About the show
Looking Beyond With Michael Sikand is a time capsule for Michael's early years of building his brand, Our Future, through a series of high-energy interviews he conducted with business executives and startup founders as a 20-year-old University of Michigan student. Michael ended up pivoting to becoming a short video content creator and built Our Future into a media company he sold to Morning Brew at age 22. In 2022, Michael was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in media.
Episodes
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#72 Our Future Careers in Fashion: Léa Schmitt, Incoming Buying Intern at Bloomingdale's
November 12th, 2020 | 9 mins 6 secs
Our Future Careers is a new mini-series where students who have landed their dream jobs share the tips, tricks, and strategies so you can do the same. In Episode 72, listeners hear from Léa Schmitt, an Incoming Buying Intern at Bloomingdales, about recruiting into the fashion industry, what kinds of questions to expect when interviewing with brands, and her networking advice to students interested in the industry.
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#71 Nadia Masri, Founder & CEO of Perksy on the Future of Consumer Insights
November 10th, 2020 | 16 mins 35 secs
In Episode 71, listeners hear from Nadia Masri, Founder & CEO of Perksy and a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient, about how she revolutionized consumer insights by building a mobile first platform young people actually wanted to use, the long and calculated process of making her idea into a reality, and her career advice to young people–which is that entrepreneurship isn't the only path.
Check out Perksy: https://www.getperksy.com/
Nadia's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiagenevievemasri/
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#70 Greg Schwartz, COO & Co-Founder of StockX on Building a Billion Dollar Business
November 6th, 2020 | 19 mins 36 secs
In Episode 70, listeners hear from Greg Schwartz, COO and Co-Founder of StockX, the billion dollar startup unicorn that revolutionized e-commerce by bringing stock market mechanics to sneaker resale market. Greg explains the company's inception and early pivot from his future-focused social media platform (UpTwo), the mechanics that make the company the "stock market of things," and shares exciting and valuable insights on entrepreneurship and building a billion dollar business.
Check out StockX: https://stockx.com/
Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/
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#69 Our Future Careers in Finance: Kaitlyn Karban, Incoming Institutional Equity Summer Analyst at Morgan Stanley
November 5th, 2020 | 10 mins 26 secs
Our Future Careers is a new mini-series where students who have landed their dream jobs share the tips, tricks, and strategies so you can do the same. In Episode 69, listeners hear from Kaitlyn Karban, a student at University of Michigan Ross School of Business and Incoming Institutional Equity Summer Analyst at Morgan Stanley, about her recruiting journey into finance, the unique nature and challenges of working in sales and trading (S&T), and her advice to students interested in recruiting Wall Street.
Connect with Kaitie on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kkarban/
Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/
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#68 Dave Habiger, CEO of J.D. Power, Director at GrubHub & Chicago Federal Reserve, 2011 EY Entrepreneur of the Year
November 4th, 2020 | 17 mins 22 secs
In Episode 68, listeners hear from Dave Habiger, President & CEO of JD Power, the multi-billion dollar consumer insights machine for the auto industry. Dave has led an incredible adventure in business, leading entertainment tech company Sonic Solutions from 1993 until its IPO and its subsequent ~$1B sale in 2011, and he also serves as a Director on several boards, including GrubHub and the Chicago Federal Reserve. In this episode, Dave discusses his time at Sonic Solutions facilitating "Hollywood to Home" as the entertainment industry became more technologically advanced, as well as his insights on food delivery, the future of the automotive industry, and his advice to young leaders.
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#67 Our Future Careers in Consulting: Emily Inestroza, Analyst at Deloitte Consulting
October 29th, 2020 | 9 mins 19 secs
Our Future Careers is a new mini-series where students who have landed their dream jobs share the tips, tricks, and strategies so you can do the same. In today's episode you hear from Emily Inestroza, a graduate of USC Marshall and an Analyst at Deloitte Consulting, about her recruiting journey into the big four, why she realized accounting wasn't the right path, her experience at both a non-target and target school, how she landed her consulting job, and her networking advice to young professionals.
Connect with Emily on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyinestroza/
Subscribe to Our Future newsletter to get exclusive industry insights and career advice from the brightest minds in business at www.ourfuturehq.com!
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#66 David Brandon, Former CEO of Domino's Pizza & Toys R Us
October 27th, 2020 | 18 mins 50 secs
In Episode 65, listeners hear from David Brandon, Chairman of the Board at Domino's Pizza and Former CEO of Valassis Communications, Domino's Pizza, and Toys R Us, as well as former Athletic Director at the University of Michigan. David serves on the board of several companies including PetSmart, DTE Energy, Herman Miller and more.
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#65 Saturday Special: Why Quibi Failed
October 24th, 2020 | 10 mins 16 secs
As a short-form content creator and a media entrepreneur, I was fascinated and excited by Quibi founders Jeff Katzenberg and Meg Whitman's concept of bite-sized, TV-quality content delivered to your smartphone and nowhere else. Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard that Quibi is shutting down after failing to sell itself to another streaming service, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to do a saturday special breaking down a major news story. So I called up my fellow wannabe media mogul Simran Sandhu, Host of the Five Minute Drill, to talk about it. Simmy's podcast is daily news show delivering you the day's major stories, ad-free in a concise, energetic style perfect for young people.
