Stuck in your Career? Consider a Start-Up!

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to

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the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
for tuning in again this week. I'm

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your host, Elise Cortez, joining
you live from Dallas, which is home

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base for me. If you've been
tuning in for a while, you know

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this program is about helping people create
more meaningful and purposeful lives and equipping leaders

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inside organizations to make work a rich
and compelling part of life so employees thrive,

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give their best performance, and want
to stay. I talk with my

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guest to draw their expertise and share
my own experience consulting, speaking and developing

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workforces across the globe. Each week. In these conversations, I hope you

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walk away with something you can immediately
put to use and if I can do

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anything to help you along your journey. Go to my website at a least

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Cortez dot com and use to contact
me feature to message me, and let's

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open a conversation and explore what's going
on for you and how I might be

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able to help. Whether you want
to learn how to help how to help

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you visioneer a future of purpose by
facilitating meaningful dialogue and a share strategic path

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forward among all of your stakeholders.
You want to talk about how to develop

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vitally inspired leaders and a meeting infused
culture inside your organization. If you want

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to see about joining a catch fire
online community to take to stoke your own

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passion, inspiration or purpose discovery,
or provide this as a gift and benefit

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for your team, or you'd like
me to speak for your company or conference

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adding your rate. I'm glad you're
listening with us, and thanks for being

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with us. Now onto this week's
program with us today is Steve Kahan Kahan

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excuse me, who has successfully helped
to grow six startup companies from early stage

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development to going public or being sold, resulting in more than three billion dollars

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in shareholder value. He's currently cmo
at Thaisodic, which will become the seventh

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just written a book published by Wealthy
and Audible and available on Amazon dot com

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called Be a Startup Superstar. We'll
be talking about his own remarkable career in

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startups and the state of today's workplace, the opportunity within startups, and some

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of the keys to the C suite. He shares from his book. He

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joins it today from Sugarland, Texas. Steve, welcome to Working on Purpose.

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Thank you for having me. You're
welcome, and make sure for our

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listeners please say your last name right
for us. Khan Khan okay, important

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and names are so important, Steve
Khan Okay. So it's important. I

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think that our listeners really understand just
who it is that we're talking to here.

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Steve. You've got really an amazing
background, and so let's help our

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listeners understand a bit about your powerful
perspective and just where it came from.

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So you've been part of seven startups, including the one that you're at today,

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and all previous six of them were
sold or went public. Will you

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just quickly trace for us your background
so our listeners understand just what we're hearing

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from. Yeah. So absolutely for
me, what I found after graduating college

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that the traditional path from school to
climb in the corporate ladder could not only

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be high risk for my career,
it could almost feel like a death trap.

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And like so many parents my parents
used to tell me, my father

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in particular, you would say,
Steve, get your degree, go to

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work for a large corporation. You
work hard, they'll take care of you,

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and you will have a great career. And that's the path I took.

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So I started out actually working at
a large corporation. And I'll remember

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about a year and a half then
opening up my bank statement and being down

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to fifty dollars in my bank account. I was twenty two years old,

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working in a cubicle of the fourth
floor of a nondescript office building in Chaumburg,

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Illinois, and I remember staring at
my bank statement and the pile of

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claims I was supposed to process that
day, wondering how on earth would I

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ever get ahead and work long days
and the student loans would grab a hold

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of my paycheck before it ever hit
my bank account. And on that day

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I decided that I would ask myself
a question, and that question was how

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could I earn a great living and
love the work I do, and it

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was at that point that I decided
to join my first startup, now at

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my seventh startup. It's been an
incredible ride working with hundreds of amazingly smart

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and talented startup entrepreneurs, and I've
been blessed to work with great people and

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to have had a fair amount of
success along the way. Yeah, and

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I appreciate very much that what you're
drawing on, what you're standing on for

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us to be able to learn from
you, Steve and I. And since

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I do focus on the world of
work, I do that because we spend

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at least, if not more than
a third of our lives there. I

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want it to be much more fulfilling
than it is for most people. And

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in your book you cite some really, really devastating figures that I want to

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surface for our listeners to give them
some idea of just why what we're talking

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about is so important. And so
here's what I find compelling in this in

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a time when the unemployment rate is
shockingly low, yet in twenty nineteen in

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the economy was strong too, college
graduate graduates were struggling to even secure jobs,

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you say, And you say that
a graduation seventy five percent didn't even

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have a job lined up, that
the average student debt was forty one,

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eight hundred and ten dollars, and
that only thirty one percent of US and

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Canadian employees are actually engaged. So
this has just put this all together here

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and we've just really got a recipe
for disaster, I think. So would

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you say more about your perspective of
what this looks like from a startup mentality

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and the opportunity for people at large? Absolutely so, As you mentioned first

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of all, I would tell you
I believe in many ways this means that

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we have an epidemic on our hands. And this is when the economy is

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good. That's all you read about
is how great the economy is, how

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it's very much a full, full
economy for the perspective of jobs, and

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basically an interesting sort of story.
A friend of mine, Josiah Sternfeld,

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who's a professor at the University of
Texas McCombs School of Business, when he

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asked his students where they plan to
work when they graduate, the overwhelming majorities

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say a large corporation. And there
are forty six thousand startups just in the

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United States alone, and these startups
are desperate to hire, right, And

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so when you look at these numbers, just as it relates to the average

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student loan debt, that a number
of good percentage, roughly a third of

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US and Canadian employees are not engaged
at work, or that those that are

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graduating college don't have jobs. This
is this is against a backdrop where startups

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are desperate for hiring, and that
connection from those who could have a job

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to the companies that might desperately need
those people just as not happening. M

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Yeah, And I'm very focused,
Steve On, in my in my book

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that I'm writing, in the work
that I do when I'm out speaking,

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in my programs on helping to make
work, you know, really fulfilling and

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meaningful. In fact, just today
I was working on some of their marketing,

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the market piece of it. And
since you've got your book out already,

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you'll appreciate this. But I did
a quick search today on the web

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and I just typed in why is
work so boring? And I got one

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hundred and thirteen million search results.
I typed in, why does work suck

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so much? Twenty nine million,
five hundred thousand. Isn't there more in

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life? Seven or twenty nine million. So there's clearly right, such an

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opportunity to really make life and work
so much better than it is. You

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know, people feeling stuck. You
you talked about that also in your search

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results, what you got. But
so what I'm really focused on is trying

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to help people live that that meaning
fulfilled life and certainly in their work.

