The 4 P's of a Professional

Most of you have heard of the 4 P’s of Marketing, tools for you to use to take your product or service to market. They are guidelines, a framework to build off from and to use to produce results. So over the past couple of months, I have been contemplating about going back to Corporate America after quitting it to take on the startup route. As my company has changed (which you can see in my blog) and funds begin to dry up, I needed to continue to live even if it meant ending my startup path and starting a corporate job again.


As I looked over my resume, I began thinking about that corporate life and the choices, risks, and stress that I consumed. What I thought was a “normal” career path was just a different route that I forged myself (LinkedIn profile or see background below). While continuing to think about my company’s future, I began to analyze what type of people I wanted to bring on. Here are the set of tools, the framework, I think a motivated, driven professional should have in business. For those who are curious, here is my take, the 4 P's of a Professional:

Passion. Are you looking forward to Monday? While it was a faux pas, I left my first job out of college after 3-months because I simply did not enjoy what I did. As simple as it sounds, you cannot let the “comfort zone” outweigh the enjoyment with what you are doing now, tomorrow, and 5 years from now. Yes, there are days where you hate it, but that should not be every day. If you have the passion for what you do, the work shows it as you are willing to give your best in everything you do and to put your stamp of approval on all of your deliverables. With it, putting in the extra hours, skipping on some social gatherings, and taking little vacation becomes a “want to do” rather than a “have to do.” Passion creates drive and motivation for you to go into the unknown (like taking on new roles and projects not within your skill set) and turning lessons learned into growth opportunities. If you regret Mondays, then maybe that job is not what you really want?

Pain. Are you suffering in a good way? No pain, no gain is a fundamental lesson in the sports world that can be applied to a business world as well. There were some points during my career, where I did not enjoy a project or did not get along with a manager or team member. From being thrown into a basement (literally, I was sitting next to the water heater) of a client’s office doing audit work (not my skill set) to overstepping my role and taking responsibilities from my manager to better deliver to the client, I gained skills that built my career arsenal that I have used time after time. This is after I have told myself these skills would never be used again. Excuses have been the easy way out and the go to answer to problems or deliverables. They showcase your inability to produce and the effort you are willing to put into it. If  something needs to be done, pull out the stops and turn excuses into solutions. Hearing the “it is below my pay grade” phrase makes me cringe because it meant I would need to do more work to look for a different solution. Imagine the things you will learn (gain) just through the process of looking (pain) for a solution, often more than once.

Persistence. Are people coming to you? Following up is a simple task but many people fail to do it. What I have noticed at meetings or discussions in passing, people (including myself) are tasked with action items and “promises” to deliver it soon. However, these action items tend to not be delivered soon or have been forgotten. It’s no one's fault, everyone gets busy and items are prioritized. However, when action items hinder your delivery and you are waiting, you have to follow-up with those individuals. Yes, sometimes it sounds like nagging but you’ll be surprise how many “thanks for the reminder, here you go” that I have received. If you want/need something from someone, you have to take the initiative and follow-up with them, consistently, until you get it. That's why there are deadlines and why you should put a date against everything. This persistence gets you the answer you are looking for to deliver your work in a timely manner. Consistent execution and hard work will always show, so go get it, follow-up, and manage everyone's expectations. Most importantly, if you promised something to someone, get it done.

Progress. Are you growing your role? You could go get your MBA, get certifications, and/or additional training, which is all part of your professional development. However, that is not the type of progress I am talking about in this context. One time during a company re-org, I was placed into a team that I could not grow in. So I pushed myself out by working with another manager to establish a new team, taking responsibilities from others because we were able to deliver better. When you first start a job, you are given a set of roles and responsibilities that is required of you. On some occasions, you help others and go above the “call of duty” in your current role. That is great, however, progress is taking your role and responsibilities and expanding them and sometimes, taking them from other teams/individuals to ensure that the work is delivered to client/c-level execs/senior management in a timely fashion. You must have the confidence that you can do it and once you are able to deliver it better, they come to expect that from you, making it your “new” responsibilities.

Most likely, you answered yes to the 4 questions but that is just surface. When you dig deeper and understand what each tool entails to execute, does that yes stay a yes? If so, you are on your way to showcase that you are not just a professional, but an ambitious one. There are 2 types of driven professionals, those that focus on work (lack of personal life) so that they can move up the corporate ladder as fast while there are others (work/life balance) that focus on their delivering their day-to-day tasks exceedingly well. I’m sharing my views, based on my experience, with those professionals that are always hungry, the ones that believe that you cannot have a work/life balance. However, there is a price to pay. Giving up a social life and friends/family time, having a 60-80+ hours work week, and working on weekends, to name a few. Making decisions that are professional based and not personal based is what it comes down to at the end of the day.  Take a step back and look at where you are at now and those people you envy, notice what they are doing? These Ps are simple tools but it is about executing them and what I see in the framework of a driven, ambitious professional.