Go and listen to Simmy's podcast, the Five Minute Drill, wherever you listen to podcasts.
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#64 Patrick Lahey, Co-Founder of Triton Submarines
October 23rd, 2020 | 19 mins 22 secs
In Episode 64, listeners hear from Patrick Lahey, Co-Founder and President of Triton Submarines, the company behind the world's finest, safest, and most luxurious submersibles, which have recorded the deepest oceanic dives in history as well as the stunning footage you have seen in nature documentaries, such as the first ever live sighting of a Giant Squid in its natural habitat. Patrick shares incredible career advice, business wisdom, and the amazing story of starting a submarine startup that ended up selling its vehicles to the likes of Ray Dalio.
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#63 Our Future Careers in Finance: Allie Reyes, Incoming Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Goldman Sachs
October 22nd, 2020 | 13 mins 41 secs
Our Future Careers is a new mini-series where students who have landed their dream jobs share the tips, tricks, and strategies so you can do the same. In today's episode you hear from Allie Reyes, a sophomore at University of New Hampshire and an incoming investment banking summer analyst at Goldman Sachs, about the importance of a strong personal story, ways to build relationships without the commonality of target school alumni networks, and her advice to students interested in recruiting finance.
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#62 Max Tendero, Founder of Civil Media
October 20th, 2020 | 15 mins 32 secs
In Episode 62, futurists hear from Max Tendero, Founder of Civil Media, a media startup committed to bridging the divide in mainstream political media by delivering headlines from both sides of the political spectrum to advance a common narrative that encourages healthy discourse. Every Wednesday, Civil delivers you a beautiful and balanced newsletter to give you the big picture at play in a major political topic so you can be more civil.
Subscribe to Civil Newsletter: https://civilmedia.io?rh_ref=2a9b8645
Check them out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/civilmedia.io/?hl=en
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#61 Xiao Guo, Director of Engineering at Instacart
October 16th, 2020 | 18 mins 43 secs
In Episode 61, listeners hear from Xiao Guo, Director of Engineering at Instacart, about the company's declaration of "wartime" and heroic efforts when the pandemic hit, the future of curation and personalization when it comes to digital groceries, and the company's partnerships with new companies like Macy's and Staples.
Our Future is a next-gen media startup creating aspirational content for young professionals. Every Sunday, we deliver exclusive insights and career advice from top business leaders to your inbox, so sign up at ourfuturehq.com.
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#60 Our Future Careers in Consulting: Michael Riley, Incoming Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company
October 15th, 2020 | 13 mins 18 secs
Our Future Careers is a new mini-series where students who have landed their dream jobs share the tips, tricks, and strategies so you can do the same. Our first season focuses on the consulting industry, one of the premier career paths for college graduates, and today we sit down with Michael Riley, an incoming business analyst at McKinsey & Company, and former summer intern at Bain & Company and PWC. He started off college as a recruited baseball player and pivoted to pursue a career in consulting, and he's crushed it. On this episode, he shares his keys to success in launching your career, networking, and business.
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#59 Joe Moore, CMO & Co-Founder of Xtreme Xperience
October 13th, 2020 | 20 mins 51 secs
In Episode 59, listeners hear from automotive entrepreneur Joe Moore, CMO & Co-Founder of Xtreme Xperience, about building the nation's premier supercar experience with a fleet of over 50 vehicles, starting off with literally the most basic of MVPs, and his advice to entrepreneurs which includes figuring out what you don't like first and not backing down in the face of competition.
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#58 Dr. Cliff Megerian, President & Incoming CEO at University Hospitals
October 9th, 2020 | 19 mins 9 secs
In Episode 58, listeners hear from Dr. Cliff Megerian, President & Incoming CEO at University Hospitals, about how hospitals are billion dollar businesses, leadership in a crisis during the onset of the pandemic, and his views on the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine.
About Our Future: Our Future is a next-gen media startup creating aspirational content for young professionals. Subscribe to our fun and digestible weekly newsletter which shares exclusive insights and career advice from top business leaders at ourfuturehq.com.
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#57 Our Future Careers in Consulting: Gregory Cervenak, Incoming Associate Consultant at Bain & Company
October 8th, 2020 | 11 mins
Our Future Careers is a new mini-series where students who have landed their dream jobs share the tips, tricks, and strategies so you can do the same. Today we sit down with Gregory Cervenak, an incoming Associate Consultant at Bain & Company and the founder of cultural fashion company: Staple Clothing. He discusses breaking down big problems into little pieces, shares some insider info on the case interview process, and of course voices his favorite industry jargon.
About Our Future: Our Future is a next-gen media startup creating aspirational content for young professionals. Become a futurist by subscribing on our website, ourfuturehq.com, to get access to exclusive content and resources.