Looking Beyond With Michael Sikand

#136 16-year-old Climate Activist w/ Sarah Goody, Founder of Climate Now

April 7th, 2021  |  16 mins 35 secs

In #136 futurists tune into an Our Future social impact episode, co-hosted with Jess Schmitt, featuring Sarah Goody, a 16-year-old climate activist and the founder of Climate Now. Sarah gained national attention from outlets like NBC, LA Times, and Good Morning America when in 8th grade, she protested in front of San Francisco City Hall for 50 consecutive Fridays to raise awareness for climate change. Since her initial campaign, Sarah has founded Climate Now, an organization focused on providing young people an introductory experience into the issue of climate change and the ways in which they can participate in reversing the planet's trajectory toward increased temperatures and natural disasters. Jess and I were blown away by Sarah's poise, professionalism, and incredible confidence as just a 16-year-old, and it's absolutley unreal the work she's doing to raise awareness for an issue she couldn't be more committed to solving. Don't miss this powerful and inspirational episode.

Check out Climate Now's website: https://www.climatenow.solutions/

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#135 The Netflix Story w/ Marc Randolph, Co-Founder of Netflix

April 5th, 2021  |  27 mins 40 secs

In #135, futurists tune into an epic conversation with legendary entrepreneur, Marc Randolph, the co-founder and first CEO of Netflix who walks us through the origin story of one of the most legendary startup stories in Silicon Valley history. When Marc and his co-founder, Reed Hastings, wanted to start a business in the late 90's they didn't have a clue where to start, and even thought they might do a shampoo or dog food company! In fact, Netflix's first name was Kibble.com (not kidding) until five months in, the team knew they would need a better name, with Randolph selecting the moniker that now defines modern entertainment. Marc scaled Netflix from a crazy idea into one of the most disruptive businesses in history, being responsible for the company's early user interface, branding, and data analytics system. After guiding the company through its 2002 IPO, Marc left the company, claiming to have been more interested in the startup phase. Since then, he's founded several successful companies, one of which is Looker, a multi-billion dollar data analytics company that was acquired by Google. In this podcast, Marc shares some incredible startup advice, participates in an underrated/overrated segment on hot business topics, and laughs remembering that Blockbuster rejected their offer to merge with the company for a mere $50M. Don't miss this crazy episode.

Get 50% off Verb Energy's caffeinated energy bars, which have just 90 calories and pack the same punch as a cup of coffee, coming in delicious flavors like Vanilla Latte, Double Chocolate, and Peppermint Mocha. You the Our Future listener can get 16 Verb energy bars for just $12 by purchasing through our unique link here: https://www.verbenergy.com/ourfuture

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#134 Managing Celebrity Startups & Retiring at Age 26 w/ Arvid Ali, Former President of Jordan Belfort, Former Global Managing Director at Shaun White Inc.

April 2nd, 2021  |  19 mins 3 secs

In #134, futurists learn from Arvid Ali, a 27-year-old entrepreneur and celebrity startup advisor, who claims to be financially retired at the age of 26. In middle school, Arvid was a coding prodigy, and in high school, he took college classes alongside his schoolwork, graduating at age 17 and going onto UCLA to study math and getting his bachelor's degree at age 19. After college, Arvid worked at several Fortune 500 companies before starting a recruiting consulting firm, helping venture-backed startups hire the right talent to their business, and in his early twenties, he served as Global Head of Talent for unicorn pharmacy startup: Alto. Arvid's next professional adventure was in the celebrity startup management space, and he landed his first celebrity management role with Olympic gold-medalist Shaun White, and later with Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street. In this podcast, Arvid drops some insane networking advice and some fascinating information about trends towards celebrity startups, as well as his financial advice for young professionals.

