![FFew CEOs can lay claim to a law
Few CEOs can lay claim to a law
degree, a stint as a street
performer, a taekwondo black
belt, and being a co-founder of
Australia’s best-reviewed agency
(according to Google My Business).
But this motley medley is exactly what
you’ll find on Ashton Bishop’s résumé.
Ashton is the CEO at Step Change, a
strategically led marketing agency with
a pragmatic business thinking based in
Pyrmont.
With a list of achievements that reads
more like a bucket list than a CV, he
has run million-dollar campaigns for
billion-dollar brands, created
Australia’s first mobile app, won film
awards, guest-lectured at leading
universities, and won Speaker of the
Year for Australia’s number one CEO
network — three times.
As a predatory marketer and expert in
pinpointing how brands can grow by
outsmarting their competitors, Ashton
is becoming the primary catalyst to
“inspire step changes in businesses and
people” with his aptly named startup,
Step Change, which he founded with
business partner Jeff Cooper in 2009.
Built on the belief that strategy without
creativity is a recipe for mediocrity and
creativity without strategy delivers
more misses than hits, Step Change is
outsmarting its own competitors with a
30-strong team of creative mavericks
and strategic thinkers who are racking
up a client list flooded with household
names including Hewlett Packard,
Fairfax Media, Commonwealth Bank,
ANZ, TEDx Sydney, Sony Pictures,
and AGL to name a few.
An Unusual Journey to
Extraordinary Success
Tasmanian-born Bishop has always
loved a challenge. From state titles in
athletics and a black belt in martial arts
to graduating from university with a
law commerce degree, Ashton took the
next logical step: he ran away with the
circus. After those three fateful days
and his subsequent yet still-born
sojourn in stand-up comedy, he aspired
to a career in advertising. The result
was a turn in telesales.
Never one to back down, he went on to
spend the next decade working for the
likes of Ogilvy while simultaneously
acquiring the global patent for Color
Changing Footwear and launching Eric
the Circle, the world’s first draw-it-
yourself cartoon with over 20,000
iterations.
But by then, the GFC was in full
swing, and the threat of bankruptcy
loomed. He had a family to take care
of, along with these two massively
risky startups; and just to spice things
up, Ashton quit his comfortable and
high-paying consulting job to dedicate
himself to Step Change full time.
At the company’s inception, he and
Jeff had no stable capital, no client
base, and no true standout offering to
attract more of either. It was worth it.
Eight years on, Ashton is now at the
helm of a thriving creative hub across
six regional locations, has a loving
wife and two adorable children and has
even built his own bespoke leadership
programs Powerful Presence and
Powerful with Purpose.
Strategy Meets Creativity
Once just two guys sharing a Mac and
surviving on credit cards, Step Change
has now evolved into a strategic
marketing powerhouse, catering to
over 100 unique businesses every year,
with a turnover graph “that’s got a
healthy ‘hockey stick’ feel to it”, and to
this day, is all about inspiring step
changes in businesses and people.
The agency’s eclectic client list covers
all sectors from finance and tech to
healthcare, media, food — even
funeral homes. And Ashton gets a kick
out of mentioning that they’ve recently
taken on a fertility clinic: “So we really
are birth to burial across the business
now.”
As an agency, their strength lies in
tapping into the symbiosis of
marketing and strategy. “We don’t
believe in just doing strategy,” states
Ashton. “We believe that to win in
business, you need to be strategic. So
that’s what we bring to our business
consulting, as well as our digital and
creative execution offerings.”
Staying Present in Every Moment
From his humble origins in street
performing and call centers to
surviving the inevitable adversity of
multiple startups, it’s easy to see how
this turbulent history could foster more
altruistic motivations.
“While I have many aims, goals, and
passions, my greatest challenge is to
stay [focused] on the difference I can
make in the present moment,” says
Ashton. “In a world of distractions,
frustrations, and confusion, I believe
there’s huge power available by
staying present in the moment.”
What drives him is his ability to equip
leaders to realize their potential and
leading them to live more fulfilled
lives. And what better environment to
do this than a consultancy: “I’m very
fortunate that the work we do at Step
Change with business leaders and their
organisations allows me to be a part of
many people’s journeys.”
Ashton attributes the credit of his
success to his own trinity of mentors:
“Mark Nichols, who got me started as
a presenter; Gavin Larkin, who got me
focused on the difference I can make;
and Dave Trott, who taught me how to
think.”
And his advice to budding
entrepreneurs? “Understand risk. Get a
mentor to avoid making mistakes you
can’t afford to make. Learn how to
learn. Stay curious. And remember that
life’s a song, not a journey — google
Alan Watts on this.”
|January 2018 29](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/the30mostdaringceosinbusiness-180305110930/85/The-30-most-daring-ceos-in-business-31-320.jpg)
The 30 most daring ceos in business
- 1. The way of business solutionsJanuary 2018 www.insightssuccess.com Ahmad Eied:Ahmad Eied:The Leader Known for Creating Milestones in the Telecom and Communication Industry THE 30 M O S T D A R I N G CEOsin BUSINESS Expert’s Column Stay Daring as you Grow, Lessons from a Female Disruptor! Ahmad Eied Founder & CEO THE BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR MANISH GOEL TRUSTSPHERE Leader’s Insight How To Overcome Obstacles When Starting Young
- 4. Every Risk is Worth Taking ne of the most well-known English business magnates and the founder of Virgin group, Richard OBranson once said, “Every risk is worth taking as long as it’s for a good cause, and contributes to a good life.” I believe life is a challenge and with each of its step, there lies a risk. With every new morning, there appears a new task which we must accomplish and succeed for a better future. And, daring is not the way of living, it’s an attitude that helps us to take critical decisions in the times of need and urgency. It requires a daring attitude to start a company with almost negligible or no backup, but it's also a challenge to engage employees and keep them motivated for better productivity. It’s not easy to make employees believe that the company cares about them and their career, but it’s not something that is impossible to accomplish. And, it’s essential for the growth of the company. The leader must show trust on his employees and exhibit reliance in their capabilities. One should reveal confidence in them; motivate them to discharge their job responsibilities with more productivity. If you are a leader, make your team believe that their contribution matters for the future of the company. When nothing else works, incentive is that magical tool which works like wonders while motivating the employees and generating more efficient work from them. After all, everyone loves to get rewarded, irrespective of the age, gender, salary or designation. The most successful leaders say that the more you invest the more returns you can expect. And, if you can’t invest anything else, invest time on your employees; make them believe that you are concerned about your employee’s career growth and their future. Once, you involve employees only at the management level and simply ignore the subordinate ones from the major company decisions, the employees in the lower positions start feeling isolated and unimportant, hence, the leaders must include them too in company’s important decisions. And, if you still believe that your idea isn’t a fantastic one, so you can’t turn your company into a successful one, and then it's time to stop worrying about them. It’s time to forget about the idea which you Editor’s Note
- 5. thought was a brilliant one in the beginning, instead, start focusing on the skills, sharpen them and be a leader of your own kind. And, consider what one of the greatest Chinese business magnates and technology entrepreneurs Jack Ma says, “Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.” And, to bring in such daring leaders from the shadow to broad daylight, we have come up with another interesting edition, “The 30 Most Daring CEOs in Business”. On the cover of this issue, we have Ahmad Eied: The Leader Known for Creating Milestones in the Telecom and Communication Industry. One such leader, who turns every negative energy into a positive opportunity by creating revolutionary milestones in the world of telecom and communication services, is Ahmad Eied, Founder and CEO at Skytel Systems, a leading VoIP company providing turn-key Internetworking solutions, extraordinary VoIP systems, technology consulting, managed and professional IT services and on-time technical support for companies worldwide. Ahmad is one such personality who never stops thinking about work and office. With the motive to give something better to the world, he says, “I believe that if I have a goal that I have achieved then my goal wasn’t set high enough.” He even shares the biggest strategy to win every challenge in business and says, “The more knowledge you are going to give yourself the better you are going to be in business.” Along with such an inspiring story, we have covered up other fascinating stories of remarkable business personalities like Aleetza Senn: The Creative and Energetic Entrepreneur Making Digital Data Simplified, Accessible and Actionable to Businesses, Ash Robinson: A Possibilitarian Leader Redefining Women’s Wellness, Ashton Bishop: A Predictably Unpredictable Leader Redefining Business and Startup Ideas with Strategy and Creativity, Cindy Jutras: A Technology Polymath, Edward van Leent: A Passionate and Energetic Entrepreneur Redefining the Data Center Industry. This issue has also enlisted other well-known business personalities like Edward B. Silverman: Leading for the Long-haul of Security Industry, Erik Rasmussen: A Daring Leader Who Helps Businesses Turn Risks into Opportunities, Eyal Iffergan: Driving the Legal Industry into the Future, Joe Caserta: The Best-Selling Author and Entrepreneur Leading Data Intelligence Forward, Natalie Turner: Unlocking Potential and Inspiring Innovation, Nicci Rossouw: A Vibrant and Fervent Leader of the Rise in Robotics, Pam du Plessis: The Passionate and Loyal Leader Creating Positive Impacts in the Valve Business Industry, and Ruslan Desyatnikov: A Pioneer Paving Path Towards Qualitative Software Testing. Along with such inspiring stories of business leaders, we have also enlisted Getty Goh, Vishy Karri, Guy Kurlandski, William Diotte, Tom Albert, Barry Maxon, Madeleine Paquin, Gitte Aabo, Matt Hertig, Blythe Masters, Justin Nodelman, Peter Kirwan, Susan McCarthy, Gordon Shevlin, and Chris Mann. Most interestingly, this edition comes up with some extraordinary articles from the experts of the industry. Experts like Lara Hodgson, President and CEO at NOW Corp and Eugene Cheng, Partner and Creative Lead at HighSpark, among many others, have contributed their words for this issue. To enrich you with some latest ideas and refresh your mind, our in-house editors have written some interesting articles like Be a Leader, not just a Regular Boss and Efficacious People Constantly Chase the Impossible. It’s time to flip through the pages and enjoy the journey. Rajarshi Chatterjee
- 6. CONTENTS Ahmad Eied: The Leader Known for Creating Milestones in the Telecom and Communication Industry 10 COVER STORY Editor’s Pick Be a Leader, & Not just a Regular Boss 54 Efficacious People Constantly Chase the Impossible Industry Insights 36 62 What's new in Business? Find Out What Turns a Person into CEO Editorial Desk 66
- 7. How To Overcome Obstacles When Starting Young Starting Young Stay Daring as you Grow, Lessons from a Female Disruptor! Expert’s Column 70 Manish Goel: A Passionate Tech Leader Pushing Edges in Social Network Analytics 20 THE BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR 40 CXO STANDPOINT The Creative and Energetic Entrepreneur Making Digital Data Simplified, Accessible and Actionable to Businesses Aleetza Senn 24 26 A Possibilitarian Leader Redefining Women's Wellness Ash Robinson
- 8. 28 32 34 38 44 46 A Predictably Unpredictable Leader Redefining Business and Startup Ideas with Strategy and Creativity Ashton Bishop A Technology Polymath Cindy Jutras A Vision to Transform Private Security Edward B. Silverman A Passionate and Energetic Entrepreneur Redefining the Data Center Industry Edward van Leent A Daring Leader Who Helps Businesses Turn Risks into Opportunities Erik Rasmussen Delivering the Legal Profession into the Future Eyal Iffergan
- 9. 50 The Best-Selling Author and Entrepreneur Leading the Data Intelligence Forward Joe Caserta 52 Unlocking Potential and Inspiring Innovation Natalie Turner 58 A Vibrant and Fervent Leader of the Rise in Robotics Nicci Rossouw 60 The Passionate and Loyal Leader Creating Positive Impacts in the Valve Business Industry Pam du Plessis 68 A Qualitative Software Testing Pioneer Ruslan Desyatnikov
- 11. Copyright © 2018 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success. Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Ofce No. 510, 513, 5th Floor, Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017 Phone - India: 020-69400110, 111, 112 Email: info@insightssuccess.in For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.in sales@insightssuccess.com Corporate Ofces: January, 2018 Database Management Stella Andrew Technology Consultant David Stokes Circulation Manager Robert, Tanaji Research Analyst Chidiebere Moses Steve, Joe, Alan, Abhishek Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Anish MillerSenior Editor Executive Editors Rick Brien Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Associate Designer Rahul Kavanekar Visualiser David King Senior Sales Manager Abhijeet Mehra Business Development Executives Marketing Manager John Matthew Managing Editor Rajarshi Chatterjee Sagar Bhattacharjee Assistant Editors SmithBrian Ashwini Deshmukh Art & Picture Editor BelinPaul Co-designer Shweta, Sapana KhannaJayant Peter CollinsBusiness Development Manager Sales Executives Jim, Kevin, Alice SME-SMO Executives Prashant Chauhan, Uma Dhenge, Gemson, Irfan Online Marketing Strategist Alina Sege, Shubham Mahadik, Vaibhav K Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza Technical Specialist Swapnil, Vivek Technical Head Jacob Smile Shweta Priyadarshini
- 12. Ahmad Eied Founder & CEO
- 13. The Leader Known for Creating Milestones in the Telecom and Communication Industry Seeing my team happy, seeing my team laugh and chatter make me happy COVER STORY
- 14. uccess is not final; failure is not Sfatal; it is the courage to continue that counts,” said the former British Prime Minister and one of the most celebrated writer Winston Churchill. An entrepreneur’s life is not at all easy. There are stones of failures which form the pillar of success in an entrepreneur’s life. There is hardly any successful person who hasn’t failed in life. They might fall down over and over again, yet every time they will get up; they surge ahead with even stronger dedication, unwavering willingness and profound determination. They believe in themselves, their idea, their motive, and every time they rise from a fall, they make a step closer towards success. The leading contributor of the American industry revolution and the magnate of the business industry, Henry Ford once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” One such leader, who turns every negative energy into a positive opportunity by creating revolutionary milestones in the world of telecom and communication services, is Ahmad Eied, Founder and CEO at Skytel Systems, a leading VoIP company providing turn-key Internetworking solutions, extraordinary VoIP systems, technology consulting, managed and professional IT services and on-time technical support for companies worldwide. Ahmad is unlike all other entrepreneurs whose lives have been inspiring us for ages. He is not just the CEO of a leading communication service providing firm, rather he is also the sponsor and one of the driver of the Skytel race cars. Passion, Dedication, Determination and Courage is What Makes People Successful Ahmad doesn’t only keep his daring attitude limited to the business deals and corporate life; instead, he involves his schedule in accelerating and rushing in the car on a deadly sports car race track. Ahmad is an extremely busy CEO and a highly passionate businessman; hence, it often becomes difficult for him to get out of work even when he is not working. Either while going to sleep or taking a shower, he is always thinking about the next strategy for the company. But when he is in the car, at high speeds of 180-200 MPH and there’s an opponent right next to him, where a mistake can blow him out and may cost his life, it’s the only 12 seconds of his day and life, when he can actually stop thinking about work and concentrate on life. Ahmad further stated about his passion and said, “I am constantly thinking about my work, trying to make my staff better, trying to strive on how we can give better customer service, just to make sure that our product is ahead of the game and our partners.” With a goal to always strive further ahead in life, Ahmad with the able support of John Belich, CTO at Skytel, has led the company to be enlisted in Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies 2017 and also to be in the list of the Next-Gen VoIP and help the company stand as an All-in One technology Provider for Superior Business Efficiency. About the Journey which Molded a Young Man to a Successful Business Personality Ahmad is always striving further in life and always sets goals that are too difficult to achieve. To support this fact, he said, “I believe that if I have a goal that I have achieved then my goal wasn’t set high enough.” With an ultimate goal to conquer the telecom and VoIP industry, a vision to achieve that coupled with the firm belief that “with failure comes success”, Ahmad is redefining every terms in the industry to help people communicate better and effectively. Begin his career in 2001, with the computer retail stores during the times of economic uncertainty was one of the daring decisions Ahmad took in life. With a motive to get out of the community level thought process and start competing in a global level, Ahmad started Skytel Systems. During that time, when VoIP was barely out of the ground and anybody hardly knew about it, the Founder of Skytel started developing a VoIP system. Times were difficult, even failures were prevalent, yet Ahmad was always firm with his determination and eventually succeeded. Slowly, Ahmad started replacing his old telecom providers with the VoIP system he developed and began to give it for free to his clients. Eventually, he started selling his retails stores and initiated the growth of Skytel. Now, he proudly recalls that Skytel was formed with no debts or bank loans. Once after finalizing the name of the company, Skytel started getting into the veins of the business communication and carrier hardware systems. About the Leading VoIP service Provider Incepted in 2009, Skytel provides enterprise-grade hosted VoIP and unified communications to businesses and institutions. It is rapidly becoming the standard for business communication worldwide. The company delivers a wide range of unified communications product, including voice, video, contact center, managed IT services and mobile applications. Skytel's cloud-based “ “The more knowledge you are going to give yourself the better you are going to be in business”
