Having Our New York City Baby During COVID-19

IT’S A GIRL!

Siena Rae Siskar was born on Wednesday, April 8th in New York City! You can find all the cute baby photos here and here!

When Colleen got pregnant nine months ago, we had no idea the rollercoaster we would be in for. The week before Siena was born, hospitals were not even allowing birth partners into the building. Luckily, Governor Cuomo signed an executive order to reverse that decision, so no women would have to labor alone. We were both incredibly relieved to know we could be together for the birth of our first child.

As part of the new policy, New York City hospitals began testing all women entering labor and delivery for COVID-19 upon arrival. We arrived at the hospital around 6:00 am. Colleen was tested via a nasal swab and I had my temperature taken. While we waited for the results, she was admitted and the rest of the morning was fairly smooth for both of us.

Then around 1:00pm, Colleen’s COVID test unfortunately came back positive, even though she was asymptomatic. I asked if I could then be tested but due to a nation wide shortage of tests, the hospital is not testing any spouses. Instead per hospital policy, they just assume that because I'm living with their patient, it means I have been exposed. As a result, I was asked to leave the hospital at that time and Colleen would have to deliver on her own. Saying goodbye and leaving was not easy emotionally, to say the least. I left the hospital in lower manhattan and took a lonely walk back home to process what had just happened, over an eerily empty Brooklyn Bridge.

I called our parents to tell them the news. Then I was FaceTimed in for the rest of the day from home. Fortunately, the hospital did allow a replacement partner as part of the Governors Executive order. A person who had not been in contact with Colleen for 14 days. Luckily Colleen’s childhood friend Talitha stepped up in very last minute and was allowed to take my place. It meant the world to both of us that Colleen wouldn’t have to deliver alone!   

A few hours later I watched over a Zoom call from my laptop at home as Siena Rae was born just before midnight! We had kept the gender a surprise for the whole pregnancy and we were so excited to find out our baby was a girl!

Looking back on it, I think Colleen and I had very mild cases of COVID-19 in the middle of March. Around that time we both lost our sense of taste and smell and developed a dry cough out of nowhere. We also had a few other friends in New York City who had very mild symptoms as well. However, due to the lack of accessible testing, there was no way to know for sure at the time.

So while Colleen tested positive in the hospital the doctors are confident she was already over it, and that is why she was asymptomatic. Siena was tested for the next 2 weeks by her pediatrician and has stayed negative, which is a massive relief. Per doctors orders, we had been wearing masks at home for those first few weeks to ensure her protection.

So I missed being in person for the birth and it was an incredibly stressful day. But looking back in hindsight, I am just grateful that everyone is home and healthy now. I am confident we did what was right to protect Colleen, the baby, and the amazing hospital workers.

Looking forward there is a lot of research regarding mothers passing on antibodies to babies through breast milk. We might even join a Mt. Sinai research study to help further the research being done in this space. Our doctors hope is that Colleen will pass the antibodies to Siena and she will be protected. 🙏🏻

Presently, happy to report that everyone is healthy and we are so excited to be spending time together at home as a new family!

My wife Colleen has also published her side of the story here, which I obviously recommend reading.

LIVE EVENT! Cryptocurrency, ICO, & Blockchain Law in 2018 with Joe Daniels of McCarter & English

Joe Daniels, Co-Chair of McCarter & English Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Companies practice

This episode comes to you from the heart of New York City for our first live podcast episode discussing cryptocurrency, ICO, & blockchain law. In late January almost 100 founders gathered at the offices of McCarter & English for our January Founder Institute Meetup! The crypto founders there heard from Joe Daniels, who is the Co-Chair of the McCarter & English's Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Companies practice. Joe has worked on numerous SAFT & token offerings, including San Francisco based Quantstamp, which just raised $30 million in its pre-sale, along with Augmate, The Valorem Foundation, RealECoin, VIMarkets, CoinBoost, and RecylcleGO.