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#132 Superyachts, Private Jets, and Villas for Billionaires & Bond Villains w/ Andrew Winch, Founder & Creative Director at Winch Design

March 30th, 2021  |  18 mins 6 secs

In #132, futurists learn from world-famous designer Andrew Winch, Founder & Creative Director at Winch Design, one of the world's preeminent design studios based in London, England. Throughout his career, Winch has designed some of the world's finest sailboats, 300 ft+ superyachts, private jet cabins, and luxury residences in the world, running a fantastical design business which he refers to as "delivering dreams". One of Winch's more notable projects included designing Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's private jet, which was expected to cost as much as $300 million USD. In this podcast, Winch discusses how he got his start in one of the world's most niche businesses, and touches on some key lessons all young entrepreneurs should carry forth in the business world, like the art of never saying no. Winch did an incredible job of coloring each of his points with sage wisdom, and this podcast is a must listen for any entrepreneur or young professional looking to uncover their passion and dive headfirst into their vision. Don't miss this one!
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#131 Redefining Student Engagement w/ Rahul Khatti, Co-Founder & CEO of Uniflow

March 26th, 2021  |  15 mins 22 secs

In #131, futurists learn from University of Michigan sophomore, Rahul Khatti, Co-Founder & CEO of Uniflow, a student engagement software seeking to transform the way students find organizations and communities on campus that best fit their personal and professional goals. When club recruiting went fully-virtual at Michigan in the fall, Rahul and the team created a prototpye in less than a month and landed a pilot program with Michigan Ross. Since that time, the company has secured contracts with five businesss schools, including USC Marshall and Penn State Smeal, and is now targeting High Schools to help students find opportunities at not only the local, but also national level to gain access to better co-curricular activities.

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#130 Revolutionizing STEM Education w/ Mary Hadley, CEO at MakerGirl

March 24th, 2021  |  14 mins 42 secs

NEW SERIES: Our Future in Social Impact. We're launching a new interview vertical focused on young entrepreneurs in the social impact space with guest co-host Jess Schmitt, co-founder of Electric Potential. In #130 and the inaugural episode of this series, listeners learn from 23-year-old CEO Mary Hadley, CEO at MakerGirl, a nonprofit with the mission of educating the next generation of female makers to be unstoppable forces that say “Yes!” to the challenges of tomorrow. MakerGirl does this through STEM education sessions led by University women and men, educating girls on how to 3D print and CAD, focusing on girls aged 7-10. In this interview you'll learn about how Mary went from chemistry major to nonprofit CEO, the importance of STEM education, and why you should consider working at a startup out of school. Don't miss this inspiring episode!

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#129 Growing GrubHub to $3 Billion w/ Mike Evans, Co-Founder of GrubHub, Founder of Fixer.com

March 22nd, 2021  |  23 mins 29 secs

In #129, futurists tune into an epic interview with Mike Evans, the co-founder of GrubHub and founder of Fixer.com. A few years after graduating M.I.T., Mike didn’t understand why there wasn't an aggregated list of restaurants nearby that delivered to you. So on a bus ride home from his job as a software developer, he coded up the GrubHub MVP, and went out to sell it, restaurant by restaurant. Mike had a blast scaling GrubHub from an MVP to a $3 billion company and he shares some incredible stories about lean startup methodology, selling your first customers, understanding competititon, and why the Gig economy is severely flawed. Exiting the business after its 2014 IPO, Mike is now the founder of Fixer.com, which trains and employs tradespeople (electricians, plumbers) and hires them out to homeowners. If you like what Mike has to say, check out his new book, “Hangry” which documents his journey building GrubHub and his insights on the Gig Economy. This one was insane, don't miss it.

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Pre-Order Mike's Book: https://www.mikeevans.com

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#128 16-year-old Hedge Fund Entrepreneur w/ Jack Fox, Founder of Foxy Capital LLC

March 19th, 2021  |  18 mins 6 secs

In #128, futurists get their mind blown by Colorado high-school student and finance wizard, Jack Fox, founder of Foxy Capital LLC. At age 16, Jack has started a hedge fund with an initial raise of $250,000 from some of the most successful investors in the world, which after 6 months is surging over 30% in returns. This young genius started investing when he was 11 years old, and got addicted to the world of finance before he was out of sixth grade, blasting through Benjamin Graham's "The Intelligent Investor" and all of Warren Buffet's writing. While most kids were getting excited about going to see the newest Disney movie, Jack was buying stock in the company because he was optimistic about the company's future. It's absoltuley unreal what Jack is doing at such a young age and he's a decade ahead of his peers, but he needs to get more sleep. On this podcast, Jack discusses managing a fund while in high school, his ethos on investing, some of his favorite stocks, and his advice to anyone that wants to start investing.