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And that's another reason that I wanted
to have you on the show, Steed,

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because I really get the strong sense
that you just you play at work

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absolutely. I mean when you sort
of look at a startup environment, let

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me put it in perspective at least
the first startup that I joined, and

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I've had very interesting experiences, so
I made all the mistakes when I joined

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my first startup. And I remember
on my very first day I looked in

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the office next to mine and there
were people unplugging the coffee machine, putting

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it on a dolly and literally rolling
it right out of the office. And

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what I came to find out a
few days later, it was because the

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company couldn't afford to pay for that
coffee machine. But here was the cool

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thing. I was blind to it. I was so pumped and excited to

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work with a small team of crazies
who were help bent on changing the world,

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and in that case, it was
changing the way applications were being developed

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in this startup environment. I was
the first one hired in from a marketing

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perspective, so I took the opportunity
to learn everything I could and deep dive

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on the functional area of marketing because
if I didn't do it, it wouldn't

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get done. And so what was
just amazing was the huge, just great

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opportunity that I had to learn so
much, and just a few years later

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that company that couldn't afford to pay
for the copy machine when public, I

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got the bug and never left the
startup world. Those types of stories,

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if you learn how to pick the
right startup, are possible. I absolutely

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I find that just titillating, and
I want to go back and juxtapose that

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with just a recent experience that I
had got. This is back on the

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heels of how disengaged employees are Steve. But quickly, I was out at

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one of my favorite places where I
do my copying and printing and shipping to

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print off something for one of my
programs I was doing, and literally I

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stood in line for about eight minutes
and nobody said anything, Nobody even looked

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my way. And then I stood
there for another two minutes, and literally

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I watched all the employees in this
place look bored out of their mind,

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and they were they were just like
listless, like robots. And finally I

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stood in that line and I did
a Google search for somebody who could do

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printing for me, and there was
sort of someone right across the street.

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And I picked my feet up and
I went to ride out the door and

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voted with my pocketbook and my feet
and left. It was like, you

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know, back to what you were
saying. It was the opposite of what

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you just said. It's talk about
going through life completely dead. Who wants

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that? Absolutely, And that's part
of what attracted me to startups. And

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if you kind of contrast them versus
large corporations or the type of experience that

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you ran into, it's oftentimes what
you'll find is that people are hired into

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pigeonholed smaller roles. They're kind of
bored with their job. There's kind of

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incumbent mindsets. It's there's bureaucracy,
acceptance of the status quo. In this

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case that poor service, in your
case, poor service was okay, and

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then you sort of contrast that versus
a startup. You just can't act that

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way. So rather than in many
cases, what you see is these these

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bigger companies that are giant ships are
to maneuver slow, to change course that

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startups free anyways, They're they're like
speedboats darting around those giant ships. There's

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more innovation smaller companies, they move
fast, much more nimble. There's a

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better chance perhaps to move up in
your career, and and so there's there's

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risk, there's frequent change and less
training off and less to find career paths.

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But if you're entrepreneurial, for sure, the startup is an environment that

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you really ought to consider. Then
another reason I wanted to showcase you because

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I've really you haven't. I've done
a lot on entrepreneurship, but not startups,

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and so your unique perspective was one
that I thought could really advanced the

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conversation, and I think it already
has. And so to that end,

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I want to say a little bit
more about some stats that you see in

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your book that are quite interesting.
You say in your research that you found

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that in spite of startups being desperate
for hiring desperate for talent. That fourteen

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percent of college graduates with bachelor's degrees
or hire are unemployed and forty three percent

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are under employed. I just find
that astounding. So why aren't they targeting

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startups? The reason why they're not
targeting is if you think about universities and

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college career days, it's not the
startups that are there. They can afford

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to be there, right. And
so, for example, the company that

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I'm with right now is company by
the name of Chotic. When I joined

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there about four years ago, we
were eight million annual revenue. Four years

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later, we're a million in annual
revenue. And so the company itself is

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located corporately in Washington, DC.
And you're never going to see Psychotic,

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for example, in Lawrence, Kansas, at the University of Kansas at a

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recruiting day, right, It's just
not going to happen. And probably a

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lot of startups right inside Lawrence,
Kansas aren't going to be there either.

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And then when you think about those
that are graduating college, oftentimes there's this

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misperception that when they hear the words
start up, they immediately think of two

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things. First of all, they
think, well, oh, that means

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that I've got to start up my
own company, and I'm not Mark Zuckerberg,

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so the odds of that being successful
are low to risky, or they

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just think that startups themselves are risky. And there's no question that more startups

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than that will not make it.
In fact, about seventy percent don't make

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it. But for me, this
is now my seventh startup, and as

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you mentioned, all the sixth prior
have had successful outcomes. So I've kind

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of learned how to pick the right
startup, so how you can reduce that

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risk. And so you've got to
be proactive to go look for these companies,

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and there's and there's some really cool
ways that you could go about doing

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that as well that are really easy. Actually, and I know you have

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about that year one right now.
If you share, go for it,

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you can keep it quick aside,
there's so many other things I want to

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get out of you two, and
I know you do talk about that in

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your book, but let's let's have
a teaser, yes please, Sure,

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So in any city across the US, there are accelerators, right and these

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are companies that will be organizations that
provide seed capital to these to these companies

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and in particular technology companies. And
if you just google startup accelerators in the

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city that you live, you'll see
that they'll post all the companies that they're

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funding, and those companies post jobs
across every functional area right on those sites.