- 15. phone system comes with full PBX function, admin controls. and unlimited phone features. Its video services are known for its point-to-point and multipoint virtual meetings and video collaboration. Skytel’s advanced contact center and monitoring are available through its Contact Center. With Skytel, customers can access all the services using their mobile devices, desktop computers and web browsers. Starting Skytel was the most daring thing Ahmad has done. He was unsure about the outcome, yet he took the step forward. From working in a 450sq. ft. facility, Ahmad has lead the company to a level where it now works in a 15,000 sq. ft. building, with extraordinary facilities like a game room, think-tank room, a beautiful kitchen with a bar and a training center. Though there are plenty of VoIP service providers in the market today, Skytel stands firm with its extraordinary facilities like its unlimited facility i.e., unlimited local long distance to unlimited international calling, and even unlimited tech-support. In the current scenario, where companies are more into finger- pointing one- another, Ahmad ensures its clients that Skytel has the solution to I am constantly thinking about my work, trying to make my staff better, trying to strive on how we can give better customer service, just to make sure that our product is ahead of the game and our partners ‘‘ ‘‘
- 16. problems that are hampering their communication. The company even goes on flight to the end-users location and physically installs the phone system for them, and gives training to every single staff member on the usage of the system. Skytel’s billing system is also quite simplified, and offers unlimited benefits. Along with being the leading VoIP service provider, Skytel is also an IT provider. Owing to their roots in the computers and IT industry, Skytel has a vast experience in the field; making them an expert in solving IT related issues. The company possesses an enormous amount of knowledge on the firewalls, network, routing and internet service providing. The Company ensures Updated Technology with Greater Security Skytel doesn’t compromise on the security of its clients and provides a secure VPN connection for its customers through LAN or WAN. Its clients are free from boundaries and makes calls securely from anywhere they wish. And, to make that possible, Skytel offers cellphones that ensures secure call anywhere-anytime. Apart from the technical industry, Skytel serves a wide range of clients and has a strong client-base in the medical industry. The company offers a robust system providing backup options which protects users from internal data breaches. While talking about the security offerings of the company, Ahmad said, “We assure our clients a secure connection and everything from LAN to WAN and even the computers remain secured within our network, leaving them with no scope of complaining.” Skytel offers some amazing services, among which stands Skytel Contact Center. With this, Skytel can integrate its users’ phone system with CRM, and in case the user doesn’t have a CRM, it can integrate the data with simple excel spreadsheet. With this system, the company offers scheduling and campaigns so that the users don’t have to dial-in the numbers, they can directly pick the number, call it which is automatically open then in whatever theorem they choose. It is also a useful tool for coaching purposes as with this system, the managers can actually hear the call live and can give instant feedback to the caller. Its recording options help the caller to hear it later and improve his/her skills. Tactics to Maintain a Healthy Work Environment Ahmad still maintains a traditional and personal approach with each of its employees to maintain an outstanding working environment. Every morning after reaching the office, he shakes hand with each employee and asks them about their life to fill his quench to establish employees’ wellbeing and their work satisfaction. Whenever possible, he takes up a quick stand-up meeting with every team of his company, except for the administrative team with whom Ahmad has a formal meeting. Like any other successful leaders, Ahmad knows how to appreciate people and motivate his employees. While talking about the secret behind his motivation, Ahmad said, “My team! And the feedback our clients give.” He further added, “Seeing my team happy, seeing my team laugh and chatter makes me happy.” The leader of the team also said that to keep himself motivated, he listens to motivational and inspiring speeches of others, which puts him in a sound place. While validating this point, he said, “Those successful speeches makes me who I am and helps me to keep my team happy and motivated as well.” Ahmad also gives a huge credit to the CTO and considers him to be the one whom he can completely trust. While talking about John, Ahmad said, “His training methods, his patience, his tactics of managing all these people and his customer service is so high that I have seen second to none.” A Leader’s Advice to the Rising Entrepreneurs “Never give up! If you have a dream, you have to follow that. You’re going to fail and you have to get back up to do it. Every time somebody says that you can’t win or you won’t, or it can’t be done, then you need to think of that in a way that it can be and it will be done,” asserts Ahmad. He advises people that no matter how bad the day is, people shouldn’t show negativity or weakness to others and mentions, “Your clients, your peers, you friends have to see courage, they have to believe in a confidence that you have in order for you to grow the company.” Ahmad further stretched the point by saying that everyone wants to see their leaders happy and motivated. Ahmad also suggested his followers to start learning today instead of investing money on others to do it. He suggested people to be courageous and said, “You can only do the best you can. All you can do is all you can do.” With such motivation, Ahmad is leading the team to grow the company at a 517% growth rate of the present state. He further states his plans to expand its services and focus on a solution that will help teenagers from being bullied, a service which will help parents monitor their child's activities and save them from doing anything that will harm them. “Never give up! If you have a dream, you have to follow that. You're going to fail and you have to get back up to do it”
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- 19. Management BriefCompany Name Allgress, Inc. allgress.com Founded in 2008, Allgress helps enterprise security and risk professionals solve the problem of how to assess, understand and manage corporate risk. Gordon Shevlin Founder & CEO Alight Analytics alightanalytics.com Alight Analytics is a full-service marketing analytics firm, managing marketing data and delivering actionable dashboards and insights for its clients. Matt Hertig CEO BrightFunnel brightfunnel.com BrighFunnel is a growing team of marketing enthusiasts building the intelligence layer for your revenue stack. Chris Mann CEO CoAssets Pte Ltd coassets.com CoAssets is Southeast Asia's first public listed crowdfunding site with offices in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, China and Indonesia. Getty Goh CEO Caserta caserta.com Caserta is a leading data intelligence firm with a reputation of creating bold and state-of-the-art solutions. Joe Caserta Founder & President Collexion collexion.com Collexion is an award winning company that offers an online platform that connects buyers and sellers to a curated collection of high-value collectibles, art and antiques. Peter Kirwan CEO & Co founder EPI group of companies epi-ap.com EPI Group of Companies is a leading global services delivery platform providing all types of data center services, including data center auditing, data center audit certification, data center consulting or data center and IT training courses. Edward van Leent Chairman & CEO Eureka! Restaurants eurekarestaurantgroup.com Eureka offers exceptional hospitality services with eateries and drinks. Justin Nedelman CEO Exaptec exaptec.com Exaptec is a service robotics company. They specialize in end to end system integration and providing customized solutions to their clients to solve their particular challenge. Nicci Rossouw CEO Digital Asset Holdings digitalasset.com The Digital Asset Platform delivers flexible infrastructure for regulated financial institutions to share processes and data securely, on a need-to-know basis, without the need for reconciliation. Blythe Masters CEO
- 20. Management BriefCompany Name Expert 365 expert365.com.au With a vision to address Internet of Things (IOT) solutions for horticulture farms with focus on optimising irrigation water, Expert 365 offers products which assists farmers to make corrections to their ad-hoc practices via provision of precise estimation of irrigation. Vishy Karri CEO & Co-founder FIT4MOM fit4mom.com FIT4MOM is world’s one of the largest wellness companies dedicated to the strength in motherhood. Ash Robinson CEO GuideAdvisor guideadvisor.com GuideAdvisor.com puts Guides at the forefront to connect avid Travelers with the insider experiences only a local Guide can provide. Susan McCarthy CEO Hyperion Global Partners hyperiongp.com hgpresearch.com Hyperion Global Partners is the premier global consultancy for legal business strategy and operations. Eyal Iffergan CEO Invincible Valves (PTY) LTD invalve.co.za Invincible Valves (PTY) LTD is a well-established Valve company that distributes valves of its own as well as on behalf of the biggest manufacturer in South Africa. Pam du Plessis Managing Director Leo Pharma leo-pharma.com Leo Pharma is a multinational Danish pharmaceutical company, founded in 1908, with a presence in about 100 countries. Gitte Aabo CEO MeasuredRisk measuredrisk.com MeasuredRisk connects disparate indicators of risk harvested from a multitude of sources and distills them to give the C-suite clear visibility into business risk; enabling key business decisions to be made. Tom Albert Founder & CEO Mint Jutras mintjutras.com Mint Jutras is an independent research and advisory firm that specializes in analyzing the business impact of enterprise applications. Cindy Jutras President Mocana mocana.com Mocana is a San Francisco-based company that focuses on and embedded system security for industrial control systems and the Internet of Things. William Diotte CEO Logistec logistec.com Logistec Corporation is a publicly traded company with activities in marine and environmental services. Madeleine Paquin president & CEO
- 21. Management BriefCompany Name Premonition premonition.ai Premonition.ai is an Artificial Intelligence system that mines Big Data to find out which Attorneys win before which Judges. Guy Kurlandski CEO Co-founder QA Mentor qamentor.com QA Mentor is a multi-award winning company which is ISO 27001:2013 and ISO 9001:2015 certified with 256 global QA resources in eight different countries offering more than 30 QA Testing Services covering all time zones. Ruslan Desyatnikov Founder & CEO safetychain Software safetychain.com SafetyChain Software is a leading innovator of food safety & quality assurance (FSQA) management solutions. Barry Maxon Founder & CEO Skytel System skytelglobal.com Skytel Systems provides turn-key Internet working solutions, turn-key VoIP systems, technology consulting, managed and professional IT services and on-time technical support for companies with 2-1000+ users - from 1 location to numerous locations nationwide. Ahmad Eied Founder & CEO Sparkline, Inc. sparkline.com Sparkline is a Singapore-based innovative enterprise created to provide companies with a strategic, transparent and practical approach to Digital Analytics. Aleetza Senn Co-Founder & CEO SOS Security LLC sossecurity.com SOS Security is a leading provider of security personnel and related services, helping a broad range of clients in the corporate, government and high net worth sectors to protect their people, assets and reputations. Edward B. Silverman Chairman & CEO Sustainia sustainia.me Sustainia is an international sustainability advisory group & digital studio working to accelerate action towards a sustainable future. Erik Rasmussen Founder & Executive Chairman The Entheo Network 6-i-innovation.com Through a range of partners, the Entheo Network offers managers, trainers or consultants, whether independent or within organizational life, a practical suite of applications, systems and tools that help to unleash innovation potential. Natalie Turner Founder & CEO TrustSphere trustsphere.com TrustSphere is a widely recognized market leader in Relationship Analytics helping organizations leverages their most valuable-asset – their collective relationship network. Manish Goel Co-founder & CEO Step Change hellostepchange.com Step Change is a strategically led digital creative agency that is creating a space where strategy meets creativity, and working together to create a full from-the-ground-up digital offering to challenger businesses. Ashton Bishop CEO
- 22. As the co-founder and CEO of a startup that is breaking new ground in workplace analytics, Manish Goel is, by all rights, a visionary technology leader. Passionate about the power of people and how they can leverage their individual and combined knowledge networks to solve complex organizational challenges, Manish is blazing a trail by using Relationship Analytics to better understand these networks. He firmly believes that an individual’s network of relationships is a key measure of their social capital and it is this relationship capital that also forms an important predictor of the individual’s potential success. From an organization’s perspective, harnessing the combined network of all employee relationships is one of its most valuable assets. Combining years of technology experience with persistence, this astute CEO has led his company, TrustSphere, to achieve exponential growth working with some of the largest organizations in the world and successfully partnering with many leading technology companies including IBM, Salesforce, Veritas and SugarCRM. Under his guidance, the company has been recognized as a technology innovator by market analysts and continues to win various awards around the world. Innovation is a core value that Manish has always inspired among his team at TrustSphere. Consequently, its different solutions have been widely acknowledged by customers for providing unique perspectives that have helped them increase sales team effectiveness, improve diversity & inclusion initiatives and provide insights for their leadership development programs. To understand Manish’s past is to understand his vision Manish has over fifteen years of experience in the technology and innovation space, as an investor, a consultant and most recently as the CEO of the technology startup. Belonging to different parts of the innovation ecosystem has given Manish a relatively unique perspective on the workings of the industry and an ability to bring innovation and execution together. He is a believer in the power of diverse thinking. Throughout his career, he has had the privilege of traveling extensively and of working with clients and business partners in over 30 countries. Working with people from such diverse backgrounds and cultures and understanding their different perspectives has been a key ingredient of his success. Manish started his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in their Strategic Change Consulting Practice in Sydney, where he was a part of the Financial Services practice. There he worked on various projects across the Asia Pacific region which involved evaluating and executing the role disruptive technologies could play in transforming the way clients operated and competed in this diverse market. 20 January 2018|
- 23. He was then transferred to London where he was invited to help set up PwC Venture Partners - PwC’s Corporate Innovation and Principal Investment Unit. There he worked as an Investment Director with a particular interest in Financial Technology (FinTech) and was responsible for making several investments in startups. After his time with PwC, Manish established Greenoak Capital Partners, a venture capital firm focused on startup investments, particularly around data and analytics. For several years, he also served as the Chairman of the US-based Online Trust Alliance, a non-profit industry alliance formed to promote and advocate for the protection of online privacy and trust. Passion for the value derived from shared knowledge is what drives Manish Manish strongly believes in the power of people and the value of relationship networks. He says that human beings have an incredible ability to achieve. “Our ability to transform, evolve, innovate and solve problems is unparalleled. We achieve most when we work as interconnected teams,” says Manish. “Technology, when used ethically and appropriately, can act as an incredible enabler to help teams collaborate to solve the most important problems of the day.” When talking about his personal objectives, Manish said, “I thrive on creating a culture to bring teams together to achieve the impossible - to take the moonshots others dare not. Motivating and enabling creative and audacious individuals to make amazing things happen is inspirational.” He further adds, “The belief that we as humans can resolve many of today’s societal problems by working together keeps me motivated. I believe the ethical use of technology is an essential part of how society can and will evolve – whereby technology can liberate knowledge and truth otherwise trapped within layers of data. Being able to democratize these insights for the benefit of individuals and teams means we can resolve problems without cognitive bias.” Manish is a master of taking calculated risks. That is likely what pushed him towards taking the most daring challenge of his career so far, i.e. establishing his latest venture, TrustSphere. Bringing network technology to the market has been much more challenging than one would think, especially given the potentially sensitive nature of the data being analyzed. Establishing a startup which is now working with some of the largest companies in the world has been an incredible journey and a huge challenge. He has not only established it into a successful company but also guided the team to help them create solutions which solve some of the more complex organizational challenges for business in the digital age. About TrustSphere, Manish’s latest Startup Being a recognized leader in Relationship Analytics, TrustSphere’s technology enables organizations to unlock the inherent value of their collective relationship networks and Manish Goel Co-founder & CEO TrustSphere January 2018| 21
