truth: Deciding you want to quit is usually just the first move in a long and cerebral chess match you’ll play with yourself. I’ve found that a founder's inability to quit their current day jobs had little to do with the perceived riskiness of their new startups, their financial situation, or general economic conditions. The real barrier for most of us is not external. It’s our own psychology – we:

Overthink decisions
Fear eventual failure
Prioritize near-term, visible rewards over long-range success.

I found myself hesitating in front of an email send button. It was my resignation email which took three hours to write. Sending it was the ultimate mind hack."

3. There's No Such Thing as "Perfect Timing"

“My experience was similar, but with an extra ingredient... when I was about to quit my job my wife was diagnosed with cancer so it was an even harder decision. I talked to one of my advisors and he asked me, ‘When do you think it's the perfect time to start your company? There will always be a problem out there, you just have to choose if you want to do it or not.’ I then talked back to my wife and asked her if she would support me in case I didn’t raise enough money to live for a year and she agreed.

Now she has no cancer, we are about to receive new funds and the business looks promising. If I hadn't taken that decision in that apparently insane moment, none of this would be happening, so I really appreciate her faith in the project and the words from my advisor." - Sebastian Wilson, CEO at Luminux.cl.

4. Minimize Distractions to Reduce Mistakes

Tom Walpole, Co-Founder of Wembli, says “I have a meeting in about 3 hrs today to tell my employer I intend to focus on my startup full time. It’s a mind hack! In our situation, my co-founder happens to be my wife (they say co-founding is a marriage anyway right?!) - arriving at the decision that this is not only best for our business but also our family has definitely been a challenge, but at the same time a good measure of our ability to work as a team (in life and business) as well as an exercise in trust and support for each other.

I've spent the last 18 months developing, collecting user feedback and then developing again. Although that cycle never ends, it has come to a head where we have a refined enough product to start spending serious marketing money to grow it makes sense to us that we should minimize distractions which will hopefully reduce our mistakes and get more for our money.”

5. Part-Time Work May be a Better Option

“Whilst I was in FI I quit my day job to focus on my startup. It was the right decision. In order to fund day to day living I was just going off savings but I've also been fortunate in picking up some part time consultancy gigs which is a bonus. By consulting to the right companies I've also been exposed to some other contacts including investors so that's good too. Up until the product was available (in my case) the consultancy has worked great. Now that the site is live my work is cut out for me as I hustle away the plan is to focus on Oddswop and fundraising." - Yvonne Lee, Founder of Oddswop.

6. You Fail Faster

"The thing about having a job is that you don’t have the ability to fail fast. An unemployed founder has the entire day to meet partners and customers but an employed founder only has a few hours per day after work. And that’s assuming that people actually want to talk to you after working hours, instead of spending it with their families.

An unemployed founder has a fixed amount of money, so that forces the founder to really focus on being cost efficient. An employed founder, however, has a steady monthly salary so naturally it’s harder to focus because that founder can literally afford to do so. That means that what takes an unemployed founder 2 weeks to learn may very well take an employed founder 2 months. Compound that and you may end up spending years of your life on something that doesn’t work." - Elisha Tan, Founder of Learnemy.

7. You have to Constantly Deliver

According to Goran Candrlic, Co-Founder of Webiny: "We are scaling our product and team by doing consulting jobs. It's easier but it's constantly selling and delivering. So far we're alive and getting our core business up and running day by day."

8. The Devil's Advocate

Ramzi Zahra, Founder of Service List had some counter points to offer though. "I'd agree with the quit your job sooner then later theory however there are a few important matters to factor-in that are often forgotten. We can all agree that without putting the effort in a startup then it is likely that it will fail so you have a few choices:

1. Do it slow - Work on your start-up part-time/casually whilst keeping your day job.
2. Do it fast - Quit your day job to work on your startup.

An innate nature in humans is rush, they want results and they want it now. However to make the best decision it will depend on the grad's situation:

a. Stage of the startup - Early stage work is different than traction, funding, etc.
b. Financial situation - Can the founder afford to live without funding for a while?

I believe it is vital to factor the two points above to get the answer that is best for each situation. The second point is really critical. I personally quit my job to work on a startup however I soon found myself distracted with having to get some money in the door to pay rent/food/expenses. The startup was not "officially" launched yet and I was no where near raising funding. I chose to do some web development on the side to get by however it took a fair bit of time of my day. So did I really "quit" my day job? Some might argue that I didn't. In summary, Adeo's point is spot on however it cannot be used as a blanket rule and is more geared towards founders that are ready for funding."

Kevin Siskar 1/14/15 Kevin Siskar 1/14/15

3 Ideas to Land Your Next Job

With 2015 upon us and in full swing, everyone seems to be busy tying up loose ends, reflecting on 2014 and looking ahead to all of the great changes they'll be making this year. Thinking about how most of us spend the majority of our day working, if your job isn't something that you enjoy then there's really no better time to put that change at the top of your list.

Co-Authored by Joshua Siva, Co-Author of BOLD: Get Noticed, Get Hired

But let's be honest, over the past few years the job market has been a challenge for most, so here are a few fun, novel ideas that hopefully get the creative juices flowing so that you too can get noticed and ultimately get hired:

1. Attach Your Resume to a 6-Pack

Enter Brennan Gleason, the creative guy from Vancouver who answered two simple questions: what's something that people would like at the company I'm applying for, and how do I attach myself to that? Voila -- he decided to brew some homemade beer and print his resume on the 6-pack carrying container for his beer.