During this event, Joe reviewed the current cryptocurrency, blockchain, & initial coin offering laws in 2018. Learn the key things that you need to know about ICO's, the SEC, international business, SAFT agreements, and more. If you are interested in understanding the legalities around cryptocurrencies, tokens, and the blockchain, then you will definitely enjoy this episode. The slides that Joe is going over during his presentation are available below if you want to follow along. They are packed with information, such as: 

• What are Blockchain Tokens (Cryptocurrencies)

• What is an ICO

• How much has been raised in ICOs / SAFTs

• How do SAFT agreements work

• Regulatory Issues w/ ICOs

• The SEC's response to the emergence of cryptocurrencies

• Current Best Practices for cryptocurrencies

Follow Along With All The Slides From The Event:

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Listen to this episode now: 

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Join the shows A-list backchannel for exclusive access to additional Ambition Today content, deeper guest insights, a community of fellow fans, and much more. Plus, Learn the single greatest piece of advice this guest has ever learned! 

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…

You can find the full transcript of this episode here. 

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform.

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Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

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WeWork

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How Peter Shankman Thinks "Faster Than Normal" And Built Help A Reporter Out (HARO)

Peter Shankman 

On this episode of Ambition Today we explore Peter Shankman’s journey. Peter is the perfect example of what happens when you combine creativity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Peter shows us how ADHD can be a gift and a strong advantage in business. He is not only an entrepreneur, but an author and a notable public speaker. Many know him for founding Help A Reporter Out, (HARO). He is also the founder of ShankMinds Business Masterminds and he is the Host of the Faster Than Normal Podcast.

Peter was born and raised in Manhattan, and was a New York City public school kid. After graduating from Boston University and going to Graduate school in Santa Barbara, CA, he started his professional career launching AOL Digital Newsroom. Peter is most well known for founding Help A Reporter Out, also known as HARO, which is the worlds largest public group of journalistic sources. In this episode, we talk about how Peter’s ADHD had a great impact on his many successes:

• Growing up in New York City
• Launching AOL Digital Newsroom
• The importance of having incredible mentors like Steve Case 
• What is happening to the media industry today
• How Peter built Help A Reporter Out, (HARO)
• Using ADHD as an advantage
• How to create life rules to optimize your time
• Importance of self-awareness 
• Value of asking everyone "How Can I Help" 

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:
"How do you think about attention management and how do you best optimize your life for it?"
 

The Single Greatest Piece of Advice Peter Has Ever Learned:
Join the Ambition Today A-list to listen now!
 

Quote Of The Episode:
"You have to put out 10 times the amount of help into the universe that you ask for."
 

Links from this episode:

• Faster Than Normal Book - Out Now!
• Faster Than Normal Podcast
• FasterThanNormal.com
• Help A Reporter Out, (HARO)
• Shankman.com
• Peter Shankman on Twitter
• Peter Shankman on Facebook
• WeWork
• Founder Institute

Listen to this episode now: 

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Join the shows A-list backchannel for exclusive access to additional Ambition Today content, deeper guest insights, a community of fellow fans, and much more. Plus, Learn the single greatest piece of advice this guest has ever learned! 

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…

You can find the full transcript of this episode here. 

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform.

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Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Founder Institute

WeWork

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What Happens When Every Accelerator In New York City Comes Together

Supporting startup founders to help them grow their companies is my biggest passion.

Through my work as Managing Director of the Founder Institute, a startup accelerator in New York, I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to do just that for a few years now. Doing this well requires a lot of work and even more help. It would not be possible to support our amazing founders without the remarkable dedication of our team, our tremendous mentors, monthly events, partnerships, supporting sponsors, and so much more. There is an exorbitant amount of effort that goes into making any great startup accelerator tick.

So I, along with a few other NYC Managing Directors got to thinking about how can we bring the same level of support we give to our founders; to help support the Accelerators, Incubators and Innovation programs themselves. If we can help improve them, then perhaps we can make a pretty big dent in helping to grow the entire overall New York City startup ecosystem. 

Without further ado and after months of work, I am happy to announce to you; the New York City Innovation Collective! We have officially incorporated a nonprofit to form an alliance of NYC's top technology organizations working together to support and grow our amazing community. The Collective is now comprised of over 80 incredible New York City accelerators, incubators, and platforms of innovation. It is our mission to shape and strengthen the entire startup ecosystem through increased collaboration, transparency and access for everyone involved. 