- 24. use these insights to make smarter decisions across various business functions including human capital management, sales and risk & compliance. It offers advanced analytics for industries where employee relationships and customer relationships are built and maintained using corporate communication platforms including financial services, professional services and healthcare among others. TrustSphere is different from social networking tools which map ‘connections’ between people. Its algorithms can measure the strength of relationships and assign a “relationship score” to distinguish from ‘simple’ connections. After analyzing these relationship networks, TrustSphere’s clients leverage these real-time relationship insights by surfacing them in various business applications which support organizational workflow. These include CRM systems, collaboration systems and talent management systems. Although Organizational Network Analysis is not new, the process of data gathering and analysis for firms to date has been somewhat manual. TrustSphere’s offering is built to be ‘passive’ in nature and learns from existing interactions and is therefore both unbiased and highly scalable. It’s ability to deliver real-time network insights by continually understanding an organization’s network and deliver these into applications which support workflow such as CRM systems is keeping the company ahead of the race. Ÿ What makes TrustSphere unique? TrustSphere uses data ethically which means that it never looks at messaging content such as the body of emails or instant chat messages or voice calls. The company is committed to the protection of individual privacy. Ÿ TrustSphere’s technology has been built for the enterprise and it has performed organizational network analysis for some of the largest organizations in the world across their entire employee base. Ÿ The overall philosophy of ‘hyper-contextual’ insights enabling companies to use the analytics generated by TrustSphere on a real-time basis directly in multiple applications makes TrustSphere’s relationship analytics platform amongst the most powerful in the industry. Manish further talked about the company’s plans and said, “We will continue to innovate and build on our current success. We are working closely with our business partners to build even more exciting and value adding solutions to delight our clients.” Manish’s Secret to Success is Continuous Learning Manish shares his secret behind his company’s growth and says, “I enjoy learning everyday - from both junior and senior colleagues alike. It’s only by openly sharing ideas and knowledge that collaboration, innovation and growth is possible.” He mitigates traditional startup risks by hiring smart, passionate people who have integrity and curiosity. As he says “Hiring smart people, creating a culture of guided experimentation and working closely with the broader ecosystem helps us understand when to accelerate and even when to pivot ”. To budding entrepreneurs in the industry, Manish’s advice is, “Don’t be afraid to take on those challenges about which you are passionate. However be prepared to defend your perspective – there will be many naysayers. If you are an innovator, you are likely to be ahead of the market. This means being realistic about how long it will take for the market to catch up with your vision, no matter how correct that vision may be. And find the quick wins. These become the proof points you will need to bring others along the journey with you. Your team is critical. This team extends beyond just fellow employees – but also to your advisors and investors. This wider group is critical to your eventual success. In particular, choose investors who share your vision and who are knowledgeable and patient. Our success to date has been largely due to the continuous support of our investors. Finally - give before you ask. Being generous is a virtue and usually has an unexpected (positive) effect.” “Our ability to transform, evolve, innovate and solve is unparalleled” 22 January 2018|
- 26. The Creative and Energetic Entrepreneur Making Digital Data Simplified, Accessible and Actionable to Businesses Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” - Jack Welch, former CEO of GE. It is a well-known fact that behind every successful enterprise lies a creative mind filled with self-discipline, a sense of integrity, persistence, a clear idea about the direction and the ability to take action-oriented wise decision. One such successful entrepreneur who is marked with/known for/built up of creativity, discipline, positive energy and an attitude that compels to take risks to make something bigger, is Aleetza Senn, Co-Founder and CEO of Sparkline, Inc. Motivated by others, family and her team, Aleetza takes the necessary steps to overcome all the challenges that come in her way of progress and builds a path towards tomorrow’s data industry. In life, we tend to face challenge with every step we take. A successful entrepreneur is the one who doesn’t scare away from the challenges; instead they win over those critical situations and achieve something extraordinary, Aleetza is an example of such an entrepreneur. Aleetza is passionate about solving real world problems. Her passion to go deep into the human conversations and understand how tech and humans interact for a better global climate has led her company to redefine the industry. Under Aleetza’s guidance, the company successfully supports some of the biggest names in industry in various sectors, from Travel - SIA and AirAsia, Ecommerce- Lazada, Zalora, to Banking, SCB and Global brands like Google and McDonalds among many others. The Path Which Took Aleetza from an Ordinary Employee to an Extraordinary Entrepreneur The leading entrepreneur talked about her initial days and stated, “I started as an actress on TV and “ Aleetza Senn Co-Founder & CEO Aleetza Senn: 24 January 2018|
- 27. thought my path had been decided, only to land a job at Google a few years later in Australia, where I was the 6th employee in APAC.” Staying there for almost a decade and contributing majorly in a variety of sales and customer-facing strategy roles helped her to earn an enormous amount of experience. It was the time when she decided to be her own boss and embark on the journey to build a digital business. Building a business all of a sudden from nowhere, beginning a new venture and establishing that in the market is not at all easy. Beginning a new venture and instantly building it from scratch to successfully establish it in the market is no easy task. But, Aleetza started her business with no funding and did it. Now, it’s been four years and the company is a well-known name in its domain. “Thinking on your feet, being creative and agile have all been refined skills through the process,” added Aleetza. Aleetza has setup her business in a dynamic industry where exciting things happen at every moment. . Ad tech has nearly doubled in the past consecutive five years and there is now much more scope to improve communication with the customers. As a major percentage of the investment is going into the tech, rather than skills, there arises a problem in the industry that is reminiscent of having a Ferrari and not knowing how to drive it, or service it and hence, making it work for the buyer is actually of no worth. Hence, Aleetza says that investing in infrastructure and talent is paramount as is knowing what teams should spend time on, and reducing manual labor through automation. So, she came up with the idea of Sparkline, with which, businesses will not only be benefited, but also get higher efficiency. About the Company which is Making Data Simplified, Accessible and Actionable Sparkline was created to simplify digital data, make it accessible and actionable to businesses. It offers consulting in an agnostic manner and provides training to handle the concerns of 50% of the marketers who feel that their skills are redundant in the next three years. Aleetza has expressed the need to govern communication through technology, so finally the company is empowering its clients by building tech which speeds up the action-ability, lowers manual labor costs and focuses on evolving through data. While following this extraordinary procedure of working, the company has showcased a profitable career for four years. With a set of patented solutions, the company is building tech to support analysts in fighting the data accuracy and governance issues as more data and more people gives rise to more complexity. Aleetza says, “We have tools that can narrow 40-hour labor into 3 minutes; and for products like Adobe Analytics, we have built the most comprehensive data Audit tool in market.” Sparkline is not just supporting industry leaders, but the company has also established an analyst internship program, alongside Google and the Singapore Government to train graduates to be work-ready analysts. Most interestingly, the company’s training has helped students to get placement on multinational brands like AirBnB, Uber and Ernst and Young, and that too with a salary package which is much higher than those who did not participate in the curriculum. The tech-giant Google has labeled the internship program as Squared Data. The CEO of the company has declared that their extraordinary course will be a part of Sparkline Academy and will soon be open to everyone from 2018, and not just for those selected by Google. What Fuels Aleetza’s Creativity and Energy to keep her Motivated? Aleetza has a wonderful team of professionals and an amazing family, what more does a person need in his/her life to be motivated. She says that believing in oneself that he/she can solve a problem for a company or an individual is always the greatest motivating tool one can get. She further adds, “I always admire those that stick their neck out as it were, even in adversity, because they believe that integrity and meaning is more important than money.” Apart from being a leading entrepreneur, Aleetza is the mother of two beautiful children who keeps her daily stress away. She is also an adventure enthusiast and her most remarkable memories include traveling, climbing Kota Kinabalu, skydiving and visiting exotics places like Maldives and walking the Great Wall in China. She sheds some interesting words about traveling and says, “Travel makes us aware that the world is larger than ourselves and much more accepting towards diverse culture, religion, and environment.” Aleetza’s Message to the Blooming Entrepreneurs Be patient and do it for the right reasons, not through the get-rich-quick route. Being an entrepreneur is exciting and daunting all in the same day. When you wake up each day, you need to know why you are doing what you are doing, not just for yourself, for your family and anyone that invests or works with you. Believe in your cause and be open in the journey. www.sparkline.com |January 2018 25 “Believe in your cause and be open in the journey”
- 28. A Possibilitarian Leader Redefining Women’s Wellness Ash Robinson: Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities- always see them, for they’re always there.” -Norman Vincent Peale. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 75 percent of mothers with children under 18 are working full time. As life becomes busier, especially for moms who are raising families while juggling successful careers, prioritizing health and fitness can be a challenge. In an industry where people often recycle the same old ideas, one woman is taking a different approach. Meet Ash Robinson, CEO at FIT4MOM, who is taking a sustainable and holistic approach to women’s overall wellness and redefining fitness at one of the world’s largest wellness companies focused exclusively on mothers. Through FIT4MOM, women receive access to healthy, supportive communities of women when they begin to prioritize their own self-care, of which fitness and nutrition play a significant role. Despite the continued growth of fit-tech, online programs and workouts on demand, FIT4MOM believes their key differentiator is its 1,800 local communities of moms who actually know and support each other in person. With a passion to unlock the economic contribution of women in local communities worldwide through improving access to resources, Ash is making a major contribution to the wellness industry through FIT4MOM. In the last year alone, the sales at its franchise locations have increased over 45%. She has also successfully in implemented scalable technology, ‘‘My passion is to unlock the economic contribution of women in local communities worldwide through improving access to resources ‘‘ Ash Robinson CEO 26 January 2018|
- 29. established a growth culture and generated extraordinarily high growth in the chain wide revenue in her two year tenure. The Inspiring Journey of this Leading Entrepreneur Ash first became a CEO at the young age of 26, when she successfully grew her early education company into a 60 unit brick-and-mortar franchise chain. She then sold that company to a public company where she became the COO for five years. In 2014, she started her own culture and leadership consulting firm, bon.fire, which helps CEOs and business owners navigate significant leadership transition, culture or market change. Through this work, she began a consulting project at FIT4MOM, which led her to become the CEO of this company, six months later. On her role at the company, she said, “FIT4MOM exists at the intersection of my own passion and past experience— we create healthy, local communities of mothers nationwide through our fitness, nutrition and coaching programs using a franchise model.” While going down the memory lane, Ash stated that she has seen the emergence of two key themes in her personal career — first one is creating communities, whether in classes for kids, peer groups for entrepreneurs, or fitness for moms— and to fulfill that she has helped create and manage a strong community at the forefront. The second theme is women’s leadership and entrepreneurship, where she had the great pleasure of working and coaching hundreds of women executives, business and franchise owners. “Seeing the unique and powerful combination of women creating community and watching business achieve organic, exponential growth is what inspires me daily,” says Ash. Changing the World for a Better Tomorrow Early on at FIT4MOM, Ash chose to update and evolve the company’s brand image in a very significant way. “I believed this was a necessary change to reach our target market - the millennial mom,” said Ash. She has played an active role in changing and altering a brand image that was not only successful, but also deeply beloved and important to thousands of women nationwide, which was a big challenge internally. Making a change is not at all easy, no matter how positive it could be. On this brand change, she was met with resistance from her own team, and even some of the company’s most successful franchisees. In the beginning, the road was bumpy, filled with ups and downs. Those who have invested deeply in growing the brand from the beginning started to feel that they could not see themselves in the new version. They felt that it was too risky as they already had a large customer base. But Ash made the change and it was successful. In only 18 months, the revenue of the company soared. She now says, “Our team has really taken to our modern look and stronger voice and they’re living it everyday. FIT4MOM is a brand we are all proud to represent and grow.” Ash talked about the major contributing factors behind her company’s success which included major investments made into the brand refresh, building an incredible team and culture of sales and revenue growth, deploying new technology from a learning management system, delivery of virtual training and courses and launching Workplace by Facebook, which connected its geographically dispersed team of employees, owners and instructors into a powerful and personalized online community. About the Company Re-shaping the World FIT4MOM is the nation’s leading company for pre- and post-natal health, wellness, and fitness programs for all stages of motherhood. Headquartered in San Diego, California, FIT4MOM has franchises throughout the US, reaching hundreds of thousands of mothers all over the nation. With FIT4MOM’s newest digital campaigns and products, FIT4MOM is continuing to expand to reach women, mothers, and families worldwide. “FIT4MOM is more than a fitness franchise; we believe in building communities through connecting with local families, businesses, entrepreneurs, and neighborhoods,” says Ash. What Keeps Ash Motivated To Go Through all the Challenges Ash's young and adorable kids, their tenacity to learn and resilience, their ever-expanding optimism, and their desire to help others, is what inspires her every day to create a better world. Ash concludes the interview by saying, “Watching and learning from women at FIT4MOM as they juggle the demands of modern motherhood with career, all while positively impacting the lives of others is amazing… and all the inspiration I need to do my part!” |January 2018 27
- 30. Ashton Bishop: A Predictably Unpredictable Leader Redefining Business and Startup Ideas with Strategy and Creativity We don’t believe in just doing strategy. We believe that to win in business, you need to be strategic. So that’s what we bring to our business consulting, as well as our digital and creative execution offerings Ashton Bishop CEO 28 January 2018|