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#127 $2 Million in Funding to Build TikTok for Dating w/ 21-year-old Marc Baghadjian, Co-Founder and CEO at Lolly

March 17th, 2021  |  16 mins 4 secs

In #127, futurists learn from Marc Baghadjian, Co-Founder and CEO at Lolly, the new Gen-Z dating app combining TikTok and Tinder. As a cross between those two platforms, Lolly asks users to upload short videos to their profiles for potential matches to scroll through in a vertical feed that feels strongly reminiscent of TikTok. So far, Marc and the team have raised over $2M, from investors like Former Ticketmaster CEO John Pleasants, Former Apple CEO John Sculley, SV Angel, So-Fi co-founder Daniel Macklin, Wired Ventures co-founder Jane Metcalfe, former SV Angel General Partner Kevin Carter, Correlation Ventures and Next Coast Ventures. On this podcast, Marc drops some crazy entrepreneurial wisdom and details his plan to build the next great dating app, covering how he secured investors, why he saw a disconnect with Tinder, his advice to other young entrepreneurs. Don't miss this wild episode with the next big 21-year-old entrepreneur.

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#126 The Most Insane Garage In The World w/ Pat Meignan, Founder & CEO of TheArsenale

March 15th, 2021  |  15 mins 15 secs

In #126, futurists learn from Pat Meignan, Founder & CEO of TheArsenale, the world's leading online marketplace for micro industrial and independent builders, as well as a media brand and social medium showcasing the future of mobility. Anything you might see James Bond driving, you can find at TheArsenale–everything from skateboards, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, drones, boats, planes, timepieces and high end art pieces. TheArsenale has offices and showrooms across the world, including in Miami, Macau, and Paris. In this interview, Pat discusses how he built "the most insane garage in the world," his experience flying around China in a classified drone, and his advice to young entrepreneurs.

Check out TheArsenale: https://thearsenale.com/pages/shop

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#125 Making Moonshots Author, Rahul Rana, on Writing a Book and Landing his Dream Job at Age 19

March 12th, 2021  |  13 mins 19 secs

In #125, futurists learn from Rahul Rana (@rrana03_), a sophomore at Rutgers University, an associate at Lux Capital (a VC firm specializing in deeptech), and the 20-year-old author extraordinare of new book "Making Moonshots," a deep-dive into the mindsets, philosophies, and strategies that are conducive to building moonshot companies—deeptech + radical solution + solving huge problems. I was lucky enough to speak on a panel with Rahul, and I was struck by something he said: "creating content maximizes serendipity," which I thought was an amazing way to capture the magic of being a content creator and public-facing personality. By writing a book about his passion for deep-tech companies and "moonshot" startups, countless doors opened for Rahul, including countless introductions, meetings, podcast features, and a job offer at his dream company. As a sophomore in college, Rahul is an associate at the venture capital firm that specializes in the very companies he wrote about in his book, and by becoming a creator, Rahul rode straight into his dream position, skipping any kind of traditional application process. This podcast is a fantastic summary of what a "moonshot" company is, features some great conversations about space companies and the cold war, details the process of writing a book + Rahul's new VC gig, and why creating content = the key to exponential growth and opportunity in the business world. You've got to listen.

Check out Rahul's book: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Moonshots-Rahul-Rana/dp/163676620X

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Check out Rahul's book: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Moonshots-Rahul-Rana/dp/163676620X

#124 Our Future Careers in Finance: Shruti Venkat, Incoming Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Goldman Sachs

March 10th, 2021  |  12 mins 34 secs

In #124 of Our Future Careers, listeners hear from Shruti Venkat, a sophomore at Princeton University and an incoming Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Goldman Sachs. Shruti has some incredibly impressive experiences in the world of finance under her belt as just a sophomore, and on this electric episode, she shares her career advice for recruiting banking, the interview process, her mindset going into her internship search, and why it's important to believe in yourself and shoot your shot. This interview was a blast, so tune into hear Shruti's elite mindset as one of the most ambitious young professionals to grace our weekly careers series. Don't miss it!