So what happens when all these organizations come together?

For founders and everyone involved it looks like better access to local accelerators, incubators, and innovation programs. It means superior mentors, more connections to investors, stronger curriculums, deeper partnerships, improved events,  and more. All of this additional support resulting in stronger companies throughout the local startup ecosystem! 

If you want to see for yourself what this looks like then please join us for the NY Annual Startup Ecosystem Summit to be held on Friday April 28th in New York. 

I personally could not be more excited for the future of the startup ecosystem in New York City and everything that is happening here! It has been an incredible journey thus far, and on the macro level, we are just getting started. If you would like to get involved with the Innovation Collective in New York City or in another city let me know! I can't wait to hear from you! 

Live Video + NYC = Geoff Golberg

Yesterday I caught up with Geoff Golberg, NYC's live video expert. If you have been following me for more than a year now you know I love how live video is changing the world. Geoff loves it too. So much so that his work with live video over the last year got him nominated as Periscoper of the Year at the Shorty Awards right alongside other popular Scopers such as Gary Vaynerchuk, Tom Green and more.

So yesterday after some coffee and lunch we hit the streets of New York City armed with our smartphones and some live streaming apps in search of some great content to stream live. After all;

"Content Is King" - Bill Gates

And content is also now fleeting. Both Periscope and Snapchat disappear after 24 hours. So before it is gone, go right now and quickly watch what we were up too around New York City. Here are the links to our profiles on the following social networks: 

Geoff's:

• Periscope (archive)
• Snapchat
• Twitter

Kevin's:

• Periscope (archive)
• Snapchat (archive)
• Twitter

I wanted to share some of the insightful takeaways from hanging our afternoon of live video streaming. First off as mentioned, content is actually king. Unlike other forms of media, with live video streaming the content has to be happening right now for you to film it and broadcast it simultaneously. You can't record it and edit later. Luckily living in NYC means that finding live content is not much of an issue. Second, a strong cell signal and wifi are a must! Before going live, it was important to take a moment and ensure that you had a strong data connection. If you don't then your audience quickly loses interest and leaves your pixilated low quality stream. Without strong data you mine as well go home. Lastly, you need to post a lot! Posting once and awhile is not enough to build an actual audience.

I was impressed to see the community that Geoff had build and how engaged his followers were once he went live on Periscope or he Snapchatted to his story. I can't wait to see how the evolution of live video continues in 2016 or how Geoff further explores it with his audiences. 

Everyday Is Donors Choose Best School Day

Last month you may have heard about "Best School Day" courtesy of Stephen Colbert and some other very generous individuals. Several successful people around the United States secretly flash funded every Donors Choose campaign in their home cities, totaling over $14 million in donations in one day.

If you are not familiar with Donors Choose, it is a crowd funding education platform that connects teachers in high-need communities with donors who want to help. It is a great platform and it has impacted classrooms all over the country. I have seen it's effect personally before through the hard and impressive work of Colleen, or Ms. M as her students call her. While Best School Day may be over there is still plenty of good to be done, so I wanted to highlight one Donors Choose campaign that I am supporting right now.

"Budding Artists Need Art Supplies & Literacy Resources!" is a current Donors Choose campaign by Ms. M at P.S. 172 Elementary School in Brooklyn which will help over 450 Arts Students. Specifically, the students need art cards to support literacy, an artist DVD, papers, paints, a light box, glue tubes, and texture rollers to carry out art lessons throughout all elementary grades. To support these arts students, just learn more about Ms. M's work at P.S. 172, or to get involved with any other project on Donors Choose you can click here. I know the students will appreciate it! 

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

Adam Besvinick, Principal VENTURE CAPITALIST aT Deep Fork Capital

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. 

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?

Links from this episode: 

• Adam Besvinick

• Deep Fork Capital

• VentureMinded.Me

• From Jefferies to Wanelo: A 2.5-Year “Job Search”

• Gumroad

• Lowercase Capital

• Product Hunt Live Chat with Chris Sacca

• Forbes 30 Under 30

• Rebelmail

• Transfix

• Chalk

• Educents

• VSporto

• EaseCentral

• Passo

• One Concern

• StatMuse

• Vive

• Review Ambition Today

• Ambition Today Stickers

• Founder Institute

• Audible

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…

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

Listen to this episode now: 

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Founder Institute New York

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. 