- 31. FFew CEOs can lay claim to a law Few CEOs can lay claim to a law degree, a stint as a street performer, a taekwondo black belt, and being a co-founder of Australia’s best-reviewed agency (according to Google My Business). But this motley medley is exactly what you’ll find on Ashton Bishop’s résumé. Ashton is the CEO at Step Change, a strategically led marketing agency with a pragmatic business thinking based in Pyrmont. With a list of achievements that reads more like a bucket list than a CV, he has run million-dollar campaigns for billion-dollar brands, created Australia’s first mobile app, won film awards, guest-lectured at leading universities, and won Speaker of the Year for Australia’s number one CEO network — three times. As a predatory marketer and expert in pinpointing how brands can grow by outsmarting their competitors, Ashton is becoming the primary catalyst to “inspire step changes in businesses and people” with his aptly named startup, Step Change, which he founded with business partner Jeff Cooper in 2009. Built on the belief that strategy without creativity is a recipe for mediocrity and creativity without strategy delivers more misses than hits, Step Change is outsmarting its own competitors with a 30-strong team of creative mavericks and strategic thinkers who are racking up a client list flooded with household names including Hewlett Packard, Fairfax Media, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, TEDx Sydney, Sony Pictures, and AGL to name a few. An Unusual Journey to Extraordinary Success Tasmanian-born Bishop has always loved a challenge. From state titles in athletics and a black belt in martial arts to graduating from university with a law commerce degree, Ashton took the next logical step: he ran away with the circus. After those three fateful days and his subsequent yet still-born sojourn in stand-up comedy, he aspired to a career in advertising. The result was a turn in telesales. Never one to back down, he went on to spend the next decade working for the likes of Ogilvy while simultaneously acquiring the global patent for Color Changing Footwear and launching Eric the Circle, the world’s first draw-it- yourself cartoon with over 20,000 iterations. But by then, the GFC was in full swing, and the threat of bankruptcy loomed. He had a family to take care of, along with these two massively risky startups; and just to spice things up, Ashton quit his comfortable and high-paying consulting job to dedicate himself to Step Change full time. At the company’s inception, he and Jeff had no stable capital, no client base, and no true standout offering to attract more of either. It was worth it. Eight years on, Ashton is now at the helm of a thriving creative hub across six regional locations, has a loving wife and two adorable children and has even built his own bespoke leadership programs Powerful Presence and Powerful with Purpose. Strategy Meets Creativity Once just two guys sharing a Mac and surviving on credit cards, Step Change has now evolved into a strategic marketing powerhouse, catering to over 100 unique businesses every year, with a turnover graph “that’s got a healthy ‘hockey stick’ feel to it”, and to this day, is all about inspiring step changes in businesses and people. The agency’s eclectic client list covers all sectors from finance and tech to healthcare, media, food — even funeral homes. And Ashton gets a kick out of mentioning that they’ve recently taken on a fertility clinic: “So we really are birth to burial across the business now.” As an agency, their strength lies in tapping into the symbiosis of marketing and strategy. “We don’t believe in just doing strategy,” states Ashton. “We believe that to win in business, you need to be strategic. So that’s what we bring to our business consulting, as well as our digital and creative execution offerings.” Staying Present in Every Moment From his humble origins in street performing and call centers to surviving the inevitable adversity of multiple startups, it’s easy to see how this turbulent history could foster more altruistic motivations. “While I have many aims, goals, and passions, my greatest challenge is to stay [focused] on the difference I can make in the present moment,” says Ashton. “In a world of distractions, frustrations, and confusion, I believe there’s huge power available by staying present in the moment.” What drives him is his ability to equip leaders to realize their potential and leading them to live more fulfilled lives. And what better environment to do this than a consultancy: “I’m very fortunate that the work we do at Step Change with business leaders and their organisations allows me to be a part of many people’s journeys.” Ashton attributes the credit of his success to his own trinity of mentors: “Mark Nichols, who got me started as a presenter; Gavin Larkin, who got me focused on the difference I can make; and Dave Trott, who taught me how to think.” And his advice to budding entrepreneurs? “Understand risk. Get a mentor to avoid making mistakes you can’t afford to make. Learn how to learn. Stay curious. And remember that life’s a song, not a journey — google Alan Watts on this.” |January 2018 29
- 34. In this faced-paced era, where technological evolution is a massive challenge for every business, entrepreneurship often entails significant risks. Owing to the challenges in achieving a competitive edge, it’s imperative for new-age entrepreneurs to dwell with those timid souls watching their old business models suffer slow but inevitable defeat. There is no doubt, making headway in this evolving maelstrom of business and technology transformation is tough. However, failure to act will only make tomorrow’s task more insurmountable. Here’s a story of a craftswoman who dared to take risks and challenge the existing brands and categories. Cindy Jutras founded the technology research and advisory firm, Mint Jutras, which specializes in analyzing the business impact of enterprise applications. Combining deep and broad domain expertise, years of technology experience and fresh primary research, the company offers actionable insights on how to make software investments pay dividends. The One who dared to be Different Cindy started her career as a programmer/analyst working in a manufacturing company. It was the time when very few women were in the professional ranks of businesses, the time when most “professional” women back then were either teachers or nurses. After a few months of competently progressing in her role of a software expert, Cindy realized her role was overhead at the manufacturing company. Soon after, she was working for companies that produced and sold enterprise applications. She worked for those software companies for over 30 years before becoming an industry analyst. A Technology Polymath Cindy Jutras: We must realize that a lot of limitations we come across are self-imposed “ “ Cindy Jutras President 32 January 2018|
- 35. “After 14 different acquisitions (sometimes as the acquirer, sometimes the acquired) I had done just about everything I ever wanted to do in software, from designing and writing code, to product management, marketing, pre-sales and consulting and a lot of things I never wanted to do (pricing and licensing and alliance management),” mentions Cindy. With over 40 years of corporate experience, Cindy is now a widely recognized expert in analyzing the impact of enterprise applications on business performance. Cindy established Mint Jutras driven by her passion to produce something tangible from her efforts. She’s an entrepreneur, who derives great enjoyment and satisfaction out of producing something. In her professional life, this includes surveying, writing and speaking, as well as mentoring younger professionals. This kind of entrepreneurship thrives from moving fast and furious, since speed is a powerful asset in the competitive world. The Inception Story & Challenges ERP systems are often the backbone of any successful company—connecting all aspects of the enterprise and providing employees with the essential information needed to keep the business running. To streamline and automate business processes, capturing the right transactional data is an important aspect. Every analyst and analyst firm operates under a different business model. Mint Jutras is an independent research and advisory firm that specializes in analyzing the business impact of enterprise applications. It was a daring task for Cindy to overlook her well-positioned role of an industry analyst and start building from scratch. She said, “I had no supporting infrastructure – no IT team, no legal team, no one marketing me or my services, no one selling them… and no paycheck. Sounds like a nightmare but it was actually quite thrilling!” Leadership requires vision, daring, and organization, but it also requires the creation of strong communities that can withstand failure, uncertainty, and competing job offers. Cindy proved herself in the role of a successful President at Mint Jutras thriving under competitive pressures. Instead of viewing competition as an obstacle, she perceived it as an opportunity at every turn. She maintains a competitive edge over other independent analysts, as well as the large firms like Gartner, Forrester and IDC, even as she operated under a non-compete agreement with her prior firm in the early years of Mint Jutras. Cindy is an inspiring leader who defined her own unique business model and distinguished her organization in a crowded market. Cindy asserts, “Even though we all have (slightly) different ways we make money, the challenge is in differentiating the firm. Mint Jutras’ writing and speaking style and the insights we share, which are based on a unique combination of 40+ years of experience, backed up with real data. And we have developed some signature products that not only deliver insights, but also include a call to action.” Unlike other analyst firms who serve the end user, Mint Jutras serves the vendor community. The company delivers actionable insights through content such as published reports, blog posts, speaking engagements and advisory services. The team writes and speaks to business decision-makers, but their customers are the solution providers of enterprise applications. A Sagacious Leader with Vision & Perception Over the past six years, Mint Jutras has managed to triple its annual revenue stats and has had real influence in the market. Above all, Cindy contemplates the market acceptance of Mint Jutras’ signature products of vital importance. She envisions strengthening the reputation of both Mint Jutras as a firm, and Cindy Jutras as an analyst. Her core focus is simply on continuing to deliver the kind of unique value that has become the hallmark of Mint Jutras. Her personal goal is to leave the world a better place, whether that means adding beauty as an artist, being a role model, influencing younger people to recognize and realize their full potential, or giving back to the community. She advises the new entrants in business citing, “Clearly define your business, develop a business model and evolve with it. Be willing and able to take risks. You no longer get paid just for showing up.” Cindy holds a Masters of Applied Science from Boston University and graduated summa cum laude with a BA from Merrimack College in mathematics, with concentration in physics and computer science. She has traveled the world speaking at executive conferences on her original supply chain concept, Virtually Vertical Manufacturing. She has also authored the book ‘ERP Optimization’ as well as numerous magazine articles and has published hundreds of benchmarks and other research reports. |January 2018 33
- 36. S OS Security is a leading provider of security personnel and related services, helping a broad range of clients in the corporate, government and high net worth sectors to protect their people, assets, and reputations. Today, SOS Security is the fifth largest security personnel company in the US and growing. The Early Years For Edward B Silverman, CPP, the journey began shortly after he graduated as a polygraph examiner. After attending the University of Maryland, he proceeded to the Backster School of Lie Detection. Shortly thereafter, he started his career administering polygraph examinations built around investigative services. It wasn’t long before he sensed that there were opportunities beyond polygraph services. Security Operations Systems was founded in 1969, as an offshoot to his father’s window cleaning company, International Services, which also provided limited “watch guard” services for their clients. The real journey began in the early ‘70s, after Edward obtained his New Jersey Private Investigator license. By then, he had been operating his polygraph business for four to five years, already engaging with clients and listening to their feedback. This was also a period of mergers and acquisitions, and as a result, many of their clients were suddenly regional, national and global players. At the same time, the security industry big players were consolidating: Pinkerton became the Securitas, Wackenhut became G4S, and Guardsmark Edward B. Silverman Chairman and CEO Edward B. Silverman A Vision to Transform Private Security “Believe in yourself and work harder than everyone else” 34 January 2018|
- 37. was acquired by Universal, which was later acquired by Allied to form Allied Universal. As clients encouraged him to “grow with us,” he knew he couldn’t ignore the opportunities any longer. He changed the company name to SOS Security to better compete for the long- haul, began providing security personnel and related services, and started making major investments in the company. Changing for a Changing Industry In 1991, Edward established company headquarters at One Security Plaza in Parsippany, NJ. As clients faced new security challenges, the company acquired and deployed new security expertise, methodically setting up operations in many states, one state at a time, and continuing to add the best resources domestically and abroad to meet client needs. “I knew we could create a new benchmark for quality, and achieve the goals developed in partnership with our clients,” says Edward. “That’s why we invested in institutionalizing our quality and client-centric culture and developing what has become our hallmark programs – the Pursuit of Excellence and Team Partnership Program (TPP).” The “Pursuit of Excellence” program provides a framework to recognize employees for achievement, client satisfaction, and quality. The TPP formalized the company’s approach to open and trusting client relationships. With each client engagement, the TPP has played a vital role in open communication, teamwork and accomplishment of goals, requirements and expectations. He adds, “With TPP, we committed to learning and growing in myself and I worked hard, which led to a full college scholarship and after college, competing in over 30 marathons - always striving to be the best for myself, and at the same time balancing work, family and fitness. You may even say I was “obsessively dedicated” – with my efforts leading to qualifying for the Olympic trials,” said Edward, adding, “My biggest asset is my optimism. Likewise, my biggest fear is disappointing myself, because if I disappoint myself, I will disappoint those that count on me.” Driving the Way to Success Having been in business for nearly 50 years, there have been many milestones along the way. From being recognized repeatedly as one of the fastest growing small companies in NJ, to one of the top 50 largest security companies in the US, to now being the fifth largest security company in the U.S., with no signs of slowing down. From the beginning, growth has been driven by a dedication to meet clients’ evolving security requirements. As needs expanded and changed, so did the scope and character of SOS Security’s growing portfolio of security solutions. Going forward, Edward believes the greatest challenge will be to continue growth while remaining boutique. “I believe we can stay ‘small’way past a billion,” said Edward, “We will continue to have a team of top talent focusing on our client priorities, we’ll work hard to attract the best resources and partners, and strategically acquire like-minded companies to help us deliver our global security mission.” with our clients by maintaining regular and transparent communication on all key program aspects.” Preparing for a Marathon, not a Race With the foundation laid, the next step was building his team. He knew with a team of the best people, he could provide high-quality services and build a first-class security company. To maintain sustainable growth, Edward recruited expertise of former Secret Service and FBI agents, state and local police and industry experts. He also established strategic partnerships with the best international companies to support its emerging global clientele, saying, “Adding the “best of the best” to our team was the key in maintaining what we were building.” Currently, the company has about 10,000 employees and growing, with 70 offices in major metropolitan areas throughout the world. Continuing its commitment to client operations, the company recently built a state-of-the-art Global Command Center to support operations and services ranging from security personnel and executive protection, to retail loss prevention and risk management, intelligence analysis and fire and life safety. Motivation Comes from Within Edward says his motivation came early, and from perhaps a surprising source - his 7th grade track coach. “He taught me to believe in myself. He instilled the concept that to achieve goals, you need to believe in yourself and work harder than everyone else. I knew I was not the most gifted athlete, but I was the most dedicated. I believed |January 2018 35
- 38. uccessful entrepreneurs typically possess a growing Smindset. Rather than trying to prove they are better than others, they emphasize on trying to improve themselves. Such leaders have faith in building strong, collaborative teams and are driven by pure optimism as they see themselves as geniuses who only need helpers to implement their ideas. The person having the right attitude and smart decision making skill is greeted by success. Businessmen who dare to lead a life striving for their personal best knows the mirage of perfection and knows well that perfection is not always possible, in fact, it's hard to achieve. One is continuously evolving, changing, and moving through life. It is the focus on chasing perfection and attaining excellence for results, what takes them forward. Business is a shared experience guided by shared perception of roles and objectives. Successful people have the zeal to chase the perfection and end up meeting with excellency. Altering The Path is an Approach to a New Choice Successful people are where they are today because of their goals. Goals determine 95% of a person’s behavior. It is very important to know the difference between the goals that inspire and goals that trap. Perfectionism is perhaps the most common goal setting trap. Goals, by definition are meant to be the ideals. The best stories about entrepreneurs are full of fresh beginnings and unexpected detours. If you find yourself criticized by others on what you’re doing, or feeling frustrated even when things are going well, think about making a new plan. Success looks different to different people Success looks different to everyone. Being successful actually requires the zeal to drive, the ambition and to work 36 January 2018|