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That's a little known place to go
find some great opportunities that exist right

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now. Awesome. Well, and
while we have a little bit more time,

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I think it might be fun actually
to share just really what we mean

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by startups. So what you mean
by startups? You have a great quote

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in your book from Chris Kane,
the co founder of n CEO of munch

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Money, who defines a startup as
the largest group of rebels, rule breakers

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and unconventional thinkers that you can find
to create breakthrough change in the world.

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That sounds good to me. Sign
me up. I love that absolutely,

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and so let me just put it
in a context for you. So,

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according to the United States Small Business
Administration, a startup is a company that's

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been in business for under a year
and in the formative stages. And that

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paid such a poor picture of what
actually defines a startup. And Chris Kaine's

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definition, or my friend Doug Irwin, who's chairman of a venture capitol company.

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He offers a far more instructive definition, one I like in addition to

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Chris Kaine's. He says that a
startup is a company that operates like it's

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the last frontier for outlaws, a
place where non conformists can live, create

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and sell their ideas. And to
me, that's so cool because who doesn't

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want to be involved in that.
It's a place where you get to be

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the rough riding revel, running circles
around the slow moving, bureaucratic large organizations.

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So really, a startup is not
a company that's defined by size so

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much. It's really a culture.
It's a mindset. When I mentioned a

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team of crazy's hell bent on changing
the world, that's what a startup actually

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is. And I wanted you to
contrast that because it really does. It's

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just exactly the opposite of what we
found in that printing and shipping company,

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by the way, that is very
very large that I talked about before.

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And I do think I dare say
that if more of our listeners did join

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a startup WELT, we wouldn't see
the dismal and engagement numbers that we do.

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So thank you for sharing that in
indulging me and with that seep,

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if we can, let's grab our
first break. I'm your host Elist Cortez.

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We've been on the year with Steve
Kahan, who is currently the CMO

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Psychotic, which will become the seventh
company he joined that was sold or went

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public. He's the author of BA
Startup Superstar, I Not Your Career Working

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at a tech startup. He joins
it today from Sugarland, Texas. We've

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been talking a bit about his own
career and the problems and challenges that are

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unique in the marketplace. Today,
after the break, we're going to talk

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more about startups in entrepreneurship. Stay
with us, We'll be right back.

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Alice Cortez as a speaker and engagement
and development catalyst. She designs and deliver

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for his professional development, leadership and
engagement workshops and can bring her expertise to

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your organization. She will help ignite
meaningful development within your workforce that will increase

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00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:14.759
employee engagement, performance and retention.
To learn more or to invite a lease

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00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:19.079
to speak to your organization, please
visit her at www dot Elise Cortez dot

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00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:25.079
com. She would welcome the opportunity
to help get your employees working on Purpose.

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00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:36.279
This is working on Purpose with Elise
Cortez. To reach our program today,

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00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:41.440
send an email to Elise ali se
at Elise Cortez dot com. Now

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back to working on Purpose. Thanks
for sting with us, and welcome back

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to working on purpose if you just
join us. My guest is Steve Kahan,

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who has successfully helped to grow six
startup companies from early stage development to

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going public or being sold, resulting
in more than three billion dollars in shareholder

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value. Is currently CMO at Psychotic, which will become the seventh. He

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has just written a book called Be
a Startup Superstar. I'm your host,

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Alice Cortez. So Steve, in
your book you also and also in your

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Ted Talk. By the way,
your Ted Talk is also great. I

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really enjoyed that too. You talk
about seven traits of successful startup entrepreneurs and

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really how they act and attitudes that
they share. Can you give us a

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taste for a few of those traits? Sure, so let me just cover

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them as I see them. And
again this is built on the basis of

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working with some with some great talent
over the course of many years. So

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first of all, I think I've
branded these under what I call seven Keys

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to the c suite, because if
you have these seven traits, you will

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get there. So first is developing
your leadership skills and self confidence, and

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that is really key, and there's
a number of things that you need to

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be able to do that to make
that real. Second is standing out from

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the herd, and for me,
this is really all about how you go

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about differentiating yourself when you're at an
organization. Third is acting like a leader,

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even if you don't have the title
yet, and that's something that I

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really did no matter what role I
had at any point in my career,

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and I believe that it's it's very
key. You must adopt winning work habits,

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for example, being part of the
solution or paying attention to some of

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the nitty gritty details about being a
control freak and carefully choosing the company that

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you keep is one of those seven
traits. And finally, embracing the power

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of kindness, which is in short
supply in today's world and I think can

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go a long way helping you succeed
and build on the success that that many

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of your listeners already are achieving.
And thank you for doing that for me.

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Step didn't. I didn't necessarily understand
that those those traits were the same

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ones that I wanted to talk about
about keys to that get into this c

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suite. So now we've got a
teaser for for you listeners. If you

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wrote those down, then after the
next break, we're going to talk more

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in detail about each of those.
So if you didn't catch them all,

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don't worry. So the next thing
I want to talk about, then,

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Steve is I'll just bet that many
of our listeners have have they're holding on

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to a limiting mindset about startups and
what it is they're looking to, how

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they want to hire and who they
want to hire. And you say in

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your book that they're that syrups are
they have big ideas, and they're desperate

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for talent, and they're hiring all
kinds of people and you say specifically art,

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seat, technically, young, old, green, experienced, virtual,

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whatnot. And you also go on
to say that startups have, along with

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those big ideas a lot of funds
and they need people who can join their

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team and bring their vision to help
them bring their vision to tuition. Again,

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that sounds incredibly compelling to me,
and I'm certain would it would help

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reverse some of the trends that we're
seeing about how awful work is. Will

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you say more about what kinds of
people startups are looking for? Right?