Ambition Today: Alex Konrad of Forbes on Harvard, Media, and Startup Venture Capital

Episode 13 comes to you from New York Offices of Forbes as we are joined by Alex Konrad. Alex is a staff writer at Forbes covering venture capital, startups and enterprise tech. 

Aside from our discussion around Kanye West's recent discovery of Twitter we explore Alex's journey to now. Alex grew up in New York City, then went on to write at the Harvard Crimson before working at Fortune. Alex now is a staff writer at Forbes and also works on the Forbes Midas List, ranking the top Venture Capitalists of the past year, and the Forbes 30 Under 30, highlighting up and coming creative and business people. Today we talk about Harvard, the future of media, startups and venture capital. We cover a lot in this episode. including: 

• Getting into Harvard.

• Working for the Harvard Crimson news and editorial board.

• Why empathy matters so much in today's world.

• How Alex got his start at Fortune working on the Fortune 500.

• The relationship between print and digital articles in 2016.

• When to go outside your "swim lane".

• How to become a real New Yorker?

• The advantages of the New York Tech Scene.

• Writing the Forbes Midas List and Forbes 30 Under 30.

• How large tech companies grow global startup ecosystems.

• What global cities are up and coming for startups.

• Why are the Venture Capital markets slowing down.

• The best way to get media attention for your brand.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

How important is self marketing?

Links from this episode: 

• Alex Konrad at Forbes

• Alex Konrad on Twitter

• Alex Konrad at Fortune

• The Harvard Crimson

• The Future Is Empathy

• Forbes Midas List

• Forbes 30 Under 30

• Fortune 500

• Everything You Need To Know About A Possible Slowdown In Venture Capital Investing

• Ambition Today Stickers

• Founder Institute

• Audible

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

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…

Listen to this episode now: 

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

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Founder Institute New York

Founder Institute New York Graduates FINY10

Wednesday February 24th celebrated the graduation of FI NY 10. The tenth batch of the Founder Institute in New York. The Fall 2015 semester in New York's Silicon Alley ends with nine great companies. Of course none of this would be possible with out the incredible lessons, experience, and wisdom brought to the program by our mentors. 

Here are the new companies building a better tomorrow: 

DealGeeks - Drive foot traffic into your business.

Donate Me - Help vetted students go to the college they deserve.

Home-Cooked Dinner Club - Fastest way to a home-cooked meal.

My Citizen Source -  The first U.S. citizenship game.

Paction - Friend to friend marketing platform. 

Pocmi - Connecting companies with international talent.

Ready To Go Survival - Personalized emergency survival packages.

Sofos Labs -  On-demand one-on-one legal experts.

Stareable - Searchable. Shareable. Stareable.

Startup Of The Week: Fund That Flip

I am starting a new blog segment called the "Startup Of The Week", or S.O.T.W.™ for short, where I plan to highlight a great startup each week. There are several startups working to make the world a better place and I want to tell you a little bit more about some of them. The Startup Of The Week I have selected for the week of January 25th is Fund That Flip. 

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Fund That Flip

Founder: Matt Rodak, CEO

Headquarters: New York, New York          Operating: United States

One sentence pitch: The easiest way to fund your real estate investments.

In my words: Fund That Flip connects real estate investors, starting at only a $5,000 minimum, who are looking to invest money with house flippers that are looking to borrow money for an upcoming renovation.

In their words: "We are technology, real estate and financial service professionals on a mission to create new opportunities for Investors to take advantage of the positive returns real estate can provide. At the same time, we are helping re-developers access a new source of capital so they can focus on what they do best – finding and rehabilitating homes so they are again livable. Leveraging our team’s diverse expertise and new legislation passed as part of the JOBS Act, we are building the preferred real estate investment marketplace for investors and re-developers."