- 39. efficiently. It involves numerous failures and the ability to come back from those failures and continues to strive for success, is what drives people to be successful. For entrepreneurs, they may look at success in terms of their bottom line. Once they achieve certain financial milestones, they believe that they have made it. Success can be defined in so many other ways. If we just focus on money, we lose the sight of the bigger picture in life. Striving to make the bottom line at all costs while disregarding people, the environment and the community, may provide short-term prosperity, but once again, it has the “I win” mentality while putting down or disregarding the effects on others. Finding Immense Room for Improvement There is a saying- Humans always resist change as they fear to go out of their comfort zones. It is a natural and reassuring thing to resist putting ourselves in new situations. One needs to encourage a philosophy of constant, logical, and sustainable improvement throughout the organization. This allows continuous improvement to go beyond being a slogan on a poster, so it becomes the way company operates at all times. It is by the ability to learn that one finds Success. The successful entrepreneurs often are inspired by someone iconic or they set their minds in viewing their bosses or mentors as an inspiration. They are resources for these people to be open to. If one goes into any situation believing that the issue has already been figured out, he stunts out the ability to become more successful. When one is not caught up in proving himself or showing off his skills and talent he is more relaxed and is open to learn. Things are not frantic. The person is open to listen and observe, which allows one to progress. The Correct Attitude and Effort to Create Future Believing in the effort one has to put always gives fruitful results. Businessman should believe that to achieve greatest potential in life one has to learn to monitor the attitude and its impact on the work performance, relationships and everyone around him. Attitude talk is a way to override the past negative programming by erasing or replacing it with a conscious, positive internal voice that helps one face new directions. The internal conversation—that little voice one listens to all day long—acts like a seed in that and leads to the programming in the brain and affects behavior. Believing That There Exists an Angle It is their belief that in any situation to come up with something good there has to be some lows. There cannot be good without bad, hence it is the spirit of finding creative and fruitful angle to every dreadful situation they face during their entrepreneurship career. These businessmen tend to mend themselves in such a way that they find an angle to come out of the state from which they were struggling to fight. Acknowledging the fact that their service is something larger than the rough time they have been facing allows them to emerge in a much better way. Achieving perfection may never happen but the results can lead to outcomes that were never imagined. The people who are known to be achieving success might be daringly slaving away in the background for years; decades even, to turn their dreams into reality. To go through each stage of success, one has to master that level of ability and then the next step would unfold naturally. Industry Insights |January 2018 37
- 40. Edward van Leent: A Passionate and Energetic Entrepreneur Redefining the Data Center Industry In today’s fast changing world, ‘change’ is the only constant. The IT and data center industry is no different in that it is changing rapidly and at an ever faster pace. For many organizations the budget for the IT department is hardly growing, yet the demand for ITservices are growing at a rapid pace and therefore, arises the need for CIO’s to squeeze more out of every dollar they have available in their limited budgets. It is therefore not surprising that the enterprise data center market is moving into cloud, standardized solutions as well as deploying hybrid solutions by combining on- premise data centers and cloud solutions to maximize IT capabilities, improve speed of innovation whilemaintainingbudgets. In this fast pacing industry and rapidly changing world, one leader who is making extraordinary benchmarks in the industry of the Data Center with passion and energy is Edward van Leent, Chairman and CEO of EPI Group of Companies, a leading global player in the data center services industry providing services such as data center audit and certification, data center consultancy and globally accredited data center and IT training courses. Equipped with a strong technical and business background, Edward has led the company to be the largest ANSI/TIA-942 audit & certification organization in the world. Under his leadership, the company has also established itself to be the first and largest globally accredited data center training company in the world. He is the driving force behind the growth ofthecompanyfromalocalUK Edward van Leent Chairman & CEO 38 January 2018|
- 41. brand into a globally recognized brand for datacenterservices. Establishing Operational Excellence toEnsureMaximumEfficiency Being a result oriented person, Edward always keeps the bigger picture in mind while looking at operational excellence to ensure maximum efficiency. Behind every successful person there is always someone or something that motivates them, supports them in the hard times and push them more towards the destined success. Similarly, Edward is thankful to his parents for supporting him to be what he is today. “I came from a low incoming upbringing, but my father and mother gave me the best education they could afford and gave me great values to which I still live by such as win ethically, work hard, work smart and let nothing stop you from reaching yourgoals,”says Edward. Initial Days which Shaped up his Successful Career Edward is an extremely hardworking person who turned every opportunity into a successful trail to make his career a progressive one. He started his career in electronics and chip design, Edward then moved into the CAD/CAM industry where he grew himself from an engineer to supervisor and then the manager. Soon after that he moved into the High-Availability computer and data center industry where he held various sales and senior leadership roles and where he was awarded the “Chairman Achievement Award” Achievement Award as one of the highest accolade in his career. The career graph of Edward’s life took another huge rise in the year 1997, when he moved to Asia as the Director of Customer Services Business Development for the Asia-Pacific region. Everything changed again in the year 1999; it is then when Edward moved to EPI as the CEO for Asia-Pacific. In 2001, he became the Chairman & CEO for the company looking after all worldwide affairs. Since then till now, the leading entrepreneur has managed to grow EPI to be a global brand with nine offices worldwide supporting a partner network serving over 50 countries and over 130 cities. With a passion for the data center industry increasing the quality of data centers and assisting people working in the industry to gain the required competences and personal development, he is leading the company to serve people globally and win recognitionsworldwide. About Leading the Data Center ServicesIndustry Since 1987, EPI is delivering a wide range of data center services, enabling businesses worldwide to design, implement, optimize, test, operate and maintain their mission - critical data center to ensure it meets and exceeds the business expectations. It offers a wide range of globally accredited certified data center professional training courses such as CDCP, CDCS, CDCE, CDFOM, CDRP, CDMS, CTDC, CTIA, CTEA along with other certified IT professional training courses such as CITP, CITS, CITE which are fully aligned with the European e- Competence Framework. These courses enable organizations to educate and align their staff on data center design principles, data center efficiency, green data center principles, data center migration, and ANSI/TIA-942 design andaudit. Revamping the Complete Business Structurewas a Daring Decision EPI was originally in the industry of data center design and built, with a very successful reputation in Europe. But starting the same business inAsia turned out to be very different. While taking an interview of the CEO of EPI, Edward shared his experiences and stated that starting the same business in Asia was challenging since the strategy, which was very successful in Europe, didn’t work out in Asia as by the time they arrived in Asia, the market was already dominated by a few players who were working at cut throat prices to outcompete each other on price rather thanquality. Edward soon realized that although they had won recognitions worldwide, products and pricing on the basis of European standards was not really going to help them in theAsian market. Hence, he changed the entire business model of the company and moved it from being a data center design and build company into a data center audit, certification and training organization. It required a complete revamp of the organization including the staff to align the organization with the new business vision and strategy. It was a daring decision which Edward took, but in the end, it proved to be the right move and as a result of his strategy, putting in place an efficient operating model and by aligning the human capital he managed to turn-around the business. Edward talked about the steps he took and said, “As a result of our strategy and operational excellence we have now become the largest training and data centerauditorganizationintheworld.” Edward concluded the interview by advising the budding entrepreneurs and saying, “Have a razor-sharp focus. Make sure you have a strategy and appropriate operating model and hire the best people you can find. Make sure you keep a razor-sharp focus and don’t g e t d r a g g e d i n t o a l l k i n d o f opportunities that might come along side as that will distract you from your path.Stickwithyourstrategicdecision.” Make sure you keep a razor-sharp focus and don't get dragged into all kind of opportunities that might come along side as that will distract you from your path to success “ “ |January 2018 39
- 42. Stay Daring as you Grow Lessons from a Female Disruptor! Lara Hodgson, President & amp; CEO of NOW Corp, is a leading and daring entrepreneur, who is known not only for her extraordinary professional career but also for her excellence in her academic career. With a major degree in Aerospace Engineering from the prestigious Georgia Tech and graduation degree from Harvard Business School, Lara possesses an enormous knowledge in the engineering and business world. She has graduated with highest honors and went on to be named as one of the top 20 students in the US by USA Today. She not only serves as CEO of NOW Corp, but she also serves as Board President for Atlanta Heights Charter School, trustee of the Ga Tech Alumni Association board, member of the boards of the Ga Tech Engineering College, the Ga Tech Scheller College of Business and Patterson Real Estate Advisory Group, and Entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard Business School. About the Author Everyone likes to talk about “start-ups” and “entrepreneurs.” Starting a business is exhilarating; it is all about the possibilities. But anyone who has started and grown a business will tell you that start-ups are easy but scale-ups are hard. To grow you need four things: Commitment, Customers, Capital and Capacity. Many people start a business to create a job for themselves. Others want to build a company that grows and succeeds beyond their tenure. Be honest with yourself – and your family. Without your commitment and theirs, success is not possible. The following tips will help you maintain a daring attitude as you manage the challenges of scaling. 10. Capitalize on Trigger Events – In order to secure that big target customer, you must engage them when they are open to being engaged. Trigger events are events that make the prospective customer open to engaging. It could be a market event (positive or negative), a competitor’s move, a change in leadership, etc. For example, if your prospect is quoted in an article on a particular topic or event you know that is an area of interest for them. Dare to frame your value in the context of the trigger event. Expert’s Column 40 January 2018|
- 43. Lara Hodgson President & CEO NOW Corp |January 2018 41
- 44. 9. Change the Game – When your market is accustomed to competing along a certain set of attributes, find another attribute and offer something different that requires others to pivot in order to compete. For example, if your industry is accustomed to requiring deposits or up front payment, and competitors compete on price, find a way to offer extended terms. Don’t commoditize your product or service by competing just on the axis that competitors have set. Dare to change the game. 8. Be Creative – Most follow the rules of engagement that have been set by their predecessors. Take a risk and get noticed. The key to being creative is to first be curious. Ask questions. What you NOTICE is more important than what you KNOW. Dare to notice and dare to ask “Why?” 7. Find Holes in the Gate but Always Befriend the Gatekeepers – Getting through to the decision-maker can be difficult, but don’t let that stop you. Call after hours and spell the person’s name in the voicemail system, try a common email moniker, and if you do get through, be sure your message is short and intriguing. In your zest to get around the gatekeeper, don’t forget that the gatekeeper can be your best friend! If you can develop a rapport with him or her, you will not have to crawl through a hole in the fence again. Dare to find a hole and to find a friend. 6. Fail Fast and Fail Forward – Failure is not OK. Failure is AWESOME! Failure happens when you take a risk, you try something new, and the sooner you fail the cheaper it is! Failure gets you one step closer to success. If you don’t fail at something this week, shame on you! Dare to fail at something every week and to celebrate it! 5. Forget Work-Life Balance – Can you have work-life balance or not? It is the wrong question. You can have it but you don’t want it. When a see-saw on a playground is balanced everything is average and I have no desire to be an average mom, an average wife or an average CEO. Instead of balance focus on optimization and stop trying to multi- task. You will accomplish more and you will do everything better. Dare to stop trying to achieve balance. 4. Pick Your Door Carefully – All doors do not lead to revenue. When you make a contact within a prospective customer organization, think ahead to whom the right “buyer” will be. Don’t chase a path into the organization that is not directly connected to your desired target. For example, if you are trying to get to the chief procurement officer, the fact that you know a person in government relations may not help. Also be aware of internal politics, if you come in the wrong door then when you get to your target you may not have credibility or support based on the door you came through. Dare to be patient. 3. Diversify Your Portfolio – While that big customer may look like the key to your success, don’t build a business around one customer or even one type of customer. Many small businesses go out of business because their one large customer gets acquired or goes out of business. Try to have a mix of both commercial and government customers. In some economic cycles government purchases more and at times when government budgets are cut you can rely on your commercial customers to keep the business growing. Dare to diversify. 2. Grow Without Growing to Death – More businesses grow out of business than go out of business. Larger customers typically equal larger sales, but they also take longer to pay, which puts a strain on your company’s cash flow. Common advice is to get a loan or use factoring to fund the credit to your customer. If you sell to consumers, you can accept credit cards for payment and get rid of A/R without any debt or liability. If you sell to businesses and governments, you can use NOWaccount®, a B2B payment system, to get paid immediately and eliminate A/R with no debt or liability when your customer won’t pay with a credit card. Dare to grow fearlessly. 1. Be Sure Your Glass Ceiling Isn’t Really a Sticky Floor – All too often the greatest limitation on our business’ growth is us. We hold back growth out of fear, uncertainty, lack of vision, and our ability to bring in talent. Have the courage to step out of your comfort zone. You don’t have to be an expert at everything. Bring in strong resources so you can spend time working on your business not just in it. Expert’s Column 42 January 2018|
- 46. Erik Rasmussen: A Daring Leader Who Helps Businesses Turn Risks into Opportunities Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”-Muhammad Ali, the Legendary Boxer. Being there and playing a leading role in any industry for more than half a century is one of the greatest experiences an entrepreneur can ever earn. Not only does it make one seasoned about the industry, it also makes the person ready to fight any battle in that field. In any business, one has “ The difference between a risk and an opportunity is how fast you discover it – and act on it. We help our clients make that difference‘‘ ‘‘ Erik Rasmussen Founder & Executive Chairman 44 January 2018|