Appreciate any feedback that you may have on this post. Stay tuned as I put together "The 4 P's of an Entrepreneur” next.

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Career Background Snapshot:

After 3-months at a large consulting firm, I quit my first job out of college. I moved to a boutique consulting firm where I took on some project manager roles, working with clients directly, managing 1-2 individuals, and creating and giving presentations to senior managers. Through that, I was promoted in only 2 years instead of the normal 3-years’ timeline. After the 4th year of my career, while doing project management work for a client, I took an offer for a position with them. Continuing with what I was doing for them as a consultant, I helped create a new team within the Office of the COO after refusing to join another team during their organization re-structure. During that time, I pushed for and received a promotion a year ahead of their normal “HR suggested” timeline. After 3 years, I decided to leave and focus on my startup. In short, the first 7 years of my career, I was promoted 2 times, more than doubled my salary in only 4 years, presented to and worked with senior managers/c-level execs for most of it, and only took about 3-months worth of vacation. All on top of volunteering for a professional business organization, managing and overseeing 30+ volunteers and 20 universities. Was it worth it?

A Year Later and I Failed, The Top 5 Reasons Why

May, 2013: Quit my job.

June: Sold my place, moved from NYC to India, and opened our first office.

July: Hired several more developers.

August: Moved into a townhouse, converted the downstairs into an office for 10 people.

October: Launched MeTooStudios, a web design and service division.

November: Co-founded 1More, a non-profit corporation.


Skip forward to March: I’ve told my team here in India that I will not be renewing their contracts. I’ve reduced our U.S. team by half. I sold MeToo Studios, and stepped down from the board of 1More. I am closing the 1ME office in India and returning back home at the end of this month.

That was my first year, in a nutshell. I have taken my company in full circle, starting out with one core product, MeSocial, and ending the year with our focus back on it. Failure was always inevitable, but learning from my mistakes and adapting is the difference between quitting and succeeding. As the company founder, I am driven by the huge risk/reward factor of my business, and I expected that others, who had risked little or less, to hold the same mindset. That is the basis of my overall failure. As I look back on this past year, I failed to achieve what I envisioned, and here are the top 5 reasons why:

1. I believed in good intentions. Good intentions are great, but when the thoughts do not align with actions and dedication, then those intentions become false hopes. I failed because I hid the fact that some team members lacked the level of experience needed, as well as the motivation to progress, learn and adapt in a startup environment. Yes, the expectation level was high, but the willingness to adapt (or not), makes or break the individual in a startup atmosphere. Individuals, by nature, do mean well, but that has little value in a startup if they lack the motivation (risk factor) to pursue changing circumstances and demands.

2. I was too nice. “Nice guys finish last” is a phrase that indicates that you cannot get what you want by being kind or considerate. Honestly, who wants to finish last anyway? There are many levels of nice, but being too nice can lead to being a push over. From my ignorance of India's culture, to avoiding confrontation, being too flexible caused me to lose respect and slowed down my overall progress. I failed to put the company first and I lost time and money because I did not make the needed changes sooner.

3. I fed on hype. A startup is a hot word and in today’s world, we see more of them and more people leaving their jobs to start one. This trend leads to hype for those individuals who are given an opportunity to be a part of one. From my perspective, the hype lasted only for a short period of time because the focus was building a future that I risked everything for. I brought on people who loved the idea, but who did not understand the risk and time that was necessary. I failed because I too got caught up in the hype, the new ideas I encountered, and new team members joining my effort. I lost sight of the future and our core mission, instead focusing on the day-to-day.

4. I was afraid to cut my losses. The first three reasons resulted in my getting to this point. Sometimes ideas and people do not just work out. My goal of wanting to teach and develop people, and to watch them become successful, hindered my resolve to take the necessary actions. I needed to let some people go and make changes on how the company operated. I failed because I was hesitant to confront those issues head-on and start over.

5. I didn’t look for a mentor. With a “do it myself” attitude, I launched into this venture with no guidance. My knowledge of the startup world was largely limited to what I saw in the news or read online. Combining my research with my professional experience, I was confident I would be able to do this on my own, and refused to actively seek mentorship or more formal startup incubators or VCs. It took me longer to realize that I was stretching myself thin, holding onto dead weight, and not aligning with the company’s original focus. Even though I had a team, most of them were younger professionally, which made it hard to bounce strategic ideas off from. I became a mentor and spent more time training then moving forward. I failed to become a mentee, but fortunately that is no longer the case now.

This past year, I have learned a lot and pushed the boundaries that I thought was impossible, further and further. I have been very patient, I have wasted time and resources, and I have negotiated with my level of expectation. I have been in a cloudy dream of having a company which did not match the reality.

I often questioned why I am even doing this at all. How much more can I bleed financially before it becomes an impossible hole to climb out from? When does ambition become a burden? Do I go back to the corporate world when I gave up everything to get out of it? Truthfully, I do not know. This venture has been a struggling blessing for me.