Accomplishments: 

• Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator
• Founder Institute New York

How it Works:  

If you want to learn more or let me know your thought on this week's Startup Of The Week you can contact me here.

Spireworks & The Value Of Exclusivity: How An Invite Only App Controls New York’s Skyline

From almost anywhere in New York City you can see the colored antenna's on top of One Bryant Park and Four Times Square. They are a definite part of the New York City skyline and every few moments they change color.

I recently heard a story from a friend of mine who was at a party in New York City. The host of the event he was at pulled his phone out of his pocket and instructed my friend to pick a color on the screen. He pressed purple. The host then instructed him to look up toward the top of an actual skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The antenna at the top of One Bryant Park had changed to the color purple. There was a moment of disbelief. 

The idea that the hosts phone was actually controlling the colors at the top of real world skyscrapers seemed unreal. Could you imagine the ability to carry with you a button in your pocket that could at any moment you see fit, alter the colors of the New York skyline for all to see from New Jersey to the Bronx, to Long Island. 

Believe it or not, that app exists and it is called Spireworks. It was made by The Durst Organization who developed and owns several office towers in New York City. The Spireworks app has been in beta and invite only since it's live launch in 2010. All in all only a few hundred people are rumored to have access to the Spireworks app. Now I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that after hearing that story you want a Spireworks invite. I know I did. 

While I patiently waited for the day I could bet strangers that the top of a sky scraper is going to change to a specific color and then be right, the real lesson here lies in the value of exclusivity. The Spireworks app is a real world example of that. So is the English Royal family abroad, the Navy Seals here in the United States, and all the Country Clubs I bartended at in order to put myself through college. A lesson that startups should use to their advantage.

The best part is that when you release a new product you can actually create and then apply this value in order to use it to your advantage. You will turn what should be an inherent weakness in your offering, the fact that no one has access to your product yet because they simply do not know about it, into an advantage whereas the new reason no one has access to your product is because they simply haven't been invited yet. This changes the dynamic of the normal relationship people have with products. In the exclusive scenario the responsibility to "get" the product falls on the end customers ability to chase after it via tracking down an invite code.

A few companies have done a great job at this recently. Regardless of the end story, the Google Glass Explorers Program did a tremendously successful job at fostering early adoption even though the price was over $1,500. Beme launched it's new app with user referral unlock codes that created a frenzy to the point where people were selling the unlock codes for cash online. Most recently the new game @getstolen, where can own your friends Twitter profiles, tweets out one unlock code for only 500-1,000 people each day.

🔑🔑🔑they don't WANT u 2 have a #StolenCode, so we gonna GIVE you a code -> "MADLUV" FAN LUV BLESS UP 🔑🔑🔑

— Stolen! (@getstolen) January 10, 2016

Creating and leveraging the power of exclusivity can be a powerful tool. Spireworks invite only system is one of the best examples of that. Creating exclusivity gives you the ability to throttle the number of early users while still ironing out your core product. It turns a weakness around awareness into a strength. Also, it can result in increased promotion via word of mouth virality of your product. Lastly it attracts higher quality and more engaged users of your product which will be exponentially more useful to your initial product iterations and refinement.

Ambition Today: Rob Principe, Founder & CEO of Scratch On Partnering With Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., The Future Of Music, And The Rise Of The DJ

Rob Principe, CEO of Scratch Music Group

Episode nine of Ambition Today finds us with the King of the DJ's, Rob Principe, the Founder & CEO of Scratch Music Group.

Young Rob Principe with Run-D.M.C.

Growing up on Long Island as a child Rob loved music, especially Run D.M.C.  One day the popular music group happened to sit down next to him on a plane as he was traveling to a tennis tournament. Afterword he took a picture with the group. Fast forward years later Rob had founded Scratch Music Group and after some hustle, Rob would show this very picture to Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. in a greenroom at the Letterman Show in New York City while pitching him his vision. Jam Master Jay was in and together they co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy. I found Rob's story to be pretty incredible. During this episode we go over the history of Scratch as well as: 

• What is it like meeting your childhood hero's.

• How Rob and Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy.

• The importance of building credibility when building your initial startup's team.

• Recognizing that defining inspirational moment in your life that changes the path your on.