- 47. to struggle every moment, dare to take risks and keep on fighting to survive the battle. One such daring business leader who is innovating new ways to help clients quickly turn global risks into new and sustainable opportunities is Erik Rasmussen, Founder and Executive Chairman at Sustainia, an international sustainability advisory group & digital studio working to accelerate action towards a sustainable future. The world is fast-changing and every organization has to keep reinventing and changing itself to keep up the pace. With an enormous wealth of experience of being in the media and think tank business for 58 years, Erik not only knows the tricks of the trade in publishing, but also has a steady finger on the pulse when it comes to cutting-edge innovation that will build tomorrow’s sustainable society. Under Erik’s intense guidance, Sustainia is showing the world that behind every risk lies an opportunity, and they are themselves applying this mindset when they explore new markets through networks of hundreds of experts, thought leaders and business leaders. “I like to challenge myself by taking risks. It’s part of my DNA to seek ways to push boundaries and people’s perception of what is possible. I have embarked on many ventures in my professional life, and every one were against all odds,” says Erik. Taking Risks is what takes an Entrepreneur Forward Constantly challenging himself, Erik continuously innovates, thinks out of the box and mobilizes all his mental resources to bring about new ways to work with sustainability. With a mission of creating a new narrative around sustainability and accelerate the transition towards a sustainable society, Erik founded the company Sustainia. With last year’s launch of the digital solutions platform, Global Opportunity Explorer, Sustainia is now striving to turn the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into new business ventures. The Global Opportunity Explorer is a joint project of Sustainia, DNV GL and UN Global Compact, created on the conviction that the SDGs offer a myriad of business opportunities with great value to companies, society and the environment. Making a business out of saving the world is highly challenging and only a few people in the world dare to take such a daring decision. Erik is one of them. “I think we have had a good start and a magnificent journey ahead of us. But when you start ventures like this, you have to accept that failure is a realistic option,” he says. Erik further explains that all industries face the same challenge: the speed of change. It is estimated that within just two decades, about 75 percent of the corporations on Standard & Poors list over the 500 biggest companies will be out of business, simply because they didn't change and adapt in due time. This tells us that a business leader must have the courage to reinvent his/hers business if he/she wants it to survive in the long run. A motto in Sustainia has therefore become, “Kill your core or the core kills you.” Erik further adds, “That is the reality of today, and that’s why it’s so important to move out of your comfort zone as a leader.” From a Curious Lad to a Leading Entrepreneur Erik started his career at just 17 years old as a writer for a local Danish newspaper. He quickly became fascinated by how the news influences our society and our minds, and discovered communication as a driver of change and behavior – something that has guided him throughout his career. Furthermore, Erik’s curiosity earned him multiple opportunities to test, innovate and expand the notion of journalism. For example, at the age of just 27, Erik created a milestone in the media industry by becoming the editor- in-chief of the then crisis-ridden Danish business daily, Børsen, which he re-profiled and turned into one of the most influential and prosperous dailies. From redefining journalism throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, Erik went on to found one of Scandinavia’s leading think tanks and media companies, Monday Morning. Even now, he is leading his latest company, Sustainia, with the ambition of making it a global market leader. “For me it has been an ongoing motivation to challenge old standards and norms and expand the borders for what journalism and media can achieve,” he says. Erik's passion for journalism has earned him the membership of the international Media Council and has also elected him to be one of the world's 100 most influential journalists by World Economic Forum. About Sustainia Sustainia doesn’t fit into any traditional sector, but provides advisory and analysis to help clients turn global risks into opportunities. The company was founded in 2011 and provides extraordinary services including strategy consulting, building digital tools and impact communication – everything fueled by a conviction that solving global challenges is a strategic choice businesses cannot afford to dismiss. Based on analysis of thousands of real cases from more than 180 countries, Sustainia is helping companies transform into a new reality, which takes into account the deep social and environmental problems the world faces. Erik’s advice to blooming entrepreneurs: “Define your dream and have the courage to act it out. Don’t be afraid of failures, but perceive them as an inescapable destination on your journey to success.” |January 2018 45
- 48. Eyal Iffergan: Delivering the Legal Profession into the Future Winning is not easy. Success does not come overnight. It takes hard work, sleepless nights, tremendous dedication, intense sincerity, extraordinary knowledge, exceptional expertise and a wealth of experience. A leader is not born; it’s a quality that one has to earn. Here is the successful story of one such leader who is inspiring the world to do better and achieve more. Eyal Iffergan, President and CEO at Hyperion Global Partners has been leading the legal and intellectual property business communities with his unique brand of creativity and dedication for over two decades. The Journey from Entrepreneur to Industry Leader Eyal is considered one of the foremost figures in legal operational performance management. He is an expert in addressing the challenges of legal business process, organization, technology and operations. Having worked on diverse scenarios with a wide range of clients, Eyal possesses broad-based legal process and technology experience in leading and managing influential global practices and companies. Eyal has also founded and helped build several market-revolutionizing enterprises. His portfolio includes programs for transformation in IP Management, Information Strategy, Workflow and Process Automation, Practice Operations, Risk Portfolio Management, Performance Management and Operational Excellence. I’ve always been driven by one goal: set the world on fire and leave it a better place than how I found it I’ve always been driven by one goal: set the world on fire and leave it a better place than how I found it “ “ Eyal Iffergan CEO 46 January 2018|
- 49. Many leading law firms and corporations have implemented dynamic business strategies and systems following his advice. It has allowed them to align in-house processes with business objectives, manage intellectual assets, formalize and codify workflow, and create collaborative work environments through holistic information management strategies. Prior to founding Hyperion, Eyal was a Principal at Baker Robbins & Company. It was the industry’s leading and largest technology consulting company of that era, and Eyal led it until its acquisition. He was a founder and chief architect of Clearspire, a groundbreaking two-company law firm/legal service entity regarded as pioneer in legal delivery system evolution. He was also the President of an international innovations corporation specializing in the application and licensing of advanced technologies in high security and communications. As an ardent legal business expert and entrepreneur, he has won numerous awards and recognitions from industry associations. He has been written about in the Economist, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Reuters, American Lawyer, and scores of other media sources, and is a frequent speaker at IP and legal professional conferences. The inception of Hyperion Global Partners was the result of Eyal’s decision to apply his vast legal experience and knowledge to his own entrepreneurial journey. Hyperion Global Partners: Your Fuel for Operational Excellence Hyperion Global Partners is a premier global consultancy to the legal profession. They advise Am Law 200 law firms, Global 1000 corporations and other legal service organizations to make intelligent, fact-based decisions about how to improve their operational performance. As a consultancy of experts, Hyperion focuses on helping clients lead transformation programs with strategic value-based engagement models and legal business expertise in process, operations, organization and technology. Hyperion Research, an independent division of Hyperion Global Partners, is the industry’s leading source for Legal Solutions Market Intelligence. Their research is relied upon by industry leaders, innovators and trend- setters as the premier guide to independent market research, analysis and advisory services. The company also provides unparalleled insight into leading trends in legal strategy, operations, and technology. Some Valuable Insights from Eyal’s Desk Hyperion Global Partners has revolutionized the consulting engagement model with its unique and tailor-built services. Describing how Hyperion is different from others, Eyal says, “In founding Hyperion, we set out to create a new model consulting practice that challenged all of the conventional wisdoms of the industry. We innovated in the way we hired, the services we offered, the way we delivered those services, and the way we charged for them. In many ways, we became the “anti-consultancy”: Ÿ We don’t charge for time. We believe that time is least valuable way to measure the value we deliver. Our entire model is focused on harnessing the expertise of our team to deliver tangible, actionable, compelling solutions to our clients and to innovate in the way we deliver those solutions. Ÿ We have assembled a team of the best and brightest in the industry to bring unparalleled expertise, with a healthy dose of pragmatism, to help our clients align and execute their strategic business objectives. Ÿ We’re not opportunists, and we’re not all things to all people. We focus only on the things we know better than anyone else, and our clients hire us precisely because we’re the best at what we do. Ÿ We radically changed the professional delivery model to challenge the highly linear revenue model predicated on leveraging people; we pioneered the scalable professional service. “Hyperion is focused on transformation while others focus on very tactical work – install a new technology or document processes, etc. – we provide a more holistic approach to operations and information management, leading our clients through broad-based transformation programs that serve to dramatically change the way they work and the results they achieve.” Hyperion’s innovation has borne many fruits. They not only challenged the status quo, but have created an entirely new market by doing so – one they have defined and lead. Eyal’s innovative approach has garnered widespread acclaim, and his team have established a presence of immense influence. Hyperion advises and guides all major market stakeholders – buyers, solution providers and investors – and have become widely acknowledged as the leading legal solutions provider. Eyal’s Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs Eyal has witnessed many ups and downs in his journey as an entrepreneur. Sharing that invaluable experience, he says, “It’s actually not easy at all to be an entrepreneur. In my lifetime, I’ve met many people who thought they were entrepreneurial, yet only a small fraction of them really were. Being entrepreneurial means two things: first, having the drive and imagination to create; and second, accepting the risks and challenges required to execute them.” |January 2018 47
- 52. The Best-Selling Author and Entrepreneur Leading Data Intelligence Forward Joe Caserta:Joe Caserta:Joe Caserta: Success is always just outside your comfort zone, and if you stay comfortable you will not grow – as a person or as a business ‘‘‘‘‘‘ Joe Caserta Founder & President 50 January 2018|
- 53. oe Caserta has a passion for Jsolving the toughest data challenges with unrelenting curiosity. As the founding President of Caserta, Joe has designed and implemented numerous innovative solutions that are helping businesses and mankind worldwide. He believes that crystal clear vision, creativity, imagination, discipline and a relentless desire to succeed against all odds are qualities that help leaders realize their business goals and make a positive impact on the world. Instead of viewing obstacles as a barrier to success, Joe embraces challenges as learning opportunities that allow him to discover or create new paths to victory. As a leader he believes his instincts and never allows others to dictate how to run his business. Although Joe is always open to new ideas, he only does what feels right to him. According to Joe, if you’re not willing to take risks you are giving up your chance of reward. Joe’s vast experience includes more than 30 years in creating data solutions. He is educated in Database Application Development and Design from Columbia University in New York. His three decades of experience, have exposed him to a wide range of technology including transaction systems, dimensional data warehousing, big data analytics, advanced data analytics applications and more. In 2001, he founded his own firm, Caserta, which focuses on advising, design and implementation of all things data including data warehousing, business intelligence and data analytics. In 2004, he co-authored “The Data Warehouse ETL Toolkit”, which became an industry bestseller and has become the standard for data preparation for analytics. Pivotal Moment of his Career Earlier in life Joe was dedicated to building a career in the construction industry. In a devastating car accident, Joe sustained permanent injuries and pulverized the discs in his back. He could perform physical labor no more. He challenged himself to refuse to be disabled and went back to school to learn database architecture and start a new career. “Although I picked an area of expertise some deem the most complex of all careers, I could have easily failed, but the way I saw it, failure was not an option,” says Joe. “Risk was high as if it didn’t work, if I could not “make the grade” as a technologist, I could have literally become homeless. It was high stakes risk, but luckily the return has exceeded my wildest expectation.” About the Innovative Firm and its Notable Achievements Caserta is a leading data intelligence firm with a reputation of creating bold and state-of-the-art solutions. Their business is built through creative thinking and harmonious client collaboration. The New York-based strategic consulting innovation technology implementation firm specializes in big data analytics, data warehousing, ETL and business intelligence. “We collaborate with CIOs and their IT organizations, working together to gain new business insights through a better understanding of their data,” notes Joe. “We implement emerging technologies in big data, NoSQL, search, predictive modeling and data visualization to solve highly complex business challenges, serving clients worldwide in the areas of finance, insurance, healthcare, digital advertising, media, fitness, eCommerce and others.” Caserta is an industry leader that helps its clients maximize the value of their data and understand how to make the best use of it. The company provides transformative data strategies and solutions to advance analytics-driven businesses. Each solution is custom designed, built, and implemented. Caserta’s high technical expertise, exceptional executive-level business acumen, and sincere client empathy enable the company to deliver unparalleled levels of service and client attention. It is the go-to company to help organizations that are going through major transformations where they have to become analytics-driven to survive in their competitive landscape. The firm has won many prestigious awards and is applauded by many industry veterans. Forbes has listed Caserta in its fortune 5000 list for the fastest growing private companies. Gartner has acknowledged Caserta for its contributions in advanced analytics. Caserta’s innovative and effective healthcare solutions earned the award of “Top 20 Healthcare Analytics Solution Providers in 2015” and the “Top 10 Fastest Growing Big Data Companies in 2016.” Leaders take on Current Industry Scenario During the past several years the Data Industry has gone through unprecedented disruption—and there is much more to come. The most compelling part of the evolution of data is the convergence of analytics and insights with business applications. Businesses are evolving from a very reactive state whereby they performed transactions, analyzed the data, and made change to affect future transactions. Now they have begun performing analytics in real-time to influence transactions as they are occurring. The best part is that customers love the enhanced experience. “I believe we’ve only seen the tip of the proverbial iceberg in how data intelligence influences our day-to day lives,” notes Joe. “With only the limitations of our imagination to stop us, there has been no more exciting time to be in this business.” |January 2018 51
- 54. Natalie Turner: Unlocking Potential and Inspiring Innovation As markets change and technologies continue to disrupt all we take for granted, what we see as breakthrough innovation today, will pale into insignificance tomorrow. The most important human survival skill will be our ability to consistently create value out of new ideas. With a background in innovation, leadership and organizational development, Natalie Turner, Founder and CEO of The Entheo Network, and the Inventor of The Six ‘I’s of Innovation®, focuses on enabling individuals and organizations to build innovation skills, mindsets and capabilities. As a passionate and creative entrepreneur, she is the author of “Yes, You Can Innovate! Discover your innovation strengths and unleash your creative potential” to be published in March 2018. An experienced facilitator, trainer and Keynote speaker, Natalie works to unlock the potential of people and organizations to help them create new products and services whilst One of my greatest pleasures is seeing people be inspired to change, to step into a bigger sense of who they are and why they are here ‘‘ ‘‘Natalie Turner Founder and CEO 52 January 2018|
- 55. focusing on the development of innovation skills and culture building. “To be an innovator is to be a pioneer of bringing the new into the world but it is not just about being creative. It requires a complex and diverse raft of skills and ways of thinking.” says Natalie. Natalie has worked with some of the leading organizations in the world, including Cisco Systems, LEO Pharma Asia and Singapore Airlines, as well as Government Ministries, such as The Economic Development Board of Singapore, and the Ministries of Manpower, Health and Defense. She has also facilitated leadership and innovation workshops at Singapore Management University and Duke-NUS. Natalie is an international speaker on innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership and speaks at a variety of conferences and organizations around the world. Innovating Strategies to Inspire People to Adapt to Change “Many organizations talk about the need to innovate but don’t know how or where to start, or whether they even have the skills and capabilities to generate ideas and make them work,” says Natalie. “The big challenge is how to make innovation part of their organizational DNA & culture”. This requires the development of innovative mindsets behaviors and culture, as part of everyday working life. The benefits are clear – higher margins, increased customer loyalty, new sources of income and exciting new projects that make a difference in customers’ lives. But, innovating is hard work and often left up to chance. “This challenge is what inspired me to create The Six ‘I’s® of Innovation” and write my book – “Yes, You Can Innovate!” Daring to Venture into the Unknown In 2009, amidst the global recession, Natalie was invited to speak at a leadership conference held at Singapore Management University. “It was winter in London, so I decided to take up the offer and have a few days of sunshine. I never knew this trip would change the course of my life”. Overwhelmed by the interest and enthusiasm for innovation skills development, within a couple of days, she set up 22 meetings. By August 2010, Natalie decided, along with her husband and business partner, to move Entheo to Singapore. “We have never looked back,” she says. “I suppose one could see it as courageous, moving to the other side of the world, but I enjoy new experiences, am curious, and thrive on change. Everything in life I do with gusto, commitment and passion. I love to be on the evolving edge of the new and helping people broaden their thinking to imagine great things.” Discover, and play, to your Innovation Strengths! Since 2006, The Entheo Network has provided business management consulting to help create environments to unleash innovation. Now, it is extending its reach by scaling the Six ‘I’s®, innovation methodology and assessment tools, being used by a range of Entheo clients, to a broader audience. Through a Certification process, technology development and online profiling, the business is providing enabling tools that help individuals and organizations measure their innovation strengths and methodologies to generate and implement new ideas. “What I found,” says Natalie, “was a gap in the market for an online measurement tool that would focus on helping people and teams, measure and develop their innovation strengths. Now, the Six ‘I’s® assessment is accessible to the public too.” Curious about your innovation strengths? Are you an Identifier, Igniter, Investigator, Investor, Implementer or Improver? Or maybe you have a combination? Discover now for yourself online. While advising budding entrepreneurs, Natalie says, “Be willing to step out and try something different. Be a self-disruptor! Don’t get lost in your own enthusiasm and ensure you have the right partnerships to help you scale your business offering. Let go of good ideas and pursue the great ones. Systemize and become a multiplier.” www.6-I-innovation.com. |January 2018 53