Connect with Shruti on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shrutivenkat17/

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#123 Building a Billion Dollar Car-Sharing Marketplace w/ Shelby Clark, Founder of Turo

March 9th, 2021  |  17 mins 20 secs

In #123 listeners hear from Shelby Clark, Founder of Turo, the world's largest peer to peer, car-sharing marketplace where you can book any car you want, wherever you want it, from a vibrant community of trusted hosts across the US, Canada, and the UK. Most recently, the company was valued at over $1 billion, giving it Unicorn status, as it looks to put the world's 1.5 billion vehicles to better use as the "Airbnb" for cars. Shelby founded the company as a student at Harvard Business School, realizing he could decentralize the Zipcar model by making every vehicle accessible to anybody wherever they are. After stepping down as CEO in 2019, Shelby continues to advise the company as it charges on to reinvent the peer-to-peer model. It's an incredible entrepreneurial story, so don't miss this one!

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#122 Revolutionizing Young Entrepreneurship w/ Listener of the Week: Michelangelo Valtancoli, Cass Business School '21, Co-Founder of Almost Founders

March 7th, 2021  |  10 mins 37 secs

Listener of the Week is a series where we bring a member of the Our Future audience up to the podcast stage to share with the community how they are building their future, in context of our future. In #122, futurists hear from listener of the week, Michelangelo Valtancoli, a graduate of Cass Business School and the Founder of Almost Founders, an ed-tech startup with the goal of revolutionizing how young student founders learn to be founders. Almost Founders consists of a podcast for aspiring founders, with practical 15-minute topic-specific episodes, as well as free networking events to meet other aspiring founders, free chats with successful founders, member-only internships, and access to a strong network of partners and VCs. When Michelangelo and his co-founder Kourosh Ghaffari Ghazi Said first came to me with their plan to build this company, I was floored by their ambition and drive. Since that time, they've built an extremely vibrant community and some awesome media products that add value to the lives of young builders, don't miss this episode!

Check out Almost Founders Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6EMNZGQ0jbyMJdAQRyFn40?si=3n7xEEBcT7WoKcqYrKFL6w

Book your slot to be Listener of the Week: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E42XO3jIQE3_rGuOqtlh7IYuFBTW7v-b0dH6R5QM_iI/edit?usp=sharing

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#121 Raising $500K and Producing 35,000 PPE Products at Age 19 with Krishna Koka, Founder & CEO of PWR4 Inc.

March 3rd, 2021  |  14 mins 16 secs

In #121, futurists hear from Krishna Koka, the Founder & CEO of PWR4 (previously PPE4All) and a 19-year-old Biomedical Engineeing Student at the University of Michigan. As COVID began to rear its ugly head on U.S. soil, Krishna couldn't bear to watch the atrocities occurring, so he spun up a non-profit enterprrise run by students creating face-shields and other PPE, and routing it to the hospitals that needed it the most. Krishna's organization has delivered over 34,000 PPE products across the country, and now he he has a big, bold vision way beyond the current pandemic. He wants to reinvent giving and bring startup culture to the non-profit space, and he tells us all about it on the podcast, don't miss this one!

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#120 Yahoo Message Boards to Worldwide Media Company with Jason Raznick, Founder & CEO of Benzinga + Internship Opportunity

March 1st, 2021  |  17 mins 48 secs

In #120, futurists meet Jason Raznick, the Founder & CEO of Benzinga, a financial news and content ecosystem that serves over 25 million readers a month in 125 countries. Jason has started and run several successful businesses, his first in college, when he launched an online textbook store for University of Michigan students, but behind the scenes of operating startups, Jason has always been excellent at finding high-growth small-cap stocks. He founded Benzinga in 2010 to bring media coverage to an asset class underlooked by more established media outlets, and he's built a thriving media company based on his vision to create content for small-caps. Listen to this interview to learn the full story behind Benzinga and some incredible lessons in entrerpreneurship. Oh and did I mention Jason is looking for college kids obsessed with the stock market to come on board to write about finance and get paid for it? Apply to this Our Future exclusive internship below!

Apply to Benzinga Writer Internship: https://forms.gle/XDpZr3G4TAe9Jf9x9

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