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So, I think first of all, that there's some traits that startups look

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for that I certainly look for that
I'm hiring that I believe make you a

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standout candidate at a startup. So
let me cover what some of those are.

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So, first of all, it's
people who embrace accountability to get things

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done. People communicate and thoughtful,
smart, confident, and respectful ways,

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And it certainly catches my eye for
someone who asks questions and listens rather than

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just talks. Someone who is not
an eye person, and eye people you'll

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know them because they're the ones that
take all the credit for seemingly everything versus

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the weak people. You'll be working
with small team and very closely with them,

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and being a good teammate means that
you're part of the wee people.

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Someone who's prepared to work hard because
at a startup, really in life,

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no matter what company you're at,
there is no easy button. I certainly

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believe someone who pays attention to the
details. And finally, I think someone

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who has persistence and tenacity. And
the reason why that is so important is

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that at startups in particular, you
are going up typically against bigger, better

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funded competitors who have all the advantages, and so you're going to run into

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obstacles along the way, and you've
got to have the persistence to plow through

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them, not make small obstacles into
huge mountains, and really just have the

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tenacity to stick with it, to
hold on one second longer than the other

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guy, really gives you an opportunity
to win and win big. Those are

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some of the I think skills interest
experience that make you and a great standout

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candidate at a startup, no matter
what function that you're that you're applying for.

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Excellent. Well, I want to
weave in here some commentary that we're

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getting from the online chat function here
at w forcy Bill says that he says

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with people not people having everything on
the phone, people lack people skills,

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and so what you talked about is
the importance of being kind, asking good

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questions. I want to acknowledge that
to me, that is an illustration of

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having very good people skills. And
then Kim is asking is it easier to

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get a job at a startup than
it is somewhere else. You know,

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I don't know that it's a matter
of easy versus not easy. There's just

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so many of them, right and
right, so there and another way to

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find find them. So I gave
you one, let me give a listeners

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another one, and I get these
all the time, right, and so

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is to go directly follow some of
the startup leaders online, see what they

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say and what they're communicating about.
And I've had a number of people over

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the years, for example, that
have reached out to me in a sincere,

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thoughtful way via something like a LinkedIn
messenger, right, and so oftentimes

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what they're interested in is how they
could go about achieving the same level of

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success. And what you'll find is
that many executives at startups they want to

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pay it forward. They realize that
there are people that help them along the

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way as well. And so don't
be dissuaded if, for example, you

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don't get everyone to respond to you, you're dealing with busy people. But

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more often than not, you will
get that response. And then so long

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as you're sincere and you're communicating in
a heartfelt way and not overly sales things

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like that, then you could transition
the conversation to you, where the person

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that you're talking about could learn a
little bit more about you, which then

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opens up opportunities perhaps at that company
or through the broader network of that executive

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that you're speaking to. Directly.
Contacting executives is something that those that are

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looking for jobs just don't do enough
of, and it could just pay amazing

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dividends. That's a great piece of
advice, Steve, a great piece of

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advice. And next, let's surface
the actual opportunity here within startups. I

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was a little bit amazed at the
numbers that you quote, not that you

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talk about. Of course, there's
Fortune, there's Fortune five hundred companies,

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so that means there's five hundred CEOs. That's a limited number of seats,

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and they often stay there for quite
some time, as you say, But

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then you compare that to the forty
six thousand plus startups in the US,

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and you say, you can start
to see that there's a lot more executive

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roles available within that. Yeah.
So first of all, let's take a

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look where jobs are being created.
So since nineteen ninety five, sixty five

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percent of all new jobs have been
created from small and mid sized businesses.

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And as you are alluding to,
what if you want to eventually get into

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the C suite and the Fortune five
hundred, I've got two words for you

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if that is your goal, and
that is good luck. And obviously there

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can only be five hundred CEO positions
in the Fortune five hundred and maybe five

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thousand in the C suite all told, and many of those people stay in

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their jobs for years. So that
means that your odds of getting in the

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C suite and the Fortune five hundred
are about the same as your odds of

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being drafted into the National Football League, where two hundred and fifty four players

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are selected in each year's NFL draft. Now compare the to the over forty

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six thousand startups in the United States
alone, you could obviously see there are

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many more executive leadership opportunities, right, and so if you want to make

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it to the C suite, go
to where those opportunities are much more available

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if you do a great job,
and the startup route is without question will

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provide a much greater opportunity for you, which is just where I wanted to

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go next. Steve is, I
want you, if you would please to

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surface for our listeners the many benefits
that you see of joining a startup,

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especially in comparison to working for a
larger organization. Right, So I think

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first, first and foremost that the
versatility in rolls so in most jobs in

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big, older school companies sort of
as I mentioned, pigeonhole, you in

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a role which means that you've got
a limited range of authority where no single

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individual has the ability to influence the
entire company in a significant way. And

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think about it. When you get
hired, you get hired to fill a

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role in an established business, much
like that that person that you ran into

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that you were making an example of
earlier during this show. And so at

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a startup you get an opportunity to
wear many hats by filling different roles within

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various departments. You also get access
to the leaders. So think about it.

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If you went and worked at Facebook, for example, the hodds of

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you running, getting past the security
and seeing Mark Zuckerberg are like zero,

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right, and so you get access
to leaders. Right. So, so

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people in entry level positions work on
big, world changing projects with and alongside

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the company's leaders, and that just
gives you the opportunity to learn so much

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from those people with our question,
there's more upward mobility. And I also

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think there's great financial rewards potentially,
so at startups if you choose the right

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one, the financial awards rewards through
stock options could potentially be amazing, right.