- 56. Aleader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way,” said one of the most celebrated American author, speaker and pastor, John C. Maxwell. Success doesn’t come overnight. It takes numerous sleepless nights, enormous dedication, utmost sincerity, and colossal effort. It is almost impossible for one to achieve success alone; it comes through a team effort. The one who plays the critical role in forming a successful team is a good leader. And, a leader leads, helps, cooperates and guides his/her team and not just bosses around his/her team subordinates. A leader is not born; one has to acquire the necessary skills to be one. They not only just lead others but also inspire them through their influence and skills. A team follows its leader. Each one of its members admires that one person. They trusts and respect their leader, rather than what they say or do. Their unparalleled work ethic, strong determination to win over any challenge and their ability to communicate is what inspire others to follow. It s’ easy to boss around people, but it s challenging to win’ other s hearts and get the tasks done by them.’ Let the World Speak, Build up Your Listening Skills Everybody wants to speak. And, if everyone is speaking and then there ought to be at least someone listening. And, if everybody is screaming and nobody is listening, the outcome will be nothing but chaos. Bossing around the employees is definitely not a crime, but that is not how they want to be treated. If one’s task is accomplished by using kind behavior and polite words, there seems no necessity of commanding things and losing the respect. People want to communicate. They want to interact, so, it’s time you start listening to them. You never know, they might give you an incredible idea which can stand out to be a turning point in your business. An entrepreneur can even 54 January 2018|
- 57. pick up a topic and let its team give opinion on that. This will not only make the employees feel important for the organization, but will also build up a happier and more productive environment in the office. Commanding a task is easy, but when one teaches and guides his/her team to accomplish that, it ensures a faster completion of the task with better outcome. Hire Better and Build a Team That Will Drive You Longer One can be a good leader, but without a good team, his/her leadership skills are of no use. Whether you are a manager or the CEO of the company, you must always keep in mind the future of the company. While hiring new employees for the company, you must always look for candidates who suits the company’s working pattern and also its culture and not just specifically good at hard skills that are necessary for filling up the job role. The experts of the industry say that though this was not considered while conducting hiring processes in the previous years, this has now become the trend. Not only trend, hiring people who can match their mentality and frequency along with the company, has been an effective way tactic to be successful in this stiff competitive business world. Nowadays, social media, especially LinkedIn plays a very critical role in the hiring process. The world-class MNCs are now focusing on the employer’s ratings while hiring an employee. Build Leaders to Lead Your Teams With the growth in the number of employees in the company, it slowly becomes difficult for a single leader to look after every minute thing and lead the entire company. Editor’s Pick |January 2018 55
- 58. There comes the necessity of leaders in the lower levels, so that the manager or the CEO of the company can get all the necessary updates from the leaders he/she has created. Moreover, a strong leader is the one who knows when it’s time to monitor things from behind and let others shine. Empowering others gives them the significant fuel that is essential for them to take responsibilities seriously and work more productivity. Positivity Energy Plays a Significant Role in Building up Productivity You are the leader, you must believe that. You are the one who decides what should be the color of your office walls be, what air freshener should be bought for your office, what should be the dress code of your office or what kind of energy should drive you and your employees. Creating an environment which is filled with positivity is not an easy task, but it is not impossible to. There are three magical words which can really make miracles and they are, “Sorry”, “Thank You” and “Please”. If any of your employees has done something exceptional which is beneficial for your company, you must never hesitate to express your gratitude. We are all humans, and we are bound to make mistakes, no matter what role we do play in our lives. And, it always makes us feel better after saying “Sorry” to someone whom we have done wrong. Brave people never stay back to accept their mistakes and rectify that. So, if positive energy can bring us with what we want to achieve, then why not imply that in our workplaces. You must always know that if you are doing something great, you will always be criticized. Always welcome criticism and take them all in the most positive way as criticism is the only thing which is going to construct your career, build your future and make you strong. Let all employees take part in the group activities, let them share their opinions and bring in new thoughts, after all a new makeover is always a change which bring in a good change of air. “Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others’ success, and then standing back and letting them shine.” – Chris Hadfield, a famous Canadian Astronaut. 56 January 2018|
- 60. A Vibrant and Fervent Leader of the Rise in Robotics NicciRossouw: “I have a passion for educating our youth in STEM and preparing them for the complex robotics and AI driven world that they will have to live in” Nicci Rossouw CEO Robotics is not new to this planet; it has been in use for decades. But with the numerous ground breaking advancements in IT, robotics has now found a fresh momentum and has widened its reach to a diverse array of services that touch the lives of the common man. Telepresence robots are one such advance that is gaining popularity all across the world. It offers a plethora of advantages to the end user. Telepresence robots allow you to have an instant presence wherever you are and whenever you want. Its 58 January 2018|
- 61. ability to eliminate the need of being physically present at the actual site saves valuable time and money. These facets are attracting people towards it and have been the prime reason behind its burgeoning popularity. According to the research data, the service robotics industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 15.8% from 2016- 2022, and its market size is expected to reach a gigantic $24 billion by 2022. Exaptec is one such firm that offers a wide range of exemplary robotics services to its clients. And the brain behind this prominent robotics firm is CEO Nicci Rossouw. Nicci’s sharp business acumen and continuous learning attitude led the company to grow its workforce from being the sole operator to 12 people in the last 5 months. She holds the distinction of selling their first batch of double robots in less than three months to various eminent clients in Australia and New Zealand. Apart from being a successful entrepreneur, she takes her social responsibilities very seriously. She has a deep passion for educating and mentoring youths and wants to create plenty of jobs for Australians in Australia. Her vigorous and enthusiastic demeanor is transforming Exaptec’s growth to the next level. A brief Journey of a Vibrant Entrepreneur Nicci is a passionate person and enjoys the journey of life! She has come across many challenging circumstances but never bowed before them. After successfully completing a Diploma in Business Management, she chose to pursue an LLB degree from the Rand Afrikaans University, in Johannesburg South Africa. But her financial situation did not allow her to continue and she took up a sales job in the pharmaceutical industry. Soon, she married and moved to Australia with her husband, a SAP project manager. Nicci has two adult sons whom she considers her pride and joy! She dedicated 15 years to the raising of her sons when she decided to re-enter the workforce. Coming from a background of real estate (her mother and sister own a real estate company) she qualified as an agent and worked in a real estate firm in Sassafras, Melbourne. She was doing extremely well as an agent but an opportunity came up in a different career direction. When one of her friends (CXO) offered her a job as a personal assistant Nicci jumped at the opportunity. Nicci found that job as one of the pivotal moments of her life as it gave her vital exposure to organizational skills that helped her to inculcate valuable lessons of entrepreneurship. While working with C-level executives, she honed her management skills. Her diligence and meticulous attention to detail, was later recognized by the management and was rewarded by being promoted to Junior Project Manager for the project management office. After gaining valuable insights into the business world, Nicci finally decided to do something that “gives back”, something valuable to the society. She, along with her technocrat husband, who is an Agile business transformation expert, co-founded Tabar, an agile transformational company focusing on agile management, consultancy and training. Tabar was pivotal in creating and accelerating the agile movement in Australia. At Tabar, Nicci was working as a Business Manager and was the driving force behind the organizations growth. During the “Spark The Change” conference in Melbourne in 2015, one question came to mind “how can people attend conferences without physically being there!” That question led to the birth of “Exaptec”, a rising robotic company that offers cutting- edge solutions for telepresence, service and social robots. Exaptec is an acronym for Extreme Applications Technology with the mantra “Robots for Work and Play from Anywhere”. About the Burgeoning Robotics’ Firm Exaptec is a fast growing service robotics company, which has offices in Melbourne, New Zealand and Hong Kong. It specializes in end to end system integration and provides customized solutions to its clients to solve their particular challenges. Whether it is about a much needed software or required hardware, Exaptec provides a full range of solutions to its clients. It is an agile company that works in short sharp iterations for their clients. The organization is known for identifying and solving issues quickly. Exaptec offers strategic consultancy to companies, advising them about telepresence and service robot solutions of robotic process automation. Nicci’s dream and plan of action is to grow the company to be listed on the ASX within 3-5 years’ time. Nicci’s Role Model and her Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs Nicci considers her mother as the main source of inspiration and who has played a significant role in shaping her life. After raising 5 children on her own, she founded business after business, successfully turning every business into a success story. Nicci’s advice to blooming entrepreneurs is, “Be prepared to put in extra hours, have faith in tough times, be organized and live and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Have a mentor or trusted advisor. Challenges will come and go but stay steady and focused. |January 2018 59
- 62. ‘ ‘ When someone says Africa, the first picture that comes to our mind is immense natural beauty, exotic wildlife and an ideal place for a travel enthusiast. Similarly, when we talk about business in Africa, the thing that we visualize first is mining. It is what forms the backbone of the economy of many African countries. In Africa, it is not only the biggest greatest catalyst of development in multiple nations of the continent, but also an extraordinary source of employment and global trade exchange. Even in today’s times of change, the mining industry of South Africa is still male dominant and unstable. The experts of the industry state the reasons behind this as the release of a new mining charter, industry unrest, and monopolizing and unethical business practices. In this time of industrial paradigm, the passionate, loyal women entrepreneur, who is breaking every odd to bring positive winds of change in the society, is Pam du Plessis, Managing Director of Invincible Valves, a well-established Valve company that distributes valves of its own as well as on behalf of the biggest manufacturer in South Africa. 60 January 2018|
- 63. Pam’s extraordinary contribution to the industry has helped her earn numerous awards and recognitions including the most prestigious 2017 Enterprising Women of the Year Award in the category of “Over $5 million and up to $10 million in annual revenues”, “Moving Mountains 2017”, among many other recognitions which brings this promising entrepreneur into the fame. About the Journey which turned an Accounts Graduate into a Leading Entrepreneur After completing her school in 1988, Pam received a first class pass and Diploma in Financial Accounting. Initially, she followed her accounting background into the IT world of Accounting Software Accpac. Started her career in the technology sector as a support consultant where she supported the software for accounting users, wrote print specifications and assisted with regular monthly processes. Later, Pam went to work in the healthcare facility as the Admin Manager. It was where she started exploring the means of entrepreneurship. The most part interesting part of her career is as Pam says, “It was by chance that I started working at Invincible Valves, as I had entered the business as a contractor to write a couple of Accpac Crystal reports and then never left.” “The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”- Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder and CEO at Facebook, one of the greatest Internet entrepreneurs the world has ever seen. Being a daring entrepreneur, Pam took the challenge even after knowing the risks associated with it. Even though the risk was incredibly high, she took the decision of taking the reins of Invincible Valves. The ultimate risk was nothing but failure, but she extraordinarily turned every negative idea into pillar filled with positivity, leading to the company’s success. “Without fear anything is possible. So simply I had to take the time and break the fear barrier and thereafter it has been a whole lot easier,” says Pam. Being globally recognized by various hall-of-fame, Pam leads the company to achieve its goals year after year. With her guidance, the company is broadening its horizons, diversifying its business with little to no resistance. Apart from Invincible Valves, Pam also serves SAVAMA as its Chairperson, where she is fully responsible for initiating full participation of all its members during meetings, discussions and mandates. About the Innovative Valve Company Established in 1982, located in Germiston, South Africa, Invincible Valves is a promising valve company with almost four decades of rich experience in distributing, manufacturing, reconditioning and rubber lining valves. Over the years, the company has introduced its own registered brand of INVAL valves which has led to a comprehension range of valves and covers a broad spectrum of low pressure valves. Built on the foundation of commitment, honesty and loyalty, the company is known for its exceptional customer service. Invincible Valves is a trading company that offers many ancillary services as in Rubber Lining of valves, pipes and fittings along with Reconditioning of valves. The company offers “one stop shop” to its esteemed customers and therefore supplies the valves with any additional requirements necessary for their application. As an approved BBBEE Level 4 supplier to all major industries within South Africa, the company maintains expertise and experience across a broad spectrum of industries and applications with a wide range of products. “We offer a comprehensive range of local and imported valves and accessories for the mining, petrochemical, power generation, water, sewerage and general industries. We have agents in all major centers around the country and service all four corners of the globe,” says the MD of Invincible Valves. What drives this Innovative Women Entrepreneur? For Pam, her dad is her role model. He is the person who has introduced Pam to the world of business from a very young age and supported her in every moment of her life. She gives huge credit to her father for what she is today and says, “To this day I am daddy’s girl and he is my hero.” Today what drives her motivation are her three beautiful children who make the most of her memorable moments. Apart from her supportive family and friends, her extraordinary achievements and recognitions from the global organizations and her passion drives Pam to make an impact in the world and in people’s lives. She is passionate about people, the human race. With the clear goal to uplift as many people as she can in their areas, she has played an active role in establishing a fully equipped Education Center on the company premises to offer courses through SAVAMA along with ABET training for its staff, interns about anything and everything that is related to valves. Pam’s advice to the budding entrepreneurs “Be bold, don’t be afraid. It may be daunting, but don't allow that to deter you in any way. Instead educate yourself, learn from anyone and everyone. Follow your heart and do what you believe to be best, if you are passionate about something you need to action it.” |January 2018 61