As expected, it was a huge hit that not only landed him the job but also gained Brennan a good amount of fame amongst the major media outlets. Beer is just one example, but it could be anything that you decide to attach your brand or credentials onto.

Check out the interview we did with Brennan:

2. Light Up Your House with Your Link

It's right around that time of year where your holiday lights may still be up or are freshly packed inside somewhere that you can quickly dig them out. Regardless, Liz Hickok was a seasoned corporate professional from Georgia who was looking for a new job. With her family's lights handy, she decided to post a little message on the front of her house that was sure to catch the attention of anyone driving by her heavily trafficked street.

Fast-forward a few days and in addition to the media coverage, she was landing interviews left and right which ultimately led to her next job. So whether it's a bunch of LEDs strung together, a billboard on the highway or even an ad in the local city flyer, be bold and put yourself out there.

3. Just Do the Job You Want

There may be no better way to prove you're the best person for the job you want than to actually go out there and just do the job. Avi Lichtschein did just that when he decided he wanted to work for the Silicon Valley startup and mobile payment processing company, Square.

When applying for the entry level sales role he wanted didn't work out, he decided to take matters into his own hands and literally go out to the street and prove he could generate interest in the Square service. After gaining a bit of traction, he forwarded the success back to the company, which was blown away by his initiative. Sure enough this got Avi noticed and hired. Heck, he took out the biggest risk in their hiring process by proving he was effective and could get the job done so it was a no-brainer for them to bring Avi on.

Whether you want to break into sales or another function within a company, try to find a way to prove you can do the job you've applied for and share your results. If you can actually do the job, you too should not only get hired, but should be able to hit the ground running on day 1!

These are just 3 interesting examples of how others got creative to stand out from the competition. You too can and should think outside the box even if it's something simple to give you an edge. And let's be honest, if nothing else, you'll be sure to get a really great dinner or interview story out of it just like the three stories above.

Kevin Siskar 1/6/15 Kevin Siskar 1/6/15

5 Ways to Interview and Network Better in 2015

Have you ever found yourself dreading the big interview or intimidating networking event? We've all been there - worried about what questions we'll get asked or whether we'll hit it off with whomever we speak with. But it doesn't and shouldn't have to be something to stress out over, especially when you're armed with a good story to tell.

Co-authored by Joshua Siva; co-author of BOLD: Get Noticed, Get Hired

Let's take a step back for a second and think about the types of people we enjoy spending time with. Usually there's something interesting about them and they keep our attention in one way or another. The job interview or the networking event is no different. Let's zoom in on the interview. Aside from the hard and soft professional skills a company may be looking to hire, they're also looking for someone who is interesting and is someone they can see themselves spending time with because let's face it, the majority of the day is spent working amongst colleagues and no one would prefer to work with someone they don't like. The same principles apply in all aspects of networking too.

With that said, here are 5 fun things you can do to interview and set yourself up to network better in the New Year:

1. Travel more and travel interesting

Pick a destination, plan something that takes you out of your comfort zone, and enjoy the experience. Consider getting "local" by renting a local house or apartment via Airbnb or get the scoop on what to do via TripAdvisor. Take lots of pictures, and try to maximize your trip by doing more than just sipping margaritas on a beach (although there's definitely a time and place for that too).

2. Learn a new skill and make it a habit

Never stop learning. Developing a new skill will not only make for a good story but also will keep your mind fresh, hungry, and curious to learn more. You can check out sites like Skillshare or Udemy to browse a vast array of skills to learn at your convenience and on your terms. It doesn't have to be professional either and could be more along the lines of learning to cook or speak a new language as an example. Just make sure you enjoy it!

3. Connect with someone new each month

In today's day and age where you're only as strong as your network, developing strong connections and continuing to build new ones is essential. Create a great LinkedIn profile and challenge yourself to reach out to someone new each month within your industry or at a company you might be interested in. If you're feeling brave (which you should be), try and set up a quick face to face coffee to add that human touch to your introduction.

4. Get active and stay fit

Your health is everything. Without it, you can't interview, network, or enjoy life's pleasures so don't under any circumstances sacrifice it for anything. It's the new year and everyone's trying to get into shape so why shouldn't you? Consider joining a workout class such as CrossFit or at a local gym. You'll feel better as a result and will hopefully portray a stronger image and make a better first impression wherever you go.

5. Create a side project that's visible to the world

It's never been easier to start a company or side-project with all of the tools and resources available to us via the Internet. Find a need, read James Altucher's"Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Starting and Running Your Own Business", and do something. Whether it remains a small time hobby such as selling your homemade soup at the local farmers market or turns into the next big thing, it'll force you to enhance your skill set and give you something interesting to talk about in any interview or networking setting. If you're still scratching your head about where to start, consider checking out Noah Kagan's list of resources, which has never steered me wrong.

With anything that may be a new experience, be sure not overwhelm yourself. To combat this and turn these new ideas into long-term habits, Stanford's behavioral guru BJ Fogg would suggest changing your environment and taking baby steps when starting out with any of the suggestions above.

Remember, there's no better day than today to start, so use 2015 as the year where you continue to develop yourself and your story. This is not only for your own well-being but also to ensure you're armed with an interesting story to tell to ace and take the stress out of any interview or networking event you attend.