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And so what I've found, at
least for me personally, that if

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you're investing in the stock market,
you're investing in people and companies. You

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00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:30.039
could do some research and limit the
risk, but you're really investing oftentimes in

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companies and people and CEOs that you
just don't know, and so there's risk

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obviously associated with that. What I've
always viewed is I want to make an

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investment in need right and in the
people that I work with, when where

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I know what's going on, and
if you get in early enough at the

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right startup and have the opportunity to
get stock options, which you should ask

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for those you know. Oftentimes,
when you get older, you might make

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more money. But you know,
it's kind of a funny thing. When

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you start making more money, you
get married, you have kids, you

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00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:11.920
buy a house, you've gone vacations, you start buying stuff, and it's

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hard to get ahead on your base
pay and bonuses. And for me,

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00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:22.039
because my expenses went up along the
way. It's exactly that story, but

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it's really the stock options that provide
you the opportunity for that separation with the

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00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:36.400
chance at making some bigger gains again, so long as you select a good

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one and get in early enough.
Greating by Steve, and with that,

405
00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:44.960
let's grab our last break. I'm
your host Elice Cortez, who've been on

406
00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:48.119
the year with Steve Kahan, who
is currently the CMO at Psychotic, which

407
00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:52.240
will become the seventh company has joined
that has has sold or went public.

408
00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:56.319
He's the author of Be a Startup
Superstar, Not your career working at a

409
00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:59.759
tech startup. You joined to today
from Shirland, Texas. We've been talking

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00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:02.160
about startups in entrepreneurship. After the
rake, we're going to get into hit

411
00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:06.640
those keys to getting into the C
suite that he mentioned earlier. Stay with

412
00:32:06.759 --> 00:32:21.480
us, We'll be right back.
Elise Cortez is a speaker and engagement and

413
00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:27.559
development catalyst. She designs and delivers
professional development, leadership and engagement workshops and

414
00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:31.440
can bring her expertise to your organization. She will help ignite meaningful development within

415
00:32:31.559 --> 00:32:37.599
your workforce that will increase employee engagement
performance. And retention. To learn more

416
00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:40.279
or to invite a lease to speak
to your organization, please visit her at

417
00:32:40.440 --> 00:32:45.799
www dot Elise Cortez dot com.
She would welcome the opportunity to help get

418
00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:58.160
your employees working on purpose. This
is working on Purpose with Elise Cortez.

419
00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:04.759
To reach our program to send an
email to Elise ali se at Elise Cortez

420
00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:10.640
dot com. Now back to working
on purpose. Thanks for staying with us,

421
00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:14.240
and welcome back to working on purpose. If you're just tuning in.

422
00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:17.440
My guest is Steve Kahan, who
has successfully helped to grow six startup companies

423
00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:21.880
from early stage development to going public
or being sold, resulting in more than

424
00:33:21.960 --> 00:33:24.920
three billion dollars in shareholder value.
He is currently the CMO at Psychotic,

425
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.640
which will become the seventh. He
has just written a book called Be a

426
00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:34.319
Startup Superstar. I'm your host,
Elise Cortez. So, Steve, before

427
00:33:34.359 --> 00:33:37.160
we get into those those principles that
you mentioned earlier, I did want to

428
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:39.799
hit one more thing before if we
can that you started to allude to and

429
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:45.000
kind of relates over. But you
talk about three things that we can use

430
00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:49.160
right away to carve our path,
and I think they're perfect for whether you're

431
00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:51.359
in a startup or not. It's
certainly in a start Would you say though

432
00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:54.440
something about those three? Yeah,
I'd be happy too. So First,

433
00:33:55.119 --> 00:34:00.640
view yourself as a startup, so
the startup of you. So ask yourself,

434
00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:05.799
why should someone invest in you?
How do you respond to that?

435
00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:09.960
What's your elevator pitch? What I
found is that startup exects. They want

436
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:15.199
to know why you and they want
to know it in the first sixty seconds.

437
00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:19.760
So many people memorize elevator pitches for
the companies that they work for,

438
00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:24.800
but they don't memorize one for themselves, and you absolutely should. Second,

439
00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:30.039
when you choose to join a startup, approach that decision as an investor.

440
00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:36.239
So what criteria would you use to
join a startup? Can you separate a

441
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:39.000
startup with a good story versus a
startup that is both a good story as

442
00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:43.519
well as a good chance for success? So, for example, does the

443
00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:47.480
company's products have some unique dimension that's
valued by it? Starget buyers? And

444
00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:53.840
Third, create your own personal blueprint
to guide your career success. So many

445
00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:59.000
of us have created plans for which
we're so proud. Those plans have goal

446
00:34:59.239 --> 00:35:02.880
strategies, hactics key milestones. You
might even identify ways to reduce risk,

447
00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:09.159
But have you documented a plan for
your career? And that plans you contain

448
00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:17.159
all the conventional lieup elements like goals
in key milestones, but also some unconventional

449
00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:22.199
So, for example, have you
to find the type of people you want

450
00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:28.639
to surround yourself with at work?
And I think Jack Welch, who was

451
00:35:28.760 --> 00:35:31.639
the former CEO of General Electric,
I think he had it right when he

452
00:35:31.719 --> 00:35:37.039
said nothing matters more to winning than
surrounding yourself with eight plus talents. So

453
00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:40.639
what's the type of eight plus talent
you need around you to bring out the

454
00:35:40.920 --> 00:35:45.760
best that you have to offer?
Association is so powerful. I could not

455
00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:49.159
agree more. Thank you for that, Steve. I just thought that those

456
00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:52.360
were useful pretty much anywhere we work, and they're so crisp, so awesome

457
00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:57.559
for all our listeners. Okay,
so let's get onto some of those seven

458
00:35:57.639 --> 00:36:00.840
traits or the keys that you're sitting
get into this when wey not be able

459
00:36:00.840 --> 00:36:02.440
to get through all of them,
and that's okay, But if we could

460
00:36:02.679 --> 00:36:07.079
start with the one that I,
of course I really find near and dear

461
00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:08.199
to my heart because it's a lot
of the work that I do. But

462
00:36:08.360 --> 00:36:14.360
you talk about the need to develop
leadership skills and self confidence, and I've

463
00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:16.280
been doing that for years with people. So if could you say more about

464
00:36:16.320 --> 00:36:21.639
your perspective, why are those things
so important to navigate your career into getting

465
00:36:21.639 --> 00:36:25.599
you to ce suite? Right?
So, in a small environment typical small

466
00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:31.639
environment of a startup, the higher
ups they see everything you do. So

467
00:36:31.880 --> 00:36:38.239
nothing will make you stand out faster
than leadership skills in self confidence, and

468
00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:44.679
so you really need to have both
of those traits. So, for example,

469
00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:49.159
some of the things that I recommend
that you do to make that happen.