- 64. To Support its Expanding Customer base in APAC region, Amazon Web Services (AWS) opens up its third “Availability Zone” in Singapore. The reports clearly indicate that the customers who are already using AWS will be benefitted with more choice options, better flexibility and higher reliability with the new availability zone. It will also aid AWS customers to have another local option to store data and run mission critical workloads. As most any enterprise from startups to public organizations and MNCs are using the AWS Singapore Region to build and run their business in the AWS Cloud, this new zone will be an added benefit for them. Customers looking for Amazon CloudFront services in the Asia-Pacific region but at locations others than Singapore will get full support to deliver websites, applications and content to end-users with lower latency from the edge locations at Kuala Lumpur and Manila. Apart from this, the company offers 51 Availability Zones all over the world including 18 prime geographical locations like the US, China, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, India, Japan, Ireland, South Korea, Singapore, Brazil and the UK. Lovely news for all audiobook lovers. After Amazon’s contributions to the world, Google has recently brought in Audiobooks along with Google Assistant integration on its Play Store. The tech-giant has announced that the audiobooks will be available in nine languages across 45 countries in the world. Google has finally taken a step to compete Apple’s iBooks and Amazon-owned Audible, where there is no monthly subscription fee for purchasing a particular audiobook. The interesting part is that the Google Assistant integration with audiobooks is readily available not only on Android smartphones, but also available on iOS, Chromecast, 62 January 2018|
- 65. Android Wear, Android Auto and on Laptops. In the statement, the company officials have mentioned, “On Google Play, you can buy a single audiobook at an affordable price, with no commitments. You can also get a free preview of the book to make sure you’re hooked on to the story and enjoy listening to the narrator’s voice.” The Social-Media giant Facebook has recently confirmed their status on the acquisition of biometric ID verification startup Comfirm.io. The experts say that the major reason behind this acquisition is that this Boston-based startup company offered an Application Programming Interface which lets other companies to quickly verify an individual's government issued identification card, for example, a driving license. The startup is expected to shut down its operation as the tech and the technology itself has already moved to Facebook. The amazing fact about this Boston-based startup is that it has already raised at least four million dollars from major investors including Cava Capital and that too within a three year lifespan. The amusing part is that with this acquisition, people might expect that one’s Facebook profile may serve as authentic ID cards in some places in the future. 1. A gaming startup from MinecraftEdu team, TeacherGaming has recently raised $1.6 million to put games into Classroom 2. Oil Prices are eased with the sudden and unexpected rise in the US crude inventories. 3. The US President to meet World Leader at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 4. Disney will give a bonus of $1000 to its Employees in the Wake of Tax Reform. Find Out |January 2018 63
- 68. What makes you think that when you order a team of hundred people to do a certain job, they will do exactly what you say? Why do you think all of them should follow you? Why should each one of them risk their professional life on you? Even if they follow you what are the chances you are taking them on the right path? Everyone dreams to become a leader, a successful leader. But very few strive to be the one. Learning in same school, earning the same degrees, playing the same sports, still very few of them become leader and the rest of them become followers. Every employee in a company is at the most suitable designation, if it is true, what makes a CEO to command everyone? The leadership quality is the most mandatory thing, but it takes many more qualities than that. Courage is other important thing, but for being a CEO, many other professional skills are in charged. The following are few underrated but crucial attributes required to become a CEO or to hire a CEO for the company. Decision Maker: Every successful CEO will agree that making a decision becomes very difficult when everything depends on your words. Deciding which strategy to follow, which deal to close and what should be on the priority list, becomes a million times harder when everyone is counting on you. Handling the pressure and keeping the senses on its peak are important at those times. Realistic: Many people think that a CEO must be optimistic, but very exceptional people will understand that, irrespective of how well one has studied pros and cons, there always remains some probability of failure. One must keep that in mind, so that he could choose the best strategy and must also be equipped with a plan he would be using it when hit by failure. Hence, being realistic rather than being optimistic adds more chances in becoming a successful CEO. Neutrality: The most important and most forbidden quality nowadays is emotional neutrality. People, who believe in, ‘if you think it’s going to work, it will work,’ are most likely to fall. Deciding that you need to start a company or lead a bunch of people in the spell of rage has probability of regretting their decisions after the effect of the spell. Also as a saying for Godfather goes- ‘never involve your emotions in business, it affects your judgment,’ one must be able to think above what he feels about the outcome. One must be calm enough to observe the market, patient enough to acquire the required skills and wise enough to start the journey when the market needs him most. Risk Taking Factor: Here is another controversial thing they say about entrepreneurs - sometimes they need to risk everything. This sentence is partially true, because knowing the meaning of ‘Risk’ is very important here. If people think that, “If the result of an act depends purely on ‘fortune’, it is called risk,” then people are not using “Risk” with the context of business. Maximizing the probability of wining and hoping that everything will go according to the calculation and executing the act is “taking Risk.” As winning is never guaranteed, risk taking factor affects DECISION EditorialDesk CEO 66 January 2018|
- 69. enough to make the company successful and win the respect of people in the market. But for the people of the company, with the above materialistic characteristics, having 3 C’s is very important - Credibility, Competence and Caring. People must trust you, your words and your way of doing business. Even if things go wrong, people must be by your side instead blaming you. ‘Having good relations is the key to have good to gain the 3 C’s. As the saying from ‘House of Cards,’ goes, “Generosity is some kind of Power,” you must be generous enough to make the people believe in you. “Give Respect and Take Respect,” is the secret to gain Respect. Loyalty of people is the most difficult and highest of the medal a Leader can achieve. As people follow leader in all aspects, loyalty is also a quality that people acquire from the leader. For that the CEO must be loyal to the company, to its people and to his work, because of this, irrespective of the success company gets, the CEO wins the loyalty of his people. Also, promoting loyalty is another kind of skills which includes- respecting and promoting old employees, fulfilling personal demands of employees, celebrating success of company with all employees, giving credits to all, etc. greatly on the success of a CEO. Hence, taking risk is mandatory but great business people never risk everything, that’s why it’s called Business, not Gambling. A good strategist always keeps his assets safe to use during the calamities. Judgment: Having a good judgment is as important as having leadership qualities. And the secret to make the judgment better is to learn continuously. The success of a CEO is measured by two parameters- what people in the market thinks about him and what people in his own company thinks of him. The above qualities are |January 2018 67
- 70. Most of us are content with a stable job and career path, and there are few among us who would sacrifice stability, get out of our comfort zone and start something new. One such bold, and successful, entrepreneurial personality is Ruslan Desyatnikov, Founder and CEO at QA Mentor, a multi-award winning independent software testing company headquartered in New York. Ruslan is a highly ambitious, persistent, strict and yet an extremely fair individual. His passion is to build the best independent software testing company in the world and establish a footprint in every single country on earth. Ruslan left his well-paying job and walked away from a leading role in a renowned financial company while risking his future. It is something that few would do unless they are able to Ruslan Desyatnikov: A Qualitative Software Testing Pioneer Ruslan Desyatnikov Founder CEO 68 January 2018|
- 71. alleviate those risks or have a financial safety net. Ruslan’s ambitious attitude has made him a trailblazer on the path to assure qualitative software testing. Talking about the courageous step he took, Ruslan said, “I wasn’t so sure about mitigating the risks, and definitely didn’t have the financial backup but I felt sure that I could pull it off. I was ready for it and I wanted to try and succeed.” And that one daring step changed everything. Today, he is a successful entrepreneur leading a company that has won multiple world- class recognitions and awards. From Struggling Job Seeker to Leading Entrepreneur Ruslan started his career in Quality Assurance Testing almost twenty years ago. Immediately after college, his friends got good jobs in prestigious companies but he did not. However, he was always hopeful and took every opportunity to grow his career. His first job was at a New York-based startup with a salary almost half of what others were getting. Ruslan tried his skills and luck in multiple organizations. As an automation engineer, performance engineer, project test coordinator and QA manager, Ruslan started making huge progress in the field of Quality Assurance Testing. Soon, he was appointed to bigger management roles in several different organizations. He successfully led various companies as an employee until he decided to start his own company. Leaving the stability of a high-paid job was a difficult choice for Ruslan, and he is always grateful to the people whose support was invaluable to him. He says, “I am thankful to my family my wife, daughter, mother, parents-in law and my business partner from India, Nitin Tawde, many of my LinkedIn friends and fans for supporting me during that difficult time.” Ruslan also talked about his motivating factors and said, “My mother is and always will be my role model. She did everything possible for me so I could study and move to the United States for a better life, and she raised me to be a decent human being.” For a father, the most memorable moment is when their child is born. Ruslan shared his emotions about the remarkable moment when he held his daughter for the first time. “I can’t describe the feeling, it was the most amazing day of my life,” says Ruslan. About the Multi-Award-Winning Company QA Mentor is ISO 27001:2013 and ISO 9001:2015 certified. With 256 global QA resources in eight countries offering more than 30 QA Testing Services and covering all time zones, QA Mentor is a global leader in the Software Quality Assurance and Testing sphere. It serves 260 clients, including Fortune 500 companies and startup enterprises in 30 countries, and supports applications in nine different industries. QA Mentor also offers unique product propositions from a crowdsourcing platform with a pool of 12,000 crowd-sourced testers to a test management platform, economical services and QA education via e- learning and corporate training. Under Ruslan’s leadership, QA Mentor has won more than 25 international industry awards, including the European Software Testing Award in London. The company was also recognized by Gartner as one of the top 10 Best Pure Play Mobile Testing Providers for its state-of-the-art labs with over 300 mobile devices and unique testing methodology. Ruslan talked about one of the company’s major achievements, saying, “QA Mentor has won the most prestigious award - Leading Vendor; to us, it is the equivalent of winning a gold medal at the Olympics as our competitors were very well-known, multi-billion dollar companies.” Ruslan believes work culture is instrumental and establishes a politics- free environment where every single employee is charged with making an impact and difference in what they do every day. With this approach, QA Mentor helps its clients improve the quality on their products, platforms and mobile applications by adapting and utilizing its proprietary methodologies, tools and solutions. The Maestro’s Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs Ruslan says that the path of life is an extremely difficult road with many obstacles, surprises, challenges and unpredictable circumstances, but that we have to be ready for them and move forward with a positive attitude, and believe in ourselves and our team. “For me, business is a game - a very challenging and tough game where you have to give 100% and be passionate about what you do to win. You should never be concerned about money, wealth, and your own success. You should be concerned about the happiness and success of your customers and happiness of your own employees. When you have achieved that, you will be successful and a true winner.” You have to follow your dreams. You are in control of your own success. It is up to you to either be successful or give up at the earliest You have to follow your dreams. You are in control of your own success. It is up to you to either be successful or give up at the earliest “ “ |January 2018 69
- 72. How To Overcome Obstacles When Starting Young About Author Eugene Cheng is Partner Creative Lead at HighSpark a company that provides presentation design services and consultancy to Fortune 500 companies. He also mentors for a video production company: MotionSauce 70 January 2018|
- 73. t was stated in a BNP Paribas IGlobal Entrepreneurs report surveying 2,600 entrepreneurs based in 18 countries, that millennials are launching more than two times more businesses versus their older counterparts. Time are changing and the inevitable rise of the 20-something CXOs will follow, whether we like it or not. That said, starting young also comes bundled with its own set of unique challenges. For wide-eyed millennials entering the world of business, this can prove to be daunting and at times overwhelming. Back when my partner and I first started HighSpark, a company that provides presentation design services and skills training, it was by no means a walk in the park. Here are some obstacles we faced along the way and how we overcame them: 1.You will be underestimated Would you trust your business with someone that is two-times younger? Not an easy answer is it? Our struggle initially was to get experienced or senior business owners to trust a couple of teenagers trying to help them in communications. Naturally, we got plenty of objections ranging from disbelief : “What makes you qualified?” to outright rejection “We can’t work with you, you’re too young”. It was only after a year into the business that we were finally figured out how to get past this obstacle: Credible references from past clients. Perception is almost as important as actually being able to deliver. Having someone else toot your horn for you can be invaluable when you’re starting out young. No doubt it'll be harder versus already having professional clout as a more experienced professional, but the lessons you learn will be inherently more valuable. Another great way is to work with other experts to cover areas where you falter. In our case, we collaborated with experts in sales training and public speaking to provide more holistic solutions. That way, by association, you quickly appear more trustworthy. 2. You will feel like you’re missing out Entrepreneurship is a lonely, risky road less travelled. When you’re younger, you can stomach more risk, but it might be tougher to be doing something that goes against what the rest of your peers are doing. In our case, my partner and I started the business at the expense of further education at the time - we didn’t go to college. On the flip side, about 80% of our peers were heading to university, graduating and finding employment. There were numerous instances where we were genuinely uncertain about whether our business would be profitable enough to justify our sacrifices. Peers our age were already progressing in their careers, while we were still trying to determine if we made the right decision to do this. The old proverb, “show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are,” rings true here. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people going through the same struggles is a great way to manage self- doubt and accelerate your learning in the process. Just remember that no one ever did anything special by being like everyone else and that the risks you take now can pay off handsomely in the future. 3. You will never truly ‘know what you’re doing’ With news outlets reporting successful fundraising rounds in the millions and new startup stories on the press every other day, it can sometimes seem like everyone else has got life figured out except you and your team. The truth is that even the most seasoned entrepreneurs (young or old) feel unsure at times. Heck, even entrepreneurs that are doing well might constantly have a case of impostor syndrome. When we consistently entertain thoughts of self-doubt, these thoughts can manifest into paralysis where we end up worrying more than doing anything productive. A simple solution as renowned marketing expert Seth Godin often says is to ‘Start Shipping’. Don’t fear making mistakes because you will definitely run into obstacles along the way. The Business Insider recently reported on a 6-year old boy that makes $11 Million a year on Youtube reviewing toys on his channel: Ryan ToysReview. It really goes to show what one can accomplish when applying yourself correctly and silencing any feelings of inadequacy. Whether you’re a CEO in your fifties or a startup founder in your twenties, sometimes the best thing to do is to hunker down and tread along your planned path rather than worry if you’re making the wrong decisions. Starting young can be an advantage if you use it right. Don’t be bogged down by things that you can control, but instead focus on: 1. Building solid relationships and developing your credo 2. Grow through osmosis by surrounding yourself with outstanding people 3. Focus on ‘shipping’ and the steps ahead. Starting Young |January 2018 71