• How Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. came to collaborate on "Walk This Way".

• The moment when your startup becomes and feels real to you as the founder.

• Converting your initial traction into a paid business model.

• The importance of moving the chains over and over during the early years of your startup.

• The future of DJ'ing and Music

• How Music Festivals became so popular.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

Do you think childhood plays a role in defining who people become?

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

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Links from this episode: 

• Scratch Music Group

• @Rob_Principe on Twitter

• @princee09 on Instagram

• Herbie Hancock - Rockit

• Run-D.M.C. & Aerosmith - Walk This Way

• Kid Capri

• Run-D.M.C.

• Forbes DJ List

• A-Trak

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…

Listen to this episode now: 

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

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Founder Institute New York

Investing In Moonshots

There is a reason that the header image on this site is a scene from the movie Tomorrowland. I believe thats startups can work to build a better tomorrow. I believe when that work is applied to tremendous goals, like moonshots, it can result in incredible outcomes for a better world. 

Moonshots focus on a huge problem, a radical solution and breakthrough technology. It usually takes a particular type of fresh, audacious thinking to even conceive of a moonshot, and then an amazing team with passionate leaders to pursue it. 

Urban Enhancement

Human Enhancement

One of the best new ways to think about moonshots is the concept of 10x thinking or thinking exponentially. This weekend I mentored a Team X event in New York City which had 2 challenges. The Urban Enhancement challenge was to focus on a 10x improvement to resolve safety, security and health challenges through Robotics, AI and Biotech. The other challenge was to figure out a Moonshot solution for Human Enhancement, to resolve accessibility and mobility challenges through Robotics, AI and Biotech. Teams for both challenges had some BIG solutions that could change the lives of billions of people on earth.

It is always interesting to encourage people to think bigger. Exponential thinking is a mindset and when applied it can result in 10x or even 100x results. A great example explored this weekend was of what Tesla did with the electric motor and vehicle. Tesla committed to the moonshot. Their mission statement was to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible. Tesla is now the premier luxury vehicle. Recently it broke consumer reports rating system scoring the car 103 out of 100. 

Meanwhile competitor Fiskar built a hybrid gas and electric vehicle. Many investors played it safe and invested in Fiskar as it seemed like a smoother and safer transition to an electric motor future. However, Fiskar failed and went into bankruptcy. 

"If you invest in a bridge technology you are likely to be left behind, think 10x" - @jackhidary pic.twitter.com/G5a61dDCl0

— Kevin Siskar (@TheSiskar) November 7, 2015

A trend is happening where moonshots are increasing in their success rate over less ambitious ventures. This is enabled by the rapid growth in access to new and emerging technologies. If you invest in a bridge technology you are likely to be left behind. So if you are going to do something, it is time you start thinking bigger about it. Think exponential. Think 10x. 

Founder Institute New York Graduates Twelve New Companies

With the 2015 Summer Semester of the Founder Institute coming to a close this week there is now twelve new companies formed in New York's Silicon Alley.

The Founder Institute is an early-stage startup accelerator and global launch network that helps entrepreneurs create meaningful and enduring technology companies. Through a four month program, existing and prospective founders can launch their dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs. 

On November 4, 2015 we will gather graduates, mentors, investors, and friends to celebrate the twelve newest Graduates of the New York City Founder Institute. In addition to the Graduation Ceremony, guests will be treated to short business pitches from the graduates.

Here are the companies building a better tomorrow: 

Beginex -  Start your tech career with real work experience.

Bigger Dreams - Comprehensive career prep for High-School students.

Ballyhoo - Home of parody.

Collar and Kitchen - Real food, balanced just for dogs.

Easy Aerial Inc - Modular smart drones for industrial applications. 

Happy Heart Kid - Helping families "Play with Purpose".

Mise en place (mepNYC) - Bringing people back around the table.

The ffoodd company - Creating equal food access one order at a time.

Petvet Technologies Inc - Real time medical billing insurance claims for Veterinarians

Viozel - Find, quote, and track the progress of med tech services.

Virtzy - Connecting beauty & wellness professionals. 

Ward eSports - Find communities for every eSports game.