470
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:54.519
One of those is visualizing your success
until you read, until it's real,

471
00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:59.880
did you have them? You need
to create a vision for what you

472
00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:06.199
want to just visit it often.
And so I know it might sound hoping

473
00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:13.920
to create a vision board or a
picture of yourself well having having some wine

474
00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:19.800
on French or the era or wherever
that that might be, But I have

475
00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:23.679
really used that quite a bit because
when you have a strong vision for your

476
00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:29.360
success, it will make your out
look far more positive. In that way,

477
00:37:29.400 --> 00:37:35.199
even when you experience setbacks, you'll
be able to remain undeterred and refocus

478
00:37:35.320 --> 00:37:39.960
on your vision right and so to
me, that is really key. Another

479
00:37:40.039 --> 00:37:45.920
one for me that I think is
really important is becoming an expert, building

480
00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:52.880
deep knowledge in one particular area and
being a constant learner. I will tell

481
00:37:52.920 --> 00:37:58.079
you, in the thirty years that
I've been involved in startups, and most

482
00:37:58.119 --> 00:38:02.880
of them were technology and cybers dirty
is that the world of marketing has completely

483
00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:07.000
changed in thirty years. I mean, the things that you did thirty years

484
00:38:07.079 --> 00:38:12.880
ago, ten years ago, even
five years ago are very different in terms

485
00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:15.599
of how you connect with buyers today. And what that means is just as

486
00:38:15.639 --> 00:38:20.119
soon as you think you've got it
all down, you learn how much you

487
00:38:20.639 --> 00:38:25.000
how little you actually know. And
so I think those are a couple keys,

488
00:38:27.199 --> 00:38:31.360
and there are more to helping you
to develop some of those leadership skills

489
00:38:31.599 --> 00:38:36.920
and self confidence. I echo and
applaud that, of course, Steve,

490
00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:38.679
and I would say certainly, you
know you talk about standing out from the

491
00:38:38.719 --> 00:38:44.000
herd, of course, and a
big reason that I am where I am

492
00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:46.519
in terms of my particular and nige
is because I've spent the last five years

493
00:38:46.559 --> 00:38:51.320
hosting this radio show, and every
week I have a great conversation like the

494
00:38:51.360 --> 00:38:54.159
one that we're having, and what
it's done for me is it's really catalyzed

495
00:38:54.760 --> 00:39:00.840
ongoing curiosity and learning and really situated
me in specific niche around meeting and purpose.

496
00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:06.039
Who knew that you could have two
hundred fifty nine unique conversations around meeting

497
00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:09.000
and purpose. You are my Twitter
and fifty ninth episode, But that's exactly

498
00:39:09.079 --> 00:39:13.159
how it happened. So I really
appreciate what you said there. It is

499
00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:16.280
so important to distinguish ourselves and so
here here, yes, I agree.

500
00:39:17.119 --> 00:39:20.320
Another one that I want you to
talk about if you would, because I

501
00:39:20.360 --> 00:39:22.199
know Bill had mentioned it earlier in
the chat room because he talked about having

502
00:39:22.239 --> 00:39:27.119
people's skills, But you talk about
embracing the power of kindness. Will you

503
00:39:27.159 --> 00:39:31.719
see more about that one next?
Yeah? So that is it's so important,

504
00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:37.880
right, And so there's this kind
of belief that nice guys and gals

505
00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:44.760
will finish finish last. I just
don't buy that. And I believe that

506
00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:49.639
you need to strive for kindness in
the workplace because it can actually, in

507
00:39:49.760 --> 00:39:53.960
my view, enhance productivity and make
others perceive that you're a leader, all

508
00:39:54.039 --> 00:39:59.360
the while improving the atmosphere of the
whole office. And so I think that

509
00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:04.599
there's a few few ways to do
that. So first of all is walking

510
00:40:04.840 --> 00:40:07.360
in other shoes, right, And
that really is all about empathy. And

511
00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:12.679
so if you want to inspire people
to work their hardest to come up with

512
00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:16.599
their best ideas of love working with
you or for you, you need to

513
00:40:16.840 --> 00:40:23.599
understand their feelings in their perspective and
really developing that skill to know what to

514
00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:31.159
say to motivate those around you and
perform at their best is absolutely necessary to

515
00:40:31.639 --> 00:40:37.400
get to the C suite can and
succeed. And there's a number of ways

516
00:40:37.480 --> 00:40:44.320
you can develop empathy by, for
example, listening without interrupting. Don't try

517
00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:50.119
to formulate a response while you're listening, Summarize your understanding of what someone said

518
00:40:50.239 --> 00:40:55.880
before you're talking, find common ground, ask empathetic questions like what's on your

519
00:40:55.920 --> 00:41:00.239
mind or how do you feel this
new project is go way three sixty.

