Becoming an Agile Leader.

This past weekend, I was asked to do the opening keynote at Alpha Kappa Psi's Principled Business Leader Institute in Philadelphia. In front of 700+ students, I shared my experience as an Alpha Kappa Psi brother and as a professional and how it shaped my leadership style. I was humbled by the reception and feedback that I received from the students! So here is the summary of the message I wanted to share with you all.

My purpose for today is not to share another theory or to tell you what a great leader is, all of you have some idea of that already. My goal is to share to you the core principles that you need to learn so that you stay resilient for the necessity of leading today while transforming tomorrow....

CLICK HERE to continue reading the article on LinkedIn. 

 

Saying Goodbye to Our First Product, MeSocial

First Version - Concept

Started out as an idea to manage all social media, MeSocial was the launching point of our company, 1ME, LLC. Creating an unknown path for us to take on, teaching us more than we ever realized, and weeding out individuals who could not grasp the entrepreneur profession, MeSocial was more than just a product we were trying to create, it was a learning tool for a start-up venture.

Since its beta launch in April 2013, it has spawned a team size of 12, raised $10K from a crowdfunding campaign, created an office in India with 5 developers, and a user base north of 600 accounts.  Today, that is no more.



With its main intentions to integrate posts from the major social networks into one location, ability to manage multiple accounts, and allow you to make a status update that could be posted across all your connected social accounts at one time, it was just the base of what MeSocial could do. As we further its development, we were able to integrate chat from Facebook and Google Hangouts, add a news RSS reader, pull in videos/pictures trends, manage calendars locally and from Google, and the ability to create sticky notes, to just name a few features.

Second Version - Alpha Testing

The question I faced earlier this year was do I grind and continue this website or do I pivot to something else? With the changing technology landscape and the rapid shift to mobile and mobile apps, it was time for MeSocial to pivot to the mobile platform as well. Something I should have done last year, to be honest with you and base on the "when will you have a mobile app?" questions from our users alone. That was an expensive lesson and MeSocial will never be the product that I saw in my vision a couple years ago. That is a good thing as my vision has changed and developed to something I know is better.

Third Version - Beta Launch

Now all of this is gone but what it left behind is a wealth of lessons learned, self development, and the mechanics of how to operate a start-up. So farewell to 1ME's first product, MeSocial. You have shown us what it is like to take an idea to reality, pushed us to our limits as we tried to keep up with the ever changing technology landscape, and taught us the hardships of being an entrepreneur.

We are done with MeSocial, the website. However, a piece of its function will exist as we build a mobile app that is just more than a social hub and I'm excited to share that news soon!

Last Version

Lastly, I would like to personally say thank you to all of our friends, family members, and MeSocial users that have signed up on this website, who took the time to share your feedback, and most importantly, believed in the team and I in this start-up venture!

Failures are great only if you choose to learn from it. So stay tuned!

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.

2 years in, 10 things I have learned so far

Cannot believe it has been 2 years already since 1Me, LLC became official. Time has flown and a lot of progress has been made. I have learned a lot about myself on this journey, so I wanted to share the top 10 things that I have learned so far:

1. Recruit 24/7. Every meeting, happy hour, lunch/dinner is an opportunity to recruit the best. I always enjoy hearing what people do and what their motivation is so that I can put them in future roles as I continually build this company. There are a lot of great people out there and I want them. You may or may not know it but I may have your career planned out already, haha.

2. Do not give away your company. The majority of my original team members are no longer here and getting back equity shares was a hassle and waste of time. At that time, I was using equity as a form of “payment.” Real entrepreneurs will stay with you for the opportunity, with no pay, because real entrepreneurs are there to create something, a better future.

3. Be constructive, not critical. I have OCD, am annoyingly detail oriented, and have high expectations, all good… for me but not necessarily good when building a team. To build a team, you need to grow them. To do that, focus on how to make things better and not on what they did wrong. In short, highlight solutions and not problems.

4. Learn to adapt to your environment. I went from living in a renovated condo in NYC to India, and was that an eye opener. Going from being a non-veg to a veg to living by myself to a dorm style shared room, I had to learn to adapt because it is about making the best of the situation so that you can move on to a better situation. It is like all new things, it will take time to adapt and you will always feel silly for saying “I can’t do this” initially.

5. Say No. At one point, I was working full-time for my regular job, for 1ME, as a Regional Director for AKPsi, and a Founding Member/President for the AKPsi NYC Alumni Chapter. When I realized that I could no longer put in 110% effort into my RD role, I began to transition out of that position. Stepping down as the RD was probably the hardest decision I had to make because I enjoyed pushing myself to make a difference for my students and volunteers.  I used to be a "yes" guy but time is so valuable these days. If you cannot put 110% in it, do not do it, you cannot please everyone and you end up doing more harm than good.

6. You are not the biggest asset, the team is. I was an “I’ll do it myself” type of guy but at some point it becomes impossible to do it all. Surround yourself with good people that believe in you and build them. Your goal is to make them better than you so that you can build a better company. There is no me in team.

7. Workout, be healthy. Simple enough, the best time to free and open your mind is when you are working out and the adrenaline pumping.  My best thinking is when I’m sweating first thing in the morning. You can do more with a healthy mind and body then just sitting around and feeding on crap.

8. Be grateful, humility goes a long way. On my journey in establishing this company, I have met many great people and received a lot of support which has helped me to get to today. I truly am grateful to have such great people and opportunities in my life, without them I could not have made it. The simplest way to thank someone is to say thank you and by doing the small things for them. I have seen too many people take things for granted, make selfish decisions, and turn their backs. As a human being, you are not better than anyone else, everyone has their own paths and the best thing you can do is empower them to move forward in their life.

9. Create your core values and use them. Sometimes you run into difficult decisions that you have to make. Having a set of core values that you and your team believe in allow you to make that decision. It is a base and a guide for the company.

10. Appreciate. When I started a crowd funding campaign for 1ME, I had my doubts because it was a lot of money I was looking to raise. The support that I received from people that I have known throughout my life time was absolutely amazing. I was surprised by the unexpected that donated and truly appreciate all of the support. Experiencing India, I have learned that having your basic needs met such as food, clean water, and having a roof over your head makes you fortunate. There are many people in this world that do not even have these basic necessities. When you are having a bad day, remember that there is someone else out there who is having it a lot worse. Appreciate what you have, if you want more, go get it, and always, always, give back.

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. 

[VIDEO] 1ME's First "Office" Tour

So I wanted to give you guys a quick tour of the space we have been working in, the ad hoc office we had set up to work with our development team. The main reason we moved to India was to collaborate with the team face-to-face.

Also, if you want join and be a part of the 1ME family, contribute to our 1ME Angel Fund! It is the only fund that works to pay you back plus some and also contributes 5% of the fund collection to a charity! Campaign ends 6/15!

Sit back, enjoy the tour, and share your thoughts!

TT Advice: "Workout, no excuses, JUST DO IT. It does not have to be lifting or running, find something and just move your body and sweat. Adrenaline reduces stress and refreshes the mind. Do not have time? Workout in the morning since you have more control over it then after work (late night projects and happy hours, ring a bell?). Plus, the gym is not crowded in the morning like it is after work. Not a morning person? Get over it, it will take about 2 weeks for your body to reset itself and get into a routine. Trust me, been there, done that. Nothing wakes up the body like some sweat! So in summary, shake that ass!"

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