So what now? The company is slimmer and the focus is honed, now is the time to charge forward. Honestly, I failed and I'm glad that I did. Let yesterday's limits become today's starting point, right?

My One-Step Corporate World Exit Strategy

Make your idea/dream/start-up venture your

#1 Priority.

Yes, that is it, everything else will follow suit. If you truly want to do your own thing, you have to make it the most important thing in your life, both personally and professionally. Every decision needs to be focused on how you can sustain yourself so that you can work on your start-up. Yes, there are risks, but your financial situation is not an excuse to go for what you want in life. Start saving, cut back on expenses, and invest in the future. Be able to distinguish your needs from your wants. Ideally, save enough so that you can sustain yourself for 6 months to 1 year, but even a couple of months can provide the opportunity to seize your dreams. Even though you might not be getting a regular paycheck, you are developing yourself professionally.

IF you reach to a critical point where you NEED a regular paycheck, you can add this amazing experience to your resume and make yourself even more marketable. I can promise you that you will learn more, experience more, and do more than you have ever imagined. The skills you will learn are commendable in your professional development and can translate back into the corporate world, should you decide to go back. I do not recommend it.

To share a piece from a post from Jason Goldeberg, Founder and CEO of FAB (thanks Josh G. for the share!):

"It’s really hard. It’s intense. It’s a struggle. It’s ambiguous. It changes a lot. It’s all consuming. It’s a lot of sausage making. It’s working weekends to hit numbers and dates. It’s stretching people beyond their comfort zone. It’s insisting on doing it better even when it’s already pretty good. It’s being brutally honest about gaps and weaknesses. It’s one day you’re headed in one direction and the next day another, because the first move wasn’t the best move. It’s being ok with things not working because that creates opportunities to learn how to fix it.

It’s a fucking startup."

It is time to turn that dream into a reality. You have one life, make the most from it.

One Month into the New Chapter

Cannot believe that it has been a month since I packed up my things, hop onto a plane, and move to a non-English speaking country. In the words of Michelle Tanner, "You're Nuts."

Lifestyle has been the biggest change but I have learned a lot about myself, the importance of family and being cautious about what I waste, such as food, products, and plastic bags. Definitely components that I will be bringing into the 1ME company environment one day, 1ME will not be your traditional office that I can promise you.

The past week, the team missed the deadline to introduce MeSocial to the big boys but there were dependencies that were out of our control. I was not going to push out an unfinished product update since this will be their first impression of MeSocial and those first impressions are important. However, we are looking to push it out early this week so both the development and marketing teams have my drop-dead deadline. This is it. I’m excited to share the new features, a speedier flow, and updated look to both our current beta users and to the new ones!

Another realization I came to this past week was to push what my ultimate vision of what I want to see MeSocial back until next year. It was a difficult decision since the main reason I came out to India was to work on version 2.0. There is a lot more work that needs to be done and I’m not happy until we can establish MeSocial to what it is, the ultimate social media management tool. I need to build our user base and gain their trust and respect before I can move MeSocial to the next level.

From the India perspective, we are getting acquainted here, got my first haircut and I’m not bald! The house maid still does not say anything to us, she slaps the wall a couple times to get our attention, we exchange some hand signals, and something gets done, haha. I’m going to change my diet as well, I have gorged on enough high carb foods these past couple of weeks. I was able to find some raw almonds and cashews, so that combined with an apple,I have a low carb, protein packed dinner.  Ba (Gopal’s Grandmother) has “trained” me to make her coffee in the mornings, grab the newspaper, and starting today, check her blood sugar level since she has diabetes. Yep, you can add caretaker to my resume, but kidding aside, I’m glad I can provide her some help! Thinks she likes it and is always impress with my speedy and consistent delivery, haha. At some point, I hope we can throw a trip to Bombay for a weekend, but who knows. 

This will be my last post for a while since the next couple of weeks will be busy. I need to focus on MeSocial, the company, and figure out what is next…

TT Advice: Be hard on people not because you are a complete ass but rather because you want to make them better by setting a level of expectation. Being a great professional, leader, and human being, is the ability to grow people. However, the level of expectation should be achievable, not too easy and not relentless. 

First Day of a New Chapter

Today is the first time in 14 years that I do not have some sort of paying job to go to. And this is the first time in 14 years, I feel content and I'm actually ok with that. Running my own company, creating something, and being somebody is my endless quest to be successful, to feel successful. Hopefully, I can find that one day. And to find it, I need to do this on my own.

I gave up a 6-digit salary, a great job in a high profile role, and my own condo in New York City. Would I do it again? Yes, in a heartbeat. This is not my definition of success, just steps to get to the next step.... Today.

This is my first blog post as I document my start as an entrepreneur but most importantly, the Founder of 1ME, LLC. I promise to keep these posts short and will end it with a lesson learn, tip, advice, or quote. Thank you for your on-going support, nothing can be built without it!

TT Quote Pick: "For one minute, walk outside, stand there in silence, look up at the sky, and contemplate how amazing life is."  -Unknown