520
00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:06.079
Feedback sessions things like getting to know
your team. For example, at our

521
00:41:06.280 --> 00:41:12.079
organization, we oftentimes will go around
the room and with a team or a

522
00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:16.079
new team and learn about the one
thing that nobody else knows about you that

523
00:41:16.280 --> 00:41:21.960
you might share and one other thing
I would say that is so important,

524
00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:28.119
and this is so overlooked is to
say thank you and mean it. And

525
00:41:28.400 --> 00:41:32.360
gratitude is contagious and people just don't
say thank you enough. And even if

526
00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:36.679
you're not getting enough thank you,
you could be the catalyst. You could

527
00:41:36.679 --> 00:41:40.280
be the one to start it.
And appreciation is one of the easiest ways

528
00:41:40.400 --> 00:41:44.960
to make someone's day. You could
say a face to face, you could

529
00:41:45.039 --> 00:41:47.559
write a short note, you could
write an email or thank you in the

530
00:41:49.239 --> 00:41:53.679
subject lines and a quick text go
shake someone's hand. There's so many ways

531
00:41:53.920 --> 00:42:04.199
to do it. That helps to
through the your environment and really your overall

532
00:42:04.320 --> 00:42:10.360
job satisfaction because you'll feel great just
doing it. Completely agree that kindness when

533
00:42:10.440 --> 00:42:15.639
exercise well, and you can you
can see easily. You can readily identify

534
00:42:15.719 --> 00:42:19.679
what an organization is operating from kindness
the second you walk through the front doors,

535
00:42:20.320 --> 00:42:22.800
right. And the other thing that
I would say to what you're what

536
00:42:22.880 --> 00:42:25.599
you're talking about there, Steve Is, I would certainly position in the phrase

537
00:42:25.679 --> 00:42:30.480
emotional intelligence, which is very well
talked about today, and everything that you

538
00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:34.800
that you described I think fits under
that umbrella. And I find that more

539
00:42:34.920 --> 00:42:39.239
and more hard driving people are starting
to recognize the importance of inculcating these kinds

540
00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:44.480
of behaviors that you just describe so
beautifully, so awesome contribution, Steve.

541
00:42:44.559 --> 00:42:49.000
Thank you. I want to talk
about this. One of the others that

542
00:42:49.079 --> 00:42:51.920
I want to talk about for sure, because I think it's terribly lost,

543
00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:55.519
especially in hard driving people. Is
you talk about taking care of what matters

544
00:42:55.639 --> 00:42:59.920
as being one of those keys to
get into the C suite, and those

545
00:43:00.199 --> 00:43:05.679
those seven principles say more about that
one. Yeah, So this is one

546
00:43:05.719 --> 00:43:09.239
of the big reasons why people choose
not to germ startups. And I will

547
00:43:09.280 --> 00:43:13.800
tell you I was not really great
at this in the beginning of my career,

548
00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:17.360
but I learned and here's what I've
learned is that in my case,

549
00:43:17.480 --> 00:43:23.800
I'm kind of a workaholic, and
yet I've figured out how to spend enough

550
00:43:23.880 --> 00:43:29.000
time with my family. And here's
how I do it. And here's what

551
00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:34.079
I'm going to go encourage your listeners
to do right now. So the first

552
00:43:34.119 --> 00:43:37.480
thing is is that you've got to
be your own top priorities. So many

553
00:43:37.599 --> 00:43:44.079
people and if you're anything like me, that you manage your days and weeks

554
00:43:44.199 --> 00:43:49.639
by your calendar and is the most
important item on your calendar? You are

555
00:43:49.719 --> 00:43:54.119
you priority number one, and so
right now, go open your calendar and

556
00:43:54.360 --> 00:44:00.000
see if it reflects this. It's
the most important item on your calendar is

557
00:44:00.480 --> 00:44:06.480
you. And I'll bet if you're
checking your calendar right now and you're looking

558
00:44:06.519 --> 00:44:09.760
to see how many appointments you have
with yourself this week, I'll bet you

559
00:44:09.920 --> 00:44:16.360
there's too few. And think about
some of the time that then is slipping

560
00:44:16.440 --> 00:44:22.280
by. For example, if you
blocked off time for yourself and your family,

561
00:44:22.400 --> 00:44:28.719
you might be able to get in
extra workouts, not miss a kid's

562
00:44:28.840 --> 00:44:36.480
game, build in time on your
calendar such that you can go educate yourself

563
00:44:36.519 --> 00:44:42.760
and learn more or to think more
strategically. Right, And so not letting

564
00:44:42.920 --> 00:44:49.039
someone go grab that open time on
your calendar with another self sucking meeting that

565
00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:55.159
really just doesn't offer any way of
helping you advance the completion of your core

566
00:44:55.280 --> 00:45:01.719
objectives. And so if you put
yourself as the most important already on your

567
00:45:01.760 --> 00:45:08.119
calendar first, you will find that
that you are taking care of what matters,

568
00:45:08.239 --> 00:45:14.559
which is yourself and your family while
being the best at work. Yes,

569
00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:15.920
and what I love about that when
you shared it just the way I

570
00:45:15.960 --> 00:45:20.559
hope that you would, and that
you know entering it, scheduling it as

571
00:45:20.559 --> 00:45:23.679
an occasion on your calendar, to
take your family to dinner, to go

572
00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:28.599
to the yoga class, to study
Spanish or whatever you're going to study.

573
00:45:29.199 --> 00:45:30.880
Well, one, it looks like
it work event anyway, so you should

574
00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:35.360
recognize it as such an honor it
that way. And two, when you

575
00:45:35.480 --> 00:45:38.239
do block it off like that,
it's easier for you to follow through with

576
00:45:38.320 --> 00:45:43.199
it. So I think that is
really sage advice and really easy just to

577
00:45:43.320 --> 00:45:47.079
start doing tomorrow. It's so easy, right, And you could put in

578
00:45:47.159 --> 00:45:52.360
there like if you hadn't been home
to have dinner with your family often enough,

579
00:45:52.440 --> 00:45:57.199
block off that time. And it's
really a little bit And I really

580
00:45:57.239 --> 00:46:00.199
don't like this phrase work life balance. I heard phrase the other day called

581
00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:06.639
work life harmony. Yes, that's
more don't much better because the work life

582
00:46:06.679 --> 00:46:10.480
balance suggests that there's a right and
a wrong answer, and then people get

583
00:46:10.760 --> 00:46:14.800
stressed out right, It's like I'm
out of balance. And but if you

584
00:46:14.960 --> 00:46:17.239
view it as more of sort of
ends and for ows, you don't have

585
00:46:17.239 --> 00:46:22.159
to be perfect right, You just
need to be maybe good enough for you

586
00:46:22.639 --> 00:46:25.440
right, And that's really what you
should be shooting for. It takes a

587
00:46:25.559 --> 00:46:30.400
lot of weight off your shoulders it
does, and I agree with you it

588
00:46:30.519 --> 00:46:34.199
is that the best, the most
modern phraseology today is work life harmony,

589
00:46:34.519 --> 00:46:37.800
and which you know predate or outdates
the others that came before it, like

590
00:46:37.920 --> 00:46:40.800
balance, et cetera. Let's see
we have time for maybe one more of

591
00:46:40.880 --> 00:46:44.519
those principles, Steve, which one
would you like to talk about and share

592
00:46:44.559 --> 00:46:47.239
with our listeners and say a minute
or a minute and a half, So

593
00:46:47.480 --> 00:46:54.199
I think we talk a little bit
about differentiation and how to differentiate yourself.

594
00:46:54.280 --> 00:47:02.320
And I'm gonna I'm gonna offer up
one and it is to regularly challenge the

595
00:47:02.360 --> 00:47:06.679
status quo. So we've all heard
things, if it ain't broke, don't

596
00:47:06.760 --> 00:47:09.639
fix it. That's the way we've
always done things around here. The status

597
00:47:09.760 --> 00:47:15.320
quo is strong, and it could
permeate a culture for keeping a company of

598
00:47:15.360 --> 00:47:19.079
the current state of affairs because it's
comfortable, predictable, and less risky.

599
00:47:19.320 --> 00:47:24.360
But grow oftentimes requires change, right, and so you don't want to be

600
00:47:24.559 --> 00:47:31.719
the constantly contrarian challenging everything. But
the pace of change is incredible, and

601
00:47:31.840 --> 00:47:37.400
our ability to keep up with it
just isn't And so you simply can't achieve

602
00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:42.159
and build on success if you continue
to do the same things. It's one

603
00:47:42.199 --> 00:47:46.119
way to differentiate yourself. Excellent.
Well, I want to be sure to

604
00:47:46.199 --> 00:47:49.599
give you the final word, Steve. I'd like to give my guests the

605
00:47:50.280 --> 00:47:52.760
final thought here on the show.
And you know, this program is really

606
00:47:52.800 --> 00:47:55.119
designed to help people across the world
develop more meaning, passion, inspiration,

607
00:47:55.280 --> 00:47:59.360
purpose in their lives and their work. What would you like to leave listeners

608
00:47:59.360 --> 00:48:04.719
with today? Say about thirty seconds. So today's startups have big ideas,

609
00:48:04.800 --> 00:48:09.159
and they're well funded, and they're
desperate to hire smart, motivated, hardworking

610
00:48:09.239 --> 00:48:15.119
people willing to share their talent and
innovative workspaces that are buzzing with energy and

611
00:48:15.199 --> 00:48:21.679
opportunity. And if you want to
earn a great living doing what you love

612
00:48:22.360 --> 00:48:27.880
or the white startup, you could
be a godsend way to finish. Steve,

613
00:48:27.960 --> 00:48:30.960
thank you so much. I'm so
glad that you and your team found

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00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.519
me and you came on the show
and shared your heart, your soul,

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00:48:34.639 --> 00:48:37.559
your enthusiasm, and your expertise.
Thank you so much for being on the

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00:48:37.599 --> 00:48:42.199
show. Thank you for having me
listeners. You want to learn more about

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00:48:42.239 --> 00:48:45.719
Steve Kahan and his Ted Talk or
his book Be a Startup Superstar, go

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00:48:45.920 --> 00:48:50.960
to the website be a Startup Superstar
dot Com. That's where you can actually

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00:48:50.960 --> 00:48:53.360
find the Ted Talk and access to
his book you get on Amazon as well.

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00:48:53.400 --> 00:48:57.280
By the way, that's where I
got mine. Last week. If

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00:48:57.280 --> 00:49:00.400
you missed the live show, you
can always get to be recorded podcast We

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00:49:00.480 --> 00:49:02.519
Are on the Earth Mike Coles talking
about how his own experience of being a

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00:49:02.599 --> 00:49:07.239
traveling professional away from his young son
set him on a journey to create an

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00:49:07.239 --> 00:49:09.519
app that allows distant parents to read
to their children using their own voice,

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00:49:09.800 --> 00:49:15.840
while also meaningfully connecting family members and
teaching language and comprehension skills. Next week,

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00:49:15.880 --> 00:49:17.760
we'll be on the air with Natolette
La la Fontesis, talking about her

627
00:49:17.800 --> 00:49:23.519
remarkable journey from her uber successful French
businesswoman to paraplegic to fulfilled writer and motivational

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00:49:23.559 --> 00:49:27.199
speaker. See you there. Remember
that work is at least a third of

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00:49:27.239 --> 00:49:32.159
our life, so let's work on
purpose. We hope you've enjoyed this week's

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00:49:32.159 --> 00:49:37.159
program. Be sure to tune in
to Working on Purpose featuring your host Alice

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00:49:37.239 --> 00:49:43.840
Cortez each week on the Voice America
Empowerment Channel. This week, find your

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00:49:43.920 --> 00:49:45.679
life's purpose at work